GOA

TheGoa Promotion and Facilitation Board(IPB) met on Thursday and cleared four investment proposals, which could bring in Rs 230 crore of investment to the state and also createjobsfor 1,489 people.

Chief ministerPramod Sawant, who chaired the meeting, said that the projects would benefit Goa immensely.

The investment proposals are for Light engineering firms, manufacturing, agro-Food Processing and an automotive service facility.

In the entire year, IPB has conducted just four board meetings and has approved projects with an investment of Rs 832.1 cr and which could create EMPLOYMENT for 3613 individuals. IPB said that 78% of these jobs will go to locals.

IPB is also in the process of drafting new rules and regulations under the new Goa Investment Promotion and Facilitation of Single Window Clearance Act, 2021. The board, which is headed by Sawant, has already approved a new methodology for land allotment, which uses a points-based system to evaluate project proposals. The investment score is then evaluated against the advertised land bank in the state.

The board has already identified unused land across various industrial estates in Goa and has invited project proposals from potential investors.

CMPramod Sawant said that the decision to name the new greenfield international airport atMopawill be taken by the Union Government. The has not proposed any name for the new facility, he said. The comment comes amid demands to name the new airport after political personalities from Goa. The CM said naming airpots is the prerogative of the Union civil aviation ministry.

Amidst demands to name the new greenfield international airport at Mopa after political personalities from Goa, chief minister Pramod Sawant on Monday said that the decision to name the new airport will be taken by the Union government.

Sawant said that 100 landing and take-off slots have been sought by domestic airline operators from December. International flights will commence from January, beginning with Oman Air, and more are likely to follow in the coming months.

Goa notched up an impressive performance in the nationwideSwachh Survekshan 2021 cleanliness survey, climbing up the ranks to the third position among 14 states that have less than 100 .

Jharkhand continued to top the list, followed by Haryana. Goa was in the seventh position in the 2020 edition of Swachh Survekshan.

The state capital, Panaji, improved its rank marginally, climbing to 208 of the 304 cities with a Population between 25,000 and 50,000. Panaji was placed at 213 in the 2020 edition of the nationwide exercise. Mapusa also made it to 238 among the 304 cities.

The ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) organised the Swachh Amrit Mahotsav as part of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, in order to recognise the good work done by states and cities.

The Centre has written to the Goa government and directed it to complete the smart city mission projects by mid 2023 as the smart city mission is being wound up. The Centre has also formally communicated to ImaginePanajiSmart City Development Ltd (IPSCDL) to ensure efficient utilisation of funds for the approved projects before the mission deadline.

At the national level, implementation of the mission is monitored by an apex committee headed by secretary for Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). The deadline for completing projects under the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) was extended for all 100 selected cities to June 2023 based on a recommendation.

Sawant admitted that the Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) project, which was initiated by former chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar, has been running behind schedule.

Parsekar had kickstarted the ESDM project and had set December 2016 as the deadline to complete the first phase of the project. Spread over 147.58 acres, the ESDM cluster was to be built in two phases and was meant to be focused around two major manufacturing firms which would be the anchor units. However, the foundation stone for the project was laid only in November 2016 at the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Two attempts by Infotech Corporation Goa (ITG) failed to elicit any interest from major manufacturing firms prompting the state to organise an investor meet.

Given that the electric vehicle is at a nascent stage, the state governmentmustsupport thesectorwith a two-pronged strategy of ensuring that electric vehicles are affordable while also ensuring an accommodative policy for manufacturers and energy providers in Goa, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said.

CII has also expressed concern over Convergence Energy Services Ltds (CESL) presence on the proposed board that will be constituted under the policy.

EV manufacturing is a nascent industry and needs as much government support as possible said CII as it urged the Goa government to consider linking the incentives to relevant Industrial Policy regulations thereby allowing EV manufacturing units in Goa to avail benefits under other policies.

CII has also recommended that vehicles which are purchased by obtaining subsidies under the Centres FAME2 scheme should also be able to get state incentives. It is advisable that Goa offers a higher purchase subsidy for electric two-wheelers to accelerate adoption. Since Goan manufacturers of EV, EVSE and charging units contribute to Indirect Tax collection and job creation in the state of Goa, the policy should provide an additional incentive to manufacturers based in Goa

MoRTH and theGoa governmenthave yet to identify a location for the park, which is one of the 35 being planned by the Centre across the country.

These logistics parks will enable optimum and efficient vehicular movement in the country and thus lead to reduction in vehicular pollution and congestion, and enable the reduction in Warehousing cost.

As part of a 2030 plan, the Centre has been promising to setup a multi-modal logistics hub inPanajisince January 2019, but State Government officials said that a logistics park in Panaji will be counter productive.

A multi-modal logistics park will require a vast container terminal along with a rail link to quickly move containerised cargo. The closest rail link to Panaji is the Karmali RAILWAY station.

The state cabinet on Wednesday constituted the Mhaji Lab, Bari Lab award with a provision of Rs 10 lakh to be conferred for meritorious information Communication technology (ICT) laboratory either in any government or government-aided school in Goa.

To be eligible for the award, an ICT lab needs to be in existence for the last three years, with a minimum of 100 registered active students. Two labs each in the North Goa district and South Goa district will be selected for the award.

The main objective of the scheme is to recognise the hard work put in by the staff of the ICT laboratory and to give impetus and encouragement to them by conferring Awards on them for their contribution to the field of ICT.

Scheduled fitments of digitalmetersin taxis have commenced from July 1 onwards. Until now, the devices installation was open for all irrespective of their registration number and jurisdictional RTO.

The total cost of adigitalmeter integrated with an automotive tracking device, emergency system and printer with one-year free maintenance and one-year data and online monitoring charges includingGSTis Rs 11,234.

Taxi owners can seek appointments to install these devices at any one of the four locationsBicholim, Merces,Navelimand Dabolim offered by the contractor Rosemerta Autotech Pvt ltd, prescribed by the transport department.

The transport department however intends to launch more centres in a bid to spread out the fitments and provide easier access to people of different areas.