Indigo added most number of flights during 2016
IndiGo, the largest carrier in terms of market share and capacity, added the most number of flights during the first eleven months of 2016 and will continue to add higher capacity than its peers, ICICI Securities said in a report. “This is best illustrated with the Available Seat per Kilometre (ASK) trends for IndiGo/SpiceJet and Jet. So, while total ASK for IndiGo has increased by 30% between Jan-Nov’16, the same has been only 13% for SpiceJet and 3% for Jet. Capacity addition by IndiGo will only increase during 2HFY17 as induction of neos gather more pace,” merchant banking and advisory firm ICICI Securities said in a report on aviation. IndiGo is the largest domestic carrier in the country both in terms of capacity as well as market share. During the month of November, the airline carried 42.1% passengers, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation data. The firm also said that IndiGo’s expansion has been higher than projected. “IndiGo reported Available Seat Kilometre (ASK) growth of 25% Y-Y in Q1FY17 compared to a guidance of 23%. Similarly, the ASK growth in Q2FY17 has been 27% for IndiGo compared to guidance of 25%. During October-November, IndiGo recorded an ASK growth of with 34% Y-Y compared to a guidance of 30% for Q3/Q4FY17,” said the firm. The firm, however, raised concerns over a sharp decline in on-Time Performance (OTP) of IndiGo. “There has been a sharp decline in OTP for IndiGo to 72.4%, lowest in more than last two years. While this could be due to fog related disruptions in the winter, with even higher capacity addition planned during the remainder of FY17, the OTP performance could remain under pressure for IndiGo and will be keenly watched,” it said. Cornellius Carradine Jersey
Civil Aviation Ministry extends validity of regular AEPs till March 2017
In a relief to airlines and airport operators, Civil Aviation Ministry has extended the validity of the regular Aerodrome Entry Passes (AEP) by three months to March next year, amid the process of rolling out of biometric access control system (BACS)at 48 airports in the country. As part of the regulations, airline and airport executives, and others working there have to get their AEPs renewed annually. “Validity of all regular aerodrome entry passes (AEP) except for temporary AEPs and AEPs issued to the ground handling agents, which are expiring on December 31, 2016, has been extended up to March 31, 2017 without any endorsement in the existing AEPs,” the Ministry said in its communication to all regional directors at BCAS. Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), which is the apex aviation security body, has the mandate to issue all categories of AEPs to the airlines and airports employees. BCAS has regional offices at eight locations-Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Amritsar and Hyderabad. Temporary AEPs and AEPs issued to the bonafide employees of all ground handling agencies shall be dealt with the existing guidelines and instructions issued by the BCAS headquarters from time to time, it said. As part of efforts to strengthen the overall security framework at airports amid rising threat perception for the aviation sector, AAI is putting in such access control systems at the airports. It has recently awarded more than Rs 110 crore worth contract to the public sector firm Broadcasting Engineering Consultants India Ltd (BECIL) for providing biometric-based access control systems at 43 airports. AAI manages 125 airports, including 11 international and 81 domestic aerodromes. Five airports — at Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Nagpur — are run by joint ventures. All the JV airports are also in the final phase of awarding contracts for BACS. Once the BACS is in place, then the employees would also be provide. ArDarius Stewart Jersey
Coal year-end review: Consumers to gain Rs 69,310 crore from reduced power tariff
Power consumers are likely to gain to the extent of Rs 69,310 crore from the reduction in electricity tariff enabled by the auction of nine coal blocks to power sector firms so far, power ministry said in a statement today. The auction proceeds from 83 coal mines allocated so far are estimated at over Rs 3.95 lakh crore over the life of the mines, which will be available to the coal bearing states. The actual revenue generated from these coal mines up to October 2016 is Rs 2,779 crore excluding royalty, cess and taxes, the ministry said. “The benefit to consumers in terms of reduction of electricity tariff from auction of 9 coal blocks to ‘Power’ Sector is likely to be about Rs 69,310.97 crore,” the ministry said in the statement. As a step towards commercial mining, the government had put 16 coal mines on offer for allotment to state PSUs for sale of coal. Of these, eight coal mines were earmarked for state PSUs of host states while the rest 8 coal mines were earmarked for state PSUs of non-host States. Also, 5 coal mines have been allocated to state PSUs of coal bearing host states and 2 coal mines have been allocated to state PSUs of non-host states for sale of coal. The ministry also informed the production of raw coal in the country during April-November 2016-17 was 391 million tonne as compared to 385 MT during the corresponding period of previous year, an overall growth of 1.6 per cent. “The coal ministry has given special focus to decrease coal imports. Government has saved about Rs 20,000 crore in the year 2015-16 and about Rs 4,844 crore in the first four months of the current year. The efforts on this front would lead to a further replacement of 15.37 MT of imported coal by March 2017,” the statement said. The coal sector’s performance was impacted due to poor lifting of coal by a few power utilities and less demand of higher grade coal at South Eastern Coalfields. Thanks to high growth in production, power plants were flush with coal stock of 27 days in April 2016. CIL started the current fiscal with an opening stock of 57.7 MT,resulting into accumulation of coal stocks at the pitheads. The ministry said special measures such as spot e-auction and linkage rationalization were undertaken to clear the accumulated stock of coal. “Thus, during April-November 2016, as against the production of 323.64 MT, 340.03 MT was dispatched by CIL. Sporadic Law and Order problems at MCL and CCL have also affected production and offtake,” the statement said. Other issues that impacted dispatch included heavy rainfall in mining areas, cement plants switching over to pet coke and logistical bottlenecks. While the ministry highlighted the progress made by the coal sector over the past year, the industry expressed displeasure on various counts. “The government is curtailing CIL Production due to falling demand but is still continuing with coal imports. This is only due to bloated-up coal prices and abnormally high taxes,” Rajiv Agarwal, Secretary at Indian Captive Power Producers Association (ICPPA) told ETEnergyWorld. He also said, assuming the government agreed to forego entire tax on coal, the cost of coal will reduce by 50 per cent and the corresponding electricity cost by 40 per cent. This will turn all the discoms profitable. “Prices can be reduced by further 50 per cent if CIL is able to bring its manpower costs to International norms. Power cost will further reduce if costly NTPC purchase pacts are rationalized,” he said. The government had earlier this week allowed public and private power producers to swap their coal supplies with a view to reducing the cost of electricity by ensuring more efficient fuel usage. It may eventually extend the facility to other coal-consuming industries. Christian Covington Jersey
Haryana to have direct access to international airport
The Air Force authorities have agreed to the Haryana’s demand for direct connectivity of the state to the international airport. Haryana will now have an access to the airport through an underpass on the National Highway-21. The development is significant as travelling time to reach the international airport from Panchkula side will be reduced by nearly 20 minutes. Currently, the passengers from Haryana side have to go to Mohali side for reaching the airport. The information was provided to a Division Bench of the High Court. The Bench was told that a consensus on an underpass was reached in a joint meeting of the Indian Air Force, the Airport Authority of India and the state governments of Punjab and Haryana. Haryana was demanding direct connectivity with the airport through an underpass from NH-21. For the purpose, it had sent a proposal to the Defence Ministry. But following objections from the Air Force authorities on the directions of an underpass, it could not be matured. Taylor Lewan Jersey
Noida toll company put on notice over pending salaries of laid-off staff
The deputy labour commissioner (DLC) of Gautam Budh Nagar has sought a response from the company managing the DND Flyway as to why it should not be ordered to pay remaining salaries to 141 employees who were laid off by the company without any intimation on November 18. The workers were laid off after being paid the salary for 24 days, which includes full payment till November 18 and for six of the remaining 12 days of the month. But the employees had started a sit-in outside the company’s office on November 14, demanding salary for the remaining six days of November. “Since the total six-day salary of the 141 workers amounts to over Rs 50,000, an order can be issued to the company directing it to pay the entire amount under the Uttar Pradesh Industrial Peace (Timely Payment of Wages) Act, 1978. We have sought a response from the company, failing which an order to this effect would be issued,” DLC BK Roy told TOI on Wednesday. The 141 workers of DND Flyway who were laid-off by ITNL Toll Management Services Limited (ITMSL), a subsidiary of Noida Toll Bridge Company Ltd (NTBCL), on November 18 had approached the DLC against the toll company the next day, following which the DLC had issued a show-cause notice to the company on November 19 itself. The employees had hired a lawyer and complained to the DLC that the company had not taken permission from the state government before announcing the lay-off. “The firm does not come under the Factories Act but is registered under the UP Shops and Establishment Act, which does not have any provision for lay-off, meaning that the action is totally inappropriate and illegal,” the complaint said. Anwar Abbasi, a spokesperson for the company, said the lawyer of the company will clear its position in the next hearing of the DLC and any order from him would be complied with. Pharoh Cooper Jersey
NHAI garners over Rs 5,000 crore via bonds on BSE e-book platform
State-run NHAI has raised a staggering Rs 5,020 crore through the issuance of debt securities on BSE’s electronic book mechanism platform. This was the highest ever mobilisation of debt capital by a PSU through the BSE-Bond platform. The platform was launched on July 1 this year to facilitate online bidding for private placement of debt securities. Since then, 48 issuers have raised Rs 1.2 lakh crore through the exchange mechanism. National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has successfully raised Rs 5,020 crore, by attracting an over-subscription of more than 10 times on the BSE-Bond platform on December 21, the bourse said in a statement today. The platform, which allows all categories of investors to place bids, helps bring in transparency and efficiency in price discovery for private placement of debt securities. It is optional for issues below Rs 500 crore, but the issuers will have to disclose coupon, yield, amount raised, number of investors and category of investors to the electronic book provider or the information repository for corporate debt market in the format as specified by regulator Sebi.
MP to identify roads which can be turned into national
To reduce financial burden on road maintenance, the Madhya Pradesh government is going to start the process of identifying roads which can be converted into national highways. The officials of public works department (PWD) and MP Road Development Corporation (MPRDC) were directed to identify the roads having the potential of being turned into national highways. “(MP) Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told the officials yesterday during a review meeting to list the roads which can be proposed as national highways,” a public relation department official said today. The official informed that in addition to existing 4,771 kms long national highways of the state, another 3,035 kms long state roads have been declared as national highways. “Now state has a total of 7,806 kms long national highways. Also approval in principle has been given by the Centre to declare other 2,383 kms long roads of the state as national highways,” he added. Chouhan told the meeting that the financial burden on maintenance by the state government will be lessened by handing over the roads to the Union government. “Chief Minister said that the funds saved from such roads can further be utilised for construction of rural roads,” the official added. Willie Snead IV Jersey
Third-Party rooftop solar units cost 40 per cent cheaper than discoms
Rooftop solar units installed on industrial and corporate establishments by third parties are offering power 30-40% cheaper than the rates offered by the state’s power distribution companies. This gap is expected to widen further as thermal power companies would need to increase tariffs to accommodate inflationary measures and solar modules prices fall further. The model popularly called Opex model, includes a rooftop solar company setting up solar units on rooftops of industrial and commercial complex. They would run the plant and sell the power to the company at a rate which is cheaper than tariffs at which the discoms sell power. “Upfront investment for setting up solar units on rooftop are being undertaken by solar companies who are selling the power generated at a price which used to be 20% cheaper last year. This gap has now increased to as much as 40% for certain states,“ said Kuldeep Jain Managing Director, CleanMax Solar. “Corporates end up saving at least 20-30% on their power bills as a result of this difference in tariffs. The savings would rise as the difference rises,“ he said. Sunil Jain, chief executive officer at Hero Future Energies said: “The gap between prices offered by utilities and power tariffs for rooftop has widened the most in states like Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka.“ “The reason,“ Jasmeet Khurana, Associate Director Con sulting from Bridge to India said: “There has been a large fall in prices on solar modules the main input for solar units, in the international prices because China reduced its buying after the first half of the current financial and prices crashed.Solar module price have come down come down by at least 20% in the last 12 months.“ According to an industry official: “Tariffs of a large number of states-owned power distribution companies have increased this year as thermal power companies witnessed increased costs on account of rise coal costs and transport costs.“ Sabyasachi Majumdar, senior vice president at ICRA Ratings said: “The between solar rooftop prices and tariffs offered by state owned distribution companies to commercial and industrial segments is expected to widen due to two reasons.Discoms need to accommodate inflationary costs into new tariffs which, among other things, could be rise in coal costs.Solar module costs, on the other hand, is also likely to fall further as demand rises and lead to increased economies of scale“ According to a study by Bridge to India, the gap between Discom’s tariffs and solar prices are the largest in Maharashtra, followed by Harayna, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh. The firm has estimated that India’s rooftop solar segment crossed the symbolic 1 GW mark in September this year, growing by 135% over last year.Attractive capital subsidies and substantial demand from public sector are expected to continue to provide great demand boost to the segment over the next few years. Virgil Green Womens Jersey
India Investing $1.8 Billion on Lines to Transmit Solar Power
India will invest 127 billion rupees ($1.8 billion) on lines to transmit power from solar parks to enable Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of boosting clean-energy capacity to 175 gigawatts by 2022. The dedicated transmission lines, part of the so-called green corridor project, will transmit 20 gigawatts of power capacity from 34 solar parks across 21 Indian states, the government said Wednesday in a series of reports commissioned by Minister for Power, Coal and Mines Piyush Goyal. The reports were written by Power Grid Corp. of India Ltd. to develop plans to integrate renewable energy on the national grid. The green-energy corridor is part of the country’s plans to boost transmission capacity to enable a seamless flow of electricity from clean electricity producing states to consuming states that face power shortages. New lines will also help manage intermittency challenges of renewable energy, especially as clean sources increase their share of power generation to almost 50 percent in some states. The inter-state portion of the transmission investments will cost 80 billion rupees, while intra-state lines will require another 47.45 billion rupees, according to the government. India will receive a soft loan of about one billion euros for the corridor’s development from the German development bank KfW, Goyal informed India’s lower house of Parliament last week. Intra-state transmission under the plan will be funded through a 20 percent equity state held by the state government, 40 percent in the form of a grant from the National Clean Energy Fund and the soft loan accounting for the remaining 40 percent. The inter-state transmission schemes are to be funded as 30 percent equity by Power Grid Corp. and 70 percent as a soft loan, according to Goyal. Shea Weber Authentic Jersey
Need for better management of grants-in-aid for power sector
Comptroller & Auditor General of India (C&AG) in one of their latest Audit Reports No.34 of 2016 has highlighted that grants-in-aid given by the Central Government to its Power Sector has increased to Rs. 12388 crore during the last two financial years amounting to 27 Office of Ministry of Power`s (MoP)`s total revenue expenditure. The grants have flowed primarily under Deen Dayal Urja Jyoti Yojana (DDUJY) for electrifying village households, on augmenting the Integrated Power Distribution System (IPDS) for strengthening the distribution network, as well as to the Power Safety Development Fund (PSDF) for disbursements towards promoting efficiency and safety in grid operations. Major portion (97 %) of the grant-in-aid funds of MoP were intended for creation of assets. C&AG have however pointed out that there were lacunae in fund management by the recipient agencies. Audit has critised MoP for failure to ensure timely utilization of the grants, long-drawn procedure for transfer to establishments and organizations which were to utilize these resources and parking of the funds at intermediate stages leading to delayed end-use. Asset registers required to be maintained under Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Rules : 2004 were not properly prepared, thereby not enabling monitoring on whether the very purpose for which a portion of the grants was provided ie. for asset creation, was achieved. Shortcomings as above are all the more regrettable because, the funds were not channelized through the Public Fund Management System (PFMS), which is an on-line network operative for tracking fund flows and ensuring that excess funds do not remain in a transitory state for unduly long periods before end-use. Audit has given an example of a major part of a grant-in-aid amounting to Rs. 146.79 crore to Power Finance Corporation (PFC) in (2015-16), intended for improvement of power systems in the states, was unjustifiably retained by PFC unutilized for nearly two months, with only Rs. 50.31 crore disbursed to the state utilities. While the Central Government justifiably advocates the benefits of digitization, electronic networking of transactions, etc., the well organized system – the PFMS – instituted as a sequel to the recommendations by the Rangarajan Committee (a committee set up in the late 1990s under C. Rangarajan : former Chief Economic Adviser for efficient management of public expenditure), has not been availed of adequately. Though the investment scenario in the power sector as a whole is presently positive, the Government sector needs to upgrade its management. This is necessary from both the social angle as well as economic perspective. The uneven installed capacity throughout the country needs redressal. While maximum (36 %) of the present overall installed capacity is in the western region, as per Central Electricity Authority`s November 2016 report, Jammu & Kashmir and the North-East, despite their huge potential, have only 1.99 % and 1.73 % respectively, of the country`s installed capacity in the state and central sectors combined. The distribution and transmission capacity have also to be boosted in both the extremities of the country. While there is an improvement in extending the overall transmission network – 28114 circuit-km installed during the (2015-16) period vis-à-vis 22107 circuit-km during (2014-15), the MoP`s grants-in-aid could help measurably improve equity and efficiency of power generation, transmission and distribution, as well as grid safety through optimum utilization of the resources downloaded from the PSDF. As part of the national clean energy drive, a necessity from the national health perspective as well as part of our commitment to the international consensus on climate change ie. UN Framework Convention for Climate Change obligating India to reduce carbon emissions 20-25 by 2020 vis-à-vis the level of 2005, more and concerted emphasis on non-conventional and solar energy sources is required. Solar energy is an important alternative source needs to be promoted. A reduction in grants-in-aid budgeting by MoP may be appropriate, and the manner of its distribution needs a techno-economic reappraisal. Instead of the present trend, increasing the allocation for Ministry of Non-Conventional & Renewable Energy (MNRE) may be more judicious. Reorienting of the government grants-in-aid towards promotion of alternative energy, solar energy development , its distribution through grid connectivity and in an cost-effective manner, may be in the national interest. Grid connected solar energy generation and distribution was `nil` in the beginning of the Eleventh Plan. It rose to 2656 MW in March 2014, but was 0.35 percent of the solar energy potential of the country amounting to 478990 MW. At present, the quantum of solar energy is transmitted through grid connectivity is not substantially more. Government grants may also be deployed on metering of this energy usage. The CEO of NITI Aayog has recently emphasized this point. C&AG through another Report – 34 of 2015 – which is a critique on the Government`s performance in the MNRE sector as at the end of 2014, had highlighted that of the ten states endowed with substantial solar energy potential, they had exploited a meager 2.56 %. Gujarat and Rajasthan were the two states which had operationalised more than 50 % of the developed capacity, whereas, Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh despite having a total solar energy capacity of 33840 MW, had contributed negligibly. Therefore, there is a case to restrict disbursements of government grants-in-aid exclusively for research and development undertaken in Government establishments like power training institutes, and autonomous bodies working in the areas of innovation towards system improvement , safety of operations and energy conservation. The major public sector enterprises like Power Grid Corporation of India, PFC and Rural Electrification Corporation should be left to themselves to work in these areas with their own investible resources and even utilising their corporate social responsibility funds. A reorientation in the deployment of Government grants-in-aid in the power sector is therefore warranted. Nick Vigil Womens Jersey