GOVT SEEKS TRANSFER OF RS 27,380 CR FROM RBI RETAINED TOWARDS
RISKS, RESERVES
The finance ministry has
sought from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Rs 27,380 crore that was withheld
by the central bank towards risks and reserves in the previous years, said
sources. The RBI had retained Rs 13,190 crore towards risks and reserves during
2016-17. It increased to Rs 14,190 crore in 2017-18. Together, retained amount
is Rs 27,380 crore. The ministry has requested the RBI to provide an interim
surplus for the current fiscal on the analogy of the previous financial year
and transfer the amount withheld from the surplus of 2016-17 and 2017-18,
sources said. If the central board of the RBI approves transfer of Rs 28,000
crore requested by the government as interim dividend for the current fiscal,
the total surplus transfer by the central bank would be Rs 68,000 crore in
2018-19. The government has projected to mobilise Rs 82,911.56 crore as
dividend or surplus from the RBI, nationalised banks and financial institutions
during 2019-20.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
RBI WON'T TRANSFER PAST RESERVES FOR NOW
The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) will not immediately transfer surplus capital which is set aside as reserves
over the years, to the government. The central bank audit committee has,
however, cleared an interim dividend of Rs 28,000 crore based on a limited
audit for the current year and the same is likely to be declared after the
central bank's board meeting on February 18. The demand to transfer capital
surplus was made by the Centre after its attempts to get the RBI to part with
what was described excess reserves was turned down and the issue of capital
framework was referred to a committee under Bimal Jalan. The government had
argued that the central bank had more reserves than many of its peers. The
latest move by the department of economic affairs is part of a series of
demands on regulators, including Sebi, which market players are seeing as
over-reach by the government, especially after it pushed Urjit Patel to resign
as RBI governor amid the threat of issuing a directive to the banking
regulator. The Jalan committee, which will decide on the appropriate level of
reserves for RBI, is expected to submit its report by March 31 The concern in
RBI is that the transfer of earlier year's transfer to reserves, without the
Jalan committee's recommendation, is inappropriate.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
INDIANS ARE BECOMING LESS PESSIMISTIC ABOUT JOBS, INCOME, SAYS
RBI
Indian consumers are
shedding their pessimism. A survey by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) shows
consumers expect their incomes to rise price situation to improve and more jobs
in future. The optimism was reflected in the December 2018 round of the RBI 's
Consumer Confidence Survey. Consumer confidence turned around in the December
2018 round with the current situation index gaining 2.8 points though still
remaining in pessimistic territory, the RBI says. The future expectations index
recorded a sharp uptick, with increased optimism about the general economic
situation and employment scenario. According to the RBI, pessimism on the
general economic situation in the last few rounds seems to have been arrested
in the current round and the outlook for the year ahead was also more
optimistic than before. Though most consumers expect improvement in the
employment situation in future, they remain worried about the current
employment situation. Sharp improvement was seen in the price situation in the
country for the current period as well as a year ahead. While respondents
mostly reported unchanged incomes in the year gone by, more than 60 per cent
expect their incomes to rise in the year ahead. Sentiments on spending remained
almost unchanged from the previous round.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
INFORMAL SECTOR WORKERS CAN JOIN PMSYM PENSION SCHEME FROM FEB
15
All unorganised sector
workers up to 40 years of age can subscribe to the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi
Maandhan (PMSYM) scheme which entails a minimum monthly pension of Rs 3,000
from February 15, a Labour Ministry notification said. The scheme, announced by
Finance Minister Piyush Goyal in the Budget for 2019-20, is targeted at
unorganised sector workers with monthly income of up to Rs 15,000. Goyal had
said it would benefit 10 crore workers in the next five years. The scheme would
provide them an assured pension of Rs 3,000 from the age of 60 years on a
monthly contribution of a small amount during their working life. The monthly
contribution by the worker joining the scheme would be Rs 55, with matching
contributions from the government. The contributions would rise at higher age.
The worker joining the scheme at the age of 40 years would contribute Rs 200,
while workers at the age of 29 years would pay Rs 100. However, informal
workers will not be eligible for the scheme if they are covered under the
National Pension Scheme, the Employees' State Insurance Corporation Scheme or
Employees' Provident Fund Scheme. Workers who are income-tax assessees are also
not be eligible.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
DEPOSITS IN JAN DHAN ACCOUNTS SET TO CROSS RS 90,000 CRORE
Total deposits in Jan Dhan
accounts are set to cross Rs 90,000 crore with the government making the
flagship financial inclusion programme more attractive especially by doubling
accident insurance cover to Rs 2 lakh. According to data from the finance
ministry, the deposits, which have been steadily rising since March 2017, have
already reached Rs 89,257.57 crore as on January 30, and are steadily rising.
The deposits stood at Rs 88,566.92 crore on January 23. Enthused by the success
of the scheme, the government has enhanced the accident insurance cover to Rs 2
lakh from Rs 1 lakh for new accounts opened after August 28, 2018. The overdraft
limit has also been doubled to Rs 10,000. According to the latest data, there
were 34.14 crore account holders under the PMJDY An average deposit in these
accounts was about Rs 2,615, compared with Rs 1,065 on March 25, 2015. Over 53
per cent of the Jan Dhan account holders are women, 59 per cent accounts are in
rural and semi-urban areas. As per the data, 27.26 crore accounts holders have
been issued RuPay debit cards with an inbuilt accident insurance cover.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
PIYUSH GOYAL FOR PRINTING CURRENCY TO FINANCE DEFICIT
Noting that finance
ministers all over the world are perennially in search of revenue to balance
government budgets, acting Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday favoured
printing currency as a way of deficit financing, citing the example of the US.
The fiscal deficit estimate for the current year has been revised upwards to
3.4 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). As finance ministers we are
always in need of money, Goyal said. The FRBM Act aims to institutionalise
financial discipline, reduce India's fiscal deficit, improve macroeconomic
management and the overall management of the public funds through a balanced
budget. I have heard that the US does deficit financing only by printing
currency, Goyal said. He told that as Finance Minister he would have been
happier if he had known of SPMCIL's recent creditable performance on both the
production and profit fronts. SPMCIL, which supplies bank notes, coins and
security documents to the central government and the states, posted a net
profit of Rs 630 crore last year, of which Rs 200 crore has been handed over to
the government as dividend.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
AMID UNEMPLOYMENT CHORUS, BUDGET CLAIMS OVER 379K NEW JOBS IN
GOVT DEPTS
As debate intensifies over
rising unemployment in the country, the Modi government claims to have
generated over 379,000 jobs between 2017 and 2019 in its various
establishments, according to the Interim Budget for 2019-20. The government
said it has generated 251,279 jobs in central government establishments between
2017 and 2018. This is estimated to go up by 379,544 to reach 36,15,770 on
March 1, 2019, shows an analysis of documents of the Interim Budget, presented
by Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on February 1. Modi cited data from provident
fund, National Pension System (NPS), Income Tax filings and sale of vehicles
among others to say millions of new jobs were created in the formal and
unorganised sectors, including transport, hotels and infrastructure. Most of
the recruitment was done by the Ministry of Railways, police forces and the
direct and indirect tax departments. It said Indian Railways will generate the
highest number of jobs -- 98,999 by March 1, 2019, against its actual strength
of 12,70,714 in March 2017. There will be 79,353 additional jobs in police
departments by March 1, 2019, up from the actual strength of 10,52,351 as on
March 1, 2017. Similarly, jobs in direct tax departments will touch an
estimated 80,143 by next month as against 50,208 in March 2017 (an increase of
29,935 jobs). In indirect tax departments, the government said there were
53,394 employees in March 2017. This went up to 92,842 in March 2018. It also
gave the same figure (92,842) as the estimated strength of indirect tax establishment
as on March 1, 2019. The Ministry of Civil Aviation will have 2,363 more
personnel by March 1 this year against its actual strength of 1,174 in March
2017, the document shows. Similarly, for the Department of Posts, it said there
will be 4,21,068 personnel on March 1, 2019, as against its actual strength of
41,88,18 in March 2017. In the Ministry of External Affairs, 11,877 people are
estimated to be working by next month as against its actual strength of 10,044
in March 2017, which was estimated to have reached 11,870 in 2018.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
SHORTAGE OF FUNDS KEY CHALLENGE IN JOB CREATION: SUBHASH
CHANDRA GARG, ECONOMIC AFFAIRS SECRETARY
Asserting India's fast
economic growth is not without generation of jobs Subhash Chandra Garg said the
country actually faces shortage of capital more than the scarcity of jobs While
most Indians have a job and are earning something, the problem is that many of
them may be earning lower wages or may not be employed according to their
qualifications, he said. lIn fact, we have the constraint that we don't have as
much capital and funds to invest so that we can do more (create more
employment). The government has invested Rs 3.5 lakh crore in capital
expenditure. If we have more funds, we can invest more, Garg told. He said
generating jobs relates to economic activity which is producing goods and
services, and the surest ways to generate employment is to make the economy
grow and ensure the government takes up more programs of investment in the country.
The government has carried out innumerable programmes of investment in the
rural areas whether it is the 'Prime Minister's Awas Yojana' where crores of
houses are being constructed or large programmes of roads in rural areas and
National Highway. Every house results into employment generation. There is a
large programme for expanding the LPG connections and fuel delivery. All of
them have the potential of generating jobs, he said. India is at a developing
stage and there is lot of developmental work to do like construction of roads,
houses and infratsructural facilities. Rejecting the criticism that India was
experiencing jobless growth, Garg said it would only be true if the corporate
profits were increasing very high compared to the proportion available to the
workers. And, the growth in corporate profits was very normal, he said. It's
difficult to come across people who are literally unemployed. It may be a case
of lower wages, more than the case of unemployment. Raising economic activity
through the private sector and via government expenditure should give boost
employment, he said.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
UNEMPLOYMENT IS NOT THE BIGGER ISSUE; MEANINGFUL EMPLOYMENT
IS, SAYS CEA
Krishnamurthy Subramanian,
the new Chief Economic Advisor (CEA), believes there should be a debate on data
— be it on jobs or the economy — and that volatility is not necessarily an
error. Data’s very important. I would be careful when commenting on numbers, he
told. As an academic I can vouch for one thing — if you tell me to do something
then I will think not twice but 10 times. That is generally in an academic’s
DNA. The changes in the back series were done as part of a process to bring it
more in line with the UN system to measure national statistics, said Subramanian.
It was primarily done to be able to measure activities in a better way, to
bring in a better proxy, he added. We have to remember that demonetisation and
GST were a two-part phenomenon that expanded the formal sector, he said. It is
important to keep in mind that for any proxy, you would have to measure the
activities before it, and the same would not be tuned well enough to be able to
assess a shock that was completely unanticipated, he added. On the controversy
over jobs data, he said: My preference is to comment on data that is released
so that one can study and understand it. Therefore, I would go back to data
that has been put out in the Economic Survey, for instance. If you take the
EPFO data, it does not have data on firms having less than 10 workers and that
is why it is underestimated in the sense of employment creation. If you
remember, actually, 73 lakh jobs were created over a period of 15 months. So,
this is something which I would like to vet. The jobs debate has been a rather
interesting one, said Subramanian. However, what matters is not a 50 basis
point or 1 percentage point change in the employment rate, but the issue of
meaningful employment, he added. The data do not adequately cover the numerous
activities in the unorganised sector, he observed. Unemployment is not the
bigger point to debate, it is the meaningful employment. The economist’s basic
tool is demand and supply, said the CEA. What you see as an equilibrium is an
outcome of demand and supply, he said. So the numbers in the jobs data are an
outcome of the supply side — the number of jobs which firms are creating, and
the demand side — the number of people skilled enough to take those jobs, he
said, adding that while everyone is focussing on the supply side, the demand
side question is not being asked.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
NEED TO CREATE CONDUCIVE ENVIRONMENT FOR YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS:
PRABHU
Suresh Prabhu Saturday
said there is a need to create a conducive environment and bring changes in old
regulations to promote budding entrepreneurs. Had a fireside chat with the
startups from Maharashtra and regulators on one platform. The government is
contemplating hike in the investment limit for availing income tax concessions
by startups and provide a more clear definition for the purpose.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
COMMITTEE FOR GLOBAL FUNDS
A Better Regulatory
Advisory Group was constituted under the chairmanship of Secretary, Department
for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade on 27.10.2017 to identify the regulatory
and procedural issues hindering investments by the domestic and foreign
companies. The following sub-groups were formed to recommend measures for
developing a better mechanism for fast-tracking such investments:
·
Income-tax
·
Goods and Services Tax
·
Corporate Laws
·
Financial Securities Laws
·
Regulatory Impact
Assessment
·
MSME
The recommendations
received from the Group were shared with the concerned Ministries and
Departments for implementation. However, no specific timeline was set for
implementation of these reform measures.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
NATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY WEEK
National Productivity
Council (NPC), an autonomous registered society under Department for Promotion
of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, NPC is
celebrating its 61st Foundation Day on 12th February with the theme Circular
Economy for Productivity & Sustainability. NPC observes foundation day as
Productivity Day and the National Productivity Week from February 12-18, 2019. At
the national level function to be organised between 12th to 18th February,
panel discussions by experts has been organized to deliberate on the
challenges, benefits and outcomes from implementation of circular economy. It
is envisaged that the session’s outcomes will be in terms of awareness and
consciousness on the circular economy approaches. The circular economy follows
the principle of preservation and enhancement of natural capital by controlling
finite stocks and balancing renewable resource flows. The other principles
suggest optimizing of resource yields by circulating products, components, and
materials at their highest utility at all times, in both technical and
biological cycles. To integrate circular economy principle in strategy and
process, NPC has been in forefront enhancing of such efforts in enhancing
productivity. Through observation of this week, it aims at collaboration with
business and policy makers so as Circular Economy opportunities can be
highlighted.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
GUIDELINES ON PUBLIC PROCUREMENT
The Public Procurement
(Preference to Make in India), Order 2017 (as amended on 28.05.2018) (PPP-MII
Order) was issued pursuant to Rule 153(iii) of the General Financial Rules 2017
as an enabling provision to promote domestic value addition in public
procurement The policy aims at incentivizing production linked through local
content requirements, thereby encouraging domestic manufacturers’ participation
in public procurement activities over entities merely importing to trade or
assemble items. This Order is applicable on procurement of goods, services and
works (including turnkey works) by a Central Ministry, Department, their
attached, subordinate offices, autonomous bodies controlled by the Government
of India, Government companies, their Joint Ventures and Special Purpose
Vehicles. As per PPP-MII Order, purchase preference is given to local suppliers
who meet the minimum local content requirement. Further, various Ministries and
Departments have been designated as nodal for notifying minimum local content
for the relevant product categories. Following mechanism has been put in place
for strict monitoring of implementation of PPP-MII Order by Central Government
agencies:
·
All procuring entities
have to certify compliance with the provisions of the Order while publishing
any tender on Central Public Procurement Portal.
·
Stakeholders can lodge
online complaint on Central Public Procurement Portal for alleged violation of
the Order.
·
A Cell has been created in
DPIIT to take up grievances for alleged violation of the Order with procuring
entities.
·
Grievance redressal and
sector specific meetings are held to resolve the grievances.
·
Standing Committee has
been constituted under PPP - MII Order to oversee the implementation.
·
The proposed new Industrial
Policy is to be a roadmap for all business enterprises in the country. In this
regard, consultations have been held with stakeholders to get their ideas and
feedback.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
MANUFACTURING OF MOBILE HANDSETS
One hundred twenty-seven
units are manufacturing mobile handsets in the country and all of them are
operating from the Domestic Tariff Area (DTA). As per information received from
the Department of Commerce, M/s Flextronics Technologies (I) Pvt. Ltd. and M/s
Pertech Exports Pvt. Ltd. have been granted letter of approval for manufacture
of mobile handsets in SEZs. As per information received from the Ministry of
Electronics and Information Technology(MeitY), the mobile handset manufacturing
operations in DTA are governed by the applicable duty structure. The benefits
available to manufacturers of mobile handsets include rationalized tariff
structure and a Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP) and their sub-assemblies,
parts, availing Capex benefits under the Modified Special Incentive Package
Scheme (M-SIPS), 100% FDI permitted for manufacture of mobile handsets and
their sub-assemblies, parts, export incentive of 4% of FoB value of export
under the Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS) and specified capital
goods for manufacture of mobile handsets are permitted for import at ‘Nil’
Basic Customs Duty (BCD). Benefits available to the units under SEZ Act, 2005
& SEZ Rules, 2006 include duty free import and domestic procurement of
goods for development, operation and maintenance of SEZ units, 100% Income Tax
exemption on export income for SEZ units under Section 10AA of the Income Tax
Act for first 5 years, 50% for next 5 years thereafter and 50% of the ploughed
back export profit for next 5 years, exemption from GST and supplies to SEZs
are zero rated under IGST Act, 2017 and exemption from other levies as imposed
by the respective State Governments. MeitY has received representations from
industry, industry associations, including M/s Samsung India Electronics Pvt
Ltd in respect of Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP) for 2019-20. MeitY has
informed that its proposal to defer PMP for cellular mobile handsets, its
sub-assemblies and parts, sub-parts, inputs of the sub-assemblies thereof has
been accepted by the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance. Import of LCD,
LED TVs from Free Trade Agreement (FTA) countries including China is 3.68 lakh
units in 2017-18 and it is 7.58 lakh units during April to October, 2018.
Although Samsung has stopped production of TVs in India and import from Vietnam
has risen during 2017-18, Government has undertaken several initiatives to
promote domestic electronics manufacturers. Ministry of Electronics &
Information Technology has implemented incentives schemes, increased FDI up to
100% and introduced ‘Nil’ Basic Customs Duty for notified capital goods.
Proactive steps are taken in R&D with grant-in-aid to premier technology
institutes to support Make in India. National Centre for Excellence have been
set up in areas of Flexible Electronics (NCFleXE), Technology for Internal
Security (NCETIS), Next Generation AMOLED Displays, OLED Lighting and OPV
Products and Internet of Things (IoT).
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
82,000 WORKMEN TRAINED IN 6 TRADES FOR HIGHWAY PROJECTS UNDER
SKILL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM BY MSD&E
Mansukh Mandaviya in a
written reply to the Lok Sabha last week informed that the Ministry of Road
Transport & Highways has initiated Skill Development Program under RPL
(Recognition of Prior Learning) scheme to train construction workers in the
highway sector. The scheme is being implemented through the Ministry of Skill
Development & Entrepreneurship, and guidelines to this effect have been
issued by the Ministry. As per the guidelines, the workers are to be trained
for Highway Projects costing more than Rs 100 Crores. Under this program,
95,000 workmen have been registered till date and 82,000 workmen have been
trained in 6 trades i.e. Masonry, Bar bending, Scaffolding, Shuttering/
Carpentry, Plumbing and Painting. In another written reply, Shri Mandaviya
stated that roads are being constructed in the country by using rubber as a
modifier. He also informed the House that around 3.14 lakhs electric vehicles
are presently operating in the country. The Government has taken various steps
to encourage the use of electric vehicles which include exemption of battery
operated vehicles from the requirement of permit, green background of
registration plate of electric vehicles, allowing retro-fitment of hybrid
electric system or electric kit to vehicles running on petrol and diesel and
issuing guidelines & standards for charging infrastructure for electric
vehicles. The increased number of electric vehicles will not only cut the cost
of precious fuel but also save the environment from pollution.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
SCHEME FOR PENSION AND MEDICAL AID TO ARTISTES
The Government is
implementing a Scheme namely Scheme for Pension and Medical Aid to Artistes.
The objective of the Scheme is to improve financial and socio-economic status
of the old aged artistes and scholars who have contributed significantly in
their specialized fields of arts, letters etc. but leading a miserable life or
are in penury condition. The Scheme has also provision to provide medical aid
facility to such Artistes and his/her spouse by covering them under a
convenient and affordable Health Insurance Scheme of the Government.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
A TOTAL OF 37 PROPOSALS FOR NEW MUSEUMS APPROVED SINCE
2014-15: DR. MAHESH SHARMA
Museum Grant Scheme has
been approved for continuation till 31.03.2020. A total of 37 proposals for new
museums have been approved since 2014-15. Under the Museum Grant Scheme, grants
are released in installments. After release of first installment, subsequent
installments are released after utilization of previous installments.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
LIGHT HOUSE PROJECTS CHALLENGE LAUNCHED
The Ministry of Housing
& Urban Affairs has instituted a challenge for States/ UTs to select six
sites across the country for constructing the Lighthouse projects under
GHTC-India. MoHUA encourages all States/ UTs to participate in this challenge
proactively. The winning six States/ UTs that score the highest marks across
the prescribed criteria will be awarded lighthouse projects. The States/ UTs
will receive Central Assistance to construct these projects as per PMAY (U)
guidelines. In addition to this, a Technology Innovation Grant (TIG) for the
States/ UTs is provisioned to offset the impact of any additional cost
implication due to the use of new technology and to absorb the issues related
to economies of scale and other related factors. The selected sites for
lighthouse projects will be used as an ‘open laboratory’ for live demonstration
and will receive due attention from academia (Civil Engineering, Planning,
Architecture), practitioners (Public/ Private), policy makers (Central/ State)
and media apart from felicitation/ recognition in Grand Expo-cum-Conference. The
last date for participation by the States/UTs is 20th February’19. The States /
UTs may send their applications in the prescribed format at the earliest and
latest by 20th February 2019.The Selected States/ UTs will enter into a
Memorandum of Agreement (MoU) with MoHUA to execute these Light house projects
in their States/ UTs under GHTC-India.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
JITENDRA SINGH TO PRESENT CERTIFICATES OF APPRECIATION TO 9
MINISTRIES/DEPARTMENTS
The MoS (PP) Dr. Jitendra
Singh will confer Certificates of Appreciation to 9 Ministries/Departments of Government
of India tomorrow (12.02.2019) here, to appreciate the sincere efforts made by
them and giving recognition of the commendable work done by them in
implementation of e-Office. In 2018, 34 Ministries/Departments were awarded
Certificate of Appreciation. The e-Office is a Mission Mode Project under the
National e-Governance Plan and is being implemented by the Department of
Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) to improve efficiency in
Government Process and Service Delivery Mechanism. The e-Office is a Digital
Workplace Solution that replaces the physical files and documents with an
efficient electronic system. Being an electronic system, it has its inherent
advantages such as data is stored digitally with audit trails for every transaction
being done. Regular backups and Disaster Recovery Systems are in place which
ensures that Government files are not damaged in case of any mishap. In
addition, this being a web based application; people can access it from
anywhere through VPN. The e-Office system contains the following packages:-
1) File Management System
(FMS)
2) Knowledge Management
System (KMS)
3) eFile MIS Reports
4) Personnel Information
Management System (PIMS)
5) Employee Master Details
(EMD)
6) Leave Management System
(LMS)
7) Leave MIS Reports
8) Tour Management System
(TMS)
9) Master Data Management
The Department of
Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) has coordinated with all
Central Ministries/Departments to expedite the implementation of the e-office.
The Department has taken various steps to accelerate the implementation in the
various Ministries/Departments. This includes, conducting review meetings and
visiting Ministries/Departments to understand the specific problems. As a
result of these efforts, till date, 43 Ministries/Departments are completely on
e-Office platform. Department of Health Research is the latest to achieve
complete e-Office implementation. 75 Ministries/Departments are actively using
the e-office platform. Ministry of AYUSH is the most recent Ministry to go live
on the e-office platform.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
FDI IN GUJARAT SURGES OVER 220%
Helped by a lower base,
and uptick in investment cycle, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Gujarat more
than tripled in the first half of the current financial year. This comes even
as FDI inflows in the country as a whole fell by more than 10% in the same
period, latest data shows. Gujarat received FDI inflows worth $1.55 bn
(Rs10,832 crore) between April and September of 2018-19, 221% higher than the
foreign investment of $0.48 bn (Rs3,104 crore) in the same period of the
previous fiscal year, according to just-released statistics of the commerce
ministry's Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP). While
foreign direct investment in Gujarat showed a sharp rise, its rank among states
with the highest inflows fell to sixth. Delhi attracted FDI of $5.65 bn in the
first half of the year, making it the preferred investment destination for
foreign investors. It was closely followed by Maharashtra with $5.32 bn. Karnataka
was the third most attractive state for FDI as it saw $2.55 bn inflows in the
first half of the fiscal. Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana) with $2.15 bn
foreign direct investment had the fourth highest FDI inflows. With FDI of $1.59
bn, Tamil Nadu was just ahead of Gujarat to be ranked fifth. For the whole of
2017-18, Gujarat attracted FDI of $2.09 billion, and the state's share was
4.66% of the total pie. However, because of the sharp rise in FDI inflows in
the current year, the state's share has gone up to 6.85% of the total inflows,
the data shows.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
GOYAL HINTS JAITLEY MAY RESUME CHARGE OF FINANCE MINISTRY
Interim finance minister
Piyush Goyal on Sunday hinted that Union minister Arun Jaitley who has returned
from the US on Saturday may resume charge of the finance ministry soon I have
got this opportunity to address you because I have the temporary charge of the
finance ministry. It is a matter of happiness that Arun Jaitley has returned
yesterday evening in good health. I spoke to him and told him that can I excuse
myself from this event. He said, ‘No, because you have agreed for this event,
you have to go’, Goyal said. A finance ministry official, however, said under
condition of anonymity that Jaitley is unlikely to resume office during the
current session of Parliament which ends on Wednesday. Piyush Goyal will reply
to the debate on the interim budget in Parliament, he added.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
INDIA TO CONTINUE GROWING AT FASTEST PACE; COULD BE
SECOND-LARGEST ECONOMY BY 2030: PM
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi exuded confidence on Monday that India would continue to be the
fastest-growing large economy and could be the second-largest economy in the
world by 2030. Leading agencies such as IMF and World Bank project the same
trend to continue in the coming years. In an uncertain global economic
environment, India has shown tremendous resilience as an anchor of the world
economy, Modi said. Modi said, currently, India is fastest-growing large
economy in the world and it recently became the sixth-largest economy in the
world. According to a recent report, by 2030 India could be the second-largest
world economy. As per a Standard Chartered report, India is likely to pip the
United States to become the world's second-largest economy by 2030 China will
on the top spot surpassing US, which will be at the third place, the report
said. On the roller coaster movement of crude oil and pricing of petroleum, he
said, We need to move to responsible pricing which balances interests of both
producers and consumers. We also need to move toward transparent and flexible
market for both oil and gas, only then we can serve energy needs of humanity in
optimal manner. He also said that India has made rapid strides in achieving
COP21 targets and are on way to achieve those. He said, India has the
fourth-largest refining capacity in the world. This will further grow up by
about 200 million metric tonnes by 2030. Our national bio fuel policy has
enacted last year. research on second and third generation bio fuel is being
promoted. 12-second generation bio refineries are being set up in 11 states.
Talking about energy policy of India he said, We have adopted an integrated
approach in energy planning During the last Petrotech Conference in 2016, I
mentioned four pillars for India's future - energy access, efficiency,
sustainability and security. He was of the view that energy justice is also key
objective for him and a top priority for India. He also mentioned that under
our UDAY scheme, the government is working towards this objective. India's
World Bank ease of electricity ranking improved from 111 in 2014 to 29 in 2018.
Lauding energy efficiency programmes, he said that LED bulbs distributed across
the country under UJALA scheme have resulted in an annual savings of Rs 17,000
crore or nearly USD 2.5 billion.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
SOON, SPECIAL DRIVE TO DOUBLE KISAN CREDIT CARDS TO 14 CRORE
Seeking to bring all
landholding cultivators within the institutional credit system the Centre is
set to launch a special drive to reach out to all farmers with Kisan Credit
Cards (KCCs) by doubling its footprint from 6.95 crore to around 14 crore
active cards ahead of general elections. The aim is to issue KCCs to eligible
farmers within two weeks of submission of application forms. The Indian Banks
Association issued an advisory to all banks last week asking them to waive
processing, documentation, inspection, ledger folio charges and all other service
charges for KCC and crop loans up to Rs 3 lakh — a move which may save a farmer
applying for KCC Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000. The agriculture ministry has written to
all states and UTs seeking their cooperation . Idea is to saturate farmers with
KCCs so that they can access institutional credit and avail interest
subvention, agriculture secretary Sanjay Agarwal said. Decision to waive off
various service charges is a good move It’ll save Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 of an
applicant if adopted by banks. Complexities involved in it force farmers to
even hire lawyers to approach banks for KCC, said Sudhir Panwar.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
GOVT SEEKS RS 1600 CRORE TO PAY EVM SUPPLIERS
The government has sought
over Rs 1,637 crore in the current fiscal to allow the law ministry make
payments to two suppliers of EVMs and paper trail machines ahead of the Lok
Sabha elections. The government, in the third batch of Supplementary Demands
for Grants for 2018-19, has sought Parliament's approval for Rs 1,637.14 crore to
allow the Law Ministry pay Electronics Corporation of India Ltd and Bharat
Electronics Ltd for electronic voting machines and paper trail machines,
according to the document. The third batch of supplementary demands for grants
will be passed by February 13 when the Budget session concludes. The two public
sector undertakings tasked with manufacturing the latest M3 type EVMs to be
used in Lok Sabha elections due this summer have delivered the lot comprising
nearly 22.3 lakh ballot units and 16.3 lakh control units to the Election
Commission. Around 22.3 lakh ballot units, 16.3 lakh control units and nearly
17.3 lakh VVPATs or paper trail machines will be used for the 2019 LS polls.
The number of machines includes the buffer stock for training as well as replacements.
Till date, EVMs have been used in 113 Assembly elections and three Lok Sabha
elections since 2000.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
NINE CRORE TV HOMES MIGRATE TO NEW TARIFF REGIME: R S SHARMA,
TRAI CHIEF
Telecom regulator Trai has
said nine crore out of 17 crore TV homes have made their channel preferences to
onboard the new tariff regime, and it is constantly monitoring the situation to
ensure that consumers do not face inconvenience. The speed (of onboarding) has
increased as per our data and we expect the rest of the people to also register
their choice of channels soon, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai)
Chairman R S Sharma told. Sharma, who is spearheading Trai's new tariff and
regulatory framework for broadcasting and cable services, said of the nine
crore TV homes that have made their channel preferences clear, 6.5 crore are
cable TV homes and 2.5 crore are DTH homes. Out of the total 17 crore TV homes
(which includes 7 crore DTH homes and 10 crore cable TV homes), about nine crore
homes have already registered their choice with the operators, which is a big
number, he said. Since DTH is a pre-paid model, as and when customers' long and
short duration packs come to an end, people will make channel selection, he
added.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
GOVERNMENT SHOULD FULFIL PROMISE OF SPECIAL STATUS TO ANDHRA
WITHOUT DELAY: MANMOHAN SINGH
Former prime minister
Manmohan Singh Monday extended support to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister
Chandrababu Naidu's day-long fast for special status to the state and said the
central government should fulfil the promise without any further delay Singh,
who headed the UPA government at the Centre when Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated,
said, This demand had support of all parties when it was discussed in
Parliament. I stand in solidarity with Naidu. He said the special category
status promise must be implemented without any further delay and that he had
always stood by the people of the state..
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
‘91% OF URBAN MIGRANTS NOT REGISTERED TO VOTE’
As many as 91% of urban
migrants are not registered to vote in the place where they live, though 75%
would like to be able to vote in the 2019 general election, said a study of
1,100 urban migrants in Delhi, Mumbai-Pune, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. Nestaway,
the rental housing portal that conducted the study, said the people they
surveyed were mostly in their 20s and working professionals. Many of them have
tried to get their voter registration done. But the process is painful, particularly
if you are not from the same state. In Karnataka, language is a barrier. Still,
authorities are more proactive now in helping out fresh voters, said Amarendra
Sahu. An overwhelming majority of urban migrants (73%) don’t know how to
register as a voter in the city where they now live. More shocking was that 60%
of migrants thought they cannot vote if they move to a new city. Only 40% were
aware that they could get their place of registration changed. Many even
believe that having a voter ID made them eligible to vote from anywhere, said
Sahu. Among the major reasons migrants don’t vote are a lack of knowledge about
how to register, not having the necessary documents to establish residency, and
disinterest in politics. Migrants in Bengaluru seem to be more proactive in
getting their voter IDs than their counter par ts in Delhi, Mumbai and Pune.
About 53% of respondents had valid voter IDs in Bengaluru, compared to 52% in
Mumbai-Pune and 47% in Delhi. But only 20% in Bengaluru were aware of the
process to enroll as a voter, compared to 27% in Mumbai-Pune, and 29% in Delhi.
About 67% of respondents in Delhi thought they could not vote in a city they
have moved to for work, compared to 62% in Mumbai-Pune and 58% in Bengaluru. The
road to elections, however, is paved with good intentions. Some 77% of
respondents in Bengaluru said they want to vote and will work towards it; it
was 69% in Delhi and 70% in Mumbai-Pune. About 34% of respondents were aged
18-25, 44% from 25-30, 14% from 30-35 and 8% above 35. About 80.5% of the
respondents were men, 19% women and 0.5% transgenders.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
INDIAN SMARTPHONE MARKET GREW BY 10% IN 2018: REPORT
India now accounts for
more than 10% of the global smartphone market with a total of 137 million
smartphones shipped in 2018—up from 124.9 million in 2017. China and the US,
however, still account for a majority of the market with shipments of over 350
million and 150 million units, respectively, even though their numbers fell in
2018 as buyers in upgraded to newer phones less frequently. The report, though,
qualifies that India wasn’t the fastest growing smartphone market in 2018.
Indonesia with an annual growth rate of 17.1% and Russia with 14.1% were ahead
in the figure of India in the list. Among manufacturers, Xiaomi consolidated
its position in 2018 and remained at the top for the entire year with a 30%
market share and 41 million units shipped. In 2017, Xiaomi shipped 25.7 million
units and was at the second position with 20.6% market share. Samsung, which
was ahead of Xiaomi in 2017 with 23.6% market share and 29.4 million units
slipped to second position in 2018 with a market share of 25.8%. The slump in
the Chinese smartphone market has made India a major destination for Chinese
companies. India is now the biggest market for Xiaomi worldwide. Other leading
Chinese companies Vivo and Oppo, too, did not see any major shift in fortunes
and continued to occupy the third and fourth position, respectively. Rushabh
Doshi, said, The FDI policies are going to slow market development spending by
these platforms, thereby denting overall online smartphone sales. There will be
a see-saw shift toward offline channels this year, and many vendors will start
engaging with distributors or offline retailers in a bid to protect their
growth ambitions. According to a Counterpoint Research report published in
January 2019, the online market accounted for 36% of the smartphone shipments
in 2018, with a strong performance by Flipkart and Amazon.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
INDIA TO SEEK WTO NOD FOR BIS-CERTIFIED LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM
GAS STOVES
India is set to approach
the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to make the certification from Bureau of
Indian Standards (BIS) mandatory for all the liquefied petroleum gas stoves
sold in the country. This is after sale of LPG stoves more than doubled to
around 50 million a year for the last three years, following the launch of
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. The move is likely to deal a huge blow to over
200 small players and importers, who run their business through e-commerce
platforms and local shops. A major chunk of these imports comes from China.
Having BIS certification will ensure that all the gas stoves sold in India have
high thermal efficiency of at least 68 per cent, compared to 60 per cent for
non-BIS ones. A senior government official said the ministry of petroleum and
natural gas had approached the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion
(DIPP) in this regard. Two sources, who were closely associated with the
development, told Business Standard that DIPP is likely to send a draft quality
control order to WTO for a mandatory 60-day consultation by the end of March.
Only around 300 companies have BIS certification now, which is mandatory for
those sold by dealers of oil marketing companies. This is around 70 per cent of
the total sales in the country, while the rest are non-BIS, said an official.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
RS 2.50-TRN THERMAL POWER PROJECTS STRESSED, NEED URGENT
REMEDY: REPORT
Investments worth over Rs
2.50 trillion in thermal power projects (based on domestic coal, imported coal
and gas) are facing stress, and immediate remedial measures are needed to
ensure that they are revived in a time-bound manner, as per a report. The
ASSOCHAM-Grant Thornton joint study noted that the country's power sector has
been one of the highly stressed sectors in recent times, with loans worth
approximately Rs 1 trillion having turned bad or been recast. As per the recent
estimates, around 66,000 Mw capacity is facing various degrees of financial
stress, including 54,800 Mw of coal-based power, 6,830 Mw of gas-based power
and 4,570 Mw of hydropower with the lenders having an exposure of around Rs 3
lakh crore (Rs 3 trillion) to these assets, which is alarming, to say the
least, noted the study titled 'Stressed assets in the Indian thermal power
sector'.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
DELHI TO GET FAST-CHARGING E-VEHICLE STATIONS BY NEXT MONTH
The government is setting
up infrastructure for charging electric vehicles (EVs) in some busy areas of
the Capital where cars can be recharged for as low as Rs 30 for a 15-minute
top-up We will set up fast-charging stations in public parking spaces and
high-visibility areas. When people see chargers at various locations, it takes
care of the range anxiety issues, Saurabh Kumar, managing director, Energy
Efficiency Services (EESL), told. Range-anxiety refers to the concern triggered
by unavailability of public charging stations, that also questions on EV
feasibility. A 15-minutes charge will allow a range of 22 km while it will take
90 minutes to fully charge a vehicle. State-run EESL plans to set up 84 such
facilities by March-end at Khan Market and Yashwant Place, among other
locations in New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area, which includes Lutyens’
Delhi. Users will be able to charge with a mobile app, ElectriFi, and even book
a time slot.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
GOVT CONSIDERING TO ALLOW 'MOBILE SHOPS' FOR STREET VENDORS:
MINISTRY
The Union Housing and Urban
Affairs Ministry is contemplating to introduce 'mobile shops' concept for
street vendors in the country under its National Urban Livelihoods Mission
(NULM), a senior official said. Ministry Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra said
that under the concept, the owner will be given license to do the mobile street
vending. The idea was floated at a recent 'National Workshop on Street Vendors'
organised by the ministry. He said 18 lakh street vendors have been identified
so far in 2,430 cities across the country under the Street Vendors Act 2014. Also,
2,344 'Street Vendor Committees' have been constituted and nine lakh street
vendors have been issued identify cards under the Act, the secretary said.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS READY TO FUND NBCC TO FINISH STALLED NOIDA
HOMES
Four major public sector
banks have offered to infuse fresh funds to complete about half a dozen stalled
housing projects in Noida and Greater Noida if the state-run National Buildings
Construction Corporation (NBCC) steps in. The government has asked NBCC to give
a list of such projects and the amount required to complete each of them,
sources in the banking sector said. The move to complete the projects is likely
to send a strong message to a key constituency - the middle class - and come as
a huge relief for harassed homebuyers. About 3 lakh homebuyers have been
waiting for their flats in Noida and Greater Noida, which has become a major
headache for the central and UP governments. The matter of errant builders and
stuck projects are pending before courts.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
AUCTIONING OF PM’S MEMENTOES CONCLUDES; TREMENDOUS RESPONSE
RECEIVED FROM THE PEOPLE
The fortnight long process
of auctioning of mementoes received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his
term so far in office, came to a close on Saturday evening. The process of
auctioning received a tremendous response from the people of India. Over 1800
mementoes were successfully auctioned to the highest bidder during this period.
The proceeds from this auction will go towards supporting the noble cause of
Namami Gange.
Some highlights of the
auction
During the auction
organized at NGMA, a specially handcrafted wooden bike, received a successful
bid of Rs. 5 lakhs. A similar bid was also received for a unique painting,
which depicts Prime Minister Modi on a railway platform – a uniquely artistic
interpretation of Narendra Modi’s special bond with the railways. Some
spectacular bids were received during the e-auction as well.
·
A statuette of Lord Shiva,
which had a base price of Rs. 5000/-, was auctioned for Rs. 10 lakh, which is
200 times the base price.
·
A wooden replica of the
Ashok Stambh, which had a base price of Rs. 4000/- was auctioned for Rs. 13
lakh.
·
A traditional Horai,
received from Majuli, Assam, (a traditional symbol of the State of Assam - an
offering tray with a stand), which had a base price of Rs. 2000/- was auctioned
for Rs. 12 lakh.
·
A memento entitled
Divinity received from SGPC, Amritsar, which had a base price of Rs. 10,000/-
was auctioned for Rs. 10.1 lakh.
·
A statuette of Gautam
Buddha, which had a base price of Rs. 4000/- was auctioned for Rs. 7 lakh.
·
A traditional brass statue
of a lion, received from Shri Sushil Koirala, former Prime Minister of Nepal,
was auctioned for Rs. 5.20 lakh.
·
A silver vase (Kalash)
with embossing, with a base price of Rs. 10,000/- was auctioned for Rs. 6
lakhs.
·
Many other mementoes
fetched an auction value that is several times their base price.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
HIRING AT TOP IT FIRMS RISES FOURFOLD IN 2018
India’s top 10 information
technology (IT) companies added 114,390 engineers to their workforce in 2018, a
more than four-fold increase from the previous year. While the numbers are the
best in five years, few are predicting a similar showing in 2019. Much of the
jobs added in 2018 may have been because of increased hiring in the US under
pressure from the Donald Trump administration and customers outsourcing large
contracts on the condition that the vendors absorb some of their employees, two
human resources (HR) executives said. Although none of the companies disclosed
details of hiring in the US or the number of employees absorbed from clients,
the HR executives claimed that at least half of the net hiring made by companies
in 2018 is on account of one of these two reasons. The top five IT firms —Tata
Consultancy Services Ltd, Cognizant Technology Services Corp., Infosys Ltd, HCL
Technologies Ltd and Wipro Ltd—added 99,010 employees last year to take their
workforce to about 1.23 million as against an addition of 19,360 people in
2017, according to an analysis by Mint. The rest of the top 10—Tech Mahindra
Ltd, Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd, Mindtree Ltd, Cyient Ltd and Zensar
Ltd—added just 15,380 engineers compared with 2,796 in the previous year.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
COUNTRY IS MOVING TOWARDS CLEAN ENERGY BASED ECONOMY: PM MODI
Stating that the country
is moving towards clean energy based economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has
said that Centre has initiated several measures for providing energy security
of the nation Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated three prestigious
including Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in Visakhapatnam to the nation here
on Sunday. PM briefly explained about the significance of the projects he
launched. He said that the new projects worth Rs.9000 crore would be a boon to
the state’s growth and economy He said that the projects would also help local
youth in getting the jobs. He said that The petroleum projects were very
crucial in ensuring the energy security of the country. He said that SPR of
Visakhapatnam would help the country in managing its fuels during the
emergencies. He said that they have targeted to reduce the imports by 10 per
cent by 2020 and such storage facilities were vital in realizing the dreams.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
UNPRECEDENTED REFORMS IN LAST FIVE YEARS IN THE ENERGY SECTOR
Dharmendra Pradhan said
Energy occupies a very important place in Prime Minister’s vision for India. India
has seen unprecedented reforms in the last five years in the energy sector. He
said that these reforms have accelerated our work in delivering energy justice
to the poorest of the poor by adopting the four pillars visualized by Prime
Minister Modi- Energy access, Energy efficiency, Energy sustainability and
Energy security as our guiding principles. Shri Pradhan said the world is
seeing a dramatic shift in the sources of energy supply and consumption. There
has been a big shift in energy consumption from OECD countries to developing
Asia. Electric vehicles will also change the consumption patterns. US has
become the world’s largest oil and gas producer after the shale revolution and
is challenging the traditional oil dynamics. Affordable Solar PV is taking
increasing share in the supply mix, helping to reduce carbon footprints. The
Minister said that today, India’s voice as a large, reliable energy consuming
nation is heard with respect. We have been able to convince the oil suppliers
about India’s as well as all consuming nations justified stand for a
responsible and reasonable pricing. We have been able to simplify and reform
our oil and gas sector policies and guidelines to attract new investors and
inject new technologies. Schemes like Ujjwala and expansion of CGD have proved
to be game-changer in drastically ramping up access to clean cooking fuel to
millions of common people. Such initiatives are not only leading to energy
justice, as envisaged by Hon’ble PM, but also business opportunities and
addressing climate change as well as local pollution concerns.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
DEALER OWNED DEALER OPERATED MODEL FOR SETTING UP CNG STATIONS
Dharmendra Pradhan
launched the Dealer Owned Dealer Operated (DODO) model for setting up CNG
stations. He released the general guidelines for the schemes, under which the
entire earmarked dealer plot shall be developed exclusively for setting up of
CNG station and allied commercial activities at the discretion of CGD
activities. Under the scheme, 87 Geographical areas serviced by 23 entities
authorized will be covered. More than 1500 CNG stations are presently
operational in the country, catering to the demands of over 33 lakh CNG
vehicles. Under the 9th round of CGD bidding, more than 4600 new CNG stations
are expected across India in next 8 years. The ongoing 10th round of CGD
bidding envisages to cover 50 GAs, covering 124 districts spread over 14
states, accounting for 24% of India’s area and 18% of its population. After
10th bidding round, 53% of the country’s area and 70% of its population will
have access to CGD networks. As more and more CNG stations come up, more than
10% CNG stations may be based on DODO model. Pradhan said that the country is
moving towards the gas economy, as this fuel is cheaper and less polluting. The
PNGRB has undertaken unprecedented expansion of CGD network, and this will lead
to laying of more gas pipelines, increased production and availability of the
gas, and also last mile connectivity of the infrastructure to provide CNG and
PNG to the consumers. He called upon the investors and private players to
participate in the growth of gas based economy by using the opportunity
provided through DODO.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
IOC, ADANI, HPCL BIGGEST BIDDERS FOR CITY GAS LICENCES
State-owned Indian Oil
Corp (IOC) has emerged as the biggest bidder for city gas licences in the 10th
bid round that also saw Adani Group, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) and
Indraprastha Gas Ltd as the other prominent bidders, according to oil regulator
PNGRB. IOC, the country's top oil refiner and fuel marketing company that is
looking to diversify into natural gas distribution business big time, bid for
licences to retail CNG to automobiles and piped natural gas to households in 35
out of the 50 cities put on offer for the 10th round and another seven in
partnership with Adani Gas. Adani Gas bid for 19 cities on its own and seven in
partnership with IOC, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB)
said after opening of bids between February 7 and 9. HPCL, a subsidiary of
state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), emerged as the third largest
bidder, putting in bids for 24 towns and cities while Gujarat-based Torrent Gas
applied for 20 areas. Indraprastha Gas Ltd, which retails CNG and piped cooking
gas in the national capital, put in bids for 15 areas while Bharat Gas
Resources Ltd, a subsidiary of state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL),
bid for 14 cities. In the last bid round, it had managed to bag just 5 out of
the 86 Geographical Areas (GAs) put on offer. Petroleum and Natural Gas
Regulatory Board (PNGRB) had at the close of bidding on February 5 stated about
225 bids were received for licence to retail CNG to automobiles and piped
natural gas to households in 50 GAs offered in the 10th City Gas Distribution
(CGD) bidding round. It had not revealed the names of the bidders then. Eight
out of the 50 GAs received single bids, with IOC being the only applicant for
six areas in Bihar and Jharkhand while other two single bidders were Bharat Gas
Resources Ltd and GAIL Gas Ltd for one area each.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
GOVT SUBSIDIES ON OIL & GAS DOWN 76% BETWEEN 2014 AND
2017, COAL STABLE
Indian government
subsidies for fossil fuels, including oil and gas, have decreased by 76% over
the three years to 2017, but subsidies for the coal industry have remained
stable over the same period, a new study by think-tank International Institute
for Sustainable Development (IISD), has found. India, the world’s second
largest consumer of coal and the fourth largest emitter of carbon dioxide,
accounts for 7% of global emissions and continues to subsidise the loss-making,
polluting coal industry. Burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, is the largest
source of greenhouse gas emissions warming up the planet. Subsidies for oil and
gas decreased from Rs 1.5 lakh crore ($21 billion) in 2014 to Rs 36,900 crore
($5.1 billion) in 2017, while coal subsidies increased by 2%, from Rs 15,650
crore ($2.20 billion) to Rs 15,900 crore ($2.23 billion), according to the December
2018 IISD study. The biggest chunk of coal subsidies was on customs and excise
duties, to reduce input costs for coal-fired power generation. In 2017, the
coal industry received concessions worth Rs 7,523 crore ($1 billion) on customs
duty on imports. The same year, the coal sector also received concessions on
excise duty amounting to Rs 6,913 crore ($960 million). Together, these formed
91% (Rs 14,436 crore) of coal subsidies in 2017, said the IISD study. India’s
demand for coal in financial year (FY) 2017-18 was 908 million tonnes (MT), but
domestic production, at only 676 MT, fell short by 34%, according to the
ministry of coal. Government policies on coal subsidies saw major changes in
2017, with the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST), a unified tax
which subsumed several indirect taxes, including customs and excise duties. The
net value of coal subsidies, however, was unlikely to reduce significantly in
2018, said the IISD report. While abolishing concessional custom duty rates increased
the price of coal imports in 2018, the introduction of a new concession of 5%
on the sales tax rate for coal under the GST nearly offset the difference, said
the report. The concession under GST provided subsidies to coal worth Rs 12,122
crore ($1.7 billion) in 2018--84% of the subsidies received by coal in 2017
under former customs and excise duty rates, as per the IISD study. While this
represents a decrease, it reflects only a part of the actual subsidies received
by the coal industry. Thermal power companies in India escaped penalties worth
Rs 853 crore ($119 million) in 2014 and Rs 981 crore ($137 million) in 2017 for
not washing coal before use, as per environmental regulations. This was the
largest subsidy identified by the IISD study in the non-compliance group of
subsidies. The total untaxed external costs associated with coal use were worth
Rs 12 lakh crore ($196 billion) in India in 2015, the IISD report said, citing
calculations by global monetary cooperation organisation, the International
Monetary Fund. This is nearly 400 times the entire environment ministry budget
of Rs 3,111 crore in 2019-20. In FY 2018-19, it is expected that the net
addition will be -0.5 GW or [-500 MW], implying that there were more
retirements than capacity added in the past year, so 2019 will be crucial [for
the transition from fossil fuel-based to greener sources of energy], Garg said.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
PMO OKAYS MINISTRIES’ EV PROMOTION MEASURES
The government will,
however, not formulate a separate comprehensive policy on electric mobility as
was being discussed earlier, said officials. The approved proposals include
recent decisions by ministries to provide incentives to manufacturers, buyers
as well as electric mobility infrastructure creators. The Department of Revenue
had, on January 29, calibrated basic custom duty and goods and services tax
(GST) rates on EVs to make them competitive in domestic and global markets, as
well as lowered duties on raw material imported for manufacturing components. The
power ministry has issued guidelines for facilitating setting up of charging
stations across cities and highways, while the housing and urban affairs
ministry has notified an amendment to building code and town planning rules for
provisioning of EV charging stations in private and commercial buildings. We
are suggesting states consider exempting e-vehicles from such taxes, opting for
a sunset period for exemptions or putting a cap on e-vehicles to be exempted
from such taxes, the official said. The government is seized of the fact that
India needs to adopt effective strategies to position itself as a key driver in
the global mobility revolution and this can be done only by large-scale
domestic manufacturing of electric vehicles, along with all their components
including batteries.
#For Source of Information copy and paste the heading in google.
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
No comments:
Post a Comment