SpiceJet plans regional connectivity push
Budget carrier SpiceJet on Friday raised the bar of customer comfort and convenience with the launch of smart mobile check in facility at GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited and outlined plans to tap the growing opportunities in regional connectivity where the Government is seeking to provide a major push. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Union Civil Aviation Minister, inaugurated the facility and expressed that the country’s civil aviation sector would continue to sustain the growth witnessed in the recent times. Ajay Singh, CMD, SpiceJet Ltd, said, “The airline has managed to turn around from being a sinking airliner after taking it over in January 2015. Over the past 11-12 months, it has consistently registered occupancy levels of over 92 per cent that only reflects how it is on growth path.” Transfer dispute Refraining to comment on the Delhi High Court order wherein the airliner was asked to deposit Rs. 580 crore in a transfer dispute between Kalanithi Maran and Spicejet, Ajay Singh, said, “The matter is sub-judice. At this point it would not be appropriate to comment on the development. We will have to wait for the order before we can comment on the matter.” The court on Friday sent the share transfer dispute between Kalanithi Maran and SpiceJet to arbitration relating to the transfer of 18 crore warrants by SpiceJet to its former promoter Maran. “India has been growing at a fast rate over the past few years and we expect the sector to continue the growth. This will mean new fleet acquisition and we are in talks with both Airbus and Boeing. In addition, we expect to add three more aircraft to the 14 aircraft fleet in couple of months to strengthen the regional connectivity,” he said. Currently, SpiceJet connects its network with a fleet of 26 Boeing 737NG and 14 Bombardier Q-400s. Smart check-in The Smart Check-in facility uses Bluetooth Low Energy and Near Field Communication technologies and enables customers who have booked their tickets through the SpiceJet Mobile App to check in without any hassle. The service has been initially introduced at Hyderabad Airport and will soon be available in all airports supporting e-boarding facility. SGK Kishore, CEO, GHIAL, said, “As an airport operator, we encourage and explore newer ways to improve passenger processing. We are the first Indian airport to implement end-to-end E-boarding process and soon coming with other digital interfaces for passengers. Our focus on digitisation at the airport is in line with the Prime Minister’s dream of Digital India.” “We are also working on a solution, where we may be able to do away with stamping of a cabin bag,” he said. Alexander Edler Authentic Jersey
Global investors likely to be cautious on NIIF investments: Report
Even as India is “aggressively” trying to attract funds for the Rs. 40,000-crore National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), global investors are likely to adopt a “cautious” approach over investing in it, a report by BMI Research has said. The company, a part of the Fitch Group, said infrastructure sector in the country continues to face challenges, which is discouraging international investments. “Indian government is aggressively trying to attract foreign investments into its infrastructure sector, seeking $1 trillion in investments, however, we expect that international investors will continue to remain cautious over investing in the fund which seeks to fill the funding gap in India,” the company said in its latest report. Till date, NIIF has secured support through memorandum of understandings (MoUs) with sovereign wealth funds, including Russia’s Rusnano, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Qatar Investment Authority, the report added. However, BMI Research said: “While encouraging that there is interest in the fund, there is yet to be any formal commitment of capital.” The government had created NIIF in December last year as an investment vehicle for funding commercially viable greenfield, brownfield and stalled projects. While the government will invest Rs. 20,000 crore in NIIF, the remaining amount will come from private investors. BMI Research further said, “The potential of India’s $6 billion NIIF will not be fulfilled in the short-term, even as projects are selected for investment. “Crucially, the Indian infrastructure sector continues to present various challenges hindering the attraction of the market for international investors.” On the reasons behind the lack of interest from global investors in investing in NIIF, it said that it is likely on account of India’s investment outlook, which remains challenging. “The country scores below regional average in both our operational and project risk Index, with particularly low score for crime and security risk and construction risk, highlighted by the fact that a third of projects — worth a combined value of $210 billion — are delayed,” it said. However, BMI Research expects India’s construction and infrastructure sectors to grow by an annual average of 6.4 per cent between 2016 and 2025. “While we expect NIIF to continue to fund projects itself, we believe international backers, which the fund is looking to tap, are likely to adopt a wait-and-see attitude before investing in the fund, largely owing to a still challenging operational environment and high project risks which threaten timely returns on investment,” it said. Natrell Jamerson Jersey
IRB Infra bags Rs 2,100 crore project from NHAI
Toll road firm IRB Infrastructure Developers said it has bagged a contract worth Rs 2,100 crore from NHAI for a six-laning project in Rajasthan and Gujarat. “IRB has emerged as a preferred bidder for the project of six laning from Udaipur to Rajasthan/ Gujarat border on section of NH-8 in Rajasthan and Gujarat,” the company said in a statement issued here. The Rs 2,100 crore project is to be developed on design, built, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) under the National Highways Development Programme (NHDP) phase V. The concession period for the project is 21 years including construction period of 910 days, the statement said. “Subject to award, IRB’s construction order book will stand to increase to around Rs 10,000 crore, to be executed in the next four years. This will boost the company’s construction order book visibility for next three to four year,” IRB said. With this project, the company will have 21 build-operate-transfer (BOT) road projects, out of which 13 projects are under operation. Zack Smith Authentic Jersey
101 infra projects see Rs 1.29 lakh crore in cost overruns
As many as 101 infrastructure projects sized Rs 1,000-crore and above have reported a cost overrun of Rs 1.29 lakh crore, as per official data. The Statistics Ministry monitored 286 infrastructure projects, each worth Rs 1,000 crore or more across sectors such as power, railways and roads in April 2016. “The total original cost of the 286 projects was about Rs 9,40,160.86 crore and latest reported anticipated completion cost is Rs 10,69,547.02 crore, which reflects an overall cost overrun of Rs 1,29,386.16 crore,” according to the latest report for April. As per the report, out of the 286 projects, 2 projects are ahead of schedule, 54 are on schedule, 123 delayed and 101 projects reported cost overrun and 41 projects reported both time and cost overrun with respect to their original project implementation schedules. During the reference month, out of 286 projects, 123 projects are delayed with respect to original schedule and 31 projects have reported additional delay vis-a-vis the date of completion reported in the previous month (March, 2016). The report stated that the additional delay is in the range of 1 to 13 months in respect of projects relating to power, petroleum, urban development and road transport & highways sectors. It said the expenditure incurred on these projects till April is Rs 4,57,160.26 crore. Out of 286 projects, 101 projects have cost overruns with respect to original cost. Cost overrun of these is 101.72 per cent while during the last month, it was 103.84 per cent in 100 projects out of 278 monitored projects. In comparison with the last month, the number of projects reporting cost overruns decreases from 35.97 per cent to 35.31 per cent, it said. Out of 123 delayed projects, 22 projects have overall delay in the range of 1 to 12 months, 18 projects have delay in the range of 13 to 24 months, 59 projects have delay in the range of 25 to 60 months and 24 projects have delay of 61 months and above. During April, there are 117 projects which are showing time overruns of more than 6 months and 99 projects which are having cost overruns of more than Rs 100 crore and 40 projects are having both time overruns of more than 6 months and cost overruns of more than Rs 100 crore. Speedy implementation of projects assumes significance in view of government’s push to move towards high growth trajectory of over 8 per cent and touch double-digit mark over the next few years. Kevin King Authentic Jersey
There’s need to revisit existing format of PPAs for thermal power plants: EAS Sarna, Ex-Power Secy
FOrmer Secretary (Power) to Government of India, EAS Sarna said that there was need to revisit the existing format of the power purchase agreements (PPAs) for thermal power plants to eliminate the necessity of having to pay for deemed generation. Sarna in a letter to Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) and others has written that state power utilities signing PPAs with private companies with a “deemed generation” clause, which forces them to pay for the power they may not need during lean period, should be reviewed. Further special audit of private sector thermal plants is necessary to safeguard the public interest. In his letter Sarna wrote, “In the liberalised regime introduced by amendments to the Electricity Act in 2003, the Centre and the States went berserk in clearing a very large number of thermal power projects, mostly coal-based, proposed by private companies, leading to a surplus thermal capacity which was meant to cater to the steady component of the electricity demand. In the past, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) used to exercise due diligence in regulating additions to thermal capacity so as to minimize the backing down of thermal plants. The liberalised regime of 2003 discontinued such a regulatory oversight, opening the floodgates to proliferation of private thermal generation capacity across the States. Instead of assuming the risk of finding alternate consumers for the power generated by them, the private developers setting up thermal power plants took undue advantage of the over exuberance displayed by the States in inviting investments and forced them to sign PPAs with a deemed generation clause, thereby transferring the risk of finding an outlet for their power to the States. In the liberalised set up that exists today, the private developers should be persuaded to take on some risks. The States ought to have so designed the format for competitive bidding as to obviate the scope for having to pay for the power they may not need during the off-peak hours. In such a case, it is for the private developer to find alternate sets of customers to absorb their surplus power. The losses to the public exchequer on account of the “Deemed Generation” clause in the PPAs are mindboggling large. These are amounts that public sector utilities are forced to pay to private companies and indirectly, the huge cost burden is passed on either to the electricity consumers in the State. As an immediate measure to stop this plunder of public money, there should be an embargo on additions to thermal power capacity, especially in the private sector. Simultaneously, there is need to revisit the existing format of the PPAs for thermal power plants to eliminate the necessity of having to pay for deemed generation. In the liberalised set up that exists today, the private developers should be persuaded to take on some risks.” EAS Sarna requested the CAG to conduct a special audit of this across the States as otherwise the losses to the public exchequer would continue to mount to a formidable proportion. It is important that this issue is analysed thoroughly and the matter is posed for discussion in the Parliament and the State legislatures. Dre Kirkpatrick Authentic Jersey
Chandigarh: Power Ministry orders underground substation at Hallo Majra, delays project by 2 yrs
In a setback to the Chandigarh electricity department, which is already struggling to upgrade its ageing infrastructure, the Union Ministry of Power Saturday rejected the proposal of setting up a conventional 220 KV substation at Hallo Majra. While Power Grid, which was authorised to set up the sub-station had submitted the proposal of a conventional outdoor substation for approval, the ministry has ordered the firm to set up an underground substation instead of a conventional one. As a result of this decision, the project will be delayed as Power Grid will have to again start from scratch. Also, this will be the first underground substation in the region. As per official records, presently, there is only one 220 KV substation in the region and the electricity department desperately needs another one to cope up with the increasing load. There are 13 66 KV substations and five 33 KV substations in the city. Each sub-station has a life span of 25 years and around six 66 KV substations are over that time span. Superintending engineer MP Singh said that it will take around two years for constructing and making the under ground substation operational. “Once complete, the substation will be capable of meeting the region’s load requirement for the next 15 years,” said MP Singh. While conventional substations are constructed in open air, underground substations are set up in basements. Constructing a substation under the ground reduces space requirements and the space on surface can be utilised for other purposes. Although the existing infrastructure has the maximum load capacity of 410 megawatt (MW), this year during the summer season, southern sectors faced a tough time due to frequent outages caused by overloading of the system. On May 20, the peak power demand had touched 401 MW, breaking all previous records. The previous record was registered on July 11, 2014, when power consumption had touched 395 MW. For the financial years of 2017-2018 and 2018-2019, the peak demand has been projected to be around 450MW and 475MW respectively by the department. Project marred by delays The Rs 150-crore-project has been marred by delays. The project was accorded approval by the Union Ministry of Power’s standing committee on power system planning for the northern region way back in January 2013. Thereafter, the electricity department struggled to get land allotted for the project. After toiling hard, land measuring 3 acres was earmarked in Hallomajra for the project. The electricity department caters to a total of 2.12 lakh consumers, out of which 1.75 lakh are in the domestic category. Of the total, there is regular billing of around 94 per cent of the consumers. New Devils Authentic Jersey
24×7 power supply by 2019 : MSPCL
The Manipur State Power Company Limited (MSPCL) has prepared a vision document for providing 24×7 power for all by 2019 . The expected accumulated transmission capacity of the state by 2019 will increase manifold within the next few years said N Sarat Singh, MD MSPCL during a press conference held here today at DIPR organized by DIPR. MSPCL has reached out to all corners of the State and may not require to create additional infra structure for the next two decades. In pursuance of Electricity Act, 2003, the erstwhile Electricity Department, Government of Manipur was unbundled and Corporatized into two State owned functionally independent successor entities i.e. (i) Manipur State Power Company Limited (MSPCL) as deemed transmission licensee and (ii) Manipur State Power Distribution Company Limited (MSPDCL) as the deemed distribution licensee respectively w.e.f. the 1st of February, 2014 . Manipur State Power Company Limited (MSPCL) is responsible for wheeling of available power through Bulk Power Purchase Agreement, Medium Term & Short Term Open Access in the intrastate grid of 33 KV and Manipur has no meaningful own generation and entirely depends on the share allocation from Central Sector Generating Stations (CSGS) . Earlier Manipur suffered a lot during dry season in power supply management with allocated share of 30/40 MW against a requirement of 100 MW during day time in lean period. Further, due to constraints in the Interstate Transmission line of Dimapur – Imphal ; Leimatak – Imphal 132 KV line State’s drawal was always restricted to 100/110 MW leading to regular load shedding in the State. Now with the allocation of 24×7 base load of 42 MW from Pallatana Power Plant w.e.f 4.1.2014 and 19 MW from the first Unit of Bongaigaon Thermal Power Plant from April 4, 2016, power supply scenario in Manipur has changed drastically. As of today, during monsoon, allocated share of power is around 200 MW and with the installation of prepaid meters the actual demand of the State during peak hour has come down to 150/160 MW. Thus, the State has become sufficient with the allocation made so far except during lean period which can be managed through Power Banking or other mechanism. Electricity Department had taken a key role for the construction of 400 KV D/C line from Silchar to Imphal, initially charged at 132 KV voltage against the NER constituent States’ insistence for construction of 220 KV D/C line as an Associated Transmission System (ATS) of 726.6 MW Pallatana Power Plant and 750 MW Thermal Power Plant at Bongaigaon and installation of 2×50 MVA, 132/33 KV Sub-Station at Imphal (PG) under system strengthening scheme for the above. The commissioning of 400 KV Silchar – Imphal D/C line charged at 132 KV, on March 15, 2015 created a new era for the State as the inter-State Available Transmission Capacity(ATC) has been enhanced considerably and load shedding has become a past history. Government of Manipur joined the JV Company ie the North East Transmission Company Ltd (NETC) formed for the construction of 650 Kms long 400 KV D/C trunk line from Pallatana – Silchar – Bongaigaon with equity share of 6% , and contributed Rs 24.681 crore. The trunk line is used as Associated Transmission System (ATS) for evacuation of allocated shares of all beneficiary States including Manipur from the power projects at Pallatana and Bongaigaon. MSPCL has received Rs 7,40,52,000/- as dividend for the year 2014-15 and dividend for 2015-16 is expected anytime. During the past six years MSPCL has added 306 MVA, 302 MVA in 132 KV, 33 KV transmission systems respectively. There are now 12, 132 33 KV stations, 74, 33/11 KV stations, There are 537 km of 132 KV. The 18th Electric Power Survey of Central Electricity Authority, Ministry of Power, Government of India, forecasted requirement of 428 MW in 2019- 2020 and MSPCL has taken up action plan for placement of appropriate infrastructure at different load centres of the State including adoption of higher transmission voltage of 400 KV system. Manipur has created a new history in transmission system with first time construction of 4×105 MVA, 400/132 KV sub-station with single phase transformer including one spare at Thoubal and it is targeted to be commissioned within this year, quite ahead of scheduled time of completion. The 4th Standing Committee Meeting on Power System Planning in NER held at Guwahati on December 13, 2014 had approved upgradation of 2×50 MVA 132/33 KV sub-station at Imphal (PG) to 7×105 MVA, 400/132 KV sub-station with single phase transformer including one spare as North Eastern Regional System Strengthening Scheme – IV (NERSS –IV). And the 5th Standing Committee Meeting on Power System Planning in NER held at Imphal on August 8, 2015 had agreed to provide space for two 400 KV bays at Imphal (PG) to be built by MSPCL. The 5th Standing Committee Meeting on Power System Planning in NER also agreed to the extension of 400 KV D/C line from Imphal (PG) – New Kohima to Misa via New Mariani as NERSS – VI. This may ensure stability and reliability in the entire region in the power supply system from the 400 KV D/C ring main system comprising of Misa – Balipara –Bongaigaon – Azara -Byrnihat -Silchar-Imphal- New Kohima-Mariani- Misa. MSPCL has taken up the construction of five 132/33 KV sub- stations at Tipaimukh (2×12.5 MVA), Elangkhangpokpi (2×20 MVA), Thanlon (2×12.5 MVA), Moreh (2×12.5 MVA) and Thoubal (2×20 MVA). Another 19 33/11 kV sub-stations with the installed capacity of 123 MVA is also being taken up in different load centres of the State. Leimatak – Ningthoukhong 132 KV 2nd Circuit D/C line and third 132 KV Imphal (PG) – Impha(State) line is also taken up to avoid overloading in the transmission system as indicated in the load flow study. Initiative taken up for expansion of 132 KV system infrastructure to the remotest corners like Thanlon and Tipaimukh at high cost is to deliver good quality and reliable power with good voltage regulation. Renovation and Modernisation of six old
Two more units of Lower JuralaHydel project ready for commercial operation
The Telangana State Power Generation Corporation Ltd (TS-Genco) has declared two units of 40 MW each at the (6 x 40 MW) Lower Jurala Hydro-Electric Project at Revulapally in Mahabubnagar district commercially operational. Director (Hydel) of TS-Genco Ch. Venkata Rajam said on Saturday that the two units were declared commercially operational on July 28 following the installed capacity tests done in the presence of representatives of the two Discoms, TS-Transco and TS Power Coordination Committee. The commencement of commercial operation of the units 3 and 4 of the Lower Jurala hydel project would add 80 MW to TS-Genco’s capacity, he stated. The two units would be in a position to supply 120 MW of generation during peak hours when there is flow in the river below Jurala reservoir through spillway discharges or water let out after power generation in the hydel unit at the reservoir site. Meanwhile, generation of power at the 6×39 MW Priyadarshini Jurala Hydro-Electric Project at the dam site is going on from July 21 with the number of units generating power depending on inflows into the reservoir. Sam Mills Womens Jersey
Centre holds stakeholders’ consultation on regional connectivity
The centre today met the states and airlines to discuss plans for the ambitious regional connectivity scheme, which will result in improved connectivity of smaller airports by airlines and put India’s hinterland on the country’s aviation roadmap. Representatives from all states except that of Tamil Nadu, Manipur and Madhya Pradash attended the meet in which various issues were discussed. Airline bosses including IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh, SpiceJet chairman Ajay Singh, Air Asia Amar Abrol and Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani attended the meet. The Narendra Modi-led government on Friday revealed its ambitious regional connectivity scheme under which airfares will be capped at Rs 2,500 for up to one-hour flights on unserved and under-served routes. Minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha said that with demand for air travel increasing there will be ample opportunity for airlines to cash in it. “There is no lack of demand, with this scheme traffic in regional cities like Surat, Bhubaneswar, Mysuru will increase, there is business opportunity in it,” Sinha said. The scheme, mooted in the civil aviation policy to connect smaller cities, has been put up for stakeholders’ consultations, including state governments, airlines and airport operators. The stakeholders have been given three weeks to submit their comments on the draft scheme, which would be finalised by August. “There was not a single state who did not commit support to the state, in fact everyone wanted to participate in that, now the ball is in the court of entrepreneurs and airlines ” said civil aviation secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey. Tiger Williams Authentic Jersey
Many find getting to and from airport a hassle
Commuters had a tough time reaching the Kempegowda International Airport ( KIA) on Saturday as BMTC buses and a majority of cabs remained off the roads following the bandh called over the Mahadayi water dispute. Rajesh Devreddy, a resident of HSR Layout who had to catch a flight to Chennai said he had a hard time reaching the airport as a few private taxis were hesitant to ply fearing attacks by pro-Kannada groups. He said:?“It usually takes five minutes to book a private cab. However, on Saturday, it took me 20 minutes to get a vehicle after much persuasion of the management of a cab service. Luckily, I reached on time.” At Hebbal, close to Esteem Mall, members of a few Kannada groups riding two-wheelers blocked other vehicles, putting those heading towards the airport to hardship. Keval J, a techie from Koramanagala who landed in the city from his hometown, New Delhi, said he was unaware of the bandh. “There is a private cab service available at the airport but there is a huge rush. I would have postponed my schedule had I known about today’s bandh,” he said. A staffer from the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation ( KSTDC), Manjunath K N said there was a 25% drop in airport taxi services. Usually, from morning till noon, about 2,000 airport taxis ply. On Friday, only about 1,000 to 1,500 cabs operated by noon, he said. Mike Modano Authentic Jersey