Will Metro coaches be manufactured in Greater Noida ?

A renowned company PPS International has asked Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) for a plot of 20 acres (80,937 square meters) of land to manufacture stainless steel coaches based on German Technology. This factory would The  Company would manufacture stainless steel coaches based on German Technology and attract nearly 200 crores.

Though the land has not yet been allotted, its prospect is considered to be very bright. The final decision on the proposal yet to come from authorities but it is believed that this proposal is going to get the green signal.

According to a website, https://www.metrorailnews.in/  Yamuna Authority has agreed on the allocation of land for the factory in Sector-32. Once allotted, it would be a big boost to Greater Noida which has just got its International Airport, Jewer--likely to be started in the coming two-three years.

The company, PPS  International,  an  ISO 9001  certified company, established in the year  2003,    Introduces high tech equipment in Rail Industry from the world-renowned companies to make   Indian Railways and Metro more advanced and safe. PPS deals mainly in equipment, which is either not available in the country or requires special technology.

Based in Delhi / NCR  region, the company has a specialized technical team is able to reach the   Rail /  Metro customers throughout the country to provide efficient sales, marketing and after-sales support.

For manufacturing coaches, the company has made a proposal and send it to YEIDA. It would further create job opportunities for the youth, along with investment from the big companies.

The  Company will manufacture stainless steel coaches based on German Technology. Most of the industrial plots in the authority area have been allocated for electronics or light industries. The establishment of the heavy industry will open new doors of possibilities. “A decision to be taken on the allotment of land on completion of the application process,” YEIDA said.

Formed in 2013, the company manufactures overhead electricity cables, cantilever, electric plugs etc. for Indian Railway and Metro Rail. 

BY Vijay Thakur, Special Representative, The Statesman, vijaythakurx@gmail.com

Waste industrial cotton and sea water can make costly parts of a Supercapacitor: Indian research scientists

Can a supercapacitor be prepared from waste or from something which is almost free? Seems amazing or unbelievable. Well, Indian scientists have developed a technology to make a simple, low-cost environmentally friendly and sustainable supercapacitor electrode derived from industrial waste cotton, and an electrolyte for a Supercapacitor derived from seawater.

Both these products electrodes and electrolyte for a supercapacitor is not only environmentally friendly and cost-effective, but also a scalable, and alternative aqueous electrolyte, which may replace the existing aqueous-based electrolytes for the economic fabrication of supercapacitor, claim the scientists of the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), an autonomous organization of the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, which had invented these two costly components from waste.

Supercapacitor:

A supercapacitor (SC), also called an ultracapacitor  with a capacitance value much higher than other capacitors, but with lower voltage limits, that bridges the gap between electrolytic capacitors and rechargeable batteries. It typically stores 10 to 100 times more energy per unit volume or mass than electrolytic capacitors, can accept and deliver charge much faster than batteries, and tolerates many more charges and discharge cycles than rechargeable batteries.

It is a next-generation energy storage device that has received extensive research attention owing to advantages such as high power density, long durability, and ultrafast charging characteristic as compared to conventional capacitors and lithium-ion batteries (LIB).

Its Usage:

Supercapacitors are used in applications requiring many rapid charge/discharge cycles, rather than long term compact energy storage — in automobiles, buses, trains, cranes and elevators, where they are used for regenerative braking, short-term energy storage, or burst-mode power delivery, smaller units can be used as a power backup for static random access memory (SRAM).

 

The Invention:

Scientists from ARCI, an autonomous organization of the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, has developed these two low-cost, environmentally friendly, and sustainable supercapacitor electrode derived from industrial waste cotton and electrolyte from natural seawater which may replace the existing aqueous-based electrolytes for the economic fabrication of supercapacitor.

 

A supercapacitor has four components (1) electrode, (2) electrolyte, (3) separator, and the (4) current collector. The first two, electrode and electrolyte, developed by the scientists of ARCI, are the pivotal components. And it directly determines the electrochemical behaviour of the supercapacitors and is considered to be very costly components.

The fabrication cost of electrode materials, as well as electrolytes, should be reduced because these two components account for the cost of the device. In search of a cost-effective material for making affordable supercapacitor devices, scientists at ARCI have converted industrial waste cotton (Trash) into highly porous carbon fibers (Treasure) by activation process and then utilised the porous carbon fibers to make high-performance supercapacitor electrodes.

In the recent research published in Energy Technology, scientists at ARCI demonstrated the feasibility of using seawater as natural electrolyte for the fabrication of aqueous-based supercapacitor devices which shows great potential for practical implementation. The study found that natural seawater-based supercapacitor exhibited maximum capacitances at a current density of 1 Ag^-1. In addition, seawater-based supercapacitor shows very good durability upon 10,000 charge-discharge cycles with 99 % of capacitance retention and 99 % of Coulombic efficiency (efficiency with which charge is transferred in a system facilitating an electrochemical reaction).

The research team’s new, sustainable and green supercapacitor device shows great potential for practical application, and perhaps most importantly, the integrated solar cell with seawater-based supercapacitor as low cost, eco-friendly, efficient and self-powering device.

The successful demonstration of the device revealed that solar-powered supercapacitors can not only store the electrical energy but also overcome the drawbacks of the intermittent nature of the solar irradiation. Hence, the integrated solar cell with supercapacitor can be used as an energy harvester storage device due to their long cycle life and maintenance-free power supply. 

“The large-scale use of renewable energy requires the creation of matching capacity for inexpensive electrical energy storage. This study provides a solution for the fabrication of super-capacitors from such abundant materials as waste cotton and seawater! It is an excellent example of the creative science for the sustainable, green processes embedding principles of waste-to-wealth,” says Prof Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST.

BY Vijay Thakur, Special Representative, The Statesman, vijaythakurx@gmail.com

Ends.

MSP for our MLAs/MPs: इस तरह अगर हमारे कांग्रेसी MLA बिकते रहे तो सरकार तो इनका MSP fix कर देना चाहिए ?

In Greek origin of the word, Democracy is a combination of two words 'Demos' means citizens and 'Kratos' means the power of rule--it became 'Demos-Kratos'  and now Democracy, it was then a utopian concept like we call Ram Rajya in India. This actually means the government which is ruled by the people. the idea seems amazing both Democracy and Ram Rajya But the Ground reality in India is different. Having seen all the negative aspect of Demos-Kratos--I still call long live democracy.

These days fighting an election is a big risk. It is a 'make or break' game for our poor politicians, who may have more than enough money in their bank or in land plots, but hardly have any heart in spending it.

For them Fighting/contesting elections is a Business and some of them proudly claim sometimes they are not politicians but 'social businessman'. Nothing comes free for them. Even a party worker, who works day and night for him... at least deserve a decent car, a bottle of whisky of his choice, and chicken leg.. if they get some decent dance at night to relax their fatigue it would be "सोने पे सुहागा".

They do not see any wrong in their demand. Even a daily wager in 'MANREGA' gets more than that in eight. A Mason or a carpenter earns Rs 600 to Rs 700 a day. A contesting MLA candidate at least needs more than 300 to 500 dedicated workers for 24x7 for nearly 15 days... If we calculate other campaigning expenses (according to a Delhi MLA known to me), he spends more than Rs 50 lakhs in one election.

Where that money comes from. Then his office expenses, four to five dedicated workers throughout, regular tea and snacks for his regular visitors (could be sometimes more than 1000 a day), you name it you have it.... the list is long and surprising. Normally these poor chaps have to spend approx two crores for these expenses. 

If they are demanding Rs 25 crore... what's wrong in that... A raw cotton 250 grams (raw material cost Rs 27 a kg), but when It is developed into a shirt, it costs about Rs 500 a piece (which means Rs 2000 a kg).... imagine.

So why not an uneducated/illitrate/ruffian/ Gunda, who spends about Rs 2 crore to become an MLA not cost Rs 25 surprises our system.

Long live democracy !!!

BY Vijay Thakur, Special Representative, The Statesman, vijaythakurx@gmail.com

 

COVID-19: Finally scared President Trump: दुनिया के थानेदार को भी अक्ल आ गई है। क्या आप अभी भी किसी मुगालते हैं याद रखें COVID-19 किसी को नहीं बख्शता

The person who always made fun of COVID-19, and remained in denial mode apparently ignoring the serious implications of the Global pandemic have to adopt 'a face Mark'--One could see the visible terror on his face. The villain of the world or the little terrorist is going to stay with us. Today 12.8 million people are reported to have infected with it the actual number would be beyond our imagination. The reported death is 5.46 lakhs... the actual numbers are still a mystery. Even if 0.1% (one out of 1000) people died of this disease in the coming one year (by the time we will see some vaccine in the market) -- the total death figure could as high as 78 lakhs. 

COVIOD-19 is a very weak but highly contagious virus rather the highest contagious virus ever know to menkind in the recorded history. So should we fight it our or sit at home and wait for our tur to come.

I will say non of the two. (1) Know your enemy, Know weaknesses of your enemy, and (3) Fight it out.. thats' what I have learnt in my college NCC training-- mostly taught to the army personnel in detail.

Know your Enemy: 

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment.  Older people and those with underlying medical problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer are more likely to develop serious illness.

About 80% of confirmed cases recover from the disease without any serious complications. However, one out of every six people who get COVID-19 can become seriously ill* and develop difficulty in breathing. In more severe cases, the infection can cause severe pneumonia and other complications which can be treated only at higher-level facilities (District Hospitals and above). In a few cases, it may even cause death.

What is the Weaknesses of COVID-19  how we can fight with it? 

COVID-19 spreads mainly by droplets produced as a result of coughing or sneezing of a COVID-19 infected person. This can happen in two ways: Š Direct close contact: one can get the infection by being in close contact with COVID-19 patients (within one Metre of the infected person), especially if they do not cover their face when coughing or sneezing. Š Indirect contact: the droplets survive on surfaces and clothes for many days. Therefore, touching any such infected surface or cloth and then touching one’s mouth, nose or eyes can transmit the disease.  The incubation period of COVID 19 (time between getting the infection and showing symptoms) is 1 to 14 days  Some people with the infection, but without any serious symptoms can also spread the disease.

•  First thing that you are very lucky as it was diagnosed in time. Unfortunately, in 60 -70 % cases people do not get to know of it and keep spreading it to their near and dear ones.

•            ISOLATE yourself and listen to very light music of your choice (it would relax your brain from tensions) and all your organs would fight against CORONA. Forget all the worries of the world and only think positive to cure yourself. Always remember a person with tension free mind recovers 50 % faster than a person with tension so shun unnecessary worldly tensions.

•      Besides following the instructions of COVID 19, follow the INSTRUCTIONS OF COVID-19 EXPERT DOCTORS, You must be in regular touch with your family physician or a doctor you trust. Apprise him of every development and REMEMBER YOUR FAMILY PHYSICIAN KNOW YOU FOR AGES, HE KNOWS ABOUT YOUR BODY MORE THAN YOU AND WILL HELP YOU UNDERSTANDING THE TREATMENT GIVEN BY A COVID-19 DOCTOR. 

•        STRICTLY FOLLOW THE PREVENTIVE MEASURES AS MENTIONED. AND FOLLOW ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN BY YOUR COVID-19 DOCTOR and family physician..

•        KEEP HYGIENE DO NOT ENTERTAIN ANYONE EVEN YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS. DO NOT SHARE ANYTHING with your family members WHICH MAY CREATE PANIC AMONG YOUR DEAR ONES. 

•       NO ONE GUARANTEE THAT all these things would save you from COVID-19, but it is also a fact that your chances of entering into THE CLLUB of “COVID-19 DEAD”  would reduce substantially.

Ends.

BY Vijay Thakur, Special Representative, The Statesman, vijaythakurx@gmail.com

If it can attack Amitabh Bachchan familly, you are no exception. Learn something from 'Angry Young Man's' experience

Do not Panic, Prepare yourself for the pandemic--God forbid tomorrow, it could be me or you

Today Amitabh Bachchan and his son Abhishek, daughter in law Aishwarya and granddaughter Aradhya were tested COVID-19 positive. But frankly speaking, it did not surprise me. Doctors have already warned that nearly 30 to 40 % of the population would be infected by it, which means one out of three persons at least will be affected by it. The disease is so contagious that those who are taking utmost precautions would not be spared by it—Amitabh Bachchan is no different.

Do not panic, prepare yourself for Corona before it attacks you.

• Wash your hands every two hours, it would prevent the spread of Coronavirus to others and to yourself.
• Avoid touching your hands with your Mouth, Nose and eyes.
• Drink hot water (at least 150 ml) every two hours and also gargle if possible. It would minimize the COVID-19 virus in your mouth and windpipe. So even if Corona attacks you, its intensity would be very low.
• Always BRUSH your teeth before sleeping and gargle with warm salty water. (it is very important). When you sleep for 7-8 hours, COVID-19-- if it is in your body would multiply eating food which is in your mouth or in the windpipe. If you clean it before sleeping, the chances of multiplication would reduce considerably.
• Have supplementary doses of Vitamins mainly Vitamin C but not in large quantities. On average our body needs 100 mg Vitamin C every day.
• Take potion (काड़ा) that prevents viral diseases every day or make it at home.  Take one leaf of TULSI, a Giloy leaf, a pinch of tea and kali mirch, a leaf of dalchini (add whatever is available), boil it and then, in the end, add a few drops of lemon juice/concentrate take in three-four times a day. It would not only improve your immunity but would also clear COVID 19 in your throat.

If you take all these preventive measures, I do not assure you that you will not have COVID-19, but trust me your chances of getting reduces by 80%, it would not be that intensive.... and your chances of survival from the disease increases by 90 %.

What is COVID-19 

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment.  Older people and those with underlying medical problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer are more likely to develop serious illness.

Now let's talk How we get COVID-19.

It enters into our body through NOSE, MOUTH (and in some rare cases through eyes), stays in our nasal path, throat and windpipe areas, stays there for nearly four to six hours before it enters our lungs. If it enters into our stomach it would die automatically. 

It may enter into our blood if there is any injury in our body (chances are very rare) or if there is any injury in the nasal, throat, mouth or windpipe area (here Chances are very high). 

MUST REMEMBER If it enters our blood, there is hardly any treatment except praying, increasing your immunity, and keeping yourself happy as much as you can. Once it is in your blood it will flow into your body and can attack any of your vital organs. 

 MUST REMEMBER: if it is in your blood, Chances of survival (by Europe experience) ARE just 5 out of 100… which means 95 % people who have Corona in their Blood might die of it. in this case, I suggest you write your WILL and try to complete your all uncompleted tasks (I AM NOT JOKING)... 

Survival (in case it is in your blood) only depends upon your age, immunity, your lifestyle, your state of mind, and lastly your will power. 

How to prevent its spread.

Preventing its spread is no rocket science. Understand your enemy and fight it out. 

We know it will enter through mouth and nose, and eyes….SO TRY NOT TO TOUCH IT UNNECESSARILY. 

 If you have any internal injury/infection treat it on top priority…. Because otherwise, it may directly enter into your blood. 

You know you only touch your mouth, nose and eyes through your hands. SO WASH YOUR HANDS, NOSE AND MOUTH EVERY TWO HOURS (IF YOU ARE OUT OF HOME), AND EVERY SIX HOURS (IF YOU ARE AT HOME).

Try not to invite anybody home or go out to meet somebody until it is important. 

Do not stay for more than 30 minutes at any place like shopping….acts. and avoid going to places which are centrally airconditioned. 

Use MASK only when it is necessary otherwise it may have an adverse effect. You do not need to put a mask when you are at home… or when you are driving alone. 

Avoid Air conditioner at home…and if you are using it do not use it for more than 12 hours a day and its temperature should not be less than 28 degree Celsius. During morning hours and evening hours open your windows for cross ventilation. 

There is no medicine for Covid-19 as of today June 29. There are some preventive allopathic medicines (I AM NOT MENTIONING IT BECAUSE ONLY DOCTORS SHOULD ADVISE IT). 

However, there are few things which can help improve your immunity and prevent you from all kind of bacterial/ viral infections including Covid-19. (BUT DO NOT TAKE ANYTHING IN EXCESS… IT WOULD PUT EXTRA PRESSURE ON YOUR VITAL ORGANS MAINLY KIDNEY).

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU GET COVID-19

1)   First thing that you are very lucky as it was diagnosed in time. Unfortunately, in 60 -70 % cases people do not get to know of it and keep spreading it to their near and dear ones.

2)     2)   ISOLATE yourself and listen to very light music of your choice (it would relax your brain from tensions) and all your organs would fight against CORONA. Forget all the worries of the world and only think positive to cure yourself. Always remember a person with tension free mind recovers 50 % faster than a person with tension so shun unnecessary worldly tensions.

3)     3)   BESIDES FOLLOWING THE INSTRUCTIONS OF COVID-19 EXPERT DOCTORS, You must be in regular touch with your family physician or a doctor you trust. Apprise him of every development and REMEMBER YOUR FAMILY PHYSICIAN KNOW YOU FOR AGES, HE KNOWS ABOUT YOUR BODY MORE THAN YOU AND WILL HELP YOU UNDERSTANDING THE TREATMENT GIVEN BY A COVID-19 DOCTOR.

1)     4) STRICTLY FOLLOW THE PREVENTIVE MEASURES AS MENTIONED. AND FOLLOW ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN BY YOUR COVID-19 DOCTOR and family physician...

5) KEEP HYGIENE DO NOT ENTERTAIN ANYONE EVEN YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS. DO NOT SHARE ANYTHING with your family members WHICH MAY CREATE PANIC AMONG YOUR DEAR ONES. 

3)     6) NO ONE GUARANTEE THAT all these things would save you from COVID-19, but it is also a fact that your chances of entering into THE CLLUB of “COVID-19 DEAD”  would reduce substantially.

Ends.

BY Vijay Thakur, Special Representative, The Statesman, vijaythakurx@gmail.com

India looking for a local solution of the Global pandemic, Union Health Minister while releasing a White paper on “Focused Interventions for ‘Make in India’: Post COVID 19”

India on Friday issued a white paper on Focused Interventions for ‘Make in India’: Post COVID 19’ by TIFAC, where it sought industrialists to look for a local solution for a global pandemic.

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, who released the White paper asked industrialists, Research and Policy Bodies to refer the White Paper in designing the path for the upliftment of the economy and follow recommendations “directed towards giving immediate technology and policy impetus to make India ‘ATMANIRBHAR’”.

He said India has been largely successful in mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 so far. “We got the opportunity to position ourselves as a global manufacturing hub with a big push under ‘Make In India’ with the adoption of appropriate technology and policy reforms and focused thrust in crucial sectors”.

The Minister said “This calls for furthering investment in developing infrastructure, industrialization, strengthening supply chain mechanism, creating demand for goods and services, converting farming into a business proposition …… The current pandemic is global, but the solutions to the challenge should be local.”

The white paper stressing on “Focused Interventions for ‘Make in India’: Post COVID 19” and “Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients: Status, Issues, Technology Readiness and Challenges” was prepared by Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC)-- an autonomous organization set up in 1988 under the Department of Science & Technology to look ahead in technology domain, assess the technology trajectories and support innovation by networked actions in select areas of national importance.

The TIFAC said in its paper that the road to national economic recovery would traverse through measures like Policy support to unconventional strategies, leveraging into new international partnerships in important sectors of Agriculture, Electronics, Health, ICT, Manufacturing & providing new technology stimulus.

The White paper has highlighted five sectors that would be critical for India’s economic growth, using technology stimulus and charted out sector-specific as well as aggregate policy and technological recommendations. The document also presents models of recovery of Indian economy, leveraging new international partnerships in important sectors based on national priorities and technological strength.

The White Paper by TIFAC presents a compelling map of high priority sectors, technologies, and strategies to fuel growth in the time of COVID-19 and immediately beyond. The sector-wise reports being worked on currently would also be an invaluable resource in defining the opportunities even more sharply, says Dr. V K Saraswat, Chairman TIFAC Governing Council.

White Paper has captured sector-specific strengths, market trends, and opportunities in five sectors, critical from the country’s perspective, includes healthcare, machinery, ICT, agriculture, manufacturing, and electronics with reference to supply and demand, self-sufficiency and mass-scale production capacity.

It has identified policy options primarily in the areas of Public health system, MSME sector, Global relations: FDI, recalibrated trade alignments, and new-age technologies, TIFAC claimed. This is precisely important for the development of technology clusters in champion segments, creating Technology Start-up Exchange, identifying, supporting, and piloting ten blockbuster technologies and collaborating with new dynamics with incubators of Israel, Germany, towards promoting import substitution as well as evolving technology platforms in sunrise technologies, Dr Saraswat said.

Ends.

BY Vijay Thakur, Special Representative, The Statesman, vijaythakurx@gmail.com

After banning Chinese apps, PM Modi is now planning to promote Domestic industry engaged in manufacturing of Solar Cells, batteries and other hardwares related to Solar Industry

Inaugurating India's first Ultra Mega Power Solar Plant, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India is now focusing on reducing its dependence on imports of  hardware needed for solar power plants, mainly Photovoltaic Cells, Battery and other energy storage equipment.

While he did not directly mention China in his address, his mention of cutting Solar Hardware import bill was apparently hinting at China, which is the major supplier of PV cells, lithium-ion batteries, and other auxiliary solar items.  He said India has emerged as a very attractive market for the Solar Industry, which has targeted to produce 175 Gega Watt renewable energy by 2022. 

Modi said the Indian government is already encouraging domestic industrialists to take advantage of the growing Solar Industry in India and at the same time make India self-reliant in solar energy.

He further urged young entrepreneurs, startups and industrialists from MSMEs not to miss the opportunity and work for production and betterment of all the inputs required for Solar Energy. the Prime Minister said India wants the entire world to take advantage of the Solar Energy. 

The International Solar Alliance is working in this direction aiming at “one world, One Sun and One Grid”. The idea is to provide better quality solar energy to the entire world mainly underdeveloped nations at an affordable price. “Our farmers would now also grow power to meet their requirement and to export it as well, he added.

“Solar energy is going to be a major medium of energy needs not only today but in the 21st century.

Because solar energy is sure, pure and secure,” the Prime Minister said.  Sure because of the continuous supply of Energy from the Sun, Pure as it is environment friendly and Secure because it is a secure source for our energy needs, Modi said.

He said in all the programs of his the government, priority is being given to environmental protection as well as Ease of Living. India has focused on solar energy and other environment-friendly measures so as Economy and Ecology become complementary to each other.  The 750 MegaWatt Solar Power plant in Rewa , which he inaugurated on Friday, has emerged as a game-changer in Solar Power. When started, the project offered solar energy cheaper than coal power plants.

Rewa Solar power plant is the first solar power plant, which broke the grid parity barrier. Against the prevailing solar project tariffs of about Rs 4.50 a unit in early 2017, it had offered a tariff of Rs. 2.97 a unit for the first year with a tariff escalation of five paise over 15 years and a levelized rate of Rs. 3.30/unit over the term of 25 years

The project, set up in Rewa in Madhya Pradesh, spread in over 15 square Kilometer has been acknowledged in India and abroad for its robust project structuring and innovations claimed a senior officer of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). Further, its payment security mechanism for reducing risks to power developers has been recommended as a model to other States by MNRE.

Its business model was even appreciated by the World Bank and it received World Bank Group President’s Award for innovation and excellence. Besides, the project is also the first renewable energy project to supply to an institutional customer outside the State. Its first customer was Delhi Metro, which would take 24% of energy from the project and with this DMRC is expected to save Rs 41 crore annually. The remaining 76% of the power would be supplied to the State DISCOMs of Madhya Pradesh—probably at the cheapest rate of that time.

Besides giving power at a very economical cost, this project would also reduce carbon emission equivalent to approximately 15 lakh ton of CO₂ per year, the MNRE claimed. It is also the first Solar project to get funding from the World Bank and also from Clean Technology Fund in India.

The bidding process of the Project started in January 2017 and in just three years the entire project was commissioned. In 2017 it was considered near impossible to commission a 750 Mwatt Solar Power Plant in mere three years before Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL)- a joint venture company of a Madhya Pradesh government-owned PSU (MPUVN) and a Centre PSU (Public Sector Undertaking)--SECI (Solar Energy Corporation of India)—company.

The Union government had offered central financial assistance of Rs. 138 crore to RUMSL for development of the Park. After the Park had been developed, Mahindra Renewables Private Ltd., ACME Jaipur Solar Power Private Ltd., and Arinsun Clean Energy Private Ltd were selected by RUMSL through a reverse auction for developing three solar generating units of 250 MW each inside the Solar Park.  Rewa Solar Project is an example of the excellent results that can be achieved if there is a synergy between Central and State Governments, the Ministry claimed. 

BY Vijay Thakur, Special Representative, The Statesman, vijaythakurx@gmail.com

PM launches one lakh AgriInfra Fund, releases 1000 crore to beneficiaries farmer societies. Will it really help?

A month after Centre announced one lakh crore Agriinfra Fund, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 9, finally launched the one lakh crore Agrifund--that would prove a game-changer in the long run especially for empowering small farmers and to create post-harvest infrastructure at the village level.

Modi government seems to be serious about its implementation.  Within 30 days after its announcement, the government releases the first sanction of over Rs. 1000 Crore was made to over 2,280 farmer societies. 

The event was conducted through video conference and was attended by lakhs of farmers, FPOs, cooperatives, PACS, and citizens joining from across the country.

The move would strengthen the existing post-harvest infrastructure facilities and ensure better income for farmers. It was launched through a video conference on the occasion of Balram Jayanthi--a day when farmers worship their plough.

"On this auspicious occasion, a special fund of Rs 1 lakh crore has been launched to create agriculture-related infrastructure facilities in the country....This will help in creating better storage facilities and modern cold storage chains in villages. Many employment opportunities will get created in villages," Modi said after the launch.

Modi said the scheme provides a good opportunity for start-ups in agriculture to avail the benefits and scale their operations, thereby creating an ecosystem that reaches farmers in every corner of the country. Modi also interacted with farmers from Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh who are among the initial beneficiaries of the credit facility under this new fund through Primary Agricultural Credit Societies for creating post-harvest facilities.

About the Fund announced on July8:

The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund is a medium - long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and credit guarantee. The duration of the scheme shall be from FY2020 to FY2029 (10 years). Under the scheme, Rs. 1 Lakh Crore will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans with interest subvention of 3% per annum and credit guarantee coverage under CGTMSE scheme for loans up to Rs. 2 Crore. The beneficiaries will include farmers, PACS, Marketing Cooperative Societies, FPOs, SHGs, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, Agri-entrepreneurs, Startups, and Central/State agency or Local Body sponsored Public-Private Partnership Projects.

How the Fund would be beneficial?

The Fund would give easy and economical long term loan to boost up Agriculture infrastructure for post-harvest and food processing industries.

With this industrialist in the agriculture sector would have a long term debt financing facility for investment in the viable project for post-harvest management Infrastructure.

The decision was taken in the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on July 9, which approved the new Pan India Central Sector Scheme-Agriculture Infrastructure Fund.

The scheme would provide a medium - long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management Infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and financial support.

Under the scheme, Rs one Lakh Crore would be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans to Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), Marketing Cooperative Societies, Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs), Self Help Group (SHG), Farmers, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, Agri-entrepreneurs, Startups, Aggregation Infrastructure Providers and Central/State agency or Local Body sponsored Public-Private Partnership Project

The loans would be disbursed in four years starting with a sanction of Rs. 10,000 crore in the current year and Rs. 30,000 crore each in the next three financial years. The government said that all loans under this financing facility would have interest subvention of 3% per annum up to a limit of Rs. 2 crores.

This subvention will be available for a maximum period of seven years. Further, credit guarantee coverage will be available for eligible borrowers from this financing facility under the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) scheme for a loan up to Rs 2 crore.

The fee for this coverage would be paid by the Government. In case of FPOs the credit guarantee could be availed from the facility created under FPO promotion scheme of Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare (DACFW).

The total outflow as budgetary support from the Government of India (GoI) would be Rs10,736 crore_{. The government} said a moratorium for repayment under this financing, the facility may vary subject to a minimum of 6 months and maximum of 2 years.

Government is expecting that this scheme would generate employment opportunities in the rural area where this farm processing-based industries would start.

The Monitoring and Management

Agri Infra fund will be managed and monitored through an online Management Information System (MIS) platform, Government said. It will enable all the qualified entities to apply for a loan under the fund. The online platform will also provide benefits such as transparency of interest rates offered by multiple banks, the scheme details including interest subvention and credit guarantee offered, minimum documentation, faster approval process as also integration with another scheme benefits.

BY Vijay Thakur, Special Representative, The Statesman, vijaythakurx@gmail.com