Navi Mumbai airport to start operations by December 2019, says minister
Mumbai’s air gridlock may start easing in the next four years. The Centre on Thursday said the Navi Mumbai International Airport, which is to act as the aerial bypass to the choked-to-capacity Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, may start operations by December 2019. Minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha told Lok Sabha , “Selection of concessionaire on public-private partnership basis shall be finalized by December. All major clearances have been obtained, 160 hectares have been acquired… Phase-I of aircraft operations with capacity to handle 10 million passengers per annum is expected to commence by December 2019.” Cidco, the agency overseeing the project, expects construction work to begin on the site by the end of next monsoon or in a little over 13 months. Cidco VC and MD BhushanGagrani told TOI that the agency was working in three areas simultaneously so that the late-2019 target could be met. “The request for quotation work is over. We have issued financial bids to the three shortlisted companies (led by Tatas, GVK and GMR). By September-end, we should be ready with the concessionaire.” Bud Dupree Jersey
Nuclear-power generation capacity to be hiked 3 times in 10 yrs: Jitendra Singh
Government plans to increase the nuclear power generation capacity of the country by three times in ten years, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said today. Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, the Minister of State in the PMO said while earlier five-year plan targets were set with regard to electricity generation from nuclear power plants, “with the establishment of Niti Aayog, the concept of five-year plans has lost relevance and the government proposes to make long term plans ranging from 7-15 years.” He said the government aims to increase the capacity for power generation by three times in ten years. Singh also said that a three stage nuclear power programme has been devised to efficiently utilise the large reserve of thorium in the country. “India has gained experience over the entire thorium fuel cycle – fabrication, irradiation and reprocessing on a semi-industrial scale. Efforts are currently on to enlarge that experience to a bigger scale,” he said. Sam Martin Jersey
TSERC seeks public opinion on draft
Telangana State Electricity Regulatory Commission (TSERC) has sought public opinion for making changes to the draft of Net Metering Rooftop Solar PV Grid Interactive System Regulation 2016. Citizens have been asked to submit their suggestions and objections by August 8. The draft would be finalised to supply power to domestic, industries and commercial needs using net metering rooftop solar PV Grid interactive system. The Commission would prepare a final draft after receiving comments and suggestions. The Commission Secretary stated that stakeholders and general public can give their comments and make suggestions on the rooftop solar PV Grid Interactive System. With a view to encourage and promote Grid interactive rooftop solar PV systems, the Commission has made available the details on the website www.tserc.gov.in. Ted Lindsay Jersey
Power supply deficit 0.9% in April-June quarter
Overall power deficit was 0.9 percent in the April-June quarter of this fiscal as 292.82 billion units were supplied against a demand of 295.34 billion units, Parliament was informed today. During the quarter, 2,92,822 million units of power was supplied against the demand of 2,95,344 million units, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. In 2015-16, the overall power deficit was 2.11 percent as 1090.85 billion units were supplied against the demand of 1114.40 billion units. Government has planned to make the country energy surplus with a target of generating 1,178 billion units, leading to 1.1 percent overall electricity surplus during this fiscal. According to the Load Generation Balance Report (LGBR) for 2016-17, the Centre has set a target of generating 1,178 billion units with overall surplus of 1.1 percent and peak surplus of 2.6 percent. In a separate reply, Goyal said the government is making efforts to provide for the coal, power & renewable sectors a possible investment opportunity of about USD 250 billion during five-year period between 2015 to 2020. When extrapolated to a 15-year programme until 2030, the coal, power and renewable sector alone provides USD 1 trillion opportunity, he said. The investment will be in area like transmission, opening of new mines, to bring technology into the coal sector, push towards energy efficiency, to bring in new coal generating plants which will be environmentally superior plants, to make distribution sector profitable business for the state discoms. In another reply the minister said:”To increase generation of power, capacity addition of 1,18,537 MW (including 88,537 MW conventional and 30,000 MW renewable) was planned during the 12th Plan (by 2016-17). As against this, about 86,565 MW from conventional sources and about 19,500 MW from renewable sources have been achieved till June 30, 2016.” He also said that today, about 41 percent of generation capacity is private and private sector investments are also flowing in the transmission sector. “Preliminary estimation by Central Electricity Authority reveal that around Rs 32 lakh crore would be required for meeting expenditure on generation, transmission and distribution alone during 2017-2027. Over and above this, there would be commensurate investments required for research and development, manpower needs, energy conservation measures etc,” he added. The total transmission capacity of inter-regional links is 59,550 MW (as on June 2016) which is expected to increase to 68,050 MW by March 2017, he added. Kareem Hunt Jersey
High court rejects Mumbai firm’s petition on air taxi
In a major jolt to Mumbai-based Supreme Transport Organisation Private Limited, Madhya Pradesh high court dismissed its petition challenging the decision of the Madhya Pradesh tourism department, which cancelled its agreement for running air taxi service in the state after the company failed to start operations in the given time. The tourism department had also blacklisted the firm. Finding the deed of state tourism department to be right, division bench of high court comprising Justice SK Seth and Justice HP Singh dismissed the company’s plea on Tuesday. In the plea, the petitioners told the court that on February 4, 2015, Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation (MPSTDC) invited tenders for running air taxis in the state. MPSTDC and Supreme Transport also signed an air service operator agreement on April 23, 2015. Their company also purchased 9-seater aircraft for starting the service, the petitioners said.
Light Helicopter Replacement – Confusion Prevails
The Cheetah /Chetak replacement programme continues to flounder despite the Government to Government agreement between India and Russia for the supply of 200 Kamov- 226T light helicopters under the Make in India Policy. Presently there is no clarity on as to how this project will move forward and both sides seem to be struggling to meet the challenging ‘Make in India’ requirement of building 50 per cent of the helicopter in India. While the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has been designated as the nodal agency for this critical programme along with Russian Helicopters there are a number of complex issues involved which need to be addressed in order to move ahead. The recent statement of Russian Helicopters that they are working with HAL to iron out the various contentious issues and that the signing of the contract is likely by year end is a positive development but it’s likely transformation into realty seems a distant dream in the current situation. The complexities involved in this project are far too many and one will have to wait and watch as to how these will be addressed and get resolved eventually. Given the track record of other such crucial Government to Government deals like the Army’s M777 Howitzer and the Airforce’s MMRCA Rafale projects, which are still nowhere near closure despite a period of three to four years having elapsed, the prospect of concluding a contract for the Ka-226 project by end of the year does not inspire much confidence. Vernon Hargreaves III Womens Jersey
Owners oppose land acquisition for airport runway expansion
A forum of landowners from Karipur, Kondotty, Pallikkal and Nediyiruppu in Malappuram district has opposed the move to acquire land for the expansion of the Calicut International Airport. It announced at a press meet in Kozhikode on Tuesday that a protest march would be taken out on July 26 to the land acquisition office at Karipur. The announcement appeared timed to coincide with the meeting Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had called on July 20 in Thiruvananthapuram with the officials, elected representatives and chambers of commerce in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts to break the impasse on airport development, particularly land acquisition. While the organisations in Kozhikode had hinted at opposition to the acquisition from some sections in these areas, the forum came out openly on Tuesday to argue that the expansion of the airport through such huge land acquisition was unwarranted. Forum chairman C. Mohammed Ali alleged there was a unilateral attempt to acquire land, without any consultations with the owners. For various developments at the airport, land had been acquired 12 times and people had to relocate. Many of these people would have to relocate again if more land were to be acquired. Ronald Leary Womens Jersey
‘Hybrid till’ model to determine future airport tariffs: Minister
The government on Tuesday said that future tariffs at all airports will be calculated on a “hybrid till” basis. According to Minster of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, the “hybrid till” model will be used to ensure uniformity and level playing field for all airport operators. “As per the National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP), 2016, to ensure uniformity and level playing field across various airport operators, future tariffs at all airports will be calculated on a ‘hybrid till’ basis, unless otherwise specified for any project being bid out in future,” the minister informed parliament. “It is also provided that 30 per cent of non-aeronautical revenue will be used to cross-subsidise aeronautical charges,” Sinha said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha during the question hour. The “hybrid-till” model is used to ascertain aeronautical charges at airports. The model permits airport operator to include a portion of its income generated through non-aeronautical side of activities with those of aeronautical ones to calculate the total earnings. The operator generates revenue by charging aeronautical activities such parking, housing and landing (PHL) of aircraft. It also earns revenue from non-aeronautical streams like duty free shops, food and beverages (F&B) outlets, vehicle parking and advertisements. Based on the total earnings from the “hybrid-till” model, aeronautical rates are then decided by Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA). Paul Krause Authentic Jersey
Airport official didn?t make racist remarks, finds probe
Days after a woman from Manipur alleged that she was subjected to racist comments by an immigration officer at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, an internal inquiry conducted by the Bureau of Immigration has found the official not guilty of any such act, a highly placed government source told The Hindu. The immigration official only asked general questions, the inquiry found. The woman, Monika Khangembam, who was travelling to Seoul, South Korea, had posted on her Facebook post on July 9: “The bloody racist immigration desk at it again! Looks at my Passport and says, “Indian toh nahi lagti ho”. I get that all the time so don’t react much to it but then he goes on, “Pakka Indian ho?” with a smirk. I still don’t react. What really got me was when he said, See… You yourself need to know your Indianness. How many States are there in India?” Following this post, the Minister of External Affairs (MEA) tweeted that she was sorry to know of the incident and though immigration was not a subject dealt with by her Ministry, she would request her colleague Home Minister Rajnath Singh to look into the matter. Minister of State (MoS) Kiren Rijiju had also ordered a probe into the incident. The source said that the inquiry panel analysed footage from the Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras installed at the immigration desk and even recorded the statements of independent witnesses. Another woman passenger, who was present at the adjacent immigration desk, will also be questioned now. “We conducted an inquiry and found that the official only asked her one question — to name the States Manipur shares its boundary with. It is not unusual for immigration officials to ask such questions. We take these complaints seriously and last year we even dismissed an official when a complaint made against him by a woman was found to be genuine,” said the official. Ryan Shazier Authentic Jersey
Govt mulls tolls on public-funded national highways
“A proposal for monetisation of completed public funded national highway projects through Toll-Operate Transfer mode based on the expected collection of user fee receivables, through private sector efficiency and expertise is under active consideration,” Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Pon Radhakrishnan told Lok Sabha in a written reply. Proceeds from such monetisation of completed national highway projects shall be utilised for construction, operation and maintenance of national highways, he said. Besides, he said as per budgetary approval for the current year, Internal Extra Budgetary Resources (IEBR) amounting to Rs 59,279 crore has been allotted to NHAI. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has been already authorised to raise Rs 25,000 crore (taxable) and Rs 5,000 crore (54EC) for construction and maintenance of National Highways. Steve Yzerman Authentic Jersey