Kempegowda International Airport shut during day, flyers brace for chaos
With flight operations confined to before 10.30 am and after 5 pm, the Kempegowda International Airport has been a picture of chaos for travellers since February 8. While the airport runway is closed during the day, owing to Aero India -which officially opens today and ends on February 18 -the restricted timings for flight operations will continue till April 30 to allow for the remodelling of the airport’s runway . Compounding fliers’ agony is the restriction on private vehicles restriction on private vehicles -during the five-day air show -on using the Ballari Road which till now was the only route to the airport. The traffic police have come up with three alternative routes to the airport, all of which are unfamiliar to most commuters. They have also advised travellers to start early. The saving grace, however, is the initiative by the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation to introduce additional feeder bus services from different parts of the city to the airport. What’s more, BMTC buses will have access to the Ballari Road even during the air show and therefore will offer the fastest commute to the airport. KIAL’s press release said that the airport is upgrading its existing runway 0927 with two rapid exit taxiways. The runway can handle 34 air traffic movements (ATM) per hour.The upgrade is expected to increase the capacity to 44 ATMs per hour. A taxiway is a path for an aircraft that connects runways to the terminal. Amrita Mallya, who works in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City , saw her Sunday flight being pushed to Monday . “The airport was extremely crowded. Many people who missed their flights were arguing with the staff, asking them to let to them board,“ she said. Paediatrician Dr Bhaskar Shenoy barely managed to reach a conference in Switzerland after a delay at the Bengaluru airport nearly ended his trip. “We understand that there will be crowding in the morning and evening. So we have augmented taxi and other ancillary services,“ said KIAL’s official spokesperson. A press release from the airport clarified that reporting time will remain standard and not four hours before departure as rumoured. City-based budget carrier AirAsia, which operates 18 departures from the city, reduced it to 14 on account of the runway closure. “A few of our daily flights have been cancelled and rescheduled from February 8-18 on account of the Aero India,“ AirAsia India spokesperson said. BUSES TO AIRPORT BMTC is operating 277 Vayu Vajra buses between 12 midnight and 10 am. A skeletal service of 91 buses will operate between 10am to 5pm during the closure of the runway .Between 5 pm and midnight, as many as 226 buses will be in service to the airport. All these Vayu Vajru services will continue to ferry passengers from the 12 regular pickup points in the city. ALTERNATIVE ROUTES The Ballari Road stretch will be restricted for private vehicles due to the Aero India show at the Yelahanka Air Force base. The traffic police have identified three alternative routes for airport-bound commuters. Vehicles moving from Bengaluru West have to take Goraguntepalya, BEL Circle, Gangamma Circle, Unnikrishnan junction, Doddaballapur Road, Rajanakunte, Sir MVIT Cross and then towards the airport. Vehicles from Bengaluru East can take KR Puram, Hennur Cross, Bagalur, Mylanahalli and Begur to reach the airport. Rodney Hudson Jersey
Centre wants Air India to survive, says Ashok Gajapathi Raju
Union Minister for Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju today said the Centre wants Air India to survive and does not mind who runs it as long as it serves the Indian people. “If it is left like what it is, it is bound to die…. we want Air India to survive, we don’t mind where it is, who runs it. As long as it serves the Indian people and Indian skies, we are happy,” Raju said. He was responding to a question regarding the privatisation of Air India, during a conversation with CNN’s Richard Quest at CNN Asia Business Forum tonight here. Stating that Air India is a “nice” airline and in the last two years it has not added to its losses, Raju said, “….I like that Airline, I like it to survive, I would love it to survive, but I cant commit the tax payers money for eternity.” Responding to a query, what is the time schedule from now to eternity, he said “…some thing has to be done about it, the sooner the better. We would like it to survive whether it is owned by the government…..” Ashok Gajapathi Raju said regional connectivity is among the priorities of the government for civil aviation in India. He also said, “India is a big country, we have about 31-32 airports which are not serviced by airlines. Our priority is to connect the unversed and the under served. Right now we are evaluating them.” Petr Mrazek Authentic Jersey
Solar tariffs to rise 10% if tax exemptions curtailed in GST roll out: CEEW
India’s emerging solar sector could see tariffs rise by nearly 10% if current tax exemptions were curtailed in the roll out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), a study released by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) said. Multiple GST rates and their uncertain applicability to different equipment and services for solar projects is a growing concern from solar project developers and investors. GST could also impact the pace of the second phase of solar park development for additional 20,000 mw capacity announced in the recent budget, it said. CEEW study finds that GST could increase capital cost of a solar project by Rs 4.5 million per megawatt if current tax exemptions were curtailed, setting back the sector in terms of cost competitiveness by about 18 months. The key contributors to the increase in solar tariffs, as a result of GST, would include increase in operations and maintenance cost, panel costs, and financing costs. The increase in solar tariffs would also vary across states; higher for states such as Rajasthan where VAT and Entry Tax exemptions are currently provided for solar equipment, as opposed to Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat where VAT and Entry Tax exemptions are not provided, it said. CEEW said GST will give a boost to the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, improving competitiveness of Indian manufacturers of solar cells, panels and modules eliminate the cascading effect of the existing tax structure and introduce an input tax credit. Increased competitiveness of domestic solar manufacturers could create an additional 37,000 new jobs in the solar manufacturing sector by 2022. Solar project developers have approached the government with requests to ensure that the current tax exemptions applicable to the sector continue so as to not negatively impact the efforts to achieve grid parity. The government currently collects less than 0.1% of its total indirect tax collection from the solar sector. “With annual solar power capacity addition expected to be more than 12 GW in 2017-18, it is vital that major hurdles for deployment, such as the potential impact of GST on the sector, be ironed out as early as possible. GST offers many long term benefits, but the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) and other related agencies must provide clear guidelines regarding the applicable GST slab for upcoming solar power projects and introduce government mechanisms to offset the short term negative impacts of GST,” CEEW CEO Arunabha Ghosh said. If current tax exemptions are curtailed, the impact of the increase in solar tariffs could be partially offset by policy instruments, such as accelerated depreciation benefits or viability gap funding for projects incurring increased capital investments, Ghosh said. The recent Budget propsoes to benefit domestic solar manufacturers with the reduction of basic customs duty to nil for tempered glass used in the manufacture of solar cells, panels and modules and the reduction of countervailing duty from 12.5% to 6% for parts used in the manufacture of tempered glass which is used in solar PV cells, modules, etc. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced last month that the GST may be implemented on 1 July 2017. Cordrea Tankersley Jersey
We don’t do anything at the cost of profitability: SpiceJet CEO
irline has paid back ?2,000 crore; focus was mainly on cutting costs: Ajay Singh Low cost airline, SpiceJet has had a remarkable run during the last two years posting eight consecutive quarters of profits. In an interview with BusinessLine, the airline’s CEO, Ajay Singh on the sidelines of the CNN Asia Business Forum meet, shares the way ahead and the challenges that confront the carrier. Excerpts: Spicejet must be one of the few airlines which has had a successful turnaround. How much of money have you returned to the lessors, oil companies etc. so far? An airline shutting down is a very bad thing not only for the airline but for the sector itself. When we started the process of turning around the airline in 2015, we didn’t want to see a repeat of Kingfisher Airlines. We wanted to pay everyone whom we owed money. So, we decided to resolve these issues head on. We told them that here is the plan; we asked them to believe us. What else could we do anyway? But we were happy they trusted us. We have also shown that we were worthy of that trust. In the last two years, we have paid more or less everyone. We have totally paid back ?2,000 crore. No equity has been raised and no loans have been taken for the revival of the airline. The government provided us with moral support which actually helped us a lot. The turnaround has actually been built on aggressive pricing; rapid expansion leading up to a huge order being placed with Boeing? It was for us to get the costs down. We worked hard to renegotiate contracts, cut out unviable routes and at the same time get more frequencies on certain routes. You might feel the pricing might be aggressive but the actual fact is that the average fares have gone up and so have the yields. Our average fares are probably higher than our nearest competitor. Our ancillary revenues which used to be around 6 per cent is now at 16 per cent. You see, the model has remained the same but earlier it was bleeding and now we have had profits for the last eight quarters. So, a lot of hard work has gone into it to lower costs all around. The debt too has reduced considerably which is about ?500 crore which is payment as usual. You have ordered for around 155 aircraft, GoAir and Indigo have done something similar which all adds up to about 450-500 aircraft on order. But are there are enough parking slots in our airports? We have about 400 aircraft and China has 5,000. There is no question that more people will fly as one rationalises costs. At a macro level there is enough demand. Once you place a large order of aircraft, you bring down engineering costs, cost of fuel, you bring down profitability. Is there a challenge as far as airport infrastructure is concerned? Yes there is. But that is something which the government has to work on. My solution is to strengthen airports in tier two and three cities. The fact is the estimates for growth have gone wrong because when the airports were planned, the crude prices were high and one thought that the growth won’t be so high. Also, the new aircraft are not coming today. Hopefully, the infrastructure will catch up. What happens if the fuel prices go up? They have already doubled over the last one year; from $35 to $55. If they remain range bound, then it should be fine. At these numbers, it is quite sustainable but if they go beyond $70, then the fares will go too to a level, where demand gets impacted. They way we are trying to get around the issue is to buy more aircraft, bring down costs. These are the hedges against cost spikes. Will you at some point of time, phase out Bombardiers? The Bombardier fleet actually makes money. But when we took over, the costs were high. But we have brought it down by around 15 per cent of operating the fleet. We are going to add more capacity and we think this fleet has the potential to fly to smaller airports. We are not looking to get rid of them. With this kind of pace of growth, will it come at the cost of profitability? We don’t do anything at the cost of profitability. We are not looking at market share at all. In fact, this has been one of the problems at SpiceJet earlier. It was running after market share at the cost of profitability. Results are there to see. If the market share goes up, then it is fine but we will remain focused on profitability. Has the issue with the former promoters, the Marans, been solved? The issue is with the arbitrator now. The basic issue was that they had issued some warrants to themselves, when we were not in the picture. They had applied for permission from SEBI and the BSE but it was declined. We said we will issue the warrants subject to the approval from SEBI and the BSE which again was turned down. Anyway, the money that has to be returned has to be done after eight years. Trai Turner Womens Jersey
Message from Madhya Pradesh: Solar power is here to stay
The solar revolution in India marches on, with renewed momentum, if the recently concluded reverse bidding auction for a 750 MW Solar Park in Madhya Pradesh is any indication. While the rest of the world watched in disbelief, Mahindra Renewables Pvt. Ltd., Acme Solar Holdings Pvt. Ltd. and Sweden’s Solenergi Power Pvt. Ltd. successfully bid Rs 2.979/kWh, Rs 2.97/kWh and Rs 2.974/kWh to build 250MW plants each. These bids are the lowest in the history of solar tariffs in India. These bids are the lowest in the history of solar tariffs in India. The previous lowest bid was Rs 4.34/ kWh for a 70 MW unit in Rajasthan. A variety of reasons led to this unprecedented crash in solar tariffs, from reduced cost of photovoltaic (PV) modules to risk mitigation for developers and intricate financial planning. Chinese module manufacturers dropped module prices to less than Rs 20 per watt (30 cents) because of oversupply in the market. Reports say that manufacturers are selling below cost. With major manufacturers already having preferential rates for the Indian market, it is unlikely that module prices will go up significantly in India even after the glut clears out. Assuring developers of risk mitigation in terms of electricity offtake, by Rewa Ultra Mega Power Limited (a joint venture of Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited and Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam Limited), also contributed to the drop. This risk mitigation aspect allows developers to access finance at lower costs and reduce their expectations on returns by a few percentage points as long as the project proves to be sustainable and financially viable. There is a clause which allows for a 5 paisa escalation per unit in this project for the next 15 years. The successful bidders must have taken this into consideration. The resultant levelised tariff over the lifetime of plants (approximately 28 years), with degradation, works out to around Rs 3.32/kWh. The remarkably low tariffs discovered in this auction will have far-reaching implications for the country’s solar landscape. With both international and domestic investors looking at India as a serious place to set up solar businesses, the 100 GW target is no longer being brushed aside as over-ambitious and unrealistic. The result is that developers are competing and bidding aggressively, with lower margins, to get their foot in the door in states with high solar potential. Grid parity of solar with conventional fossil fuel sources, such as coal, is no longer a distant dream and shatters most myths associated with the high cost of renewables. The model of price escalation aligns with increasing coal prices in the recent past. Large-scale solar is now in a strong position to compete with any other source of electricity in India, which is extremely encouraging for the National Democratic Alliance’s plans to promote solar both in India and in the International Solar Alliance proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015 and launched the same year at COP-22 in Paris. Domestic and international financial institutions will now have more confidence in lending to the Indian utility-scale solar market. Now that offtake risks are reduced because of joint ventures between state and central agencies, lower interest rates with longer tenures and lower hedging of currencies will be observed in the coming years. Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractors will be under pressure because developers and investors will reduce costs in this aspect by either further reducing their margins or vertically integrating themselves to perform such tasks on their own. This is going to put intense pressure on EPCs to finish projects quickly whilst adhering to quality standards. Instead of taking a month to install 10 MW as was the norm two years ago, EPCs will have to finish 250 MW in less than six months to gain more contracts in one financial year and survive. Domestic manufacturers of PV modules will feel more threatened than earlier because of the tremendous rate cuts in imported modules. They are likely to seek further protection through subsidies from the government. However, considering the fact that India is already in troubled waters with the US in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on the Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) clause for solar, it is unlikely that more measures will be taken by the government to carve out niche spaces beyond solar rooftop projects for domestic manufacturers. Overall, these record low prices in Madhya Pradesh will usher in an era which will be dominated by solar headlines at every auction henceforth. If these trends of oversupply of modules, access to low cost finance, highly effective and efficient EPCs and support and encouragement from both state and central governments spread to other states, then prices might fall even further in India. Solar power is here to stay and make significant contributions to the country’s energy mix at extremely competitive rates. The solar market is wide open for both domestic and international investors and the time is ripe for innovations in both technology and finance. Orlando Brown Jr. Jersey
New set of guidelines for power infra upkeep
Declaring February and March as months of preventive maintenance, power discom DHBVN has directed the staff to undertake a widespread maintenance work across Gurugram circle for the next one and a half month till the infrastructure is moped clean of impurities and prepped up before peak load in summers begin. Though timely and sporadic maintenance works is normal for the DHBVN but this time, sources said, the order has come directly from the head office in Hisar. The drive comes on the heels of criticism discom faced following a spate of outage instances in the recent time that plunged the city into bouts of darkness, reaping embarrassment for the discom for failing to check power cuts. Sources informed TOI that the discom has laid down proper guidelines on how to eliminate weed, replace conductors and inspect high and low tension lines etc. “To ensure uninterrupted supply to the consumers during summer and improve the quality of maintenance of infrastructure i.e 33kV substation, HT, LT lines and distribution transformers shall be carried out accordingly,” reads the order copy. “The activity will be carried out during February and March, since these months have been declared as months of preventive maintenance.” As part of the guidelines, all 33kV substations across Gurgaon will be thermo-scanned, de-weeded and inspected to improve their efficiency. “The maintenance work is likely to reduce power cuts by 75%,” said RK Batra, director (operations), DHBVN. Bryan Anger Womens Jersey
Governor discusses speeding up road projects in Assam with Centre
Assam Governor Banwari Lal Purohit today took up issues related to fast-tracking pending road and highway projects in the state during his meeting with Union Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi. Following detailed discussion, Gadkari assured Purohit that he would personally look into speeding up all the ongoing road and highway projects which would be completed very soon, a Raj Bhawan release said here. Gadkari also said he would be visiting Assam as soon as the assembly elections in the five states got over. Lauding the interests shown by the Union Minister for his initiatives for roads and highway in the state, Purohit however commented much more needed to be done given the present condition of roads. Purohit, who also holds the additional charge as Governor of Meghalaya, has widely travelled across Assam by roads and traversed at least 24 out of total 33 districts in the state during the last six months. He did this after assuming the Gubernatorial stint in the state, the release added. Mark Bavaro Jersey
GVK wins bid to develop Navi Mumbai international airport
Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), the GVK-owned consortium running the Mumbai airport has won the bid for the much-delayed, discussed and debated Rs 16,000 crore airport project coming up in Navi Mumbai. Rival GMR Infrastructure was the only other bidder in the final round. The project is seen as a crucial alternate to the congested airport in the city. The government had initially approved setting up the airport in 2007, but it ran into several environmental and land acquisition problems till the last stages of the final bid. Each stage has been delayed for months, pending clarity and clearances. Weeks before the final bid, three of four shortlisted bidders had written to the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), the nodal body for the project, saying they want to opt out citing long-unresolved issues such an incomplete resettlement of families in that area and zero pre-development work as well as various issues with the bid document. Sources in the know said CIDCO has resolved some of the issues. The airport will span an area of 2,867 acres with a terminal building of 5,23,000 square meters and two runways. Kyle Connor Womens Jersey
Fresh power capacity from clean sources only after 2023-24
New capacity additions could all come from renewable sources like solar, wind and hydro power, but that is only after 2023-24, subject to cost competitiveness and the grid’s ability to handle clean energy, says a TERI report. According to the Energy and Resources Institute report released by Power Minister Piyush Goyal, new power generation capacity could be all renewables beyond 2023-24, based on cost competitiveness as well as the ability of the grid to absorb such a large amount of renewable energy together with battery-based balancing power. The report indicates that the current installed capacity and the one coming up will be able to meet demand till about 2026, keeping India power sufficient. It estimates that no new investments are likely to be made in coal-based power generation in the years prior to that. Speaking on occasion, Goyal in a statement said: “Universal access to electricity is one of the primary aims of the government, and meeting demand is a major facet of this initiative.” He further said, “We see India becoming the energy capital of the world. India is also committed to lowering the emission intensity of its development in line with our intended nationally-determined contributions (INDCs) towards the Paris agreement. We are looking at several initiatives towards making solar energy price competitive to coal.” TERI’s demand scenario analysis suggests that there will be no new coal-based capacity investment that will be approved till about years prior to that. Between 2014 and 2024 — the 10-year window — if the price of solar and battery reaches the Rs 5 per unit mark, all new capacity additions will be in renewables, it added. The study indicates that the electricity demand is likely to increase from 1,115 BU (billion units) in 2015-16 to 1,692 BU in 2022, 2,509 BU in 2027 and 3,175 BU in 2030. Andrus Peat Authentic Jersey
MNRE secretary says govt planning to compensate solar cos in case of back-down
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is working on a set of guidelines to provide compensation to solar power generators in case they are asked to back-down capacity by distribution companies. Talking on the sidelines of an industry event, MNRE secretary Rajeev Kapoor said the government is in the process of finalising guidelines on the solar power manufacturing and bidding and it includes a clause to compensate solar power companies. While he did not give details or the quantum of the compensation, he said the document should be finalised in a week’s time. Power distribution companies have often been blamed for arbitrarily cutting off solar and wind power or asking the power generators to back-down capacities which not only hurt the project developers but also investors. Backing-down usually happens when the power distribution companies have an option of buying cheaper power from some other sources. It can also happen if there is no proper evacuation or transmission infrastructure or if the grid does not have the power to buy more power. Also, poor financial health of power distribution companies leads to such situations. He added that while there is no provision of compensating wind power generation companies but the government is mulling a clause to compensate such companies as well. Clyde Drexler Womens Jersey