(BS) The Odisha government has invited financial and technical bids to grant mining leases (ML) for 10 iron ore and manganese blocks. The central government had recently approved the revision in mining lease area limits for iron ore and associated minerals in Odisha to 58 square kilometres (sq km), up from 10 sq km prescribed in Section 6 (1) (b) of the Mines and Minerals- Development & Regulation (MMDR) Act. The state had kept the auctions of iron and manganese ore in abeyance for want for clearance from the Centre. Seven of the mineral blocks on offer are pure iron ore deposits. The rest three have co-existence of iron…
Author: Aruna Sharma
(FE) NTPC has recently commissioned the first unit (660MW) of its Khargone TPP (2x600MW). This plant is India’s first ultra-super-critical project with a station heat rate (SHR) of 2,070kcal/kWh. Notably, it is ~3% more efficient than the super critical ones given the higher steam parameters. Unit-1 is likely to commercialise soon, while unit-2 commissioning is scheduled for Jan’20. NTPC organised an analyst visit to this plant. Below are our key takeaways from it. NTPC has completed trial-run operations at full load for unit-1 on 29th Sep’19 and will likely commercialise the unit this month. For unit-2, light up will likely…
(FE) Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar on Friday called for further reforms in banking sector after the recent recapitalisation and mergers, saying banks need autonomy and work at arm’s length from the government. Speaking here at the India Economic Summit, Kumar also said the government must consider tapping capital markets and raise long- term funds for creating long-term assets through routes such as sovereign bonds and not only look at banking sector for financing infrastructure development. “I think that the next focus will have to be on governance reforms in a very major way, governance reforms in the banking…
(LiveMint) Indian Railways will play and an important role towards the development of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), Home Minister Amit Shah said, flagging off the Indian Railways’ Vande Bharat Express from New Delhi on Thursday. “Vande Bharat train is a big step towards giving a boost to tourism in the state,” Shah said. The first commercial run New Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat Express will begin October 5. The train will cut down the travel time between Delhi and Katra—the last station on the way to Vaishno Devi Temple– to eight hours from 12 hours now. The first New Delhi-Varanasi semi-high speed Vande Bharat Express,…
(PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday lauded the cleanliness drive launched by Reliance Industries’ philanthropy arm Reliance Foundation and the Tata Group, as his ‘Clean India’ mission finds acceptance from common man to high and mighty of corporate India. Modi retweeted tweets by Reliance Foundation and Tata Group highlighting the cleanliness work undertaken by them in various parts of the country.”Heartening to see people coming together for cleanliness across urban and and rural India,” he wrote re-tweeting a tweet of Reliance Foundation. Retweeting a Tata Group tweet, he said, “the excellent work of the Tata Group towards furthering cleanliness…
(FE) Apart from mapping coal stocks in mines, the portal will also help stakeholders monitor the movement of railway rakes and coal availability at power plants. In line with the government’s predisposition for acronyms, Prakash stands for ‘Power Rail Koyla Availability through Supply Harmony’. The government on Thursday launched a web portal, Prakash, with a view to improving coordination between the power, coal and railway ministries to ensure coal supplies to power plants. The portal was jointly launched by power minister RK Singh and coal minister Pralhad Joshi. Apart from mapping coal stocks in mines, the portal will also help…
(FE) Bihar Weather Today, Rain Forecast in Patna Updates: The weather department has predicted heavy rainfall in Patna and other parts of Bihar for next two days. Areas like Rajendra Nagar and Kankarbagh remain submerged for the eighth day on Friday, and with the weather department issuing an alert for heavy rains in the next couple of days the situation is likely to worsen. Rajendra Nagar, one of the worst hit areas, is under four feet of stagnant water adding to the misery of locals. Though the administration said it has brought in heavy duty pumps to flush out water, situation…
In a major recognition of its skill development initiatives, ONGC has been felicitated and honored by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship for exhibiting outstanding contribution towards development of future workforce, through engagement of apprentices in the organization during FY 2016-2019. ONGC has been selected for the award for engaging more than 4000 apprentices during the successive Financial Years. On behalf of ONGC, ED-Chief SDCs Mr Somesh Ranjan and CGM (HR) Ms Shanthi Wadhwani received the certificate of appreciation award from the Minister of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey and Minister of State for Skill Development…
(TimesNow) HPCL’s proposed plan to acquire the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemical Led (MRPL) for synergy is yet to reach board level discussions, its CMD MK Surana said on Thursday. “We are working on that. Earlier we have said that makes a synergy for HPCL and we are working with the ONGC for this. It is work in progress. It has not reached the board stage and once finalized, it will go to the three boards – HPCL, MRPL and ONGC,” Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd Chairman and Managing Director Surana told IANS on the sidelines of India Economic Summit here. In August, ONGC…
(ET) Saudi Aramco bought 30,000 tonnes of gasoline from Reliance Industries (RIL) right after the attacks on the former’s units as part of a contingency plan to deal with likely shortages in committed transport-fuel supplies, sources aware of the purchases told. Aramco’s two major units that process primarily light crude were attacked by drones on September 14. Right after the attacks, Aramco’s trading arm is believed to have purchased cargoes of gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel and even petrochemical feedstock to ensure disruption-free supplies. “RIL received an order two days after the attack, with a request to supply at the earliest…