GUJARAT

Dust pollution sensors to be made mandatory at construction sites in Ahmedabad

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All construction sites in the city will now be required to install dustpollutionmeasuring sensors that will provide real time data to the civic body for monitoring.

This was necessitated after dust pollution (chiefly PM10 or particles with diameters of 10 micrometres or less) from such sites has given Ahmedabad the dubious distinction of being among the worst six cities in the country on this parameter since 2017-18, according to data provided by the ministry of Environment and forests in the recent Lok Sabha session.

According to the rules, builders have to ensure that water is sprinkled on the site every day, there is proper covering with barricades and temporary roads at the site are paved.

Now, all hospitals, clinics in Gujarat can treat Covid patients: Govt

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In wake of acute shortage of hospital beds and ever growing queues outside designated hospitals following a record spike in Covid-19 cases, Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani announced on Tuesday night that all hospitals, private clinics and Nursing homes can now admit and treat Covid-19 patients without obtaining any prior nod from the government. The hospitals, clinics and nursing homes will only have to inform the respective district or authority.

This decision was taken at the core committee meeting chaired by the CM, who said that although more than 78,000 beds have been made available for Covid-19 patients, spiralling cases are stretching available Resources.

Gujarat third worst with 1 lakh kids out of school at primary level

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Data tabled by the Union Government in the Lok Sabha on Monday shows thatGujarathas the third highest number of ‘out of school children’ (OoSC) at the elementary level. The only two states that have higherOoSCnumbers areUttar PradeshandBihar.

While UP has the highest number of OoSC at 3,96,665, Bihar is second with 1,34,252. Gujarat ranks third with 1,06,885 children not admitted in any primary class.Under the Samagra Shiksha scheme of the Union government, all states and union territories (UTs) need to conduct household surveys for identification of OoSC. The department of school Education and Literacy has developed an online module for compiling data on OoSCs identified by each state and UT on the PRABANDH portal.

Gujarat likely to reduce stamp duty, registration fee through finance bill

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Even as theGujarat governmentwill implement revised jantri rates from April 15, it is actively considering a proposal to reducestamp dutyand registration fee on purchase of properties, top sources in said. A finance bill listing out revised stamp duty and registration fee rates is expected to be introduced in the budget session of theGujaratassembly, which begins later this month.

Reduction in stamp duty and registration fee has been a long-standing demand of the real estate sector, which has made several representations to the government over this concession. At present, property registration attracts a stamp duty of 4.9% and a registration fee of 1%. Female buyers are exempt from the 1% registration fee.

Government revenue from stamp duty and registration fee recorded a healthy 19% rise in 2022 as compared to the previous year. The number of properties registered in 2022 in the state stood at 15,97,188, 11% higher than 14,29,607 properties that were registered in the state in the preceding calendar year. Government revenue from stamp duty and property registration also shot up from 7,337.9 crore in 2021 to 8,769 crore in 2022.

Gujarats credit potential at Rs 2.46 lakh crore

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TheNational Bank for Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and Rural Development(NABARD) on Tuesday announced thatGujarats priority sector credit potential stood at Rs 2.46 lakh crore for the upcoming financial year 2022-23.The announcement was made as part of the annual state credit seminar organized at the chief ministers officein Gandhinagar.

According to estimates provided by NABARD, the estimated credit potential has gone up from Rs 2.24 lakh crore in 2021-22 up 10%. Of the total credit potential estimated for priority sector, agriculture and allied sectors account for Rs 1.13 lakh crore,MSMEsector accounts for Rs 1.09 lakh crore and other priority sectors account for Rs 26,255.2 crore.

NABARD has been regularly monitoring the potential flow of bank credit towards priority sector across all the districts of Gujarat through its potential linked credit plans. NABARD officials appealed to banks to ensure credit flow in priority sector advances to meet the targeted credit disbursals.

Ahmedabad drops to 10th spot in Swachh Survekshan

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Over the last three years, Ahmedabad has dropped by four ranks to land on the tenth spot since 2019 in the latestSwachh Survekshanranking 2021.

Gujaraton the other hand has ranked third with 931 points in the latest 2021 cleanliness survey.

It is worth pointing out here is that the city had ranked 14 in 2016 and 2017 in a row and then in 2018 it ranked twelfth. The issue is significant as it was in this city between 1917 and 1919 that Mahatma Gandhi had launched one of the longest running cleanliness drives with Dr Hariprasad Desai in the Walled City, when he had returned from South Africa to set up the Satyagraha Ashram in Ahmedabad.

Another major blow to Gujarat in the cleanliness ranking was Bapus birthplace Porbandar, which dropped to the 146 rank among 695 districts that were assessed by the Union ministry of urban development. Back in 2016 it ranked 187 and it was only in 2020 that Bapus birthplace had risen to the rank 100. The state urban development department had asked Porbandar Nagarpalika and the District Administration to come out with a detailed plan for improving the situation of Bapu;s birthplace

Gujarat to give aid worth Rs 498 crore to Covid-hit industries

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Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani announced a plan for assistance to industrial units and MSMEs in the state which had been adversely affected by the second wave of Covid-19 cases.

A meeting was chaired by chief minister Vijay Rupani, with the chairman and managing director of GIDC and additional chief secretary of the industries and mines department.

Before this, the chief minister had announced an Atmanirbhar Package of Rs 14,000 crore, after the first wave of Covid-19, to boost the economy by reviving and trade. Under this package, 31,166 industrialists received benefits worth Rs 407.72 crore under 14 schemes from GIDC.

According to this, industrialists whose time limit to start production ends in 2021-22 will get an extension till 2022-23 i.e. up to March 2023, without levying the non-use penalty.

Due to this decision, industrialists will get more time to use the property and will be relieved from payment of non-use penalty of around Rs 16.70 crore. Around 672 parties will benefit from this.

Allottees of the industrial estates who did not get the benefit of the extended time limit for usage under the previous policy and those who were provided benefits up to March 2022 will also get the extension up to March 2023. Under this policy, 1,656 such industrialists will get benefits worth around Rs 350 crore.

Soda ash production must be augmented by 2.5L tonne a year

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In the wake of clean energy and electric mobility sectors fuelling the demand for soda ash in India and the world, the domestic soda ash production needs to grow at 2.5 lakh to 3 lakh tonne a year, according toGujarat-based soda ash maker,GHCL.

Soda ash is a key raw material for manufacturing solar glass widely used in solar panels and is also a key component for manufacturing lithium-ion batteries and used in treatment of flue gases.

The Soda ash demand increases by 5% per annum, which is stipulated to increase to 6.5% to 7% per annum, driven by growing clean energy applications such as Solar, Flue gas treatment andLithium Ion batteries. However, if the soda ash must fuel the countrys RENEWABLE ENERGY targets, the production needs to be ramped up at the rate of 2.5 – 3 lakh MT every year, to meet the rising demand.

Industry players suggest that demand-supply gap underlines the need for more Greenfield investments in soda ash manufacturing.

Gujarat govt to spell out hydrogen policy soon

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As the green energy movement gains momentum, theGujaratgovernment is planning to roll out a special policy for promoting green hydrogen generation and products.

The proposed policy, which aims to incentivize the sunrise sectors, in all Probability will be announced ahead of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS) to be held inGandhinagarnext month, said sources close to the development.

Gujarat plans to offer financial subsidy or (VGF) for companies investing in green hydrogen which is being touted as the future of energy.

The government aims to offer major financial incentives for research & development and human Resources incentives also.
The government also plans a budgetary allocation for the sector.

Farmers in Gujarat to get Rs 1,500 government aid to purchase smartphones

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TheGujaratgovernment has decided to provide financial assistance of up to Rs 1,500 to farmers in the state for purchasing a smartphone, as per a notification issued by the state Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture department.

The scheme is meant to encourage the farmers to buysmartphoneswhich could be used for various purposes towards increasing their farm income, at a time when the prevalence of digital Services in the field of agriculture is growing every day, it said.

Any landholding farmer in Gujarat can apply for the assistance of 10 per cent of the total cost of a smartphone not exceeding Rs 1,500 on i-khedut portal to avail of the benefit of this scheme.

The assistance is valid only for the cost of the smartphone and not for any other accessories such as power backup device, earphones, charger etc., it said. All landholding farmers are eligible for this scheme, but only one beneficiary in a joint holding farm will be eligible.