India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) estimates a possible refinancing opportunity for more than Rs 56000 crore out of the total debt of Rs 1.73 lakh crore across various infra sub-sectors in its portfolio till FY19. Of this, solar is expected to be in the forefront in terms of the number of deals with refinancing to the tune of 33%, followed by 27% in the highway sector. Also, there could be a shift in the type of instruments issued for the purpose of raising capital in the sector, largely to the capital market instruments, namely bonds, from the conventional term loans.

Publication: ET Energy World

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) estimates a possible refinancing opportunity for more than Rs 56000 crore out of the total debt of Rs 1.73 lakh crore across various infra sub-sectors in its portfolio till FY19. Of this, solar is expected to be in the forefront in terms of the number of deals with refinancing to the tune of 33%, followed by 27% in the highway sector. Also, there could be a shift in the type of instruments issued for the purpose of raising capital in the sector, largely to the capital market instruments, namely bonds, from the conventional term loans.

Publication: The Economic Times

India’s solar power prices may be set to fall below those of thermal (coal) energy. This is based on an expected cost of around Rs2.90 per unit for the solar power projects at Bhadla in Rajasthan that have received 51 bids. This price is less than the average rate of power generated by the coal-fuelled projects of India’s largest power generation utility, NTPC Ltd, at Rs3.20 per unit. State-run Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), which is running the bid process for 750 megawatt (MW) of solar power capacity at two parks, has received bids totalling 8,750 MW.

Publication: Live Mint

The NITI Aayog on Sunday might come up with a report card of its performance in the more than two years of its existence, along with the major challenges it faced and the impact it made on the country’s policy making. Its governing council, before which the report card is likely to be placed, will meet on Sunday at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The meeting, to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is likely to seek the support of chief ministers for various initiatives of the Central government, such as agricultural reforms, doubling farmers’ incomes, and infrastructure development.

Publication: Business Standard

Chinese telecom firm Huawei is in talks with the Indian government for its smart cities initiative, a top company official said on Wednesday. It is also interested in offering its solutions to domestic power utility companies, Huawei Telecommunications India, Enterprise Business, President Derek Hao told here. “Discussions are going on with government on Smart Cities initiative,” he said. The company, which garnered revenue of USD 75 billion globally as of December 2016, has offered its expertise to develop 100 smart cities in over 40 countries, he said. On offering the company’s Smart Grid solutions to power utility firms, he said they were holding discussions.

Publication: ET Realty

The SAFE convention was organised to share the best practices adopted by government and private organisations in areas of vehicular safety, technology innovations, and standards for enhancing road safety. The convention also saw the launch of ‘Road Safety Compendium of Indian Automobile Industry’ by the guest of honour, Sanjay Rastogi, principal secretary, Department of Commerce and Transport, Government of Odisha.

Publication: Autocar Professional 

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) has suggested the central government constitute a National Automotive Regulatory Board, to pave the way for policy certainty. The suggestion comes as the industry struggled to comply with the Supreme Court decision to not give any extension on the last date of March 31 for sale or registration of vehicles meeting only BS-III emission norms.

Publication: Business Standard