Inadequate availability of gas limiting urea sector growth
Short supply of gas is impeding the growth of fertiliser industry, which is getting only 24 to 26 mmcmd of the fuel as against the allocated 31.5 mmcmd, a Parliamentary panel has said. “The committee note with deep concern that the inadequate availability of gas is one of the major limiting factors to the growth of urea industry in the country,” the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Department of Fertilisers (DoF) said in its report which was tabled in Parliament today. The committee said that it is of strong view that pricing and firm availability of natural gas for existing and new units of fertiliser companies are the pre-requisites to raise the indigenous production. “..therefore, desire the Department (DoF) to play a proactive role in association with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas towards allocation of gas for the existing and new fertiliser plants in the country,” the report added. The current requirement for the fertiliser sector is 46.5 mmcmd while only 31.5 mmcmd is being allocated to them. As against that, what is supplied is only 24 to 26 mmcmd of domestic gas. The panel also suggested that the DoF should take up the matter of connectivity of gas pipeline to three naptha based fertiliser plants. There are total 30 urea manufacturing plants in the country, out of which 27 are on gas, while remaining three are on Naptha.
RIL entitled to recover cost on unviable gas discovery: Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee
Taking a diagonally opposite view to CAG, Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee today said RILBSE -0.29 % is entitled to recover all cost incurred on unviable gas discoveries as government’s technical arm DGH had in the first place allowed it to retain the entire KG-D6 block area. PAC, which went into the 2011 CAG report that castigated Oil Ministry for allowing Reliance Industries Ltd to retain its entire eastern offshore KG-D6 block in contravention of the Production Sharing Contract, said exploration cost on unviable finds cannot be disallowed. CAG had faulted the ministry and its technical arm, the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), for allowing RIL to retain the entire 7,645 sq km KG-DWN-98/3 (KG-D6) block in the Bay of Bengal after the giant Dhirubhai-1 and 3 gas finds were made in 2001. As per the rules, only the area where discovery is made is allowed to be retained after exploration period. In its report tabled in Parliament, PAC said delineating Development and Discovery Areas from vast area given to explore oil and gas, requires technical expertise. And, the block oversight committee comprising of ministry officials and DGH as well as DGH had on the request of RIL allowed it to retain the entire block area as Discovery Area. “Therefore, the exploration costs incurred by the contractor (RIL) on unviable discoveries cannot be disallowed as the contractor is entitled to recovery contract cost out of a percentage of total value of petroleum produced and saved from the contract area as per the PSC,” the report said. Contract cost is the expenditure incurred in exploring and/or developing a discovery. “We recommend that the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas should review the determination of the entire contract area as ‘discovery area’ strictly in terms of the PSC provisions,” CAG had said in its report, asking for delineation of the discovery area and relinquishment of the rest. In a subsequent report, CAG had stated that the ministry should accept sharing of exploration cost of only those wells which resulted in discovery and disallow the cost for others. On the USD 2.3 billion expenditure that the ministry had disallowed as penalty for KG-D6 gas output lagging targets due to non-drilling of committed wells, PAC said RIL has invoked arbitration in almost all the cases where Government has disallowed the costs. It noted that the “ministry in their submission before the Committee agreed that there were anomalies in the provisions” of the Production Sharing Contract (PSC). “The Committee while appreciating that the Ministry has learnt its lessons are apprehensive about the status of issues between the Government and the Contractors that have been lingering on due to the original provisions which have now been relaxed. “The Committee are of the view that a strong dispute resolution mechanism should be put in place to address the concerns of both parties,” the report said. On award of contracts by RIL on the basis of a single financial bid, PAC asked the ministry to develop robust monitoring mechanism within the existing PSC framework to ensure that a fully transparent and cost-effective process is adopted by operators in future. Commenting on government mandating a discovery confirming test before recognising a gas find, it said alternative tests for confirming commerciality of the discoveries must be allowed. “The Committee while noting that the CCEA has relaxed the provisions by providing that Operator should either relinquish or carry out DST (test) and pay penalty for delays or develop the discoveries on his own risk in ringfenced manner are of the view that a comprehensive policy may be brought out allowing alternative tests for confirming commerciality of the discoveries to ensure that the policy does not get redundant with introduction of new technologies,” it said. Government auditor CAG did not say in its September 2011 report if the capital expenditure for KG-D6 being raised from USD 2.4 billion proposed in 2004 to USD 8.8 billion in 2006 was unjustified or inflated. As per the PSC, RIL should have relinquished 25 per cent of the total area outside the discoveries in June, 2004, and 2005, but the entire block was declared as a discovery area and the company was allowed to retain it. CAG was critical of government oversight, particularly on high value procurement decisions, and sought an “in-depth review” of 10 contracts, including eight awarded to Aker Group by Reliance on a single-bid basis. Tim Williams Jersey
IOC investing Rs 45K crore to expand refining capacity to meet demand
Refining giant Indian Oil Corp (IOC) is preparing for a future when batteries will increasingly replace car fuel tanks but for the moment is investing Rs 45,000 crore to expand its refining capacity to meet the rapidly rising fuel consumption in the country. The rapid progress in battery technology and a big customer cheer Tesla, the battery-car innovator, received recently has strengthened hope battery-powered cars may within decades replace conventional cars on most roads and end the dominance of fossil fuel in transportation. “At this point of time, I don’t see Tesla totally changing the world because projections do not indicate that,” B. Ashok, chairman, Indian Oil Corp told ETin an interview. “We believe that looking at that (Tesla) as a threat we should not stop our activities because that will be a bigger threat. If it doesn’t transform the world as it is expected to, and we still have to depend on the conventional energy, there should not be a shortage of energy available at that point of time because I today fear that if I set up a refinery, maybe after ten years the refinery will have no meaning. I can’t take that stance.” With a capacity of 80,000 million tonne of refining capacity, 35% of India’s total, Indian Oil Corp is the country’s largest refiner. It also has 25,000 filling stations, nearly half of the nation’s total. The company plans to raise its refining capacity by a quarter with an investment of Rs 45,000 crore in brownfield expansion, debottlenecking and fuel quality upgrade projects in the next five to seven years. Under this, its freshly-built Paradip refinery will expand to 20 million tonne from 15 million tonne today, so will its Panipat facility. The company plans to invest heavily in fuel marketing and distribution infrastructure as well as exploration and production. India’s fuel consumption grew 11% in 2015-16 and is expected to rise more than 7% in the current fiscal. While big investments are underway at Indian Oil Corp, what has changed is the way the projects are evaluated. “Instead of purely looking at whether it makes commercial sense for us to take up some projects, we have started having these conversations whenever we look at any proposal that how sustainable this is? So if the business is going to be altered in the future because of any change in demand trend and so on, to what extent will our investment which we are making ensure that there is no redundancy of that,” Ashok said. So if petrol and diesel were to run out of car owners’ favour tomorrow, the refinery should be flexible enough to tweak its output to be able to supply more raw material to the company’s growing petrochemicals business, he said. The company is also investing heavily in research and development in this regard. Doug Middleton Authentic Jersey
India-Singapore urban management programme launched
With an eye on improving urbanisation process in the country with assistance from Singapore an urban management program organised by Temasek Foundation (TF) and Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) and NITI Aayog got underway here on Wednesday for over 50 participants from seven Indian states. This is in accordance with an MoU which was signed during PM Narendra Modis visit to Singapore last year. Officials from 7 States (Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh & Assam) are participating in this Programme that would cover areas of Urban Planning & Governance, Water, Waste Water & Solid Waste Management and Public Financing (PPP) of Urban Infrastructure. The best practices of Singapore in these areas are being shared by TF and SCE. Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, Dr Arvind Panagariya chaired the Launch Programme which was attended by the Member NITI Aayog, Dr Bibek Debroy, High Commissioner of Singapore to India, the CEO of SCE and the CEO of Temasek Foundation. The state participation is at the level of Secretaries of Urban Development, Municipal Commissioners and other senior officials of State Government. The Programme has been designed by NITI Aayog, Temasek Foundation and SCE under the platform of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between NITI Aayog and the SCE to tap the expertise of Singapore in urban sector to build capacities in State Governments and ULBs. During the program, experts from Singapore would impart training in highly interactive workshops and share Singapore’s and international experiences with the participants. The workshops and advisory sessions would focus on Urban Planning & Governance, Water and Wastewater Management, Solid Waste Management and bringing in private sector efficiencies in urban infrastructure. Urbanisation level in India, which was around 31 per cent in census 2011 is estimated to increase and reach 40 per cent by 2030 in percentage terms, the urbanisation level may appear to be modest, however in absolute numbers it is very large. Urban population of India is more than the entire population of United States of America or Brazil. The urban economy has also witnessed significant growth and is contributing to around 60 per cent of GDP. However, to reap the full benefits of urbanisation, it is important that it is efficient and sustainable. Set up by Temasek, an investment company based in Singapore, Temasek Foundation is a Singapore philanthropic organisation that seeks to build a more prosperous, stable and connected Asia through building human and social capital. SCE was set up by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore in 2006 to respond effectively to the multitude of foreign requests interested in Singapore’s development experience. SCE works closely with Singapore’s 15 ministries and over 60 statutory boards to scope out and tailor possible solutions to match the needs of foreign governments, and help meet their development objectives. SCE also serves as the focal point of access to expertise from Singapore across its public agencies. SCE is now an integrated arm of International Enterprise Singapore, the government agency driving Singapore’s external economy. Nino Niederreiter Womens Jersey
Greening of highways can be linked to NREGA: Nitin Gadkari
Government plans to provide ‘green canopy’ on national highways at an estimated cost of Rs 5,000 crore and may link that with NREGA to boost rural economy, creating a large number of jobs. “Roads must be viewed as green highway opportunities. Aside from the environmental and aesthetic aspects, they have a huge potential to generate jobs and can immensely benefit the rural economy. It may even be linked with the NREGA scheme,” Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said here at an event. Addressing a workshop on Greening of Highways, jointly organised by NHAI and TERI, Gadkari said at least Rs 5,000 crore would be spent on providing a green cover on national highways which would be game changer for rural economy and can employ multitudes of women and children. Under the Green Highways policy, which will be implemented from June this year, the government has made it mandatory to set aside 1 per cent of the total project cost of any highways contract to a “Green Fund” corpus for plantation. Gadkari said that so far road contracts worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore have been awarded and the number would swell to Rs 2 lakh crore by next month. “In total we are going to award at least Rs 5 lakh crore worth of highways projects and Rs 5,000 crore would exclusively be meant for greening of highways and transplantation of trees,” he said. He invited investors to take up experimental projects. “If needed, we will provide technology and financial support as well to the selected agency. Three winners from each state every year will also be awarded for exemplary work.” The minister said the projects will be monitored through satellite technology with payments to be made only after the successful implementation. He said the government plans setting up 1,200 highway villages along the major sections which will house restaurants having local cuisines and cultural parks to showcase local produce. Talking about environmental benefits that will accrue from greening of highways, the minister urged the use of biofuels in machines to be employed in the project and organic fertilisers for transplanted trees. NHAI Chairman Raghav Chandra said: “We have set aside 1 per cent of our project cost for transplantation, plantation, beautification and maintenance. We have adequate funds and we intend to use it for setting SOPs, build capacity and imbibe the best global practises.” TERI Director General Ajay Mathur said: “Given the fact that land for new plantation is limited, additional tree cover would come out from approaches such as intense plantation along highways. The creation of the National Green Highways Mission will help identify and resolve challenges associated with the issue.” Erik Swoope Womens Jersey
AP govt to spend Rs 4000 cr for development of towns
The TDP government will spend Rs 4,000 crore for the development of infrastructural facilities in various towns of the state, Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Y Ramakrishnudu has said. At present, 27 per cent of the state’s population lives in towns, which, he said have been seeing a rise in migration from people in the villages. The state government is taking all necessary steps, including development of infrastructural facilities in towns to meet the needs of people who migrate and those already living there, Ramakrishnudu said here on Wednesday. “The state government has decided to spend Rs 4,000 crore for development of infrastructural facilities,” he said, hoping the move will also increase employment opportunities. He expressed happiness at the selection of Kakinada and Visakhapatnam by the Centre to be developed as ‘smart cities’ in Andhra Pradesh. The minister said the TDP government will utilise funds, both from the state and the Centre, for the development of Kakinada as smart city, he added. He also called for the need to facilitate the reach of the state’s welfare programmes for the benefit of poor and other sections. Dikembe Mutombo Authentic Jersey
Smart city project: 40 cities to be selected in second round
Forty cities will be selected for the second phase of the Smart City Mission, which is likely to be announced by June, Rajya Sabha was told on Thursday. The first batch of 20 cities, including Bhubaneshwar, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bhopal and NDMC area of Delhi, were selected for Narendra Modi government’s flagship smart city project in January. “It is expected that the results of the next phase will be announced by May/June,” Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said in written reply. Assured water and power supply, sanitation and solid waste management systems, efficient urban mobility and public transportation, IT connectivity, e-governance and citizen participation are some of the highlights of the smart city project. Under the Smart City Mission, 100 cities across the country will be developed as smart cities by 2019-20 with the Union government providing financial support to the extent of Rs 48,000 crore over five years–on an average Rs 100 crore per city per year for five years. An equal amount will be contributed by the state/urban local body and the balance funds would be mobilised through various sources such as public private partnership and municipal bonds. Around 54 cities, including Varanasi, Nagpur, Muzaffarpur, Ghaziabad, Agra, Kanpur, Kota and Gandhinagar will compete to find a place in the second list of 40 cities for the smart city projects. Stephen Strasburg Authentic Jersey