Says plant is safe and secure, necessary for economic growth

SC today dismissed a plea against commissioning of the Kudankulam nuclear plant. The plant is safe and secure and is necessary for larger public interest and economic growth of the country, the apex court said. Nuclear power plants are needed in the country for the present and future generations, it added.

Asian Development Bank has approved a loan of USD 80 million to modernise and expand the sewage network and treatment facilities in the Kathmandu Valley home to 2.5 million people.

Gujarat High Court on Friday directed the Central Government to decide within four weeks the issue of granting approval to the allocation of forest land to Essar Steel Ltd (ESL) near Hazira in Surat district.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J B Pardiwala, while disposing of a PIL challenging the allocation of forest land measuring 2.07 lakh sq meters, also asked the Gujarat Government to demolish the constructions made by the company at the site if the Centre decides not to grant approval.

The combined capacity of the three power projects in Arunachal Pradesh is about 5,500 Mw

Jindal Power Limited (JPL) has assured its three hydel power projects, in a joint venture with Hydro Power Development Corporation of Arunachal Pradesh Limited (HPDCAPL), are on track. This follows the company's deal with the state government to pick up 49 per cent stake in HPDCAPL being cancelled.
"JPL and HPDCAPL continue to hold 74 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively, in the three project companies for Etalin, Attunli and Kamala projects. What has been reversed is the agreement by which our group company had acquired 49 per cent shareholding in HPDCAPL by mutual understanding," Jindal Power said, in response to a questionnaire sent to the company.

Once commissioned, the plant will add 1,600 Megawatt to the company's portfolio

Following its move to shift its flagship Gadarwara project from Odisha to Madhya Pradesh, power generator NTPC has crossed a major hurdle by securing the environment ministry’s approval for the Rs 11,640-crore power plant. Once commissioned, the project would add 1,600 Mw to the company’s portfolio.
As the ministry’s environment clearance was on the condition that the project be set up as a role model, NTPC has quickly moved to source equipment and fuel for the project.

The village panchayat of Chharba, where the cola major plans to set up its Rs 600-cr bottling plant, passes resolution on not to allow the proposed project to come up

Chharba-Langha Road, 30 km from Dehradun city, is a green industrial belt. This patch on the western fringes of the Doon Valley is also known for its lush green khair and sheesham trees. In many ways, the area is an example of sustainable development, where over 50 Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) exist in harmony with nature.

The number has come down by over 12% while the number of farm labourers in the state has soared

The number of farmers in Chhattisgarh has come down by more than 12 per cent while the number of farm labourers in the state has soared during the period. The final census report was released Thursday evening that underlined that there was a big reduction in the number of farmers in Chhattisgarh that was once known as "rice bowl" of the country. The number had come down by nearly 450,000 during a decade time from 2001 to 2011.

Govt expected to save 15% on this account

In a measure that would give relief to the government’s subsidy bill, the Union Cabinet today gave a nod to the Nutrient-Based Subsidy (NBS) rates for phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilisers for 2013-14. These are expected to cut the fertiliser subsidy by about 15 per cent in the current financial year, compared to 2012-13. After oil and food, the fertiliser sector is the third largest contributor to the government’s subsidy bill. According to the Budget proposals, the Centre wanted to cut the subsidy bill on these three to Rs 2.21 lakh crore for 2013-14, as compared with about Rs 2.47 lakh crore during 2012-13.

The Rangarajan committee report was facing flak from the finance, power and fertiliser ministries over its recommendations on pricing

The fate of the Rangarajan Committee's recommendations is hanging in the balance after the postponement of a meeting of empowered group of ministers (EGoM) on natural gas. Not only does there appear to be no meeting ground on the issue of a pricing formula proposed by the committee, the petroleum ministry wants another committee headed by Vijay Kelkar to look into the other major recommendation of moving to the revenue sharing model in exploration and production.

When fully completed, the state is expected to become power-surplus from a deficit of 4,000 Mw a day at present

Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday clarified the state government had proposed to implement new power projects totaling Rs 16,350 crore in the coming years. Under the proposed investments, the state is implementing the Sillahalla hydel power project at Nilgiris at a cost of Rs 7,000 crore besides setting up 56 sub-stations at an expenditure of Rs 8,000 crore.