The immediate trigger is the environment ministry's latest policy of asking corporates to mandatorily commit five per cent of project investments in environment protection measures.
In talks with Nigeria, Kenya & Niger for development of transmission system.
The issue of which technology to use in wireless broadband services, TD-LTE or WiMax, is becoming keener.
This will enable security agencies to tap any call, real-time chat and data without help from the operators.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has proposed to simplify the country's telecom landscape. It has suggested one tariff for each licence holder across the country, all-India mobile number portability and doing away with roaming charges.
In what could give a big relief to new mobile players, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is unlikely to cancel 53 licences - as recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) - for non-fulfilment of rollout obligations.
DoT has set up a committee to frame the proposed Act, which will have seven members with retired judge Justice Shivraj Patil as its chairman.
This is part of the government's plan to raise Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion) from disinvestment in the current financial year.
The broad idea was endorsed by the DoT's internal panel in its report on the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's recommendations last year on spectrum management and other licensing issues.
The heightened activity on permissions to power and mining projects, which had been stuck for long, coincides with the run-up to a likely reshuffle of the council of ministers this month.
The railways buy an average of 2.4 billion litres of diesel every year spending around Rs 4,500 crore (Rs 45 billion) annually on diesel fuel expenses for operating locomotives.
The average revenue per user (ARPU) of the country's four new GSM operators who got licences in 2008 - Uninor, S-Tel, Videocon and Etisalat DB - was between Rs 8.50 and Rs 39 in the January-March quarter.
The move will require a one-time payment of Rs 4,000-5,000 crore (Rs 40-50 billion), for which DoT would give financial support, a senior official from the latter told Business Standard.
The project, estimated to cost Rs 2,500-3,000 crore, is to be jointly implemented with the Ceylon Electricity Board, the largest power company of Sri Lanka.
The telecom PSU plans to get back in black in two years; BSNL too has started discussions to lease out its towers.
The idea is to reduce capital investments and improve profitability.
The sector attracted foreign investments to the tune of $1,252 million during the year, a 12.8 per cent decline compared to $1,437 million registered in the previous year, according to latest data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (see table).
Schneider Electric, the $20-billion French engineering major, has identified India's perennial power shortage as a major business opportunity.
The scheme will be offered to 15,000 employees, or one-third of the workforce, in the current financial year.
Work on the much-delayed dedicated railway freight corridor is expected to begin with contracts worth Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) to be awarded before the end of the current financial year.
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