Banks delaying roads sector funding: Nitin Gadkari
Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday chided the bankers for delaying funding of road projects at a time when most issues in the roads sector have been resolved. Gadkari said bankers did not exercise the same caution earlier when the sector was facing difficulties. “I have some reservations with the bankers. When everything is clear, we are taking 8-10 months for financial closure. But when there was a bad situation, they financed,” Gadkari said. “We have a watch list of banks,” he added. “We have resolved enovironment and land acquisition issues. We are not giving approval to projects if 90 per cent of the land is not acquired,” he said. Giving details of how his ministry had worked on reducing the number of pending projects, Gadkari said he had saved the banks billions of rupees of bad loans by faster clearances. When he took the office in May 2014, there were 403 stuck projects with an underlying investment of Rs 3.86 trillion, which had now come down to just eight projects, Gadkari said. “I would request all of you to invest in the road sector. We’ve a lot of potential, we’ve increased the road length, economic viability is good, internal rate of return is good,” he said. The minister said there are no major issues regarding land acquisition now. “There is no problem, even with utilities there’s no problem in acquiring land,” he said. After the NDA government came to power at the centre, the length of the national highways has been increased to 1.62 lakh km from 96,000 km in two years, he claimed. Nick Bonino Jersey
Dip in power generation looms large
Catchment areas of Idukki reservoir have received less cumulative rainfall in September : Low water level in the Idukki reservoir owing to less cumulative rainfall in September has raised fears that there would be shortage in power generation during the peak summer season of March, April and May. The Periyar, main source of the Idukki reservoir, has virtually turned into a stream. As per official estimates, the cumulative rainfall in Idukki in September last was 1,553. 5 mm, while this year till September 26, it was 1,358.43 mm. Water level in the Idukki reservoir showed a decreasing trend last Saturday. This was owing to an increase in power generation and low inflow to the Periyar and other tributaries. An official at the Dam Monitoring and Research Station at Vazhathoppe told The Hindu on Monday that the average power generation from Friday was above 5 million units, which was the main reason for a decline in the reservoir level. However, it picked up on Monday after the generation level was considerably reduced, he added. This is the first time since the beginning of the southwest monsoon that the water level has shown a declining trend. The official said that during September, the average rainfall in the catchment areas is below 50 mm and only a rainfall above that level could result in an increased inflow, impacting the water level. Lowest level The increase in the water level per day was nominal, resulting in the lowest water level in September compared to the water level during the past three years. Water level in the Idukki dam on Monday was 2,351 ft. The same day last year, it was 2,359.16 ft. In 2014, the water level was 2,378.96 ft and in 2013, it was 2,3076.8 ft. The average power generation was below 2.5 mm since the beginning of the monsoon season. The Idukki dam is mainly reserved for the summer season, when there is a high demand for electricity in the State. Duke Johnson Authentic Jersey
CIAL reports 21% growth in FY16 net
Cochin International Airport Ltd has registered 21 per cent growth in its net profit at ?175.22 crore in FY16. The company’s turnover also posted a 27 per cent growth at ?524.53 crore. The director board, which met here on Tuesday, also ratified a proposal to release 25 per cent dividend to the 18,000 investors, resulting in the total dividend pay out of nearly ?110 crore, an increase of 178 per cent since 2003-04. In the last fiscal, the airport handled 7.77 million passengers. Addressing the 22nd AGM, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who is also the chairman of CIAL said that the new international terminal will be operational within two months and the company devised a master plan for land utilisation with the help of Ernst & Young. The construction of the 1931-metre four-lane road including two flyovers will be completed by next month. The installation capacity of the solar power plant will be doubled by February 2017. With the commissioning of the 12 MW solar power plant, CIAL became the first airport in the world fully powered by solar energy. It increased the power generation to 15.4 MW by the installation of more photovoltaic panels. The total installations so far produced 23.5 million units of power, he said. Nick Ritchie Jersey
Cabinet clears IOC-OIL-BPCL’s Russian stake buy for $3.14 bn
The Cabinet today gave its nod to a consortium of IOC, Oil India and BPCL buying stakes in two Russian oilfields for a total of USD 3.14 billion. Indian Oil Corp, Oil India and a unit of Bharat Petroleum Corporation(BPCL) will buy 29.9 per cent stake in Taas-Yuryakh oilfield in East Siberia for USD 1.12 billion and another 23.9 per cent in Vankor oilfield for USD 2.02 billion. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the consortium buying 29.9 per cent stake in Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha LLC, which holds and operates two licences for the Srednebotuobinskoye oil and gas condensate field, one of the largest in the East Siberia. The stake is being acquired from LLC RN-Razvedka I Dobycha (RN Upstream), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rosneft, Russian state firm, officials said. The licence for the central block is valid till 2041 and the northern block till 2032. The consortium will buy another 23.9 per cent in JSC Vankorneft, a subsidiary of Rosneft, which holds two licences for the Vankor oil fields in East Siberia valid till 2112. Officials said the Vankor asset has been valued at USD 8.45 billion as on May 31, 2015 on zero debt and working capital basis for arriving at the acquisition price. This is the same value at which ONGC Videsh, the overseas arm of the state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), bought 15 per cent stake in Vankor in December 2015. That deal closed on May 31 this year and the company has signed up for buying another 11 per cent in the same field. Taas currently produces about 21,000 barrels per day of oil, and a peak of 1,00,000 bpd is expected by 2021. Vankor, on the other hand, is past its peak, which was 161 million barrels (22 million tonnes) in 2014 and 2015. It currently produces 154 million barrels. Rosneft had last year sold 20 per cent stake in Taas to BP of UK for USD 750 million. The Russian firm will hold 50.1 per cent stake in the project after the deal. Benoit Pouliot Womens Jersey
First flight under Regional Connectivity Scheme likely in January, says Ashok Gajapathi Raju
Government expects the first flight under the regional air connectivity scheme, which is in advanced stages of finalisation, to take off in early January 2017, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju has said. The Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), which seeks to provide air services between un-served and under-served areas, is part of larger plans to boost the domestic aviation sector, which is clocking over 20 per cent passenger growth. Raju, under whose stewardship the civil aviation policy was announced in June, said work is at an advanced stage with respect to RCS. “We expect the first flight under RCS to take off by the end of this year or early January 2017,” he told PTI. The civil aviation ministry has already signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with various states, including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, for implementation of RCS. The scheme refers to operation of an air transport service between any two airports, of which at least one has been declared by the central government as un-served or under-served. There are 394 un-served and 16 under-served airports. Last week, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said as many as 20 un-utilised airports are ready to start operations for regional flights. A slew of incentives are being proposed under RCS, including Rs 2,500 cap on airfare for one-hour flights. Airlines under RCS will be extended viability gap funding (VGF) while the states concerned are required to offer certain concessions such as providing police and fire services free of cost. VGF will be created by way of charging a small levy per departure on all domestic flights on certain routes and small aircraft below 80 seats. Central and state governments will be sharing the VGF amount. Last month, the government notified excise duty of 2 per cent for jet fuel purchased from airports that come under RCS, which is part of the new civil aviation policy. The concessional rate will be applicable for airlines as well as cargo operators. A basic excise duty at concessional rate of 2 per cent will be levied on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) drawn by operators or cargo operators from RCS airports for three years,” the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) had said in a notification. Brian Dawkins Womens Jersey
Air India’s loss stands at Rs 246 crore in first quarter, narrows from Rs 316 crore last year
Air India’s turnaround — announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day Speech — seems unlikely, as the national carrier has reported operating loss of Rs 246 crore during the first quarter of the current fiscal. The first quarter loss has narrowed from Rs 316 crore during the same period last year, it is much below the airline’s expectation of making about Rs 90 crore in operating profit during the first quarter. In contrast, all other listed airlines in the country have made net profits during the same period on the back of lower fuel prices and rising demand for travel. The revenues during the period have increased marginally by Rs 121 crore (see chart). Marginal increase in revenues was a concern raised by the Prime Minister’s Office in its first review on July 6. The unaudited results for the quarter was cleared by the airline board in its meeting held on September 14. The airline is awaiting its audited financial results for the full fiscal 2015-16, where it estimated to make operational profits of Rs 100 crore. “Revenues not picking up are surely a concern, as this is impacting the overall performance of the airline,” said a ministry official, who did not want to be identified. Analysts feel that the airline has always been in turnaround mode but cannot turnaround unless the real problems are addressed. “It is believed that Air India’s problem can be addressed by giving it money, which is not the case. The airline has systemic problems and it cannot turn around unless those problems are addressed. The airline surely has shown improvement by reducing its losses but that is not commensurate with the benefits that includes lower fuel price and growing demand,” said Jitendra Bhargava, former executive director of Air India. An email sent to the airline on the issue did not elicit any response till press time on Tuesday. Air India has a huge debt burden and that is one factor impacting any turnaround prospects, its management had told ET earlier. It shells out Rs 4,000 crore annually to service debt. In an interview to ET in July, Air India chairman Ashwani Lohani had said: “Air India today has to annually pay Rs 4,000 crore to banks to service debt. It is a huge amount of money and profitability would be much easier if you remove that. I am committed to making the airline profitable on a year-on-year basis, but some debt restructuring needs to be done.”The national carrier is renegotiating with banks to restructure Rs 10,000 crore of the Rs 45,000 crore debt. As part of the bailout package, the government is also infusing and amount of Rs 30,231 crore till 2021-22. Kevin Hogan Womens Jersey
Carbon-neutral tag for IGI Airport, first in Asia-Pacific
The Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport on Tuesday became the first airport in Asia-Pacific to achieve the carbon neutral status. The Airports Council International (ACI) announced IGI’s achievement during the airport carbon accreditation certificate presentation ceremony in Montreal, Canada. The same body awarded IGI the world’s number one position (in 25-40 million passengers per annum category) twice in a row under the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) programme. Airport officials said that the airport carbon accreditation has upgraded Delhi airport to ‘Level 3+, Neutrality’, which is the highest level of achievement available to airports across the world. Carbon neutrality occurs when the net carbon emissions over an entire year is zero. This means the airport absorbs or offsets the same amount of emission that is generated, officials added. The chief executive officer of Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), I Prabhakara Rao, said, “Achievement of the accreditation for carbon neutrality is indeed recognition of a great team work. Today we have delivered on our commitment of achieving sustainable solutions for aviation climate change mitigations made at LPAA-COP 21 last year through carbon neutrality. With this achievement, we have set up a new benchmark for other airports in this region.” He said that now DIAL is focussing on energy conservation and exploring alternative solution for generating green energy. The Delhi airport further aims to increase its solar power generation capacity to 20MW by 2020, he added. The various emission saving measures implemented in DIAL have resulted in 51% reduction in specific greenhouse gas (GHG) emission (kgCO2/Pax) during the last five years. At IGI, DIAL has taken the proactive approach towards environment management and sustainability development. Terminal 3 of Delhi Airport is a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environment Design) Gold certified green building. Other energy efficient and environment friendly infrastructures at the airport include sewage treatment plant (STP) and water treatment plant (WTP), energy efficient bridge mounted equipment (BMEs), energy efficient lighting systems, advanced fuel hydrant systems, fixed electric ground power units (FEGP) and preconditioned air (PCA) supply systems. ACI Asia-Pacific regional director Patti Chau said, “We are extremely delighted to welcome the first airport in our region with such achievement.We are proud of Delhi airport’s achievement and its commitment to sustainability which has set a good example for airports in the region.” Ondrej Pavelec Womens Jersey
Bangalore airport puts in place new ground traffic arrangements
Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) has announced new ground traffic arrangements at the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru. In an effort to streamline traffic moving in and out of the airport, BIAL has implemented lateral segregation of the departure and arrival zones at the terminal by introducing two separate routes for vehicles drop-offs and pick-ups. The two routes designed to achieve this segregation of traffic will avoid traffic bottlenecks within the airport. The new routes apply to cabs and self-driven cars and have been introduced with immediate effect. Appropriate signage has been installed at various vantage points to re-direct passengers to the new routes. Additional staff have also been deployed to assist the passengers, who have been requested to adhere to the marked routes while travelling to and from the terminal. Diversions The new routes are aligned with the departure and arrival gates for ease of movement. The following instructions will help passengers traverse seamlessly at the kerb: Vehicle Drop Off Traffic Flow: The route for passenger drop-off remains unchanged. Vehicles coming from the city will take the usual left at the Main Access Road (MAR) towards the terminal building. Follow the signage to exit the airport. Vehicle Pick Up Traffic Flow: People coming to receive passengers and heading towards arrival need to continue straight instead of turning left at the Main Access Road, like they would previously. Vehicles will be required to drive past the parking lot and take a left after the traffic signal to reach arrival gates 11-13. Post pick-up, all vehicles should follow the signage to exit the airport. In the accompanying map, the route marked in red applies to vehicles dropping passengers at the terminal, and the route marked in green guides vehicles picking up arriving passengers. Orlando Cepeda Womens Jersey
As talks for aviation climate deal begin, India holds out
Fast-growing aviation powerhouse India is not ready to join the world’s first climate deal to curb pollution from commercial flights because it fears that talks beginning on Tuesday may not lead to a fair agreement, its civil aviation minister said. The proposed landmark deal, backed by the United States and China, aims to limit rising airline pollution to 2020 levels after it takes effect in 2021, but has been watered down by being made voluntary for the first five years. “(We’ll decide) once the nuts and bolts become clearer,” Ashok Gajapathi Raju told Reuters on the sidelines of an aviation forum. “Until then, our fears are that it is not equitable.” Countries with a high-growth aviation sector want more latitude to produce emissions than developed countries, which are growing more slowly but were responsible for generating the bulk of the industry’s greenhouse gases. If a country is not part of the deal, it will have a ripple effect as all foreign carriers on routes to and from that country – even ones from participating states – would be exempt from having to offset their emissions. The United Nations-led talks run from Sept. 27 to Oct. 7 at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal. Jonathan Bullard Authentic Jersey
Airlines reject demand for additional benefits, perks to MPs
Airline companies IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet, Go Air and Air India have grounded a demand for giving perks to members of parliament (MPs). These perks include quota of seats on flights, air travel facilities and assistance at airports to board/de-board a plane. On Monday, senior executives of the five airlines attended a meeting called by the Joint Committee on salaries and allowances of members of parliament at the behest of the aviation ministry to discuss “issues” related to these perks, the Economic Times reported. “We are private enterprises. We already pay taxes and should not be burdened with these additional costs,” a senior executive of one of the airline was quoted as saying by the publication. Another airline executive (who attended the meeting) revealed that the MPs were also demanding free meals, creation of special counters at airports and access to lounges. “Everyone is informally being told to agree,” he added. Clay Matthews Authentic Jersey