Project of four laning of Baharampur-Farakka(Kilometre 193 to Kilometre 295) section of NH-34 in the State of West Bengal under NHDP Phase III

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Government of India

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Project of four laning of Baharampur-Farakka(Kilometre 193 to Kilometre 295) section of NH-34 in the State of West Bengal under NHDP Phase III

 

New Delhi, Kartik 14, 1931

November 05, 2009

 

The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure today approved the implementation of project of four laning of 102 kilometre long Baharampur-Farakka section on National Highways NH-34 from kilometre 193 to kilometre 295 in the State of West Bengal under NHDP Phase-III on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) Basis.

 

NH-34 is an important highway and lifeline for North-South road transport in the State of West Bengal as it passes through the state longitudinally and connects the North-eastern States and neighbouring Countries such as Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. The traffic on this National Highway is expected to increase substantially due to the implementation of South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) among SAARC Countries (Nepal, Bhutan and Bangaldesh). The commercial traffic generated/originated from Haldia Port, Kolkata and industrial areas in South Bengal heading towards North Bengal, North-eastern States and Neighbouring Countries (Nepal, Bhutan and Bangaldesh) has only a route i.e. NH-34. The main object of the project is to expedite the improvement of infrastructure in the State. The project is one of the stretches approved by the Government under NHDP Phase III.

 

The total project cost is estimated to Rs.998.79 crore under DBFOT pattern. The concessionaire will make all expenditure to complete the project and will recover the same by user fee for 25 years including a construction period of 30 months. The project is covered in Murshidabad district of West Bengal.

 

BACKGROUND:

 

The Cabinet gave approval for four/six laning of 4000 kilometre of National Highways under NHDP Phase IIIA on BOT basis in its meeting held on March 2005. Subsequently Government approved additional stretches on May 2006, October 2006 and April 2007, for implementation for four laning. Total tentative length of 12109 kilometre is to be done at an estimated cost of Rs.80626 crore. The stretch of 102 kilometre long section under consideration is one of the approved stretches.

 

SH/SKS  /spandey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

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Project of four laning of Krishnanagar-Baharampur section of NH-34 in the State of West Bengal under NHDP Phase III

 

New Delhi, Kartik 14, 1931

November 05, 2009

 

The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure today approved the implementation of project of four laning of the 78 kilometre long Krishnanagar-Baharampur section on National Highways NH-34 in the State of West Bengal under NHDP Phase-III on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) Basis.

 

NH-34 is an important highway and lifeline for North-South road transport in the State of West Bengal as it passes through the state longitudinally and connects the North-eastern States and neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. The traffic on this National Highway is expected to increase substantially due to the implementation of South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) among SAARC Countries (Nepal, Bhutan and Bangaldesh). The commercial traffic generated/originated from Haldia Port, Kolkata and industrial areas in South Bengal heading towards North Bengal, North-eastern States and neighbouring countries has only a route i.e. NH-34. The main object of the project is to expedite the improvement of infrastructure in the State. The project is one of the stretches approved by the Government under NHDP Phase III.

 

The total project cost is estimated to Rs.672 crore under DBFOT pattern. The concession period shall be for 30 years including a construction period of 36 months. The project is covered in two districts of the State of West Bengal i.e.Nadia and Murshidabad.

 

BACKGROUND:

 

The Cabinet gave approval for four/six laning of 4000 kilometre of National Highways under NHDP Phase IIIA on BOT basis in its meeting held on March 2005. Subsequently Government approved additional stretches on May 2006, October 2006 and April 2007, for implementation for four laning. Total tentative length of 12109 kilometre is to be done at an estimated cost of Rs.80626 crore. The stretch of 78.00 kilometre long section under consideration is one of the approved stretches.

 

SH/SKS  /spandey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

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Cabinet approves Revised Budget of the Organising Committee (OC), Commonwealth Games, 2010 for Conduct of the XIX Commonwealth Games (CWG) at Delhi during 3rd to 14th October, 2010

 

New Delhi, Kartik 14, 1931

November 05, 2009

 

The Union Cabinet today approved the proposal of the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports (MYAS) for providing a revised budget of Rs.1620 crore, as loan to the Organising Committee (OC) Commonwealth Games, 2010, at the prevailing government rate of interest, for organising the XIX Commonwealth Games (CWG) at Delhi during 3rd to 14th October, 2010. budget approved earlier was Rs.767.00 crore.

 

The factors that have contributed to increase in the amounts proposed in the revised estimates were:

 

a) Inclusion of new items that are essential for the successful delivery of the Games but were not provided in the initial budget of the OC, namely Accreditation; City Operations; Sponsorship and T.V. Rights; Security; Sustainability & Environment; and Ticketing.

b) Change in the scope of the work and cost escalation in respect of Accommodation; Catering; Opening & Closing Ceremonies; Protocol & CGF Relations; Queen's Baton Relay (QBR); Rent for Office of OC; Communications, Image & Look; Technology. Risk Management-Insurance; and Technical Conduct of Sports;

c) Increase in the number of days of Queen's Baton Relay (QBR), International leg – from 136 to 240 days Domestic leg - from 60 to 100 days. The revised QBR route now covers all 70 CGA nations and territories in the international leg and all States in the national leg;

d) The number of Volunteers has gone up to nearly 30,000 and hence the cost of accreditation, catering, uniform, etc., on this account has increased.

e) The components of rent for OC Headquarters, 'Technology' which were practically 'Nil' in the initial budget are now around Rs.175 crore and Rs.200 crore respectively, have also contributed substantially to the increase;

 

Against the above approved revised estimates of Rs.1620 crore, the OC is expected to generate revenue of about Rs.1708 crore.

 

Background :

 

India is holding XIX Commonwealth Games from 3rd to 14th October, 2010, in 17 sporting disciplines. In addition to these sports disciplines, competitions will also be held for Elite Athletes with Disability (EAD).

 

The OC is responsible for the conduct and delivery of CWG- D 2010. The activities of the OC covers 34 Functional Areas, including Accreditation, Games Family, Opening and Closing Ceremonies, Publicity, Reception, Results, Management, Sponsorship, Stay and Transportation of sportspersons, Technical Conduct of the Games, Ticketing, etc. All activities during the operational phase of the Games will be managed by the Organising Committee.

 

SH/SKS  /spandey

 

 

 

 

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

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Direct tax collection rises.

 

New Delhi, Kartik 14, 1931

November 05, 2009

 

Net direct tax collections during the first seven months of the present fiscal (upto October 2009) stood at Rs 1,73,447 crore, up from Rs 1,66,905 crore in the same period last fiscal, registering a growth of 3.92 percent, Growth in Corporate Taxes was 4.59 percent (Rs 1,09,996 crore as against Rs 1,05,174 crore), while personal income tax grew at 2.87 percent (Rs 63,195 crore as against Rs 61,433 crore). Lower growth in net collection was mainly on account of higher tax refund outgo of 63.95 percent at Rs 33,137 crore as against Rs 20,212 crore last fiscal.

 

Net collections during the month of October 2009 continued to be positive at Rs 20,822 crore compared to Rs 19,708 crore during October,2008. Further during the month personal income tax growth was 16.1 percent(Rs 11,398 crore against Rs 9817 crore last fiscal), whereas corporate tax recorded a negative growth of 4.72 percent (Rs 9424 crore against Rs 9891 crore last fiscal).

 

Growth in Securities transaction tax picked up at 3.79 percent during April – October 2009 (Rs 3865 crore as against Rs3724 crore) compared to the corresponding period last fiscal.

 

BSC/KP/SKS/367/09  /spandey

 

 

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Government of India

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Listing of Central Public Sector Enterprises on Stock Exchanges to develop 'People-Ownership'

 

New Delhi, Kartik 14, 1931

November 05, 2009

 

The President's Address to Joint Session of Parliament on 4th June 2009 and Finance Minister's Budget Speech on 6th July, 2009, articulated the intention of the Government to encourage people participation in the disinvestment programme. It had been mentioned that public sector undertakings are the wealth of the nation, and part of this wealth should rest in the hands of the people while retaining at least 51% Government equity in our enterprises.

 

Now, Government has decided: (i) all profitable listed CPSEs should meet the mandatory listing of 10% public ownership; and (ii) all unlisted CPSEs having positive networth, no accumulated losses and having a net profit in the three preceding consecutive years should get listed on the stock exchanges.

 

The disinvestment proceeds would be channelized into the National Investment Fund (NIF). The corpus comprising deposits from April 2009 till March 2012 would be available in full for investment as capital expenditure in specific social sector schemes determined by Planning Commission and Department of Expenditure. The status quo ante of NIF will be restored from April 2012.

 

SH/SKS  /spandey

 

 

 

 

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

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Review of Policy on Foreign Technology Collaborations

 

New Delhi, Kartik 14, 1931

November 05, 2009

 

The Union Cabinet today approved a proposal of the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry to permit all payments for royalty, lumpsum fee for transfer of technology, payments for use of trademark/brand name on the automatic route without any restrictions, and subject to FEMA (Current Account Transaction) Rules, 2000. To get the information about the nature/details of technology and the amount paid for it, a suitable post reporting requirement would be devised within three months in consultation with Department of Economic Affairs and Reserve Bank of India.

 

Hitherto, automatic approval was permitted for foreign technology transfers involving payment of lumpsum fee of US$ 2 million and royalty of 5% on domestic sales and 8% on exports. Beyond these limits, prior permission of the Government of India (Project Approval Board) was required. In addition, where there is no technology transfer involved, royalty upto 2% for exports and 1% for domestic sales is allowed under automatic route on use of trademarks and brand names of the foreign collaborator. 8062 approvals have been granted for technology collaborations since 1991 to June 2009.

 

With the Government's further liberalization, the move is expected to freely promote the transfer of state of art technology into the country.

 

SH/SKS  /spandey

 

 

 

 

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

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Splitting of the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for Block AA-ON/7 in two parts

 

New Delhi, Kartik 14, 1931

November 05, 2009

 

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved the splitting of the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for Block AA-ON/7 in two parts, to consider separate exploration period of Nagaland part of the Block.

 

The main objective of the approval is to enable carrying out an Additional Exploration Work Programme in Nagaland portion of the Block by signing of a separate PSC for Nagaland portion, at terms and conditions not inferior to the existing terms and conditions in the present PSC.

 

The brief details of the dispensation are as follows:

 

(i) A separate PSC for Nagaland portion of the Block, with effective date from 09.08.2006 will be signed. The Exploration Period of the PSC will be valid for a period of seven (7) years from the effective Date.

 

(ii) A cumulative exploration work programme of 2D seismic survey for 150 Line Kilo Metres (LKM), re-processing available data of 100 LKM and drilling of two exploratory wells during three exploration phases of two (2), three (3) and two (2) years duration will be carried out by the Contractor, which is over and above the MWP already accomplished by the Contractor in the existing PSC.

 

There is no financial expenditure involved on behalf of the Government. The contractors under the signed PSCs have commitments to carry out exploration work programme which may lead to discoveries of hydrocarbons.

 

Special dispensation will facilitate exploration in the frontier area of Nagaland and the objective of accelerated exploration of hydrocarbons in the country would be accomplished in this Frontier Area.

 

The proposal would be implemented immediately and a new PSC will be signed between the Government of India and the Contractor.

 

Background:

 

Canoro Resources Limited (CRL) is the operator in Pre-NELP on-land Block AA-ON/7. The Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for the Block was signed on 19.2.1999. The original Block area was 1934 sq.km. of which 1126 sq.km. was in the State of Assam and 808 sq.km. was in the State of Nagaland. Petroleum Exploration License (PEL) for Assam portion of the Block was granted on 27.03.2001 and PEL for Nagaland portion was granted on 9.8.2006. Exploration Phase-III has expired on 26.03.2008. The MWP for all the three phases was completed in the Assam portion of the Block only. No exploration work could be carried out from 27.03.2001 to 09.08.2006 in Nagaland portion of the Block. Nagaland is a logistically tough area and signing of this separate PSC for Nagaland portion of the Block may facilitate restoring E&P activities in the state. Special dispensation has been considered to explore this Frontier Area by entering into a separate PSC, with terms and conditions not inferior to the existing terms and conditions in the present PSC. The Contractor proposes to undertake exploration work in Nagaland part of the Block, as PEL for Nagaland was granted on 09.08.2006.

 

SH/SKS  /spandey

 

 

 

 

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

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Price Policy for Rabi Crops of 2009-10 Season to be marketed in 2010-11

 

New Delhi, Kartik 14, 1931

November 05, 2009

 

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today fixed the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for Rabi Crops of 2009-2010 season to be marketed in 2010-11. The MSP of wheat has been fixed at Rs.1100 per quintal marking an increase of Rs.20 per quintal over the last year's MSP.

 

The MSP of Barley has been fixed at Rs.750 per quintal and of Gram at Rs. 1760 per quintal marking an increase of Rs.70 per quintal and Rs.30 per quintal respectively over the last year's MSPs.

 

The MSP of Safflower has been fixed at Rs.1680 per quintal marking an increase of Rs.30 per quintal over the last year's MSP.

 

MSPs of other Rabi crops remain unchanged at the last year's level. These are Masur (Lentil) at Rs.1870 per quintal and Rapeseed/Mustard at Rs.1830 per quintal.

 

SH/SKS/spandey