News on Agra & Current Affairs

Vishal Sharma New Delhi/ Agra Ever since it was established, the glass industry of Firozabad, a small industrial town close to Agra, has hardly seen technological changes apart some shifting from wood-fired furnaces to natural gas. Glass units depend on manual glass blowing and manufacturing techniques, which cannot ensure consistency in quality and increases costs. This has been the primary reason for the glass industry of this town failing to compete with products from China. As a step towards reducing costs, the Centre for the Improvement of Glass Industry, operated by the Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, has introduced new technology in pot furnace manufacture in the town recently. This incorporates multiple chambers developed under a glass industry development project initiated by the Centre’s Department of Science & Technology, instead of the usual furnace design using a single chamber. According to industry sources, the centre has been holding demonstr

Vishal Sharma New Delhi/ Agra The minimum consumption guarantee dispute between the GAIL (India) Ltd and Agra industrialists has taken a serious turn. Taking steps to recover its dues worth Rs 7 crore, GAIL has served dues recovery and disconnection notices to the foundry units of Agra, demanding the payment of all dues according to the minimum guarantee agreement signed by the foundry units. Cornered by GAIL’s threats to shut down gas supply to the units, foundry unit owners of Agra and Firozabad recently held a meeting at the National Chamber of Industries & Commerce (UP) in which they decided to raise this issue before the Union petroleum ministry in Delhi on July 24. They decided to demand a waiver of the minimum guarantee due to the low consumption of natural gas in the foundry units in the absence of modern cupola furnaces. The industrialists have also decided to demand an increase in the gas quota of Agra and Firozabad from 1.1 million metric standard cubic metres per day (