Madhya Pradesh conducts India’s first-ever diamond block auction; Maharashtra joins UDAY; Delhi is digitizing land records and putting them online; Haryana will lease village council land to developers; Rajasthan rolls out a new model of neonatal care; Tamil Nadu capex spending drops dramatically; and more.
Center-State relations
Nothing critical to report this week.
The Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation is in talks with Amazon Web Services, as well as Microsoft and Google, to train Andhra Pradesh students in cloud computing technologies. Source: The Hindu
Nothing critical to report this week.
The Delhi government’s revenue department has digitized land records of 206 revenue villages and 22 subdivisions in rural areas and has begun the process of putting these records online. Those hoping to buy property in these areas will no longer have to visit the office of the sub-registrar to physically verify documents. Urban areas will be digitized next. Source: Indian Express
The central government has completed the process of transferring Gujarat’s coal linkages from South Eastern Coalfields Limited to Western Coalfields Limited. Rationalization of 1.1 million tons of coal will save the state $15 million a year. Source: Times of India
The publicly-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has signed a preliminary memorandum of understanding (MoU) to take an operating stake in Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation’s (GSPC) KG basin gas block. GSPC has struggled with technical obstacles to exploiting the underlying gas fields. Source: NDTV
The Haryana government has increased the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) for residential plots in licensed colonies allowed under the Haryana Building Code, 2016. The government has also increased the FAR for residential change of land use projects. Developers will have to pay fees of up to $120 per square meter in order to benefit from the higher ratios. Source: The Hindu
Faced with a shortage of industrial land, Haryana will offer private companies village council land on a 33-year lease. Proponents of the move say that villages will benefit from increased employment and revenue generation while retaining ownership rights over the land. Source: Tribune India
Madhya Pradesh government formalized tenure for 48,000 state employees, converting them to salaried employees. The move will cost the state $42 million per year. Source: Indian Express
A diamond block in the Panna district has been sold at auction, the first time India has ever auctioned off a block to a private entity. Mines in the district have historically been managed by a state-owned corporation, with mining rights leased to private companies on an annual basis. Source: Hindu Business Line
Marking a truce in the Cauvery River water-sharing dispute, the Karnataka legislature adopted a resolution to empower the government to release water to Tamil Nadu for agriculture, after ensuring that the drinking water needs of state residents have been met. The Supreme Court had directed Karnataka to release 6,000 cubic feet per second of water daily from October 1-6. Source: Hindu Business Line
Maharashtra and its power distribution utility signed an MoU with the Union Ministry of Power to join the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojna (UDAY). Source: Economic Times
The Maharashtra government signed an MoU with Korea Land & Housing Corporation, laying out the terms of a strategic partnership for smart cities, roads and bridges, and exchange of knowledge and expertise. Source: Indian Express
The Maharashtra government signed an MoU with U.S.-based Stonetek Energy Pvt Ltd to set up a urea manufacturing plant in Chandrapur district, with a total investment of $975 million. Source: Business Standard
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced a $7.4 billion development package for the rural and economically lagging Marathwada region. Marathwada has suffered first from severe drought and then heavy rains that caused flooding and destroyed crops. Source: First Post
The center and the Maharashtra government have agreed to form a special purpose vehicle with representation from IndianOil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum to develop a mega refinery and petrochemical complex in the Ratnagiri district. The facility will produce 66 million tons of refined petroleum per year. Source: Business Standard
Engineering firm Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has synchronised the first 660 megawatt (MW) unit of the planned 1,320 MW thermal power project at Chhabra. The thermal power project is being developed by Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (RRVUNL). Source: Economic Times In Detail: Press Release
Rajasthan, in partnership with the government of Norway, will introduce the Family Centered Care (FCC) model of neonatal care in district hospitals throughout the state. After testing FCC in Alwar district, the state government has now decided to expand to all 33 districts of Rajasthan. Technical assistance will be provided by the Norway India Partnership Initiative, a joint effort to lower maternal and child mortality rates. Source: Business Standard
The governments of Rajasthan and Singapore signed two tourism-related MoUs: the first governs tripartite collaboration between the governments, tourism institutions and industry partners to strengthen Rajasthan’s “knowledge capabilities” in the tourism sector, while the second focuses on smart infrastructure solutions to increase the state’s appeal as tourism destination. Source: Indian Express
Rajasthan has introduced educational qualifications for those contesting elections to cooperative bodies. The new rules, which come into force on October 4, set different qualifications for block, district, and state-level cooperative societies. The minimum educational qualification for members of the primary cooperative societies will be class VIII, while members of district-level societies must have a class X qualification and members of state-level bodies must be graduates. Source: The Hindu
Tamil Nadu’s spending on public projects like road and other infrastructure fell 33 percent year-on-year in the first four months of the current fiscal year. The drop comes as 16 other states showed a combined growth of 46.5 percent during the same period. Source: The Hindu In Detail: States’ capex in full steam
The Madras High Court has postponed state local body elections due to irregularities in poll notifications. Elections must take place by December 30. Source: India Today
Telangana Industries minister KT Rama Rao met with Hewlett Packard India Managing Director Neelam Dhawan to discuss the company’s expansion plans in Hyderabad and its smart city solutions. Rao proposed that HP develop one town in Telangana as a smart city on a pilot basis. Source: Economic Times
The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) signed an MoU with the Regie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP), a French state-owned public transport operator, to conduct a study on the feasibility of using intelligent systems to perform real-time monitoring of the TSRTC’s fleet of buses. The MoU was signed during the visit of a TSRTC team to France and Germany. Source: The Hindu
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav laid the foundation stone of the Kanpur Metro Rail. The state government has already released $7.5 million in funds for the 20-mile line, to be built at a cost of over $2.6 billion. Source: India Today
State-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL) said it had commissioned another 660 MW coal-based supercritical thermal power unit in Uttar Pradesh. In the past 15 months, BHEL has added 4,300 MW of power generation capacity in the state. Source: India.com
Nothing critical to report this week.
