The union environment and forests ministry has slammed the Odisha government for reportedly allowing Bhushan Steel and Strips to set up its plant in the state in violation of green norms. Official sources
India's forests are full of exotic animals and birds. Three new books take you that much closer to the joys of nature.
Think Kalahandi and you think famine, abject poverty and misery. These were exactly my thoughts as I set out on a visit to Lanjigarh, a picturesque town surrounded by the Niyamgiri range in the Kalahandi district of Orissa. As we (BT lensman and I) get down from our eight-seater private jet at Utkela airstrip, at least 50 pairs of curious eyes greet the rarely-seen machine and us. What brings us to Lanjigarh is Vedanta Alumina's refinery project that has hit a
Moves are afoot to ring in reforms in the fertiliser sector. A Group of Ministers (GoM) on fertilisers headed by the agriculture minister, Sharad Pawar, has given its in-principle nod to the Department of Fertilisers' proposal to have an independent regulator for the sector. J. Sreedhara Sarma, Secretary, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, told Business Today that the "
GAIL will supply gas to Bangalore If GAIL has its way, Maharashtra and Karnataka will have natural gas flowing by 2011. A 730-km pipeline will carry gas from Dabhol, where the Ratnagiri Gas & Power's LNG terminal is located, to Bangalore. The Rs 2,500 crore project, cleared in principle by the GAIL Board, is expected to spark off an economic boom in Karnataka's Tier-II cities and towns. GAIL hopes the supply of gas will benefit industries in the two states in a big way. It plans to design its pipelines in such a way as to transport 16 mn standards cubic metres per day, but that depends on the source and customer tie-up. The pipeline, as proposed, will pass through Ratnagiri & Kolhapur (Maharashtra) and Belgaum, Dharwad, Haveri, Davangere, Chitradurga and Tumkur (Karnataka). All these towns, a GAIL spokesman said, will see gas distribution projects coming up. KPMG Assistant Director Kumar Manish believes that natural gas will help industries that are currently using naphtha or diesel to save some costs. According to him, the pipeline will prod a large number of commercial consumers and small industries to switch from the liquid fuel to gas. The gas would work out cheaper than the commercial LPG. The Dabhol-Bangalore pipeline is among the five new pipelines GAIL has planned. Together, they form an integrated national gas grid.
