Ethanol blending programme being implemented
Petroleum & Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply that the Government, through Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), is implementing the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme under which, OMCs sell ethanol blended petrol with percentage of ethanol upto 10%. Also, the Government has allowed procurement of ethanol produced from other non-food feedstocks, like cellulosic and ligno cellulosic materials including petrochemical route. The Government has fixed the price of ethanol for the ethanol supply year 2016-17 at Rs.39/ per litre. Additionally, Excise Duty, VAT/GST and transportation charges (as decided by OMCs) will be paid by OMCs. OMCs have procured 1.03 billion litres of ethanol during the ethanol supply year 2015-16 (till 7.11.2016). In 2015, the Government has asked OMCs to target 10 % blending of ethanol in as many States as possible. A Steering Committee and a Working Group on biofuels have been constituted in Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. They are holding regular consultations with concerned stakeholders. The potential foreign exchange savings due to blending of ethanol for the ethanol supply year 2015-16 is approximately USD 353 Million. Also, the Government had announced a Bio-diesel Purchase Policy in October 2005. In August 2015, the Government has allowed sale of Bio-diesel (B100) by private manufacturers to bulk consumers. Moreover, retailing of bio-diesel blended diesel by Public Sector OMCs has started on 10th August, 2015. Brandon LaFell Jersey
Government to bear entire burden on sale of PDS Kerosene and subsidized LPG for 2016-17
Petroleum & Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply that for the financial year 2016-17, it has been decided that entire burden on sale of PDS Kerosene and Subsidized Domestic LPG will be borne by the Government. The total subsidy/under recovery on petroleum products since 2013-14 is given below: (Rs. billion) Particulars 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 H1 2016-17 Diesel 628.37 109.35 0 0 PDS Kerosene 312.55 248.04 114.96 41.23 Domestic LPG 522.47 405.69 160.74 45.57 Total 1463.39 763.08 275.70 86.80 The burden sharing of the under-recoveries by the upstream companies since 2013-14 is given below: (Rs. billion) Particulars 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 H1, 2016-17 Total Under-recoveries 1398.69 723.14 115.15 41.23 Under-recoveries borne by Upstream Companies 670.21 428.22 12.51 0 The details of Net Profit After Tax (PAT) reported by the PSU OMCs since 2013-14 are given below: (Rs. billion) Companies 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 Q1, 16-17 IOC 70.19 52.73 103.99 82.69 HPC 17.34 27.33 38.63 20.98 BPC 40.61 50.85 74.32 26.21 Refining of crude oil is a process industry, where crude oil constitutes around 90% of the total cost. Crude oil is processed through several processing units. Each of these units produces intermediate products streams, which require extensive reprocessing and blending. This results in difficulty in apportioning the total cost of individual refined products with reasonable accuracy. Therefore, individual product-wise costs are not identified separately. The prices of Petrol and Diesel have been made market determined by the Government effective 26thJune, 2010 and 19th October, 2014 respectively. Since then, the Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) take appropriate decision on pricing of these products in line with their international prices and other market conditions. The Government continues to modulate the effective price to consumer for Subsidized Domestic LPG and Retail Selling Price (RSP) of PDS Kerosene. Further, price of CNG/PNG is fixed by the concerned City Gas Distribution (CGD) entities as per market dynamics. Adam Joseph Duhe Womens Jersey
Steps being taken to make India a Gas based economy
Petroleum & Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply that natural gas is one of the cleanest and most environment friendly fuels having extremely low Carbon Dioxide emissions compared to other fuels like coal and oil. The Government has taken the following steps to make India a gas based economy: i. Development of Gas Sources either through Domestic gas Exploration & Production activities or through building up facilities to import natural gas in the form of LNG, ii. Development of Gas Pipeline Infrastructure and Secondary distribution network. iii. Development of gas consuming markets like Fertilizer, Power, Transport and Industries etc. Fertilizer and Power Sectors are the major gas consumers in Indian gas market. They consume about 60% of total gas consumption at country level in FY 2015-16. In order to develop the gas consuming market, Government has implemented Fertilizer Gas Pooling Scheme which has encouraged the utilization of installed Fertilizer Units in the country. On the Power Sector, Government has come up with a scheme to make operational the stranded gas based power plants on R-LNG. It has helped in reviving Stranded Power plants of around 16,000 MW capacity and saved them from becoming NPA. LNG consumption in Power sector has increased from the level of 3 MMSCMD during April-2015 (prior to Pooling) to a maximum level of 11.47 MMSCMD during March-2016. Further, the Government has taken several steps to enhance domestic natural gas production through several policy initiatives such as: (i) Policy to grant relaxation, extension, and clarifications at development and production stage for early monetization of hydrocarbon discoveries (ii) Marginal Field Policy- Discovered Small Field Policy (iii) Uniform Licensing Policy-Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (iv) Policy for Grant of Extension to small and medium sized discovered fields (v) Policy for Marketing Freedom for Gas Produced from Deepwater and Ultra Deepwater areas etc.; and (vi) Policy on testing requirements for discoveries made under New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP) Blocks. To incentivize gas production from difficult areas, Government has granted marketing, including pricing, freedom for the gas produced from difficult areas. Marketing freedom has also been provided under Discovered Small Field bidding round as well as under Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) under which acreages will be provided in future. The implementation of these policy initiatives and other reform initiatives is expected to enhance domestic natural gas production from the fields. The Government normally does not provide any financial support for laying pipeline infrastructure. However, Government has taken a decision to provide a capital grant of Rs. 51.76 billion (i.e. 40% of the estimated capital cost of Rs.129.40 billion) to GAIL for development of a 2539 Km long Jagdishpur-Haldia/Bokaro-Dhamra Gas Pipeline (JHBDPL) project to connect Eastern part of the country with National Gas Grid. During the financial year 2015-2016, the CPSEs have incurred an approximate amount of Rs. 29.62 billion on natural gas and other petroleum products pipeline infrastructure development. Bob Griese Authentic Jersey
Oil firms plan to set up seven 2G ethanol units for Rs 40 billion
Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd (HPCL) will set up around seven so-called second generation (2G) ethanol plants across the country, three people aware of the development said. The plants will be set up at a cost of Rs 40 billion and will help enhance ethanol availability for blending with petrol. 2G ethanol is produced using non-edible agricultural waste left over after harvesting. This could include corn cobs, rice straw and wheat straw, among others. Currently, technology is available to convert cellulose into sugar, which can later be fermented to form ethanol. “The OMCs are in the process of setting up nearly seven such plants in the initial stage. These will be set up at a cost of Rs 6 billion each. The plan is currently under the consideration of the ministry of renewable energy and the ministry of petroleum and natural gas,” said an industry official aware of the talks, one of the three mentioned above. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he is not authorized to speak to reporters. These plants, the official added, will produce 100,000-150,000 litres of ethanol per day and correspondingly equivalent bio-CNG (compressed natural gas). Bio-CNG will be an alternative to diesel. These plants will come up at locations close to farm lands, in order to reduce costs. “We are looking for locations where we can set up a blending refinery or depot,” added the third official from an oil marketing company. In September, IOCL tied up with Pune-based Praj Industries Ltd to build three 2G bio-ethanol plants with technology developed by Praj. IOCL did not reply to an email sent last week seeking details of the investment in the venture. A BPCL official confirmed the plan to build these plants. “In addition to Praj Industries, we are in talks with other technology service providers also to set up two 2G ethanol plants. Location of the plants will be decided in a few months,” the official added. BPCL did not reply to an email sent last week. The country is targeting a more than seven-fold expansion in its biofuel market in the next six years, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on 10 August. This July, Union minister Nitin Gadkari had said the government will soon come up with a new policy on non-conventional resources as it plans to take up ethanol blending in petrol to 22.5% and in diesel to 15%. He added that this could reduce India’s annual crude oil imports bill of Rs7 trillion. “1G ethanol will continue to be the main contributor to the blending programme, besides serving beverage and industrial demand. However, the desired 10% ethanol blending programme calls for alternative feedstocks and hence, the need for 2nd generation cellulosic ethanol (2G) technology,” said Pramod Chaudhuri, executive chairman, Praj Industries in his second quarter address to shareholders. Andrew Shaw Authentic Jersey
Gas deal with India’s ONGC likely by January
A consortium of Indian companies led by ONGC Videsh (OVL) is set to strike a deal with Iran by January for the development of Farzad-B gas field in the Persian Gulf. This comes at a time when Iran surpassed Saudi Arabia to become the biggest oil supplier to India in October, after sanctions on the former were lifted in January. According to a Reuters report, in October this year, supply from Iran increased to 789,000 barrels a day (bpd), compared with Saudi Arabia’s 697,000 bpd, business-standard.com reported. “Our relationship with Iran is strategic and long-standing. As far as the Farzad project is concerned, financial issues will be sorted out and we will finalize the deal by January. We have already appointed a consultant for that,” said an official close to the development. Though India had shown interest in the project long back, sanctions by the United States and other Western countries on Iran delayed things. Farzad-B has gas field has reserves of about 21.6 trillion cubic feet. Managing Director of Pars Oil and Gas Company, which is in-charge of the project, Mohammad Meshkinfam told the Iranian media that it deemed the “economic development model” was the main basis of disagreement between both the countries. “In case no agreement is reached within the envisaged time, the development of Farzad-B will be put to international tender,” he said. Under Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, India has focused on countries such as Iran and Russia for sourcing of hydrocarbons. In the recent past, India had invested about $4.25 billion in Russia only. A consortium led by state-run Indian Oil Corporation, Oil India and Bharat PetroResources had signed a $1.3-billion deal in Russia for a 29.9-percent stake in the Taas-Yuriakh oilfield in March. Later, the consortium also struck a $2.02-billion deal for 23.9 percent in Rosneft’s Vankor field. According to the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, India imported 202.85 million tons of crude oil in 2015-16, up from 189 million in 2014-15. Jaylon Smith Womens Jersey
Bidding begins: 120 companies in fray for 67 oil and gas fields
At least 120 companies are bidding for 67 small and marginal oil and gas fields. The Union government had launched the bidding process for discovered small fields, earlier this year. The government is hoping to attract start-ups and private equity players. The 47 contract areas carved out of 67 oil and gas fields on auction are discovered small fields (DSF) taken out of the kitty of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Oil India. The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), an arm of the petroleum and natural gas ministry, is conducting the bidding process, which is expected to be over later in the day. The bidding process has failed to grab interests from major global players even as state-run ONGC and Oil India have decided to stay away from the ongoing auctions. After a six-year hiatus, India is auctioning its oil and gas acreage. The UPA government conducted the last auction under the New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP) in October 2010 when crude oil price benchmarked to the Indian basket was $81 a barrel. The Discovered Small Field Policy provides for a uniform licence for exploration and production of all forms of hydrocarbon, an easy to administer revenue sharing model and marketing and pricing freedom for the crude oil and natural gas produced. Further, the contractor will have rights for exploration throughout the contract period. Toronto Maple Leafs Jersey
Haryana’s first ‘Green Road’ to be constructed in Gurugram
Haryana’s first “Green Road” will be constructed at village Lokra near Pataudi in Gurugram district. The 2.24-kilometre long road would be constructed by the state Public Works (Building and Roads) Department at a cost of Rs 1.25 lakh. Sand will be used in this latest technique of road construction rather than bitumen and other elements spreading pollution. “My department, on an experimental basis, will construct such three roads in Karnal, Hansi and Pataudi. Moreover, development works to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore are being carried out in the entire state. The Dwarka Northern Peripheral Road would be upgraded as 16-lane National Highway which would be the widest highway in the country,” said Haryana Public Works (Building and Roads) minister Rao Narbir Singh on Saturday while laying the foundation stone of first Green Road at village Lokra. “There is a plan for metro extension up to Subhash Chowk in Gurgaon and residents will also get to use Metro soon. The Manesar-Palwal expressway has already been dedicated to the people and Manesar-Kundli section would be completed in 400 days as its construction has already been started. An elevated flyover would also be constructed at a cost of Rs 700 crore from South City to Badshahpur,” he said. Vinny Curry Jersey
DELHI-MEERUT E-WAY FACES BARRIERS DESPITE PM’S PUSH
Almost a year has gone since Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway in December last year. However, much to the chagrin of the Prime Minister, who is pushing for infrastructure development — including roads and highways—the ambitious National Highway-24 (NH-24) expansion project is yet to take off. After the Prime Minister reportedly pulled up authorities for not doing proper groundwork and getting him to lay the foundation stone for the project, a high-level meeting was held which identified eight major bottlenecks for 14-laining of NH-24 to kick off. According to the agencies, encroachment by slums, residential building, including Deputy Chief Minister’s office; clearance for construction of bridge over Yamuna at Nizamuddin; permission for cutting of 3,261 trees; shifting of utilities of DJB, BSES and Delhi Transco; and shifting of religious structure are the major hurdles to the project. A document pertaining to the project accessed by The Pioneer reveals that there are several private residential buildings on right of way (ROW) while several similar structures are inside ROW of the National Highway 24. Besides, Nehru Camp Juggis, Patparganj having 1,500 dwelling unit exist within 90 metre on ROW of NH-24. The Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board has been directed to submit proposal for rehabilitation of the jhuggi dwellers within two weeks. The document also said Joint Inspection is yet to be done to ascertain the extent of shifting L&T batch mixing plants at UP Link Road-NH 24 and NH 24-Ring Road for Barapullah elevated corridor casting yard. Several nurseries of the municipal corporations, which fall outside the ROW, are expected to be shifted in four weeks. On dismantling the Deputy Chief Minister’s office also falls under ROW of NH, the PWD chief engineer has reportedly assured that these structures would be cleared within next four weeks. For the construction of a bridge over the Yamuna River at Nizamuddin as a part of the Delhi Meerut Expressway, the concerned agencies have yet to give clearance as the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has not given clearance for land for the bridge project. The DDA has said that the matter was under consideration and has requested for a joint inspection. The representatives of PWD present in the meeting also informed that part of the land required by NH is on lease with PWD for casting yard. The NHAI which is implementing the project has requested the Delhi Government’s forest department to give permission to cut 3,261 trees in the Delhi area on NH 24. Russell Wilson Jersey
Bengaluru: Government fast-tracks projects on alternative roads to KIA
With the steel flyover project stuck in a legal tangle, government agencies are acting fast on alternative road projects to link the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) with various points of the city. The public works department has submitted a proposal to widen KR Puram-Budigere Road to a four-lane highway. M Lakshminarayana, principal secretary for PWD and transport department, said: “We are planning to widen Budigere Road and are awaiting government approval. The plan is to make the single road into a four-lane to facilitate flyers and freight movement to the airport from eastern and south eastern parts of the city.” The state highway-104 goes hrough Singanahalli that connects Budigere Road in the south and KIA on the northeastern side. It starts from the Bengaluru-Tirupati highway enroute to Nellurhalli. This is already a 20-km distance and will take roughly 30 minutes for citizens to reach the airport from Begur village. BIAL has planned to open a gate towards Begur on the southern side of the airport, where it’s constructing a second runway; a terminal will also come up. The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC) had suggested to connect Metro to KIA from KR Puram via Budigere Cross and Sathnur, and many citizens living in Whitefield, Bellandur and Sarjapur were in favour of this. Chief minister Siddaramaiah visited these villages on October 17, a day after citizens formed a human chain along Ballari Road against the government’s decision to cut 812 trees for the flyover project without detailed public consultation. He inspected the Thanisandra and Hennur roads that meet at Bagalur leading to OI Mylanahalli village and said they will be developed as alter native routes to the airport. KIADB has already started acquisition of 13 acres and three guntas from three villages in the southern side of the airport towards the second terminal–Mylanahalli, Chikkana halli and Begur. KIADB has asked PWD to release Rs 55 crore in advance as acquisition A deposit to be paid to villagers. “The price advisory committee meeting will be conducted after final notifications issued as per the KIADB Act,” said Pankaj Kumar Pandey, CEO, KIADB. He said there’s no question of displacement of families be s cause 101 owners of khatas will lose a few guntas each of tillavble land. “The primary notification was issued and objections ct are being heard on November 22 and 23 before the special land nacquisition officer after which at a final notification will be isto sued,” Pandey added. Harrison Butker Womens Jersey
Nepal cancels fast track road project with India’s IL&FS
In a surprise move, Nepal on Sunday announced the cancellation of all agreements with India’s Infrastructure Leasing and Finance Services for construction of a fast track road linking Kathmandu and Tarai. The Nepal government and IL&FS had signed an agreement in March to prepare the detailed project report ( DPR) of the $1 billion road project. At a meeting of the parliament’s development and finance committees, Ramesh Lekhak, Nepal’s planning and infrastructure minister announced all pacts signed with IL&FS are no more valid and all public announcements made by the Nepal government to develop the project are nixed. There was huge uproar in Nepal over awarding the projects to an Indian company after the then Sushil Koirala-led government decided to award the contract to IL&FS. IL&FS had spent over 40 million rupees for DPR and other paperwork, which the Nepal government has to compensate the Indian firm. Some experts expressed concern over the financial arrangement wherein Nepal has to reimburse the Indian firm. The government of K P Oli, which took over after Koirala, decided to construct the project using its own resources and allocated 5.5 billion rupees to construct the project. Given the strategic importance of the road, the current government has listed it as a national pride project. Minister Lekhak said, “Now all bodies concerned should make decision standing together in course of taking the nation’s pride project ahead.” Lekhak said the government has tabled a proposal for constructing the 76 kilometres of the road with its own investment. In October last year, Nepal’s Supreme Court had issued an interim order halting the government’s preparations to award the project to the Indian developer. During the International Conference on Nepal’s Reconstruction in June 25, 2015, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had pledged to expedite construction of the projects. “Work on construction of the Kathmandu-Nijgadh fast track road and the Nijgadh airport with India’s participation be expedited. These projects will create new job opportunities, contribute to revenue, and facilitate long-term recovery,” she had said. Dennis Smith Jersey