Government

Govt kickstarts IREDA 's IPO process, scouts for merchant bankers

The government is planning to come out with an initial share sale offer for up to 25 per cent stake in Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) and is looking for merchant bankers to manage the process. The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) on Monday invited bids from category-I Sebi registered merchant bankers; either singly or as a consortium, with experience and expertise in public offerings in capital market; to act as Book Running Lead Manager (BRLM) and to assist and advise the Government/IREDA in the process. The BRLM would advise the Government/IREDA on the timing and the modalities of the Initial Public Offer (IPO), undertake due diligence, advice on regulatory norms and conduct roadshows to generate investor interest. The government will appoint up to three merchant bankers and the last date to submit bids is April 28. Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (IREDA) is under the administrative control of the Ministry of New and

FY24 procurement target through GeM likely to set at Rs 2.5 trillion

Artificial Intelligence will come onboard from FY24

Govt imposes gas price caps, accepts key suggestions of Kirit Parikh panel

Centre accepts all major recommendations of Kirit Parikh committee, imposes price caps

Govt releases pre-draft of new National Curriculum Framework for education

The Education Ministry released a "pre-draft" of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for school education on Thursday and invited suggestions from stakeholders such as students, parents, teachers and scholars. "This is a pre-draft of the NCF-SE, which still requires several rounds of discussion within the National Steering Committee. Feedback from diverse stakeholders will further help NSC to look critically into different modalities and approaches that this framework is proposing," the ministry said in a statement. It said feedback from students, parents, teachers, teacher educators, experts, scholars and professionals is necessary given the diverse needs of students, multiple pedagogic approaches and learning-teaching material at the different stages of school education. According to ministry officials, the textbooks as per the new NCF will be introduced from next year. The Education Ministry has designed four National Curriculum Frameworks (NCFs) based on the 5+3+3+4 curricu

27,000 ckm of power transmission lines to be added by 2024-25: Govt

This addition has been proposed in the Inter State Transmission system (ISTS) network at 220kV and above voltage level

Conviction rate of CBI rises up to 74.59% in 2022 from 68% in 2018: Govt

The conviction rate of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has gone up to 74.59 per cent in 2022 from 68 per cent in 2018, Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday. CBI's conviction rate was at 68 per cent in 2018, 69.19 per cent in 2019, 69.83 per cent in 2020, 67.56 per cent in 2021 and 74.59 per cent in 2022, Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said in a written reply. The directorate of prosecution in the CBI, with the assistance of additional legal advisers, deputy legal advisers, senior public prosecutors, public prosecutors and assistant public prosecutors, is responsible for conducting and supervising cases pending trial, appeal and revision in courts, he said. There are also sub directorates of prosecution in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai to closely monitor the trial or appeal or revision petitions in the trial courts or high courts, the minister said. With a view to improve the conviction rate, the strategy followed by the CBI includes conduct of .

ONDC framing mechanism to ensure compliance of its rules: Official

Government-promoted Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is framing a mechanism to ensure compliance with its rules by entities involved in online retail trading, a senior official said on Thursday. The ONDC aims to promote an open platform for all aspects of e-commerce retail. It would help small retailers expand their business through e-commerce medium and reduce dominance of giants in the sector. "If we see that any player is not following our rules, we would take action. We are in the process of finalising things. Law of land should be followed. We are in the process of making that mechanism," Joint Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Sanjiv told reporters here. A set of rules on protection of personal information and setting up of grievance resolution mechanisms would be part of the comprehensive ONDC network policy. According to a consultation paper released by ONDC last year, one of the chapters of the policy on grievance ...

Govt nods for 34 electronic components production proposals of Rs 11,187-cr

The government on Wednesday said it has approved 34 electronic components manufacturing proposals worth Rs 11,187 crore till March 30 this year. In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the government had notified a Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components (SPECS) on April 1, 2020, and applications were received till till March 30, 2023. "As on March 30, 2023, 120 applications have been received under SPECS. The applications received under the scheme are from domestic companies. As on March 30, 2023, thirty four (34) applications with total project cost of Rs 11,187 crore have been approved under the scheme," he said. Under the scheme, the approved proposals include those from Tata Electronics, Samsung Display Noida Pvt Ltd, Salcomp Technologies, Sahasra Semiconductors, IdemiaSyscom, Deki Electronics, Molex India and Continental Device India Pvt Ltd.

Govt to add 50 GW renewable energy capacity to achieve 500 GW target

India currently has a total renewable energy capacity of 168.96 GW (as on February 28, 2023) with about 82 GW at various stages of implementation and about 41 GW under tendering stage

Samsung, MeitY to skill Indian youth in building real-life innovations

The first season of the initiative in 2022 received over 18,000 registrations from youth across the country. This year, anyone in India aged 16-22 can apply till 5 pm on May 31

Govt's priority is to maintain balance between economy & ecology: CM Dhami

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday underlined his government's priority to maintain a balance between economy and ecology in the hill state and asserted that all development projects are being implemented keeping in mind environmental concerns. Speaking to reporters after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Dhami said all arrangements for the 'Char Dham' yatra have been made and more than eight lakh people have registered for the pilgrimage. Concerns about safeguarding the state's ecology have been raised following the land subsidence in Joshimath that had prompted authorities to relocate many families. Besides discussing a number of the state's development projects with the prime minister, Dhami invited him for the yatra and to Adi Kailash, a sacred Hindu site, as well, he said. The meeting lasted for nearly an hour during which he sought Modi's "guidance" on a number of issues. A statement later said the chief minister informed Modi that Rs 2,942.99 crore

Direct govt purchases play a diminishing role in GeM transactions

Value of transactions has crossed over Rs 2 trillion in 2022-23

Govt exceeds FY23 RE target of combined disinvestment, dividend mop up

The government has exceeded the revised estimates of collection from disinvestment and dividend combined in the current fiscal at Rs 94,282 crore. The revised estimates (RE) had pegged receipts from disinvestment and dividend at Rs 93,000 crore. In 2022-23, dividend receipts stood at Rs 58,988.34 crore and disinvestment receipts at Rs 35,293.52 crore. Together, the government has realised Rs 94,281.86 crore as disinvestment and dividend proceeds from CPSEs as on March 31, 2023. The Revised Estimate for disinvestment and dividend proceeds FY2022-23 is Rs 93,000 crore, which includes disinvestment mop up at Rs 50,000 crore and dividend of Rs 43,000 crore.

Government trying to 'strangle' MGNREGS, other welfare schemes: CPI(M)

The government is trying to "strangle" the rural job guarantee scheme as well as other welfare programmes by periodically cutting budget allocations, the CPI(M) has alleged. The latest editorial of the Left party's mouthpiece People's Democracy also criticised the introduction this year of the compulsory marking of attendance by workers under the scheme through mobile-based application 'National Mobile Monitoring Service (NMMS)'. "This has led to chaos at worksites across the country. With patchy internet connectivity, workers are reported to be spending hours just to get their attendance recorded. It is a life and death issue for them because failure to mark their attendance would mean loss of wages for the day," it claimed. "Imposition of this kind of hi-tech measures is a well known ploy of this government, ostensibly to tackle fraud. It has been imposed earlier in PDS distribution, in marking attendance of government school teachers, etc - all with similar chaotic and tragic ...

Govt directs retailers not to keep 'unseasonable' profit margin on tur dal

Concerned over rising tur dal prices, consumer affairs secretary Rohit Kumar Singh on Friday directed retailers not to keep their profit margin on pulses, especially tur dal, at "unreasonal level". In a meeting with Retailers Association of India (RAI) and major organised retailers, the secretary told them to calibrate the retail margins in such a way that the composition of pulses consumption basket of households is not disturbed by price rise. "He directed them to ensure that retail margins for pulses, especially tur dal, are not kept at unreasonable level," an official statement said. The retail industry players expressed their commitment to extend full cooperation with the government and also assured that all efforts will be made to keep prices of pulses under control. Today's meeting with retail association and major organised retail chains is part of the series of meetings that the department had with stakeholders across pulses value chain to ensure availability and ...

Govt to invite bids for Rs 1.5-trn transmission proj in 18 months: Sterlite

The industry is expecting the government to invite bids for power transmission infrastructure projects worth Rs 1.50 lakh crore in the next 18 months, Sterlite Power Transmission said on Thursday. In December, the government had launched a plan with investment opportunities of about Rs 2.44 lakh crore for building a transmission system for evacuating 500 gigawatts (GW) of non-fossil based energy by 2030. "We expect that nearly 60-65 per cent of these projects totalling Rs 150,000 crore will come up for bidding in next 18 months since completion of all processes and then construction of projects will take another 4-5 years," said a senior Sterlite Power Transmission official. The industry expects the government to invite bids under tariff based competitive bidding (TBCB) for power transmission infrastructure projects as it accelerates creation of new power lines and green energy corridors to integrate rising share of renewable power, the official said. As one of India's leading ...

Competition Bill with host of changes passed in Lok Sabha amid uproar

Changes include working of penalty on global turnover of companies; bill has introduced a deal value threshold to enable CCI to review transactions depending upon their value

Govt eyes IDBI financial bids by June, stake sale completion in FY24 itself

Govt has made several provisions and brought regulatory clarity to make deal attractive for bidders. These include allowing a consortium of foreign entities to own over 51% in the Bank

Centre working to reduce logistics cost to GDP to 7.5% in 5 years: Shah

The government is working to bring down logistics cost to GDP to 7.5 per cent from the current 13 per cent, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Tuesday. Addressing the annual session of Assocham, Shah said, without the development of the country's infrastructure and reduction of logistics costs, development was not possible. The logistics cost in India is 13 per cent to the GDP as compared eight per cent in the rest of the world, making it difficult for Indian exports to compete globally, he said. "We will have to remove the eight per cent and 13 per cent gap. We have formulated a framework for the next five years. I can assure you that we will reach 7.5 per cent logistics cost in the next five years," he said. Shah said the Narendra Modi government has made a plan of Rs 100 lakh crore investment in infrastructure with some mega projects such as the doubling of railway lines, their widening, dedicated freight corridors from Mumbai to Delhi and Amritsar to Kolkata besides 11 other ..

Guidelines in place for use of ASI sites to hold cultural events: Govt

The issue relating to use of any specific areas of centrally protected monuments or sites across the country for holding "cultural events" has been resolved and the competent authority has approved a slew of guidelines for it, the Parliament was informed on Monday. Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy said this in a written response to a query in the Lok Sabha on whether the government has any policy to permit cultural shows at heritage sites. In his response, the minister shared the list of guidelines, and said, "The issue relating to usage of specific areas of protected monuments/sites for holding cultural events has been resolved and the competent authority has approved the following guidelines for usage of protected areas". As a matter of course, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will not like to permit the use of monuments and land attached to such monuments for holding functions/events, reads the guidelines. "The circles may, however, permit such use only as an except