‘Govt. committed to improving condition of roads’
Roads and Buildings Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao said that the State government was committed towards improving the condition of all the roads in the State by spending Rs. 15,000 crore in the next two years. Addressing a public meeting after launching road works in Jukkal Assembly constituency on Saturday, he said the Chief Minister, K. Chandrasekhar Rao, has taken several measures to lay new roads and improve the condition of bad roads. Before the bifurcation, the united Andhra Pradesh had a total length of national highway was 2,600 km, but after the formation of the Telangana State, in just one year, another 2,600 km was added, the credit of which goes to the Chief Minister, he said. He said with the improvement of roads and road network, farmers can take their produce to any place in the country while even tourism gets a fillip. Riley Sheahan Womens Jersey
Highways widening: BJP accuses government of giving farmers less compensation
Ahead of 2017 assembly elections, the opposition BJP has started cornering chief minister Virbhadra Singh-led Congress government in the state on the issue of poor compensation being paid to the farmers to acquire their land for the four-laning of national highways. BJP leaders are claiming that the Centre is ready to pay more compensation but the state government is not taking the required initiative to do so, leading to losses for farmers. In Himachal Pradesh, a large chunk of land is being acquired for the four-laning of Kiratpur-Manali stretch of NH-21 and Parwanoo-Shimla stretch of National Higway -22. Ricky Jean Francois Womens Jersey
Why did banks ‘over-finance’ road projects, asks Parliamentary panel
Observing that loan disbursed by banks in excess of an estimated project cost is “strange”, a parliamentary panel has expressed concern over a large chunk of about Rs 75,000 crore of loans extended to the road sector turning bad. In particular, the panel has raised questions about huge loans advanced to Jaypee Infratech turning into NPAs. “Some of the banks have given information on total loan (Rs 74,088 crore) given to the road sector… for IDBI, the NPA percentage is as high as 52 per cent of loan disbursed for the road sector. The committee wants to know the reason why this huge amount has become NPA, that too to a single concessionaire, Jaypee Infratech Ltd,” the panel chaired by Kanwar Deep Singh said in its latest report. Seeking full details of the project awarded to Jaypee, the 33-member standing committee on transport further observed that State Bank of India has lent Rs 19,502 crore out of which Rs 1,986 crore has slipped into NPAs. SBI submitted before the committee that the projects may be approved only after ensuring 90 per cent of land acquisition is completed. The panel said, “The committee finds it strange as to how the concessionaire who has got a project for Rs 1,000 crore gets Rs 1,400 crore for the same project.” It also asked: “Why the concessionaire has been given a free hand to get the bank’s loan as per their wish?” It instructed NHAI to keep a watch on the excess loan amount obtained by the developer. Incidentally, former road transport and highways secretary Vijay Chhibber has remarked that aggressive lending by banks which were “happily over-financing even non-serious highway players without assessing risks has virtually killed the sector”. He told media, “The concessionaires and bankers are not realising that we are reaching a stage of impatience, and people who are users of these roads are not going to be waiting any more.” Projecting that total NPAs of Rs 2.6 lakh crore may go up to Rs 4 lakh crore because of defaults, the panel recommended that banks be empowered more to make recovery of bad debt. Asking the government to consider empowering the banks adequately to make recovery of bad debt easier, it said, “For example, in the case of a default, the banks may be allowed to take over the entire company.” It also noted SBI’s contention that all approvals from statutory authorities and clearances from government agencies should be obtained before a particular project is sent for bidding. “Another area of discord is the project cost estimated by NHAI and the concessionaires, which results in lending delay by financial institutions,” the committee said. William Perry Authentic Jersey
Draft vehicle scrapping policy to be ready in a fortnight: Nitin Gadkari
Aiming to scrap nearly 15 lakh heavy vehicles that are more than 15 years old in the first phase, Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said the draft policy will be ready in a fortnight. “We intend to scrap 15-year-old about 12-15 lakh heavy vehicles, mostly trucks and buses, in the first phase of our proposed Voluntary Vehicle Fleet Modernisation Programme (V-VMP). The draft policy would be ready in a fortnight,” road transport and highways minister Gadkari told PTI. The minister said 65% of the vehicular pollution is caused by heavy vehicles and scrapping of these will be done at industrial clusters like Kandla to be set up under the government’s ambitious Sagarmala project. Gadkari had called on finance minister Arun Jaitley last week in this regard, who had suggested making the policy mandatory, not voluntary. The finance minister had also said that instead of excise tax exemptions, funds will be provided for this in the Budget. According to Gadkari, the policy may provide benefits of Rs.2-3 lakh for every heavy vehicle to be scrapped. The draft V-VMP policy had earlier proposed to bring vehicles bought on or before 31 March, 2005, numbering about 28 million, under its purview. The government is also expected to take permission from the GST Council as “the tax structure is likely to change”. He said the benefits of the policy include additional net revenue of over Rs.21,000 crore on account of additional automobile sales, besides crude oil savings of Rs.7,700 crore due to improved fuel efficiency. Once the policy is finalised, it is estimated to result in domestic steel scrap generation worth Rs.5,500 crore to substitute imported scrap. The other positive, Gadkari said, is employment generation as there will be huge demand for workforce for scrapping/recycling operations and automobile manufacturing. The automobile industry’s turnover in the country is Rs.4.5 lakh crore, he said, adding that making these industrial clusters will boost job creation. He termed the policy as a “win-win” for government, stakeholders and common masses. According to the ministry, the proposed policy has the potential to reduce vehicular emission by 25-30% and save oil consumption by 3.2 billion litres a year. Jermaine Kearse Jersey
Modi wants power tariff hike in Delhi: Kejriwal
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung had sought files related to power subsidy on prime minister Narendra Modi’s instructions and warned of a hike in power tariff in the Capital. Speaking at the foundation-laying ceremony of a road in Kirari , Kejriwal said the AAP government’s proposal to increase minimum wages by up to 50 per cent could be shot down by Jung and the PM. In a series of tweets, Kejriwal said plans were afoot to remove Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal. He said she could be “arrested” soon for her “good work”. “In elections, we had promised to cut power tariff by half and provide free water. We fulfilled our promises. Sadly, Modiji has summoned the files related to power and water from LG. He is threatening to increase power tariff in Delhi,” said Kejriwal. The chief minister accused the Centre of not clearing the Delhi government’s proposal to regularise hundreds of unathorised colonies in the capital. “We cannot wait for Modiji’s nod. I have directed my ministers to carry out development works in all unauthorised colonies, including construction of roads, laying of water pipelines, etc,” he said. The CM said the lieutenant-governor was transferring officials involved in successful projects of the AAP government such as mohalla clinics and construction of school buildings. Maliwal targets Barkha DCW chief Maliwal alleged that her predecessor Barkha Shukla recruited wives of IAS and IPS officials for 49 contractual posts that were never advertised. Maliwal’s allegations were in response to the Anti-Corruption Bureau’s raid at her office last week on Shukla’s complaint. “Barkha Shukla Singh made 49 contractual appointments and appointed wives of IAS and IPS officers without giving advertisements and over 2,500 cases were pending when I assumed charge,” Maliwal claimed. “DCW handled 12000 complaint dis year compared to 3500 during Barkha’s tenure. She did 1 case in 9 years. We r questioned why work so much?(sic),” Maliwal tweeted “In 1 year, we hv changed DCW from a defunct body to one srsly workin on women issues. That’s troubling them. They want me to stop working,” she said in a series of tweets. Matt Beleskey Authentic Jersey
GMR wins bid for Mopa Greenfield airport
GMR Airports Limited (GAL), a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure Ltd, has won the bid for development and operation of Mopa Greenfield Airport in North Goa. The concession period for the Greenfield project will be 40 years with a possible extension of another 20 years through a bid process. The airport will be built under the BOT (Build Operate Transfer) model. Th regulatory regime for the concession will be hybrid till with 30 per cent cross subsidy. The concession offers 232 acres of land for commercial city side development for a period of 60 years. “We will deliver an airport worthy of the state of Goa well within the project timelines,’’ Srinivas Bommidala, Chairman Airports, GMR Group, said in a release issued here on Saturday. The Airports Authority had ended up as the second highest bidder followed by the consortium of Essel Infra-Incheon. Jordin Tootoo Authentic Jersey
MSEDCL alert against power thefts during festival
What are Ganesh pandals if not for the glittering lights and attractive Ganpati idols? Keeping up with its annual Ganeshotsav policy, the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) has, this year too, asked all Ganesh mandals to register themselves for temporary power connections, failing which, it will take strict action against those tapping electricity illegally in any form during the 10-day festivities. “The MSEDCL has asked the Ganesh mandals to register for their temporary connections based on their demand of load. We also have plans to present them connections on their demand, provided they follow instructions in totality for the safety and security of the users. Besides, we are also sending our squads to look out for unauthorized tapping of power and shall deal with the defaulters with an iron hand,” a senior officer from the MSEDCL said. The women’s flying squad – Damini – comprising engineers and officers of the MSEDCL, has been assigned the task to be on the lookout of violators of the norms. They will be visiting every mandal on the records to find out if they have taken up authorized connections. “Since the connections are released on the same day as the application with the given security and safety measures, it is not difficult for the teams to be in the dark about who have sought connections,” the officer added. Eelctricity will be charged at special festivity tariff rate, which is very close to the residential tariff, and hence it is not going to burn a hole in the pockets of the Ganesh mandals. The officer also reminded that taking power source from even a registered customer – be it a house or a commercial establishment, was illegal and this would land both – the Ganesh mandal and the one who has given power supply – in trouble. The company has so far received only three applications in the Nashik Urban division – 1 but expects more than 80 more applications just as the festivities begin. The Nashik Urban Division – 2 has received just one application so far. “Last year, the Urban Division – 1 had received 74 applications and released the same numbers of connections, while division – 2 had released 83 connection,” the officer said. Calvin Pickard Womens Jersey
Government’s ambitious power capacity target may lead to huge surplus
The government’s ambitious target of adding 261 gigawatt (GW) fresh capacity by 2022 may come at a price. According to experts, it will result in huge surplus, leading to dwindling capacity utilisation, stressed assets, more unpaid bank debts and a massive sectoral shakeout. India has total installed capacity of 303 GW at present, of which 211 GW is thermal and 42 GW renewable. The addition plan will take total generation capacity to 564 GW, achieved through 100 GW of solar capacity, 75 GW of other renewable sources and 86 GW thermal. According to Brookings India, the numbers for renewable energy, coal-fired capacity and power demand don’t quite add up upon triangulation. The targeted 1,500 million tonne of coal by 2020—mostly used by the power sector—and an added 175 GW of renewable capacity by 2022 will lead to supply overcapacity, as indicated by Washington DC-based Brookings Institution. “While renewable energy is worthy of support, one has to triangulate implications, not just on transmission network or finances, but also on alternative sources of supply. To scale sustainably, renewable energy needs not just improvements in costs but also improved frameworks for incorporating such power to the Indian grid,” noted a Brookings study. Santosh Kamath, partner & head of renewables at KPMG in India, said, “A 62 per cent plant load factor at present and exchange prices of Rs 2-3 per unit is in itself a manifestation there is surplus in the system.” “Yet over 200 million people do not have access to power and even those who have, witness several hours of power cuts. While the government is addressing network and affordability issues, which are an impediment to 24×7 power for all, it will take some time and it is expected that demand will grow only 6-7 per cent per annum.” “However, if 175 GW of capacity addition target is achieved and the 200 million get connected by power lines, demand will not rise suddenly because there are affordability issues. It will lead to further drops in capacity utilisation of thermal plants and there would be times in a day when there will be surplus. Adoption of storage technologies can mitigate some of the effects, but not completely, in this timeframe. Overall position will depend on other capacity additions as well,” said Kamath. Sabyasachi Majumdar, senior vice-president, ICRA, said, “The target of 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022 appears challenging at the moment, given the trajectory of actual capacity additions and also the relatively modest energy demand growth being seen currently.” “Apart from underlying energy demand growth and financial position of utilities, which will determine offtake for renewable energy, other factors that could impact actual capacity addition would be availability of land and other execution challenges; ramp-up of transmission corridors and availability of long-term funds at reasonable rates,” he said. A Brookings study notes that renewable energy gets support by financial and non-financial means. Recently, the Cabinet approved amendments to the National Tariff Policy to push for 8 per cent of generation from solar by 2022. The approval also talks of free inter-state transmission of wind and solar. On the other hand, these amendments ask for maximising use of existing plants to save money. At some point soon, this will lead to a disconnect. Martin St. Louis Authentic Jersey
Two $1 billion funds in the works for stressed power assets, renewable energy: Piyush Goyal
The power ministry plans to set up two funds of $1 billion each to enable alternative financing options for stressed power assets and renewable energy projects. The two funds have been proposed under the ambit of the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF). “NIIF is the fund of funds within which we will set up a sub-fund which will focus on renewable energy projects and give investment support for faster ramp up of renewable energy. It is under our active consideration and we may launch it in the near future,” power minister Piyush Goyal told ET in an interview. “We are also in dialogue with certain bankers to see if we could look at a stressed power asset fund. It may take us some more months to put its framework in place.” Asked about the size of the funds, Goyal said, “Each of these funds could easily be of the size of $1 billion.” The government set up the Rs 40,000 crore NIIF in December as an investment vehicle to fund commercially viable greenfield, brownfield and stalled projects. The power ministry’s renewable energy fund will be seeded with initial capital from a few state-run companies and will be driven largely by the private sector. “It will be run and managed by an investment manager who will be chosen through international bidding. We would like to keep the entire fund very professionally managed – something like a Temasek or a GIC model. We have the entire framework in place. We have also got investment commitments of REC, PFC and NTPC already lined up. This fund can be launched quickly,” Goyal said. Temasek and GIC are Singapore government-owned investment firms. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had sought investment from Singapore in NIIF at a meeting on Friday with visiting Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam. Goyal said the Centre is working on a mega investment plan for the power sector that includes extending investment support to the tune of Rs 1.1 lakh crore to states under the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana and the Integrated Power Development Scheme. Additional investments worth over Rs 1 lakh crore will materialise through the implementation of four planned ultra mega power projects of 4,000 MW capacity each. Goyal said the recent rationalisation of rail freight rates for coal transport and the cut in prices of higher-grade coal will help to ease costly imports of the fuel. “We have also regulated coal output in the past few months, resulting in some depletion of stocks at coal mines and power stations,” he said. The minister said he hoped distribution utilities in Haryana would start reporting profits next year and Rajasthan discoms would turn profitable in 2019 with the implementation of the Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana scheme. He said the controversy over the electrification of Nagla Fatela village in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh was a “blatant attempt by the state government at misleading the centre.” Jason Myers Authentic Jersey
NHRC seeks energy secretary’s reply on electrocution deaths
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to the state energy secretary and superintendent of police (Mayurbhanj) seeking an action taken report within four weeks on the death of a man and his elder son at Machapada under Betanoti block in the district on July 3. They were electrocuted after coming in contact with a live wire. The commission issued the notice on Sunday acting on a petition filed by rights activist Sangita Swain on July 3. Swain mentioned in her petition that the incident happened when an overhead electric wire snapped from the 11-KV line and fell on the field of Baisnab Patra, 45. “Baishnab along with his two sons, Mohan, 18, and Bhawani, 15, was busy plucking bitter gourd from their farmland when the livewire fell on them,” she added. The trio sustained serious injuries. Baishnab and Mohan were admitted to the Baisinga hospital, but later the doctors declared them dead. Bhawani was shifted to a private hospital in Bhubaneswar after his condition deteriorated. After the incident, the villagers had put up a road blockade demanding compensation for the kin of the deceased The petitioner said the duo lost their lives due to hanging 11-KV electric wire. She urged the rights body to take criminal action against the public authorities responsible for the incident. She also requested the commission to direct the state government to take departmental action against the guilty. “As the family members lost their breadwinner and a grown-up son, the government should provide compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the family and rupees five lakh towards treatment of Bhawani,” she said. Paul Postma Authentic Jersey