Even as free joyrides are being extended to Nagpurites on the 5-kilometre stretch from the Airport South to Khapri on the Nagpur metro rail before its formal inauguration, the federal government has plans to extend the service to the city’s outskirts using the existing broad-gauge railway tracks.

Even as demand for cement has picked up from Q3 FY2018 and the trend is expected to continue in Q4 FY2018, with the growth expected at around 5% in FY2018 and FY2019, expectation of higher petcoke, coal and diesel prices are likely to put pressure on the profitability margins and debt metrics of the cement companies in the coming quarters.

Stakeholders harp on the government's infrastructure push and expect construction orders of Rs.18 trillion in the next six years. This order inflow volume should support 12 to 15 per cent of industry-level execution of compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

The Union Budget of 2017-18 has laid a 25 per cent increase in allocations for infrastructure over last year. There has also been a renewed focus on transportation, development of port infrastructure and its automation.

Marianne Laigneau, Group Senior Executive and Vice President- International Division, ElectricitT de France (EDF), believes that India and France see eye-to-eye on fighting global warming and in making low carbon energy choices. 'Our company's strategy in India,' she says, 'àis in line with the vision of the Government of India of generating 40 per cent renewable energy by 2030, and we look forward to a long-term partnership with the government and other Indian stakeholders, mainly on three pillars.'

If you look at the current state of power generation projects in India, we have around 40-45 GW of stranded capacity. Of this, around 10-15 GW of capacity is operational, but unable to generate any power due to lack of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).

A record capacity of over 75 GW was added over the last three years leading to over-capacity in thermal power. Industry doesn't see new thermal capacity being planned for some time, however, the existing capacity close to commissioning, or under construction will come to grid.

Renewable energy tariffs for both·solar and wind power·have touched grid parity from 2HFY17. The levelised tariffs dropped to Rs 2.44/kWh in solar energy and Rs 2.65/kWh in wind energy after the bidding in 1HFY18.

Investment opportunity stems from efforts of making rolling stock safer, faster and more efficient. The thrust on electrification is expected to give a spurt to electric locomotives, bringing down the fuel bill significantly, even as increasing investment in higher horse power locomotives will support longer rakes.