The Railways Ministry created a corporate entity to develop the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail line; budget sessions for state legislatures in Andhra, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan, West Bengal; Rajasthan selling stakes in power utilities to pay down debts; West Bengal passed legislation to create uniform system of property valuations in the state.
Center – State relations
Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu announced the creation of the National High Speed Corporation Limited (NHSCL) that will build and operate the 505km Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail line. The NHSCL is a joint venture between the Ministry of Railways and the state governments of Gujarat and Maharashtra It will have an authorized capital stock of $2.9 billion. Source: Hindustan Times
The central government has granted environmental clearance to a multi-product Special Economic Zone (SEZ). The Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) Ltd will develop the proposed SEZ on 2,500 acres in the Nellore district. Source: Economic Times
Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu has commissioned two thermal power plants with a total capacity of more than 4,000 megawatt (MW). He aims to achieve 100 percent electrification of households in the state by April. Source: Hindu Business Line
The budget session of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly will begin on March 5th. Source: The Hindu
Andhra Pradesh has asked Reliance Power to submit a “clear exit proposal” regarding its decision not to go forward with the 4,000 MW Krishnapatnam Ultra Mega Power Project. It is seeking to formally exit the project due to rising costs, more than 8 years after Reliance committed to building the plant. Source: Livemint
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia of Delhi has called for a budget session of the Delhi Assembly to be held from March 22 to March 31. Source: Economic Times
In order to speed up metro construction, the Delhi government has decided to extend an interest-free loan of $225 million to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). Source: Economic Times
Gujarat finance minister Saurabh Patel presented the state’s annual budget for 2016-17. The total projected expenditure of $22 billion primarily focuses on job creation social sectors. According to Patel, the state’s fiscal deficit is 2.25 percent of gross state domestic product and is within the permissible limit of 3 percent. Source: Hindu Business Line
Detailed 2016-17 Gujarat Budget Speech and Tax Proposals
The Gujarat Assembly passed the Gujarat Land Revenue (Amendment) Bill, as well as the Gujarat Electricity (Amendment) Bill. The first amends the Gujarat Land Revenue Code, 1879 to introduce a “multi-purpose non-agricultural use” zoning category. The second amends some provisions in the Gujarat Electricity Duty Bill to expand the scope of non-conventional and renewable sources of energy to exempt them from paying electricity duty Source: Indian Express
The BJP won 15 out 27 municipalities in the latest round of local government elections. The Congress won eight. Source: Economic Times
The Karnataka government has asked the Departments of Labour and Factories & Boilers to only conduct joint inspections at factories. It is also introducing a voluntary declaration scheme that will allow factories and businesses, that pay a security deposit, to avoid annual inspections. Source: Economic Times
The Congress party won a slim victory in recent Block and District Council elections. They won 498 of the 1,083 Zilla Panchayat (district council) seats in the state, while the BJP won 408. Congress won 1,703 of the 3,884 Taluk Panchayat seats, while the BJP and JDS won 1,363. Source: Hindu Business Line
Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal announced an immediate release of 319 MW of power to Karnataka to help mitigate the state’s power crisis. Karnataka has been facing a shortage of about 2500 MW of power since the outage at the Sharavathi generating station. Source: Economic Times
Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala addressed members of both houses of the state legislature on February 29. The Legislative Session will last until March 5. Source: Business Standard
The 2016-17 Union Railway Budget allocated $733 million to Maharashtra’s railways, a 10 per cent increase from last year. Source: Hindu Business Line
Detailed 2016-17 Union Railway Budget
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has given Maharashtra a target solar capacity of 11,926 MW by 2022, more than 30 times greater than its current capacity. Source: Economic Times
Rajasthan signed 51 investment agreements worth $1.7 billion with companies in the tourism, agriculture, industrial, urban development, housing and mining sector . Source: Business Standard
The budget session of the Rajasthan Assembly will start February 29. Source: Business Standard
The Rajasthan government will sell its stake in eight thermal power units at Chhabra and Kalisindh plants. Rajasthan’s power utilities are in deep debt and the units in question have mounting losses. The units will be sold through a competitive open bidding. Source: Times of India
Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu’s 2016-17 Rail Budget has proposed creating the country’s first rail auto hub in Chennai. The facility will allow Chennai’s auto manufacturing plants to easily ship cars throughout the country. Source: Economic Times
Detailed 2016-17 Union Railway Budget
The Telangana government has in principle decided to join the Center’s Ujwal Discom Asssurance Yojna (UDAY) to aid ailing state electricity distribution companies. Source: The Hindu
Canada-based solar energy project developer SkyPower has signed four Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) with the Telangana government to build and operate 200 MW of solar energy projects in the state. Source: Economic Times
Telangana seems to have succeeded in getting substantial share of funds for the ongoing railway projects in the state in the railway budget for 2016-17. Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s proposal for extension of MMTS facility to Yadadri was sanctioned for $48 million. Two-thirds of that cost will be borne by the Telangana government and one-third by the Railways.
Source: The New Indian Express
Taxi aggregator Ola entered into an agreement with the government of Uttar Pradesh to create over 50,000 entrepreneurship opportunities across UP. Source: Hindu Business Line
The state assembly passed the West Bengal Valuation Board (Amendment) Bill, 2016 on the last day of the session, which aims to create a uniform system of property valuation throughout the state. Source: Economic Times
Ahead of assembly elections, West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra presented the expenditure in the government’s budget. It estimated the funds the government requires until a new government is in place. Source: Business Standard
The West Bengal Assembly passed two laws allowing the state to assume management control of two failing companies owned by the Pawan Ruia group. Both firms are undergoing bankruptcy proceedings and the government was responding to workers’ please for back wages and pensions. Source: Hindu Business Line
State-owned BHEL has successfully commissioned the first of four 40 MW hydro-electric generating units in West Bengal. Source: Economic Times
