MoU between NITI Aayog and Union Territory of Ladakh for Development of Infrastructure Projects

In an important initiative to promote the development of key infrastructure sectors in the newly constituted Union Territory of Ladakh, NITI Aayog entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the UT’s administration on 17 January 2020. Under this MoU, NITI Aayog will be supporting the UT’s administration through its key initiative ‘Development Support Services to States for Infrastructure Projects (D3S-i)’.

The MoU was executed in the presence of NITI Aayog CEO Mr Amitabh Kant and Joint Secretary Mr MC Jauhari. It was signed by NITI Aayog Senior Adviser Dr Yogesh Suri and Adviser to the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh Umang Narula.

The partnership lays thrust on the identification of high-impact priority projects, expedited project implementation, addressing structural-level issues and creating unique models of development for the Union Territory of Ladakh. NITI Aayog has committed to assist the UT’s administration in creating a strategic plan for identifying prioritized infrastructure projects and by providing end-to-end transaction-management support for the identified projects. A dedicated team of professionals is expected to be stationed at Ladakh for identification and development of projects in the UT, especially in tourism, solar energy and basic infrastructure.
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Record wheat acreage takes rabi sowing beyond 64 million hectares

According to data released by the Agriculture Ministry, the total planted area in the current rabi season reached to 641 lakh hectares with the wheat witnessing a record area of 330 lakh hectares. This is 8.6 per cent more than that sown in the corresponding period last year.

“The maximum wheat sown area in the past was a little over 320 lakh hectares. That way this a record of sorts. And the crop condition this year is very good,” said Mr RK Sharma, Principal Scientist at the Karnal-based Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Institute, a lab under the aegis of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

Madhya Pradesh has sown wheat over an area of 78 lakh hectares, which is about 19 lakh hectares more than the last year, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra planted wheat over an additional area of 5.6 lakh hectares, 4.5 lakh hectares and 3.86 lakh hectares, respectively, over the corresponding week last year.

The pulses planted by farmers were over an area of 157 lakh hectares compared to 150 lakh hectares in the same week last year. Maharashtra witnessed most increase, which added about 7.74 lakh hectares area under pulses, followed by Rajasthan (6.35 lakh hectares) and Gujarat (2.16 lakh hectares) whereas Madhya Pradesh planted nearly 9 lakh hectares less under pulses.

Coarse cereals also witnessed an increase by 13.5 per cent to over 53 lakh hectares. The coarse cereals acreage in the corresponding week last rabi season was less than 47 lakh hectares. The much of the increase was in Jowar plantation, which has been planted over an additional area of 4.65 lakh hectares.

Although, mustard planting is a little lower than last year's 69.28 lakh hectares, the total area under oilseeds moved increased with a marginally higher groundnut acreage.

Till this week, oilseeds had been sown on 79.25 lakh hectares. Rice transplanting in Telangana and Tamil Nadu were 2.56 lakh hectares and 1.4 lakh hectares higher than the corresponding week last year, respectively, taking the total area under rice cultivation to 21.41 lakh hectares, more than 18 per cent higher than the last winter season.

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INDIAN TOURISM INDUSTRY: AN INSIGHT

During the celebration of 73rd Independence Day, Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi addressed the nation from the Red Fort and underlined that India ‘has much to offer’ to tourists. The government has been focusing on the tourism industry since 2002 with the launch of campaign Incredible India campaign.

India has seen a continuous growth in position climbing from 65th position in 2013 to 40th in 2017 in World Economic Forum's (WEF) travel and tourism competitiveness index. The direct contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP in 2017 stood at Rs 5.94 lakh crore which is 3.3 per cent of GDP. This is expected to grow at 7.1 per annum to reach Rs 12.67 lakh crore by 2028.

The tourism industry has generated 26,148,000 jobs directly in 2017, 5 per cent of total employment, growing by 2.8 per cent in 2018 to reach 26,883,000 jobs. These jobs include employment by hotels, travel agents, airlines and any other passenger transportation services. It also includes the activities of restaurant and leisure industries which is directly supported by tourists. The growth of direct jobs in the industry is expected to grow at 2.1 per annum over next ten years and account for 33,195,000 jobs by 2028.

Our Prime Minister has been the key ambassador in promoting tourism initiatives. He has not only focused on encouraging the foreign visitors but also promoted the domestic tourism. Ministry of Tourism has renewed its new National Tourism Policy and took measures aimed at creating more jobs and increasing the country’s share in global tourism market. India also plans to launch Incredible India 2.0 campaign.

According to the official data, number of foreign tourists coming to India has also increased from 8.80 million in 2016 to 10.56 million (provisional) in 2018. Most arrivals have been for business including search of jobs. Tamil Nadu tops the chart followed by Maharashtra and Delhi in terms of number of tourists.

Government has focused on many strategies in last few years and welcomed every initiative to promote travel and tourism in country. One such strategy was focusing on Chinese tourists. In China, around 14 crore citizens go on travel every year of which only 2.5 lakh arrive in India. If the country can achieve 1 per cent of the total tourist that will stand at 14 lakh Chinese coming to India. This will give a major boost to the industry. Apart from this the government is also focusing on tourists from Russia, Gulf countries and South East Asia apart from United States and Europe. These countries have huge potential.

MOBILE PHONE MANUFACTURING IN INDIA: TOWARDS A BRIGHTER FUTURE!

India is the world’s second largest mobile phone manufacturer after China. And with the current pace of growth, India is not far from becoming the leading handset market in the world. According to the Indian Cellular Association (ICA), the annual production of mobile phones within the country has increased from 3 million devices in 2014 to 11 million devices in 2017. India now accounts for 11 percent of global mobile production, which was only 3 percent in 2014. In fact, the telecom industry today is amongst the top five employment opportunity generators in India, creating over four million direct and indirect jobs over the next few years, according to Randstad India.

Another feather in India’s cap is that during the first quarter of 2018, India became the world’s fastest- growing market for mobile applications. In May 2017, the Indian government announced the Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP) to promote domestic production of mobile handsets. This initiative is helping build a robust indigenous mobile manufacturing ecosystem in India, and incentivize large scale manufacturing. The PMP has successfully helped in nudging companies to move towards manufacturing from direct imports. According to the ICA, the total capital investment by device and component players by the end of 2018 under the PMP is expected to hit INR 57 billion. In fact, Pankaj Mohindroo, President of the ICA says, “I am very hopeful that in the next two years, with such conducive policies, there would be additional massive investments coming into the mobile components sector.”

With more than 100 players, the mobile phone market in India has grown exponentially in the past decade, and with the emergence of smartphones, the growth has increased exponentially.
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SOLAR ENERGY GENERATION IN INDIA: LIGHTING LIVES!

According to the India Solar Project Tracker by Mercom, rooftop solar energy generation accounts for 1.6 GW with the remaining 18.4 GW coming from utility-scale installations. Telangana leads the Indian states with respect to cumulative solar installations, with other states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Rajasthan following at its heels. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has announced new programmes and policies to offer incentives for rooftop solar project commission to the various distribution companies.

The rapidly increasing demand for electricity in the remotest corners of the country is expected to continue the upward trend. Government initiatives are largely directed toward meeting this increasing demand by adding to the installed generation capacity in a huge way. Owing to the strong and determined focus on promotion of renewable energy by the Indian government, India now holds the third spot among a total of 40 countries on the EY’s Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index. As per the list of electricity accessibility released by the World Bank in 2017, India rose to the 26th rank by moving up 73 spots.

India is also likely to become the first country in the world to use LED bulbs for all of its lighting needs by the year 2019. The Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) operating under the broad marquee of Unnati Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) has already made inroads into achieving this goal by distributing a whopping 280 million LEDs to Indian consumers as of December 2017, in addition to over 524.3 million LEDs that private companies had sold in the same period of time. By becoming a country powered solely by LEDs, India stands to save over US$ 6.23 billion every year.

In 2015, approximately 1 million solar lanterns were sold in India which helped to reduce the dependency on kerosene. In addition to solar home lighting systems and solar street lighting installation projects, the government of India also distributed over 1.4 million solar cookers in the country.

In 2016, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the International Solar Alliance (ISA) of over 120 countries, in collaboration with the French President Francois Hollande at Gurgaon. The primary focus of this organisation is to promote and develop solar energy products particularly in countries in and around the two Tropics. Initiatives such as the 10-year tax exemption offered on solar energy projects, greenhouse gas emission reduction policies, as well as the plan to specify regulations for the use of drones in the arena of solar power plants, are just a few steps that the government of India is taking to achieve the energy goals set for 2022.
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Fuel conservation mega campaign of PCRA Saksham 2020 launched

'Saksham', an annual one-month long fuel conservation mega campaign of Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) under the aegis of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, was launched today by Dr M.M Kutty, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum& Natural Gas in a function held in Delhi.
Dr M.M Kutty, during his address, emphasized the importance of petroleum products for our country and the dire need for actions leading towards fuel conservation.  He stressed upon the importance of programs like Saksham wherein general public is involved in various activities. He said "Prosperity and higher living standards are driving energy demand in India.  By mid 2020s India will be the world’s largest growth market accounting for 25 per cent of global energy demand growth. Today 83 per cent of India’s crude oil requirement is met through import. The earnest efforts for petroleum conservation can help us to reduce the huge import burden.  Every drop of oil saved will contribute to saving of foreign exchange.  We also require addressing the issues of climate change.  Through SAKSHAM we intend to deliver a strong message that sustainable future demands conservation of natural resources."

The Secretary gave away the prizes to the winners of Essay, Quiz and Painting competitions for the National Level Competition-2019 which has seen a phenomenal record participation of more than 1.48 crore students from school of all education boards of the country. The winners get Japan Study tour, Laptops, Tablets &Cash prizes and the win may help in motivating the youth of our country towards understanding their critical role in spreading the awareness about fuel conservation. The awards were also given away to the oil companies and their state level coordinators for their contribution in the fields of fuel conservation. The winning entries of the painting competition displayed in the gallery on the occasion amazed the dignitaries for the wonderful ideas and creativities depicted in the paintings.

On this occasion, the secretary also flagged-off the publicity vans of PCRA which shall visit different states covering the rural side as well, spreading messages about fuel conservation awareness through interactive audio, video creatives and print displays.

During Saksham-2020, various interactive programs and activities are being planned by PCRA. Public Sector upstream/downstream Oil & Gas companies under the able guidance of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas are conducting various activities like 'Saksham' Cycle Day, Cyclothons, Workshops for drivers of commercial vehicles, Seminars for housewives/cooks on adopting simple fuel saving measure, Nationwide campaign through Radio, TV, Digital Cinemas, Outdoor etc. with a focus on reaching out to various segments of fuel users. PCRA is effectively utilizing the social media platforms for various customized campaigns through Facebook, Twitter, MyGov platform an endeavour to spread its reach amongst the masses.

'Saksham' a flagship program of PCRA and Oil PSUs under the guidance of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is an initiative for adding values to the various efforts being made in the country for saving fuel.
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No Imports in 'Others' Category Without HSN Code; New ERA of Quality Production Being Established in India; Government to Support Industry to Establish International Quality Standards - Piyush Goyal

No imports will be allowed without HSN code into the country said the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Railways, Piyush Goyal in New Delhi today. He was speaking at the 6th National Standards Conclave on the subject of Standards for Trade Facilitation.

Commerce & Industry Minister further said that henceforth there must be zero tolerance for substandard products and services from industry and consumers. He further stated that Government will support industry in every way to establish standards for Indian goods and services to meet international requirements so that brand India is recognized in the world as a provider of quality products and services. Unless Indian business and industry make standards its calling card, India will not be able to reach the target of a US$ 5 trillion economy, said Piyush Goyal. The Government is committed to establishing standards of Indian products and services to world class levels which will enable our exports to be accepted globally due to the quality of goods and services, added the Minister. He said Made in India should carry the commitment of 130 crore people towards quality, sincerity, customer satisfaction and not be second best.

Commerce and Industry Minister further said that it is an unfortunate reality for India that the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) entered into with other countries has not led to the growth of India’s trade and business because the poor quality of the products and services that get restricted with non-tariff barriers when exported. He further elaborated on this point with the number of Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) in countries like US (8000), Brazil (3879), China (2872) and India with only 439 TBTs. This illustrates the fact as to the manner in which India and rest of the world are looking at the concept of quality in products and services, said the Minister.

Commerce and Industry Minister further stated that the time has come to get out of the mind set of subsiding exports and adopt the mantra of zero defect zero effect in order to ensure that emerging India will be the destination for quality products and services. He said that the need of the hour is to get cracking towards a zero-defect policy, that Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has articulated a number of times. The Minister said that the quality standards must be accepted as the reality of an emerging India, an India that wishes to be recognised as a country manufacturing quality product.

Commerce and Industry Minister informed that the new Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act is relooking at all standards for goods and services in order to balance the interest of consumers with that of the industry which will enable the culture of quality to take root in the country and production or import of substandard products and services will not be tolerated any longer.

Commerce and Industry Minister urged BIS, FSSAI and other departments of the Government, that are mandated to set up and establish standards, to work in mission mode so that goods and services produced and imported in India meet international quality requirements. This will help India to engage with the world on equal and reciprocal terms.

Commerce and Industry Minister hoped that this will see a new era of quality production of goods and services in the country and quality will be the buzzword and the collaborative approach of Government, industry and consumer will help in setting up and upgrading standards to give the best products and services to the consumers and also ensure the protection of the environment. 

The 6th National Standards Conclave is being held in Delhi on 15-16 January 2020 and is organized by Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Export Inspection Council of India (EIC), National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) and the Centre for Research on International Trade.

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Sun Pharma, US-based Rockwell Medical enter into licensing pact for Triferic

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries has entered into a licensing agreement with US-based Rockwell Medical to commercialise Triferic, an iron replacement and haemoglobin maintenance drug, in India.

"Sun Pharma announced that one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries has entered into exclusive licensing and supply agreements with Rockwell Medical Inc (Rockwell), to commercialise Rockwell's Triferic, a proprietary iron replacement and haemoglobin maintenance drug, for treating anaemia in hemodialysis patients in India," according to the drug firm's regulatory filing.

Under the agreement, Sun Pharma will be the exclusive development and commercialisation partner for Triferic during the term of the agreement, subject to its approval in India.

Currently, Triferic is the only USFDA-approved therapy available in the US which is used in replacing iron and maintaining haemoglobin in hemodialysis patients via dialysate during each dialysis treatment.

The filing didn't disclose the financial terms of the agreement due to confidentiality, but Rockwell is eligible for upfront and milestone payments as well as royalty on net sales.

"Triferic is an innovative anaemia therapy for the patients who are undergoing haemodialysis and offers a unique treatment option. Triferic will help Sun Pharma expand its portfolio in its core therapy areas," Sun Pharma CEO of India business Mr Kirti Ganorkar said.

According to the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017, chronic kidney disease was the tenth leading cause of mortality in India, having risen from 14th rank in 2007.

The shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries were trading at Rs 447.10 (US$ 6.39), up 0.25 per cent on BSE.
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Banks loan growth at 7.5 per cent in fortnight to Jan 2: RBI data

According to the Reserve Bank data, in the fortnight to January 2, the bank credit grew by 7.57 per cent reaching Rs 100.44 lakh crore (US$ 1.43 trillion) while deposits increased by 9.77 per cent to Rs 132.10 lakh crore (US$ 1.89 trillion). The banks loan in the year-ago period, stood at Rs 93.37 lakh crore (US$ 1.33 trillion) while deposits at Rs 120.33 lakh crore (US$ 1.72 trillion).

The credit had grown by 7.10 per cent reaching Rs 99.47 lakh crore (US$ 1.42 trillion) and deposits had increased by 10.09 per cent to Rs 130.08 lakh crore (US$ 1.86 trillion), in the previous fortnight ended December 20.

Though, banks' credit growth slowed to 7.2 per cent to Rs 86.73 lakh crore (US$ 1.24 trillion) in November 2019 from 13.8 per cent to Rs 80.93 lakh crore (US$ 1.15 trillion) in the year-ago period.

For the industry, loan growth decreased to 2.4 per cent at Rs 27.72 lakh crore (US$ 396.6 billion) in November from 4 per cent in the corresponding month of 2018.

In November 2019, credit to agriculture and allied activities slowed to 6.5 per cent from 7.7 per cent last year. There was sharp decrease in the services sector to 4.8 per cent from 28.1 per cent last year.

Personal loans witnessed a marginally growth at lower rate of 16.4 per cent in November 2019 as compared with 17.2 per cent, according to the RBI data.

Rating agency ICRA in its recent report had said credit expansion may drop to a six-decade low of 6.5-7 per cent in 2019-20 compared to 13.3 per cent in the previous financial year.
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NHAI records highest daily toll collection at Rs 86.2 crore

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) recorded highest Rs 86.2 crore (US$ 12.33 million) daily toll collection on January 12th, 2020, according to its Chairman Mr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu.

In January 2020, the highest daily toll collection via electronic system of FASTags was also recorded at Rs 50 crore (US$ 7.15 million) (single day collection) as compared to Rs 23 crore (US$ 3.29 million) in November 2019.

"The NHAI has recorded its highest toll collection on a daily basis at Rs 86.2 crore (US$ 12.33 million) two days back," Mr Sandhu said at National Highways Excellence Award 2019.

There has been increase in the daily transactions via FASTags reaching around 30 lakh per day in January 2020 from mere 8 lakh in July 2019.
He added that around 91 per cent of toll collection is taking place via FASTags in the Jodhpur toll plaza in Jaipur region, thus, it is outperforming others in implementation of FASTags.

He further added that Bhopal and Gandhinagar toll plazas have also performed well in FASTag implementation.

As of December 2019, around 1 crore FASTags have been issued with over 30 lakh FASTags issued in November and December, following daily sales of 1.5-2 lakh FASTags.

The government made the FASTag-based electronic toll collection mechanism mandatory from December 15 cross all toll plazas of the NHAI where at least 75 per cent lanes were restricted to the use cash mode of payment to a maximum of 25 per cent lanes of toll plazas.

FASTags-based toll collection system was introduced across over 527 national highways.

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