Economy / Assam

GUWAHATI, April 7: The 100-year old Digboi Refinery is in the eye of the storm for its alleged failure to conform to pollution control norms. The Union Ministry of Environment and Forest and particularly the Central Pollution Control Board, has reportedly taken a firm stand to compel the Refinery authorities to improve its Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) or to face the consequences. This stand of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests came in the wake of reports that a major incident of fire in the Lakhipathar Reserve Forest and its adjacent areas triggered by the escape of oily...

NEW DELHI, April 4: The delay in signing of the gas supply agreement between the ONGC and the Reliance Assam Petrochemical Limited (RAPL) has been attributed to inability of the oil company to provide quality assurance, forcing the members of the Parliamentary Committee attached to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry to seek the intervention of the chairman. The ONGC plea that it has not been able to sign the gas supply agreement with the RAPL on account of its inability to provide quality assurance on gas supplied for the mega gas cracker project found few takers in the Parliamentary...

GUWAHATI, April 3: The Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL), starting its commercial production from October 1, 2000, has already wiped out the deficit in LPG and kerosene (SKO) from the Northeastern region. There was a monthly deficit of 5 TMT LPG and 10 TMT SKO in the Northeast till the commissioning of Numaligarh refinery. At the present level of throughput, NRL is offering monthly around 5 TMT LPG and 20 TMT SKO for marketing, stated a release. The Numaligarh Refinery project, commissioned within the approved cost of Rs 2724 crore, including Rs 235 crore for its marketing terminal, has...

GUWAHATI, April 1: The much-awaited Gas Cracker Project still remains a distant dream and the State Industries Minister, Gunin Hazarika today blamed the Union government, ONGC and the Reliance Industries for the delay in implementing the project. However, as the date of the State Assembly polls has already been announced, it is sure that the project will not take off before a new Government assumes office in the State. The first hurdle in the way of setting up of the project was cleared after the signing of the has-supply agreement between the Oil India Limited and the Reliance Assam...

GUWAHATI, April 1: It is as if scandals have become an inevitable fate for the State's Veterinary Department. Because of the misdeeds of some unscrupulous elements, who are an insignificant minority of point four to point five in size in the about 8,000-strong army of the Departments' staff, the Veterinary Department is again in the news. This time it is a scandal involving Rs 40 crore borrowed from the World Bank to bring about a white revolution in the State. No doubt, like the previous Rs 400-crore Veterinary LoC scam, this time also the honest officers and employees of the Department, who...

GUWAHATI, March 28: The long pending issue before the Guahati High Court as to whether the existing industrial units which undertook expansion, modernisation and diversification work as per the 1991 industrial policy of the Government of Assam will be entitled to full sales tax exemption for seven years was finally decided in favour of the industries. Chief Justice NC Jain, as a third judge delivered his judgment yesterday holding that the existing industries were to be treated at par with the new industries under the 1991 industrial policy. Earlier there was a difference of opinion among the...

GUWAHATI, March 27: The Assam Government is yet to take the final decision on disinvestment of the fund-starved Assam Tea Corporation (ATC). ATC sources said that the state government formed a committee headed by the Industries Commissioner to study the feasibility of disinvestment of the ATC. The committee comprising senior Government officials and persons connected with the tea industry has already submitted its report and the decision of the Government is awaited. Sources said that different organisations including the SBI Capital Finance, Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) and the...

GUWAHATI, March 23: The Special Court here remanded today two persons accused and arrested by the CBI in connection with a multi-crore palmolein oil scam, to two days' police custody for interrogation and directed the CBI to produce them before the court on Monday next. Producing the two arrested accused Ajay Kumar Nawka, son of Late Satya Narayan Nawka of Saniram Bora Road, Ulubari in the city, and Dilip Medhi son of Late Ananda Medhi of MB Road, Fatasil in the city, Public Prosecutor for the CBI MV Ramanaiah pleaded before the Special Court for their remand to police custody for a period of...

GUWAHATI, March 22: Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC) authority sees red over demand for sales tax parity raised by a 'nascent' a Calcutta-based tea trading portal, teauction.com Ltd. Addressing a press conference here this afternoon members of Guwahati Tea Auction Committee informed that teauction.com Ltd which was granted license by the Tea Board of India ignoring strong protest by the GTAC, had been trying hard to persuade State government to grant sales tax parity as enjoyed by the GTAC. The GTAC is of the opinion that teauction.com Ltd which is yet to establish its credibility in the...

NEW DELHI, March 21: Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta today managed to buy himself some time in the civil suit relating to the multi-crore Letter of Credit (LoC) scam, with the Supreme Court adjourning the hearing of the case till July. The final hearing of the suit filed by Nabin Kalita was deferred on the plea of the Assam Government counsel who wanted the case to be heard after the State Assembly elections scheduled for next month. "It was pointed that elections are to be held next month in the State and at this the case should not be heard," Assam Government's senior counsel, Vijay...