‘MoU signed with centre to start regional air services’
Chief Minister Raman Singh on Tuesday informed Chhattisgarh Assembly that the House had earlier passed a private resolution for enabling air connectivity for remote pockets of Jashpur, Ambikapur, Raigarh, Jagdalpur and Korba regions. In a written reply to member R K Rai, the Chief Minister informed that the State Government had floated tenders in 2009 and again in 2014 for air service operators to invite bids for starting air services within the State but the services could not be started due to technical reasons. He informed that as per the Regional Connectivity Scheme of the Central Government, the State has signed a MoU with the Central Government to start regular and low fare air services in selected regions of Jashpur, Ambikapur, Raigarh, Jagdalpur and Korba. Calvin Pickard Authentic Jersey
Gas price hike in April likely to be flat
Come April 1 your piped cooking gas bill or public transport fares could see a slight variation, as the Centre announces the revised rates for domestically produced natural gas. Indications are that the revised rates will hover close to the existing rates of $ 2.5 a unit (gas is measured in million British thermal units). This rate will be effective for the first six months of FY18. Effectively, the price could range between $2.25/mmBtu and $2.7/mmBtu, nearer to the existing $2.5/mmBtu at gross calorific value (GCV). GCV is a measure of the amount of energy gas can produce. When calculated on GCV, it is always advantageous for the gas producer, as the end consumers bear the higher price since they are charged at the net calorific value. NCV includes transportation margins and other charges; experts say it is close to a dollar. Difficult terrains The revision will also be effective for gas produced from High Pressure-High Temperature (HP-HT) discoveries, or difficult terrains. The current ceiling price produced from HP-HT discoveries stands at $5.30/mmBtu. This could cruise up or down by 30-45 cents. Locally produced gas price in India has been always controversial. After much deliberation the government had based the price calculations on a formula taking the weighted average or rates prevalent in gas price benchmarks — Henry Hub of US, National Balancing Point of UK, rates in Alberta (Canada) and Russia with a lag of one quarter. Currently, imported gas price (LNG) is at $6/mmBtu, NBP at $5.5/mmBtu, and Henry Hub at $2.7/mmBtu. However, if the revised price is close to the prevailing rate or about 40-45 cents higher, the explorer will be far from happy. According to ONGC, gas below $3/mmBtu is not viable for the producers. Local gas price in India has gone done from $5.6/mmBtu in 2014 to $2.5/mmBtu today. But, if the government pays heed to the demands of consumers like city gas distribution and fertiliser sectors, the cheap gas is what they want. K Ravichandran, Senior Vice-President at ICRA, said that for the fertiliser sector, the actual burden will fall on the government as it is a regulated commodity. “The only impact will be the need for more working capital to offset higher feedstock costs in the near term,” he said, adding: “Power anyway is deprived of domestic gas at present and has to depend on imports.” The city gas companies are protected as the variation in pricing is borne by the consumers. Beneficial for explorers Sumit Pokharna, Oil and Gas Analyst and Deputy Vice-President – Research, Kotak Securities, said: “Even though the net impact is marginal, an expected 8 per cent hike in the price of gas would be beneficial for explorers. “It should also be noted that the rupee has depreciated by around 2.5 per cent from last year, and there is room for up to 4 per cent depreciation in the coming year. The rupee depreciation and rise in crude oil prices will come to the aid of explorers.” Matt Carpenter Authentic Jersey
OIL to hunt for oil & gas under Brahmaputra bed
Oil India Ltd (OIL) is once again gearing up to explore oil and natural gas reserves under the Brahmaputra, one of the most turbulent rivers in the world. OIL, the Upper Assam based exploration giant, recently wrote to the Director General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) seeking permission to carry out seismic survey in Brahmaputra riverbed to search for oil and gas. Utpal Bora, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of OIL, told The Sentinel on Tuesday that back in 2005 the company had taken up a project to explore oil and gas under the mighty river, but had to put that plan on hold following protests from several organizations. In 2005, several organizations as well as militant outfit ULFA had opposed and tried to mobilize public resistance against the OIL’s bid to carry out seismic surveys in Brahmaputra riverbed. Bora, speaking to this correspondent on the sidelines of a function of the OIL here this afternoon, said that many of those who once protested against such exploration in the Brahmaputra, are now favoring the same. “OIL has once again decided to embark upon a tough journey to hunt for oil and gas in the middle of the Brahmaputra. We have written to the DGH in this regard seeking permission to carry out seismic survey. We are hopeful of a positive response and begin survey work at the earliest,” he said. Expressing grave concern over fall in production of crude oil in the last few years, Bora said the OIL has initiated all-out efforts to arrest the slide and to raise production. He said crude production by the OIL came down from 3.8 million metric tonnes (MMT) in 2010-11 to 3.2 MMT in the last financial year, which is a major area of concern. “Decline in crude oil production is a challenge for us and we are ready to face it boldly,” he said. OIL wants to increase production to meet the target of 3.48 MMT in the current financial year. Dustin Brown Womens Jersey
IndianOil plans Rs 400 billion mega refinery at Nagapattinam
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) plans to come up with a 15-million-tonne (mt) refinery, with an investment of about Rs 400 billion, at Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu. Currently, Nagapattinam has a 1-mt plant operated by Chennai Petroleum Corporation (CPCL), an IOC subsidiary. “We are planning to expand the 1-mt plant to 9 mt during the first phase, and will later expand it to a 15-mt mega refinery,” said an official source close to the development. National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has a 15.4 per cent stake in CPCL, which runs two refineries — 10.5-mt Manali plant in Chennai and Nagapattinam refinery in Cauvery Basin. Though there was a plan to merge CPCL with its parent company, a decision is yet to be taken by the government on what will happen to the Iranian stake in the firm. CPCL has a huge land bank in Nagapattinam, which prompted the company to plan such mega investments. This comes at a time when the viability of another 15-mt refinery of IOC in Odisha is under cloud. The Odisha government has decided to withdraw the fiscal incentives for the Rs 340 billion plant. According to the state government, it would lose Rs 22,745-crore revenue, at present value, if it allowed the company to defer paying value-added tax on the refinery’s produce sold in the state for the first 11 years. On the other hand, the company claims it to be in the range of Rs 80-90 billion. However, this decision is likely to have an impact on IOC’s other planned investments worth Rs 500 billion in the state. The state government is of the view that the project that was initially planned for 9 mt was later expanded to 15 mt, which increased the company’s profitability. According to the Odisha government, the profitability of the refinery increased because of low crude oil prices too. Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the refinery to the nation in February 2016 and it is now operating at 90 per cent capacity. Including the 15-mt capacity at Paradip, India has a total of 230-mtpa refining capacity. Of this, public sector majors hold the majority share with 150 mt, while private sector players have a capacity of around 80 mt. CPCL was formed as a joint venture between the government of India, Amoco and National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) in 1965. The government later divested its stake in the company over the years and IOC took over the government equity in the company in 2000-01 as part of the restructuring. The state-run major currently holds about 52 per cent stake in the company. Jerry Rice Authentic Jersey
India puts up poor show in generating solar power from rooftop panels
Shadowline: India puts up poor show in generating solar power from rooftop panels The aim is to produce 40 Giga Watt (GW) of energy through rooftop PV (photovoltaics). India has the current rooftop solar capacity of 1.1 GW. According to Credit Rating and Information Services of India Limited (CRISIL), only 11-12 GW of solar capacity would be added to the grid by 2022 at the current rate of its growth. India is set to be the world’s third-largest solar-power producing country this year. But major lacunae still exist in the sector, especially where generation of power from rooftop panels are considered. India’s policymakers hope to raise the country’s solar power capacity to 100 gigawatts (GW), utilising the Grid Connected Solar Rooftop and Small Solar Power Plant Scheme. The scheme was launched by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy on 25 June 2014. India’s goal is to notch up 40% of the 100 GW through rooftop panels by 2022. But that seems to be a long shot, going by the current growth rate. The contradiction India has indeed made some headway as far as renewable energy is concerned. Consider these: *One location at Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa district is expected to produce the world’s cheapest solar energy at Rs 2.97 a unit.The capacity: 750 megawatts. * The country added 9 GW solar power to the grid just about a month ago. *Adani Power recently completed building the world’s biggest solar park at Kamuthi, 90 km from Madurai, Tamil Nadu. The rooftop segment though doesn’t share the growth story. Rooftop photovoltaic (PV) cells would generate only 12-13 GW by 2022, according to an estimate by analytical firm Crisil. “Rooftop panels are currently generating 1 GW. To reach to 40 GW in 2022, production needs to grow by 36%. This seems highly unlikely under current circumstances,” said Pranav Master, associate director of Crisil Research. What is the bottleneck? The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) cites four reasons for the lack of growth: 1. Lack of awareness 2. Lengthy approval process 3. Frequent policy changes 4. Issues with distribution companies Karnataka has a relatively better record of rooftop PV installation. Even that state has paid for frequent shifting of goalposts by the government. In October 2013, Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) announced a tariff of Rs 9.56/unit for rooftop power. It was available only to those who did not take the 30% subsidy provided by the central government. Those who had already benefitted from the subsidy would receive only Rs 7.20/unit. “These high rates attracted the attention of many. KERC was flooded with applications seeking permission to install rooftop solar PVs. However, KERC revised the tariff to Rs 7.08/ unit (without subsidy) and Rs 6.03/ unit (with subsidy) in May 2016. This effectively killed the enthusiasm among the masses,” Ulka Kelkar, a fellow at Climate Change, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) said. “The Union Government provides a 30% subsidy to encourage rooftop solar PVs. But lower tariffs discourage potential producers. As a result, the initiatives of the state and the central governments tend to compete and not complement each other,” Kelkar added. KERC’s rates are still the highest. A state like Uttarakhand doesn’t even have a policy to buy rooftop solar electricity. Madhya Pradesh shells out only Rs 2.5/unit. Is the target achievable? Government officials acknowledged the enormity of the task. However, they maintained that the 40 GW target was achievable. “We are going to make the whole process online. This would end red-tapism associated with installing a rooftop solar PV,” said Hiren Chandra Bora, under-secretary in charge of grid-connected rooftop solar PVs in the renewable energy ministry. “The government is also working towards providing cheap loan for the purpose,” he added. The government is also focusing on thousands of its own offices across the country. It has planned to install rooftop solar PVs over all offices by this month. The first phase of installing solar panels at the Presidential Estate was initiated on 10 February. It is aimed at generating 670 kilowatts solar energy. Will these measures be enough. Perhaps we need to wait for five more years to find out. Dante Pettis Jersey
In Odisha, 3.5 million homes yet to get electricity: Power minister
More than 35 lakh households in the state are yet to have electricity connection, the series of steps taken by both the Centre and state government notwithstanding. State energy minister Pranab Prakash Das on Tuesday informed the assembly that of the families living without power, 15 lakh belong to the below poverty line (BPL) category. He added that there are 984 villages where power connection has not reached yet. The minister said the state government has decided to provide electricity to all homes by 2019. He added that the Centre has given more than Rs 1,224 crore to cover the villages without electricity. Das said Ganjam, Koraput, Sundargarh, Kalahandi, Balangir and Puri districts have more than one lakh BPL families who do not have electricity connection. He added that Rayagada district has 187 villages — the highest in the state — that are yet to get power. Kalahandi, Koraput, Mayurbhanj and Sundargarh districts, each with more than 90 villages, face a similar situation. Jharsuguda, Puri, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Jagatsingpur, Kendrapada, Khurda and Sonepur are the districts where all villages have electricity. Charles Woodson Jersey
NTPC says generation grew 4.7 per cent so far this year
India’s largest power generator NTPC Ltd’s generation has grown by 4.7 per cent so far this year as compared with last year’s performance. The maharatna’s power generation till February this year stood at 251.036 billion units against 239.845 billion units in the previous financial year. NTPC said in February 2017 Korba stage II and Sipat Stage II achieved more than 100 per cent plant load factor. On 25th and 26th February, four commercial stages of NTPC stations achieved more than 100 per cent PLF on each day and out of 35 commercial stages of coal stations 17 and 14 stages achieved more than 90 per cent PLF respectively during the period. NTPC has total installed capacity of 48,143 Megawatt from its 19 coal based, 7 gas based, 10 solar PV, one hydro and nine subsidiaries and joint venture power stations. The company has capacity of over 23,000 MW under implementation at 23 locations across the country including 4,300 MW being undertaken by joint venture and subsidiary companies. NTPC’s First coal mine Pakri-Barwadih at Hazaribagh became operational in December 2016. First wind power project of NTPC- Rojmal wind energy project 50 MW is being set up in Gujarat. The 250 MW unit at NTPC’s first Power project in Bongaigaon has also has also been test sychronised recently. Brandon Fusco Authentic Jersey
Demonetisation helps discoms recover Rs2,875.42 crore in dues
Customers rushed to pay electricity bills in old currency notes in the days after the demonetisation move, helping power utilities clock an aggregate 13.6% increase in collections between 10 November and 15 December. According to information collated by state-owned Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and reviewed by Mint, total collections by India’s 55 electricity distribution firms or discoms during the period was Rs25,116.86 crore—Rs3,007.57 crore more than the Rs22,109.29 crore collected a year ago. Interestingly, of the total collections, Rs2,875.42 crore was paid to settle arrears. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 8 November invalidated Rs500 and Rs1,000 currency notes, which made up 86% of the currency in circulation by value, as part of his government’s fight against black money, counterfeiting and terror finance. However, power utilities were allowed to accept payments in old Rs500 notes till 15 December. (In the case of utilities in the national capital region, there is 10-year-old cap of Rs4,000 on cash payments). Some discoms saw a sharp spike in collections, as high as 251% in the case of North Eastern Electricity Supply Company of Odisha and a 204% jump in collections for North Bihar Power Distribution Company. Also, Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation and Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd saw a 97% increase in collections each. “There has been a sharp jump in the collections during the period and brought some relief to the discoms which have been under huge financial distress,” said a government official, requesting anonymity. Mint reported on 25 November about power distribution companies becoming unexpected beneficiaries of the move to demonetise large currency denominations with consumers rushing to pay their dues in old Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes. “The collections by the discoms during the demonetisation period was good as the arrears have been paid,” said a senior PFC executive, who too requested anonymity. Ashok Haldia, managing director and chief executive officer of PTC India Financial Service Ltd, a lender to power sector said that UDAY has in general had a positive impact on the financial health and liquidity conditions of discoms. The payment track record of these has improved post UDAY, excepting of a very few. One needs to, however, wait for some more time for UDAY to impact performance improvements of discoms on a sustainable basis, said Haldia. State electricity boards have accumulated losses of around Rs3.5 trillion as on 31 March 2015, according to a second central government official, who too asked not to be named. Discoms are making turnaround efforts under UDAY, a debt restructure and efficiency improvement scheme launched in November 2015. UDAY mandates strict vigil on the finances and operations of SEBs. Queries emailed to the spokespersons of PFC and India’s power ministry on 26 February remained unanswered. Jakub Kindl Womens Jersey