NHAI to inject Rs 500 crore more into widening of Jaipur-Gurgaon stretch of NH-8
To complete the long-delayed widening of Jaipur-Gurgaon stretch of National Highway 8 (NH-8), the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is planning to make a one-time infusion of Rs 500 crore. The fresh injection of funds is expected from the Centre as onetime financial assistance given for completing selected projects. “The developer, Pink City Expressway Pvt Ltd (PCEPL), is facing shortage of funds. The proposal is under consideration of the Centre,” said a NHAI official. A meeting of a consortium of 14 banks was called by Union minister Nitin Gadkari and officials from his ministry at the PMO to discuss the matter. “At present, construction work of around Rs 400 crore is pending.PCEPL still has to invest Rs 40 crore of its share, while the banks have a commitment of Rs 150 crore more. This will not cover the cost, forcing NHAI to invest,” the official added. However, the funding will be conditional. The NHAI will seek to recover its investment through toll collections. The banks have reluctantly agreed to the new proposal though it will reduce their returns on investment. “Banks will only get an interest of 3-5% instead of the 8-9% mooted earlier on money invested in the project. But it’s better than the project being stalled due to paucity of funds,” said the official. Work on this stretch began in April 2009 and 2011 was the original deadline for completing it. But even after missing the deadline by over five years, the six-laning work is still `progressing’. In 2013, to make the project financially viable, the board of 14 banks had approved restructuring of the project after NHAI delinked 17 structures planned for the highway. The scaling down was aimed to give the developer and banks some breathing space. It also came as a respite for the state gover nment as all the 17 points, where these structures were planned, had become contentious following protests over land acquisition. Dave Keon Womens Jersey
Huda to build roads along SPR to help avoid Kherki Daula, Vatika Chowk bottlenecks
With the proposed clover leaf on Delhi Gurgaon expressway to connect SPR and NPR still a few years away, Haryana Urban?Development Authority, Gurgaon, is planning to build master sector roads so that vehicles can bypass bottlenecks at Kherki Daula and Vatika Chowk. The urban authority has initiated steps to expedite the construction of the master sector road that will connect SPR with Delhi-Gurgaon expressway bypassing Kherki Daula toll plaza. The road starts from SPR, passes through the outer periphery of Sector 75A, Sector 76 and crosses between sector 75 and 76 to reach NH8. Speaking on the proposed plan, HUDA administrator Yashpal Yadav said land for this crucial master sector road has been acquired, and tender for construction is being prepared by engineering wing to ensure early construction. Currently, vehicles using SPR have to take the service lane of Delhi Gurgaon expressway, which is narrow, badly damaged and sees traffic from both sides leading to jams. “We have acquired land in sectors 75,75A, 76, 77 to build the master sector road and will take its possession by Wednesday. From SPR, the road goes towards Shikohpur, takes a right a few kilometres prior to the village and joins NH-8 opposite Sector 83. Commuters can either go towards Manesar or take a right and go towards Gurgaon from under the flyover,” Yadav said. HUDA officials believe that the development of this road can be completed in the next six months as acquisition has been completed and the tender is being prepared. Similarly, the authority has acquired pockets of land between sector 66 and 67, which will ensure the completion of master sector road starting from sector 59 to Sohna Road. “This road was also stuck due to a small parcel of land. Once completed, it will help vehicles moving on Golf Course extension road to avoid Vatika Chowk and Badhshapur village,” Yadav said. The oustees of the pockets will be awarded alternative plots and the remaining work done on priority, the official said. Apart from these two crucial roads, Huda also held a meeting to discuss the master sector roads, and other utilities in sectors 81 to 95. “We are fixing timelines to build roads, sewage and other utilities. The oustees of Rohtash ki Dhani have also been allotted plots and this will ensure connectivity between NPR and Manesar,” the Huda administrator said, adding that more than financial issues, it was the lack of administrative action that delayed the matter so long. Thomas Steen Womens Jersey
Sh Dharmendra Pradhan embarks on two nation tour for road shows for discovered small fields
Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, will be making official visits to Singapore and United Kingdom from 9-14 September, 2016. During these visits, he will take part in Road Shows at Singapore and London for the 67 Discovered Small Fields (DSF). Both places have been chosen for organising the Road Shows as they are key financial centres for global oil and gas community, to publicize and attract investments. During his visit to Singapore from 9-10 September, Sh Pradhan will inaugurate the Road Show and address the representatives of oil and gas industry, followed by a Roundtable interaction. He is scheduled to meet equity investors and leaders of hydrocarbon industry and speak on “Oil and Gas Sector in India: Changing Landscape”. He will also interact with eminent personalities working in the sector in Singapore. Sh Pradhan will visit Floating Production Storing Offshore (FPSO) Conversion Facility at Keppel Shipyard and Jurong Refinery and Petrochemical hub. Sh Pradhan, during his visit to the UK, will be inaugurating the Road Show and a data room relating to the DSF bid round. He will interact with the leaders of UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) on the hydrocarbon sector reforms taking place in India and have one-to-one meeting with prospective bidders, representatives of commodity exchange market and regulators. A Roundtable with UK financial institutions has also been scheduled where Sh Pradhan will discuss recent policy initiatives taken in the oil and gas sector in India. While in the UK, Sh Pradhan will meet his British counterpart Rt Hon Greg Clark, MP in London and also Scottish Energy Minister in Aberdeen. He will address a gathering at the Somerville College, Oxford University on ‘Policy Initiatives in India to increase access to Clean Energy’ followed by an interaction with leading scientists. Earlier, in July 2016, Sh Pradhan had launched the Discovered Small Fields Bid Round-2016 at Houston, USA. In India, DSF bidding was launched in New Delhi on 25th May, 2016 by Sh Pradhan. Under this bid round, 67 DSF are being offered for international bidding. These fields are spread over 9 sedimentary basins and will be offered in 46 contract areas. These fields are projected to yield 625 million barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas and spread over 1,500 sq kms in onland, shallow water and deep water areas. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has introduced progressive administrative and fiscal procedures in the bidding process in sync with international best practices. The DSF policy provides for single uniform license for producing all kinds of hydrocarbons in place and other resources to be identified in future. Other incentives offered under this policy include no cess on the oil production, upto 100% participation by foreign companies, moderate royalty structure, customs duty exemptions and complete marketing and pricing freedom for the sale of produced crude oil and natural gas, no mandatory work program or relinquishment of contract area, operational autonomy and limited regulatory burden enabling provision for sharing of infrastructure and flexibility for unit development in case of reservoirs extending beyond contract area for joint development. Zach Hyman Jersey
SpiceJet Q1 profit doubles to ₹149 cr
No-frills airline SpiceJet reported a net profit of ?149 crore for the first quarter of 2017 against a profit of ?73 crore for the same period of the previous year. This is the sixth consecutive profitable quarter for the Gurgaon-headquartered low-cost airline. In a statement the airline said that on an EBITDA basis SpiceJet reported a profit of Rs. ?215 crore. During the latest quarter, capacity deployed by SpiceJet registered a growth of 37 per cent over the same quarter last year and operating revenue stood at ?1,522 crore (?1,113 crore previously). The average fare charged by the airline stood at ?3,605 during the first quarter of this year compared to ?3,715 during the same quarter in the previous year. Ancillary revenues During the latest quarter, the airline reported a 64 per cent increase in revenues from ancillary revenues compared to the same period in the previous year. Airlines in India earn ancillary revenues from unbundling services such as charging for sitting in the first few and some other seats which offer additional leg room space, by charging for meals/drinks ( they have to offer water free of charge), charging for checked in bags, sports equipment and musical instruments among others. Profits for the quarter were adversely impacted by Rupee depreciation, inflation and the presence of expensive wet lease aircraft, the airline said in the statement. Rupee depreciation Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, told newspersons after the results were announced that during the latest quarter the airline suffered a loss of ?33 crore due to the depreciation of the rupee, while it is likely to save substantial funds as the airline has now converted the wet lease of aircraft into dry lease. A wet lease involves leasing an aircraft with a foreign crew, while in a dry lease, the airline leasing the aircraft gets it without the crew. Typically, the leasing rates for an aircraft being taken on dry lease are 20 per cent lower than what an airline pays for inducting an aircraft on wet lease. “Currently, the company has zero bank debt. We have cleared all tax liabilities. All airport liabilities have been cleared. We have paid all the banks and do not have a rupee outstanding with them. There is no outstanding with vendors,” Singh said. SpiceJet plans to induct three Boeing 737 during October and November this year. The airline also plans to station another three Bombardier Q 400 aircraft in Kolkata to strengthen operations to the North-East. On Wednesday, the airline stock closed at ?65.30, up 8.95 per cent from the previous day’s closing, on the BSE. Al Davis Womens Jersey
Bills inflated as discom staff ‘fail to read meters’
Consumers have complained of having been issued ridiculously high power bills this cycle, which discom officials claim can be blamed on linemen’s ‘laziness’. Daskshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam has said it has received complaints from consumers, most of which are in the new city, that their meter readings as per bills do not correspond with thier usage, and the amount hence calculated is inflated. “My bill for the month of June and July has come to be Rs 31,500 which is ridiculous given that both my wife and I are working and are out most day and both our kids go to school,” said Amit Agarwal, a resident of Malibu Towne, a township on Sohna Road. For some residents, a two- to three-fold jump has been recorded, without substantial change in consumption patterns. “My average daily consumption was 9-15 units between 26.9.2015 and 26.05.2016. It shot upto 35 units/day between 26.5.16 and 26.7.16 despite no change in usage pattern,” said Ram Mohan, also a resident of Malibu Towne. The residents approached their respective circle offices for an explanation, however, nothing came of it. Some were, in fact, told the bill has increased due to the increased usage of air conditioner this season due to humidity. Consumers have been left clueless by the the lack of communication from sub divisional offices. The residents, instead, argued that if that were the case, bills would have spiked proportionally across the city, instead of a selected few. “I agree summer months require more AC usage but the units consumed were beyond expected calculation. We all try to keep a slight record or check on our usage, and bills go up or down. However, so many consumers cannot be wrong about the same thing at the same time,” said Sardar Gurviner Singh, a resident of Sector 52. Officials at DHBVN claimed that the discrepency has taken place because of the laziness of their technical staff who is supposed to take readings. The said the linemen did not actually take readings out of ‘laziness’ and generated random readings averaging the previous months’ consumption. Consequentially the discom ended up generating random power bills basis the average consumption. “Our staff that is supposed to take the reading used to avoid going to the field and give a reading averaging the previous month’s bill which has caused a backlog of unpaid consumption,” said a senior DHBVN official. He added that department has now taken it up with their staff who will be now taking regular readings not causing such problems in the future. Adam Boqvist Jersey
Industry can return to Singur: Bengal Power Minister
Among the decade-old unused structures on the 997-acre abandoned Tata Motors plant site in Singur stands the transmission and distribution towers built by the West Bengal government to supply power to the proposed factory. Announcing the road map for implementing the Supreme Court order on giving physical possession of the land back to the villagers, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on September 1 that the power plant spread over 40 acres of land would have to be dismantled. At a time when work is going on in full swing for land-plotting on the site, the State’s Power Minister, Sobhandeb Chatterjee, said the power plant would be rebuilt in nearby areas, kindling fresh hopes of industry coming to Singur. “I have told officers that the machinery relating to the transmission towers should be carefully removed. We have discussed with district administration availability of land near the project area,” Mr. Chatterjee told The Hindu. “The stations are reusable, we have to make power stations in this area only,” he said, adding that Rs. 80 to 85 crore had been spent building this power infrastructure. The Power Minister is among those senior Trinamool Congress leaders who did not rule out industry returning to Singur. “If the people of Singur want industry and they tell that to the Chief Minister, industry will be set up here. It was for the people that she [Mamata Banerjee] fought such a long battle,” Mr. Chatterjee said. Since the Supreme Court verdict of August 31, at least one State Minister is visiting the site every day to take stock of the work. Garret Sparks Womens Jersey
‘APEPDCL aims to provide uninterrupted power supply’
Mudavatu M Nayak, chairman and managing director of Andhra Pradesh Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited (APEPDCL), has several plans up his sleeves to transform APEPDCL into one of the best discoms in the country. A graduate in mechanical engineering from Andhra University, Nayak joined the Indian Administrative Service in August, 2005. Before he took over as the CMD of the APEPDCL in July, Nayak served as the district collector of Vizianagaram. In an interview with V Kamalakara Rao of TOI, Nayak speaks about his plans to develop APEPDCL and protect the interests of its over 50 lakh consumers. What’s the current status of the APEPDCL? We have reduced the transmission and distribution losses. The sale of meters is up by 84%. We have strengthened the network system. It has surplus power, and ranks among the best discoms in the country. However, there is a gap between the consumer and the service provider. We will reduce this gap. The services will be streamlined. The toll free number 1912 will be strengthened. A dedicated ADE-level officer was appointed to handle consumer grievances. There are interruptions in power supply. This is due to maintenance of power lines. What are your plans to reduce interruptions in power supply? The discom has installed equipment to prevent interruptions in power supply. We identify outage feeder on a real time basis to improve power supply. We have also planned to replace the existing ordinary conductors by advanced imported covered conductors. It will reduce power supply interruptions. We will implement this on a pilot basis in Visakhapatnam. Are the applications for new connections cleared promptly? Yes. I noticed several applications for new connections pending with us. We are now attending to them. Some of the applications were kept pending for technical reasons. What is your main objective? My plan is to see all APEPDCL consumers get uninterrupted and quality power supply. We will achieve this. What are the core areas before you? The core areas are better services to consumers, strengthening of power supply network and infrastructure and improving the quality of our staff. Are any new ventures or projects coming up soon? We have planned to install 146 sub-stations in next 18 months. This will reduce voltage fluctuation and power interruptions. We have proposed indoor sub-stations in urban areas including Visakhapatnam and outdoor sub-stations in rural areas. Infrared meters will also be installed in next three months. Are there any information technology-enabled projects? Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) is being planned in sub-stations. It works on IT. Smart grids and smart meters are also planned. We will install smart meters in 1,000 houses on pilot basis. Remote-operated agricultural pump sets are also part of our plan. Do you have any ‘outsourcing’ plans? We will extend all our services through Mee-Seva centres. Consumers need not approach us for any service. They can go to the nearest Mee-Seva centre. This will reduce the burden on our staff. It will also help the consumers. We are also planning to launch a pilot programme of door-to-door collection of electricity bills at Rajam town in Srikakulam district. We are planning to use the Kaizala App, which helped government officials for group communication during the Krishna Pushkaram. The Kaizala App can help my staff too. Any plans to use social-networking platforms? Presently, we are not on Facebook and Twitter. We will explore these platforms too. What is present status of underground power supply network project for Vizag city? We will shortly go for tenders for the first phase of the project aided by the World Bank. What steps do you plan to take to check corruption? Corruption prevails everywhere. I hope the IT-enabled smart systems and awareness among the consumers about the ill effects of bribe will bring down corruption. We take action whenever we receive complaints from consumers. Tommy McDonald Authentic Jersey
Rural households still bereft of electricity: Report
Nearly 35 per cent of rural households across the country are still bereft of electricity mainly due to lack of effective monitoring and co-ordination between the Centre and state governments, a recent report has said. “Access to electricity is a key socio-economic development indicator – an area where there is still a significant gap in India. As of May 2016, 35 per cent of rural households are bereft of electricity with sharp variation across the country,” as per a study by financial services firm JM Financial. While 87 and 71 per cent household in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, respectively, have no reported access, there is universal electricity access in states such as Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, it added. “As electricity is a concurrent subject, lack of effective monitoring and co-ordination can be attributed to the wide variance across states,” the brokerage firm noted. It pointed out that there has been a delay in execution of projects and was evident from the low actual spend in past programmes. By May 2016, only 25 per cent of the 12th Plan’s amount allocated to rural electrification programme has been spent and 81 per cent for the 10th-11th Plan has been spent. The Narendra Modi government has launched the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) as the flagship rural electrification programme. “DDUGJY incorporates real-time monitoring of work progress, independent verifications through Gram Vidyut Abhiyanta (GVA) engineers and is likely to see improved execution,” the firm said. As per the report, rural electrification, along with the urban T&D development plan, is expected to drive massive spending of Rs 1.6 trillion (USD 24 billion) over FY16-22; benefiting companies across the electricity chain. According to the study, five states, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Assam, account for 80 per cent of un-electrified households. These states account for 38 per cent of total population, are economically weaker (GDP/capita at 55 per cent of the national average) and also have inferior power generation infrastructure (18 per cent of national installed power capacity). “However, due to the way village electrification is currently defined, even Bihar and UP report 98 per cent of villages as electrified, even though only 13 per cent and 29 per cent, respectively, of rural households have electricity access in these states,” it said. JM Financial, therefore, noted that the criteria for declaring a village as electrified should be relooked and focus should be on monitoring household electrification more than village electrification. Steve McNair Womens Jersey
Over 15.45 crore LED bulbs distributed so far under UJALA scheme: Govt
As many as 5.15 crore households in India have so far used over 15.45 crore LED bulbs under the Unnat Jyoti Affordable LED programme, a government release said. “UJALA is the world’s largest Light Emitting Diode (LED) programme for the residential sector. The initiative is being implemented by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) a public sector undertaking of Ministry of Power,” the release said. The scheme is presently operational in 18 states and four union territories. EESL will roll out the scheme in West Bengal and North Eastern states in the coming days. In the remaining states and union territories, the decision to roll out the scheme is pending with the respective state governments. Under the UJALA scheme, consumers can avail these LED bulbs at an upfront cost and can save nearly Rs. 336 every year on their electricity bills per LED bulb, making the bulbs free to the user in just 3 months. The government has a target of replacing all the 77 crore inefficient bulbs in India with LEDs. This will result in reduction of 20,000 MW load, energy savings of 100 billion kWh and Green House Gas (GHG) reduction of 80 million tonnes every year. Adrian Wilson Authentic Jersey
Tangedco to join central scheme for power distributors
After much dithering, the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) has decided to join the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (Uday) scheme of the Central government. A team from the state led by power minister P Thangamani will soon meet Union power minister Piyush Goyal to discuss the modalities for joining the Centre’s flagship scheme for power discoms across the country. March 2017 has been fixed as the deadline for the states to join the scheme, and 15 states have already joined the scheme. Tamil Nadu has been reluctant to join Uday, as it would be mandatory for the states to revise power tariff every quarter under the scheme. The state has also been pushing the Centre to allow it to cross the fiscal deficit limit of 3% of GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) to enable it to absorb Tangedco’s debt of 80,000 crore. Once the loss-making discom joins the Uday scheme, the company’s overall debt and amount apportioned to service the interest component will come down. Though Tamil Nadu has been reluctant to join the scheme, Goyal wanted Tangedco to join the scheme, and finally, according to sources, the deal was clinched when he met chief minister J Jayalalithaa last July. Carson Tinker Jersey