Urban areas may contribute 75% of GDP by 2020, says Barclays

WITH the government focusing on improving infrastructure and allied services, the urban sector could contribute nearly 70-75% of the GDP by 2020, says a Barclays report. ?The urban sector could witness a revival as the government has started taking many measures on improving infrastructure and services. The government is focusing on increasing subsidies for cooking gas, electricity and piped water and is also taking initiatives to improve urban infrastructure and organised sector jobs.? These initiatives could raise the sector?s share in GDP. The urban sector now constitutes 63% of the GDP, up from 45% in 1990. Barclays observed that there has been a shift in government spends from rural to urban sector, of late.

Seven telcos to share infrastructure in Africa, Middle-East

SEVEN major telecom operators across Africa and the Middle-East will share their network infrastructure, to provide internet to rural communities and cut the cost of services. The seven operators, who serve 506 million customers in the two regions, are Bharti Airtel, Etisalat group, MTN group, Ooredoo group, Orange, Vodafone group and Zain group, global telecom body GSM Association said.

Four states to approach tribunal over power regulator?s order

MAHARASHTRA, Haryana, Punjab and Gujarat are likely to approach the electricity tribunal challenging an order by the regulator allowing utilities Tata Power and Adani Power to charge higher rates. The four states received approvals from their respective cabinets to challenge the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission?s decision before the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity. The CERC in February allowed Tata Power and Adani Power to charge higher tariffs and recover arrears of over R1,150 crore.

Delhi-Agra by train in 90 minutes on the cards

THE Railways is set to increase the Shatabdi Express speed to reduce the travel time between Delhi and Agra to 90 minutes by the end of the year, Railway board chairman Arunendra Kumar said. Railways has asked the High-Speed Rail Corporation to prepare detailed project reports for running semi-high speed trains on Delhi-Agra and Delhi-Chandigarh routes. The two routes have been selected as a pilots for running trains at a speed of up to 160km per hour on the existing track using present engines and coaches. Currently, the New Delhi-Bhopal Shatabdi train picks up speed up to 130 km at certain stretches on the Delhi-Agra route.

Shipping ministry may seek funding support for two major ports

THE shipping ministry may seek funding support for two major ports to attract more developers and is likely to approach the Cabinet on the issue. The government has finalised Sagar (West Bengal) and Dugarajapatnam (Seemandhra) as sites for setting up the major ports. ?At the Sagar port there is also a proposal to build a rail bridge, which means that the rate of return for that port will about 8%. So without VGF (viability gap funding), participation of bidders is an issue,? a shipping ministry official said. ?Also, at the Dugarajapatnam Port, the rate of return is 18% without the cost of land, and therefore, we are exploring the option of VGF,? the official said.