India To Double Airport Count In 2-3 Years, Says Jayant Sinha
The government plans to double the number of airports in India over the next two-three years, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha has said. “Our party had in its 2014 election manifesto announced the UDAN (Uday Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme, under which we will expand the number of airports,” the minister said, delivering the 3rd G Ramachandran Memorial Lecture organised in Chennai on Saturday night. “The fact is we have 75 airports with scheduled services. We plan to double it in the next two to three years,” the minister said at the event organised by the Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI). Earlier this year, in a move to make flying more affordable, the government unveiled a draft UDAN scheme with an all inclusive fare of Rs. 2,500 for one-hour flights. The scheme is aimed at developing underdeveloped regional routes, Mr Sinha said. Declaring that the government would raise about Rs. 400 crore to run the UDAN scheme, the minister said the government is asking airlines to bid for those routes that provide connectivity to other major airports. “When bids are finally awarded in January 2017, we will create an entirely new regional market,” he said. A.J. Derby Jersey
Govt’s equity flow choke might block Air India revival path
Air India’s turnaround plan would be hit by a proposed curtailment in government equity infusion, the airline has informed the civil aviation ministry. Air India received Rs 1,713 crore of equity in the Budget, against its requirement of Rs 3,900 crore. The airline had requested the remaining Rs 2,200 crore to be released in the supplementary Budget. But the finance ministry has turned down the airline’s request. Lower equity infusion could result in increased finance costs and impact the turnaround plan, the airline has told the government. Air India is on a Rs 30,000-crore government bailout package and has till now received Rs 23,993 crore in equity, including Rs 1,713-crore investment this year. The infusion fund was to take care of the cash deficit and to be used for loan repayment. The airline was hoping to retire debt using the equity infusion in 2016. Last week, Air India Chairperson Ashwani Lohani wrote to the civil aviation ministry highlighting the perils of reduced equity infusion. The airline has sought the ministry’s intervention in the regard. Lohani confirmed to Business Standard he has written to the ministry. “Air India’s huge debt burden is a legacy of the past. It would be impossible to manage unless we are given full equity,” he said in response to a query. Lohani has in his letter pointed out that the airline was on an expansion mode and leasing aircraft, making it essential to have sufficient liquidity to take care of commitments. Further, he said, the airline would be forced to raise temporary loans from banks to bridge the liquidity gap, which might endanger the survival of the company. Daryl Johnston Authentic Jersey
Ethanol blending programme being implemented
Petroleum & Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply that the Government, through Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), is implementing the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme under which, OMCs sell ethanol blended petrol with percentage of ethanol upto 10%. Also, the Government has allowed procurement of ethanol produced from other non-food feedstocks, like cellulosic and ligno cellulosic materials including petrochemical route. The Government has fixed the price of ethanol for the ethanol supply year 2016-17 at Rs.39/ per litre. Additionally, Excise Duty, VAT/GST and transportation charges (as decided by OMCs) will be paid by OMCs. OMCs have procured 1.03 billion litres of ethanol during the ethanol supply year 2015-16 (till 7.11.2016). In 2015, the Government has asked OMCs to target 10 % blending of ethanol in as many States as possible. A Steering Committee and a Working Group on biofuels have been constituted in Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. They are holding regular consultations with concerned stakeholders. The potential foreign exchange savings due to blending of ethanol for the ethanol supply year 2015-16 is approximately USD 353 Million. Also, the Government had announced a Bio-diesel Purchase Policy in October 2005. In August 2015, the Government has allowed sale of Bio-diesel (B100) by private manufacturers to bulk consumers. Moreover, retailing of bio-diesel blended diesel by Public Sector OMCs has started on 10th August, 2015. Brandon LaFell Jersey
Government to bear entire burden on sale of PDS Kerosene and subsidized LPG for 2016-17
Petroleum & Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply that for the financial year 2016-17, it has been decided that entire burden on sale of PDS Kerosene and Subsidized Domestic LPG will be borne by the Government. The total subsidy/under recovery on petroleum products since 2013-14 is given below: (Rs. billion) Particulars 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 H1 2016-17 Diesel 628.37 109.35 0 0 PDS Kerosene 312.55 248.04 114.96 41.23 Domestic LPG 522.47 405.69 160.74 45.57 Total 1463.39 763.08 275.70 86.80 The burden sharing of the under-recoveries by the upstream companies since 2013-14 is given below: (Rs. billion) Particulars 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 H1, 2016-17 Total Under-recoveries 1398.69 723.14 115.15 41.23 Under-recoveries borne by Upstream Companies 670.21 428.22 12.51 0 The details of Net Profit After Tax (PAT) reported by the PSU OMCs since 2013-14 are given below: (Rs. billion) Companies 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 Q1, 16-17 IOC 70.19 52.73 103.99 82.69 HPC 17.34 27.33 38.63 20.98 BPC 40.61 50.85 74.32 26.21 Refining of crude oil is a process industry, where crude oil constitutes around 90% of the total cost. Crude oil is processed through several processing units. Each of these units produces intermediate products streams, which require extensive reprocessing and blending. This results in difficulty in apportioning the total cost of individual refined products with reasonable accuracy. Therefore, individual product-wise costs are not identified separately. The prices of Petrol and Diesel have been made market determined by the Government effective 26thJune, 2010 and 19th October, 2014 respectively. Since then, the Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) take appropriate decision on pricing of these products in line with their international prices and other market conditions. The Government continues to modulate the effective price to consumer for Subsidized Domestic LPG and Retail Selling Price (RSP) of PDS Kerosene. Further, price of CNG/PNG is fixed by the concerned City Gas Distribution (CGD) entities as per market dynamics. Adam Joseph Duhe Womens Jersey
Steps being taken to make India a Gas based economy
Petroleum & Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply that natural gas is one of the cleanest and most environment friendly fuels having extremely low Carbon Dioxide emissions compared to other fuels like coal and oil. The Government has taken the following steps to make India a gas based economy: i. Development of Gas Sources either through Domestic gas Exploration & Production activities or through building up facilities to import natural gas in the form of LNG, ii. Development of Gas Pipeline Infrastructure and Secondary distribution network. iii. Development of gas consuming markets like Fertilizer, Power, Transport and Industries etc. Fertilizer and Power Sectors are the major gas consumers in Indian gas market. They consume about 60% of total gas consumption at country level in FY 2015-16. In order to develop the gas consuming market, Government has implemented Fertilizer Gas Pooling Scheme which has encouraged the utilization of installed Fertilizer Units in the country. On the Power Sector, Government has come up with a scheme to make operational the stranded gas based power plants on R-LNG. It has helped in reviving Stranded Power plants of around 16,000 MW capacity and saved them from becoming NPA. LNG consumption in Power sector has increased from the level of 3 MMSCMD during April-2015 (prior to Pooling) to a maximum level of 11.47 MMSCMD during March-2016. Further, the Government has taken several steps to enhance domestic natural gas production through several policy initiatives such as: (i) Policy to grant relaxation, extension, and clarifications at development and production stage for early monetization of hydrocarbon discoveries (ii) Marginal Field Policy- Discovered Small Field Policy (iii) Uniform Licensing Policy-Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (iv) Policy for Grant of Extension to small and medium sized discovered fields (v) Policy for Marketing Freedom for Gas Produced from Deepwater and Ultra Deepwater areas etc.; and (vi) Policy on testing requirements for discoveries made under New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP) Blocks. To incentivize gas production from difficult areas, Government has granted marketing, including pricing, freedom for the gas produced from difficult areas. Marketing freedom has also been provided under Discovered Small Field bidding round as well as under Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) under which acreages will be provided in future. The implementation of these policy initiatives and other reform initiatives is expected to enhance domestic natural gas production from the fields. The Government normally does not provide any financial support for laying pipeline infrastructure. However, Government has taken a decision to provide a capital grant of Rs. 51.76 billion (i.e. 40% of the estimated capital cost of Rs.129.40 billion) to GAIL for development of a 2539 Km long Jagdishpur-Haldia/Bokaro-Dhamra Gas Pipeline (JHBDPL) project to connect Eastern part of the country with National Gas Grid. During the financial year 2015-2016, the CPSEs have incurred an approximate amount of Rs. 29.62 billion on natural gas and other petroleum products pipeline infrastructure development. Bob Griese Authentic Jersey
Oil firms plan to set up seven 2G ethanol units for Rs 40 billion
Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd (HPCL) will set up around seven so-called second generation (2G) ethanol plants across the country, three people aware of the development said. The plants will be set up at a cost of Rs 40 billion and will help enhance ethanol availability for blending with petrol. 2G ethanol is produced using non-edible agricultural waste left over after harvesting. This could include corn cobs, rice straw and wheat straw, among others. Currently, technology is available to convert cellulose into sugar, which can later be fermented to form ethanol. “The OMCs are in the process of setting up nearly seven such plants in the initial stage. These will be set up at a cost of Rs 6 billion each. The plan is currently under the consideration of the ministry of renewable energy and the ministry of petroleum and natural gas,” said an industry official aware of the talks, one of the three mentioned above. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he is not authorized to speak to reporters. These plants, the official added, will produce 100,000-150,000 litres of ethanol per day and correspondingly equivalent bio-CNG (compressed natural gas). Bio-CNG will be an alternative to diesel. These plants will come up at locations close to farm lands, in order to reduce costs. “We are looking for locations where we can set up a blending refinery or depot,” added the third official from an oil marketing company. In September, IOCL tied up with Pune-based Praj Industries Ltd to build three 2G bio-ethanol plants with technology developed by Praj. IOCL did not reply to an email sent last week seeking details of the investment in the venture. A BPCL official confirmed the plan to build these plants. “In addition to Praj Industries, we are in talks with other technology service providers also to set up two 2G ethanol plants. Location of the plants will be decided in a few months,” the official added. BPCL did not reply to an email sent last week. The country is targeting a more than seven-fold expansion in its biofuel market in the next six years, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on 10 August. This July, Union minister Nitin Gadkari had said the government will soon come up with a new policy on non-conventional resources as it plans to take up ethanol blending in petrol to 22.5% and in diesel to 15%. He added that this could reduce India’s annual crude oil imports bill of Rs7 trillion. “1G ethanol will continue to be the main contributor to the blending programme, besides serving beverage and industrial demand. However, the desired 10% ethanol blending programme calls for alternative feedstocks and hence, the need for 2nd generation cellulosic ethanol (2G) technology,” said Pramod Chaudhuri, executive chairman, Praj Industries in his second quarter address to shareholders. Andrew Shaw Authentic Jersey
Gas deal with India’s ONGC likely by January
A consortium of Indian companies led by ONGC Videsh (OVL) is set to strike a deal with Iran by January for the development of Farzad-B gas field in the Persian Gulf. This comes at a time when Iran surpassed Saudi Arabia to become the biggest oil supplier to India in October, after sanctions on the former were lifted in January. According to a Reuters report, in October this year, supply from Iran increased to 789,000 barrels a day (bpd), compared with Saudi Arabia’s 697,000 bpd, business-standard.com reported. “Our relationship with Iran is strategic and long-standing. As far as the Farzad project is concerned, financial issues will be sorted out and we will finalize the deal by January. We have already appointed a consultant for that,” said an official close to the development. Though India had shown interest in the project long back, sanctions by the United States and other Western countries on Iran delayed things. Farzad-B has gas field has reserves of about 21.6 trillion cubic feet. Managing Director of Pars Oil and Gas Company, which is in-charge of the project, Mohammad Meshkinfam told the Iranian media that it deemed the “economic development model” was the main basis of disagreement between both the countries. “In case no agreement is reached within the envisaged time, the development of Farzad-B will be put to international tender,” he said. Under Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, India has focused on countries such as Iran and Russia for sourcing of hydrocarbons. In the recent past, India had invested about $4.25 billion in Russia only. A consortium led by state-run Indian Oil Corporation, Oil India and Bharat PetroResources had signed a $1.3-billion deal in Russia for a 29.9-percent stake in the Taas-Yuriakh oilfield in March. Later, the consortium also struck a $2.02-billion deal for 23.9 percent in Rosneft’s Vankor field. According to the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, India imported 202.85 million tons of crude oil in 2015-16, up from 189 million in 2014-15. Jaylon Smith Womens Jersey
Bidding begins: 120 companies in fray for 67 oil and gas fields
At least 120 companies are bidding for 67 small and marginal oil and gas fields. The Union government had launched the bidding process for discovered small fields, earlier this year. The government is hoping to attract start-ups and private equity players. The 47 contract areas carved out of 67 oil and gas fields on auction are discovered small fields (DSF) taken out of the kitty of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Oil India. The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), an arm of the petroleum and natural gas ministry, is conducting the bidding process, which is expected to be over later in the day. The bidding process has failed to grab interests from major global players even as state-run ONGC and Oil India have decided to stay away from the ongoing auctions. After a six-year hiatus, India is auctioning its oil and gas acreage. The UPA government conducted the last auction under the New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP) in October 2010 when crude oil price benchmarked to the Indian basket was $81 a barrel. The Discovered Small Field Policy provides for a uniform licence for exploration and production of all forms of hydrocarbon, an easy to administer revenue sharing model and marketing and pricing freedom for the crude oil and natural gas produced. Further, the contractor will have rights for exploration throughout the contract period. Toronto Maple Leafs Jersey