GUJARAT

Petronet LNG Ltd, which meets about 40% of the countrys total gas demand from its terminal atDahej, is planning to invest Rs 1,700 crore to build a third jetty, said sources close to the development.

With this project, the company aims to undergo diversification as it has chalked out plans to import liquidethaneand propane at the third jetty. Ethane is feedstock for the manufacturing of petrochemicals and is used to produce plastics, while propane is used as cooking gas and for Home and water heating..

It will also act as a risk mitigation measure in case existing berths are unable to operate for an extended period or to cater to the anticipated number of ships at a time, the report states.
PLL is also planning to import and unload liquid ethane and propane at the third berth through carriers of parcel size of 1 lakh cubic metres.

It is expected that 1.25 MTPA ethane will be handled initially and expandable to 2.5 MTPA in the future, as per the report.

Gujaratin 2022 had recorded 836 deaths ofCovidpatients till July 19. With 4.12 lakh cases, the mortality rate for state was 0.2%, indicated a data tabled in theRajya Sabharecently. In absolute numbers, Gujarat stood ninth among Indian states in mortality, whereas in terms of mortality rate, Gujarat had the seventh highest mortality rate in states with more than 750 Covid deaths.

The data also indicated fall in Covid cases and mortality in the third year of the pandemic. In 2020, Gujarat had recorded 2.44 lakh cases and deaths of 4,302 patients giving mortality rate of 1.8%. In 2021, Gujarat recorded 5,816 deaths from 5.86 lakh cases at mortality rate of 1%.

The state exchequer inGujaratlost Rs171 crore in the first quarter of 2021-22. The involvement of some 99 trading entities is suspected in this evasion. The details came to Light after the state GST (SGST) department began probing traders who tend to claim excessITC.
During the first quarter of 2021-22, the department identified some 99 big trading entities involved in such practice. Inquiry has been initiated against the culprits. Further investigation revealed that some 78 trading entities did not exist at all, indicating a fake billing scam.

The department was compelled to use technology to fish out such culprits as it came to their notice while examining sales and purchase returns that excess ITC is being claimed by traders to evade taxes.

TheGujarat governmenthas implemented a series of measures to enhance the efficiency, effectiveness, and quality of the roads and buildings department’s operations.
In order to deliver high-quality roads and to the people and industries and improve the overall living standards in the state, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has introduced substantial changes in the responsibilities of high-level officials within the department. These changes aim to optimize their work distribution and supervision, ensuring effectiveness, timeliness, and quality.

To enhance quality control in road construction projects, the government has divided the National Highway work into two sections: North and South. A designated Chief Engineer has been authorized to conduct technical audits and provide supervision in SouthGujaratto ensure stringent quality control measures are in place.

Makers ofAyurvedicmedicines from the city,Shree Baidyanath, has diversified into liquified natural gas (LNG) sale. The company will be inaugurating the countrys first commercial LNG filling station in the city.

The companys decision was following governments decision to invest Rs10,000 crore in the LNG dispensing stations across the country.

At present, it would start will 12 vehicles, he said. LNG is not only being projected as a cheaper alternative to diesel but rates offered at the Nagpur station will be lower than the current of the fuel elsewhere. This is because the supply of a year has been booked at an advance rate due to which the fuel will be available at Rs 62 a liter as against Rs 72 in the market.

Gujaratwitnessed a significant decline in export orders across key manufacturing sectors, leading to a failure in meeting the export credit targets set by banks under the Service Area Credit Plan (SACP) for the fiscal year 2022-23.

According to the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) Gujarat report, export credit targets were achieved at a mere 11% of the intended amount during FY 2023. Out of the targeted Rs 2,356 crore, only Rs 272 crore was disbursed throughout the year.

In terms of the number of accounts, the achievement in disbursals was less than 1%, with only 112 accounts receiving funds against the targeted 23,810 accounts.

The decline in exports within sectors such as gems and jewellery, textiles, chemicals, and engineering goods is believed to be the primary reason behind this underperformance.

Several key manufacturing sectors, including dyes, intermediates and chemicals, leather, Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), engineering, and plastics, have witnessed a drop in exports.
The combination of these factors has posed challenges for achieving the export credit targets in Gujarat.

The Gujarat government has prepared a blueprint for a seamless peripheral road project running all along its borders with other states and its coastline.

The 3,533km project, which will fill in missing linkages between national and state highways along the states borders, is expected to cost Rs 2,000 crore. The government intends to complete theParikrama Pathproject in about two years.
The project blueprint breaks up Parikrama Path into three corridors. The first will connect eastern belt roads with theStatueof UnitySaputara link road. The second will extend from the South Gujarat coastline to Saurashtra and Kutch. The third will run along the international border inKutchand cover theNorth Gujaratperiphery of the state.
According to sources in the government, 50% of these stretches of road (national, state and minor) are already existing. The missing linkages will be added in a phased manner. We expect to complete the project in two years. Once completed, it will not only boost tourism, but will also ensure connectivity with and lead to greater development, said sources.

After a core committee meeting,GujaratCMVijay Rupaniannounced that all -run hospitals would have aseparate wardfor mucormycosis the fungal infection that is getting deadlier for recovered Covid-19 patients.

The government decided to purchase 5,000 injections of Amphotericin B at a cost of Rs 3.12 crore to treat the infection. Across Gujarat, over 100 cases have been reported.

The Gujarat government has taken up an exercise to formulate a policy to boostexportsfrom the state. The state policy, which will adopt features of the Union Government‘s recently announced Policy (FTP), will among other things, incentivize goods and products which have export potential.

A state-level Export Promotion authority will shortly be formed, whose functioning will be monitored by a high-level committee headed by thechief secretary.

Similarly, export promotion committees will also be formed in each of the districts of Gujarat.

The FT of the Union government has laid Stress on developing districts as export hubs by setting up district export promotion committees and drawing up district export action plans for every district.

The Union government policy also has asked states and Union territories to set up state-level export promotion committees and ensure online monitoring of all district-level export action plans.

The most exported goods from Gujarat include petroleum products, organic and inorganic chemicals, gems and jewellery, engineering goods and the like.

Under the “Districts as Export Hubs Initiative” (DEH), products and Services with export potential, including agricultural and industrial products, have been identified in all 33 districts of Gujarat.

Thestate governmentspent Rs 214 crore on purchasing sanitizer, masks, PPE kits and liquid Oxygen for Covid treatment.

The maximum amount of Rs 136 crore was spent on purchasing rapid antigen test kits.

The purchases by corporations are not included in the data. The data tabled was only till January 31, 2021. The officials said that the has adopted the policy of aggressive testing since March 2021 when the Covid-19 cases increased in the state.