GUJARAT

Ahmedabad’sNarol textile cluster, known as the country’s largest textile processing hub, is set to upgrade its Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP).

The current capacity of the CETP, which stands at 100MLD (million litres per day), will be boosted to 130MLD. This expansion project, estimated to cost around Rs 75-80 crore, will be collectively funded by approximately 120 member units of the Narol Textile Infrastructure and Enviro Management (NTIEM).

The NTIEM oversees the operations of the Narol CETP, which commenced its activities in 2017. While the individual units within the cluster possess a consolidate, Consent and authorization (CCA) for a total of 23MLD, the CETP holds a CCA for 100MLD. Furthermore, the CETP has received Consent to Establish (CTE) for a capacity of 130MLD, paving the way for the planned upgrade.

Narol houses approximately 120 companies with a combined processing capacity of around 2.50 crore metres per day. However, the Industry faces challenges due to weak demand and fluctuating cotton prices.

After holding online exams for the first semester recently, Gujarat Technological University (GTU) has now decided to conduct summer exams for final semester students pursuing degree and diploma studies with various colleges affiliated with the university.

GTU announced that more than 95 per cent of students in the first semester of degree and diploma courses in all faculties participated in the college exams that were held online.

With a total of 8,887 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity and 9,925 MW of installed Wind Energy capacity,Gujaratranks second among all states in solar and wind power capacity, the Union Government informed the Rajya Sabha.
Replying to a question byRajya Sabha MPParimal Nathwani, Union power ministerR K Singhsaid that as of February 28, 2023, the installed capacity of wind energy in Gujarat was 8,887.72 MW while the installed solar generation capacity stood at 9,925.72 MW.

According to the statement of the minister, the top five states with the maximum installed solar energy capacities areRajasthan(16,405.75 MW), Gujarat (8,887.72 MW), Karnataka (8,110.48 MW),Tamil Nadu(6,536.77 MW), and Telangana (4,657.18 MW).

The top five states with maximum installed wind energy capacities are Tamil Nadu (9,983.12 MW), Gujarat (9,925.72 MW), Karnataka (5,276.05 MW), Maharashtra (5,012.83 MW), and Rajasthan (4,681.82 MW).

As micro-enterprises battle the aftershocks of the Covid-19 pandemic, gross non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans outstanding under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana increased 48% in Gujarat.

According to the latest report by the state-level bankers committee (SLBC), Gujarat, NPAs for Mudra loans stood at Rs 872.25 crore in absolute terms in the September quarter of 2021-22. NPAs went up from Rs 587.26 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2020-21, the report states.

During the September quarter of this year, the total outstanding of loans extended under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) stood at Rs 9,300.5 crore.
From April to November 2021, loans worth Rs 5,172.56 crore were extended under PMMY in Gujarat of which, Rs 3,083.34 crore was disbursed between August and November.
According to bankers, non-performing assets went up in Mudra loans as micro enterprises continued to battle aftershocks of Covid-19.

With a strong demand Growth in thehealthcarespace and people focusing more on preventative care after the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, pharma companies are adding more drugs and products to their existing portfolios.
As a result, there has been a substantial jump in productapprovalsgranted to manufacture medicines inGujarat.

For instance: Gujarat Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA) in September issued 5,494 licences to make different allopathic drugs and products. Except January and April, the number of product permissions provided to pharma firms every month has hovered above the 5,000-mark this year, shows data compiled by the FDCA-Gujarat.

The issuance of fresh product licences started increasing after the pandemic and crossed the monthly mark of 5,000 in 2021. New product licences totalling 5,601, 5,324, 5,488 and 5,421 were issued by the state FDCA in April, May, June, July and August, respectively. The number stood at 5,095 in February and 5,123 in March this year. The product approvals were low at 3,981 and 3,725 in January and April, respectively, reveal the state FDCA data. As many as 48,909 product permissions have been issued by the state FDCA so far this year.

Announcing the guidelines which will govern implementation of the policy, state Science and Technology ministerJitu Vaghanisaid those investing in this sector will enjoy a completely paperless, faceless and cashless system of clearances. The minister launched the Gujarat.MyGov portal and IT-ITES incentives management portal.

TheGujaratgovernments share in Union taxes and duties declined by 13.87% in 2019-20 on the year-on-year basis. The states share of Union taxes stood at Rs 20,232 crore in 2019-20 as compared to Rs 23,489.33 crore in 2018-19, the CAG stated in its report on the states finances for the year ended March 31, 2020.

Both the components of central tax transfers i.e., direct taxes and indirect taxes also decreased by 13.27% and 14.78% respectively over the previous year, the countrys premier watchdog said in its report. They also dipped in 2019-20 for the first time during the period 2015-2020, the report said.

However, grant-in-aid from the Government of India increased by 34.26% or Rs 6,507.54 crore from Rs 18,992.48 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 25,500.02 crore in 2019-20.

The transfers (share in taxes and grant-in-aid) from the Centre increased by 312% from Rs 11,109.99 crore in 2010-11 to Rs 45,732.11 crore in 2019-20, the CAG said. The Percentage increase over the previous year ranged between 7.65% (2019-20) and 30.09% (2016-17) during the ten-year period.

Improve -GSDP ratio

The State Government needs to improve its revenue receipts-GSDP ratio; at 8.59%, it was lower than the 9.06% achieved during 2018-19, the CAG said. Also, the percentage of Capital Expenditure to total expenditure (15.28%) during 2019-20 was lower than what was registered during 2018-19 (17.26%), the CAG observed.