WhatsApp to be used to help repair roads in Bihar
Tech savvy Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav has decided to use instant messaging platform Whatsapp to help construct and repair roads, officials said on Thursday. Tejaswi, 26, has released a WhatsApp number (9470001346) for people to click a picture of a bad road and send it in order to get repair work done. “In Bihar, people can now directly WhatsApp the conditions of roads under the Output and Performance Based Road Assets Maintenance Contract (OPRMC) to bring more quality and efficiency,” Tejaswi, who is also road construction minister, tweeted. According to road construction department officials, Tejaswi has been using Whatsapp as a new tool to ensure people to directly inform the concerned government agency to construct or repair broken roads. “It is a new people-friendly experiment using Whatsapp for better roads in the state,” the officials said. Earlier, people used to submit their complaint to the department and it was forwarded to a concerned engineer which led to delay of the repair works. This is not first time Tejaswi decided to use social media to help people. Last December, he helped an engineering student from Sitamarhi district to get his pending scholarship through Facebook. After engineering student informed Tejaswi on his Facebook account that he was unable to get the post-matric scholarship for the last three years despite much effort. Tejaswi immediately directed officials concerned to look into the complaint and ensure the youth received his scholarship money. Mike Hilton Jersey
Petronet chief wants oil, gas firms to jointly acquire assets abroad
ndian oil companies must come together to form a consortium and jointly scout for acquisition of hydrocarbon assets abroad, apart from setting up liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, says Prabhat Singh, chief executive of Petronet LNG, the government-owned natural gas importer. Apart from the latter, the consortium could comprise Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Oil India, gas transmission utility GAIL and Engineers India, he said during a conference organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “The consortium has been conceived by Petronet LNG at a time the company expects the prevailing scenario of low oil and gas prices to stay for another five years. To thrive in such circumstances, the consortium approach of national oil companies would be an ideal situation to acquire oil and gas, including terminal acreages, and assets overseas, including India,” Singh said. The new model can involve floating either a consortium or a Special Purpose Vehicle that will scout for opportunities abroad, including in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. He said the proposal had already been sent to the petroleum ministry, which has agreed in principle. “The idea has been briefly floated and discussed and its conclusiveness should follow, as India would be bidding to acquire gas properties and to build LNG terminals in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. For which, if India proceeds with collective approach, it would establish an edge over others,” Singh said. He added the approach could also be used to build domestic oil storages. Petronet, he revealed, had also proposed to the Lt Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to convert the fossil fuel-led economy of the Union Territory into a natural gas-driven one. Singh gave no details. Anthony Castonzo Womens Jersey
Petronet targets to market 1.5 mt LNG via road
Petronet LNG, India’s biggest importer of liquefied natural gas, targets to sell as much as 1.5 million tonne (mt) of the fuel annually by transporting it via trucks to customers not connected by pipelines, Prabhat Singh, managing director and CEO, told FE. “Our target is that in the next three years, we want to create a market of 1.5 mt of LNG through this route (road). The trucks could load at any terminal,” said Singh, who served as director (marketing) of GAIL (India) prior to Petronet. The strategy behind this move is to replace liquid fuel use by the trucks and small scale industries. Currently, Petronet operates two terminals – 10 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) at Dahej in Gujarat and partly a 5 mtpa terminal at Kochi in Kerala. The Petronet CEO said that nearly 70 mt of diesel is consumed annually in India. Of this, about 20 mt is utilised by long distance heavy duty trucks. Pointing out that there is a huge arbitrage between the diesel and LNG price — atleast $5 including all taxes — an LNG market could be created to substitute diesel. “The country’s LNG demand could double just by replacing one liquid fuel. That is the capacity,” he explained. Petronet is in talks with Tata Motors to buy about 100 trucks, which the gas importer would outsource to fleet owners for operating them. “The market is huge,” said Singh, adding that his firm could cater to mere 1-2 mt. This means that other gas marketing firms such as GAIL and IOC too have a fair chance to share a pie once the concept of transporting LNG via roads is established in India. “We have spoken to regulators and work is going on a fast pace. These trucks will run on LNG. For 1 mt of LNG, there is a need for more than 30,000 trucks. If we cater to 10,000 trucks, we would be able to utilise 0.1 million tonne,” Singh explained. Inititally, Petronet would deploy the tucks in Kerala – Kochi to Mangalore. This is primarily because its five million tonnes per annum re-gassification terminal at Kochi remains under utilised at mere 5% capacity due to lack of evacuation route. Gradually, it would introduce the business model in routes from Mumbai to Delhi and Mundra to Ahmedabad. Nick Chubb Womens Jersey
NHAI gets green nod for Rs1,246-crore UP road upgradation project
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has received environment clearance for updgrading the 146-km long carriageway of Kanpur (Chakeri) to Allahabad section of NH-2 in Uttar Pradesh at a cost of Rs 1,246 crore. “Based on the recommendation of the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC), the Environment Ministry yesterday gave environment clearance to the NHAI’s proposal ‘Rehabilitation and Upgradation of existing carriageway of Kanpur (Chakeri) to Allahabad section of NH-2,” a senior government official said. The approval has been given subject to the compliance of the specific and general conditions, the official said. The total cost of the project would be Rs 1,246 crore. The total length of the proposed road section is 145.31 km, which passes through three districts — Kanpur (23.7 km), Fatehpur (90.33 km) and Kaushambi (32.2 km) in UP. As per the proposal, the road will be widened to six lanes with 10.5-metre carriageway width on either side, 1.5-metre wide paved shoulder and 2-metre wide earthen shoulder. Service roads will also be widened in the build-up sections. The upgradation of this section would involve construction of three flyovers, two toll plazas, one major bridge, eight new and minor bridges and 176 culverts, among others. Among conditions specified, NHAI has been asked to construct suitable over-bridges in Sarsoul and other villages where road crossing is an issue. Since 12,305 trees are likely to be affected due to six laning, the company has been asked to take adequate measures to build green belt. Baker Mayfield Womens Jersey
Air India bars crew from ‘choosing’ flight mates
The Maharaja does not want its crew to get naughty on duty. Air India’s crew management system (CMS), which pairs pilots and cabin crew for flights and prepares rosters, routinely gets requests from crew to be paired with specific members of their choice. Keen to avoid a scandal since some married crew members also make requests, the airline has now banned CMS from accepting such requests and warned of action against crew members who do so. The action comes two months after an AI captain kept 110 passengers, on board an aircraft that was to fly from Chennai to Male, waiting for over two hours as he insisted on flying with a particular lady co-pilot. Terming such kind of requests as “inappropriate”, the order issued by AI general manager (operations) Captain RS Sandhu this Monday says: “It has been observed that CMS crew controllers and schedulers at bases are being approached by some crew, who are not directly associated with CMS functions, for requesting flights for themselves as well as other crew members… during planning or day of operations phase of the roster. The higher management has taken a very dim view of such indiscretion.” “All the crew controllers and schedulers are hereby directed to refrain from entertaining such requests, regardless of position, being held by such crew members. The same should be immediately brought to the notice of the undersigned. The same is for strict compliance, and any deviation will entail strict disciplinary action,” Sandhu’s strongly worded circular says. A senior AI commander, who has worked with several airlines, said: “Insistence to be paired with crew members of choice, including by married people, is common across all airlines —Indian and foreign — and not just unique to AI. It may be called the underbelly of our profession.” “Our top management has clamped down on the practice of pairing requests as it can play havoc with rostering system with people refusing to fly at the last minute unless sent with a member of their choice. And also we wanted to avoid any scandal,” he added. Mikael Backlund Jersey
Ruias plan to sell another 25% stake in Essar Oil
After stitching a deal to sell 49 per cent stake in Essar Oil % to Russia’s Rosneft, the Ruia family is looking at selling another 25 per cent stake in the company to an oil trader or a strategic investor like Saudi Aramco. The sale of 74 per cent stake (49 per cent to Rosneft and 25 per cent some other investor) will help bring down Group debt by half to about Rs 46,000 crore from current Rs 88,000 crore, sources said. The promoters see an enterprise value of Essar Oil of USD 10 billion. A preliminary deal for sale of 49 per cent in Essar Oil to Rosneft was signed between the companies in July 2015. In March 2016, they signed a non-binding agreement. No valuation was provided for the deal at that time. Rosneft, the world’s top listed oil producer, will get a hold in India’s second biggest oil refinery as well as its 2,400 petrol pumps that will more than double to 5,000 in two years. The Russian firm will also supply 10 million tonnes a year of crude to Essar Oil’s 20 million tonnes per annum Vadinar refinery in Gujarat for 10 years. The deal, however, does not include Essar Oil’s upstream portfolio comprising of five CBM blocks, holding up to 10 trillion cubic feet of gas resource. Rosneft is majority owned by the Russian government with BP Plc holding under a 20 per cent stake and public shareholding at around 10 per cent. The deal between Essar Oil and Rosneft is now in its final stages with the binding terms of the contract expected to be signed shortly, sources said. Essar has commenced discussions with more than one interested foreign investors for selling upto 25 per cent additional equity, they said, While the Rosneft deal is likely to conclude next month, sale of additional 25 per cent equity is expected to conclude by August. Sources said Ruias are leveraging the value created in an asset by monetising it. The promoters had recently paid Rs 3,347 crore to minority shareholders of Essar Oil to get the company delisted. This was the largest payout to public shareholders by any delisting company in India. The delisting had valued the company at about Rs 38,000 crore. Rosneft deal is the biggest private sector investment from Russia to be made in India. A group of Indian state-owned oil companies including ONGC Videsh Ltd, Oil India Ltd and Indian Oil Corp (IOC) are investing USD 5-6 billion in taking substantial stake in two oilfields operated by Rosneft in Russia. Henri Richard Womens Jersey
Honeywell unit eyes India’s $4.3 billion effort to clean air with cleaner fuels
Refining technology companies HoneywellBSE 0.49 % UOP and Technip SA see growth opportunities in India as oil demand booms and the government seeks cleaner fuels within four years to tackle air pollution. France’s Technip projects as much as 20 per cent annual sales growth in Asia’s third-largest economy, while UOP India Pvt., a unit of New Jersey-based Honeywell International Inc., expects an increase of at least 15 per cent. “That’s exciting for us,” UOP India’s Managing Director Steven C. Gimre said in an interview near New Delhi on Monday. “We’re in the process of bidding on some projects that are coming up, and we’ve also signed up some projects.” Technip India Ltd.’s Senior Vice President Shekhar Balvalli said India is fast-tracking improvements at state-run refiners so that petrol and diesel comply with a local equivalent of European Euro 6 emission standards by April 2020. While refiners plan a 288-billion-rupee ($4.3-billion) outlay on upgrades, the timeline is aggressive in a nation where infrastructure deadlines have slipped. “From the context of time, it’s very difficult unless very professionally managed,” said Deepak Mahurkar, leader for the oil and gas team at PricewaterhouseCoopers in India. “They are very, very complicated projects.” Gimre said UOP is tying up with engineers such as Larsen & Toubro Ltd. to prefabricate the refinery units that state-run companies need by 2020, a model that he argued allows for a speedier shift to making cleaner fuel. Surpass Japan India is expected to surpass Japan as the world’s third-largest oil user this year and will be the fastest-growing crude consumer in the world through 2040, the Paris-based International Energy Agency estimates. The nation’s refineries plan to add over 55 million metric tons of annual capacity at their existing refineries by 2020, according to the annual reports and websites of Indian OilBSE 7.35 % Corp., Bharat PetroleumBSE 2.06 % Corp. and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. The government has also announced a plan to build a 60-million-metric-ton-a-year refinery on the west coast. As the same time, officials are grappling with some of the worst air pollution in the world, stoked by everything from tailpipe emissions to crop burning and smoke-stack power plants. “We’re seeing a big market on the refining side due to upcoming opportunities for BS-VI fuel,” Balvalli said, referring to the Bharat Stage VI emissions standards. The Indian government brought forward the introduction of BS-VI to 2020 from 2024 on increasing concern about the high levels of toxic PM2.5 particles in the air. The benchmark seeks to reduce nitrous oxide and particulate matter such as sulphur.
24×7 eateries can become a reality if contradictory local restrictions in states are changed, say restaurateurs
Stopping at your favourite restaurant to grab a bite in the wee hours may still not be possible unless multiple and contradicting state-level laws are changed, operators said, citing the fine print in a bill approved by the Cabinet allowing shops and eateries to open all day and night. While officials at fine dining outlets, bars and quick service chains said the move would bring in a much-needed boost to a sector that has been reeling under single-digit growth due to lower consumer spending and multiple layers of taxation, they conceded that the multiplicity of local restrictions could cut short plans to operate 24×7. “The ultimate decision to adopt or modify the law lies with the respective states and each one has a different policy or act,” said Rahul Singh, chief executive of Beer Cafe, which operates 35 stores across 10 cities. “A lot needs to be done to ensure this turns into a reality and that may be a challenge. A restaurant serving liquor, or even otherwise, needs multiple licences to operate.” The Model Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Bill, which the Cabinet approved on Wednesday, provides for freedom to operate 365 days in a year and flexible opening and closing times. The draft bill will now be sent to states and Union Territories so that they can adopt the draft as it is or modify its provisions as per their requirements. “The problem is that every state has its own laws and every law has its own politics,” said Zorawar Kalra, promoter of Masala Library and Farzi Cafe. The decision will “benefit multiple stakeholders including consumers, restaurant companies and the government, besides immediate access to extra jobs. We do hope things work out,” he said. All restaurants need an ‘eating house licence’ given by local police licensing departments covered under registration regulations, which clearly state that restaurants can’t be kept open between 1 am and 5 am. This will have to be changed. Each state has an excise and taxation department that covers restaurants with a licence to serve liquor. However, the excise rules specify that liquor can’t be served between 1am and 11am. There’s also a health trade licence that will have to be issued by the local municipal authority to operate 24 hours a day. Gaurav Goenka, managing director of Mumbai-based diversified hospitality and real estate entity Mirah Group, which owns United Sports Bar and Grill, Cafe Mangii, Falafel and Khandani Rajdhani, said: “There is a fine print which has to be examined. State authorities will have to work in tandem to make this work and that could be the challenge. There will be teething troubles, though in the long run we expect that things will be smooth.” Calvin de Haan Jersey
Gujarat traders want policy for retail sector
With business as well as competition set to increase following Union cabinet’s clearance to the Model Shops and Establishment Act, the trading community in Gujarat now wants the state government to come out with a state-specific policy for the development and protection of retail trade sector, especially the unorganised retail trade segment. Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has already made representation to the Gujarat government stressing on the need for a Gujarat retail trade policy. “We have approached the government and our proposal is currently under consideration,” said KT Patel, vice-president, GCCI. States like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have already unveiled retail policies for their respective states. “While these policies have not focused much on unorganised retail trade, we have suggested that the state government form a policy focusing on the unorganised retail traders, who have been facing stiff competition from corporate and e-commerce giants,” said Jayendra Tanna, president, Gujarat State Traders Federation. The federation has 600 trade associations as its members. Gujarat has more than 50 lakh unorganized small shop-owners and traders and they form a large chunk of the overall retail market. This segment, with no instituitional or government support, finds it very difficult to survive against corporate and online retailers who have deep pockets and the support of financial instituitions such as banks. “There are other problems related to finance, taxation and infrastructure. There has to be a policy to regulate all the stakeholders with special emphasis on small traders,” said Patel. Implementation of the new Model Act will result in more business and fuel further competition. “In such a situation, a separate retail trade policy will help maximize gains,” Tanna said. Among other things, GCCI has urged the government to create specialized financial instituitions exclusively for traders to improve credit flow. “Apart from providing for short to medium-term lending, traders want a separate office of trade commissioner to address issues faced by the traders. Kevin Shattenkirk Womens Jersey
Flipkart gets another markdown with Vanguard slashing its value by 25%
A Vanguard-managed mutual fund has marked down the value of its shares in Flipkart by 25%, the fund has disclosed last month. Vanguard has marked the value of their Flipkart shares at $102.6 as of March 2016, down from $136.87 as of December 2015. The markdown pegs Flipkart’s valuation at $11.4 billion, as compared to the $15.2 billion when it last raised capital in July 2015. It’s worth noting that Vanguard currently owns very small amounts of Flipkart stock with its holdings currently worth less than $6 million. This however follows a series of markdowns from larger investors Morgan Stanley and T Rowe Price. Morgan Stanley had marked down its holdings by 15.5% in May, after marking it down by 27% in February this year. Two of Flipkart’s mutual fund investors Fidelity and Valic had further marked down the value of their holdings in the company by 20% in May this year while a T Rowe Price-managed mutual fund had marked down its holdings by 15% in April. Flipkart’s other key shareholders include New York-based investment firm Tiger Global, South African media giant Naspers, Singapore sovereign wealth GIC, Russian billionaire Yuri Milner’s DST Global and early stage investment firm Accel. Flipkart co-founder and CEO Binny Bansal had earlier told ET in an interview that these markdowns are “mostly a theoretical exercise by small investors”. “From our perspective, valuation is when we raise money. When we raise money, our value will be clear in the market” Bansal added. This might however put Flipkart on the back foot in its ongoing fundraising negotiations with investors and might not be able to raise funds at its preferred valuations. Flipkart has been looking to shore up a new round of funding since late 2015 to maintain its leadership position in India against rival Amazon, ET had previously reported. That being said chairman Sachin Bansal recently told reporters that they are not looking at raising fresh funds. Rival Amazon is however ramping up its Indian operations, with founder Jeff Bezos recently committing an additional $3 billion investment to its India unit, taking the total commitment to $5 billion. Joseph Noteboom Womens Jersey