The government has modified public procurement norms to give maximum preference to companies whose goods and services have 50 per cent or more local content, a move aimed at promoting 'Make in India' and making the country self-reliant. The revised Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India), Order 2017, has introduced a concept of Class-I, II and non-local suppliers, based on which they will get preference in government purchases of goods and services.

The commerce ministry has clarified that export incentives under Merchandise Export Incentive Scheme (MEIS) will be available to exporters only up to December 31 this year. The government after approving a new scheme – remission of duties and taxes on export products (RoDTEP) – in March this year has stated that MEIS will be phased out after rolling out of this new scheme. Under MEIS, the government provides duty benefits depending on product and country.

At a time when the 5G spectrum auctions appear to have been delayed till next year, industry body COAI has said that the government should facilitate creation of indigenous IPR around the high-speed mobile technology by developing local use cases through engagement with start-ups and businesses.

DG, COAI, said that the government should use the intervening period to carry out the groundwork related to the technology, especially with regards to developing India-specific solutions around the network and usage.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is likely to clarify the matter of basic customs duty (BCD) on imported solar equipment within the next two months. A 20 percent basic customs duty had been announced in the last budget but has not been imposed yet. Developers have been keenly awaiting such a clarification since the duty will impact their cost of setting up a project and thereby the tariff they charge for the power generated.

As seen in many countries across the globe, smart cities in India too have been playing a major role and leading the way in the country’s battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. Despite delays in the country’s smart city projects due to paucity of funds, smart have been able to effectively tap technologies like IoT/sensors, tele-healthcare, data and analytics, and contribute significantly to India’s fight against COVID-19.

With the increasing number of coronavirus infected patients in India, smart city control rooms are forming the first line of defence against the virus at several places in the country. Control centres form the core of the smart city initiative and are essential for surveillance, emergency and clinical command situations, integrated traffic management and disaster management. Smart cities with functional control rooms have employed the facility for real-time tracking and analysis of the healthcare crisis, with assistance from private companies.

Smart city projects worth close to Rs 1 lakh crore (€12 billion) have come to a halt due to the lockdown, rendering tens of thousands of workers jobless and causing large-scale damage of building materials, which could significantly escalate project costs, according to official sources. Even before the lockdown, most projects under the Smart City Mission were running behind schedule, with the 2019-20 deadline for completing as many as 5,151 projects worth over Rs 2 lakh crore (€24 billion) having been widely missed. 2023-end now seems to be the earliest date for completing the mission.

According to sources from the Ministry of Urban Development, only 1,582 projects costing Rs. 26,550 crore (€3 billion), (just 13% of the total projects) have been completed so far. While projects worth Rs 41,000 crore (€5 billion) are in tendering or early stages, Rs 96,370 were under implementation, when the lockdown hit them.

Union Minister said the government is set to introduce a vehicle scrappage policy, under which recycling clusters may be established near ports, expressing confidence that India will emerge as the world's leading automobile manufacturing hub in five years.   He said the government has decided to increase the depth of the country's ports by 18 metres, and automobile clusters comprising recycling plants can be set up near the ports. The minister added that the material recycled will be useful for the automobile industry as it will reduce cost of manufacturing cars, buses, and trucks, increasing India's competitiveness in international markets.  "Within five years, India will be the number one manufacturing hub of all cars, buses and trucks, with all fuel, ethanol, methanol, bio-CNG, LNG, electric as well as hydrogen fuel cells," Minister Said.              

Undeterred by Covid-19 outbreak power PSUs'' joint venture EESL plans to ramp up installation of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in the country during fiscal 2020-21. Accordingly, the company plans to set-up around 2,000 EV charging facilities across the country during this fiscal. At present, it has installed over 300 such charging stations in India. However, some of them have not come online to supply side disruptions caused due to Covid-19 outbreak.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued notification GSR 308(E) dated 22nd May 2020 regarding the emission norms for L7 (Quadricycle) category for BS VI. These norms are applicable from the date of notification. This notification completes the process of BS VI for L, M & N category vehicles in India. The emission norms are in line with EU with WMTC cycle. The procedure for testing is laid down in AIS 137-Part 9.