Petrobras : New well in Libra confirms oil discovery extension in the block

Petrobras informs that has concluded the drilling of the well 3-BRSA-1305A-RJS (3-RJS-739A), located in the Libra block northwest area, in the pre-salt of the Santos Basin, confirming the discovery of good quality oil in reservoirs with excellent productivity.

The well found an oil column of around 270 meters and high-quality reservoirs in communication with previous wells in this area. Two Drill Stem Tests (DSTs), performed on two different intervals, have confirmed the excellent productivity of these reservoirs and good oil quality (28º API), similar to the wells 2-ANP-2A-RJS and 3-RJS-731.

Currently, two other wells are being drilled in the Libra block northwest area: 3-BRSA-1322-RJS (3-RJS-741) and 3-BRSA-1339-RJS (3-RJS-742).  In the well 3-RJS-741, the oil-bearing zone was identified by wireline logging (set of tools to characterize the reservoir drilled in the well) and fluid samples, which will be characterized by laboratory analysis. The well is being drilled at a depth of 5,527 meters. The well 3-RJS-742 started to be drilled on the latest February 6th.

These three wells are part of the Discovery Evaluation Plan activities of the well 2-ANP-2A-RJS, submitted to the National Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP), on September 15th 2015, and currently under approval process.

The Libra Consortium is composed of Petrobras (operator, with 40% WI), Shell (20%), Total (20%), CNPC (10%) and CNOOC (10%), and the contract manager is Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A. (PPSA).

For more information, please visit : http://www.petrobras.com

$70 billion of petrochemical investment

Iran’s 20-year vision plan targets producing $70 billion of petrochemicals a year at current prices.

Officials say petrochemical production will hit 70 million tonnes worth $27 billion at current prices in the new Persian year which begins on March 20.

The country seeks to more than double this capacity in the next decade, which requires between $7 billion to $10 billion of annual investment.

Companies from Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, South Korea, Japan and even the US have indicated readiness to participate in Iran’s petrochemical projects.

Germany’s industrial gases company Linde and Japan’s Mitsui Chemicals plan $4 billion of investment in Iranian petrochemical projects, new Managing Director of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) Marzieh Shah-Daei said this month.

Linde and the world’s largest chemical producer BASF sent their executives with German Minister of Economy Sigmar Gabriel to Iran in July to discuss investment and transfer of technology.

Negotiations are underway with BASF to construct a petrochemical township in southern Iran with $4 billion of investment, Iranian media quoted Shah-Daei as saying last week. 

Maire Tecnimont has signed a collaboration agreement worth 1 billion euros for construction of refineries and petrochemical plants in Iran,

Italy’s engineering company Maire Tecnimont has signed a collaboration agreement worth 1 billion euros for construction of refineries and petrochemical plants in Iran, a news agency says.

The agreement signed with the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Co. (PGPIC) includes providing finance, parts and equipment, as well as solutions to Iran's processing issues, Mehr said Monday.

“Italy is seeking to open a new chapter in its cooperation with Iran, especially in the oil and petrochemical industries,” it quoted Maire Tecnimont CEO Pierroberto Folgiero as saying on the sidelines of a signing ceremony in Tehran.

According to Mehr, the Italian company will help Iran build an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and rubber plant in the industrial city of Asaluyeh.

The ABS product has a variety of applications including in the automotive industry.

Last month, Italy’s Saipem signed a memorandum of understanding with the Parsian Oil & Gas Development Company to cooperate on major oil and gas projects in Iran.

The deal, worth between $4 billion and $5 billion, involves revamping and upgrading of Shiraz and Tabriz refineries and building 2,000 km (1,240 miles) of pipeline in Iran.

Saipem, which is controlled by Italian oil major Eni and state lender FSI, clinched the deal during President Hassan Rouhani’s first official visit to Rome where contracts worth up to 17 billion euros ($18.4 billion) were signed in total.

Earlier this month, Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said Eni was planning to send a delegation to Iran soon to sign contracts for purchase of 100,000 barrels per day of crude oil and developing an oilfield.

Another Italian refiner Saras wants to buy up to 70,000 barrels per day of Iranian crude oil, he added.

Kuwait’s KNPC awards EPC work to construct $16B Al-Zour refinery

Several major EPC companies signed contracts this week to build Kuwait’s $16-billion Al Zour oil refinery, which will more than double the nation’s crude processing capacity.

Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., Tecnicas Reunidas and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. are among companies that signed contracts today to build Kuwait’s $16-billion Al Zour oil refinery, which will more than double the nation’s processing capacity.

The refinery, with a capacity of 615,000 bpd, will raise Kuwait total refining capacity to 1.4 million bpd when completed in July 2019, Mohammad Ghazi Al-Mutairi, CEO of state-owned Kuwait National Petroleum Co., said at the signing ceremony in Kuwait City. 

The Al Zour refinery, valued at 4.87 billion dinars ($16 billion) will be integrated with a plannedpetrochemical complex which KNPC will discuss at an upcoming board meeting, he said.

“Al Zour refinery is one of the world’s largest grass root plants being built from conceptual stage,” Al-Mutairi said. “Al Zour refinery along with other ongoing mega projects will change the landscape of the oil refiningindustry in Kuwait. ”

Al Zour’s construction has been planned since 2007, and was delayed by internal political disputes. Theproject is another move by oil producers in the Gulf Cooperation Council states to diversify their source of income by processing crude at home after suffering revenue loss from lower oil prices since last year.

Heavy oil from new fields in Kuwait will be used at the refinery to produce low-sulfur diesel, 340,000 bpd of high-value light products and 225,000 bpd of fuel oil to feed power-generation plants in the country, Al-Mutairi said.

The refinery will be built in five packages, with the first valued at 1.28 billion dinars awarded to Technicas, Hanwha Engineering & Construction Corp. and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., known as Sinopec, Khaled Al-Awadhi, KNPC project manager, said at the signing ceremony. 

The second and third packages at a combined value of 1.75 billion dinars were awarded to Fluor Corp., Daewoo and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., he said. 

The fourth package valued at 475 million dinars was given to Saipem and Essar Oil, and the fifth package of 454 million dinars was to Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., Saipem and SK Holdings Co., he said.

Bharat Forge to set up auto component hub in Nellore.

Leading forging major Bharat Forge recently announced plans to set up an integrated auto component hub in Nellore in Andhra Pradesh and said it will invest Rs. 1,200 crore and create 3,000 jobs. Announcing the plans, Bharat Forge Chairman Baba Kalyani said at the Andhra Partnership Summit that an MoU has been signed with the state government to set up a multi-modal facility in the state. He said "Bharat Forge plans to set up an integrated auto components hub in Nellore". "The investment planned is Rs. 1,200 crore and about 3,000 people would get employment," Kalyani said while adding that land possession would happen soon for the project. Pune-based Bharat Forge is the world's largest forging company with manufacturing facilities spread across India, Germany, Sweden and France. It manufactures a wide range of components for the automotive and non-automotive sectors. It is part of USD 2.5 billion conglomerate Kalyani Group which has about 10,000-strong global work force.

Aurobindo Pharma to build pharmaceutical factory in Saudi Arabia.

Indian pharmaceuticals manufacturer Aurobindo Pharma has become the latest global conglomerate to launch its factory in Saudi Arabia. The company's investment arm has leased a site in Phase one of the King Abdullah Economic City's (KAEC) Industrial Valley to build its first manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia to produce oral tablets and capsules. The deal is part of the joint effort by KAEC and the National Industrial Clusters Development Programme, with pharmaceuticals being one of six major industries targeted by the drive. "This partnership is yet another indicator that KAEC is moving forward with its strategic goals and future vision," said Fahd Al-Rasheed, Managing Director and CEO of KAEC.

GE wins Saudi power plant contract worth nearly $1 billion.

General Electric announced recently that it had won a contract worth nearly $1 billion from the Saudi Electricity Company to build and supply a power plant in northern Saudi Arabia. Under the contract, the US industrial giant will build the Waad Al Shamal combined-cycle power plant and provide four advanced gas turbines, a steam turbine and turbine maintenance services. Waad Al Shamal will serve phosphate mining operations in an area of Saudi Arabia that the government has targeted for industrial development, GE said in a statement. The 1,390-megawatt plant, which also will have solar technology, will be able to provide the equivalent power needed to supply more than 500,000 Saudi homes. GE said one of the gas turbines will be built at a GE plant in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, with the remaining three and a steam turbine to be constructed in the US. "Waad Al Shamal brings significant value to the Kingdom by strengthening the northern grid and through its potential to energise the local industrial sector," said Mohammed Mohaisen, president and chief executive of GE gas power systems for the Middle East and North Africa, in the statement. "We are delivering on our commitment to provide stronger localisation support to our partners."

Essar's Italian venture bags $1.5-b order.

Essar Projects recently said its joint venture with Italy�s Saipem S.p.A won a $1.57 billion order from Kuwait National Petroleum Company for setting up a part of the Al-Zour Refinery Project. This is Essar�s biggest third-party order won in the region. The project at Al Zour is Kuwait's biggest development project with a crude processing capacity of 615,000 barrels per day (bpd). The Kuwaiti company has so far awarded four contracts for the refinery�s construction, worth over $13.2 billion to different International bidders. The project is expected to be completed by 2019. Essar Projects' Managing Director & CEO Shiba Panda said, "The project marks Essar's entry into the Kuwait project market with the biggest EPC contract by an external client." With this order, Essar Project�s order book has reached $2.8 billion, with projects being executed in nine countries.

Government framing policy to set up 12 petrochemical complexes.

Government is working on a policy to establish 12 more petrochemical complexes in order to have one complex in each 16 refineries, a move which could entail few lakh crore of investment, Fertiliser Minister Ananth Kumar said recently. At present, there are four PCPIRs or petrochemical complexes in the country. A Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) is usually a delineated area for manufacturing various types of petrochemical compounds. "..instead of four there will be 16 investment regions and we would be able to milk the entire crude to the last drop," the Minister said at the National summit on Indian Chemical Industry organised by Assocham. "We will try to ensure that these petrochemical complexes will be accompanied by the processing industries," he added. PCPIRs are currently present in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Tamil Nadu. Speaking at the same event, Chemicals Secretary Surjit Chaudhary said that the government is working on a policy to have at least one petrochemical complex in each refinery which could result in an investment of few lakh crore. As per the PCPIR policy, the Centre has to ensure the availability of external physical infrastructure linkages to these regions including rail, road connectivity to national highways, ports, airports and telecom connectivity. The internal infrastructure of the PCPIR is built and managed by a developer. The external linkages will be provided by the central and the state governments. The users of external as well as internal infrastructure will pay for its use.

Suzlon, Axis Energy Group to set up 4.000-MW projects in AP.

Suzlon Energy and Axis Energy Group have signed up with Andhra Pradesh for setting up of 4,000 MW of wind, solar and hybrid renewable energy projects. Ajay Jain, State Secretary Energy, Tulsi Tanti, Chairman Suzlon Group, and K Ravi Kumar Reddy, Managing Director, Axis Energy Group, had signed memorandums of understanding in the presence of the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N Chandrababu Naidu recently. Under this MoU, Suzlon and Axis will set up solar, wind and hybrid plants with an estimated production capacity of 4,000 MW in Anantapur and Nellore districts over the next five years. They will also set up a 1,000 MW wind turbine generator unit. As part of efforts to boost renewable energy in the State, it is proposed to set up a skill development centre in Anantapur. It is estimated that these projects will provide 8,000 direct and 25,000 indirect employment opportunities in the State, according to a statement from the Chief Minister's Office.

Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project to cost Rs. 98,000 crore.

An Indian Railways-Japan International Cooperation Agency feasibility study has concluded that the Mumbai-Ahmedabad 505-km high-speed rail corridor will cost an estimated Rs. 98,000 crore. Minister of State for Railways, Manoj Sinha, stated this in a written reply during question hour in Parliament on Wednesday. Though there is no visibility on when the project will start, it is estimated that trains on this corridor run at a top speed of 320 kmph, reducing commute time between the two cities to less than two hours from the current seven. The Japanese government has offered a package proposal for the corridor, which involves technical, operation & maintenance (O&M), and financial assistance to the tune of 81 per cent of the project cost, which will be disbursed as a loan. The interest and other terms have not been finalised, a government statement said. The ambitious project requires 11 new tunnels, including one under the sea near Mumbai. It is expected to start at Bandra Kurla Complex, while the Ahmedabad point has not been decided. In September, China had won the contract to assess the feasibility of a 1200-km high-speed rail corridor between Delhi and Mumbai, a project that is expected to cost at least twice as much. No loan has been offered so far on the Delhi-Mumbai corridor. These two projects are part of the �Diamond Quadrilateral� of high speed trains, with over 10,000 km of tracks connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. Recently, Japan agreed to fund Rs. 1,069 crore for the Chennai Metro Rail and Rs. 4,410 crore for Ahmedabad Metro Rail, adding momentum to the bilateral ties between India and Japan. "With overall consensus and popular support for greater cooperation between India and Japan, the partnership is poised for a great future," said a government statement. THE HINDU

Cabinet approves six new IITs.

The Union Cabinet recently approved the setting up of six new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jammu, Kerala and Karnataka. The total cost for running these IITs would be 1,411.80 crore and will be incurred between 2015-16 and 2018-19. Of the six, IITs at Palakkad (Kerala) and Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh) have already started classes this year. The remaining are proposed to come up in Goa, J&K, Chattisgarh and Karnataka. The 16 exisiting IITs admit a total of 10,000 students at the undergraduate level. With the six new institutions, the intake will go up by another 1080 seats. The Cabinet further gave its approval for operationalisation of these IITs initially by forming of Societies under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 in order to give a legal status to them till the amendment for their incorporation in The Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 is enacted, the government said today. Each new IIT will have an initial intake of 180 students in its first year which would increase to 450 in the second year and to 928 (840 Undergraduates, 80 Postgraduates and 8 Ph.D.) in the third year of their operation. The new IITs will be operated from their temporary campuses for the initial period of three years before shifting into their permanent campuses in the fourth year. Each IIT will have a sanctioned strength of faculty members, with a faculty-student ratio of 1:10. Recent approval for the establishment of these six new IITs by registering them as Societies under the Societies under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 is aimed at creating new legal IIT entities since the passing the Bill for amendment of the IT Act, 1961 for incorporation of the six new IITs in the Parliament will take some time, the government stated. The Institutes of Technology Act, 1961, contains no provision to enable establishment of new IITs. Every new IIT commenced since its enactment has required an amendment to the Act itself. In light of this, the government has decided to establish the new IITs through the formation of Societies as it has not been possible to amend the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 to make provision for establishment of new IITs, before the admissions to academic session 2015-16 in these new IITs.

CM clears MSRDC projects worth over Rs. 50,000 cr.

In a move to appease disgruntled alliance partner Shiv Sena before the cabinet expansion slated for December 5, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently cleared a slew of infrastructure projects handled by Sena-controlled Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure meeting chaired by Fadnavis gave in-principle approval to eight projects across the state amounting to Rs. 53,701 crore. MSRDC, which has often lost out on crucial projects due to coalition politics over the years, got a fresh lease of life with projects worth over Rs 50,000 crore. Eknath Shinde, minister of Public Works Department (Public Undertaking), said: �MSRDC has constructed several crucial projects in the past including the flyovers in Mumbai, the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and recently the Bandra Worli Sea Link. Over the past few years, it has lagged behind but now we have the support of the chief minister and hence all these projects were approved.� The committee approved the 11-km Borivali-Thane (Tikujini Wadi) tunnel, 4-kmThane-Ghodbunder elevated road, 1.83 km-bridge on Sion-Panvel Road (Vashi Creek), the 800-km Mumbai-Nagpur Super Communications Expressway, the capacity augmentation of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, four-laning of the 21.1-km Bhiwandi-Kalyan-Shilphata Road, etc. �The CM has given approval to the tunnel under the Sanjay Gandhi National Park � this project will cut down the travel time of motorists by one hour. With this, Thane to Borivali will be connected in 10 minutes. We will prepare DPRs now,� he said. The MSRDC is confident the project will be approved by the environment ministry. MSRDC will also go ahead with the preparation of the detailed project report to finalise the exact alignment of the Mumbai-Nagpur Super Communications Expressway. �This is going to be a Greenfield project. Out of the 800 km, around 500 km of Expressway would go through backward areas of Maharashtra thus benefiting them in a holistic manner. Real growth will happen as it opens lot of avenues to set up industries along the expressway that will create jobs. We also plan to have IT parks wherever possible, smart cities will be planned along with educational hubs, all these would benefit these areas immensely,� he said. MSRDC officials added that the projects include six-lane elevated road on Thane-Ghodbunder section. The total length of the project is 4 km and the cost is Rs. 784 crore. The Committee also approved to proposal to augment the capacity of Mumbai-Pune Expressway with two tunnels, two viaduct, elevated roads and measures to increase security, added Radheshyam Mopalwar, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, MSRDC.

Trial Run of Kochi Metro Train Likely by February.

The Kochi Metro Rail Ltd. (KMRL) authorities said recently that they would receive three train coaches by the end of this month, fuelling their hopes of commencing the trail run of the train by February next year. The coaches will be brought to Kochi from the Alstom facility in Sri City by the end of December. The coaches will be connected to the train through a mechanism viz coupling at the Muttom Yard. �We will receive the coaches this month and are hopeful of commencing the trail run by February next year,� KMRL managing director Elias George told Express. The trail run will be conducted initially at the nearly 4 km stretch of the Metro between the Muttom Yard and Pathadippalam. The work and the test run of the first set of coaches have already been completed at Sri City and Alstom. The route checking for transporting the coaches via road has also been completed. According to the DMRC officials, the work at the Muttom Yard is progressing in full swing. The inspection shed, the test tracks and the ramp will be ready before the commencement of trail run. THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS

IL&FS Engineering bags Rs. 675 crore road contract in Bihar.

Hyderabad-based IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company Limited has bagged a road contract worth of Rs. 675 crore from Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The company said it has received a letter of acceptance (LOA) from the Ministry for rehabilitation and upgradation to 2 lanes with paved shoulders configuration and strengthening of Birpur-Bihpur section of National Highway-106 in the state of Bihar under Phase-1 of National Highways Development Project (NHDP). The project involves engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) with a completion period of 36 months, according to a company press release.

Gadkari lays foundation stone for floating cargo handling facility.

The Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari, on Tuesday laid the foundation stone for a proposed 2.55 million tonnes a year floating cargo handling facility at Haldia Dock Complex of Kolkata Port Trust. The port authority is setting up the dedicated reverine facility which will handle mini bulk carriers (with a capacity between 10,000 and 12,000 dead weight tonnes) and barges (for carrying coal). The proposed facility will be able to accept cargo from the deep draft unloading point (from large ships) at Sagar island. The Rs. 74-crore project will include setting up a pontoon, a crane capable of unloading about 10,000 tonnes a day and conveyor, transit 10,000 sqm storage area on shore, connecting road and other cargo handling equipment. A private player, Bothra Shipping, will construct the floating jetty and other infrastructure and operate it for 15 years. At an event, organised by the MCC Chamber of Commerce & Industry here, the Minister through remote control also inaugurated three other projects of HDC -- a 1 million tonne fly ash handling jetty, refurbished gateway to the dock system and a stacker-cum-reclaimer at one of dock's 14 berths.

Port at Thane Creek in 3 months.

The country�s financial capital is all set to get its second port, with the Yogayatan group on Monday announcing plans of investing ₹250 crore for a mid-size terminal within the municipal limits. �We will be investing ₹200-250 crore to construct a mid-sized all-weather port in the Thane creek near Mankhurd. The port will be operational in the next three months,� Group Chairman Rajendra Singh told PTI. Construction work The foundation stone-laying ceremony for the project will be held on Friday and is likely to be attended by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Singh said the group had applied for a concession to the Maharashtra Maritime Board in 2001 and has now received all the necessary permissions to start the construction work. The decision of the Mumbai Port Trust to focus only on �clean cargo� is the initial business opportunity for the new port, Singh said, adding that biggest focus will be on landing coal for Tata Power which now comes from MbPT. The port�s draft will vary between 5.5 metres during low tide and 8.5 metres during high tide, and it will have an initial capacity to handle 8 million tonne of bulk cargo including coal, steel and cement, he said. �With this draft, we can accommodate the barges which will carry the cargo to land from mother ships anchored in the sea,� Singh said. The group has bought 10 acres of land for the port, he said, adding that it is well-connected to the Mumbai-Pune highway and also has rail connectivity as it is very close to the Mankhurd station on Harbour line. Internal funding The group, whose assets run into �thousands of crores,� will be funding the construction fully through internal accruals and will not be taking any bank loan for the same, Singh said, adding that it doesn�t have any debt though its interests are spread across a variety of capital-intensive sectors like infrastructure, petrochemicals, realty etc. The Yogayatan group has drawn up a five-phased plan of expansion.

Airtel to invest Rs. 60k cr in 3 yrs on network expansion.

Bharti Airtel recently said it will invest Rs 60,000 crore over three years on expanding networks that will help improve the quality of services. It said that as part of �Project leap�, it will deploy over 70,000 base stations in the current fiscal, while over three years, more than 1,60,000 base stations will be put up across the country. This proposed investment of Rs 60,000 crore is over and above Rs 1,60,000 crore the company has already invested in its active and passive network, spectrum, fiber, submarine cables and systems till date. Bharti Airtel (India & South Asia) MD & CEO Gopal Vittal said: �Today we are excited to launch �Project Leap� which will catapult the Airtel network to be a world class network in the coming three years. �We are confident that this new initiative will deliver a truly differentiated customer experience and reinforce our commitment to build a future ready network.� Airtel said the comprehensive 10-point programme under �Project Leap� will enable it to take a decisive lead in delivering a differentiated customer experience. Hindustan Times

MMTC to pump in Rs. 6,000 crore to double NINL capacity.

State-owned trading firm MMTC said it will invest about Rs. 6,000 crore to double the capacity of Neelachal Ispat Nigam (NINL) in the next four years. "We have decided to double the hot-metal capacity of 1.1 million tonnes in the next four years in Neelachal Ispat in the first phase," MMTC Chairman and Managing Director Ved Prakash said. Speaking on the sidelines of FIMI organised summit, he said the steel plant will commence production from December. MMTC holds 50 per cent stake in Neelachal Ispat while, NMDC Ltd and Odisha Mineral Corp, have 12 per cent and 28 per cent, respectively. Prakash said Neelachal Ispat's board have already given in-principal approval for the expansion to 2.2 million tonnes hot-metal capacity. "We are waiting for the techno feasibility study, which is expected to be ready in the next 45 days. All the three major promoters have agreed in-principle for the expansion plan. The total investment for doubling the capacity would be in the region of Rs 6,000 crore," Prakash added. MMTC said it may convert its Rs 1,000 crore working capital loan into equity toward its share of fresh equity of Rs 2,000 crore requirement towards the expansion. In the second phase, the capacity of Neelachal Ispat would further be increased to five million tonnes, Prakash said. Meanwhile, buoyant from gold business and higher coal imports, MMTC is eyeing a revenue of Rs 20,000 crore in the current financial year, Prakash added. "Our coal imports for the year (Apr-Mar) is expected to be in the region of 8-10 million tonnes. We have recently entered into an agreement for exporting iron ore to Japan and Korea. We are also expecting a higher business from gold medallions. All these should drive our revenue to Rs 20,000 crore," he said. MMTC had posted a Rs 18,241 crore top-line in 2014-15 from around Rs 25,000 crore in 2013-14. Speaking about gold medallion, Prakash said the agency will finalise a national distribution network in a fortnight after dialogues with banks like SBI, ICICI and Department of Post. Once we have a distribution network, then we will begin selling the gold medallions, he added.

Maharashtra approves infrastructure projects worth Rs. 52,000 crore.

The first meeting of the state cabinet sub-committee on infrastructure, which was chaired by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, saw projects worth over Rs 52,000 crore being approved in-principle. Fadnavis directed officials to prepare the detailed project reports, seek environment and other clearances in the next six months and complete works by 2019. Public works (public undertakings) minister Eknath Shinde said that the Mumbai-Pune Expressway capacity augmentation would reduce accidents and traffic congestion. The Rs 3,400-crore project will see two new tunnels of 8 kms and two viaducts with a total length of 3 kms being constructed.