GUJARAT

Clearly, the number of loans sanctioned under emergency credit line guarantee scheme (ECLGS) surged by a whopping 140% in a year, according to the latest report by State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC).

The 170th SLBC meeting was held earlier this week, during which the report was released. It states that the number of industries seeking loans under ECLGS surged from 1.5 lakh in the first quarter of 2021-22 to 3.6 lakh in the corresponding quarter this year. During the same period, the amount of loans sanctioned too surged from Rs 7,480.29 crore to Rs 23,424 crore.
The cumulative disbursals at the end of the first quarter of 2021-22 stood at Rs 20,434 crore inGujaratunder ECLGS.

The federations total budget for the proposed plant is around Rs 500 crore. Sources said that the 100-acre land offered by the Rajkot collectorate in revenue survey numbers of Anandpar, Navagam and Sokhda villages on Ahmedabad highway costs around Rs 2.75 crore per acre.
Amul has sought 100-acre land to install a milk processing plant with capacity of 30 lakh litre per day (LLPD).

Rajkot is a strategic location for a plant for milk coming from all districts of Saurashtra. Currently, around 30 LLPD from Saurashtra and Kutch is sent to Amuls Gandhinagar plant where milk products like srikhand, chocolate, cheese and butter are manufactured. The Gandhinagar plant has capacity to process 50 LLPD.

GCMMF currently spends Rs 30 lakh per day for the transporting surplus milk from various parts of Saurashtra to Gandhinagar. This cost will be saved and the milk collection from this region will be increased once Rajkot plant commences operation. The time consumed in transportation of milk will also reduce. Milk collected from every location of Saurashtra travels around 300 km before reaching Gandhinagar plant.

In an insightful document last week,Gujarats Real Estate Regulatory Authority (GujRERA) office claimed that 18% of all new building projects in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot are forced to come up in areas where there are notownplanning schemes (TP).

In tier-2 and tier-3 Gujarat cities like Ankleshwar, Bharuch, Junagadh and Navasari nearly 60% of newer developments are in non-TP areas. Thenon-TP areaslack planned Network or roads, and amenities.

The non-statutory document has suggested reforms in the existing town planning department and further flags that development demand in Gujarats cities has often outpaced the supply of planned and serviced land provided through TP scheme mechanism. GujRERA had teamed up with department of urban development and urban planning consultants to come up with three non-statutory manuals Town planning schemes, Development plans and Local Area Plans (LAP) and have uploaded them on their website. This is the first time that such an exercise has been carried out in the state.

Among key recommendations, to reduce delays ahead of an intention of TP scheme, are including public consultation process where land owners and beneficiary are consulted before freezing land records with shape, size and ownership boundary. The concept paper has also added a stage for preparation of vision while preparing draft TP scheme. Among other major recommendations are that the State Government appoint an expert review committee (ERC) which shall review and recommend approval of TP schemes submitted to the government at different stages.

M S University has featured in the rank band of 101-150 for university category in the India Rankings 2023 as the Ministry of Education released the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2023 on Monday.
Last year, too, the university had featured in the rank band of 101-150 in the ranking of universities. In 2019 and 2020, the university had featured in the university rank band of 101-150.
In 2016 and 2021, the university had found its place among the top 100 universities of the country. In 2016, MSU had received its best ever ranking when it was ranked at 76th position when the NIRF rankings were declared for the first time. In 2021, the university was ranked 90th with a score of 39.48.

The university does not feature in the India Rankings 2023: Overall – a category in which it had featured last year in the rank band of 151-200.

The NIRF rankings were released for a total of 13 categories – overall, universities, colleges, research institutions, engineering, management, pharmacy, medical, dental, law, architecture and planning, Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and allied sectors and innovation.

Gujarat Technological Universityon Sunday announced that it has introduced digi-lockers for 7 lakh graduates. Using the digi-lockers, the graduates can upload their degree certificates to further promote the Digital India campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The decision to create digi-lockers comes in the wake of a project evolved by theUniversity Grants Commissionand the Union Education ministry to accelerate the ongoing technology upgrade in universities across the world.

With this facility created by GTU, students can access their certificates in a safe and secure way from any corner of the world. The digi-lockers also enable the students to download copies of certificates without any cost, for the academic years 2011 to 2020.

The stateeducation department announced the launch of a new Scholarship scheme for Class 9-12 students from financially weak families.
The government will provide scholarships to about 25,000 students under the Gyan Sadhana Scholarship Scheme from the new academic year.
A statement from the Education department said that Class 9-10 students will be given Rs 20,000 per annum and Class 11-12 students, Rs 25,000 per annum. The annual household income of a student from the rural area should not exceed Rs 1.2 lakh per annum, while this limit is Rs 1.5 lakh for those from urban areas.
The eligible students will be required to take a competitive exam and the meritorious ones will be chosen for the scholarship programme.

River Front Development Project Rejuvenation Of Sabarmati This is a project of environmental improvement, social progress and urban rejuvenation that will give Ahmedabad a new look. The project will reclaim about 200 hectares of land from the riverbed. About the Sabarmati river:

It is one of the rivers that flows westward together with the Narmada River and the Tapti River.

It originated in Aravalli Hill near Tepur Village in Udaipur District, Rajasthan.

Mouth of the river: Gulf of Cambey ( Khambhat).

Ahmedabad city is located on both banks of this river.

As theGujaratgovernment gears up to present its budget on March 3, manufacturing as well as Services-sector”>services sector representatives have high hopes pinned for major policy boost and development to give the Industry a much-needed push. With Covid-19 cases receding and the third wave leaving a little impact, the industrial recovery continued to remain on track.

Consequently, industries across Gujarat want the states budget to focus on a greater policy boost to accelerate the pace of recovery.

Rajkot is a hub of engineering manufacturing units and as manufacturers are poised for expansion, representatives have sought that more GIDCs must be set up so that new businesses can build base. Paresh Vasani, president, Rajkot Engineering Association, said, More GIDCs must come up so that new players get land at a concessional rate to undertake expansion of existing businesses and even fresh greenfield investments.

With several IT and hardware component manufacturing companies mushrooming in Rajkot, the industry players have also been seeking that the State Government announces the establishment of an IT park. The government has also identified three locations around Rajkot for that park. However, they are waiting for the official announcement.

Slow recovery in demand since the pandemic coupled with a steep rise in raw material costs has plagued the textile manufacturers across Gujarat, impacting their profitability and denting their revenues.

Industries, therefore, have sought policy support to help accelerate recovery and Growth. Chintan Thaker, chairman, Assocham, Gujarat, said, Gujarat Textile Policy-2019 should be replaced with a policy in line with Gujarat Textile Policy-2012. The previous policy led to a capital infusion of more than Rs 30,000 crore.

The new policy has lesser incentives. At a time when the industry needs a push for revival, the government must consider revising the textile policy.

Surats man-made fibre industry on the other hand is also seeking that a dedicated textile park is set up under Mega Integrated Textile Re- gion and Apparel (MITRA) Parks.

Surat is one of the main contenders to get a MITRA park for which multiple proposals were made by the Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI).

State governments order to immediatelydouble jantri rateswill impact upcoming projects the most, say realty experts.

Amount of paid FSI and NA premium will be doubled which will raise a question on the viability of a project. On the other hand, redevelopment deals of various societies will also be put on hold due to non-viability following increase in FSI rates. Experts believe the new projects will be costlier by 20% while the commercial segment will be hit the most.

Increase injantri rateswill affect redevelopment projects as well. Double jantri will make redevelopment agreement cost double for builders which is 5% of jantri rates.

Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Health Insurance coverage has become a huge cost component for companies. While is facing increases in costs, theGujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry(GCC) on Monday made a representation to the Union finance minister asking that theGSTrate on health insurance be cut from 18% to 5%.

Insurance penetration in India is low at 4.2% of gross domestic product (GDP), compared to the global Average of 7%. It is expected that the government takes concrete steps to support higher insurance penetration in theUnion Budget. A well-insured Society leads to lesser support strain on government finances, thereby keeping its unplanned expenditure and budget planning process more stable, the representation states.

According to industry players, the majority of medical, hospital, and consulting Services are exempted from GST, whereas 18% GST is applicable on health insurance. There is a strong rationale for the government to encourage the use of insurance to protect citizens and remove or lower GST to say 5% on health insurance premiums.