LNG custom duty halved to 2.5 per cent
India has halved custom duty of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to 2.5 per cent from 5 per cent earlier at terminals as a part of its strategy to become a “gas-based economy”. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced the measure to cut the duty to make gas imports cheaper in Union Budget 2017-18 which may help LNG consumers, especially power and fertiliser companies, given the drop in domestic production. The government had earlier stated its intent to more than double its annual LNG import capacity to 50 million tonnes in the next few years India’s natural gas demand is expected to rise from 473 million standard cubic meter per day (mmscmd) now to 494 mmscmd in 2017-18 and 523 mmscmd in 2018-19. Matt Judon Jersey
FM Jaitley announces Rs 4,814 crore for Deen Dayal Upadhyayal Gram Jyoti Yojana
Finance Minister Arun Jaitely has proposed Rs 4,814 crore as part of budget allocation for government’s rural electrification programme Deen Daya Upadhyayal Gram Jyoti Yojana. The minister also said the government was confident of achieving 100 per cent rural electrification by 2018. “We are well on our way to achieving 100 per cent rural electrification by 1st May, 2018,” Jaitley said in his budget speech in Parliament today. As per government data, till date out of 597,464 census villages, 591,707 villages – nearly 99 per cent have been electrified. Jaitely announced these measures as part of the governments’ increased push for the rural sector in India. Wes Schweitzer Authentic Jersey
FM Jaitley says govt to add 20,000 MW capacity through solar parks
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the government would take up the second phase of solar park development in the country to add additional 20,000 Megawatt capacity in the country. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has drawn a scheme to set up number of solar parks across various states in the country, each with a capacity of above 500 MW. The scheme proposes to provide financial support by the government to establish solar parks with an aim to facilitate creation of infrastructure necessary for setting up new solar power projects in terms of allocation of land, transmission and evacuation lines, access roads, availability of water and others, in a focused manner. India plans to have a total renewable energy capacity of 175 Gigawatt by 2022 and in order to achieve that target, the government plans to implement solar parks, solar defence schemes, solar scheme for review of economic developments 167 PSUs, solar photovoltaic (SPV) power plants on canal bank and canal tops, solar pump, solar rooftop, etc. Su’a Cravens Authentic Jersey
FM Jaitley says solar power to feed 7,000 railway stations
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today announced that around 7,000 railway stations would be fed through solar power in the medium term and work has already begun in that respect in 300 stations. “It is proposed to feed at least 7,000 stations with solar power in the medium term. A beginning has already been made in 300 stations,” Jaitley said in his Budget 2017 speech in Parliament today. He also said work will be taken up for 2000 stations as part of the government’s 1000 Megawatt solar mission. Earlier, Indian Railways had said it has finalised a policy for harnessing solar energy on rooftops of railway premises. The policy provided for setting up solar power plants through developer mode with a long term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) by railways. In order to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, the government had said it intended to expand sourcing of solar power as part of the Solar Mission of Indian Railways. The government had said by generating electricity from solar panels, there will be proportionate reduction in consumption of fossil fuels. D.J. Humphries Womens Jersey
Shell offloads $4.7 billion of energy assets after BG deal to become leaner
Royal Dutch Shell has sold North Sea and Thai energy assets for $4.7 billion (3.7 billion euros) to become leaner and reduce debt after buying rival BG Group, it said Tuesday. Shell offloaded its stake in Bongkot, an offshore Thai gas field, to Kuwait Petroleum Corp for $900 million, the Anglo-Dutch group said in a statement. The energy major that last year bought BG Group for $69 billion agreed also to sell some North Sea assets to oil exploring minnow Chrysaor for up to $3.8 billion. Royal Dutch Shell’s ‘A’ share price climbed 1.4 percent on the London stock market, which was up overall in afternoon deals. The Chrysaor deal more than halves Shell’s production in the North Sea, where resources are fast declining. But it allows Shell to focus on larger and more profitable fields, according to Platts analyst Nick Coleman. “The oil majors have other fish to fry in Brazil or Abu Dhabi — with big projects which will make a difference in their balance sheets,” Coleman told AFP. “They don’t have the time nor dedication for smaller oil fields projects” like those being sold in the North Sea. Shell last year said it would seek to sell 10 percent of group oil and gas output under a plan to sell $30 billion of assets. “The (latest) sale helps Shell focus on newer growth projects in the North Sea and gives away smaller, older fields and this makes it more focused,” Brewin Dolphin analyst Iain Armstrong told Bloomberg News. “It’s money in the bank for Shell which helps reduce debt. They are well on their way to meet the big $30 billion target,” he added. Shell will sell its entire holdings in nine North Sea oil fields plus a smaller stake in a tenth field to Chrysaor. The package comprises Shell’s interests in Buzzard, Beryl, Bressay, Elgin-Franklin, J-Block, the Greater Armada cluster, Everest, Lomond and Erskine, plus a 10 percent stake in the Schiehallion field. – ‘Clear momentum’ – “This deal shows the clear momentum behind Shell’s global, value-driven $30bn divestment programme,” said Shell’s Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry. “It builds on recent upstream divestments in the Gulf of Mexico and Canada. It is also consistent with Shell’s strategy to high-grade and simplify our portfolio following the acquisition of BG, to ensure the company represents a world-class investment case.” The total price tag consists of an initial sum of $3.0 billion, plus a payment of up to $600 million between 2018-2021 subject to commodity prices, with potential further payments of up to $180 million for future discoveries. Shell’s share of total production from the fields comprised about 115,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in 2016. That was 54 percent of its total North Sea daily oil and gas output of 211,000 boepd. The company added Tuesday it would retain a “significant, more focused and strengthened presence” in the UK North Sea, as it re-shapes its business. John Matuszak Womens Jersey
India to merge state oil companies to create global behemoth
India will merge the existing state-owned oil and gas companies to set up a global behemoth that would compete with some of the largest global petroleum companies, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in his Budget speech in Parliament. ET had recently reported the Cabinet Secretariat had referred the idea of the integrated giant company which would also absorb various institutions related to safety, development and analysis, to the oil ministry. The oil ministry had last year begun the process of evaluating the prospects of creating the conglomerate, which will have a bigger market value than Russian state oil giant Rosneft and India’s Reliance Industries Ltd. A similar proposal was considered more than a decade ago. But the government in July 2005 said that the official committee that studied the matter felt that a merger or formation of the holding company “may not be advisable for the present”. State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the top oil producer and one of the largest companies in the country, leads the pack of 13 state oil companies that are being considered for the merger. Other companies include Indian Oil Corporation, the nation’s largest refiner and fuel retailer, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum, GAIL, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL), Chennai Petroleum and Numaligarh Refinery and Oil India. The consolidated entity could rival the likes of Russia’s Rosneft ($55 billion in market cap) and UK’s BP Plc ($112 billion) in market value and financial power, according to sources. Denis Malgin Authentic Jersey
FM says rising crude oil prices will impact fiscal health
Unveiling the union budget for 2017-18, Finance minister Arun Jaitley stated that uncertainty of commodity prices, especially crude oil prices, may have far reaching implications for the fiscal situation of various economies including India. He was talking about the major challenges for emerging economies setting the tone for the Budget. The FM, however, added that the prices of crude oil may be checked by quick response from international producers of shale oil and gas. “Uncertainty around commodity prices, especially crude oil, has implications for the fiscal situation in emerging economies. It is however expected to be tempered by a quick response from producers of shale oil and gas. This would have a sobering impact on prices of crude and petroleum,” Arun Jaitley said. While talking about securing India’s energy needs the finance minister stated the government plans to set-up an additional two strategic crude oil reserves in Chandikhole in Odhisha and Bikaner in Rajasthan taking the country’s strategic oil reserve capacity to 15.33 million tonne. The FM also announced a reduction in the Basic Customs Duty on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from the existing 5 per cent to 2.5 per cent in order to promote clean fuel. He also added the government will merge existing state-run oil companies to create a global behemoth that would compete with some of the largest global oil and gas players. Joe Namath Authentic Jersey
Rivals might be manipulating OTP numbers: IndiGo
Upping the ante on ‘on-time performance’, IndiGo today alleged some of its rivals might be manipulating the numbers as they follow a system, which is not in line with global practices, to record the data. The latest salvo from IndiGo chief Aditya Ghosh comes against the backdrop of the airline’s On Time Performance (OTP) declining sharply in the last few months while rival SpiceJet has been topping the charts in this regard. Till recently, IndiGo had been harping on its top OTP ranking — generated on the existing system — to market itself and woo passengers amid stiff competition. “We suspect that the OTP reporting of some of our competitors is not quite correct. We have already submitted evidence to the DGCA that certain airlines are manipulating the OTP data and have asked for a detailed investigation,” Ghosh said during an analysts call after announcing third quarter results. OTP is one of the several measures to determine an airline’s operational efficiency. It indicates whether an airline is operating its flights on time or not. A Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) panel has started looking into the OTP monitoring mechanism of domestic carriers at four airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The committee was set up after IndiGo complained about alleged irregularities in recording OTP data. In defence of the recent fall in numbers, Ghosh said for three months to December, the airline’s OTP was 71.7 per cent as it was impacted by “a number of issues including adverse weather conditions, ATC congestions at key airports and our A320 neo issues”. Without spelling out specifics, the IndiGo President and Whole Time Director expressed confidence that it would back to its “historical operational performance”. At IndiGo, Ghosh said an automatic system is used to record arrival and departure timings of aircraft which is a practice worldover. “However, most carriers in India do not use automatic system to capture arrival and departure of aircraft and instead use a manual system to report the OTP, which has the potential of being manipulated,” he added. On Monday, SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh called for applying same rules for all players and making the system more efficient with regard to OTP. In an apparent dig at IndiGo, which used the same data for almost a decade to sell its flights to customers, Singh had also said, “I think it is little awkward for somebody to be challenging the same data based on which they said they were No 1.” Andy Dalton Authentic Jersey
PMO clears Rs 119 crore bills of Air India
Bills worth Rs 119 crore pending towards cash-strapped Air India, generated for some foreign visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have been cleared. RTI applicant Commodore (retd) Lokesh Batra said that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on January 30 uploaded on its website the details of bills worth about Rs 119.70 crore cleared for eight trips, which were shown pending or under process since last year. “I sincerely hope that all the public authorities concerned i.e. PMO, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Air India will institute suitable norms and guidelines to facilitate expeditious clearance of chartered flights bills as the issue is directly concerned with the ‘Tax-Payers’ money,” Batra said. The move comes following an order of Chief Information Commissioner R K Mathur who had refused to disclose the file notings related to the travel expenses incurred on the Prime Minister’s visits abroad, but took note of Batra’s quest for timely payment of bills by the government to the public sector units. “During the hearing, the Commission observed that the appellant’s motive is to improve the governance and transparency in settling the bills of the PM’s foreign or domestic visits, as public money was involved. The loss of public money can add to the burden of tax-payers,” Mathur said. It is observed that the appellant has repeatedly stressed on timely payment of bills and institution of suitable internal guidelines to facilitate payments, he had said. “He has stated that this is in public interest. The respondents have taken note of this,” Mathur said. The PMO has claimed on its website that bills for trips – Japan, Laos, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya and Uzbekistan – have not been received while it shows that bills are under process for the four visits. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has undertaken 27 visits abroad since assuming the office on May 26, 2014, according to the PMO website. Cordy Glenn Authentic Jersey