Tweet: PM’s indep day commitment to bring power to last unconnected 18,000 villages in 1000 days eminently doable. Need more such practical targets.

Every village to be electricity-enabled: In his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a deadline of 1,000 days for every remaining village to be electricity-enabled. The goal, he said, is to strengthen development at the bottom of the pyramid and empower the poorest of the poor.

Tweet: Land action almost certain to shift to how State Govts write Rules & Procedures. State support for time-bound conduct of Consent & SIA likely.

Land Bill: Government looks for a breakthrough: In what is considered to be a negotiated settlement, the Centre appears to be accepting the provisions of consent and social impact assessment in the Land Acquisition Bill. States will, therefore, be allowed to decide on specific exemptions in their local laws.

Tweet: Others will learn? 4 Discoms of Gujarat & Punjab distribution utility get A+ rating from ICRA for reform measures & financial performance.

Ratings to steer discoms back on track: The Gujarat and Punjab discoms turned out to be top scorers among 40 state distribution utilities. The exercise is aimed at incentivising/dis-incentivising the entities in order to improve their operational and financial performance. It could serve as a basis for further governmental assistance to state power discoms under various initiatives.

Tweet: 41,000 MW of Captive Power Producers believe move to auction existing coal linkages will hurt competitiveness of their linked industries.

Coal ministry’s proposed policy change causes concern: A proposed change in policy—which will lead to non-renewal of linkages provided to captive power producers—is being viewed with great apprehension by the affected group. They feel the move will adversely impact the investments made over decades.

Tweet: Rankings & Challenges now tools for spurring competitive devpt: Swachh Bharat & Ease Of Doing Business Ranking, Smart City Challenge etc.

Competition is key to development: The government’s strategy to kickstart a number of initiatives is beginning to bear results. The recently announced Swachh Bharat and Smart City lists are aimed at motivating the laggards. The next phase could involve enacting local laws; for example, a model law which can be modified to enforce cleanliness at the local levels.

Tweet: Addressing CII members yday, CM Telangana outlined how about 12,000 MW of new power gen capacity already in works vis a vis targeted 20,000.

Powering up Telangana: Telangana, a power-deficit state, is relying on a combination of thermal and solar energy capacities to meet the supply gap after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. The bulk of the thermal generating capacities remained in the geographical area of new Andhra Pradesh.

Tweet: CM & Chief Secy Telangana outlined to CII members how officers r to be fined R1000/day if found to be mischievously delaying permissions.

Innovative solution to project clearance delays: In a first of its kind policy initiative, the Telangana government has introduced the Right to Clearance, on the lines of Right to Information, for industrial projects. The penalty is one of the measures being taken to create an investor-friendly environment in the state.

Tweet: Practical & positive: Dept of Telecom & Urban Minist agree to allow Govt buildings to install mobile towers to reduce problem of call drops.

Mobile towers: Taking the right call: The decision to allow mobile towers to be installed on top of government buildings will come as a huge relief to telcos that have been plagued by dropped calls on their networks. Such mobile towers would be a shared facility for all operators.

—Vinayak Chatterjee is Chairman of Feedback Infra
His Twitter handle: @Infra_VinayakCh
A weekly selection of the author’s tweets—
with a brief backgrounder—in the infra space, by Adite Banerjie