Sustainability Outlook Headlines

15 stocks likely to gain from Modi govt's smart cities push

Investors perturbed over falling stock indices may get some solace by focussing on another number likely to be of even greater interest in the coming years. This is the combined market cap of companies in cement, construction, consumer electronics, housing fi nance and cement.

At Rs 8.64 lakh crore, the total value of these companies is about ten times the combined net profi t of the Nifty for FY15. And the reason for the interest is the Cabinet's decision to clear a massive project to build smart cities.

Analysts and fund managers believe that spending... Read more..

CSR serves as startup capital

An amendment made in the Companies Act allowing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) contributions to incubators, is providing legs to for-profit ventures working with social objectives. Non-banking finance company Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited (MMFSL) used a portion of their 2014-15 CSR funds to invest in two social startups through Villgro -- a Department of Science and Technology (DST) certified business incubator with focus on social enterprises and the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad's (IIM-A's) technology business incubator Centre for Innovation... Read more..

4,000-MW renewable energy projects set up in FY-15

More than 4,000 MW of grid-connected renewable energy power projects were set up in 2014-15, beating the targets by 8.5 per cent. At the end of March 2015, India had 35,777 MW of renewable energy capacity. The highlight of the year was the addition in solar capacity, which stood at a record 1,112 MW, compared with the 948 MW achieved in 2013-14 and slightly higher than the target of 1,100 MW.
 
A comparison of installations figures at the end of December 2014 and March 2015 shows that 979 MW of wind and 681 MW of solar capacities were added in the January-March quarter of 2014-... Read more..

Clean energy, now on the high seas

Bobbing quietly in the waters of the Kasimedu fishing harbour is a boat that looks like any other, until you notice the top portion of the vessel. Along with tyres, nets and diesel cans, this boat’s roof carries solar panels. The recently-installed solar panels power all their lights including those in the deep freezer, mixer, television set and power points.
 
“We make a saving of at least 15 litres of diesel a day because of solar power. Otherwise, the boat’s engine runs throughout the night to keep the lights running while we work,” said A. Gnanadass, the boat driver, who... Read more..

India’s renewable energy agency signs IFC’s master cooperation agreement

World Bank Group member International Finance Corp and the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) have signed the former's master cooperation agreement to provide infrastructure financing for renewable energy projects in India. 
 
"This collaboration will help standardise steps that lenders take when co-financing projects with IFC. The ultimate aim is to make local currency financing available in shorter time-frames and reduce financing costs for lenders and borrowers," IFC said in a news release. 
 
IREDA, the financing arm of the renewable energy... Read more..

Government and Reliance Power differ on Tilaiya UMPP; latter cites delay in land acquisition for project

Reliance PowerBSE -0.43 % (RPower) and the government have taken conflicting positions over the company's decision to pull out of the Rs 36,000-crore Talaiya ultra mega power project (UMPP), citing inordinate delays in land acquisition for the project.
 
Government officials strongly disagreed and said the Jharkhand government had given time-bound commitments on land acquisition barely 10 days before the "unilateral" decision of the Anil Ambanipromoted company. Official sources said the 10 states that would have bought the power from the proposed plant would take necessary... Read more..

Mahindra slashes electric car e2o price by Rs 92,000

Homegrown auto major Mahindra & Mahindra has slashed the price of its electric small car 'e2o' by Rs 92,000 following the launch of a central government scheme offering incentives on electric and hybrid vehicles. 
 
The e2o, manufactured by the company's arm, Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles will see a reduction in price by 16 per cent from its earlier price of Rs 5.71 lakh (on road Delhi) along with a fixed energy fee of Rs 2,999 per month for five years or 50,000km. 
 
The car will now be available at Rs 4.79 lakh (on road Delhi), while the fixed energy fee... Read more..

NGT announces Rs 5,000 fine for open burning of leaves, garbage in Delhi

Stepping up its effort to curb pollution, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday announced a fine of Rs 5,000 on individuals spotted burning garbage, leaves, plastic, rubber etc in open areas in parts of Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).
 
The Green tribunal had earlier passed directions, ordering confiscation of petrol vehicles older than 15 years and diesel vehicles older than 10 years from the NCR to check the alarming pollution levels in the national capital.
 
The Centre, however, moved the NGT seeking stay on its ban order on older vehicles in... Read more..

PTC India Financial Services to partner IFC for renewable energy projects

 State-run PTC India Financial Services Ltd on Tuesday announced a partnership with International Finance Corporation (IFC) to fund renewable energy projects in India. “This collaboration will help standardise steps that lenders take when co-financing projects with IFC. The ultimate aim is to make local currency financing available in shorter time-frames and reduce financing costs for borrowers, enabling them to operationalise projects faster,” the company said in its press note on Tuesday.
 
With this, PTC India Financial will become the first institution to sign a master... Read more..

Two Fraction Underground Recycling System Opened in India's first Smart City

An integrated automated waste and recyclable segregation plant in the Gujarat International Finance & Tec-City (GIFT City) – India’s first smart city covering 886 acres in Gandhinagar – has started operation. Supplied by Swedish underground automated waste collection company, Envac, the automated waste collection system and recyclable segregation plant started operation at the beginning of April, 2015.
 
The development’s completion date has been slated for between 2025 – 2028. Being built as the country’s first smart city, it will comprise 112 towers each ranging from 25... Read more..

RBI revises priority sector norms, includes more categories

The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday came up with a new set of rules on mandatory lending to priority sector which are less stringent and more flexible with an aim to boost credit flow to farmers, small enterprises, exports, education and renewable energy. But the monitoring and penalty for failure to meet it could be more severe than in the past.
 
All banks have to lend at least 40% of their net credit to the priority sector, and those foreign banks with less than 20 branches will reach the target by 2020. Distinction between direct and indirect lending to agriculture has... Read more..

Spain proposes to develop Delhi as smart city

Spain today proposed to cooperate with India in developing smart and sustainable cities in the country and presented a draft of a Memorandum of Understanding in this regard. 
 
The draft MoU relating to urban development was presented during the meeting of a high level Spanish delegation led by its Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Jose Garcia-Margallo y Marfil with the Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu in Parliament House. 
 
Spain has proposed to assist in developing Delhi as the first global and smart city in India under the framework of this... Read more..