UPSC PIB Summary Analysis Aug01

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The Walled City of Jaipur, Rajasthan

• The site namely “The Walled City of Jaipur, Rajasthan, India” has been proposed for World Heritage. As per Operation Guidelines 2017, only one site can be nominated by the state party each year.
• There are a total of 37 World Heritage sites in India at Present.

WORLD HERITAGE SITES IN INDIA

CULTURAL SITES: 

Under Protection of Archaeological Survey of India

Under Protection of Ministry of Railways

 Under Protection of Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee

Under Protection of Rajasthan State Archaeology and Museums                     

Under Protection of Chandigarh Administration

Under Protection of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation

 Under Protection of Government of Maharashtra

 NATURAL SITES:

 Under Protection of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Changes

MIXED SITE: 

Under Protection of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Changes

Extension of Concessional Financing Scheme (CFS)

• The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the first extension of Concessional Financing Scheme(CFS) to support Indian Entities bidding for strategically important infrastructure projects abroad.

Details:

• Under the CFS, the Govt. of India has been supporting Indian Entities bidding for strategically important infrastructure projects abroad since 2015-16. Since the objectives of the Scheme continue to be relevant, it is proposed to extend the Scheme for another five years from 2018 to 2023.

Financial Implications:

• Financial implication is towards payment of Interest Equalization Support (IES) to the lending Bank for which budgetary provision will be made by the Department of Economic Affairs every year.

 Major Impact:

• Prior to the introduction of CFS, Indian entities were not able to bid for large projects abroad since the cost of financing was very high for them and bidders from other countries such as China, Japan, Europe and US were able to provide credit at superior terms, i.e., lower interest rate and longer tenures which works to the advantage of bidders from those countries.

Implementation Strategy and Targets:

• Under the Scheme, MEA selects the specific projects keeping in view strategic interest of India and sends the same to Department of Economic Affairs (DEA).
• The strategic importance of a project to deserve financing under this Scheme, is decided, on a case to case basis, by a Committee chaired by Secretary, DEA and with members from Department of Expenditure, Ministry of External Affairs, Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy (DIPP), Department of Commerce, Department of Financial Services and Ministry of Home Affairs.
• The Scheme is presently being operated through the Export-Import Bank of India, which raises resources from the market to provide concessional finance. Government of India (GoI) provides counter guarantee and interest equalization support of 2% to the EXIM Bank.

 Background:

• The scheme envisages Government of India to provide counter guarantee and interest equalization of 2 % to EXIM Bank to offer concessional finance to any foreign Govt. or foreign Govt. owned or controlled entity, if any Indian entity, succeeds in getting contract for the execution of a project.
• Under the Scheme, EXIM Bank extends credit at a rate not exceeding LIBOR (avg. of six months) + 100 bps. The repayment of the loan is guaranteed by the foreign govt.

Exploration and exploitation of Unconventional Hydrocarbons 

• The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the policy to permit exploration and exploitation of unconventional hydrocarbons such as Shale oil/gas, Coal Bed Methane (CBM) etc.
• It will be carried out under the existing Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs), CBM contracts and Nomination fields to encourage the existing Contractors in the licensed/leased area to unlock the potential of unconventional hydrocarbons in the existing acreages.

Benefits:

• This policy will enable the realization of prospective hydrocarbon reserves in the existing Contract Areas which otherwise would remain unexplored and unexploited.
• With this policy dispensation, new investment in Exploration and Production (E&P) activities and chances of finding new hydrocarbon discoveries and resultant increased domestic production thereof is expected.
• Exploration and exploitation of additional hydrocarbon resources is expected to spur new investment, impetus to economic activities, additional employment generation and thus benefitting various sections of society.
• This will lead to induction of new, innovative and cutting-edge technology and forging new technological collaboration to exploit unconventional hydrocarbons.

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