This article was written by

Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha’s Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

NEW DELHI: The government may keep an outlay of Rs 7,500 crore under the production linked incentive scheme for IT hardware products like personal computers, laptops, tablets and servers, according to a source aware of the development.

Foreign companies looking for incentives under the scheme may have to invest Rs 500 crore over four years, while the threshold for domestic firms is likely to be around Rs 20 crore for five years, the source who did not wish to be named said.

“Meity (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) will take the Cabinet approval of the detailed guidelines soon and is hopeful of rolling out the scheme from next financial year. The incentive outlay is likely to be around Rs 7,500 crore,” the source said.

The government has announced a cumulative production linked incentive of Rs 2 lakh crore for 10 sectors to encourage domestic manufacturing after seeing traction of global giants like Apple’s contract manufacturers, Samsung etc for the scheme in the mobile devices segment.

According to mobile devices industry body ICEA, India has the potential to scale up its cumulative laptop and tablet manufacturing capacity to over Rs 7 lakh crore by 2025 through policy interventions.

Scaling up laptop and tablet PC manufacturing can take the share of India in the global market to 26 per cent from 1 per cent at present.

Besides, it will generate 5 lakh new jobs and lead to a cumulative inflow of foreign exchange to the tune of Rs 5.5 lakh crore and investment of over Rs 7,300 crore by 2025.

Pittsburgh residents got a brief break from a soggy stretch of weather Saturday morning, with sunshine returning to the region even as a flood watch remained in effect across much of western Pennsylvania through the early hours of Sunday. Forecasters warned that the risk of flash flooding had not passed, with the heaviest rain and storms of the weekend still expected to arrive before the region finally dries out.

The National Weather Service office in Pittsburgh issued the flood watch covering a wide swath of counties across western Pennsylvania, along with adjacent parts of eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia. The watch remains in place through early Sunday, with officials warning that saturated ground and already elevated creeks and streams leave the region especially vulnerable to further flooding, even from what would otherwise be considered a moderate amount of rainfall.

Why this weekend carries elevated risk

The greatest chance for widespread rain and storms was expected to arrive Saturday afternoon and stretch into the evening. Forecasters cautioned that some storms could stall over the same locations for an extended period, allowing rainfall to pile up in those spots and sharply raising the threat of flash flooding.

While gusty winds were possible with some of the stronger storm cells, heavy rain and flooding — not wind damage — remained the primary concern for the region heading into Saturday night. According to forecasters, as little as an inch of rain falling within an hour could be enough to trigger flash flooding in vulnerable areas. The heaviest rainfall totals, potentially reaching two to four inches, were expected near and to the east of Pittsburgh.

A punishing stretch of rain already on the books

The heightened concern followed a difficult stretch of weather earlier in the week, when portions of eastern Ohio and western West Virginia recorded between four and eight inches of rain. Some locations picked up twice their typical September rainfall total in just a few hours during that earlier round of storms.

That deluge proved severe enough to wash out roads and force emergency crews to carry out improvised repairs in several locations across the affected region. With creeks and streams already running high and soil across the area near its saturation point, forecasters said any additional heavy rainfall this weekend carried a greater risk of triggering fresh flooding than it otherwise would under drier conditions.

When conditions are expected to improve

Forecasters said Saturday’s rain was expected to shift east before midnight, allowing western Pennsylvania to begin drying out overnight and into Sunday morning. Sunday itself was expected to bring some relief, though not a complete reset from the wet pattern, with morning clouds giving way to muggy afternoon sunshine and only an isolated late-day shower or storm possible.

The improving conditions were welcome news for what marks the first Steelers Sunday of the season in Pittsburgh, with kickoff-time temperatures expected to sit around 80 degrees, offering fans a far more comfortable environment than the region has seen over the preceding days of steady downpours.

What comes after the weekend

The dry stretch is not expected to last long. Forecasters said the new work and school week is set to begin dry and noticeably cooler across the Pittsburgh region, but the calm weather is likely to be short-lived, with another round of rain already on track to move back into the area by Thursday.

Residents in flood-prone areas were advised to continue monitoring local forecasts closely through the weekend, given how quickly conditions have shifted between periods of heavy rainfall and brief dry spells over the past several days. Areas along creeks, streams and low-lying roadways remain particularly susceptible to rapid water rises during any additional bursts of heavy rain, even relatively brief ones, given how saturated the ground already is heading into Saturday evening.

Broader regional impact

The flood watch extends well beyond the city of Pittsburgh itself, encompassing a broad stretch of western Pennsylvania along with neighboring sections of eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia, reflecting how widespread the saturated ground conditions have become across the tri-state region following the earlier storms.

Local officials and emergency management agencies across the watch area are continuing to monitor stream and creek levels closely as the weekend’s storm activity plays out, particularly given the earlier reports of washed-out roads and emergency repair work needed in parts of eastern Ohio and western West Virginia just days before this weekend’s system arrived.

What residents should do

Meteorologists generally advise residents in flood watch areas to avoid driving through flooded roadways, monitor local weather alerts throughout the evening and overnight hours, and pay close attention to any changes in official guidance as storms track through the region. Because flash flooding can develop quickly, particularly in areas where storms stall and repeatedly dump heavy rain over the same locations, forecasters emphasized that conditions could shift rapidly even in spots that initially appear to be experiencing only light or moderate rainfall.

With the flood watch set to expire in the early hours of Sunday and drier, cooler weather expected to move in behind the weekend’s storms, the Pittsburgh region appeared positioned for a return to more stable conditions by the start of the coming week, even as forecasters flagged the next chance of rain arriving again by Thursday.

‘Leapfrog’ China tech?

Sam Abuelsamid, a battery expert and vice president of market research at Telemetry, noted it will likely take years to domesticate a battery supply chain.

At the same time, China continues to develop and produce new types of chemistries, including sodium-ion.

“There’s no reason why the LFP materials couldn’t also be produced here,” Abuelsamid said. “There’s ways to do that, but … the sodium-ion would be even cheaper and easier to do.”

Kelty numerous times said GM hopes to “leapfrog” China’s battery technologies, noting that competing directly with Chinese supply chains or mimicking what that market has already established would be difficult.

“The better thing to do is try to leapfrog, come up with a different technology that’s actually better that we can actually source here,” Kelty said.

Advertisement

Kelty said he views sodium-ion as the best solution for ESS, because its chemistry and temperature tolerance allow for the cells to function without active cooling — a major source of cost and complexity associated with ESS. That improvement means lowering the cost of ownership for energy storage, he said.

The Warren Battery Cell Innovation Center on General Motors’ global tech and design campus in suburban Detroit.

Photo by Steve Fecht for General Motors

HDFC Bank‘s board has submitted two candidates to the Reserve Bank of India for the role of CEO, the lender said on Saturday, formally starting the succession process for ‌Sashidhar Jagdishan, ⁠who ⁠is due to retire later this year.

The ​bank did not disclose the names of the ​candidates.

Indian banking rules require private-sector banks to obtain prior RBI approval for the appointment of their managing director ⁠and CEO, ‌giving the regulator a key role in vetting senior management.

Jagdishan, ⁠who has led the bank since ​2020, is set to step down ​at the end of his second term in October.

The bank also moved to bolster its board, reappointing V. Srinivasa Rangan as a whole-time ‌director, a regulatory designation for full-time bank directors, and appointing Chief Credit ​Officer Jimmy ​Tata to ⁠the board in the same capacity.

Deputy Managing Director Kaizad Bharucha is already a whole-time ​director.
The bank also said it would create a fourth whole-time director position, to be held by the incoming CEO once appointed.

This article was written by

Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha’s Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.