100 more Airports to be developed by 2024 to support UDAAN Scheme; Union budget proposes Rs 22,000 crore for Power and Renewable Energy sector in Current FY; National Gas Grid to be expanded from the present 16200 km to 27000 km

Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, while presenting the Union Budget 2020-21, in Parliament, said that infrastructure was crucial to the theme of "Economic development" and hence the Budget which is dedicated to provide "Ease of Living" to all citizen.

Emphasising need for efficiency of India Sea Ports and use of technology to improve their performance, Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, said "The government would consider corporatizing at least one major port and subsequently its listing on the stock exchanges."

Speaking about Inland Waterways, the Finance Minister also announced that the "Jal Vikas Marg" on National Waterway-1 will be completed and further the 890 Km Dhubri-Sadiya connectivity will be done by 2022".

Smt Sitharaman further said that Plans are afoot on "Arth Ganga"- PM's vision to energise economic activity along the riverbanks. In order to boost the transport Infrastructure in the country the Union Budget has provided for about Rs 1.70 lakh crore (US$ 24.32 billion). 

Impetus to Civil Aviation Sector 

The Finance Minister also announced that 100 more airports would be developed by 2024 to support Udaan scheme. She also remarked in her Budget presentation that India's Air traffic has grown rapidly as compared to global average and the Air fleet number was expected to go up from the present 600 to 1200 during this time. 

In the direction of doubling farmers' income by 2022, among other measures, the Finance Minister also announced launch of "Krishi Udaan" by the Ministry of Civil aviation on International & National routes. This is aimed to help improve value realisation especially in North-East and Tribal districts.

 Power and Renewable Energy

The Union Finance Minister also proposed an allocation of Rs 22,000 crore (US$ 3.15 billion) for Power and Renewable Energy sector in 2020-21. Finance minister urged all States and Union Territories to replace conventional meters by prepaid "Smart Meters" in the next 3 years and measures to reform DISCOMs.

Further, the Finance Minister proposed in the Budget that national gas grid would be expanded from the present 16,200 km to 27,000 km with further reforms to be undertaken to facilitate transparent price discovery and ease of transactions.

The Finance Minister also proposed to extend corporate tax rate of 15 per cent to new domestic companies engaged in the generation of electricity.

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Launch of Paperless Licensing for Petroleum Service Stations

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry has launched paperless licensing process through Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) for petroleum service stations (retail outlets storing and dispensing petrol/diesel for motor conveyances) under the Petroleum Rules, 2002.

Paperless application and grant of license process for road tankers for transportation of petroleum under the Petroleum Rules has been launched on 7th January 2020. After the launch of paperless process, more than 300 licences have been issued.

Taken together, licences for petroleum service stations and road tankers for transportation of petroleum account for more than 85 per cent of total licences under the Petroleum Rules, 2002.

This initiative for petroleum pump licensing is directly going to benefit more than 70,000 petroleum pump owners and oil marketing companies under the Petroleum Rules, 2002. An added advantage of this move is that the authenticity of the license may be verified on PESO's website https://peso.gov.in/index.aspx. This automation will greatly benefit the petroleum and gas industry.

This initiative is in line with the vision of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi's Digital India and Ease of Doing Business towards paperless and green India that will provide simpler mechanism, ease of living and business to the petroleum road tanker owners. The process will include filing the applications online, online payment of fees which will go directly to the concerned officer's ID without any manual interface. Applicants, at each stage of processing of the application, will be intimated via SMS and email, in case of discrepancy or grant of license or approval. These details will also be reflected in the applicant's profile. The entire process will not require any printing and physical dispatch of license. The license will be dispatched electronically.

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Zydus & CMS enter pact for Desidustat in Greater China

Pharma company Zydus has entered into a licensing pact with China Medical System Holdings Ltd (CMS) for the development and commercialisation of Desidustat, which is an innovative candidate, in Greater China.

Desidustat is a novel oral HIF-PH inhibitor used for the treatment of anemia in patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) not-on-dialysis and for the treatment of anemia CKD patients on dialysis in Greater China, Zydus said in a statement.

"Under the license agreement, CMS will pay Zydus an initial upfront payment, regulatory milestones, sales milestones and royalties on net sales of the product," it added.

However, no financial details about the agreement were given by Zydus and said, "The commercial terms of the license agreement are confidential."

Under the agreement, CMS will be responsible for development, registration and commercialisation of Desidustat in Greater China.

"The licensing agreement with CMS will facilitate the development and commercialisation of Desidustat in Greater China and make this innovative candidate available to millions of CKD patients living with anemia," said Zydus Group Chairman Mr Pankaj R Patel.

CKD is a serious medical condition which is an unmet healthcare need involving gradual loss of functioning of kidneys eventually leading to kidney failure, Zydus said.

Shares of Cadila Healthcare, the listed entity of the group, closed at Rs 267.25 (US$ 3.82) on BSE, down 0.69 per cent from the previous close.

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Indo-German Working Group on Quality Infrastructure strengthens trade through cooperation on safe and secure products

The seventh annual meeting of the Indo-German Working Group on Quality Infrastructure took place on 16th and 17th January 2020 in New Delhi with around 80 participants. Germany and India established the Working Group in 2013 to strengthen their economic and technical cooperation, reduce technical barriers to trade, and increase product safety. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs & Energy (BMWi) and the Indian Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution in collaboration with other Ministries are working closely together on standardisation, accreditation and conformity assessment, metrology, product safety and market surveillance.

Director General Mr Stefan Schnorr of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy: "Quality infrastructure is the language of international trade. With a growing relevance of technical regulations - such as mandatory standards - our exchange on regulatory approaches and compliance procedures eases doing business and boosts trade. I welcome the signing of our Work Plan 2020. We have agreed to intensify the cooperation on standards, technical regulation, certification, and market surveillance in key economic areas such as machinery safety, automotive, electric mobility and cybersecurity. A mutual understanding of requirements for safe and secure products helps to protect the citizens in both countries. Our Indo-German discussion paper on the cybersecurity of Internet of Things (IoT) devices which we just launched is a good example for our successful cooperation."

Secretary, Consumer Affairs, Shri Avinash K. Srivastava said that "Germany is a trusted and important partner for India. It is encouraging to see the intense technical cooperation that happens in our bilateral Working Group. I am happy to see that we have deepened our cooperation in areas such as cybersecurity, market surveillance, Industry 4.0, and legal metrology. This year we will also put a focus on strengthening the dialogue on technical regulation, exchange on regulations of medical devices, and exploring twinning arrangements at ISO and IEC level."

This year's annual meeting was attended by a German delegation of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) headed by Director General Mr Stefan Schnorr, representatives from the German Institute for Standardization (DIN), the German Commission for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies (DKE), the National Metrology Institute of Germany (PTB), and representatives from German companies and industry associations such as VDMA and VDA. The Indian delegation included representatives from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as well as the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The dialogues on Quality Infrastructure take place within the framework of the Global Project Quality Infrastructure (GPQI), within which BMWi engages in political and technical dialogues with strategic trading partners. GIZ - the German Agency for International Cooperation - supports the implementation of the project on behalf of BMWi.

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Passenger vehicle exports rise 6 per cent in April-Dec; Hyundai, Ford lead the pack

In first nine months of the current fiscal year, exports of passenger vehicle (PV) from India increased by 5.89 per cent where Hyundai Motor lead the segment with dispatches of around 1.45 lakh units, according to the latest data by SIAM. During April-December 2019, PV exports stood at 5,40,384 units as compared with 5,10,305 units in the same period of 2018-19.

Car shipments witnessed a growth of 4.44 per cent at 4,04,552 units, while utility vehicle exports increased by 11.14 per cent at 1,33,511 units during the April-December period, as per the data by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturer.

Although, there was decline in exports of vans by 17.4 per cent at 2,321 units during the period under review as compared with 2,810 units in the same period last fiscal.

The segment was led by Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL), followed by Ford India and Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) at the second and third positions, respectively.

During the period, HMIL, the South Korean automaker exported 1,44,982 units to overseas markets, up 15.17 per cent over the same period last fiscal. It exports vehicles to over 90 countries across Africa, Middle East, Latin America, Australia and Asia Pacific.

"With cumulative sales of 1,44,982 units and a market share of 26.8 per cent from April-December, Hyundai has once again maintained its leadership position in the exports market with its super performer brands," Hyundai Motor India MD and CEO Mr S S Kim said.
He further added that the company intends to keep this positive momentum in 2020 also with more world-class products adding meaningful moments for its global customers.

Though, during the review period, Ford India's export stood at 1,06,084 units, down 12.57 per cent from a year-ago period whereas, domestic car market leader MSI exported 75,948 units across global markets, down 1.7 per cent from same period last year.

Nissan Motor India witnessed a growth by 39.97 per cent from same period last fiscal with 60,739 units shipped out during April-December 2019. Similarly, General Motors India, which has earlier ended selling vehicles in the domestic market, exported 54,863 units during the period.
During April-December 2019, Volkswagen India exported 47,021 units, followed by Kia Motors India which exported 12,496 units. Renault India dispatched 12,096 units during the same period.

During the review period, home-grown auto major Mahindra & Mahindra exported 10,017 units, while Toyota Kirloskar Motor dispatched 8,422 units and Honda Cars India exported 3,316 units to global markets.

Other notable exporting companies during the period included FCA India and Tata Motors with 2,391 and 1,842 units, respectively.

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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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