Unit 2 of Kudankulam to start commercial operation from Dec
The second unit of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, which was connected to the southern grid last week, is scheduled to begin commercial operation in December this year. The unit with the Russian-designed VVER-1000 reactor was synchronised with the southern grid on August 29 and has been generating about 245 MWe. The connection of the second unit brings India’s installed nuclear generating capacity to 6,780 MWe. Excavation for Kudankulam units 3 and 4 is in progress and first concrete for the new units will be poured in March next year, Rosatom, the Russian counterpart of India’s Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) said. The units 3 and 4 will begin power production by 2022-2023. Construction of the unit 2 was completed in July, 2015 and was loaded with fuel in May, 2016. Following safety tests, it attained criticality on 10 July. The Kudankulam first unit achieved first criticality in mid-2013, was connected to the grid in October, 2013 and began commercial operation in December, 2014. Kudankulam units 1 and 2 have been built by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL). These are operated by NPCIL under IAEA safeguards, with supervision from Russian specialists. Enriched uranium fuel for the entire life of the plant is to be supplied by Russia. Kenneth Faried Jersey
IOC plans to double refining capacity by 2030
Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the nation’s largest oil company, plans to nearly double refining capacity to 150 million tonnes by 2030 to meet fast expanding energy needs of the country, its Chairman B Ashok said. The company has capacity at refineries to produce 80.7 million tonnes per annum of fuel currently. “IOC is self-sufficient in the refining segment, but keeping in view the rising demand for petroleum products in the short-term, we are aiming at a refining capacity of about 100-110 million tonnes per annum by the year 2022 and progressively scale it up to at least 150 million tonnes by the year 2030,” he said. International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook projects 4 per cent CAGR growth in India’s fuel demand to 348 million tonnes by 2030, from 184 million tonnes in 2015-16. BP projects demand to be 335 million tonnes while EIA has pegged it at 294 million tonnes, which translates into a CAGR of 3 per cent. India has a refining capacity of 232.06 million tonnes. “Our core business is liquid fuels, LPG, lubes, petrochemicals and natural gas. With the prognosis that fossil fuels will continue to dominate the energy mix till the year 2040, we have a fairly large window of opportunity to profitably expand in our core business while at the same time getting ready for the low-carbon economy of the future,” he said IOC will expand its refining capacity to 104.55 million tonnes by 2022 from the current 80.7 million tonnes per annum with an investment of about Rs 40,000 crore. It is looking to scale up its Koyali refinery in Gujarat to 18 million tonnes from 13.7 million tonnes while capacity of the Panipat refinery in Haryana will be raised by a quarter to 20.2 million tonnes from the current 15 million tonnes. A 3-million tonnes capacity addition each is planned for Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura and Bihar’s Barauni refineries, which will take their capacity to 11 million tonnes and 9 million tonnes, respectively. The recently-commissioned 15 million tonnes Paradip refinery in Odisha will see a capacity addition of 5 million tonnes while about 3 million tonnes will be added in IOC’s Digboi and Bongaigaon refineries in the North-East. He, however, did not give details of the expansions that will take the capacity to 150 million tonnes. Ashok said IOC is also expanding its pipeline and retail network. “We have 45,000-plus customer touch points as of now and this number will go up further in the next five years, especially in rural and virgin markets in order to secure the first mover advantage,” he said. Also, a Strategy Cell has been set up, which is preparing roadmaps for future growth of IOC as an energy business amid multiple scenarios, he added. Shaquill Griffin Authentic Jersey
Ministers to lay foundation stone for Jodhpur civil airport expansion work
The civil aviation minister and defence minister will visit Jodhpur to lay the foundation stone of the first phase of expansion work of Jodhpur Civil Airport, which will begin by the end of this month. Besides, they will also inaugurate the Instrumental Landing System (ILS) and a 100 KW solar plant installed at the airport. According to the IAF officials, the work of installation of ILS is in progress and would be completed around September 20. Moreover, it is the only airport to have introduced 24 hours free 4G Wi Fi connectivity in state. Director (Airport) S K Singh, while addressing the advisory committee meeting on Saturday, said the first phase of the expansion work, which would begin by end of this month, would comprise construction of apron, parking and taxi link from runway to the apron at a cost of Rs 36 crore. “With the expansion, the parking capacity will be enhanced to 9 aircraft from the existing 3. Also the car parking, which has current capacity of a meagre 70, would shoot up to 500,” said Singh, adding that this would be the second multilevel car parking in entire North India after New Delhi. Referring to the issue of bringing more flights to Jodhpur, MP (Jodhpur) Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that many airline companies have expressed interest in operating from Jodhpur but all of them have been waiting for the installation of ILS. Filip Chytil Womens Jersey
Surti fliers pin their hopes on intra-state air service’s success
With Gujarat signing up for Centre’s regional air-connectivity scheme, Surtis are looking at a major overhaul of Surat airport in the coming months. It is expected that the national carrier, Air India will show interest in the scheme as it already operates CRJ aircraft on Surat-Mumbai route. Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials believe many private airlines will be attracted towards Surat and other cities in the state under the regional air-connectivity scheme. Airport director, Surat airport, Pramod Kumar Thakre, told TOI, “The regional air-connectivity scheme would prove to be beneficial to the Diamond City. With central and state governments offering perks to the airlines in VAT, ATF and viability gap funding (VGF), they will be more than happy to set up operations in Surat too.” Thakre added, “With the 2,905-metre runway likely to be completed by January 2017, there are massive opportunities for the fliers in Diamond City. Surat airport will be classified as 4D airport, like the one in Ahmedabad.” For the passengers, the proposal of a fare cap of Rs 2,500 an hour of flight on regional routes would be a game changer. Though, the airlines are not convinced with the fare cap, they will have to accept it as decided under the scheme. Harold Carmichael Jersey
NTPC, IIT-M sign agreement for R&D
Power generator NTPC Ltd and IIT Madras have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for research and development in areas such as bulk ash utilisation, carbon capture, waste to energy, gypsum building and grid stability. As per the MoU, joint research projects will be taken up by both the organisations for development of new technologies, process and product for optimisation and efficiency improvements. NTPC is India’s largest generator of power with an installed generation capacity of 47,000 Megawatt including 6,900 Mw contributed by its Joint Ventures and subsidiaries. Todd Bertuzzi Jersey
Agra tops country in power theft; line losses at 30%
The city of Taj Mahal has earned the dubious distinction of leading urban centres across the country in the number of power thefts recorded in the past year. A total of 2,182 FIRs were registered here against power pilferers, followed by Kanpur with 1,409 and Ghaziabad with 1,308 cases. All three urban centres came above Delhi, where 1,121 power theft cases were filed, according to the national crime records bureau (NCRB). The line loss in the city due to such thefts is a massive 29.6%, the report added. Among states, Uttar Pradesh leads in the country with a staggering 57,193 cases, which is 58% of all 97,591 power theft cases reported in the country. It is followed by Haryana (18,598) and West Bengal (8,998). Other four Uttar Pradesh cities which find mention in the NCRB report are Varanasi (471), Meerut (418), Allahabad (394) and the state capital Lucknow (204). SC Bharti, director (technical), Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd (DVVNL), said, “The problem of power theft is quite rampant in the whole of UP, but our endeavour is to minimize the losses. Besides conducting raids, we also hold camps to provide power connections to people. The trend of power theft in Agra has gone down over the years.” DVVNL is responsible for power distribution in 21 districts of Uttar Pradesh, including Agra, Mathura, Mainpuri, Aligarh, Firozabad and Kanpur among others. According to Torrent Power, the private electricity distribution company which has been working in Agra for the past six years, they have brought down the number of theft cases and line loss considerably ever since they took over. “In 2010, when we took over the power distribution, the line loss was 58% (67% unofficially). It has been brought down to 29.6% and our target is to reach 26% by the end of this year,” a spokesperson of Torrent told TOI. During an anti-theft drive last year, DVVNL lodged over 7,200 FIRs and collected Rs 75 crore in arrears in just 25 days. As part of the distribution body’s “one-time settlement scheme”, which aimed at regularising illegal connections, Agra division had stood first in generating the maximum revenue of Rs 120 crore from rural areas and Rs 50 crore from urban areas. Rod Langway Womens Jersey
‘States await Rs 24,000 cr bounty from excise on oil products’
Indian states await a big boost to their finances this year as they are on course to get an additional Rs 24,000 crore bounty or more from the Centre by way of the excise duty share on oil products this fiscal year, which is set to jump by around Rs 60,000 crore. As per the 14th Finance Commission wards, the Centre has to part 42 per cent of the incremental excise mop up on oil products with the states from 2015 through 2020 fiscals. Since the government has been increasing the excise duty on oil products since mid 2014 after the crash in crude prices, excise on oil products has been biggest contributor this form of tax kitty. While it contributed as much as 63 per cent of the total excise mop-up last year, up from 46 per cent in the previous year, it is going to jump by around Rs 60,000 crore this year to Rs 1,78,600 crore. The government has jacked up the basic excise duty on diesel and petrol by Rs 6.5/litre and Rs 7.75/litre, respectively, in four tranches between November 2014 and January 2015. “Excise collections on oil products may expand by an incremental Rs 55,000-60,000 crore in the current fiscal year and 42 per cent of these incremental collections would devolve to the states. “This is equivalent to Rs 22,000-24,000 crore, which is sizeable in relation to the estimated devolution of excise on fuels of Rs 36,400 crore in 2015-16, and a positive factor for the states’ fiscal health this fiscal,” Icra’s chief economist Aditi Nayar said in a report. She adds this estimate is contingent on the facts that the basic excise duty on petrol and diesel continues unchanged in the remainder of this year and consumption of these items grows by an average of 5 per cent. The contribution of oil products to the overall excise duty levied by the Centre has increased significantly from 46 per cent in 2013-14 to around 63 per cent in 2015-16, following a high growth rate of excise on fuels in the recent years, the report notes. While the Centre mopped up Rs 79,400 crore from oil products in 2014-15, 23 per cent of it or Rs 17,900 crore were devolved to the states in that year. Deion Sanders Jersey
Government engaged in phase 2 of building strategic oil reserves
With global crude oil prices having dropped to under $50 barrel levels amid a supply glut, the Indian government has been giving attention to developing the country’s strategic petroleum reserves for enhanced energy security. Earlier this week, Petroleum Secretary K.D. Tripathi, along with senior officials of state-run Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL) and Engineers India Ltd (EIL), visited the proposed petroleum storage site at Chandikhol in Odisha, a Petroleum Ministry statement here said. “The underground storage facilities at Chandikhol will be created within the available government-owned land parcel, and would involve a significant development in the region with the greater objective of Odisha becoming the energy gateway of the Eastern and Northeastern region of India,” the statement said. “The estimated capital cost of the Chandikhol project is approximately Rs 5,000 crore,” it added. The first phase of implementing India’s strategic oil reserves would be completed by end of this fiscal with over 5 million tonnes (MT) of crude reserves in place in three separate storage facilities. The facilities entail storage of crude oil in underground rock caverns. “Under Phase I storage program, three facilities have been created at Vishakhapatnam, Mangalore and Padur, with a total storage capacity of 5.33 MT,” the ministry said. Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had told reporters earlier this year that preparations had started for the second phase of construction where it is planned to build reserves of 12.5 MT, so that by the end of the second phase India has strategic reserves of around 17.8 MT. “Government is considering the proposal for establishment of Phase II storage program for a total storage capacity of 10.0 MT, which includes 4.4 MT storage capacity at Chandikhol and 5.6 MT storage capacity at Bikaner (Rajasthan),” the ministry said in a statement on Saturday. India imports nearly 80 percent of its oil requirements, and the government had decided to set up strategic crude oil storages as a cushion against external supply disruptions. These storages would be in addition to the existing ones of the oil companies. The construction of the storage caverns is being managed by ISPRL, which is a special purpose vehicle created by the Oil Industry Development Board (OIDB). Seth Roberts Authentic Jersey
Oil pipeline protest turns violent in southern North Dakota
A protest of a four-state, USD 3.8 billion oil pipeline turned violent after tribal officials say construction crews destroyed American Indian burial and cultural sites on private land in southern North Dakota. Morton County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Donnell Preskey said four private security guards and two guard dogs were injured after several hundred protesters confronted construction crews Saturday afternoon at the Dakota Access pipeline construction site just outside the Standing Rock Sioux reservation. One of the security officers was taken to a Bismarck hospital for undisclosed injuries. The two guard dogs were taken to a Bismarck veterinary clinic, Preskey said. Tribe spokesman Steve Sitting Bear said protesters reported that six people had been bitten by security dogs, including a young child. At least 30 people were pepper-sprayed, he said. Preskey said law enforcement authorities had no reports of protesters being injured. There were no law enforcement personnel at the site when the incident occurred, Preskey said. The crowd dispersed when officers arrived and no one was arrested, she said. Vicki Granado, a spokeswoman for Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, which is developing the pipeline, said the protesters broke through a fence and “attacked” the workers. The incident occurred within half a mile of an encampment where hundreds of people have gathered to join the tribe’s protest of the oil pipeline, which is slated to cross the Dakotas and Iowa to Illinois. The Standing Rock Sioux have gone to court to challenge the Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to grant permits for the project, and a federal judge will rule before Sept. 9 on whether construction can be halted. The tribe fears the pipeline will disturb sacred sites and impact drinking water for thousands of tribal members on the reservation and millions farther downstream. The protest Saturday came one day after the tribe filed court papers saying it found several sites of “significant cultural and historic value” along the pipeline’s path. Tribal preservation officer Tim Mentz said in court documents that the tribe was only recently allowed to survey private land, where researchers found burials, rock piles called cairns and other sites of historic significance to Native Americans. Standing Rock Sioux Chairman David Archambault II said in a statement that construction crews removed topsoil across an area about 150 feet wide stretching for 2 miles. Tre’Davious White Womens Jersey
Odisha not cooperating in Ujjwala implementation: Oil secy
Odisha not cooperating in Ujjwala implementation: Oil secy Bhubaneswar: For the second time in a fortnight, the Centre has complained that the state government is extending due cooperation in implementing the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), touted Narendra Modi government’s largest political initiative, in which subsidized cooking gas cylinders are given to poor families. This has resulted in cold war of sorts between the BJP and the BJD. In a letter dated August 31 (copy with TOI) to chief secretary AP Padhi, petroleum and natural gas secretary K D Tripathi said government premises as venues for MPUY programmes were being cancelled even after confirmation of allotment just before the functions. Earlier on August 13, Tripathi in another letter to the chief secretary had said that disturbances were being created by ruling party men, including an MLA at Nimapara in Puri district. He had given instances of law and order situation at Nimapara, Athagarh and Nabarangpur. Stating that the scheme is meant for the benefit of the poor women, Tripathi in his latest latter requested the state to extend all cooperation for the scheme. Terming Tripathi’s letter politically motivated, BJD spokesperson S N Patro said the letter has no meaning. “BJP is using the government events like party forums. Instead of inviting the local MLAs and MPs to PMUY programmes, the saffron party is inviting its ow leaders. That is the reason why people are protesting,” Patro said. Countering the BJD, BJP spokesperson Sameer Mohanty said the regional party fears LPG to the poor women will increase BJP’s popularity. The BJD is reacting violently because it is scared. It should however understand that the cooking gas is for benefit of the poor,” he said. Odisha is one of the identified priority state for implementation of PMUY. The Centre aims to provide LPG connections to five crore BPL women in the country in three years. The BPL families get connection by paying Rs 990 for the burner and market price of the gas while seeking a new connection while the subsidy amount is credited in their bank accounts. Wes Horton Jersey