With government taking initiative to de-bottleneck the energy sector growth and boost country´s economy, oil and gas majors are busy addressing risk factors and multitasking to integrate their business model in order to ensure future growth, says Pradeep Pandey.

Land Acquisition for major economic projects has shot to national attention lately and captured media space and informed discourse. DK Ojha explains the salient features of the new Land Acquisition Act and recommends that land requirement should be indicated in advance for speedier implementation.

As 86 blocks, including 54 recently cleared by the Forest Survey Institute, go under the hammer, they become the largest number of blocks to be auctioned in a single financial year after 1998. These blocks, likely to be put on auction this month, are likely to garner investment worth $15 billion. Rahul Kamat presents reports on the basis of his interaction with M Veerappa Moily, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas.

A recent global report cautiously states that although many countries want to replicate the US shale gas model, they must first overcome technical, geological and service capabilities. Is shale really the next big thing for India, or do the hurdles make it too early to rejoice about? Rakesh Kumar Jain analyses.

Srinath Manda says a big difference between UAE and Indian Free Zones (FZs) is scale of operations the latter are promoted as sector-specific zones, so they havenÆt achieved the scale of integrated ones. Free Zones were conceived to boost exports by creating designated zones free from bureaucratic troubles and more suited for international market.

GHIAL established the FTZ at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) with a vision to set up an Aerotropolis in Hyderabad. SGK Kishore, Chief Executive Officer, GHIAL, shares his views with Janaki Krishnamoorthi.

Free Zones in the UAE and industry clusters such in China have been a huge success. However, free zones here still have a long way to go to reach this level of success. The government has taken some steps in this direction by announcing some measures to strengthen the SEZ policy. Talking with Garima P, EM Sudarsana Natchiappan.

India needs to learn lessons from the UAE and develop adequate high quality back up facilities for storage and warehousing to enable the global players do international trade through our ports, Pankaj Modi, Chief Operating Officer, Adani Ports and SEZ, tells Sumantra Das.

The success of an FTZ depends on various factors like attracting investments, level of exports and foreign exchange, linkages with the domestic economy, apart from political stability, strategic location, quality infrastructure and marketing advantages. Janaki Krishnamoorthi explores the success factors of FTZs in the UAE and what should India do catch up momentum.