India’s April Iran oil imports up 49% from a year ago: Data
India’s oil imports from Iran rose 48.8 percent in April from a year ago as refiners bought more crude after the lifting of sanctions against the OPEC producer, although the purchases were down from a multi-year high hit the previous month. Refiners in the world’s third-largest crude importer took in 393,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian oil in April, the first month of the new contract year, according to preliminary tanker arrival data from trade sources and ship-tracking services on the Thomson Reuters terminal. The April shipments were down 22.4 percent from Iranian volumes in March, when imports from Tehran topped 500,000 bpd to reach the highest level in at least five years. India’s oil imports from Iran are set to surge to a seven-year high in the year that began April 1, industry sources said early last month, with the nation’s state-owned and private refiners together buying at least 400,000 bpd. Part of India’s recent resurgence in Iranian purchases comes from Reliance Industries, operator of the world’s biggest refining complex, which in March took oil from Iran for the first time in six years for its plant in western India. The private refiner, however, did not take any parcel from Tehran in April, accounting for most of the drop from the previous month. Its purchases in March were done under spot deals, although it is looking to sign up for long-term supplies from Iran. Another private refiner, Essar Oil, was the biggest buyer of Iranian oil in April, shipping in about 181,300 bpd, followed by Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd with about 110,200 bpd, and Indian Oil Corp with 101,400 bpd, the shipping and terminal data showed. In the first four month of 2016 India’s Iran oil imports more than doubled to 322,500 bpd, the data showed, in comparison with 160,500 bpd in the same period last year. India’s oil imports from Iran are expected to surge in coming months, when refiners Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp begin lifting Iranian oil. State-run HPCL and BPCL have agreed a 20,000 bpd contract each with National Iranian Oil Co, but the two are waiting for further clarity on insurance for plants processing Iranian oil. Trent Williams Jersey
Revised Qatar LNG deal slashes gas price to below $5 per mmBtu
The revision in LNG agreement with Qatar has helped bring down cost of importing natural gas to less than USD 5 per mmBtu from USD 12, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said. In late-December last year, India got Qatar to agree to slashing gas price by half to match a slump in global energy rates, helping the nation save billions of dollars, as well as get waiver from Rs 120 billion liability for short-lifting of gas. India, which got USD 15 billion of benefits during first 11 years of the term-contract with Qatar beginning 2003 by way of enjoying low gas prices when world energy rates were rising, is currently paying less than USD 5 per million British thermal unit for 7.5 million tons a year of LNG it buys from RasGas of Qatar. “Earlier the prices during 2015 were in excess of USD 12 per mmBtu. The current price applicable under the contract works out to less than USD 5 per mmBtu based on prevailing crude prices,” he said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha. This revision, applicable from January 1, has led to making LNG cheaper for the end consumers, he said. The revised formula will base the price on a three-month average figure of Brent crude oil, replacing a five-year average of a basket of crude imported by Japan, with a rider that PLL buys an additional 1 million tons of LNG annually. Further, Petronet LNG Ltd – the firm that imported LNG from RasGas of Qatar – has executed agreement for additional supply of 1 million tons per annum of LNG for about 12 years with effect from January 1, 2016 at the prevailing market prices, he said. Pradhan said Qatar will also not seek Rs 120 billions from PLL for under-lifting LNG from RasGas by 38 per cent. “RasGas and Petronet LNG Ltd agreed to rescheduled the LNG quantity not taken by Petronet LNG Ltd during 2015 to a future period and RasGas has agreed to waive the take or pay liability under the contract for the year 2015,” he said. Petronet, a joint venture of state-owned Indian Oil Corp, GAIL India Ltd, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), had started importing LNG – natural gas supercooled to liquid state for ease of transportation in ships – from 2004. Jared Crick Jersey
IGL sets up record 72 CNG stations in four months
Indraprastha Gas Ltd, the sole retailer of CNG to automobiles in the national capital, today said it has set up a record 72 CNG filling stations in first four months of 2016, to meet the rising demand for the fuel. The CNG filling facilities have been set up at the retail outlets of oil marketing companies (OMC) like Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) since January 2016, the company said in a statement. “While 51 out of these 72 CNG fuelling facilities are located in NCT of Delhi, 21 are located in NCR towns of Greater Noida and Ghaziabad,” it said. Phil Esposito Authentic Jersey
India keen on setting up LNG terminal at Iranian port
India has expressed interest in setting up an LNG terminal at Chahabar port in Iran to ship back home natural gas from Persian Gulf nation, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said. India is keen to set up its engagement with hydrocarbon- rich Iran, which has recently come out of western sanctions, and is lining up $20 billion of investment in oil and gas as well as petrochemical and fertiliser projects. Pradhan said he had during his visit to Tehran on April 9 conveyed interest of Indian companies in setting up fertiliser and petrochemical plants, including in the Chahabar SEZ. The projects can be “either in joint venture between Indian and Iranian public sector companies or with private sector partners,” he said in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha here. He said he asked Iran to allocate land in SEZ for the project but no MoU has so far been sized on this. Also, he expressed India’s interest in importing LPG from Iran and proposed to set up an extraction plant in Chahabar. India is also keen on importing natural gas from Iran either in ships (LNG) or through the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline, he said. During his visit, he also “expressed India’s interest in setting up an LNG plant and gas cracker in Chahabar port,” the reply said. Pradhan asked Iran for “favourable treatment in the pricing of gas for India and also supply of rich gas at competitive price and on long term basis for the life of the joint venture projects than Indian companies are interested in setting up.” “Competitive gas pricing was crucial in making the projects attractive for the prospective investors,” he said. The Minister also discussed with his Iranian counterpart the repayment of nearly $6.5 billion that Indian refiners owe to Iran as also rights to develop Farzad-B gas field in the Persian Gulf discovered by OVL. “After lifting of sanctions by the international community following the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement between P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, UK and the US), the European Union, and Iran, the Central Bank of Iran has requested RBI for bringing the country under ACU mechanism,” he said. After this system is established, all future trade transactions with Iran would be settled through the Asian Clearing Union (ACU), he said. “RBI in turn has sought concurrence from the Department of Economic Affairs for brining Iran under the ACU mechanism. Actual settlement through ACU mechanism hinges on availability of international euro channels for making the payment,” he added. 12th Fan Womens Jersey
Won’t succumb to pressure in resolving oil disputes: Dharmendra Pradhan
Government will not succumb to any pressure in resolving pending arbitration disputes with companies such as Reliance Industries over KG-D6 gas fields, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhansaid in Rajya Sabha. “There is no compulsion for the government with any private company. Now, the country’s Prime Minister is Narendra Modiand the rest is assured,” he said during Question Hour. His reply came when BJP member Bhola Singh asked whether there was any pressure or compulsion for the government as there have has been delay in resolving oil field disputes with private petroleum companies, including Reliance Industries. Singh asked the government to take strict decisions in resolving all such disputes with private petroleum companies. Pradhan said the NDA government has inherited some problems from the previous UPA dispensation which had led to delay in resolving the disputes. The Minister said the government has in the recently approved gas pricing policy offered to give higher rates to undeveloped gas discoveries provided they withdraw arbitrations they had initiated. RIL had initiated as many as four arbitrations against the government including one seeking higher gas price for its existing flagging fields in KG-D6 block in Bay of Bengal. Another arbitration pertains to slapping of penalty in the form of disallowance of cost recovery and one for taking away of KG-D6 area upon expiry of contractual timelines, the Minister said. Pradhan said the Directorate General of Hydrocarbon had given various suggestions to improve the dispute resolution mechanism such as encouraging conciliation proceedings, examination by multi disciplinary teams and executive committee of DGH on potential litigations, timely appointment of arbitrators by the government. He said the government has enhanced the powers of DGH for hiring of counsels for defending arbitrations. In the policy for extension of PSCs, for small and medium sized discovered fields, the seat of arbitration during the extended period has been kept in India. Pradhan said arbitrators and counsels are being timely appointed, contractors are being provided a forum in the Ministry for resolving disputes and meetings are being held at various levels to sort out the issues related to gas balancing abandonment obligations etc. “Good International Petroleum Industry Practices have been codified and Guidelines for Site restoration have been prepared to reduce ambiguity on these aspects, thereby reducing the possibility of litigation,” he said. Darian Thompson Womens Jersey
Toll road firm MEP may launch InvIT in Q4 FY17, to raise around Rs 1,200 crore
Toll road firm MEP Infrastructure Developers plans to raise over Rs 1,200 crore from an infrastructure investment trust (InvIT), which it hopes to launch in the last quarter of this fiscal, a top company official said. “We have already submitted our proposal for forming InvIT in March to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for its in-principle approval and we expect to get the clearance this month,” company’s Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Jayant Mhaiskar told PTI here. Once the in-principle approval is in place, the company will start the process for forming the InvIT, he said. “We are hopeful of launching it before March 2017. InvITs will help us release our capital which is locked in the current on-going projects and the same came be redeployed over a period of time,” Mhaiskar said. When asked how much was the company planning to raise through the model, he said, “The valuation cannot be disclosed at this stage and we will be able to give the number after the closure. But as a part of InvITs, 49 per cent of the debt has to be reduced and to that extent we can raise funds. Our current debt stands at around Rs 3,000 crore.” In 2014, capital market regulator Sebi allowed the launch of real estate investment trusts (REITs) and InvITs to get easier access to funds. In April last year, the company launched its initial public offer to raise Rs 324 crore which was mainly utilised to repay its debt. MEP Infra, which is largely into two areas of business – toll collection and OMT (operate, maitain and transfer), is also eyeing 15-20 per cent increase in topline by 2018-19 fiscal, he said “Apart from the toll collection and the OMT (operate, maintain and transfer) businesses, we have, along with our Spanish joint venture partner Sanjose India Infrastructure and Construction ventured into the construction of roads under the hybrid annuity model. We hope this business will drive our growth in the years to come,” Mhaiskar said. At present, its order book for the hybrid annuity project stands at around Rs 2,600 crore which is to be executed over the next 30 months. Rod Woodson Jersey
Auction fails as no bidder turns up for Kingfisher brands
Auction of brands and trademarks of Kingfisher Airlines turned out to be a damp squib today as lenders failed to attract a single bidder for sale of these pledged assets at a reserve price of Rs. 366.70 crore in their efforts to recover unpaid loans from beleaguered Vijay Mallya. This is the second failed attempt by the 17-bank consortium led by state-run behemoth SBI to recover some money from Mallya, after an earlier auction of Kingfisher House — the erstwhile headquarters of the long-defunct airline — met with a similar fate, with no bidder coming forward. The items on sale during today’s e-auction included the Kingfisher logo as also the once-famous tagline ‘Fly the Good Times’. The other trademarks on sale included Flying Models, Funliner, Fly Kingfisher and Flying Bird Device. The reserve price for the trademarks was kept at Rs. 366.70 crore, which is not even one-tenth of the price at which it was pledged as a collateral for the loan. Sources, however, said the reserve price was “too high” for any bidder to come in. “There were no bids, possibly because the reserve price was considered very high. Though the reserve price was set much lower than its original valuation at the time of taking the brand as collateral, people still found it to be high,” a banking source said. The online auction began at 11:30 am and lasted for an hour without any success. It was conducted by SBICAP Trustee Company on behalf of lenders under the Sarfaesi Act. The Kingfisher brand itself was valued at over Rs. 4,000 crore by Grant Thornton when the airline was at its peak. In its annual report for 2012-13, KFA said that at its peak, it was the largest airline in India, with a five-star rating from Skytrax. The airline’s brand had been registered separately from the Kingfisher beer trademarks. A senior banker said, “The interest for this auction could have been from existing airline operators, but no one will come. It is better to start a new airline company than to buy this brand and revive it.” In a previous attempt at recovery of dues, which have ballooned to over Rs. 9,000 crore after taking into account the interest component, the banks had conducted an auction of Kingfisher House last month, but did not find any takers at a reserve price of Rs. 150 crore. Sources said the lenders might now try to lower the reserve price in both the cases in their future efforts to sell these pledged assets. Shelby Miller Womens Jersey
Surat’s Ventura AirConnect awarded intra-state flight operations
Marking the celebrations of Gujarat Foundation Day on May 1, the Chief Minister Anandiben Patel on Saturday handed over a commitment letter to Surat-based airline Ventura AirConnect to start intra-state flight services connecting Ahmedabad with major cities of the state. The airline has won the state government’s tender to launch intra-state air connectivity. “We have got intimation from the Ministry of Civil Aviation and DGCA to restore our permission and we will be back to sky in the next few days. We have won the tender to provide intra-state connectivity in Gujarat,” said Kartikey Garasia, CEO, Ventura AirConnect, airline owned by a group of Diamond merchants from Surat with company name Diamond Aeronautics Pvt Limited. The company is expected to provide services for 3 years with government subsidy of Rs. 22,900 per flying hour for monthly 200 hours. At the Gujarat Air Show in Ahmedabad on Saturday, the chief minister Patel handed over the commitment letter to the airline, which operates a fleet of 9-seater Cessna (single turboprop) 208B Grand Caravans. In 2015, it started flights to connect Surat with Bhavnagar and Rajkot in Saurashtra but later its services were suspended for security reasons. However, the same will be resumed with increased number of flights connecting Ahmedabad with other key cities of the State. “Post the award of the tender, now Ahmedabad will be connected to Bhuj/Kandla, Surat, Keshod, Porbandar and Rajkot. The city of Surat will be connected to Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar. These are initial routes and we plan to add more in future. The flight timings will be published once appropriate permission for parking slots at particular airports are received,” Garasia informed. The company has also laid out plans to increase fleet size by adding three more aircrafts. The company is confident of getting sufficient traffic to operate for more than 400 flying hours a month. T. J. Carrie Authentic Jersey
Huda to expedite completion of railway over bridge on Dwarka expressway
Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) is planning to complete the construction of railway-over-bridge (RoB) at the junction of sector 100 and 37D at Basai village before August. RoB is on Northern Peripheral Road (NPR) known as Dwarka expressway and completion of the bridge will help in early completion of the road. It will fill a crucial connectivity gap on the 18-km-long road. Estate officer of Huda Tarun Pawaria said additional chief secretary of department of town and country planning (DTCP) P Raghvendra Rao has directed to complete the RoB works before August. “We are planning to make a section of Dwarka expressway -from Kherki Daula to Palam Viharoperation by August 22, for this completion of RoB is necessary,” said Pawaria. Huda recently had a meeting with the railway to expedite the construction of RoB. “Section of RoB, passing over railway track, is being constructed by railway,” said a senior Huda official adding that that they are coordinating with railway to complete the work without any hassle. Last year in September railway had allotted work order to a company for construction of a portion of RoB, passing over railway track. Out of the 1200 metre long RoB railway will construct 128 metre area, passing over the railway track, rest will be constructed by Huda. For the construction of three-lane RoB it will cost around Rs 153 cr. “We are hopeful to complete the works on time,” said the Huda official. Along with this Huda is also going to connect the expressway with Pataudi and Basai roads and all nearby sectors by August. “It is likely to improve connectivity to at least 25 sectors on either side of the road,” said he. According to sources, roads in sectors 83-84, 82-85, 8186, 99-102, 102-102A, 120-103, 103 106, 109-112, 110A-111 are ready. After this stretch is opened, all these roads will be connected with the expressway. Most of the residential projects in these sectors are either complete or near completion. The six-lane Dwarka Expressway, which was conceived over eight years ago, starts from Dwarka in Delhi and ends at Kherki Daula. It was expected to divert 40% of the traffic on NH-8 between Gurgaon and Delhi, but till date, work on only 14.33 km of the road has been completed. The state government has fixed a new deadline of June 2017 for its completion. Matt Nieto Jersey
Fashion startups no more unfashionable for angel investors
Angel investors who were wary of the fashion and lifestyle space in India are taking greater interest in such startups, going by the number of investments made. Six investments have been made in the space so far this year, according to data shared by Venture Intelligence with ET, up from four in 2015 and one in 2014. The value of investments made in fashion companies stood at $38 million in 2015, up from $21 million in 2014. One of the investee companies is StylFlip, a social platform to sell and shop pre-owned apparel and accessories, which got an undisclosed sum from real estate developers Raj Gala Shah and Zaheer Memon. YourNest Angel Fund led a pre Series A round for Fashalot, an online to offline location based store discovery platform. Jaipur-based fashion retail platform Yufta raised a pre Series A round from Ajay Data, a founding member of the Rajasthan Angel Investor Network. Hippily , a Mumbai-based shopping personalisation app raised $250,000 in seed funding from investors like Sridhar Ramaswamy , senior VP , ads and commerce at Google and Rakesh Mathur, founder of Junglee. The top fashion deals of 2015 were -Voylla, which got $15 million from Peepul Capital; Relevant E-S, Wooplr and Clovia getting $5 million each from investors like Tiger Global, Helion Ventures and IvyCap Ventures; and Voonik getting $6.5 million from a funding round led by Sequoia Capital. “Investors certainly seem to be taking a greater interest in fashion and lifestyle brands in India and are putting in money where they see growth. It’s a reflection of the changing demographics in India and customers evolving everyday. There’s more focus on looking good and spending on fashion,” said imitation jewelle ry company Voyl la’s co-founder and COO Jagriti Shringi. Shringi said Vo ylla, which secu red the funding in October last year has used it to exfootprint. It is adop pand its retail footprint. It is adopting an omni channel strategy and will open 100 stores this year, and will expand globallly to store in store formats in markets like Dubai and the US besides kiosks in major malls across India. Twenty stores are operational currently . “Investments in the fashion space have reached a consolidation phase now. There’s a big opportunity in the private labels and the big companies will focus on private labels,” said Navin Honagudi, investment director at Kae Capital. The fund has invested in a Fynd, a fashion discovery app that ties up local retailers and lets users locate and track inventory in those stores. Sean Rodriguez Jersey