Gujarat govt ready to give land for international airport in Rajkot: CM Vijay Rupani
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani today said his government is ready to provide 2,800 acres of land for the international airport proposed to be built here. “The state government is ready to give 2,800 acres of land to Rajkot district authorities for the international airport,” he said at a function here. The Chief Minister made the announcement while laying the foundation stone of SAUNI (Saurashtra Narmada Avatraran Irrigation) project’s link-3 canal project to fill Aji dam, which is city’s main source of drinking water. “The state government is committed to provide international air-connectivity to Rajkot and ready to give the required land,” Rupani said. Rajkot District Collector Vikrant Pandey had recently sought 2,800 acres of land for the project.
Birsa Munda airport fails to get international tag
All efforts by airport authorities and the government to get the international tag for Birsa Munda Airport failed, despite upgrading its infrastructure for international operations three-and-a-half years ago. “None of the private flight operators are taking interest in Ranchi as a connecting link for international routes due to lack of passenger traffic,” Anil Vikram, Birsa Munda airport director, said. “We have been raising the matter in the meetings with union-state government officials and stakeholders for a long time,” Vikram added. Members of Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FJCCI) met Hazaribag MP Jayant Sinha, minister of state for civil aviation on November 27, during his visit to the state capital, and handed over a letter to him requesting to start services for Dubai. FJCCI said Dubai acts as a stopover for connecting flights to western countries and Bangkok for its connectivity to eastern countries. Jaromir Jagr Jersey
Why do most Indian airports report losses? Not a single flight lands in them, that’s why
India is one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world, clocking over 20 percent growth in domestic traffic month on month for many months now. One would assume that India’s aviation infrastructure is keeping pace with this blistering pace of growth in traffic. No, it isn’t. Majority of India’s airports are managed by state-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) and many of these remain un-served, a majority are loss making. We have close to 400 airports across the country which are un-served – they do not handle even a single flight. But we also lack airport infrastructure at several places where demand actually exists. In the past, Civil Aviation Minister A Gajapathi Raju has laid the blame at airlines’ door and compared them to horses who can be taken near the water but cannot be made to drink it. According to him, airlines not mounting flights to many existing airports are the biggest reason for patchy air connectivity in India. But look at this: there is a long list of airports run by AAI – 97 out of 122 – incurred losses in 2015-16. Not all of these are un-served. In fact, the Raja Bhoj airport in Bhopal, Sri Guru Ram Dass ji airport in Amritsar and the one in Aurangabad together accounted for over Rs 150 crore in losses but both these airports service flights regularly. They are not ghost airports at all. So should airlines solely shoulder the blame for the unused airports and loss making ones? Raju said in a written reply in Lok Sabha yesterday that airports incurred losses due to low revenue generation and that AAI has drawn up a master plan for development and increase in non-aeronautical revenues at airports across India. There is a historical method to the airport madness in India. Under previous governments, airports which are turning in losses and those which remain un-served, were built partly to pander to local politics, partly because of inability of the AAI to judge where an airport should be in a state so that airlines find it viable to operate flights there and again, partly in the hope that airlines will get smaller aircraft to operate on these routes. Chris Wormley Authentic Jersey
Industries across NCR using sulphur-heavy fuel: EPCA
Rampant use of sulphur-heavy fuel like furnace oil and pet coke in industries across the National Capital Region is generating “enormous” amount of air pollutants and it needs immediate attention, a Supreme Court- appointed body has said. While furnace oil (FO) is ‘bottom-of-the-barrel’ product at refineries, pet coke is a by-product found in these facilities and there has been a spike in their sales possibly due to a “crash” in the global fuel prices, the panel said. The Environment Pollution (Control and Prevention) Authority has called for amendments to the 1996 notification that had banned these fuels in Delhi and extend its ambit across NCR. It has recommended that the states in the region adopt policies towards incentivising clean fuel over polluting fuel, observing that the situation is quite the opposite at present. “While governments provide tax exemptions to FO? Uttar Pradesh does not charge VAT on FO? natural gas is taxed. In Uttar Pradesh, cleaner natural gas is charged VAT at 10 per cent. This is the case in other states as well,” an EPCA investigation into quality of fuel being used in NCR said. Around 30,000 metric tons of FO have been sold every month in NCR last year, the report noted. EPCA stressed on the need to mandate the need for clean fuel, not just in Delhi but across NCR as industries outside the boundaries of the national capital are using polluting fuel. “Also many industries in Delhi operate in non-authorised colonies and so are outside the control of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC),” it said. Combustion of sulphur leads to the emission of particulates and gaseous pollutants like Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) and depending on the level of moisture in the air, gas gets converted into particles. “These secondary particles are a key source of air pollution in Delhi/NCR. According to the IIT-Kanpur report, as much as 25-30 per cent of the winter sources are secondary particles, which are emitted from vehicles, power plants and industries,” the report said. Jeremy Lauzon Authentic Jersey
ONGC crosses daily production target; revises annual goal
State-run oil behemoth ONGC has crossed its daily production target of 16,200 tons per day and has accordingly revised its annual goal upward to 5.9 million tons for this fiscal. “Production trend has reversed in recent months. We will produce more in this year compared to last year. All over India, production of onshore has increased,” ONGC Director (Onshore) Ved Prakash Mahawar told PTI. The daily production of the company has already touched 16,300 tons compared to 15,300 tons in August 2015, he added. “We had set the target on higher side compared to last year and it was 16,200 tons per day. We have already achieved it. The last six month’s average is 16,290 tons a day,” Mahawar said. He said the company gave a mission target for production to all its assets across the country for the current financial year and all will achieve it by the end of the fiscal. “Our whole year’s target is 5.87 million tons. We will do more than our target. We are trying to reach 5.9 million tons in this fiscal and we are hopeful about it,” Mahawar said. When asked about Assam, the Director said the production this year will increase compared to last year in the state too. “In last fiscal, our production in Assam was 0.9 million tons. This year, we will reach the figure of one million tons,” he added. The average production of Assam asset was 2,250 tons a day a year earlier. “It has already crossed 2,350 tons per day. We gave the target of 2,400 tons a day to Assam asset. By January, this figure will also be achieved,” Mahawar said. Talking about the Jorhat basin, he said the production was 350 tons a day. “We have made it an asset to bring in more focus on production. As soon as it was made an asset, production has gone up to 400 tones every day. This will increase to 500 tons next year,” Mahawar said. Christian Kirk Jersey
IGL hikes CNG, PNG prices in Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad
The public sector Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) today hiked the selling prices of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Piped Natural Gas (PNG) from midnight tonight in Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad due to increase in its input gas cost effected by gas suppliers as a result of reduction of input tax credit to them. A press release from IGL said the revision in prices would result in an increase of Rs 1.85 per kg in the consumer price of CNG in Delhi and Rs 2.15 per kg in the consumer price of CNG in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad. The new consumer price of Rs.37.30 per kg in Delhi and Rs 42.75 per kg in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad would be effective from midnight tonight, the release said. To boost CNG refueling during non-peak hours, IGL will continue to offer a discount of Rs 1.50 per kg in the selling prices of CNG for filling between 12.30 am and 5.30 am at select outlets. Thus, the consumer price of CNG would be Rs. 35.80 per kg in Delhi and Rs 41.25 per kg in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad between 12.30 am and 5.30 am at the select CNG stations across the region. The new consumer price of PNG to the households in Delhi is also being revised by Rs 1.05 per scm from Rs 23 per scm to Rs. 24.05 per scm with effect from December 4. Due to differential tax structure in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the applicable price of domestic PNG to households in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad would be Rs 25.56 per scm, an increase of Rs 1.21 per scm over the existing price of Rs 24.35 per scm. An IGL spokesperson said the increase in retail prices of CNG and PNG is to the extent of increase in its input gas cost. “IGL has been informed about the increase in gas cost by its natural gas suppliers due to reduction in input tax credit to them in course of inter-state trade and commerce. The suppliers have passed on the entire impact of the tax variation to IGL in respect of the gas supplied to it. “However, this increase would not have a major impact on the per km running cost of vehicles. For autos, the increase would be 5 paise per km, for taxi it would be 9 paise per km and in case of buses, the increase would be 53 paise per km, which translates to just around one paisa per passenger – km,” he said. “With the revised price, CNG would still offer nearly 60% savings towards the running cost when compared to petrol driven vehicles at the current level of prices. When compared to diesel driven vehicles, the economics in favour of CNG at revised price would be over 31%. IGL is currently catering to over 9,50,000 CNG vehicles in the capital, which include nearly 5,50,000 private cars. IGL is augmenting its CNG refueling infrastructure to meet the rapidly growing demand as a result of increased number of vehicles switching to CNG mode,” the spokesperson added. IGL is a joint venture of the public sector GAIL (India) Ltd. and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Harrison Smith Jersey
India nudges Iran to award expedition rights of Farzad-B field to ONGC Videsh
India has nudged Iran to quickly award rights to develop the coveted Farzad-B gas field in the Persian Gulf to ONGC Videsh by wrapping up negotiations that have been dragging on for months. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan met Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Saturday to press for award of rights to develop the field, which was discovered by OVL, at the earliest. “Our relationship is much more than a usual (bilateral) relationship,” Pradhan told PTI. “We stood by them (Iran) in their difficult times (US and western sanctions) and continued to buy oil from them.” He said that he reminded the visiting minister of Iran’s commitment to awarding the field development to OVL on nomination basis. “I hope they will complete the process within the agreed time frame,” he added. In October, the two nations had pushed back the timelines for concluding a deal on Farzad-B field to February from November agreed previously. “Let me just say that I am hopeful of concluding the deal within the agreed time frame,” Pradhan said when asked if Iran would awarded the field to OVL within this fiscal. Iran is reportedly unhappy with the $10 billion plan submitted by OVL, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), for development of the 12.5 trillion cubic feet reserves in Farzad-B field and an accompanying plant to liquefy the gas for transportation in ships. It feels the $5 billion cost OVL and its partners have put for developing the field is on the higher side and wants it to be reduced. OVL will earn a fixed rate of return and get to recover all the investment it has made in the field development. India, however, feels that Iran is not making the right comparison by comparing it with South Pars field development. Farzad-B field is more complex than South Pars and has high sulphur, whose production and handling cost is additional. The field in the Farsi block was discovered by an Indian consortium led by OVL in 2008. It has an in-place gas reserve of 21.7 tcf, of which 12.5 tcf are recoverable. But India initially felt deterred from investing because of the fear of sanctions imposed by the US. But with the lifting of sanctions this year, it is back discussing a master development plan involving investment of $5 billion in field development and an equal amount in an LNG plant. OVL is preparing a Master Development Plan for the gas field while also working on a gas pricing formula keeping in view of the global gas price scenario, sources said. Gas produced from the field can either be converted into LNG by freezing at sub-zero temperature and shipping in cryogenic ships to India or transported through a pipeline — via overland passing through Pakistan or sub-sea. Iran and six world powers in July last year sealed a deal to curb the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme in return for ending sanctions, opening prospects of Indian investments in the Persian Gulf field. The sanctions were lifted in January this year. Eric Ebron Jersey