Govt plans Rs7,000-cr investment in deep-sea port off Bengal
New Delhi: The government is planning to spend Rs7,000 crore in setting up a modern deep-sea port off the coast of West Bengal. This is part of its Rs55,000 crore plan to double port capacity in the country to 1,000 million tonne by 2012.

The government has invited expressions of interest (EoI) for the deep sea port, which would come up near sand head in the state. The feasibility report is to be completed in 18 months, Union shipping minister T R Baalu said.

One of the problems of ports in the country has been inadequate depth resulting in most of Indian cargo being transhipped in Singapore, Dubai and Colombo.

The Paradip port on the east coast is to be deepened to 17.1 metres from the present 12.8 metres at a cost of Rs235 crore to make it the deepest port in the country, he said.

The Tuticorin port has taken up a project to deepen its channel to 14.7 metres from the present 12.5 metres. The Rs450-crore project assumes significance in the light of the ongoing Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project, scheduled to be completed by 2008 at a cost of Rs2,427 crore.

Once Sethusamudram project in Palk Bay is completed, Tuticorin port is expected to become a port and would attract several bulk carriers that go to Colombo for transhipment, he said.
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Global oil prices expected to rise again
New Delhi: The National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in its latest quarterly review said that global crude oil prices may start rising again in view of tight spare capacity in the international markets.

Besides, rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and risk to production in some other large oil producing countries, notably Nigeria, could further push the prices of international crude oil, it said.

NCAER said major economies of the world are expected to see a continuation of economic growth trends implying that demand pressure on energy supplies will remain.

Moreover, oil producers' cartel OPEC appears keen in maintaining high prices by restricting output, while consumers show no signs of restraining demand.

Oil prices have fallen below 60 dollars a barrel from the historical highs of 78 dollars per barrel during September this year.
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Gujarat first state in India to electrify all villages
Champaner: Gujarat is the first state in the country where electricity has reached all the villages. All 18,065 villages of the state have now access to three-phase uninterrupted electric supply. The state government has commissioned the network of 56,599-km-long cables and 12,621 new transformers under its ambitious Jyotigram Yojna in 30 months with an investment of about Rs15,000 crore.

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi said the uninterrupted power supply would enable the villages to improve their standard of living as well as productivity.
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