HIL (India) has supplied 20.60 MT of DDT to South Africa for Malaria control program

HIL (India) Limited, a PSU under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, has supplied 20.60 Metric tonne of DDT 75 per cent WP to South Africa for their Malaria control program yesterday.

HIL (India) is the sole manufacturer of DDT globally. The company was incorporated in the year 1954 to manufacture and supply DDT to Government of India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for malaria control programme. In the year 2019-20, the product was supplied to 20 States in the country. The company is also exporting the product to many African countries.

 The Department of Health, South Africa shall be utilising DDT in three province adjoining Mozambique. The region is highly affected with Malaria and it has reported maximum morbidity and mortality due to the disease in recent years.

Malaria continues to be one of the major public health problems globally. In 2018, an estimated 228 million cases of malaria occurred worldwide and most malaria cases and deaths (93 per cent) were reported from African Region. In the South East Asia Region, India accounts for majority of cases and death. Spraying of insecticides inside the human habitants i.e. Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) has proven to be effective mosquito control tool. World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends DDT as one of the efficient IRS chemicals to curb malaria mosquito menace and it is widely used by Southern African countries like South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Mozambique etc. and India.

The Company is further in process of supplying DDT 75 per cent WP to Zimbabwe (128 MT) and Zambia (113 MT) in the current FY2020-21. 

HIL (India) Limited has recently exported 25 MT of Malathion Technical 95 per cent to Iran under Government-to-Government initiative for the Locust Control Programme and exported Agrochemical-fungicide (32 MT) to Latin American region.

Jal Jeevan Mission: States compete among themselves to outperform others; 7 States achieved more than 10 per cent of the target of 2020-21

Launched in August 2019, in 7 months of implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in 2019-20, around 85 lakh rural households were provided with tap connections. Further, amidst COVID-19 pandemic, since Unlock-1, about 55 lakh tap connections have been provided so far in the year 2020-21. Thus, daily about 1 lakh households are being provided with tap connections.

As of today, 7 States viz. Bihar, Telangana, Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and Mizoram have achieved more than 10 per cent of the target household tap connections they had fixed for themselves. States like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Odisha, and Manipur have shown good progress during the corresponding period. This shows the commitment of the States to provide the basic services to the people residing in rural areas as envisaged under the flagship programme, Jal Jeevan Mission, as well as the speed and scale with which the States are making efforts to provide tap connections.

Out of 18.93 crore rural households in the country, 4.60 crore (24.30 per cent) households are already provided tap connections. The objective is to cover remaining 14.33 crore households in a time-bound manner while ensuring the functionality of all tap connections. With this goal in mind, States/ UTs are providing tap connections at the rate of more than one lakh connections daily.

In 2020-21, a sum of Rs 23,500 crore (US$ 3.33 billion) has been allocated for the implementation of JJM. Further, 50 per cent of 15th Finance Commission grants to Rural Local Bodies, i.e. Rs 30,375 crore (US$ 4.31 billion) have also been earmarked for water supply and sanitation. 50 per cent of this amount has been released to the States already, which will help in better implementation, management, operation, and maintenance of drinking water supply systems in villages to ensure people get potable water on regular and long-term basis.

The Ministry of Jal Shakti has been implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in partnership with States with an aim to provide potable water in adequate quantity of prescribed quality on regular and long-term basis through tap connections to every rural household in the country by 2024. All out efforts are being made by the National Mission under Ministry of Jal Shakti to handhold the States/ UTs for the implementation. The progress of the mission is being monitored on day-to-day basis.

Various States/ UTs have committed to achieve the goal of the Mission well before 2024. In 2021, Bihar, Goa, Puducherry and Telangana have planned for complete saturation; similarly in 2022, States/ UTs of Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Meghalaya, Punjab, Sikkim and Uttar Pradesh are planning for 100 per cent coverage. While Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura have planned for full saturation in 2023, States like Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and West Bengal have planned for 2024.

In line with the appeal of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to further improve ‘ease of living’ in rural areas by providing facilities like financial inclusion, houses, road, clean fuel, electricity and toilets, the Jal Jeevan Mission is providing drinking water in every rural household, which will certainly improve the lives of rural population especially women and girls and save them from drudgery as well as water-borne diseases.

India e-commerce to grow 27 per cent; Reliance to capture half of online grocery sales: Goldman

According to a report titled 'Global Internet: e-commerce's steepening curve' published by Goldman Sachs, India's e-commerce business is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27 per cent to reach US$ 99 billion by 2024. It is projected that Reliance Industries would capture half of the online grocery sales through its Facebook.

The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has helped in doubling of penetration of e-commerce globally with categories such as consumer packaged goods driving as much as three years of penetration growth in three months.

It said, "We forecast India e-commerce will reach US$ 99 billion by 2024, growing at a 27 per cent CAGR over 2019-24, with grocery and fashion/apparel likely to be the key drivers of incremental growth in our view".

Online penetration of retail is expected to reach 10.7 per cent by 2024, versus 4.7 per cent in 2019.

"The biggest near term theme in India internet, in our view, is the foray of Reliance Industries (India's largest market-cap company with presence across sectors such as energy, telecom, and retail) into e-commerce, and the company's tie-up with WhatsApp for online grocery," it said.

In April 2020, Facebook acquired around 9.99 per cent stake in Jio Platforms, the subsidiary of RIL which is the country's youngest but biggest telecom company as well as has an array of apps in its portfolio. JioMart, RIL's e-commerce venture, plans to use Facebook's WhatsApp to connect local grocery stores with customers.

In 2019, more than 80 per cent of market in online grocery was captured by Bigbasket and Grofers, said Goldman Sachs.

Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the shift to online is estimated to increase to 81 per cent CAGR during 2019-24 from around 50 per cent year-on-year growth the sector has been witnessing for the last couple of years.

"We believe RIL's partnership with Facebook could result in the company becoming a market leader in the online grocery space, with more than 50 per cent share by 2024," it said. "Having said that, we do see grocery as a large category for two or more players to co-exist over time."

The India's e-commerce sector is expected to see growth from better penetration into categories such as grocery/FMCG, improving payment ecosystem and ease of shopping through WhatsApp etc.

"We expect non-grocery e-commerce penetration to see a sharp increase of 500 basis points over the next two years to reach 16.1 per cent by 2021," Goldman Sachs said adding the last 500 basis points of the increase took four years.

In 2019, there was high online penetration in categories such as consumer electronics at about 40 per cent whereas in categories like apparel, appliances, health and personal care the online penetration in India remains materially lower when compared with peers such as China.

"As far as incremental growth in e-commerce is concerned, we expect grocery to be the biggest driver with 40 per cent contribution to incremental e-commerce GMV (gross merchandise volume) between 2019 and 2024," it said.

As of 2019, Grocery in India is a US$ 380 billion category, accounting for 60 per cent of the total retail market.

"However, online penetration currently stands at less than 0.5 per cent (absolute size US$ 2 billion), one of the least among categories," it said projecting the online grocery market in India to grow 20x over the next 5 years, to reach US$ 29 billion in value (5.1 per cent penetration) by 2024.

COVID-19 is one of the main drivers to boost the acceptance of online purchases among Indian consumers. While other drivers include RIL's foray into the space leveraging its large offline distribution capabilities and ability to order groceries through WhatsApp - a platform with more than 400 million users in India.

"Overall, we forecast online grocery orders to grow from 300,000 per day in 2019, to more than 5 million per day by 2024," it said.

E-commerce is one of the other countless technologies and consumer behaviours that has seen acceleration because of the coronavirus pandemic, said Goldman Sachs.

"What started at first with panic buying, hoarding and nest feathering out of necessity has turned into an array of adaptations that have driven e-commerce penetration from 16 per cent of retail spending in the US in 1Q19 to over 40 per cent in May driven by year- over-year growth of nearly 70 per cent," it said.

It further added that the e-commerce segment would grow 24 per cent globally.
 

2 Mega Watt Solar Power Plant Inaugurated at Naval Station Karanja, Uran

Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, e-inaugurated the first Two Mega Watt Capacity Solar Power Plant of the Western Naval Command on 20 Jul 2020.

The Plant has been installed at Naval Station Karanja and is one of the largest solar plants in the region. The Solar Plant comprises of 100 per cent indigenously developed solar panels, tracking tables and inverters. The plant is grid interconnected utilising the state of art single axis sun tracking technology with computerised monitoring and control.

The project is a significant step by the Indian Navy towards harnessing Solar energy and use of renewable source of energy for meeting the power supply requirement of Naval Station.

Britannia plans Rs 700 crore capex, bullish on rural demand

Britannia Industries, FMCG major, plans to invest around Rs 700 crore (US$ 99.30 million) over the next two-and-half years for its new facilities.

Although, the rural demand remained stable during the coronavirus outbreak and the company will focus more on its core products, its managing director Mr Varun Berry said.

Mr Berry added, "The company is looking at some capex (capital expenditure) of more than Rs 700 crore (US$ 99.30 million) over the next two-and- half years."

The company plans to set up new manufacturing facilities in UP, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, and Odisha, he said.

The company’s net profit increased by 118 per cent to Rs 542 crore (US$ 76.89 million) and the turnover was Rs 3,420 crore (US$ 485.18 million), up by 26.6 per cent in the first quarter of current fiscal year, over the corresponding period last year.

The company plans to prioritise its core products as the future is uncertain for the next six to nine months. The focus will be on less on innovation, Mr Berry said.

He added that the rural demand was not affected by the coronavirus pandemic and it will continue to grow at a higher pace than urban.

The COVID-19 crisis will leave a permanent impact on the consumer behaviour, and home consumption will increase.

"During the first quarter, the company has been able to unlock efficiencies and prioritised on high gross margin and premium products," he said.

The cost has been cut by reducing working capital as the inventory levels were low, he added.

Regarding commodity prices, Mr Berry said there was deflation in flour and milk products, while sugar saw a three per cent price rise.

Tamil Nadu government signs MoUs for Rs 10,000 crore new investments, jobs creation

The Tamil Nadu Government signed eight new Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) worth Rs 10,399 crore (US$ 1.48 billion).

It is estimated that these projects will create 13,507 jobs across the state in solar cells, data centres and industrial parks, according to an official release.

These MoUs will attract investments in the areas of solar cells and modules manufacturing, agro-tech and iron foundry, among others.

The MoUs were signed in the presence of chief minister Mr K Palaniswami. Out of the eight MoUs, five were signed in the presence of the CM, while three were done through video conferencing.

The release added that the projects will be implemented in Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Ranipettai, Coimbatore, Viluppuram and Erode districts.

The project will be monitored by a high-powered committee, chaired by the chief minister, and will accelerate various clearances and establish a Special Investment Promotion Task Force under the chairmanship of the chief secretary.

Industries minister M C Sampath and chief secretary K Shanmugam were present during the signing of the MoUs.

Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports partners with UNICEF to strengthen resolve to mobilise 1 crore youth volunteers to achieve goals of Atmanirbhar Bharat

In a step to realise the vision of  Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Mr Kiren Rijiju to mobilise 1 crore youth volunteers in India and contribute to Prime Minister’s call for Atmanirbhar Bharat, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports signed a Statement of Intent with YuWaah (a multi-stakeholder platform formed by the UNICEF) to work in partnership to promote volunteerism among the youth of India as well as to help them transition from education and learning to productive work, skilling and being active citizens. The partnership was launched by Ms Usha Sharma, Secretary, Youth Affairs and Dr Yasmin Ali Haque, UNICEF Representative in India in the presence of Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Kiren Rijiju.

Speaking about the importance of the partnership, Shri Kiren Rijiju said, “This partnership is very appropriate in these challenging times. I am confident that it will give a strong focus to our existing policies. The Prime Minister has laid out a clearly charted roadmap for the youth of India and given a clarion call for Atmanirbhar Bharat, which the youth of India will have to drive. India being such a young country with a huge population, the contribution of the youth in any sphere can make a huge difference, not just in India but at the global platform.”  

Kiren Rijiju further added, “The Government of India is committed to listening to young people’s opinions and ideas. These new ways of thinking are what we need to address many of India’s persisting and upcoming challenges. Towards this end, the MYAS can be an effective bridge between young people together with partners like YuWaah and the Government machinery."

The partnership will leverage both the Ministry and UN efforts to work with young people to co-create and implement solutions at scale tackling education, skilling, and unemployment challenges for young people in India. This will include collaboration on supporting young people in entrepreneurship, upskilling young people, creating linkages with aspirational socio-economic opportunities, promoting changemaking and civic participation among young people, providing career guidance support to young people, supporting direct dialogue and the establishment of a feedback mechanism between young people and policy stakeholders, and building the capacity of the NSS and NYKS cadre and volunteer force on sustainable development goals.

Speaking about the partnership, Smt Usha Sharma, Secretary, Youth Affairs said, “We, at the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, see YuWaah as a unique opportunity that can provide a platform to fulfil ambitions and dreams ‘of the youth, for the youth and with the youth’. The partnership promises to give a great platform to our NYKS, NSS volunteers, even as they get a chance to interact with global experts.” 

Dr Yasmin Ali Haque, UNICEF Representative in India, and UN Resident Coordinator a.i. said, “The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, a key stakeholder of YuWaah, has spearheaded youth development and youth participation for several decades. YuWaah, through this partnership with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and UN agencies in India will support young people of this country to build, lead their own agendas and thrive. This especially relevant today as we need to prepare young people for a rapidly changing world, to involve them in decision making and amplify their views on issues/matters that concern their lives, inspiring them to take action.”
 

India's first of its kind public EV Charging Plaza inaugurated by Union Power Minister

With a focus on enhancing energy efficiency and promoting e-mobility, Shri R.K Singh, the Minister for Power, New & Renewable Energy, today inaugurated India’s first public EV (Electric Vehicle) charging plaza at Chelmsford Club in New Delhi. While speaking at the occasion Shri Singh said, “The EV charging plaza is a new avenue for making e-mobility ubiquitous and convenient in India. Such innovative initiatives are imperative for the creation of a robust e-mobility ecosystem in the country. My congratulations to both EESL and NDMC.”

EESL is spearheading the EV ecosystem development in India by undertaking demand aggregation for procuring EVs and identifying innovative business models for implementation of Public Charging Station (PCS). EESL in collaboration with NDMC has established India’s first of its kind public EV Charging Plaza in Central Delhi. This plaza will host 5 Electric Vehicle Chargers of different specifications.

Speaking on the inauguration of public EV plaza Shri Sanjiv Nandan Sahai, Secretary, Ministry of Power said, “The charging plaza, with its compatibility with a wide range of electric vehicles will greatly spur e-mobility adoption. This would make EV charging hassle free and convenient for the consumers, thereby making e-mobility adoption an attractive proposition.”

Union Power Minister Shri R K Singh also launched today “Retrofit of Air-conditioning to improve Indoor Air Quality for Safety and Efficiency” (RAISE) national programme. At the launch, Shri R.K Singh stated, “I believe the RAISE initiative can potentially alleviate the issue of bad air quality in workspaces across the nation and pioneer ways to make them healthier and greener. I look forward to the success of their programme and wish both EESL and USAID best of luck for their future endeavours.

Poor air quality has been a concern in India for quite some time and has become more important in light of the COVID pandemic. As people return to their offices and public spaces, maintaining good indoor air quality is essential for occupant comfort, well-being, productivity, and the overall public health.

In that context, EESL has undertaken a retrofit of its office air-conditioning and ventilation system. This is a part of the larger initiative to “Retrofit of Air-conditioning to improve Indoor air quality for Safety and Efficiency” developed for healthy and energy efficient buildings, in partnership with U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) MAITREE programme. EESL’s corporate office in Scope Complex has been taken up as a pilot for this initiative. The pilot focuses on improving indoor air quality (IAQ), thermal comfort, and energy efficiency (EE) in EESL office’s air conditioning system.

As per EESL, pilot project has shown very impressive results – about 80 per cent improvement in Air Quality parameters with almost no implementation hassles. Considering employee’s occupational health and safety is paramount in any workplace amidst the COVID-19 scenario, EESL is keen to provide such solutions across the country with standardisation and demand aggregation approach.

Both the initiatives reaffirm the pledge for ecological preservation and building a resilient energy sector, undertaken by EESL and other key stakeholders during the “#iCommit” campaign held on World Environment Day.

Indian spices' exports up by 23 percent to US$ 359 million in June, says Assocham

In the month of June 2020, India's spices exports increased by 23 per cent to Rs 2,690 crore (US$ 359 million) from Rs 2,190 crore (US$ 292 million) in the same month last year, as per the data by Assocham. A study done by the chamber also pointed out that the demand for spices is increasing in domestic market leading to a sharp increase in their prices by almost 12 per cent in June whereas the headline CPI inflation was half that level.

On the back of forex advantages, spices exporters raked in even better in domestic currency, with an increase by 34 per cent to Rs 2,721 crore (US$ 386.01 million) in June 2020 from Rs 2,030 crore (US$ 288 million) in the comparative month a year ago, the industry chamber said quoting official data.

In June 2020, the country's exports stood at US$ 21.91 billion, as compared to US$ 25.01 billion in June 2019, exhibiting a contraction of 12.41 per cent, as per the data released by the Commerce Ministry showed.

India mainly export pepper, cardamom, ginger, turmeric, coriander, cumin, celery, fennel, fenugreek, nutmeg, spice oils and mint products. The main importers include the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Australia, UAE, Iran, Singapore, China, and Bangladesh, among others.

"The Prime Minister noticed how demand for spices of which India is among the main producers, is increasing as more and more people rush to strengthen immunity. Thanks to the efforts of the Aayush Ministry and traditional knowledge about spices being a strong immunity builder, an increasing number of Indians are taking to higher consumption of spices. But the rising exports trend does show how the world is benefiting from these items," said Assocham Secretary General Mr Deepak Sood.
 

Milk production is expected to rise to 330 million tons by 2024; Government trying to increase milk processing up to 40 per cent - Shri Giriraj Singh

Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Shri Giriraj Singh today launched the Implementation Guidelines for Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) worth Rs 15,000 crore (US$ 2.13 billion), which was approved by the Union Cabinet on 24.06.2020 under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan stimulus package for ensuring growth in several sectors. Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Shri Pratap Chandra Sarangi was also present on the occasion.

Thanking Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for announcing the Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development fund (AHIDF), Shri Giriraj Singh said that India is engaged in breed improvement to increase milk production and on the other hand also taking care of the processing sector. India is producing milk of 188 million tonnes and by 2024 the milk production is expected to rise up to 330 million tons. Only 20-25 per cent milk is coming under processing sector and Government is trying to bring the same up to 40 per cent. He also informed that the Dairy Processing Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF) is being implemented for infrastructure development in cooperative sector and AHIDF is a first type of scheme for private sector. Millions of farmers will be benefited once the infrastructure is created and more milk will be processed. This will also increase export of dairy products which is presently negligible. India needs to go up to the standards of countries like New Zealand in the Dairy sector. He expressed satisfaction that during COVID-19 lockdown, dairy farmers could maintain steady supply of milk to the consumers in the country.

Government has been implementing several schemes for incentivizing the investment made by dairy cooperative sector for development of dairy infrastructure. The AHIDF has been set up as MSMEs and Private companies also need to be promoted and incentivized for their involvement in processing and value addition infrastructure. AHIDF would facilitate much needed incentivisation of investments in establishment of such infrastructure for dairy and meat processing and value addition infrastructure and establishment of animal feed plant in the private sector.

The eligible beneficiaries under the Scheme would be Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), MSMEs, Section 8 Companies, Private Companies, and individual entrepreneurs with minimum 10 per cent margin money contribution by them. The balance 90 per cent would be the loan component to be made available by scheduled banks. Government of India will provide 3 per cent interest subvention to eligible beneficiaries. There will be 2 years moratorium period for principal loan amount and 6 years repayment period thereafter.

Government of India would also set up Credit Guarantee Fund of Rs 750 crore (US$ 106.40 million) to be managed by NABARD. Credit guarantee would be provided to those sanctioned projects which are covered under MSME defined ceilings. Guarantee Coverage would be up to 25 per cent of Credit facility of borrower. The beneficiaries intending to invest for establishing dairy and meat processing and value addition infrastructure or strengthening of the existing infrastructure can apply for loan in the scheduled bank through “Udyami Mitra” portal of SIDBI. 

There is huge potential waiting to be unlocked in investment through private sector. The Rs 15,000 crore (US$ 2.13 billion) AHIDF and the interest subvention scheme for private investors will ensure availability of capital to meet upfront investment required for these projects and help enhance overall returns/ pay back for investors. Such investments in processing and value addition infrastructure by eligible beneficiaries would also promote export of these processed and value-added commodities.

Since almost 50-60 per cent of final value of dairy output in India flows back to farmers, therefore, growth in this sector can have significant direct impact on farmer’s income. Size of dairy market and farmers’ realization from milk sales is closely linked with development of organized off-take by cooperative and private dairies. Thus, investment incentivization in AHIDF would not only leverage 7 times private investment but would also motivate farmers to invest more on inputs thereby driving higher productivity leading to increase in farmers’ incomes. The measures approved through AHIDF would also help in direct and indirect livelihood creation for 35 lakh persons.

Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Shri Pratap Chandra Sarangi said that Government has decided to vaccinate 53.5 crore animals and 4 crore animals have already been vaccinated. Breed improvement is taking place through technology intervention. However, we are lagging in processing sector. Using the AHIDF, processing plants can be established for fodder also. This will help in doubling farmers’ incomes and contribute to achieving Hon’ble Prime Minister’s dream of a US$ 5 trillion economy.