Larsen & Toubro (L&T), India’s biggest infrastructure and project execution company, has won a Rs 1,000-crore contract to maintain 5 million smart meters in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar over the next eight years, sources said. The smart meter tender, floated by state-owned Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) earlier this year, was divided into two parts […]
Month: December 2017
Government under pressure to cut excise duty on auto fuels: Icra
With oil prices on the boil, the government will be under pressure to cut excise duty on petrol and diesel to help soften the impact on consumers, credit rating agency Icra said today. Brent prices have jumped 40 per cent to around $67 per barrel this month from $48 in November 2016 when the OPEC […]
Varanasi may be launchpad for seaplane service: SpiceJet chairman Ajay Singh
River Ganga in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency Varanasi may be among the first places in India to get a regular seaplane service. SpiceJet chairman Ajay Singh told TOI he is aiming to start flights on this plane in 2018 and Varanasi could be the launchpad for the amphibious plane – which can land both […]
Israel to award gas exploration license to a consortium of Indian oil PSUs
Israel will award an exploration license to a consortium of Indian state firms led by ONGC Videsh in an auction of its offshore gas fields that saw tepid response from global companies. The decision to award the license, coming just ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposed mid-January visit to India, is being seen […]
Government sanguine about coal sector in 2018 on demand upswing
The government is looking at 2018 with renewed optimism for the coal sector in the wake of demand upturn and expecting 6-7 per cent growth in supply of the dry fuel next year. Also, the government is hopeful of a better show by state-owned Coal India (CIL), which is expected to achieve an output of […]
PFC, Tata Power Delhi Distribution ink MoU for power distribution
State-run Power Finance Corporation on Thursday said its consultancy arm PFC Consulting Ltd (PFCCL) has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd for jointly exploring opportunities in electricity distribution sector in the country. The scope of the agreement include jointly taking up various distribution projects, network strengthening, electrical mobility, […]
Government doesn’t want Air India to go Kingfisher Airlines way: Ashok Gajapathi Raju
The government does not want Air India to become defunct like the Kingfisher Airlines, promoted by embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya, and wants it to serve the nation, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said today. The government does not want anyone working in Air India to lose job, Raju said in the Lok Sabha, […]
Airlines can’t blame computer models for higher fares, German cartel chief says
Airlines shouldn’t be allowed to hide behind computer-based models when justifying higher fares, the head of the German cartel office said in an interview published on Thursday, as authorities review allegations of a recent spike in prices. In November, the cartel office asked national airline Lufthansa for information on prices after receiving complaints about rising […]
24-hr electricity by 2019; discoms to be fined for power failure: R K Singh
By March 2019, all homes in the country will be provided uninterrupted 24-hour power supply throughout the year, Power Minister R K Singh said on Thursday. Singh said that, by December 2018, 1,694 villages, which are yet to be electrified, will have electricity connection and works in this regard has been going on. All homes […]
Essar Oilfields begins drilling oil off Gujarat coast
Essar Oilfields Services (India) Ltd (EOSIL) today announced it has commenced work on a contract awarded by Mercator Petroleum to drill oil wells in the Cambay basin off Gujarat coast. “Along with other drilling contracts that we have commenced this fiscal, the Mercator contract will add substantially to our topline growth. We are well placed […]
UP launches free power connection scheme to mark Vajpayee’s birthday
Uttar Pradesh has launched a free household power connection scheme for the poor in the state to mark former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birth anniversary. “To begin with Lohban and Gausana, the two villages of Mathura district have been covered for 100 per cent electrification on the birth anniversary of former prime minister Atal […]
Flight trial operations of Kannur airport from January
Flight trial operations of the Kannur International Airport, built at a cost of Rs 1,892 crore, will commence in January next year, in preparation for the launch of commercial “A trial flight is expected from Delhi to calibrate the radar system. We have requested them to conduct the operations in early January,” Kannur International Airport […]