Foreign investors in construction sector get exit option
To help attract foreign funds in construction of townships, hospitals and hotels, the government relaxed FDI policy for the sector by easing exit norms and reducing built-up area and capital needs. The revised norms relating to the Construction Development Sector, notified by the DIPP on Dec 3, has done away with the three-year lock-in period for repatriation of investment. “The investor will be permitted to exit on completion of the project or after development of trunk infrastructure i.e. roads, water supply, street lighting, drainage and sewerage,” a DIPP circular said.
Govt asks RBI to relax rules for reviving shipbuilding industry
The government has requested the Reserve Bank to relax the norms for restructuring shipyards in view of the industry’s high capital intensity. “The government has requested the RBI and the ministry of finance to sanction a special dispensation for five years i.e. up to March 31, 2020, to treat repeat restructuring of shipyards, after failure of first Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR), as equivalent to first restructuring”, minister of state for shipping Pon Radhakrishnan told the Lok Sabha.
Coal ministry to put 18 additional blocks for sale in first phase: Secy
The coal ministry will auction or allot 18 more coal blocks in addition to the already announced 74 mines for sale in the first lot. “We have now finalised (to allot and auction) 18 more blocks which have an additional capacity of about 120 million tonnes,” coal secretary Anil Swarup said. “These will be primarily for the power sector,” he said.
ONGC targets to start production from KG-D5 block by mid-2018
Oil and Natural Gas Corp is targeting mid-2018 for starting natural gas production from its KG-D5 block. ONGC is using the cluster approach to bring oil and gas finds in the block KG-DWN-98/2 or KG-D5, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said in the Lok Sabha. “The block is divided into the Northern Discovery Area (NDA) and Southern Discovery Area (SDA). Estimated reserves of NDA are 121 million tonne of oil in place and 78 billion cubic metre of initial gas in place and that of SDA are 80.9 bcm of initial gas in place,” he said.
SKIL Ports to develop R1,000-crore terminal at Karanja
SKIL Ports and Logistics plans to invest R1,000 crore to build a multipurpose terminal at Karanja near Mumbai over the next two years. The terminal would be developed on a 200-acre land parcel at Karanja, off Mumbai’s eastern coast, and would have a sea frontage of 1,000 metres. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis laid the foundation for the port on Dec 1.
Efforts on to link coal mines with nearest power plants: Secy
Efforts are under way to rationalise coal linkages with power plants to save an estimated R6,000 crore a year on transportation, coal secretary Anil Swarup said. “We are working on rationalisation of coal linkages”, Swarup said.
New system uses Sun to make salt water potable
A new ‘ground-breaking’ prototype system that turns sea water into drinking water using just the power of the Sun has been successfully tested in India. The UK-based firm Desolenator uses a patented technology to transform salt water and other dirty waters, from inland sources, into pure distilled water. Capable of producing up to 15 litres a day, the system requires no power supply, and has no moving parts or filters, making it incredibly easy to maintain. “The unit uses no consumables and a one-off payment will provide water for households for up to 20 years”, said the company, which launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to take the product from prototype to production.
