The Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) Foundation Day 2020 was commemorated on December 12, 2020. To mark this occasion, the chamber organized a 5-day virtual event “ASSOCHAM Foundation Week 2020” from 15th to 19th December 2020 on the theme “India’s resilience: Aatmanirbhar roadmap towards a US$5 trillion economy”.
- During the occasion, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi delivered the keynote address via video conferencing and also presented “ASSOCHAM Enterprise of the Century Award” to Ratan Tata, who received the award on behalf of the TATA Group.
- The award recognized the role played by Tata Group in India’s development.
- It should be noted that Ratan Tata will also be conferred with “Global Visionary of Sustainable Business and Peace” by The Indo-Israel Chambers Of Commerce during a virtual ceremony between the United Arab Emirates (UAE), India and Israel.
- Govt. finalises GPS-based technology toll collection to ensure seamless movement of vehicles across country.
The highlights of the ASSOCHAM events are as follows:
Key Points from PM Address:
–PM Modi stressed on the fourth industrial revolution.
–He urged the business community to increase the domestic investment drastically
–He asked the private industry in India to increase their investments in R&D (Research & Development) especially in sectors like agriculture, defense, space, energy, construction, pharma and transport sector.
–Reforms in India changing the sentiment of the industry from ‘Why India’ to ‘Why not India’ in investing.
Dharmendra Pradhan invites India Inc. to join the Atmanirbhar Bharat Urja initiatives
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG) and Ministry of Steel invited India Inc. to join the Atmanirbhar Bharat Urja initiatives for the energy sector.
- India Inc. is a term used by Indian media to refer to the formal (comprising government and corporate) sector.
Targets set by Indian Energy Sector:
–The energy sector will continue to play a pivotal role in the realization of the 5 trillion-dollar economy.
–India is now the 3rd largest energy consumer in the world after the United States (US) and China.
–India will raise the share of natural gas in its primary energy mix from 6.2% to 15 % by 2030.
–India envisaged an investment of $60 billion in creating gas infrastructure till 2024, including for pipelines, Liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and City Gas Distribution (CGD) networks.
–India is set to expand the natural gas grid to 34,500 km, by adding another 17000 km of gas pipeline under “One Nation One Gas Grid”.
–Regasification capacity of existing 42 MMTPA (Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum) will be expanded to 61 MMTPA by year 2022.
–India is setting up 5000 CBG plants by 2023-24 with a production target of 15 MMT with an investment of about US $ 20 billion.
Mega zoo set to come up on 250.1 acres in Gujarat’s Jamnagar
The ”Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Kingdom”, one of the biggest zoos in the world in terms of number and species of animals at one place will be set up in Jamnagar, Gujarat by Reliance Industries.
- The zoo will be spread over 250.1 acres.
- The zoo will have birds and animals from across the world in sections named Frog House, Dragon”s Land, an Insectarium, Land of Rodent, Aquatic Kingdom, Forest of India, Marshes of West Coast, Indian Desert and Exotic Island.
- Animals like the African Lion, Cheetah, Jaguar, Indian Wolf, Asiatic Lion, Pygmy Hippo, Orangutan, Lemur, Fishing Cat, Sloth Bear, Bengal Tiger, Malayan Tapir, Gorilla, Zebra, Giraffe, African elephant and Komodo Dragon are also expected to be part of the zoo.
Already Gujarat is home to the world’s tallest statue i.e. Statue of Unity in Kevadiya.
Govt. Finalises GPS-based technology toll collection:
Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari announced Government has finalised GPS-based technology toll collection to ensure seamless movement of vehicles across the country. This will ensure India becomes ‘toll booth free’ in the next two years.
By using GPS technology for toll collection,the toll income in next five years will be Rs 1 lakh 34 thousand crore.
Recent Related News:
i.Dharmendra Pradhan addressed the ‘GCTC Energy Security Conference 2020’ organized by Global Counter Terrorism Council (GCTC) from September 29, 2020 to September 30,2020 on the theme of “Energy Security Architecture in Post Covid-19 World.
ii.The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (IREDA) had sanctioned loans worth Rs 12,696 crore in 2019-20 and has disbursed Rs 8,785 crore, supporting capacity addition of 5,673 MW (Mega Watt) during 2019-20.
About Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM):
Establishment– 1920
President– Vineet Agarwal
Secretary General– Deepak Sood
Headquarter– New Delhi
