Here are 20 Cities That Won Govt’s Smart City Challenge; Bhubaneswar, Pune Top the list!

ndian Government has announced the 20 winners of the Smart City Challenge competition for financing during this financial year. Bhubaneshwar topped the Challenge, followed by Pune, Jaipur, Surat and Kochi.

The Smart City Challenge was totally objective and transparent and results were based on responses given by over 1.52 crore Indian citizens who participated in this challenge.

Minister of Urban Development Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu said, “It was for the first time in the country and even in the world that investments in urban sector are being made based on competition based selection of cities.”

The winning cities will receive an investment amount of Rs. 50,802 Crore from the Ministry of Urban Development over next five years with all the cities proposing Public-Private-Partnership as a major vehicle of resource mobilization.

3 cities from Madhya Pradesh, two each from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan and one each from the remaining five made it to the winning list.

A total of 98 cities from 23 states and UTs had participated in this competition – The cities that were eliminated in the first round will have a chance to compete in the next round, but they will need to upgrade their proposals and come up with better plans. They can submit their new applications by 15th April, 2016.

The winning cities were adjudged based quality of their proposals – Bhubaneshwar got overall 78.83 percent followed by Pune at 77.42 percent. All cities in top 20 scored over 50 percent for their proposals. The parameters for getting good scores included cost effectiveness, citizen participation, feasibility and smartness of the proposal.

List of 20 Winning Smart Cities

Rank	City	State
1	Bhubaneswar	Odisha
2	Pune	Maharashtra
3	Jaipur	Rajasthan
4	Surat	Gujarat
5	Kochi	Kerala
6	Ahmedabad	Gujarat
7	Jabalpur	Madhya Pradesh
8	Visakhapatnam	Andhra Pradesh
9	Solapur	Maharashtra
10	Davanagere	Karnataka
11	Indore	MP
12	New Delhi Municipal Council	Delhi
13	Combattore	Tamil Nadu
14	Kakinada	Andhra Pradesh
15	Belagavi	Karnataka
16	Udaipur	Rajasthan
17	Guwahati	Assam
18	Chennai	Tamil Nadu
19	Ludhiana	Punjab
20	Bhopal	MP

[Image: Shutterstock.com]

Business

Amazon, PayTm, Snapdeal Help India Post To Boost Their Parcel Revenue by 37%

During 2013-14, India Post had reported a negative growth of 2% for their parcel delivery division. However, for 2014-15, they have dramatically increased their parcel revenues by 37%; all because of partnerships with Ecommerce portals such as Amazon, Snapdeal and PayTm.

An official from the Communications and IT Ministry said, “Investment is being made for augmenting e-commerce parcel booking, transmission and secure handling capabilities and for mechanising delivery starting with the bigger cities. As a result of these efforts, the parcel revenues have jumped by 37 per cent in the last one year reversing the declining trend in postal business,”

Using Technology For Optimal Results

Since last year, India Post had launched several new initiatives to counter the onslaught of Internet and mobile based communication which resulted in dwindling revenues for them, especially from the sale of postage stamps, letters and delivery traffic.

Instead of fighting the inevitable technological changes, they focused on their strength, which was delivery of parcels, and it worked.

They collaborated with the top ecommerce companies such as Amazon, Snapdeal, PayTm and YepMe, and enabled a mutually beneficial mode of conducting business.

Besides, India Post also upgraded their technological capabilities, introduced Android app with real time tracking and postage calculator. India Post overhauled their overall infrastructure as they have set up 48 modernized delivery centers across India, which acts as hub of parcel delivery for ecommerce portals. Govt. has already announced an investment of Rs 5000 crore to modernize entire infrastructure, and Rs 2000 crore to purchase more delivery vans and vehicles.

Why India Post Can Be a Game Changer for Ecommerce Industry

As of March, 2014, India Post has 1.54 lakh post offices across India, with 1.4 lakh delivery post offices. Out of this, 89.86% of the post offices are in rural India, which makes them the biggest network ever created to ship products into the deep rural hinterland of India.

With over 2 lakh employees and 2.59 lakh Gram Dak Sevaks, an average post office in India serves 6193 people in rural villages, and covers 21.22 sq kms of space.

Any ecommerce observer will confirm the fact that the next wave of ecommerce growth is happening in Tier 2, Tier 3 and villages of India. And this is precisely the reason India Post was able to post a 37% growth in their parcel delivery section.

As per the trends, around 70-80% of their parcel deliveries must be happening within rural areas, as last year, they enabled CoD worth Rs 280 crore in rural areas for ecommerce portals.

And considering the exponential growth encountered by the Indian ecommerce industry, this is just the beginning for India Post.

 0 0 Rate This

Business

#ILEDTHEWAY Govt’s Massive Campaign To Popularize LED Lighting By Offering Much Subsidized Rates

In one of the biggest campaigns ever launched, Indian Government is attempting to create mass awareness about benefits of using LED lighting.

Ministry of Power has created a joint venture called Energy Sufficient Services Limited, which consists of several PSUs in order to propagate and spread the advantages of using LEDs all over the country; and in this mission, they have 47.5 million LEDs all across the country.

Under this initiative, Govt is giving citizens of India LED at much subsidized rates!

The Government has also created a website that mentions the number of LEDs installed through this initiative by various states along with energy & cost savings:

ILEDTHEWAY India Map

Why LEDs?

Usage of LEDs can save a lot of energy for the country, and it’s economical. It used 1/10th of the power used by a normal incandescent bulb and 50% of a CFL bulb, but produces equal amount of brightness and is long lasting as well.

Besides the theoretical facts, let us see what distribution and usage of 47 million LEDs have achieved so far:

16 million kilo-watt hour of energy has been saved
Rs 6.5 crore is saved per day from energy costs
1523 mega watt of power in peak hours have been avoided
13,721 ton of CO2 (carbon dioxide) has been reduced per day
These facts have been shared by the Ministry of Power on their official website.

ILEDTHEWAY Campaign

The campaign has been named ILEDTHEWAY, which has been transformed into a website and hashtag with the same name.

Normally, LED costs around Rs 400-500, which deters a common man from using it.

In order to propagate and inspire more usage, Government is providing subsidy to buy LEDs as well.

Besides upfront discounts, there is an attractive EMI scheme for those who don’t wish to pay the whole amount in one single go.

By showing an ID proof, any Indian citizen has get an LED for Rs 100; whereas under EMI scheme, users only need to pay Rs 10 upfront, and the remaining Rs 95 can be paid in 10 easy installments.

Some unique financial advantages of using LEDs as shared by Government:

Rs 160 per bulb is saved in electricity bill, every month
2-10 LEDs can be bought at a cheaper price compared to CFL
A special 3 year warranty is provided with free replacement
The power and advantages of using LEDs is now being propagated across various Govt. departments as well. For instance, 1 lakh Western Railway employee have adapted 7-watt LEDs; Delhi Cant Municipal area will replace 15,000 traditional bulbs with LEDs and lot more.

LED WR Employees

LED or light-emitting diode was first developed by Nick Holonyak, Jr., while working at General Electric Company. Since then, usage of LEDs have been known to spread like a virus, as the brightness efficiency and power saving from it’s wider usage is unparalleled in the power industry.

Inside India, LEDs were sold commercially, but this is for the first time that its usage is being encouraged on a mass level, supported by Government.

Kudos to the Government for launching such an innovative and useful campaign for saving power and to empower citizens improved lightening. This is one of those campaigns which will have a far reaching positive impact on the society.

In case you don’t use LED, do share your reason by commenting right here.

Business

Indian Parliament to go Completely Paperless Starting Today #DigitalIndia

Today, winter session started in the Indian Parliament and for the first time, the corridors of the institution will not be filled with bundles of papers as the it is going completely paperless.  From this session onwards, all annual reports from various ministries, committee and panel reports, private member’s bills, unstarred questions and bulleting –1 will be uploaded on the Parliament website.

The Government is also carrying out a comprehensive training program for all the MPs on how to use Digital documents going forward. Once the training is over, all the ministers and MPs and expected to use the digital version.

The new move will not only cut down on the usage of paper significantly but also will usher a new age into the parliament, where all MPs will able to access any and every document at a touch or a click of a button making Parliament sessions more productive.

While initially, those MPs without much tech know-how may face some teething problems, proper training should help them get upto speed within no time.

In February of this month, it was also announced that Union Cabinet meetings will use Kindle and will go completely paperless. All notes of the meeting will be put up on Kindle devices for ministers reference. The ministers will be able to access those notes from their eBook readers at meetings and then return these devices to the Cabinet Secretariat immediately after.

While such plans and proposals have been around for quite a few years, it is heartening to see Modi led government’s intent in bringing about these changes. Sources have mentioned that personnel from National Informatics Centre (NIC) have been working overtime to make this digitization possible.

What is also good to see is that Government’s Digital India initiative has an holistic approach, where every Government function and activity is being digitized rather than being done in bits and pieces manner.

We are sure that this initiative may have met with a lot of opposition as most of our ministers (who are on the wrong side of seventies) are zero tech-savvy and they resist change. Even after all this, the Parliament has boldly gone paperless!

Business

Consolidation Begins In Budget Hotel Space As Oyo Acquires Zo Rooms For Undisclosed Amount

Zo rooms, the online budget hotel accommodation startup which promised to become a formidable player in this niche has been finally acquired by Oyo Rooms. This acquisition has been confirmed by SoftBank as they shared their earnings report yesterday.

Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank, which helped Oyo Rooms to raise $100 million last year, is known to be ruthless when it comes to eradicating their competitors; and this consolidation is seen as an attempt in this direction.

After this acquisition, Oyo Rooms has clearly become the #1 player in this niche as it races ahead of Stayzilla (which doesn’t provide branded rooms) and is miles ahead of newer players like Yatra, MakeMyTrip and GoIbibo.

Talks were on since last three months; and right now, both Zo and Oyo have declined to comment.

Oyo vs Zo

At the time of acquisition, Zo Rooms had 20,000 listed properties, across 30 cities. 300 employees powered their operations.

Comparably, Oyo has presence across 165 cities, and 4500 hotels and 40,000+ rooms are part of its network. Compared to $35 million raised by Zo Rooms (led by Tiger Global and Orios Management) last year, Oyo has raised $100 million led by SoftBank.

Oyo has started operations in Malaysia as well, making it their first international operations; and last year, total of 8,95,000 nights were booked on Oyo’s platform, which is an increase of 34 times compared to 2014. (data as per SoftBank’s statement)

Oyo has already introduced several innovations such as partnership with Ola cabs; women centric budget rooms; dedicated cafe` and hosuekeeping service and more.

How Will The Deal Materialize?

As per details emerging, its an all stock deal, which will be finalized in the next 15-20 days.

Zostel Hospitality Pvt. Ltd, which owns Zo Rooms will get 7% in the new venture, meanwhile the founders will get 2.5%. Rest of the stock would be held by Tiger Global Management LLC, Orios Venture Partners, angel investor Zishaan Hayath and Mato Peric, ex-managing director at Rocket Internet, among others.

Zo Rooms was started with the vision of providing comfortable rooms for budget travellers, under Rs 500. However, it seems that they were not able to compete against a bigger, formidable competitor.

It would be interesting to observe how players of budget hotel niche reacts now, especially , Ibibo, Yatra and MakeMyTrip, who had removed Oyo and Zo listings from their database!

Business

PM Modi Will Provide 400 Million Unorganized Workers With Smart Cards For Their Social & Financial Inclusion

Around 32% of India’s population are working under unorganized sector; which means that they don’t have provision to take any type of loan; they cannot take part in any social initiative and/or health related schemes.

PM Modi is all set to change this as 40 crore workers under unorganized sector will soon receive a special smart card, which will enable their financial and social inclusion into mainstream economy.

Named as Unorganized Workers’ Identification Number (UWIN) card, this scheme would be directly managed by the Labor Ministry; and has been hailed as one of the biggest social schemes every launched inside India or anywhere in the world. Besides providing social security for unorganized workers, this smart card will provide them with an identity.

This unique social initiative will target those workers, who neither covered under Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) nor Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC).

Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said, “Within one month Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch smart card called UWIN (Unorganized Workers’ Identification Number) card. We had sought time from the Prime Minister for launching it for over 40 crore workers in the country,”

This announcement was made during the launch of Global Network Operations Centre (g-NOC) of EPFO at the National Capital.

Using existing Government schemes such as Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), Atal Pension Yojana, Aam Admi Bima Yojana (AABY), Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana; UWIN cards will have a chip which will store all vital information of these unorganized workers, and will integrate the national database with one central repository.

Hence, migrant workers, which are common phenomenon (for example, laborers from Bihar working in Gujarat) would be able to avail all benefits, without any physical boundary.

As per reports, this scheme would be implemented within next 2 years; and 10 crore such smart cards would be issued in the first phase.

Earlier, PM Modi’s Jan Dhan Yojana, which aimed to provide a bank account for every Indian entered Guinness Book of World Records for opening maximum number of bank accounts, anywhere in the world.

Going by the track record of the Indian Govt., it seems that UWIN will another blockbuster financial/social scheme, which will have far reaching effects.

We will keep you updated as more details come in.

Business Finance

Yay! No Surcharge, Service Charge For Digital Payments. Cashless Transaction Get HUGE Boost!

n a major development, Government has removed every type of service charge & surcharge applicable on cashless payments. This is seen as the biggest push for promoting digital/card based payments in India.

Earlier this year, we had reported that how cashless payments have overtaken paper based payments across India; and after this recent announcement, a new revolution of cashless transactions shall be ignited. Last year in December, Government had made another big decision by making it mandatory for all Government related transactions above Rs 1000 to be made cashless.

It may be noted here that cash transactions are actually very expensive, as 5-7% of our GDP is spent in maintaining the records, currencies and other expenses. By promoting and encouraging cashless transactions, we are actually becoming richer and wealthier!

Besides, more cashless payments will convert to higher tax payments and more financial inclusion.

The recent decision to abolish surcharge and service charge on cashless payments was approved by the Cabinet, which was headed by PM Modi.

The official statement from the Govt. said, “The essential features of the proposals for promotion of payments through cards and digital means include steps for withdrawal of surcharge, service charge and convenience fee on card and digital payments currently imposed by various government departments, organisations..”

Some other crucial decisions which were approved for promoting cashless transactions include:

• Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on card transactions would be now rationalized and a differentiated MDR framework for some key industries would be proposed
• Formula-linked acceptance infrastructure by the stakeholders of certain card products
• Rationalized telecom service charges for digital financial transactions
• Promoting mobile banking among rural customers
• Creation of a special department to check fraud activities and ensuring quick action on such incidents
• Complete review of payments ecosystem in the country

Earlier this week, Govt. had announced the implementation of Unified Payment Interface across India, which has the potential to kill mobile wallets in India.

Going by the reports, it seems that the present Government is serious about cashless transactions, and in the coming Union Budget, we may witness some more fireworks in this direction.

Some other cashless payments related news we covered:

Paytm brings QR code based payment for offline merchants

Cashless hotel bookings via Oyo Rooms

Ultrasonic waves induced cashless payments on Paytm

MobiKwik brings cashless payment for 10 million rural users

Cashless burgers at McDonald’s

Cashless petrol courtesy Paytm

Cashless Kaali-Peeli taxis

Business

Govt. Plans Massive Surveillance of Media; All Negative News To Be Severely Monitored

“Until they became conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.” – George Orwell, 1984

Indian Government has decided to closely monitor all negative news emerging against them on digital, TV and print media.

As per reports emerging, a special ‘National Media Analytics Centre’ (NMAC) would be set up, which is do a round the clock surveillance of every blog, website, news portal, TV channel, magazines and other forms of media.

Insider reports claim that last month, Government of India had asked all ministries to set up a quick response team comprising of experts from Press Information Bureau (PIB), Govt. officials and other specialists whose task would be to respond to all negative news regarding the Government and respond accordingly.

Officials from Home, I&B and External Affairs ministries would be part of this tea, which shall analysis, coordinate, disseminate information and provide feedback on ‘public perception and national security’.

A Government official shared with Indian Express: “The government will keep a watch on the narrative in all such threads. Every time a negative narrative surfaces, a possible counter would be initiated — through press releases, briefings or press conferences, depending on the intensity or standing of the post,”

‘National Media Analytics Centre’ (NMAC) would work directly under National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), which is India’s ‘apex agency to monitor country’s political, economic, energy and strategic security concerns’. It was formed by ex-PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1998, and Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor heads it right now.

Core of ‘National Media Analytics Centre’

National Media Analytics Centre’s monitoring and surveillance strategy would be based on a unique tracking software developed by Ponnurangam Kumaraguru, who is an Assistant Professor at Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi.

This one of its kind software would scan and crawl all social media content, and identify ‘hostile and aggressive’ content by analysing a set of terms and phrases. Just like Google’s index, this software will then tag these content based on the severity of the matter, and classify them as negative, neutral or positive sentiments.

Accordingly, action would be taken after analysing the writer/social media users’ past history, his previous comments, write-ups and intentions per se.

As per the source, “The software would also help recall the past pattern of the writer to check the number of times he took a negative or positive stand, his background, and preferences of websites and areas of interest to judge whether they were aimed at fomenting trouble or radicalization,”

The proposal of NMAC was sent to PIB director-general Frank Noronha by Deputy National Security Advisor Arvind Gupta.

Objective of NMAC

NMAC’s primary objective would be to instantly reply and counter those negative comments, emotions, and to avoid controversy which can snowball into major crisis very soon on social media.

The report generated via this software shall be promptly handed over to the concerned agencies, who can even make an arrest based on the need.

Some experts are stating that this protocol is an indirect way to implement Section 66A, which was recently quashed by Supreme Court.

Indian Government already has a New Media Wing which observes and monitors social media; and Electronic Media Monitoring Centre (EMMC) which tracks the content of 600+ news channels round the clock.

It seems NMAC would work closely with these two monitoring team, and have massive information and data on every aspect of media.

We will keep you updated as more details come in.

Image Source: Shutterstock.com

Business

Rail Budget 2016 Highlights: No Passenger Fare Hike & More…

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today presented PM Modi Government’s second railway budget at Parliament. Intense speculation and anticipation existed for the budget, considering the fact that around 2.5 crore passengers use Indian Railways daily; and every little change can impact a huge population with a single stroke.

Thankfully, no passenger fare was increased in this budget, and only 4 new trains were introduced: all for the needy and appropriate. Unlike previous rail budgets, wherein several new trains were announced, just for voter appeasement (especially in Bihar and West Bengal), this budget was more humane, matured, and targeted for the long term.

Three most striking announcements which touched my heart, as a hardcore Rail-fan are:

a) Coolies would be called as ‘Sahayaks’ from now on. Its a brilliant decision to say the least, as it impacts psychologically. The coolies, who form an important aspect of the overall Railways operation, would feel more connected, and more appreciated.

b) Divyaangs (handicapped) would have specialized toilets inside trains. We wonder what stopped previous Railway ministers to take this extremely important step.

c) 1,00,000 calls are made to passengers everyday seeking feedback on cleanliness. Coaches would now be cleaned on demand, just by sending an SMS. By combining PM Modi’s Swatch Bharat mission, this is an excellent initiative to keep the trains clean.

Other announcements which were made during #RailBudget2016:

– WiFi would be provided at 400 more stations; 100 stations already have WiFi as of now

– Railways would work with eCommerce companies to increase revenue via freight route

– Railways receives around 100 terabytes of data every year. They will now use Big Data to analyse and use this enormous data

– Social media would be now used more prominently for customer care and outreach

– Indian Railways is expecting an operating ratio of 92% this year

– Rs 1.21 lakh total capital planned for Railways Budget 2016

– Rs 8720 crore was saved last year, which would be used this year

– Rs 8.5 lakh crore would be spent on Railways modernization

– 2000 km of rail line would be electrified this year; which is an increase of 50% compared to last year

– 2500 kms of rail line would be converted into broad-gauge this year; its an increase of 30% compared to last year

– 17,000 bio-toilets would be created; 475 new toilets across various railway station

– Mizoram and Manipur would be connected via broad gauge

– IRCTC website would now handle 7200 tickets per second, which is an increase from 2000/second right now

– 1.2 lakh online users would be now able to access IRCTC website at a given time, compared to 40,000 right now

– 2500 water vending machines would be installed at railway stations

– All major railway stations would be monitored by CCTV camera

– Antyodaya Express would be launched, which would be unreserved long distance train across major routes

– Humsafar Express would be launched, which would be completely 3AC coached, for long distance routes

– Tejas Express trains would be launched, which will have speed of more than 130 kms/hour (starting with Agra-Delhi-Agra route)

– Reservation for women and aged citizens would increase; women will get 33% reservation in catering

– IRCTC will soon take over catering services across all trains; local cuisines would be preferred

– Cancellation of tickets can now be accomplished on phone using 139

– Exclusive Radio and FM service would be launched for passengers

– Baby food would be available for new mothers who are travelling

– India’s first Rail Auto Hub would be launched in Chennai

– All unmanned crossing shall be abolished by 2020

Minister also announced that 139 key actions have been taken, which were promised last year.

Here is the full copy of Railways Budget 2016.

Business

Zee Digital Launches OZEE, Its Own Video-on-demand Platform

We get so little time for entertainment in our busy lifestyles. We want to catch up to all our favourite TV seasons and shows, but the main problem is their on-air schedule. We simply can’t adjust our daily routine just because we want to watch TV! The solution lies in video-on-demand services.



We have seen the launch of many video-on-demand services in the recent past.  Singtel launched Hooq in the second quarter of 2015 having monthly subscription plans for unlimited viewing at Rs. 199/month. It was then followed by the launch of Viacom 18’s VOOT. This year, we saw the launch of Netflix in India.

Now, the digital arm of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL), Zee Digital Convergence Ltd (ZDCL) has launched its own video-on-demand (VoD) platform- OZEE.

Why ‘OZEE’?

According to the company executives, the name ‘OZEE’ is inspired by the letter ‘O’ symbolising the circle that encompasses the Universe and the entertainment we seek in it i.e. the world of ZEE.

OZEE app boasts an enhanced user experience for tempting the first-time users to convert into loyal users. Though this VoD platform is for everybody, the company primary target is the youth aged between 18-24 years who consume a lot of content on their personal gadgets and live by the ‘Apne Pace Ki Zindagi’ and want ‘Entertainment now.’

Video-on-demand has become the need of the hour as more and more people are trying to switch to video-on-demand services which allow them to watch whatever they want irrespective of the time and place.

“In India, entertainment is life. The fact that today people are finding it easy to cut away from appointment viewing and are able to watch their chosen entertainment anytime and anywhere, has only driven consumer expectations higher. The video on demand platform has become the need of the hour and we are excited to bring to our viewers this whole new level of entertainment. Living in the ‘instant’ era, OZEE will make content available within minutes of its television telecast,” said Punit Goenka, MD & CEO at ZEEL.

These VoD services serve content irrespective of the demographic segmentation and thus will reach a much larger audience.

“We believe that OZEE will define the future consumption benchmarks of entertainment content from ZEEL and deliver an effortless and pleasurable experience to all viewers of ‘on demand’ content on OZEE – irrespective of location, age group, SEC and comfort with technology platforms,” Debashish Ghosh, CEO at ZDCL.

Features of OZEE

The viewers can watch content on OZEE via Android or iOS apps and that too for free. The content’s shelf life will be for a lifetime.

OZEE will also deliver interactive video viewing experience even on low bandwidth connections. They will also get notifications regarding their favourite shows.

OZEE Is Different Than Other VoD Services

OZEE believes that it is a social entertainment solution encompassing everything which can be leveraged by all.

“OZEE is not like any other video on demand platform. We believe we are an all-encompassing social entertainment solution that every individual can leverage. They can seek their special dose of entertainment at their convenience and enjoy, share and celebrate at their own pace,” explained Karan Jaitapkar, Business Head at OZEE.

In future, OZEE will showcase not just the content from ZEE entertainment, but will also showcase exclusive content like award shows, movie premieres, and even concerts. OZEE wants to be your one-stop destination for everything entertainment.



 2 0 Rate This

Business

AAP Government approves Rs 1,546 Crore interest-free loan to DMRC

Delhi’s beloved lifeline, the Delhi Metro, is expanding and Phase IV of the expansion project is expected to be completed by 2021. Phase III is supposed to be complete by the end of 2016 by DMRC, with major lines running through the ever-busy ring roads in Delhi.

Phase IV will focus at extending the existing lines to every nook and corner of Delhi, while adding 75 stations on its route. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation(DMRC) projects would always get completed on time till Phase II, but Phase III saw some hurdles due to land acquisition issues.

The Delhi Government, led by the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP), has decided to aid DMRC with a Rs 1,546 Crore interest-free loan, to speed up the development processes.

Currently, any purchase by DMRC has to undergo a Value Added Tax(VAT) scrutiny to be paid to the city government, which adds to the initial budget allotted to DMRC. However, the amount is later reimbursed when validated against the purchases.

The loan will be provided in three installments; Rs 646 Crore in 2015-2016, Rs 450 Crore in 2016-2017 and Rs 450 Crore in 2017-2018, which have been probably decided by the prioritized needs of the DMRC.

Gopal Rai, Delhi Transport Minister, said, “We used to reimburse the VAT amount paid by the DMRC, but the process would consume more time and often cause delay to projects. For instance, the government had reimbursed the VAT amount, which was to be paid in 2010 to Metro, in 2014. As per the new rule, we will extend interest-free loan in advance which the Metro used to give to the government in forms of VAT.” Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi, was also present when the decision was made on the relaxed rule.

DMRC is owned equally by the Government of Delhi and Government of India. It has received accolades from everyone around the world for being punctual, efficient and comfortable to the commuters in Delhi-NCR. Phase IV is expected to reduce the traffic jams on arterial roads and interconnect different stations on the lines to shorten travel times for commuters.

Such excellent initiatives are welcome by everyone, which will ensure the plans are completed on time and no disruption is caused to the work flow.

Various efforts have been undertaken by DMRC in the past to ease the commute for residents in Delhi:

Delhi Metro Transforms Into Pickup Hubs For Ecommerce Portals; 10 Stations Designated As Last Mile Delivery Points

Soon, Paytm Wallet Payments Allowed For Delhi Metro Rides #OfflinePush

Can Delhi Metro Provide The Next Big Breakthrough In Generating Wind Energy?

Delhi Metro Will Provide WiFi For All Passengers; Invite Bids From Mobile Operators

Business