News Bulletin : February 2022 – Issue 2
1. Coastal Zone Management Plans for demarcating Sagarmala projects?
The National Perspective Plan report dated April 2016 of the Sagarmala Project under the Ministry of Shipping, Government of India has identified 14 Coastal Economic Zones (CEZs) along the coastline of India. Each of these CEZs is mapped to the nearby ports. The tiny State of Goa is included in the Coastal Economic Zone (CEZ) of South Konkan-Maharashtra under the Sagarmala project. The South Konkan-Maharashtra CEZ layout under the Sagarmala project is mapped to the Mormugao major Port
The development of Chapora River, Mapusa/Moide River and Sal River have been included along with the rivers of Maharashtra in Cluster-7.This is highlighted in the feasibility report of April 2016 for the Mapusa/Moide River prepared for the Inland Waterways Authority of India(IWAI). Why should these rivers of Goa be included along with the rivers of Maharashtra?
Source: Herald Goa
2. J&K\’s becomes first UT to start single window clearance system
Jammu & Kashmir on Tuesday became the first union territory to start the National Single Window Clearance System (NSWS). This marks a major leap in Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) in the Union Territory.
NSWS is linked with the India Industrial Land Bank (IILB) which hosts 45 industrial parks of J&K. This will help Investors to discover available land parcels in J&K, an official statement said.
Source: Deccan Herald
3. Maersk sails towards charging buoys to reduce emissions
The world’s second-largest shipping container line and cargo boat operator wants idle vessels to rely on clean electricity, not fossil fuels.
A simple idea in theory, Maersk’s plan focuses on installing hundreds of offshore charging stations within buoys, which container ships can ‘plug into’ to source the power they need to function while waiting outside ports.
The company believes its fleet can significantly reduce carbon emissions and other air pollutants by switching from fuel oil when stationary. Sillstrom, a new company owned by Maersk’s offshore marine division, has devised the technology required for the transformation, with floating structures connected to mains power via transmission lines.
Source: Air Quality News
4. JNPT prepares action plan for green
The country’s premier container port, JNPT, said it has prepared an action plan covering all its activities, including cargo handling, storage, evacuation and many other activities related to environmental protection.
Jawaharlal Nehru port is committed to sustainable development, and the Port takes adequate measures to maintain ecological balance. To address the global climate change problem at its level, the facility has taken the initiative to acquire Green Port status.
As part of the green initiatives, the facility has installed solar panels, inducted electric vehicles, among others, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) chairman Sanjay Sethi said. Bihar Renewable Energy Development Agency (BREDA) is set to commission the state\’s first two MW floating solar power plant in the Kadirabad locality of Darbhanga district. The Darbhanga power station plant will be the first-of-a-kind in Bihar, which is being built over a pond. It is believed to be a huge achievement for the state.
Source: Construction Week Online
5. Cargo ship sails from Patna to Pandu heralding a new age of logistics for Assam
Cargo Ship MV Lal Bahadur Shastri which started its journey from Patna is carrying 200 Metric Tonnes of foodgrains, headed for Pandu in Guwahati and will travel via Bangladesh to reach the destination by early March 2022.
Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and AYUSH, Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off an inland waterway vessel MV Lal Bahadur Shastri from Patna to Guwahati on Saturday. The vessel which started its journey from Patna is carrying 200 Metric Tonnes of foodgrains headed for Pandu in Guwahati & will travel via Bangladesh to reach the destination by early March, 2022.
Source: Live Mint
6. Budget: Warehousing & logistics to see more investments
The warehousing and logistics sector is expected to attract more investments from institutional funds and developers, led by the government\’s plan to set up multimodal logistic parks and other initiatives to connect urban transport to railways.
The government has announced 25,000 km of new highways, the Gati Shakti Masterplan for expressways, 100 new cargo terminals with multi-modal logistic parks and initiatives to connect urban transport to railways, which will give a big boost to new warehousing and logistics facilities across the country. \”We will witness an increase in investment from institutional funds and developers as the government has laid the foundation for a long-term investment. If implemented in the right way, over the next 10 years we will see a change in the way industry functions,\” said Logos CEO Mehul Shah.
Source: Economic Times
7. Global Logistics 2022: Is this the new normal?
Global supply chain disruptions, port congestion, capacity shortages, increasing ocean freight rates and an ongoing pandemic have challenged shippers, ports, carriers and logistics providers during the past year.
And looking ahead in 2022, experts estimate that the pressure on global supply chains will continue—and the light at the end of the tunnel is not to be expected until the second half of the year at the earliest.
Above all, the consensus is that the pressure on the ocean freight market will continue in 2022, and freight rates are unlikely to fall back to pre-COVID levels. Capacity problems and congestion in the ports will continue to combine with strong global demand in the consumer goods sector.
Source: Logistics MGMT
8. Stop private players in railways: union
The railways should stop private players from stepping into the administration, said members affiliated with Dakshin Railway Employees Union (DREU) here on Wednesday.
Staging a demonstration in front of the railway junction, along with CPI(M) members, they said the Union government should prohibit the new pension policy.
Source: The Hindu
9. Why Budget 2022 brings cheer to rail sector, and how Vande Bharat can aid cash-strapped Railways
The rail industry is upbeat about Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget 2022-23 proposals for the Indian Railways (IR), for understandable reasons.
Over the next three years, IR will manufacture 400 aluminium-bodied Vande Bharat trains (160 kmph semi-high speed trains), while 100 greenfield multimodal cargo terminals will also be constructed.
Source: The Print
10. PLI scheme for solar to help Reliance, Tata, Adani, 16 others take India closer to 2030 renewable energy goal
The PLI scheme allocation in Budget 2022 will bring an additional investment worth Rs 30,000-35,000 crore into solar PhotoVoltaic cells and modules manufacturing in India, cutting dependence on Chinese imports, and bringing the nation closer to achieving 2030 renewable energy targets. The fresh addition to the PLI scheme (Production Linked Incentives) will facilitate manufacturing capacity of 40 GW solar modules by companies including Reliance Industries, Adani group, Tata group, and others.
Source: Financial Express
11. India’s Ministry of Power clarifies ‘essential role’ of energy storage systems
A clarification of the status of energy storage systems (ESS) in India’s power sector, issued by the government’s Ministry of Power, has described the various technologies as “essential” to achieving national renewable energy goals.
The new document, published on Saturday (29 January), aims to resolve questions asked by “various stakeholders,” about the status of energy storage, the ministry’s joint secretary Ghanshyam Prasad wrote.
Source: Energy Bangla
12. NH construction in FY ‘21 up by 30%
The construction of National Highways (NH) annually rose by 30.2% to 13,327 km in 2020-2021 from 10,237 km in the previous year, according to the Economic Survey.
However, in the first six months of the current fiscal, only 3,824 km of road network could be readied. This translates into 20.8 km of roads constructed a day, much lower than the daily average witnessed in the previous fiscal.
In 2020-2021, the average per day construction of roads was at 36.5 km as compared to 28 km a day in 2019-2020.
Source: The Hindu
13. 25,000 km highways to be built under fresh connectivity push cr
The government’s new connectivity push under the GatiShakti National Masterplan will set out to build 25,000 km more of national highways, 100 new cargo terminals, four logistics parks, eight ropeway projects, and help start 400 new Vande Bharat trains over the coming years, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday.
The announcement outlines the scope of a massive connectivity expansion the government has envisioned, announced broadly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi first on October 13.
Source: Hindustan Times
14. Road ministry drives Centre\’s asset monetisation with Rs 10,273 cr mop-up
The Ministry of Roads, Transport and Highways has managed to mop up over Rs 10,273 crore as part of the Centre’s National Asset Monetisation Pipeline. The monetisation by various ministries so far has been Rs 26,806 crore with another Rs 15,000-16,000 crore to be realised soon by the roads ministry, said an official.
The Centre had set a target of Rs 88,000 crore for the current financial year, out of its Rs six trillion pipeline for the four-year period.
The asset monetisation target for the roads ministry is Rs 30,000 crore, and the ministry had already monetised assets worth Rs 17,000 crore when the NMP was launched by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Source: Business Standard
15. Union Budget 2022-23: Activists express disbelief at sanction of money for river interlinking
Activists have expressed disbelief at Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman’s sanctioning money for the Ken-Betwa and other river interlinking projects across India in the Union Budget for 2022-2023 February 1, 2022.
They said the projects did not have statutory clearances, were sub judice and had hardly progressed in the last two decades. Sitharaman allocating money to these projects was just an election sop, the experts said.
Source: Down To Earth
