Govt increases grant for NMC’s bio-CNG, compost projects to Rs 155 crore
The state government has increased financial grant for the Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s (NMC) bio-CNG and compost projects proposed under Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). The grant has been increased to Rs155 crore. The state’s high-power committee headed by chief secretary Ajoy Mehta in the meeting held on Friday revised the NMC’s grants under SBM. The committee also approved the civic body’s proposal seeking to replace Waste to Energy project with bio-CNG and compost projects. Municipal commissioner Abhijit Bangar, additional municipal commissioner Ram Joshi and deputy engineer Rajesh Dufare were present in the meeting and stressed the need for more funds and replacement of Waste to Energy Project with bio-CNG and compost projects. The NMC had sought a financial grant of Rs267 crore under SBM a couple of years ago. The state had sanctioned Rs96.22 crore of which Rs70 crore was reserved for Waste to Energy project and remaining funds were for procurement of road sweeping machine and other machineries for solid waste management. Now, the grant has been increased by Rs58.78 crore. Thus, grant of Rs128.78 crore will go for bio-CNG and compost projects. The NMC will work out exact cost of the two projects and will ask private operators to bear the remaining cost. The proposal is to produce bio-CNG using 500-tonne garbage and compost through 300-tonne garbage. The civic body will use bio-CNG in running its vehicles and city buses. The central government’s Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited (RCF) is likely to procure compost. The Nagpur Solid Waste Processing and Management Private Ltd (NSWPMPL), a joint venture of Noida’s Essel Infraprojects Limited and Japan’s Hitachi Zosan India Private Ltd, was awarded Waste to Energy project. But the company delayed the project to a great extent. With the chances of project bleak, the NMC had issued a show-cause notice to terminate the contract with the company and proposed to replace it with bio-CNG and compost projects. With clearance from the government, the civic body is likely to issue a final termination notice to the company soon.
Modi, Putin likely to sign 25 trade, defence, energy pacts
Russian President Vladimir Putin will host Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a one-on-one dinner on Wednesday in Vladivostok in the backdrop of the 20th edition of an annual bilateral summit where both sides are expected to ink 25 pacts across sectors including defence, trade, investments, industrial cooperation, energy and connectivity corridors. At the dinner, the two leaders will look to further deepen their strong personal chemistry and explore steps to effectively coordinate on key global issues including the Af-Pak hotspot, ET has learnt. “During such conversations, the main international and regional problems, coordination in the international arena are discussed very frankly, confidentially,” Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told Russian media at the Kremlin on Saturday. It may be recalled that in October, when Putin visited New Delhi for the annual summit, Modi had hosted him for a one-on-one dinner at his residence. In April 2018, when Modi visited Sochi for the informal summit, both spent time one-on-one and Putin, in a rare gesture, accompanied the PM to the airport before his departure. The two share a strong personal chemistry, which has contributed to qualitative improvement in the bilateral partnership over the last few years, according to informed sources. Russia was the first P-5 nation to support India’s recent moves on Kashmir. At the September 4 summit, the two leaders will also adopt a joint statement titled “Through trust and partnership to new heights of cooperation”, which will set the mood for deepening bilateral ties, including closer foreign policy coordination, according to Ushakov. On the same occasion, the Russian President, in a unique gesture, will hand over to Modi a stamp dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi. The proposed agreements will also cover education and culture which would increase the intake of Indian students in top Russian educational institutes. Delhi and Moscow could also conclude a pact that will employ Indians at projects in the resource-rich Far East. “The very fact that the annual summit is being organized in Vladivostok (hub of Far East Russia) coinciding with the Eastern Economic Forum where the Indian PM is the Chief Guest showcases the importance given by both Delhi and Moscow to the region as part of their respective Indo-Pacific and Asia-Pacific strategies. The partnership in resource-rich Far East Asia is also critical to push bilateral trade volumes,” a source said. The two sides plan to conclude a roadmap for increasing investments and trade volume during the PM’s visit. The economic partnership so far lacks the depth of a strong strategic partnership. Before the summit, the two leaders will also jointly visit Zvezda shipbuilding complex — the ships built there in future can be used to deliver Russian oil and LNG to India, ET has learnt.
CNG price in Delhi raised by 50 paise per Kg, third hike since April
CNG price in Delhi and its suburbs was on Sunday hiked for the third time since April due to rise in input cost following appreciation of US dollar against the rupee. “This revision in prices would result in an increase of Rs 0.50 per kg in the consumer prices of CNG in Delhi, Rewari, Gurugram and Karnal, and Rs 0.55 per kg in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad,” Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL), the city gas operator in the national capital region, said in a statement. The new consumer price will be Rs 47.10 per kg in Delhi and Rs 53.50 per kg in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad. The price of CNG sold to automobiles in Gurugram and Rewari would be Rs 58.95 per kg and in Karnal it would be Rs 55.95, IGL said. This is the third increase in rates since April and the eighth since April 2018. Rates were last revised upwards by 90 paise per kg in July. Prior to that, CNG price was hiked in April by Re 1 per kg because of a rise in the price of domestic natural gas and fall in rupee’s value against the dollar. In all, rates have gone up by Rs 7.39 per kg since April 2018. IGL, however, did not raise the price of piped natural gas (PNG) it supplies to households in these cities for cooking purposes. Rates of CNG and PNG vary in different cities due to the incidence of local taxes. IGL said it will continue to offer a discount of Rs 1.50 per kg in the selling prices of CNG for filling between 12.00 am to 6.00 am at select outlets in Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida, and Ghaziabad. “Thus, the consumer price of CNG would be Rs 45.60 per kg in Delhi and Rs 52.00 per kg in Noida, Greater Noida & Ghaziabad during 12.00 am to 6.00 am at the select CNG stations,” it said. Explaining the reasons for the CNG price hike, an official spokesperson of IGL said the marginal revision has been necessitated due to the recent appreciation of US dollar against rupee and increase in operational expenses since the last price revision. The base price of natural gas being procured by IGL from all sources is dollar linked, thereby making the entire input price totally dependent on price of dollar vis-a-vis rupee. “However, this increase would have a marginal impact on the per km running cost of vehicles. For autos, the increase would translate to just over 1 paisa per km, for taxi it would be 2 paisa per km,” IGL said. “With the revised price, CNG would still offer over 52 per cent savings towards the running cost when compared to petrol driven vehicles at the current level of prices. When compared to diesel driven vehicles, the economics in favour of CNG at revised price would be over 27 per cent,” it said. IGL sells CNG to over 10.5 lakh vehicles in the national capital region through a network of over 500 CNG stations. It also supplies PNG to over 11.20 lakh households in Delhi and NCR cities.
OVL, partners buying 49% stake in Vankor cluster oilfields
A preliminary pact for a consortium of Indian companies led by ONGC Videsh (OVL) for acquiring about 49 percent stake in Russia’s Vankor cluster oilfields may be signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s annual summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was in Moscow last week in preparation for the Prime Minister’s visit. Modi will be the chief guest at this year’s Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok between September 4 and 6 and would also meet the Russian President for their annual summit. A host of agreements is expected to be signed during the visit and one of them could be on cooperation in oil and gas, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. This cooperation agreement may include Indian state-owned firms picking up 49 percent stake in Vankor cluster oilfields, they said. Indian firms have been in dialogue with Russia since 2017 for a possible stake in the oilfields that will consolidate their presence in the energy-rich Arctic region. Mid-way through the negotiations, Rosneft had offered to club five more fields in the same region to the three that were already on the table, the sources said. OVL, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), may hold 26 percent stake in Suzunskoye, Tagulskoye and Lodochnoye fields — collectively known as Vankor cluster, while Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Oil India Ltd and Bharat PetroResources Ltd (a unit of Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd or BPCL) would split the rest 23 percent, they said. Rosneft, Russia’s national oil company that owns the fields, wants to retain a majority stake and is keen to sell only up to 49.9 percent stake. Energy-hungry India is keen on sourcing one million barrels per day of oil and oil-equivalent gas from Russia and had identified Sakhalin-3 in the Far East, Vankor in East Siberia, and Terbs and Titov oilfields in Timan Pechora region as fields for potential collaboration. But for Vankor, it has so far not been successful in its attempts. OVL already has 20 per cent stake in Sakhalin-1 oil and gas field in Far East Russia, and in 2009 acquired Imperial Energy, which has fields in Siberia, for USD 2.1 billion. Russia is wooing Indian investments in its Far East region ahead of Modi’s Vladivostok visit to balance China’s expanding presence in the resource-rich region. OVL’s stake in Vankor cluster will be in proportion to 26 percent stake in had bought in the main Vankor oilfield. OIL-IOC-BPRL have 23.9 percent in the main Vankor field. Vankorneft, a subsidiary of Rosneft, is developing the Vankor oil and gas condensate field, situated in the northern part of Eastern Siberia. In 2013, Vankorneft was chosen as an operator on development of new fields of Vankor cluster — Suzunskoye, Tagulskoye and Lodochnoye fields, located close to the Vankor field. The reserves of Suzunskoye field exceed 56 million tonnes of oil and condensate, and 35 billion cubic metres of gas. In 2016, OVL first acquired 15 percent stake in Russia’s second-biggest oilfield of Vankor for USD 1.268 billion and then bought another 11 percent for USD 930 million. The 26 percent stake would give OVL 7.31 million tonnes of oil. The consortium of OIL-IOC-BPRL acquired 23.9 percent stake in the field at a cost of USD 2.02 billion, giving them 6.56 million tonnes of oil. Rosneft continues to hold the remaining 50.1 percent shares of JSC Vankorneft. The field has recoverable reserves of 2.5 billion barrels. Besides, the OIL-IOC-BPRL consortium has taken another 29.9 percent stake in a separate Taas-Yuryakh oilfield in East Siberia for USD 1.12 billion. The investments had taken the total outlay in Russia in that year to USD 5.46 billion. These investments will give India 15.18 million tonnes of oil equivalent. The investment made compares to USD 28.48 billion investment by Indian oil and gas companies overseas in the past 50 years, giving it about 10 million tonnes of oil equivalent. While Vankor produces about 442,000 barrels of oil per day (4 percent of Russian crude oil production), Taas currently produces about 21,000 barrels per day of oil, and a peak of 1,00,000 bpd is expected by 2021.
India to open ‘Russian energy corridor’ to cut reliance on traditional suppliers
India and Russia will unveil a comprehensive energy co-operation agreement next week when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet at Vladivostokthat seek to open a “far east energy corridor” intended to reduce India’s dependence on traditional fuel suppliers. The framework, to be inked at the Modi-Putin summit, aims for an alternate route for oil, gas, and coal from the Russian far east, an area marked out by both nations for enhanced cooperation and investment. “A joint statement on comprehensive energy co-operation will be issued. A five-year complete roadmap will be signed. Several issues will be mentioned in the roadmap. Discussions are at a final stage. A new dimension is coking coal. MoUs will be signed at company level also,” oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan told TOI. India is preparing to begin regular imports of Russian crude and coking coal, both from the far eastern region of Russia, where Indian state-run oil companies have invested billions of dollars in oil and gas projects. In this context, it is fitting that the plan is revealed at Vladivostok, a major terminal of the Trans-Siberian railway. Modi is chief guest at this year’s Eastern Economic Forum, Putin’s annual gig of world leaders and captains of industry, to promote investments in the natural resource-rich far eastern region. Pradhan’s visit is the third successive by an Indian minister- after commerce minister Piyush Goyal and foreign minister S Jaishankar – aimed at preparing the groundwork for the Modi-Putin summit. Top executives of state-run oil companies such as IndianOil accompanying Pradhan are discussing terms of oil imports. Russian crude, benchmarked to expensive North Sea Brent, has so far found its way here only occasionally due to price issues and difficulty in shipping from the far east. Supply deal for Russian crude will send a strong signal to oil-exporting cartel OPEC and its West Asian members, India’s main suppliers. “Russia is a close partner of OPEC. It is also a big producer and exporter of oil and gas. Term contract will show it is possible to reduce India’s dependence on OPEC. It helps our negotiations with OPEC,” a senior executive told TOI. The Russia agreement also balances India’s growing energy ties with the US. IndianOil earlier this year signed a term contract for US crude, a first for India, to make up volumes lost after New Delhi stopped buying Iranian oil due to US sanctions. Other refiners too are looking at term contracts for US crude. Also, state-run gas utility GAIL also has long-term LNG contracts.