$1 billion worth of Divali greetings from AbuDhabi. Nat Inv & Infra Fund signs investment agreement with ADIA. Great start to Samvat 2074 !

ADIA backing for NIIF

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority became the first foreign institutional investor in the NIIF master fund. Six domestic institutional investors have also committed funds. Many other sovereign funds have also committed to invest

Time for surgical strike at Discoms: In spite of UDAY relief, combined losses of Discoms increased by 36% to reach Rs 89,603 crs in FY16

Discom losses need urgent attention

Maharashtra utilities posted a loss of Rs 28,029 crore in FY16, charging depreciation of Rs 27,588 crore for revalued assets. The gap between avg revenue realised and avg cost of supply was Rs 0.65/unit, up from Rs 0.58 in FY15.

Performance begets Empowerment. NHAI to be allowed to embark on non-PPP projects even beyond ?1000 crores without CCEA clearance.

Clearance yoke eases for highway projects

This is being done to hasten implementation of the Bharatmala initiative, that envisions 44 economic corridors across the country. Now, only those PPP projects bid out under the BOT model, with VGF from govt, will need clearance.

Gadkari takes a practical & immediate step on Ganga-cleaning ~ opens website to invite pvt orgns ,NGOs, PSUs, NRIs etc to adopt stretches

Partnering pvt sector for cleaning Ganga

The volunteers will figure out with the local administration key steps of the work including financing. Over nine short stretches will be given to pvt players for cleaning. Companies can take up cleaning as part of their CSR work

Regional positivism : Current power export from India accounts for 7% of Bangladesh’s requirement.  Expected to go up to 25% within 5 yrs

‘Powering’ Indo-B’desh relations

At present, daily exports to Bangladesh total 660 MW, of which 250 MW are sold through a bilateral agreement and the rest through the open market. India will build a 5,000 MW grid for the North East passing through B’desh. The latter will get 20% of the power in return.

Smart of India & Japan to agree to swap LNG supplies. Saves transportation & logistics costs by optimising sources closer to each other

Smart swap arrangement with Japan
Under the new LNG agreement, the Indian public sector LNG firm will swap a part of its 5.8 mn tonnes of LNG booked with US companies with purchases by Japan from Asia and elsewhere. The two countries will also negotiate for more flexible contracts and the right to re-sell imports

Good to have PM inaugurating a modern ferry service 2day between Bhavnagar & Bharuch in Gujarat . Cuts 360 kms road journey to 31 kms .

Guj ferry service cuts travel time

The Rs 615 cr project is to be implemented in three stages–the first phase will see the transport of only passengers while in the second and third phases, cars and trucks, respectively, will be ferried along with passengers

Replacing expensive diesel power ~ Andaman to get its 1st battery-backed solar power project of utility scale, with Rs 100 cr grant from govt

Sunny days for the Andamans
At present, power need in the Andamans are met through diesel generators, with a cost of generation higher than Rs 20/unit. The govt grant lowers costs to Rs 8/unit. Even without it, solar is still cheaper, with generation cost at Rs 12/unit

A weekly selection of the author’s tweets—with a brief backgrounder by Sarthak Ray