This week, Karnataka is considering lifting restrictions on women working overnight shifts in all sectors; sixteen states have signed on to the central government’s rescue scheme for state power distribution companies; Rajasthan approves a new policy to boost development in the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor; Uttar Pradesh unveils a big new budget.

Center-state relations

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Make in India Week at the Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai. The Prime Ministers of Sweden, Finland, and Lithuania were present at the inauguration. Over 8,000 Indian industry leaders and 13 Union Ministers attended the event. Source: The Hindu

The central government approved 13 highway projects worth $1.58 billion in six states, raising the numbers of projects cleared by the Road Transport and Highways Ministry in a fortnight to 31, with a total investment of about $4.3 billion. The recently approved projects are in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh. Source: Press Trust of India

Differences over water sharing between two BJP-ruled states, Gujarat and Maharashtra, continue to block the center’s ambitious plans to link two pairs of rivers that flow through both states. Gujarat and Maharashtra are disputing how much water they will receive under the plan. Source: Economic Times

Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu signed a memorandum of understanding with the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) to develop Visakhapatnam as a smart city. Source: Hindu Business Line

The state government and the Indo-UK Institute of Health have agreed to establish a medical and nursing college along with a 1,000-bed hospital at the new capital of Amaravati. This is the first of the 11 hospitals the Indo-UK Health Institute will build in India, according to an agreement signed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Source: The Hindu

Delhi will carry out the second test of odd-even vehicle operations from April 15-30, after the conclusion of school exams. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the government is debating implementing the odd-even scheme for 15 days out of every month. Source: Indian Express

The Delhi government has given in-principle approval for the construction of Metro Phase-IV, which would add 75 stations to the metro network, with a completion deadline in 2021. To ease congestion, the government has also decided to construct 10 elevated corridors throughout the capital. Source: Hindu Business Line, Economic Times

The AAP-led Delhi government has loaned $81 million to the city’s three municipal corporations, but only on the condition that they not announce any new programs without prior approval of the Delhi government. Source: Economic Times

Gujarat officially joined the central government’s scheme for reducing state power debt during the World Electricity Forum, a showcase for India’s electrical sector. Source: Hindu Business Line

The Gujarat government announced a new policy for the IT sector that aims to attract 10 times more investment in the sector and encourage the creation of one million jobs. The state government will provide a capital subsidy of $3.7 million to IT parks as well as subsidies on registration fees and stamp duties and special incentives for power tariffs and value added taxes. Source: Business Standard

Karnataka has proposed to allow women to work in night shifts in all sectors, seeking to lift a restriction that has been in place for more than five decades. Women already work night shifts in the IT sector, but Karnataka is considering ending shift restrictions in the manufacturing sector. Maharashtra opened night shifts to women in 2015. Source: Economic Times

U.S.-based technology giant Oracle is planning to set up a campus in Bengaluru and start an initiative to create nine start-up incubators and help more than half a million students in India develop computer science skills. It will also hold its annual conference on cloud computing in Mumbai. Source: The Hindu

The Maharashtra government is providing land at half the market price in various industrial clusters in order to help Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) set up plants in the State. SMEs may apply for two-acre plots on land owned by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation. Source: Hindu Business Line

Maharashtra signed agreements worth over $3.2 billion with international companies, including Sterlite and Coca-Cola, during Make in India Week. Sterlite and Taiwan’s Autron signed an agreement with the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) to set up an LCD manufacturing unit at a cost of $10 billion over five phases. Source: Economic Times

The Maharashtra government is seeking to revitalize the state’s textile industry by offering a credit subsidy to self-financed textile units as well those that have borrowed from banks. Self-financed textile units in certain regions of the state will also be eligible for 25-35% capital grants. Maharashtra is setting up 10 integrated textile parks in hopes of attracting investment worth over $6 billion. Source: Livemint

Maharashtra tops national rankings of overall Internet readiness, according to a report published by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Indicus Analytics. The index takes into account e-infrastructure, e-participation, IT services, and e-governance. Source: The Hindu

Rajasthan’s Cabinet approved a bill to accelerate industrial investment in the state by creating special industrial zones in five cities. The Rajasthan Special Investment Region Bill, 2016 creates a 15-member board chaired by the state’s Industry Minister and responsible for guiding development along Rajasthan’s section of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. It will be introduced in the Assembly during the Budget session, which starts February 29. Source: Moneycontrol

Union Minister for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Kalraj Mishra said his ministry is setting up business incubation centers in every district of Rajasthan. Rajasthan also opened the first of 15 MSME technology centers that will be built throughout India. Source: Business Standard

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has joined with the Congress to contest the upcoming Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu. The announcement has given rise to speculation that the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam will form a poll alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party, which holds power at the center. Source: Business Standard, Indian Express

Telangana has provisionally agreed to join the center’s scheme for revival of state power distribution companies (discoms). Telangana, which has a total discom debt of around $1.9 billion, will be the 16^th state to join the scheme. Source: Dnaindia

The Union Railways Ministry signed an MoU with the Telangana government to ensure speedy execution of projects in the state. Telangana is the sixth state to create a path for forming joint ventures with the Railways Ministry. Source: Economic Times

Telangana added 279.64 megawatts (MW) of solar power capacity—more than any other state—in the six and a half months ending mid-January. Tamil Nadu was a close second with an increase of 270.97 MW. Source: Economic Times

Power sector experts said Telangana’s decision to purchase power from Chhattisgarh would cost consumers in Telangana $1.9 billion over the 12 years of the agreement. They argued that the state’s power distribution companies should have opted for competitive bidding instead. Source: Deccan Chronicle

With an eye on the 2017 Assembly elections, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav presented a $50.84 billion budget for 2016-17 that included a slew of populist measures. The budget, Yadav’s fifth, is 14.6 percent larger than last year’s. More than $2 billion has been earmarked for new schemes, with a focus on agriculture, health, and education. Source: Economic Times

The Uttar Pradesh State Electricity Regulatory Commission held a hearing to question the UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) over its purchase of power at higher than market rates. The Commission questioned UPPCL on its reluctance to source power from the exchanges where the cost has come down substantially, often to below $0.03 a unit. Source: Business Standard

Diversified conglomerate ITC has begun work on three projects in West Bengal: two integrated consumer goods manufacturing units and an IT park. The manufacturing units will both come into service by 2017, while the IT park will begin operations in 2018. Source: Economic Times