All the 4 Gujarat Discoms (State electricity boards) the best

For the first time, the State Electricity Distribution Utilities (Discoms) have been rated on the basis of seven parameters including financial status and meeting regulatory norms.

The ratings would help lenders to decide on the rate of interest, conditionalities and additional securities.

The ‘integrated ratings’ are on annualised basis and spread from A+ to C (A+ is best and C is the minimum). The total score is 100.

Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Minister of State for Power (Independent Charge), said the distribution sector was a vital link in the power sector value chain.

“It is the interface with the end consumers and responsible for generating revenues to sustain the entire value chain of this sector. Therefore, financial health of distribution sector is of utmost important.”

BENEFITS

“The attempt is to develop realistic assessment of strength and weakness of the Discoms. It would provide a tool to banks and financial institutions to calculate their business risks,” said Power Secretary P. Umashankar, while unveiling the ratings mechanism.

The Secretary said that ratings would cover year-on-year comparison of aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses, regulatory environment, payments of subsidy and cross subsidy, quality of accounts, assets created, automated pass-through of fuel cost, short-term power purchase, debt servicing and renewable purchase obligation (RPO) compliance, among others.

SCORECARD

The ratings have been made by ICRA and CARE Ratings. The exercise does not cover private utilities.

Out of the 39 Discoms rated, Gujarat’s four utilities scored the best rating of A+. They include Dakshin Gujarat Vij Company Ltd, Uttar Gujarat Vij Company Ltd, Madhya Gujarat Vij Company Ltd and Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Ltd.

The worst rated utilities are from Uttar Pradesh. They include Paschimanchal, Dakshinanchal, Kanpur and Madhyanchal.

STATES’ HELP

“The rating methodology factors in the important role of the State Government and the Regulator in making the environment congenial and conducive for the effective performance of the distribution companies,” Scindia said.

“We are pursuing a multi-pronged strategy to improve distribution utilities...reduction of AT&C losses will have positive impact on financial health of Discoms,” he added.

Scindia appealed to State Governments to keep the distribution utilities in good health.

The Minister ensured that at the Centre, he would try resolving all inter-ministerial issues.

French multinational bank, Societe Generale, has opened its first branch in Gujarat at Sanand

French multinational bank, Societe Generale, has opened its first branch in Sanand that will focus on serving local and multinational corporate clients. This is the first branch in the state and the third branch of the 150-year-old bank in India, after Mumbai and New Delhi.

"Gujarat has been chosen as our first step for expanding the bank's presence beyond Mumbai and New Delhi, because it is a very dynamic and investor friendly state in terms of economic growth. It is a dominating industrial state and financing industrial growth is one of our key vocations," Marc-Emmanuel Vives, chief executive and group chief country officer of Societe Generale said on Tuesday.

Sanand is the first branch of the bank to open in India after almost 20 years. "In the last 15 years or so, the focus of the group was on regions closer home. But now we are coming to a phase, where more focus is on Asian economies, especially India," Vives added.

The official felt that Gujarat's "industry mix" corresponded with the priorities of the bank whose strength lay in financing the oil and gas sector. The bank will also be tapping opportunities in pharmaceuticals, automotive, engineering, fertiliser and chemical sectors in the state.

From Sanand, Societe Generale will offer services like long-term financing, working capital, trade finance, foreign exchange, term deposits, accounts management, etc. to clients in Ahmedabad and other industrial towns of the state like Vadodara and Surat.

"At present we have about half-a-dozen clients in Gujarat whom we are servicing from our Mumbai office," Vives told mediapersons. The bank also proposes to offer specialised advisory and financing activities like merger and acquisition, project finance, equipment and commodities financing.

The bank which is looking to grow at 50% year-on-year in the country, is also planning to open new branches in Chennai, Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad after getting the necessary approvals and permissions from the Reserve Bank of India

Africa to adopt Kesar mango cultivation technique of Gujarat

Africa will soon be able to replicate the production and marketing of the famous Kesar mango from Junagadh in one of its main mango producing regions - Senegal.

Senegal, a major mango-exporting country in West Africa, has approached Gujarat for borrowing its mango cultivation technology. Senegal's exports have been falling since 2010 after the quality of the mangoes as well as fruit fly attacks affected its marketing and sale.


Mabouso Thiam, the director general of Agency for Development of Small and Medium Enterprises (ADEPME) of Senegal, department of industries, the Government of Senegal, is on a two-day visit to Gujarat to discuss mango cultivation technology in the state.

"Senegal has already approached a cluster of mango farmers in Junagadh, where farmers have been cultivating and exporting Kesar mangoes to China," said Jagat Shah, the founder and chief mentor, Cluster Pulse, which is coordinating the meeting. "Gujarat will impart best practices in the business as well as provide technology on value addition like making pulp and mango juice."

According to Shah, the Senegal government had approached European countries for the technology for mango cultivation but did not find it viable. "About 40% of the mango crop is wasted in Senegal and the government is making efforts to boost exports from Senegal," said Shah. "The technology and lessons from Junagadh will help revive the export value of Senegal's mangoes. A team from the agriculture department will soon visit the state."

Thiam will also pay a visit to Amul dairy on Thursday to seek lessons in the dairy industry for Senegal. Among other things, Senegal is seeking technology from Gujarat from various industries like the pharma cluster for tablet manufacturing machines, the diesel engine technology from Rajkot, diamond polishing technology from Surat, brass parts from Jamnagar and ceramics and sanitaryware from Morbi.

The government of Senegal had written to many state and central governments in India for technology but Gujarat government gave the most prompt and elaborate response. Senegal will also tie up with universities in Gujarat for joint research.

Source : TOI

Gujarat fast emerging the choice destination for film making

Destination Gujarat' seems to be the new mantra for filmmakers. As the state zooms ahead on the track of growth and development, it also gets a reel make-over.

Sample this: Abhishek Kapoor's Kai Po Che (Ahmedabad and Vadnagar), Indra Kumar's Grand Masti (Laxmivilas Palace, Vadodara), Tigmanshu Dhulia's Saheb, Biwi aur Gangster Returns (Devgadh Baria) were shot in Gujarat last year. In addition to shooting, planning a studio and entertainment park are now looked at with a keen interest. Interestingly, even south and Punjabi filmmakers are also eyeing Gujarat as a location hotspot.


With the government allocating 1 crore to set up 10 special entertainment zones and film cities, filmmaker Indra Kumar and Ashok Thakeria will build a studio and entertainment park in the Anand district on the lines of Dinsneyworld. The entertainment studio will have star accommodation facilities, restaurants and an amusement park along with a helipad. Ashok Thakeria says, "Mumbai and Umargaon are now saturated as location destinations. Ahmedabad and Vadodara are closer to Mumbai. We are looking at both film and television industry to explore areas here."

The hottest destinations that attract filmmakers to Gujarat are Ahmedabad, Little Rann of Kutch, Bhuj, Mandvi, Great Rann of Kutch, Gondal, Rajpipla, Devgadh Baria, many areas of North Gujarat, Saputara, Polo forest, Dahod, heritage structures of Maqbara (Junagadh). Good accommodation facilities and excellent natural locations are the magnets. Vipul Mittra, principal secretary (tourism), Gujarat says, "Switzerland became popular with Indians, thanks to Yash Chopra's films which were shot there. Bollywood too will help Gujarat become a tourist hub."

Prabhu Deva is shooting Rambo Rajkumar with Shahid Kapur and Sonakshi Sinha in Kutch and they will also shoot in Gondal and Rajkot, Sanjay Leela Bhansali will soon shoot Ram Leela in Bhuj and Rajkot, Nikhil Advani shot D-Day in Ahmedabad and Little Rann of Kutch. Southern films like Mahesh Babu starrer Dookudu and Pavan Kalyan starrer Gabbar Singh were shot in Little Rann of Kutch.

Producer Vicky Rajani says they decided to choose the ethereal white salt desert (of Rann of Kutch) for a song sequence and also Little Rann of Kutch to add a new element to Rambo Rajkumar. Filmmaker Prabhu Deva says, "A house in Rajkot was perfect for my film, so we shot it there."

Filmmaker Tigmanshu Dhulia says, "The beautiful Devgadh Baria palace suited the story of my film." Mujahid Malik, owner of a resort located near the Little Rann of Kutch feels, "that the proximity to Mumbai is the biggest advantage for filmmakers."

Anthony D'Souza's Boss starring Akshay Kumar will be shot in Little Rann of Kutch, Neil Nitin Mukesh shot at Ghordo, Kutch for his untitled flick. Telly star Karanvir Bohra who's debuting as actor/producer in a Punjabi film Love You Soniye says they shot in Vadodara because, "of aesthetics."

For now, it's showtime in Gujarat.

Source : TOI

Families in Gujarat spent 24.69% more on FMCG

Gujarat has garnered maximum growth in per capita food and non-food consumption expenditure across India during 2004-05 and 2009-10. The state registered a growth rate of about 28 per cent and 33 per cent respectively during these years, according to a study released by an apex industry body.

Besides, Gujarat has also topped in terms of household consumption of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) with a growth of about 24.69 per cent during the aforesaid five year period, highlights a study titled 'Evolution of Indian Rural Markets During 2004-05 to 2009-10' by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).

West Bengal has seen the least growth of just about 1.6 per cent and about 8 per cent in per-capita food and non-food consumption expenditure respectively. The state has also registered negative growth rate of about 2 per cent for household expenditure on FMCG, highlights the study.

While releasing the findings, D S Rawat, national secretary general of Assocham, said that the per capita food and non-food consumption expenditure across India has increased at a pace of over 14 per cent and 17 per cent respectively during the period while the household consumption of FMCG across India has registered a growth rate of over 11 per cent.

Apart from Gujarat, the states of Haryana and Maharashtra have also registered a healthy growth rate of about 24 per cent in per capita food consumption expenditure across India.

Haryana has the highest average rural household monthly expenditure on food items worth over Rs 2,584 followed by Jammu and Kashmir at Rs 2,378 and Punjab at Rs 2,377. While, Odisha has minimum average rural household monthly expenditure on food worth just about Rs 1,215 followed by Tamil Nadu at Rs 1,280, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh at Rs 1,322.

Households in Kerala, Punjab and Haryana spent highest on non-food consumer items as these states have registered an average monthly household expenditure on non-food items worth over Rs 3,078, Rs 2,883 and Rs 2,580 respectively. The study says that Odisha at Rs 936, Bihar and Jharkhand at Rs 1,051 and West Bengal at Rs 1,071 have the lowest monthly household expenditure on non-food items in India.

Rural households in Haryana, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir spent more on FMCG while rural households in Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh spent less than Rs 1,000 on FMCG per month.

Apart from Gujarat, the states of Haryana at 24.5 per cent and Maharashtra at 18.6 per cent have witnessed fastest growth in the household monthly expenditure on FMCG and apart from West Bengal, the state of Odisha has also seen significant decline in household expenditure on FMCG

Gujarat ranks third in fruit production

Gujarat is the third largest fruit producing state of India. Renowned for its Hafoos (Alphonso) and Kesar mangos, the state contributes much more to the national fruit production.

The state accounts for 10% of fruits produced in India, and is in third position in state-wise production, after Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The wide variety of fruits grown is the reason for this no.3 position. Gujarat's fruit bowl also has banana, papaya, chikoo, coconut, guava, green berry, dates, pomegranate, custard apple and cashew.

According to records of the central and state governments, in 2011-12, fruit production in Gujarat touched 77.63 lakh metric tonnes. In 2009-10 the state produced 69.85 lakh metric tonnes. Two reports released recently by the Union agriculture department and the state agriculture department say that fruit production in the state increased by around 11.13% in 2011-12 as compared to 2009-10.

The Union government recently released data for 2009-10, which ranks Gujarat third with fruit production of 69.85 lakh metric tonnes. The fruit produced most in Gujarat is the banana. Gujarat government records show that in 2011-12, banana topped the state's list, followed by papaya and mango.

Officials said banana accounted for about 52% of the total fruit production in the state, papaya 13.67% and mango 12.44%. These three put together account for 78.25% of the state's fruit produce. Officials said that Bharuch and Narmada districts account for around 37% of the banana production in the state.

Dr P M Vaghasia, joint director horticulture, said the state not only supplies the national and local markets but even exports fruit. "Though the rate of export from the state is low compared to other states, we are catching up. Gujarat's mango, pomegranate and banana are exported, while pomegranate, mango and chikoo from the state make it to fruit bowls across the country as well."

He further said that in 2005-06 the area under fruit cultivation was only 2.90 lakh hectares and production was just 46.91 lakh metric tonnes. Over the last six years, the area under fruit cultivation increased by 31%, but production increased by 65%. The cropping area increased from 2.90 lakh hectares to 3.82 lakh hectares and production went from 46.91 lakh metric tonnes to 77.63 lakh metric tonnes.

source :toi

Gujarat shows the way in Governance

What Gujarat does today, others do tomorrow! In the past, there have been several instances that show how the development initiatives of Gujarat have been emulated by several other States. Be it holding business summits to give a boost to investment, to take steps towards enhancing development of skills, of coming out with a new solar policy first, Gujarat has shown that when it comes to innovation and efficient implementation of initiatives that touch the lives of the people, the State emerges with flying colours. The pro-people and proactive development-oriented approach of Narendra Modi has put the State on quick gear as far as the development journey is concerned.

Another such example was seen when the Union Cabinet approved the Rights of Citizens for Time-Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011. A careful study of this Bill reveals that what the Central Government has merely passed right now has been in practice in Gujarat in various ways for the last decade. It is only now that the Centre seems to have woken up from its policy paralysis slumber, something which has pushed the nation behind by a decade.

The Rights of Citizens for Time-Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011 was approved y the Cabinet on March 7. The Bill provides for time-bound delivery of Government services like passports, birth and death certificates and other documents.

The Bill also puts an obligation on every public authority to publish a citizens’ charter, specifying the time within which specified goods and services will be delivered. Additionally, the bill provides for a grievance redressal mechanism for non-compliance of its provisions. The Bill allows citizens to file complaints regarding grievances related to the Citizens Charter, functioning of Public authority or a violation of a law, policy or scheme.

While it is only now that the scam-ridden UPA Government has realised the need for greater accountability and transparency, Gujarat under Narendra Modi thought well ahead of time and brought the model of ‘One Day Governance’ in 2003 to deliver key services to its citizens in the duration of a single day. The total number of beneficiaries of this One Day Governance in Gujarat are more than 60 lakh people, most of them belonging to poor families.

At the core of the citizen-centric administration by leveraging e-governance infrastructure are the Jan Seva Kendras. The main objective of the JSK is to provide all Government-to-citizen services covered under the Citizens’ Charter. The JSKs mainly offer the following citizen-centric services such as revenue, Panchayat, health, education and agriculture and maintaining a fundamental data of all records.

Over 173 types of public services like essential certificates, affidavits, land, civil supplies are included so far.  The services are divided into 3 types:

1. Tatkal: 20 per cent of the applications are included in this type which takes 20 minutes to 2 hours for processing.

2. One day governance: These applications need a single day for processing. Within a duration of 12 hours, documents such as birth, death and caste are delivered. 40 per cent of applications fall under this category.

3. Non-one day governance: The applications under this category are No Objection Certificates (NOC) from Police, Roads and Buildings, hotel licenses, land allotment for non-agricultural purposes etc.

The JSKs are operational in all Collector and Mamlatdar offices with a PPP model and have yielded outstanding results through quick, convenient and efficient functioning, more transparency.

The intangible outcomes, however, are even more remarkable!

There has been a radical change in the perception of common citizens about Government offices. Additionally, retired citizens have got involved in helping illiterate people in completing their applications. The attitude of Government employees too has changed significantly, owing to transparency.

In the year 2003, the Vadodara District authorities won a Merit Award for implementing One-Day Governance under the category of ‘Exemplary e-Governance Initiative’ at the 7th National E- Governance conference. In 2007, the Department of Information Technology, Government of India evaluated the project as a ‘Model Project’ in district-level e-governance for the entire country! Furthermore, in 2008, Jan Seva Kendras of Gandhinagar received the Stockholm Challenge Award ICT Driven e-Governance Public Service Mechanism, CAPAM 2008 International Innovations Award and was also honoured at the 4TH Dataquest EGOV Summit 2008.

Additionally, the launch of Apno Taluko, Vibrant Taluko (ATVT) in the year 2011 ensures that every Taluka has a resourceful Jan Seva Kendra. This grassroots initiative has activated pro-people governance at the sub-district level!

Narendra Modi has aptly said, “Technology enables last mile delivery. Blending it with the will and determination to deliver, Gujarat has experienced the true power of e-governance.” With this Mantra, Gujarat has also witnessed last mile delivery to the all 18,000 villages too! With the E-Services provided by E-Gram Centres, the State Government has offered G2C (Government-to-Citizen) services such as Land Record services, Certificates and E-ration card Coupon.

In addition to its One Day Governance Initiative and Jan Seva Kendras, the Government of Gujarat has implemented unique and effective schemes to address Citizen Grievances. Narendra Modi has said, “People’s voice is the key driver of a democracy and listening to that voice is the key test of Good Governance.”

While the UPA Government in the Centre has only now begun deliberating on Grievance Redressal through the latest Bill,  SWAGAT (State-wide Attention on Grievances by the Application of Technology)  has been functional in Gujarat from the year 2003. It enables direct communication between the citizens and the Chief Minister! In Gandhinagar, the fourth Thursday of every month is a SWAGAT day wherein the highest office in the administration attends to the grievances of the common man.

Additionally, SWAGAT sessions are also held at the District and the Taluka level. At the district level, the District Collector chairs SWAGAT sessions wherein aggrieved citizens can convey complaints and at the Taluka Level, the Mamlatdar holds similar meetings. Furthermore, the SWAGAT program has been extended up to village level by the launch of the Gram SWAGAT program on 1st February 2011. Under this programme, citizens can lodge their grievances at the Gram Panchayat office and hence do not need to travel all the way to the District Place or the State capital to register complaints.  The programme was honored with the United Nations Public Service Award in 2010 for “Improving Transparency, Accountability and Responsiveness in Public Service Category. Out of the 1,7,3,244 complaints received till the end of 2012, 1,55,374 complaints have successfully resolved. This is an impressive success rate of about 90 per cent.

Modi often says that the real test of good governance is its grievance redressal system. Under his stellar leadership, he has not let this thought remain merely a thought. It has been translated into action and has brought in smiles to the faces of lakhs of Gujarati people. His One Day Governance approach is clearly more valued by the people as compared to the unending test match the UPA is playing with their demands, grievances and aspirations!

Farm credit of Rs 2.37 lakh crore for Gujarat

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has prepared the State Credit Plan for Gujarat envisaging agriculture credit flow of Rs 2,37,698 crore during the Twelfth Five-Year Plan period (2012-2017).

The outlay for the priority sector comprising agriculture, agro-processing, small and micro enterprises, education, the housing sector, etc, stands at Rs 3,46,335 crore, according to a press release here.

This information was given at a seminar organised here by Nabard, in which Dr Varesh Sinha, Chief Secretary, Gujarat, released the State Focus Paper for 2013-14.

H.R. Dave, Chief General Manager, Nabard, Gujarat Regional Office, while speaking about the 2013-14 projections, informed that the total priority sector plan for 2013-14 for the State worked out to Rs

61,300.51 crore, of which agriculture, including crop loan and term loans for various agricultural allied activities, accounts for Rs 41,166.24 crore envisaging a growth of 21 per cent over the 2012-13 targets.

Dr Sinha said the total cultivable area in Gujarat has increased from 110 lakh hectares to 145 lakh ha during the last few years. The State Government will also organise from next year a Vibrant Agriculture event on the lines of Vibrant Gujarat for industrial development.