WebinarsNew
Explore Business Standard
Production growth in eight core infrastructure sectors slowed down to 2.3 per cent in February from 3.4 per cent in the same month last year, according to government data. Production of crude oil, natural gas, and refinery products declined during the month. During April-February, the cumulative production growth in infrastructure sectors was 2.9 per cent, compared with 4.4 per cent in the same period of the last financial year.
The government is considering a proposal for creation of a Rs 20,000 crore risk guarantee fund for the infrastructure sector to push investment by the private sector. The establishment of a risk guarantee fund for the infrastructure sector is expected to attract private sector investment by sharing project risks, thereby reducing the burden on project developers, sources said. The fund with initial corpus of Rs 20,000 crore may be managed by National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited (NCGTC), sources said, adding, the fund would underwrite development risk of a new project. Besides, there should be additional safeguards by way of a minimum stake by the developer and risk-based premiums may be charged. The fund would cover losses arising from policy uncertainty and other non-commercial risks, thereby encouraging lenders to extend larger loans to big projects, sources added. For the fund to be successful, sources said, the fund's guarantee must be bankable and there must be .
India-US TRUST (Transforming Relationship Utilizing Strategic Technology) will pave the way for economic and technological cooperation between the two countries, while focus on the IMEC framework will deepen collaboration in infrastructure and economic corridors, according to industry experts. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump have agreed on the TRUST initiative, to emphasise on creating strong supply chains of critical minerals, advanced materials, and pharmaceuticals. As per a joint statement issued after the Trump-Modi meeting in Washington, both countries have decided to launch a recovery and processing initiative for strategic minerals such as lithium and rare earth. The two sides will also work together on economic corridors and connectivity infrastructure under the IMEC (India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor) and I2U2 frameworks. "TRUST initiative on critical minerals and advanced materials marks a significant step toward economic and technologi