Page 29 - Gujarat

PM Modi lays foundation stone of projects worth Rs 13,500 crore in Gujarat

The projects encompass a wide range of sectors such as internet connectivity, rail, road, education, health, connectivity, research and tourism, the Prime Minister's Office said

ADB approves $23 mn loan to boost fintech education, research in Gujarat

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday said it has approved a USD 23 million loan to enhance access to quality fintech education, research, and innovation at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) in India. GIFT is a state-owned enterprise established to promote and cultivate fintech ecosystems and financial services in India. It is the country's first international financial services centre and has become a fast-growing area for helping and developing local startups. "The development of India's fintech industry has transformed how people do business, contributed to economic growth, and prepared the country for the future," ADB economist Kanupriya Gupta said. "ADB's assistance will help strengthen the country's fintech education to ensure that digital and financial services become more efficient and accessible in the future," he added. In a statement, ADB said the project will construct an inclusive, sustainable, and climate-resilient International Fintech Institut

Purchased electricity worth Rs 40,000 cr in 2 years: Guj govt to Assembly

The Gujarat government on Thursday informed the Assembly that it has purchased electricity worth Rs 40,634 crore from different power generation firms in the last two years. Responding to a set of questions raised by Congress MLAs, state energy minister Kanubhai Desai said Rs 20,898 crore was paid to 804 firms, mostly renewable energy projects, in 2022 while Rs 19,736 crore was paid in 2023 to 919 firms towards the purchase of electricity. In 2022, the average cost was Rs 5.25 per unit while it was Rs 4.75 in 2023, he added. Congress Legislature Party leader Amit Chavda and senior Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar confronted Desai over the issue and sought to know why private firms are given preference over state-run energy generation firms. "The total installed capacity of the state government's power plants is 9,347 MW while the total installed capacity of three private entities - Adani, Essar and Tata - is 5,361 MW. Despite our capacity being more, we give preference to private firms

Nabard report puts Gujarat's credit potential at Rs 3.53 trn for 2024-25

A National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) report on Thursday revealed that Gujarat's credit potential for priority sectors stands at Rs 3.53 lakh crore. A NABARD release said its annual document 'State Focus Paper 2024-25' was unveiled by Gujarat Chief Secretary Raj Kumar at an event held here in the presence of senior officials, bankers, heads of NGOs and stakeholders. NABARD is an apex regulatory body for overall regulation of regional rural banks and apex cooperative banks in India. "NABARD's meticulous analysis highlighted a credit potential of Rs 3.53 lakh crore for Gujarat, including Rs 1.42 lakh crore, which comes to 40 per cent, for agriculture and allied sectors, Rs 1.80 lakh crore (51 per cent) for the MSME sector, and the remaining 9 per cent for other priority sectors," said the release. The document not only outlines the existing credit-absorption capacity but also proposes strategies to enhance it through strategic partnerships and policy ...

RS polls: All 4 BJP candidates from Guj, including Nadda, file nominations

All four BJP candidates from Gujarat, including party president J P Nadda, filed their nomination papers here on Thursday for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. Besides Nadda, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nominated party leader from Godhra, Jashvantsinh Parmar, diamond baron Govind Dholakia and BJP leader Mayank Nayak for the election to be held on February 27. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and state BJP chief CR Paatil accompanied Nadda when he arrived at the state legislative assembly complex here to file his candidature. Returning officer Rita Mehta accepted the papers from these four BJP candidates. Though a person named Paresh Mulani has also filed his nomination as an independent candidate on Wednesday, his candidature will be rejected during scrutiny as he did not have support of any MLA, which is mandatory as per the rules, Mehta said. Since no other party has fielded candidates and Thursday being the last day to file nomination papers, these four .

'IFSCA to set up int'l arbitration centre at IFSC for dispute resolution'

The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) is "on the job" to set up an international arbitration centre at the IFSC, Gandhinagar, to speed up dispute resolution, its chairman K Rajaraman said on Wednesday. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech in 2022 announced setting up of an international arbitration centre at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City). Currently, GIFT-IFSC is the maiden international financial services centre in India. "The proposal is under consideration of the government...we are already on the job", he said at an event organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The centre could be on the lines of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, or the London Commercial Arbitration Centre. Asked if crypto currency is allowed in IFSC, Rajaraman said it is not permitted as it is not a safe financial product. However, he said, IFSCA is working on tokenisation of real world assets and the regulator is .

Adani Green starts generating power at Khavda renewable power plant

Adani Green said once the Khavda plant is fully operational, it will be able to generate 81 billion units of clean electricity

1,606 primary schools in state operate with 1 teacher: Guj govt in Assembly

As many as 1,606 government-run primary schools in Gujarat were functioning with just one teacher, the state government informed the legislative assembly on Monday. In a debate during the Question Hour of the ongoing budget session, state Education Minister Kuber Dindor admitted that the number of schools facing a shortage of teachers has increased in the last two years mainly because of the transfer of educators to places of their choice. While Dindor assured the House that vacant posts in the state-run primary schools would be filled "at the earliest", Congress MLAs took a strong exception and asked the BJP government to specify the timeframe for filling the posts. Responding to a question by Congress MLA Tushar Chaudhary, the minister said 1,606 government primary schools in Gujarat were functioning with just one teacher as of December 2023. The state has more than 32,000 government primary schools. He said steps are being taken to ensure that students do not suffer, and these

Path shown by Swami Dayanand infuses hope among millions in Amritkal: PM

While addressing the people through a video conference, PM Modi said that it is a privilege for him to be a part of the program related to the 200th birth anniversary of Swami Dayanand

More than half million children in Gujarat malnourished: Govt data

More than 5.70 lakh children in Gujarat are malnourished, the Gujarat assembly was informed on Wednesday with the government listing various steps being taken to improve the situation. Responding to a set of questions raised by Congress MLAs during Question Hour, Women and Child Development Minister Bhanuben Babariya informed that out of 5.70 lakh malnourished children in the state, nearly 4.38 lakh children are underweight, while 1.31 lakh fell in the 'severely underweight' category. Notably, the highly-urbanised district of Ahmedabad accounted for the highest number of malnourished children (56,941), followed by tribal-dominated Dahod (51,321), Banaskantha (48,866), Panchmahal (31,512), Kheda (28,800), Surat (26,682) and Bhavnagar (26,128), Babariya stated in written replies giving the data till end-2023. In one year, as many as 9,634 malnourished children were added in Kheda district, which was the highest in Gujarat. Kheda was followed by Ahmedabad (3,516 children), Bharuch ...

Rooftop solar charges up electric vehicle boom in India's smaller cities

Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Kerala see more users

9,218 teachers fined Rs 1.54 cr for committing errors in exam assessment

More than 9,000 schoolteachers in Gujarat were slapped with cumulative fine of Rs 1.54 crore over a period of two years for committing errors in totalling marks during the evaluation of Classes X and XII board exam answer sheets, the state Assembly was informed on Tuesday. Responding to a query by Congress MLA Kirit Patel during Question Hour, state education minister Kuber Dindor admitted that as many as 9,218 teachers - 3,350 of Class X and 5,868 of Class XII - had committed errors in calculating marks during the assessment of board exam answer sheets in 2022 and 2023. As per the written reply tabled in the House, the state government had slapped a cumulative fine of Rs 1.54 crore on these teachers. The average fine comes to around Rs 1,600 per teacher. Of these 9,218 erring teachers, 6,561, including 2,563 who had examined answer sheets of Class X and 3,998 of Class XII, have already deposited a little over Rs 1 crore. As many as 2,657 teachers, including 787 of Class 10 and ...

Gujarat govt paid Rs 8,200 cr in excess to Adani Power, says Congress

The Congress on Tuesday alleged the Gujarat government has paid Rs 8,200 crore in excess to Adani Power towards electricity purchase charges in two years which it dubbed "favouritism", a claim dismissed by the power minister who cited the rise in coal purchase cost. The Congress also demanded that the government recover the "additional Rs 8,265 crore" from Adani and invest it in increasing the capacity of state-run power generators. During Question Hour of the budget session of the Assembly, Congress MLA Tushar Chaudhary sought to know the rates at which the government purchased electricity from Adani Power Ltd during 2022 and 2023. In his reply, Power Minister Kanubhai Desai said electricity is purchased as per the "merit order" system which was introduced by the former Congress-led UPA government. "The state government had entered into an agreement with Adani Power in 2007 to purchase power at Rs 2.89 per unit under bid-1 and at Rs 2.35 per unit under bid-2 for 25 years. Such pow

555 Asiatic lions died in five years, no rise in mortality rate, says Govt

A total 555 Asiatic lions died in the last five years but there has been no increase in their mortality rate, the government told the Lok Sabha on Monday. The Gir forest in Gujarat is the only natural habitat of the Asiatic lion. According to government data, the number of these big cats in Gir rose from 523 in 2015 to 674 in 2020. Replying to a question, Union Minister of State for Environment Ashwini Kumar Choubey told the Lower House that 555 lions died in the last five years. He said 113 lions died in 2019, 124 in 2020, 105 in 2021, 110 in 2022 and 103 in 2023. Asked if an increasing number of lions were dying in the country, the minister replied in the negative. Over the years, experts have demanded the translocation of lions in India as the big cats have been geographically isolated in Gir. A second home would protect the lion population from extinction in case of an epidemic, an unexpected decline in prey or natural calamities. In September 2018, 27 lions died in Gir becau

IRMA, NCDEX launch centre in Gujarat to promote commodity derivatives mkt

Commodity exchange NCDEX's Investor Protection Fund and Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) on Monday launched a centre of excellence in Anand, Gujarat, for growth of commodity derivatives market. NCDEX and IRMA would collaborate to further develop the "commodities derivatives ecosystem, providing support in the areas of research, policy formation, policy advocacy, capacity building, thought leadership, product development, and leveraging synergies within the industrial and financial ecosystem", a statement said. The project seeks to redefine policy maker's perspectives on commodity derivatives markets, fostering a deeper understanding of price discovery for both banned and unbanned commodities, it added. IRMA will spearhead efforts to enhance the scope of commodity markets through rigorous research and analysis. NCDEX will provide technical support and data-related assistance. NCDEX MD & CEO Arun Raste said, We are entering the 'Amrit Kaal' during which we have resolved ..

India's largest theatre festival 'Bharat Rang Mahotsav' begins in Gujarat

The Bharat Rang Mahotsav is a 21-day cultural event featuring over 150 plays, workshops, and discussions

Gujarat govt presents Rs 3.32 trillion Budget; no new taxes proposed

The BJP-ruled Gujarat government on Friday presented a Rs 3.32 lakh crore budget that imposed no new taxes. Finance Minister Kanubhai Desai presented the budget for 2024-25 in the Assembly here on the second day of the Budget Session. Desai informed the House that the budget outlay of Rs 3,32,465 crore for 2024-25 indicates an increase of Rs 31,444 crore, or 10.44 per cent, over the previous fiscal. The state government presented the budget with an estimated surplus of 146.72 crore and proposed no new taxes. In his budgetary address, Desai announced a host of schemes and projects and said the state government kept GYAN Garib' (the poor), Yuva' (youth), Annadata' (farmer) and Nari Shakti' (women power) at the core while preparing the budget. Under the newly proposed Namo Lakshmi' scheme, girls studying in government, aided and private schools from Classes 9 to 12 will be given Rs 50,000 over the four years of their education. A provision of Rs 1,250 crore has been made in the bud

Surajkund Mela 2024: Date, timing, online tickets, price, and other details

The Surajkund mela remains a global celebration, giving a stage to craftsmen from around the world to display their way of life and exhibit their gifts

Honda Motorcycle domestic overall sales rise 42% to 419,395 units in Jan

Exports grew a whopping 102 per cent year-on-year at 36,883 units in the previous month, it stated

Deepak Chem inks pact to invest Rs 9,000 cr in Gujarat in chemical sector

Deepak Chem Tech, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deepak Nitrite, on Wednesday said it has inked an agreement with the Gujarat government to invest around Rs 9,000 crore to establish projects at Dahej. Under the memorandum of understanding, the company will invest Rs 9,000 crore to set up units to manufacture chemicals at Dahej, expected to commence operations in 2027, Deepak Chem Tech (formerly Deepak Clean Tech) said in a regulatory filing. This investment is likely to create about 1,300 direct and indirect employment opportunities, it added. Earlier, the company had expressed its intention to invest around Rs 9,000 crore during Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024 held on January 10-12. The proposed investment will help the country reduce its imports, the company said.