Kerala to mobilise Rs 50,000 crore for infrastructure development
The Kerala Assembly on Thursday cleared the amendment Bill to mobilise Rs 50,000 crore for infrastructure development projects. The amendment to Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) Bill will equip the board to float bonds and mobilise money from various countrywide financial agencies. Though the Congress-led UDF in the opposition showered flak on the amendment throughout the discussion on the Bill, all members finally agreed to state finance minister TM Thomas Isaac’s request to pass the amendment unanimously. The Opposition, however, expressed doubts about the practical utility of KIIFB. “At the first phase itself, the state expects to mobilise Rs 20,000 crore,” Dr Isaac said, presenting the bill. “Of this, Nabard has promised R5,000 crore. Eminent persons will be on the board to infuse market confidence,” he added. Though Kerala is currently a revenue-deficit state, within six financial years, it will emerge a revenue-surplus state, according to Dr Isaac. The minister refused to go by the Opposition’s demand that the projects under the KIIFB umbrella should avoid tolls and user fees. The Bill mandates that administrative panel headed by the chief minister and the executive panel headed by the state finance minister will spearhead the functioning of KIIFB. Former state finance minister KM Mani argued that the new outfit KIIFB would bypass the controlling reins of state’s budget and Assembly. “Like Aladdin’s hand on his magic lamp, Dr Isaac would have his hand on KIDBI to pay the loans. Any discussion, on the spending pattern of the share of state motor vehicle tax and petrol cess falling into KIIFB corpus, would be beyond the purview of State Assembly,” said Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala. Charles Barkley Authentic Jersey
DGCA seeks details from Jet Airways on cancelled flights
Aviation regulator DGCA has sought from Jet Airways details of the flights it had cancelled and delayed recently after some of its pilots reported sick amid an acute shortage of flight crew, particularly in its narrow body fleet. Jet Airways has also been asked to provide details of the pilots who are “habitual” of reporting sick and disrupting the airline’s schedule, an official said. The Mumbai-headquartered airline, which is already facing paucity of pilots to carry out its operations in a smooth manner, had cancelled 50-odd flights on Tuesday and Wednesday after a section of its pilots did not turn up for duty despite being rostered in protest against the malfunctioning of its new crew rostering management system. “We have asked Jet Airways to provide us details of the flights it cancelled on November 1 and November 2. It has been asked to provide the number of flights it cancelled as well as the number of pilots who reported sick,” a senior DGCA official said today. The airline has also been told to provide details of the pilots who do not turn up for duty and keep passengers waiting inside the aircraft. Jet Airways requires at least 200 more pilots to carry out its operations in a seamless manner, with its Boeing 737 fleet taking the maximum hit due to the inadequate number of flight crew in the airline, sources had said. The full service carrier is second largest airline in terms of number of domestic operations after no-frills IndiGo, operating more than 600 domestic and international flights every day. The airline at present has around 1,200 pilots to operate its fleet of 117 aircraft comprising Boeing 777s, B737s, Airbus A330s and ATRs. Almost two-thirds of its fleet consist of B737s. As part of the winter schedule, which became effective from late last month, Jet Airways would operate 3,010 flights per week while its subsidiary JetLite 507 flights per week. Oscar Klefbom Authentic Jersey
Abu Dhabi firm wins $141 million project from ONGC
An Abu Dhabi-based company has won a $141 million contract from India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) to provide engineering, procurement and construction services for two of its projects. National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC) will be involved in the replacement of 10 wellhead platform topsides at ONGC’s Mumbai High North and South fields, MHN and MHS, respectively, a statement released by the UAE’s official news agency Wam said. Out of these 10, four are on the MHN field while six are located on MHS. The decommissioning and removal of the existing topsides are part of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract. The project is scheduled to be completed on April 30, 2018. According to the statement, Aqeel Madhi, CEO of NPCC, and Manas Chakraborty, Group General Manager (MM)-ES of ONGC, signed the contract. NPCC is owned by Senaat, an Abu Dhabi Government Holding Company, and has successfully executed several mega EPC projects for ONGC over the past three decades. “ONGC has been a valued client of NPCC for decades and we take pride in winning and executing ONGC projects. Outside GCC, India is a key market for us and our long-term commitment to ONGC speaks for itself. As always, we will deliver this project adhering to the highest standards and as per client’s expectations,” Madhi said. Denzel Perryman Womens Jersey
Cabinet likely to decide on Pawan Hans strategic stake sale in December
The Union Cabinet is expected to take a final decision on the disinvestment of Pawan Hans Helicopter Ltd in December. Set up in 1986, PHHL is the largest helicopter operator in the country with a fleet of over 40. Later this week the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the nodal Ministry under which PHHL comes, will move a note for inter-ministerial comments on the state-owned helicopter company’s disinvestment. The comments are expected within a week. Three weeks after receiving the comments, the Civil Aviation Ministry hopes to approach the Union Cabinet, a senior Ministry official said. ONGC and the government are the major shareholders in Pawan Hans. PHHL was one of the over two dozen government entities for which the Union Cabinet gave “in principle” approval for strategic sale and divesting management control late last week. But for PHLL’s divestment to go through, the Finance Ministry has to waive off a ?480-crore outstanding against the company. The amount includes ?120 crore that the government provided PHLL and the balance ?360 crore is the interest on this amount. With the Finance Ministry indicating its willingness to “waive of the dues” PHHL’s divestment looks set. Officials of the Civil Aviation Ministry declined to say when the disinvestment will take place and how much stake the government will divest, pointing out that it was the Finance Ministry’s responsibility to carry out the divestment. The current rules permit 100 per cent foreign investment in the operations of helicopters and sea planes. When asked about the divestment of PHHL, Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Union Civil Aviation Minister pointed out that while the helicopters with PHHL were “work horses” the organisation had not really grown since its inception. Malik Jefferson Jersey
TN Discom rejig: Power Ministry says can’t relax FRBM norms for borrowing
The Centre has told the Tamil Nadu government that it cannot give any relaxations for borrowings beyond the mandated norms for the Discoms financial restructuring package. At a recent meeting the Union Power Ministry expressed its inability to go beyond the FRBM (fiscal responsibility and budget management) norms. The Power Ministry, however, agreed to tweaking some other norms to enable the State join the Centre’s scheme to revive financially stressed electricity distribution utilities – the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana or UDAY. “We cannot change the basic structure of the scheme as it has been approved by the Union Cabinet, but concessions can be worked out within the norms. States are coming out with their own specifications and we have facilitated wherever we can,” an official said. Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had in June in a memorandum given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi spelt out certain modifications stating that if not considered then it would be difficult for the State to implement UDAY. Though Tamil Nadu has in-principle agreed to join the Centre’s scheme, the Power Ministry is being cautious. A source involved with the negotiations said, “we have to wait for the MoU draft, which the State will send once its Cabinet approves.” Under UDAY, States take over 75 per cent of the Discom debt and pay it back by issuing bonds. Jayalalithaa had put forth a condition that Tamil Nadu will takeover ?17,500 crore of loans of Tangedco, if additional borrowing towards principal repayment and interest servicing on account of Discom debt take over is provided over and above the normal borrowing limit by relaxing FRBM norms for 15 years. “This is something which falls under the domain of the Finance Ministry and we have communicated it to the State government,” another official said. For implementing UDAY, Jayalalithaa had also sought that the State government be allowed to float 15-year bonds with five-year moratorium and floating interest rate of not more than 20 basis points. “Tenure of the bonds can be flexible. Some States have preferred 10-year bonds,” a member of the negotiating team told BusinessLine. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister had also asked the Centre to provide 25 per cent of the taken over debt as grant similar to the assistance provided in the Financial Restructuring Programme of 2012 and a provision for quarterly revision of electricity tariffs to offset fuel price change. Officials concerned said, the Centre had accommodated a lot, if not all, of the conditions of Tamil Nadu government. Regarding relaxation of the FRBM norms, the Power Ministry said it will convey the issue to the Finance Ministry, but did not make any commitments on that score. If Tamil Nadu, which has Discom debt of ?80,000 crore, joins the scheme then the total number of States coming on board will be 18. The combined Discom debt, including Central PSU dues that would be restructured in respect of these 17 States that have already joined the scheme is around ?2.57 lakh crore, which is around 68 per cent of the total outstanding Discom debt as on September 30, 2015. Ja’Whaun Bentley Womens Jersey
State-owned electric companies to stop importing coal from next financial year: Coal Secretary
Coal Secretary Anil Swarup on Thursday said that state-owned electricity generating companies will stop importing coal from the next financial year, The Hindu Business Line reported. Swarup said power generation companies owned by the Centre and states imported between 35-40 million tonnes of coal in 2015-’16. “After March 31, 2017, there will be zero imports,” he said. Swarup said that while the government was keen on allowing the entry of the private sector into the commercial coal mining industry, the move was being delayed by low demand as well as capacity maximisation by state-owned Coal India. The secretary added that the government could not allow the entry of private companies unless “everyone is getting coal”. He added that Coal India would keep making efforts to meet its production target of 1 billion tonnes of coal by 2020. “We should get prepared to produce as much as our target and lift [it] when required,” he said while speaking at a conference on India’s coal sector. A report by BMI research, a subsidiary of global ratings agency Fitch, has said that India may continue to face deficits in its coal requirement because of delays in opening up the sector to commercial mining as well as delays in granting approvals to new state-owned miners, according to dna. “We are assuring the supply of coal for [the] private sector,” Swarup said. However, reports have suggested that the Indian government will have to spend four times its defence budget to meet its 2020 target. Josh Bynes Womens Jersey
First Solar Slashes Revenue Expectations By $1B As Demand For Solar In China Slows
First Solar, the world’s largest manufacturer of thin-film cadmium telluride (CdTe) modules and utility-scale solar solutions provider, reported net income of $1.49 per share for the third quarter, beating analysts’ bottom line expectations. Sales, however, fell 45.9% to $688 million, and CEO Mark R. Widmar officially slashed sales guidance for 2016 to $2.8-$2.9 billion from $3.8-$4 billion, due to the timing of certain utility-scale solar project sales. Widmar withheld comment on the company’s 2017 outlook, deferring until November 17 when First Solar will give an outlook update. But the combination of the enormous outlook decline for 2016 revenues and uncertainty in articulating visibility to future earnings left the investing community with little choice but to sell first and ask questions later. On the call, CEO Widmar raised the possibility of fast-forwarding from the current Series 4 module straight to the Series 6, given that, in the current pricing environment, the Series 4 and as yet unveiled Series 5 module will likely experience significant margin pressure. Widmar is also considering other cost-cutting measures, but at the end of the day none of this will really make a difference as the company is simultaneously facing several negative macro trends. Small Share in a Cyclical Industry The solar industry is highly cyclical and First Solar is a small fraction of the overall share. Though First Solar is the world’s largest manufacturer of thin-film modules with ~3GW of capacity, thin film only has about 6% overall market share relative to polycrystalline silicon, an industry dominated by Chinese manufacturers. Workers install polycrystalline silicon solar panels in the Guanshui Town of Muping District in Yantai, Shandong Province of China last November. First Solar, the world’s largest manufacturer of thin-film cadmium telluride (CdTe) modules and utility-scale solar solutions provider, reported net income of $1.49 per share for the third quarter, beating analysts’ bottom line expectations. Sales, however, fell 45.9% to $688 million, and CEO Mark R. Widmar officially slashed sales guidance for 2016 to $2.8-$2.9 billion from $3.8-$4 billion, due to the timing of certain utility-scale solar project sales. Widmar withheld comment on the company’s 2017 outlook, deferring until November 17 when First Solar will give an outlook update. But the combination of the enormous outlook decline for 2016 revenues and uncertainty in articulating visibility to future earnings left the investing community with little choice but to sell first and ask questions later. First Solar ended the day down over 14% after the release. On the call, CEO Widmar raised the possibility of fast-forwarding from the current Series 4 module straight to the Series 6, given that, in the current pricing environment, the Series 4 and as yet unveiled Series 5 module will likely experience significant margin pressure. Widmar is also considering other cost-cutting measures, but at the end of the day none of this will really make a difference as the company is simultaneously facing several negative macro trends. Small Share in a Cyclical Industry The solar industry is highly cyclical and First Solar is a small fraction of the overall share. Though First Solar is the world’s largest manufacturer of thin-film modules with ~3GW of capacity, thin film only has about 6% overall market share relative to polycrystalline silicon, an industry dominated by Chinese manufacturers. Solar module pricing has also fallen 29% year-to-date, and the industry is in an over-supplied position. China’s Changing Targets Top Chinese solar players like Trina Solar Ltd., Canadian Solar Inc. and JinkoSolar Holding Co., who control well over 90% of the market, are feeding the decline in ASPs. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance they built out capacity aggressively even as the Chinese government (the number one buyer for solar modules) is lowering solar subsidies and dialing back demand as it digests existing new solar capacity. In China, there was a rush to install solar in the first half of the year because only solar projects that were operational by June 30, 2016, would be eligible for a ‘feed-in tariff’ of about 1.0 yuan (15 U.S. cents) per kilowatt hour (kwh), while those completed beyond June 30 would get a lower tariff rate. From the beginning of 2016 year until June 30, China installed 20 Gigawatts (GW) of solar as developers pushed to get their projects in under the more favorable tariff regime. But recently the Chinese government has set a new national target for solar installations of 18 Gigawatts. Over the long term, China has ambitious goals to increase renewable energy’s share of the overall energy mix to 15%, but in the near term it seems to be taking a breather to make sure that all the new renewable capacity is actually hooked up to its grid. Roth Securities analyst Phillip Shen downgraded First Solar to neutral from buy this morning, taking his price target to $40 from $55. Shen had correctly predicted the industry over-capacity after traveling to China earlier this year. He said in his note, “Although module ASP declines have recently flattened, the next ramp up of manufacturing capacity from Asia or seasonal slowdown of demand in China could catalyze another leg down.” Shen’s new 2017 EPS estimate stands at $1.55, which is $.05 higher than the roughly $1.50 of 2017 consensus. Utility-Scale Buyers Showing Increased Price Sensitivity Complicating matters for First Solar further, on the demand side, utility-scale buyers are increasingly price-sensitive. Alexander R. Bradley, First Solar’s CFO, said on the call that the company passed on several projects in India and Africa this quarter. “We won’t chase the pricing to the bottom and we won’t go into deals that are uneconomic for us,” Bradley said. Southern Company and NextEra, two big utility-scale buyers, recently announced they were going to focus less on solar and more on wind and other renewable alternatives. When asked about this on the call, management conceded it was the case, adding there is “somewhat of a scarcity of tax capacity for large utility-scale assets,” referring to financing from lenders interested in tax credits. Better places for your capital The
India – Opportunities For India In Current Downtrend Of Oil Prices.
Through this short post, we seek to examine the current downtrend in oil prices, and what it means from an Indian context. As in any downtrend, the intent ought to be to maximise opportunities and isolate effects of any threats and the author accordingly seeks to analyse how these threats may be turned into opportunities. This short piece further examines how, despite the usual market rhetoric, India could position itself to take advantage of the current downturn. Global Response In the wake of the downtrend, the immediate response of global exploration and production (E&P) companies was to hold off large capital investments in new projects and capital-intensive exploration activities. These decisions now stand vindicated as barrel prices have hovered around the US$45-50 mark. Several of the big companies made retrenchments and streamlined costs across the supply chain. Nevertheless, a fundamental observation emerging from the downtrend is that its effects are not uniform on players in the industry. Companies that diversified and integrated their base across upstream, midstream and downstream assets are in a far better position to manage the downtrend and, in some cases, even benefit from it. Companies that were dependent on the crude price for their bottom lines have been severely challenged to weather this crisis. Some also face severe devaluation or even bankruptcy, thereby creating an asset base for acquisition by companies with financial agility and capital strength. Efficient Production versus Aggressive Exploration The focus globally is maximum production with minimum costs. Service providers and suppliers are scrounging for live orders, creating a buyers’ market. In India, Government owned enterprises (PSUs) have been strategically mandated to invest in capex. The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India (ONGC) is rolling out mega re-development projects off the ageing western offshore fields, as well as the ambitious integrated development plans for eastern offshore deepwater fields. Implementing these high-value projects within the limited window is critical. Overseas Asset Acquisition The past year has seen some big ticket acquisitions such as the Royal Dutch Shell acquisition of BG Energy in the upstream sector, and Halliburton’s announcement of the acquisition of Baker Hughes in the midstream sector, which did not go through. M&A in oil & gas globally has been relatively quiet owing to disagreements on valuation due to price volatility, amongst other factors. Big players who could sustain low prices for a year and half will now start feeling the strain in the first quarter of the new fiscal year when last year’s numbers come in. This could create fresh opportunities. From India’s perspective, the latest acquisition of Vadinar Refinery, and connected assets by Rosneft alongwith Private Equity (PE) Investors is a notable development. It would be interesting to observe whether this gives rise to heightened PE Investor confidence in Indian oil and gas space. Technology – the Game Changer The big story is how North American shale and tight oil was like a matador to the bullish Gulf crude. Sustained and structured investments in technology for producing “tough oil” propelled US and Canadian E&P Companies to challenge the volumes and market share of Gulf crude. India can gain from these lessons, and rather invest in advanced technology for its deepwater and unconventional reserves (i.e. Coal Bed Methane, Gas Hydrates) to improve exploration efforts and production efficiencies resulting in lowering costs, and increased production. Downstream Scenario in India Oil marketing PSUs gained from lower import payouts, but absorbed inventory losses due to reduced refining margins and forex fluctuations. However, private refiners like Reliance bucked the trend by operating on a flexible input system of spot cargoes to offset any downside of long-term high-priced supply contracts. Rosneft’s investment in the downstream sector is expected to have some play on the market dynamics in this space. Upstream scenario in India New initiatives, such as the Hydrocarbon Exploration Licensing Policy (HELP), announced in March 2016, and the launch of the Discovered Small Fields Bidding Round (DSFBR) on May 25, 2016, are encouraging signs. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural gas (MoPNG) is aggressively promoting the DSFBR through roadshows in India and abroad to attract global E&P players. The MoPNG has also announced that more blocks will be auctioned under HELP next year. Solutions – Immediate Actionables for India Refurbishing ageing infrastructure Western Offshore and other onshore fields are operating on platforms and equipment nearing commercial expiry. ONGC is currently the only serious global E&P player that has announced its intentions of going ahead with capex outlay regardless of the downturn. This could be an opportunity to revamp ageing equipment at lower costs. Overseas Acquisitions Devalued Assets v. Distressed Assets Otherwise healthy assets have been devalued purely on account of the low prices, whereas some assets are on the verge of becoming liabilities. Investors who can tell the difference stand to gain the most from this scenario. Probable Investment Destinations – “Energy Diplomacy” North American oil companies would be a natural choice. However, these may hold on to their prospected reserves till prices rise, and produce existing reserves on minimum margins while consolidating bottom lines. Therefore, actual valuation may not be as low as estimated. Recent MoPNG press and media briefings show an intent to engage in “energy diplomacy” so as to secure India’s hydrocarbon interests. This was evident in the recent Vankor acquisitions by OVL and IOCL from Russian E&P giant Rosneft. The MoPNG in the recent past has questioned the so-called “Asian Premium” and mooted a gas importers’ bloc for effective articulation of demand. These are steps in the right direction. India’s growing traction can be leveraged to negotiate favourable deals in South America, Africa, Myanmar, Vietnam, etc, which may be more amenable to diplomatic interventions as opposed to North America or Europe. Assets in politically sensitive countries like Venezuela, Nigeria, Vietnam and Myanmar need to be closely monitored for political risk assessment before actual investment. The Chinese onslaught in the APAC, and the South China Sea region is the dimension that has led many countries to align their diplomatic and geopolitical
India’s Fast-Growing Aviation Market Spurs Boom In Private Charter Jet Startups
India’s domestic aviation sector became the world’s fastest-growing aviation market last year, growing at a rate of over 20.3%, according to a report by KPMG. This sector is the ninth largest in the world and, according to a passenger forecast issued by The International Air Transport Association (IATA), it is stated to become the third largest aviation market by displacing the one in UK by the year 2026. The forecast predicts that the Asia-Pacific region will be a source of more than half the new passengers over the next 20 years. As part of this sector’s growth story, the private jet market in India is also experiencing a revival in fortunes. After the economic downturn of 2009-10, this comeback, however, is gradual as there have been constraints that make India a tough market to survive for the private jets’ owners. Infrastructural challenges and high cost of operations associated with owning an aircraft add to the woes of the owners. When you own a plane, there are fixed costs on the aircraft, pilot, maintenance and other miscellaneous aspects. Unless you clock around 800 to 900 hours of flying time a year — 90 hours a month — owning a jet is not practical. The other challenging issue in India is in the form of its regulatory policies. You can either own the jet under private ownership or you can include it in the company books by taking a non-scheduled operators permit. But under a non-schHowever sensing an opportunity in this industry, a slew of startups such as BookMyCharters, JetSetGo and JetSmart have taken flight by offering more choices in the private jet market. These startups are registering demands from not only major Tier-I cities like Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad, but also smaller Tier-II and Tier-III cities such as Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh), Belagavi (Karnataka) and Tiruchirappalli (Tamil Nadu) to name a few. Sachit Wadhwa, co-founder of BookMyCharters says, “Today, the charter market is only at seven locations, including the four metros. The idea is to take it to the next level, where people beyond metros are also looking at this application.” However sensing an opportunity in this industry, a slew of startups such as BookMyCharters, JetSetGo and JetSmart have taken flight by offering more choices in the private jet market. These startups are registering demands from not only major Tier-I cities like Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad, but also smaller Tier-II and Tier-III cities such as Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh), Belagavi (Karnataka) and Tiruchirappalli (Tamil Nadu) to name a few. Sachit Wadhwa, co-founder of BookMyCharters says, “Today, the charter market is only at seven locations, including the four metros. The idea is to take it to the next level, where people beyond metros are also looking at this application.” Out of the three startups mentioned above, BookMyCharters enables instant bookings. On the other hand, customers of JetSetGo can view aircraft types and get price estimates of the flights it aggregates. JetSmart aggregates planes, but bookings can only be made on flights returning empty. These private jet charter firms are similar to that of online travel aggregators such as MakeMyTrip and Yatra that allow users to compare prices and schedules before booking tickets. Users can also select aircraft types and add amenities. One of the impacts of these startups has been on the availability of greater number of charter planes. BookMyCharters lists 40 aircrafts on 22,000 routes at 149 locations in India. A recent search for a Mumbai-Delhi flight on JetSetGo threw up 90 planes of varied sizes and price range. JetSetGo gives individuals access to 75 private jets and helicopters in India with the ease of booking the flight online. An updated version of its mobile app is also being designed to meet the demands of affluent customers. “If you didn’t own a private jet, you ended up calling 10 operators, 30 brokers and everyone was misleading you,” says Kanika Tekriwal, founder of JetSetGo. For India’s moneyed, chartering a private jet is now a breeze compared to a few years ago when the market was fragmented, opaque in its dealings and dominated by brokers and middlemen. Taking advantage of private jets that return without passengers, JetSetGo sells tickets at highly discounted fares. If one had to charter the same aircraft from Kolkata to New Delhi, it would cost double the amount. In some instances, the discount could be as high as 80%. These startups offer fares that are significantly cheaper than those quoted by brokers. Those who can afford private planes earlier relied on brokers who typically represented three to four private plane operators, most of whom don’t own more than one or two aircrafts. Negotiations among operators, brokers and customers on price and availability would eventually drag on for more than a few days. Other than the type of services, one can also differentiate amongst these startups based on models of aircrafts. For instance, the fleet of aircraft that BookMyCharters offers ranges from the small Pilatus PC 1247, with a single turboprop engine to the Dassault Falcon 2000 twin-engine business jet. Delhi-based JetSetGo has a program called JetSteals that provides travelers seats on private jets for domestic trips, with prices ranging from $69 to $674. According to this deal, the price for individual seats on a lower range private jet model like a Beechcraft 200 would be $69, mid range private jets like the Hawker would be approximately $300 and for the higher range models like the Falcon or the Challenger, the price range could go up to $674. Typically, private jets that most Indian startups use — Gulfstream, Bombardier Global Express or Dassault Falcon — can only do six- to seven-hour journeys. Globally, the challenger series from Bombardier and Dassault Falcons dominate the skies for short-haul flights, while Gulfstream rules the long range. Operating as Uber of the skies is not a task for the faint-hearted, as most of these startups connect owners of private jets to potential customers via an online platform – they do get impacted by decisions of
Petrol pumps may observe nationwide strike on Nov 15
Country’s petroleum dealers, who are on a two-day no-purchase strike since yesterday, have threatened to go on a full-fledged strike on November 15 to press for their demand to increase commission. Besides, petrol pumps will be selling fuel for limited hours from tomorrow and will not operate on Sundays or any other government holidays, the Consortium of Indian Petroleum Dealers (CIPD) said. According to CIPD joint secretary Rajiv Amaram, all the 54,000 petrol pumps across the country will observe one-day strike on November 15 if the oil companies do not heed to their demand. He said that in Telangana alone, over 1,400 truckloads of petrol and diesel was not lifted yesterday and today by petroleum dealers in the state. “We have stopped purchasing petroleum products yesterday and today. From tomorrow, we will sell petrol or diesel or any other product according to government office timings like 9 AM to 6 PM. We will also not sell on Sundays or any other government holidays. If the government does not listen to us then we will call for a strike on November 15,” Amaram told PTI.Petrol pumps may observe nationwide strike on Nov 15 Hyderabad, Nov 4 (PTI) Country’s petroleum dealers, who are on a two-day no-purchase strike since yesterday, have threatened to go on a full-fledged strike on November 15 to press for their demand to increase commission. Besides, petrol pumps will be selling fuel for limited hours from tomorrow and will not operate on Sundays or any other government holidays, the Consortium of Indian Petroleum Dealers (CIPD) said. According to CIPD joint secretary Rajiv Amaram, all the 54,000 petrol pumps across the country will observe one-day strike on November 15 if the oil companies do not heed to their demand. He said that in Telangana alone, over 1,400 truckloads of petrol and diesel was not lifted yesterday and today by petroleum dealers in the state. “We have stopped purchasing petroleum products yesterday and today. From tomorrow, we will sell petrol or diesel or any other product according to government office timings like 9 AM to 6 PM. We will also not sell on Sundays or any other government holidays. If the government does not listen to us then we will call for a strike on November 15,” Amaram told PTI. He said petrol pumps will save considerable amounts on electricity bills if they stick to limited hours selling. The CIPD has demanded implementation of the recommendations made by the Apoorva Chandra Committee in 2011. The committee recommended commissions of over Rs 4 for petrol and about Rs 3 for diesel per litre. The then UPA government hiked the commission on petrol to Rs 2.15 and diesel to Rs 1.28 from Rs 1 and Rs 0.70, respectively. Amaram said the dealers are supposed to get the arrears also from 2011. Evan Gattis Jersey