Imphal, June 26: Gold bicuits, valued at Rs 3 crore, were seized in two separate incidents in border area of Manipur on Tuesday and two smugglers arrested, officials said.

In the first incident, 40 gold biscuits, weighing 6.64 kg and valued at Rs 2 crore, were seized near border town Moreh and the smuggler arrested, a Customs Department official said. 

Assistant Commissioner, Customs, R.K. Dorendrajit said that they had received intelligence inputs about the movements of some smugglers and laid traps at Khudengthabi near Moreh.

The smuggler, identified as Mohammad Askar, 40, a resident of Mayang Imphal Begoon in Imphal West district, was found to have concealed the contraband gold in his mini truck which was coming from Moreh to Imphal bringing some legally permitted items. 

Dorendrajit also said that his division has seized 26.5 kg of contraband gold, worth Rs 8.32 crore, from January this year. 

In the second incident, troopers of 12 Assam Rifles manning the check point at Khudengthabi arrested another gold smuggler, identified as Mohammad Jallanuddin of Lilong in Thoubal district, who was transporting 3.316 kg of gold inside the fuel tank of a van. 

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Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Minister M B Patil on Saturday said the state government has fast-tracked approvals for investment projects and taken measures to cut red tape.

He said that since 2022, Karnataka has approved 2,028 projects worth Rs 5.11 lakh crore, which could create 7.16 lakh jobs.

Of these, Rs 69,564 crore has already been realised, generating 1.06 lakh jobs, he added.

“Karnataka fast-tracks approvals, cuts red tape,” the Minister for Large & Medium Industries said.

“Clear results of our government’s push to speed up approval processes are now evident. Not only have investment agreements been secured, but effective implementation is also underway,” he said in a post on X.

He added that simplified and swift approval processes are boosting investor confidence and providing greater impetus to industrial growth across the state.

“Karnataka’s investment-friendly environment is further strengthened by its culture of ease of doing business,” he said.

Noting that Karnataka is fast-tracking approvals and aligning departments and districts for on-ground delivery, the minister said: “We have overhauled 18 key approvals, cutting land use change clearance time from 120 to 45 days, fire NOC from 60 to 21 days, factory plan approvals from 30 to 14 days, and electrical approvals to just 10 days.”

In a competitive landscape, Karnataka is acting decisively to ensure faster decisions, fewer delays, and a truly pro-industry ecosystem, he added.