GUJARAT

Power demand up by 900 MW in February in Gujarat

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The onset of early summer with mercury soaring to as high as 38.2 degree Celsius in February has resulted in demand for power surging by 900 MW.
The Average power demand thus far touched 16,025 MW in February this year inGujaratagainst 15,117 MW in the same month last year, according to data by State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC).

This year, energy experts peg demand to grow past 20,000 MW in the coming months due to expected heat wave situation. K K Bajaj, former member, state advisory committee for power sector, said, “Summer impact is visible in the power demand in Gujarat. In May, power requirements are expected to reach 20,000 MW.

The state

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is generating more conventional power compared to February 2022 and has also spent Rs 565 crore to buy electricity from the energy exchange in February so far. Experts believe energy demand will increase to 20,000 MW in the coming months due to heatwaves.

Electric vehicles ecosystem takes shapes in Gujarat

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Even though electric vehicles, particularly two-wheelers, have been in the market for at least a decade, the uptakes had not been significant despite the subsidies rolled out by state and central governments. However, with growing awareness, the emergence of technologically Sound and efficient vehicles, and the creation of charging , the demand forelectric vehicleshas grown substantially inGujarat.

Riding on increased demand, the state is gradually building a sound ecosystem for manufacturing electric vehicles (EVs). Gujarat is already

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Home to automobile giants such asTata Motors, Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India Limited, Hero Two-wheelers, and Suzuki Motor Corporation.

Moreover, the demand for EVs is rising across the country as well. New players have entered the field, the established ones are doing robust business, a policy push from the state and central governments is offering sizable subsidies, and startups are driving innovations in EV manufacturing. These factors have led to the setting up of a wholesome EV ecosystem in Gujarat.

In July 2021, the Government of Gujarat announced an EV policy. The policy has fuelled optimism not just in dealers but in manufacturers too. The Gujarat Electric Vehicle Policy 2021 provides a subsidy of up to Rs 20,000 for EVs in the two-wheeler category, Rs 50,000 for three-wheelers, and up to Rs 1.5 lakh for cars. Over and above this, the central government has extended subsidies under Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles (FAME)-II. The amount of subsidy is based on the battery capacity.

Gujarat gets five more mobile food testing labs

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Gujarat has been provided with five more food testing vans.

Sponsored by the central government, these mobile food testing laboratories have been allocated to the state under Food Safety on Wheels initiative of (Fssai).

The newly inducted food testing vans will move through various districts in the state to

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href="https://exam.pscnotes.com/test">test food samples. Even food samples brought by common people will also be tested free of cost by these mobile units.

FSSAI had previously offered four such mobile units to Gujarat.

Gujarat got 1,242 crore MNRE aid for solar projects in fiscal year 2022

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With an attractive solar rooftop scheme and a greater push for adoption of solar power generation,Gujaratcommands the lion share of financial aid from the Union ministry of new and for solar projects.

According to data tabled inParliament, Gujarat received Rs 1,242.71 crore in financial aid from the ministry of a total amount of Rs 2,633 crore disbursed to all other states in 2021-22. This means, the state got 47% of the funds disbursed. According to top sources in the Gujarat Energy Development Authority (GEDA), the scale of solar power projects has grown dramatically in the state. The state already has installed capacity of 7,806.8MW of solar power generation.

Gujarat has taken the lead among Indian states when it comes to solar power adoption through the rooftop solar policy of the State Government. The state already has 2,163MW

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of rooftop capacity as on 2021-22, which makes up nearly a third of the installed solar power generation capacity.

Gujarat govt to notify 1,500 new panchayats

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After reaping huge benefits of a meticulous delimitation exercise in the recently concluded Gandhinagar civic body election, the Bharatiya Janata Party is looking to replicate the same formula in rural

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areas of the state as well. Even as more than 10,000 village panchayats go to polls in December this year, the ruling BJP is looking to increase the number of village panchayats by about 1,500.

The panchayat & rural development department has completed all formalities like passing of resolutions by large panchayats for the formation of new panchayats and approval of district authorities and the development commissioner to form new panchayats. After the approval from minister Brijesh Merja, a notification to form around 1,500 new village panchayats will be issued.

Gujarats poor show in NIRF continues in 2021

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The poor show of Gujarat in the National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) continued in 2021 as only one institute each featured in the Top

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50 rankings in both Overall and University categories. None of the medical and dental colleges based in Gujarat made it to the top 100 institutions this year.

IIT Gandhinagar (IIT-Gn) ranked 33 in the Overall list, whereas Gujarat University got featured at 43rd rank in University category.
The IIM Ahmedabad retained its top spot in management category, whereas CEPT University ranked fifth in Architecture,GNLUwas placed sixth in Law and NIPER Ahmedabad was 10th in Pharmacy categories.

As part of the nine-day celebrations to mark CM Vijay Rupani completing five years in office, the state government on Sunday observed Shehri Jan Sukhakari Divas (urban well-being day). About 471 development works worth Rs 5,001 crore in urban areas of the state were either dedicated to the public or had their foundation stones laid.

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Gujarats eight big cities got projects worth Rs 3,939 crore while 156 nagarpalikas got projects worth Rs 1,061 crore.

The statement added that 425 town planning (TP) schemes have been sanctioned over the past five years.

While Rupani presided over the main function of the Shehri Jan Sukhakari Divas in Ahmedabad, simultaneous events were held at 41 locations across the state.

The CM also launched the e-Nagar application to provide citizen-centric Services at the click of a button. The app will allow citizens to avail of the majority of the basic civic services digitally, the statement said.

The statement said that the government has also rationalized the deduction in industrial

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parks from 40% to 25%, which will provide an impetus to industrial development in the state.

The government said that the urban development authorities can use the additional 15% land for green cover plantation, gardens, Sports facilities, EWS housing, milk dairies, restaurants, and the like.

State receives Rs 9,021 crore GST compensation from Centre

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In a major advantage, the government ofGujaratreceived pending Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation cess worth Rs 9,021 crore from the Centre.

The compensation amount remained pending for over a year. According to data tabled in the state assembly, the Centre owed Gujarat a compensation worth Rs 9,136 crore as on March 31, 2023.

The Union Government owed Rs 23,332 crore to the Gujarat government for the period between January 2021 and December 2021. Similarly, the Centre owed Rs 7,068 crore to the for the period between January 2022 and June 2022, according to the response tabled

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in the state assembly.

Therefore, in the past two years, dues worth Rs 30,400 crore as compensation cess from the centre were yet to be cleared by the Centre. Against these dues, the state received Rs 3,364 crore in May last year and Rs 855 crore in November last year.

The Centre also provided a loan towards compensation worth Rs 17,045 crore to the state government, on condition that the Centre will pay the loan along with the interest from the Cess Fund.

When GST was rolled out, a provision was made in the act to compensate states for shortfall in revenue. According to the provisions under the GST Compensation Cess Act, the protected income

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of the states was determined for five years from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2022.

This protected income was computed projecting a 14% Growth in GST collection per annum, considering the fiscal year 2015-16 as the Base Year.
This means, any state reporting a shortfall in tax mop-up would be eligible for compensation from the Centre for the shortfall.

Uganda seeks technical support from Gujarat

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African nation Uganda is seriously looking at Gujarat to seek technical know-how and manufacturing equipment.

The country, which is mostly dependent on Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture export, now wants to manufacture goods it needs to save the import cost.

Uganda imports pharmaceutical products, machinery, and vehicles, electrical equipment, some chemical products, sugar and confectionery, plastic etc from India.

Uganda High Commission in Indiashot a letter toSaurashtra Vepar Udhog Mahamandal(SVUM) informing that a delegation of businessmen and politicians

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want to visit small-scale manufacturing units in Rajkot and they are planning a
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visit in July or August.

The letter stated the object of the visit is to learn from their (Rajkots manufacturers) expertise, establish cooperation, and contact with the aim to channel Growth and development of the same sector in Uganda.

Olympic village among 10 ventures to be promoted at Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024

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The proposed Olympic village, Medicity projects, riverfront development ventures, and island and beach tourism are among the 10 priority sectors that theGujarat governmentwill project in the 10th edition

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of theVibrant Gujarat Global Summit(VGGS) 2024, which is expected to be held in January next year.

This will be the first time that partnerships will be invited in setting up the proposedOlympics villageeven as preparations are on for Ahmedabad’s bid for the 2036 Olympic games.

The government is expected to create its promotion blitzkrieg of the forthcoming VGGS around these 10 sectors.