Crisil launches new credit rating system for infrastructure projects
Rating agency Crisil on Thursday announced the launch of a new credit rating framework for infrastructure projects that would facilitate greater participation from long-term investors and lenders. “Crisil, in consultation with the Ministry of Finance and other stakeholders, has developed a new credit rating framework for infrastructure projects that would facilitate greater participation by long-term investors and lenders,” the rating agency said in a statement. The new rating system is based on the ‘expected loss’ (EL) methodology. Which means, the rating will be an expert judgement on EL over the life of the debt instrument by taking into account the two pillars of credit risk — the probability of default (PD), and the prospects of recovery, the statement said. Crisil had recently assessed that India’s infrastructure sector needs Rs 43 lakh crore investments over five years ending March 31, 2020, and the domestic corporate bond market will have to chip in with at least Rs 11 lakh crore because of capital constraints at public sector banks. “Crisil believes that there is a need for new innovative structures such as infrastructure debt funds, and credit enhancement mechanisms such as partial guarantees, that would enable long-term investors such as insurers and pension funds to pitch in and bridge the funding gap,” the statement said. Rodney McLeod Authentic Jersey
NHAI authorities urged to increase height of central median on NH-16
The Anakapalle-Payakaraopeta stretch which has been witnessing a number of road accidents for the past couple of years has become a major concern for the police officials. The issue was discussed in the Road Safety Committee meeting at the Commissionerate here on Wednesday. On the occasion, district collector Pravin Kumar instructed the NHAI authorities to increase the height of central median immediately. A number of accidents occurred at Nakkapalle, S Rayavaram, Kasimkota and Payakaraopeta. Recently, a vehicle jumped to the other side of road, taking heavy toll of life. The seriousness of central medians which are in low height and need of increasing their height was brought before the collector by the rural police. The issues like lack of streetlights and road openings along the national highway-16 and lack of central medians were brought to the notice of the collector. Pravin Kumar instructed the Panchayati Raj officials to identify as to how many road openings are connected to the NH-16 in the rural limits and submit a report. He also asked the officials to set up sign boards to alert the road users. The collector also said that Kaparada, Madhurawada and Anandapuram areas do not have central medians, where accidents occur and asked the officials to build the medians at the earliest. Pravin also said that there are number of busy places in the city limits like Gajuwaka, NAD, Maddilapalem and Satyam junction where central median grills are damaged, while they are missing at some other places. Pravin Kumar said that since it would take some more time to float tenders for the Anakapalle-Anandapuram highway, alternative measures have to be tapped to prevent road accidents and instructed the city traffic police to identify black spots, major junctions, and to make sure that they have streetlights, signal lights, zebra crossings, sign boards and speed-breakers. City police commissioner T Yoganand, SP (Visakhapatnam Rural) Rahul Dev Sharma, officials of RTO, Roads and Buildings, NHAI and GVMC also took part in the meeting. Carlos Henderson Womens Jersey
Shimla hoteliers seek PM’s help to restore power supply
Heavy snowfall has brought a large number of tourists to Shimla but only to face troubles. For the past four days, there is no electricity and water supply and the supply of bread, milk and eggs too has been hit. Those associated with the tourism industry are not happy with the failure of the state government in restoring the essential services. Hotel and Restaurant Owners Association (North India) president Sanjay Sood, through micro blogging site Twitter, has sought the help of Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in restoring electricity to the hill town. Sanjay Sood said the tourism industry has been left in the cold and the state government is doing nothing to help the tourists. He said Shimla is in the race to become a smart city, but the city itself is without power for the past four days and even the emergency helpline numbers are not working. Tourism Industry Stake Holders Association president M K Seth said the government machinery has miserably failed to restore basic amenities in the state capital despite their claim to have sufficient arrangements to deal with any kind of calamity. He said hoteliers are compelled to keep the hotels vacant as there is no electricity and water. “It is unfortunate that the road between Victory tunnel and Lakkar bazar was cleared after one-and-a-half day. Hoteliers couldn’t get water through tankers because of slippery roads and tankers could not fill water due to non-availability of electricity,” he said. Attacking the municipal corporation, he said the civic body charges highest water tariff in the state up to Rs 185 per kilo litre, but fails to resume water supply. “The association wants to tell the government that the industry is becoming unviable due to heavy taxation, high water and electricity tariff,” he added. Wendel Clark Womens Jersey
Reliance Infra, Tata Power may face scrutiny by Maharashtra electricity regulator
Reliance Infrastructure (Rel Infra) and Tata Power Company (TPC), the two private discoms supplying electricity to Mumbai, may face a probe by the Maharashtra electricity regulator. The state government is planning to invoke its powers and issue directives to the power regulator for a probe on the two private discoms after the proposed audit by Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) audit is yet to bear fruit. The Maharashtra government had written to the CAG for auditing the two firms, but officials said they were awaiting a reply. Sources attributed the delay to legal issues involved in the CAG, a statutory auditor, examining the accounts of private entities in which the government holds no equity. “We had written to the CAG seeking their opinion and had also sent a reminder. But we are yet to hear from them,” said a senior energy department official. During last year’s monsoon session of the legislature, the state energy minister Chandrashekhar Bavankule announced that the state would issue instructions for a CAG audit of Rel Infra and TPC. This followed BJP MLA Ashish Shelar’s charge that the two discoms inflated their electricity tariffs by showing higher capital costs. Bipin Shrimali, principal secretary, energy, told DNA Money that they had written to the CAG for the audit. “We had asked for their concurrence and issues to be taken up,” said Shrimali, adding that they were awaiting a reply. When contacted, spokespersons of TPC and Rel Infra declined to comment. Bavankule said he had called for a meeting in this regard on January 17. An official said if the CAG audit could not be conducted, they would invoke their powers under Section 108 of the Electricity Act, 2003, and issue directions to the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC). The section says that “In the discharge of its functions, the State Commission shall be guided by such directions in matters of policy involving public interest as the State Government may give to it in writing.” “This is an issue involving public interest. We may suggest a technical and financial audit,” he said. Mumbai is serviced by four distribution utilities, the other two being Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MahaVitaran), and Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport Undertaking (BEST), which charge differential tariffs. The state energy department officials pointed to how the Delhi High Court in 2015 struck down the decision of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi to get the accounts of three private power discoms (Tata Power Delhi Distribution, BSES Rajdhani and BSES Yamuna) audited by the CAG. This was challenged by the Delhi government in the Supreme Court. In 2009, the state government had directed the regulator to investigate if Rel Infra had “discharged its duties as envisaged in the Act in the most economical and efficient manner so as not to result in unnecessary and avoidable burden on the consumers of its area…” The MERC asked the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) to investigate Rel Infra in three broad areas: power purchase cost, capital investment; and, expenses of regulated business vis-à-vis other business. The ASCI probe said the capital investment was “commensurate with demand growth and other requirements for improving the system performance and reliability and it cannot be said it is an over investment.” “The physical vouchers are verified for substantial transactions and they do not indicate any discrepancy with Books of Accounts,” the report said. Damien Wilson Womens Jersey
Power minister Piyush Goyal wants regulators to work with policy makers
Union Power minister Piyush Goyal said the impact on growth due to demonetisation was temporary and assured that buoyancy would return to the Indian economy soon. Goyal was addressing a seminar at the Vibrant Gujarat summit in Gandhinagar. “We had said this since day one that there will be some problem, and even GDP may go down. In a country where 25-30 per cent of the economy is informal, GDP is bound to be affected,” he said. The Centre has been under constant attack from the Opposition and economists since Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes shall be discontinued from the circulation by the end of 2016. The government insists that the step was taken to control black economy and terror funding in the country. Goyal criticised the Opposition and made a veiled attack on West Bengal. “In the entire country, there is only one state, which despite two years of persuasion by central government, has not yet agreed to join the 24/7 power-for-all,” he said. He stressed on transparency in the regulatory process, insisting that policy makers and regulators must work together. “Regulators should be open about their working. Orders should be available in public domain so that others can benchmark their business processes to whatever is decided by regulators,” he said. He also stressed on the simplicity of regulations so that the common man could understand the process better. Earlier in the day finance minister Arun Jaitley said in a separate event in Gandhinagar that the government has been working towards ease of doing business. Several steps are being taken to ensure that. Many foreign investors have been demanding that the Indian government eases the regulatory environment in the country. To some extent, the current government has been able to do so and big ticket litigation in taxation, especially around transfer pricing, have come down drastically. Lac Edwards Authentic Jersey
Hartek Power doubles solar capacity to 528 MW in this fiscal
Hartek Power has completed solar power projects of 270 megawatts spread across Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka in the first three quarters of this fiscal, taking its total solar projects capacity under EPC contracts to 528 mw. The Chandigarh-based company undertakes engineering, procurement and construction projects from independent power producers and specialises in grid connectivity. As of March 31, 2016, it had completed 258 MW of solar projects. The company has presence in 18 states for solar projects. It is focusing in South India and places like Jharkhand to consolidate its position. “At the same time, we are strengthening our hold in states like Punjab where we have traditionally been doing well,” Chairman Hartek Singh said. “In fact, out of the 500 mw solar projects awarded by the Punjab government in the phase-3 auction, Hartek Power has bagged orders for 200 mw projects,” he added. India’s installed solar generation capacity has increased four times to 10 gigawatts from 2.5 gw in less than three years, offering huge opportunities for growth to companies like Hartek Power. Marco Estrada Authentic Jersey
Banks, oil cos to bear card payment charges: Dharmendra Pradhan
Banks and oil marketing companies (OMCs) will bear transaction charges for the fuel bought using cards at petrol pumps, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Thursday. “The decision is very clear. Consumers will not be burdened with Merchant Discount Rate (MDR). Retail outlets (petrol pumps) will also be kept out of its purview. Now it is between banks and OMCs how they share it,” he said. Pradhan was speaking to reporters after attending a meeting on the issue that was called by the department of financial services, ministry of finance. “It is a commercial decision and they (banks and OMCs) will sit together and sort it out,” he said. MDR is a charge levied on merchants by banks for accepting payments through credit and debit cards. This charge was passed on to consumers but post-demonetisation, the government, in a bid to promote digital payments, waived it till December 30. Banks, after that date, decided to pass on the MDR to petrol pump operators since the government mandate was very clear that consumers should not be burdened with any additional charge for using cards for payments. Petrol pump owners threatened to stop accepting card payments, forcing the government to broker a settlement. Pradhan said banks and oil companies will continue to discuss as to who should bear these charges and in what proportion. “MDR charges will be levied as per RBI guidelines of December 16,” he said. Asked if it will be shared equally between the oil marketing companies (OMCs) and banks, he said: “That is yet to be decided.” Pradhan said the government stands by its decision that customers using non-cash digital modes of payments will not have to pay any transaction charge. Also, the 0.75% discount on fuel rate for using digital payments will continue. “Banks and OMCs are discussing the issue. In the next couple of days a mechanism will be worked out so that MDR are levied from 16th,” he said. MDR of 1% on all credit card transactions and between 0.25% and 1% on all debit card transactions will be charged on fuel bought through cards. Pradhan said “neither the customers nor petrol pump dealers will bear additional charges on digital transactions at petrol stations”. The government, he said, had issued guidelines in February 2016 stating that the MDR charge will not be passed on to the consumers and the stakeholders will take appropriate steps to absorb it. Jered Weaver Authentic Jersey
Jairam Ramesh seeks Sebi probe into ONGC’s GSPC stake buy
Calling for a Sebi probe into ONGC’s sudden decision to buy GSPC’s stake in KG basin gas block for $1.2 billion, Congress MP Jairman Ramesh today said the PSU had flouted listing guidelines and did not secure approval of minority shareholders for the transaction. In an open letter to Sebi Chairman U K Sinha, he said as per Oil and Natural Gas Corp’s (ONGC) own admission, it and GSPC are related parties of the Government of India. “It is needless to say that there is indeed a strong ‘relationship’ between the Government of Gujarat that owns GSPC and approved its borrowing binge between 2005 and 2014 and the Government of India that owns ONGC, which suddenly after 2014 seems to have had a realisation that buying GSPC’s gas block in KG basin is a virtue. Clearly, this entire ONGC- GSPC deal is an utter sham,” he wrote. ONGC, he said, has flouted Sebi’s guidelines for listing obligations and disclosure requirements and did not secure the approval of the minority shareholders for this transaction. “Sebi should order an inquiry into this proposed transaction immediately,” he said. “The sanctity and integrity of the venerable 83-year-old institution called the Reserve Bank of India has been demolished following the demonetisation of November 8, 2016. Its credibility has been severely damaged. In this context, it is even more imperative that the 25-year-old institution called Sebi guards its professionalism fiercely,” he wrote. Ramesh said it is incumbent upon Sebi to investigate the ONGC-GSPC transaction on behalf of minority shareholders. “Specifically, Sebi’s guidelines prescribe a ‘majority of minority’ rule for material transactions of listed companies, including PSUs. Therefore, I urge you to examine this proposed transaction between ONGC and GSPC in the greater interest of 5.5 lakh small shareholders spread across small cities and towns of India,” he asked Sinha. He called ONGC buying Gujarat State Petroleum Corp’s (GSPC) 80 per cent stake in the Deendayal block a “Rs 8,000 crore scam”. The Congress leader said GSPC has been trying to recover gas from the KG basin block for more than a decade without much success despite massive borrowings. “The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has issued a scathing report indicting GSPC of incurring massive losses to the exchequer through dubious transactions. “The CAG report submitted in the Gujarat assembly in March 2016 notes that GSPC has loans outstanding of nearly Rs 20,000 crore. The company is facing interest dues alone of Rs 1,800 crore every year. Its profits have collapsed to a mere Rs 23 crore. GSPC is on the verge of bankruptcy,” he said. Andre Johnson Jersey
U.S. shifts LNG exports to Asia as arb opens up
The biggest divergence between U.S. and Asian gas prices in a year has created an opportunity for tankers delivering liquefied natural gas, with most departures from a key Louisiana terminal in the last month-and-a-half heading toward East Asia, shipping data released on Wednesday show. The facility, Sabine Pass, owned by Cheniere Energy Inc , opened last year as the first LNG export terminal in the U.S. Lower 48 states. The United States has been exporting gas out of Alaska since 1969. U.S. gas prices at the Henry Hub benchmark in Louisiana this week dropped about 20 percent since hitting a two-year high on Dec. 28, trading around $3.25 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) on Wednesday. Spot gas in Asia has soared by more than 30 percent since early December to a near two-year high of $9.75 per mmBtu. The premium of Asia over U.S. gas has reached its highest level since January 2015, presenting an arbitrage opportunity that LNG traders have rushed to fill. “China is experiencing colder-than-normal conditions, demand has kicked higher and prices have followed,” said Matt Smith, director of commodity research at energy data provider ClipperData in Louisville, Kentucky. In addition, China is looking to avoid previous gas shortages that the country has experienced in the past, Smith said. Of the 17 LNG vessels that left Sabine Pass in Louisiana since the start of December, at least 10 have either delivered their cargoes in East Asia or were moving in that direction across the Pacific Ocean, data from Reuters and ClipperData show. Those 10 ships have the capacity to carry about 33.2 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas, worth about $120.6 million, based on the Henry Hub average. The United States consumes about 75 bcf per day (bcfd) of gas on average. Those 10 included the first shipments from Sabine to both Japan and South Korea. Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s BG Group has the contract for the part of the capacity for parts of the first and second 0.65-bcfd liquefaction trains at Sabine Pass. Gas Natural Fenosa also has a contract for part of the capacity of the second train. Since February, 61 vessels have taken cargos from Sabine, but just three vessels delivered LNG to East Asia between February and the end of November. Another 27 went to either South America or Mexico and five to India; the rest were scattered around the Middle East and Europe. Rod Brind’Amour Authentic Jersey