Highway construction in April at 22.63 km/day against 41 km/day target
Highway construction in the first month of the current fiscal stood at 679 km, averaging at 22.63 km a day, against the ambitious target of 41 km per day for entire 2017-18. In the last fiscal, the Nitin Gadkari-led ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) kept the target for construction at 15,000 km, but only 8,142 km could be built, averaging at an all-time high pace of 22.3 km per day. Sources said the ministry, through the state PWDs, built 445-km highways during April this year. While the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) built 221 km, the remaining 13 km was built by the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL). The internal target for construction was kept at 507 km for the month. Data compiled by the ministry showed that in April last year, a total of 464-km highways was constructed at a pace of 15.64 km a day. The rise in pace was attributed to better monitoring of the highway works coupled with the higher awards, mostly through the EPC route, in the preceding years. One of the focus areas of the Narendra Modi government, construction of highways figures prominently in its overall effort to spruce up the infrastructure sector. The pace of construction has been growing steadily since the NDA assumed power in May 2014. Compared with 4,216-km highway construction in 2013-14, the number grew to 4,410 km in 2014-15, 6,061 km in 2016-17 and 8,142 km in 2017-18. The pace of awards in April this year has been slower at just 59 km. In the same month last year, NHAI, MoRTH and NHIDCL cumulatively awarded 139-km highway roads for construction. While MoRTH and NHAI awarded 122 km and 17 km, respectively, in April last year, during the same month this year, MoRTH awarded them all. NHAI failed to award a single project in April this year. Unlike in the past, MoRTH or NHAI do not award any highway project unless 90% of the land is available. Sources said since a maximum of the sanctioned projects are generally awarded before March to make the annual numbers look better, in April the numbers look pale. Any project worth below Rs 500 crore is awarded by the highways secretary. The minister has the power to award projects worth up to Rs 1,000 crore and beyond that, the Union Cabinet takes the call. Starting from 2014-15, in the last three years, 7,980 km, 10,098 km and 16,036-km highway projects have been awarded and it generally takes two to two-and-a-half years to complete a highway project. For the current fiscal, the target of awarding highway projects has been kept at 25,000 km – same as the last fiscal. Gadkari had earlier attributed the slow pace of highway construction to problems in land acquisition and utility shifting, non-availability of aggregates, poor performance of contractors and delay in various clearances. The government has taken several steps to address the private investment famine in the sector. It eased the exit policy for developers to enable them to invest in new projects and introduced the hybrid annuity model where the Centre bears 40% of the project cost. Josh Kline Womens Jersey
Niti Aayog working on plan to convert unsold BS III stock to run on Methanol-blended fuel
In a bid to promote the use of Methanol in industry, the government think-tank NITI Aayog is working on a plan that will allow India to use the alternate fuel for meeting BS VI specifications for automobiles. The think tank is drafting a business model that includes converting the unsold BS III stock of automobiles to eventually run on Methanol-blended fuel. “There are a large number of two wheelers and cars which have become redundant because of the Supreme Court order disallowing BS III vehicles form April onwards. As a result, we are coming up with a business model to convert those vehicles to work on methanol and make them BS VI compliant,” Niti Aayog Member V K Saraswat told ETEnergyworld. BS or Bharat Stage are emission standards instituted by the government to regulate the output of air pollutants from internal combustion engine equipment, including motor vehicles. The Supreme Court earlier this year banned the sale and registration of BS-III vehicles from April 1, 2017. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government recently announced its plants to skip to BS VI norms directly from BS IV emission norms that are now in force, by 2020. According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), an apex Industry body representing leading vehicle manufacturers, unsold inventory of BS III stock left with manufacturers amounts to around Rs 5,000 crore. Bulk of the unsold inventory comprises commercial vehicles and two wheelers. “We are working on how to get a conversion kit for the vehicles. A couple of people from the industry are coming forward evincing interest in getting a kit to convert these cars to work on methanol. It is imperative to create methanol production capability in India to reach that goal,” Saraswat added. Saraswat, who heads Niti Aayog’s committee on Methanol, in a recent interview to ETEnergyworld had also said the Aayog has set an ambitious target of taking Methanol-blending to 15 per cent over the coming years. According to R S Sharma, Chairman FICCI Hydrocarbon Committee; Former CMD, ONGC, efforts made towards exploration of Methanol-blended fuel is a step in the right direction. “We are already blending Ethanol with fuel but I’m not sure to what extent Methanol blending can be done. However, any effort made to use non-conventional alternate sources that can supplement conventional fuels is a welcome step given our increasing dependence on imports,” he said. In a note issued by Niti Aayog last year titled ‘India’s leapfrog to Methanol economy’ the think tank stated that Methanol and Dimethyl ether (DME) can play an important role in order to contain the rising imports and improve the energy security of India. “Methanol & DME blending with gasoline and diesel respectively can gel very well with the target of 10 per cent import dependence reduction of oil & gas by 2022 of the Government of India,” the note said. According to the note, high methanol blends offer significant vehicle efficiency improvement. Richard Sherman Authentic Jersey
Oil India starts survey to look for presence of hydrocarbons in Manipur
Oil India Limited, has commenced a survey to check for the presence of hydrocarbons in Manipur. The project manager of the Manipur State Level Convention on Oil Exploration team, Sumit Mahajan, told that they had started conducting the survey two months back, from district Jribam. The survey has reached the Khaidem Village constituency in Imphal West. “This project, if triumphant, will be useful and bring in quite a lot of opportunities for the development of both the state and nation as a whole. Assam has reaped the benefits from the availability of slew of hydrocarbons and we are hopeful about the same for Manipur. If the results are positive, there will be surge in the employment sector paving way for Manipur’s economic prosperity,” said Mahajan. The expedition survey will take about two more years and is due to get wrapped up by April 2019. Post that, the centre and the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) will reflect upon next steps. The Government of India through Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had granted license to Jubiliant Oil and Gas Private Limited (JOGPL), a Netherlands based oil exploration company, for exploring and drilling two oil blocks in Manipur located in the Jiribam (Imphal East), Tamenglong and Churachandpur districts of Manipur, without the acknowledgement and consent of locals. The contracts were awarded under the eighth round of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) of the Government of India. Earlier, as well, without any intimation of the locals, the government had undertaken series of promotions globally in 2003 and 2009 to promote the oil blocks of ‘the jeweled land’, along with others through road-shows in major cities of the world like London, Houston, Calgary and Perth etc, inviting bids to oil companies. The production sharing contract for the Manipur Oil Block 1 (AA-ONN-2009/1) was signed on 30th June, 2010 and the Petroleum Exploration License was granted by the Manipur Government on 23rd September, 2010. The Contract for Manipur block II (AA-ONN-2009/2) was signed on 19th July 2010 and the license was granted by the Manipur Government on 20th September, 2010. The deeds for the exploration licenses were signed on 15th November, 2010, all without the knowledge of the people of Manipur. The total area granted for oil exploration is 3850 Square Kilometres and it is estimated that Manipur has nearly 5000 billion cubic feet of oil. The Jubiliant Energy is envisaged to drill oil from 30 oil wells, identified by the Alpha Geo Company based in Hyderabad, which has been conducting seismic studies for Jubiliant Energy. The latest Annual report of Jubilant Energy indicates that the two Manipur Blocks have prospective oil resources ranging from 380 billion cubic feet to 1.43 trillion cubic feet, with Jubilant Energy holding 100 percent participating interest. Jalen Reeves-Maybin Jersey
Performance of concerted reforms: Arvind Panagariya on three years of Modi sarkar
After a pause of 10 years, economic reforms returned to the policy agenda in 2014. In the last three years, the Narendra Modi government has moved on nearly all fronts: macroeconomic stability, infrastructure, energy, corruption, direct and indirect taxes, foreign direct investment (FDI), closure of sick units, disinvestment, agriculture, urban development, cooperative federalism and social spending. Perhaps the most consequential reform since the new telecom policy launched by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has been the goods and services tax (GST). The reform replaces myriad indirect taxes, currently imposed by the Centre and states, by a single countrywide tax. It also ends the cascading of tax, whereby the current system imposes a tax on tax in many cases. The largest gain from the reform would come from the unification of fragmented localised and regional markets into a single national market for most products and services. Critics have made much of the differential rates structure whereby the GST imposes different tax rates on different commodities and services. But this misses the point that the first-order gains are to come from having a single tax rate on any given commodity or service across the entire nation. Moreover, there is no theorem in economics that says that a single tax rate on all commodities and services for raising revenue is optimal. The second major reform has been all-around improvement in the efficiency of social spending. The decision to retain Aadhaar and its rapid expansion, the successful launch of the Jan Dhan accounts, the passage of the Aadhaar Act, and seeding of bank accounts with Aadhaar numbers have made it possible to deliver many subsidies as direct benefit transfers (DBT). The result has been the elimination of millions of ghost and multiple accounts held by beneficiaries. The savings in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) subsidy so generated, complemented by voluntary surrender of the subsidy by richer consumers following the ‘Give It Up’ call by the prime minister, has permitted the government to rapidly expand LPG distribution among below-poverty-line households in rural areas. Wages of workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme are now being paid into Aadhaar-seeded bank accounts, thus, curbing corruption. Employing labour to build private assets such as toilets and wells for the poor has further enhanced the efficiency of MGNREGA. Use of the socio-economic caste census to identify beneficiaries has resulted in better targeting in programmes such as ‘Housing for All’ in rural areas. Third, the Modi government has taken many specific initiatives to improve governance. Early in its term, it put an end to the paralysis in bureaucracy. The government went on to introduce self-certification of copies of certificated diplomas and degrees when submitting applications for jobs or other purposes. It also created a digital portal through which enterprises can self-certify compliance of many central labour laws. A concerted effort has been made to improve the ease of doing business at the level of the states. The government has repealed 1,175 redundant laws. It has replaced the Five-Year Plans by a Three-Year Action Agenda, seven-year strategy and 15-year vision. It also ended the distinction between Plan and non-Plan expenditures, merged the railway budget with the Union Budget, and advanced the date of the presentation of the Budget by a month to cut delays in the allocation of expenditures to ministries and states. Above all, a number of measures have been taken to curb corruption, with not a single case of highlevel corruption surfacing during the last three years under the current regime. Fourth, an effective programme of reforms has been launched with respect to public sector units (PSUs). After a pause of more than a decade, the Cabinet has approved the closure plans for nearly a dozen sick PSUs. The Cabinet has also approved a list of nearly 20 PSUs for strategic disinvestment on the recommendation of the Niti Aayog. The finance ministry is now looking for transaction advisers to complete these sales. Finally, a programme for listing currently unlisted PSUs is being actively pursued. This will open the door to strategic sales of many of these units. The government has taken decisive steps to tackle the problem of NPAs of banks head-on. Having passed a modern Insolvency and Bankruptcy Act, it has recently enacted an Ordinance empowering the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to give direction to recalcitrant banks to take the necessary action to resolve their NPAs. The process of resolution of NPAs is now picking up momentum. Along with many other reforms by the Centre, states, too, have been introducing reforms in the state and concurrent list areas of the Constitution. No wonder the mood towards India as an investment destination is so upbeat. Cameron Wake Jersey
Energy storage market for off-grid renewable energy in India to touch Rs 16,500 crore by 2022: CEEW
The energy storage market for off-grid renewable energy in India would be worth Rs 16,500 crore by 2022, according to a report released by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) during the Solar India Expo 2017. CEEW, the policy and research partner for Solar India 2017, shared the key findings of the analysis at the Expo. “Rooftop solar will itself account for 80 per cent of the total energy storage market for off-grid renewables and will be worth INR 130 billion (USD 2 billion) in 2022,” the report said. The report adds that the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s target to install 10,000 micro-grid or 500 megawatt (MW) of micro and mini-grids will offer an additional opportunity to the tune of Rs 3,300 crore for battery manufacturers. ”Batteries are a critical component of micro/mini-grid systems, since 100 per cent backup is often required to supply electricity to rural households during evening hours,” the report noted. The analysis provides an overview of the current Indian energy storage market for off-grid solar segment, examining multiple storage technologies under development and assessing opportunities arising due to rapid adoption of off-grid renewable energy. “Though a number of projects for grid-connected storage are being called for, the markets that are served poorly by the existing grid – mobile towers in remote locations, petrol pumps, ATMs are easy pickings for storage systems to cater,” said Dr Arunabha Ghosh, Chief Executive Officer, CEEW. According to CEEW, higher cost of energy storage solutions limits rooftop solar system installation to cater to base load. “Solar PV systems with energy storage could be a potential replacement to existing diesel generators and it would also save about Rs 4-5 per unit of electricity, compared to diesel, for industrial and commercial consumers,” the report said. CEEW’s analysis finds that advanced battery technologies could support rapid deployment of rooftop solar installations in the commercial and industrial segment. Bruce Irvin Jersey
India Ranks 2nd in the ‘Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index’, Says An EY Report
India has moved up to the second spot this year, from the third spot for the last two years, in this year’s ‘Renewable energy country attractiveness index’, said a report released by EY globally. This as per the E&Y report is primarily due to a combination of strong government support and increasingly attractive economics. As per the report, India continued its upward trend in the index to second position with the Government’s program to build 175 GW in renewable energy generation by 2022 and to have renewable energy account for 40% of installed capacity by 2040. The country has added more than 10GW of solar capacity in the last three years – starting from a low base of 2.6GW in 2014. “In the medium term, as renewable energy penetration rates increase, the Government will have to turn its attention to the ability of India’s grid to manage intermittent renewables, especially around the evening peak, when solar availability falls away. The cost and availability of energy storage technology could dictate how close India gets to meeting its renewable targets. Meanwhile, India’s regulators must be mindful of the erosion of electricity market peaks caused by growing volumes of renewables and storage – this can undermine the economics of thermal power plants, risking the stability of the system as a whole,” said Somesh Kumar, Partner & Leader, Power & Utilities, EY India. The report also suggests that the Indian Government needs to increase compliance with the Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO), as well as ensure that India’s distribution companies, many of which are financially distressed, have the capacity to continue to purchase renewable electricity, especially if bid prices level off or rise. And the availability of capital remains a concern; the Government could ease rules around tapping foreign debt. Also, the Government’s additional emphasis on photovoltaic (PV) parks will help to plug the gap, but it needs to do more to encourage rooftop solar installations. The report cites that China (1) and India (2) have surpassed the US and the fall – the first for the US since 2015 – to third in the ranking of the top 40 countries follows a marked shift in US policy under the new administration. The report identifies the US Government’s executive orders to rollback many of the past administration’s climate change policies, revive the US coal industry and review the US Clean Power Plan as key downward pressures on renewable investment attractiveness. Economically viable renewable energy alternatives coupled with security of supply concerns are encouraging more countries to support a clean energy future. Kazakhstan (37), Panama (38) and the Dominican Republic (39) have all entered the index for the first time. Sam Hubbard Jersey
Maha CM lauds Praful Patel’s contribution to aviation sector
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today recognised contribution of senior NCP leader and former Union minister Praful Patel for the face-lift of the aviation sector in the country. “The changed face of the country’s aviation sector is pushed by Praful Patel and people are thankful to him,” Fadnavis said after the launch of Patel’s photo-biography. Patel, a Rajya Sabha member, is a former Civil Aviation Minister. Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, megastar Amitabh Bachchan and Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani also attended the function. “There was a time when landing at any Indian airport from an international flight was enough to notice that you have arrived in India. The odour and looks of the airport were disappointing. “Now, things have changed for better and world class airports that can handle millions of passengers are well managed by our companies. The decision of privatisation of airport development and management turned crucial and all are thankful to Patel,” said the Chief Minister. Praful Patel has achieved several things but his closeness to people is still intact and it is commendable, added Fadnavis. Uddhav said he and Patel represent different political parties but that did not affect their friendship. Charles Harris Womens Jersey
UP govt revives Jewar airport project, survey to start today
With the change in regime, the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government has started the process to revive the international airport project in Jewar. The Obstacle Limitation Surface (OLS) survey for the proposed airport will begin on Monday. Talking to DNA, Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) Chairman Prabhat Kumar said the proposal will soon be sent for clearance to the steering committee formed by the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation. According to officials, an OLS survey is mandatory before starting work on an international airport. They further said the survey is conducted to determine corners and midpoints of runway strips. “An Inclinometer (slope indicator) is required to calculate slope, which is determined according to the regulations applicable in a particular country. An OLS survey mobile app will be used to record observations, including photos, for each location. An electronically recorded survey report will then be automatically sent via email. The app is being used as part of an aviation safety management master emergency plan. The app can be tailored to include action plans for regional planning and zoning regulations as well,” an official said. San Francisco Giants Jersey
With A Flight In 65 Seconds, Mumbai World’s Busiest Single-Runway Airport
The GVK group-run Mumbai airport has become the world’s busiest amongst the single-runway facilities by handling 837 flights a day or one in 65 seconds on an average in fiscal 2017, overtaking London’s Gatwick airport that had 757 flights a day. In terms of the number of passengers also, the city airport tops with 45.2 million people flying in and out in fiscal 2017 as against 44 million at Gatwick airport. Notably, no other large city in the world is served by one airport, that too with a single-runway. Besides, illegal squatters occupy nearly one-third of the airport land. The second airport proposed in Navi Mumbai is yet to come up. All the leading cities like New York, London, Dubai, and Singapore have more than one airports with multiple runways. The New Delhi airport has three parallel runways in use at any given time. As against this, Mumbai has to make do with a single runway (09/27) for all passenger and cargo aircraft and when it is shut for repairs, it uses the secondary runway (1432). In terms of aircraft movement in a day, the city airport had one plane take-off or landing in 65 seconds, which means it handled on an average 48 flights, peaking at even 52 movements at times, making it the busiest in the world on both the counts, an airport spokesperson said. The ATC (air traffic controller) thus has to manage two arrivals every 130 seconds and one departure in between these two arrivals. So there is one take-off or touch-down every 65 seconds from the main runway. That means the land-starved airport handled a whopping 837 flight movements a day, which on an average is 80 flights more than Gatwick handling 757 movements in a day, the spokesperson said. There are days when the number crosses even 900 movements a day, she said. However, the Delhi airport handles much larger number of passengers. At 45.2 million, Mumbai handled only 18.6 per cent of the total air traffic in the country while the Delhi airport handled 57.7 million passengers or 21.6 per cent of the total air traffic in the country in fiscal 2017. Out of the 45.2 million passengers at the Mumbai airport, 12.4 million were international travellers. John Gibson Womens Jersey
Draft of revised rules for UDAN likely in two weeks
The government is likely to complete in the next two weeks framing of the draft of revised rules for its scheme to promote low cost air travel and put up for stakeholder consultations, as it prepares for the second round of bidding by airlines. The Ministry of Civil Aviation undertook a comprehensive review of the rules, including those relating to the number of discounted seats in a plane and exclusive flying rights for carriers on select routes, under its regional connectivity scheme (RCS). “In another two weeks we will be putting out the RCS (rules) with amendments for public consultations,” Ministry of Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey told PTI. Without elaborating on the specifics, the top official said the revision is being done with an emphasis on increasing competition. “Our intention is to decrease entry barriers and increase competition. We would like to bring as many players as possible. We want to create a level-playing field so that small players can bid aggressively,” Choubey added. In the first round of bidding, which concluded in March, five airline operators were awarded 128 routes. The regional connectivity scheme became operational last month with the first flight under it being inaugurated on the Shimla-Delhi route. Josh Reynolds Jersey