UP polls in sight, Greater Noida airport gets central push
With the UP assembly elections approaching, the Modi administration has fast-tracked the groundwork for NCR’s second airport in Greater Noida’s Jewar district. The UP government is also pushing for early clearance of the airport apart from having international operations at Agra Airport. Aviation secretary R N Choubey told TOI on Thursday that the ministry had asked the state government to submit location maps for the proposed airport as the next step in the clearance process involved giving site approval.”Once that is given, the state will prepare the detailed project report. Then the aviation ministry will give in-principle approval following which the project will be executed,” he said. Execution means acquiring land and then bidding the project out. Choubey clarified that the airport’s construction won’t require amending the `150km rule’. According to this, an airport should not be built in vicinity of an existing one till the latter’s capacity falls short of meeting the requirements of its catchment area. “In Delhi’s case, the only condition is that the airport operator of the existing facility (GMR Group for IGI Airport) will have the right of first refusal (ROFR),” Choubey said, removing all fears over the 150km rule being a stumbling block for the NCR getting a second airport. Under ROFR, the GMR-backed Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd (DIAL) can bid for any such airport and will get the right to match the highest bid if its own quotation is within 10% of the same. In fact, a Comptroller and Auditor General report in 2012 had criticised the ROFR given to DIAL. “This provision thwarts competition and provides DIAL with a natural advantage on the second airport,” it had said. However, the secretary said the rule was not a blanket one. “In Delhi, it means existing airport operator having ROFR. Under the concessiona ire agreement with operators in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, ROFR means another airport will not be allowed to operate there for 25 years.” In Mumbai, the need for another airport was triggered by the fact that the existing Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport was no longer able to meet the megapolis’ requirement. Delhi’s IGI Airport, on the other hand, still has the scope for a lot of expansion, including laying of the fourth runway , construction of a new terminal and expansion of the existing Terminal 1. Meanwhile, the UP government is pushing for international operations at Agra Airport, a defence airfield. “The UP chief secretary met me recently and we have okayed that. The defence ministry has also indicated its in-principle approval. It may happen soon,” Choubey said. The assembly elections are due early next year. Both announcements will have to be made before the Election Commission announces polling dates after which any such decision will be banned under the code of conduct. John Stallworth Jersey
Indian Oil Corp to continue importing two LNG cargoes a month
Indian Oil Corp (IOC) will continue importing at least two liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes a month after the expansion of the Dahej import terminal on India’s west coast, a top company executive said. Terminal operator Petronet, which is also India’s biggest single LNG importer, expanded the Dahej plant’s import capacity by 50 percent to 15 million tons a year. IOC will use its import capacity in the expanded terminal to continue importing LNG, said D. Sen, the company’s business development director. IOC purchased two LNG cargoes last week in a tender process, traders said. Tom Johnson Authentic Jersey
Prices of gas for power projects may fall further
Power Minister Piyush Goyal expects prices to fall further in the next round of subsidy-based auction of gas for power projects, given the softening of global rates and muted electricity demand in the country. Generators are unable to sell power as distribution companies are buying cheap electricity on a short-term basis from the market, which makes for a strong case for the bids to be even more favourable for the government. In an attempt to kick-start stranded gas-based projects, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government had introduced subsidy-based auctions to import gas and supply it to these power units. Lower prices for gas would translate into a lower subsidy burden for the government. “The fourth round of bids will start soon and we are looking at the possibility of even lower prices given that the international gas prices are much lower than what they were one-and-a-half years back when we formulated the scheme. Also, the appetite for expensive power is not there,” Goyal said. In the third round of the bids that concluded earlier this year, none of the nine participants sought subsidy support, resulting into a savings of. Rs. 16 billion to the government. The fourth round is expected to take place in September. He said generators are unable to sell power as discoms are buying cheap electricity from short term market. “We are striving to transform India from a power-deficit nation to a power-surplus nation. Not only that there must be sufficient power, it must be affordable” as well, he said at the Motilal Oswal investor conference here late Tuesday. The minister said the UDAY (Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana) scheme for reviving beleaguered discoms has been a game-changer. While there is still time before one can see substantial improvement on the ground, the benefits of the scheme are already visible on the financial side, he said. “The results are encouraging and states are serious about implementing it.” If all states implement the scheme efficiently, it will benefit the country by $25-26 billion every year in terms of the savings, he said. Goyal said the government is determined to remove roadblocks to achieve the target of 24×7 power to all and that the units of power generated in the country could double in the next five-six years on the back of better efficiently and capacity addition. “By merely utilising existing capacity efficiently, India can enhance power generation by 50%,” he added. Dion Sims Womens Jersey
ONGC Videsh to set up crude oil trading desk in Singapore
As part of a move to monetise its overseas hydrocarbon production, state-run ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) plans to set up a crude oil trading desk in Singapore. This comes in the backdrop of transporting crude oil to the world’s third-largest oil market posing a logistical challenge from some geographies. OVL has been exploring oil trading as a viable route to monetise its produce. Currently, it has been following the tender route, which is time consuming and also proves disadvantageous in terms of flexibility. An OVL spokesperson, in an emailed response, said, “In the long run, we intend to develop our own trading team to market our produced crude to maximise benefit to the company. It might be located in Singapore.” OVL recently signed a pact with SOCAR Trading SA for oil trading aimed at optimising crude price realisation from its portfolio. SOCAR Trading is the international marketing and development arm of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), headquartered in Baku. The overseas arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) Ltd has built up a significant overseas energy portfolio of 37 projects in 17 countries with an investment of around $23.81 billion. It has also set a target to achieve 20 million tons (MT) by 2017-18 from the current 8.36 MT of oil and oil-equivalent gas. “We will be coming up with an oil trading desk at our subsidiary office in Singapore,” said a person aware of the development, requesting anonymity. “The subsidiary office in Singapore was initially set up for Vankorneft transactions,” added the person quoted above. OVL acquired a 15% equity stake in Russia’s JSC Vankorneft from Rosneft Oil Co. in 2015 for $1.27 billion. In addition, OVL also plans to acquire another 11% stake in Russia’s second-largest field by production. This also comes in the backdrop of a fall in international crude prices, which has made oil-producing countries financially vulnerable. Russia is particularly at risk because it has to additionally cope with the impact of the sanctions imposed by Western nations. Another state-run firm GAIL (India) Ltd opened a liquefied natural gas trading desk in Singapore in November 2011. “ONGC Videsh Ltd and SOCAR Trading SA signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 27 May 2016 at Geneva. The objective of the MoU is to explore possibilities of joint marketing of ONGC Videsh’s crude oil portfolio by leveraging SOCAR Trading’s experience in oil trading,” OVL said in a 31 May statement. Experts think this is a prudent step as OVL can leverage Singapore’s advantage as a location. “Singapore is the trading hub and an established place for oil trading where the company can hire local experts and employ Indian experts as well. It is an apt place for setting up an oil trading desk because of its protected and transparent nature. Oil prices keep varying every minute; therefore, it is better to set this up at a place where both buyers and sellers are present,” said Ranbir Singh Butola, OVL’s former chairman and managing director. Butola added that he was unaware of any such development. From its 14 producing assets, OVL has produced 4.137 MT of oil and 2.558 billion cu. metres of gas for the first nine months of financial year 2015-16. India imports one-third of its energy requirements. The country imported 202.85 MT of crude oil in 2015-16 for Rs.4.16 trillion. For 2014-15, India imported 189 MT of crude oil at a cost of Rs.6.87 trillion. Kwon Alexander Jersey
Lanka IOC mulls expanding Trinco bunkering operations
Sri Lanka’s IOC, a subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation, is to expand their existing bunkering operations at Trinco port as the prospects for this business line are promising, particularly given the strategic positioning of the port and its significant potential for growth, the company said. Trincomalee is the world’s 5th best natural harbour and provides an excellent opportunity to meet the bunker need of the vessels operating on the Bay of Bengal – Western Countries shipping route. LIOC commenced bunkering operations in Trincomalee in June last year and to optimize the storage and operating costs the company commissioned storage of bunker fuels at its Trincomalee Terminal in February 2016. The company currently operates one bunker barge with capacity for 400 MT of 380cst fuel and 400 MT of MGO. The forex income generated from this business line has enabled the LIOC to hedge against its foreign currency payments in the purchase of oil imports. During the 2015/16 financial year, bunkering has achieved a volume growth of 20 percent although revenue declined by 31 percent due to the reduction in international prices, the company’s annual report showed. Operating from Colombo and Trincomalee harbour, LIOC is the 2nd largest operator for bunkering in the island’s bunkering market supplying fuel oil and diesel for vessels at berth and anchorage at the Colombo and Trincomalee ports, which accounted for 13 percent of company’s revenue. During the Indian PM’s visit to Sri Lanka, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and LIOC agreed to jointly develop the upper tank farm of the China Bay installation in Trinco. Lanka IOC, already operates 15 oil storage tanks out of 99 tank farm in Trinco and each storage tank has a capacity of around 12,000 tons. Meanwhile, petroleum sector unions recently charged the government for trying what they called ‘to privatize’ the Trincomalee tank farm to India and Hambanthota oil and bunkering business to China. Convener for Petroleum Union Collective D J Rajakaruna said the government allows other countries to make profits out of promising bunkering business in Trinco and Hambanthota without letting the business to the state owned CPC. He further charged that the government is also planning to form a separate company under CPC for aviation business with a view to ‘privatize’. Corey Graham Authentic Jersey
Mukesh Ambani says RIL, BP will not drop cost recovery arbitration for KG-D6
Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani has said that the company will not withdraw the cost recovery arbitration over the Krishna-Godavari (KG) asset, dismissing speculations that the company and its joint venture partner are close to dropping arbitration so that they are eligible for higher pricing as per the government’s policy. Ambani refrained from commenting on the report by the panel headed by former chief justice of Delhi High court AP Shah detailed Tuesday, which said that the company made “unjust” gains by pumping natural gas that flowed from ONGC’s adjoining block. “Our upstream business is in partnership with BP and we want to constructively make sure that we are not going to withdraw the cost recovery arbitration. We are confident of constructively finding a solution,” Ambani said in response to shareholders’ query at the company’s Annual General Meet on Thursday. Ambani’s statement comes at a time when speculations are rife that RIL, BP and their partner Canada’s Niko Resources are contemplating pulling out of the multiple arbitration they have against the government relating to the KG-D6 asset. Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government announced policy changes in March this year that requires them to drop the arbitration in case they want to get the higher gas prices being offered. The RIL-led consortium has formally started the process of developing their deep sea fields, which the industry saw as precursor to them withdrawing arbitration so that they can charge market price for natural gas. “We will work with BP and we will not give up our legal rights. We expect the results in consultation with our partner as we have to respect our partner,” he said. In March, the government detailed a new policy linking the price of gas from undeveloped difficult fields such as deep sea and high pressure-high temperature areas to alternative fuels, effectively doubling the prices. While the maximum price available to domestic natural gas is $3.06 per unit, difficult fields can avail $6.61 per unit as gas price. The same policy states that any operator engaged in litigation against the government can not avail these prices. “Our KG-D6 block has produced 2.6 TCF of gas and 29 million barrels of crude oil since commencement of output. We are making our best efforts to sustain production from this complex deep water basin,” Ambani said. “We are also evaluating, along with our partner BP, development plans to monetize the remaining resources of 4-5 TCF from this block, in the framework of the new gas pricing policy.” The government disallowed $2.756 billion cost incurred by RIL and its partners in the KG-D6 block, citing that they missed the gas production target for five consecutive years beginning April 1, 2010. As per the Production Sharing Contract, RIL and partners deduct all capital and operating expenses from the sale of gas before sharing profit with the government but the disallowed amount changes the calculation and thus the government has claimed additional profit petroleum of $246.9 million. RIL and partners challenged this, citing that the output fall is a natural phenomenon and they cannot be held responsible for it. Darius Slay Womens Jersey
Making efforts to sustain production in the KG basin: Mukesh Ambani
A day after the A.P. Shah Committee opined that Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) drew gas from the adjacent block belonging to state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC) in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin, RIL’s chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani said the private explorer is making best efforts to sustain production in the complex deepwater basin. Ambani was addressing the company’s annual general meeting on Thursday in Mumbai, wherein he announced the launch of Reliance Jio telecom service starting 5 September. The one-man Committee submitted a report late on 31 August to petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan alleging that RIL has produced 9 billion cu. metre (bcm) of gas out of the 11 bcm that flowed from the ONGC block to that of RIL from the deepwater field off the coast of Andhra Pradesh between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2015. “Our KG D6 block has produced 2.6 tcf (trillion cu. feet) of gas and 29 million barrels of crude oil since commencement of output. We are making our best efforts to sustain production from this complex deepwater basin,” Ambani said on Thursday. The Shah Committee report concluded that RIL should pay the government for the natural gas it has drawn from the adjacent block in the past seven years. “The Committee also notes that the question of quantification of unfair enrichment is to be decided by the government of India, with the principle that whatever benefit RIL received in terms of the migrated gas is liable to be returned to the government of India. The Committee faced significant limitations in giving a figure to the final value of the migrated gas produced by RIL during the term of its lease, due to the lack of data and the Committee’s inherent technical limitations,” the report available on the petroleum and natural gas ministry’s website said. India imports one-third of its energy requirements. The country imported 202.85 MT of crude oil in 2015-16 for Rs.4.16 trillion. For 2014-15, India imported 189 MT of crude oil at a cost of Rs.6.87 trillion. “We are also evaluating, along with our partner BP, development plans to monetise the remaining resources of 4-5 tcf from this block, in the framework of the new gas pricing policy,” Ambani said. RIL has 60% interest in KG-D6 block while Niko Resources Ltd of Canada holds 10%. BP Plc of the UK holds the remaining 30%. Ambani also announced that RIL’s over 1,050 fuel retail outlets are operational across India and another 200 are at advanced stages of being re-commissioned. Phil Esposito Jersey
Oil ministry seeks uniform taxes on LPG for domestic, commercial use
The oil ministry is seeking to rationalise taxes on cooking gas sold to all types of consumers in order to block diversion of cylinders meant for domestic use, ministry officials said. It has written to the finance ministry to impose uniform taxes on cooking gas, or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), used for domestic and commercial consumption. The finance ministry will take a final call on the demand that was also made in the past. Gas cylinders meant for domestic use attract no taxes at present while commercial users have to pay a basic customs duty of 5 per cent, additional customs duty of 8 per cent and a central excise duty of 8 per cent. In addition to central taxes, commercial users have to pay local levies imposed by states. All these duties together make commercial LPG about a third more expensive than domestic. In Delhi, non-subsidised cooking gas costs about Rs 34 per kilogram while the commercial LPG costs about Rs 45 per kg. About 90 per cent of the total LPG consumed in the country is used by households, although it is suspected that some subsidised cylinders meant for household use are diverted for commercial purpose. Besides not having to pay taxes, households also get subsidy on 12 cylinders of gas they consume in a year. The subsidy has sharply shrunk to Rs 64 per cylinder due to a nearly two-thirds fall in crude oil price in the past two years. In the meantime, the consumption of domestic non-subsidised cylinders has also sharply risen, giving rise to suspicion that some of these cylinders might be getting diverted to commercial use since there is a major price difference between the two types of cylinders due to incidence of taxes. The oil ministry wants to put an end to these incentives for diversion by having the same price for all cylinders for domestic or commercial use. One way of doing it could be to scrap all taxes from commercial cylinders, which will result in some loss of revenue that could be offset by lower subsidy due to little need for diversion of domestic cylinders, an official said. Another possible way could be to impose some tax on domestic cylinders to offset loss due to lowering of taxes on commercial LPG, and since oil prices are low, households may not feel the pinch, he said. Uniform taxes will also boost the private sector’s presence in LPG distribution. Private sector refiners Reliance Industries and Essar Oil are keen on carving a big share in LPG distribution dominated by the public sector but are hindered by the presence of subsidy and varying tax structure. India has about 17 crore domestic LPG consumers and plans to add 10 crore consumers in three years as lower oil prices keep cooking gas more affordable and the government’s fuel subsidy burden lighter. LPG consumption in the country grew 8.6 per cent in 2015-16 from that in the previous year. Sergio Romo Womens Jersey
Ludhiana looms far behind when it comes to road infrastructure
For a city that has been dubbed as the “Manchester of Punjab” for its thriving industry, Ludhiana is yet to hit the fast lane when it comes to road infrastructure. Most areas of the city continue to be at the receiving end of roads riddled with potholes. With monsoon at its peak, it is unlikely that commuting in the city is going to be a smooth ride for citizens in the near future. The worst-affected roads and areas include: Focal Point, Jaimal Road, Bhagwan Chowk, Pahwa Hospital Road, Gill Road, Basant Road, Pratap Chowk, and many others. Manoj Gupta, who resides in Model Town, said his office was in Focal Point and the roads there were the worst. “The potholes there are so deep that they damage cars. It takes twice the time to reach there only because of the condition of the roads. Repairs are a far cry. The MC has used sand to fill some of the potholes, but these only add to our woes when it rains,” he said. Atam Park resident Tarun Malhotra commutes daily to office using Gill Road. “Though Ludhiana is an industrial hub and is now touted to become a Smart City, roads have been neglected for long. Gill Road happens to be a busy industrial area, but the roads have made it difficult for the industrialists based there. Deliveries often get late because of the roads,” he said. Haibowal resident Jagdeep Malhotra said roads are basic infrastructure. “But it does not seem to be on the MC’s priority list. I am an avid cyclist, and it gets difficult to cycle on these roads,” he said. Model Town resident Daman Singh said he his car had once gotten damaged because of the poor condition of roads. “Only I had to pay for the damage to my car. Not the MC. The authorities need to fix responsibility when it comes to the condition of such roads,” he said. MC commissioner Ghanshyam Thori admitted to roads in Focal Point being in a bad condition and assured that roads would repaired after monsoon. “They will be in shape after monsoons, possibly around September 15. At Gill Road, work will be done after September 15,” he said. Matt Ryan Jersey
Kerala will get coastal, hill highways: Minister
The State Government is for building coastal and hill highways connecting the northern and southern tips of the state as part of improving road infrastructure. The government intends to complete the project worth about Rs 10,000 crore during its tenure, PWD Minister G Sudhakaran said. The decision for building these two highways was taken up at a meeting in the presence of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Finance Minister Thomas Issac, he said. The officials in the PWD have been asked to submit a detailed project report in this regard, he said and added that they were asked to submit the report within four months. Sudhakaran also said that the highways would be constructed using the most modern techniques. The coastal highway will have a length of 606 km and the hill highway 1195 km. The Minister also said that an investigation would be held on how the former UDF government had given sanction for the projects under the District Flagship Infrastructure Project (DFIP) without having enough funds. The probe was only for knowing the reality and not to take action against anyone, he added. Refuting the allegations that the government had abandoned the projects brought by the UDF government, he said that the projects have only be stopped for a short period as funds were not available. Discussions are on with the Chief Minister and the finance minister to raise the funds, he added. He also lashed out at the previous UDF government for its projects under DFIP. As per the budget proposal, 14 projects for 14 districts were announced and an amount of Rs 1,400 crore was announced for this. Later, the number of projects was increased to 21 and sanction was given to the tune of Rs 3,771.47 crore but without any fund allocation, Sudhakaran alleged. He further said that ten of the 21 projects were given priority and administrative sanction of Rs 1,620.30 crore was given. However, he alleged that the projects were taken up without any criteria. The UDF government had proposed the projects without any fund allocation and without any clear cut vision of raising the funds, he alleged. Brian Elliott Authentic Jersey