In accordance with the government’s “Waste to Wealth” mission, the state-owned National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) announced on 15th March that it has begun using steel slag in road construction on a trial basis. When molten steel is separated from impurities in steel-making furnaces, steel slag, a by-product of the process, is formed. Copper, steel, and aluminum are just a few of the refined metals found in slag. Slag keeps highways from breaking or changing shape over time because of its durability. Additionally, slag hinders corrosion.
Nitin Gadkari, India’s Union Road Transport & Highways Minister, and Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, in another big infrastructure push in Bundelkhand, inaugurated and laid down the foundation for 9 projects worth Rs 3,500 crore for the region in the states Mahoba district on 13th March 2023. These new projects other than the Bundelkhand Expressway are bound to accelerate and bring growth and development in the once-known most backward region of the state.
The pandemic hit the global exporters and India is not an outliner. As per the reports, the pacing rate of recovering is faster in China as compared to India. There are various reasons for the same:
- India’s consequent restrictions on trade lead to a delay in turnaround time for ships.
- Exporters in India have to pay high freight charges due to a shortage of containers.
- Freight charges to the Middle East double over a period of time.
- Europe freight charges rise to $8,000per container from $2000 per container.
- While a reasonable appreciation can be justified to fuel price hike, this massive increase witnessed in India allude to a sinister plot of artificial shortage creation and cartelization by shipping lines.
- 15-20 days delay in getting space, vessel, and slot hampers the trading sector.
- The unclogging of goods at the global level is unpredictable.
- China has a high processing time that’s one big reason China’s suppliers are luring the large ships with higher freight charges.
The global disaster of Covid-19 hits exporters at a crucial time when they are striving to reap advantages of the resurgence in international demand for commodities. Moreover, the nation’s $400 billion export goal for FY 2022 is also threatened.
The production of steel on an industrialized scale began as early as the 1800’s in America and England. When steel was first manufactured in 1820 in Sheffield, England, it ushered in an era of rapid social, economic and industrial development. The invention of the steam engine further fastened the process of steel manufacturing and led to unprecedented economic development.
Cement production is vital for the rapid economic development of any country. India is actually one of the largest producers of Cement. India holds the unique distinction of having an installed capacity of 500 million tons per annum with a production of 298 million tons per annum. Andhra Pradesh is the largest producer of cement followed by Rajasthan, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala.