Rajasthan govt to float JVs with Centre to increase power generation, strengthen metro service

Jaipur, Aug 4 (IANS) A Cabinet meeting was held in the Chief Minister’s office on Saturday under the chairmanship of Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma.

To increase power generation and strengthen metro services, the idea of floating a joint venture (JV) with the Union government and its companies and the formation of an infrastructure investment trust was approved.

Several important decisions were taken to overcome the shortage of super speciality teachers in the Medical Education Department in the state.

Deputy Chief Minister Prem Chand Bairwa, Industry Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Jogaram Patel called a press conference after the meeting and shared the decisions taken in the Cabinet.

Deputy Chief Minister Prem Chand Bairwa said that as per Metro Rail Policy, 2017, the proposal for the formation of a JV company between the Union government and the state was approved.

“This joint venture will now be used for the development, operation and implementation of the ongoing and future Metro rail projects in Rajasthan. This model of JV has been successfully adopted in almost all the states like Delhi Metro, Kochi Metro, Bangalore Metro, Uttar Pradesh Metro, Noida Metro, Madhya Pradesh Metro, Nagpur Metro etc. As per Metro Rail Policy, 2017, this JV will be able to get financial support (in the form of equity and loan) from the Union government. Also, technical and administrative support will be available for the metro projects of the state,” he added.

State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Jogaram Patel said that the state government is making continuous efforts to make the state self-reliant in the field of energy.

In compliance with the MoU signed between the state government and various central PSUs on 10 March 10, 2024, the proposals for the formation of joint venture companies with various PSUs of the Union government were approved in the Cabinet meeting. The share of the state government companies in these projects will be 26 per cent and that of the Central PSU companies will be 74 per cent. For the shareholding of the state government companies in these JV companies, the share capital will be arranged from the current assets, he added.

State Industry and Commerce Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said that two separate JVs will be established between Coal India Limited and Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam (RVUNL). One of these will be a thermal project and the other a renewable energy project.

These JVs will meet the base load and peak load demand of electricity. Also, the financial burden of the state will be reduced in power generation, he added.

He said that a joint venture will be formed between NTPC Green Energy and RVUNL for the establishment of a renewable energy project. This undertaking will set up renewable energy projects, including solar/wind/hybrid energy of 25 thousand MW. Through this, an investment of one lakh crore rupees will be made in the state.

Industry and Commerce Minister Rathore added that a joint venture company will be set up between Power Grid Corporation of India Limited and Rajasthan Vidyut Prasaran Nigam for setting up power transmission projects. This will enable the development of a transmission system to meet the increasing electricity load demand in Rajasthan. This JV will operate the transmission system on a THWV (Build, Own, Operate and Maintain) basis and will make available the entire transmission capacity created by it to Rajasthan Discom. An investment of 10,000 crore will be made in the state through this JV.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Patel said that in the vote on account for the year 2024-25 presented by the state government, it has been announced to bring Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) in the Transmission Corporation following the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Energy of the Union government. In compliance with this, Rajasthan Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited will form an InvIT and it will be registered with SEBI.

The proposal to authorise RVPN to monetise its operational transmission assets through InvIT was approved on Saturday, he added.

The Rajasthan Medical Service (College Education) Rules under the Medical Education Department have been amended to overcome the shortage of super speciality teachers in medical education.

Now, the state government will be able to fill the posts of Acharya, and Co-Acharya in the medical colleges through special recruitment if they are vacant. If this happens, the shortage of medical teachers in the state will be overcome and health facilities in super specialities will be promoted.

Approval has been given to change the designation of Physical Education Instructor of the Sanskrit Education Department to Physical Education Teacher on the lines of the Education Department.

At the same time, approval has been given to make the qualifications of the posts of teacher Level 1, Level 2, Teacher (General) Level 1, Level 2 in the Sanskrit Education Department in line with the Elementary Education Department.

Now, recruitments will be done on a total of 2,600 posts in the Sanskrit Education Department, including 179 Physical Education Teachers and 48 librarians in Grade 3.

–IANS

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