Union Minister Mr Pralhad Joshi announced that the Centre would invest more than Rs one lakh crore in the next three to four years to increase the country’s coal production and to augment facilities for its off-take and transportation. He said steps were being taken to reduce the import of coal.
The coal ministry, which plans to launch the process of auction for commercial coal mining, has appointed FICCI as programme management partner to organise and manage the event, a source said. The coal ministry proposes to launch the auction of coal mines through an event in the national capital, followed by roadshows in different parts of the country. These events are aimed at creating awareness about the amendments made in various laws and rules by the Centre and generate private sector interest and participation.
India’s total solar and wind power capacity addition in the next five years is expected to reach only 35 gigawatt (GW) and 12 GW, respectively, down from previous estimates due to COVID-19 disruptions, according to a recent report. The earlier base case solar and wind power capacity addition estimates over 2020-2024 were of 43 GW and 15 GW, respectively, said the report by clean energy consultancy Bridge to India.
The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) extended the deadline for various activities under its recently proposed One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG) plan. The deadline for the pre-bid meeting has been extended till 22 June, 2020. Earlier, the deadline was June 5, 2020. The date for the submission of proposals has also been extended till 22 July, 2020, from its earlier deadline of 6 July, 2020.
Following the worst contraction ever 16.7% in March, on the account of only a week’s lockdown, the industrial production likely shrunk by 35-40% in April 2020, said a report by Care Ratings. The rating agency has also predicted that the manufacturing sector contracted by 40-45%; mining by 15-20%; and electricity production fell by 20-25% in the month.
In urban areas, the percentage of women working as casual labour fell from 13.1% in 2017-18 to 10.7% in 2018-19, while the percentage of salaried women increased from 52.1% to 54.7% in the same duration.