NHAI to roll out scheme for highway patrolling and quick response system
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will soon roll out a highway incident and allied services scheme to aid road users. The scheme will include highway patrol and quick response mechanism for commuters facing problems. While the focus will be on helping accident victims and ensuring smooth traffic, the increased patrolling is also likely to deter criminals who target commuters. “We are preparing standard operating procedures for the scheme. NHAI will set the norms for people to be engaged in this service,” NHAI chairman Raghav Chandra told TOI. He said those engaged in such schemes, to be outsourced to private players, will have no policing powers. “They will call up local police for action,” Chandra said. The scheme is being designed under public-private partnership model. The need for a specialised patrolling system has been underlined after a string of crimes, including the recent gang rape of a woman and her daughter on NH-91 in Bulandshahr, UP. Cory Littleton Womens Jersey
Toll tax on national highways may be here for next 30 years
Minister of Road Transport and Highways has proposed that a bulk of the money required for construction, especially the Bharatmala project, be raised through monetisation of public funded national highways projects, according to a report in The Indian Express. The proposal, which is likely to be approved by the union cabinet is about putting 75 projects, constructed by NHAI using public money on auction for bidding by private firms. Private operators would be offered the toll collection rights for next 25-30 years in lieu of a lump sum payment to the government. The proposal, if implemented is expected mop up of about Rs 80,000 crore, the report said. The projects identified for this purpose under the model called Toll-Operate-Transfer (TOT) have been in operation for at least two years and currently generate toll of Rs 2,700 crore per year. The idea behind this is to generate immediate resources while ensuring that operation and maintenance of constructed highways is more efficient. The private sector is also better in terms of toll collection, the report said quoting a government source. Last month, the government had announced that about Rs 7 lakh crore would be spent to develop around 50,000 kilometres of national highways over the next five years. Sebastian Aho Authentic Jersey
Modi govt nod to auctioning stretches of national highways
The Modi government on Wednesday cleared a plan to auction completed stretches of national highways built from public funds and give investors such as sovereign funds the right to collect toll. The money raised from the auction would be used to build new highways. The road transport and highways ministry has identified 75 highway stretches that would go under the hammer to begin with, an official statement said. “We plan to auction completed projects in bundles of five-six. The length of the first such bundle of highway projects is around 6,000 km,” a ministry official said. The highest bidder would have to pay the money upfront and will get the toll collection rights on the auctioned stretch for 30 years. The bidder would also have to operate and maintain the highway stretch. Union minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari hopes to generate between Rs 80,000 crore to Rs 1 lakh crore from the first tranche of auctioned projects. Gadkari has set a target to build 30km of highway per day. If he has to deliver on this promise, the government needs to invest Rs 5 lakh crore over the next five years. The funds generated from these auctions could be used to meet its requirements for expansion of highways and their maintenance. “This could address development/strengthening of highways in unviable geographies,” the statement said. A government official told HT that international sovereign funds and pension funds looking at long-term investment for assured returns were expected to bid for these projects. “The completed highway projects fit their bill as they are risk free. There are no construction-linked risks like land acquisition issues or regulatory hurdles,” the official said. The government said the existing model of inviting companies to operate and maintain highways for six-nine years had only attracted smaller investors, largely contractors and developers. Jim Dray Authentic Jersey
National Highways Authority of India gets nod to monetise projects
The government on Wednesday opened up brownfield investments in the highway sector to institutional investors. The Cabinet has allowed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to monetise public-funded national highway projects, which are operational and are generating toll revenues for at least two years after the commercial operations date, under a toll operate transfer model. The monetisation will be subject to approval of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways or NHAI on a case-to-case basis, an official statement said. Around 75 operational highway projects completed under public funding have been identified for potential monetisation using the toll operate transfer model. The government is of the view that monetisation of public-funded national highways could create a framework for attracting long-term institutional investment on the strength of future toll receivables. Market feedback indicates that certain institutional investors from outside the country have a long-term investment appetite and are keen to participate in operational highway projects with stable toll revenue outlook. The proposal also means operation and maintenance (O&M) framework requiring reduced involvement of NHAI in projects after construction and completion. The corpus generated from the proceeds could be utilised by the government to meet its fund requirements regarding future development and O&M of highways. It would also create new business opportunities for a new vertical of developers who specialise in O&M of highways, institutional investors including pension and insurance funds, and sovereign funds which are otherwise averse to taking construction risks but are adequately equipped for making long-term investments in road infrastructure. The proposal is also aimed at ensuring better O&M of public-funded highway stretches resulting in enhanced quality of service for highway users. At present, the selected concessionaire for operate, maintain and transfer contracts, which are completed and operational, is required to take care of the project for a period of around six to nine years. Evan Engram Womens Jersey
Cheyyur UMPP electricity to be unaffordable, say analysts
The 4000 megawatt coal-fired Cheyyur Ultra Mega Power Project is likely to be a non-starter at best, or a financial disaster for consumers, Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Company (TANGEDCO) and the state government if it actually gets built, according to a recent report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). The report assessed tariff rates and risks associated with the Cheyyur project after the government proposed revised bidding guidelines to make the project more attractive in response to the withdrawal of prospective bidders who said the project was too risky. “Even with revised guidelines, the risks of the project remained daunting enough to deter investors and lenders,” IEEFA said. “In the unlikely event of the project being awarded by end 2016, the report estimates that electricity from the power plant will have a levelised cost of Rs. 5.93 per unit – far higher than average cost of coal-based electricity. That is bad news for electricity consumers and tax-payers in Tamil Nadu,” it said. S. Gandhi, former TNEB engineer and president of Power Engineers Society of Tamilnadu said in the report: “Seen together with Tamil Nadu’s indebtedness, TANGEDCO’s hopeless financial situation and the political culture of extending freebies and heavily subsidised electricity, Cheyyur project’s expensive electricity will worsen the state’s financial situation,” IEEFA said following last year’s Cheyyur bidding fiasco, the ministry of power revised the bidding guidelines to allow promoters to pass on fuel cost and foreign exchange volatility to electricity consumers and own the project after the contract period. The guidelines also guaranteed that acquisition of “critical” land will be completed by the time of the bidding. However, there is little clarity on what is critical land and what is not critical. According to IEEFA at Cheyyur, land acquisition for the coal conveyor corridor, road and rail access and the ash pipeline have not even commenced. The potential land-losers, however, have indicated that they will not part with their farms. Regardless of whether or not these lands are seen as critical, the project cannot take off without roads or a means to bring coal from the port to the power plant. IEEFA’s report points out that the revisions help neither the consumers nor the investors. “The fuel-cost pass-through will expose consumers and the state electricity board to tariff volatility. Any future increase in coal cess would add on to this volatility. Moreover, the uncertainty over land acquisition would deter investors” said Jai Sharda, a financial analyst at IEEFA and one of the authors of the report. “The Cheyyur project is particularly irrelevant considering that Tamil Nadu is set to become power surplus, and has no need for such a massive baseload capacity enhancement,” he said. According to the report, “The real issue with the Tamil Nadu electricity sector is not the availability of power generating capacity, but the high indebtedness and grid transmission and distribution losses. The state’s power distribution company, TANGEDCO had accumulated losses of Rs. 650 billion over the decade to March 2015. One of the key drivers of this indebtedness is the loss incurred in transmission and distribution of electricity in the state. Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses in 2014-15 were at an exceptionally high 24.4% against an global grid average of 6-8% and best practice is Germany at 4-5%. The high debt and losses incurred by TANGEDCO prompted rating agencies to downgrade its rating to ‘C+’ in the annual integrated ratings of state distribution companies.” Greg Olsen Womens Jersey
5,200 MW solar capacity to be added in 2016-17: CARE
The country is set to add 5,200 MW solar capacity this fiscal with various states coming out with policies for the sector, CARE Ratings said. According to a study conducted by the ratings agency, out of total installed renewable energy capacity of 42,750 MW as on March 31, the share of solar energy increased to 15.82 per cent, as against 13.8 per cent in 2014-15. Various states such as Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh have come out with policies for awarding solar power projects. Also, government entities like NTPC and SECI have come out with tenders of large capacities in GW size, including those in solar parks. “After witnessing record capacity addition of around 3 GW in FY16, 1,000 MW in the first quarter of this fiscal, and bids of around 6,000 MW awarded over the last six months or so, the solar sector is on a strong growth path. “Nearly 5,200 MW is likely to be added this fiscal and 8,000 MW in FY2016-17,” it said. Further, the Modi government’s ambitious target of 100,000 MW solar capacity by 2022 has attracted serious interest from various players, domestic as well as overseas. The sector is witnessing increased participation from large overseas investors and developers, such as ADIA, CLP, EDF, ENEL, Engie, Fortum, First Solar and Goldman Sachs, while large domestic business houses have also laid down ambitious plans for solar capacity addition. “According to various estimates, India is set to become the fourth largest solar market globally in 2016 behind only to China, USA and Japan, primarily on account of government’s thrust on significantly enhancing the installed solar capacity to 100,000 MW by 2022,” the report said, adding that the recent M&A activity is also reflective of the growing confidence of bigger players in the sector. CARE Ratings further noted that solar PV project costs have witnessed a sharp decline over the years which has led to shift from preferential feed-in-tariffs to competitive bidding. “Apart from decline in solar PV project costs, entry of various players has led to significant increase in competition which has led to significant decline in solar tariffs as visible from the trends in the completed bids over the last 9-12 months,” it said. The ability to manage cost efficiently, secure longer tenure and cheaper debt are the key factors which will have bearing on the bids, returns and viability of the projects, CARE said. It further noted that the capital cost for setting up a solar PV project has been coming down over the years. CERC’s benchmark project solar PV cost has come down from Rs 6.1 crore per MW for 2015-16 to Rs 5.3 crore per MW for this fiscal, with cost of modules declining marginally while civil and other costs have witnessed a steeper fall. Julius Nattinen Womens Jersey
Disgruntled discoms plan to go to court
The latest policy directives issued by the Delhi government coupled with delay by the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (DERC) in notifying the new Multi-Year Tariff (MYT) order has left the city’s power distribution companies a disgruntled lot. After the penalty scheme for unscheduled power cuts, the discoms are now miffed at the government’s latest directive to DERC seeking discoms to pay 10 times the compensation amount to consumers for falsely charging them with power theft. “At first it was the amnesty scheme of the government, which was extended thrice. During that scheme, although the three discoms earned Rs. 83.22 crore through resolution of grievances, we had to shell out much more in the form of waivers given to consumers. This amounted to over Rs. 100 crore. Now, we hear about this new policy of compensating consumers 10-times more than the usual amount,” said a discom official. Meanwhile, the delay in notifying MYT regulations is pushing the process of this year’s tariff revision by the DERC. What is also worrying the discoms is that the regulator is unlikely to make an upward revision in tariffs this year. “Our regulatory assets until last year only had climbed up to Rs. 25,000 crore. And this year power demand has been more than 6,000 MW on more than one occasion. Non-reflective tariffs have resulted in incurring losses,” explained an official of another discom. The discoms also highlighted the penalty scheme introduced by the DERC in May this year. “Although the order has been issued. It can be implemented only if the final gazette notification comes. Once it comes, it is likely that the discoms will fight it in the court,” said a source in the discoms. They have also demanded equal penalty clauses for failure on the part of the Delhi Transco limited (DTL), which is under the Delhi government. Patrik Nemeth Jersey
Eight Arunachal districts likely to face power crisis
Heavy landslides triggered by incessant rains in Arunachal Pradesh have damaged Ranganadi-Ziro transmission line at tower no 12. which is likely to cause power shortage in eight districts. Ziro-based Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) Chief Manager Nani Kojin said that the likely shutdown of the 132 kv transmission line could be for at least 15 days from the date of notice, to be issued shortly. The districts likely to be affected are Lower Subansiri, Upper Subansisri, Kra Daadi, Kurung Kumey, East Siang, West Siang, Upper Siang and some parts of Papum Pare. During the shutdown period, all feeder districts would have to make alternative power arrangements from their own ends, he said. The districts may face power supply problem without any intimation in the event of casualty like collapse of the transmission tower due to unpredictable bad weather condition despite best effort being made by the agency to shift the tower, he said. Tower no 12 located at Hoj-Potin area of 132kv Ranganadi-Ziro transmission line is in a vulnerable condition since long due to the road widening activities carried out by PWD (Highway) for the construction of Trans Arunachal-Highway. Meanwhile, restoration work is going on in war footing for immediate shifting of the tower to safer location and to avoid power interruption to the eight districts. The Power Grid has sought the cooperation of the people and administration to bear the inconveniences and provide all necessary administrative support in case of any emergency needs. Shelby Miller Authentic Jersey
After Air Pegasus, Air Costa cancels flights
Air Costa today cancelled all its flights since morning but said that the airline will restart operations tomorrow. The airline, in an email statement, said that the cancellation of lights is only for 24 hours due to unresolved issues with aircraft lessor. “From Tomorrow (5-08-2016), we will start our operations as scheduled. We are resolving the issues we have with lessors. We are very positive about our operations and future expansions. There are absolutely no issue regarding salaries in Air Costa,” said Kavi Chaurasia, Vice President – marketing for Air Costa said in an email statement. Flight cancellation by the Vijaywada-based airline raises concerns over the viability of regional airlines in India, as it follows flight cancellations by Bengaluru-based Air Pegasus recently. Air Costa is currently the largest regional airline in the country and operates 24 daily flights with 3 E190’s. The airline also has plans to induct new aircraft as it awaits approvals for a PAN India license from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Kevan Miller Authentic Jersey
Airlines cancel/reroute flights to Dubai on part runway closure
Budget carriers IndiGo and SpiceJet cancelled their flights to Dubai while Jet Airways and Air India re-routed and clubbed their as the airport partly shut operations following a crash landing and explosion of an Emirates flight on Wednesday. “Due to unavailability of runway at Dubai airport, all IndiGo flights operating to and fro India stands cancelled for August 4, 2016,” said IndiGo in a statement. “From August 05 till 0730 IST August 07, 2016 – limited flights will be allowed to operate from Dubai airport,” it added. SpiceJet too cancelled its flights. Spokespersons at Jet Airways and Air India said their flights are being re-routed to Sharjah. The Jet spokesperson also said it has clubbed some of its flights from Mumbai into one operated by the widebodied Airbus A330 plane. Operation of Code C aircraft and below (Boeing 737/Airbus A320 and below ) are not being allowed at Dubai airport till tomorrow morning. This follows the crash landing of Emirates Trivandrum-Mumbai flight EK521 on the Dubai airport. The aircraft caught fire after landing and all passengers were evacuated. A fireman died in the incident. Thomas Chabot Authentic Jersey