JSW group to foray into aviation business
Sajjan Jindal’s JSW Group is entering the civil aviation business. It has bid for the Bengaluru-Vijayanagar route under the government’s regional connectivity scheme, its top executive said. “Our Group has submitted the bid under the government’s scheme and the bid is only for one route, which is Vijayanagar to Bengaluru. No listed company is involved,” joint managing director and Group’s chief financial officer Seshagiri Rao said. The foray into civil aviation would mean that the proposed SPV will need to get approvals from the aviation ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation as a scheduled commuter airline before it launches operations. He added that the group is not looking at this venture as an entirely commercial venture. “It is not a purely commercial venture for us and we are looking at it more from a perspective of providing connectivity to our plant. It may become a big business in the future but as of now our investment is only in the range of about Rs 20 crore,” Rao said. Rao, however, did not reveal any details on the type of aircraft that will be used to launch operations saying he is not aware of those details. He further said that about 25 to 30 people from their company travel to Vijayanagar daily. “This route will also help tourists travelling to Hampi,” he said. Tourists traveling to Hampi now have only the road and rail routes, which take about six hours from Bangaluru. Hampi is a popular tourist destination, dotted with temples and a UNESCO World heritage site, with monuments dating as far back as 1442 from the Vijayanagara empire. An Airports Authority of India official, when contacted, confirmed that JSW Group has applied, but refused to reveal any further details, as the bidding process is still on. Another aviation ministry official, when contacted, said: “The proposals are from 11airlines, including Air India and SpiceJet, and they expect to kickstart operations at about 15 unserved or underserved airports soon.” The Modi government, in June last year, announced a plan to provide regional air connectivity at a fare of Rs 2,500 per hour of flight. According to the scheme, the government would bridge the gap between cost of operations through the regional subsidy fund that has been created by charging domestic airlines a charge per flight. J.J. Watt Jersey
Centre mulls dedicated cargo airport for Telangana, UP
The Centre is considering a proposal each from Telangana and Uttar Pradesh for setting up a ‘dedicated cargo airport.’ Telangana wants a dedicated cargo airport to be built in northern Hyderabad, while Uttar Pradesh is seeking the green signal to construct one such airport in the western part of the state, official sources said. The Centre has informed these two states that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) had appointed a consultant to study and suggest name(s) of airport(s) or site(s) in the country that can be ‘developed’ or ‘converted’ as ‘dedicated cargo airport(s)’ – which may also be termed as ‘merchant airport(s).’ The AAI, subject to the Centre’s approval, would facilitate the construction of such dedicated cargo airport(s) once the site(s) and plans are finalised, and after finding that the same would be geographically suitable for air transportation, the sources said. They added that the cargo airport(s) may also act as ‘air cargo hub(s)’ in the country. Yadier Molina Womens Jersey
Will start receiving ordered Boeing planes from mid-2018, says SpiceJet
Stating that Indian aviation market is the fastest growing in the world, SpiceJet on Monday said that it aspires to be the most profitable airline in the country. “We have the best on-time performance in the industry. We will try to reduce costs and increase ancillary revenue,” it said. The low-cost carrier also said that it will start receiving the ordered Boeing planes from mid-2018. Meanwhile, India’s domestic travel demand in 2016 touched nearly 100 million mark, with the Indian airlines flying a total of 998.88 lakh (99.88 million) passengers between the January-December period of 2016 as compared to 810.91 lakh in 2015, an increase of 23.18 per cent over 2015. The data showed that the low-cost carrier (LCC) SpiceJet had the highest passenger load factor (PLF) during the month under review at 93.7 per cent. “Not only have we scored a hat-trick with the best OTP (on-time performance) for the third consecutive month in a row, we have also recorded over 90 per cent passenger load factor for 21 successive months,” G.P. Gupta, Chief Administrative Officer, SpiceJet, said in a statement. Recently SpiceJet also changed the uniform of its workforce. The uniforms retain the carrier’s signature red colour largely, while incorporating new designs. Inspired by the airline’s image of “Red.Hot.Spicy”, the new range of uniforms has been introduced to enhance the style quotient. The new range includes a unique design for each department, specifically styled to suit the different seasons. For instance, the summer wear for the female cabin crew will include a one-piece dress. The range for pilots includes a single button slim cut black suit for men. Patrik Laine Jersey
Did you know? Every 9 in 10 AAI airports are running a loss
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is making losses at 90 percent of the airports it operates, reports Business Standard . This is due to a lack of aviation activity at the airports, with 30 of the 109 loss-making airports under it completely bereft of any aircraft traffic. The government’s regional air connectivity initiative is planned around bringing these airports back into use by subsidising airlines to fly to such locations. Only 13 of the 125 airports under its belt are currently profit making. The AAI earned Rs 10,824 crore as income in the financial year 2016, out of which, a third came from revenues made by private airports. The Delhi International Airport has to pay 45.99 percent of its revenues to AAI, while the Mumbai International Airport shells out 38.7 percent. The public sector entity also receives consession fees of 4 percent of revenues of the Hyderabad and Bengaluru airports. AAI attributes the losses to low traffic at airports which translates into meagre revenues. With revenues at a minimum, the airports always end up with higher expenditures over revenues. It has started focussing on its bigger loss-making airports for now, with hopes that the Centre’s regional connectivity scheme kicks in soon. Profits for AAI in FY16 stood at Rs 2,537 crore. Almost a fifth of its profits, around Rs 560 crore, was given to the Centre as dividend for the same period. Kapil Kaul of aviation consultancy firm CAPA told Business Standard that an urgent restructuring of AAI is essential. Bhopal airport, which has regular flight activity, is the top loss making airport for AAI with a Rs 52.6 crore loss in FY16. Other airports which also contribute to high losses include Amritsar, Aurangabad, Varanasi airports among others. Harrison Phillips Jersey
India is bright spot for infra investment: Global Infrastructure Hub
India is seen as a bright spot for infrastructure investment amid rising protectionist measures around the world, said Bill Brummitt, chief operating officer (COO) of the Global Infrastructure Hub, a platform launched by G20 countries to address global infrastructure deficit. “I think it’s very important that infrastructure markets don’t get caught up in that protectionist mindset and we continue to see international capital flowing across borders, and not just capital, but also expertise,“ Brummitt told ET in an interaction. “Viewed from Australia (where the group is based), India is still seen as a very promising market with a very large market, growing fast, and with a lot of opportunity,“ he added. The Global Infrastructure Hub last year launched its Project Pipeline to provide the private sector with information about government infrastructure projects across the world.“It’s designed to provide a platform where procurement authorities, whether it’s the national authorities at the state or local level, can put projects onto that pipeline, and therefore, raise their visibility with international investors all around the world,“ Brummitt said.The Global Infrastructure Hub currently does not link investors and companies building infrastructure project but is hoping to do so in future. “As Project Pipeline matures, and there are more projects listed on the pipeline and more investors looking at the pipeline, we will be able to keep track of whether the pipeline is actually helping the companies to find projects,“ he said. Brummitt was in India last week to hold talks with officials from the ministries of finance and road transport on the tools the group has developed as a knowledge-sharing platform. Roads and smart cities are two key areas which seem to have a lot of potential in India, Brummitt said. “I’m aware that India has a very large broad PPP (public private partnership) programme in the roads sector at the mo ment. And now India is urbanising, has a huge population, lot of big cities, and I think a lot of people are talking about the smart circles, smart cities agenda in India as well,“ he said. Apart from their focus on PPPs and concession management, the group is also pushing for multilateral development banks like the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Asian InfrastructureInvestment Bank to link private investment with public infrastructure projects. “The more we can encourage the multilateral development banks to use their whole range of skills and resources and onthe-ground presence that they have at their disposal, to help encourage and facilitate private finance rather than using their own capital, we think the better off the world would be,“ Brummitt added. Frank Vatrano Jersey
NHAI revives tender process for Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has revived the tender process to turn the existing Bengaluru-Mysuru highway (NH 275) into a six lane expressway, raising hopes among tens of thousands of people travelling between the two cities. The NHAI is awarding the public-private partnership (PPP) project under the hybrid annuity model (DBOT annuity) and has floated request for proposal from private developers, giving them time till April 4 to respond. This is the second attempt by NHAI to put the much-delayed project back on track. The highways authority had, on December 6, cancelled the tender, floated under the DBFOT model, without assigning any reason. However, it is now clear that the tender was cancelled to change the model of contract. The NHAI has divided the project into two packages of 56.2 km (Bengaluru-Nidagatta) and 61.1 km (Nidagatta-Mysuru).The revised estimates show the 117-km stretch project could cost ` . 4,153 crore, a drop by Rs 342 crore from earlier estimates. The land acquisition for the project is already completed. The splitting of the contract, engineers say, will help the NHAI complete the project sooner as two developers will be able to start the work simultaneously from both north and south end of the long stretch. The contractors will require about 24 months to complete the project, and the NHAI may be able to commission in 2020. In the DBFOT model, while the successful bidder bears the entire project cost (minus land acquisition), the hybrid annuity model will involve NHAI funding 60% of the cost, while the partner will bring in the balance equity. The change in the PPP model type, according to an official, also had to do with the market conditions, and the NHAI did not want to confront a situation of fewer developers bidding under the DBFOT model for this highly lucrative project.Hybrid annuity is not only seen as a good model, would also attract several bids, experts say. The banks too will readily respond to fund the project. The developer will not carry any toll risk which will be handled by the NHAI. The developer will get a fixed rate of return for his investment, they say.The Ministry of Highways has assigned top priority to the project in view of the rising vehicular traffic between the two cities in Karnataka. Mysuru is also the home district of chief minister Siddaramaiah. The new expressway, when operational, is expected to cut the travel time between Bengaluru and Mysuru to 90 minutes, and that would cheer the IT industry, among others. Mysuru has not been able to attract investments in the IT sector in spite of Infosys landing there a decade ago. The expressway, when commissioned, will have 10-lanes including two-lane service roads on either side, and three-lane main carriageway in each direction. The expressway will come up between the Panchamukhi temple after NICE road in Bengaluru and Columbia Asia hospital junction in Mysuru. Clay Harbor Womens Jersey
Hiranandani Energy starts construction work of jetty at Jaigarh port
Hiranandani Energy, the energy arm of Hiranandani Group, today said it has commenced the construction work of jetty for the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) project at the Jaigarh port in Maharashtra. The company is developing a FSRU-based LNG re-gasification terminal with JSW Jaigarh Port with a capacity of 4 MMTPA, which will ultimately be expanded to 8 MMTPA. “We are committed to deliver a commercially viable and environmentally friendly solution to the country. The commencement of the jetty construction work at Jaigarh Port is a major step in the development of the LNG re-gasification project,” H-Energy CEO Darshan Hiranandani said. He said the strategic partnership and association with JSW is a perfect fit in the development of infrastructure for importing much needed natural gas into the country. “The FSRU charter agreement will be the last major milestone in the project. We have 3 shortlisted bidders and are hopeful to finalise this soon,” Hiranandani said. “We hope to commence commercial operations of the LNG facilities before December 2018,” he added. Once operational, this will be the fifth LNG import terminal on the west coast. The west coast already has four LNG import terminals including: Dahej and Hazira in Gujarat; Dabhol in Maharashtra and Kochi in Kerala. Jaigarh also houses the 5 million tones Dabhol LNG terminal operated by gas utility Gail IndiaBSE -0.27 %. In addition to building the marine infrastructure in the port of Jaigarh to import and re-gasify the LNG, the project scope also includes construction of gas pipeline of around 60 km in length connecting the Jaigarh terminal to the existing natural gas pipeline network at Dabhol, the company said. According to the agreement, Jaigarh Port shall manage the construction of the jetty civil works and has appointed L&T Infrastructure Engineering Ltd., Chennai for jetty design. The civil construction works of the LNG jetty has been awarded to ITD CementationBSE -1.17 %, Mumbai. H-Energy and Jaigarh Port have jointly appointed COWI India Private Limited, Chennai to supervise the jetty construction. “Connected to the terminal, H-Energy’s Jaigarh – Mangalore pipeline development is also making substantial progress on its regulatory approvals and route surveys. It will be a lifeline to the Konkan region and Coastal Karnataka for the provision of natural gas to industry and homes,” Hiranandani added. H-Energy through its gas marketing company is negotiating medium and short term LNG sourcing and downstream gas supply contracts providing end-to-end gas solutions to the downstream customers. Matt Schaub Womens Jersey
JSW Group to boost PM Modi’s plan to improve flight connectivity for small towns and villages
JSW Group, the Indian conglomerate led by billionaire Savitri Jindal, applied under a subsidy program spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to improve flight connectivity for small towns and villages. The group made a bid in an ongoing auction process which will allow companies asking for minimum government subsidies to operate scheduled commercial flights to the country’s underutilized airstrips. The aim is to improve connectivity between the group’s plants, Chief Financial Officer Seshagiri Rao said in a phone interview Monday. The firm isn’t bidding under listed entities such as JSW Steel Ltd., India’s largest privately owned producer of the material. Modi has promised tax breaks and waivers of landing and parking charges for some underused airfields in the world’s fastest growing aviation market, which is also among the costliest due to taxes and airport charges. The prime minister is trying connect India’s 450 airports and airstrips, mostly in smaller towns, by vowing to fund some of the airlines’ losses if they fly to such airports. JSW Group, whose businesses range from metals to power generation, also plans to venture into electric cars by 2020 on expectations the government will promote such vehicles and falling battery prices will make them more affordable, Chairman Sajjan Jindal said in January. Kirk Mclean Jersey
Defence airports need DGCA certificate for scheduled flights
From next year onwards, scheduled flight operations will be allowed from defence airports only if they have been certified by DGCA, according to the civil aviation ministry. With certain issues still to be sorted out between civil aviation and defence ministries, the deadline has been extended to December 31, 2017, a senior DGCA official said. The initial deadline lapsed on December 31, 2016. In a notification issued earlier this month, the civil aviation ministry said scheduled flight operations will not be permitted from any airport, including defence aerodromes, from December 31, 2017, unless such aerodromes have been certified by the DGCA. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is the regulatory body governing safety aspects of civil aviation and approves flight schedules, among others. “… no person shall operate scheduled air transport services to and from an aerodrome, including defence aerodromes, with effect from December 31, 2017 unless it has been either licensed (aerodrome) or certified (defence aerodrome) by the director general of civil aviation,” the notification said. For certification, DGCA will have to check and ensure the safety of airstrips and related facilities, including air traffic control (ATC), at defence aerodromes. Besides, the regulator should have access to areas and aspects related to scheduled carrier services. Discussions are going on among officials of the ministries to sort out the issues and hence the deadline has been extended, the DGCA official reasoned. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) manages 125 aerodromes, including 25 civil enclaves at defence airfields, as per its website. Christine Michael Sr Authentic Jersey
SoBo to get direct connect to new airport via MTHL
The road route through the 22-km Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) will provide direct connectivity to passengers from south Mumbai to the upcoming international airport. The SoBo motorists can take a left turn from Shivaji Nagar, Ulwe to head for the western side of the airport. Cidco chief engineer, K K Varkhedkar said, “The MTHL will drop in Ulwe at Shivaji Nagar from where one arm of the coastal road, via an interchange, will directly connect to the airport. The other arm will connect JNPT.” Total length of the two arms of the coastal road is 10. 1 km. The airport connectivity via Ulwe will be done under phase I and the JNPT connect in phase II. A 5.7-km stretch of the coastal road will connect MTHL to Aamra Marg, that will help motorist to access Palm Beach Road at Kille junction. Just before the coastal road connects to Aamra Marg, there will be a bifurcation near the upcoming Targhar railway station, which is described as airport link. Targhar is one of the several railway stations on the upcoming Nerul-Uran railway corridor. Wes Horton Womens Jersey