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The energy department of Andhra Pradesh introduced an incentive for power consumers; Gujarat will offer subsidized piped natural gas to households falling below the poverty line in Bharuch; Madhya Pradesh will open an employment bureau for senior citizens; Union Road Transport and Highways Minister announced a proposal for a regional ring road around the city of Hyderabad; Tripura will begin a scheme to provide electricity to previously un-connected households; and more.

Center – State Relations

Steering away from the routine discussions on governance issues, chief ministers of the northeastern states went to the National Capital for the first meeting on the Act East Policy convened by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. The meeting deliberated extensively on the infrastructure needs of the northeastern region to facilitate the Act East Policy.

Source: First Post

Andhra Pradesh

CRI Group won the contract for a $22.4 million order from Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) for implementation of the Agriculture Demand Side Management (AgDSM) program in association with the Government of Andhra Pradesh. The AgDSM program is aimed to replace existing inefficient agriculture pumps with BEE five star rated energy efficient pumpsets, which are provided free of cost to approximately 40,000 farmers with free maintenance for five years.

Source: Business Standard

Aiming at encouraging power consumers in the state to switch over to smart meters from conventional ones, the Energy Department has introduced an incentive of one cent per unit in tariff during off-peak hours.

Source: New Indian Express

Google India has partnered with Andhra Pradesh State FiberNet Limited (APSFL) to set up Wi-Fi stations in all the Gram Panchayats of the state.

Source: India Today

Bihar

Nothing critical to report this week.

New Delhi

Nothing critical to report this week.

Gujarat

Gujarat will offer subsidised piped natural gas (PNG) to households falling under the below poverty line (BPL) in Bharuch. In this pilot project, the Gujarat government will provide a one-time subsidy of $24 for each connection or household, apart from $25.70 as loan to consumers seeking a new PNG connection.

Source: Business Standard

The state government announced an amnesty scheme for permanently disconnected electricity connections under which 50 percent of the outstanding dues and penal interest would be waived off until July 24, 2018, if consumers pay the outstanding dues within three months.

Source: Daily News Analysis

Haryana

The Manohar Lal Khattar Government in Haryana has come out with its draft Logistics and Warehousing Policy-2018 which seeks to provide strategic direction for the development of the logistics industry in the state over the next five years. In addition to broad-based objectives for setting up state-of-the-art logistic facilities across the state, the policy sets targets for at least five such integrated logistics parks supported by a logistics facility and warehousing complex in every district.

Source: Daily Pioneer In detail: Logistics and Warehousing Policy for Haryana 2018

The Haryana government adopted the start-up ranking framework issued by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) to assess the state on key areas of interventions that are relevant to a healthy start-up ecosystem.

Source: News 18

Karnataka

Nothing critical to report this week.

Madhya Pradesh

In a first of its kind initiative, the Madhya Pradesh government has decided to open an employment bureau for senior citizens.

Source: Hindustan Times

Maharashtra

Nothing critical to report this week.

Rajasthan

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has granted a $21.7 million loan for the Strengthening Public Financial Management in Rajasthan Project. This project will help the state government put in place systems for better planning and budget management; enhance transparency, accountability, and efficiency in public spending; and strengthen the capacity of the revenue systems across key state departments of Finance, Excise and Commercial Taxes Planning, and Information Technology.

Source: World Bank Press Release

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has launched three updated websites for the benefit of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector. The first portal is an updated version of the single window portal already running for giving approvals for starting new industries in Tamil Nadu. The second portal is meant to support unemployed youths applying for loans under the Unemployed Youth Employment Generation Program (UYEGP). The third portal has been launched to facilitate unemployed youth under the New Entrepreneur-cum-Enterprise Development Scheme (NEEDS) so that they can avail bank loans easily.

Source: KNN India

Telangana

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari announced a $821.6 million project to lay a regional ring road around Hyderabad. The 225 mile proposed ring road is expected to ease the traffic problem in and around the city.

Source: Financial Express

Uttar Pradesh

Power sector employees in Uttar Pradesh are opposing the state BJP government's decision to hand over the state-owned Karchana power plant, with a capacity of 1,320 megawatts (MW), to the private sector.

Source: News Click

West Bengal

Nothing critical to report this week.

Best of the Rest

Jharkhand

Jharkhand has increased the electricity tariff for domestic consumers up to 98 percent and slightly reduced the tariff for commercial industries. Domestic consumers will have to pay 8 cents per kWh for 200 kWh as compared to the earlier 4 cents per kWh, while the tariff has been reduced to 9 cents from the existing 10 cents per kWh for the commercial industries.

Source: Hindustan Times In detail: Revised Tariff Order

Tripura

Union Minister for Power, New & Renewable Energy, R.K. Singh and Deputy Chief Minister, Jishnu Devvarma launched the "Saubhagya" scheme in Tripura at Pragya Bhavan in Agartala to provide electricity connections to all "left out" un-electrified households both in rural and urban areas.

Source: North East Today