Renewable Energy Programmes Gets A New Impetus; Focus on Development of Energy Infrastructure

Giving a fillip to the country’s renewable energy programme, the new government led by Shri Narendra Modi has taken a slew of decisions in a span of six months to boost “Clean Energy” in the country.  These include providing support to Rs 1000 crore to Central Public Sector units to set up over 1,000 MW grid connected solar photovoltaic power projects, setting up of 25 solar parks each with a capacity of 500 MW requiring financial support from the centre of Rs 4050 crore and setting up of over 300 MW of solar power projects by Defence and Para military establishments. With these decisions, India will emerge as a major solar power producing country as nowhere in the world are solar parks are being developed on such a large scale.             The Government restored Accelerated Depreciation benefit in the Union Budget 2014 to give much-needed relief to wind power developers and to ensure ramp-up of production. This will enable to kick start & ramp up wind capacity addition expeditiously. The Government amicably resolved the anti-dumping duty dispute. A whole host of measures have been undertaken to make India “Solar manufacturing” hub with priority for domestic players in line with “Make in India” programme. With these initiatives, domestic manufacturers will have greater visibility on order books, have an opportunity to upgrade technologically and be able to reduce costs.             In order to facilitate speedy growth of Renewable energy Power generation in the country, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is preparing a Renewable Energy Bill. This apart, the Ministry is also preparing a scale up plan for the development of Solar in the next five years. Outlining the new government’s priorities in the energy sector, President Shri Pranab Mukherjee, while addressing the first session of both Houses of Parliament after the elections to the 16th Lok Sabha, said that the  government will come out with a comprehensive National Energy Policy and focus on development of energy related infrastructure, human resource and technology. The aim of the government will be to substantially augment electricity generation capacity through judicious mix of conventional and non-conventional sources. It will expand the national solar mission and connect households and industries with gas-grids. To showcase India's renewable energy potential globally, the MNRE in partnership with Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA), the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) is organizing the Global Renewable Energy Investment Promotion Meet (RE-INVEST) from 15-17 February, 2015 as a follow-up to the 'Make in India' initiative launched by the Prime Minister . RE-INVEST will enable the global investment community to connect with the renewable energy stakeholders in India.   The details of the major initiatives of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to boost “Clean Energy” in the country are as follows: 1.    Scheme for development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects : The Government  has recently approved a Scheme for setting up of 25 Solar Parks, each with the capacity of 500 MW and above and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects to be developed in next 5 years in various States and will require Central Government financial support of Rs 4050 crore. These parks will be able to accommodate over 20,000 MW of solar power projects. 12 states have so far given consent for setting up of Solar Parks. They are:  Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Telengana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Odisha. The solar parks will be developed in collaboration with State Governments and their agencies. 2.      Setting up of over 300 MW of  Grid-Connected Solar PV Power Projects by Defence establishments and Para Military Forces with viability gap funding : Under this Scheme over 300 MW of Grid-Connected and Off-Grid Solar PV Power Projects will be set up by Defence Establishments under Ministry of Defence and Para Military Force under Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) with Viability Gap Fund (VGF) under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) in five years that is from 2014 to 2019. Under the Scheme there is a stipulation of mandatory condition that all PV cells and modules used in the solar plants set up under this Scheme will be made in India. To implement this Scheme a provision of an amount of Rs 750 crore for MNRE from the National Clean Energy Fund has been earmarked. 3.        Implementation of Scheme for setting up 1000 MW of Grid Connected Solar PV Power projects by CPSUs and GoI organisations with Viability Gap Funding : The  Government  has also approved the Scheme for setting up of 1000 MW of Grid-Connected Solar PV Power Projects with VGF (Viability Gap Fund) support of Rs.1000 crore, by CPSUs under various Central/State Schemes, in three years period from 2015-16 to 2017-18. The Scheme will have a mandatory condition that all PV cells and modules used in solar plants set up under this Scheme, will be made in India.  The CPSUs and Government of India organisations like NTPC, NHPC, CIL, IREDA, Indian Railways, etc. are coming forward to set up solar power projects. 4.         Classification of Renewable Projects from Red to Green Category: On the request of MNRE, Ministry of Environment and Forests has decided that classification of Solar, Wind and Small Hydro Projects be out of Red Category to Green Category under Central and State Pollution Control Boards. CPCB has issued an amendment in the categories of industries, according to which the Wind and Solar power projects of all capacities and Small Hydro projects of <25 MW capacity have been put in Green category, i.e. the project developers to obtain clearance from SPCB to “establish and operate” only once in the beginning. 5.         Continuation of Schemes for 12th Plan Period: The Government approved the following schemes for their continuation during the 12th Plan period: (i) National Biogas and Manure Management Programme (NBMMP), (ii) Scheme to Support Promotion of Grid-Interactive Biomass Power and Bagasse Co-generation in Sugar Mills, (iii) Programme for the Development of Small Hydro Power, and (iv) Off-grid and Decentralized Solar Applications under JNNSM. 6.         Enhancement in MNRE’s Budget by 65.8% in Regular Budget, 2014-15: The Budget Estimate of the Ministry is increased by 65.8% to Rs.2519 crore in the Regular Budget passed by the Parliament in July from Rs.1,519 crore provided in the Interim Budget.  Clean Energy Cess on coal has been increased from Rs 50 per tonne to Rs 100 per tonne so that adequate funds are available for financing Renewable Energy projects. 7.      Restoration of Accelerated Depreciation (AD) Benefits to Wind Power Projects : After significant harm was done to the wind sector due to withdrawal of AD with effect from 1.4.2012, it has been restored on 18.7.2014. This decision of the Government will help in creating a robust manufacturing base of wind turbines in the country. 8.         Scheme  for Development of Grid Connected Solar PV Power Plants on Canal Banks and Canal Tops : MNRE launched a Scheme   for Development of Grid Connected Solar PV Power Plants on Canal Banks and Canal Tops in the country during the 12th Plan period at an estimated cost of Rs. 975 crore and with Central Financial Assistance (CFA) of Rs. 228 crore. The objective of this scheme is to achieve gainful utilization of the unutilized area on top of Canals and also the vacant Government land along the banks of Canals wherever available, for setting up Solar PV power generation plants for feeding the generated power to Grid and to set up a total capacity of 100 MW solar PV power projects. 9.               9.    Financing Roof top Solar PV: The Department of Financial Services under the Union Finance Ministry has advised all banks to encourage home loan/home improvement loan seekers to install roof top solar PVs and include the cost of  equipment in their home loan proposals just like non solar lighting, wiring and other such fittings. Apart from this , the RBI have issued instructions to all Scheduled Commercial Banks that the loans sanctioned by banks directly to individuals for setting up off-grid solar and other off-grid renewable energy solutions for households will be covered under Priority Sector lending. 10.     Scaling up of a programme of Solar Pumps: The existing programme of Solar Pumps has been scaled up to solarize one lakh solar pumps and supplementary guidelines to this effect have been issued. The target of one lakh pumps has been allocated amongst, 20,000 are allocated to Ministry of Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation (20000 pumps for drinking water), MNRE (solarizing 50,000 pumps for irrigation purpose through States) and to NABARD (30000 pumps) for innovative implementation 11.   Improved Cook-stoves:     Unnat Chulha Abhiyan9uca) Programme with the objectives to develop and deploy improved cook-stoves for providing cleaner cooking energy solutions in rural , semi –urban and urban areas using biomass as fuel for cooking launched. This will save rural women from the carcinogenic fumes emitted when traditional fuels are burned. 12.  Obtaining/Extending Line of Credits for IREDA: ·      The Agence Francaise de Development (AFD) of France has decided to extend a Line of Credit (LoC) of Euro 100 million to Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA), for the tenure of 15 years without any guarantee from Government of India, for financing the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency projects in the country. An agreement to this effect was signed between AFD and IREDA on 22 May, 2014. ·      Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) Ltd and Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) signed an Agreement for availing another Line of Credit (LoC) of JPY 30 billion for 30 years (including the grace period of 10 years) from JICA according to which IREDA shall utilize the funds for financing Renewable Energy projects in India. ·      A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed by IREDA and US Exim Bank with respect to cooperation on clean energy investment. As per MoU, US Exim Bank shall provide US $ 1 Billion medium and long-term guaranteed and/or direct dollar loans to finance U.S. technologies, products and services utilized during commercial development activities within the clean energy sector by IREDA. 13.  Setting up a JVC for undertaking the First Demonstration Offshore Wind Power Project in the country along the Gujarat Coast: An MOU was signed on 1st October, 2014 for setting up a Joint Venture Company (JVC) to undertake first Demonstration Offshore Wind Power Project in the country along the Gujarat coast. The signatories of the MoU were Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), and Consortium of partners consisting of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL), Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), Power Finance Corporation (PFC), Power Trading Corporation (PTC), and Gujarat Power Corporation Ltd (GPCL). The JVC will undertake detailed feasibility study and necessary steps as deemed necessary for implementation of the first offshore demonstration wind power project. 14.  Formation of an Association of Renewable Energy Agencies of States (AREAS): To promote the interaction amongst the State Nodal Agencies (SNAs) implementing the renewable energy programmes to enable them to learn from each other's experiences and share their best practices, MNRE took an initiative in consultation with SNAs and formed an Association of Renewable Energy Agencies of States (abbreviated as "AREAS), registered as a society on 27 August 2014, under Society Registration Act 1860. IN A NUTSHELL: MAJOR INITIATIVES TO BOOST  CLEAN ENERGY IN THE COUNTRY ü  Scheme for setting up 25 solar parks each with a capacity of 500 MW and above and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects; to be set up during five years that is from 2014-15 to 2018-19 and will require Central Government financial support of Rs.4050 crore. ü  Setting up over 300 MW of Grid-Connected and Off-Grid Solar PV Power Projects by Defence Establishments and Para Military Forces with Viability Gap Fund (VGF) under JNNSM; Provision of an amount of Rs.750 crore from the National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) for the purpose. ü  Scheme for setting up 1000 MW of Grid Connected Solar PV Power projects by CPSUs and GoI organisations under various Central / State      Schemes / self-use / 3rd party sale / merchant sale with Viability Gap Funding under batch – V of Phase-II of   JNNSM. ü  Scheme  for Development of Grid Connected Solar PV Power Plants on Canal Banks and Canal Tops ; to be implemented during the 12th Plan period at an estimated cost of Rs. 975 crore and with Central Financial Assistance (CFA) of Rs. 228 crore. ü  Enhancement in MNRE’s Budget by 65.8% in Regular Budget, 2014-15. ü  Restoration of Accelerated Depreciation (AD) Benefits to Wind Power Projects . ü  Clean Energy Cess on coal  increased from Rs 50 per tonne to Rs 100 per tonne so that adequate funds are available for financing Renewable Energy projects. ü  Banks advised to encourage home loan/home improvement loan seekers to install roof top solar PVs ü  Classification of Solar, Wind and Small Hydro Projects be out of Red Category to Green Category. ü  Existing programme of Solar Pumps scaled up to solarize one lakh solar pumps. ü  Setting up a JVC for undertaking the First Demonstration Offshore Wind Power Project in the country. ü  Agence Francaise de Development (AFD) of France extended a Line of Credit (LoC) of Euro 100 million to Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA). ü  IREDA and Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) signed an Agreement for availing another Line of Credit (LoC) of JPY 30 billion for 30 years . ü  An MOU was signed for setting up a Joint Venture Company (JVC) to undertake first Demonstration Offshore Wind Power Project in the country along the Gujarat coast.

Steps for the development of knowledge based industries

The Government of India has taken various steps for the development of knowledge based industries in the country. The major steps taken in this direction are as follows: • In the Union Budget 2014-15, the Finance Minister in his speech has inter alia announced as under: “In order to create a conducive eco-system for the venture capital in the MSME sector it is proposed to establish a ₹ 10,000 crore fund to act as a catalyst to attract private Capital by way of providing equity, quasi equity, soft loans and other risk capital for start-up companies”. “To establish technology centre network to promote innovation, entrepreneurship and agro-industry, a fund with a corpus of ₹ 200 crore is proposed.” • The Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India has set up National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) which supports Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) where innovation, technology and knowledge based industries are incubated and supported. • The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India has setup Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a Public Sector undertaking to foster and nurture innovation, research and entrepreneurship development in the Biotech Sector. This information was given by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Planning, Shri Rao Inderjit Singh in a written reply in Lok Sabha today. The Minister added that Planning Commission had constituted a Working Group on Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Growth for the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17), under the chairmanship of Secretary (MSME) in May, 2011. The recommendations made by the Working Group were duly considered in formulating the strategy for ‘Promoting MSMEs’ in the 12th Five Year Plan that has been approved by the National Development Council (NDC)

Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 deals with sexual offences against persons below 18 years of age, who are deemed as children. The Act for the first time, defines “penetrative sexual assault”, “sexual assault” and “sexual harassment”. The offence is considered graver if it is committed by a police officer, public servant, any member of the staff at a remand home, protection or observation home, jail, hospital or educational institution, or by a member of the armed or security forces. The Act has come into force on the 14th of November, 2012, along with the rules framed thereunder. The Act is a comprehensive law to provide for the protection of children from the offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography, while safeguarding the interests of the child at every stage of the judicial process by incorporating child-friendly mechanisms for reporting, recording of evidence, investigation and speedy trial of offences through appointment of Special Public Prosecutors and designated Special Courts. The Act incorporates child friendly procedures for reporting, recording, investigation and trial offences. The Act provides for stringent punishments which have been graded as per the gravity of offence. Section 39 of the POCSO Act requires the State Governments to prepare guidelines for use of NGOs, professional and experts or persons to be associated with the pre-trial and trial stage to assist the child. On request from several State Governments, Model Guidelines were developed by the Ministry of Women and Child Development and sent to all the State Governments/UT Administrations in September, 2013, which can be adopted or adapted by them for better implementation of the said Act. Further, as per the report of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), seven States/Union Territories (excluding Uttarakhand) have confirmed formulation/acceptance of guidelines for various stakeholders. Section 44 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 empowers the NCPCR and State Commission for Protection of Child Rights for monitoring the implementation of the provisions of this Act in such manner as may be prescribed. In discharge of its duties NCPCR has been taking up the matter with regard to implementation of the POCSO Act in respect of following aspects:- (i) Designation of Special Courts; (ii) Appointment of Special Public Prosecutors; (iii) Formulation of Guidelines u/s 39 of POCSO Act for various stakeholders; (iv) Designation and implementation of modules for training of various stakeholders; (v) Steps taken for spreading the awareness on the provisions of the POCSO Act; (vi) Setting up of child Welfare Committees (CWCs), District Child Protection Units (DCPUs) and Special Juvenile Police Units (SJPUs); (vii) The number of FIRs filed under the Act, cases in which charge-sheet filed, compensation awarded to the victims, number of cases in which accused convicted/acquitted, number of cases in which witness turned hostile, cases in which appeal has been filed etc. (vii) Number of trial of sexual abuse cases which have been pending with Special/Session Court for more than a period of one year; (ix) Number of applications for compensation received by District Legal Services Authority, number of cases compensation awarded by the Special Court, number of cases pending for receiving the amount of compensation for more than 30 days etc.

NASA’s Kepler mission discovers ‘super-Earth

The planet is 2.5 times the diameter of Earth and follows a close, nine-day orbit around a star that is smaller and cooler than our Sun.

NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft, which is carrying out a new mission has made its first exoplanet discovery — a ‘super-Earth’ located 180 light-years from Earth.

Lead researcher Andrew Vanderburg, a graduate student at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, studied publicly available data collected by the spacecraft during a test of the new K2 mission in February 2014.

This led to the discovery of a planet, HIP 116454b, which is 2.5 times the diameter of Earth and follows a close, nine-day orbit around a star that is smaller and cooler than our Sun, making the planet too hot for life as we know it.

HIP 116454b and its star are 180 light-years from Earth, toward the constellation Pisces.

The discovery was confirmed with measurements taken by the HARPS-North spectrograph of the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo in the Canary Islands, which captured the wobble of the star caused by the planet’s gravitational tug as it orbits.

HARPS-N showed that the planet weighs almost 12 times as much as Earth. This makes HIP 116454b a super-Earth, a class of planets that does not exist in our solar system.

The exoplanet discovery was made after astronomers and engineers repurposed Kepler for its new mission.

“Last summer, the possibility of a scientifically productive mission for Kepler after its reaction wheel failure in its extended mission was not part of the conversation,” said Paul Hertz, NASA’s astrophysics division director at the agency’s headquarters in Washington.

“Today, thanks to an innovative idea and lots of hard work by the NASA and Ball Aerospace team, Kepler may well deliver the first candidates for follow-up study by the James Webb Space Telescope to characterise the atmospheres of distant worlds and search for signatures of life,” Dr. Hertz said.

Since the K2 mission officially began in May 2014, it has observed more than 35,000 stars and collected data on star clusters, dense star-forming regions, and several planetary objects within our own solar system.

The research paper reporting the latest discovery has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal.

A significant achievement

It has been a glorious year for the Indian Space Research Organisation. The successful launch of Mangalyaan into Mars orbit on September 24 on its maiden attempt was the crowning glory. On December 18, the space organisation followed it up with another stupendous success with the first experimental launch of a GSLV Mark III vehicle and the safe splashdown of an unmanned crew module in the Bay of Bengal off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands after re-entry into the atmosphere. These two achievements best exemplify the maturing of the Indian space programme and its capability to take the country’s space missions to greater heights. The experimental flight of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III carrying a Crew module Atmospheric Reentry Experiment (CARE) as its payload is remarkable for a few reasons. Unlike Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) launches, GSLV launch history has been trouble-prone. Making it all the more challenging is the fact that the GSLV Mark III vehicle is heavier, taller and more advanced than others. The rocket has the capability to put into orbit communication satellites that are as heavy as 4 tonnes — twice as heavy as the ones that are currently carried by GSLV rockets. Once the new vehicle becomes fully operational, India may well stop relying on other countries to launch satellites weighing up to 4 tonnes. The space organisation is confident of launching in two years a developmental flight of this vehicle with a fully operational cryogenic engine.

Thirty long years after Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to travel into space aboard a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft, India has now come a step closer to realising its long-held dream of sending humans into space, with the successful test flight of GSLV Mark III and the safe splashdown of the unmanned crew module. The capsule performed as expected after re-entry into the atmosphere and, remarkably, decelerated to 7 metres a second before splashing into the Bay of Bengal. This is the first time India had ever tested the deployment of parachutes for deceleration. But more than understanding the re-entry characteristics of the crew module, the primary objective of the current mission was to test the new design of the rocket, particularly at the time of lift-off and passage through the atmosphere. The fact that there was little deviation from the flight path during its entire course till it reached an altitude of 126 km, was proof that the two large solid boosters fired simultaneously at take-off. Also, the vehicle withstood the atmospheric loading as it travelled through the atmosphere. Tall and heavy rockets encounter greater atmospheric loading than smaller vehicles.

GST is single biggest tax reform since 1947: Jaitley

Touting it as the "single biggest tax reform" since independence, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said theGST law will subsume all indirect levies including entry tax from April, 2016, which will ensure seamless flow of goods and services across the country.

The GST, which was hammered out after series of meetings with the states, is a "win-win" for both Centre and States and will provide for levy of 1% additional tax by states for inter-state transfer of goods for two years.

"GST will ensure seamless transfer of goods and services, absence of Inspector Raj and no tax on tax," Jaitley told reporters soon after tabling the 122nd Constitution Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha.

The Bill will be considered for passing in the Budget session of Parliament beginning February, the Minister said, adding he did not feel the necessity of the legislation being referred again to a Standing Committee.

Under the provisions of the Bill, petroleum goods will be part of the GST but they will be levied at zero rate, implying that the states will continue to levy VAT while Centre will levy excise duty for initial few years.

Thereafter, it will be fully subsumed in the GST, the date of which will be set by the GST Council, which is made up of two third of states and the remaining of Centre.

The states, however, will continue to levy taxes on alcohol as is the practice now.

Explaining the Bill, Jaitley said that states will be allowed to levy 1% additional tax for two years.

The GST will be a "win-win situation for Centre and states and is the single biggest reform after 1947", he said.

Jaitley said: "This 1% tax and the compensation mechanism for 5 years during the transition phase will be adequate, We do not envisage revenue loss to the states."

As regards the compensation to the states on account of any possible loss of revenue following implementation of the GST, Jaitley said there will be 100% compensation in first three years, 75% in the fourth year and 50% in the fifth year.

Key Indicators of Debt and Investment in India for 2013

The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has released the key indicators of debt and investment in India, generated from the data collected during January 2013 to December 2013 in its 70th round survey. NSS All India Debt and Investment Survey (AIDIS) are conducted decennially starting from 26th round (1971-1972) and the last survey was conducted in NSS 59th round (January to December, 2003).       The All India Debt and Investment Survey (AIDIS) aims at generating average value of assets, average value of outstanding debt per household and incidence of indebtedness, separately for the rural and urban sectors of the country, for States and Union Territories, and for different socio-economic groups.  These indicators are amongst the most important measures of the indebtedness of the respective domains of the population and are crucial inputs for estimation of credit structure.  The detailed results of this survey on debt and investment are planned to be brought out by the NSSO through a set of four main reports.  In order to make available the salient results of the survey, well in advance of the release of its reports, for use in planning, policy formulation, for decision support and as input for further statistical exercises, the NSSO has released the key indicators.       The key indicators are based on the Central Sample consisting of 4,529 villages in rural areas and 3,507 urban blocks spread over all States and Union Territories of the country. The required information was collected from a set of sample households through two visits to each household.  On considerations of operational necessity, the survey period of the first visit was seven months from January 2013 to July 2013 and the survey period of the second visit was of five months duration from August to December 2013. The total number of households from which information was collected, was 62,135 in rural India and 48,665 in urban India in Visit 1 and 61,650 in rural India and 46,771 in urban India in Visit 2. The average value of assets (AVA), percentage of indebted households, representing incidence of indebtedness (IOI) and average amount of debt (AOD) per household and ‘debt-asset ratio’ which is defined as the average amount of debt outstanding for a group of households expressed as a percentage of the average value of assets owned by them as on 30.06.2012 for rural and urban areas of India are presented in Table below: Table : AVA, IOI and AOD for rural and urban India sector AVA (Rs.) per household AOD per household (Rs.) IOI (%) Debt-Asset Ratio(%) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) rural India 1006985 32522 31.44 3.23 urban India 2285135 84625 22.37 3.70 Some salient findings of (i) Household Assets, (ii) Household Indebtedness and (iii) Fixed Capital Expenditure obtained from the survey are as follows: Ø     Around 98% of rural households and around 94% of urban households in India owned some physical and financial assets as on 30.06.2012. Average value of assets (AVA) owned by a household was Rs. 10.07 lakh for the rural areas and Rs. 22.85 lakh for the urban areas. Ø     Land and building were found to be the two major components of household assets. In the rural areas, land and buildings together, accounted for 94% share in the total value of assets at the national level - with land 73 percentage points and buildings 21 percentage points. In the urban areas,land and buildings together, accounted for about 92% share in the total value of assets - with land 47 percentage points and buildings 45 percentage points. Ø     About 31% of the rural households and 22% of the urban households reported debt (cash loan) outstanding as on 30.6.12. The average amount of debt (AOD) for a rural household was Rs. 32,522 and that for an urban household was Rs. 84,625. Ø     As on 30.6.12, the `debt-asset` ratio at the all-India level was 3.7% for urban areas and 3.23% for rural areas. Ø     Around 31% of the rural households and 15.2% of the urban households reported fixed capital expenditure and the average amount of expenditure for fixed capital formation is Rs. 10,717 in rural and Rs. 14,493 urban India.         Ø      Among the social groups, in rural India, IOI (16.9%) was lowest for ST households and highest (35.7%) for OBC households. On the other hand, AOD was lowest for ST households (Rs. 9,610) and highest for ‘Others’ households (Rs. 44,565). In urban India, the lowest IOI was again that of the ST households (16.4%) and the highest that of OBC (26.0%).  But the IOI for ‘others’ was only 19% – lower than that of SC. The relative position of the four social groups, in terms of AOD, was found to be the same as in the rural areas. Ø     The results of the survey show that non-institutional agencies played a major role in advancing credit to the households, particularly in rural India. The non-institutional agencies had advanced credit to 19% of rural households, while the institutional agencies had advanced credit to 17% households.  In urban India, the picture is different; the institutionalagencies appear to have played a major role, advancing credit to 15% of households against 10% by non-institutional agencies. Ø     The indebtedness as on 30.06.2012, with simple interest is predominant for both rural (20.3%) and urban (13.4%) households. IOI for ‘interest-free loans’ (mainly taken from friends and relatives) was also quite significant - with 6.5% in the rural and 4.4% in the urban. Ø     The institutional agencies played a significant role in providing credit to the households with a moderate rate of interest (6% to 15%) for both rural and urban area. It is observed that among Total Cash Dues (TCD) funded by the institutional agencies, about 89% in the rural and 92% in the urban were provided at less than 15% interest rates. On the other hand, the non-institutional agencies provided a significant amount of its total loans to households at an interest as high as 20% or above, the share of such loans to total loans by the non-institutional agencies was 69% in the rural and 58% in the urban. Ø     About 65% of total amount of cash debt outstanding on 30.06.12 among rural households and 52% of the same among urban households had been contracted for a relatively shorter duration of less than 2 years and meagre 2% for a period of 10 years or more for both the sectors.