Daily News - Thursday, 13 February 2025

ONGC plans ₹1L-cr spend to build 10 GW projects (Financial Chronicle)

India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) plans to increase its renewable energy investments 100-fold, committing ₹1 lakh crore ($11.5 billion) to develop a 10-gigawatt green energy portfolio by 2030, up from ₹10,000 crore in the current fiscal year. While global oil majors like BP and Equinor are scaling back clean energy investments due to low returns, India’s state-owned firms are doubling down on renewables to strengthen national energy security. ONGC’s green push includes expanding its existing 193-megawatt solar and wind capacity, developing 25 compressed biogas plants, and hydro projects, and producing 1 million tons of green ammonia, including 1,80,000 tons of green hydrogen capacity.

Pulses, Vegetables ease retail inflation to 4.31% (Financial Chronicle)

India’s headline retail inflation dropped to a five-month low of 4.31% in January 2025, driven by a significant decline in vegetable and pulse prices, with rural inflation also easing to 4.64% from 5.76% in December. Meanwhile, food inflation fell sharply to 6.02% from 8.39% in December, contributing to a 91-basis-point decline in overall CPI inflation, keeping it within the Reserve Bank of India’s target range of 4% ±2%. However, industrial output growth slowed to a three-month low of 3.2% in December 2024 due to weak performance in mining and manufacturing, signalling potential concerns for economic momentum. 

As PM Modi lands in U.S., Musk's Starlink steals a march into Bhutan (The Hindu)

⁠Elon Musk’s Starlink has expanded into Bhutan, making it the 121st country in its network, while India has yet to grant operational approval due to security, privacy, and pricing concerns, as well as resistance from local telecom and satellite industries. As Prime Minister Modi visits Washington for talks with U.S. President Trump, officials suggest that Starlink’s entry into India could be discussed, though regulatory reviews on security arrangements for ground stations are still ongoing. Bhutan, citing geographical connectivity challenges as a landlocked nation, views Starlink as a crucial alternative for global connectivity, though local telecom leaders emphasize the need to balance foreign technology integration with national infrastructure sustainability. 

⁠India's natural gas demand to rise 60% by 2030, says IEA (Financial Express)

⁠India’s natural gas demand is projected to rise nearly 60% to 103 billion cubic meters (bcm) annually by 2030, driven by rapid infrastructure expansion, domestic production recovery, and improved global gas market conditions, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Since 2019, India has quadrupled its CNG stations, doubled residential gas connections, and expanded its transmission pipeline network by 40%, with a further doubling of CNG stations and a 50% increase in gas grid expansion expected by 2030. As domestic production is forecast to meet only 38 bcm of demand (8% above 2023 levels), LNG imports will need to more than double to 65 bcm annually, supporting India’s goal of raising natural gas’s share in the energy mix from 6% to 15% by 2030.

Mega Ports to Begin Ops in 2029: Sonowal (The Economic Times)

⁠India’s maritime trade is set for a major transformation by 2029 with the completion of the first phase of two mega port projects—Vadhavan in Maharashtra and the International Container Transshipment Port (ICTP) in Great Nicobar. Vadhavan, a deep-water port near Dahanu in Palghar district, is being developed at an estimated cost of ₹76,000 crore, with ₹1,700 crore already awarded for shore protection and ₹20,647 crore under appraisal for dredging and reclamation, aiming to enhance India’s direct connectivity to global shipping routes. The ICTP at Great Nicobar, India’s first transhipment mega port, will cover 960 hectares, cost ₹44,000 crore, and handle up to 16 million TEUs, with the first phase operational by 2029 at an initial capacity of 4 million TEUs.