Piyush Goyal Launches The First of Its Kind Mobile App- URJA MITRA App to empowers citizens by real time information sharing on power supply
Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy, and Mines, Piyush Goyal, while presiding over the launch of ‘URJA MITRA App’ and inauguration of the ‘Rural Feeder Monitoring Scheme’ here today, said that the Government is engaged in preparing the Nation to truly get 24×7 affordable, quality and uninterrupted adequate power. Minister Goyal noted that “Power today, comes from information sharing and not by withholding it. URJA MITRA empowers citizens by real time information sharing on power supply.” He further added that the app is a first of its kind application which provides a central platform, Web-Portal (www.urjamitra.com) as well as Mobile App (iOS version and android version), for State Power Distribution utilities to disseminate power outage information to urban/rural power consumers across India through SMS/email/push notifications. Nevertheless, Goyal directed the Ministry officials to strive harder and ensure that progressively the need to send messages for power outages should decline to zero, thereby ensuring uninterrupted 24×7 power for all. The Minister also informed that power consumers across the nation would have prior intimation of expected duration and cause of scheduled power outages and post fault intimation of unscheduled power outages duration. Consumer can also view real time power outages in any part of the country, lodge a complaint on power outages in its area. Complaints can also be lodged on helpline number 1912. Empowerment of all section of society has been ensured by providing vernacular mobile apps. Field staff can trigger power outage and take corrective action on outage complaints etc, he added. Commenting on the utility of Urja Mitra App, Shri Goyal said that this will be the life changing for millions of people in this country. “I would like to urge all the states to join in this excellent initiative to be a part of this effort so that anywhere in the country, if there is a problem of power outage, the people know about it in advance and present scenario. It will help save many lives in hospitals, help people better plan their lives like study schedules, daily household chores etc.”, the minister added. Speaking on the Rural Feeder Monitoring Scheme, Shri Goyal informed that the Government has launched ‘Rural Feeder Monitoring Scheme’ to monitor the quantity and quality parameters of power supply in rural areas of the country. The entire data shall also be hosted on National Power Portal (NPP) on real time basis and may be accessed by various stake holders through web services. The Minister informed that the Government has set December 2017 as the deadline to achieve 100% rural feeder monitoring by installing additional meters and modems on all feeders across the country, in order to facilitate real time communication of faults appearing in the power supply. Further, these meters would be geo-tagged to pin point the cause and location of the fault and address it at the earliest, he added. Goyal also announced that on 14th April 2017, birth anniversary of Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, Uttar Pradesh will be executing ‘Power for All’ document with the Government of India. Uttar Pradesh will become the last state to join ‘Power for All’ initiative, he added. Interacting with the audience, P.K. Pujari, Secretary, Ministry of Power, said that the app is a milestone and it will bring pressure on the system to improve itself. It is a proactive Citizen-Government Connect that will bring in transparency, accountability in the power supply system in the country. Shri Pujari said that already 8 crore consumers have joined on the Urja Mitra app which have resulted in their empowerment. It is expected that all power consumers in the country to make use of the app and get empowered, he added. Addressing the gathering, Arun Kumar Verma, Joint Secretary, Power, said that approximately seventy percent of the population resides in rural India. In order to ensure quality of life in rural India, it is of paramount importance to improve the quality and availability of power supply as it has direct relation with quality of life and socio economic upliftment of all sections of society. In order to get a complete picture of the entire power distribution network in rural part of the country, it is essential to capture real time power supply parameters of rural India. Also present on the occasion were Smt. Shalini Prasad, Additional Secretary, Power, Shri Ajay Jain, Principal Secretary (Energy), Government of Andhra Pradesh, Shri R.K. Verma, Chairperson, CEA and other senior officials of the Ministry and State Power Departments of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. DeMarcus Ware Jersey
IndianOil Chairman bags SCOPE Special Commendation Award
Mr. B Ashok, Chairman, IndianOil, has been conferred the SCOPE Special Commendation Award for Excellence and Outstanding Contribution to Public Sector Management – Individual Leadership Category 1 (Maharatna & Navratna PSEs) 2014-15. The award was presented by Hon’ble President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, at the Public Sector Day event hosted by SCOPE at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi today. Others present on the occasion were Mr. Anant Geete, Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises; Mr. Babul Supriyo, Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises; Mr. UD Choubey, Director General of Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE); and other dignitaries. The SCOPE awards have been instituted to recognise the contribution of Public Enterprises and outstanding PSU professionals for their seminal work and leadership qualities. With over three-and-a-half decades of experience in the oil & gas industry, Mr. Ashok, has been heading Indian Oil Corporation since July 2014. Under his leadership, IndianOil has shaped up as a more responsive, nimble and forward-looking business enterprise – by leveraging technology across business units, countrywide infrastructure and retailing network which caters to millions of customers each day. Mr. Ashok is concurrently the Chairman of refining subsidiary Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd. and IOT Infrastructure & Energy Services Ltd., IndianOil’s joint venture with Oiltanking GmbH of Germany. He is also the Vice-President of the Paris-based World LPG Association, the authoritative voice of the global LPG industry representing the full LPG value chain. Brice Butler Authentic Jersey
Motor-fuels outlets divided over starting agitation to secure higher sales margin from oil companies
Motor-fuels outlets in India are divided over starting an agitation to secure higher sales margins from oil companies, with one retailing group deciding not to back next month’s protests its national rival had planned to mount pressure on the government. The All India Petroleum Dealers Association (AIPDA) said Tuesday that it would not support the agitation proposed by the Consortium of Indian Petroleum Dealers (CIPD), which had threatened Monday to stop petrol and diesel purchases on May 10, and shut outlets every Sunday if sales margins were not raised. The weekly Sunday off would start May 14, and from May 15, dealers would operate from 9 am to 6 pm to cut costs, the consortium had said. Ravi Shinde of CIPD said the agitation would continue as planned even if the rival association did not support its move. AIPDA would wait until May 15 for a decision from the state oil companies before deciding on the next course of action, Ajay Bansal, the chief of AIPDA, said on Tuesday. He said that AIPDA was in touch with Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on the dealers’ demand. There wouldn’t be much impact on the availability of fuel as the rival association didn’t have many members, Bansal claimed. AIPDA claims to have 43,000 members, while CIPD claims to have 28,000 outlets attached to it. Both claims can’t be correct as India has only about 53,000 dealers for motor fuels. AIPDA and CIPD are the two national bodies that have expanded in the past 3-4 years. Both national bodies, in turn, have affiliated state associations. In many states, more than one association is active, and these in turn are affiliated at times to competing national bodies. Mark Ingram Authentic Jersey
We are planning investments worth over $1 billion going forward: Sudhir Mathur, Acting CEO, Cairn India
Oil and gas producer Cairn India has been in news for having received the government’s approval for an extension of its Production Sharing Contract for its flagship Barmer block in Rajasthan. In an exclusive interview with Bilal Abdi, Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sudhir Mathur shares a perspective on what the decision means Edited excerpts.. With the government extending the Production Sharing Contract, what kind of investment fillip is expected in the Rajasthan and Cambay blocks? We are yet to give our guidance as we have to get the investment plan cleared from the board. At a very macro level, we want to double production in the next two to three years, which requires very serious investment upwards of $1 billion initially. We would be very happy to disclose the exact plans once we get the approval from the board of directors. The idea is to maximise effort on the exploration front. We have just started exploration in Palar-Pennar basin and we will do some more exploration in Rajasthan too. In terms of projects, we will focus more on the gas project in Rajasthan, Enhanced Oil Recovery in Aishwariya and Bhagyam fields as well as extraction of tight oil from Aishwariya Barmer Hill. Cairn India managed to cut down expenses by 18 per cent in the nine months ended December, according to its financial statements. What explains the dip? Trying times create opportunity to reset the cost base. The management team worked very hard. We used a three-pronged strategy on the cost side — optimise the use of assets, deploying cutting edge technology as well as re-negotiation with the suppliers. We have been working closely with vendors and good technology suppliers which makes a lot of difference in real time operations. We now have access to resources and data which we did not have before. All of this increases efficiency. Because of these factors, higher is the production, lesser is the cost per barrel. You have just begun exploration in the Palar-Pennar block. What is the estimate of reserves it holds? The initial 3D data seems very promising. There is no estimate of reserves as yet. It is a frontier basin. So, the risk is more but we have always believed in India’s geology and after the 3D data was analyzed we decided to put the drilling machine at work. The oil ministry is planning to incentivize EOR and announce a new policy around Performance Enhancement Contracts for extraction of oil from mature and difficult fields. How do you view these developments? We have always been delighted to have discussions with the oil ministry. Its policies for both the downstream and upstream segments have been very progressive including LPG reforms and market pricing. All of these policies reflect a deep understanding of the industry — that technology costs money and there is a need to incentivize tertiary recovery projects. If there is oil in the ground then there is no need to put exploration money at risk and if there is capital available then why not take it to the last mile? It is the government’s way of saying we are keeping pace with technology advancements and willing to look at existing contracts, which is the right thing. Oil and gas contracts are written for 20-30 years and technology changes are very difficult to embed in policies and contracts. I think it is one of the most progressive and transformational things the government can do — embedding technology changes into an existing contract to bring about efficiency across the sector. There were reports about gas sale disruption in Raageshwari Deep Gas Field due to disagreement between the transporter and buyer? Has the issue been resolved? There are always issues which spring up during the course of work. The issue has been resolved and we have started supplying to all our customers. Cairn India was looking at collaborating with global companies for service contracts for its different assets. Which assets have been identified for this? What kind of collaboration are you looking at? We are taking to various service providers. The idea is to expedite production. If we were to execute these five projects simultaneously ourselves, it would be quite challenging for the company. Accelerating production is line with the government’s vision to increase production as much and as fast as you can. Victor Antipin Jersey
Oil prices rise on prospect that Saudi Arabia seeking output cut extension
Oil prices rose on Wednesday, putting crude futures on track for their longest streak of gains since August 2016, as Saudi Arabia was reported to be lobbying OPEC and other producers to extend a production cut beyond the first half of 2017. Brent crude futures , the international benchmark for oil, were at $56.40 per barrel at 0117 GMT, up 17 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last close, their highest since early March. If Wednesday’s price rises hold, they would mark the seventh straight daily increase. That would beat a six-day bull-run from August 2016, although the price jump then was 17.5 percent versus a 6 percent rise in the current rally of consecutive rises. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 16 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $53.56 a barrel, also their highest level since early last month. Traders said that the price rises were a result of reports that Saudi Arabia, the de-facto leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), had told other producers that it wanted to extend a coordinated production cut beyond the first half of the year. OPEC and other producers, including Russia, have pledged to cut output by around 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) during the first half of the year in an effort to rein in global oversupply and prop up prices. While compliance from some participants has been patchy, Saudi Arabia has made significant cuts, with production down 4.5 since the end of last year, despite a slight increase in March to 9.98 million bpd. “Saudi Arabian production reduction appears to be ahead of forecast and gave oil a boost,” said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at futures brokerage OANDA in Singapore. Despite this, there are still some concerns that oil markets remain bloated and oversupplied, especially in the United States where both production and inventories are surging. U.S. crude oil production has risen by 9 percent since mid-2016 to 9.2 million bpd, resulting in a surge in commercial inventories to a record 535.5 million barrels . The latest U.S. oil production and inventory data will be published later on Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Mike Schmidt Authentic Jersey
Solar power tariff hits a new low at Rs 3.15 levelised rate
Solar power tariff has hit a new low at Rs 3.15 levelised tariff in the reverse auction carried out for 250 Megawatt project at Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh. The lowest bid quoted by Solairdirect breaks the earlier record of Rs 3.3 levelised tariff achieved at Rewa Ultra Mega Power Project by Mahindra, Acme and Solenergi. “Clean affordable power for all: Solar achieves another record low of Rs 3.15/ unit (flat rate) during auction in Kadapa, AP by NTPC,” power minister Piyush Goyal said in a tweet. The Kadapa solar park has a total capacity of 1,000 Megawatt After Solairdirect, the next lowest bids were quoted by Ostro at Rs 3.16 and Canadian at Rs 3.39. Following them were the bids in range of Rs 4.09 – Rs 4.68 quoted by Greenko, Azure, Mahoba and Mahindra. Atlanta Falcons Authentic Jersey
Need white paper on rot in Uttar Pradesh’s power sector: Piyush Goyal
A white paper is needed on the Uttar Pradesh power sector to expose the “deep rot” of past 15 years, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said today, claiming he has seen some “mind-boggling and terrible” data on the situation. The state will finally ink this week the 24×7 ‘Power for All’ (PFA) document, which aims to provide round-the-clock affordable electricity. “Uttar Pradesh is the only state which has not signed Power for All (agreement with the Centre). I am delighted to share that on April 14, 2017, on birth anniversary of Baba Saheb Ambejkarji, we shall be executing power for all document with Uttar Pradesh…in Lucknow,” Goyal said at the launch of a Rural Feeder Monitoring Scheme and Urja Mitra application and portal. “Some of the statistics which came out in last two weeks are mind-boggling and terrible. I cannot even share it with you,” he said. “Some of the figures and statistics that have come out, have strengthened my feeling that we should come out with a white paper on state of affairs in Uttar Pradesh so that the people know that deep rot that has been set into the system for the past 15 years.” He expressed the hope that with the change of guard in Uttar Pradesh, the Power Ministry would be able to make it a model state even in the area of electricity and power supply. Goyal said: “I am glad that my officials and official of UP started working on it (the agreement) on election counting day (March 11) itself. The whole system was activated on the evening of March 11, 2017. “You see the power of good governance and change that the same officials, who until March 10, were unable to enter into that agreement. Now it is clear that they were able to do it but possibly the politically masters were holding them back.” Talking about the Rural Feeder Monitoring Scheme, the minister informed that at present around 30,000 rural feeder meters are connected to national power portal and the remaining 75,000 will be connected by December, 2017. The Rural Feeder Monitoring Scheme is to monitor the quality and quantity parameters of power supply in rural areas of the country. The entire data shall also be hosted on National Power Portal on real time basis and may be accessed by various stake holders through web services. The Urja Mitra launched today by the minister, is an application which provides a central platform (web-portal www.urjamitra.com as well as mobile app) for state power distribution utilities to disseminate power outage information to rural as well as urban consumers through SMS/email/push notifications. Consumers can also view real time power outages in any part of the country, lodge complaints. Royce Freeman Womens Jersey
UP vows 24×7 power by 2018; waives surcharge on power dues
aking its second biggest decision since coming to power, the Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday decided to waive surcharge on electricity dues and gave nod to an agreement with the Centre to ensure 24X7 power supply by October 2018. The MoU between UP and the Centre would be signed in the presence of Yogi and Union power minister Piyush Goyal. This was decided in the second cabinet meeting of the Aditya Nath Yogi government in Lucknow on Tuesday. After the meeting, UP energy minister Shirkant Sharma told reporters that the surcharge waiver would cost the state exchequer around Rs3,500 crore. Also, in a first, the UP government has decided to purchase potatoes directly from farmers to cut wastage of the crop due to shortage of cold storages. Coming in support of the UP government, the Centre approved procurement of 1 lakh metric tonne (MT) of potatoes in the state under the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) during 2016-17 crop year (July-June). The approval is in tune with the UP cabinet’s decision to procure potatoes so that the farmers are not forced to sell it at throwaway prices in summer. The purchase will be made at Rs 4,870 per MT. The agriculture ministry will provide an additional Rs 1,217.50 per MT for overhead expenses. After the cabinet meeting, energy minister Shirkant Sharma told reporters that the price would save the farmers from incurring any loss. The move comes days after the UP government’s decision to waive farm loan of small and marginal farmers and speed up wheat procurement drive at MSP in the state. In another decision, the government gave nod to short-term mining policy, allowing district magistrates to give permits for mining for a limited period to plug the shortfall of sand and building material. The permit, to be given in 10 days, will be issued through e-tendering, health minister and UP government spokesman Siddharth Nath Singh said. Vernon Butler Authentic Jersey
South Africa’s energy minister delays signing IPPs contracts – report
South Africa’s newly appointed energy minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has postponed the signing of agreements between state-run power utility Eskom and renewable energy Independent Power Producers (IPPs), Business Report newspaper said on Tuesday. South Africa is diversifying its energy mix away from an over-reliance on coal-power plants to include greener wind and solar projects. The deadline for signing was on Tuesday, but Kubayi’s office asked for the signing to be delayed until she had met with public enterprises -minister Lynne Brown, who oversees Eskom, the newspaper said. “The process is in their hands. Once they have met and they have agreed on this and that, then we as Eskom we will sign,” Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe told Reuters. Officials at the energy minister’s office were not immediately available to comment. Producers of solar and wind power have put pressure on Eskom to sign more new renewable energy contracts. Industry experts have said that Eskom slowed the pace of agreeing new renewable energy contracts after power supply in South Africa stabilized last year, following shortages in 2015 that led to rolling power cuts. Lester Hayes Authentic Jersey
Tata, Adani compensatory tariff case: A timeline
In a landmark judgement by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, Tata Power Company and Adani Power were disallowed to charge compensatory tariff for power supplied from their respective projects in Mundra to distribution companies. The court said the companies cannot claim any benefit under the force majeure or sudden unforeseen event clause as “changes in the cost of fuel, or the agreement becoming onerous to perform, are not treated as force majeure events under the PPA (power purchase agreement) itself. The apex court also said power companies can’t raise preset tariffs if fuel becomes costlier due to changes in laws overseas. Here is a timeline of what happened: 2006: Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd (GUVNL) issues public notice inviting proposals for long-term power supply. Haryana utilities also initiate a separate competitive bidding process for purchase of 2,000 MW on a long-term basis. 2007: Tata Power winds bids with Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Punjab and Haryana to sell power at Rs 2.26 per unit. 2008: Adani Power commissions its 1,980-MW coal-based power project in Mundra. Power purchase agreement with utilities in Gujarat and Haryana signed at Rs 2.35 per unit. 2012: Tata Power commissions 4,000-MW ultra-mega power project in Mundra. 2010: The Indonesian coal price regulations change by linking it to international market prices. This leads to cost escalation for Tata Power, Adani who were importing coal for their respective projects. 2012: Adani and Tata go to the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) seeking relief from increased coal prices and other allied costs. Both the companies ask for force majeure and seek to pass through cost to state distribution companies Feb 2014: CERC orders compensatory tariff of 52 paisa per unit for Tata and 41 paisa for Adani. Apr 2014: Power procuring states go to Appellate Tribunal of Electricity (APTEL) contesting CERC’s decision. Jul 2014: APTEL upholds decision, allowing Tata Power and Adani Power to charge higher tariffs from state utilities since March 2014 on account of a rise in the cost of imported fuel. Aug 2014: The procurers reach Supreme Court contesting APTEL’s order. SC asks the tribunal to expedite the matter. Hit by increased coal prices, companies such as GMR, GVK and Reliance Power also followed suit to seek relief May 2016: APTEL issues judgment asking CERC to compute the compensation for Tata and Adani, according to the provisions under their respective PPAs. Dec 2016: CERC again allows the power companies to charge the additional cost of coal from the states. But says Supreme Court to take final decision on the matter. April 2017: Supreme Court sets aside CERC order on allowing Tata, Adani to charge compensatory tariff. Darian Stewart Womens Jersey