India is bright spot for infra investment: Global Infrastructure Hub
India is seen as a bright spot for infrastructure investment amid rising protectionist measures around the world, said Bill Brummitt, chief operating officer (COO) of the Global Infrastructure Hub, a platform launched by G20 countries to address global infrastructure deficit. “I think it’s very important that infrastructure markets don’t get caught up in that protectionist mindset and we continue to see international capital flowing across borders, and not just capital, but also expertise,“ Brummitt told ET in an interaction. “Viewed from Australia (where the group is based), India is still seen as a very promising market with a very large market, growing fast, and with a lot of opportunity,“ he added. The Global Infrastructure Hub last year launched its Project Pipeline to provide the private sector with information about government infrastructure projects across the world.“It’s designed to provide a platform where procurement authorities, whether it’s the national authorities at the state or local level, can put projects onto that pipeline, and therefore, raise their visibility with international investors all around the world,“ Brummitt said.The Global Infrastructure Hub currently does not link investors and companies building infrastructure project but is hoping to do so in future. “As Project Pipeline matures, and there are more projects listed on the pipeline and more investors looking at the pipeline, we will be able to keep track of whether the pipeline is actually helping the companies to find projects,“ he said. Brummitt was in India last week to hold talks with officials from the ministries of finance and road transport on the tools the group has developed as a knowledge-sharing platform. Roads and smart cities are two key areas which seem to have a lot of potential in India, Brummitt said. “I’m aware that India has a very large broad PPP (public private partnership) programme in the roads sector at the mo ment. And now India is urbanising, has a huge population, lot of big cities, and I think a lot of people are talking about the smart circles, smart cities agenda in India as well,“ he said. Apart from their focus on PPPs and concession management, the group is also pushing for multilateral development banks like the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Asian InfrastructureInvestment Bank to link private investment with public infrastructure projects. “The more we can encourage the multilateral development banks to use their whole range of skills and resources and onthe-ground presence that they have at their disposal, to help encourage and facilitate private finance rather than using their own capital, we think the better off the world would be,“ Brummitt added. Frank Vatrano Jersey
NHAI revives tender process for Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has revived the tender process to turn the existing Bengaluru-Mysuru highway (NH 275) into a six lane expressway, raising hopes among tens of thousands of people travelling between the two cities. The NHAI is awarding the public-private partnership (PPP) project under the hybrid annuity model (DBOT annuity) and has floated request for proposal from private developers, giving them time till April 4 to respond. This is the second attempt by NHAI to put the much-delayed project back on track. The highways authority had, on December 6, cancelled the tender, floated under the DBFOT model, without assigning any reason. However, it is now clear that the tender was cancelled to change the model of contract. The NHAI has divided the project into two packages of 56.2 km (Bengaluru-Nidagatta) and 61.1 km (Nidagatta-Mysuru).The revised estimates show the 117-km stretch project could cost ` . 4,153 crore, a drop by Rs 342 crore from earlier estimates. The land acquisition for the project is already completed. The splitting of the contract, engineers say, will help the NHAI complete the project sooner as two developers will be able to start the work simultaneously from both north and south end of the long stretch. The contractors will require about 24 months to complete the project, and the NHAI may be able to commission in 2020. In the DBFOT model, while the successful bidder bears the entire project cost (minus land acquisition), the hybrid annuity model will involve NHAI funding 60% of the cost, while the partner will bring in the balance equity. The change in the PPP model type, according to an official, also had to do with the market conditions, and the NHAI did not want to confront a situation of fewer developers bidding under the DBFOT model for this highly lucrative project.Hybrid annuity is not only seen as a good model, would also attract several bids, experts say. The banks too will readily respond to fund the project. The developer will not carry any toll risk which will be handled by the NHAI. The developer will get a fixed rate of return for his investment, they say.The Ministry of Highways has assigned top priority to the project in view of the rising vehicular traffic between the two cities in Karnataka. Mysuru is also the home district of chief minister Siddaramaiah. The new expressway, when operational, is expected to cut the travel time between Bengaluru and Mysuru to 90 minutes, and that would cheer the IT industry, among others. Mysuru has not been able to attract investments in the IT sector in spite of Infosys landing there a decade ago. The expressway, when commissioned, will have 10-lanes including two-lane service roads on either side, and three-lane main carriageway in each direction. The expressway will come up between the Panchamukhi temple after NICE road in Bengaluru and Columbia Asia hospital junction in Mysuru. Clay Harbor Womens Jersey
Hiranandani Energy starts construction work of jetty at Jaigarh port
Hiranandani Energy, the energy arm of Hiranandani Group, today said it has commenced the construction work of jetty for the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) project at the Jaigarh port in Maharashtra. The company is developing a FSRU-based LNG re-gasification terminal with JSW Jaigarh Port with a capacity of 4 MMTPA, which will ultimately be expanded to 8 MMTPA. “We are committed to deliver a commercially viable and environmentally friendly solution to the country. The commencement of the jetty construction work at Jaigarh Port is a major step in the development of the LNG re-gasification project,” H-Energy CEO Darshan Hiranandani said. He said the strategic partnership and association with JSW is a perfect fit in the development of infrastructure for importing much needed natural gas into the country. “The FSRU charter agreement will be the last major milestone in the project. We have 3 shortlisted bidders and are hopeful to finalise this soon,” Hiranandani said. “We hope to commence commercial operations of the LNG facilities before December 2018,” he added. Once operational, this will be the fifth LNG import terminal on the west coast. The west coast already has four LNG import terminals including: Dahej and Hazira in Gujarat; Dabhol in Maharashtra and Kochi in Kerala. Jaigarh also houses the 5 million tones Dabhol LNG terminal operated by gas utility Gail IndiaBSE -0.27 %. In addition to building the marine infrastructure in the port of Jaigarh to import and re-gasify the LNG, the project scope also includes construction of gas pipeline of around 60 km in length connecting the Jaigarh terminal to the existing natural gas pipeline network at Dabhol, the company said. According to the agreement, Jaigarh Port shall manage the construction of the jetty civil works and has appointed L&T Infrastructure Engineering Ltd., Chennai for jetty design. The civil construction works of the LNG jetty has been awarded to ITD CementationBSE -1.17 %, Mumbai. H-Energy and Jaigarh Port have jointly appointed COWI India Private Limited, Chennai to supervise the jetty construction. “Connected to the terminal, H-Energy’s Jaigarh – Mangalore pipeline development is also making substantial progress on its regulatory approvals and route surveys. It will be a lifeline to the Konkan region and Coastal Karnataka for the provision of natural gas to industry and homes,” Hiranandani added. H-Energy through its gas marketing company is negotiating medium and short term LNG sourcing and downstream gas supply contracts providing end-to-end gas solutions to the downstream customers. Matt Schaub Womens Jersey
JSW Group to boost PM Modi’s plan to improve flight connectivity for small towns and villages
JSW Group, the Indian conglomerate led by billionaire Savitri Jindal, applied under a subsidy program spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to improve flight connectivity for small towns and villages. The group made a bid in an ongoing auction process which will allow companies asking for minimum government subsidies to operate scheduled commercial flights to the country’s underutilized airstrips. The aim is to improve connectivity between the group’s plants, Chief Financial Officer Seshagiri Rao said in a phone interview Monday. The firm isn’t bidding under listed entities such as JSW Steel Ltd., India’s largest privately owned producer of the material. Modi has promised tax breaks and waivers of landing and parking charges for some underused airfields in the world’s fastest growing aviation market, which is also among the costliest due to taxes and airport charges. The prime minister is trying connect India’s 450 airports and airstrips, mostly in smaller towns, by vowing to fund some of the airlines’ losses if they fly to such airports. JSW Group, whose businesses range from metals to power generation, also plans to venture into electric cars by 2020 on expectations the government will promote such vehicles and falling battery prices will make them more affordable, Chairman Sajjan Jindal said in January. Kirk Mclean Jersey
Defence airports need DGCA certificate for scheduled flights
From next year onwards, scheduled flight operations will be allowed from defence airports only if they have been certified by DGCA, according to the civil aviation ministry. With certain issues still to be sorted out between civil aviation and defence ministries, the deadline has been extended to December 31, 2017, a senior DGCA official said. The initial deadline lapsed on December 31, 2016. In a notification issued earlier this month, the civil aviation ministry said scheduled flight operations will not be permitted from any airport, including defence aerodromes, from December 31, 2017, unless such aerodromes have been certified by the DGCA. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is the regulatory body governing safety aspects of civil aviation and approves flight schedules, among others. “… no person shall operate scheduled air transport services to and from an aerodrome, including defence aerodromes, with effect from December 31, 2017 unless it has been either licensed (aerodrome) or certified (defence aerodrome) by the director general of civil aviation,” the notification said. For certification, DGCA will have to check and ensure the safety of airstrips and related facilities, including air traffic control (ATC), at defence aerodromes. Besides, the regulator should have access to areas and aspects related to scheduled carrier services. Discussions are going on among officials of the ministries to sort out the issues and hence the deadline has been extended, the DGCA official reasoned. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) manages 125 aerodromes, including 25 civil enclaves at defence airfields, as per its website. Christine Michael Sr Authentic Jersey
SoBo to get direct connect to new airport via MTHL
The road route through the 22-km Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) will provide direct connectivity to passengers from south Mumbai to the upcoming international airport. The SoBo motorists can take a left turn from Shivaji Nagar, Ulwe to head for the western side of the airport. Cidco chief engineer, K K Varkhedkar said, “The MTHL will drop in Ulwe at Shivaji Nagar from where one arm of the coastal road, via an interchange, will directly connect to the airport. The other arm will connect JNPT.” Total length of the two arms of the coastal road is 10. 1 km. The airport connectivity via Ulwe will be done under phase I and the JNPT connect in phase II. A 5.7-km stretch of the coastal road will connect MTHL to Aamra Marg, that will help motorist to access Palm Beach Road at Kille junction. Just before the coastal road connects to Aamra Marg, there will be a bifurcation near the upcoming Targhar railway station, which is described as airport link. Targhar is one of the several railway stations on the upcoming Nerul-Uran railway corridor. Wes Horton Womens Jersey
PM Modi’s single election trip causes crores in losses and wastes approx 40,000 tax paying Indians’ time
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been the biggest star campaigner for the BJP in the ongoing assembly polls in five states, namely Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa. And, just like in the past, the ‘hard-working’ prime minister has been spending most of his time on campaign trail than in Delhi. Experts say that Modi leaving Delhi so frequently from Delhi causes huge losses to the exchequer as well as putting the lives of thousands of people at risk. Former Air Force Officer and Janta Ka Reporter’s resident aviation expert, Squadron Leader (retired) Khalid Ehsan, said, “When an Indian VIP leaves for airport, traffic blockage and diversion begins on road at least 30 minutes in advance. All aircraft stop to land or take-off or start or taxi, approximately 20 minutes prior to the planned departure. “And if the VIP in question gets delayed, which is pretty common, thousands of passengers in aircrafts are forced to wait both in the air and on ground for him or her to arrive at the airport and then takeoff. Many aircrafts hold 100 nm away from Delhi for 15 to 30 minutes, for VIP to clear 100 nm air zone.” Explaining further, Squadron Leader Ehsan said that that such paraphernalia posed huge safety risk to passengers and added unnecessary costs to exchequer. “Because the VIP, in this case is the PM, there is stricter security protocol, with vehicles running on both sides of the VIP aircraft escorting it till the takeoff point. Cost of this delay is borne by the airlines; with the in-flight holding charge amounting to Rs 10 lakh per aircraft for a 30 minute wait. This delay also has a telescopic effect on commercial aviation for at least four to five hours. “Consider 20 arrival and 20 departure from Delhi delayed by 30 minutes for 5 hours. This is equivalent to 100 hours lost in serving Super Ego VIP. And the financial cost reaches a whopping Rs 10 Cr. The same drama is repeated when the VIP returns. In other words, Modi’s each visit to election rally and return costs Indian taxpayers Rs 20 Cr. This has a knock on effect on 200 flights and if we were to assume that each flight has 100 passengers, such VIP visit has just wasted the time of 20,000 tax paying Indians. And what did he do? He made public speeches for his political party in the election. And who suffered? 40,000 Indians in airport and many more on roads.” Sqn Ldr Ehsan said that it was time these ‘VIPs were banned from Indian roads and using public airports” adding that the important leaders such as Modi ought to have used the Hindon air base than Delhi Airport. Peyton Manning Authentic Jersey
More wind power projects to go under hammer next fiscal
Buoyed by drop in tariff to record low of Rs 3.46 per unit in the first auction of wind power, the government is mulling putting on the block more such projects next fiscal. “Transparency which is the hallmark of the Modi government, has brought down the tariff of wind power. There will be more and more such projects on the block,” Power, Coal, Mines and New & Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal told PTI. Asked whether he is expecting wind power tariff to fall further in a more competitive environment, he said: “That is the beauty of tariff based competitive bidding. We cannot predict the tariff. It is the bidders who decide what price should be quoted. I cannot interfere in that.” Goyal was of the view that the average wind tariff was hovering above Rs 5 per unit earlier due to feeding of rates and lack of transparency. “We will be looking at more wind power projects auction in the next financial year. We will formalise it. We have not decided yet on the quantum as it all depends upon the states demand because the projects are backed by them,” New & Renewable Energy Secretary Rajeev Kapoor said. The wind power tariff has been decided so far on the basis of inputs provided by power regulators such as cost of land and equipment and borrowing expenses. However, the feed in tariff used to remain same for the periods as long as 25 years and there was no fuel cost involved as in the case of thermal power. An industry expert said that now the feed in tariff would not survive for a very long time and there would more and more auctions in wind power segment in view of success of the first auction concluded yesterday. The wind power tariff touched record low of Rs 3.46 per unit in first even auction conducted last week by the state- run Solar Energy Corp (SECI) where firms Mytrah Energy, Green Infra Wind Energy, InoxBSE 2.00 % Wind Infrastructure Services, Ostro KutchBSE 4.96 % Wind and Adani Green Energy emerged as the lowest bidders. The auction witnessed aggressive bidding despite an advisory issued by industry body to avoid bold bids. The Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association had reportedly issued an advisory to some players before the auction started in view of uncertainties due to the GST implementation. The auction assumes significance because India has set an ambitious target of having 60 GW of wind power capacity by 2022. The wind power deployment in the country started in early 1990s. The current wind power installed capacity is nearly 28.7 GW, accounting for over 9 per cent of the total installed capacity of 314.64 GW as in January, 2017. Globally, India is at the fourth position after China, the US and Germany in terms of wind capacity installation. The Centre has set an ambitious target of 175 GW power from renewable energy resources by 2022 and out of this, 60 GW has to come from wind power. Max Scherzer Authentic Jersey
Govt auctions 1,000 MW of projects at Rs 3.46 a unit
India’s ambitious green energy programme took a giant leap as the country’s first wind energy auction has seen tariff dropping dramatically to Rs 3.46 per unit, mirroring the steep fall in the solar power sector and giving coal-fired plants another emission-free and competitive rival to worry about. Solar tariffs have already fallen to Rs 2.97 per unit after a series of auctions in recent years in which companies that quoted the lowest tariff were awarded projects. “These are exciting times, cleaner times. Our intention is to provide affordable 24X7 power, yet protect the environment and leave behind a brighter and cleaner future for the next generation,” Piyush Goyal, the minister for power, coal, renewable energy and mines, told ET. The auction, conducted by Solar Energy Corporation of India, invited bids for 1,000 megawatts of wind projects that could be set up anywhere in the country. The winners are Mytrah Energy (India) Pvt Ltd, Green Infra Wind Energy Ltd, Inox Wind Infrastructure Services Ltd and Ostro Kutch Wind Pvt Ltd, all of whom quoted the identical tariff of Rs 3.46 per kwH and have been awarded 250 MW each. Adani Green Energy (MP) Ltd also quoted the same tariff. An additional project of 250 MW is likely to be awarded to it, even though the original auction was for only 1000 MW. There were 10 bidders in all. The rest quoted higher tariffs. So far, wind tariffs were set by regulators of the nine states producing wind power, unlike solar projects which for some years have been auctioned and awarded to companies quoting the lowest tariff. Wind energy tariffs have varied from a high of Rs 6.04 per unit in parts of Rajasthan to Rs 4.08 for some projects in Maharashtra. Most have varied from Rs 4 to Rs 5 a unit. Other states where wind energy is generated are Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha. The idea of holding wind power auctions had been mooted by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) nearly a year ago, though three earlier attempts to hold them — once by Karnataka and twice by Rajasthan — had proved unsuccessful, with various legal issues raised by wind power associations holding them up. In October last year, however, the government issued a formal notice to auction 1000 MW of wind power projects. The last dates for submission of bids and their opening were twice deferred, until they were finally opened on Thursday. Earlier this month, solar tariffs dropped to an all-time low of Rs 2.97 per kwH during the bidding to set up segments of a 750 MW solar project in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, which is likely to be the largest solar plant in the world. The lowest solar bid till then had been Rs 4 per kwH. Minister Goyal tweeted: “After solar cost reduction below Rs 3 per unit, wind power cost down to Rs 3.46 per unit through transparent auction. A green future awaits India.” The fall in wind tariff is in some ways more significant than its solar counterpart. “There is some degree of government support in the (750 MW) MP solar project,” said Ashwini Kumar, managing director of SECI. “But for these just-auctioned wind projects, there is none.” To encourage investment in renewable energy, the government has a scheme of providing viability gap funding (VGF) for renewable energy developers. But in the current wind auction, none of the winning developers have sought VGF. Most of the new projects are expected to come up in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. As of December 2016, India had installed wind power capacity of 28,700.44 MW.
As solar shines, time to balance generation
Last week, the winning bid for a solar project in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, offered a levelized tariff of about Rs3.3 per unit (with first year tariff at Rs2.97). That’s 24% cheaper than the Rs4.34 per unit offered by the winner of the Bhadla solar park project in Rajasthan in January 2016. Such a plunge in tariff was made possible only because the developer, under a power purchase agreement, has been assured of the following: timely and complete payment security, prevention of shutdown of the solar power plant during grid instability or unavailability of transmission line, ensuring free land availability for construction, and assuring transmission or evacuation facility for offtake of power. In other words, many material risks were off the table. Such sweetheart deals may not be available for all upcoming solar bids since it will be largely dependent on the credit-worthiness of the electricity buyer, availability and price of land, and transmission modalities. In other words, the solar tariff of about Rs3.3 would remain a pipe dream if risks related to payment, curtailment, land and transmission are not mitigated in future projects. Theoretically, such tariffs also mean the solar sector has reached grid parity in terms of not just the power purchase cost of new thermal electricity generating stations, but also the all-India average pooled power purchase cost of discoms. To be sure, policymaking corridors are reverberating with calls to replace new capacity addition in thermal with solar, but that would be an uninformed move without taking an integrated view on addressing peaking shortages, efficiency of thermal generation, grid management, overall balancing cost, and the socialization charges of solar generation.Essentially, this would require addressing four flanks. First is that there is a mismatch in the timing of generation and peak electricity demand—demand peaks in the morning and evening, when solar generation is not possible. Also, with batteries and storage still expensive, increasing solar share would require greater balancing with hydro/gas-based power to smoothen out the variability and peak demand. In other words, commensurate investment in hydro/gas would be needed to maximize solar generation. Second, there is the milieu to contend with. While the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has reported a power surplus situation, demand has been sluggish in the past one year. Additionally, about 40 GW of thermal power plants are under construction. All that means is growth in solar will have an impact on the plant load factor (PLF) and efficiencies of existing and new thermal projects. In other words, their cost of generation and the overall cost of power in the grid will rise. The CEA, in its recent draft National Electricity Plan (NEP), projects thermal PLFs to be at 48% if capacity addition in renewables is 175 GW by 2022, and at 54% if it is 125 GW (which is the CEA’s bear case capacity addition). Such low PLF levels will not only have an impact on the commercial viability of projects, but also lead to inefficient thermal generation that affects sector viability and sustainability of environment. For instance, any reduction in PLFs beyond a threshold will lead to higher station heat rate, and consequently higher coal consumption and poor efficiency. Therefore, capacity addition in renewable energy needs to be synchronized with the ecosystem such that efficiency loss in thermal and the balancing cost is minimized. Third, there is a limit to how much inconstant power a local grid can support, which can cause stability issues. A target of 175 GW translates to around 75% of India’s peak load requirement by fiscal 2022. Absorbing such a high quantum of inconstant power will require access to a greater balancing area. While most of the capacity addition in renewables has taken place on a state-level basis, there is a need to encourage interstate transactions for such energy. For example, Jharkhand, which invited solar bids for 1,200 MW as against its local peak demand of close to 2,000 MW, will most likely face challenges in efficiently managing grid issues in the near term. This will require successful implementation of the availability-based tariff mechanism, good forecasting capacities, scheduling framework at the state level, and implementation of electronic metering infrastructure. Fourth and last, while the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission currently exempts inter-state transmission charges for renewable energy, there is a need to re-evaluate both the direct and indirect impact of renewable energy on transmission charges in the context of loading excess cost on other forms of power generation. The direct impact of renewable energy is that associated transmission charges fall on thermal counterparts, while the indirect impact will be because of reduced utilization of transmission capacity owing to the lower PLF of thermal projects. So while falling solar tariffs augur well, the sustainability of an aggressive capacity-addition target of 125 GW for renewable energy will depend on balancing cost, efficiency of thermal generation, grid management, and investments in hydro- and gas-based power to meet peak demand. Carlos Rodon Authentic Jersey