Mahindra to pump Rs 45 Bn for new electric brands

02 Dec 2024 CW Team

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has highlighted opportunities for India and France to expand partnerships in key sectors such as aerospace, electric vehicles, agriculture, and food processing, benefiting both nations. Addressing the Asia Pacific Commission (APAC) 2024 Forum, organised by the French Foreign Trade Advisors, he stressed the importance of adopting sustainable practices to counter climate change globally. Bilateral trade between India and France stood at $15 billion in 2023-24, with Indian exports valued at $7 billion and imports at $8 billion. Goyal noted that France ranks as the 11th largest foreign direct investor in India, with over 750 French companies operating in the country and around 70 Indian firms established in France. On renewable energy collaboration, Goyal lauded the success of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), a joint initiative led by India and France, which now includes over 100 member countries. In the aerospace sector, Goyal pointed out India’s position as a burgeoning aviation market, with 1,500 aircraft already on order and the potential for orders to rise to 2,000. He urged the French aviation industry to explore manufacturing opportunities in India. Goyal also emphasised the potential for co-innovation in automobiles and electric vehicles, noting India's large base of first-time vehicle buyers. He remarked that offering sustainable mobility options to this demographic would be easier and impactful. Turning to digital technology, Goyal identified promising areas for collaboration, including fostering startups in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, e-commerce, and quantum technologies. He further called for enhanced defence sector cooperation, highlighting India’s strong patent protection regime and its approach of not insisting on technology transfers, which makes it an attractive partner for defence innovation.

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..