Lucknow-Delhi Tejas earned 7.7 lakh, not 70 lakh in first month: RailMin

Lucknow-Delhi Tejas, India’s first privately run train, earned an operational profit of only Rs 7.73 lakh in its first month of operation, and not Rs 70 lakh as reported by the media, according to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal. The train had been widely reported in the media to have earned a whopping 70 lakh in […]

FinMin spikes BSNL revival plan; no VRS, free 4G spectrum: report

The union finance ministry has rejected the Nripendra Misra committee report on plans to revive state-owned telecom operators BSNL and MTNL, including plans for a Rs 8,500 cr VRS package and ‘free’ 4G spectrum, Malayalam newspaper Mathrubhumi reported, quoting sources. The report, if correct, would make the condition of the state-owned telecom player precarious as […]

Kerala Electricity Board to offer free fiber internet

Kerala State Electricity Board, the public sector power distribution monopoly that is used by major broadband operators to hang their cables, has decided to start a fiber-to-the-home service on its own. The service, to be called K Fone, will also include a free-tier, which will come with limited data allowance and will be provided to […]

‘We’re cleaning up the banks’ – FinMin gives the numbers

Finance ministry on Thursday gave detailed numbers to detail the efforts that the Narendra Modi government has been making to overcome the problems created by corruption and bad loans in India’s public sector banks. Finance Minister Nirmala Seetharaman pointed out that a review in 2015 found that a huge chunk of loans issued in previous […]

India PSU employment declining 4.3% per year

The total number of people employed by various undertakings and companies controlled by the central government has been showing a decline of 4%-5% per year in recent years. According to numbers from the ministry of heavy industry and public enterprises, the total number of personnel in central public sector enterprises fell by 4.2% in 2015-16 […]

Indian Railways sees 4% jump in passenger reservations in 2016-17

Indian Railways saw an increase of 3.91% in the total number of reserved bookings in the financial year ended March 2017, according to data from the ministry of railways. A total of 52.35 cr (523 mln) passengers were booked in the reserved category during the year, reflecting the continued demand for long-distance rail travel. In comparison, […]

UPA-era procurement delays kept us back – BSNL CMD

BSNL Chairman and Managing Director Anupam Shrivastava blamed delays in procuring key equipment for the present backward condition of the state-owned telecom operator. The company, which was once profitable and dominated India’s telecom sector, has run up huge losses in the last several years, while private telecom companies have reaped tens of thousands of crores […]

Government to shut down 38-year-old Hindustan Diamond Co

The Ministry of Commerce & Industry said it has received approval from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs for initiating the process of winding up of Hindustan Diamond Company Private Limited (HDCPL) a 50:50 joint venture of the Government of India and De Beers Centenary Mauritius Limited. The winding up of HDCPL is not likely […]