India Post adds highest number of outlets in five years in FY19

India Post is establishing itself further in Bharat (the hinterland) by stepping up network expansion to take advantage of the rising demand for e-commerce and financial services.

According to its latest annual report (FY20), India Post (also known as the Department of Posts) opened 1,119 rural post offices (RPOs) in FY19, the highest in the last five years, against 815 in FY18 and 112 in FY17.

At the same time, the number of urban post offices (UPOs) decreased by 50 in FY19 against 249 in FY18 and 57 in FY17.

As of March-end 2019, the RPOs and UPOs stood at 1,41,001 (1,39,882 as of March-end 2018) and 15,599 (15,649), respectively.

India Post has a network of 1,56,600 post-offices, as of March-end 2019. It has presence bigger on-the-ground across the country as compared to the branches (1,45,426) of all scheduled commercial banks put together.

According to the postal department, India has the largest postal network in the world and the demand continues increase for opening of post offices.

The Department of Posts (DoP) plans to develop infrastructure, including post offices, and those relating to transportation and delivery of parcels/packets with online payment or cash on delivery, to expand the reach of the e-commerce industry to Tier II and III towns as well as to rural areas.

As per the report, the deposits (current account, savings account) of India Post Payments Bank’s (IPPB) as of December-end 2019 increased to Rs 527.15 crore (US$ 74.78 million) from Rs 94.40 crore (US$ 13.19 million) as of March-end 2019.

Each post office operates both as a postal outlet and an access point for the Payments Bank. IPPB was established in 2016 as a public limited company with 100 per cent government equity under DoP.

The bank mainly focusses on serving social sector beneficiaries, migrant labourers, unorganised sector employees, Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), low-income households, and the unbanked and under-banked segments in both the rural and urban areas.

IPPB’s product suite includes savings account and current account; money transfer; direct benefit transfer; distribution of third-party products; bill and utility payments; and enterprise and merchant payments

BP to invest US$ 70 million in India's Green Growth Equity Fund

UK’s energy major, BP plans to invest US$ 70 million in the Green Growth Equity Fund (GGEF) with an aim to rapidly scale-up commercially viable low carbon solutions, the company said in a statement.

This is a two-year-old fund which already includes investments from India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), and the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DfID). It is expected to increase to about US$ 700 million commitment at final close and expand further through leveraged capital options, the company said.

With this investment, BP will become a limited partner in GGEF and have representation on its advisory committee, as well as the rights to coinvest in projects alongside GGEF, the company said.

“Our investment in GGEF is aligned with our strategy of investing in integrated low carbon energy using innovative partnerships and business models,” said Mr Dev Sanyal, BP group’s executive vice president for gas and low carbon energy.

Previously this year, BP announced its ambition to become a net zero company by 2050 or sooner.

EverSource Capital, a joint venture between Lightsource BP and Everstone Capital, is responsible for managing GGEF. It has invested in businesses like Ayana Renewable Power, Radiance Renewables, GreenCell Mobility and EverEnviro.

GGEF invests in renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage, e-mobility, resource conservation and associated value chains.

India's second coronavirus vaccine set to go into human trial on 1,000 people

India's second possible vaccine against COVID-19, ZyCoV-D, is all set to begin its human trial this month, the company said. It plans to conduct the trials on 1,000 volunteers across multiple sites in the country. In last week of June 2020, Zydus Cadila group received approval from Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) to initiate phase 1 and phase 2 human clinical trials of possible COVID-19 vaccine in India.

Zydus Cadila group chairman Mr Pankaj Patel said the estimated time to finish the trials is around three months. The company will get approval from apex drug regulators to go for phase 3 trials only after it has completed the phase 1 and phase 2 of human trials. "If phase-3 trials come into picture, then it will take another 3 months before the vaccine gets available in the market," Mr Patel said.

The ZyCoV-D vaccine is developed at Zydus' Vaccine Technology Centre in Ahmedabad, show a "strong immune response" in animal studies, the company said. The antibodies produced by the vaccine were able to neutralise the wild type virus in virus neutralisation assay indicating the protective potential of the vaccine candidate, the company said.

So far, no safety concerns were observed for the vaccine candidate in repeat-dose toxicology studies by both intramuscular and intradermal routes of administration.

Zydus added, with its ZyCoV-D, it has successfully established the DNA vaccine platform in India using non-replicating and a non-integrating plasmid carrying the gene of interest making it very safe.

According to the company’s claim, the vaccine candidate has no vector response and with the absence of any infectious agent. The platform offers ease of manufacturing the vaccine with minimal bio-safety requirements, Zydus said. The vaccine has also shown much-improved vaccine stability and lower cold chain requirements making it easy for transportation to remotest parts of the country, it said. "Furthermore, the platform can be rapidly used to modify the vaccine in a couple of weeks in case the virus mutates to ensure that the vaccine still elicits protection," it added.

"Before meeting country's demand, we will not start export. However, we may give our technology to other countries so that they can make this vaccine," Mr Patel said.

Another possible vaccine against COVID-19, Covaxin, will soon start human trial on over 1,100 people in two phases, according to a report. Bharat Biotech, an unlisted Indian vaccine maker, received regulatory approval to start human clinical trials for its experimental shot. The phase 1 trial of Covaxine is scheduled to start next week. Around 375 people have been enrolled by the company in the first phase of clinical trials.

CSIR in partnership with Laxai Sciences to seek regulatory approval to undertake clinical trials on Covid-19 patients using combinations of antiviral and host-directed therapies

Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), in collaboration with Laxai Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. Hyderabad, has sought regulatory approval to undertake four-arm randomized controlled phase III clinical trial. The design principle of the study is to rationally combine and repurpose antivirals (viral-entry and replication inhibitors) and host-directed therapies (HDTs) addressing the disease-spread and pathology simultaneously and to determine safety and efficacy of the three combination drugs (Favipiravir+Colchicine, Umifenovir+Colchicine and Nafamostat+5-ALA) and a control arm with the standard of care in COVID-19 patients. The clinical trial named MUCOVIN, to be carried out in the partnership with Medanta Medicity, will include a total of 300 patients in four different groups of 75 patients in the trials to be carried for 17 to 21 days including screening and treatment.

Dr Shekhar C. Mande, DG, CSIR highlighted that this unique combinatorial strategy (antivirals and HDTs) with repurposed drugs having complementary, additive and synergistic role, has been adopted to increase therapeutic options for COVID-19 treatment and help recover patients faster. The partner CSIR institutes in this important clinical trial are the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad and CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu.

Dr Ram S. Upadhayaya CEO, Laxai Life Sciences stated that “the study aims to target viral proteins essential for its replication as well as host factors that play crucial role in the viral life cycle and contribute to the cytokine storm”. Mr Vamsi Maddipatla, MD of Laxai Life Sciences adds “The co-sponsorship of this study by Laxai Life Sciences highlights the company’s commitment in bringing life-saving therapies in the service of humanity”.

These clinical trials add to the several contributions CSIR has made during the pandemic and if the trial is successful, it will provide more options for treatment of COVID-19.

World Bank provides US$ 400 million to enhance support for rejuvenating the Ganga

The World Bank and the Government of India today signed a loan agreement to enhance support for the Namami Gange programme that seeks to rejuvenate the Ganga river. The Second National Ganga River Basin Project will help stem pollution in the iconic river and strengthen the management of the river basin which is home to more than 500 million people.

The US$ 400 million operation comprises a loan of US$ 381 million and a proposed Guarantee of up to US$ 19 million. The agreement for the US$ 381 million loan was signed today by Shri Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Government of India and Mr Qaiser Khan, Acting Country Director (India), on behalf of the World Bank. The Guarantee instrument will be processed separately.

Shri Khare said that the Ganga is India’s most important cultural, economic, and environmental resource, and the government’s Namami Gange program seeks to ensure that the river returns to a pollution-free, ecologically healthy state. The new project will extend the Government of India and World Bank’s engagement in this critical national programme to make the Ganga a clean, healthy river.

The World Bank has been supporting the government’s efforts since 2011 through the ongoing National Ganga River Basin Project, which helped set up the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) as the nodal agency to manage the river, and financed sewage treatment infrastructure in several riverside towns and cities.

Shri Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General of the National Mission for Clean Ganga, said that the continuity provided by the Second National Ganga River Basin Project will consolidate the momentum achieved under the first World Bank project, and help NMCG introduce further innovations, and benchmark its initiatives against global best practices in river rejuvenation.

Ongoing National Ganga River Basin Project

• Helped set up the National Mission for Clean Ganga
• Helping build sewage collection and treatment infrastructure in 20 towns along the mainstem of the Ganga
• 1,275 MLD sewage treatment capacity created
• 3,632 km of sewage network built
• Helped foster public mobilization for Ganga rejunivation

“The government’s Namami Gange Program has revitalized India’s efforts to rejuvenating the Ganga,” Mr Junaid Ahmad, World Bank Country Director in India. “The first World Bank project helped build critical sewage infrastructure in 20 pollution hotspots along the river, and this Project will help scale this up to the tributaries. It will also help government strengthen the institutions needed to manage a river basin as large and complex as the Ganga Basin.”

The sprawling Ganga Basin provides over one-third of India’s surface water, includes the country’s largest irrigated area, and is key to India’s water and food security. Over 40 percent of India’s GDP is generated in the densely populated Basin. But the Ganga river is today is facing pressures from human and economic activity that impact its water quality and flows.

“The Project will help expand the coverage of sewage treatment infrastructure to more towns in the Ganga Basin, and focus on making sure that these assets are operated and maintained efficiently in the long term,” said Mr Xavier Chauvot de Beauchene, Lead Water & Sanitation Specialist and Shri Upneet Singh, Water & Sanitation Specialist, both co-task team leaders (TTL) for the SNGRBP. “The Project will also help NMCG develop state-of-the-art tools to help manage the river basin more effectively.”

Over 80 per cent of the pollution load in the Ganga comes from untreated domestic wastewater from towns and cities along the river and its tributaries. The SNGRBP will finance sewage networks and treatment plants in select urban areas to help control pollution discharges. These infrastructure investments and the jobs they will generate will also help India’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) crisis.

To ensure that these infrastructure assets function effectively and are well maintained, the Project will build on the innovative Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) of public private partnership introduced under the ongoing NGRBP, and which has become the solution of choice for sewage treatment investments in the Ganga Basin. Under this model, the government pays a private operator 40 percent of the capital cost to build a sewage treatment plant during the construction period; the remaining 60 percent is paid as performance-linked payments over 15 years to ensure that the operator runs and maintains the plant efficiently.

The US$ 400 million operation includes a proposed Guarantee of up to US$ 19 million to backstop the government’s payment obligations for three Hybrid-Annuity-Model Public Private Partnership (HAM-PPP) investments on the Ganga’s tributaries. “This is the first-ever IBRD Guarantee for wastewater treatment and the first IBRD Guarantee in the water sector in India and is expected to help free up public resources in the current economic situation,” said Shri Satheesh Sundararajan, Senior Infrastructure Financing Specialist and co-TTL for the Guarantee.

The US$ 381 million variable spread loan has a maturity of 18.5 years including a grace period of 5 years. The US$ 19 million Guarantee Expiry Date will be 18 years from the Guarantee Effectiveness Date.

India ranks 34th in JLL's Global Realty Transparency Index

India's Global Real Estate Transparency Index ranking has improved by one notch to 34 on the back of regulatory reforms, better market data and green initiatives, as per property consultant JLL. During 2018 bi-annual survey, India ranked 35th in the index, while the country was at 36th position in 2016 and 39th in 2014.

India’s real estate market is presently placed in the 'semi-transparent' zone.

First rank is held by the United Kingdom (UK) in the list of 99 countries, followed by the United States, Australia, France, Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden, and Germany.

Top 10 countries are classified as highly transparent, while those in the 11th position to 33rd are considered as transparent.

"The country ranks 34th globally on the index, with higher levels of transparency observed in India due to regulatory reforms, enhanced market data and sustainability initiatives," as per JLL India’s statement.

This improvement is due to the progress in the country's REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) framework attracting greater interest from institutional investors.

The transparency in the system is brought by the structural reforms in an erstwhile largely unregulated sector a few years back such as the Real Estate Regulation and Development Act 2016 (RERA), GST, Benami Transaction Prohibition (Amendment) Act, 2016, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and digitisation of land records, JLL said.

This is the 11th edition of the Global Real Estate Transparency Index, covering 99 countries and territories and 163 city regions.

The latest survey has been expanded to quantify 210 separate elements of transparency, with additional coverage on sustainability and resilience, health and wellness, prop-tech, and alternatives sectors.

SME-focused investor Blue Ashva Capital raises US$ 60 million for maiden fund

Blue Ashva Capital, an investment firm focused on SMEs and start-ups, raised Rs 454 crore (US$ 64.41 million) for the initial close of its maiden fund.

According to the firm’s statement, the capital was raised from family offices and high net worth individuals.

“The fund proposes to raise a sum of Rs 400 crore (US$ 64.41 million) with a greenshoe option of Rs 200 crore (US$ 28.37 million). It has exercised a part of the greenshoe option at the initial close," the statement said.

The company plans to use this fund in businesses across sectors including financial services, technology, healthcare, consumer, manufacturing, etc. through equity, debt, or any combination thereof. The fund will also back professional-turn-entrepreneurs and partner with global companies to invest in India.

“SMEs and start-ups play a key role in fostering entrepreneurship and generating large scale livelihood opportunities. However, with so much gloom and doom around, most such businesses are currently going through challenging times. There is a need now, more than ever, to support passionate founders with optimistic capital that is willing to bet on the long term," said Mr Satya Bansal, founder, Blue Ashva Capital.

Mr Bansal was the chief executive of Barclays Private Bank in India for more than a decade before founding Blue Ashva Capital.

NHAI to Rank Roads for Quality Service

In its effort to improve the quality of roads, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has decided to undertake performance assessment and ranking of the highways in the country. The assessment audit and ranking of the NHs is aimed to take corrective recourse, wherever needed, to improve the quality and provide higher level of service to highway commuters.

The assessment parameters are based on different international practices and studies for benchmarking highway performances in Indian context. The criteria for the assessment have been broadly categorised in three main heads: Highway Efficiency (45 per cent), Highway Safety (35 per cent) and User Services (20 per cent). Based on outcome of the assessment, the authority will undertake a comprehensive analysis and decide on the level of intervention required to enhance the overall service quality.

Additionally, important parameters like operating speed, access control, time taken at toll plaza, road signages, road markings, accident rate, incident response time, crash barriers, illumination, availability of Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS), functionality of structures, provision for grade separated intersections, cleanliness, plantation, wayside amenities and customer satisfaction will also be considered while conducting the assessment.

The score obtained by each Corridor in each of the parameter will provide a feedback and corrective recourse for higher standards of operation, better safety, and user experience to improve existing highways. This will also help in identifying and filling gaps of design, standards, practices, guidelines, and contract agreements for other NHAI projects.

The ranking of the corridors will be dynamic, and the concessionaire/ contractor/ operator will get the opportunity to improve upon their ranking by improving the services on that corridor. Apart from overall ranking of all the corridors, separate ranking for BOT, HAM and EPC projects will also be done. This process of ranking will bring out operational efficiency and ensure high quality maintenance of roads.

On a mission mode, Indian Railways takes decisive steps to transform itself as 'Net Zero' Carbon Emission Mass Transportation Network by 2030.

A new dawn ushers on Indian Railways as it endeavours to be self-reliant for its energy needs as directed by the Prime Minister and solarise railway stations by utilizing its vacant lands for Renewable Energy (RE) projects. Railway is committed to utilize solar energy for meeting its traction power requirements and become a complete ‘Green mode of transportation’.

The Ministry of Railways has decided to install solar power plants on its vacant unused lands on mega scale.

The use of solar power will accelerate the Minister of Railways, Shri Piyush Goyal’s mission to achieve conversion of Indian Railways to ‘Net Zero’ Carbon Emission Railway.

Indian Railways present demand would be fulfilled by the solar projects being deployed, making it the first transport organisation to be energy self-sufficient. This would help in making Indian Railways green as well as ‘Atma Nirbhar’.

Indian Railways has acted as a pioneer in green energy procurement. It has started energy procurement from various solar projects like 3 MWp solar plant set up at MCF Raebareilly (UP). About 100 MWp rooftop solar systems have already been commissioned on various stations and buildings of Indian Railways.

 Besides, one project of 1.7 MWp at Bina (Madhya Pradesh) which shall be connected directly to Overhead Traction System has already been installed and is presently under extensive testing. It is likely to be commissioned within 15 days. This is the first of its kind project in the world commissioned by Indian Railways in collaboration with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL). It involves adoption of innovative technology for converting Direct Current (DC) to single phase Alternating Current (AC) for feeding directly to Railway’s overhead traction system. The solar power plant has been established near the Bina Traction Sub Station (TSS). It can produce approximately 25 lakh units of energy annually and will save around Rs 1.37 crore (US$ 0.19 million) for Railway every year.

Indian Railways (IR) and BHEL officials have worked tirelessly to successfully implement this innovative project. The project was undertaken by BHEL under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) scheme. Despite the COVID-19 lockdown and consequent difficulties faced in the availability of material and manpower, IR and BHEL worked together as a team to accomplish this mission in just 8 months from the date of signing of the agreement on October 9, 2019. The key challenge in this project was the conversion of DC power generated from solar panels to the single phase 25 KV AC power which is used by the Railways traction system. This required the development of high capacity inverters with single phase output which were not readily available in the market. The solar panels generate DC energy which will be converted into AC energy through these unique inverters and stepped up to 25 kV AC -1 Ï• through the transformer to directly feed power to the BINA TSS which will be used for running of electric trains.

In addition to this, two pilot projects for the scheme of land based solar plants for meeting electric traction energy requirements of Indian Railways are under implementation. One of them is a 50 MWp solar power plant on vacant unused land at Bhilai (Chhattisgarh) which shall be connected with Central Transmission Utility (CTU) and is targeted to be commissioned before March 31, 2021. The 2 MWp solar plant at Diwana (Haryana) which shall be connected to State Transmission utility (STU) is expected to be commissioned before August 31, 2020.

Railway Energy Management Company Ltd. (REMCL) is working relentlessly to further proliferate the use of solar energy on mega scale. It has already floated tenders for 2 GW of solar projects for Indian Railways to be installed on unutilised railway lands. Indian Railways is also adopting an innovative concept of installation of solar projects along operational railway lines. This will help in preventing encroachment, enhancing the speed and safety of trains and reduction of infrastructure costs due to direct injection of solar power into the traction network. Another tender for installation of 1 GW solar plants along Railway tracks is also planned to be released soon by REMCL.

With these mega initiatives, Indian Railways is leading India’s fight against climate challenge and is taking significant steps towards meeting its ambitious goal of being a net zero carbon emissions organisation and meeting India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) targets.

World Bank and Government of India sign US$ 750 million Agreement for Emergency Response Programme for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises

The World Bank and the Government of India today signed the US$ 750 million agreement for the MSME Emergency Response Programme to support increased flow of finance into the hands of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), severely impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.

The World Bank’s MSME Emergency Response Programme will address the immediate liquidity and credit needs of some 1.5 million viable MSMEs to help them withstand the impact of the current shock and protect millions of jobs. This is the first step among a broader set of reforms that are needed to propel the MSME sector over time.

The agreement was signed by Shri Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Government of India and Mr Junaid Ahmad, Country Director (India) on behalf of the World Bank.

Shri Khare said that the COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the MSME sector leading to loss of livelihoods and jobs. The Government of India is focused on ensuring that the abundant financial sector liquidity available flow to NBFCs, and that banks which have turned extremely risk averse, continue taking exposures in the economy by lending to NBFCs. This project will support the Government in providing targeted guarantees to incentivize NBFCs and banks to continue lending to viable MSMEs to help sustain them through the crisis.

The World Bank Group, including its private sector arm – the International Finance Corporation (IFC), will support the government’s initiatives to protect the MSME sector by:

• Unlocking liquidity

India’s financial system benefited from early and decisive measures taken by the RBI and the Government of India (GOI) to infuse liquidity into the market. Give current uncertainties, lenders remain concerned about borrowers’ ability to repay – resulting in limited flow of credit even to the viable enterprises in the sector. This program will support government’s efforts to channel that liquidity to the MSME sector by de-risking lending from banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) to MSMEs through a range of instruments, including credit guarantees.

• Strengthening NBFCs and SFBs

Improving the funding capacity of key market-oriented channels of credit, such as the NBFCs and Small Finance Bank (SFBs), will help them respond to the urgent and varied needs of the MSMEs. This will include supporting government’s refinance facility for NBFCs. In parallel, the IFC is also providing direct support to SFBs through loans and equity.

• Enabling financial innovations

Today, only about 8 per cent of MSMEs are served by formal credit channels. The program will incentivize and mainstream the use of fintech and digital financial services in MSME lending and payments. Digital platforms will play an important role by enabling lenders, suppliers, and buyers to reach firms faster and at a lower cost, especially small enterprises who currently may not have access to the formal channels.

Shri Junaid Ahmad said that the MSME sector is central to India’s growth and job creation and will be key to the pace of India’s economic recovery, post COVID-19. The immediate need is to ensure that the liquidity infused into the system by the government is accessed by MSMEs. Equally important is to strengthen the overall financing ecosystem for MSMEs. This operation seeks to achieve both these objectives by furthering the role of NBFCs and SCBs as effective financial intermediaries and leveraging fintech to broaden the reach of finance into the MSME sector.

The World Bank has to date committed US$ 2.75 billion to support India’s emergency COVID-19 response, including the new MSME project. The first US$ 1 billion emergency support was announced in April this year for immediate support to India’s health sector. Another US$ 1 billion project was approved in May to increase cash transfers and food benefits to the poor and vulnerable, including a more consolidated delivery platform – accessible to both rural and urban populations across state boundaries.

The US$ 750 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), has a maturity of 19 years including a 5-year grace period.