Aerospace Industry to come up in Donakonda in Andhra Pradesh
In what could be realising the long-cherished dreams, the sleepy town of Donakonda in the Prakasam district is going to turn into a major industrial hub in the coming years as the state government has succeeded in roping in big-ticket investments to the region. At least three major industrial houses are going to launch their operations in the industrial corridor of Donakonda shortly as the firms signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government at just concluded CII-partnership summit at Visakhapatnam. The works on Rs 6,000 crore aviation industry to be owned by the Titan Aviation a subsidiary of Titan Metals and Minerals Ltd are expected to kick-start anytime now as the company is making arrangements for laying the foundation stone for the big project. The project will come up in an extent of about 5,000 acres in Donkonda industrial park. “At least three firms, which have promised to invest in Donakonda are readying to conduct foundation laying ceremony in next few weeks,” disclosed district minister Sidda Raghava Rao. The Titan Aviation will make foot in Donakonda in collaboration with several Ukrainian companies which have strong presence in aviation and aerospace businesses across the globe. Mike Napoli Authentic Jersey
Privatise civil aviation, banking to push reforms: Economic Survey
The Economic Survey 2016-17 tabled in Parliament on Tuesday by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley called for more privatisation in the civil aviation, banking and fertiliser sectors to further the economic reforms process. “India needs an evolution in the underlying economic vision across the political spectrum and further reforms are not just a matter of overcoming vested interests that obstruct them,” the survey said. The Economic Survey 2016-17 elaborated the many difficulties that are faced during the privatisation process of the public sector enterprises. “In this context, the survey points towards the need to further privatise the civil aviation, banking and fertiliser sectors,” the survey pointed out. Besides, the survey listed ambivalence about property rights and the private sector, deficiencies in state capacity, especially in delivering essential services and inefficient redistribution as major challenges that might impede India’s progress. Andy Pettitte Womens Jersey
Record Rs 3.96 lakh cr allocation for infrastructure to spur growth
Allocating a record Rs. 3.96 lakh crore to infrastructure sector, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the magnitude of investment will spur economic activities and create more jobs. Presenting Budget for 2016-17 in Parliament, Jaitley said, “Total allocation for infrastructure stands at a record level Rs. 3,96,135 crore in 2017-18.” “The magnitude of investment”, he said, will spur a huge amount of economic activities in the country and create more job opportunities. Transport As a whole, including railways, road, shipping, the Finance Minister said, “I have provided Rs. 2,41,387 crore in 2017-18.” The FM said, “I feel privileged to present the first combined budget of Independent India that includes the Railways also. We are now in a position to synergise the investment in railways, roads, waterways and civil aviation. For 2017-18, the total capital and development expenditure of Railways has been pegged at Rs. 1,31,000 crore. This includes Rs. 55,000 crore provided by the government from the Budget.” Highways For highways, he said the budget allocation has been stepped up to Rs. 64,000 crore in FY18 from Rs. 57,676 crore. He said, “In the road sector I have stepped up the budget allocation for the National Highways from Rs. 57,676 crore in the BE of 2016-17 to Rs. 64,000 crore in 2017-18.” Jaitley said 2,000 kms of coastal connectivity roads have been identified for construction and development. This will facilitate better connectivity of ports and remote villages, he said. “The total length of roads including those under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) built from 2014-15 to current year is about 1,40,000 kms which is significantly higher than the previous three years,” Jaitley said. He added that an effective multi-modal logistics and transport system will “make our economy more competitive. A specific programme for development of multi-modal logistic parks together with multi-modal facilities will be drawn up and implemented.” On solar power front, he said the second phase of solar power development will be taken up with an aim of generating 20,000 MW. Also, he said select airports in tier-II cities will be taken up for operations and development on PPP mode. A new metro rail policy will have innovative methods of financing, the FM said. Mike Modano Womens Jersey
Survey comes down heavily on govt for propping up Air India
The Survey has come down heavily on the government’s attempts to prop up Air India. “Defying history, there is still the commitment to make the perennially unprofitable public sector airline world class,” the Survey says. The Manmohan Singh government had committed ?40,000 crore to Air India, which helped the airline report an operating profit of ?105 crore for 2015-16 against a loss of ?2,636 crore in the previous year. Air India is now looking at a consortium of 19 public sector banks to convert its loans worth ?10,000 crore into equity. If the proposal goes through, as much of 40 per cent of Air India’s equity will be held by the consortium. The revamp comes as the Reserve Bank of India has come out with S4A guidelines which look at ways and means of providing sustainable restructuring for financially stressed companies. Conversion of debt The new guidelines allow conversion of outstanding debt into sustainable and non-sustainable debt, with the latter being converted into equity. The RBI allows this if a majority of the lenders, who hold nearly 75 per cent of the value of the debt, get approval from their respective boards. State Bank of India, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Central Bank of India, Oriental Bank of India and Canara Bank are among the banks that are part of the consortium which is examining the proposal. It also points to the steps taken for airport privatisation that have taken the form of awarding management contracts rather than change in ownership. Tenders for handing over airport terminal management at Jaipur and Ahmedabad are already out and the winner will be the party which quotes the lowest cost for managing the airports as well as the highest revenue increase. While the city side land at these two airports will not be given, the car parking areas at Jaipur and Ahmedabad will be part of the contract. The contract for airport terminal management will be for 10 years. Brooks Laich Authentic Jersey
AAI to be allowed to monetise its 50,000 acres land bank
In a move that will make flying out of airports cheaper from Airports Authority of India (AAI) airports, the finance minister today announced changed in rules to allow monetisation of land assets owned by the state-owned airport operator. AAI owns over 55, 686 acres of land in and around its airports across the country and is likely to start the process of monetising about 10% of the land owned (about 5,500 acres). AAI welcomed the announcement. “This announcement in the Budget is a welcome news for us. Change in the act will allow us to lease out land for various other purposes like shopping malls and convention halls and help us increase our non-aeronautical revenues,” AAI Chairman G P Mohapatra told ET. He further said that the increase in non-aeronautical revenues would help us reduce aeronautical charges on airlines, which will benefit them as well as passengers. “We are already in discussions with the civil aviation ministry on changing the AAI Act and will start the process now,” he added. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced in the Budget that “the AAI Act will be amended to allow monetisation of land assets owned by AAI. The rules currently do not allow the land around airport to be used for limited purposes, which means a hotel can be made on the land but the same land cannot be rented for convention centres or shopping malls. Another AAI official said that this move will help us utilise land in smaller cities in the country. “Land around airports in smaller cities would not find takers, if we bid it for hotels. By allowing it for businesses like shopping malls and others, I am sure our land in smaller cities will find takers. This will help in increasing non-aero revenues,” the official said. Non-aero revenues constitute as high as 40% of the total revenues for airports globally. In the case of AAI, its just 20% of the total revenues, which increases the airport operator’s dependence on aeronautical revenues to fulfil their needs. Nick Bellore Jersey
NPCIL to conclude negotiations for Kudankulam units by this month-end
State-run Nuclear power Corporation of India (NPCIL) is in the final stages of negotiations with Russian companies for establishing two nuclear units at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu. “NPCIL is in final stages of negotiation with its Russian counterparts for establishing KKNPP 5&6 at Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu. The General Frame work Agreement for the same is expected to be completed by the end of January, 2017. Government may have to allocate US$80 million (Rs 544 crore approx) for KKNPP 5&6,” the documents said. The government has announced plans to augment the investment in nuclear power generation. It said Budgetary allocation up to Rs 3,000 crore per annum, together with public sector investments, will be leveraged to facilitate the required investment for this purpose. NPCIL has drawn up a roadmap for 10 indigenous 700 MW Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors to be set up over the next 10-15 years. The Atomic Energy Commission has approved the proposal and recommended to approach the Cabinet Committee on Security. A draft cabinet note has been circulated amongst nodal ministries as part of inter-ministerial consultations. Some ministries have already concurred with the proposal and NPCIL has been requested to prepare detailed project report for the proposed Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors, the documents said. M.J. Stewart Authentic Jersey
LNG custom duty halved to 2.5 per cent
India has halved custom duty of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to 2.5 per cent from 5 per cent earlier at terminals as a part of its strategy to become a “gas-based economy”. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced the measure to cut the duty to make gas imports cheaper in Union Budget 2017-18 which may help LNG consumers, especially power and fertiliser companies, given the drop in domestic production. The government had earlier stated its intent to more than double its annual LNG import capacity to 50 million tonnes in the next few years India’s natural gas demand is expected to rise from 473 million standard cubic meter per day (mmscmd) now to 494 mmscmd in 2017-18 and 523 mmscmd in 2018-19. Matt Judon Jersey
FM Jaitley announces Rs 4,814 crore for Deen Dayal Upadhyayal Gram Jyoti Yojana
Finance Minister Arun Jaitely has proposed Rs 4,814 crore as part of budget allocation for government’s rural electrification programme Deen Daya Upadhyayal Gram Jyoti Yojana. The minister also said the government was confident of achieving 100 per cent rural electrification by 2018. “We are well on our way to achieving 100 per cent rural electrification by 1st May, 2018,” Jaitley said in his budget speech in Parliament today. As per government data, till date out of 597,464 census villages, 591,707 villages – nearly 99 per cent have been electrified. Jaitely announced these measures as part of the governments’ increased push for the rural sector in India. Wes Schweitzer Authentic Jersey
FM Jaitley says govt to add 20,000 MW capacity through solar parks
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the government would take up the second phase of solar park development in the country to add additional 20,000 Megawatt capacity in the country. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has drawn a scheme to set up number of solar parks across various states in the country, each with a capacity of above 500 MW. The scheme proposes to provide financial support by the government to establish solar parks with an aim to facilitate creation of infrastructure necessary for setting up new solar power projects in terms of allocation of land, transmission and evacuation lines, access roads, availability of water and others, in a focused manner. India plans to have a total renewable energy capacity of 175 Gigawatt by 2022 and in order to achieve that target, the government plans to implement solar parks, solar defence schemes, solar scheme for review of economic developments 167 PSUs, solar photovoltaic (SPV) power plants on canal bank and canal tops, solar pump, solar rooftop, etc. Su’a Cravens Authentic Jersey
FM Jaitley says solar power to feed 7,000 railway stations
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today announced that around 7,000 railway stations would be fed through solar power in the medium term and work has already begun in that respect in 300 stations. “It is proposed to feed at least 7,000 stations with solar power in the medium term. A beginning has already been made in 300 stations,” Jaitley said in his Budget 2017 speech in Parliament today. He also said work will be taken up for 2000 stations as part of the government’s 1000 Megawatt solar mission. Earlier, Indian Railways had said it has finalised a policy for harnessing solar energy on rooftops of railway premises. The policy provided for setting up solar power plants through developer mode with a long term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) by railways. In order to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, the government had said it intended to expand sourcing of solar power as part of the Solar Mission of Indian Railways. The government had said by generating electricity from solar panels, there will be proportionate reduction in consumption of fossil fuels. D.J. Humphries Womens Jersey