Deccan Despatch – Economic December 2008

Confederation of Indian Industry Update Vol. 1 No.53 Southern Region

IN THIS ISSUE

ANDHRA PRADESH ¾ Policy Tracker ¾ Investment Tracker ¾ Policy Tracker ¾ Investment Tracker

Deccan Despatch–Economic ¾ Policy Tracker Update is a monthly review ¾ Investment Tracker through which we aim to present up-to-date news and PUDUCHERRY an analytical view of policies, investments and notifications, ¾ Notification Tracker issued by the southern states and that impact the industry. ¾ Policy Tracker ¾ Investment Tracker ¾ Notification Tracker

Confederation of Indian Industry, Southern Region 98/1, Velacherry Main Road, Guindy – 600 032

Ph: 91-44-42444555, Fax: 91-44-42444510 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.cii.in

ANDHRA PRADESH

POLICY TRACKER

Sugar mills to be Andhra Pradesh government has decided to modernise 4 out of the 11 cooperative sugar mills in modernised in AP the state. In the initial phase, two mills - Chodavaram and Kovur mills – have been selected for modernisation while two other mills - Sri Venkateshwara and Thandava – will be taken up in the next phase. Modernisation of Chodavaram and Kovur sugar mills is likely to involve cost of about Rs55 crore.

700 acres of additional It has been decided by Andhra Pradesh to allot about 700 acre of more land to Vanpic land to Vanpic project (Vadarevu and Nizampatnam Port & Industrial Corridor) for developing the shipyard project, which includes a ship-building unit. This land is additional to the 2,000 acre already allotted for the Vadarevu port.

New apartments in Andhra Pradesh Government has decided to exempt new apartments from the payment of AP to be exempted stamp duty from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2010. The apartments should be up to from stamp duty 1,200sq ft in area and this decision has been taken for encouraging the construction of affordable housing. Currently, 7.5% stamp duty and registration charge is collected on new flats and apartments, but according to the new decision, only the 2.5% registration charge will be collected and 5% stamp duty on new flats and apartments up to 1,200sq ft will be exempted. Besides this, for new housing units having plinth area up to 1,200sq ft, exemption will also be given to the building approval fee and building permit fee.

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ANDHRA PRADESH

INVESTMENT TRACKER

Domestic Investment

4 companies to start Four clean technology companies - Solar Semiconductor, KSK Energy Venture Limited, XL their operations in Telecom and Energy Limited and Surana Ventures Limited will soon start their operations at the Fab City soon Fab City in a month. 160 acre out of the total 1,172 acre in the Fab City has been allotted to these companies which will invest about Rs6,532 crore (US$ 1306.5 million) in phases in ten years. The list of investments to be made includes Rs5,500 crore by the Solar Semiconductor, Rs351.25 crore by KSK Energy Ventures, Rs381.25 crore by XL Telecom and Rs175 crore by Surana Ventures.

AP logistics SEZs & State government is setting up logistics SEZs in Visakhapatnam and Naidupet and logistics Auto Parks to attract parks across the state. For this, about 500 acres of land has been allotted across the state. The Rs2,000 crore proposed logistics SEZs and parks are expected to attract investments up to Rs1,000 crore in investments the state during three to five years. Similarly, the government has decided to set up logistics parks in the automotive SEZ at Toopran in Medak district on 25 acre, at Manthal near Shamshabad on 25 acre, Adampudi in Visakhapatnam on 100 acre and at Yellamalla village on the Outer Ring Road (20 acre). These parks will take final shape in the duration of about three to six months.

Jaypee proposal to set Jaypee Group has proposed to set up a cement plant near Jaggaiahpet in Krishna district of up cement plant in AP Andhra Pradesh. The plant will come up on about 250 acre of land and will involve the investment of about Rs1,600 crore. The annual production capacity of the plant will be five million tonnes. The group will invest in the phased manner in two years.

Lodha group planning Lodha Group has planned to set up ‘Sky Villas’ on 45-floor high rise towers in Hyderabad. For to set up ‘Sky Villas’ this, group will make an investment of Rs900 crore in the first phase and first phase of the project is expected to be completed by 2011. The project is titled Lodha Belleza and is modelled on California style living on high rises. The project will be located across 12.9 acre of land with 45 floors.

17 companies to invest 17 companies have signed MoU with Chennai-based Sri City Pvt Ltd for making investment of in AP SEZ of Sri City around Rs800 crore in the multi-product special economic zone (SEZ) of Sri City Pvt Ltd in Andhra Pradesh. The first manufacturing unit of the SEZ is likely to begin production in March 2009. The SEZ will come up on 5,000 acres of land at Tada in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh in public-private partnership and is likely to attract the investment of Rs17,500 crore by 2012-13. The SEZ will create around 100,000 direct and 75,000 indirect jobs.

Janapriya, Sun-Apollo Janapriya Engineers Syndicate along with private equity firm Sun-Apollo has formed a special to develop satellite purpose vehicle (SPV) to develop a satellite township, keeping the focus on affordable housing. township Investment of Rs400 crore will be made in the first phase of SPV named Janapriya Nile Valley, located on 44 acre of land. First phase of the project will involve developing 14 lakh square feet of built-up space in about 13.5 acres out of 44 acres of land.

MTAR Tech to invest Hyderabad-based MTAR Technologies Private Limited, engaged in high precision machining, in aero SEZ fabrication and design centre with latest machines and testing facilities, is investing Rs200 crore for setting up a manufacturing facility, in the aerospace and precision engineering Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Adibhatla in Rangareddy district of Andhra Pradesh. SEZ is coming

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up on 280 acre of land and is likely be fully operational by 2011.

Schwing Stetter Schwing Stetter Private Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Germany based Schwing planning training GmbH, is planning to set up a training centre in Hyderabad for engineers and operators of its centre in Hyderabad products like batching plants and ready-mix concrete (RMC) trucks at the cost of Rs6 crore. This training centre is expected to be ready in a year.

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KARNATAKA

POLICY TRACKER

Karnataka to sweeten Karnataka government has come up with a new buying plan after choosing to buy expensive sugar mills power deal power from private power producers like GMR and Jindal. It shall now revise rate at which power will be purchased by it from sugar mills, having co-generation units. The state government, currently buying power at the rate of Rs2.80-3.86 per unit from sugar mills, is likely to raise the price to bring it at the same level make it on a par with other private power producers, which is in excess of Rs8 per unit. Besides this, government has also planned of procuring power from private producers to overcome the power crisis in the state.

Karnataka to control In order to conserve and discourage the export of the ore in the raw form, a push has been free iron ore exports given to value-added iron ore-based products only. The new mining policy - 2008 cleared by the Karnataka government in December 2008, will encourage mining of iron ore and other minerals only from the view point of value-addition made by them. No fresh licence will be issued in the state for mining. This policy has been mainly framed to encourage the application of modern technology in processing minerals.

4,300 acres land Karnataka government has cleared seven proposals for converting agricultural land to be used conversion approved by by industries in the state. 4,300 acres of land has been involved in these proposals out of which government 3,400 acres of agricultural land will be used for industrial purpose by three major cement companies in the state.

State to double Department of Ports and Inland Water Transport in Karnataka will carry out capacity expansion capacity at old of the old port for doubling its vessel handling capacity from the current level of 25 Mangalore port vessels. The proposal to construct a new jetty in the centre of the port has been recently approved by the department at an estimated cost of Rs5 crore. According to the port officials, Kochi-based Geotech Constructions has been given this work and the work is expected to be completed by the end of 2009.

Government awarded Karnataka government has given the contract involving development and operation of Bijapur airport contract at Bijapur to Chennai-based MARG Ltd which will be built on the Build, to MARG Operate & Transfer (BOT) basis. The airport will come up on 727 acres of land in Burnapur village under public-private partnership. The duration of contract for designing, developing, operating and managing the airport is 30 years.

CTTP for 6 cities in A Comprehensive Traffic and Transport Plan (CTTP) has been prepared for 6 tier II cities in Karnataka Karnataka. The cities for which the CTTP has been prepared are , Mangalore, Belgaum, - , Bellary and Gulbarga. The draft of these plans has been made on the basis of directions received from Directorate for Urban Land Transport.

Nanotech institute to Karnataka government has decided to set up the ‘Nano-institute’ - Institute of Nano Science be set up in and Technology - in Bangalore and allotted 14 acres of government land. The centre will be set up taking guidance from the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), with grant of Rs100 crore from the Centre out of a budgetary provision of Rs1,000 crore for nanotechnology initiatives. Besides this, state government is also planning to develop a Nano Park and Incubation Centre.

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12 key transformations The State Planning Board of Karnataka has identified 12 key areas to be transformed for identified by state affirming its future policy to drive the future growth of the state. Some of these areas are planning board achieving the rural prosperity through higher incomes from agriculture and allied activities, focussing on job-oriented growth through development of the necessary skills among the workforce at the district level, developing the state as a knowledge society by imparting quality education, improving access and availability of quality healthcare, achieving a sustainable and orderly process of industrialisation and urbanisation, enhancing opportunities and empowering women across economic, social and political spheres.

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KARNATAKA

INVESTMENT TRACKER

Domestic Investment

Campco planning Central Areacanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative (Campco) Ltd is planning wind energy to set up a wind energy plant at Hoovina Hadagali in for becoming self sufficient production in power consumption. For this, Campco has signed a MoU with Suzlon for setting up a 1.25MW wind energy plant. Setting up of plant will involve investment of Rs7 crore by the company and the unit is expected to be functional by March 15, 2008.

Mangalore port to Trust (NMPT) is proceeding with its proposal of building five new berths get five new berths at the port. These five new berths are to be added under the Public Private Participation (PPP) model at an estimated investment of Rs1,000 crore during 2009-2011. For two berths, Rs242 crore will be spent by NMPT while private parties are expected to invest Rs732 crore. Among these berths, one berth will be dedicated for handling only with container cargo. The container berth is estimated to cost Rs350 crore for which expression of interest (EoI) has been received by NMPT from nine global companies.

Sabari Group to Chennai-based Sabari Group of Hotels is planning to invest Rs400 crore by 2011 in new hotels invest Rs400 crore across the country including Bangalore. The proposed investment will be funded through mix of in new hotels debt and internal accrual. Company has acquired land to construct hotel of 120 rooms in Bangalore for which Rs72 crore will be invested by it. Bangalore hotel of the company is expected to be commissioned in the last quarter of 2010.

Tourism sector in About 18 international and 23 domestic players in the hospitality industry have shown their Karnataka may get interest for making investments of over Rs1,000 crore in the state during the current financial Rs1,000 crore year 2008-09. The state government is making all efforts to clear hurdles in providing suitable investment land to them for kick-starting their tourism development projects. Companies from , Switzerland and a few from Europe are ready to tap the tourism potential here. Besides this, even places on the heritage tourism route such as , and , which are frequently visited by foreign tourists, may attract some investments.

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KERALA

POLICY TRACKER

Bamboo Corporation The Bamboo Corporation has decided to soon start a bamboo ply unit at using to start unit in assistance in technology from China. Kerala government has plans of developing traditional Kozhikode industries along with supporting modern industries. As a part of this effort, bamboo and cane have been provided free of cost to about 3 lakh people employed in this sector. State Bamboo Mission of Kerala is co-ordinating the support given at the national level for bamboo-based products.

Special measures to Kerala government has decided to adopt various steps to help various industrial segments in the help industries scenario of the global financial meltdown. Government will focus on executing various development projects and will soon initiate the projects worth Rs10,000 crore. These include Sobha IT City project in Kochi involving investment of Rs5,000 crore and Salarpuria Knowledge Park at Mulavukad, with an estimated investment of Rs3,000 crore. Ten projects have been submitted by the state government regarding Special Economic Zone out of which three have been cleared by the centre.

Kerala to launch Kerala government has decided to launch an energy conservation campaign in the next four or energy conservation five months for creating awareness among the public on the need to avoid a hike in power tariff drive soon due to the continuing shortage of power in the state.

Govt to launch Kerala government has decided to launch special financial assistance package of Rs200 crore for special package for completion of the held up Railway Over-Bridge (ROB) projects in the state within a specified completing ROB time frame. This special assistance proposal visualizes an examination of the hurdles faced by projects each project including financial crunch and permission from the Railway authorities.

Sports facilities to be Kerala government is planning to create sports facilities considering the National Games set up in Kerala for scheduled to be held at various locations across the state in 2010 at an investment of Rs1,000 National Games crore. KSIDC and IL&FS have already been told to prepare a master plan for the purpose. Construction proposals include constructing a games village, a main stadium with capacity to accommodate 50,000 spectators, a new indoor stadium at Kollam, a water sports facility at Alappuzha, a modern indoor stadium, a state-of-the art shooting range and a swimming pool in Ernakulam, a cycle velodrome in Malappuram, an international archery centre in Wayanad, a football academy at Kannur and a district sports centre at Kasaragod.

Land to be offered to Under its efforts of bringing in investments in the state, the Kerala government has prepared a NRI investors scheme for providing land in high-growth hubs of the state to non-residents in the Gulf region for setting up industries. This scheme will include the land developed by government agencies such as the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC), Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA) and the Directorate of Industries and Commerce (DIC).

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KERALA

INVESTMENT TRACKER

Domestic Investment

SAIL, SCL tie-up Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and Steel Complex Limited (SCL) have signed an formalised agreement, formalising the conversion of SCL’s facility in Kozhikode into a 50:50 joint venture company. The Central public sector institution SAIL will invest Rs50 crore for installing a rolling mill with a capacity to produce 65,000 tonnes of steel at the SCL in the first stage of the programmes envisaged under the venture.

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PUDUCHERRY

NOTIFICATION TRACKER

Finance Department [G.O. Ms. No. 72/F2/2008, Dated 31st December, 2008]

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section 5 of Section 71 of the Puducherry Value Added Tax, 2007 (Act No 9 of 2008) and in pursuance of rule 52 of the Puducherry Value Added Tax, 2007, the Lieutenant-Governor, Puducherry, being satisfied that it is necessary to do so in the public interest, is pleased to grant extension of time limit for filling Form CC for the year 2007-2008 beyond 30th September, 2008 up to 30th November, 2008.

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TAMIL NADU

POLICY TRACKER

TNERC paves way Tamil Nadu will soon implement third-party sale of power by captive power generating units as to tap into captive the TNERC has permitted the TNEB to give up the right of collecting cross-subsidy surcharge. power generators After this order, intra-state open access can be implemented, which enables a captive power generator to sell power to a third party after paying wheeling charges for using the transmission infrastructure of TNEB. Besides the wheeling charges, the power generators have to pay the cross-subsidy surcharge of 90-95 paise a unit, which will have an impact on the viability of the transaction.

TNEB to charge Tamil Nadu Electricity Board’s (TNEB) petition to levy penalty on industrial and commercial penalty for excess consumers for excess energy consumption and exceeding energy demand has been approved by use cleared with the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) with some changes in it. Giving riders details of penalty (excess charges) the TNEB will charge Rs10.50 per unit from HT industrial consumers and Rs15 per unit from HT commercial consumers. LTCT industrial consumers will be charged Rs14.10 per unit and LTCT commercial Rs17.40 per unit.

Plans to add TNEB plans of adding 4,250MW of power generating capacity over the next five years to 4,250MW power in 5 address the power shortage in the state. This capacity addition is planned to be taken in the years phased manner and board will require over Rs15,000 crore for adding 2,250MW by 2010-11. Similarly, over 3,000MW of power will be added to the grid in two phases by 2011-12. This will be made possible due to the board's 600MW unit coming up in the north Chennai thermal power plant at the cost of Rs2,475 crore, a 600MW power plant at the Mettur thermal power station, 1,600MW plant at Udangudi and another 1,000MW through augmenting capacity at TNEB's thermal power station in Tuticorin. Besides, the state government is planning to source 200-300MW from third party sales and another 200MW from the power trading corporation.

Incentive package to Tamil Nadu government has introduced a new incentive package for boosting investments in boost investment southern districts of the state. Seven southern districts of the state have been included under the introduced package and are likely to receive investments to the tune of over Rs34,000 crore. Under this package, soft loan will be provided to the companies at the rate of 0.1% interest rate that invest ranging from Rs50 crore to Rs100 crore. For investments between Rs100 crore and Rs200 crore, it will give back the value added tax (VAT) as soft loan while for investments more than Rs250 crore, entire amount of VAT will be paid back by the government in the form of subsidy.

Plans for industrial Tamil Nadu is planning to set up one industrial estate in Madurai as the part of its plan to set up estate at Madurai industrial estates across the southern districts of Tamil Nadu. The proposed industrial estate is likely to come up over an area of 2,000 acres and will focus on the manufacturing industry, especially on automobile component manufacturers. It is likely to attract investments up to Rs500 crore in its initial stage.

Unido & TNTDPC The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) has signed a signed MoU to memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tamil Nadu Technology Development and promote SMEs in Promotion Centre (TNTDPC) for the consolidated project involving development of Small and auto sector Medium Enterprise (SME) in the state. The project is aimed towards promotion of SMEs in auto components sector. The MoU will facilitate UNIDO in expanding its sub-contracting exchange to the larger spectrum of automotive companies in the state. In the first stage, 150 automotive companies in Ambattur Industrial Estate (AIEMA) near Chennai have been profiled by UNIDO through a co-operation agreement with MSME-DI.

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Chennai metro to get Chennai metro rail project involving the cost of Rs14,600 crore and water desalination project at Centre nod soon the cost of Rs900 crore are soon likely to be cleared by the centre. Out of the total cost of metro rail project, 60% will be funded by the Japan International Cooperative Agency while remaining cost will be shared equally by the central and state governments. About 20 kilometres out of the 43km planned in the first phase of the project will be underground while the remaining will be on elevated structures. Besides this, the water desalination project will also be cleared soon which has been proposed on 40 acres of land near Mamallapuam in Kancheepuram district. Of the total cost, Rs870 crore will be contributed by the Centre while remaining amount will be contributed by the state government.

Tamil Nadu to Tamil Nadu government has decided to invest Rs7,500 crore for various road, bridge and invest in road and railway projects in the state. These investments will be made by the government along with the rail National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Southern Railway. This decision has been taken for promoting southern districts of the state as a favourable destination for investments. These districts include Madurai, Theni, Dindugal, Sivaganga, Ramnad, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Virudhunagar and Kanyakumari.

TN developing two Tamil Nadu government is developing two captive ports located at Punnakkayal and Manappad minor ports in Thoothukudi district of the state. Manappad port will be used to handle LNG vessels and will come up on 100.41 acre of land at the investment of Rs1,800 crore while the port at Punnakkayal will come up on 8.41 acre of land at the investment of Rs150 crore. The land for both the projects has already been acquired. Both the ports will be opened for use by private entrepreneurs who will develop the required infrastructural facilities.

Sale of liquor to be Tamil Nadu government has planned to ban the sale of liquor in the state. According to a press prohibited in Tamil release from the government, the prohibition will happen over a period of time in the phased Nadu manner. In the initial phase, Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Ltd (Tasmac) will not open any more liquor shops in the state. From January 1, 2009 onwards, the working time of the existing liquor outlets will also be reduced by one hour.

CII & TN in MoU Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)’s Tamil Nadu division has signed a MoU with the Tamil for training rural Nadu government to train the rural youth in soft and technical skills. For this, 165 institutions youth to offer training based on the industry requirements have been identified by the CII. Before March 2009, around 15,000 people will be trained through various institutions. In the next three months i.e. April 2009 – June 2009, 4,000 people will be trained for CII member companies. While the potential candidates and the institutions for training will be identified by the member companies, the state government will provide financial support. Rs7,000 will be the cost of training each student on an average.

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TAMIL NADU

INVESTMENT TRACKER

Domestic Investment

SEZs by Elcot likely The proposed IT parks in special economic zones (SEZs), promoted by the Electronics to attract Rs25,000 Corporation of Tamil Nadu (Elcot) to be set up across seven southern districts of the state are crore likely to receive the investments worth Rs25,000 crore. These SEZs are expected to create direct employment to 540,000 people and indirect employment to over 1.5 million people. These parks are coming up at Salem, Coimbatore, Tiruchy, Chennai, Hosur, Tirunelveli and Madurai and the total land acquired for these parks is over 1,800 acre.

BHEL to set up Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) and Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) have entered thermal power plant into a JV agreement to set up a 2X800MW thermal power plant at Udangudi in Tuticorin district in TN of Tamil Nadu with an estimated investment of Rs8,700 crore. A special purpose vehicle (SPV) called Udangudi Power Corporation Ltd has also been created for execution of this project. The project will be coming up on 760 acre of land. The first unit out of the two 800MW units will be operational by March 2012 and the second by September 2012.

Ennore Coke Ennore Coke Ltd is planning to set up a plant with the capacity of one million tonnes. Setting up planning Rs1,000 of this plant is likely to involve investments of Rs1,000 crore. The new project may be executed crore project either by Ennore Coke on its own or through a JV. Work on the project is likely to begin in the year 2009.

Health city to be Hyderabad-based Global Hospital Group has announced that its proposed health city in operational by 2010 Chennai will be operational by 2010. This project will be completed in a phased manner with the investment of Rs1,000 crore and will be spread over 46 acre of land. Out of total amount to be invested, Rs500 crore will be invested by the group while the remaining amount will be invested by its partners, setting up hotels, service and residential apartments in the proposed health city. The heath city is likely to create jobs for 5,000 people.

Caterpillar planning Caterpillar India is planning to set up its third manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu and expand its third facility in its existing production facilities. The company is planning to invest Rs800 crore through which TN it will set up a new facility near Chennai and expand production at its existing facilities in Thiruvallur, an industrial suburb of Chennai and at Hosur. For this, company has signed an agreement with the Tamil Nadu government.

AMRL to invest in AMRL International Tech City, JV of Hyderabad-based AMR Constructions Ltd and Tamil multi-product SEZ Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Ltd (Tidco), has plans of investing around Rs800 crore to create a multi-product special economic zone (SEZ) in Tamil Nadu. The planned SEZ will come up on 2,500 acres of land at Nanguneri taluk in Tirunelveli district. This SEZ is the first multi-product SEZ in the state including engineering, auto components, pharmaceuticals, electronics and hardware, bio-technology, IT and ITES, textiles and logistics and is likely to attract investments up to Rs15,000 crore and generate 70,000 jobs.

Arasu Cable likely to Arasu Cable TV Corporation Ltd, an undertaking of Tamil Nadu government is likely to invest invest Rs400cr Rs400 crore for starting its operations in the state. For this, 5 million set top boxes will be imported by the company. The company has started its operations in four cities – Thanjavur, Tirunelveli, Coimbatore and Vellore and is targeting to begin operations in Chennai by mid of

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January 2009.

Richcore planning Bangalore-based Richcore Lifesciences Private Limited has plans of setting up a fermentation fermentation plant unit near Vellore in Tamil Nadu. For this, Rs10 crore is likely to be invested by the company and near Vellore it will take around one or two months to finalise the land for the new facility.

Hatsun Agro to Chennai based Hatsun Agro Product Ltd is going to double its total ice cream output and for double ice cream this, it is setting up a factory at Salem. Investment of Rs6.5 crore will be made by the company production setting to set up production unit with the monthly capacity of one million litre. This unit is scheduled to unit at Salem be operational by March 2009.

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TAMIL NADU

NOTIFICATION TRACKER

Home, Prohibition [G.O. Ms. No. 100, Dated 31st December, 2008] and Excise Department No. SRO A-52/2008.—In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 54 read with Section 17- C, 17-D, 17-E, 18-B, 18-C, 20 and 21 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act, 1937 (Tamil Nadu Act X of 1937), the Governor of Tamil Nadu, hereby makes the following amendments to the Tamil Nadu Liquor (Licence and Permit) Rules, 1981:-

AMENDMENTS In the said Rules, in rule 17, in sub-rule (b):— (i) in clause II,— (a) for the expression “an annual privilege fee of Rs. 2,00,000 (Rupees two lakhs only)”, the expression “an annual privilege fee of Rs. 4,00,000 (Rupees four lakhs only)” shall be substituted; (b) for the expression “a licence fee of Rs. 1,000 (Rupees one thousand only)”, the expression “a licence fee of Rs. 5,000 (Rupees five thousand only)” shall be substituted; and (c) for the expression “an application fee of Rs. 400 (Rupees four hundred only)”, the expression “an application fee of Rs. 1,000 (Rupees one thousand only)” shall be substituted;

The entire document can be viewed in www.tn.gov.in

Tamil Nadu [No VI(2)/924/2008, Dated 17th December, 2008] Electricity Regulatory Whereas the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission under Section 61 (h) read with Commission Section 86(1)(e) and Section 181 of the Electricity Act, 2003, specified and notified in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette, dated the 27th February 2008, the Power Procurement from New and Renewable Sources of Energy Regulations, 2008. And Whereas it is considered necessary to issue Amending Regulations to the above Regulations for removing the difficulties and the Amending Regulations providing for the above purposes shall be subject to the condition of the previous publication and accordingly undergone such previous publication. Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 61 (h) read with section 86(1)(e) and section 181 of the said Electricity Act, 2003, and all other powers enabling it in that behalf, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission hereby makes the following Amending Regulations to the Power Procurement from New and Renewable Sources of Energy Regulations, 2008 issued under Notification No. TNERC/NCES Regn./16/1, Dated 8 February 2008 and published in Part VI—Section 2 of the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette, dated the 27th February 2008.

The entire document can be viewed in www.tn.gov.in

Commercial Taxes [G.O. (2D) No. 180, Dated 2nd December, 2008] and Registration (D2) NOTIFICATION

No. II(1)/CTR/63/2008.—In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 31 read with sub- section (4) of Section 88 of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006 (Tamil Nadu Act 32 of

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2006), the Governor of Tamil Nadu hereby remits a sum of Rs. 16,00,177 (Rupees sixteen lakhs one hundred and seventy seven only) being the difference of tax between 8% (eight percent) and 2% (two percent) payable in respect of the period on and from the 1st April 1998 to the 11th July 2000 on the sale of Polyester Yarn under the said Act.

Environment and [G.O.Ms. No. 135, Dated 21st November 2008] Forests (EC2) No.II(2)/EF/581/2008.—In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (5) of Section 19 of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 (Central Act 14 of 1981), the Governor of Tamil Nadu after consultation with the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, is of the opinion that the burning of Cashewnut shells causes air pollution and hereby prohibits the burning of the said material in the State of Tamil Nadu without observing the following measures while burning the said material:— (1) Wet scrubber with suction arrangement and a stack of height of chimneys at least three metres above the building shall be provided. (2) The particulate matter emission from the stack shall not exceed 150 mg/Nm3. (3) The waste water from the wet scrubber shall be recycled. (4) The ovens shall be designed with protective covers so that there shall not be any direct heat radiation towards persons working near by. (5) Cashewnut shells shall be stored in a closed shed so as to avoid carry over due to wind and to avoid spillages. (6) The burnt carbon (ash) shall be collected in a container and disposed of. (7) All hotels, bakeries and other institutions that burn cashewnut shells shall get the consent of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board under relevant Act and Rules.

This Tracker has been prepared by Cygnus Business Consulting & Research Pvt Ltd 16 (www.cygnusindia.com), a knowledge partner of CII.