More ‘green’ roads across the country soon
There will be more ‘green’ roads across the country with the help of a unique technology developed by Assam-based Bitchem company. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently appreciated the cold mix technology by the firm during an innovation exhibit in Africa. “We are extremely delighted at the rare acknowledgment by the Prime Minister about the technology. This strengthens our resolve to keep propagating about this highly efficient and green technology and push through policy hurdles to scale up its acceptance. “We are committed to creating concept of green roads in the country and elsewhere,” company’s CEO Rajeev Agarwal said today. Cold mix technology is greener, safer and enables faster black-topping of roads. Cold mix is tailor made and can be used in all-weather conditions besides being more durable as it contains anti-stripping properties. The technology is also an impressive option to solve the problems of road connectivity in India, and especially in hilly states as various factors like heavy rainfall often delay the construction and maintenance of roads in such regions, Agarwal said. “Over the years, despite the stiff challenges, we have been able to use this technology to lay over 4,000 plus km in challenging conditions and remote rural areas. However, we feel we have many miles to go provided we are able to create an enabling environment and right policy framework,” he said. The biggest advantage of the cold mix technology is that on an average in cold mix precious fossil fuels — approximately 1,500 litres of diesel per kilometre — are saved and if over 1,000 km of roads are constructed in a year in each state, the benefits would be enormous. “If we consider 30,000 km annual road construction, cold mix can save the nation 45 million litres and 145.35 million kg carbon footprints,” he said. Zach Hyman Jersey
High WPI to boost toll road revenues for FY18: ICRA
The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) increasing to a 20-month high of 1.6 per cent in June from 0.8 per cent in May will augur well for the toll road projects revenues for financial year 2017-18, according to Icra Research. “We expect the toll rates to increase in the range of 3.0-3.7 per cent during FY2018 – the highest growth after FY2015, following significant de-growth in toll rates for two consecutive years,” it said. It estimates the average increase in WPI for 2017 to be around 3 per cent. The report also said the toll fees are revised annually to adjust for inflation, as determined by the movement in the WPI, which links the revenues of toll road special purpose vehicles (SPVs) to movements in the WPI. “For FY2018, the toll rate hike is estimated to be in the range of 3-3.7 per cent. While traffic is expected to increase by about 5-6 per cent in terms of annual average daily traffic. Overall, the growth in toll collections is expected to remain healthy at more than 10-11 per cent levels. With rising inflation, the operations, maintenance and interest costs will also witness an increase; however growth in revenues will be higher, resulting in improved profitability,” Icra Senior Vice-President Rohit Inamdar said. Icra noted that the impact of negative WPI is seen during FY2016 and FY2017. “Projects for which toll rates are linked fully with WPI, the toll rates were revised downwards whereas for the other projects, the increase has been 2.7 per cent in FY2016 and 1.9 per cent in FY 2017,” the rating agency said. However, the traffic growth has been robust during FY2016 which is likely to continue during current fiscal, it added. As per the report, in a low inflation scenario, when there is no commensurate fall in interest rates, the profitability of the toll road projects gets adversely affected. Prince Fielder Womens Jersey
Vistara mulls regional Tier II, III India operations
istara Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer, Sanjiv Kapoor, says the carrier is considering branching into the regional commuter carrier business using 70-seater aircraft. Speaking to DNA India, Kapoor said the subsidiary, tentatively named Vistara Express, would focus on feeding traffic from smaller Tier II and III towns into larger metropolitan hubs such as Mumbai Int’l, Bangalore Int’l, Delhi Int’l, and Srinagar. No firms plans have yet been devised and the project is still only a concept, he added. Trent Williams Jersey
Book LTC tickets on lowest fare or face action: Govt to staff
Employees who fail to buy air tickets at the lowest price available on the day while undertaking journey on Leave Travel Concession (LTC) claim will face severe penal action, as per the draft guidelines finalised by the Centre. The move comes after the government noticed instances where some of its employees colluded with private travel agents to submit LTC claims showing inflated airfare to clandestinely obtain undue benefits like free boarding, lodging, transport or cash refunds. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is also looking into cases of alleged irregularities in availing the LTC claims. The ministries concerned will also carry out random checks with airlines to ensure that the tickets were booked at the lowest fare available on the date of purchase. “It has now been decided that in accordance with the canons of financial propriety, government servants should purchase tickets at the lowest rate available at the time of booking for the date and time of scheduled journey. “Government servant will be required to submit print-out of tickets showing date and time of booking in addition to the fare charged,” the new guidelines drafted by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said. Any violation of the existing norms by authorised travel agents — M/s Balmer Lawrie & Company, M/s Ashok Travels & Tours and IRCTC — will invite blacklisting. A government employee gets reimbursement of tickets for to-and-fro journey, in addition to leaves, when he avails LTC.
Aranmula airport: KGS submits new application seeking environmental sanction
Aranmula Project promoters KGS Group has given a new application to Union environmental ministry, seeking environmental sanction to build airport at Aranmula in Pathanamthitta district. The ministry will consider the application on July 29. The stand taken by the State government then will be decisive. Former UDF government had taken a favourable stand towards Aranmula project. In May last year, the Central government had cancelled the permission for the project. The Supreme Court had upheld the National Green Tribunal order cancelling the nod given the Union ministry on November 18, 2013. The Supreme Court cancelled the order after making the observation that the agency Enviro care that had taken up the environmental impact study in Aranmula didn’t have the credentials to conduct the study. Maurice Richard Womens Jersey
Air India looks to fly into profit by 2019-20; wants govt to clear Rs 10,500 crore NCDs
Air India has approached the government asking it to guarantee non-convertible debentures (NCD) worth `10,500 crore that it wants to issue against long-terms debt on its books. Converting loans into NCDs would bring down the interest rate by about 2%, senior executives at the airline explained. The country’s national carrier also plans to use the proceeds from a sale and lease back of wide-bodied aircraft to retire Rs ,500 crore or about a fifth of its short-term debt. As a consequence of some of these measures, the airline is expected to turn cash positive by 2017-18 rather than by 2019-20 as was envisaged earlier. Moreover, it is expected to report net profits by 2019 -20 ahead of the time frame of 2021-22 built into the original TurnAround Plan (TAP). A new TAP says Air India will induct 100 aircraft by including narrow-bodied planes from Airbus, Boeing 787, 777 and ATR aircraft by FY 20-21 indicating towards a significant increase in capacity in the next four years. Going by the current performance the airline is expected to repay all the aircraft related loans by 2021. At the end of March 2016, Air India’s total borrowings stood at Rs 50,000 crore of which Rs 30,000 crore are working capital loans. The remaining Rs 20,000 crore was borrowed to buy aircraft. The sale and lease back arrangements for nine Boeing 787 aircraft are expected to fetch the airline an estimated 900 million dollars, senior executives told FE. The executives added the repayment of short -term loans and some bridge bridge loans should happen in the current year. Jung-ho Kang Womens Jersey
Militants attack state-run Nigerian oil pipeline
Militants in Nigeria have attacked a crude oil pipeline on the outskirts of Warri, a city in the Niger Delta, which is operated by a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), a community leader said on Monday. Militants calling for a greater share of Nigeria’s energy wealth to go to the impoverished Delta area have carried out attacks oil and gas facilities in the southern region over the last few months. Two blasts were heard on the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC) line Sunday night, said Batan community chairman Ogugu Dickson. A security source also said there had been blasts in the town of Batan. “This morning I and some PPMC workers, and security agents, were at the site. All we could see was a huge bubble (of oil) on the surface of the river,” said Dickson. Oil facilities in Batan have been hit in the last few months. NNPC could not immediately be reached for comment. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Attacks in the Niger Delta briefly pushed the country’s oil production to 30-year lows in spring. Bo Jackson Authentic Jersey
Ending support to high-income customers: LPG subsidy cut off to 7 lakh consumers
More than 7 lakh customers with above Rs 10 lakh annual income have so far been identified and stopped from availing of cooking gas subsidy under the government programme to end state support to high-income consumers, officials said. Since the beginning of 2016, those who earn a taxable annual income of overRs 10 lakh, or have a spouse with that income, must pay market price for cooking gas. For continuing to receive the subsidy, every consumer has to submit an affidavit to the gas agency, declaring the annual income to be lower than Rs 10 lakh. The government database of income tax payers and declarations by consumers have been used to block subsidy to these consumers, officials and state oil firms’ executive said, adding that the higher-income category may have about 20 lakh consumers. Recently, the government has also allowed oil companies to increase the price of cooking gas by Rs 2 per cylinder, indicating its determination to reduce the subsidy bill. This is in addition to the decision to raise 25 paise per litre on kerosene a month for ten months. All these steps are part of the government’s larger drive to shrink petroleum subsidy and keep it targeted towards those who can’t afford to pay the market price for fuel. An oil price crash in the last two years has also aided the government effort to curb subsidy. By directly transferring subsidy to cooking gas consumers’ account, the state oil companies have been able to weed out about 3.25 crore duplicate or inactive consumers, enlarging subsidy saving. A little more than 1 crore consumers have also given up subsidy voluntarily, although they can claim it back after a year of surrender. As a result, the cooking gas subsidy fell sharply to Rs 27,571 crore in 2015-16 from Rs 76,285 crore in the previous year. For July, the cash transfer to a customer under direct benefit transfer scheme will be Rs 116.34 per cylinder. Milan Lucic Womens Jersey
Torrent Power slashes tariff in Gujarat for Q2
Private sector power player Torrent Power Limited on Monday announced a reduction in the Fuel and Power Purchase Price Adjustment (FPPPA) charges for the current quarter, for its power consumers in the cities of Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Surat. In a statement issued here, the company informed that the cut in the FPPPA will be ?0.80 per unit for the September quarter as against ?1.98 per unit in the comparable quarter of the previous year, showing a reduction of ?1.18 per unit. This will result in a reduction of about 17 per cent in power bills. This announcement follows the reduction in FPPPA to ?1.30 per unit, already implemented by Torrent in first quarter of the current fiscal year, the company said. The FPPPA charge varies quarter-to-quarter, in accordance with a formula approved by the power regulator, Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC), on account of variations in actual cost of power procurement and volume. A separate Regulatory Charge of ?0.18 per unit in case of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar and ?0.17 per unit in case of Surat to recover Torrent’s past approved under-recoveries has been made effective since July 1, 2016, which was not applicable in the previous year. Even after accounting for the Regulatory Charge, all categories of consumers in Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Surat will, on a net basis, save ?1 per unit as compared to previous year on account of the reduced FPPPA charge, the company informed. Charles Johnson Authentic Jersey
DDUGJY reaches out to electrify 141 villages last week
141 villages have been electrified across the country during last week (from 11th to 17th July 2016) under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojna (DDUGJY). Out of these electrified villages, 5 villages belong to Arunachal Pradesh , 56 in Meghalaya, 31 in Assam, 4 in Mizoram, 3 in Jharkhand,9 in Rajasthan ,3 in Madhya Pradesh , 23 in Odisha and 5 in Bihar, 1 each in Himachal Pradesh and Tripura. In view of, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to nation, on Independence Day, government of India has decided to electrify remaining 18,452 unelectrified villages within 1000 days i.e. by 01st May, 2018. The project has been taken on mission mode and strategy for electrification consists of squeezing the implementation schedule to 12 months and also dividing village electrification process in 12 Stage milestones with defined timelines for monitoring. 8,960 villages have been electrified till date. Out of remaining 8,995 villages, 497 villages are uninhabitated. 6,009 villages are to be electrified through grid,2,657 villages to be electrified through off-grid where grid solutions are out of reach due to geographical barriers and 329 villages are to be electrified by State Govt . Maurice Canady Authentic Jersey