Kerala's kerosene distribution plans remain a non-starter
Despite receiving a Central allocation of 56.76 lakh litres of kerosene for distribution between April and June, the Kerala government is yet to fulfil its promise of supplying the fuel to all ration card holders.
The impasse which stems from a deadlock over the proposed dealers' commission threatens to derail the State's first kerosene allotment in nearly two years.
The Food and Civil Supplies department had planned to supply one litre of kerosene each to Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) card holders and half a litre each to Priority Households (PHH) and other ration card holders, at a fixed price of ₹63 a litre. Kerosene was last distributed through ration shops in the State at ₹83 a litre.
Following discussions with representatives of kerosene dealers, the department had submitted a proposal that included a commission of ₹5 and transportation cost of ₹2 a litre. However, this was rejected by the Chief Minister's Office and the Finance department.
Official sources maintained that the proposed plan would not have burdened the State exchequer as no subsidy was provided for kerosene sales. On the contrary, it would have generated ₹1.35 a litre in tax revenue.
Anticipating the rollout, many dealers had also begun preparations by investing in tanker trucks and renewing expired distribution licences to lift the allocated stock from oil marketing companies.
Despite the dwindling time-frame for distribution, Food and Civil Supplies Minister G.R. Anil remains hopeful. 'We are committed to lifting the full quota and completing distribution before the month ends. The allocation will not be lapsed at any cost,' he said.
The Minister pointed out that the initial proposal was returned by the Chief Minister with instructions to reduce the dealer commission to ₹3 a litre. The revised proposal will be discussed with wholesale dealers to reach a resolution.
The failure to find a solution within the month-end could result in the State losing the entire kerosene quota, potentially rendering the government's persistent efforts to achieve the allocation fruitless.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
34 minutes ago
- Business Standard
India scuppered 200,000 cyberattacks during Operation Sindoor: Khattar
India foiled around two lakh cyberattacks targeting its power infrastructure in over the week during the Operation Sindoor, Union Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said here on Thursday. "Since the advancement in technology, new dangers have emerged -- cyberattacks or cybercrimes. There has been an increase in these, but the government has worked on it, and our cybersecurity has almost stopped all such dangers," Khattar told reporters here. He was addressing a press conference on the completion of 11 years of the BJP-led Central government. "There have been many cyberattacks on the country. As far as the Power department is concerned, around two lakh cyberattacks were attempted, but our cyber department foiled each one of them, and there were no losses," the minister said. Khattar said these attempts were made in "eight to ten days" around the time Operation Sindoor went underway. Asked whether the attacks were made from within the country or outside it, the minister said these attacks can take place from any corner of the world. "It is known worldwide that those against us will do things like these, but We have stopped such attacks. Our system is capable and in the future also, we will foil all such attacks," he said. "When someone fails for the first time, and second time, he will ultimately get discouraged and stop," he added.
Time of India
17 hours ago
- Time of India
MSEDCL Plans Rs20,000 Crore Battery Storage Project for 16,000MW Solar Power
Nagpur: In a major push for renewable energy integration, the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) is planning a Rs20,000 crore project to set up battery-based storage units for 16,000MW that will be generated through solar power. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now To make the ambitious project financially viable, MSEDCL has sought viability gap funding (VGF) from the Central govt. The storage units are aimed at conserving surplus solar energy for use during peak demand hours in the night. A senior MSEDCL official confirmed that the proposal seeking subsidy has already been sent to the Central govt. MSEDCL is currently implementing Mukhyamantri Saur Krishi Vahini Yojana 2.0, under which several solar parks are being constructed across the state to generate 16,000MW. The project deadline is 2026. However, MSEDCL sources said that currently, there is no facility to store the excess generated power at this level. To store the excess power, MSEDCL is going for a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), for which it has also received approval from the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC). A small contract has been awarded to a private firm. According to MSEDCL sources, the firm is now building storage facilities using BESS at 75 substations of the discom. "Excess solar power will be stored at these locations and later used during high demand. This power will be bought by MSEDCL from the firm at a lower cost," said the sources. The first such project is being implemented for 750MW, for which 1,500MWh capacity needs to be built. MSEDCL sources also said that setting up the battery unit for 1MW costs around Rs1.25 crore and requires a 2MWh capacity. "So, for setting up storage units for 16,000MW, it will cost around Rs20,000 crore. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The Central govt provides around Rs27 lakh per MWh, while the rest needs to be raised by the firms which bag the contracts. However, we have sent the subsidy proposal, and the Central govt will think over it," said the official. In the contract already issued, the Central govt has given a subsidy for 500MWh, while the subsidy for 1,000MWh is pending. MSEDCL, however, wants to implement it on a large scale, so they have sent the proposal to the Central govt. "If the subsidy is secured, then tenders will be floated, and different companies can bid for it. The firms will be provided a subsidy, and to recover the remaining money, they will sell the power to MSEDCL, which too will benefit because of the low cost of power," said MSEDCL sources.
Hans India
17 hours ago
- Hans India
The serverless shift: Scaling smarter with fewer resources and no infrastructure bloat
In today's fast-paced digital era, agility, scalability, and efficiency have become critical imperatives rather than luxuries. Serverless computing, which eliminates infrastructure management and allows developers to focus purely on delivering value, is emerging as a powerful response to these demands. At the forefront of this transformation is Anil Kumar Manukonda, a cloud innovator who has been instrumental in architecting high-performance, cost-effective solutions for modern enterprises. 'Serverless is more than a trend—it's a mindset shift,' says Anil. 'It empowers teams to build smarter, faster, and with fewer operational burdens. The true value lies in accelerating innovation without compromising reliability or security.' Anil's pioneering work includes the design of a mission-critical, event-driven data ingestion pipeline using AWS Lambda, Kinesis Data Streams, and DynamoDB. The system now processes over 200,000 events per hour with sub-250ms latency—a dramatic improvement over the EC2-based batch system it replaced. 'We achieved a 50% reduction in processing time while completely eliminating downtime,' he explains. By implementing provisioned concurrency, cold-start latency dropped by 90%, ensuring consistent performance even during peak traffic. His leadership extended to transforming a legacy reporting microservice into a serverless REST API with API Gateway, Lambda, and RDS Proxy. The result? A 300% increase in throughput and $120,000 in annual cloud savings. Anil also introduced a centralized governance framework using Terraform modules and AWS Config Rules, enabling consistent, compliant deployments across five critical business applications. The impacts are measurable: 30% higher developer productivity, 80% fewer budget overruns, and a 40% cut in incident response time—thanks in part to automation using SNS and DynamoDB streams. One of his most ambitious projects involved rearchitecting an order processing system with SQS and Lambda, scaling it to 250,000 orders per day and reducing fulfillment times from five minutes to just 30 seconds. 'Serverless lets you scale from zero to massive workloads with grace,' Anil notes. 'But success also means solving new challenges—latency, state management, and security.' His solutions include hybrid warming strategies and IAM automation across multi-account AWS environments. Anil's contributions extend beyond the workplace. He's the author of influential publications like Designing Highly Available and Scalable Web Applications Using Azure Functions and Automating Infrastructure Provisioning Using Terraform. He sees the future of cloud computing in AI-driven serverless functions, edge-native services, and function mesh architectures. 'Serverless is no longer just about cost savings,' he emphasizes. 'It's about enabling resilient, intelligent, and scalable architectures that redefine what's possible.' Through vision, execution, and thought leadership, Anil Kumar Manukonda is not just navigating the serverless frontier—he's charting its course.
