Within days of approving a price formula for gas to be produced by Reliance Industries, the government said on Friday it will ask the Mukesh Ambani company to prioritise fuel sales to fertiliser plants, city gas and existing power plants.
An empowered group of ministers on April 9 decided to give any unutilised KG-D6 gas to steel plants who are currently not being supplied their full share of administered price fuel, official sources said. After gas-based steel plants, allocations would also be made to existing gas-fired power plants and to other power plants, including captive power plants depending upon the availability of the unutilised gas.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has asked Communications Minister Andimuthu Raja to complete the auction of the third generation (3G) spectrum within the agreed deadline (February 15), so that the revenue from it can be reflected in the Union Budget for 2009-10. Mukherjee had earmarked Rs 30,000 crore as revenue from 3G auction, which has already been delayed by a year, in the Budget.
The much awaited auction of spectrum for 3G mobile services is likely to be delayed by more than a month and may commence from the first week of March next year -- schedule for which is to be announced soon.
The Department of Telecommunications is scheduled to auction 3G spectrum starting January 14.
The Empowered Group of Ministers to examine the minimum area required for setting up Special Economic Zones is likely to hold its first meeting on Wednesday.
RIL had sought 11.80 million standard cubic meters per day of KG D-6 gas to meet feedstock requirement at its twin refineries but it got only 2.34 mmscmd.
The Supreme Court on Friday questioned the Bihar government as to why it published its caste survey data but refused to restrain it from making public further data, and said it may examine if the state has power to conduct such an exercise.
Internet giant Google is investing $10 billion in India's digitisation fund, its CEO Sundar Pichai has told Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a step that will recognise India's leadership on fintech and will support small and large businesses in India, the US and around the world. Pichai met Prime Minister Modi in Washington on Friday and also announced the opening of Google's global fintech operation centre in the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) in Gandhinagar. "It was an honour to meet Prime Minister Modi during the historic visit to the US. We shared with the Prime Minister that Google is investing $10 billion in India's digitisation fund," Pichai said.
The empowered group of ministers (EGoM) on gas headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday decided that gas allocation from RIL's D-6 block will be made to power projects subject to availability and without prejudice to court decisions, according to a government release.
The government told the court that price of gas, determined by an empowered group of ministers, is applicable to all the buyers, whether they are government companies or private. The government will file an affidavit to this effect on Tuesday.
'I declined the generous offer of Congress to join the party as part of the EAG and take responsibility for the elections. In my humble opinion, more than me the party needs leadership and collective will to fix the deep rooted structural problems through transformational reforms,' Kishor said in a tweet.
The Empowered Group of Ministers looking into the Dabhol power project fiasco is likely to meet on Friday to discuss ways to restart the plant that has been lying idle for over three years.
At least clear zones where firms have own land, says minister.
If approved, many proposals will have a significant impact on the SEZ policy, which came into force in February 2006. A crucial finance ministry proposal -- to be discussed by the group -- is imposing an export obligation in excess of 50 per cent on developers and units that will be eligible for duty and tax benefits.
Government sources on Thursday confirmed that the EGoM would meet on August 27. The EGoM, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, is likely to discuss various issues, including the amount of 3G spectrum to be auctioned, annual spectrum charges, the number of operators in each telecom circle and the reserve price for 3G and broadband wireless services, sources said.
The rehabilitation policy, which is being currently formulated by the Ministry of Rural Development, is unlikely to affect the special economic zones already approved by the government.
The meeting of the empowered Group of Ministers on Dabhol Power, scheduled for October 8 to discuss ways and means of reviving the troubled 2,184 MW power project in Maharashtra, has been postponed.
As many as 237 formally-approved zones are pending final notification, while another 81 fresh proposals are waiting to be approved.
A key meeting of senior United Progressive Alliance government ministers and political parties, including the Congress and its Left allies, failed to secure a political consensus on the showpiece Special Economic Zones initiative.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Arunachal Pradesh on April 10 and 11 where he will launch the 'Vibrant Villages Programme' in Kibithoo, a village along the India-China border.
The Empowered Group of Ministers, which had its third meeting on Wednesday morning was near unanimous on the need to honour the government's commitment allowing marketing and price freedom to investors investing in oil and gas hunt.
Land acquisition for special economic zones is stuck because of a year-old directive by the Empowered Group of Ministers that bars state governments from carrying out compulsory acquisition of land for the zones.
Petroleum ministry rejects conclusions of two reports ahead of EGoM.
The commerce ministry had, in March, put on hold this change in the SEZ rules.
CBI not to need prior approval to probe corrupt govt officials.
The Parliamentary Committee on Special Economic Zones on Friday said no further SEZs should be notified unless the law is amended to include changes pertaining to land acquisition.
New Delhi The government has decided not to sell the Dabhol power plant, which has been struggling thanks to huge debts it owes to the contractors.
The empowered group of ministers, however, decided to allocate the initial 40 million standard cubic metre per day of gas from KG-D6 basin to the existing power and fertiliser plants and proposed units like the captive power plant at Nagothane did not figure in the scheme of things. A company spokesperson confirmed the scrapping of the project.
Hearing the petition by Tata Power against a decision of the Empowered Group of Ministers to allow use of coal from the captive mines for Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project to other projects, the Court did not give a stay and fixed the next date for hearing on February 24.
Lamichhane's Rastriya Swatantra Party, which was formed just months ago, won 20 seats in the 275-member House of Representatives and is the third largest party among the ruling alliance.
The government will not stop companies from filing fresh applications seeking permission to set up special economic zones. However, it will not process any fresh applications until it clears the backlog of over 360 pending proposals.
The empowered group of ministers, headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, had imposed a 5000 hectare ceiling on SEZs last year following widespread protests over land acquisition. The meeting of the eGoM, scheduled for February 4 to review the land ceiling was cancelled.
Fresh notifications and approvals for setting up Special Economic Zones are being put on hold till an Empowered Group of Ministers looking into the matter takes a final view, Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
eGOM is likely to reconsider the 5000 hectre SEZ land ceiling limit in the coming month.
In another instance, a foreign partner of a notified SEZ had already procured equipment abroad for setting up the units but could not send them to India as all proposals were put on hold.
The government on Friday the proposals of telecom giants Motorola and Foxconn, and Singapore-based reality major Ascendas to join as partners in the Special Economic Zones coming up near Chennai.
The meeting of the empowered group of ministers on special economic zones could not reach any firm view on on Monday while the government will take the rehabilitation policy to the Cabinet next month.
"The letter approving a price of $4.20 per million British thermal unit (mBtu) for first five years of production from KG-D6 was issued by the Petroleum Ministry on Thursday," a source familiar with the development said.
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