- Thursday, March 06, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Here are news in brief related to Indian economy and business for Thursday, December 8, 2022:
India has come up with a Rs 2.44 trillion (£24.2 billion) plan to set up transmission lines to link renewable generation, as it seeks to nearly triple its clean-power capacity in another eight years, Bloomberg reported. The project will connect solar plants in the sun-drenched deserts of the western states of Rajasthan and Gujarat and wind farms in the southern state of Tamil Nadu to the national network, the country’s power ministry said in a statement. It will help improve India’s inter-regional transmission capacity from 112 gigawatts to 150 gigawatts by the end of the current decade. According to the Bloomberg report, a lack of transmission lines has caused hindrance for renewable electricity in India. As the country embarks on a mission to net zero by 2070, it is required to address this shortfall so that clean power can flow to urban and industrial hubs that are often located far from generation sources.
World’s largest contract electronics maker Foxconn said on Thursday that its Singapore unit has acquired 4.08 million shares in Foxconn Hon Hai Technology India Mega Development Private Limited for $500 million (£409 million), Reuters reported. The announcement of a $500 million injection into its India unit comes after Reuters reported in November that Apple supplier Foxconn plans to quadruple the workforce at its iPhone factory in India over two years time, with two informed government sources pointing to a production adjustment as it faces problems in China. Foxconn also has plans to boost the workforce at its plant in southern India to 70,000 by adding 53,000 more workers over the next two years, the sources said.
India’s state-owned BSNL’s 4G technology will be upgraded to 5G in 5-7 months and rolled out across 1.35 lakh (0.13 million) telecom towers the company has in the country, telecom and railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday. While speaking at a CII event, the minister said the government has plans to increase the telecom technology development fund from Rs 500 crore (£50 million) per annum to Rs 4,000 crore (£398 million) to encourage the indigenous innovation. In response to a question on BSNL’s role in the telecom sector by Kotak Bank CEO Uday Kotak, Vaishnaw said BSNL will become a very strong stabilising factor in the telecom space. He said BSNL has about 135,000 mobile towers across the country with a very strong presence in the rural areas which are still not fully covered by the other telecom players.
Air India on Thursday unveiled its plans to refurbish the interiors of its entire wide-body fleet at a cost of over $400 million (£327.1 million), The Hindu reported. The overhauling exercise will see adding latest generation seats and best-in-class inflight entertainment across all cabin classes on its 27 Boeing 787-8 and 13 Boeing 777 aircraft. The carrier also said that it would introduce premium economy cabins on both Boeing 787s and 777. Vistara, which is now being merged with Air India, already offers premium economy besides top global airlines such as Singapore Airlines, which also owns 25.1 per cent in Air India. This enables passengers to enjoy more comfortable seats at a price band which is cheaper than that of business class. The move will, however, not lead to discontinuation of the first-class cabin on the 777s.
The Indian government on Thursday said the rooftop solar programme has been extended till March 31, 2026, and therefore, subsidy under the programme will be available until the target for the scheme is achieved, Asian News International reported. The statement from the ministry of new and renewable energy said all residential consumers are hereby advised not to pay any additional charges to any vendor on account of fee for application on the National Portal or any additional charges for net-metering or testing which are not prescribed by the respective distribution company. In case such charges are demanded by any vendor or agency or person, the same may be intimated to the respective distribution company and to this ministry at email [email protected].
