Explore Business Standard
Don’t miss the latest developments in business and finance.
Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Saturday said the Modi government has spent Rs 11 lakh crore on infrastructure development in the last one year, while the Congress-led UPA dispensation used to spend only Rs 2 lakh crore on this front annually. Addressing a press conference to highlight various provisions made in the recently-presented Union Budget, he said the budget will make India self-reliant and aims to establish it as a 'Vishwaguru' (world leader) by 2047. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always said that he considers poor, farmers, women and youth as the only four castes in our country, and this budget focuses on these four categories," he said. "In the last one year, Rs 11 lakh crore have been spent on infrastructure. The UPA used to spend only Rs 2 lakh crore on this front," the Minister of Communications said. According to him, railway lines of 2,031 km were laid and 6,000 km-long national highways were constructed in the past one year. In the telecom sector, ...
BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia's criticism of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi over his "only maharajas enjoyed rights" remark evoked a strong response from the Congress on Tuesday as it said the Union minister may have forgotten the royal families' love for the British, "but we cannot forget". Addressing a rally in Mhow on Monday, Gandhi said Dalits, backwards and tribals had no rights before independence, when "only maharajas and rajas enjoyed rights". "The change was brought with independence. You got land and rights. The BJP-RSS wants an India of pre-independence, where common people had no rights and only the likes of Adani and Ambani had rights. They want the poor to suffer in silence and not dream while the country is run by billionaires," he had said. Attacking Gandhi for his remarks, Scindia said the statement given by Rahul Gandhi, a leader who considers the Constitution as his 'pocket diary', on the role of the royal families of India before independence exposes his ...
Union cabinet has approved refarming of 687 Mhz spectrum for mobile services and more will be done based on the study by committee of secretaries put in place by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Friday. Speaking at an event of industry body COAI, the minister said that mobile services need 2,000 Mhz of spectrum by 2030 and the cabinet decision takes the total quantum of radiowaves to 1,587 Mhz. "Yesterday's cabinet, we have approved refarming of 687 Mhz. Which means this takes us from 900 Mhz to 1,587 Mhz. 320 (MHz) will be released immediately, some by the end of next year and some by the end of 2028-29 which makes us ready for 2030," Scindia said at Digicom Summit 2025. He further said the government will ensure that the requirement of the industry is met and there are no hurdles in the digital telecom landscape of the country. "That leaves still a gap of roughly 300 (Mhz). So the ask is not over. The second round of this, Committee of
Union Minister for Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia on Saturday said a Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) will be opened in each of the country's 543 parliamentary constituencies. Scindia made the announcement while inaugurating a Passport Seva Kendra in Madhya Pradesh's Guna, the parliamentary constituency he represents. The Union minister also said that six new passport centres will be opened in MP this year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to establish a Passport Seva Kendra in each parliamentary constituency with the aim of expanding services. The Department of Posts, in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs, is committed to making this resolution a reality, he said. The minister also informed that 6,000 post offices have been opened across the country. We should try to revive the tradition of writing letters by hand in the country because it expresses the true feelings of the heart, he said. The minister said that several technological changes have taken pl
Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam to discuss India Post's path to profitability, an official release said on Saturday. Scindia, along with officials from the Department of Posts, presented their capital expenditure demands to the finance minister to make it a profit centre by 2029. Scindia aims to make India Post globally competitive and has been leading Department-wide efforts to drive higher customer acquisition, retention and operational efficiency. During the meeting with the finance minister, Scindia presented a new development plan for India Post and said the department is working on rationalising costs and aiming to make most processes digital. The minister hopes to make the department a profit-making logistics company with a focus on customer satisfaction, as per the release. He also mentioned that the ongoing Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) exercise will benefit a lot from the investment from the finance ministry.
Bharti Airtel has become the first private telecom operator to launch mobile services in Kupwara, Baramulla and Bandipore districts of Jammu and Kashmir, the company said on Wednesday. The company said that it has deployed 15 mobile towers in Kupwara, Baramulla and Bandipore districts, which will benefit the local population and also offer essential communication connections for soldiers stationed along the Line of Control. "Bharti Airtel has partnered with the Indian Army to bring connectivity to villages in Kupwara, Baramulla and Bandipore districts along the Line of Control in North Kashmir," the company said in a statement. Under the Vibrant Village Programme, villages such as Kachhal, Balbir, Razdan Pass, Taya Top, Ustad, Kathi, and Cheema are now connected to the rest of the country. These villages are located in the Keran, Machhal, Tangdhar, Gurez, and Uri valley regions, spanning the three districts of Kupwara, Baramulla, and Bandipore. "Airtel is the only private telecom
Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Saturday said the Department of Posts is going through a business process restructuring exercise to transition to a digital platform as he asserted that Dak Sewa is Jan Sewa (postal service is public service). Speaking on the occasion of the 50th Foundation Day of Indian Post & Telecommunication Accounts and Finance Service, the minister said the shift is particularly relevant in the context of e-commerce growth, positioning the department to lead in this emerging business avenue. "Our department is going to go digital. Our department is going through a business process restructuring exercise, where we will transform ourselves in the days to come into a logistics corporation, where we must become the leaders in the world, with a new business avenue that is growing in terms of e-commerce," he said. He noted that the Department of Posts today is the largest distribution network across the world, with 1,64,000 post offices. "We serve the common .
The Department of Posts and the Ministry of External Affairs have signed an agreement to set up an additional 600 passport seva kendras at post offices, Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Friday. Speaking at the India Economic Enclave 2024, the minister said India Post has about 6,40,000 points of sales across the country and no one in the world can match its scale. "In the next 3-4 years, we will become a citizen-centric service. We have signed an agreement with the MEA today where we will set up 600 more networks for passport seva kendras, hopefully servicing one crore citizens per year through our network," the minister said. Launched in 2017, the Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) service has been instrumental in facilitating passport-related services to over 1.52 crore citizens. The network of POPSKs has grown significantly over the years, with 442 centres operational nationwide. According to an official note, the 600 POPSKs centres will be set up acr
Infrastructure built in the last 10 years is more than the work done under 60 years of the previous regime, union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Friday. Minister for Communications and Development of North Eastern Region Scindia told reporters that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, the government has developed infrastructure with a focus on quality, speed, quantity and coverage. "There has been a 180-degree change in the infrastructure after 2014. The Prime Minister dedicated 15 Airports in a single day on March 10. The speed of infrastructure development in the last 10 years has been unmatched, unseen and unprecedented. Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh did not get any airport in 65 years. Today Sikkim has an airport and there are four airports in Arunachal," Scindia said. He said that in 70 years of the previous regime, there were 74 airports which have been more than doubled to 157 under the Modi government and fleets have increased to around 750 from ...
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday said that TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee has submitted a written apology for his remarks against Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia besides apologising in the House. As soon as the House met, some members belonging to the ruling alliance stood up to raise the issue of the remarks made by Banerjee. However, Birla intervened and said whatever happened on Wednesday was unfortunate and no member should make any personal remark against any fellow member. Without taking the name of Banerjee, he said any remark against women is in bad taste and it hurts their dignity and honour. The speaker said agreements and disagreements are part of the democratic process but no member should make any personal remark against anyone. "The member concerned had apologised (in the House). He has also given me in writing too," he said and started with the day's proceedings. On Wednesday, there were verbal clashes when Banerjee was speaking in the House during a discussion o
Soon after the Lok Sabha met at 4.40 pm on Wednesday, the House was adjourned briefly again following uproar over TMC member Kalyan Banerjee's remarks against Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. Trouble arose when Banerjee was speaking during a discussion on the amendments to the Disaster Management Act. The All India Trinamool Congress member alleged non-cooperation by the central government during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai countered it, saying it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who helped all the states and successfully handled the crisis by taking everyone along. Rai also alleged that the West Bengal government tried to put hurdles in the transportation of Covid vaccines through its territory. Scindia stood up and supported Rai, saying that India had emerged as a "Vishwa Bandhu" during the pandemic and helped all the needy countries across the world. Following this, Banerjee attacked Scindia and made certain remarks against the minist