Business
Nature is not a blocker to housing growth, MPs find
Pritti Mistry,Business reporter and
Marc Ashdown,Business correspondent
Getty ImagesNature is not a blocker to housing growth and the government risks missing both its housing and nature targets if it views it as one, a cross-party group of MPs has warned in a new report.
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill overrides existing habitat protections, which the government has suggested is a barrier to its target to build 1.5 million houses by the end of this parliament.
But in a report published on Sunday, the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) found the measures outlined in the bill are not enough to allow the government to meet its goals.
“Using nature as a scapegoat means that the government will be less effective at tackling some of the genuine challenges facing the planning system,” the report said.
A Ministry of Housing spokesperson said it was fixing a failing system with landmark reforms, which would deliver a win-win for the economy and the environment.
The Labour government has promised to build 1.5 million new homes in England by 2029 as part of efforts to solve the housing crisis and boost economic growth.
Under its housing reforms, it wants to simplify the planning system to speed up house-building on smaller sites by overriding existing habitat and nature protections.
If passed, the draft legislation, which is currently making its way through the final stages in parliament, would instead allow developers to make general environmental improvements and pay into a nature restoration fund that improves habitats on other sites.
But the EAC has argued that nature is not a “blocker” to delivering housing – it is a necessity for building resilient neighbourhoods.
The EAC urged the government to instead focus on addressing a skills shortage in ecology, planning and construction.
“The government must not veer down the path of viewing nature as an inconvenience or blocker to housebuilding,” the report said.
“In most cases, housing delivery is delayed or challenged due to unclear and conflicting policies, land banking and skills shortages.”
The EAC suggested offering people better incentives to build and live in “carbon-friendly homes”, or to retrofit existing ones.
It outlined a series of recommendations aimed at boosting manufacturing viability of green construction products and alter the tax burden to support eco-friendly homes.
Environmental group Friends of the Earth said the government needed to set the right priorities.
Paul De Zylva, nature campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “This report shows that the Planning & Infrastructure Bill is bad legislation that neither provides the quality homes people need nor truly protects our already depleted nature.
“Instead of attacking newts, bats and our nature laws to justify its growth-at-any-cost agenda, the government would be better focusing on delivering against its legal targets for nature which are at risk of being missed.”
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government said: “The Government inherited a failing system that delayed new homes and infrastructure while doing nothing for nature’s recovery.
“We are fixing this with landmark reforms, including the Nature Restoration Fund, that will create a win-win for the economy and the environment.
“This will get Britain building the 1.5 million homes we desperately need to restore the dream of homeownership, and not at the expense of nature.”
Business
Yotta Bets Big On Nvidia’s Latest Chips To Build Asia’s Largest AI Supercluster
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Yotta Data Services to spend $2 billion to deploy Nvidia’s latest Blackwell chips in India, building one of Asia’s largest AI superclusters

Yotta Infrastructure’s Greater Noida data centre park (Photo Credit: Yotta’s website)
India’s data centre sector is entering a new era of scale. Yotta Data Services said Wednesday, February 18, that it will deploy Nvidia’s most-advanced artificial intelligence chips in a $2-billion project that will establish one of the largest AI computing hubs in Asia, positioning the country as a serious contender in the global race for AI infrastructure.
The investment centres on the first-ever deployment of Nvidia’s Blackwell B300 graphics processing units in India, to be housed at Yotta’s hyperscale campus in Noida, just outside New Delhi. The supercluster is expected to go live by August.
Anchoring the project is a four-year agreement with Nvidia valued at roughly $1 billion, under which the chipmaker will establish one of Asia-Pacific’s largest DGX Cloud clusters within Yotta’s infrastructure. Sunil Gupta, managing director and chief executive of Yotta, told The Economic Times that Nvidia will deploy approximately 10,300 GPUs through the arrangement to serve its global Asia-Pacific customers and run its own models and services. “Nvidia is creating one of Asia’s largest DGX Cloud clusters on our supercluster,” Gupta said.
The deal underscores a broader shift in how hyperscalers and chipmakers are approaching India. Global cloud providers, including Microsoft and Amazon, have been expanding AI data centre capacity in the country, drawn by surging demand for generative AI services and government pressure to localise advanced computing infrastructure, according to Reuters. Nvidia’s direct commitment within Yotta’s facility goes a step further, signalling confidence in India as a viable hub for serving enterprise AI workloads across the region.
A significant share of remaining capacity will be dedicated to India’s national AI Mission, which has received more than 500 applications from start-ups seeking affordable compute access. Gupta told The Economic Times that the expansion will increase the country’s compute capacity “by almost five to six times”, addressing what he described as enormous pressure on existing resources. The infrastructure will support state-backed Indian language model initiatives, including Bhashini, Sarvam, BharatGen and Soket, all aimed at building foundational AI models trained on Indian-language datasets.
Yotta currently holds around 10,000 advanced Nvidia GPUs, accounting for nearly 75% of India’s GPU compute capacity. With the new deployment, its total GPU count will rise from roughly 40,000 to more than 75,000 over the next two years.
The capital push is being funded through a combination of debt and equity. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Gupta said the company is targeting a fundraise of close to $1 billion to support its current phase of GPU deployment. Yotta has already invested over $1.5 billion in infrastructure and expects to commit an additional $2 billion toward advanced chips. A pre-IPO equity round is underway, with the company aiming to enter public markets within the current financial year.
Yotta is part of Indian billionaire Niranjan Hiranandani’s real estate conglomerate and operates data centre campuses in Mumbai, Gujarat and near New Delhi. Additional capacity from its Mumbai facility will supplement the Noida supercluster.
The timing of the investment is notable. US export controls have reshaped global supply chains for advanced AI semiconductors, pushing technology firms to deepen partnerships in markets that remain accessible. India, which has cultivated strong ties with Washington and positioned itself as a neutral beneficiary of great-power competition in technology, has emerged as one of the cleaner plays for companies looking to expand AI compute outside China.
Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Gupta said that India’s AI ambitions are grounded in practical outcomes, with the goal of delivering impact across agriculture, healthcare, education and climate. He drew a comparison to the Unified Payments Interface, suggesting AI-led transformation could similarly reshape how services are delivered at scale across the country.
For Nvidia, the DGX Cloud anchor at Yotta is the latest in a string of sovereign and commercial AI infrastructure deals across Asia, as the company works to deepen its footprint ahead of any potential tightening of chip export restrictions.
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Business
Stock market today: Nifty50 opens near 25,700; BSE Sensex flat in trade – The Times of India
Stock market today: Indian equity benchmarks opened flat in trade on Wednesday. While the 50-share index Nifty was near 25,700, the 30-share BSE Sensex was down marginally. At 9:16 AM, Nifty50 was trading at 25,716.35, down 9 points or 0.035%. BSE Sensex was at 83,438.94, down 12 points or 0.014%.Experts believe that the stock market is likely to remain steady with a positive undertone in the near term, supported by global trends.Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited says, “The better-than-expected Q3 results and indications of continuing momentum in earnings growth, going forward, are positive factors that will keep the market resilient. The volatility in IT stocks may continue, in response to incoming news relating to the sector. Overall, IT stocks may remain weak since uncertainty surrounding the sector is huge and large institutional investors are unlikely to invest big time in IT stocks, unless valuations become compelling. There can be churns away from IT towards other sectors like banking and financials, automobiles, telecom, pharmaceuticals etc where there is good earnings visibility.”“This is the time to gradually increase exposure to equity. But many retail investors are increasing investments in gold and silver ETFs, which is a risky game in the present context. Early signs of a shift in the investment strategy of FIIs are visible now. In the cash market, FIIs have been buyers in eight out of the last thirteen trading days. This trend and improving prospects for corporate earnings bode well for the market.“US equities ended marginally higher after a weak start to the session, helped by a rebound in technology stocks and support from financial shares. The recovery followed earlier volatility as investors assessed the outlook for artificial intelligence after recent turbulence that had pulled major indices away from record levels.Asian markets also posted modest gains in thin holiday trading. Investor sentiment remained cautious as markets continued to digest recent swings in global equities linked to concerns around AI-driven disruptions.(Disclaimer: Recommendations and views on the stock market, other asset classes or personal finance management tips given by experts are their own. These opinions do not represent the views of The Times of India)
Business
DISCOs seek additional Rs10.8b | The Express Tribune
Iesco stood on top in the wake of its plausible performance to curb losses, improve recoveries and act in line with the time frame for new connections. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Tuesday held a public hearing on the second quarterly adjustment for the current fiscal year, where power distribution companies (DISCOs) sought additional charges of Rs10.76 billion that could translate into a nationwide tariff hike of 43 paisa per unit, including K-Electric. Electricity companies pressed for recovery of costs mainly linked to the capacity payments made between October and December 2025.
Officials told the regulator that Rs24.25 billion was being sought under capacity payments for the Oct-Dec quarter. However, Nepra was also informed of a reduction of about Rs13.5 billion in other components, including operations and maintenance, use-of-system charges and the so-called incremental consumption package.
Nepra officials said the net impact of the adjustment could result in a tariff increase of 43 paisa per unit, but stressed that the authority would review the figures before making a final decision. Any determination will be applicable to consumers across the country.
The hearing drew strong criticism from consumer representatives, who accused the government of shifting the burden of flawed policies on to the general public. Several participants said the incremental consumption package was benefiting selective industries while harming others, arguing that the data shared under the scheme was misleading.
“Without real growth in industrial demand, how can consumers benefit from such incentives?” a hearing participant asked, urging Nepra to reassess the figures submitted by the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA).
CPPA officials said around Rs431 billion in capacity payments would be required for the quarter, compared with Rs459 billion needed by distribution companies in the previous year. Of the total capacity payments to the independent power producers (IPPs), there was a shortfall of Rs24 billion due to low electricity consumption, which would be recovered from the consumers. They also told the regulator that furnace oil-based power plants would not be operated in the future as the government shifted away from costly generation sources.
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