Upcoming Projects in India

5696 The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday approved the construction of a new rail link between Gadag and Wadi. The CCEA chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cleared the long pending project which passes through Gadag, Koppal, Raichur and Gulbarga districts, said a statement. The total cost of the 252.5 km length project is Rs 1922.14 crore and both the Karnataka government and the Government of India will share the cost on a 50 per cent each basis. Besides, the Karnataka would provide land free of cost. The project is expected to complete in six years.

5695 Hindustan Cleanenergy - is looking to enhance its portfolio from 350 MW to 1000 MW by fiscal 2016-17 and has already invested Rs.5,500crore on this. Indias largest solar power development company will bring 100 MW of solar power online in the next few months, half of which will be generated in Gujarat in the countrys western extremity. "This solar farm is generating about 48.5 million Kilowatt hour (KWh) annually, which is providing electricity for 50,000 homes everyday," Ghei said of the Rs.465 croreproject. There are 236,000 panels for generating power, Ghei said, indicating the rows of solar panels laid out neatly as in a plantation farm over an area of 300 acres. HPPPL was the countrys first power producer to install 5MW and 30MW solar projects, and aims to be the first to attain 1,000 MW solarcapacity by 2016-17, the chief executive said.

5694 The foundation stone for the NVH Lab project at International Centre for Automotive Technology (iCAT) Campus-II was laid by S Behuria, Secretary (Heavy Industries) in the presence of N R Gokarn, CEO and Project Director, NATRiP, and M K Singh, CMD, Bridge & Roof Co. (India) Ltd, recently. “The Noise, Vibration & Harshness (NVH) facility is a great boon for automotive original equipment and component manufacturers that would put India in the global league. We are confident of completing the project on schedule,” said M K Singh. The Rs 2268 croreNATRiP is one of the largest and most significant initiatives in the automotive sector to build core global competencies and facilitate seamless integration of Indian Automotive industry with it. The project is unique with the Government of India, a number of State Governments and Indian automotive industry joining hands to create a state-of-the-art testing, validation and R&D infrastructure across seven locations in the country. NATRiP project includes setting up of five green field centres at Manesar, Chennai, Indore, Silchar, Rae Bareilly and upgradation of two existing centres at Pune and Ahmednagar.

5693 The $4.7 billion Harman International of the U.S., which makes a range of infotainment and audio solutions for customers across varied segments, is building a greenfield venture in India. The project is fast coming up at Pune. The wholly-owned venture will assemble car infotainment systems for domestic car makers. The Indian facility is expected to go on stream latest by June. The mechanical part needs of the plant will be sourced from the domestic market. Harman, however, will import electronic components. In a free-wheeling chat with this correspondent, M. Lakshminarayan, Managing Director, Harman India, said the U.S.-based company had invested around Rs.20 crore in the venture. The Pune facility would employ around 100 people, he added. Around 30 of them were already undergoing training, he said. Fielding a range of questions, he said the company could consider, at an appropriate time, manufacturing lifestyle products at the plant. That would, however, depend on how the markets evolved, he added.

5692 Yamuna Expressway Industrial development Authority has approved the metro rail project between the proposed metro station at PariChowk till sector 18 and 20, the first residential sectors of the authority being developed where over 21000 allotments have been done. P.C. Gupta, Chief Executive Officer,YEIDA, said today. that the Detail Project Report will be prepared by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) mentioning the cost of the project, passenger volume projections and project viability. "On getting the DPR, the project will be implemented on priority as we want project implementation before allottees construct houses and start living here. Metro alignment would be parallel to Yamuna expressway", he said. He said total metro railroute length would be around 21 kilometer from zero point of Yamuna Expressway on Noida- Greater Noida Expressway. Around six kilometre route will be in Greater Noida city area and the rest in Yamuna Expressway city area, he said. Meanwhile Noida board has earmarked Rs.1500 crore for the period 2014-15 for metro project between Botanical Garden and KalindiKunj. DMRC has started work on the project and was constructing bridge along Kalindi bridge on Yamuna river for the metro rail connectivity between Noida and Delhi route. Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority board has approved the DPR and MoU of proposed Metro rail project connecting Noida and Greater Noida. The Board has approved Rs.300 crores for metro project to be spent in 2014-15

5691 CM Nitish Kumar on Wednesday launched some ambitious projects of urban development and housing department (UDHD) which include the Ganga River Front Development Project, Patna. The water supply project for Bhagalpur and 28 other cities was also launched besides formation of federations of womens self-help groups, rickshawpullers, cartpullers and street vendors. These schemes will cost about Rs1,200crore. Under the river front project estimated at Rs263 crore, 6.6km stretch between 20 Ganga ghats, from collectorate to Nauzarghat, will be developed. A community cum eco centre at collectorate, a cultural centre at Bhadraghat, Ganga museum and park at Gaighat, audiovisual theatre at Bahrawaghat, cafe and reading room at Patna College ghat, Sulabh toilet complex at three ghats and crematorium building at Gulbighat, will be set up. UDHD secretary S Siddhartha, who introduced the projects, said 4 to 6 metres wide walkways will be constructed between every two ghats. Platforms for taking bath, changing rooms, washrooms and food kiosks will also be constructed at each ghat. The CM also launched Bhagalpur water supply project worth Rs485 crore for which loan has been obtained from the ADB. The project will be implemented in two phases and will be completed in four and a half years. It will include rehabilitation of existing water treatment works including pumping machinery and instruments and construction of 16 new overhead tanks. Under this scheme, meters will be installed in each household to check the misuse of water and fix water tax as per the usage. The water supply scheme for 28 other cities at an estimated cost of Rs360 crore was also launched.

5690 The World Bank and the government today signed a loan pact under which the multi-lateral lending institution will provide USD 175 million to fund a second highways project in Gujarat. "The loan agreement for World Bank (IBRD) assistance of USD 175 million for second Gujarat State Highways Project (GSHP-II) has been signed between the Government of India and the World Bank," said a Finance Ministry release. The loan agreement, signed between NilayaMitash, Joint Secretary (Multilateral Institutions), Department of Economic Affairs, and OnnoRuhl, Country Director (India), World Bank will help modernise highways financing and institutions, and improve asset management performance among others. It will also help improve the road safety management framework in the state as well as access to some of the poorer tribal regions. The project agreement was signed by P PVakharia, Chief Engineer, Roads & Building Department, on behalf of the state government of Gujarat. "The project would directly improve the condition, capacity and safety of about 625 kilometres (km) of the 6,444 km core state road network. Local businesses and inhabitants in the area of influence of the project roads as well as users of the project roads will be direct beneficiaries of the project," it said. The roads identified for improvement of the project pass through 16 districts with a population of 3.8 crore. The loan will be extended for a period of five years. It will be implemented by state governments Department of Roads & Building.

5689 Unity Infraprojects, one of India’s major civil contracting firms, has bagged two projects worth Rs 3.64 billion from MCGM and NTPC. The first project has been awarded is for a township package for Kudgi Super Thermal Power Project, Stage I (3x800MV) by NTPC, valued at Rs. 2.48 billion, which is to be completed within a period of 24 months. The second order worth Rs. 1.15 billion is from Dy. chief engineer (storm water drains), Pl. Cell, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (M.C.G.M) for design, planning and construction including supply, delivery, erection, commissioning of mechanical, electrical, instrumentation and automation works and comprehensive operation and maintenance of Storm Water Pumping Stations (SWPS) at Britannia Outfall, RetiBunder Bay, Reay Road, Mumbai.

5688 BHEL Ltd said it has bagged an order for manufacturing 250 megawatt machines for the Pakaldul Hydro Power Project of Chenab Valley Power Corp in Jammu and Kashmir. BHEL is the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the project. “The order has been received for ₹1,000 crore, out of which ₹700 crore is to be delivered by BHEL, Bhopal,” an official statement said. The project will be completed within five years, the company said. BHEL will be supplying four 250 MW Francis Turbine Generators.

5687 London-based Essar Energy Plc on Wednesday announced its unit Mahan Coal Ltd has secured “Stage II” forest clearance from India’s ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) for its Mahan coal block in Madhya Pradesh. “This clearance is subject to fulfilment of some further conditions,” Essar Energy said on its website. “Mahan Coal will now be required to sign a mining lease agreement with the state of Madhya Pradesh before commencing mining operations.” Essar Power, which is a 98.27% subsidiary of Essar Energy, holds 50% of Mahan Coal. The Mahan coal block was originally allotted to the mining firm in 2006, the company said. “Despite clear evidence of violations of the Forest Rights Act and other mandatory conditions, Moily has pushed through “Stage II” clearance for the Mahan coal block. This project involves the loss of over 500,000 trees and will impact over thousands of people in 54 villages,” Pillai said. The controversial coal block was in 2006 granted to Mahan Coal-a joint venture of Essar Power and Hindalco Industries Ltd. It was granted an in-principle approval for mining by MoEF on 18 October 2012, after pressure from a group of ministers (GoM) on coal mining. The approval came with 36 conditions that required range of studies to be completed and several processes under Forest Rights Act complied with. There are 62 villages that depend on the forest for their livelihood.

5686 Haryana Public Works (Building and Roads) Minister, Randeep Singh Surjewala said that National Highway Authority of India has given approval of four laning of National Highway 65 from Ambala to Kaithal. A sum of Rs 724 crore would be spent on four laning of this 96 kilometer long road. Central Government has invited tenders for this big project and its work would start soon. Surjewala said that this project has been approved by Central Government under National Highway Development Programme. He said that Kaithal would emerge as new commercial centre with such big projects and with its being set up as main centre, new dimensions of economic development would be set up. He said that Section 3A has been implemented in areas of three districts Ambala, Kurukshetra and Kaithal and most of the area has been informed about it. This project is being made on BOT Toll Model. He said that under this project, four new bypasses have been approved including Kaithal bypass, Pehowa bypass, Ismailabad bypass and Ambala bypass. All bypasses would be set up by following modern standard.

5685 Jaihind Projects, a global engineering construction projects company, has bagged order valued Rs 217.1 million from Karnataka Urban Water Supply & Drainage Board. The company received order for providing and laying sewer lines and construction of manhole chambers, wetwells, laying DI rising main, construction of D.G. set rooms in Zone -1 under 2nd stage UGD scheme to Kollegala town.

5684 Tata International Ltd today said it has entered into an agreement with GST AutoLeather Inc to form a joint venture company to be headquartered in Mumbai. Tata International signed a letter of intent and an agreement to form the venture, Tata International GST Auto Leather Ltd. The company is expected to be formed within the next 60 days, according to a release issued here. Tata International is a manufacturer and exporter of leather and leather products and is a supplier to the automotive industry. Michigan-based GST AutoLeather has production facilities and sales offices across four continents. The JV will supply automotive leather products to the expanding Indian original equipment market and other export markets, the release said. "This joint venture brings together two companies with a long heritage in the leather business. TIL with its deep experience in producing leather for the Indian market and GSTs global automotive experience brings together two companies that share common values and a relentless pursuit of excellence", Tata International Managing Director Noel N Tata said. "We look forward to beginning the process of building a premier automotive leather company in India," said Dennis Hiller, President and CEO of GST AutoLeather

5683 BPSCL has obtained all the necessary clearances from statutory bodies. "They are awaiting a green signal from the administration to begin the construction of a boundary wall," said Bhargava. He added there are no major hurdles left in the setting up of the power facility. The project will come up on a 900 acre of land, which has already been acquired by BPSCL. The construction of a 10 km long boundary wall is to be done for which they are waiting for green signal from district administration. Keeping in view the demands of villagers, the company has pledged to provide road, water and other amenities as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Villagers agreed to the setting up of the plant in lieu of the development of the area and their welfare. Bokaro DC Uma Shanker Singh said the administration is working to resolve issues related to the setting up of the BPSCL power plant. They have formed a committee comprising administrative, police and company officials along with local residents, who will convene meetingsfrom time to time to end the dispute. Bokaro, known as a power hub in the state, already boasts of four major power units, including Tenughat Thermal Power Station of Tenughat Vidyut Nigam Limited (TVNL) in Gomia, Bokaro Thermal Power Station and Chandrapura Thermal Power Station of Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) in Bermo and 338 MW power plant of BPSCL. BPSCL is a joint venture of Steel Authourity of India Limited (SAIL) and DVC. Power and steam produced by the company is supplied to Bokaro Steel Limited (BSL). With BSL aiming to enhance its production from the present 5.77 MT to 16 MT by 2025, it will require additional power for smooth operation. This has raised the need to expedite installation of new 500 (250x2) MW power plant of BPSCL, which will cater to the power needs of BSL.

5682 Coal India has invited private companies to develop two underground coal gasification (UCG) projects and commercially produce gas from the blocks. UCG is applied on coal seams that are otherwise unprofitable or technically complicated to extract by traditional mining methods. The process involves injection of a mixture of compounds to the coal seam to produce gas that is then harnessed to turn turbines or for the production of chemicals. Coal India has recently invited tenders from companies with experienced in UCG technology for developing the blocks which are owned by subsidiaries Western Coalfields and Central Coalfields. It is looking to start with the Thesgora C block of Western Coalfields and the Kaitha Block of Central Coalfields. The contract will be for 25 years - five years for a pilot project and market survey and the rest for commercial operation. The developer will be required to submit a contract performance guarantee of Rs 25 crore and will be required to have previous experience of successfully implementing UCG projects from concept to commissioning. Coal India has included a condition which requires the bidder to have a net worth of at least Rs 200 crore on an average for the past three financial years. Nevertheless, the company hopes to complete the tendering process and award the contract within the next three months.

5681 JSW Foundation, the social development division of the Jindal Steel Works Group, recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the department of women and child development (WCD) under the government of Maharashtra (GoM) to improve the status of nutrition among mothers (both pregnant and lactating) and children in Thane district. A six-year phase-wise scaling up strategy is has been planned where two talukas of Thane district will be taken in the first year, six in the second year and the remaining in third year. In the subsequent years, the focus will remain on establishing and sustaining the project in all the talukas of Thane district. Periodic joint reviews will continue to strengthen the execution of the project. According to government officials, the key goal of this project is to track every mother (both pregnant and lactating) and child below the age of six years. This will ensure both the availability and accessibility of the essential services to them such as immunization, supplementary nutrition, other basic health services and key messages on healthy practices at the community level. This aims at facilitating the reduction in the cases of low birth weight (LBW) babies which contribute significantly to the cases of severe and moderate malnutrition. Sangita Jindal, chairperson, JSW Foundation, and Ujjwal Uke, IAS, principal secretary, WCD, GoM, have signed the MoU document in the presence of Varsha Gaikwad, honourable minister, WCD, GoM here in Mumbai.

5680 Under steps to improve public emergency response in India, the central government is setting up an integrated location-based emergency response system for the communities The Indian Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved a proposal by the Ministry of Home Affairs to establish an Integrated Computer-Aided Dispatch platform. The system looks to effectively and efficiently respond to emergency calls by the public, and integrate with other emergency services such as medical, fire and disaster management. With the recent rise in reports of violence against women in India, special attention has been given to improving public emergency response systems. This project taps into the ‘Nirbhaya Fund’ which was set up in 2013 to support initiatives towards ensuring the safety of women. The dispatch platform will include GIS-based call response and GPS-based police vehicle dispatch system. The system will track alarms generated by panic buttons, landlines, mobiles and mobile applications and the appropriate emergency response units will be dispatched to attend calls. With control rooms to be setup in 114 cities and districts nationwide, the project aims to cover 32.6 per cent of the total population or 391 million people. This will include highly crime prone areas and cities with population of over a million. The project involves a total cost of INR 3.21 billion (US$ 52 million) of which INR 153 million (US$ 2.5 million) has been set aside for central monitoring and evaluation of the project. The response system will be integrated with the existing Police Dial 100 system for seamless operation and coordination between various agencies. It will also be integrated with the Crime and Criminal Tracking and Networking System, and State Service Delivery Gateways. The system will follow scalability and interoperability guidelines set by the Department of Information Technology. It aims to demonstrate capabilities of the Next Generation 9-1-1 network standards that have been established in United States and Canada, allowing dynamic identification of caller location. It also looks to allow data exchange between emergency call centres, dispatch centres, and police, fire, medical and disaster management command centres. The project will be implemented in stages over a period of nine months, followed by an operations and maintenance period of five years. It can be subsequently migrated to a single central emergency response number, said an official release by the Government.

5679 The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will soon float bids for three important road projects in Tamil Nadu which will significantly cut travel time to the pilgrim island of Rameshwaram by road. NHAI is executing several highway projects in Tamil Nadu aimed at improving connectivity to Rameshwaram, which is visited by thousands of pilgrims every day. As part of this initiative, NHAI has so far completed work in the 90 km stretch in the two-lane highway between Tiruchi and Ramanathapuram via Karaikudi. This highway with paved shoulders on NH 210 has been executed at a cost of Rs 374 crore. Soon, NHAI will start the bidding round for three more road projects that will improve Rameswarams connectivity with the rest of Tamil Nadu, official sources told PTI. The 84 km two lane Karaikudi-Ramanathapuram road (Rs 284 crore outlay ), an extension of Tiruchi Ramanathapuram stretch, Madurai-Ramanathapuram via Paramakudi (four lane, 115 km, outlay Rs 800 crore on NH 49) and Ramanathapuram-Rameswaram (two lane, 60 km Rs 145 crore) are the three road projects. All other important related work, including land acquisition, has been completed. The projects are being executed through the Engineering, Procurement and Construction mode by NHAI. The funding will be done by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The work is expected to start within six months and the tentative time for project completion is 30 months. These projects, when completed, are expected to halve the travel time to reach Rameshwaram from Tiruchi and Madurai. The travel time is presently three and a half hours from Madurai and five hours from Tiruchi to reach Rameswaram.

5678 Recently, the minister of state for railways Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who was in Puri, too asserted that the project would be commissioned before Nabakalebar. "Delang-Puri doubling is our priority. We would leave no stone unturned to ensure that the project is completed before March, 2015," Chowdhury had told media persons. On September 27, chief minister Naveen Patnaik drew the attention of railway minister Mallikarjun Kharge, seeking completion of Delang-Puri line doubling work before the festival. Naveen had also sought budgetary provision for Khurda Road by-pass line to meet the Nabakalebar rush in 2015. "Though the East Coast Railway recently submitted a Rs 16.87 crore proposal to construct the by-pass line of 1.3 km, the project has not been approved by the ministry," Naveen had written to Kharge. "The by-pass is imperative as a large number of trains will run to Puri to facilitate passenger movement during that time," Naveen had said. Out of the 44-km-long Delang-Puri doubling project, a stretch of 15-km has been commissioned between Khurda Road to Delang, railway sources said. "Out of 29 minor bridges on Delanga-Sakhigopal section, 26 bridges have been completed and work is in on the other three bridges. All the bridges will be completed by December, 2014," the officer said.

5677 Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today laid the foundation stone of the Rs 84.58-crore Lift Water supply scheme at Gharog in Shimla district, 30 km from here today. The scheme would benefit more than 50,000 residents of 618 villages spread over 29 gram panchayats, including Shakrah, Mehli, Dev Nagar, Dhami, Nehra and Ghanahatti. The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone of an anganwari bhawan at Gharog, Government Senior Secondary School at Shakrah, Science Block of Senior Secondary School in Dhami, to be constructed at a cost of Rs 6.30 crore. He inaugurated Halog-Bathmana Water Supply Scheme, set up at a cost of Rs 98 lakh to benefit over 2,700 residents. Addressing a rally at Dhami in his assembly constituency, Singh said no additional taxes had been proposed in the budget presented by him. He said the previous BJP government had announced opening of colleges at the fag end of its term without any budgetary provision, but his government had announced opening of 12 colleges, out of which nine have already been notified. A provision of Rs 5 crore has been made for each college for creating necessary infrastructure. Singh said an outlay of Rs 2,384 crore had been proposed for the Public Works department, which was nearly Rs 100 crore more than the current years allocation of Rs 2,291 crore. The budget for education has also been hiked to Rs 4,282 crore as compared to Rs 3,836 crore of current financial year. He said Rs 922-crore Swan River Channelisation Project has been sanction for Una District. The CM said in order to boost industrialisation his government had decided to set up HP Investment Promotion Cell and Industry Advisory Council. State-of-the-art industrial zones would be developed at Pandoga in Una district and Kandrori in Kangra with an investment of Rs 219 crore. He said it had been purposed in the Budget that any new industry employing more than 300 Himachalis would be charged only 2 per cent electricity duty for five years. Besides existing small industry would have to pay electricity duty at a reduced rate of 7 per cent and new unit to pay only 2 per cent for five years, he added.

5676 The new generation electronic passport, which aims to secure the data and curb the menace of fake passports, is likely to be introduced by next year, a senior government official said here today. “A Task Force has been set up to look into the e-passport project, which has held deliberations with different stakeholders (departments). We are planning to start issuing e-passports to new applicants by next year,” Joint Secretary (Passport Seva Project) and Chief Passport Officer Muktesh K Pardeshi told reporters here. The e-passport will replace the existing passport document with a plastic card embedded with an electronic chip containing all the details of the passport holder, including biometric information, besides a digital signature of a passport officer, he explained. “In 2013, the Government of India has issued close to 85 lakh passports and other related documents globally and recorded a growth of 14-15 per cent over 2012 (wherein 73.6 lakh passports were issued). Going by this trend, we are expecting to cross the one-crore mark in issuance of passports annually by the end of 2014 calendar year or by early 2015,” the Chief Passport Officer said. “It’s also a great opportunity for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to extend one crore citizen service every year. With one crore passports being issued in a year, we will be in a group of handful of countries, with only two countries China and US which are issuing over one crore passports every year,” Pardeshi said. Stating that it would be a great responsibility and opportunity as well as challenge for the passport officials, he said, “We have to scale up and expand our services and have to bring in more efficiency within our passport officials and we always have to be innovative.” Regional Passport Officer (RPO) K Srikar Reddy said the trial for hand-held devices (palm-top computers) for police constables, enabling online police verification at citizens’ doorstep is presently on in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh and now it is contemplated to start it on a pilot basis under Cyberabad Police Commissionerate here and later to other parts of the state and country. Hyderabad tops the list of RPOs in terms of the number of applications processed and services rendered at 6.4 lakh and 6.3 lakh, respectively, with 8.9 per cent of total passport services in the country, Reddy said. He added that Visakhapatnam, with 11 days, tops the list of RPOs on time taken in police verification. Country’s second Passport Seva Laghu Kendras (Mini PSKs) will be inaugurated tomorrow in Karimnagar district, he said.

5675 Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday laid the foundation of the citys first flyover to be built on the PPP mode. The builder, Riverbank Holdings, has already started survey work for the 7.7-km fast-track elevated corridor from Jinjhirabazar to Batanagar in the citys southern fringes. The chief minister laid the foundation from Netaji Indoor Stadium, and sent her urban development minister Firhad Hakim to the venue on Budge Budge Trunk Road. "The Rs 255-crore flyover will be completed in two years. We have requested people at Budge Budge, Mahestala and Pujali to vacate the area needed for building the flyover," said Hakim. The Budge Budge Trunk Road, too, will be widened as part of the project. Thanks to the PPP model, the infrastructure reform wont burden the already cash-trapped government into further financial load. "We are extremely happy that the flyover project has finally taken off," Riverbank Holdings MD Sumit Dabriwala said, "The survey work has already started. Digging and piling will begin in three months. The flyover project will be completed in two years from then." Once the two-lane flyover is built, a drive to Batanagar, which now stands at 40-45 minutes, will be reduced to 10 minutes flat. Thirty-five per cent of the cost will be borne by the centre since this is a JNNURM project. Delhi has sanctioned Rs 86.8 crore - the rest of the cost will be borne by the consortium of Riverbank Holdings and its joint venture partner, L & T. Dabriwala, who has been pushing for the flyover ever since he had started his housing project - Calcutta Riverside township - at Batanagar in 2009, has now shifted base from Mumbai to execute the project.

5674 Tata Housing will invest Rs 300 crore on developing a new housing project near Chennai. The project Santorini, spread over 18 acres, comprises 1,000 housing units. Located on Chennai-Bangalore highway at Sriperumbudur, the project will be developed by its subsidiary Tata Value Homes Ltd. Tata Housing in a statement said it would "invest Rs 300 crore in Chennais first Spanish themed township". Prices of the apartments are in the range of Rs 24-52 lakh, depending upon the size. "Sriperumbudur has witnessed rapid industrial growth over the years, with major global players in the manufacturing segment venturing into the region," Tata Housing MD & CEO Brotin Banerjee said. Tata Housing is a closely held public limited company and a subsidiary of Tata Sons Ltd, which holds 99.86 per cent of stake in the company. Tata Value Homes is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Housing. Tata Housing has 70 million sq ft under various stages of planning and execution and an additional 19 million sq ft in the pipeline.

5673 The Marathwada Institute of Technology (MIT) here inaugurated its 100-Kilowatt peak (kWp) solar photovoltaic power plant that would help reduce the burden of depending on conventional electricity by almost 30% in its campus. It is one of the major projects of its kind in the region. Speaking at the inauguration, state education minister Rajendra Darda said that such a move would inspire others in the city and the region to opt for green energy. "Solar energy is a clean energy source and also requires the least maintenance compared to methods used for generation of conventional energy. Though other big companies have taken steps in this regard, more efforts should be taken to opt for clean sources of energy," he said. In total, around 774 modules have been installed. Darda said that such projects would also be planned in the Shendra industrial belt. However, he expressed concern over its feasibility saying that it would required around five acres of land spread with solar panels to generate one megawatt of electricity. Also expressing concern over garbage disposal issue in the city, he urged the MIT to take up an initiative to chalk out methods to convert garbage for generation of electricity. "Efforts should be made to identify 10 schools from the region having information and technology infrastructure that face heavy power cuts because of which they fail to be benefitted. These schools would be provided solar powered electricity which can be extended to other schools after completion of the project," Darda said. Munish Sharma, general director of the institute, said that with this new set-up the aim is to utilise maximam quantity of non-conventional energy to save electricity bills to the tune of Rs 1 lakh per month. "The project would also benefit students in their practical labs," he added.

5672 The governments move to fast-track infrastructure projects ahead of the elections in April has placed Mumbai-based Patel Engineering close to winning the bid for constructing a 1,000MW hydropower project. One of the largest in India, the project would cost nearly Rs 9,000 crore (about $1.4 billion). PSU capital goods major BHEL is the other partner in the consortium with Patel Engineering that has emerged as the lowest bidder among four bidders for constructing this power project in Jammu & Kashmir. Limak of Turkey is the third consortium partner in the project. The request for proposal for the project was floated in 2011 and it has taken nearly three years to close in on the top bidders for the Pakal Dul Hydroelectric Project in Doda district in J&K. The hydroelectric project will be operated by Chenab Valley Power Projects, a joint venture between PSU majors NHPC and PTC India, and also J&K State Power Development Corp (JKSPDC). In addition to this: The company has bagged new construction projects worth Rs 11.10 billion. The new projects bagged the company includes the Rs 4.73 billion EPC contract and allied construction work for the 37.5 MW Parnai Hydro electric project of Jammu and Kashmir state power development corporation. The company has also bagged an Rs 666.4 million construction work from the Metro Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad Company for construction of retaining wall along the Sabarmati River bed. Other projects bagged by the company include an Rs 3.07 billion irrigation project for Rapti Nahar Nirman Mandal. Further, the company has bagged an Rs 1.51 billion project for the construction of College Administrative Building for Indra Gandhi Institute of Medical Science in Patna.

5671 As part of the Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme, the Centre has approved 34 Detailed Project Reports worth Rs 1320 crore, including Rs 931 crore for towns in the area of the UHBVN and Rs 389 crore for the towns in the area of the DHBVN. A spokesman of the two Haryana power utilities said here today the power distribution system in 36 towns in Haryana, each having population of more than 30,000, will be renovated and strengthened under the RAPDRP (Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme). The 36 towns include Hisar, Dabwali, Narnaul, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Hansi, Hodal, Palwal, Barwala, Rewari, Ellenabad, Sirsa, Tohana, Fatehabad, Faridabad and Gurgaon in the area of the DHBVN (Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam). The towns include Ambala Cantt, Ambala City, Panchkula, Kalka, Jhajjar, Bahadurgarh, Kaithal, Jind, Rohtak, Panipat and Karnal in the area of the UHBVN (Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam). Some towns in the area of the DHBVN are covered under a World Bank Programme for strengthening power distribution system, he said. The spokesman said the RAPDRP would be executed in two parts. "Under Part A, the power distribution system would be made information technology (IT) based while under Part B, the power distribution system in the towns would be strengthened and renovated," he added.

5670 A feasibility report is being prepared for the proposed highway to connect India with neighbouring Myanmar and Thailand, the government said today. "Presently, projects are at feasibility-report stage," Minister of State for Road, Transport and Highways, Sarvey Sathyanarayana, told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply. "India agreed to undertake upgradation of the Kalewa-Yagyi section of trilateral highway and construction of 71 bridges in the Tamu-Kalea section," Sathyanarayana said.

5669 "ISRO/DoS has conducted pilot projects in Assam and Andhra Pradesh for developing methodology for forecasting flood events using aero-space based inputs," Minister for State in the Prime Ministers Office V Narayanasamy said in reply to a question. He said the North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC) is carrying out Flood Early Warning System as an R&D project in 15 projects in Assam in association with Assam Disaster Management Authority. Narayanasamy said the flood forecasting methodology developed for Godavari basin in Andhra Pradesh by National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) has been transferred to Central Water Commission (CWC). "Models developed under both these projects are terrain specific and in addition to satellite based inputs, in-situ data on rainfall and river discharge at critical points is also required," the minister said. He, however, clarified that the CWC and Ministry of Water Resources are mandated for flood forecast and DoS has not formulated any plan for early warning system for flood across the country.

5668 The state government is finally set to give shape to its dream of the Kolkata Eye project on the banks of Hooghly river - a giant ferries wheel modeled on the famous London Eye. It will float the expression of interest on Thursday - just a day ahead of the renovated riverfront inauguration - to invite private players to execute the project on a public-private partnership basis. The Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) will be the nodal agency. State urban development and municipal affairs minister Firhad Hakim said the department had already acquired land for the project. Apart from selecting private players for the project, the government also intends to get in touch with UK-based experts for technical assistance. The government had discussed the project with representatives of a UK-based company at Writers Buildings some time back. According to sources, all hurdles related to land acquisition have been sorted out. "A 2-acre spot just opposite Millennium Park has been handed over to the urban development department," said a government official. The state government had earlier written to the ministry of shipping to allow KoPT to auction off a 2-acre plot on Strand Road so that it could be utilized for the project.

5667 The Government of India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) today signed an agreement for a $ 200 million loan for the Uttarakhand Emergency Assistance Project. The signatories to the loan agreement were Mr Nilaya Mitash, Joint Secretary (Multilateral Institutions), Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, on behalf of the Government of India; and Ms. M. Teresa Kho, Country Director, INRM, on behalf of ADB. The project agreement on behalf of the State Government was signed by Mr Rakesh Sharma, Additional Chief Secretary (PWD), Government of Uttarakhand and Mr Bhaskaranand Joshi, Secretary, State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA). Speaking on the occasion, Mr Mitash said that the project would assist the Government of Uttarakhand to meet reconstruction needs arising out of the flash floods that caused large-scale devastation in the state in June 2013. He said that the project would help the State to rehabilitate/construct the damaged roads, bridges, urban infrastructure and will also help by improving disaster preparedness. It will help economic and social recovery in Uttarakhand in the aftermath of the disaster, he added. An official press release said the project’s objective is to improve economic and social conditions in Uttarakhand after the 2013 disaster. The project will (i) rehabilitate and/or reconstruct damaged sections of state highways and/or district roads for a total length of 1,800 kilometers (km) along with 16 damaged bridges, and will also rehabilitate sections of roads built in the past with ADB finance (total length 600 km); (ii) repair and upgrade water supply facilities in 8-10 towns, water treatment plants, 56-km water pipeline, and about 20 km of urban roads; (iii) rehabilitate and/or reconstruct tourism infrastructure in 5 districts, including 10 trekking routes, eco-trails, rest houses, and public amenities; and (iv) build about 50 helipads, heliports, or helidromes with associated amenities for emergency evacuation and relief operations. The project is expected to be completed by 30th September, 2016. The loan of $200 million from ADB’s ordinary capital resources makes up to 97.56% of the total project cost of $205 million, with the Central And State Government providing counterpart finance of US $5 million. Uttrakhand being a Special Category State the loan assistance to the State will be on 90:10 basis (90% grant and 10% loan).The loan has a 25-year term, including a five-year grace period with an annual interest rate determined in accordance with ADB`s LIBOR-based lending facility.

5666 To help these street children get their basic rights like food, lodging and education, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Delhi will launch a special project Street to School. The project will be launched in the state by Jharkhand State Commission for Child Rights (JSCPCR) on March 5. JSCPCR member, Sanjay Mishra, said, "The commission along with various stakeholders like government departments such as HRD, social welfare and various NGOs will work together to make the lives of street children better." He added, "There are many children who spend their lives on streets and have nobody to take care of them. Our project will focus on such children and will connect them to mainstream education." The programme will focus on four cities in the state - Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Bokaro and Dhanbad as most slum dwellers are found in these places. "We will identify children from slum areas and will create a database. Then we will admit them to various residential schools in their cities. As there are not many government residential schools in the state, we are planning to increase the capacity of the existing schools," said Mishra. The responsibility of preparing a blueprint for the project has been given to students of Indian Institute of Management, Ranchi. "Two students of IIM-R are preparing the blueprint of the programme and it will likely be done by the time the project is launched," said Mishra.

5665 The realty arm of the Godrej Group plans to develop a project at Mundhwa, Pune, through a special purpose vehicle. It has proposed to invest up to Rs. 100 crore in this SPV from internal accruals and borrowed funds. It also plans to invest up to Rs. 100 crore in another project at village Khanawale, Panvel and village Talegaon, Khalapur to be developed through a special purpose vehicle. In another proposal, Godrej Properties sought shareholders nod to invest up to Rs. 45 crore in an upcoming project at Kanchipuram District, Tamilnadu. That apart, it has sought approval for pumping in up to Rs. 70 crore in a project to be developed near Bengaluru International Airport. Godrej Properties has also sought nod for an additional investment of upto Rs. 200 crore in an ongoing project at Kolkata. In May 2010, shareholders had approved Rs. 250 crore investment in subsidiary Happy Highrises for constructing this project. The company has proposed to make an additional investment of up to Rs. 50 crore in an ongoing project at Bengaluru.

5664 The government today said it has approved Rs 17,630 crore projects in the port sector to augment the capacity of major ports by about 151 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). "The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved five projects involving an investment of over 17,630 crore rupees to further increase the capacity of the Major Ports by 150.74 MTPA," an official statement said. Of the five projects approved now, four are container terminals and one is a multipurpose cargo berth project in Mumbai port. "The four container terminals are proposed in the major ports of Kandla (4.2 MTEU), Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) (4.8 MTEU), Navi Mumbai, Kolkata(1.2 MTEU) and Ennore (1.4 MTEU)," it said. Twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) is an inexact unit of cargo capacity often used to describe the capacity of container ships and container terminals. These proposed projects will double the container handling capacity which is at 11.57 million TEUs (Over 146 MTPA). The capacity of the multi-purpose cargo berth proposed for Mumbai Port Trust will be 4.5 MTPA to handle automobiles, iron and steel cargo etc, among others, the statement said. These projects will also bring the latest state of the art technology in line with the global standards, it said. Besides reducing the transaction costs by improving efficiency in handling operations, these facilities with additional capacities are expected to promote the EXIM trade in the country, it added. "All these five projects are at an advance stage of tendering and are expected to be awarded in the current financial year i.E. By the end of March this year," the statement said. There has been a good response with the maximum number of 11 qualified bids for the Ennore container terminal and 7 qualified bids for the JNPT 4th container terminal. The Ministry of Shipping had a target to award 30 projects in the current financial year to add a capacity of about 282 MTPA at an estimated investment of over Rs 26,400 crore. As against these targets, the Ministry had already awarded 23 projects at a cost of over Rs 9,790 crore for an additional capacity of 116 MTPA.

5663 Government of India has launched a GI Cloud Initiative called ‘Meghraj’ to accelerate delivery of e-services in the country, while optimising information and communications technology (ICT) spending of the government. According to the govt, the National Cloud will ensure optimum utilisation of the infrastructure and speed up the development and deployment of eGov applications in the country. Launched by Kapil Sibal, minister of Communications and Information Technology, the National Cloud is being implemented by NIC, which will provide cloud services under the umbrella of ‘MeghRaj’. The focus of the initiative will be to evolve a strategy and implement various components including governance mechanism to ensure proliferation of cloud in government. Formulation of the cloud policy is one of the primary steps that will facilitate large scale adoption of cloud by the govt. Meghraj will encompass a set of discrete cloud computing environments spread across multiple locations, built on existing or new (augmented) infrastructure, following a set of common protocols, guidelines and standards issued by the Government of India. Two Policy reports called ‘GI Cloud Strategic Direction Paper’ and ‘GI Cloud Adoption and Implementation Roadmap’ have also been prepared by the Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY) for the same. The National Cloud will help the departments to procure ICT services on demand in the OPEX model rather than investing upfront on the CAPEX. The cloud services available are Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS) and Storage as a Service (STaaS). Some of the features of the National Cloud include self service portal, multiple cloud solutions, secured VPN access and multi location cloud. A separate working group at DeitY is also working on enabling cloud services in India covering aspects like jurisdiction, cross-border data flow, data security, and data location, etc. Last month, in a bid to improve the ease of doing business in the country, the government had flagged off the second phase of its eBiz project, a Government-to-Business (G2B) portal which allows potential entrepreneurs to complete formalities like submitting forms, making payments and also tracking the status of their requests.

5662 Cidco, the planning and development body for Navi Mumbai, has floated a global tender for building the proposed international airport in the satellite city. Government sources have said that the project may see tough competition from bidders as about 10 companies have already shown interest. "The tender is to invite companies and judge qualifications according to required financial and technical criteria. The final proposals will be invited from the selected companies or consortia later," said sources. The tendering would take eight to 10 months minimum, they added. A Rs 14,000-crore project is proposed to be developed on a 2,000 hectare plot along Panvel creek in Navi Mumbai. Airports Authority of India, and Cidco are stakeholders in the project

5661 Adoption of Information Technology is important in improving access to healthcare in India. After pilot projects in a few states, Central Ministry of Health is planning to empower health workers with handheld devices like mobiles phones for data collection at the grass-root level. Under the Mission Mode Project, government plans to implement this in two to three months across the country. Earlier, some of the state governments, including those of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh had done pilot projects on data collection through handheld devices. The Accredited Social Health Activists were given mobile phones to capture and send real time data. These were data regarding outbreak of diseases like dengue and malaria, maternal and child care etc. “The health workers generally collect a lot of data. But by the time the data is filed at the PHC and it goes to the central unit, it loses relevance. Many a times, the data itself is lost. With the use of mobile devices, real time data can be transferred to the central processing units,” said NilayaVarma, executive partner in health and public service, Accenture Management Consulting. Accenture had partnered with the states of Tamil Nadu and Gujarat for the pilot projects in this regard. Usage of handheld devices also can help significant reduction of cost in comparison with setting up hardware infrastructure in rural areas. “It increases the process efficiency and semi-skilled outreach workers can deliver quality healthcare at the point of contact,” said Varma. The latest report by Accenture titled ‘Delivering e-Health in India - Analysis and Recommendations’ finds that digitization of hospital information systems and records, automation of supply chain, empowering citizens through information dissemination and analytics-enabled real time disease surveillance will help improve the efficiency of healthcare delivery. “Our report identifies the importance of shifting from ‘infrastructure focus’ to ‘productivity focus’ to generate corresponding improvements in India’s healthcare access. This can only be achieved if larger fund allocation for healthcare is accompanied by effective and innovative interventions to improve the existing healthcare ecosystem in order to achieve global standards,” said Krishna Giri, managing director, Health & Public Services, Accenture in India. “Comprehensive adoption of Information Technology and digitization of systems to improve access to these services is central to the success of these projects,”

5660 The state government has released Rs 10.95 crore to develop 36 projects in Dakshina Kannada district. Deputy commissioner AB Ibrahim said on Tuesday that the development cost of 36 projects, including Rs 12 crore for the ropeway bridge between Sultan Battery and TannirBavi, development of beach tourism, infrastructure to tourist spots, was estimated at Rs 40.25 crore. Ibrahim, who is also the Chairman of Tourism Development Committee, said for the Rs 40.25 crore proposals, state had released Rs 10.95 crore. Mangalore South MLA JR Lobo directed officials to take up the ropeway project expeditiously and said that he had discussed with PWD and tourism ministers to release the grants soon. Regarding the expenditure, Lobo said of the Rs 10.95 crore released a sum of Rs 73.25 lakh is being used for development of tourist facilities at Panambur, Rs 76.80 lakh for TannirBavi, Rs 76.80 lakh for Ullal and Someshwar beaches, Rs 1 crore for the ropeway and Rs 2 crore for YatriNivas at Venoor. Also, a sum of Rs 45 lakh and Rs 75 lakh for development of tourist facilities at Kadri and KukkeSubrahmanya temple will be spent, said Tourism Deputy Director AjithJithendranath. Of the 36 projects, 14 were complete and 12 were yet to start.

5659 Empowered Institution has given in-principle approval to five road projects worth Rs 2,778.72 crore, with viability gap funding (VGF) of Rs 555.72 crore. The projects, in the Public-Private-Partnership mode, include development and operation of Sikar and Bikaner bypass section of NH-11 (under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways) and 4-laning of Jalna-Ambad-Vadigodri section of State Highway 176 in Maharashtra, the Finance Ministry said in a statement. Three projects involve Government of Maharashtra, one Government of Karnataka and a project of Government of Madhya Pradesh for Viability Gap Funding of Rs 555.72 crore, the Finance Ministry said in a statement. VGF is typically provided in competitively bid projects. Under VGF, the central government meets up to 20 per cent of capital cost of a project being implemented in the PPP mode by a Central Ministry, State government, statutory entity or a local body.

5658 At a time when the country’s port sector is battling with idle capacity due to lower traffic mainly from the bulk and container segment, JSW Jaigarh Port, a special purpose vehicle of JSW Infrastructure, is planning to set up a 1-kilometer-berth container terminal in Ratnagiri, sources close to the development told Business Standard. “The bidding for this project is in the final stage and the project should be awarded this week,” said one of the sources. ITD Cementation India, Simplex Infrastructure and L&T are among the shortlisted bidders for this terminal, which is budgeted at around Rs 2,000 crore, said sources. Of the shortlisted bidders, ITD Cementation India is expected to be the frontrunner for this project, said the other source. Once awarded, the terminal will take about 2 years to comeonstream and so it is expected to be operational by January-February 2016.

5657 JSW Jaigarh Port is also planning to set up a liquefied natural gas terminal of capacity 8 million tonne per annum at Jaigarh. The LNG terminal project is expected to have a total investment of Rs 4,000-4,500 crore as the scope of work also includes landside infrastructure, said the source. The Jaigarh port in Ratnagiri is operated by JSW Jaigarh Port, an SPV of JSW Infrastructure. The company was created to develop the port, on a build-own-operate-share-transfer basis, under a 50-year concession licensed by the State Government of Maharashtra. Currently, the company’s port vertical operates terminals in Maharashtra and Goa that offer mechanised and multi-cargo handling facilities to the customers. It is connected by rail and road to the industrial hinterlands of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka.

5656 The National Coir Research and Management Institute (NCRMI), in association with the Institute of Indian Interior Designers (IIID), has taken up a project to make coir-based acoustic panels. This will be cheaper and more durable than the acoustic panels available in the market. NCRMI has taken the initiative to launch the project considering the growing concerns about the health risks and the lack of bio-degradability of the synthetic materials which are used to make acoustic panels. According to K.R. Anil, Director, NCRMI, IIID will develop and supervise the project which intends to engineer and design a comprehensive system covering not just acoustic panels but also a complete system from fixing to designing of various interior spaces. “We are hoping to complete the project in another six months’ time. We have carried out several rounds of experiments. The actual cost factor will be worked out once we finish the project,” he said. He pointed out that coir-based panel has more advantage compared to other panels. They are moth proof and eco-friendly. With noise pollution becoming a serious environmental problem, he said the need for good sound absorbing acoustics panels has increased. Currently, acoustic panels commercially available are made up of glass or mineral-fibre material. But studies have pointed out that these products can cause health effects mainly to lungs and eyes. Organic fibres like coir as basis material for absorber materials have several benefits. They are renewable, nonabrasive, cheaper, and abundant. Above all they don’t pose any health hazards, he added.

5655 Indian authorities planning a state-of-the-art cold storage facility at one of the country’s leading airports are currently hashing out project details Earlier this month, India’s Union Minister of Commerce, Anand Sharma, visited the Bangalore region on a tour of infrastructure projects in the country’s southeast, where he announced a new campaign to help the country’s export industry. It is understood that plans are in the pipeline to build special facilities at Kempegowda International Airport to store perishable fresh produce, although officials are remaining tight-lipped about the precise details until the report has been finalized. They say a government document is currently being drafted, although it is believed that it may be based on other models at the airports of Mumbai, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Kochi, which already have similar facilities to store fresh produce. The Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has confirmed it is working alongside the government to boost export volumes of fresh produce.

5654 After suffering years of delays, work on three crucial railway projects connecting coal mines in Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have been taken up for fast-track clearances and expected to get commissioned by end of calendar 2016. “Some of the railway projects that the Project Monitoring Cell of the Cabinet secretariat is handling are extremely critical for the country including one each in Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. “When these projects come up India would be self sufficient in coal. And the hope is the projects would come up by December 2016 because we have managed to get environmental clearances for some of these projects,” Anil Swarup, additional secretary, and chairman, Project Monitoring Group, said. Of these three projects, work on laying Todi-Shibpur line connecting North Karanpura and Auranga coalfields in Jharkhand would start this month, he said. In Odisha, tracks would be laid to connect Jharsugda-Sardegha-Angul-Kalinga, and in Chhattisgarh Railways would link Barud-Bukhdebpur-Annupur. “For the Odisha project the papers for forest clearance (stage 1) are being prepared now while the special purpose vehicle proposed for the project in Chhattisgarh has now been formed, which can now proceed with the application for the clearances,” he said. Cash-rich CIL had earlier agreed to fund these railway infrastructure by spending as much as Rs 7,500 crore in the 12th Plan period (2012-17).

5653 Alstom T&D India, the subsidiary of France-based Asltom Group, on Tuesday said it has bagged an order worth Rs.381.7 crore (€41million) from Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL). Alstom would supply hardware and software solution for PowerGrid’s energy management programme known as ‘The Unified Real-Time Dynamic State. This scheme would enable nation-wide monitoring of power flows across the grid, responding to fluctuations within a fraction of a second. Real-time data ensures that PowerGrid can intervene immediately to adjust and match electricity supply to demand. Alstom would equip 34 control centres across the country with phasor measurement units, which analyses weak spots in the system in real-time. It will detect the evolving disturbances, tap into latent electricity capacity across electrical transmission corridors, and provide actionable information to system operators to take timely decisions such as to prevent blackouts. Currently, Alstom solutions now manage 70 per cent of the power flow for India.

5652 Ener-t International, the Israel based provider of Concentrated Solar Thermal (CSP) power plants, has been awarded for the preparation of a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the establishment of the National CSP R&D center at the Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. The consortium leading the project, comprising Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur (IITJ); Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL); and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has selecterEner-t in a competitive tender announced later 2012. According to the tender text "The experimental plant will be designed for continuous power generation in as small a size as is feasible (typically KWe range) through steam using a turbine. Steam will be generated from the heat collected by the solar fields (direct or through thermal storage). Scalability issues pertaining to the best combination of CSP technologies, storage concepts & materials shall also be kept under consideration so that the next stage of this project of achieving LCOE on continuous basis in a MWe level plant can be judiciously taken up". “We won this contract after an aggressive international tender. The center is planned to open in 2015 with the latest CSP technologies, and will support India in its program to become world leader in CSP,” says Yehuda Harats, Ener-t’s Founder and Chairman. This is the second project for Ener-t in India. The company is currently working on a 50 MW parabolic trough plant in Rajasthan as a memberof the EPC consortium, where it has provided the technology, the engineering design, and the supply of the solar field for the project which utilizes Ener-ts own parabolic trough collector model ES-3.5.

5651 In another step to make Uttarakhand ‘India’s leading energy producing State’, a 300-MW hydroelectric power project received environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) on Monday, Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar told The Hindu. The 300-MW Lakhwar project is located in the Upper Yamuna River Basin in Dehradun district. According to the department in charge of the project UttarakhandJalVidyut Nigam Limited (UJVNL), the project will produce 612.93 Million Units of electricity every year. The project will also provide drinking water, water for irrigation, and water for industrial use. The states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, and Himachal Pradesh will benefit from the drinking water and water for irrigation produced by the project. The project had received clearance in 1986 when it was under Uttar Pradesh’s Irrigation Department. Work continued till about 1992. The project work was later transferred to the UJVNL. A change in the authority undertaking the project required a new clearance, which is what the State Government was trying to seek. The project work was stalled even after 30 percent work had already been done in the past. Mr. Kumar said work for Lakhwar project’s power house had started before the project was transferred to the UJVNL. The cost of the Lakhwar project is almost Rs 4,000 crore and its completion is expected by the year 2019.

5650 In major boost to scientific research and development, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday announced projects including a National Mission on High Performance Computing and a Neutrino-based Observatory in Tamil Nadu with an outlay of about Rs. 9,000 crore. Asserting that government has invested in several areas to ensure that India remains at the cutting edge of science, he also announced that India is joining the CERN Institute, a premier Europen Organisation for Nuclear Research, as an associate member. Addressing the Indian Science Congress for the tenth year in succession, Singh said India needs to leverage the ability of modern science to deliver value to society. "We must also seek global leadership in at least some research and development areas. Affordable innovations for human healthcare, sustainable agriculture, clean energy and total solutions for water-related challenges are some areas where Indian science can seek global leadership," he said delegates to the Congress. The inaguration of the 5-day meet was attended among others by Union Science and Technology Minister S Jaipal Reddy and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. With "Innovations in Science and Technology for Inclusive Development" as its theme for this years Congress, the five-day meet is being attended by around 500 scientists from India and abroad, two Nobel laureates Lee YT and Ferid Murad. Former President APJ Abdul Kalam and Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India Avinash Chander will be among those who deliver lectures. The Prime Minister said the National Mission on High Performance Computing with an outlay of Rs.4,500 crore and considering establishment of National Geographical Information System with an outlay of Rs,3,000 crore. Announcing that India will partner the international scientific community in the establishment of some of the worlds major R and D projects, he said in the Gravitational Wave experiment, India intends to host the third detector. A Neutrino-based observatory is proposed to be set in Tamil Nadu at a cost of Rs.1450 crore. India is also joining the famous CERN Institute as an associate member. After some controversy over the proposal to locate the Neutrino Observatory in the Nilgiris following fears of environmental damage, the observatory is now proposed to be set up in the West Bodi hills of Tamil Nadu. Indian Neutrino Observatory (INO) is a proposed particle physics research project to study atmospheric neutrinos. Singh said India intends to host the third detector in the Gravitational Wave Experiment. He also said Indian nuclear scientists were attracting global in their effort to develop a Fast Breeder Reactor. "I expect the prototype under construction in Kalpakkam to be completed this year." It will be a great day for Indian science and technology because we will be one of the few countries in the world with leadership in a completely new area of nuclear technology that can contribute non-polluting electrical power." Pitching for more funds to promote science, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the countrys annual expenditure on science and technology should be at least two per cent of the GDP. "To do science, someone must pay for it. We must increase our annual expenditure on science and technology to at least 2 per cent of GDP. This has to come from both government and industry. "In countries such as South Korea, where a high percentage of the GDP goes to science, the contribution of industry is significant," Singh noted. Lauding Indian scientists working in the fields of atomic energy, space and earth science, the Prime Minister said India has occupied an "enviable position" in these fields. "The launch of our Moon and Mars Mission are a testimony of the giant strides we are making in space. We have now the ability to issue alerts within 13 minutes of a tsunami-genic event," he noted. "Our decision to set up a new Ministry of Earth Sciences following the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004 and to invest in world-class tsunami forewarning systems in 2007 has been amply rewarded", the Prime Minister said. He said the countrys advances in meteorology were evident during the cyclone in Odisha, when "we received accurate forecasts of landfall point that were more accurate than the forecasts of well known international bodies. I would also like to see continuous improvement in our monsoon prediction capability through the recently launched Monsoon Mission so that we can avert the kind of calamities that we saw in Uttarakhand last year", he said. Batting for Bt crops, Singh said while safety must be ensured we should not succumb to unscientific prejudices. "To ensure food security and to improve and water productivity, we have to launch a national drive for an ever-green revolution." Singh also announced institution of 25 Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowships, under which eminent scientists from abroad will be invited to work in India for 12 months over a period of three years.

5649 The government of India’s cloud-computing project has promised to cut costs and speed up the adoption of IT in government organizations, but challenges remain due to federated decision making. J. Satayanarayana, secretary in Ministry of Information Technology, used the Oracle CloudWorld event in New Delhi to name 4 February as the start date for the Government of India Cloud (GI Cloud), or Meghraj as it is known. GI Cloud is modeled on a project run by the UK government, known as the G Cloud. This itself was modeled on the app stores run by suppliers such as Apple. App stores enable businesses to buy cloud-based services that are already accredited and tried and tested through a single pre-agreed contract. The services are also cloud-based and available as pay as you go, rather than requiring up-front investments. This opens up competition in the government IT services sector with a wider variety of suppliers. Forrester analyst, Sudhanshu Bhandari, said GI Cloud, a cloud-first policy, promised to enable government organizations to re-use and quickly deliver citizen-centric applications. “Right now, it takes more than two years end-to-end to move a business need from conceptualization, to design, to user acceptance testing and finally production.” He said that typically, during this period, there are a lot of requirements, regulations and technology changes. “Using cloud-first policy, government will be able to more efficiently manage the technology infrastructure spending and avoid getting into the same consolidation spree, like in the US,” said Bhandari. “Government of India will face challenge in implementing cloud-first policy due to diversity in the federal structure and the inclination from various state departments to have control on all aspects of technology infrastructure,” he said. “The Ministry of Information Technology will give a guidance to first evaluate state data centers (SDC), and build department technology infrastructure, only if there is some unique requirement that is unfulfilled by SDC. He said SMB suppliers will flourish. “It will benefit the SaaS vendors in particular. They will be able to reach a wider audience and re-use their application for various departments.” He also said that large supliers will be able to reduce lengthy and expensive procurement processes if the government establishes a cloud vendor accreditation program. He said transparency on costs will improve and suppliers will be more likely to innovate. “Vendors who provide better services at efficient cost will become preferred partners.”

5648 The Karnataka Government is keen to set up a Fab (chip fabrication unit) project in the State. Addressing the Vision Summit organised by the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association, Karnataka Minister for IT-BT, Science and Technology, SR Patil, said that the State would press for a Fab project, a semiconductor and chip industry cluster in and around Bangalore

5647 The Karnataka government, which has been working towards incentivising and encouraging companies and startups in the ESDM (Electronic System Design and Manufacturing) sector, is setting up Indias first brownfield cluster development project in Bangalore. Typically, brownfield projects refer to re-starting or renovating existing projects with additional investments. Announcing an update to its Karnataka i4 policy (introduced in October 2013), SR Patil, the states IT & BT minister has announced that the state has got in-principle approval for the project. "This will be set up at an estimated cost of Rs 85.15 crore on 1.16 acres in Electronic City," said Srivatsa Krishna, secretary, department of IT & BT. The IT/ITeS sector. Common Facility for Units The sector, which provided jobs to 1.9 lakh people in 2001, is now providing employment to 10 lakh people today. To attract investments to the ESDM sector, which is expected to grow to $400 billion by 2020, the state will provide additional incentives to companies that register with the Karnataka wing. "We get benefits in addition to what the government of India has provided like Rs 5 lakh for patent filing," says Sanjay Nayak of Tejas Network, whose company is among the eight which was registered on Friday as Karnataka ESDM companies. "The brownfield facility will help electronic manufacturing units in Bangalore to have a common unit for testing, instead of relying on neighbouring states for such facilities," says Sanjeev Keskar, chairman of the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association. The ministry has also announced a single-window clearance for IT/ITeS and related industries for investments up to Rs 100 crore and employment-linked incentives for land allotment to this sector. In a leg-up to startups, nine colleges in the state were provided an initial grant of Rs 5 lakh each to fund research on projects to solve local problems and find solutions to local needs as part of the Karnataka New Age Incubation Network.