GUJARAT

Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited (GACL) and GAIL (India) Limited on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for setting up a bioethanol plant with a production capacity of 500 kilo litre per day (KLD) in Gujarat.

Apart from the plant, both the companies also agreed to cooperate in other areas of mutual interest. The MoU was signed in the presence of chief minister Bhupendra Patel.
The cost of the project is estimated to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore and it is expected to generate annual revenues of approximately Rs 1,500 crores. The project will also generate direct and indirect EMPLOYMENT for around 700 individuals.

The proposed plant will use corn/broken rice as feedstock with eco-friendly technology and it will produce 500 KLD bioethanol, which will be utilised for blending in petrol. As by-products from this plant, 135 KTPA protein-rich animal feed and 16.50 KTPA of corn oil while using corn as feedstock are also expected to be produced.

Stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched a roadmap for 20% ethanol blending in petrol by 2025 to reduce import of crude oil and save valuable Foreign Exchange, the also added that an estimated Savings of $70 million per year in foreign exchange outgo is expected through this project.

Gujaratchief ministerBhupendra Patelsaid that drinking water was no longer an issue in Gujarat and it has become a tool of development.

AfterGandhinagar, Mehsana, Anand, Botad andPorbandar, Vadodara became sixth district in the state to achieve the feat.
Along with this, the CM also laid foundation stone of water supply works worth Rs 491.39 crore to strengthen the water distribution system in the district.

According to data from theTelecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI), Internet subscribers in Gujarat stood at 4.8 crore as on December 31, 2020 against 4.4 crore a year earlier. According to telecom sources, with more people working from Home, the number of internet users has increased.

According to the TRAI data, the number of connections grew in both rural and urban areas. However, in the rural areas, the rate of increase was faster than in urban areas, albeit on a lower base.

Rural internet subscribers grew by 13% in this period from 1.31 crore in 2019 to 1.47 crore in 2020, whereas urbaninternet subscribernumbers rose by 8.9% from 3.12 crore in 2019 to 3.41 crore in 2020. The number of people shifting to high-speed connections also increased in this the same period. According to the report by TRAI, the number of narrowband subscribers i.e. those opting for internet connections with slower speeds, fell. The number of people opting for broadband or high-speed connections went up. In 2020, the number of narrowband internet users fell by 17.5 lakh or 28.5%, against 24.5 lakh such subscribers in 2019.

After the government of Indias recent notification of the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2021, theGujaratgovernment has started the banning of single-use plastics and is taking action against manufacturers of single-use plastics and of plastics less than 75 microns thick.

The Union Government, by amending the rules, is banning the use and manufacture of plastics thinner than 75 microns (plastic bags thinner than 50 microns were banned earlier) in a phased manner, from September 25 to December 2022.

In the new rules the words fifty microns in thickness have been replaced with the words seventy five microns in thickness with effect from September 30, 2021 and one hundred and twenty (120) microns in thickness with effect from December 31, 2022.

majorAvaada Energyon Thursday received a letter of intent (LoI) from theGujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd(GUVNL) to set up a 400 MW (DC) solar project in Gujarat. The company has won 200 MW under base capacity at a tariff of Rs 2.75/kWh and another 200 MW under green shoe option at a tariff of Rs 2.71/kWh from GUVNL under tariff-based competitive bidding process followed by an e-reverse auction.
As per the bid terms, the solar power generated from the project will be supplied to GUVNL for 25 years, and the projects will be commissioned within 18 months from the date of execution of the power purchase agreements (PPAs). The solar project has the potential to provide green power to some five lakh households.

The has sanctioned a relief and reconstruction package of Rs 105 crore for thefisheries sector, which suffered extensive damage and loss because of cycloneTauktae.
A majority of the funds Rs 80 crore will be used for rebuilding Infrastructure that has been badly damaged at Jaffrabad, Shiyalbet, Nava Bandar, Saiyed Rajpara and other fishing harbours in Saurashtra.

The government stated that fishermen whose boats, fishing nets, and other equipment have been damaged, will get a compensation of Rs 35,000 or 50% of the boat cost, whichever is lesser.

Those fishermen whose small fishing boats have been completely destroyed will get 50% of boat cost or Rs 75,000, whichever is lesser.

In case of damage to trawlers, fishermen will get a compensation of Rs 2 lakh or 50% of the value of the boats, whichever is lesser.

The state government will also pay a sum of Rs 2,000 each to all fishermen whose boats have been damaged in the cyclone.

The lower production of crops in the Xinjiang province of China this year has resulted in the country ordering around 5,000 tonnes of cotton yarn from India in the last fortnight. The province produces more than 70% of Chinas total cotton production.

The latest orders are going to help the Gujarat-based spinning mills, which have been facing a dull phase, in a big way as the majority of the orders will be fulfilled by the states spinning mills in the next two months.
Indian cotton prices have remained higher than international prices for around a year, and therefore, cotton yarn export has slipped. Chinas Xinjiang state has estimated around 10-15% less production at 27.5 million bales this year.

Although the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic wreaked havoc with the lives of thousands of citizens, there is good news on the economic front for the .
TheGujarat governmentcleared Investment proposals worth over Rs 7,400 crore in April, and allocated a sizable 642 acres of land toindustriesto set up their units.

In all, 75 investment proposals have been cleared and the government claims the investments will generate EMPLOYMENT of over 19,000 in 12 to 18 months.

These projects have committed investments of over Rs 6,900 crore which will provide employment opportunity to over 19,000 people directly and indirectly. Besides, the state government has also approved the project by a renowned company to set up a plant for manufacturing High Grade Steel Bars in Kutch with a total proposed investment of Rs 500 crore, providing employment to 1,000 people in the region

The told the assembly on Saturday that in the last two years, there has been no increase in the power production in the state- and the central government-owned power Plants. The government said that there has been an increase in the solar power units set up by private players.

The government stated that the installed power capacity of conventional sources was 21,114MW, and of non-conventional energy sources 8,292MW. The government stated that in the last two years, there has been no increase in the capacity of conventional sources.

The Ukai thermal power plant has a capacity of 1,110MW but it has been producing 470MW of power. The Sikka thermal plant has the capacity of 500MW but the plant has failed to produce any power.