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Maran: e-governance plan to be placed before Cabinet soon
New Delhi: The government will soon place the national e-governance programme (NEGP) before the Union cabinet for its approval, communication and IT minister Dayanidhi Maran has said.

The government is planning to cover one lakh villages under the NEGP. While 17 states have responded positively to the programme, others are lagging behind.

Maran said NEGP would be a public-private partnership project and the users will have to pay for the services.
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British firm ILF is technical consultant for Iran-India pipeline
New Delhi: Global consultancy major ILF of Britain will be the technical consultant for the proposed US$7bn Iran-Pakistan-India natural gas pipeline by state-owned GAIL (India). The award has been made as ILF's bid was the lowest among three of the five bidders who qualified.

The government had earlier asked GAIL to select technical and legal consultants for the tri-nation project. Indian Oil Corp had selected Ernst and Young as the financial consultant last month.

Snamprogetti of Italy, Technip of Germany, JP Kenny of Australia, Tractebel of Belgium and ILF of Britain were the five consultancies that participated in GAIL's pre-bid meeting in September.

The technical consultant has been given six weeks to two months to submit its pre-feasibility report as India, Pakistan and Iran have committed to conclude the tripartite framework agreement by Dec 31.

Pakistan too is in the process of appointing consultants for the 2,100-km pipeline, of which 1,100 km will be in Iran, 750 km in Pakistan and the remaining 250 km in India.
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Over Rs.1 lakh crore investment required in coal sector by 2025
New Delhi: Minister of state for coal Dasari Narayan Rao has said that nearly Rs134,300 crore investment was required in the coal sector by 2025 in order to ensure energy security for the country.

The tentative investment requirement includes Rs95,000 crore in open cast mining, Rs23,000 crore in underground mining, a minimum of Rs8,000 crore in coal beneficiation, Rs7,000 crore in overseas equity and Rs1,300 crore in exploration, Rao said on the inaugural day of the two-day 'Coal Summit-2005' here.

This order of investment, he said, was justified as coal would continue to be the prime source of energy, accounting for about 55 per cent of the total primary commercial energy requirements.

He said the hike in oil prices coupled with the dangers of the greenhouse gases had provided a thrust on new cutting edge technologies.
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Velu: Railways net surplus to reach Rs.1,900 crore
Kolkata: The Railways expect to earn a net surplus of Rs1,900 crore during the current fiscal, an increase of Rs200 crore over the last year, Minister of state for railways, R Velu has said.

"By the end of this year, our balance will be Rs10,000 crore. The net surplus will be Rs1,900 crore. Last year, the net surplus was Rs1,700 crore," he said at a seminar on 'Indian Railways: The Road Ahead' organised here by Merchants Chamber of Commerce.

He described 2005-06 as the 'golden year' for the Railways and said it would witness a growth of 10 per cent, which is higher than the national GDP growth.

Attributing the growth to the aggressive marketing policy of the Railways both in the freight and passenger sectors, the minister said schemes like 'build your warehouse' and 'roll-on, roll-off' were a big success.
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Gem & Jewelry exports up 20.73 per cent in H1
Mumbai: India's gem and jewelry exports increased by 20.73 per cent to US$8391.91mn (Rs36,486.74 crore) in the six-month period ending September compared with US$6951.01mn (Rs31,477.34 crore) during the corresponding period a year ago.

During the period, exports of cut and polished diamonds was US$6,265.72mn (Rs27,242.73 crore), a growth of 23.91 per cent compared with US$5,056.55mn (Rs22,911.26 crore), according to the latest data released by the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) of India.

During the period, total exports of gold jewellery stood at US$1,644.56mn compared with US$1575.47mn, a growth of 4.39 per cent. Coloured gemstone exports stood at US$109.21mn compared with US$100.54mn with increase of 8.62 per cent.
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HC stays I-T order on attaching bank accounts of Coca-Cola
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has stayed the order of Income Tax authorities attaching bank accounts of Coca-Cola for recovery of outstanding tax dues of Rs77 crore for the assessment year 2002-2003. The High Court has asked the soft drink major to deposit Rs10 crore towards the I-T claim in installments by December.
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Central Government's net market borrowings rise by 123 pc
New Delhi: The Centre's net market borrowings, after redemptions of securities worth Rs48,131 crore, was 123 per cent higher at Rs56,369 crore till October 14 this fiscal compared to Rs25,224 crore during the period a year ago, according to PNB Gilts report..

Gross borrowings rose by 41 per cent to Rs1,04,500 crore during the period under review as against Rs74,000 crore in the previous year period.

The Government has completed gross borrowings (Dated Securities) to the tune of Rs84,000 crore against annual budgeted gross borrowings (Dated Securities) of Rs1,39,467 crore.

The Centre has also raised Rs14,000 crore in 364-day treasury bills and another Rs6,500 crore in 182-day bills taking the gross borrowing to Rs1,04,500 crore.

Recently the RBI rejected bids received for 9-year government bonds for an amount of Rs6,000 crore during the fortnight under review.

The market sentiments were cautious and subdued with the date for the mid-term review approaching.
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Maharashtra not to appeal against NTC mills decision
Mumbai: The Maharashtra Government does not plan to appeal against the verdict of the Bombay High Court in the mill land case but would seek legal advice on the implications of the verdict according to the chief minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Deshmukh said that the changes in the Development Control Regulation (DCR) had helped mill workers regain past dues from the closed mills. He said the decision had been taken in the interest of the workers. The change of law was undertaken only because the mill owners did not come forward for the redevelopment of their land until 2001.

He accepted the charge that the city had lost open spaces to new construction but shifted the onus of executing the DCR on the Municipal Corporation.
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