Center approves 3.31 lakh more houses under PMAY(U) Cumulative number of houses sanctioned now stands at 96.5 lakh #Sukumarbalakrishnan

The 49th Meeting of the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), held here today, approved 606 proposals from participating States for the construction of 3,31,075 houses with an overall investment of Rs 15,125 crore (US$ 2.16 billion) involving central assistance of Rs 5,092 crore (US$ 728.57 million). This includes six Light Houses Projects (LHPs) for construction of 6368 houses to be built across 6 States namely Gujarat (1,144), Jharkhand (1,008), Madhya Pradesh (1,024), Tamil Nadu (1,152), Tripura (1,000) and Uttar Pradesh (1040).

The number of houses approved by the CSMC are in Andhra Pradesh (2,58,648), Karnataka (30,777), Madhya Pradesh (15,245), Gujarat (13,805), Maharashtra (4,691) & Uttarakhand (1,541). The State of Andhra Pradesh has proposed the largest number of new houses and is now the leading State with the highest ever cumulative sanctions for 16,34,748 houses followed by Uttar Pradesh with 14,53,989 houses under the PMAY(U) Mission.

The proposal received are under Beneficiary Led Construction or Enhancement (BLC) and Affordable Housing Project (AHP) verticals of the scheme. The houses proposed under Light Houses Projects (LHPs) will be constructed by using new and innovative technologies and will serve as live laboratories for research, testing, technology transfer, increasing mass awareness and for mainstreaming them in the country.

As on date, PMAY(U) Mission has sanctioned more than 96.50 Lakh houses under PMAY(U) against the validated demand of 1.12 crore houses. A total of 56 Lakh houses are grounded for construction of which 28.4 Lakh have been completed.

FASTag Sale Grows by 330 Per Cent; Over 70 Lakh Issued till Date #FASTag #Sukumarbalakrishnan

Over 70 Lakh FASTags have been issued till date, with highest per day issuance of 1,35,583 Tags on 26th November 2019, whereas 1.03 lakh Tags were issued on the day before. The average daily issuance has grown by 330 per cent from eight thousand in July to thirty-five thousand Tags sold in November 2019. After announcement of waiver of Tag cost from 21st November, there has been a growth in FASTag issuance of over 130 per cent. FASTag is accepted on 560+ Toll Plazas and more number of plaza are getting added on daily basis.

National Electronic Toll Collection (FASTag) programme, the flagship initiative of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and NHAI has been implemented on pan India basis in order to remove bottlenecks and ensure seamless movement of traffic and collection of user fee as per the notified rates, using passive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. To give a major fillip to enhance digital payments and bring in enhanced transparency, it has been mandated to declare all lanes of fee plazas on National Highways as "FASTag lanes" by 1st December 2019, while provisioning one lane (in each direction) which would be kept as hybrid lane to accept FASTag and other modes of payment.

With the above mandate, average daily transactions processed through FASTag have grown from 8.8 Lakh in July this year to 11.2 lakh transactions in November 2019, while the average daily collection has grown from Rs 11.2 crore to Rs 19.5 crore for the given period.

Certain commuters face difficulty at Toll Plaza due to low balance in FASTag. To mitigate such difficulty, commuters are advised to maintain sufficient balance in the account/wallet linked to FASTag. All the available mode of recharge like Debit Card/Credit Card, Net-Banking and UPI have been enabled for loading money to the FASTag account. For ease in understanding the recharging process, an easy to understand FAQ has been released.

2. I have forgotten my Tag details. How to retrieve information?

a. For bank issued FASTag (i.e. FASTag purchased from a bank)

A customer may call concerned bank's Toll-free number written on the back side of the tag. Customer has to mention his or her user credentials (mobile number against which the tag has been registered, Vehicle Registration Number (VRN) etc.) On successful verification of use credentials, requisite information shall be provided.
The list of Customer care number of the banks can be availed from below:

i. www.ihmcl.com
ii. My FASTag App
iii. NHAI Helpline number 1033

b. For NHAI FASTag (i.e. bank neutral FASTag)
A customer may call 1033 Helpline number for any assistance.

Service sector can help achieve target of US$ 5 trillion GDP #Sugumarbalakrishnan

According to Mr. Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways and Commerce and Industry, India's service sector can provide aid in achieving the Central government's target of US$ 5 trillion GDP.

The service sector has the potential to be the largest job creators in the country and over the next five years and to contribute US$ 3 trillion out of the US$ 5 trillion GDP target set by the government, said Mr. Goyal.

He was present at the inauguration of the fifth Global Exhibition on Services-2019 at the Palace Grounds, he added that the manufacturing and services industry act as the growth engines of the Indian economy.

According to Mr. Goyal, India requires to move beyond Business Process Outsourcing and work towards adopting new age technologies such as artificial intelligence, block chain, machine learning and participate with the rest of the world on equal terms.

The three-day event has been organised by the Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Karnataka government, Services Export Promotion Council and the Confederation of Indian Industry.

IKEA to open three stores in Mumbai, recruit 1,000 people #Sukumarbalakrishnan

IKEA, Swedish home furnishing retailer, intends to open three stores in Mumbai. This would consist of a flagship store in Navi Mumbai along with two smaller outlets. The company plans to recruit around 1,000 people, mainly for the Navi Mumbai store, which is planned to open within a year.

Ms. Jaxa Gohil, Store Manager, IKEA India, said that the company has begun its mass recruitment process, with a couple of hundred people already hired for its Navi Mumbai store.

India is massively significant for IKEA globally, Ms. Gohil said, adding that it is witnessing the company's biggest expansion plans among new markets. IKEA is investing €1.5 billion (Rs 117.96 billion) in India.

The larger stores will be spread over an area of more than 45,000 sq. m, while the small-format ones will span an area of over 6,500 sq. m.

"Mumbai is a significant market for us, one of the top 30 cities globally and our biggest investment in India with warehousing, e-commerce and stores," Ms. Gohil said. The company has set a goal to reach 100 million people in three years.

IKEA has located Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru as cities that have potential and opportunities, said Ms. Gohil. Thus, IKEA will be targeting in these cities and setting multiple 'customer meeting points', that will consist a variety of touchpoints such as flagship stores, small stores as well as digital touchpoints.

It also intends to expand through e-commerce channels for Bengaluru and Delhi soon and has started a pilot for e-commerce in Pune.

In August, IKEA started its e-commerce channel for Mumbai and has garnered 2 million visits so far, said Ms. Gohil. E-commerce for Hyderabad was also started, where it opened its only physical store in India in 2018.

IKEA has introduced 500 products for Indian market as localisation forms an important strategy in India, Ms. Gohil said. The 50-50 diversity agenda which ensures that 50 per cent of the employees recruited are women is another focus area for IKEA India, she added.

Accessibility, affordability and sustainability are among its other focus areas in India. There are around 1,000 products available at less than Rs 200 apiece in India currently, she said. As for accessibility, India will have some of IKEA's first small format stores globally, she added.

Union Minister Shri Giriraj Singh addresses National Milk Day celebration; Thanks Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for protecting farmers' interest by not joining RCEP; Milk production increases by 36.35 per cent from 137.7 MT in 2013-14 to 187.75 MT in 2018-19 #ProtectingFarmers #Sukumarbalakrishnan

The Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying Shri Giriraj Singh today addressed entrepreneurs, milk producer farmers, academia and media on the occasion of National Milk Day-2019 at Pusa in New Delhi. Addressing the august gathering Shri Singh thanked Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for protecting interest of 10 crore farmers by not joining Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). He said that Prime Minister has always given the prime importance to the betterment of "Gaon Gareeb Kisaan" and RCEP was not in favour of farmers (Kisaan). Shri Singh further added that PM Modi had said that he cannot turn away from the needs of India's farmers.

Shri Giriraj Singh stated that milk production has increased significantly from 137.7 million tonnes in 2013-14 to 187.75 million tonnes in 2018-19, thereby indicating an increase by 36.35 per cent. Similarly, the per capita availability of milk increased from 307 grams in 2013-14 to 394 grams in 2018-19. Annual growth rate of Milk Production during the period 2009-14 was 4.2 per cent, which has increased to 6.4 per cent during 2014-19. The annual growth rate of world milk production has increased by 1.2 per cent during 2014-19. The Union Minister added that India is the ray of hope of the global dairy industry with opportunities galore for the entrepreneurs globally. Since last 20 years, India continues to be the largest producer of milk in the world. This phenomenal increase is due to several measures initiated by the Union Government to increase the productivity of livestock.

Shri Singh also said that Livestock sector contributes significantly towards livelihoods and security net for the landless and marginal farmers. About 70 million rural households are engaged in dairying in India with 80 per cent of total cow population. During the last 15 years, Milk Cooperatives have converted about 20 per cent of milk procured into traditional and value-added products that offers about 20 per cent higher revenue. This share of value-added products is estimated to increase to 40 per cent by 2023-24.

Addressing the gathering, Minister of State, Shri Sanjeev Kumar Balyan said that the 6.5 per cent growth rate is still low due to the base effect but this will change as the Ministry is ensuring all policies and schemes are being formulated for improving the quality of livestock and quantity of milk. Shri Balyan thanks PM Modi for setting up a separate Ministry for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying so that emphasis can be laid on their development. He said that resources of the Government are limited, and private sector should also support the initiatives of the Government. Shri Balyan also said that there is a perception in the minds of the people about milk adulteration and it needs to be changed.

Minister of State, Shri Pratap Chandra Sarangi said that technology should be harnessed properly for improvement of the sector overall. He said that breed improvement can be done with innovative ways. He also said that policies should be made favourably to ensure both quality and quantity of domestic production, consumption and exports can be improved.

The Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying emphasized that Government has initiated a number of dairy development schemes in order to meet enhanced demand of milk through domestic sources by laying special emphasis on raising milk production through improved productivity and health of our dairy animals. In this direction a new scheme has been launched by the Prime Minister called "National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP)" with an allocation of Rs 13343 crore (US$ 1.91 billion) for complete control of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Brucellosis in the country. Nationwide Artificial Insemination Programme for enhancing AI coverage thereby increasing milk production and productivity was also launched by the Prime Minister along with Start-up challenges. The Department is also working on convergence of schemes with the schemes of other Departments and Ministries so as to double farmers' income.

The President of India launches web-portal of "National Youth Parliament Scheme" #ParliamentScheme #Sukumarbalakrishnan

A special function on the occasion to commemorate 70th Anniversary of adoption of the Constitution of India, - "Samvidhan Diwas" was organized in the Central Hall of Parliament today.

The President of India, Vice President, Prime Minister, Speaker and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs graced the occasion and addressed the gathering of the Members of both Houses of Parliament.

On this occasion, the President Shri Ram Nath Kovind launched the Web-Portal of "National Youth Parliament Scheme".

Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has been implementing Youth Parliament programme since 1966 in Schools under the Directorate of Education, Government of NCT of Delhi and NDMC, Kendriya Vidyalayas, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas and Universities/ Colleges. So far, around 8,000 educational institutions and more than 4,00,000 students have been covered under the Youth Parliament programme of the Ministry.

The web-portal of the National Youth Parliament Scheme is available at www.nyps.mpa.gov.in. The main objective of the portal is to increase the outreach of the youth parliament programme of the Ministry to hitherto untouched sections and corners of the country.

The salient features of the portal are: -

All recognised educational institutions of the country are eligible to participate in this programme.
The registration for participation will be done by the education institutions through the web-portal.
E-training modules, videos, photographs and scripts are available on the portal for online self-learning of the participants.
After successful registration, the educational institutions will be able to conduct youth parliament sittings in their respective institutions.
Each student taking part in the sitting will get a Digital 'Certificate of Participation' and each Teacher-in-charge and Head of Institution will get a 'Certificate of Appreciation' through the web portal.
This portal will give shape to Prime Minister's vision of organizing youth parliaments in all parts of the country.

Govt collects Rs 729 crore from sale of 10 per cent stake in RITES #PublicAssetManagement #StakesRites #Sukumarbalakrishnan

The Finance Ministry has collected Rs 729.44 crore (US$ 104.37 million) from divestment of 10 per cent stake, or 2.5 crore equity shares, in its railway engineering consultancy company RITES Ltd through the Offer-For-Sale (OFS) route.

According to the secretary of department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM), "Government undertook offer for sale for 10 per cent of paid-up equity in RITES on 22-25 November 2019. The base offer was fully subscribed (100.01 per cent) with disinvestment proceeds of Rs 729.44 crore (US$ 104.37 million)".

In the last three sessions, company's share witnessed a drop of nearly 8 per cent on the government's decision to divest its stake in the company. The stock fell a slight to 0.25 per cent to Rs 282.15 (US$ 4) on the BSE on 26th November 2019.

The proposal to sell the 10 per cent stake in the company was presented on 22nd November to non-retail investors only and on 25 November to retail investors and non-retail investors, with an option to also sell up to 1.25 crore equity shares, representing 5 per cent stake, through the offer-for-sale route.

The floor price for the OFS was fixed at Rs 293.50 (US$ 4.1) per share. Discount of 5 per cent to the cut-off price was also given to retail investors.
As on 30th September, 87.4 per cent stake in RITES, the only export arm of Indian railways for providing rolling stock overseas, was owned by the government.

This transaction will help the government to reach closer to its divestment target of Rs 1.05 trillion for the current financial year, which is higher than the target of Rs 90,000 (US$ 1287) in 2018-19.

The privatisation of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) was approved by the Cabinet last week, where the government will sell its entire 53.29 per cent stake in the company to a strategic buyer along with transferring management control. Although, the sale will not include Numaligarh Refinery Ltd in Assam and the refinery will become a separate entity to be later hived off to another public-sector firm.

The Cabinet had also declared selling of its 30.8 per cent shareholding in Container Corporation of India Ltd (Concor) to a strategic buyer along with handing over the management control. At present, the government holds 54.8 per cent in the company. Shares in Shipping Corporation of India Ltd of around 63.75 per cent will also be reduced by the government.

NephroPlus gets Rs 323-crore funding from Bahrain's Investcorp #Fund #NephroPlus #Sukumarbalakrishnan

NephroPlus, the dialysis service provider, has got a fresh funding of around US$ 45 million (Rs 323 crore) from Investcorp, the Bahrain based, Global alternative asset management company.

This is the biggest investment in the Hyderabad based start-up since its foundation that was about a decade ago. The company has expanded its presence to 20 states with 196 centres.

Its previous investors consist of venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners, SeaLink Capital and International Financial Corporation (IFC), the World Bank's investment arm.

According to Mr. Vikram Vuppula, Founder and CEO, the company had set up a diversification plan within the country and overseas markets in West Asia and South East Asia.

The funds of the latest round of investment will be invested into the expansion plans as well as the exit of one of the original three investors which is SeaLink Capital Partners of Herman Hajarnavis, that came in around three years ago with Rs 90 crore (US$ 12.88 million) investment.

"We will use the funds to grow our India business through select acquisitions as well as expansion of centres and fresh beginnings in overseas markets in Middle East and South East Asia", said Mr. Vuppula.

He also added that the company plans to set up joint ventures and signing operations and maintenance contracts too.

NephroPlus, recorded a turnover of Rs 200 crore (US$ 28.62 million) during 2018-19 and expects to end the current fiscal at around Rs 270 crore (US$ 38.63 million), said Mr. Vuppula.

The company was founded by Mr. Vikram Vuppula, an ex McKinsey and Kamal Shah, who, in 2010, was personally fighting kidney disease. The company has reached a remarkable dialysis network in around 125 locations, providing a cost effective and ease of use dialysis to patients.

The deal act as a big boost in the ecosystem and investment in healthcare sector in Hyderabad, particularly for start-up's and entrepreneurs, especially with Hyderabad boasting of T Hub, ICICI Knowledge Park, Genome Valley and a rapidly growing culture of entrepreneurship.

"It's been a company that we've been following from the sidelines for some time now…In terms of breadth and width of delivery, NephroPlus has, possibly, the largest reach in India…We think, given our experience in healthcare globally, there are a lot of areas where we can add value," said Mr. Gaurav Sharma, co-head of private equity at Investcorp India.

Coal India Liquidates 35 Mt of Coal from its Pithead Stock in the First Half of FY 19-20 #CoalIndiaLiquidates #Sukumarbalakrishnan

The state-run Coal India Limited (CIL) has liquidated 35 Million Tonnes (MT) of coal from its pithead stock in the first half of the current fiscal 2019-20, the Coal Minister Shri Pralhad Joshi informed parliament on Monday.

"The pithead coal stock with CIL was 54.15 Million Tonne (MT) as on April 1, 2019 which reduced to 19.15 MT as on September 30, 2019. Thus, the coal stock liquidation was 35 MT in the first half of the financial year 2019-20" Coal Minister Shri Pralhad Joshi said in a reply to the Rajya Sabha.

The minister also informed the upper house that CIL's coal production rose by 10.6 per cent in the first half of FY 18-19 to 256.47 MT as against 231.88 MT produced in the corresponding period of FY 17-18.

In a reply laid on the table of the upper house the minister also informed that India's coal production grew by 8.14per cent to 730.35 MT in FY 18-19 in comparison to 675.40 MT of coal produced in the county in FY 17-18.

In another reply to the Rajya Sabha, the Minister informed that 319 Billion Tonnes of geological reserves of coal have been estimated in India so far as on April 1, 2018.

Auction for Sale (Re-Issue) of '6.18 per cent GS 2024', Auction for Sale (Re-issue) of 'GoI Floating Rate Bond 2031', Auction for Sale (Re-Issue) of '7.69 per cent GS 2043', and Auction for Sale (Re-Issue) of '7.72 per cent GS 2049 #Sale #Sukumarbalakrishnan

The Government of India has announced the Sale (Re-issue) of (i) '6.18 per cent Government Stock, 2024' for a notified amount of Rs 4,000 crore (US$ 0.57 billion) (nominal) through price based auction, (ii) 'GoI Floating Rate Bonds, 2031' for a notified amount of Rs 6,000 crore (nominal) through price based auction, (iii) '7.69 per cent Government Stock, 2043' for a notified amount of Rs 2,000 crore (US$ 286.16 million) (nominal) through price based auction, and (iv) '7.72 per cent Government Stock, 2049' for a notified amount of Rs 4,000 crore (nominal) through price based auction. Subject to the limit of Rs 16,000 crore (US$ 2.29 billion), being total notified amount, GoI will have the option to retain additional subscription up to Rs 1,000 crore (US$ 143.08 million) each against any one or more of the above securities. The auctions will be conducted using multiple price method. The auctions will be conducted by the Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai Office, Fort, Mumbai on November 29, 2019 (Friday).

Up to 5 per cent of the notified amount of the sale of the stocks will be allotted to eligible individuals and Institutions as per the Scheme for Non-Competitive Bidding Facility in the Auction of Government Securities.

Both competitive and non-competitive bids for the auction should be submitted in electronic format on the Reserve Bank of India Core Banking Solution (E-Kuber) system on November 29, 2019. The non-competitive bids should be submitted between 11.30 a.m. and 12.00 noon and the competitive bids should be submitted between 11.30 a.m. and
12.30 p.m.

The result of the auctions will be announced on November 29, 2019 (Friday) and payment by successful bidders will be on December 02, 2019 (Monday).

The Stocks will be eligible for "When Issued" trading in accordance with the guidelines on 'When Issued transactions in Central Government Securities' issued by the Reserve Bank of India vide circular No. RBI/2018-19/25 dated July 24, 2018 as amended from time to time.