In a bid to attract smaller players to the country's first offshore mineral mining auction, the government is considering easing the regulations related to performance security and upfront payment. The proposed plan involves a cap of Rs 100 crore each for performance security and upfront payment for a production lease (PL). A holder of a composite licence (CL) would only need to pay Rs 50 crore as performance security.
The Centre will invest around Rs 200 crore over five years for the exploration and development of these mines.
'We will see a lot of investments from the private sector.' 'As long as we are not impacted by some global events, I think we will be in a strong place.'
'Due to the Israel-Hamas conflict, a faction operating in the Red Sea -- which is a typically safe area - has been firing projectiles arbitrarily.' 'Additionally, there have been two incidents involving Somali pirates, and one vessel has been hijacked.'
For the country's maiden offshore mineral mining auction, the Centre is planning to relax the rules on the number of chances for bidding. Under the newly announced draft Offshore Areas Mineral (Auction) Rules and Offshore Areas (Existence of Mineral Resources) Rules, the ministry of mines is planning to offer three chances to potential bidders in its forthcoming inaugural offshore mining auction. If a single bid is not received during the second attempt, the plan is to initiate a new round of bidding for the third time.
In a step towards diversifying its resource base and securing green energy minerals, India is poised to launch its first-ever offshore mineral auction in the first quarter of 2024, announced Union Minister of Mines Pralhad Joshi during the launch event of the National Geoscience Data Repository portal. The government plans to hold auctions in March, offering 10-15 blocks for bidding. Meanwhile, the ministry of mines is currently developing rules and regulations for offshore mining.
'Given that the situation is quickly escalating, such attacks will affect the flow of crude in the short term from West Asia' Subhayan Chakraborty and Dhruvaksh Saha report.
'If attacks escalate, there is a risk the Suez Canal may be closed.'
There's a hint of new competition riding into a sector that has attracted attention for being in a duopoly-like situation. Rapido, a commute app known for its budget-friendly bike-taxi services, on Tuesday announced its entry into the cab market, which is currently dominated by marquee brands Uber and Ola. Rapido's cab foray will be enabled by a software as a service (SaaS)-based platform.
Of the 3,893,149 registered applicants on the MP Rojgar portal, only 21 individuals have been successfully placed in government and semi-government positions since April 2020.
'This time, triumph will belong to the brother who promises a brighter future, not the one who merely remembers his sisters during elections and then vanishes.'
33 per cent of all road accidents and 35 per cent of fatal accidents took place on national highways and expressways.
At a time when consumers increasingly embrace green mobility solutions, it is not electric cars but hybrids that are taking the lead, as automotive sales data indicate. Since January, 64,097 electric cars have been sold compared to 266,465 hybrids, according to data from the ministry of road transport and highways' Vahan dashboard. Hybrid car sales have surged from 4.42 per cent of the 4.1 million cars sold in calendar year 2022 to 7.2 per cent this year.
At a time when consumers increasingly embrace green mobility solutions, it is not electric cars but hybrids that are taking the lead, as automotive sales data indicate. Since January, 64,097 electric cars have been sold compared to 266,465 hybrids, according to data from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways' Vahan dashboard. Hybrid car sales have surged from 4.42 per cent of the 4.1 million cars sold in calendar year 2022 to 7.2 per cent this year.
As India's diplomatic tensions with the Land of the Maple Leaf escalate, so do the anxieties of countless Punjabis.
The limited availability of flexible (flex)-fuel vehicles in the Indian market and the slow rollout of ethanol-blended petrol by oil-marketing companies (OMCs) remain major obstacles to achieving widespread use of biofuels in the transportation sector in India. Recently, two Union ministers have emphasised India's biofuel potential, arguing that it has the capacity and potential to lead a transition towards widespread biofuel adoption. Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari signalled that this transition is well underway and urged car manufacturers to quickly adapt and introduce new biofuel-run vehicles, lest the government resort to taxing diesel vehicles.
Electric vehicle (EV) sales in India topped the 1 million mark in less than nine months in 2023, a milestone that took an entire year in 2022. According to data from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways' Vahan Dashboard, 1,037,011 EVs were registered with regional transport offices till September 19, accounting for 6.4 per cent of the total automobile sales in the country this year. The sales surge can be attributed to increased individual purchases as well as business-to-business (B2B) acquisitions by EV fleet operators, industry sources said.
The Centre on Wednesday scrapped the mandatory human safety tests for electric vehicle (EV) batteries required to qualify for incentives under various government schemes. The ministry of heavy industries, in its fresh guidelines, has made compliance with the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH's) prevailing EV battery testing standards the only requirement to get incentives under the Centre's various incentive schemes.
Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday unveiled the prototype of the world's first Bharat Stage (BS)-VI-compliant electrified flex-fuel car, developed by Toyota Kirloskar Motor. The car, which runs on 100 per cent ethanol (E100), is based on the Toyota Innova HyCross. It can cover 40 per cent of its distance on ethanol and the remaining 60 per cent on electric, with the petrol engine shut off.
Coupang, a prominent online retail giant headquartered in the United States (US), is gearing up to establish a cutting-edge technology centre in India, aiming to hire several dozen skilled professionals by the end of the year, Business Standard has learnt. The intended expansion involves the recruitment of software engineers across various domains, underscoring Coupang's commitment to extend its global reach. The Indian team will support the company's global technology team, sources said.
© 2025 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances