Indian Infrastructures and Capabilities
ONGC Chairman and CEO Arun Kumar Singh said the company plans to drill 87 deepwater and ultra-deepwater wells by March 2031. The programme represents an aggressive expansion of offshore exploration at a time when India is seeking to reverse stagnation in domestic oil and gas production and reduce its vulnerability to imported energy.
The project, located at Chausa in Buxar district, consists of two supercritical generating units of 660 MW each and is being implemented by SJVN Thermal Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of SJVN. With Unit-2 successfully completing its sustained trial operation, SJVN said it is now ready for the unit’s commercial operation.
ONGC Chairman Arun Kumar Singh disclosed the investment plans in New Delhi on 31 August 2026, confirming that the company has already secured the land required for the project and that construction is expected to begin shortly. The ₹70-billion investment forms part of ONGC’s wider strategy to strengthen India’s domestic energy security while expanding the company’s role beyond conventional oil and gas exploration.
These projects are not all of the same kind. Some directly connect Indian territory with neighbouring countries. Others form parts of larger multimodal corridors linking India with ports and markets. Still others are roads built or financed by India entirely within partner countries. Together, however, they illustrate the emergence of infrastructure development as an important component of India’s engagement with the Global South.
According to officials familiar with the exercise, the Department of Telecommunications is gathering information from telecom service providers on behalf of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The assessment is intended to provide the government with a clearer picture of the scale of Chinese-origin legacy equipment still embedded in India’s cellular infrastructure.
The foundation stones for the projects were laid on 29 August 2026 by Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh. The programme forms part of the latest expansion of PMGSY-IV, which is focused on bringing all-weather road connectivity to habitations that remain outside the regular road network, particularly in mountainous and geographically difficult regions.
The most concrete initiative so far involves state-owned BEML Limited, which has entered into a strategic partnership with South Korea’s HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering and HD Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries to jointly design, develop and manufacture a new generation of port and maritime cranes in India.
The light-up was carried out on August 28, 2026, by NMDC Director (Technical) Vinay Kumar and Director (Commercial) Vivek Nishant Nath. NMDC announced the development on August 29, describing it as an important step towards the commissioning and operationalisation of the Nagarnar pelletisation facility.
The change would bring India’s 5G network rules closer to international exposure standards and could allow telecom operators to improve coverage from existing sites while reducing the number of additional towers required for network expansion.
India’s electricity system is simultaneously expanding renewable generation and searching for dependable sources capable of operating continuously. Solar and wind power will remain central to the energy transition, but their output varies with weather and time of day. Nuclear plants, once operating, can supply electricity continuously for long periods and therefore provide an important source of stable baseload generation.
