Cement, Energy and Environment

Finance Minister though he announced a number of urban development programme catering to poverty alleviation and housing. There has not been much mention of government's Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme which plays a key role in upgrading urban infrastructure. However, there has been some relief for Monorail projects for urban transport which was granted project import status at a concessional basic duty of 5 per cent. The government increase its allocation for various urban development programmes by 75 per cent from 3,060 crore to Rs.5,400 crore. The Housing and Poverty Alleviation scheme will get a hike from Rs.850 crore to Rs.1000 crore in 2010-11. The government has allocated Rs. 1,270 crore for Rajiv Awas Yojana for urban poor. Rural Infrastructure Rural infrastructure remains one of first priorities for the government as it has stepped up its allocation to Rs.48,000 crore for Bharat Nirman projects. The allocation for the Indira Awas Yojna has been increased to Rs.1 0,000 crore for the year 2010-11 . A total budgetary support of Rs. 12,000 crore has been made for development of rural roads including bridges. This provision has been made under the Department of Rural Development for Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). The government expects to construct 3,65,279 km of new roads and 3,68,000 km under upgradation. r-·· ., Power The Finance Minister has shown some generosity for this sector by doubling its outlay up to Rs.5,130 crore against previous year's allocation of Rs.2,230 crore. It does not include allocation for Rajiv Gandhi Garmeen Vidyutikaran Yojana(RGGVY) . The government has accorded highest priority to capacity addition. The total outlay for the Ministry of Power is Rs. 60, 751 ,42 crore. Courtesy: Construction Week, March 2010, P14. 'CSR SHOULDN'T BE MANDATORY' New Delhi: FICCI has suggested the government should encourage companies to invest in corporate social responsibility initiative by giving tax incentives instead of making it binding. 'The government may consider incentivising CSR activities perhaps through tax incentives... create a market for CSR credits like carbon credits." FICCI said in its CSR draft on which the ministry of corporate affairs has invited comments from the public. Courtesy: The Economics Times, December 8, 2009. P9. DELHI GOVERNMENT WITH TERI TO MAKE 100 EXISTING BUILDINGS GREENER AND SUSTAINALBE The government of NCT of Delhi is going all out to make the capital green and eco-friendly. The Climate Change Agenda 2009 - 12 put forth several action items that the government intends to undertake in the coming years. It has tied up with TEAl to retrofit 100 existing buildings above 10, 000 sq. ft to make them energy efficient. TEAI-CCI (Clinton Climate Initiative) will provide support to the building owners to identify, design, and implement large– scale energy-efficiency building retrofit projects and bringing the owner together with the necessary contracting and financial firms for implementation. Building such as the chief minister's residence, sales tax building, NDMC building, the secretariat, among others would be a part of this initiative. Courtesy: TERISCOPE, Sept.-Oct. 2009'P4. INDIA 9TH LARGEST MANUFACTURER: UNIDO UNHQ, 4 MARCH: India is the ninth-largest industrial manufacturer in the world, while China has pipped Japan to occupy the second position, says a United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) report. The USA, the world's largest economy, tops the list. According to the report titled 'International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics 201 0', the three emerging economies of China, India and Brazil are among the top 10 countries in manufacturing production. "Out of the top 10 countries in manufacturing production, two more countries from the developing world, namely India ·and Brazil, rank ninth and tenth," the report says. The leading three countries, the USA, China and Japan produce half of the world's manufacturing output, UNIDO said. The report also suggests 66