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Delhi-Gurgaon in 30 minutes? Nitin Gadkari's new plan to end Capital's traffic woes

Delhi-Gurgaon in 30 minutes? Nitin Gadkari's new plan to end Capital's traffic woes

Time of India3 days ago
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A major infrastructure revamp is on the cards to tackle Delhi's chronic traffic congestion, with Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari backing two transformative road projects. A new high-speed corridor between Delhi and Gurgaon is being proposed, potentially reducing commute time from over an hour to just 30 minutes, according to The Indian Express.This express link is expected to start near either Gyarah Murti or Talkatora Stadium and offer a smooth alternative to the overloaded NH-48 and MG Road. The plan is part of a larger strategy to decongest Central and Lutyens' Delhi, with the second major proposal being an elevated corridor or tunnel connecting the Delhi-Meerut Expressway (near Sarai Kale Khan) to the upcoming AIIMS-Mahipalpur Bypass.Both proposals were reviewed in a high-level meeting led by Gadkari and Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta. According to the report, Gadkari emphasized that the AIIMS-Mahipalpur corridor alone wouldn't be sufficient to resolve traffic snarls in Central Delhi, and urged the NHAI to evaluate both projects in depth.The AIIMS-Mahipalpur corridor is estimated to cost ₹5,000 crore and will stretch from AIIMS to Nelson Mandela Marg in Vasant Kunj. A 5-km tunnel is also being planned to link it with IGI Airport and Dwarka Expressway, offering an alternative to NH-48 and easing pressure on Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road and Ring Road.In parallel, bids have been invited for preparing the Detailed Project Report (DPR). Earlier this month, PWD Minister Parvesh Verma also pushed for the rapid construction of an underpass and flyover at UER-II and the Gurgaon-Jaipur Highway intersection.The NHAI-led project aims to decongest West and Outer Delhi, especially busy areas like Shiv Murti Chowk, where traffic from Dwarka Expressway, Kapashera, and NH-48 converges. Once complete, these initiatives are expected to ease bottlenecks not just in Delhi but across the entire NCR region.
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Zero-duty access to jobs: India-UK Free Trade Agreement in 10 simple points
Zero-duty access to jobs: India-UK Free Trade Agreement in 10 simple points

First Post

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  • First Post

Zero-duty access to jobs: India-UK Free Trade Agreement in 10 simple points

Under the India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA), up to 95% of agricultural products and processed foods will be traded duty-free. Dairy products, edible oils and apples, however, have been exempted. The FTA will also make it easier for Indian professionals to move to the UK. Here we explain the India-UK FTA in 10 points. read more Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets British PM Sir Keir Starmer at the Chequers in England on Thursday, July 24, 2025. (Photo: X/Narendra Modi) Under the India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed on Thursday, up to 95 per cent of agricultural products and processed foods have been added to the zero-duty category whereas certain sectors sensitive to India have been excluded from the category. Overall, the trade deal secures unprecedented duty-free access for 99 per cent of India's exports to the United Kingdom, covering nearly the entire trade basket, the Union commerce ministry said in a statement. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Here are 10 key features of the India-UK trade deal — from duty-free access to goods to easier mobility of professionals. 1. Farmers to get preferential access to UK markets Indian farmers will get preferential access to the UK's $35 billion agricultural market. Overall, more than 95 per cent of agricultural products and processed food products will attract zero duties, such as fruits, vegetables, cereals, pickles, spice mixes, fruit pulps, and ready-to-eat meals and processed foods. This will boost India's export and enhancing income of domestic farmers. 2. India protects sensitive sectors Despite the duty-free trade of such products, India has secured the exclusion of sensitive sectors like dairy, vegetables, apples, cooking oils, and oats, to protect the interest of Indian farmers and traders by preventing the influx of cheaper imports. 3. Big catch for Indian fishermen The India-UK trade deal has opened the $5.4 billion UK market for marine exports as the UK import duty on marine products will fall to 0 from up to 20 per cent. 4. Boost for job creation The India-UK trade deal has given a competitive edge to Indian labour-intensive industries in the UK, giving them more employment-generation opportunities. 'CETA [Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement] secures unprecedented duty-free access for 99 per cent of India's exports to the UK, covering nearly the entire trade basket. This is expected to open new opportunities for labour-intensive industries such as textiles, marine products, leather, footwear, sports goods, toys, and gems and jewellery, alongside fast-growing sectors like engineering goods, auto components, and organic chemicals,' the Union commerce ministry said. 5. Zero duty on major sectors Duties have been brought down to 0 per cent on several major Indian sectors, such as textiles (down from 12 per cent), base metals (from 10 per cent), and chemicals (from 8 per cent). 6. Gains for rural India As most of the processed food products have been brought under a zero-duty regime from 70 per cent duties, rural Indian producers and exporters of that produce are set to get a boost. 7. Double Contribution Convention (DCC) to exempt workers and employers from social security contribution for three years. This will benefit 75,000 Indian workers in the UK. 8. Indian professionals will get better mobility access to the UK. 9. Up to 1,800 Indian chefs, yoga instructors, and classical musicians can move temporarily to UK to provide services. 10. More opportunities for India's services sector The India-UK trade deal will provide better opportunities to India's services sector. 'The agreement provides greater market access in IT and IT-enabled services, financial and legal services, professional and educational services, and digital trade. Indian professionals, including those deployed by companies to work in UK across all services sectors, professionals deployed on contracts such as architects, engineers, chefs, yoga instructors, and musicians, will benefit from simplified visa procedures and liberalised entry categories, making it easier for talent to work in the UK,' the Union commerce ministry said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD

ED raids: Anil Ambani's fall and the flicker of a comeback
ED raids: Anil Ambani's fall and the flicker of a comeback

Indian Express

time6 minutes ago

  • Indian Express

ED raids: Anil Ambani's fall and the flicker of a comeback

After the split between the Ambani brothers, Anil Ambani's journey took a dramatic and difficult turn. Once commanding a glittering business empire, he soon found himself caught in a storm of debt defaults, financial losses and insolvency proceedings. Companies that were once household names — Reliance Communications, Reliance Capital, Reliance Power, and Reliance Infrastructure — began to unravel under the weight of mounting liabilities and regulatory setbacks. Thursday's Enforcement Directorate raids at numerous locations and on a number of firms linked to Anil Ambani's Reliance Group comes as the latest setback to the business house at a time when it was looking to get back on its feet after years of moving from one crisis to another. Over the past two-three years, the Reliance Group looked to start on a revival journey, with a focus on sectors like clean energy, infrastructure, and defence. It remains to be seen whether the Reliance Group will be able to stay the course it had charted for itself, or be derailed yet again. By 2017–2018, many of these firms had either entered bankruptcy or faced severe distress. Reliance Communications – which had a market capitalisation of Rs 1.5 lakh crore at its peak in 2007 — ceased mobile operations in 2019 after filing for bankruptcy, burdened by an unmanageable debt of Rs 46,000 crore. Reliance Capital, a leading NBFC of its time, defaulted on over Rs 40,000 crore and eventually lost its insurance and asset management businesses — Nippon of Japan took over the asset management and life insurance businesses of the group, while the general insurance arm and Reliance Capital were acquired by the Hinduja-led IndusInd group through the resolution process. In June this year, the State Bank of India (SBI) officially labelled Reliance Communications' loan account as 'fraudulent,' alleging fund diversion that traces back to 2016. Reliance Naval, acquired by the Reliance Group in 2015, was tasked with building five offshore patrol vessels under a Rs 2,500 crore defence deal. After years of delays and financial setbacks, the Navy cancelled the project in 2020, citing failure to meet deadlines. With over Rs 7,000 crore in debt and no restructuring plan, the company entered bankruptcy in 2020. In December 2022, Swan Energy took over its assets through the insolvency process. As the financial empire crumbled, the group sought to restructure its remaining assets under India's Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. Some businesses were wound up, others dissolved or sold off, while a few found breathing room to regroup. Anil Ambani himself quit from the boards of various group companies including Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Power. In fact, none of the family members are on the boards of major group companies. Tina Ambani is on the board of Dassault Reliance Aerospace Ltd. In August 2024, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) too imposed a five‑year ban on Anil Ambani and 24 other entities from participating in the securities market. He was also hit with a Rs 25 crore penalty (approximately $3 million) for orchestrating a fraudulent scheme to siphon off funds from Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL) via unsafe general‑purpose working capital loans to entities linked to the promoters. Last month on June 13, State Bank of India classified Reliance Communications along with promoter director Anil D Ambani as 'fraud' and on Monday the Parliament was informed that it was in the process of lodging a complaint with the CBI. The entities were classified as fraud in accordance with the RBI's Master Directions on Fraud Risk Management and Bank's Board-approved Policy on Classification, Reporting & Management of Frauds, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha From 2022 onward, the Anil Ambani group began a cautious, if ambitious, attempt at revival– pivoting towards clean energy, infrastructure, and defence manufacturing. This new strategy placed sustainability and technology at its core, with a renewed focus on solar power and battery energy storage. The group's revival plan is led by power and infrastructure arms. Reliance Power has an operating portfolio of 5,305 MW, that includes 3960 MW Sasan Power Limited (world's largest integrated coal-based power plant). Following Reliance Power's achievement of zero debt, Rosa Power, which operates a 1,200 MW coal-based thermal power plant in UP, is now on track to become debt-free. The company aims to settle its remaining debt in the next quarter, completing the process before the end of the current financial year. It's now planning to invest over Rs 10,000 crore in a solar power plant and an integrated solar manufacturing facility in Andhra Pradesh. Reliance Power made a profit of Rs 2,947 crore in FY24 and Rs 44.79 crore in the June quarter of FY26. Reliance Infrastructure, once weighed down by debt, reported zero standalone net debt by FY 2025 and posted a net profit of Rs 216 crore in Q4 of FY25 as against a loss of Rs 3,202 crore in Q3 of FY25. India Ratings recently upgraded Reliance Infra's rating from D to B, pointing to the timely servicing of standalone debt obligations for three consecutive months ended 30 June 2025. However, it said Reliance Infra continues to face elevated group-level risk due to the financial distress in several subsidiaries. The company now operates through a diversified network of special purpose vehicles (SPVs) across critical growth sectors such as power, roads, metro rail, airports, and defence. During FY25 and 1QFY26, Reliance Infra made significant progress in resolving legacy financial obligations arising from corporate guarantees and other liabilities. Reliance Power stocks saw a 121 per cent rally from the 52-week low, signalling renewed investor interest. However, promoter holding in Reliance Infra remains modest at just 19.05 per cent, reflecting continued capital dilution and financial restructuring. Reliance Infra and Reliance Power — the two major listed entities — have a market capitalisation of Rs 14,262 crore and Rs 24,690 crore respectively now. At its peak in 2008 before various companies collapsed, the group had a market capitalisation of Rs 3.45 lakh crore. Reacting to the ED raids, Reliance Infra and Reliance Power said in similarly-worded statements that the ED's actions 'have absolutely no impact on the business operations, financial performance, shareholders, employees, or any other stakeholders', and that the companies have no business or financial linkage to Reliance Communications and Reliance Home Finance, which are purportedly at the centre of the ED's action. In the aerospace sector, the group had earlier formed Dassault Reliance Aerospace Ltd (DRAL) in 2017, a joint venture with France's Dassault Aviation under the offset obligations of the Rafale fighter jet deal. While DRAL did deliver aerostructure components—such as cockpit assemblies—for Falcon 2000 jets, its role remained modest, accounting for only a small part of the total offset value. Plans are now afoot to deepen the partnership between Dassault and the Reliance Group, with plans to manufacture the former's business jets in India. Dassault and Reliance Group announced last month that DRAL will be setting up a final assembly line (FAL) for manufacturing the Falcon 2000 jets at Nagpur. The first made-in-India Falcon 2000 jet is expected to be ready by 2028. This will be the first instance of Dassault manufacturing the popular business jet outside France. The made-in-India jets will cater to rising business jet demand in India and international markets, according to the partners. At Mihan, Nagpur, DRAL has a manufacturing facility for making various sections of Dassault's best-selling business executive jet–the Falcon 2000. Since delivering its first Falcon 2000 front section in 2019, DRAL has assembled over 100 major sub-sections for the Falcon 2000. While Dassault and the Reliance Group have not spelt out the capacity of the Falcon 2000 production facility at Nagpur, but sources in the know indicated that it could be up to 24 aircraft a year. This would be the first-ever instance of a foreign aircraft manufacturer setting up an FAL in India for fixed-wing civilian aircraft. Over time, however, Dassault's newer defence partnerships have increasingly leaned toward other Indian players like Tata, signalling a reduced reliance on the Anil Ambani group in this space. The group recently announced big plans in the ammunition segment also. In June 2025, Reliance Defence formed a strategic partnership with Diehl Defence of Germany to manufacture Vulcano 155 mm precision-guided artillery shells domestically. In May 2025, the group signed an agreement with Rheinmetall AG, another major German defence manufacturer to supply explosives and propellants for medium and large-calibre ammunition. Despite years of financial turbulence, the group has shown signs of resilience and reinvention. Though much of the original empire lies dismantled, a leaner, more focused Anil Ambani Group is trying to chart a comeback—anchored in energy, infrastructure, and defence, yet still shadowed by its legacy of debt and regulatory scrutiny. Sukalp Sharma is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and writes on a host of subjects and sectors, notably energy and aviation. He has over 13 years of experience in journalism with a body of work spanning areas like politics, development, equity markets, corporates, trade, and economic policy. He considers himself an above-average photographer, which goes well with his love for travel. ... Read More

Telangana Commits to 42% BC Reservations in Local Elections; CM Revanth Reddy Slams BJP for Obstruction
Telangana Commits to 42% BC Reservations in Local Elections; CM Revanth Reddy Slams BJP for Obstruction

Hans India

time6 minutes ago

  • Hans India

Telangana Commits to 42% BC Reservations in Local Elections; CM Revanth Reddy Slams BJP for Obstruction

New Delhi: Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy reaffirmed the state government's strong commitment to conducting local body elections with 42% reservations for Backward Classes (BCs). Speaking to the media at his official residence in Delhi, he emphasized that the government is determined to implement the reservation policy despite opposition from the BJP and delay from the Centre in approving key bills. Revanth stated that the High Court has directed the state to conduct local elections within 90 days (by the end of September) and finalize the reservation structure within 30 days (by the end of July). He accused the Central Government of deliberately stalling the approval of two crucial bills passed by the Telangana Legislative Assembly related to BC reservations in education, employment, and local bodies. To press for the passage of these bills during the ongoing Parliament session, Revanth said the Telangana government will meet Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi and Rajya Sabha Opposition Leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday morning to explain the state's methodology and findings from the Socio-Economic, Educational, Employment, Political, and Caste (SEEEPC) survey. The same evening, a PowerPoint presentation will be made to Congress MPs from both Houses to provide a detailed account of the caste survey data and its implications. Revanth recalled that the Telangana Assembly had witnessed support from BJP, BRS, CPI, and AIMIM for the 42% BC reservation bill. He criticized Union Ministers Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay for using Muslim reservations as an excuse to block BC quotas. The Chief Minister challenged the BJP by pointing out that Muslim reservations are already in effect in BJP-ruled states like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra, and dared BJP leaders to cancel those if they truly oppose them. Referring to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's past interview where he acknowledged Muslim reservations in Gujarat, Revanth questioned whether the BJP would suspend Shah for endorsing the same policy they now criticize. The Chief Minister also declared that Telangana's caste-based survey, started on February 4, 2024, and completed by February 4, 2025, has been placed before the Legislative Assembly for approval. Based on the survey, 56.4% of the state's population belongs to BCs, 17.45% are Scheduled Castes, 10.08% are Scheduled Tribes, and 10.09% belong to upper castes. Interestingly, 3.09% of respondents chose not to disclose their caste, which Revanth said was a new social development in the state. He stressed that individual details from the survey will not be disclosed, as doing so would violate the Data Privacy Act. The state government handed the survey data to an independent advisory committee of experts, who have submitted their report. This report will be reviewed by the state cabinet before being tabled in the Assembly. Revanth hailed Telangana's caste enumeration model as a role model for the country and urged the Centre to adopt Telangana's roadmap for nationwide implementation. He recalled that during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi had promised caste enumeration, and Telangana became the first state to fulfill that commitment upon coming to power. Looking ahead, Revanth said the 2029 Lok Sabha elections will serve as a litmus test for OBC reservations. Drawing a parallel with the farmers' protest, he noted that the Centre was forced to repeal the controversial farm laws and similarly had to accept Telangana's lead on caste census. He also pointed out that the introduction of 10% reservations for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) has rendered the earlier 50% reservation cap irrelevant, strengthening Telangana's case for higher BC quotas. On another issue, Revanth said the state is actively considering removing the two-child norm currently in place for local body elections. Responding to a query about the resignation of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Revanth expressed surprise and called it unfortunate. He urged that the Vice President post should now be given to Telangana. He criticized the BJP for sidelining BC leaders, stating that former Union Minister Dattatreya was made Governor and his position handed over to Kishan Reddy, while BJP leader Sanjay was removed as state party chief. He suggested that correcting this injustice by nominating Dattatreya as Vice President would be a fitting move. Though the final decision lies with the Congress leadership, Revanth said he would personally support Dattatreya's candidacy if given a chance. The meeting also discussed political and policy strategies with participation from key leaders and advisors, including Shabbir Ali, Harkar Venu Gopal Rao, MPs Mallu Ravi, Chamal Kiran Kumar Reddy, Ramasahayam Raghurami Reddy, Porika Balram Naik, Kunduru Raghuveer Reddy, Gaddam Vamsi Krishna, Dr. Kadiyam Kavya, Suresh Shetkar, and Anil Kumar Yadav.

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