Hinduja National Power Corporation Ltd (HNPCL) a joint venture promoted by the Hinduja Group and National Power of UK, commenced civil work on on Sunday with the ground-breaking ceremony at the project site, according to a press release. The project comprises of two units of 520 mw each. The first unit is scheduled to be commissioned in 38 months from the date of financial closure and the second unit six months thereafter. All the security packages have been finalised and the Andhra Pradesh government guarantee and the Central government counter-guarantee are in place.

Rasgas offers 20% to Petronet in shipping company

Oil major Rasgas of Qatar has offered up to 20 per cent stake to Petronet LNG in their shipping company proposed to be set up to transport 7.5 million tonnes of LNG to India. Rasgas-Mobil consortium is the supplier of LNG to the two terminals of Petronet at Dahej and Kochi and the proposed Qatar Shipping Corporation will be the principal carrier to transport the LNG from Qatar. It has agreed in-principle to offer about 15 to 20 per cent stake to petronet in this proposed company, Petronet sources said.

National urban development policy on anvil

The government is formulating a national urban development policy keeping in mind the recommendations of National Commission on Urbanisation, Economic Reforms and Elements of Urbanisation Strategy. The policy would take into account suggestions of state governments and give due consideration to overall development goals of states, according to the annual report of the urban development ministry. Agra airport to be upgraded by OctoberUpgradation work at the civil airport in Agra would be completed by October to help direct landing of charter flights, a senior official of Union tourism ministry said on Monday. "The Union cabinet has already approved the proposal considering the need of the city because of the tourist inflow," deputy director general, tourism ministry, N K Khanna told reporters.

Snow clearance on Srinagar-Leh highway

The 434-km-long Srinagar-Leh national highway has been cleared of snow by `Project Beacon' in a record time this year, chief engineer D Satyanarayana has said. The highway was officially closed from November 1, last year because of snowfall.