by admin | May 25, 2021 | Markets, Opinions, Technology
By Saptak Ghosh,
The World Economic Forum annual meeting last month revealed some startling facts about India and the world’s economy. The Oxfam survey highlighted that the richest one per cent in India accounted for 73 per cent of the wealth generated in the country, showcasing the worrying trend of income inequality. Recommendations to alleviate this included promotion of labour-intensive sectors and investment in agriculture.
On the other hand, India is aggressively pushing for solar power with a 100 GW target for 2021-22. The installed capacity crossed 20 GW in 2017, with 18.4 GW in the form of ground-mounted projects and 1.6 GW on rooftops. This provides us with the opportunity to innovate in terms of systems design and link solar power to India’s labour-intensive agriculture sector.
The trend in India is the promotion of large solar parks with capacities more than 250 MW, at each location, in bigger states. The official solar park target has been increased to 40 GW. Recent tenders for these parks have driven the tariff down to less than Rs 2.50/unit, making solar cheaper than coal. However, rooftop photovoltaic (RTPV) systems, which are expected to contribute 40 GW as well, have still not taken off in India and need a boost.
Ground-mounted PV solar projects require around four-five acres of land per MW, and 120,000 to 200,000 acres of land are required to meet the 40 GW solar park target. Most of the proposed solar parks have faced issues when it comes to identification and acquisition of land. The common practice today is to identify land with low agricultural yields and then lease them out from farmers for 25-30 years at an annual rate of Rs 20,000-Rs 30,000/acre.
The problem here is that 40 GW of solar parks will result in 160,000 to 200,000 acres of land lying unutilised below the PV panels. Moreover, farmers will only receive a marginal increment in their revenue. Is there a way then, to optimise the usage of land, whilst increasing the farmers’ revenues significantly?
Enter, the polyhouse. A polyhouse is an enclosed space where a variety of plants can be grown perennially by controlling the ambient temperature, humidity, air flow and lighting conditions. Polyhouses are a proven concept in India; enterprising farmers have reported five-fold increases in agricultural yield and resultant revenue per acre of land. Central and state governments also encourage polyhouses by providing 40-60 per cent capital subsidies on polyhouse investments made by farmers. Innovative irrigation methods, such as drip or mist, have reduced the water requirement in polyhouses by more than 60 per cent per acre for typical crops. One acre of polyhouse also creates 10-12 jobs. Is it then possible to change solar parks to solar polyhouse parks where farmers adopt modern farming techniques, while PV panels adorn the roofs of the polyhouse structures?
Polyhouses with RTPV have been successfully implemented in developed countries with colder climates; PV panels are seamlessly integrated into the roof structure. This design allows heat to get trapped inside the polyhouse, which contributes to making the internal conditions favourable for plant growth. However, in tropical parts of India, the typical design of polyhouses is such that the roof is designed as a broken dome structure, which allows better air circulation and ventilation, and hence control over the ambient temperature. RTPV systems will have to be placed over the roof structure of these polyhouses with an external integration design. This means that the supporting structure of the polyhouses will need to be made stronger to accommodate the extra weight of the panels and their mounts.
Agricultural experts claim that while it is technically feasible to install PV panels on polyhouses, it will obstruct light from entering the structure and negatively impact plant growth. However, initial analyses show that artificial lighting inside the polyhouse can compensate for the loss of natural lighting because of the PV panels.
Polyhouses with 1 MW RTPV capacity will need around seven acres of land and the auxiliary electricity consumption will be around 12 per cent. Although the land required per MW increases and electricity exported per MW to the grid decreases, the resultant co-benefits, in terms of revenue and yield, increase for the farmers. PV system developers fear that costs will go up if RTPV designs are put on the table. However, with accurate structural engineering, the costs might actually come down by reducing the size of the mounting structures.
This proposed innovation of polyhouses with RTPV has the potential to pave the way for inclusive growth in India by linking solar to agriculture. Structural and lighting engineers, along with polyhouse design specialists, need to work together to develop working designs for various parts of the country. This could even culminate into a specific policy being announced to promote this concept. It is a win-win situation for farmers, who had all but given up on their lands, as well as the government when it comes to choosing land for large solar projects.
(Saptak Ghosh is a Research Scientist at the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy [CSTEP], Bengaluru. The views expressed are those of CSTEP. He can be reached at saptakg@cstep.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Angela Merkel
Davos : German Chancellor Angela Merkel criticised the philosophy of isolation and protectionism in addressing common challenges worldwide here on Wednesday.
When delivering a special address at the World Economic Forum’s 48 Annual Meeting, which kicked off Tuesday, Merkel underlined that “Germany is a country committed to finding multilateral solutions”, Xinhua news agency reported.
“Unilateral action and protectionism are not the answer,” she added.
Focusing on European issues particularly, Merkel urged closer cooperation in the EU in order to solve problems in Europe.
“Brexit has almost encouraged us to concentrate on the big issues,” she added.
Specifically, Merkel called on more actions on digitalisation rather than “debating philosophical issues”, saying that it was too slow in EU to decide how to deal with big data, which has made Europe lag behind.
“We now have to re-oriented economic policies, creating a digital single market,” she pointed out, reminding that Europe is under great pressure due to the presence of large American companies.
In addition, Merkel also called for efforts to tackle with fractured capital market by establishing capital markets union, as well as completing banking union, so as to weather the crisis at early stage.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Corporate, Corporate Buzz
Davos : Besides developing new medicines and vaccines, pharmaceutical companies must also manufacture and market antibiotics responsibly so that they do not cause damage to the environment, an expert said at the World Economic Forum (WEF) here on Tuesday.
Jayasree Iyer, from Netherlands-based Access to Medicine Foundation, also pointed out that it should be ensured that doctors and patients don’t overuse medicines and vaccines.
“We reasonably expect from the industry that apart from developing new medicine and vaccine, we also expect them to manufacture and market antibiotics responsibly to ensure waste water does not end up in the environment,” said Indian-origin Iyer, who is the Executive Director at the Foundation — a non-profit organisation.
Aiming to help the pharmaceutical industry to tackle the threat of ‘superbugs’ or antimicrobial resistance (AMR), Iyer also launched the first ever antimicrobial resistance benchmark.
The AMR Benchmark is to clarify the role for the pharmaceutical industry in improving access to medicine and vaccines.
“This first Antimicrobial Resistance Benchmark is the first independent, detailed evaluation of how pharmaceutical companies are halting the rise of drug resistance,” Iyer said.
According to the World Health Organization, AMR is an increasingly serious threat to global public health that requires action across all government sectors and society.
“Antimicrobial resistance is a disaster waiting to happen. We have seen it evolving in the past years, especially drug resistant TB,” said Paul Stoffels, the Chief Scientific Officer at Johnson & Johnson.
AMR is causing an estimated 700,000 deaths annually, a number expected to rise sharply in the coming decades.
While new antibiotics are desperately needed, the pharmaceutical industry has little incentive to invest in their development because antibiotics do not bring in the revenues that drugs for other diseases such as cancer or cardiovascular disease do.
“We as an industry also face challenges finding viable business models”, Stoffels said, adding, “as it takes a long time to develop such medicines for relatively small populations. But it’s the right thing to do as a human”.
Globally, 4,80,000 people develop multi-drug resistant TB each year and drug resistance is starting to complicate the fight against HIV and malaria, as well, according to the WHO.
“The problem could only be tackled globally. Countries need to work together to tackle this problem, which he described as medicine’s equivalent of climate change,” said Julian Braithwaite, Britain’s Ambassador to the United Nations.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Corporate, Corporate Governance, Investing, Large Enterprise
Hyderabad : Participating in the World Economic Forum (WEF) for the first time, India’s youngest state Telangana is trying to woo investors.
The delegation led by Minister for Information Technology, Industries and Municipal Administration K.T. Rama Rao called on top executives of various companies and business leaders in Davos.
At the state pavilion at WEF, the delegation met the investors and briefed them of the enormous opportunities Hyderabad and other parts of the state offer.
The minister met Petra Laux, Head Global and Public Affairs, Novartis. Rao tweeted that expansion of Novartis in Hyderabad was among the issues discussed.
He also explained the progress of Hyderabad Pharma City, a state-of-the-art facility coming up with a university and research centre.
KTR, as the minister is popularly known, also met delegation from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries led by Ken Kawai, Executive Vice President
He also called on Aloke Lohia, founder and group CEO, Indorama Ventures PCL, the world’s largest polyester company by capacity.
During the meeting, the minister explained about the Telangana’s progressive industrial policies and also the existing textiles ecosystem in the state.
He invited Aloke Lohia to explore investment opportunities in Kakatiya Mega Textiles Park coming up in Warangal.
With AirAsia Berhad’s CEO Anthony Fernandes and Deputy CEO Aireen Omar, KTR discussed the prospects of setting up AirAsia’s Tech Center and running innovation programmes to support startups in the aerospace sector.
KTR, who is Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s son, tweeted that he also had a brief but scintillating meeting with Chairman of RIL, Mukesh Ambani.
Earlier, the minister also met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and his son and cabinet minister Nara Lokesh.
KTR is scheduled to speak at a few sessions at WEF. He will participate in the discussion titled ‘Leveraging digital to deliver value to society’ on January 25. He will also participate in the roundtable on “Promoting design in India” organised by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.
The next day, he will speak at the session titled ‘Global Tech, Local Solutions: Artificial Intelligence.’
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Corporate, Corporate Governance, Economy, Finance, Investing, Large Enterprise, News, Politics
Suresh Prabhu
By Arun Kumar Das,
New Delhi : A government cannot run industry and regulation on businesses should be kept to a minimum to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) and spur domestic financing, according to a minister.
Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu said that a committee had been set up under the chairmanship of the Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, to look at regulatory issues.
“The ultimate idea is that regulation should not stifle the possibilities of investment. I get a sense now that people have again started looking at investments,” Prabhu told this correspondent in a freewheeling interview here ahead of his visit to Davos for the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual conference.
Prabhu also maintained that the government cannot run industry and a new industrial policy was in the works aimed at reducing regulations and promoting modernisation of existing industry. It will also seek to encourage new and emerging industries, even those which are not seen today.
The minister is slated to hold a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from many countries, including Australia and the UK, participating at the WEF in Davos, besides holding meetings with leading business leaders from around the globe in an attempt to attract more FDI into the country.
Taking note of India’s jump in the global “ease of doing business” rankings from 130th place to 100th, Prabhu said the government was in the process of initiating a number of measures, which might not have been captured in this particular ranking study. “In the next few years’ time, we will see it (the ranking) improving again and again,” he said.
Prabhu said the change in rankings was largely because of the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) regime which was the single-largest and most significant reform post-Independence. It was also “a great positive” step in the direction of bringing transparency and greater reliability.
On the core focus areas for India to boost exports, he said the government was in the process of drawing up strategies across five main components — promotion of services, value-addition in goods, focus on agriculture, improving standards, and logistics.
“We have identified champion sectors with untapped potential for value-addition, employment generation and technology upgradation to promote services. Focus will be on improving the ease of doing business across these sectors,” he said.
India, he said, was poised to become the third-largest economy in the world and the onward journey of becoming a $5 trillion economy was “inevitable and unstoppable”.
“Today, global output is higher than the global trade. We need to re-strategise our global trade. India’s journey towards achieving $5 trillion economy sooner is not possible without expansion of our basket of global trade,” Prabhu said.
Envisaging a new high in India’s economic scenario, he said: “If we grow by more than eight per cent we will reach there in the next 6-7 years; if we grow by today’s pace of around 7 per cent we will reach there in 1-2 years more.”
Asked about the steps being taken to reduce India’s logistics costs, Prabhu said earlier there was no dedicated team dealing with logistics, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken the decision to create a separate logistics division within the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
He said steps were being undertaken to create a digital logistics platform for the industry to increase the speed of movement of goods and reduce costs.
“If a consignment is to be transported from, say, Mumbai to Kolkata, why not part-use rail and part-use road? But the right decision can be made only when we know the exact cost and time taken. A digital platform can make that happen,” he said.
Dwelling on the strategy to boost the “Make In India” initiative, he said it will be successful only if it happens at the state and district levels.
As Railway Minister Prabhu had undertaken a programme of developing a joint tourism circuit on the western coast of India, including the Konkan and Goa regions.
Now as the Minister for Commerce and Industry, he wants to take the Make-in-India concept to the Konkan.
(Arun Kumar Das is a senior freelance journalist. He can be contacted at akdas2005@gmail.com)
—IANS
