Total 6,604 KM National Highway Constructed till February, 2017
The target of construction of National Highways is 15,000 km, of which 6,604 km have been completed till Feb in the current financial year 2016-17, the Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Pon. Radhakrishnan said in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. The slow speed of construction of National Highways(NHs) are mainly due to land acquisition, utility shifting, non-availability of Soil/Aggregates, Poor performance of contractors, Environment/ Forest/Wildlife Clearance, ROB & RUB issue with Railways, Public agitation for additional facilities, Arbitration/contractual disputes with contractors etc. There is a well-established mechanism for monitoring and testing of quality of construction and development of work of National Highways (NHs) by engaging a Consultancy firm of International and National repute for every project to ensure quality construction. They supervise, monitor and conduct tests as per procedures laid down in various codes published by Indian Road Congress, manuals & MoRT&H specifications for Road and Bridge works and National Highway Authority India Quality Manuals etc. Apart from this, field units and Quality Division of Ministry, NHAI and State PWD also conduct inspection at various project sites regularly to monitor the quality of work. Quality Auditors are also engaged from time to time for conducting Quality Audits of the project work. On observation of any violation, action against the defaulter is taken as per provision in the agreement. The Ministry has empaneled National Level Project Monitors for monitoring of critical and languishing National Highways projects all over the country. Brice Butler Womens Jersey
ONGC’s proposed HPCL acquisition needs more thought
The Government had announced in this year’s Budget its intention to strengthen its oil PSUs through a mega merger so that they could ostensibly compete with some of the largest global petroleum companies. Such a merger would ostensibly increase their capacity in terms of risk taking, availing economies of scale, creating better value for the stakeholders, improving efficiency etc. More recently, it appears that the acquisition of Oil Marketing Company (OMC) HPCL is being considered by the flagship upstream PSU ONGC. This might be the easiest of the possible combinations given the Government’s share in HPCL is just a tad over 50 percent and the firm was earlier considered for divestment (before the Supreme Court put a spanner in the works). However, the question to be asked is whether such a development would help the companies in question and help achieve the objectives outlined by the Finance Minister.This is especially relevant as the acquisition will be expensive for ONGC. It is expected, for example, that the Government could get around $4-4.5 billion; and ONGC will also likely have to fork out funds to pay the public for an open offer besides what it pays the Government for its stake (or part of it). The Government, while propounding the idea of a merger, drew reference to the global oil majors such as Exxon, Shell, BP etc besides the large Chinese firms which have out-competed ONGC in the past while acquiring assets outside India. But whether ONGC would be left with the financial muscle to compete with these firms after paying billions of dollars to acquire HPCL and consequently witnessing very substantial increase in its debt, remains to be seen. It is quite likely that after paying for HPCL, it could struggle to raise funds for any other major acquisition, or have to pay higher interest rates in line with a lower credit rating given the higher debt on its Balance Sheet. The bottom line is whether ONGC would actually be strengthened to take on the might of Chinese firms or an Exxon post the proposed acquisition is certainly questionable. ONGC would be far better served by instead acquiring a technically competent mid-sized foreign upstream player. This would help it get more from existing fields, some of in which it is struggling (Imperial comes to mind), or bid for higher stakes and operatorship when it makes acquisitions abroad (currently it has largely taken minority stakes and is not the operator; its technical competence in deepwater fields needs to be better). It is also worth noting that ONGC will have to grapple with the acquisition of the ‘Deendayal’ gas field from GSPC. ONGC’s energy and funds could well end up being spent into managing and integrating these two acquisitions instead of focusing and growing its core business, where its production has been stagnating. It is true that a downstream firm such as HPCL would be somewhat insulated from higher oil prices through a combination with an upstream firm (although the Government was compensating it earlier and with the recent reforms in pricing of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene, it should be already in a better position to tide over commodity cycles than earlier). In that case, one may say that since it would be the beneficiary, it should be leading the acquisition. Therefore, should not HPCL be looking to acquire an upstream firm itself rather than be acquired? The time is right because HPCL’s balance sheet is looking far better after the recent few years of relatively subdued oil prices. There is upside potential for HPCL should crude oil prices rise- it could pay relatively less at present for an acquisition and see the value of the acquired firm rise with a possible increase in crude prices. Following this line of thought, while HPCL could look to acquire PSU firm Oil India Ltd (OIL), it seems a better strategy for it to acquire a mid-sized foreign crude oil producer to diversify its risks. All in all, the Government needs to perhaps think more carefully before pushing ahead with the plans announced in the Budget regarding combining one or more of its PSUs. Size may matter, but the right combinations also do. Else, far from meeting the objectives, the Government may find its flagship PSUs weakened rather than strengthened. Joe Looney Authentic Jersey
Why Oil Demand Forecasts Have Become A Guessing Game
Get yourself a ruler, a pencil and a piece of paper. Place the ruler at about 45 degrees and draw a line upward across the page. That was easy. Now think about how to draw oil consumption over the next three decades. Plenty of pundits are scrubbing their spreadsheets and fidgeting with their rulers to show us the answer. Some forecasters are economists who work for multinational oil and gas companies and government agencies. Most of their oil outlooks extend upward. The biggest uncertainty is the angle of their rulers. The steepest slope assumes that our prevailing consumption habits and government policies are extended out a few more decades. Oil demand reaches nearly 120 MMB/d at the top of this cluster, up almost 25 percent from today. More moderate trajectories in the group are based on pledges made pursuant to the November 2015 Paris Climate Change Conference; but tallying up country commitments still suggests modest growth to between 100 and 105 MMB/d by 2040. A group of weaker outlooks tilt downward like a loosely held hockey stick. Clustering between 73 and 80 MMB/d by 2040, this collection of prognostications assumes more aggressive global efforts to limit carbon loading in the atmosphere and the faster adoption of innovations like electric vehicles. The International Energy Agency’s 450 Scenario is the most bearish demand outlook among these peers. Environmental groups don’t equate fossil energy usage to classroom instruments or clichéd sports equipment. Slick oil charts from naysayers with green-coloured glasses look more like a BASE jump gone badly. The most catastrophic scenario appears to come from Greenpeace, which proposes that pipelines will trickle in the range of 35 MMB/d by 2040. What and whom to believe? The range of consumption estimates 25-years out is wider than the tailgate of a Ford F350; on one end is 35 MMB/d, on the other 120 MMB/d. Even the top cluster varies by 20 percent Given the 80 MMB/d range in opinions and analyses (each convincing on their own), stakeholders in the oil business may feel a tendency to adopt a, “the truth lies in the middle,” forecast. This method instructs us to believe a midpoint somewhere between denial and exuberance. Taking the median of all expert opinions and calling it the “consensus” of wisdom suggests oil demand will drop by 20 percent over the next quarter century. I don’t find this approach satisfying. Looking through a row of ten cloudy crystal balls doesn’t yield a new one of greater clarity. For over 100 years, the oil industry and its stakeholders have believed that the market for their products will continue to grow ad infinitum without competitive challenges. Today, that thesis is about as useful as a bent ruler and a broken pencil. Never in my 35-year career following energy markets has there been so much widespread disagreement about future demand for oil. And it’s a relatively recent confusion, one that’s been emerging over the past decade, but heightened in the past couple of years due to the potential forces of technological change and carbon regulation. An 80 MMB/d disagreement in various outlooks says to me that there is little value to add by uploading yet another spreadsheet into an already foggy cloud of forecast charts. I’m only confident in one fact and one forecast. Fact: There is widespread ambiguity in expert outlooks for oil consumption, one of the world’s most vital commodities. Forecast: The uncertainty is not going to diminish over the next five years at least. In other words, trends in technology, policy, economy and social factors are going to put wider and wider error bars on every pundit’s numbers. In my mind, the fuzzy question of, “How much oil is the world going to consume by 2030 and beyond?” must now yield to sharper, qualitative thinking. Pencils and rulers down, the questions going forward are, “What type of decisions will be made—relating to investment, corporate strategy, government policy and so on—under unprecedented uncertainty, and how will these near-term decisions affect the world’s long-term energy future?” I’ll be pondering answers to these questions during my commute to work and back – in my new electric vehicle. DaQuan Jones Womens Jersey
Solar-powered trains are closer to reality than we might think
How can we connect solar photovoltaics (PV) directly to railways to power electric trains? That’s the question my charity 10:10 and researchers at Imperial College’s Energy Futures Lab are trying to answer. Electric trains are by far the best long distance transport mode when it comes to carbon emissions – at least when their electricity comes from renewable sources like solar or wind. But the UK’s ageing power network poses a significant challenges to any bid to decarbonise road and rail that relies on the grid. There are now swathes of the British countryside where it is impossible to plug in any new solar, wind or hydropower without being hit with a whopping bill for the full costs of local network reinforcement. Faced with this constraint, and squeezed by government subsidy cuts, UK solar developers have started to focus on ways to generate power directly for consumption, rather than exporting it to the grid. With the right customers, solar developers can offer lower tariffs than the grid, while still earning more for their power than they would get from exporting it. Solar giant Lightsource, for example, recently signed a 25 year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Belfast airport that underwrote a neighbouring £5m solar farm, using a private wire to supply a quarter of the airport’s electricity needs. Why solar and trains are perfect match As an industrial client with high on-site daytime energy use and a structural reason to stay put, Network Rail has all of the features needed to support this kind of approach. The UK’s electrified rail routes have all of the features needed to support this kind of PPA-based renewable development, and more. Network Rail is the UK’s single largest electricity consumer, with internal decarbonisation targets and a strong incentive to reduce operational energy costs. Alongside Transport for London (London’s largest electricity consumer), these companies spend around £500m every year on traction power for their trains. There are already over 5,500km of electrified tracks in the UK, with a major electrification programme building or converting hundreds more over the coming decades. Early indications suggest it should be possible to connect virtually anywhere on the approximately one-third of this network that uses the direct current (DC) traction power system, unlocking access to thousands of potential new sites that have previously been out of bounds to new renewables. What’s more, the universe apparently wants this to happen: the standard operating voltage of the third and fourth rail DC routes is 630v-750v, while the standard output voltage of a solar PV array tends to be between 600v and 800v. This serendipity makes the engineering challenge of connecting the two look very manageable, and the likely cost of the power interface equipment competitive with typical grid connection costs. Conversion of renewable DC to grid alternating current (AC) results in something like 3% of the electricity being wasted, so supplying DC power direct to trains saves that loss too. Some of these DC routes already suffer from “under-powering”, meaning train operators cannot add more passenger capacity to these routes because the grid cannot supply the extra electricity needed to power the trains. At scale, our innovation could solve this problem as well. Solar trains in India While our project has been driven by the UK context, direct connection of solar to railways will be a world first that has far wider potential application. Globally, most city metros around the world run on rail systems at 750V. If connection to AC overhead lines also proves viable through our work, then the market potential goes well beyond city metros. For instance, analysts have identified inadequate distribution and transmission infrastructure as a key obstacle to realising India’s aggressive target of 100GW of solar PV capacity by 2022. But India already has over 25,000km of electrified tracks, and an electrification target of 2,000km of new tracks every year. If our innovation means India can power its railways directly with trackside solar then we will have made a huge contribution to the global project to keep fossil fuels in the ground. In the UK, if our feasibility study proves successful, the next step will be to prove the concept with a handful of real-world pilot projects. For this, we’re working with members of the Community Energy South umbrella group of renewable energy co-operatives to identify promising sites where they could install a megawatt or two of trackside solar. Our vision here is to bring local people, commuters and rail employees together to crowdfund investment in these pioneering projects, sharing the financial rewards of progress in the low carbon transition as widely as possible. Andrew Whitworth Authentic Jersey
Single window clearance for women starting airline ventures
Women entrepreneurs will get “single window clearance” and other benefits to start an airline under the regional air connectivity scheme, a top official said. The remarks were made by Civil Aviation Secretary RN Choubey in a video message at an event here to celebrate International Women’s Day today. “Regional Connectivity Scheme is an opportunity whereby women can set up a brand new airline… I assure that women will get special treatment. We will give them single window clearance,” he said. Women should come forward to start aviation companies, Choubey said in the video message recorded for the non-profit group Women in Aviation International (WAI). The event, organised by WAI, was also attended by Choubey and Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju. As part of efforts to make flying more affordable as well as connect unserved and under-served airports, the government has unveiled the ambitious regional connectivity scheme UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik). Under UDAN, various incentives would be extended to the participating airlines, including viability gap funding, while fares would be capped at ?2,500 for one-hour flights. Helicopter services are also covered under the scheme. Speaking at the event, the Civil Aviation Minister said there is some way to go in addressing gender inequality. “We do have some way to go in addressing gender inequality but the silver lining in the cloud is that everybody has started accepting that gender inequality must be a thing of the past,” he said. Raju also felicitated the all-women crew of Air India that flew around the world on a Delhi-San Francisco flight. WAI unveiled the slogan ‘Beti Ki Udaan, Desh Ka Swabhimaan’ as part of International Women’s Day celebrations. Anthony Mantha Jersey
Qatar Airways plans first fully foreign-owned airline in India
India may soon get its first fully-foreign owned airline after the Modi government allowed 100% FDI in the sector last June. Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker said in Berlin Wednesday that he plans to start an airline in India with the investment arm of Qatar government. A Qatar Airways spokesperson quoted the CEO saying that since India now allows 100% FDI, he plans to do so with Qatar Investment Authority. Baker also said that he will be making an application to launch a domestic airline in India soon. Qatar Airways has for many years been eyeing a stake in IndiGo but the Indian budget carrier has not done so. Last June, the Modi government had allowed Indian carriers to be fully owned by foreign entities. While foreign carriers will still be required to have up to 49% stake in airlines here, they can now get a foreign partner — like a sovereign wealth fund or an institutional investor — and not look for an Indian partner to put in the remaining 51%. However, India is yet to review the issue of “substantial ownership and effective control (SOEC)” in the fully-foreign owned airlines it had allowed last June. Currently, flying licences are given to an airline in India only if its chairperson and two-third of the directors are Indians and if the SOEC is with Indian nationals. The issue of SOEC being with Indians arises at two times — issuing the operating licence and giving bilateral rights that India has to its airlines for flying abroad. Harold Carmichael Authentic Jersey
OIL signs MoU with Houston univ to augment reserves base
Oil India Limited (OIL) has signed an MoU with the University of Houston in a bid to augment its reserves base and maximise recovery from its ageing oilfields. The MoU was inked on Tuesday in the presence of Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The MoU was signed by Utpal Bora, CMD, OIL, and University of Houston (UH), represented by Chancellor and President Renu Khator. Terming the MoU as historic, Pradhan said this will go a long way for the pilot study of CO2 capture technology application in Assam oil fields. “Innovation, institutional hand-holding and scientific temperament is the way ahead for oil and gas sector’s growth,” Pradhan said. “If there is (a) good strategy, innovative technology and willpower, a good ecosystem can be formed that will help in more oil recovery from the oilfields,” Pradhan said. The major focus of the MoU is collaboration in the areas of improved oil recovery and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) for augmenting the production from matured fields, improvement in drilling and well intervention practices, seismic interpretation and reservoir characterisation studies, and unconventional hydrocarbon studies. “I hope that the benefits of this partnership between these two institutions would trickle down to the Indian E&P sector and help increase our domestic production of oil and gas, thereby strengthening India’s energy mix and securing India’s energy needs to fuel the desired economic growth in the medium to long term,” Pradhan said. It is believed that this collaboration will help OIL to further consolidate and upgrade the various initiatives the company has undertaken to improve production and contribute significantly to the energy security of the country. This will also contribute towards national obligation set by Prime Minister Modi to reduce import dependency of oil and gas by 10 per cent by 2022. “OIL is also in talks with NRG (NRG Energy Inc.), a leading power company in the US and world leader in de-carbonisation, who along with its partners completed construction on the world’s largest post-combustion carbon capture system on-budget and on-schedule for using it for EOR project,” OIL spokesperson said. “NRG can help OIL to assess CO2 availability from the nearby industry sources and support as well as advise viability of Carbon Capture and Sequestration pilot project,” the spokesperson said. Robert Griffin III Womens Jersey
Dharmendra Pradhan meets US energy secretary, discusses LNG deal
Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has discussed with new Energy Secretary Rick Perry the possibility of importing LNG from the US and Indian investment in the energy sector there. Pradhan met Perry during an unscheduled trip to the US Capitol and discussed energy cooperation between India and the US, Indian investment in Liquefied natural gas (LNG) and Shale sectors, and the possibility of the US exporting LNG to India from early next year. Perry said co-operation between India and the US in the energy sector is in mutual interest as India’s energy need is set to see a rapid increase as the economy expands. Pradhan arrived in Washington DC from Houston, a city located near the Gulf of Mexico, where he attended the influential CERAWeek energy conference and launched the new Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP). On the sidelines of the conference, Pradhan had bilateral meetings with counterparts from Russia, Sri Lanka, Canada and Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih is expected to visit India soon. Pradhan also met the CEO of state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company; Bob Dudley, CEO of British Petroleum; and International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol. In Washington, Perry, who took over the department last week, strongly pushed for a Houston visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi later this year. He said Modi’s meeting with the strong energy community in Houston could add a new dimension to bilateral ties. Dates of Modi’s US visit is still being worked out. Pradhan, who invited Perry to India for the next round of India-US Energy Dialogue later this year, said he would convey his message to the prime minister. Pradhan said the US energy secretary believes energy is the next frontier for India-US relationship. On Tuesday, the Union minister met Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who appreciated the Indian-American community and said that he is planning to lead a trade delegation to India soon. During the visit, Oil India signed a MoU with Houston University to work on CO2 injection technology to enhance production in Assam. Pradhan started his US tour from Boston, where he interacted with students and faculty members of MIT, Harvard Kennedy School and Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University. At MIT, he also met former US Energy Secretary Prof Ernest Muniz. Both in Boston and Houston, Pradhan met members from the Indian community, including scientists of Indian origin. Eric Hosmer Womens Jersey
Price of solar power may fall further in FY18
Solar power generation costs are set to dip further during third and fourth quarter of 2017-18, helped by expected softening of interest rates and a drop in solar panel prices due to a supply glut in the international market, analysts say. Solar power costs had hit a low of Rs 3.30 per unit last month, which is equal to average generation tariffs of NTPC, which produces bulk of its power from coal. NTPC’s lowest cost of generation from one of its old plant is around Rs 1.80 per unit, but on an average solar power prices are expected to become significantly lower than thermal power as solar generation prices fall further. “Interest rates are expected to soften this year thus bringing down cost of generation of solar power plants. This would thus bring down generation tariffs further from the new low achieved in February,” said Sabyasachi Majumdar, senior vice president at ICRA Ratings. In February, solar tariffs in the country touched a low of Rs 2.97 per unit for the first year of generation and an average tariff of Rs 3.30 per unit at a bidding for solar plants at Rewa in Madhya Pradesh. According to analysts, interest rates may fall by at least 25 basis points this year. “Solar module prices are expected to continue declining in 2017 as global supply continues to exceed demand,” said Vinay Rustagi, managing director at Bridge to India. “As the largest supplier and installer of solar modules, China will continue to drive global pricing. Many leading global solar panel suppliers have seen their share prices fall by 30-50% in the last year,” he said. “The second quarter is typically the year’s busiest period in China so we expect to see some hardening in prices in Q2, followed by a steep decline in third and fourth quarters,” Rustagi said. He said India’s demand for solar panels is expected to be 20% lower than in 2016. The country is expected install 28 GW of generation capacity in 2017, down from a record 34 GW in 2016. He said demand for solar panels has been falling in Japan and Europe while the rooftop solar market in the US seemed to be losing steam as tussles with state utilities continue. “This means that even with lower pricing and rapid demand growth in developing countries such as India, global demand is expected to be nearly stagnant in 2017 at about 75 GW even as capacity continues to go up. Several large suppliers have announced significant expansions and we estimate year end global manufacturing capacity at over 100 GW,” Rustagi said. Morgan Moses Jersey
Tata Power-DDL plans to set up 1000 electric charging stations
Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd today said it is planning to install 1,000 electric vehicle charging stations in next four to five years in Delhi. The company plans to set up these charging stations at various locations in North and North-West Delhi and is already in discussions with Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for space. “We have already put five of them at our grid stations and plan to put 1,000 of them at various locations (in four to five years),” Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd (Tata Power-DDL) CEO and MD Praveer Sinha told reporters on the sidelines of a function here today. “So, we are in discussions with MCD, DMRC for space where the two-wheelers, three-wheelers and four-wheelers can be parked and charged. I think they (vehicle owners) need space where they can park their vehicles and charge it for six to eight hours,” he said. “We carried out the study (for the proposed 1,000 stations) and also got the mapping done,” Sinha said. Refusing to share investment details, Sinha said it was very difficult to give a number as the proposal was at a very niche stage. However, he said that for setting up a fast charging station the cost involved is around one lakh while for a slow charging station an investment of Rs 50,000 is required. “At present for our five stations we charge normal domestic rate,” he said. The company, he said, has also communicated with the government in this regard. “We told them (government) that we will set up charging infrastructure…They (government) need not worry about charging infrastructure. That we will take care,” he said. Asserting that the sale of electric two wheelers has increased marginally in last one year, Sinha said “we ourselves are very keen that electric vehicles should be promoted.” Tata Power-DDL is a joint venture between Tata Power and the government of Delhi with the majority stake being held by the power firm. Tata Power-DDL distributes electricity in the North and North-West of Delhi. John Jerry Authentic Jersey