Udta Bharat: Regional air connectivity takes off. First batch of 5 airlines, with 128 routes approved. Congratulations to Civ Av Ministry.
UDAN: Gratifying to note that of the 70 small cities selected for route ops—no airline currently flies to 31 of them. Great effort.
Connecting 31 unserved airports
Till date only 76 airports in India boasted of commercial flights. This tally is set to go up as the Ude Desh ka Aam Nagarik (UDAN) scheme will provide connectivity to 31 unserved airports and give a boost to investment and job creation opportunities in the tourism sector.
Why is rising FDI not creating jobs? Well, in infra sector it’s mostly to do with brownfield acquisitions and not greenfield investments.
FDI-job growth mismatch
Foreign direct investment (FDI) grew to $46.4 billion in 2016 but this has not translated into any significant growth of jobs. According to experts, the reason for this mismatch is that a large part of FDI is in the form of acquisitions.
Government favourably considering extension of Mega Power Policy by 5 years is heartening. Will provide `10,000 cr benefit to about 24 projects.
A new lease of life
According to the government, the move to support the projects is necessary in view of the expected increase in demand for power on account of the Make-in-India initiative, rural electrification and the shift to electricity from fossil fuels for transportation and cooking.
Urban Dev Ministry expects `6,000 cr Municipal Bonds to be issued in 2017-18; and appeals to PMO against FinMin denying tax-free status.
Ministries spar over bonds
The urban development ministry has argued that if local bodies issue bonds which are not tax-free, they would raise money at the rate of 8-8.5%. Considering that banks offer loans to local bodies at the same rate, it would not be an attractive enough proposition.
Coal mining set to open up to pvt sector. Ministry’s discussion paper proposes to auction 3 large mines without restrictions on end use.
Mining new opportunities
The mines that have been identified for commercial mining would be large enough to attract foreign players, according to the draft consultation paper. Experienced miners, with net worth of more than `1,500 crore, would be eligible to participate in the auction.
Powerful: India has just become a net exporter of electricity with supplies to Bangladesh & Nepal being in excess of import from Bhutan.
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Power diplomacy
India exported 5,798 MU (million units) of power during the April 2016-February 2017 period, which is about 4% more than the 5,585 MU it imported from Bhutan. Exports to Nepal and Bangladesh have shown an increase of 2.5 and 2.8 times, respectively, in the last three years.
Davos aspiration: Nat Hiway Infra Devpt Corp has been asked to hire a consultant to plan for a Davos equivalent near Auli in Uttarakhand.
Auli to be India’s Davos
In a bid to replicate Davos, the state-run National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation has been tasked to create infrastructure for business conclaves and adventure sports in the high-altitude region between Joshimath and Auli.
A weekly selection of the author’s tweets— with a brief backgrounder—in the infra space, by Adite Banerjie