PM dedicates to the nation three key projects related to the Petroleum sector in Bihar

 

The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation three key projects related to the Petroleum sector in Bihar today via video conferencing. The projects include the Durgapur-Banka section of the Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur Pipeline Augmentation Project and two LPG Bottling Plants. They have been commissioned by IndianOil and HPCL, PSUs under the aegis of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said the special package announced for Bihar a few years ago, focused much on the state's infrastructure. He said the special package given for Bihar had 10 big projects related to petroleum and gas worth Rs 21 thousand crore. Among these today it is the seventh project which is being dedicated to the people of Bihar. He also listed the other six projects which had been completed in Bihar earlier. He expressed happiness that he is inaugurating the Durgapur-Banka section (about 200 km) of an important gas pipeline project for which he laid the foundation stone about one and a half years ago. He lauded the hard work of the engineers and laborers and active support of the state government for completing this project on time, in spite of the challenging terrain. He lauded the Chief Minister of Bihar for playing a big role in making Bihar come out of the work culture in which one generation used to start the work and the other generation completed it. He said this new work culture needs to be strengthened and it can take Bihar and East India on the development path.

The Prime Minister quoted from the scriptures  meaning strength is the source of freedom and power of labour is the basis of development of any nation. He said there is neither a shortage of power of labour in eastern India, including Bihar, nor this place lacked natural resources and despite this, Bihar and East India remained behind in terms of development for decades and suffered endless delays due to political, economic reasons and other priorities. He said since road connectivity, rail connectivity, air connectivity, internet connectivity was not a priority earlier, gas-based industry and petro-connectivity could not be imagined in Bihar. He said development of gas-based industries was a major challenge in Bihar due to it being a landlocked state and thus lacking resources related to petroleum and gas which are otherwise available in the states adjacent to the sea.

The Prime Minister said Gas-based industry and petro-connectivity have a direct impact on people's lives, on their standard of living and also create millions of new employment opportunities. He said today, when CNG & PNG are reaching many cities in Bihar and Eastern India, people here should get these facilities easily. He said the Bhagiratha effort to connect eastern India with Paradip on the eastern seaboard and Kandla on the western seaboard began under the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga Yojana and seven states will be connected through this pipeline, which is about 3000 km long, of which Bihar also has an prominent role. The line from Paradip - Haldia will now be further extended to Patna, Muzaffarpur and the pipeline coming from Kandla which has reached Gorakhpur will also be connected to it. He said when the entire project is ready, it will become one of the longest pipeline projects in the world.

The Prime Minister said due to these gas pipelines, big bottling plants are being installed in Bihar. Of which two new Bottling Plants have been launched today in Banka and Champaran. Both these plants have a capacity to fill more than 125 million cylinders every year. These plants will meet the LPG requirements of Godda, Deoghar, Dumka, Sahibganj, Pakur districts and some areas of Uttar Pradesh in Jharkhand. He said Bihar is creating thousands of new jobs from the laying of this gas pipeline to the new industries based on the energy from the pipeline.

The Prime Minister said the fertilizer factory of Barauni, which was closed in the past, will also start working soon after the construction of this gas pipeline. He said today eight crore poor families of the country have gas connections because of the Ujjwala scheme. This has changed the lives of the poor during the period of corona as it was necessary for them to stay at home and they need not go out to collect wood or other fuel.

The Prime Minister said in this period of Corona, millions of cylinders have been provided free of cost to the beneficiaries of the Ujjwala scheme which has benefited millions of poor families. He lauded the efforts of the petroleum and gas departments and companies, as well as the millions of delivery partners, as they did not let people run out of gas, even during the time of Corona, despite the dangers of infection. He said there was a time when LPG gas connections in Bihar were a sign of affluent people. People had to make recommendations for each gas connection. But now this has changed in Bihar due to the Ujjwala scheme, about 1.25 crore poor families of Bihar have been given free gas connection. The gas connection at home has changed the lives of crores of poor in Bihar.

The Prime Minister praised the youth of Bihar and said Bihar is the powerhouse of the country's talent. He said the strength of Bihar and the imprint of Bihar's labor will be seen in the development of every state. He said in the last 15 years, Bihar has also shown with a right government, right decisions and a clear policy, development happens and reaches everyone. There was a thinking, education was not necessary as the youth of Bihar have to work in the fields. Due to this thinking, not much work was done to open large educational institutions in Bihar. The result was that the youth of Bihar were forced to go out to study, to work. Working in the field, farming is very hard work and pride, but do not give other opportunities to the youth, nor make such arrangements, it was not right.

The Prime Minister said today big centers of education are opening in Bihar. Now the number of agricultural colleges, medical colleges, engineering colleges is increasing. Now IIT, IIM and IIIT in the state are helping to make the dreams of the youth of Bihar soar. He lauded the efforts of the Chief Minister of Bihar in tripling the number of polytechnic institutions and opening of two large universities, one IIT, one IIM, one NIFT and one National Law Institute in Bihar.

The Prime Minister said Start-up India, Mudra Yojana and many such schemes have provided the necessary amount of self-employment to the youth of Bihar. He said today the availability of electricity in cities and villages of Bihar is more than ever. The modern infrastructure is being built in the power, petroleum and gas sectors, the reforms are being brought in, are making the lives of people easier as well as giving impetus to industries and the economy. He said in this period of Corona, once again the petroleum-related infrastructure works like refinery projects, projects related to Exploration or Production, pipelines, City Gas Distribution projects, many such projects have gained momentum. He said there are more than 8 thousand projects, on which 6 lakh crore rupees will be spent in the coming days.

The Prime Minister said migrant labourers have returned back and new employment opportunities have also been created. Even during such a huge global epidemic, the country has not stopped especially Bihar has not stopped. He added the National Infrastructure Pipeline Project worth more than Rs 100 lakh crore is also going to help in increasing economic activity. He urged everyone to keep working fast to make Bihar, Eastern India an important center of development.

DTH revenues may touch Rs 22,000 crore in FY21: Crisil

 Direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting, which accounts for 37% of total television subscribers in India, is set to notch up a revenue growth of 400-600 basis points (bps) to touch ₹22,000 crore (USD 3 Bn) this fiscal, according to a report by global analytics company Crisil. With people spending more time at home than earlier, TV households will continue to grow as well. Over the past decade, TV penetration in India improved 1,000 bps, but was still 69% in fiscal 2020, indicating potential for further increase.

The industry’s credit outlook is also positive as cash accruals improve despite sizeable capital expenditure. The forecast is based on an analysis of Crisil-rated DTH companies, which account for over 95% of the industry’s revenue. DTH is expanding its share of the total TV pie as cable TV loses viewers. It was 34% in FY19 and 37% in FY20.

“Last year, the DTH sector saw a healthy revenue growth of 1,400 bps (900 bps rise in subscriber base and 500 bps in average revenue per user). This fiscal, the subscriber base is seen increasing another 600-700 bps to 68 million, which will lift revenue growth up 400-600 bps," Sachin Gupta, senior director, Crisil Ratings, said in a statement.

Last year, the DTH subscriber base had increased as cable TV subscribers shifted after implementation of the Trai’s new tariff order, according to the report. While cable TV operators were grappling with integration and roll-out challenges, DTH peers transitioned smoothly as they already had better systems. Besides, pricing parity required as per new regulations meant a 30-35% increase in cable TV tariffs, which eroded the price advantage cable TV enjoyed over DTH. The trend is expected to continue this fiscal, too, aided by the pandemic.

Besides, gradual resumption of the airing of new TV serial episodes and major sporting events such as Indian Premier League being telecast during the festival season, should keep viewers hooked. Though the buzz around over-the-top (OTT) streaming platforms has been getting louder, in the medium-term, the segment does not pose much of a challenge to TV, the report says, given that in India, TV subscription costs less than half of OTT services. Besides, India lags other countries in terms of high-speed infrastructure, which is needed for a good OTT viewing experience. India’s wireline broadband penetration (as a percentage of total household) is currently less than 8% compared with over 80% in the developed countries.

“The increasing popularity and rapid proliferation of OTT platforms is a cause for concern for TV segment," Nitesh Jain, director, Crisil Ratings said in a statement. He added that TV will continue to hold sway over the medium term for three reasons: conducive demographics, low penetration, and, most importantly, low cost.

“OTT will become a material threat only when its cost becomes equal to, or cheaper than, TV subscription, and internet connectivity improves to ensure consistently comparable quality of viewing experience," Jain said.

Hardeep S Puri launches Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF 2.0) and Streets for People Challenge

 

Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs (I/C) has launched the Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF) 2.0, along with the ‘Streets for People Challenge’ in a virtual event organized by the Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), here today. The objective of CSCAF is to provide a clear roadmap for cities towards combating Climate Change while planning and implementing their actions, including investments. In the last decade, an increasing frequency of cyclones, floods, heat waves, water scarcity and drought-like conditions have had adverse impacts on many of our cities. Such extreme events and risks cause loss of life as well as impact the economic growth. In this context, CSCAF initiative intends to inculcate a climate-sensitive approach to urban planning and development in India. Sh Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, MOHUA, senior officials of MOHUA and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Principal Secretaries (Urban Development) of State Government and UTs, State Mission Directors of Smart Cities Mission, Municipal Commissioners/CEOs of Smart Cities, representatives of partner agencies / Bilateral / Multilateral Institutions and other key stakeholders attended the function.

​This assessment framework was developed after review of existing frameworks and assessment approaches adopted throughout the world followed by series of extensive consultative process with more than 26 organizations and 60 experts from different thematic areas. The framework has 28 indicators across five categories namely, (i) Energy and Green Buildings, (ii) Urban Planning, Green Cover & Biodiversity, (iii) Mobility and Air Quality, (iv) Water Management and (v) Waste Management. The Climate Centre for Cities under National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) is supporting MoHUA in implementation of CSCAF.

​As the lockdowns lift, cities face many challenges in providing safe, affordable, and equitable modes of transport that enable social distancing. Limited public transport options, narrow, crowded sidewalks particularly in marketplaces and deterioration of mental health, are key issues that must be addressed on priority. Pedestrianisation of streets for walking and creating public spaces is a crucial step towards mitigating these issues. Cities around the world, such as Bogota, Berlin, and Milan have responded by transforming streets for walking and cycling, to ensure safe mobility during COVID-19.

​The Streets for People Challenge is the response to the need for making our cities more walkable and pedestrian friendly. The Challenge builds on the advisory issued by MoHUA for the holistic planning for pedestrian-friendly market spaces, earlier this year. The Challenge will support cities across the country to develop a unified vision of streets for people in consultation with stakeholders and citizens. Adopting a participatory approach, cities will be guided to launch their own design competitions to gather innovative ideas from professionals for quick, innovative, and low-cost tactical solutions.

It aims to inspire cities to create walking-friendly and vibrant streets through quick, innovative, and low-cost measures. All cities participating in the challenge shall be encouraged to use the ‘test-learn-scale’ approach to initiate both, flagship and neighbourhood walking interventions. The interventions can include inter alia creating pedestrian-friendly streets in high footfall areas, re-imagining under-flyover spaces, re-vitalizing dead neighbourhood spaces, and creating walking links through parks and institutional areas. Fit India Mission, under Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, along with the India program of the Institute for Transport Development and Policy (ITDP) have partnered with the Smart Cities Mission to support the challenge.

Govt plans to construct over 50,000 km of roads

 

While addressing a meeting of major investor groups in New Delhi, Secretary - Road Transport and Highways Giridhar Aramane said the ministry is planning for construction of over 50,000 kilometres of highways, a majority of those will be 4 and 6 lanes wide.

Mr Giridhar Aramane called upon the investors to consider that InvIT has scope for broad basing the investor groups and said that it is an attractive vehicle for mobilising funds for road development and assured the investors that the asset base of InvIT will be selected carefully to yield attractive returns and mitigate inherent risks.

The secretary also assured that efforts will be made to facilitate realisation of value for investment, the statement said.

Mr Aramane added that the functioning of the investment manager will be democratised by bringing investing partners into board of directors to manage the company in a professional manner.

 

The project managers will be selected on professional and efficiency basis.

InvITs are instruments on the pattern of mutual funds and are designed to pool small sums of money from several investors to invest in assets that give cash flow over a period of time.

The Union Cabinet has already approved setting up of InvIT.  In addition, the statement also said that this will enable National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to monetise completed national highways that have a toll collection track record of at least one year and NHAI reserves the right to levy toll on the identified highway.

Government has embarked on a transformational programme of implementing National Infrastructure Pipeline to realise the potential of Indian Economy. Expansion of roads will give a boost to the economy by reducing logistic costs, connect, hinter-land to hubs, and cater to rapid growth in vehicle ownership, it added.

Declaration of Results of Ranking of States: 2019, on support to Start-up Ecosystems

 The Results of the second edition of Ranking of States on Support to Start-up Ecosystems were released by Minister of Commerce & Industry and Railways Shri Piyush Goyal today, through a virtual felicitation ceremony in the presence of Minister of State for Commerce & Industry & Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Civil Aviation, Housing and Urban Affairs Shri Hardeep Singh Puri and Minister of State for Commerce & Industry Shri Som Parkash.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) conducted the second edition of the States’ Start-up Ranking Exercise, with the key objective to foster competitiveness and propel States and Union Territories to work proactively towards uplifting the start-up ecosystem.It has been implemented as a capacity development exercise to encourage mutual learning among all states and to provide support in policy formulation and implementation.

The States’ Start-up Ranking Framework 2019 has 7 broad reform area, consisting of 30 action points ranging from Institutional Support, Easing Compliances, Relaxation in Public Procurement norms, Incubation support, Seed Funding Support, Venture Funding Support, and Awareness & Outreach. To establish uniformity and ensure standardization in the ranking process, States and UTs have been divided into two groups. While UTs except Delhi and all States in North East India except Assam are placed in Category ‘Y’. All other States and UT of Delhi are in Category ‘X’.

A total of 22 States and 3 Union Territories participated in the exercise. Evaluation Committees comprising independent experts carried out a detailed assessment of responses across various parameters. Many parameters involved getting feedback from beneficiaries which was gathered through more than 60,000 calls made in 11 different languages to empathetically connect with beneficiaries to ascertain the real situation at the implementation levels.

For the purposes of Ranking, States are classified into 5 Categories: Best Performers, Top Performers, Leaders, Aspiring Leaders and Emerging Start-up Ecosystems. Within each category, entities are placed alphabetically. States are also recognised as Leaders in 7 reform areas of support to start-ups. Results are attached at Annexure.

The felicitation ceremony was accompanied by the release of a National Report which highlights the vision, trajectory, methodology and the future roadmap of the States Ranking Exercise. A State Specific Report for each of the 25 participating entities has also been released, containing a comprehensive analysis of respective ecosystem, which highlights strengths and priority areas for future.

A ‘Compendium of Good Practices’ adopted by various States in supporting start-ups has also been released. It identifies 166 good practices, which may be directly used by States to identify and implement newer initiatives.

The National Report and Specific Reports for all participating States and Union Territories launched during the session can be downloaded from the Start-up India Portal.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Piyush Goyal said that Start-ups have Out-of-the-box thinking, and are solution oriented, who look at new and new ideas. He said that the Prime Minister has been fully appreciative and supportive of promoting entrepreneurs who are important from the point of job creation, expanding economic activity and for the prosperity of people.

The Minister said that centre and states, coming together in the spirit of cooperation, collaboration and competition to promote start-ups, is really an important development. Describing the start-ups as the storehouse of talent, knowledge and ideas, Shri Goyal said that the ranking will not help the states and UTs, but also the entrepreneurs, and will help in expansion of the start-ups and launching of new ventures. He also highlighted the fact that women entrepreneurs are actively into the start-ups, and this breaking of stereotyping is an encouraging sign.

Shri Goyal expressed happiness on the fact that like the centre’s fund of funds for start-ups, states are also working on the similar lines. He called upon the High net worth individuals, venture capitalists and other funds to also come forward for financing the start-up ventures. The Minister recommended that start-ups should come up with imaginative, relevant and innovative products, undertake reengineering and reform of processes, and orient their ideas to be people centric. He said that Covid pandemic should not be seen as a problem or challenge but as an opportunity to reimagine and reinvigorate India. During COVID period, our Start-ups have come up with brilliant ideas & solutions to the many problems that the country & the world face.

Shri H.S. Puri said that societies that have developed across the globe, have developed ecosystems for encouraging entrepreneurships, and collaborative solution development. He said that strong ecosystem for start-up is necessary for the country to reach the levels of $5tn economy by 2024. He expressed happiness that the mindset of our people is changing from the job seekers to job providers.

Shri Som Parkash said that the ranking will encourage our young entrepreneurs who have skills and ideas to start their businesses. He said that the country has become 3rd largest ecosystem in the world.

Secretary, DPIIT Dr Guruprasad Mahapatra said that the start-up ecosystem in the country has led to creation of over 4 lakh jobs. He said that the ranking is an example of cooperative federalism, which will help in capacity building in the states

Mutual cooperation during pandemic strengthened India-Singapore ties: Prez

 President Ram Nath Kovind quoted that the cooperation between India and Singapore during COVID-19 pandemic has strengthened the existing friendship and trust. He also thanked Singapore for the strong support to India at multi-lateral forums including the UN Security Council.

Mr. Kovind accepted the letter of credence during the virtual event from Mr. Simon Wong Wie Kuen, the high commissioner of Singapore to India.

The President of India congratulated the Singapore government on the successful conduct of general elections recently and noted that the bilateral relations between India and Singapore have deepened.

India and Japan sign agreement on Reciprocal Provision of Supplies and Services between Forces of both countries

 India and Japan signed an Agreement between the two countries concerning Reciprocal Provision of Supplies and Services between the Armed Forces of India and The Self-Defense Forces of Japan. The agreement was signed here yesterday by Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar and Ambassador of Japan Mr Suzuki Satoshi.

This agreement establishes the enabling framework for closer cooperation between the Armed Forces of India and Japan in reciprocal provision of supplies and services while engaged in bilateral training activities, United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, Humanitarian International Relief and other mutually agreed activities.

The agreement will also enhance the interoperability between the Armed Force of India and Japan thereby further increasing the bilateral defence engagements under the Special Strategic & Global Partnership between the two countries.

India Post launches Five Star Villages Scheme to ensure 100% rural coverage of postal schemes

 

The Department of Posts has launched a scheme called Five Star Villages, to ensure universal coverage of flagship postal schemes in rural areas of the country. The scheme seeks to bridge the gaps in public awareness and reach of postal products and services, especially in interior villages. All postal products and services will be made available and marketed and publicized at village level, under the Five Star Villages scheme. Branch offices will function as one-stop shop to cater all post office - related needs of villagers. The schemes covered under the Five Star scheme include: i) Savings Bank accounts, Recurrent Deposit Accounts, NSC / KVP certificates, ii) Sukanya Samridhi Accounts/ PPF Accounts, iii) Funded Post Office Savings Account linked India Post Payments Bank Accounts, iv) Postal Life Insurance Policy/Rural Postal Life Insurance Policy and v) Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana Account / Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana Account.

If a village attains universal coverage for four schemes from the above list, then that village gets four-star status; if a village completes three schemes, then that village get three-star status and so on.

Launching the scheme, the Union Minister of State for Communications, Shri Sanjay Dhotre said that the scheme is being launched on pilot basis in Maharashtra; based on the experience here, it will be implemented nation-wide. “Postman and Postal Department are a vital part of the ordinary citizen's life. India Post has been serving the people in an extraordinary way in the difficult situation which has emerged due to COVID-19, by bringing them medicines and financial assistance. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi not only brought schemes but has been ensuring their effective implementation as well. The Postal Department has been playing a major role in the implementation of Government schemes, leveraging the immense strength of its vast network. Postal schemes are known for providing highly secured deposits, they provide higher return of interest with low risk.” The Minister said that the way to realize the goal of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat is through collaborative efforts such as this, wherein various schemes have been brought together under one umbrella, with the goal of providing financial inclusion.

The entire state of Maharashtra will be covered under the scheme. To begin with, two rural districts / areas for each region have been identified: Akola and Washim in Nagpur Region; Parbhani and Hingoli in Aurangabad Region; Solapur and Pandharpur in Pune Region; Kolhapur and Sangli in Goa Region; and Malegaon and Palghar in Navi Mumbai Region. A total of 50 villages in each district will be covered during the current financial year 2020-2021. Regional offices will identify the villages to be covered.

Scheme Implementation Team

The scheme will be implemented by a team of five Gramin Dak Sevaks who will be assigned a village for marketing of all products, savings and insurance schemes of the Department of Posts. This team will be headed by the Branch Postmaster of the concerned Branch Office. Mail overseer will keep personal watch on progress of team on daily basis. The teams will be led and monitored by concerned Divisional Head, Assistant Superintendents Posts and Inspector Posts.

Campaign

The team of Gramin Dak Sevaks will conduct door-to-door awareness campaign on all schemes, covering all eligible villagers. Wide publicity will be given by displaying the information on notice board of Branch Office. Prominent places of targeted villages like Panchayat Offices, schools, village dispensaries, bus depots, markets will also be used for advertising and pamphlets will be distributed. Small melas will be organized, considering COVID-19 safety guidelines.

Training and Monitoring

Required training and infrastructure, covering all schemes, would be provided to all branch offices in identified villages. The scheme progress and target achievement will be closely monitored at Circle, Regional and Divisional levels. Monthly progress will be reviewed by the Chief Postmaster General.

The Chief Postmaster General of Maharashtra Circle and Goa State, Shri Harish Chandra Agrawal assured the Minister that Maharashtra will provide a fine example in successful implementation of Five Star Villages Scheme, paving the way for the national roll-out of the scheme later. Director General (Posts), Shri Vineet Pandey; and Postmaster General, Mumbai Region, Ms Swati Pandey also attended the online launch.

Shri Dharmendra Pradhan dedicates 56 CNG stations to the nation

 

Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Shri Dharmendra Pradhan today dedicated to the nation 56 CNG stations. These CNG stations are in 13 states and one UT-Chandigarh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, and Andhra Pradesh.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said that in the last 6 years, the number of CNG stations has gone up from 947 to over 2300. He said that presently more than 400 districts of the country are being covered by the City Gas distribution network. Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) is preparing to come out with 11th round of CGD bidding round, after which 50-100 additional districts will get the clean fuel.

Shri Pradhan said that India is moving towards becoming a gas-based economy. He said that the government is committed to provide infrastructure to facilitate this, and 17,000 km long pipeline is being laid for the purpose. He said that the places like North-eastern states and the eastern India, which were deprived of the access to gas, are also being covered. Efforts are underway to complete the national Gas Grid in a time bound manner.

He said that the Government with the spirit of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas has worked to usher in a blue flame revolution in the country. Over 28 crore households have been provided LPG connections and an ambitious plan to provide 5cr households with PNG connection is underway.

The Minister expressed his gratitude to the finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India, for facilitating growth of CBG ecosystem in the country. He said that Compressed Biogas (CBG) has been included in the priority sector by the RBI, which will help the entrepreneurs to get cheaper and easier access to loans.

Talking about the waste to energy concept, the minister said that India, despite being very low in per capita pollution, has taken steps to adopt the renewable sources of energy in a big way. He specially mentioned about the efforts being made by Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to adopt clean fuel, to reduce the pollution level in the National capital region (NCR) during the winter. He mentioned about the recent initiative of IOCL, NTPC and SDMC to convert the municipal waste at Ghazipur into gas.

The Minister called upon the entrepreneurs to take advantage of the policy reforms brought in the energy sector. He said that capital requirement for setting up of retail outlets has been reduced from Rs 2000 crore to Rs 250 Crore, and even the start-ups can take part in it now. He said that Retail outlets can not only sell the traditional fossil fuels, but also dispense gas, and put up electric vehicle charging stations. He appealed to the entrepreneurs to take advantage of policy reforms, compete and bring in innovation in fuel marketing which will be beneficial for the consumers. The Minister also spoke about the recent initiative of battery swapping station set up in Chandigarh, which can be replicated elsewhere also. He also called upon the CGD players to set up CBG stations for which he said that cheaper and easily available raw material is abundantly available, and the OMCs are providing uptake guarantee at remunerative prices.

The Minister said that India is one of the largest energy consumers in the world, and this would further go up as the country marches ahead on the path of progress. Recalling the Hon. Prime Minister’s clarion call of energy justice and Aatamnirbhar Bharat, Shri Pradhan said that energy available to the people should be sustainable, accessible, affordable and this would lead to energy security.

Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Tarun Kapoor, speaking on the occasion, said that the government is fully committed to the ushering of gas economy in the country. He called upon the vehicle manufacturers to promote the factory fitted CNG vehicles, and reduce fitting the external kits for the same, so that our transport sector can use more CNG.

Chairman of IOCL Shri S.M. Vaidya also spoke on the occasion. Senior officers of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Oil Marketing companies and the companies setting up these CNG stations were present on the occasion.

Mr Piyush Goyal says the Government is working with states & local bodies to make it easier to start a business.

 

The Government is working with states & local bodies to deregulate and make it easier to start a business.  Addressing the students of Indian Institute of Foreign Trade through virtual interaction today, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Shri Piyush Goyal said that India's own ease of doing business ranking has improved significantly in the five years.

Talking about India’s mammoth potential, Shri Goyal said that the real unique selling point of India should be around High Quality, Good Service and Good Pricing. “India should get recognised the world over for its quality & competitiveness. Quality will have to be integral for the planning of our future. We believe in Transparent pricing, Transparent trade, Free Market, no price controls, and No hidden subsidies”, he said

Explaining the concept of AatmaNirbhar Bharat, Shri Goyal said that it is not about closing India's doors to international trade & engagement. “In fact, it is about opening it wider looking for greater engagement in global trade. Now India has to engage with global economies from a position of strength with highly cost-competitive products of high quality”, he said

On India being a huge and much sought after market, the Minister said “It's a market that businesses around the world want to engage with. The businesses will not only get a large Indian market but can also leverage this market to get economies of scale. Trading relations between 2 countries rest on the pedestal of high reciprocity & equilibrium. More & more countries are moving towards balanced trade. India also will have to engage with other countries to expand our trading relationships but on the strength of our own competitiveness.”  He said that if other countries want access to the market of 130 crore Indians then they will have to give us equal access to their market. India is not going to be a patient receiver of unfair trade practices.

Stating that India had not been a gainer from the past FTA’s, the Minister said that historical wrong will have to be corrected by our generation. Lauding the strong and decisive leadership of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Shri Goyal said that RCEP deal was not signed as it was not properly addressing India’s concern. He said that India, Japan and Australia, all three true democracies, trusted partners and believers in rule-based trading, have recently agreed to have a supply chain initiative.

Quoting His Holiness Dalai Lama who said, "Open your arms to change but don't let go of your values", he said that this is the spirit in which India wishes to engage with the rest of the world. Shri Goyal said that India wants to do FTAs with developed countries like the US, the UK and EU. He said that India is ready to sign a limited trade deal with the US at the earliest. He assured that deal will entail substantive gains for the country. All the forthcoming trade deals will be undertaken after discussions with all the stakeholders, and the interests of dairy, agriculture, MSMEs and indigenous manufacturers will be properly safeguarded, he said. The Minister said that the trade with the US is increasing rapidly, and the withdrawal of GSP by the US has not made much impact.

Calling upon active partnership between the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and IIFT, Shri Goyal called upon the students of IIFT to help in identification of new products and areas of export. He asked them to do research, analysis and mine data so that policymakers can learn from the world’s best practices, and work in the spirit of providing better future for India and its citizens. He said, “Our trade policies are up for debate, discussion, review, relook & consideration by students. I hope all of you will deliberate on the future of Indian trade policy and how we can sail through the COVID pandemic & come out resilient:

On the question of promoting indigenous production of toys, Shri Goyal said “We have introduced quality control order on toys, and BIS has come up with standards. As we improve local toys' quality & increase scale of production, automatically people will prefer local toys, suited to the country.” He said that the Government is helping the industry with enablers, to make them competitive, which include setting up clusters, anchor investors. With digital technologies & start-ups bringing newer ways of entertainment & creating new toys, India will be able to compete with any country.

Talking about India’s resilience, Shri Goyal said that Indian exports have started showing upward trajectory recently. “In the first week of September, our exports were 13% more than the corresponding period of last year, despite lockdowns and Covid related issues.” He said that our services exports have done well, but now we must ensure that merchandise exports also flourish. The Minister said that for promoting domestic production and exports of goods, the government has identified sectors, and working with the industry to help them overcome the bottlenecks.

Lauding the Indian industry’s hard work and tenacity, Shri Goyal said that from nowhere, in just 5 months, India has evolved in terms of becoming self-reliant in the production of PPE kits & masks. He said that India has not only become self-sufficient in these items but is exporting them in large numbers.