Follow transparency or will cut financial aid: Goyal to UP
Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal warned Akhilesh Yadav-led state government that it would not receive any “financial help” in the future from the Centre if it doesnt follow transparency while implementing Central schemes. “As far as electrification is concerned, the states position is bad. If state government do not put board highlighting details of the work on websites, and transparency is not followed, the Centre will stop financial help to the state,” Goyal said while addressing the audience at a programme here. The minister said only 5 lakh houses were electrified as against the proposed target of 10 lakh under the 11th five-year plan. He said under the 12th five-year plan too the state government managed to electrify only 1.25 lakh houses against the proposed target of 32 lakh. “The state government is claiming that 4.97 lakh houses have been covered,” Goyal remarked. He said the state government has received Rs 12.707 crores for rural and urban electrification schemes before BJP-led NDA government came to power, but this amount was not utilised. Later talking to reporters, Goel termed Rahuls “dalali” jibe as “unfortunate” and said that “his statement has been hailed in an enemy country (Pakistan)”. “From coal allocation to other cases, Congress hand is infamous for dalali. People of the country will give a befitting reply to the Congress for the childish statements,” he said. “How can a country trust a leader, who cannot save his khat(cot),” he asked. Duke Dawson Authentic Jersey
BSES receives encouraging response to Solar Net Metering
BSES, part of the Rs 1,000 crore Reliance Infrastructure, today annouced it has installed 206 net metering connections with a sanctioned load of over 7 Megawatt across the country. BSES after realizing its orders becomes the first discom in the country to install over 200 net metering connections, according to a company press release. Net metering is a billing device that shows solar energy system owners the electricity they add back to the grid. A customer with a PV rooftop system can monitor the electricity generated during daylight hours and can also observe the electricity fed back to the grid, using a net metering system. “Consumers have begun to see the benefits of roof stop solar and how it reduces their electricity bills due to which the response to Net Metering has been incredibly encouraging,” said a BSES official. Both Government of India and the Delhi Government have very ambitious renewable energy plans and the potential of roof top solar in BSES area is in excess of 250-300 MW, the media statement added. “Consumers opting of solar net metering save between Rs 1000 per month to around Rs 10 lakh per month,” added the official. Forty schools and educational institutes have opted for ‘Net Metering’ connections from BSES with a total sanctioned load of over 1600 KW. These schools include Vasant Valley, Tagore International, New Era Pubic School, Father Agnel School, Venketeshwara School, Bhatnagar International School, and M S Mukerjee Memorial School. BSES further has nearly 50 connections with a sanctioned load of over 1.5 MW are under various stages of commissioning at the consumer’s end. Christian Jones Womens Jersey
Discoms embrace solar energy in a big way
Delhiites are finally beginning to take to green energy production in a big way. The BSES discoms reported that they have energised 206 net metering connections with a sanctioned load of over 7MW (over 7,000 kW). Apart from this, nearly 50 connections with a sanctioned load of over 1.5MW are under various stages of commissioning at the consumer’s end. Some of the recent takers for green energy generation are Delhi Cheshire Home, Vasant Valley School, East Point School, Dayal Singh College, DMRC, a Church in Mayur Vihar, Kohli Imports and Exports, Spartan Management Services and the Delhi Secretariat. The BSES discoms claimed they were the first power distribution utility in the country to have such a large number of net metering connections. “Consumers across categories have warmed up to rooftop solar net metering. An interesting trend that has emerged is that Educational Institutions (and schools), Commercial Establishments and Domestic Users have taken to Net Metering in a big way,’’ said a spokesperson. Many prominent schools and educational institutes have opted for net metering connections with a total sanctioned load of over 1,600kW (over 1.6MW). These schools include Vasant Valley, Tagore International, New Era Pubic School, Father Agnel, Venketeshwara, Bhatnagar International, St Cecilia’s Public School, East Point, Vivekanand Public School and M S Mukerjee Memorial School. “The response to net metering has been incredibly encouraging. Consumers have begun to see the benefits of rooftop solar and how it reduces their electricity bills. BSES has energised net metering connections ranging from a sanctioned load of 1kW to 1,000kW. These consumers save between Rs 1,000 to around Rs 10 lakh per month,” said a BSES official. Both Centre and Delhi government have very ambitious renewal energy programmes and are actively pushing for green energy generation. The potential of rooftop solar in BSES area is in excess of 250-300MW, said officials. Net metering regulations were notified by the DERC in 2014 and outline how people can generate renewable energy on their premises and reduce their electricity bills through the amount of power they supply to the grid. “With this, consumers can set up their own solar panels and either supply directly to the grid or use it partially. Whatever you supply to the grid, you can draw back whenever you need it,” a DERC official said.
India gets first Iranian oil parcel for emergency reserves
India has received the first parcel of Iranian oil to partly fill its strategic storage in southern India, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd, which imported the very large crude carrier (VLCC), said on its website. MRPL shipped in 2 million barrels of Iranian oil in the VLCC Dino. India will fill half of the storage with 6 million barrels of Iranian oil while continuing talks with United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia for the remainder. A second parcel to be procured by Bharat Petroleum Corp. is scheduled to arrive around Oct. 25, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. India, which is seeking to hedge against energy security risks as it imports about 80 percent of its oil needs, is building emergency storage in vast underground caverns at three locations in southern India to hold a total of 36.87 million barrels of crude, enough to cover almost two weeks of demand. Lamarcus Joyner Womens Jersey
IOC to lay India’s longest LPG pipeline
State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) plans to lay the nation’s longest LPG pipeline from Gujarat coast to Gorakhpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh to cater to growing demand for cooking gas in the country. IOC plans to import LPG at Kandla in Gujarat and move it through the 1,987 kilometer pipeline to Gorakhpur via Ahmedabad (in Gujarat), Ujjain, Bhopal (in Madhya Pradesh), Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi and Lucknow (in Uttar Pradesh). The pipeline will carry 3.75 million tons per annum of LPG, IOC said in an application to the sector regulator PNGRB seeking approval for the pipeline project. LPG will be fed into the pipeline at Kandla port as well as IOC’s Koyali refinery in Gujarat. This will be the biggest LPG pipeline in the country. GAIL currently operates a 1,415-km line from Jamnagar in Gujarat to Loni near here. The line carries 2.5 million tons of LPG annually. GAIL also has a 623-km Vizag-Secunderabad pipeline. IOC also has a 274-km pipeline from Panipat in Haryana to Jalandhar. “The demand for LPG is increasing consistently in recent year. Further, due to Government of India’s emphasis to make LPG – a clean and environmental friendly fuel, available to every domestic household in the country, LPG demand is expected to increase at much steeper rate in the coming year,” IOC said in the application. IOC expected the deficit between what its refineries produce and the demand to reach about 10 million tons per annum by 2031-32. LPG demand has grown 10.5 per cent this fiscal with just abouthalf of the 8.4 million tons consumed being locally produced. “Considering the deficit figures for LPG, it is essential to import LPG at the nearest port and then transport it to the bottling plants through the most economical modes,” IOC said. IOC said it is building additional import capacities at Paradip, Cochin and Kandla to meet the increasing requirements of imports. “West coast remains most suitable to import LPG to met the demand of North and Central India. Though there is a common carrier pipeline to link West Coast to North ie Jamnagar-Loni pipeline, there is no LPG pipeline in existence or in construction to link West Coast to Central India or Eastern India,” it said. The proposed pipeline will connect eight of IOC’s LPG bottling plants in Central and Northern India. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has sought ‘expression of interest’ from companies wishing to take capacity in the pipeline. 25 per cent of the capacity will be reserved for third parties. IOC caters to nearly half of country’s 18 crore LPG consumers. B.J. Hill Jersey
Dharmendra Pradhan launches Rs 5,000cr national seismic programme in Mahanadi Basin
Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday launched the national seismic programme to carry out assessment of unappraised areas across the country for potential oil and natural gas reserves. The massive 2D seismic survey, which will cost the government more than Rs 5,000 crore, has been launched here on Mahanadi basin (onshore) in Odisha. “Our government’s is giving a lot of focus to hydrocarbon data. ” Pradhan said at the launch at Tarang village. As much as 48% of the Indian sedimentary basin remains unappraised, and there has been no major finding in new sediments in the last 25 years, he added. ONGC will carry out the national seismic programme (NSP) in most parts of the country while Oil India Ltd will undertake the project in northeastern states. NSP will cover an estimated 48,243 line kilometre, covering 26 sedimentary basins divided into 11 units. “In addition to the national seismic programme, we are carrying out a reassessment of hydrocarbon data of existing sedimentary basins. The third big thing is the single platform where all the data is being brought together, or the national data repository, which we will be dedicating to the nation very soon,” the minister said. On Wednesday, ONGC began the survey work on the Mahanadi basin (onland). Pradhan said he was hopeful the survey work would eventually lead to enhanced exploration and production (E&P) activities in Odisha. “Work on such surveys in these parts in the 80s had even resulted in some evidence of onland gas findings,” he said. The presence of gas has been established about 30 km offshore of Dhamra in a discovery by Reliance in the past. In fact ONGC has sought time from the government to pursue further exploration at two deep water blocks that the company hasn’t surrendered, said senior officials present. ONGC CMD Dinesh K Saraf and Odisha steel and mines minister Prafulla Kumar Mallik were among those present. ONGC, which has already begun survey in Saurashtra, aims to have three-fourths of the total area in the country to be appraised by 2020. In Odisha the survey will be carried out in about 2,500 line kilometres divided into the Bhadrak-Jajpur area and the smaller Chilika Lake area at a cost Rs 79.57 crore. Lorenzo Mauldin Womens Jersey
Kerosene Subsidy Likely to Decline 25% this Fiscal Year
India’s kerosene subsidy is poised to fall sharply as higher supply of cooking gas and rural electrification have encouraged the government to cut supply of the inefficient and polluting fuel that is often diverted to adulterate diesel. The Centre is reducing kerosene supply by 5% a quarter which, along with additional voluntary cuts by some states, small increases in retail prices, and roll out of direct cash transfer for beneficiaries, is estimated to reduce sales and subsidy by 25% by the end of this fiscal year. “There is a consensus emerging between the Centre and the states that subsidy will have to be targeted,“ Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told ET. And the effort at targeting subsidy has been greatly aided by the availability of Aadhaar and national socio-economic database, he said. “With increased access to power and cooking gas, everybody doesn’t need subsidised kerosene,“ Pradhan said, adding that the states have also realised that their revenue collection from petrol pump sales was lower as some of the subsidised kerosene made way to the gray market and states, therefore, have reason to support targeting of subsidy. Oil ministry officials said the decline in kerosene consumption this year would be the steepest ever. Consumption has been shrinking in lower single digits annually for a decade. Sale of subsidised Kerosene, meant for lighting and cooking for the poor, fell 4.2% to 6.8 million metric tonnes in 2015-16. But this year until August, the fall has been much sharper at 10%. In August, the consumption fell 17%. The trend would amplify as the financial year draws to a close as the Centre is reducing the alloca tion of subsidised kerosene to states by 5% every quarter. So, a 10% reduction in allocation has already been made by the middle of the current year, and another 10% cut would be achieved by March, officials said. The allocations to states are being slashed mostly in proportion to the issue of fresh cooking gas connections. States with the higher number of fresh cooking gas subscriptions face deeper kerosene cuts. State oil companies have added about 1.4 crore new cooking gas subscribers so far this year. Oil ministry officials expect an addi tional 5% reduction in kerosene consumption with some states taking voluntary cuts and the launch of direct transfer of kerosene subsidy helping reduce diversion. Brandon Crawford Womens Jersey