Indian government may open coal mining for private companies.

A positive sign for foreign direct investment in coal mining sector for foreign and domestic private companies has been indicated by the Indian government. The Government of India is planning to open the mining sector for private companies with an intention of reducing the gap between demand and supply of coal. At present only state-owned companies like Coal India Ltd (CIL) are allowed to mine coal in India but private companies are allowed only to mine only for their captive consumption.
In furtherance of this, a bill was earlier introduced in Rajya Sabha by NDA government in year 2000 which is still pending and the bill is likely to be revived by the government after the passing of Union Budget next month. With the passing of this bill the Indian coal sector may see and experience its first overhauling as foreign companies like Rio Tinto and domestic companies will be allowed to enter this sector which may lead to a good competition among them and shooting up the ending economy. It will also reduce India’s dependence on coal imports to meet the need of domestic market. India produces approximately 450 million tonnes of coal annually which is less than 50 million tonnes as per the need of domestic consumption. It is expected that the coal requirement can shoot up to 1,000 million tonnes by 2030.

INDIA RANKED SECOND FOR CDMA MARKET

In past few years India’s Telecom sector has grown rapidly with increase in number of mobile phone subscribers aggregating to higher figure of millions and billions year by year. With such a rapid growth in mobile phone subscriptions, India now stands next to United Sates with higher number of CDMA mobile phone subscribers. At present, India is the second country in the world having more than 100 million CDMA – based mobile phone subscribers. Reliance Communication which is one of the leading CDMA service providers is now in competition with United States Verizon Wireless and Tata Tele services stands on fourth position in comparison with the top global service providers. After the introduction of CDMA technology in India in year 2002 it took six and half year and cut throat competition with GSM technology service providers to achieve this gigantic number of subscribers for CDMA technology based mobile phone service providers.

India to enact strict environmental laws

India to enact strict environmental Laws

The Indian government proposes bill for constituting an Independent environment Regulatory Authority Agency to strictly enforce as many as 20 environmental laws. In the proposed law Central Pollution Control Board would get statutory powers to take direct action against the polluters. The Board will consist of representatives of the government, industry and civil society. Along with the enforcement, the new authority will also conduct research on environment issues and give “sustainable” solutions to the government. Presently, the Board is not a statutory body and does not have powers to prosecute the polluters. However, it can recommend action against violators under different environmental laws to district administration for further action.