The cumulative production of fertilizers for April 1999 to February 2000 is tentatively estimated at 101.16 lakh tonnes of nitrogen and 30.40 lakh tonnes of phosphate against targets of 100.79 lakh tonnes and 30.55 lakh tonnes, respectively. The cumulative production upto the end of February 2000 has been higher vis-à-vis the targets in respect of both the nutrients and considerably higher if compared to the cumulative production in the corresponding period of last year when it was 96.42 lakh tonnes of nitrogen and 28.46 lakh tonnes of phosphate.

    The availability of urea during February 2000 was satisfactory throughout the country. 15.16 lakh tonnes of urea was despatched to the States during the month against the target of 16 lakh tonnes movement orders issued for the month. Cumulative availability of urea by the end of February 2000 has been 105.51 lakh tonnes which is 97% of the ECA allocation of 108.84 lakh tonnes for the season. The availability in the corresponding period of previous year was 108.62 lakh tonnes.

    The cumulative availability of DAP by the end of February 2000 has been 39.71 lakh tonnes which is 20% higher if compared to the availability of 32.98 lakh tonnes during the corresponding period of the previous year. Against this, sales upto 15.2.2000 were 27.77 lakh tonnes. These are 14% higher if compared to the sales of the corresponding period of the previous year.

    The cumulative availability of MOP during February 2000 has been 12.29 lakh tonnes compared to 13.69 lakh tonnes during the corresponding period of last season. The sales have been 7.92 lakh tonnes upto 15.2.2000. These are lower if compared with sales of 9.44 lakh tonnes during the corresponding period of the previous year.

    The average daily loading of fertilizers by rail during February 2000 was 3,147 equivalent BG wagons per day as against 3,537 BG wagons per day in the corresponding period of last year.

    The Public Sector Undertakings under the Steel Ministry produced 118.61 lakh tonnes of saleable steel during the year 1999-2000, in place of 108.18 lakh tonnes the previous year. The production in the integrated and special steel plants of SAIL during the year was 96.30 lakh tonnes which was 98 per cent of the target and represents 11 per cent growth over production in the previous year. SAIL has recorded the best ever performance with the highest ever production and sales of 9.53 and 9.6 million tonnes respectively during the year.

    The Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd. (KIOCL) has produced 57.50 lakh tonnes of concentrates and 32.05 lakh tonnes of pellets during 1999-2000. The National Mineral Development Corporation (NDMC) produced 136.55 lakh tonnes of iron ore and 40,075 carats of diamonds during this year. The Magnese Ore India Ltd. (MOIL) produced 650851 tonnes of magnese ore during the year exceeding the target.

    The Government (Department of Company Affairs) has modified its November 1, 1999 directions to the Nidhi (Mutual Fund) companies.

    This follows numerous representations from several Nidhi companies and Chamber of Nidhis. The revised norms for Nidhis have been issued under Sub-Section (1) of Section 637A of the Companies Act, 1956. A gazette Notification to this effect has been issued. The norms made now are:

    Nidhis having deposits of Rs.50 crores and above shall be allowed incremental deposits of 2 per annum of the deposits as on the date of last balance sheet for the next ten year.

    Nidhi companies were earlier asked to shut down their branches situated outside the State in which they are registered within a period of three years and to bring down the number of branches situated within the State or District in which they are registered to not more than three by five years. Now, such Nidhis which have completed 25 years as on November 1, 1999 should not increase the number of branches as it was existing on that date and other Nidhi companies should bring down the number of branches as it was existing on November 1, 1999 within a period of ten years from the date of publication of this Notification.

    Nidhi companies were earlier not allowed to accept deposits for a period of less than six months. This shall not include savings deposits kept by members separtely earmarked for the limited purposes of crediting the loan and interest amounts and periodically withdrawn.

    In case of retirement of two third of directions, or more in any one year, then, one third of the total number of directors shall vacate office in the ensuing Annual General Meeting immediately due and balance number of directors shall retire at the two, subsequent Annual General Meetings due later.

'36'

    Secretary, Tourism, Shri M.P. Beizbaruah today called on all regional and international organisations, directly or indirectly related to promotion of tourism, to establish durable relationship for mutual benefit. Delivering the inaugural speech after taking over the chairmanship of Pacific Asia Travel Association(PATA), the largest travel and tourism professionals body of the world, he said, " we will stand to gain by forging honourable relationship".

    Shri Beizbaruah said that PATA should continue to be guided by "Direction-2000" which talks about going beyond region and evolving a philosophy that was sweeping the globe. He said changes in the geo political situation during the last fifty years has had its impact on tourism. Since tourism has emerged and would continue to be the biggest industry during the current millennium, PATA must continue to act as the collective forum for introspection and for continuous evaluation & revaluation, Shri Beizbaruah added.

    On future strategy, he said, PATA must evaluate past experiences to evolve strategy dynamic enough to face challenges. The ongoing technology revolution which has turned world into a global village, has made it mandatory for the various organs of tourism promotion to work collectively for maintaining the number one industry status for tourism.

    Shri Beizbaruah replaced Shri Dan Burruss of Japan in ongoing PATA's annual conference in Hongkong, China today.

    India will be hoisting the annual conference of PATA in 2002 after having won the bid for this prestigious event in face o stiff competition from a number of countries.

    PATA works for promotion of tourism of the Pacific Asia region. It has more than 2,100 travel industry organisations including 101 national governments, world over airlines, hotels, tour operators, travel agencies and other tourism bodies. In addition, more than 17,000 individual travel industry representatives are members of PATA. The organisation also serves as a central resource for information and research, travel industry education and training and quality product development with sensitivity for culture, heritage and environment.

'44'

    The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has approved 60 applications for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the mining sector amounting to about Rs. 3467 crore upto 31.3.2000. The proposals cleared include 11 from Australia, 8 each from U.K. and USA, 6 from South Africa, 5 from Canada, 2 each from Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, the balance being 1 proposal each from other countries.

    This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Mines & Minerals, Smt. Rita Verma in a written reply to a question by Shri Parmeshwar Kumar Agarwalla in the Rajya Sabha today.

'44'

    The all India coal production during the year 1999-2000 is of the order 299.00 million tonne (Provisional) against the production of 292.27 million tonne during the year 1998-99, showing a growth of 2.3%.

    Coal import is however resorted to by consumers on grounds of price consideration at certain locations, calorific value and quality consideration.

    This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Mines & Minerals, Smt. Rita Verma in a written reply to a question by Shri Prem Chand Gupta in the Rajya Sabha today.

PRESS NOTE

Sub:Surprise Checks by Railway Vigilance Teams

    During special checks conducted by Railway Vigilance at New Delhi Station, it was detected that one of the Ticket Checking staff was extorting money from the illiterate/innocent passengers. An amount of Rs.250/- was taken by him from a passenger and no Money Receipt was issued. Vigilance Team caught him red handed and this amount was recovered from him and returned to the passenger. An amount of Rs.70/- was also found in excess in his possession, which was deposited, in Government Cash.

    Similarly, a surprise check was organised on the working of Ticket Checking staff of Punjab Mail between New Delhi to Bhatinda. During the check it was detected that three TTEs were involved in carrying 76 unauthorised passengers. An amount of Rs.8756/- was realised as fare and penalty from the passengers.

    All the above four Ticket Checking staff, found indulging in corrupt activities, have been placed under suspension and disciplinary action is being initiated against them.

‘27’

LOK SABHA

LAND AREA OPERATED BY SC/ST

    As per data available from Agricultural Census 1990-91, the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and others, respectively held 325.43 lakh acres (13.17 million hectares), 442.56 lakh acres (17.91 million hectares) and 3321.52 lakh acres (134.42 million hectares) of operated area. The share of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and others in the total operated area comes to 8.0 per cent, 10.8 per cent and 81.2 per cent respectively.

    The land in the possession of Government comes through imposition of ceiling on agricultural holdings , Government’s wasteland and Bhudan lands. These are distributed to the rural poor including SCs and STs. Since inception of the programme, an area of 52.68 lakh acres of ceiling surplus land, 147.47 lakh acres of Government wasteland and 21.75 lakh acres of Bhudan land have been distributed to rural poor including SCs and STs. Nearly 50 per cent of ceiling surplus land distributed to the rural poor has been allocated to SCs and STs in the proportion of 36 per cent to SCs and 14 per cent to STs.

    This was informed by Shri Sunder Lal Patwa, Minister for Agriculture in a written reply today in Lok Sabha.

‘27’

LOK SABHA

    The Government announces the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for major agricultural commodities every year and the losses if any, incurred by the respective central nodal agencies on MSP operations are required to be reimbursed by the Government of India on submission of claims.

    Losses incurred on account of procurement of jute under MSP operation for the year 97-98 were Rs.1398 lakh, during 98-99 were Rs. 6206 lakh and during 99-2000 were 5469 lakh.

    Since 1996-97, Jute corporation of India (JCI) has not been paid any subsidy towards losses incurred for undertaking price support operations. Instead they have been given loan by the government. As per information available, the cumulative subsidy paid to JCI between 1972-73 to 1998-99 is Rs.222.4 crores while cumulative subsidy payable, for the period is Rs.353.16 crores. The cumulative loan paid during the period is Rs.125.18 crores. A proposal is already under consideration to reimburse losses of the JCI and convert loans into subsidies.

    This was stated by Minister of Agriculture Shri sunder Lal Patwa today in Lok Sabha.

‘27’

LOK SABHA

    As per the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) the government of India has fixed the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Fair Average Quality (FAQ) of Milling Copra at Rs. 3250/- per quintal and that of FAQ variety of Ball Copra at Rs. 3500/- per quintal for 2000 season. This marks an increase of Rs. 150/- per quintal for Milling copra and Rs. 175/- per quintal for Ball copra in 2000 season over their respective MSPs of the previous season. The increase in MSPs is expected to induce the copra growers to invest more and raise the productivity and production of copra.

    The National agricultural cooperative Marketing Federation of India LTD. (NAFED) would continue to act as the nodal agency to undertake the price support operation for copra.

    The Government of India has fixed the Minimum support Price (MSP) for Fair Average Quality (FAQ) of Raw Jute at Rs. 785 per quintal for TD-5 variety of Assam for 2000-2001 season. This marks an increase of Rs. 35/- per quintal of MSP in 2000-01 over the respective MSP of the previous season. The corresponding Minimum support Prices of other varieties and grades of Raw Jute shall be fixed by the Jute Commissioner of India, Ministry of Textiles in the light of normal market price differentials.

    The Jute Corporation of India (JCI) will undertake price support operations in Raw Jute and when required adequate funds will be provided in time to JCI to perform its functions efficiently.

    The increase in Minimum Support Price is expected to encourage the farmers to invest more in jute cultivation and raise the production/productivity of Raw Jute.

'16'

    Shri Murasoli Maran, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, has said that it is possible to raise bilateral trade with China to US $ 5 billion from it present level of US $ 2 billion annually. At a meeting with Mr. Lu Ruihua, Governor of the Guangdong Province of China, and leader of the visiting high level official-cum-business Chinese delegation, who called on him here this morning, Shri Maran stressed that all efforts should be made to facilitate the expansion of bilateral trade and economic relations on a mutually beneficial basis. He said India would welcome Chinese investment particularly in the context of the target of raising FDI to US $ 10 billion annually. At present, China accounts for only 0.34% of the total investment approvals accorded by India to all countries and the actual inflow -- at US $ 0.6 million -- represented only 0.27% of the total FDI approved with China. Recalling his recent visit to Beijing, the Minister said that he was amazed at the rapid development of infrastructure in China as also by the sustained efforts being made by China to make a dent on the problem of poverty. Referring to the establishment of Special Economic Zones in India, Shri Maran underlined that there was a lot that India could learn from Chinese experience of operating such Zones and suggested that India could in turn offer to China its expertise in software development. Shri Maran expressed the hope that the visit of the high level delegation would lead to greater economic and commercial interaction between India and China in general and the Guangdong Province in particular, which, as the Minister noted, was also known as the "economic dynamo of China".

    In his remarks, Mr. Lu Ruihua spoke of the vast potential for bilateral cooperation between India and China based on the complementarities of the two economies, and said that such synergies could be harnessed to accelerate cooperation, particularly in the new area of information technology. Citing an example, he said that while India was clearly ahead in software development, in hardware China was ahead of India and therefore, there was immense scope for exploiting the complementarities to the mutual benefit of both sides. On the foreign investment policies of China, which today ranks second after the US in absorbing FDI, Mr. Lu Ruihua explained that from the early days of liberalisation, China had given legal protection to foreign investors as also preferential policies such as tax holidays etc. The underlying principle of opening up, he said, was that "we should not be afraid of foreign competition… Initially, competition may hit local industry, but in the long run it helps the national industries to grow". Mr. Lu Ruihua mentioned that in the early 80's, when small and medium enterprises in China were badly hit by foreign competition, the dilemma before the Chinese leadership was whether to go ahead with liberalisation or to keep the market closed. China, Mr. Ruihua said, opted to go ahead with market liberalisation, which ultimately helped the local industries to upgrade their capabilities to face foreign competition.

'24'

    The Minister of Communications, Shri Ram Vilas Paswan will release a special commemorative postage stamp on the occasion of the centenary of the Railways in Doon Valley at Dehradun on 6^th May 2000. Issued by the Department of Posts (DoP), the stamp is in the denomination of Rs.15/-.

    In the later half of nineteenth century, despite laying of railway line upto Hardwar and Saharanpur, access to the valley and the nearby Mussoorie hill station was extremely difficult on account of the steep Shivaliks skirting the valley from south east to north west. The tourists travelled upto Sahranpur by rail and used bullock or horse driven carts for Dehradun or upto Rajpur from where pones or dandies carried them to Mussoorie.

    Railway line between Hardwar and Dehradun was sanctioned on 18^th November 1896 and the contract for the construction and working of Hardwar-Dehra Railway between the Secretary of State and the Hardwar-Dehra Railway company was signed on 26^th March 1897. Land was made available free by the government. Work on the track and buildings was completed by early 1900 at a cost of about Rs.26 lakhs and the line was opened for traffic on 1^st March 1900.

    Opening of railway led to prosperity of Dehradun on account of custom and from the immensely larger number of people and greater quantity of goods that could be brought into the valley than was hitherto possible. Mussoorie and its adjoining areas also gained substantially from the far easier access. Dehradun station is at present served by 8 pairs of daily and two pairs of bi-weekly train services connecting it with all parts of the country.

    The First Day Cover alongwith the information sheet will be available on sale at all Philatelic Bureaux/Counters and at selected Post Offices.

    The Public Sector Company, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has contributed Rs. 1.2 crore to the National Relief fund as assistance for States affected by the severe drought. The cheque was handed over by Shri Manohar Joshi, Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises to the Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee here yesterday. Dr. Vallabhbhai Kathiria, Minister of State of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises and Shri K.G. Ramachandran, the Managing Director of BHEL were also present on the occasion.

    Shri Manohar Joshi and Dr. Vallabhbhai Kathiria has also donated one month's salary each to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund for the drought affected States.

    Dr. Kathiria is perhaps the only and the first Union Minister, who has donated his monthly salary on four occasions during his seven months tenure as a Union Minister. Earlier Dr. Kathiria has donated his salary for "Kargil Jawan Welfare Fund" and "Orissa Cycone Victims Relief Fund".

    The Ministry of Textiles has opened a grievance cell in the Ministry to solve problems faced by the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) user organisations. The grievance cell headed by Shri Y.P. Singh, Director in the Ministry shall accept problems cases in Room No. 269-A, Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi- 110011, Tel. No. 3018142, Fax No. 3794284, E-mail: diryps@ub.delhi.nic.in. Field level implementation of the scheme would be done by the office of the Textile Commissioner, Mumbai. The grievance, if any could be addressed with full details to the office of the Textile Commissioner, New CGO Complex, 48, New Marine Lines, Mumbai- 400020. Ph. No. 022-200 4510; Fax No. 022-200 4693; e-mail No. tcbck@ermiul.bom.nic.in. The same would be considered by the Textile commissioner, who holds the monthly meetings of the Technical Advisory Committee.

    The Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) for Textile and Jute Industries which is in operation since 1.4.1999 is for a period of 5 years. Any eligible textile/jute unit can avail of funds within the framework of the aforesaid scheme and normal financial norms of the concerned financial institution/bank. Government funding is limited to reimbursement of interest at 5% point on the interest charged by the lending agency on the loans disbursed under the scheme.

    The President is pleased to transfer Shri Justice Arijit Pasayat, Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, as Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, and to direct him to assume charge of his office in the Delhi High Court on or before 19^th May, 2000.

    The Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd. (HUDCO) has contributed Rs.2 crores to the National Relief Fund in response to the appeal made by the Prime Minister for relief support for States affected with drought and drinking water shortage in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Orissa etc. A cheque for Rs.2 crores was handed over to the Prime Minister by Shri S.S. Dhindsa, Minister for Urban Employment & Poverty Alleviation along with Shri S.S. Chattopadhyay, Secretary, Urban Employment & Poverty Alleviation and Shri V. Suresh, CMD, HUDCO.

    HUDCO has always been responding whenever natural calamities occur like earthquake in Latur, Jabalpur, Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Tehri and Pauri Garhwal region, Cyclone in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa.

    HUDCO has also been extending support in a very big way for integrated water management programme for acquifer recharging, rain water harvesting and waste water recycling and also extend support for taking up urban and rural water supply programme through its techno-financial support.

    Public Sector National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC), has been awarded "Prime Minister’s MoU Award" for excellence in the achievement of MoU Targets for the year 1998-99. The award has been instituted by Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, Government of India. The Company has been awarded ‘Excellent’ rating for the Fourth Year, in succession, by the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) based on the MoU signed with the Ministry of Urban Development.

    In his inaugural address at the ASSOCHAM seminar on "WTO Agreements: Implications and impact on SMEs," he said the government is prepared to provide the necessary guidance, support and assistance to enable the small industry sector to gear itself up to face the competition and overcome the problems / challenges due to opening up of the economy and liberalization.

    "The efforts of our SMEs to adjust to the new situation arising out of liberalized imports can be helped to a great extent if we are able to address the various problems faced by them," Sh Pant said. The vulnerability of SMEs to increased competition is caused by factors like low capital base, poor credit availability, difficulties in accessing technology, absence of economies of scale, low quality human resources, poor marketing opportunities and lack of information about international regulations and standards, he added.

    One area where meaningful efforts can be made to help SMEs, is to make adequate credit available to them at reasonable cost, the deputy chairman said. "Availability of finance is crucial for SMEs to survive, increase capacity, upgrade technology and improve management and productivity. Small industries have traditionally had difficulty in accessing formal credit, particularly long-term finance."

    The possibility of introducing a loan guarantee scheme, under which a portion of credit to SMEs is guaranteed by the Government, prevalent in some countries, should be examined, Sh Pant said. The availability of credit is also very important for supporting new entrepreneurs especially in the high technology areas.

    "I am glad to inform you that a proposal to set up a Credit Guarantee Fund, with contribution by the Government of India and SIDBI in the ratio of 4:1, to provide 75 per cent credit guarantee on loans upto Rs.10 lakh to small scale and tiny units, is under active consideration of the Government," Sh Pant said.

    Another important problem faced by SMEs in India is that of technological upgradation, he said.

    As subsidies for Research and Development activities are permitted under WTO, Government can play an important role by extending support to efforts aimed at technology up-gradation, Sh Pant said.

    Recognizing the importance of the SSI sector and its contribution to employment generation, national income and exports, the Planning Commission has set up a Study Group on Development of Small Scale Enterprises under the Chairmanship of Dr. S.P. Gupta, Member, Planning Commission.

‘27’

LOK SABHA

NO DECLINE IN THE FERTILITY OF LAND DUE TO USE OF CHEMICAL FERTILISERS

    There is no scientific evidence to suggest that fertility of land has declined over the years due to use of chemical fertilizers. For sustained crop productivity soil test based balanced and integrated nutrient management using both inorganic and organic sources of plant nutrients is recommended from time to time.

    This was stated by the Minister of State for Agriculture Shri Hukamdeo Narayan Yadav in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today. He further said that to achieve the targetted production levels conjuctive use of chemical fertilizers and organics is being advocated through front-line demonstration programmes.

‘27’

LOK SABHA

SEED VILLAGE PROGRAMME FOR PRODUCTION OF QUALITY SEEDS OF PULSES AND OIL SEEDS

    One of the components under the on-going Centrally Sponsored Schemes of National Pulses Development Project and Oilseeds Production Programme is the Seed Village Programme which provides an assistance of Rs.200 per quintal to the farmers for production of certified seeds of Pulses and Oilseed. This component has been introduced with a view to ensure timely availability of seeds to the farmers at a reasonable price, reducing the handling cost etc.

    Two centrally sponsored schemes namely Oilseeds Production Programme and National Pulses Development Project are in operation in various States and UTs. to increase the production and productivity of oilseeds and pulses in the country. Under both these schemes financial assistance is provided for critical inputs like production and distribution of seeds, distribution of seed minikits, sprinkler sets, improved farm implements, gypsum/pyrites, micro-nutrients, rhyzobium culture etc. to farmers through State Governments.

    The Minister of State for Agriculture Shri S.B.P.B.K Satyanarayan Rao said this in the Lok Sabha today in a written reply. He said in addition to this, frontline and general demonstration are also organised on the farmers’ fields to disseminate the new techniques.

    The All India Consumer Price Index Number for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) (base 1982=100) has for March, 2000 increased by 4 point to stand at 434 (four hundred and thirty four). It had decreased by 1 point during March, 1999.

    Fall/Rise in the index varied from centre to centre. In 51 centres, the increase in index was noticed between 1 to 21 points, in 3 centres it remained constant while in 16 centres it recorded a decrease of 1 to 7 points when compared to the previous month.

    The index in respect of six main centres for March, 2000 stood at the following level:-

‘5’

    The first round of two-days tripartite talks between the Governments of India, Assam and the Bodo Liberation Tiger (BLT) after finalisation of the Agreed Ground Rules took place on May 1-2, 2000 at New Delhi.

    Following the talks, the BLT delegation called on the Home Minister, Shri L.K. Advani, at New Delhi. The BLT delegation thanked the Governments of India and Assam for suspension of operations against BLT and also taking the initiative for peace talks. The next round of talks with the BLT will be held in June, 2000.

    Dr. P.D. Shenoy, Additional Secretary (Home), Ministry of Home Affairs led the official team. The Government of Assam was represented by Mr. H.K. Dekha, Addl. Director General of Police and Shri Hagrama Basumatary, Chairman, BLT led the BLT delegation. The talks were held in a cordial atmosphere.

SHRI JAITLEY APPRECIATES MEDIA FOR TRANSPARENT COVERAGE OF KARGIL

    The Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Shri Arun Jaitley said that the media coverage of the Kargil conflict had been extremely transparent which contributed not only to media’s credibility but also acted as a force multiplier for the entire war effort.

    Addressing the largely attended meeting of journalists organised by the Delhi Centre of the United Nations Information, to mark the world Press Freedom Day, here today. Shri Jaitley said that the media coverage in driving home some lessons which otherwise could not have been possible. These included the changes required in the military-media relationship, training of a new crop of journalists and getting back the credibility of defence analysts. The transparency of media also united the entire nation. All this was built up by the kind of information that media projected. All this made any disinformation or censorship difficult, he said.

    Several foreign and Indian journalists who covered the Kargil war narrated their experiences and difficulties they had to face while covering the conflict. Veteran journalist Shri B.G. Verghese presided over the function.

GAIL CONTRIBUTES RS. 10 LAKH FOR RELIEF IN ANDHRA PRADESH

    Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) a Navaratna Oil PSU under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has contributed Rs. 10 lakh to the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister's Relief Fund towards draught relief activities in the State.

    A cheque for Rs. 10 lakh was handed over in Hyderabad to Shri Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh by Shri S.P. Rao, Director (Projects), GAIL.

    GAIL has been consistent in its support to the welfare of the areas in which it operates. Earlier this year GAIL contributed Rs. 2 crore towards the construction of a bridge and Rs. 10 lakh for the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.

    Gas Authority of India Limited is supplying gas in Andhra Pradesh from the Krishna Godvari Basin to various consumers. GAIL today distributes about 4.3 MMSCMD (Million Cubic Metrs.) of gas per day in Andhra Pradesh and helps to generate 550 MW of power and produce 60 lakh tonnes of fertilizer per annum. GAIL is currently investing about 300 crore in expanding its pipeline network in the State.

    Funds to the tune of Rs. 9411.82 lakhs during 1998-99 and Rs. 8475-90 lakhs during 1999-2000 were sanctioned to various States including Gujarat under various schemes.

    On receipt of viable proposals from the State Government for the development of handloom industry, funds to the tune of Rs. 51.29 lakhs were released under various handloom development schemes i.e. Project Package, Group Insurance, Thrift Fund, MDA and New Insurance Scheme to the State Government of Gujarat during 1999-2000.

    This information was given in the Rajya Sabha today by the Minister of Textile, Shri Gingee N. Ramachandran in a written reply to a question of Shri Brahmakumar Bhatt.

    Government of India, Ministry of Textiles has launched a Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) for Textile and Jute Industries of the country, including the State of Uttar Pradesh, which is in operation since 1.4.1999 for a period of 5 years, i.e. upto 31.3.2004. There is no cap on funding under scheme. It is an open-ended scheme depending on the capacity of the industry to absorb funds in bankable and techno-economically feasible proposals. Loans under the scheme are extended by the nodal agencies/co-opted institutions to the identified segments of the industry for the projects in conformity with the scheme from their own resources. Government funding is limited to reimbursement of interest at 5% point on the interest charged by the lending agency on a project of Technology Upgradation in conformity with the scheme. Any viable textile unit, which is eligible as per the normal lending norms of the concerned financial institutions and fulfils the benchmark criteria of the scheme, can avail of the funds under the scheme.

    This information was given in the Rajya Sabha today by the Minister of Textile, Shri Gingee N. Ramachandran in a written reply to a question of Prof. M.M. Agarwal.

    There are at present 4 Institutes of handloom Technology functioning at Salem, Varanasi, Guwahati and Jodhpur and 24 Weavers Service Centres throughout the country under Government of India and one Institute of handloom technology at Gadag in Karnataka and one at Venkatagiri in Andhra Pradesh under the respective State Governments. All these Institute and Weavers Service Centre are equipped for imparting effective training to technicians like weaving master, dyeing master etc. in the handloom sector.

    At present one Weavers Service Centre at Cannanore in Kerala and 2 Weavers Service Centre one each at Vijayawada and at Hyderabad - in Andhra Pradesh under the Government of India and one Institute of Handloom Technology at Venkatagiri in Andhra Pradesh under the State Government are functioning.

    This information was given in the Rajya Sabha today by the Minister of Textile, Shri Gingee N. Ramachandran in a written reply to a question of S/Shri J. Chitharanjan and N.R. Dasari.