UP to set up 61 oxygen plants under PM Cares Fund

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Apr 30, 2021

With demand for medical oxygen by Covid hospitals outstripping supply, the Uttar Pradesh government is looking at setting up oxygen plants in 61 districts under the PM Cares Fund.

This would cover all major districts/cities including Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Agra, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Aligarh, Prayagraj, Meerut, Mathura, Ghaziabad, Jhansi, Moradabad etc.

According to UP additional chief secretary (information) Navneet Sehgal, the state had already identified 61 districts for establishing the oxygen plants.

“We are also vetting the private sector proposals of big oxygen plants in UP. This would ensure the emergence of a robust supply chain soon in the state itself,” he informed.

In UP, the supply of oxygen has already breached the record level of 600 tonnes even as the Centre has allocated the maximum quota of 850 tonnes of oxygen to UP.

The state enforcement agencies are also swooping down against the hoarding and black marketing of oxygen and other Covid drugs, including Remdesivir.

To overcome shortage of oxygen, the state has also arranged for the commodity from manufacturing plants in other states including Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand. This process is being monitored online for transparency.

The Yogi Adityanath government has engaged premier educational institutions, including Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur; Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow; and IIT-Banaras Hindu University (BHU) etc, for conducting oxygen audit to check pilferage of the commodity.

UP medical oxygen quota hiked to 850 tonnes

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Apr 28, 2021

Amid a steep rise in demand for medical oxygen for Covid-19 patients in Uttar Pradesh, the oxygen allocated quota of the state has been increased to 850 tonnes.

Over the past 24 hours, a record supply of nearly 600 tonnes of oxygen has been made across the state, according to UP additional chief secretary, home, Awanish Kumar Awasthi.

He claimed UP was the first state to be supplied with medical oxygen by the railroad network.

“To overcome the shortage of oxygen in UP, we have made arrangements for bringing oxygen from oxygen plants in other states including Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand. This process is being monitored online for transparency,” he informed.

Besides, the state is using the aerial route to transport vacant oxygen tankers for refilling to ensure adequate availability of the commodity in UP. The state has also created a ‘green corridor’ starting at the state borders for timely transportation of the oxygen containers to the predetermined destination within the state.

So far, 84 tankers had been pressed into service and 6 trains had ferried the commodity. The Centre has also provided 5 new tankers of 70 tonnes capacity to the state.

While oxygen has arrived from Bokaro, Jharkhand, the same has also been transported via the aerial route to Ghaziabad and Agra, Awasthi added.

The Yogi Adityanath government has roped in premier educational institutions, including Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur; Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow; and IIT-Banaras Hindu University (BHU) etc, for conducting oxygen audit to check pilferage of the commodity.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is helping the UP government in setting up 10 oxygen plants across the state.

Lucknow street markets shut till May 3

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Apr 27, 2021

The rising number of Covid-19 cases in Lucknow has prompted not only big traders to voluntarily shutdown, but now even the street vendors have started to chip in.

The association of weekly markets in the ‘City of Nawabs’ has announced to keep their makeshift footpath shops and street kiosks closed till May 3 to contribute towards containment of the virus.

Earlier, the Lucknow Weekly Markets Traders Welfare Committee had decided to implement shutdown of their petty business establishments till April 26.

However, they decided to extend the ‘lockdown’ for another week given a steep rise in the fresh novel coronavirus cases in Lucknow, according to Committee president Wasi Ullah Azad and general secretary Anil Saxena.

They said while the shutdown would result in economic loss to shopkeepers, yet the traders wanted to share the responsibility of preventing the spread of the disease. The markets would lead to over-crowding, thus exposing shoppers to the danger of infection, they noted.

These weekly markets are quite popular in Lucknow city given the wide variety of goods and merchandise viz. apparels, kitchenware, chinaware, toys, consumables, upholstery, food items etc sold at affordable prices.

Not only shoppers from the comparatively weaker sections of society, but even the middle and upper middle class folks, especially women, could be seen hard bargaining with these shopkeepers.

These weekly markets are held in major localities of Lucknow on predetermined and different dates. For example, it is held near the Gole Market locality in upscale Mahanagar area on Wednesday, while Sadar area witnesses the fare on Saturday.

IIT, IIM to conduct oxygen audit in UP

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Apr 25, 2021

Amid rising oxygen consumption to treat Covid-19 patients in Uttar Pradesh, the state government will rope in top educational and research institutions to conduct oxygen audit to check pilferage of the scarce commodity.

The state will engage Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur; Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow; and IIT-Banaras Hindu University (BHU), APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU), Lucknow etc for the purpose.

These institutions would be allocated nearby districts for conducting the audit, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath has directed health officials. The state has implemented a digital tracking system to monitor and regulate oxygen supply.

He stressed there was no shortage of oxygen in the UP hospitals even as he warned against the hoarding and black marketing of the commodity.

In the last 24 hours, the state reported 35,614 new Covid-19 cases, while 25,633 were discharged after treatment. So far, more than 0.77 million coronavirus patients have been successfully treated.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is also helping the UP government in setting up 10 oxygen plants across the state.

UP Inc volunteer to forego oxygen for hospitals

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Apr 23, 2021

 

Amid rising demand for oxygen to treat Covid-19 patients, the industrialists in Uttar Pradesh have volunteered to give up their consumption of the commodity in their manufacturing units for hospitals.

 

Apex MSME chamber Indian Industries Association (IIA) has urged its members for limiting the use of industrial oxygen, and make additional oxygen available to the state government for medical use.

 

“Do not hold oxygen unnecessarily. This is a transition period. After some time, the situation will become normal. This is our social and human responsibility,” IIA national president Panjak Kumar said in his appeal to the state industrialists.

 

IIA national general secretary Ashwini Khandelwal said the chamber had extended its support to the government during the corona pandemic, and sought active cooperation of all the members during the corona pandemic.

 

Meanwhile, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is also helping the UP government in setting up 10 oxygen plants across the state. The government has invited the private sector to invest in the oxygen bottling space.

 

EOM

DRDO to set up 10 oxygen plants in UP

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Apr 20, 2021

Amid rising demand for oxygen in the second wave of Covid-19, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will support the Uttar Pradesh government in setting up 10 new oxygen plants in the state.

UP is witnessing an acute shortage of oxygen over the past weeks with the ever increasing caseload in hospitals and for private consumption. For example, there has been a nearly 10 fold hike in oxygen demand in the hospitals in Lucknow, which tops the state in terms of fresh Covid cases.

UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath has directed health officials to ensure every hospital has at least 36 hour oxygen backup to deal with any medical emergency.

He also stressed upon ensuring ready availability of Covid related medical supplies, including ventilators, Remdesivir injection etc.

Apart from individual oxygen plants in UP, big organisations and hospitals have oxygen plants for captive use. These include top medical organisations in Lucknow such as King George’s Medical University (KGMU), Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences (RMLIMS) etc.

Before the onset of Covid-19, there were only 23 oxygen plants functioning in the state, which were augmented to 40 to meet the high demand.

DRDO to set up 1,000 bed Covid hospital in Lucknow

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Apr 18, 2021

Amid spiking Covid-19 cases in the second wave of the pandemic, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will set up a 1,000 bed dedicated Covid hospital in Lucknow.

The new makeshift facility will be set up at the venue of the Defence Expo 2020, which is on the outskirts of the state capital.

Recently, union defence minister Rajnath Singh, who is a Member of Parliament (MP) from Lucknow, had sought land from the Uttar Pradesh government to facilitate the setting up of Covid hospitals given the rising number of cases in the state capital.

The DRDO will incur all the expenses on setting up the 1,000 bed hospital related to the staff, infra, supplies, equipment such as oxygen, ventilators etc.

Even as UP accounts for the second largest number of Covid cases in India after top ranked Maharashtra, Lucknow tops the chart in the state.

Prayagraj, Varanasi, Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Ballia and Bareilly are also among the most affected districts in UP.

While the opposition has been questioning the Yogi Adityanath government over alleged poor Covid management, UP law minister Brijesh Pathak had recently written a letter pointing towards grossly inadequate Covid and non-Covid medical facilities in the state capital.

Maharashtra tops with a third of fresh Covid cases

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Apr 14, 2021

Maharashtra accounts for nearly a third of the fresh Covid-19 cases reported in India in the last 24 hours.

Of total 1,84,372 new cases, according to the union health ministry, Maharashtra logged its highest ever tally of fresh cases at 60,212, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh with 17,963 and 15,121 cases respectively.

This way, three states of Maharashtra, UP and Chhattisgarh account for 50 per cent of the country’s fresh case load. Together with Karnataka and Kerala, the top five states account for 82 per cent of the fresh coronavirus cases in India.

Now, the country’s active cases number has jumped to more than 1.36 million, of which Maharashtra alone contributes about 44 per cent of active cases.

Sixteen states including Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, UP, Karnataka, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Kerala, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal are displaying an upward trajectory in daily new cases.

Meanwhile, India scored a feat of conducting 260 million Covid tests after the outbreak of the pandemic last year.

India’s recovery count has also breached the 12 million level with 82,339 recoveries and 1,027 deaths reported in 24 hours.

Ramp up supply of oxygen, ventilators: Yogi Adityanath

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Apr 12, 2021

In the backdrop of surging Covid-19 cases, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has directed the health officials for ensuring adequate supply of vital medical supplies including oxygen and ventilators in hospitals.

Presiding over a high level review meeting here, Yogi instructed for ensuring that L2 and L3 Covid hospitals were equipped with ventilators and high flow nasal cannula (HFNC) at all times to deal with serious patients.

Besides, essential supplies of medicines, PPE kit, N95 mask, pulse oxymeter, infrared thermometer, sanitiser, antigen kit etc should be maintained.

Meanwhile, the CM has asked for preparing an action plan to contain the spread of the disease in major cities of Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi and Prayagraj, wherein the state had recently imposed a cap of 50 per cent attendance in all the government and private offices.

He underlined each Covid-19 hospital in UP should comprise at least 700 beds to cater the growing number of fresh and serious cases.

Besides, the government has decided to impose ‘night/Covid curfew’ (9 pm to 6 am) in such districts, which report 100 or more fresh cases and/or where the number of active cases is above 500. Last week, UP had imposed ‘night curfew’ in eight major cities viz. Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Bareilly, Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida), Ghaziabad and Meerut.

Further, the government has announced to close government and private educational institutions, including coaching centres, till April 30 considering the scary virulent situation in the state.

Yogi had already issued orders for ramping up the daily coronavirus testing capacity to 200,000, of which 50 per cent should be RT-PCR tests, while stressing the need to intensity contact tracing of fresh cases to contain the scourge.

UP gets Rs 14,246 crore for disaster management

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Apr 11, 2021

In an acknowledgement of the disaster management readiness shown by the Uttar Pradesh government, the Centre has approved a robust package of Rs 14,246 crore for the state.

Earlier, the 15th Finance Commission had made a proposal of Rs 14,246 crore for UP pertaining to the next five years. The funds will be utilised to deal with natural calamities viz. extreme precipitation and floods, famines and droughts, fire outbreaks, earthquakes, unseasonal rainfall and hailstorms. 

According to the revenue department, on the recommendation of the 14th Finance Commission, the UP government had received Rs 3,729 crore in five years between the financial years of 2015-16 to 2019-20.

This way, the 15th Finance Commission has recommended four times more funds to UP, which indicated greater confidence in the efficiency and probity of the state machinery.

The 15th Finance Commission has approved Rs 2,578 crore for 2021-22, Rs 2,707 crore for 2022-23, Rs 2,842 crore for 2023-24, Rs 2,985 crore for 2024-25 and Rs 3,134 crore for 2025-26.

In fact, UP accounts for the maximum allocation of the Disaster Response Fund after Maharashtra which will receive the highest Rs 23,737 crore in five years followed by UP with a purse of Rs 14,246 crore.

Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Bihar are next in the tally with allocations of Rs 13,411 crore, Rs 11,819 crore, Rs 10,913 crore and Rs 10,432 respectively.

Meanwhile, the Centre and state share of 75:25 in disaster risk management will remain the same as earlier. Therefore, the Centre will contribute Rs 10,685 crore to UP in the next five years, while the state will contribute an amount of Rs 3,561 crore.

UP revenue collection at Rs 1.19 trillion in FY21

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Apr 7, 2021

Following Covid-19 pandemic last year, the tax and non-tax revenues of the Uttar Pradesh government has reported a steep decline of 28 per cent to Rs 1.19 trillion compared to the target of Rs 1.66 trillion in financial year 2020-21.

In the preceding fiscal year 2019-20, the targetted revenues and collection of the UP government stood at Rs 1.40 trillion and Rs 1.23 trillion, thus indicating a shortfall of merely 12 per cent vis-à-vis over 28 per cent in 2020-21.

In absolute terms, the revenue collection of Rs 1.19 trillion in 2020-21 dipped 3.25 per cent compared to Rs 1.23 trillion in 2019-20, according to the data shared by UP finance and parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Khanna here recently.

Interestingly, the sharpest dip in the tax revenue was registered under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) head, wherein the collection of Rs 42,849 crore was 31 per cent lower against the target of Rs 62,281 crore in 2020-21. In the preceding year 2019-20, the GST mop up of Rs 48,311 crore was only 8.8 per lower marked to the annual target of Rs 52,980 crore.

The state had registered the sharpest fall in its revenue collections in the initial months of the lockdown last year, especially April, May and June 2020, when the industrial and commercial activities barring those related to medical supplies and essential commodities such as food items, were completely shut.

Although, the economic activities had started to gain momentum in the successive months, yet the annual tax and non-tax revenue targets could still not be met by the respective departments, including Value Added Tax (VAT), GST, excise, stamp and registration, transport, land revenue, mining, energy etc.

However, the state logged 22.5 per cent or Rs 3,030 crore higher revenue collection of Rs 16,476 crore in March 2021 compared to Rs 13,445 crore in the corresponding month of fiscal year 2019-20.

Meanwhile, the non-tax revenue heads comprising mining, irrigation, public works department (PWD) etc accounted for a whopping 45 per cent dip in collection marked to the annual target.

Against the target of Rs 19,178 crore in 2020-21, the collection under non-tax revenue heads could add up to Rs 10,559 crore till March 2021. However, the non-tax kitty had shown a similar subdued trend in 2019-20 too, when collection stood at Rs 8,559 crore against the target of Rs 16,756 crore, thus achieving 51 per cent of the target.

UP drafting policy to tap Rs 20,000 crore toys market

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Apr 7, 2021

Looking to tap the estimated Rs 20,000 crore domestic toys market, the Uttar Pradesh government is drafting a toys manufacturing policy to boost indigenous production.

Of late, the state has expressed keenness to facilitate the setting up of toys manufacturing clusters in UP. Currently, the domestic toys space is dominated by cheap imports, mainly from China, to the tune of 90 per cent of the market.

UP additional chief secretary, MSME and export promotion, Navneet Sehgal, today asked officials to expedite the drafting of the proposed toys manufacturing policy.

In fact, the Yogi Adityanath government is planning to set up four toys manufacturing clusters in Varanasi, which is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency; Gorakhpur, the pocket borough of UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath; Jhansi and Chitrakoot.

Besides, UP has also proposed to develop a Toy City in Greater Noida to take on the Dragon in the international arena. The mega project is estimated to attract investment of Rs 3,000 crore and create direct employment opportunities for 50,000 people.

According to the state government, there is a robust demand for traditional terracotta toys manufactured in Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Jhansi and Chitrakoot. The proposed toys clusters will offer modern technologies to entrepreneurs and make available quality toys to the consumers at affordable prices.

The Indian toys manufacturers have been demanding the government to facilitate the setting up of clusters to counter the large volume of imports from China.

Meanwhile, the UP government is also preparing a district wise export plan to cover all the 75 districts. So far, 60 districts have already prepared their export blueprints, while the process is being speeded up for the remaining 15 districts.

UP top GeM shopper with GMV of Rs 9,442 crore

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Apr 5, 2021

With a gross merchandise value (GMV) of Rs 9,442 crore in the last four years, Uttar Pradesh has secured the top position in the procurement of goods and services on the GeM (Government e-Marketplace) platform.

UP is trailed by Gujarat and Delhi with respective GMVs of Rs 4,030 crore and Rs 3,145 crore in the top three slots.

Hosted by the Centre, GeM is an end-to-end e-market, where common user goods and services can be procured by various government organisations, including ministries, departments, public sector undertakings (PSU), autonomous bodies etc.

Earlier, the central government had also feted UP with the Best Buyer Award in 2018 and Super Buyer Award in 2019.

According to UP additional chief secretary, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) and export promotion, Navneet Sehgal, the procurement by government department and agencies on the GeM portal had checked corruption and leakages worth several crores of rupees over the years.

“At the same time, it has ushered in the elements of transparency, economy and quality in the government procurement process,” he observed and claimed GeM had generated 225,000 direct and indirect job opportunities in UP so far.

Currently, there are 123,697 sellers, including 58,725 MSME vendors, apart from 12,232 buyers registered with the GeM platform in the state.

According to sources, the UP government departments had logged purchases of Rs 602 crore in 2017-18, which increased to Rs 1,674 crore and Rs 2,401 crore in 2018-19 and 2019-20 financial years respectively.

After coming to power in March 2017, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had issued directives for the mandatory procurement of goods and services by the government departments and their subordinate institutions through the GeM portal.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jammu & Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh and Karnataka are other leading buyers on GeM.

UP to pay industries for giving jobs to migrant workers

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Apr 4, 2021

The Uttar Pradesh government has proposed an economic package of Rs 629 crore for providing jobs and social security to nearly four millions migrant workers, who had returned to the state during Covid-19 pandemic last year.

A blueprint prepared by the UP micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) department, seeks to provide financial assistance to industries offering jobs to these migrant workers.

Under this scheme, the Yogi Adityanath government will provide a monetary aid of Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 per labourer to the industries. The MSME department has sent a proposal of Rs 629 crore to the UP finance department for vetting and approval.

Amid the heavy influx of workers from other states following lockdown, the UP government worked to harness their skills by providing them with jobs suited to their workmanship. The state prepared a strategy to provide jobs and social security to these workers, for which skill mapping of over 2.5 million workers was done.

Besides, the UP government developed a dedicated ‘Pravasi Rahat Mitra’ job portal for the migrants, wherein details of the skilled workers was uploaded to expedite the recruitment process by the interested companies or agencies.

Chief minister Adityanath has instructed to model the financial assistance scheme on the lines of the handloom sector, where a grant of Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 is given per worker.

This is expected to generate jobs at the local level for migrant labourers. The migrant workers who are registered with the state portal will also be linked with other job oriented schemes like Vishwakarma Shram Samman Yojana and Mukhyamantri Pravasi Rojgar Yojana.

UP discoms’ revenue gap at Rs 11,063 crore in FY22

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Apr 3, 2021

Indicating a deteriorating Aggregate Technical & Commercial (AT&C) scenario in the state power sector, the revenue gap of Uttar Pradesh power distribution companies (discoms) is estimated to jump 36% to Rs 11,063 crore in the current financial year 2021-22.

In 2019-20 and 2020-21, the UP discoms’ revenue gap was pegged at Rs 8,892 crore and Rs 8,112 crore respectively.

According to the annual revenue requirement (ARR) submitted by discoms with the UP Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC), the revenue and bill realisation in 2021-22 are projected at Rs 81,901 crore and Rs 70,838 crore respectively, thus leaving a revenue gap of 14% or Rs 11,063 crore.

The discoms and nodal agency UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) have also projected a hike of Rs 0.50 in the average power distribution cost to Rs 8.57 per unit in the fiscal year 2021-22.

Meanwhile, power consumers’ forum UP Rajya Vidyut Upbhogta Parishad has filed a petition with the UPERC alleging misrepresentation of facts by discoms to mislead the Commission.

Parishad chairman Avadhesh Verma said while discoms have been claiming about ushering in reforms in the energy sector, they were simultaneously projecting higher average distribution cost and revenue gap too.

“In 2019-20, the average distribution cost of discoms stood at Rs 7.89 per unit, which increased to Rs 8.07 per unit in 2020-21. Now, they have projected a steepest hike of Rs 0.50 per unit in the average distribution cost among all the states. This merits a thorough inquiry by the Commission,” he observed.

Ghaziabad issues municipal bonds of Rs 150 crore

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Apr 1, 2021

Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC) has become India’s first urban centre to issue green municipal bonds worth Rs 150 crore.

The GMC has mopped up Rs 100 crore and Rs 50 crore in base issue and green shoe option respectively, thus totalling Rs 150 crore in proceeds. The issue was subscribed four times compared to the base issue.

Against the municipal bonds worth Rs 150 crore, the Corporation yesterday received 40 online bids totalling Rs 401 crore on the digital bidding platform of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The bonds were subscribed at 8.10 coupon rate, which is among the lowest in the municipal bonds space in India.

Since, the issue was subscribed in less than a minute of the start of the bidding process, the Yogi Adityanath government termed it as the reinforcement of investors’ confidence in the UP growth story and good governance in the state.

Meanwhile, the bonds’ proceeds will be utilised for the construction of a tertiary sewerage treatment plant (STP) in Ghaziabad in the Sahibabad industrial area of Ghaziabad to treat polluted water for recycling to industrial units.

The project, which is expected to cost Rs 240 crore and completed in 27-30 months, will be part funded by the proceeds of the green municipal bonds issue. The STP will reduce the dependence on groundwater, thus preserving water resources. The GMC will earn revenue by levying user charge.

In 2019, the UP government had decided to float municipal bonds in Lucknow and Ghaziabad to fund local infra projects. Later, SEBI accredited rating agencies were hired for securing the credit ratings. Brickworks and India Ratings had given AA rating to the issue.

Green bond refers to the issue of bonds by a government, non-government or corporate entities for raising funds towards projects aimed at ecological and environmental protection.

In November 2020, bonds worth Rs 200 crore of Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) were oversubscribed by 250 per cent on its debut at the BSE. The municipal bonds floated by the LMC with 10 year tenure offered 8.5 per cent interest.

Now, Varanasi is also looking at floating municipal bonds in near future.