Kochi: With fuel prices skyrocketing in the international market, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday exhorted Asian countries to come together and demand a fair pricing mechanism for the gas being imported.
“Asia has been the driver of the global LNG demand in recent times. It is, therefore, important that major buyers of LNG in Asia come together to demand a fair pricing mechanism for gas being imported from outside Asia. I hope to see India contribute towards an effort of this kind in the future,” he said while dedicating the Rs 4,200-crore Petronet LNG Terminal at Puthuvypu to the nation.
Noting that the LNG terminal can process as much as 50 lakh tonnes of Liquefied Natural Gas in a year, Manmohan Singh asked the state government and the petroleum ministry to pay particular attention to rolling out city gas distribution networks in Kerala.
“To make full use of the large investment in this project, we need to focus on increasing the penetration of natural gas in Kerala by augmenting the pipeline network, similar to what has been done in northern and western parts of the country,” he said.
Kochi is strategically located on the east-west trade route and a centre for transit and trans-shipment services. The shipping industry too will benefit greatly from the terminal as more and more ships are mandated to use cleaner fuels like LNG, he said.
The terminal has a capacity of 5 MMTPA, but currently only eight per cent of it is used as the laying of pipelines on the Kochi-Bangalore and Kochi-Mangalore routes has been facing stiff opposition.
Next: STPI scheme will be revived: Singh
STPI scheme will be revived: Singh
Thiruvananthapuram: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured an IT delegation from the state that the centre will favourably consider a demand to revive the Software Technology Parks of India scheme in tier 2 and tier 3 cities.
A delegation of Group of Technology Companies (GTech) called on the Prime Minister at Raj Bhavan here on Saturday morning.
According to a statement from GTech, the Prime Minister said that there was merit in the demand to revive the STPI scheme for tier 2 and tier 3 cities as it was crucial for inclusive growth. He said the matter would be seriously examined. The STPI scheme was terminated in 2011. Chief minister Oommen Chandy was also present at the meeting.
It may be recalled that GTech had taken up the matter with Congress president Sonia Gandhi also during her visit to the state in September.
The GTech delegation led by its chairman V.K. Mathews told the PM that the slight decline in Indian IT sector’s growth rate could be reversed by initiatives like restoration of STPI schemes that provided tax exemptions on export income, besides other policy supports.
“Thousand of small IT companies in the tier 2 and 3 cities, including about 400 in Kerala, account for only about 10 percent of the IT exports of the country. The next phase of IT development in the country could be triggered by these units, provided they get adequate policy support,” said Mathews.
Next: Govt to improve hardware ecosystem
Govt to improve hardware ecosystem
Thiruvananthapuram: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday laid the foundationstone for the Global Learning Centre being set up by Tata Consultancy Services at Technocity in Pallipuram near Technopark. It is claimed to be the world’s largest corporate learning and development centre.
The Prime Minister said that while creating an environment ideal for the growth of software sector, the government was also trying to improve the hardware ecosystem in the country. As part of this, the scope of two semiconductor wafer fabrication manufacturing facilities was being explored.
TCS chief executive officer and managing director N. Chandrasekharan said that the Global Learning Centre would be commissioned within a few years. “Coming up on 97 acres of land, the 6.1-million-square-feet facility will have a capacity to provide residential training to 15,000 professionals at a time and 50,000 annually. It will also generate scores of direct and indirect employment and will boost the local economy,” he said. The total investment of the project is estimated to be around Rs 3,500 crore.
Chief minister Oommen Chandy said that the TCS centre would enhance the global visibility of Kerala IT. The state would promote IT industry as it was most ideal for the state while considering various factors like availability of manpower and environment, he said.
TCS TO HIRE 50,000: TCS has announced its plans to hire 50,000 professionals next year. “At present TCS employs 2.85 lakh professionals worldwide and plans to hire 50,000 more during the next one year,” said Chandrasekharan, MD.
