Virendra Nath Datt, director (Marketing), NFL, has taken over the additional charge of chairman and managing director (CMD) of the company. An MBA from Maharshi Dayanand University, Datt has a rich professional experience of over 35 years with premier CPSEs such as GAIL and ONGC besides the fertilizer industry. Datt is credited with sustained growth in fertilizer sale of company from 43 lakh MT in 2017-18 to 57 lakh MT in 2019-20, an increase of 32 per cent over past two years. During this period, NFL established a pan India footprint in the fertilizer industry..
Indian Railways had suspended its regular passenger train services during the nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the Coronavirus. As the trains were cancelled en masse, railways faced the challenge to refund huge amount of money to the rail passengers. Railways has successfully refunded ` 1885 crore towards cancellation of tickets to passengers from March 21 to May 31 on tickets booked online. The entire cost of the ticket purchased has been refunded in the account from where the payment was made during the booking of the ticket. Due to the initiative taken by the national transporter, the passengers got their refund in time and did not face the inconvenience of visiting a PRS counter for collecting their amount.
Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Steel, Petroleum and Natural Gas, chaired a video conferencing with officials from Ministry of Steel, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Railways, INSDAG, SAIL and steel fabricators from Bhilai to work out a detailed plan for developing a steel fabrication cluster around the Bhilai Steel Plant.
The steel fabrication cluster envisaged will give boost to the MSME sector in the region, facilitate employment generation and give impetus to the local economy. This is line with the spirit of PM’s call for an Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
Pradhan directed the CEO of the Bhilai Steel Plant to ensure that the steel plate requirement of the steel fabricators is fully met and any restrictive conditions coming the way of such procurement be removed.
NHPC has diversified its portfolio to include Solar Power business. It has given Letter of Awards (LOA) to solar power developers for interstate transmission system (ISTS) grid connected photovoltaic projects aggregating to 1,600 MW installed capacity. Previously, NHPC had successfully conducted the e-reverse auction for ISTS grid connected solar PV project to be set up anywhere in India. As part of the LOA, NHPC shall purchase the power generated from the proposed ISTS-connected solar PV power project at tariffs of `2.55 and `2.56 per unit.
The 800 MW Parbati-II Hydroelectric Project, located in Himachal Pradesh, is a run-of-the-river scheme proposed to harness hydro potential of the river Parbati. NHPC has successfully completed awarding of the above-mentioned works amid nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic, following all guidelines of the government.
In yet another step to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, state-owned Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC) has come forward to provide financial assistance of ` 1.23 crore to the Uttarakhand government. The fund will be utilised for procurement of 500 PPEs kits for frontline staff and six fully equipped ambulances which will be handed over to health department of Uttarakhand. The CSR initiative by PFC will further support the preparedness of the state in its fight against the spread of COVID-19.