Indian carriers struggle to find talent inside cockpit
Arav Joshi, 26, completed his flying course from New Zealand-based training academy in 2012. After that did not translate into a job, he topped it with a type rating course from a Pune-based facility in 2014. The total expenditure came to around Rs 50 lakhs. He is still without a job. He is part of the 7,000 odd who despite holding a commercial pilots license (CPL) is awaiting a job. Despite available manpower, Indian carriers are finding it difficult to find suitable people as they are hesitant to recruit fresher to man their cockpit. National carrier Air India in July advertised to recruit 415 pilots for manning its Airbus A320 aircraft. The airline has a requirement of more than 500 pilots as it plans to expand its fleet rapidly. But the hiring plan has gone awry with the airline now struggling to find suitable candidates. Other private airlines are looking to expat pilots even though the cost of hiring an expat is significantly higher for an airline. Air Asia India- the joint venture between the Tata Sons and Tony Fernandes-owned Air Asia Bhd is looking to hire at least 30 expat pilots as it looks at fleet expansion following fund infusion from the promoters. Sources, say that despite multiple rounds of roadshows conducted across cities, the airline failed to find enough local pilots. An AirAsia spokesperson declined to comment. Jet Airways, sources say is looking to hire around 30 type-rated foreigners to fly its Boeing 737 planes. Having an expat on board is a financial burden for an airline. “The salaries of the expats are higher, the airline has to provide them accommodation and also bear expense for his journey to his home country,” a pilot with a domestic carrier said. In addition to that there are several safety approvals required which takes around six months. “Effectively during that period, you have to pay them without flying,” the pilot said. “While there are thousands of CPL holders in the country, getting type rated Indian pilots becomes difficult, you have to give them additional training, no airlines want to recruit simple CPL holders and bear that cost,” an executive of a private airline said. Brian Leetch Authentic Jersey
Guruvayoor lagislator calls for airstrip for the temple town
With more VIPs from far and wide visiting the famed Guruvayoor Sree Krishna temple, the temple town is in need of an airstrip, and with various investment options available, this could soon become a reality, according to a local legislator. Speaking to IANS, Guruvayoor legislator K.V. Abdul Khader said a few years ago a team of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials had visited a few places in the area. “Land is a problem here for an airport and it has now dawned that only an airstrip can be a viable proposition. For that, around 15 to 20 acres of land is all that’s required,” said Khader, a three-time CPI-M legislator from Guruvayoor. Over the years, the name and fame of the temple has spread far and it has become one of the most important places of worship for Hindus. Among those who now frequently visit the temple are national leaders as also top political personalities from Sri Lanka. “Today with more and more VIP visits, traffic gets choked as most of them either fly to Kochi airport and then arrive to the temple town by road. A 14 acres’ plot of land belonging to the temple is at present lying unused… This could be ideal for the air strip,” said Khader. Joe Flacco Womens Jersey
Passenger traffic at Mumbai airport increased 30% in 3 years
In the last three years, the number of flight arrivals and departures at Mumbai airport went up by 35,500 even as the fast-growing airport saw a 30% increase in passenger volumes, taking the number of passengers handled in 2015-16 to 4.15 crore. In the 2013-14 fiscal, the airport handled 2.18 crore domestic and 1.03 crore international passengers, with a total of 3.2 crore passengers, according to data released on Saturday by Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL) in its sustainability report 2016. Three years later, the number of domestic passengers had gone up to 3 crore, while international passenger traffic was 1.16 crore. “Indian aviation is set for transformational growth. Foreseeing this scenario, MIAL has taken sustained efforts to expand and modernize airport infrastructure,” said the report. Among major modernization projects undertaken are refurbishment of domestic passenger terminals 1A and 1B, upgradation of runways and allied airside infrastructure, expansion of additional apron areas and parking bays on the airside, construction of new airline support facilities like aircraft run-up bays, maintenance hangars, and ground support equipment storage, expansion, upgradation and construction of new taxiways and rapid exit taxiways. Development apart, the airport addressed environmental concerns too. In the recently held Paris Conference of the Parties (COP), India committed to reduce its carbon emissions intensity by 33-35% by 2030, from its 2005 levels. MIAL has planned a 25% reduction in carbon emissions from direct fuel consumption and indirect energy purchase by 2020, the report said. The total green house gas emissions during 2014-15 and 2015-16 were 109,516 tCO e (tonnes of carbon equivalent) and 109,006 tCO e respectively. Shilique Calhoun Jersey
Puducherry government inks MoU with civil aviation ministry, AAI
The Puducherry government has signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding with the Union aviation ministry and Airports authority of India (AAI) to resume regular flights connecting the Union territory to other destinations under the regional connectivity service. The Puducherry government extended concessions to make flying affordable. The government proposes to connect Puducherry with cities lying within a distance of 500km by air. The cost of airfare will be around 2,500, which is certainly affordable, said a release. “The move is expected to give a big boost not only to the tourist inflow but also to industrial investments. The process to operationalise flights is likely to be completed and operations may be started by January, 2017,” said the release. Geoff Cameron Authentic Jersey
Carriers stay away from India’s first private greenfield airport
The road to India’s first private greenfield airport now wears a desolate look, with three unmanned check-posts and overgrown bushes and shrubs lining the road leading to its entrance. The police have barricaded vehicle entry into the immediate connecting lane in the arrival and departure sections as no vehicles can be seen plying near it. In line with the closed booking counters, Buggie – a prepaid taxi start-up that started an airport counter has also closed shops. Only an Oriental Bank of Commerce ATM, just outside the airport can be seen in an operational state. The security guard manning the ATM says it is now used by the airport’s employees only to withdraw cash or avail other services. “Previously, passengers used to withdraw money but now it is used by the few airport staff only,” the guard says. The land adjoining to the airport is now used by the localities to graze cattle. Ten years after this airport, christened Kazi Nazrul Islam airport (KNIA), was first conceived on the fringes of West Bengal’s steel city, Durgapur, the project is yet to see full-scale scheduled flights operating out of the airport after state-owned carrier Air India pulled out citing operational issues last year. Back in May last year, Air India commenced regular flight schedules with a 48-seater ATR aircraft between Kolkata and Durgapur that got upgraded to a 122-seater Airbus 319 (with an extended route – Kolkata-Durgapur-New Delhi) in December 2015. However, after six months of operations, the carrier discontinued the flight. Trevor Siemian Jersey
A ‘larger’ oil cartel may emerge
For oil importing countries, OPEC’s decision to cut its oil production on assurance that influential non-OPEC producers (Russia) would also join in, seems like a collusive tactic to force oil prices up. Oil prices, which have fallen by over 70% in the past two years, have dramatically reduced the exports earnings of all OPEC members, thereby “putting strains on their fiscal position”, as OPEC puts it. Before Russia and others join in formally (though many feel that Russia is already in), the OPEC has reached a rare consensus among its 14 members to cut the group’s production by about half-a-million barrels per day. It is the first ever commitment by OPEC to collectively cut its production since oil prices started falling in early 2014. The proposed move has upped oil prices by 5%, sent global energy stocks soaring but has left oil importing countries sulking. “I see this understanding (among OPEC) with a lot of suspicion,” says R.S. Sharma, head of FICCI’s hydrocarbon committee and former chairman, ONGC. “There are a lot of sectarian differences among OPEC members — most notably between Iran and Saudi Arabia — which might scuttle the success of this agreement. How individual members respond to this collective agreement (to cut production) is something to be seen. Who would be producing what quantum of oil is yet to be decided and that is where individual calculations might differ,” says the Delhi-based energy expert. Many, especially the poorer members of the cartel, would still insist that the Saudis make a bigger sacrifice (cut) to keep the consensus going. Higher oil prices, resulting from the OPEC’s decision to cut back production, is ‘likely to have a cascading impact on India’s fiscal scene and inflation dynamics.’ Oil earnings have been the lifeline of OPEC and Russia that together produce about half of the global oil. Traditionally, both having been fierce rivals, are eying the same global oil market. “Russia joining hands with OPEC is a big news which may take oil up to $60 a barrel. Any further escalation in oil prices would depend on global oil demand which looks quite weak at the moment,” feels Sharma. The global oil market remains oversupplied by 1.5 million barrel/day, and therefore someone (other than OPEC) has to cut more to “balance’ the market. Lower oil prices have greatly benefited India that imports over 80% of its crude oil requirements, mainly from the OPEC. Cheaper energy imports have helped it to keep inflation under control. This may change now. Higher oil prices, resulting from the OPEC’s decision to cut back production, is “likely to have a cascading impact on India’s fiscal scene and inflation dynamics”, says Abnish Kumar, Director & research head, Amrapali Aadya Trading & Investment.
Petronas weighs sale to exit $27 billion Canada LNG project
Malaysian state oil firm Petroliam Nasional Bhd is considering selling its majority stake in a $27 billion Canadian liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, three people familiar with the matter said this week. Petronas, as the company is known, said in a statement on Saturday that it “categorically denied” the Reuters report on Friday that the company is considering the stake sale. “Petronas reiterates that, together with the project partners, it will study the conditions that come with the approval and conduct a total review of the project prior to making a decision on the next steps forward,” the company said in a statement on Saturday. Petronas is weighing options for the project as a more than 50 percent slide in crude oil prices since the middle of 2014 has hit the group´s profits and prompted cuts to capital expenditure and jobs. Amid the cost-cutting, the economics of the Canadian project – which took three years to get approval due to environment concerns – have been called into question as LNG prices have fallen more than 70 percent in two years. Petronas was given the go-ahead for the C$36 billion ($27.34 billion) project by the Canadian government earlier this week. It said then that executives would study the 190 conditions imposed by the authorities and conduct a review before deciding on the next steps. The sources said Petronas has been considering a sale for months, after it became apparent that a Canadian approval was possible, but had yet to take a final decision. Other options are also being considered, including putting it on ice. “They are going to be looking at gas prices, costs and returns before they make the final decision,” said one of the sources. “It is a very tough call.” The Canadian project is Petronas´ biggest foreign investment and seen as a sign of Malaysia´s global energy ambitions. An exit would underscore the financial constraints at the state-run firm and also the soft outlook for LNG prices. Last month, Petronas reported an 85 percent slide in second-quarter profit and labelled the industry outlook “gloomy” well into 2017. It has committed to paying 16 billion ringgit to the government coffers this year, down nearly 40 percent from its year-ago contribution. Petronas signed on for the project in 2012 through the acquisition of Canada´s Progress Energy. It has faced several hurdles. Aboriginal and environmental groups have said the project would threaten a salmon habitat. The liquefied natural gas price decline added to concerns, and there is also a growing supply glut as other projects went live. If Petronas goes ahead with a sale, finding a buyer in current market conditions would be difficult, the sources said. Petronas was considering its options as far back as a year ago, a separate industry source said, but he added it would be difficult to sell in the current environment given that Canadian projects are more expensive. If Petronas opts to suspend the Canada project, it would be put on ice until gas prices begin to turn around and Petronas is confident of securing long-term contracts at reasonable prices, said the sources, who declined to be identified as the negotiations are not public. Other liquefied natural gas projects in British Columbia have also faced delays, underlining the market outlook. In July, Royal Dutch Shell and its partners pushed back a decision on building an LNG export terminal, and Chevron has delayed the scheduled 2017 start of its Kitimat liquefied natural gas project. Petronas has minority partners for the project in China, India, Japan and Brunei. Darwin Barney Authentic Jersey
NHPC wants to give BYPL’s share to two other discoms
Trouble seems to be mounting for the BSES discoms. National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) has petitioned Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) for reallocation of BSES Yamuna’s share of power (117.04MW) to the other discoms – BSES Rajdhani and Tata Power. If they do not take it, then DERC should declare this power as surplus. The matter was heard weeks ago. “The petitioner, NHPC, submitted that BYPL has not been paying its energy bills. The power purchase agreements have a condition that letter of credit (LC) of 105% of average monthly billing for the preceding 12 months should be provided by the beneficiary. The LC of BYPL was effective till March 31, 2014 after which it did not renew it,” said an official. While the issue was under deliberation in DERC, NHPC on June 22, 2016 proposed that the entire power from NHPC allocated to BYPL may be re-allocated to BRPL. “BYPL, citing financial hardship, allowed temporary reassignment of its allocated power from NHPC to BRPL till March 31, 2018,” said an official. In August, DERC decided that the entire 117.04MW of power will be temporarily reassigned to BRPL from July 13, 2016 till March 31, 2018. Tim Schaller Womens Jersey
Meghalaya to stand guarantor for cash-strapped power company
Meghalaya will stand guarantor for its cash-strapped power company to enable it raise a loan of over Rs 496 crore to pay its outstandings. The Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) owes the money to the state-owned North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (Neepco). “We have decided to act as a guarantor of the corporation to avail loans of over Rs 496 crore for paying the dues it owes to Neepco. The total amount to be paid is Rs 496.32 crore, including a surcharge amount of Rs 98.44 crore,” Chief Minister Mukul Sangma told journalists on Friday night after the cabinet approved the proposal. The loan would be taken from the Power Finance Corporation (PFC). Moreover, Sangma informed that the cabinet also directed the Finance and Power departments to come up with measures for MeECL to realise its nearly Rs 344 crore outstanding from consumers.”The MeECL is yet to recover outstanding dues worth nearly Rs 344 crore from the consumers in the state,” he said Meghalaya owes Neepco and central generating stations — National Hydro-electric Power Corporation, National Thermal Power Corporation, Power Grid Corporation of India Limited and others, a total due of Rs 767 crore. For Neepco alone, Meghalaya owes a total due, including surcharge, of around Rs 715 crore. However, the Chief Minister said 60 per cent of the surcharge is expected to be waived off. Sangma said the state finance and power departments have been asked to work out plans to ensure that the corporation adopts systems that enable it function in an efficient and effective manner. The state witnesses daily outages after the water level at Umiam reservoir dropped due to scanty rainfall. Meghalaya has vast hydro-potential of around 3,000 MW, but there are delays in planning and execution. The state’s power availability is 358 MW against a demand of over 600 MW. Ben Harpur Jersey
UDAY a success: India’s power distribution system shows clear signs of revival
India’s power distribution system is showing concrete signs of revival and lower operational losses as chronically inefficient states have significantly narrowed the gap between cost and revenue, reduced unmetered supply and are planning large bond issues in 10 days. Officials say of the 16 states part of the Centre’s distribution utility revival scheme-—Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojna (UDAY) —at least eight have a lower gap between their average cost of electricity supply and average cost of realisation. According to one official, Uttar Pradesh distribution companies are set to launch state-government guarantee-backed bond issue worth Rs 5,000 crore starting October 6 to meet operational requirements. Rajasthan distribution utilities are also likely to raise working capital funds through bond issues in the next 10 days. Provisional data shows that the gap in Uttar Pradesh distribution utilities declined by over 65% to Rs 0.41 per unit for the year ended March 16 against Rs 1.17 per unit as on March last year. The difference between cost of supply of electricity in Haryana reduced by half to Rs 0.23 per unit in March from Rs 0.65 per unit a year ago, said the official quoted above. Discoms of Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand have reduced the shortfall in revenue, but distribution companies of Punjab and Karnataka reported an increase in their losses. Twelve of the 16 states showed reduction in aggregate commercial and technical electricity losses that go unmetered. Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh are some of the states that showed decline in distribution losses. Preliminary data being compiled by the Union power ministry to launch a mobile application for monitoring implementation of Uday also shows that 13 of the 16 states have filed tariff revision petitions for 2016-17 with their respective state electricity regulatory commissions. The Union Power Ministry’s website and mobile app to monitor progress of UDAY will have data fed by state power distribution companies on 14 operational and financial parameters. The application will also rate the state power distribution system on the progress made by them against commitments made during signing of Uday agreements. As per provisional data available with the power ministry, Haryana, Gujarat, Bihar, Punjab and Rajasthan, have fulfilled 30-45% of the commitments made under UDAY. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand need improvement with below 30% progress while Jammu & Kashmir lags far behind delivering just 15% of the promises made under UDAY. The 14 parameters on which state distribution companies implementing UDAY are being measured include reduction in technical and commercial losses, reduction in gap between per unit cost of power supply and realisation, household electrification, urban and rural feeder metering, smart metering, profit and loss accounts and the distribution of LED lights. Marshall Faulk Jersey