Daily Indian Stock Market

Australia-based solar power company Sunengy has entered into a partnership with Tata Power that will allow it to build a pilot plant for its low-cost, floating on water and solar technology in India by the end of this year. Vedanta Group firm Sesa Goa on has acquired the assets of the upcoming steel plant of Bellary Steel and Alloys, put on the block by a consortium of lenders led by IFCI for Rs 220 crore. Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone (MPSEZ), top private multi-port operator, has secured a bid to develop a coal import terminal at Visakhapatnam. The terminal will be built at cost of over Rs 300 cr. This marks the entry of MPSEZ on the eastern coast of the India.

Patel Engineering has bagged Rs160.69-crore order for the up gradation of Tinthini-Kalmala road from the Karnataka Government. The project comprises upgradation of 73.8-km long stretch from Tinthini to Kalmala, a part of State Highway 61 and State Highway 15. Sheths of Great Eastern Shipping have deployed part of the cash generated from their traditional shipping business to expand their offshore business with Singapore as the hub for global operations.

Economic Highlights

In a bid to provide relief from high inflation, the government today increased dearness allowance (DA) by 6% to 51%, benefiting over 50 lakh central government employees and 38 lakh pensioners. The combined impact of the hike will be Rs 5,715.90 crore per annum. However in the next financial year, the burden on the exchequer would be Rs 6,668.52 crore after the additional 6% DA payout is factored in from January 1 to March 31 this year. The increased DA, which will be effective from January 1, is provided to government staff and pensioners to compensate them for rising prices.

To meet ever-increasing energy demand, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is looking at the possibility of generating 10,000 MW of power in the next 10 years from surplus biomass. The rising demand for energy on one hand and depletion of fossil fuels and increasing import of coal on the other has made it necessary to look at dedicated plantation-based biomass power and energy as an alternative source. MNRE is exploring the possibility of generating 10,000 MW of power in the next 10 years from surplus biomass, both agro and forest residues.