MoAs for Light House Projects Under GHTC-India Exchanged between MoHUA and State Govts #LightHouses #Sukumarbalakrishnan

Shri Hardeep S Puri, Minister of State (I/C) for Housing and Urban Affairs launched the CLSS Awas Portal (CLAP). Separately, Memorandum of Agreements (MoAs) for Light House Projects under GHTC-India were also exchanged between MoHUA and State Government of 6 states viz; Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh at the event. Sh. Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, senior Officers of the Ministry and State Governments, Managing Directors and Chief Executive Officers of several Banks and Housing Finance Companies were also present.

Speaking at the occasion, Sh. Puri congratulated the team of experts for such exemplary work in last few months on developing the IT based CLSS Awas Portal (CLAP), particularly to the collective effort put in by the Ministry, Central Nodal Agencies (CNAs) and Primary Lending Institutions (PLIs).He expressed that with the launch of CLAP, the grievance of the beneficiaries will be addressed in a much comprehensive, organised and transparent manner. He further highlighted that this software will help other stakeholders to work in synergy for release of subsidy to beneficiaries on time.

For addressing the housing demand of more than 10 million houses by 2022, Government of India launched Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban, in June 2015. To accomplish Housing For All Mission, Global Housing Technology Challenge-India (GHTC-India) was launched to get globally acclaimed, alternate and proven construction technologies for speedier and cost-effective construction of affordable housing. The Prime Minister declared 2019-2020 as 'Construction Technology Year'.

Shri Puri expressed his appreciation to the State Governments for construction of these Light House Projects at Indore, Rajkot, Chennai, Ranchi, Agartala and Lucknow. For LHPs, the Ministry has introduced a Technology Innovation Grant as an additional grant of Rs 2.0 lakh (US$ 2861.63) per house which is over and above of the existing share of Rs 1.5 lakh (US$ 2146.22) per house under PMAY (U).

Shri Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, MoHUA shared that the Ministry has developed a web based real time monitoring system called CLAP in which all stakeholders such as MoHUA, CNAs, PLIs and Beneficiaries are integrated. Shri Mishra explained the importance of CLAP portal, as a well-designed concept in using IT based platform to bring transparency and efficiency in release of subsidy to the beneficiaries under CLSS. This Portal will enable processing of individual application, verification at initial stage, release of subsidy, transparency and minimizing grievances.

Speaking about the GHTC and signing of MoAs for LHPs, Shri Mishra highlighted that these LHPs are model housing projects to demonstrate and deliver ready to live-in houses expeditiously than the normal convention construction which are cost-effective, economical, sustainable, climate resilient and superior with better quality of construction.

FII equity holding in firms rises to eight-quarter high in July-September #Sukumarbalakrishnan

The ownership of foreign institutional has reached an eight-quarter high of 20.93 per cent by the end of September for 414 firms in the BSE 500 index, that consist of at least 90 per cent of India’s market capitalization.

According to the data provided by Capitaline, this is higher than the 20.81 per cent stake held by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) in these companies in the June quarter and the 20.50 per cent in the September quarter last year.

Irrespective of the massive sell-off of domestic equities by the investors, FII ownership holdings increased in the three-month period. The overall stock markets were down in the September quarter, which possibly describes why FII holdings increased even though there was an outflow in Indian equities, according to Mr. Himanshu Srivastava, senior analyst and manager research, Morningstar Investment Adviser India.

In the three months ended September, FIIs sold Indian shares worth US$ 3.17 billion, while the benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty were down 2-3 per cent in the same period.

"Uncertainty, hope, and despair, the three moods of investors, were effectively captured by the Indian equity markets through the quarter ended September 2019. The premise for the markets at the start of the quarter was not encouraging. In fact, the signs of stress were visible towards the end of the previous quarter (ended June 2019), with initial euphoria around the election results subsiding and focus shifting to fundamental drivers. By the end of June, markets started to lose steam on the back of growing concerns over domestic macro conditions and the pressing global environment," said Mr. Srivastava.

The main hurdle for FIIs was the introduction of an extra surcharge on foreign portfolio investors in the budget, that led to a massive sell-off in Indian equities. Though, the government turned back the surcharge in the latter part of September and announced a slew of stimulus measures, including the reduction of corporate taxes.

The factors that came in concern of FII's were subpar monsoon in key areas, a weak earning season, slowing domestic growth and weakness in the rupee in July-September, Mr. Srivastava said. The rupee declined by 2.60 per cent against the dollar during the same period. FII holdings grew mostly in banks and financials, and media and entertainment sectors in the September quarter.

Meanwhile, domestic institutions continued to invest money into Indian shares. The data showed that holdings of domestic mutual funds and insurance companies in the 414 companies of the BSE 500 rose to their highest level in at least 25 quarters.

Domestic institutions held a 13.25 per cent stake in the BSE 500 index at the end of September, which was an increase from 12.64 per cent at the end of June and 11.99 per cent a year ago. The September quarter recorded Rs 53,818.92 crore (US$ 7.70 billion) of net domestic institutional investments in local stocks.

The participation from retail was also high in September. The total amount collected through systematic investment plans (SIPs), that allow people to invest a fixed amount in a mutual fund scheme periodically at fixed intervals, stood at Rs 8,262.94 crore (US$ 1.18 billion) for the month alone.

Paytm raises a billion dollars at a valuation of US$ 16 billion, plans expansion #Paytm #Sukumarbalakrishnan

Paytm, the country's top financial technology entity, has raised US$ 1 billion (Rs 7,200 crore), at a valuation of US$ 16 billion, from existing shareholders Ant Financial, Softbank Vision Fund and also new investors, including funds and accounts advised by T Rowe Price Associates, among others in a mega funding round.

Over the next three years, Paytm plans to invest an amount of Rs 10,000 crore (US$ 1.43 billion) in order to expand its services in tier-III cities and smaller towns. Discovery Capital, which is an existing shareholder, also participated in the round. Paytm plans to invest Rs 10,000 crore over the next three years, with the stated aim of expanding its services in tier-III cities and smaller towns.

After this funding round, the Mr. Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led fintech giant became a top-tier Asian digital firm, much ahead of others. The company has made US$ 1 billion equity closure in this round, where SoftBank Vision Fund (SVF) invested US$ 200 million, Jack Ma's Ant Financial added US$ 400 million and the rest balance amount came from T Rowe Price and Discovery, among others.

This comes amidst when the investors are not making big bets on companies and SoftBank is still recovering from the WeWork Initial Public Offer debacle. As of now, Paytm has raised an amount a little over US$ 2.5 billion in investments. The investments from the latest round would be focused on further expanding its payment and financial services business.

"Paytm is a great opportunity. We are addressing the India opportunity the best possible way. I think the very business model of acquiring customers and small businesses and bringing them to the formal financial system is viable and our investors understand that. India is underserved when it comes to financial services and this investment will be used to expand in that direction; our investors believe in that goal…Paytm is reaching its monetisation phase, where other financial services in due course will start bringing in revenue, so it becomes a story of a mature digital financial services company," founder Mr. Vijay Shekhar Sharma said.

The company started having the talks for the new funding round last year in December and since then had several rounds of discussion with its investors. The existing investors were interested in raising their stakes to fuel the next level of expansion.

"Talks started almost two board meetings back, sometime in December. When we had the Tokyo board meeting in September (this year), we concluded the terms and the agreement happened",added Mr. Sharma.

The company in its first phase of growth, brought in low-cost digital payments acceptability, using its QR-code technology to shops and retailers and now plans to add a host of Internet of Things (IoT) devices to the mix, enabling small merchants in towns to more easily accept digital payment.

"We are adding physical devices, IoT-based devices, which will enable QR payments, card payments. Devices and IoT-led payment solutions would become an important part in our next level of journey. We have been doing beta tests of some of our IoT devices, which are proving quite successful. Payment driven by mobile phone and QR code is taking the next leap, where merchants will have many device options that will help them to avoid fraud, scale (up) business systems and bring efficiency and trust," promises Mr. Sharma.

According to Paytm, it now serves merchants in a little over 2,000 cities and towns, in 650 districts.

Paytm will use this Rs 10,000 crore to add as many small merchants and businesses as possible into its fold, although, its competition, including Google Pay and PhonePe, are spending massively on cashbacks.

"We are not that much in P2P (peer-to-peer). We will continue to double down and spend aggressively more into better IoT devices, so that it helps us in signing up small merchants. Our primary business model is merchant payments and the larger part of the funds would be spent there," he added.

Despite the stiff competition faced by Paytm from other players, company has continued to hold its position as the biggest payments' player in the country. The sector experts believe that this funding round will help strengthen the company.

The main focus of the company is to expand its reach of its financial services for the company and its backers. Mr. Sharma said there are no plan of going public, as of now. "There is no commitment that we have made for going public. We have clearly said that we want the financial services business to (first) take off. Paytm has been able to build a business that is contribution positive; we are since last year getting into financial services," he added.

As per the company, Paytm Payments Bank has around 50 million accounts and is among the few mandated by the ministry of electronics and information technology to drive the highest targets for merchant acquisition and digital transactions.

Paytm Money, the financial services firm, is at present one of the largest contributors of new Systematic Investment Plans to the mutual funds segment. It has by now received approval to launch stock broking, dematerialisation services and National Pension System services.

All India Institute of Ayurveda Signs MoU with Western Sydney University Australia #Sukumarbalakrishnan

All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Western Sydney University, Australia at New Delhi. The MoU will promote the collaboration in research and developing guidelines for integrating Ayurveda principles with modern medicine.

Professor Barney Glover, Vice Chancellor, Western Sydney University, Australia and Prof. Tanuja Nesari, Director, All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) signed the Memorandum of Understanding on 22nd November during the visit of the delegation led by Dan Tehan, Minister for education, Australian Government. The signing ceremony took place at Ministry of AYUSH.

The memorandum was agreed and exchange on the occasion of the event "India Australia International Education and Research Workshop" at Ambedkar International Center, New Delhi. The exchange took place in presence of Shri Ramesh Pokharial, Human Resource Development Minister and Dan Tehan Minister for Education, Australian Government along with H.E Ms. Harinder Sidhu Australian High Commissioner to India.

"Both Institutions are committed to take the collaboration to the next Higher Level by identifying specific areas for collaboration in education, research and practices of Traditional medicine while ensuring the quality standards and also by encouraging investment in traditional medicine related infrastructure. Complementing the Traditional Ayurveda Medicine with conventional concepts of Modern Medicine is expected in generating scientific evidences that further help in contributing to the global healthcare"

India is a priority country among Australia's international partnerships. The signed memorandum is another milestone in the history of health care industry. Combining data-driven precision based technologies and Ayurvedic medicine will be a valuable contribution to the current goals for providing a better and safe health care system to the Universe, specifically towards developing a safe and effective integration of traditional and complementary medicine", stated Professor Barney Glover, Vice Chancellor WSU.

Union Tourism Minister Shri Prahlad Singh Patel and Chief Minister of Manipur, Shri N. Biren Singh jointly inaugurate 8th International Tourism Mart at Imphal, Manipur #Tourism #Sukumarbalakrishnan

Minister of State (I/C) for Culture & Tourism, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel and Chief Minister of Manipur, Shri N. Biren Singh jointly inaugurated the 8th International Tourism Mart today at Imphal, Manipur. The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, in association with the North Eastern States is organising the "International Tourism Mart" (ITM) at Imphal, Manipur from 23 November to 25 November 2019. Tourism Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Shri Nakap Nalo, Secretary, Tourism, Shri Yogendra Tripathi and other dignitaries from Central Ministries and North Eastern States were also present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel said that the entire North East region has great heritage of culture and natural beauty to attract tourists from across the globe. He said that to attract more tourists to the North East region, we need to change the perception and added that government is working towards the same. He said that the Prime Minister of India is a true brand ambassador of India to promote the tourism in the country. The Minister said that this is the second time when Manipur is hosting the International Tourism Mart and this time, we can see that because of friendly environment for tourists more and more tourists are coming to visit Manipur.

Shri Patel also said that North East region has witnessed 47 per cent growth in terms of visits of foreign tourists, which is a very good sign for the entire region. The Union Minister also said that due to reduction in E-Visa fee and reduction in GST rates on Hotel rooms, more tourists are coming to India. He also said that our government has opened 137 peaks for foreign tourists and besides this, Siachen glacier has also been opened for public. Shri Patel said that India has jumped in World Travel and Tourism Index from 40th to 34th position in 2019.

Speaking on the occasion Chief Minister of Manipur Shri N. Biren Singh thanked to Tourism Ministry for giving opportunity to Manipur to host 8th ITM. He said that because of peace in Manipur, the number of tourists is increasing consistently. He also said that Manipur has good infrastructure and better connectivity with other parts of the country, so we are expecting good number of tourists in future.

This is the 8th International Tourism Mart and an annual event organised in the North Eastern region with the objective of highlighting the tourism potential of the region in the domestic and international markets. It brings together the tourism business fraternity and entrepreneurs from the eight North Eastern States. The event has been planned and scheduled to facilitate interaction between buyers, sellers, media, Government agencies and other stakeholders. The North East Region of India comprising the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim, is endowed with diverse tourist attractions and products. The varied topography of the region, its flora and fauna, the ethnic communities with their rich heritage of ancient traditions and lifestyles, its festivals, arts and crafts, make it a holiday destination waiting to be explored.

The 8th International Tourism Mart, will put the spotlight on "Sustainable Tourism an engine for Economic Growth and Employment". Besides deliberations on promotion of tourism in the North East Region in general, the Mart will also give a platform for promoting cultural ties, providing enhanced connectivity to the States of North Eastern Region with other countries in our neighbourhood.

Buyer and Media delegates from around the world and from different regions of the country are participating in the Mart and will engage in one-on-one meetings with sellers from the North East Region. This will enable the tourism product suppliers from the region to reach out to international and domestic buyers, with the objective of promoting tourism to the region. A total of 36 foreign Buyer delegates from over 19 countries namely Australia, Canada, Cambodia, Czech, Dubai, Italy, Japan, Oman, Korea, Myanmar, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, USA, UK, Vietnam are participating in the Mart.

Besides, the foreign delegates, 49 domestic stakeholders in Tourism sector from other parts of the country and 109 sellers from the North Eastern States are participating in the Mart. Representatives of State Tourism Departments of these North East States will also be present to showcase their tourist destinations and to interact with the delegates.

International and Domestic Buyers will be engaging in business-to-business meetings with sellers from the North Eastern Region. In addition to these the three-day event also includes presentations by state governments on their tourism potential, cultural evenings, sightseeing visits to local attractions in and around Imphal.

An exhibition by State Tourism Departments from the North Eastern States including display of beautiful handicrafts and handlooms is also being organised to show case the tourism products of respective participating States. The state government of Madhya Pradesh has also been invited to participate and give a presentation as it is a paired state with Manipur under the "Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat" initiative.

Overwhelming response has been received for taking post-mart familiarisation tours to the North Eastern states by foreign buyer delegates. This will create awareness about the rich and varied tourism products of the North Eastern region and to give them a first-hand experience of the destination.

The International Tourism Marts are organised in the North Eastern States on rotation basis. Manipur is hosting this mart for the second time. The earlier editions of this mart have been held in Guwahati, Tawang, Shillong, Gangtok, Agartala.

Ensure that the Government's transformational programmes taken up are effectively implemented - Vice President #TransformationalProgrammes #Sukumarbalakrishnan

TheThe Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu said today that India is witnessing a rapid transformation in all spheres and that the Prime Minister's clarion call of 'reform, perform and transform' has given a new sense of urgency and direction to the country, and the Governors should ensure that the momentum is maintained and tangible outcomes are achieved through collective and collaborative efforts.

Addressing the concluding session of 50th Governors' Conference at Rashtrapati Bhawan today, Shri Naidu said that Governors, with their vast experience, can play an active role in shaping India's development path.

Shri Naidu said that there cannot be a better time than now for us to make our "Ek Bharat" a "Shrestha Bharat". The Vice President called upon the Governors to promote this spirit of 'Bharatiyata'.

He drew their attention towards the rich cultural traditions and linguistic, literary heritage of each state, and stressed the need for its preservation.

"You must support efforts to preserve local culture, festivals and food varieties. You must encourage healthy foods and healthy lifestyle. You must encourage the preservation of local art forms and programmes that support local artisans and craftsmen", he told the Governors.

He also asked them to ensure that local languages get their due place in administration and wherever public interfaces exist.

Calling the language as the repository of the culture of a region, Shri Naidu urged the Governors to actively encourage state governments to preserve and promote mother tongues and use them as a medium of instruction at least at the primary school level.

Shri Naidu also drew the Governors' attention to certain colonial practices which need to be reviewed. For example, addressing high dignitaries as Excellency and adopting the cap and gown dress in the university convocations can be modified to bring in an essential Indian touch.

Expressing concern over the unsustainable water use, the Vice President called for urgent need for water conservation.

Lauding the Government's aim to double farmers' incomes and make agriculture remunerative and sustainable, he mentioned several structural reforms being introduced in farm sector.

Calling 'agriculture as the basic culture' of the country, he emphasised a greater need for effective 'lab-to-land' transmission of knowledge and promotion of diversification of crops, as well as supplementation of on-farm income through horticulture, dairy, poultry and pisciculture.

The Vice President further said that in the field of higher education, the focus will have to be on encouraging innovation and continuous quest for excellence. Research and teaching facilities have to be benchmarked against the best in the world, he added.

The two-day conference at Rashtrapati Bhavan was presided over by the Hon'ble President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind. Shri Amit Shah the Union Home Minister, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of IT & Communication, Law and Justice, Shri Gajendra singh Shekhawat, Minister of Jal Shakti, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, Shri Arjun Munda, Minister of Tribal affairs as well as the Governors of States and Lt. Governors and Administrators of UTs were among the dignitaries who attended the Conference.

FPIs pour Rs 17,722 crore into Indian markets in November so far #IndianMarket #Sukumarbalakrishnan

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) have invested a worth of Rs 17,722 crore (US$ 2.54 billion) into the Indian markets in November so far amid encouraging domestic and global cues.

As per the depositories data, the investment done by overseas investors include a net sum of Rs 17,547.55 crore (US$ 2.51 billion) into equities and Rs 175.27 crore (US$ 25.08 million) in the debt segment during November 1-22, making the total net investment to Rs 17,722.82 crore (US$ 2.4 billion).

The FPIs were net buyers in the previous two months as well where the investment stood at net Rs 16,464.6 crore (US$ 2.36 billion) in October and Rs 6,557.8 crore (US$ 0.94 billion) in September into the domestic capital markets (both equity and debt).

Although, according to some experts FPIs are still wary of increasing their allocation to the Indian markets.

Mr. Umesh Mehta, head of research at Samco Securities said, "FPIs have become relatively cautious on India given the high valuations and Nifty hovering near its all-time high levels. Huge divergence between the large and small/midcaps is making them weary to commit further in a big way to the Indian bourses." Also, the expectation of weaker GDP numbers in the coming months, among other factors, is making them "hesitant to invest full throttle", he added.

Mr. Himanshu Srivastava, senior analyst manager research at Morningstar Investment Adviser India, said the buying broadly indicates that FPIs continue to build conviction on the Indian equity markets since "positive domestic and global environment has ensured that FPIs are hooked to the Indian equities".

He added that "this trend is expected to continue over the short-term provided there are no surprises and domestic and global environment continue to be conducive." Commenting on the future trajectory of FPI flows, Harsh Jain, co-founder and COO at Groww, said that "for inflows to be very large in quantity, we might have to wait a bit longer or hope for some big economic factors to play out."

Cochin Port introduces chopper rides for cruise tourists #tourists #sukumarbalakrishnan

A helicopter service has been introduced from Willingdon Island by Chipsan Aviation, in association with the District Tourism Promotion Council, Kerala Tourism and Greenix Village, in order to attract and provide interesting experiences for cruise tourists that are arriving there.

The helicopter service was unveiled by Ms. M. Beena, Chairperson, Cochin Port Trust and about 50 passengers enjoyed the ride on the initial day. The Steamer Agents' Association, the Cochin Customs Brokers' Association, the Indian Chamber of Commerce and the Seafood Exporters' Association sponsored about five rides on the inaugural day.

Cochin Port is among the most well-liked cruise destinations in India. In 2018-19, around 49 international cruise ships visited the port, with 62,753 passengers and 28,828 crew members, which is the highest ever cruise call at the port, thus Cochin Port retains the top spot among cruise handling ports in India.

According to Ms. Beena, the share of repeated visitors is around 25 per cent of the passengers that are arriving by cruise ships, thus, there was a requirement to introduce more tours and interesting experiences in the travel plan. The helicopter service, which will operate trips to Munnar and Jatayu Earth Centre, has received a good response from the cruise passengers as well as tour operators.

Free mehendi design sessions were organised for cruise tourists who arrived at the Samudrika cruise terminal on Wednesday in the vessel Azamara Quest. Many similar initiatives are being planned for the tourists. The port officials added that the new cruise terminal would be completed by February 2020.

Shri Dharmendra Pradhan says Govt aims to achieve 20 per cent ethanol blending of autofuels #sukumarbalakrishnan

Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has said India has the potential to emerge as the world's top industry destination in biotechnology sector. Addressing the Inaugural function of the 3-day Global Bio-India Summit, 2019 here today, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said India has the expertise and the biotechnology sector has witnessed exponential growth in recent decades. Government has encouraged the sector by setting up hundreds of Biotechnology Parks and Incubators while thousands of Start-ups have been supported by the Government, he added.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan said the Prime Minister has set a target of making India the top country in Science & Technology by 2030. As compared to 5 per cent growth in scientific publications worldwide, India has notched a growth of 14 per cent in this sphere, he said. "We have developed a number of vaccines and the rotavirus vaccine is now a part of the National Immunization programme, besides our laboratories have also produced vaccines against dengue and malaria. We are No.3 in Nanotechnology and our Tsunami Early Warning System has been ranked No.1 in the world", he added.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan said India plays a pioneering role in the UN sponsored Mission Innovation (MI) programme and is the leading country in three MI challenges on Smart Grids, Off-Grid Access to Electricity and Sustainable Biofuels. He said we are a "Changed India" today, and as Shri Narendra Modi has aimed, we will make a "New India" by 2022 and finally we aim to be the world leader, "Vishwa Guru".

Dr. Harsh Vardhan said Biotechnology serves mankind helping in to move towards a biotechnology-led economy, transforming as many lives as possible, creating opportunities and promising development for all. He encouraged young innovators and entrepreneurs in the Biotech sector to come forward for the development of the country. "Government of India will support and assist their ideas to make it a reality. He said, as per the vision of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the wave of Information Technology 20 years ago is India Today and Biotechnology is the India tomorrow", he said.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan said the Government has set a target to achieve 20per cent ethanol blending of automotive fuels. "When we took charge ethanol blending was less than 1per cent, today it has increased to 6 per cent and further we have targeted to achieve 20 per cent ethanol blending", he said.

Shri Pradhan said we are committed to work towards greater decarbonisation and make India a gas-based economy. Bioenergy will play an important role in this, he said. "Through innovations developed by our bio-energy scientists we are now working on utilising waste biomass by converting it into Biofuels. With 600MT of biomass, which can be used as raw material, India remains the only country with highest scope for growth of Biofuels", he added.

"In future ethanol will be produced from raw materials like, excess food grains, to help transform our 'Annadatas' to 'Urjadatas.'With 600MT of biomass, which can be used as raw material, India remains the only country with highest scope for growth of Biofuels", said Shri Pradhan.

Shri Pradhan said the Petroleum& Natural Gas Ministry has instituted a Rs 300 crore (US$ 42.9 million) Start-Up Fund. "I have advised my colleagues to have biofuels as a key focus area and provide stimulus to the industry by giving handholding support and offtake guarantee to new & emerging entrepreneurs in the Biofuel sector", he said.

In his address, Member, NITI Aayog, Dr. Vinod K. Paul said the Government and the private sector are working in unison to make Primary Healthcare success in the country. "The aspirations of the people of India have risen and from Primary Healthcare, we are now extending our reach to Secondary and Tertiary Healthcare", he said.

Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Dr. Renu Swarup said the 3-day Biotechnology Summit will discuss roadmap to achieve US$ 100 billion bio economy target. "We have scaled US$ 51 billion already and the sector is growing at 14.7 per cent. So, the US$ 100 billion target seems very modest", she said.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan and Shri Dharmendra Pradhan later inaugurated the Global Bio-India Exhibition.

Global Bio-India is one of the largest biotechnology stakeholders' conglomerates being held in India for the first time. It has brought academia, innovators, researchers, start-ups, medium and large companies together on the same platform. Over 3,000 delegates from around 25 countries and over 15 states of India are participating in the mega event. More than 200 exhibitors, 275 Start-Ups and more than 100 Bio-Technology Incubators are participating in it.

Biotechnology is recognized as the sun rise sector- a key driver for contributing to India's US$ 5 Trillion economy target by 2025.

Rs 13,308 crore spent on Infrastructure Development and Capacity Augmentation of Major Ports: Shri Mansukh Mandaviya # Infrastructure #sukumarbalakrishnan

In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today the Minister of State for Shipping (I/C) and Chemical & Fertilizers Shri Mansukh Mandaviya informed that the Infrastructure development and capacity augmentation of Major Ports is an ongoing process involving construction of new berths and terminals, mechanization of existing berths and terminals, capital dredging for deepening of drafts for attracting large vessels, development of road and rail connectivity etc. As a result, the cargo handling capacity of the Major Ports as on 31st March 2019 is 1514.09 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) which is adequate to handle the EXIM and Coastal cargo. The traffic handled by Major Ports during 2018-19 was 699.10Million Tonnes (MT).

A number of projects with total project cost of Rs 13308.41 crore (US$ 1.90 billion) have been awarded in the last three years on upgradation of the Major Ports. The projects, once awarded, are executed as per the relevant contractual timelines. These projects are monitored regularly at various levels in the concerned ports as well as in the Ministry to ensure timely completion. Major Ports submit monthly status report on projects to be awarded and projects to be completed to the Ministry, which is reviewed regularly.