BPCL gets green nod for Rs 3,313-crore BS-VI MS block project
State-owned BPCL has received green nod to set up additional facilities at its Kochi refinery to meet the BS-VI quality auto fuel norms and establish new MS block, which will entail an investment of Rs 3,313 crore. As per Auto Fuel Policy 2025, the government has laid down a roadmap for complete transition to Bharat Stage (BS)-VI auto fuel by April 2020 in the country. The Kochi refinery of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd(BPCL) is currently implementing the Integrated Refinery Expansion Project (IREP), which will enhance refinery capacity from 9.5 million metric tonne per annum (MMTPA) to 15.5 MMTPA and upgrade auto fuel quality as per BS-IV and part BS-V norms. “Based on the recommendations of the Expert Advisory Committee (EAC), the environment ministry has accorded the environment clearance to the BPCL’s auto fuel BS-VI upgradation and new MS block project,” a senior government official said. The clearance to the project is subject to certain conditions. About seven acres of land is required for the proposed BS-VI project and the total cost is estimated at Rs 3,313 crore, the official added. Among conditions specified, BPCL has been directed that its water requirement from river Periyar after implementation of IREP and BS-VI project should not exceed 1,372.2 cubic meter per hour and it should obtain prior permission from the competent authority. The company has been asked to adhere strictly to the stipulations made by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) and any other statutory authority. It has also been asked to decide locations of ambient air quality monitoring stations in consultation with KSPCB and ensure at least one station is installed in the upwind and downwind direction. That apart, BPCL has been directed to set up a separate environment management cell with full-fledged laboratory facilities to carry out the environment management and monitoring functions. Post IREP, BPCL said its Kochi refinery will be able produce BS-IV quality MS and diesel along with partial production of BS-V products, and it will require additional facilities to achieve BS-VI quality specifications for MS. BS-VI quality specification for HSD can be achieved post IREP through blending. BPCL intends to maximize and upgrade MS and diesel processing capabilities to meet BS-VI fuel specifications by April 1, 2020, it said in its EIA report. Dwayne Harris Womens Jersey
Life expectancy in India cut by two years due to air pollution: IEA
With Air pollution in India has reaching a new high the average life expectancy in India has been cut by 23 months, according to International Energy Agency (IEA). Air pollution in India is closely linked to the energy sector. In Delhi pollution levels reached 30 times the World Health Organization’s recommend levels on October 30, the Paris based agency said. The IEA in its report “Energy and Air Pollution” said that that air pollution remains closely linked to the energy sector as a vast majority of pollutants including particulate matter, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides come from the inefficient burning of fuels. India’s capital, home to more than 16 million inhabitants, has a concentration of breathable particulate matter more than ten times in excess of the WHO air quality guideline value, earning Delhi the title of the world’s most polluted city. “Around 590 000 premature deaths were attributable to outdoor air pollution in 2015 and about 1 million premature deaths to household air pollution,” said IEA in a media statement. There is a real risk that India’s economic growth may worsen India’s dismal air quality. This is particularly true given India’s reliance on coal – which currently makes up 44% of total energy demand – along with biomass (24%) and oil (23%). IEA in its reports said that the government and energy sector can take actions which include: setting an ambitious long-term air quality goal; putting in place a clean air strategy for the energy sector that avoids pollutant emissions; and ensuring effective monitoring, enforcement, evaluation and communication. The international agency also recommended practical strategies including: relocating highly polluting industries – including cement manufacturing, fertilizer production, and the paper, rubber and wood industries – outside the city. The Delhi government has roped in measures such as converting public transport from diesel to compressed natural gas, changing some coal-fired plants to natural gas, prohibiting open burning of waste. Although these measures have been effective in relation to particular sources of pollution, they have quickly been offset by a growing population, the IEA release added. The Paris Agreement and momentum the behind the low-carbon energy transition is providing extra motivation for a switch away from traditional, polluting energy production across the world. However for a city like Delhi, which cannot afford to have many more days of peak emissions, the real motivation is the health of its citizens. Jim McMahon Jersey
Venezuelan crude sales to the United States tumbled 23 pct in Oct
Sales of Venezuelan crude to the United States fell 23 percent in October to 601,605 barrels per day (bpd) due to fewer shipments of diluted oil from the country’s main producing region, the Orinoco belt, according to Thomson Reuters trade flows data. Venezuela’s oil production has declined sharply this year due to years of underinvestment, payment delays to suppliers and lack of enough diluents to make exportable crude blends, which has affected exports of state-run oil firm PDVSA. The United States, one of PDVSA’s top destinations for exports, received 37 cargoes of Venezuelan crudes last month compared with 46 cargoes in September and 50 cargoes in October of 2015, according to the data. The export decline is attributed to a large decrease in shipments of diluted crude oil (DCO), a mix of Venezuelan extra heavy oil and imported naphtha, which fell to 85,840 bpd last month, its lowest since the second quarter of 2015. PDVSA’s refining unit Citgo Petroleum, U.S. Chevron Corp and Phillips 66 were the main receivers of Venezuelan oil in the United States in October. Refining firm Valero Energy, which has been a large importer of Venezuelan oil in recent years, continued suffering a decline in crude shipments from PDVSA. For its part, PDVSA imported several cargoes of diesel, gasoil, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), gasoline blend stock and heavy naphtha for the Venezuelan domestic market last month, according to Thomson Reuters vessel tracking data. As of Nov. 2, about a dozen tankers with imported crude and refined products were anchored around PDVSA’s ports in the Caribbean sea, waiting to be paid before authorizing discharge. Gabriel Dumont Womens Jersey
Ministry of Defense pushes for use of solar power
The defence estates department of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is set to make off-grid solar power provisions mandatory for large buildings. These provisions are likely to carry incentives in the form of rebates and space exemptions. These rules could be applicable in the cantonment areas, implied by their inclusion in the recently-released draft of the new building bylaws of defence estates. The bylaws are expected to take effect in the first quarter of 2017, after public comment and approval by the MoD. “A lot of our officials and members had wanted to include these provisions as new bylaws, and so it is heartening to see the Centre include such provisions in the new bylaws, especially when the government has been investing in solar power on an unprecedented level. It involves a public interest as well, as it reduces electricity consumption on the regular grid,” said a senior official of the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB). The PCB itself is already setting up backup off-grid solar power facilities for its buildings, most notably in its Shankarsheth Road headquarters as well as in the schools run by it. The required photovoltaic cells are largely being subsidized by the Centre. If the current draft is approved, buildings on land more than 100 square metres in area will have to compulsorily make provisions for solar power, while smaller properties will be “encouraged” through tax rebates and exemptions of building rules. “Through a series of rebates and space exemptions, we will set up the conditions for them so that they can set up photovoltaic cells on their rooftops as well,” said an engineering department official of the PCB. Some cantonment boards are also expected to tie up with solar energy firms which have agreements with the Centre to provide off-grid solar facilities at subsidized rates. Almost all of those subsidies are being paid out through the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). Patrik Nemeth Jersey
Jet Airways facing acute shortage of pilots?
Naresh Goyal-owned Jet Airways is facing acute shortage of pilots amid the airline increasing its capacity in the fast growing domestic market, according to sources. A number of Jet Airways flights have got delayed in the recent past as the airline has failed to provide pilots due to paucity of the flight crew, they said. The Mumbai-headquartered full service carrier is second largest airline in terms of number of domestic operations after no-frills IndiGo. As part of the winter schedule, which is effective from late last month, Jet Airways plans to operate 3,010 flights per week while its subsidiary JetLite 507 flights per week. “Jet Airways is facing shortage of pilots for quite some time now. While the airline has been increasing the number of flights in its both winter and summer schedules each year, the number of pilots is not increasing in the same ratio, leading to shortage of flight crew,” a source said. Jet Airways requires at least 200 more pilots to carry out its operations in a seamless manner, the source said, adding “shortage is more in narrow body, Boeing 737 fleet.” The airline currently has around 1,200 pilots to operate its fleet of 102 aircraft comprising Boeing 777s, B737s, Airbus A330s and ATRs. Almost two-thirds of its fleet consists of B737s. Response to queries sent to Jet Airways in this regard was awaited. Significantly, as many as 18 per cent of Jet Airways flights from four metro airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru — failed to either arrive or depart on time in September. A major chunk of its flights are from its two hubs – Mumbai and New Delhi. Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan had hit out at the airline after his flight to Chennai from Mumbai last week was allegedly delayed due to non-availability of flight crew. “Flying to Chennai. Baggage, check. Board flight on time, check. Seat belt fastened, check. Only thing we need now are our pilots!!…Well done Jet Airways!!! Entire plane boarded without any pilots on board. Still waiting and hoping…,” he had said in a series of tweets over the nearly none-and-half- hour delay of his flight. For the last almost two years, India has been the fastest growing air traffic market in the world. In September, the domestic air passenger traffic registered a robust growth of about 23 per cent as compared the same period last year. Mika Zibanejad Womens Jersey
KG basin gas row: Govt slaps $1.55 bn penalty on Reliance Industries
Private explorer Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has been slapped with a notice of around $1.55 billion for commercially taking out natural gas that belonged to state-run firm ONGC. The petroleum ministry has issued a notice to the Ambani firm on Friday morning, sources indicated to FE. A November 2015 study done by US-based consultant DeGolyer and MacNaughton (D&M) highlighting that as much as 11.122 billion cubic metres of natural gas had migrated from ONGC’s 98/2 area to adjoining KG-D6 block of RIL in the Bay of Bengal between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2015, which the Ambani firm commercially exploited. Last month, the petroleum ministry’s technical arm Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) had submitted its recommendations on the penalty. The technical arm of the petroleum ministry is believed to have taken into consideration capital, operational expenditure incurred by RIL while computing the penalty. But, it has also levied an interest, sources indicated to FE. Comments from RIL are not immediately known. A P Shah, a former chief justice of Delhi High court, agreed with the findings of D&M and said in his report that the quantification of unjust enrichment can either be based on the monetary value of the migrated gas produced, and to be produced, by RIL or it can be the profits earned by RIL, after taking into account its costs and sales figures. The Shah panel said that the question of quantification of unfair enrichment is to be decided by the government, with the principle that whatever benefit RIL received in terms of the migrated gas is liable to be returned to the centre. ONGC had argued that the quantification of unfair enrichment has to be based on the monetary value of the migrated gas produced by RIL. Conversely, RIL argued that it is entitled to recover the development, drilling and facilities costs (capital expenditure) and operating costs (Opex) for the migrated gas and to take into account its sales figures. In July 2013, ONGC for the first time wrote to the DGH stating that there was evidence of lateral continuity of gas pools of the ONGC blocks with the KG-DWN-98/3 block, operated by RIL. The private explorer initially had denied ONGC’s claim of gas migration. Zach Britton Womens Jersey
GMR eyes Greece airport development
GMR Airports Limited (GAL), a subsidiary of GMR infrastructure Limited, along with its partner GEK Terna Group of Greece, has submitted a bid for the development, operations and management of New International Airport of Heraklion at Crete Island, Greece. GEK Terna Group is a leading Greek Infrastructure company having presence in construction, energy, mining and other areas. According to GMR, this is the sole bid for this concession. The project scope covers Design, Construction, Financing, Operation and Maintenance of the airport for a concession period of 35 years. Under the Bid conditions, it is mandatory for the airport operator to hold a minimum of 10 per cent equity stake in the consortium. A GAL spokesperson, in a statement, said: “The bid submission is in line with the GMR Group’s asset light growth strategy with value build up from this project coming to GMR more from leveraging the airport platform, leading to enhanced revenue based services, than just equity.” Crete is the largest and most visited island in Greece. Heraklion airport, located in Crete, is the second largest in Greece and has witnessed steady traffic growth in the last 3-4 years. The current airport is facing capacity constraint and is not able to cope with growing traffic demand. The existing Heraklion airport will be closed once the new airport is operational. GMR had recently secured mandate to develop and operate of Goa’s Greenfield Mopa airport. GMR Infrastructure in partnership with Megawide Construction Corporation is developing Mactan Cebu International Airport in Philippines. Armani Watts Jersey
Investors eye up to 49% of GVK’s stake in Mumbai airport
US buyouts firm TPG Capital is competing with Singapore sovereign fund Temasek, Canada’s CPP Investment Board and Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Financial Holdings to acquire as much as 49% of Mumbai’s airport operator from the GVK group. A possible deal will value Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), which manages the country’s second-busiest airport, at Rs 12,500-15,000 crore, multiple sources close to the negotiations told ET. The transaction would be similar to the arrangement that GVK has done in Bengaluru earlier this year, when it sold a 33% stake to India-born Canadian billionaire Watsa’s Fairfax for Rs 2,200 crore, they said. A stake in MIAL would give these financial investors a piece of the nation’s fast growing civil aviation market. For Secunderabad-based GVK, which owns 50.5% of MIAL, selling the stake would bring funds to reduce debt but could also see its near exit from the operator of the prestigious Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in the commercial capital. Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Merrill Lynch are running a formal process to help GVK find an investor, sources said. “A process is on. The negotiations are to find an investor to a specific operational asset — something that we have done in Bangalore. We hope to conclude it as soon as possible, perhaps in this calendar year itself,” a person close to GVK said. Wayne Gretzky Authentic Jersey
New Bengal highway corridor to bring deep seas close to Bhutan, Nepal, Northern Bangla
Drivers from Phuentsholing border in Bhutan, Hilli border in northern Bangladesh and Kakarvitta border in Nepal may soon bypass greater Kolkata region and save more than seven hours to pick up international cargo from Haldia port in the Bay of Bengal. A new Bengal Highway, that has recently got the requisite amount from lender Asian Development Bank and approvals from central government agencies, will open up the deep-sea Haldia Port to neighbouring countries Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan besides benefitting the north east. Tenders for commencing the work of the highway is slated to be called soon. Dubbed the ‘North south corridor of Bengal’, the 270 km long Expressway connecting Morgram in Murshidabad district with Mechogram in Purba Medinipur district, will enable freight to bypass the congested Howrah suburbs and saving more than 300 km for the freight. Time saved will amount to more than seven hours. The project was envisioned as the neighbouring countries’ and northeast’s dependence on Haldia port increased with the siltation of Kolkata riverine port. The new highway will be built as a parallel highway to existing NH 34, which is in a very poor shape and witness to many accidents. The new highway will break off from the junction of NH 60 and NH 34 at Morgram and join NH 6 at Mechogram. The North south corridor was first proposed by the erstwhile Left Front government in 2009. In 2012, applications were sent by the present Trinamool government to the ADB for lending the requisite amount. Approvals for the project got entangled in red tapism. The ADB has agreed to lend 70%, (Rs 3,000 crore) of the total Rs 4,500 for the project, which would be paid back at an interest rate of 0.5% by the state government. “After completing the project, the state government will collect toll taxes from the stretch,” a senior government official told Express. “Clearances have been secured from the economic affairs, finance and environment ministries of the central government, ” the official added. According to the official, the land acquisition for the highway project has been done and compensation paid according to the ADB guidelines. “The corridor when completed will also help in growth of allied industries and commercial enterprises along the stretch, enabling more employment,” an official of state secretariat Nabanna said. Tomas Nosek Jersey
Set up road transport regulatory authority, ASSOCHAM urges Centre
Apex industry body ASSOCHAM has mooted a proposal to the Union government to constitute an appropriate authority either at central or state level to fix ceiling on road freight rates and breaking local monopolies. “Transporters charge exorbitant rates for movement of iron ore and other raw materials from mines and ports to steel plants. Besides they also prevent free competition through their dominating presence in local areas,” said ASSOCHAM highlighting the double whammy being faced by domestic steel sector. ASSOCHAM has also submitted various suggestions to the Union steel ministry to bring back India’s steel sector on growth trajectory. “There is an urgent need to withdraw import duty of 5% imposed upon metallurgical coke and coking coal to restore competitiveness of the domestic steel industry,” ASSOCHAM highlighted in a paper submitted to the Union steel ministry highlighting various issues that are restricting growth of the sector. It also urged the steel ministry to bring down rate of royalty on iron ore to reduce the cost of raw materials for steel plants. “About 15% royalty rate on iron ore together with district mineral foundation (DMF) at 30% translates into royalty burden on end user of 19.5% of iron ore cost,” it noted. The apex chamber requested to reduce the DMF rate for new mines from 10% for captive consumption of iron ore. Considering that higher transport costs result in higher costs of production of steel in India, there is an urgent need to bring down freight tariff rates by up to 25% across all raw material and steel products to gain competitive edge. It is also imperative to prevent import of cheap steel in India through a combination of minimum import price (MIP) and import duties/safeguard duties on a sustained basis. ASSOCHAM has also suggested that inclusion of pig iron, sponge iron and billets in the list of products covered under MIP since protection for upstream primary reduction of iron is equally vital. Further, banks should extend working capital loans to steel companies on a priority basis, especially those which have not defaulted on interest payment, while structural problems relating to high debts of various steel companies would take time to resolve. There is also a need to create a special funding mechanism for providing capital for brown-field expansion of capacities at the existing steel mills, more so as commercial viability of brown field expansion of steel plants is significantly higher than Greenfield plants. Sharing certain budget proposals, ASSOCHAM has reiterated its demand to accord strategic industry status to steel sector. Besides it also suggested to bring import duty on coking coal and metallurgical coke down to zero. A comprehensive package for steel sector should be unveiled encompassing special financing arm for providing capital for expansion of capacities, easy extension of working capital loans, long-term policy on freight tariffs and augmenting transportation infrastructure capacity to meet needs of steel production. Besides it should also include total revamp of process for grant of statutory approvals for mines and steel plants, long-term policy to prevent cheap imports of steel products and security of raw materials. Nico Hischier Womens Jersey