India and US launch $95 million clean energy projects
The US today announced two financial projects worth USD 95 million in India to bring more energy-efficient appliances to rural sector, as part of its efforts to continue the global transition to zero-and-low carbon energy sources. The US has committed USD 70 million in Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) financing for renewable energy projects in India; and announced to launch a USD 20 million partnership this week with the philanthropic sector to bring more efficient appliances to rural Indian villages. The USD 75 million OPIC financing is for a utility-scale PV project in Telangana. It is sponsored by ReNew Power Ventures. This commitment represents the rapid mobilisation of financing under a USD 250 million facility to support up to 400 MW of new solar power projects in India across multiple states, the White House said. Further the OPIC and Indian Government will this week formally launch a USD 20 million distributed solar facility in partnership with leading philanthropies, it said. Known as US-India Clean Energy Finance program (USICEF), it will address a key financing gap in the Indian distributed solar market by funding early-stage project preparatory work, it said. USICEF is anticipated to unlock up to USD 400 million in long-term debt financing from OPIC and private sector investors, the White House said. According to the White House fact sheet, the Rockefeller Foundation’s Smart Power for Rural Development Initiative is also announcing a new partnership with the Clean Energy Ministerial’s (CEM) Global Lighting and Energy Access Partnership (Global LEAP) to accelerate the deployment and use of energy efficient off-grid devices in rural India. The US Department of State will, subject to Congressional notification, provide funding for Global LEAP to support the development and roll out of a programme to deploy energy- efficient devices such as televisions, fans, and refrigerators at selected Smart Power supported mini-grid sites, the White House said. It will also develop a strategy for a programme-wide scale-up targeted to reduce energy costs for some of the poorest people in India. “When deployed it is expected to reduce energy consumption by over 50 per cent for rural households, increase revenue for mini-grid operators by over 300 per cent per household, and generate rural employment for people involved in distribution and supply chain management of the devices,” it said. Noting that the US President Barack Obama’s leadership has catalyzed a global transition towards a clean energy economy, the White House said from 2010-2015 alone, the US has invested in more than USD 11 billion in international clean energy finance. At the same time, the US has made research and development a top priority. Key achievements include establishing Mission Innovation (MI), with the leaders of 19 countries, to accelerate innovation by doubling public investment in clean energy research and development to USD 30 billion over five years. Tom Glavine Jersey
J&K rejects Central formula, seeks Rs 8000 cr compensation from Punjab
Acting tough after Supreme Court’s verdict against Punjab on water sharing with neighbouring States, the Jammu and Kashmir Government has finally staked claim of Rs 8,000 crores worth losses from Punjab Government for not sharing water of river Ravi with it as agreed upon before construction of Ranjit Sagar dam upstream of Madhopur barrage in Shahpur Kandi town of Pathankot, bordering Lakhanpur in Kathua district of J&K. Official sources told the Excelsior that notwithstanding the Central Government’s recent intervention to strike truce between Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab by calling a meeting of representatives of the two States, the J&K Government has decided to stick to its old position and written to the Punjab Government seeking compensation of Rs 8000 crores on account of losses suffered by it for irrigation and electricity as Punjab didn’t stick to the agreement with the State on release of water from Ranjit Sagar dam. “We have written to the Punjab Government claiming losses, which is our legal position as several previous Governments had decided. There were Cabinet notes since long that Jammu and Kashmir would seek compensation for losses from the Punjab Government. We have worked out the losses and finally staked claim from the neighbouring State,” they said. According to sources, the Government has worked out Rs 6000 crores worth losses on account of irrigation and Rs 2000 crores for power generation and submitted claims to the Punjab Government. The claims have been worked out by the State Government taking into account the water, which Punjab had to release for Jammu and Kashmir from river Ravi for irrigation purposes in Kathua and Samba districts and the power, which was to be given to the State. Ranjit Sagar dam has 600 mw power generation capacity. At the time of agreement reached between Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir which the neighbouring State had terminated in 2004 after adopting bill in the Legislature on water sharing, Punjab had to provide 300 cusecs water to J&K from river Ravi. Asserting that case of Jammu and Kashmir has been upheld as very genuine at various forums including Central Government and other neighbouring States of Punjab, sources said the Supreme Court decision nullifying Punjab’s 2004 legislation that had scrapped water sharing agreements with neighbouring States including Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and New Delhi, has justified the position of J&K. Sources said Jammu and Kashmir Government would wait for some days before Punjab officially communicates its decision to the State Government and then go for legal action if Punjab repeated its old position of refusing to compensate the losses. Though a reply from Punjab is awaited, unofficially the neighbouring State has conveyed to the State leaders and officials that the demand was not acceptable to it. At a recently convened meeting between Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab held at New Delhi at the behest of Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti, Punjab was not averse to releasing water to the State from now onwards for irrigational purposes to feed Kandi areas of Kathua and Samba districts. Sources said Punjab had agreed to bear full cost of construction of project, giving entire electricity generated from the project to Jammu and Kashmir and some other conditions laid down by J&K Government. However, it wanted Jammu and Kashmir to shelve the demand for compensation of past 30 years, which, otherwise, also Punjab was not going to concede. But, the Jammu and Kashmir has decided to stick to its oft-repeated demand, albeit, without any positive response from the neighbour. The Kandi belt of Kathua and Samba would have been major beneficiary of construction of canal from Shahpur Kandi, which could have irrigated the land of Pathankot, Kathua and Samba districts and changed fortunes of the people of rural belt, who were waiting for this to happen for the past 30 years but continued to suffer. There can be so much irrigation from the project that it would no longer be called the Kandi belt. However, with Punjab Government facing heat from the Apex Court decision that too on the eve of Assembly elections in the State, the dreams of Kandi belt were likely to take much more time to be realized than anticipated. The new project of canal would have also delivered a blow to Pakistan which was getting excess water from river Ravi in Punjab. The flow of excess water to Pakistan would stop once Shahpur Kandi canal project is constructed. Punjab was reported to have kept budgetary provision for the canal project and was ready with tendering work once Jammu and Kashmir conveyed its formal nod for shelving demand for compensation of losses, which Punjab was not ready to consider on the ground that there were procedural wrangles involved in it. Sources said the Union Water Resources Ministry officials too were of the view that Jammu and Kashmir should give up its demand for 30 years compensation in lieu of Punjab bearing construction cost of the canal project and giving entire electricity generated from it from the date the fresh agreement is signed to Jammu and Kashmir. However, Jammu and Kashmir has decided not to accept these conditions and remained stick to its old position that Punjab should first compensate the State for losses before next course of action like construction of canal etc is worked out. Under the Indus Water Treaty water of Ravi, Beas and Sutlej rivers of Punjab had come in the share of India while that of Chenab, Jhelum and Indus (Sindhu), all in Jammu and Kashmir, was to be shared with Pakistan. Colin Wilson Authentic Jersey
PowerGrid to set up energy highways to meet demand growth
Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) is planning to build energy highways across the country to meet a projected growth in demand and ease the load on the national grid. The highways include 11 high-capacity corridors, each with a capacity of about 4,000 Mw, and three high-capacity HVDC (high-voltage, direct current) systems (6,000 Mw each). The central transmission utility will also develop eight inter-state transmission systems (ISTS) or green energy corridors to help the renewable energy sector. The ones to come up first would be to connect the solar power parks in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. PGCIL is constructing the first phase of green corridors connecting renewable-rich states. The investment planned for these projects is Rs 1.12 lakh crore, with the energy highways costing Rs 58,000 crore and the HVDC systems Rs 12,000 crore each. The cost of the ongoing green corridors is Rs 18,000 crore. The ISTS for solar parks is about Rs 9,000 crore each. The costs are for the lifetime of the projects and would be invested according to commissioning time lines. I S Jha, chairman and managing director of PGCIL, told Business Standard: “Transmission planning now is on basis of load growth and not just power generation. The government of India has projected per capita power consumption to grow four times to 4,000 Mw by 2030. Along with central programmes, this will give a momentum to household demand. The country’s transmission needs to be prepared for the phenomenal growth of power demand.” The central government has accelerated the development of power transmission networks to match the projected electricity demand in several regions. Along with states, which would offer transmission projects, the Centre is looking to unleash an investment opportunity of close to Rs 1 lakh crore for the sector. However, the award of projects under the bidding route has been growing slowly. Eight projects costing Rs 9,635 crore have been announced to be offered through tariff based competitive bidding this financial year. The power ministry has said transmission corridors would be set up before generation started. “Transmission work for evacuation of renewable energy is in mission mode. Transmission has typically stayed behind generation and led to years of mismatch. But we are doing long-term planning to avoid such a situation. For instance, transmission systems for solar parks would come by the time these generation units come — around 18 months,” said a senior power ministry official. Of the ongoing projects, totalling Rs 1.16 lakh crore, PGCIL is building Rs 16,000 crore worth of projects won through this route; the rest was nominated. Officials said such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana would offer power transmission projects through the bidding route, which forms a part of their 24X7 Power for All plan. Amari Cooper Authentic Jersey
Level flight: Charting India’s airline course
Last month, Jet Airways introduced wide-body services on two of its busiest domestic routes — Mumbai-Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata-Delhi — in a move that significantly enhanced connectivity, besides boosting capacity on these key sectors. The double-aisle Airbus A330 that was deployed, puts the airline in a niche club of Indian carriers that boast of such large aircraft (Jet Airways has Boeing 777s too), enabling them to fly long routes, non-stop. Only in this case, the airline found huge demand in the domestic market itself, compelling it to ply one of its big boys. According to Jet Airways Chief Commercial Officer Jayaraj Shanmugam, “The Indian domestic sector is witnessing breakneck growth in demand. Our fleet mix comprising both wide-body and narrow-body aircraft is our strength, and helps us respond to market conditions and provide enhanced travel options to our guests.” Joining Jet Airways in the wide-body boat is flag carrier Air India, which boasts of wide connectivity to Europe and the US, thanks to its fleet of Boeing 747s, 777s, and 787s. Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani says, “Our profitability mantra is ‘fill more, fly more!’ We are bullish on increasing occupancy and flying to more destinations.” Indeed, India has taken off to a flying start with a burgeoning airline industry. The sector has opened to a big blue sky of opportunities, owing to a series of measures taken by the government, along with the economy itself welcoming several trends that have propelled it further. Amar Abrol, the CEO of young budget carrier AirAsia India, explains that India’s civil aviation industry is on a high-growth trajectory. “India aims to become the third-largest aviation market by 2020, and the largest by 2030. Factors such as low-cost carriers, FDI in domestic airlines, advanced IT interventions and growing emphasis on regional connectivity have given a new lease of life to the growth of the Indian aviation sector,” he opines. Despite such high scope for growth, the airline industry throws many questions that require some deep thought and analysis. It is imperative to understand the uniqueness of this market, as well as introspect its challenges, and find solutions.
Airport at Dabolim won’t be shut: Parrikar
Defence minister Manohar Parrikar said the international airport at Dabolim will not be shut down even after Mopa international airport starts operations. Also, four-lanning or six-lanning of NH 4-A and 17-A will be done simultaneously along with Mopa airport, Parrikar said after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday unveiled a plaque to lay foundation stone for the proposed greenfield airport at Mopa, at a function held at Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium, Taleigao. Parrikar said, “There is no scope for further expansion of the Dabolim airport.” The annual traffic at Dabolim airport is 5 million while its capacity is 2.7 million. “The traffic flow at Dabolim is double of its capacity,” Parrikar said highlighting the inevitability of the airport at Mopa. Two other projects, that were also launched on Sunday, include infrastructure for building mine counter measure vessels and commencement of construction of Coast Guard offshore patrol vessels. Roberto Alomar Jersey
Still lacks connectivity to smaller cities, abroad
The Coimbatore airport is still lagging behind some other airports in the two-tier cities in terms of passenger traffic, largely due to the lack of connectivity to smaller cities in the country and abroad. While the city has recorded a 22% rise in passenger traffic, higher than the 15% increase recorded by Trichy airport and 19.4% rise by Calicut airport, it has fallen way below Madurai airport which recorded an increase of 37.9% passenger traffic and Trivandrum, where passengers rose by 41.2%. In Coimbatore, travel agents said, its base of flyers has reached a saturation point over the past few years, while there was more room for passenger traffic growth among Madurai’s youngsters, businessmen and travellers. “Unlike Coimbatore, which is a more of a cosmopolitan city and enjoys better awareness levels, awareness regarding cheap fares offered by flights has caught up in Madurai only recently and hence the sudden rise in air traffic from the temple city,” said a former office-bearer of Travel Club, Madurai. Bobby Orr Jersey
‘Nashik needs air connectivity with major cities’
Industries and Manufacturers’ Association (NIMA), an apex body of industries have engaged in promoting industrial development across the district. In an interview with TOI’s Tushar Pawar, chairman of infrastructure committee of NIMA, Manish Rawal talks about various activities the association has initiated and their efforts in promoting industrial development across the city. What is the current industrial scenario here? The industrial sector is passing through a phase of recession which has seen a slowdown across industries for the past few years now. The growth of these industries is adversely affected because of recession. In the meanwhile, we are expecting some improvement in sales and growth in the next few months. The Centre’s decision to bring in Goods and Services Tax (GST) is definitely a boost for the industries to fetch foreign investments in the long run. The profitable outcome of GST will take some time. What are the infrastructural issues? There have been several infrastructural issues we deal with on a daily basis. The civic administration has just developed roads for Rs 70crore at Satpur and Ambad industrial estates of Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC). But, almost 20% of the streetlights in these industrial estates do not function. The lack of drainage lines is another major issue. Though industries have soak pits but most of the time, the effluent comes on the road causing inconvenience for the common public. We have been demanding construction of drainage lines in MIDC areas for the past 15-20 years, but we have still not heard from the municipal corporations. But, Nashik still lacks air connectivity. We have an international airport at Ozar which was constructed jointly by the state government and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). But, the air services are yet to commence here. is a good potential growth for the aviation industry here. We want to start the air connectivity with major cities of the country. There As per a survey which was recently conducted, around 30,000 industrialist and business people from Nashik travels by air to other destinations across the country. Maximum people fly to Bangalore followed by Delhi and Chennai cities. Hence, we want flights from Nashik to Bangalore and Delhi. C.J. Anderson Womens Jersey
APAI terms govt’s decision to charge levy to fund RCP as”regressive & unwarranted”
Apprehending a “spiralling” effect on airfares in view of the government’s decision to charge a levy up to Rs 8,500 per flight on major routes to fund the ambitious regional air connectivity, fliers body (APAI) has termed the move as “regressive and unwarranted”. The Regional Connectivity Plan (RCP) packaged as a scheme “to make flying a reality for the small town common man” is more a welfare and inclusive measure, which, based on its objective, should be spearheaded by the Central and state governments, Air Passenger Association of India (APAI), said. Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey had last week announced government’s decision to levy up to Rs 8,500 per flight on major routes to fund the regional air connectivity scheme from December 1. With the levy, that would be collected from the airlines for each domestic departure to major routes, the government estimates to have Rs 400 crore for Regional Connectivity Fund (RCF), Choubey said. “Another 20 per cent (funding) will come from state governments. We are roughly looking at around Rs 500 crore per year available in the kitty,” he had said. “The reported statement of the Civil Aviation secretary that the government would collect Rs 400 crore from air carriers annually by charging additional levy on scheduled flights between major cities starting from December 1, 2016, to fund RCF is most unfortunate since APAI had vehemently opposed the imposition of regressive levy at all times,” APAI President D Sudhakara Reddy said. Nicklas Lidstrom Jersey
Flexible fuel pricing in arena
The fuel retail market is heading towards dynamic pricing- where companies will charge different rates and even frequently change them according to demand and supply. India is set to implement the regime following the entry of global players such as Rosneft and BP Plc in petrol and diesel retailing, which is expected to give state-owned firms tough competition. “With international entities such as Rosneft OAO and BP Plc coming in the retail scenario, we might see dynamic pricing for petrol and diesel as competition is sure to increase,” a senior petroleum ministry official said. BP has recently got a licence to set up 3,500 fuel stations, while Rosneft has inherited 2,700 retail outlets, following a deal to acquire Essar Oil Ltd. Though the prices of domestic cooking gas and kerosene are fixed by the government, those of petrol and diesel have been deregulated. Dynamic, or real-time pricing, means the cost of a product can be flexible. It can be a market changing phenomena where other retailers may have to follow suit. Analysts said a price war might soon ensue at the petrol pumps, benefiting consumers of petrol and diesel. Globally, fuel retailing companies such as Shell, Caltex and Total sell petrol and diesel at varying prices in different locations to attract consumers. The same practice may soon come into force in the country with increasing competition in the sector. “As new players enter retail marketing, the pricing methodology is expected to change and global practices will be followed. Customer offerings and product differentiation will change. With crude oil prices going up, dynamic pricing will be seen, too. Retailers will track customer behaviour more closely to tailor offerings,” said Deepak Mahurkar, director (oil and gas) of PwC India. State-owned HPCL has already launched dynamic pricing at a few of its retail outlets on a pilot basis. It could be extended to other outlets at a later stage. “(The company) expects it to become a significant tool to sustain profitability/market share in the next 2-3 years as private competition strengthens,” Ambit Research said in a report. After registering the fastest pace of growth in 15 years, the country’s fuel demand is likely to rise 7.3 per cent in 2016-17, led by robust expansion in the consumption of petrol and diesel. Fuel consumption, which rose 10.9 per cent to 183.5 million tonnes (mt) in 2015-16, is projected to rise to 190.03mt, according to oil ministry estimates. Diesel demand, which soared 7.5 per cent to 74.6mt last fiscal, is projected to go up 7.7 per cent to 78.11mt. Petrol consumption is estimated to rise 12.4 per cent to 24.14mt. Richard Rodgers Jersey
India to reduce gestation period for hydrocarbon exploration
In what may help India’s energy security efforts, the ministry of petroleum and natural gas plans to minimise the gestation period for hydrocarbon exploration. Gestation period is the time taken from the discovery of hydrocarbons in a block to its commercial production. “On average, a discovery has a gestation period of at least a year if not more,” said a top Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC) executive requesting anonymity. According to the website of the Directorate General of Hyrdocarbons, 225 hydrocarbon discoveries have been made in the last five years till January 2016. “In order to fasten the process between discovery and production, we are trying to bring in new technologies. This will not only reduce manpower needed but will also bring down the gestation period significantly as well,” said a petroleum ministry official requesting anonymity. India is grappling with falling domestic production of hydrocarbons. The government has made energy security one of its primary focus areas in order to achieve fast and sustainable long-term development. The government has also set up an ambitious target to halve the country’s energy imports by 2030. Another official from the ministry of petroleum and natural gas, requesting anonymity, said, “A lot of projects get delayed due to long gestation periods. We hope to minimise it in the future.” India has 26 sedimentary basins covering an area of 3.14 million sq. km. out of which 7 basins have established commercial productions in progress. India has total reserves of 763.476 million tonne of crude oil and 1,488.73 billion cu. metres of natural gas. According to experts, once a discovery is made it involves long procedures before the field actually gets operationalised adding cost for explorers. “Gestation periods are taken into consideration while going for exploration. However, the lesser the time taken, the better,” said Dilip Khanna, partner at EY, a consultancy. Queries emailed to the spokespersons of the petroleum ministry and ONGC on 11 November remained unanswered. According to BP Global data, India has emerged as the third largest consumer of crude oil with a consumption of 4.2 million barrels per day (mbpd) for calendar year 2015, after the US (19.39 mbpd) and China (11.96 mbpd). Jermey Parnell Womens Jersey