One-year ban for 71 solar panel companies
The government has barred 71 firms from rooftop solar projects for a year by removing them from the panel that makes them eligible to bid. These include Amra Raja Electronics Ltd, Cleantech Synergy, Hollandia Power Solutions, IL&FS Energy Development Co and Jindal Green Technologies. The government has written to the companies saying they had failed to update details of the projects that they had executed. “Empanelled companies offer solar panels, which are technically complaint with standard requirements. All tenders which Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) floats require bidders to be empanelled,” said a senior executive from SECI. Sunil Jain, chief executive officer at Hero Future Energies, said the government probably wants to prune the number of empanelled firms to 100 serious companies from 400. “Majority of the ones that were struck out did not execute any projects in the last one-two years, which indicated they were not too serious about solar roof-top business,” he said. Surendar Kumar, director at Jindal Green Technologies, said plunging tariffs did not make it worthwhile to be in the panel. “Hence, we decided on not being part of the list. Additionally, we also gathered that getting subsidies involved uncertainty and delays.” IL&FS Energy Development Company declined to comment on the issue, but an executive, who did not want to be named, said no projects were being executed in the recent past, which may have led to the situation. Marcus Murphy Womens Jersey
GST rate on solar panel indicates grid parity: VP, Schneider
In lieu of the tax rate on solar panels being fixed at five percent under the forthcoming Goods and Services Tax (GST), industry players believe that solar being placed at par with coal indicates that the country is moving towards grid parity. “The fact that coal and solar has been placed at par with one another augurs well for the long term energy security of the country. This, quite rightly, addresses the unique energy dilemma that India faces considering that close to 18,000 villages do not have access to energy, but, at the same time, the country has a strong commitment to reduce its carbon footprints,” said Anurag Garg, Vice President – Solar & Energy Storage Business, Schneider Electric India. Furthermore, Anurag said a five percent tax being levied comes as a big reprieve to the solar sector, as against the earlier classification of 18 percent. In the 15th meeting of the GST Council held here on Saturday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced that a five percent tax is chargeable on solar panels under the new tax regime. Among other commodities, prices of gold and biscuits are set to surge, with a tax rate of three percent and 18 percent levied on them respectively. Footwear, being one of the major items of discussion in the meeting, will be charged a five percent tax, if less than Rs. 500 and those above this amount will attract an 18 percent tax. Charge on silk and jute will be nil, cotton and natural fibre will be charged 5 percent, and manmade apparel will be 18 percent. Natural yarn will be charged 5 percent. Also, a 12 percent charge will be levied on readymade apparel. A 28 percent tax will be levied on beedis, while a 14 percent charge will be imposed on the tendu patta used in beedis. However, no cess is applicable. The new tax regime is scheduled to be rolled out on July 1. Justin Coleman Authentic Jersey
India’s Power Generating company, NTPC forays into future of power – EV Charging business
India’s power generating company, NTPC has forayed into EV Charging business and set up charging stations at multiple locations. First charging station has been set up at its offices in Noida and Delhi. NTPC is planning to set up many such charging stations across Delhi/NCR and other cities in near future. A 50,000 MW plus power company, NTPC largely produces power from coal but also has hydro, solar and wind power projects. Adding coal production in its business, it has successfully become an integrated energy company with interests diversified across the fuel value chain and in line with global standards. NTPC Limited is already selling coal from its Pakri Barwadih coal mine in Jharkhand to its Barh power project in Bihar. The Pakri Barwadih coal mine has estimated mining capacity of 15 Million Tons Per Annum (MTPA) and has been allotted to NTPC as basket mine to meet the fuel shortfall of its power stations. Coal mining is integral to NTPC’s fuel security strategies and this greater self-reliance on coal will go a long way in ensuring the sustained growth of generation. Being India’s larger producer of coal based power, NTPC alone consumed about 161 million tonnes of coal in the last financial year. Given its huge dependence on coal, the government allotted some coal mines to NTPC while the latter also bid for some other mines in the subsequent bidding rounds. Winnipeg Jets Jersey
SpiceJet reports 43% fall in Q4 net profit
Budget carrier SpiceJet reported 43 per cent fall in net profit at Rs. 41.6 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2017 due to higher fuel cost and lower yield on account of demonetisation. The Gurgaon-based carrier had reported a net profit of Rs. 73 crore during the January-March quarter of the 2015-16 fiscal. However, for the full fiscal 2016-17, the airline posted a net profit of Rs. 430 crore as compared to Rs. 407 crore reported in the fiscal year ended March 2016. SpiceJet reported a quarterly profit of Rs. 41.6 crore for the three months ended March 31, 2017, making it the ninth successive profitable quarter for the airline, SpiceJet said in a release today. The net profit for FY2017 stood at Rs. 430.7 crore, making this the second successive year of profitable growth, it said. According to the airline, the operating revenues were at Rs. 1,625.7 crore for Q4 FY17 and Rs. 6,191.3 crore for the fiscal 2017. SpiceJet’s strong operational performance comes despite significant headwinds, it said adding that demonetisation resulted in significant decline in yield in Q3 and Q4. Increase in fuel cost was at 46 per cent in Q4 eroding approximately Rs. 160 crore of profit, it said. These headwinds have subsided and SpiceJet is bullish about its future prospects, the airline said. “Two successive profitable years, a record aircraft order and emerging as India’s largest regional operator are testament of the fact that SpiceJet remains firmly on track on its long-term growth strategy,” SpiceJet Chairman and managing Director Ajay Singh said in the release. SpiceJet had in January this year announced that it will buy up to 205 new aircraft from Boeing for Rs. 1,50,000 crore, in one of the largest deals in the fast-growing Indian aviation sector. The order of 205 aircraft signifies the strategic direction in which SpiceJet is now committed upon, the airline said. “The historic order ends the turnaround phase for SpiceJet and marks the beginning of a growth story, which will see the airline expand its wings — both within and outside the country,” the airline said. “During this fiscal, SpiceJet completed its turnaround successfully by discharging all its obligations to its business partners, implemented cost savings measures by restructuring contracts and its business processes,” it said. According to the airline, besides adding capacity on existing routes, it was awarded six proposals and 11 routes under the UDAN regional connectivity scheme of the Central government. With three-year exclusivity on the routes under the UDAN scheme, SpiceJet will be the only airline to operate on those sectors, it said. The airline is also set to benefit from the reduced cost on account of low jet fuel taxes and exemption from landing and parking charges at regional airports under UDAN, the release said. It also said that this summer the airline increased its regional capacity by 25 per cent and will further augment capacity in this segment. James Conner Authentic Jersey
India to launch ‘NHAI International’
The government is planning to launch a dedicated international subsidiary of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to take up roads and highway projects abroad, particularly in South Asia. Simultaneously, India is also looking forward to setting up joint ventures (JVs) for road construction in neighbouring countries. Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said his ministry was considering a proposal to launch “NHAI International” for undertaking roads and highway construction projects abroad. Experts say that such a subsidiary could be in the form of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) which will collaborate with foreign companies to bag international projects. The minister said India is keen to participate in road construction in neighbouring countries like Iran, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka through joint ventures. “We are promoting road construction joint ventures in Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has already agreed to allot a couple of road projects in northern Sri Lanka to us,” Road Transport and Highways Minister Gadkari told IANS in an interview. “We have plans to develop road projects in Iran as part of the development of Chabahar Port-related projects.” On the domestic front, the minister has set his sights on achieving a target of construction of 40 km of roads per day in the next year or so. “If I could achieve 23 km per day from the rock bottom 2 km per day in three years, there is no reason I could not reach close to my next target of 40 km per day in the next one year or so,” Gadkari said. “Projects like road and highway construction, including tunnels, over-bridges and roadside amenities and other related projects also depends on various other factors like weather conditions and local issues.” As per various estimates, India has one of the longest road networks across the world at over five million kilometres. The network consists of national highways, state highways, major district roads and rural roads. Out of the total road network, national highways and expressways account for only two per cent, but are used to transport more than 40 per cent of all goods and passenger traffic. The slow average speeds on these highways due to high road density and non-availability of access-control measures allows cargo laden trucks to travel only 225-250 km per day. The overall target is to increase the national highways length to two lakh kilometres but delays in land acquisition and a famine of private investment has slowed down progress. For 2016-17, 23 km of roads were constructed per day, up from 16.6 km a day in 2015-16. In the Union Budget 2017-18, the central government allotted Rs 64,000 crore ($9.55 billion) to NHAI for roads and highways and Rs 27,000 crore ($4.03 billion) for the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) that is focused on rural roads. However, road and highway construction did not gather pace automatically, as the minister recalled three years back there were 400 projects which were stuck due to problems relating to land acquisition, environment and forest clearances, and rail over bridges. “There was an atmosphere of gloom and disillusionment. Contractors were unwilling to continue with the projects and bank NPAs (non-performing assets) were piling up,” Gadkari said. “I encouraged all the stakeholders and organised face-to-face meetings with the state government officials, bank managers, NHAI officials and the contractors. “In the last three years we have collectively resolved most of the knotty issues, cleared road blocks and put the projects back on track. There is hardly any project which is stuck.” Reggie Lewis Womens Jersey
Highway construction target for Nitin Gadkari-led Road Transport Ministry: Is 30 km per day too much of a stretch?
Road transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari’s target of awarding 25,000 km and building 15,000 km of roads in the last fiscal may have been missed by a wide margin, but that hasn’t come in the way of what his ministry looks to accomplish ahead, with the targets remaining unchanged for the current fiscal. While there is a general view among experts that the targets are unrealistic, ministry officials consider going past the 30 km/day mark in the present fiscal (target is 41 km/day) doable. In April, the first month of FY18, highway construction logged 679 km, averaging 22.63 km/day, a tad higher than the 22.5 km clocked in the last fiscal. Significantly, April is considered the most conducive month for highway construction in India, with the onset of the monsoon slowing down the pace of work for a few months. Notwithstanding this, a top official in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) sounded confident of construction breaching the 30-km/day mark in the current fiscal. “It is good to have a minister like Gadkari who publicly professes targets. If the construction figure touches 30-31 km/day, it will please me, as a citizen, to see that the country is moving in the right direction,” says Vinayak Chatterjee, Chairman, Feedback Infra. As against Gadkari’s target of building 15,000 km of highways in 2016-17, 8,231 km were constructed. The minister had attributed the wide miss — which yet remained the highest ever figure clocked by the ministry and the National Highway Authority of India — to problems in land acquisition and utility shifting, non-availability of aggregates, poor performance of contractors and delay in clearances. Having kept the target at the same level for the current fiscal, Gadkari is pushing his officials to get their act together. He has also stepped up the monitoring system, with problems faced by the implementing agencies being addressed expeditiously. Overall, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has done considerably better than its predecessor United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on the road construction front. As against the average 5002 km of highways built in the last three years of the UPA regime (15,005 km in all), highway construction in the first three years of the NDA regime went up to 6,234 km/year, marking a 24% jump. When the Narendra Modi government took over in May, 2014, the construction rate stood at 11.67 km/day. Under the new regime, it grew to 12 km/day in 2014-15 and 16.6 km/day in 2015-16, touching a record 22.5 km/day in the last fiscal. On the award front too, the Modi-led government’s first three years have outpaced the previous government’s last three years in office. While the UPA-II government awarded work for 15,380 km of highways in its last three years, the figure shot up to 34,349 km for the 2014-17 period — 7.980 km in 2014-15, 10,098 km in 2015-16 and 16,271 km in 2016-17. The Union government has taken several steps to reverse the drying up of private investment in the sector. It eased the exit policy for developers to enable them to invest in new projects and introduced the hybrid annuity model wherein the Centre bears 40% of the project cost. As per the new rules, projects worth below Rs 500 crore are awarded by the highways secretary, those up to Rs 1,000 crore by the road transport and highways minister and only projects above that value need the approval of the Union Cabinet. It generally takes two to two and a half years for a developer to execute a highway project. Saku Koivu Authentic Jersey
Government looks at three options for disinvestment of Air India
The government is looking at three options for Air India disinvestment, including holding up to 49% in the national carrier, even as it is almost certain to take over a large part of the debt burden to make the airline more attractive for buyers. Sources said while there has been a recommendation to completely exit the perpetually loss-making airline, another possible route to follow is the Maruti model, where the government handed over majority control to Suzuki, for which it received a premium. Later the government reduced its stake further through a public issue. A chunk of government shares were also sold to Indian banks and financial institutions through a bidding process, which was more like warehousing them before being offloaded in the markets. Several global airlines, where governments have exited, have offered large chunks of the holdings to the public. The Air India divestment has gathered momentum in recent weeks with NITI Aayog recommending up to 100% stake sale, along with writing off debt. Finance minister Arun Jaitley too has backed the idea and he has held at least one round of consultations with civil aviation minister A Gajapathi Raju, with sources indicating that the entire process will be speeded up. The sources added that various options are being looked into and a final decision will be taken by the Union cabinet. But before moving the cabinet the civil aviation ministry has to decide if foreign airlines will be permitted to hold a majority stake in the airline. Qatar Airways has already said it wants to have a domestic airline in India and is yet to make an application for a startup. Last June, the Modi government had allowed Indian carriers to be fully-owned by foreign entities. While foreign carriers are still required to cap their stake at 49% in airlines here, they can get a foreign partner — like a sovereign wealth fund or an institutional investor — and not look for an Indian partner for the remaining 51%. It is also looking to tackle some key issues including how to structure the deal financially and if the government should retain some shares. How to monetise AI’s assets and its two subsidiaries — aircraft maintenance and ground handling and the fate of employees are other crucial issues. AI, which is weighed down by loans of over Rs 50,000 crore, has been trying to restructure a part of debt but banks refused to play ball, saying it would open the floodgates for similar requests from other stressed PSUs. This also helped firm up the decision for privatising AI. “India is a huge market and it needs three-to-four strong airlines to be able to cater to the growing travel needs of its people. At the moment, big airports in Gulf and Southeast Asia have are transit hubs for flying people between India and rest of the world. Unless we have strong Indian airlines, foreign carriers will continue to get stronger thanks to us,” said an official. India is now the world’s third largest domestic air travel market, as last year it pushed Japan to number four spot. On the international-cum-domestic air travel front, India saw a combined traffic similar to the UK in 2016 and they are both at number four spot now. Ray-Ray Armstrong Jersey
Jet Airways in talks to buy 50 single-aisle jets
Jet Airways India Ltd, the country’s biggest full-service carrier, is in talks to buy 50 narrowbody jets on top of a pending order for Boeing Co 737 Max aircraft, a person with direct knowledge of the plan said. The most likely model the airline is considering is the 737 Max, though it is also looking at Airbus SE’s A321neo jets as well as the 737 Max 10, a stretched version Boeing may introduce in Paris this month, the person said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are confidential. Jet Airways could sign the deal in the next two months for deliveries starting 2024, the person said. The order may be worth at least $5.6 billion. Jet Airways continuously reviews its fleet in response to demand, but won’t comment on speculation, a spokesman said in an email. A representative for Boeing said in an email that the planemaker is in constant communications with airlines in India about their needs but doesn’t discuss specific conversations publicly. An Airbus spokesman declined to comment. Jet Airways, in which Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways PJSC owns a 24 per cent stake, is expanding its fleet as competition intensifies in India, one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets, where carriers offer cut-throat, below-cost fares to attract passengers. The Indian carrier made its first annual profit in seven years in the 12 months ended March 2016, mainly due to a drop in oil prices — the biggest cost for an airline. Airlines in Asia are ordering hundreds of new planes to meet surging demand as an emerging middle class spends more of its disposable income on air travel. In India, market leader IndiGo has ordered 430 A320neo jets and is in talks to buy 50 ATR turboprop aircraft, while budget carrier SpiceJet Ltd. has ordered as many as 205 Boeing jets. Pending Order The 737 Max is the fastest selling aircraft in Boeing’s history, with 3,700 orders from 87 customers from around the world, according to the Chicago-based company’s website. In 2015, Boeing said Jet Airways had an order for 75 Max 8 variants due for delivery starting 2018. The current list price of the Max 8 is $112.4 million before customary discounts for large orders. Jet Airways, which has 10 Boeing 787s on order, is also in talks with the planemaker to defer deliveries of the Dreamliners by two to three years, as the airline can use its existing relatively new 777 jets for a few more years, the person said. The carrier disclosed the 787 order in 2007 and has repeatedly delayed taking deliveries of the aircraft since 2011. In about three years, Jet’s A330s will exit its fleet, the person said. Kevin Byard Authentic Jersey
Developers see solar tariff at Rs 1.5 a unit
Solar power developers are bullish on clean energy and hopeful about tariff coming down to as low as Rs 1.5 per unit on falling equipment cost and cheaper credit with assured purchase pact. Solar power tariff came down to all-time low of Rs 2.44 per unit in the auction conducted for Bhadla solar park last month mainly due to lower equipment and borrowing costs. The new rate of solar power is even below the average rate of coal-based power produced by staterun NTPC at Rs 3.30 per unit. “Developers are bullish on renewables particularly solar energy. They think even Rs 2.44 per unit tariff is high in view of lowering of cost of equipment and avenues available for cheaper funding,” said a source in the ministry of new and renewable energy. Chandler Jones Jersey
Solar energy boom turns to bust for Indian manufacturers
Some of India’s biggest solar equipment makers are facing financial collapse, priced out by Chinese competitors as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government prioritises cheap power over local manufacturing despite his ‘Make in India’ push. Though President Donald Trump is pulling the United States out of the Paris accord on climate change, India is sticking to its huge renewable energy programme. That has created a multi-billion-dollar market for Chinese solar product makers, who are facing an overcapacity at home and steep duties in Europe. India’s solar power generation capacity has already more than tripled in three years to over 12 gigawatt (GW) as Modi targets raising energy generation from all renewable sources to 175 GW by 2022. Chinese companies have gained the most from that increase, accounting for around 85 percent of India’s solar module demand and earning around $2 billion, according to industry data. The total annual market could jump to more than $10 billion in the next few years going by the government’s capacity targets. Local companies such as Jupiter Solar, Indosolar Ltd and Moser Baer India Ltd, however, are struggling to win contracts. Orders funnelled through a domestic-content policy have all but dried up after the World Trade Organization last September upheld an earlier ruling that found the move violated global trade norms. As a result, Jupiter said it could shut shop by July after delivering their last orders this month; Indosolar auditors have raised doubts over it remaining as a “going concern”; and Moser Baer says it needs support from its lenders to revive its solar business. “TORPEDOED” Indian solar power plant developers – including companies backed by Japan’s Softbank and Goldman Sachs – are quoting ever-lower tariffs in auctions to win big projects, encouraged by steep drop in Chinese solar equipment prices. That is squeezing out Indian cell and module makers, many of which have inferior technology, depend on imports of raw materials, have limited access to cheap loans and operate below capacity. Chinese modules are 10-20 percent cheaper than those made in India, company and industry executives said. “The WTO ruling has torpedoed everything. It’s not a case of one company – we have the largest cell operating capacity – everybody below us will shut down one after another,” Jupiter CEO Dhruv Sharma told Reuters by phone. Chinese companies were selling solar cells in India at 19-20 U.S. cents, around 35 percent below his production cost, he added. There are more than 110 Indian solar cell and module makers registered with the government, out of which consultancy Bridge to India expects only a handful to survive. Santosh Vaidya, a senior official in the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, said the government was working on several initiatives to promote the domestic solar manufacturing industry. He did not elaborate. GOING THE TELECOM WAY India’s promise, and need, as a market for solar is obvious. It is one of the lowest per-capita consumers of electricity in the world and more than 200 million of its people are still not connected to the grid, making it crucial for the government to aggressively push for cheap power. Despite its low labour costs, it is not alone in buckling under pressure from Chinese competition. Earlier this month, Germany’s SolarWorld, once Europe’s largest solar panel maker, said it would file for insolvency. Indian companies produced an estimated 1.33 GW of modules last year out of the total capacity of 5.29 GW, according to Bridge to India. Total consumption of modules – 60 percent of a solar project’s cost – was around 4 GW. Solar project developer SB Energy, a joint venture between SoftBank, Taiwan’s Foxconn and India’s Bharti Enterprises, said it had discussed the shortage of local manufacturing with the government. “Lack of significant domestic solar manufacturing capacity is a concern, as this is a major gap,” SB Energy Executive Chairman Manoj Kohli said, drawing a parallel with India’s huge mobile phone market but negligible local production. Several company executives said a lack of scale, absence of raw material supply chains and rapidly changing technology were some of other reasons Indian firms were unable to compete with Chinese manufacturers such as Trina Solar and Yingli. “The government is busy bringing power prices down … but you can’t build castles on graves,” Gyanesh Chaudhary, CEO of module maker Vikram Solar told Reuters. “Without a domestic manufacturing ecosystem, no public policy can last for a long time.” Markus Golden Authentic Jersey