Govt, realty sector help workers cope with second Covid wave

21 Apr 2021 Editorial Team

The Indian government and the real estate sector has aligned themselves to help construction workers who have been impacted by the second wave of Covid-19, which has made its way into India, severely affecting various industry sectors across the country.

The government has directed states to use the Rs 31,000 crore welfare fund to help construction workers.

With Covid 2.0 looming large, the Maharashtra government has taken steps to provide relief to the construction labour force. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has announced a package of around Rs 5,500 crore as a Covid relief fund for the state.

Shiv Bhojan Thali, which was previously given at Rs 10, will be given free for the period, and the beneficiaries of the ‘Niradhar’ scheme will also be paid in advance as well.

Real estate developers have also come forward to help and support the construction workers. Several reputed developers have been helping their workforce with essential supplies and hygiene kits.

Labourers are being assisted with food and labour camps have been set up by some developers where they have been provided with soap and hygiene kits.

Many other developers and firms such as Experion Developers, Embassy Group, Piramal Group, Godrej Group, Elan Group, MAN Industries (India) Ltd (allied industry), AIPL, Ashwin Sheth Group, and FeedMyBangalore movement by Prestige Group, JLL India and Big Basket have also taken various steps to benefit their workers.

Image Source

Also read: BMC accepts NAREDCO’s demand, allows teams at construction sites

Also read: New construction guidelines in Maharashtra during Covid

Infrastructure Transport

12 Mar 2026

Kavach 4.0 Commissioned on Delhi–Mumbai and Delhi–Howrah

"Kavach version four has been commissioned on 1,452 route km, covering the high density Delhi–Mumbai and Delhi–Howrah corridors. The rollout included laying 8,570 km of optical fibre, installation of 1,100 telecom towers, deployment of trackside equipment over 6,776 RKm and establishment of 767 station data centres. Trackside implementation has been taken up on 24,427 RKm covering Golden Quadrilateral, Golden Diagonal and High Density Network sections. The programme aims to strengthen signalling and train protection on key routes.Kavach is an indigenously developed automatic train protecti..

Railways Advance Kalyan–Murbad Line And Mumbai Capacity Expansion

"Indian Railways is advancing multiple rail infrastructure projects in Maharashtra, including the sanctioned Kalyan–Murbad new line and sizable investments under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project and the Mumbai–Ahmedabad High Speed Rail project. The Kalyan–Murbad 28 km new line has been sanctioned at Rs 8.36 billion (bn) on a 50:50 cost-sharing basis with the Government of Maharashtra and has been declared a Special Railway Project for land acquisition; proposals covering 214 hectares are at various stages of acquisition. Budgetary outlay for projects falling fully or partly in Maharash..

Parliamentary Panel Flags Funding Gaps in Heavy Industries

"The Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry (Rajya Sabha) presented its 332nd report on the Demands for Grants 2026-27 of the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI). Figures converted from crore and lakh are expressed in million (mn). The Budget Estimates 2026-27 for the Ministry stand at Rs 79,399 mn against a projected requirement of Rs 94,843.2 mn, a shortfall of about 16 per cent, with revenue at Rs 79,370.8 mn and capital compressed to Rs 28.2 mn from Rs 5,020 mn.The committee flagged recurring BE-to-RE compression and declining revised estimate utilisation, and calle..