RV Deshpande wants speedy approvals for second runway
Karnataka industries and infrastructure minister RV Deshpande on Tuesday met Union civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapati Raju and MoS (civil aviation) Jayant Sinha and requested speedy statutory clearances from the Centre for the second runway at the Kempegowda International Airport in view of the airport exceeding its passenger capacity. “The airport has already achieved the passenger traffic projected for 2020,“ Deshpande told reporters on the sidelines of “Make in Karnataka“ conference, here. In calendar 2016, the passenger traffic at the airport grew by 22.5%, recording a passenger traffic of 22.18 million. “The Bengaluru airport is of world class, and the airport regulator, the Airport Regulatory Authority of India (AERA) is studying costs.The second runway proposal is pending clearance at AERA,“ the minister said. Deshpande also held preliminary talks with JSW Group officials on opening up their private airport at Vijayanagar in Ballari district for passenger traffic by allowing regional carriers to use it. This is as per the Centre’s regional aviation policy which includes using private airports for promoting regional air transport, the minister said. The JSW Group will study the suggestion and revert, Deshpande said. The airport will be of great use to people visiting the district which is home to a large number of steel and sponge iron industries. A private airport in minister Jayant Sinha’s home state of Jharkhand is successfully opened up for passenger traffic, he added. The Hubli airport is technically ready to receive airbus aircraft and only regulatory clearances are pending. The airport has extended its runway to enable wide-body aircraft to land. Belgaum airport too will be ready to receive wide-body aircraft in about eight months time, the minister said. The 3000-acre aerospace park near Devanahalli airport, Deshpande said, is getting quality investments, and the government is providing incentives and concessions to investors setting up units at this sprawling park. About 65% of India’s aerospace exports happen out of Karnataka, he added. Mel Blount Womens Jersey
Petronet buys 26 percent stake in LNG vessel for Rs 100 crore
Petronet LNG Ltd, India’s largest liquefied natural gas importer, has bought a 26 per cent stake in the shipping consortium that built its biggest LNG ship to transport gas form from Australia. Petronet had in 2013 contracted Shipping Corp of India (SCI) and its Japanese partners to build and operate a 173,000 cubic meters capacity LNG ship. The LNG vessel, ‘Prachi’, was delivered in December last year. After sea trials, the ship has delivered the first cargo of LNG from Gorgon project in Australia to Petronet’s Dahej import terminal in Gujarat. “We have now decided to take 26 per cent equity in India LNG Transport Company (No 4) Private Limited,” Petronet Director (Finance) R K Garg said here. Singapore-headquartered India LNG Transport Co (No 4) is the firm that won the time-charter contract from Petronet and got the 173,000 cubic meter vessel built at Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd’s Ulsan shipyard in South Korea. Garg said agreements for Petronet taking the equity have been executed and the consideration paid. “It (the money paid) is less than Rs 100 crore,” he said. After this, state-owned SCI holds 26 per cent and NYK Line of Japan hold 26 per cent stake each in the company, while 22 per cent is held by Mitsui OSK Line and K Line. ‘Prachi’ is the fourth LNG vessel to be hired by Petronet. The earlier three are all deployed for ferrying LNG from Qatar. SCI, K Line, NYK Line and MOL consortium had won the tender by quoting the lowest charter hire of a little over USD 78,000 per day for 19 years for hauling LNG from Gorgon. Teekay LNG Partners LP, the only other firm to put in a price bid, had quoted a charter hire rate of USD 79,200 per day. The consortium had also built the previous three vessels for Petronet as well. It in 2002 won a 25-year contract for two ships, ‘Disha’ and ‘Rahi’, by quoting the lowest day rate of USD 68,900 for each ship for transporting the cargo from Qatar, and a contract for the third vessel, ‘Aseem’, in 2006 at a day rate of USD 72,880. “We did not take any equity in first two vessels but exercised our right and took 3 per cent in third (Assem),” Garg said. SCI, India’s biggest ocean carrier, holds a 29.08 per cent stake each in ‘Disha’ and ‘Rahi’ and a 26 per cent stake in the third, ‘Aseem’. Garg said all the four ship will be managed by SCI. The first two vessels were capable of carrying 138,000 cubic meters of gas and the third was of 155,000 cubic meters capacity. The fourth vessel, with 173,000 cubic meter capacity, is the biggest Petronet has ordered yet, he added. State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), GAIL India Ltd, Indian Oil Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) own 12.5 per cent stake in Petronet LNG Ltd, India’s biggest buyer of LNG. Luke Stocker Womens Jersey
Kandla-Gorakhpur Proposal: IOC may use 50% of longest LPG pipeline
State-run Indian Oil Corporation plans to use nearly half the capacity of the country’s longest LPG pipeline. The balance capacity of the proposed pipeline is to be used by the public sector corporations Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum, and Reliance Industries. Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), the downstream regulator, has invited bids from interested parties by June 6 to lay a 2,650-km long liquefied petroleum gas pipeline from Kandla in Gujarat to Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, with additional feeder lines of Pipavav-Ahmedabad and Dahej-Koyali. The pipeline will have a capacity of 6 million metric tonnes per annum, including common carrier facility for any third party on open access basis. The main line will be about 2,000 km long. Indian Oil Corporation had written to the PNGRB about four months ago, saying it was interested in building such a pipeline between Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh to cater to rising demand for cooking gas. Following such expression of interests, the regulator has to hold consultations with all stakeholders. Based on their feedback, it has to firm up the specifications for the proposed pipeline and then open it to formal bids. During the consultation, GAIL said the proposed pipeline would hurt the company’s underutilised LPG pipeline that partly runs on the same route, and therefore shouldn’t be built. During the consultation, the companies supporting the pipeline had to intimate PNGRB how much capacity each of them planned to use. IOC has committed to use 3 million metric tonnes of capacity while HPCL and BPCL have committed 1.8 mt and 1.7 mt respectively. RIL has committed 242,000 mt. These companies will source some LPG from their respective refineries. Domantas Sabonis Jersey
Discontinuing tax relief under GST may hike solar tariff: Study
The solar sector could see tariffs rise by around 10 per cent if current tax exemptions are curtailed in the roll out of GST, a Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) study has said. Multiple GST (Goods and Services Tax) rates and their uncertain applicability to different equipment and services for solar projects are a growing concern for solar project developers and investors. GST could also impact the pace of the second phase of solar park development for additional 20,000 MW capacity announced in the recent Budget, it said in a statement. According to the statement, the key contributors to the increase in solar tariffs as a result of GST would include increase in operations and maintenance cost, panel cost, and financing cost. The increase in solar tariffs would also vary from state to state; higher for those such as Rajasthan where VAT and Entry Tax exemptions are currently provided for solar equipment, as opposed to Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat where VAT and Entry Tax exemptions are not provided, it said. The CEEW study also finds that GST will give a boost to the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, improving competitiveness of Indian manufacturers of solar cells, panels and modules; eliminate the cascading effect of the existing tax structure and introduce an input tax credit. Increased competitiveness of domestic solar manufacturers could create an additional 37.000 new jobs in the solar manufacturing sector by 2022, it said. Even as India celebrates record low solar tariffs, the CEEW study finds that GST could possibly push up capital cost of a solar project by Rs 45 lakh per megawatt if current tax exemptions were curtailed, setting back the sector in terms of cost competitiveness by about 18 months, it said. Solar project developers have approached the government with requests to ensure that the current tax exemptions applicable to the sector continue so as to not negatively impact the efforts to achieve grid parity. The government currently collects less than 0.1 per cent of its total indirect tax from the solar sector, it added Dr Arunabha Ghosh, CEO, CEEW, said, “If current tax exemptions are curtailed, the impact of the increase in solar tariffs could be partially offset by policy instruments, such as Accelerated Depreciation benefits or Viability Gap Funding for projects incurring increased capital investments.” The recent Budget has already benefited domestic solar manufacturers with the reduction of basic customs duty to nil for tempered glass used in the manufacture of solar cells, panels and modules and the reduction of countervailing duty from 12.5 per cent to 6 per cent for parts used in the manufacture of tempered glass which is used in solar PV cells, modules, etc, it said. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced last month that the GST may be implemented on July 1, 2017, it added. Brian Bellows Authentic Jersey
Getting the solar power goal on track
One brief sentence in finance minister Arun Jaitley’s Budget speech hints at a potentially transformative strategy to rev up solar energy pan-India. The proposal to feed about 7,000 railway stations with solar power could go a long way in meeting, if not exceeding, the national goal to have 100 GW of functional solar generation capacity by 2022. If the Railways can gainfully leverage land and building space for, say , 20 MW of solar capacity in each of the 7,000 stations, it would greatly increase green, renewable power nationally . The Railways would be in a win-win situation in switching over to solar power. Given that the Railways pay for power at the highest, commercial rates, sourcing solar power on-site would save money and the environment. There is widespread energy poverty and the lack of quality power in large parts of India, and concurrently our greenhouse gas emissions are large and rising fast. The way ahead is to speedily concretise forward-looking plans for solar power at rail stations, and focus on meeting lighting demand in adjoining areas too, so as to reap economies of scale. It would gel well with the ongoing plan to revamp and upgrade railway stations. And for the solar assets, there would be much potential for unlocking value and divestment, following listing on the stock market, and sooner rather than later. The way forward for the Railways is to proactively access funds from the Clean Environment Cess corpus, seek accelerated depreciation, generation-based incentives, etc, and explore other innovative financing options to actualise its solar power targets in a time-bound fashion. The Railways have a path-breaking opportunity to adopt solar power for lighting purposes and, in the process, handsomely boost its market capitalisation. The track is clear, all the way home. Caleb Benenoch Jersey
Argentina’s Enarsa seeks nine LNG cargoes via tender -sources
Argentina state-run energy firm Energia Argentina S.A., or Enarsa, has launched a tender seeking nine cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for delivery between April and May, two trading sources with direct knowledge of the tender said on Tuesday. Enarsa is seeking four cargoes for discharge at the port of Bahia Blanca and the remaining five cargoes for Escobar, the sources said, adding that two cargoes are scheduled for April delivery and the remaining for delivery in May. The tender will close on Feb. 21 and will remain valid until Feb. 22, the sources said, declining to be identified as they were not authorised to speak with media. Brian Robison Womens Jersey
ADB to provide $800m loan for LNG-based power plant
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has assured the official agency concerned of providing nearly US$800 million loan to it for setting up an 800-megawatt (MW) LNG-based power plant in Khulna, officials said Monday. Power Division officials said they held a meeting with the ADB Mission last week where the lender had assured them of the loan for the power plant project. A Consultation Mission from the ADB met the Power Division, Economic Relations Division (ERD) and other relevant agencies during its more than a week-long visit to Dhaka, they said. The North-West Power Generation Company Limited (NWPGCL) has taken the project to set up the power plant, to be run by liquefied natural gas (LNG). It will have dual-fuel provision so that the plant could also be operated by oil during any crisis of gas supply. A senior Power Division official said the power plant would cost nearly US$1.0 billion where the government’s contribution is expected to be $200 million. Bangladesh is heavily dependent on its limited natural gas for generating power over the years. Since gas is depleting fast against the backdrop of its growing demand every year, the government has decided to set up power plants based on imported LNG, coal and oil. “As part of the government policy, the NWPGCL has taken the power generation project in Khulna. The LNG to the proposed power plant is expected to be supplied from India,” said the Division official. He said the LNG will be imported through a pipeline from Digha in Kolkata. According to the NWPGCL, the LNG will be imported from India through a cross-border pipeline. To ensure uninterrupted fuel supply to the combined cycle power plant (CCPP), an 80-kilometre (km) gas transmission pipeline will be built under the project within the territory of Bangladesh. The project also includes construction of a 230 kilovolt (kV) switchyard at the CCPP site and a 30km high-capacity 230 kV and double-circuit transmission lines to deliver the generated power into the national power grid. Gas supply infrastructure within the territory of India will be constructed by H-Energy Private Limited and will not be a part of the project financed by the ADB, officials said. The Power Division official said once the fund is confirmed within the shortest possible time, the power plant will be set up by 2019. A high official of the ERD said they had a wrap-up meeting with the ADB mission Sunday last. Under the South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) initiative, the Manila-based lender is expected to provide the fund, he said. “We expect the fund for the project to be confirmed within October this year,” he added. Detroit Lions Authentic Jersey
Cairn India scouts for oilfield services firms in a bid to cut cost, boost output
Cairn India Ltd., which is in the process of getting merged with Vedanta Ltd., is scouting for global oilfield services companies like Schlumberger Ltd. and Halliburton Co., to take over operations of its key hydrocarbon assets in a bid to cut down expenses and boost production within a short span of time. Besides, parts of the company handling support services such as finance, statutory compliance and human resources will become part of Vedanta Ltd. post merger, which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of this calendar year. Cairn India and Vedanta Ltd; are owned by UK-listed natural resources giant Vedanta Resources Plc. Cairn India said in a statement to Mint ,in response to emailed queries, that the idea is to monetize its resource base with further investments. The company has held a round of discussion with two global oil and gasfield service providers and is exploring various partnership options with them and with others. The exact nature of the arrangement will be worked out keeping in mind the provisions in Cairn’s production sharing contract with the government for the hydrocarbon assets. A person with direct knowledge of the matter said on condition of anonymity that partnerships are being explored for the assets of Mangala, Bhagyam, Aiswharya, Barmer Hill and Raageswari Deep Gas fields in Rajasthan. The move is in line with recommendations made by the Boston Consulting Group, said the person. “We are planning to have a unique partnership approach with global oil and gas companies to leverage full potential of our resources. The model will open up avenues for introduction of new and latest technologies for exploration and production to monetize India’s hydrocarbon reserves. The proposed Cairn initiative to identify technological partnerships to unlock resource potential, evoked very positive response,” said the statement from Cairn, adding that the idea was to further improve economics of its key projects. The company, which on last Thursday reported a nearly 15-fold jump in profit after tax in the October-December period to Rs 6.04 billion from a year ago, said on that day quoting acting chief executive officer Sudhir Mathur that the company was in active discussions with world class oilfield services companies to partner for “end to end outsourcing of certain projects” meant to help in further optimizing costs, expedite project execution through better vendor coordination, and act as a force multiplier. Cairn’s plan to outsource operations comes in the wake of oil and gas field services becoming cheaper in the wake of global exploration companies cutting down capital spending due to muted crude oil prices. Cairn’s statement to Mint said the merger will be positive as it will generate value for the shareholders and de-risk Cairn India by providing access to Vedanta’s portfolio of diversified assets in a volatile market. The company, however, denied any plans to rationalize manpower for any function, post-merger. A company official, who asked not to be named, said that while balance sheets of the two companies will get merged, the merged entity will still preserve Cairn brand for its hydrocarbon business. Cairn needs statutory approval for transferring its production-sharing contract with the government to the merged entity. Cairn statement also said, quoting group chairman Anil Agarwal, that the company was committed to invest Rs. 300 billion to add 1,00,000 barrels of oil and oil equivalent over the next three years, primarily from its prolific Rajasthan fields. At present, Cairn accounts for 27% of India’s crude oil production and wants to raise its share to 50% over the next few years. Leonard Fournette Womens Jersey
LNG importer buys stake in shipping consortium
Petronet LNG Ltd, India’s largest liquefied natural gas importer, has bought a 26 per cent stake in the shipping consortium that built its biggest LNG ship to transport gas form from Australia. Petronet had in 2013 contracted Shipping Corp of India (SCI) and its Japanese partners to build and operate a 173,000 cubic meters capacity LNG ship. The LNG vessel, ‘Prachi’, was delivered in December last year. After sea trials, the ship has delivered the first cargo of LNG from Gorgon project in Australia to Petronet’s Dahej import terminal in Gujarat. “We have now decided to take 26 per cent equity in India LNG Transport Company (No 4) Private Limited,” Petronet Director (Finance) R K Garg said here. Singapore-headquartered India LNG Transport Co (No 4) is the firm that won the time-charter contract from Petronet and got the 173,000 cubic meter vessel built at Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd’s Ulsan shipyard in South Korea. Garg said agreements for Petronet taking the equity have been executed and the consideration paid. “It (the money paid) is less than Rs 1 billion,” he said. After this, state-owned SCI holds 26 per cent and NYK Line of Japan hold 26 per cent stake each in the company, while 22 per cent is held by Mitsui OSK Line and K Line. ‘Prachi’ is the fourth LNG vessel to be hired by Petronet. The earlier three are all deployed for ferrying LNG from Qatar. SCI, K Line, NYK Line and MOL consortium had won the tender by quoting the lowest charter hire of a little over USD 78,000 per day for 19 years for hauling LNG from Gorgon. Teekay LNG Partners LP, the only other firm to put in a price bid, had quoted a charter hire rate of USD 79,200 per day. The consortium had also built the previous three vessels for Petronet as well. It in 2002 won a 25-year contract for two ships, ‘Disha’ and ‘Rahi’, by quoting the lowest day rate of USD 68,900 for each ship for transporting the cargo from Qatar, and a contract for the third vessel, ‘Aseem’, in 2006 at a day rate of USD 72,880. “We did not take any equity in first two vessels but exercised our right and took 3 per cent in third (Assem),” Garg said. SCI, India’s biggest ocean carrier, holds a 29.08 per cent stake each in ‘Disha’ and ‘Rahi’ and a 26 per cent stake in the third, ‘Aseem’. Garg said all the four ship will be managed by SCI. The first two vessels were capable of carrying 138,000 cubic meters of gas and the third was of 155,000 cubic meters capacity. The fourth vessel, with 173,000 cubic meter capacity, is the biggest Petronet has ordered yet, he added. State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), GAIL India Ltd, Indian Oil Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) own 12.5 per cent stake in Petronet LNG Ltd, India’s biggest buyer of LNG. Brandon Allen Jersey
Kempegowda International Airport shut during day, flyers brace for chaos
With flight operations confined to before 10.30 am and after 5 pm, the Kempegowda International Airport has been a picture of chaos for travellers since February 8. While the airport runway is closed during the day, owing to Aero India -which officially opens today and ends on February 18 -the restricted timings for flight operations will continue till April 30 to allow for the remodelling of the airport’s runway . Compounding fliers’ agony is the restriction on private vehicles restriction on private vehicles -during the five-day air show -on using the Ballari Road which till now was the only route to the airport. The traffic police have come up with three alternative routes to the airport, all of which are unfamiliar to most commuters. They have also advised travellers to start early. The saving grace, however, is the initiative by the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation to introduce additional feeder bus services from different parts of the city to the airport. What’s more, BMTC buses will have access to the Ballari Road even during the air show and therefore will offer the fastest commute to the airport. KIAL’s press release said that the airport is upgrading its existing runway 0927 with two rapid exit taxiways. The runway can handle 34 air traffic movements (ATM) per hour.The upgrade is expected to increase the capacity to 44 ATMs per hour. A taxiway is a path for an aircraft that connects runways to the terminal. Amrita Mallya, who works in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City , saw her Sunday flight being pushed to Monday . “The airport was extremely crowded. Many people who missed their flights were arguing with the staff, asking them to let to them board,“ she said. Paediatrician Dr Bhaskar Shenoy barely managed to reach a conference in Switzerland after a delay at the Bengaluru airport nearly ended his trip. “We understand that there will be crowding in the morning and evening. So we have augmented taxi and other ancillary services,“ said KIAL’s official spokesperson. A press release from the airport clarified that reporting time will remain standard and not four hours before departure as rumoured. City-based budget carrier AirAsia, which operates 18 departures from the city, reduced it to 14 on account of the runway closure. “A few of our daily flights have been cancelled and rescheduled from February 8-18 on account of the Aero India,“ AirAsia India spokesperson said. BUSES TO AIRPORT BMTC is operating 277 Vayu Vajra buses between 12 midnight and 10 am. A skeletal service of 91 buses will operate between 10am to 5pm during the closure of the runway .Between 5 pm and midnight, as many as 226 buses will be in service to the airport. All these Vayu Vajru services will continue to ferry passengers from the 12 regular pickup points in the city. ALTERNATIVE ROUTES The Ballari Road stretch will be restricted for private vehicles due to the Aero India show at the Yelahanka Air Force base. The traffic police have identified three alternative routes for airport-bound commuters. Vehicles moving from Bengaluru West have to take Goraguntepalya, BEL Circle, Gangamma Circle, Unnikrishnan junction, Doddaballapur Road, Rajanakunte, Sir MVIT Cross and then towards the airport. Vehicles from Bengaluru East can take KR Puram, Hennur Cross, Bagalur, Mylanahalli and Begur to reach the airport. Rodney Hudson Jersey