OIL pays Rs 24.9 million royalty to Arunachal Pradesh
Oil India Limited has made a payment of Rs 24.9 million to Arunachal Pradesh against differential royalty on oil for February 2014 to March this year. General Manager of Oil India, Duliajan (Assam), A K Acharya handed over the cheque to Chief Minister Pema Khandu in his office yesterday. The GM briefed Khandu on the pending issues of Ningru oil field and requested him to expedite the Petroleum Mining Lease, an official release said here. He also apprised Khandu of the yet to be signed MoU of 10 MW gas power plant. The Chief Minister assured him to fast-track the pending issues and asked the firm to take up more activities in the state as it has abundant mineral oil resources which need to be tapped properly, the release said. Robert Griffin III Womens Jersey
ONGC on recruitment drive for 417 posts; invites GTs at E-1 level in Engineering & Geo-Sciences
Interested candidates have to apply online through ongcindia.com. The last date to apply is August 10, 2016. The Oil and Natural Gas Company (ONGC) recently announced 417 engineering and geo-sciences vacancies. Through the recruitment drive, the energy major invites application from interested candidates who have successfully cleared GATE-2016 examination. The candidates will be appointed as Graduate Trainees (GTs) at E-1 level in Engineering & Geo-Sciences posts. The application process has already started and the last date to apply is August 10, 2016. The advertisement/notification clearly mentions that only the GATE – 2016 examination score will be valid for the recruitment. The results of any other examination, even GATE – 2015, will not be considered. Candidates will be shortlisted on basis of their GATE 2016 and personal interview scores. Eligibility criteria ONGC has invited application for varied posts including Assistant Executive Engineer, Chemist, Geologist, Geophysicist, Materials Management Officer, Programming Officer and Transport Officer posts. The educational qualifications vary for different posts advertised. Age limit for general candidates is 30 years as on January 01, 2016. Age relaxation for ST, SC, OBC, physically disable candidates are as per the Government rules. Age relaxation will be extended to departmental candidates to the extent of their service rendered in ONGC. Scott Wilson Jersey
Govt. Of Sri Lanka: Huge tender for oil pipelines next week
The Government will next week award a tender valued at more than Rs. 8.7 billion for the construction of four pipelines to carry oil from the Colombo harbour’s Dolphin Pier to Kolonnawa. Bidders from India, Malaysia, China and the United States have been shortlisted to construct the pipelines, each six-and-a-half kilometres long, to replace the 69-year-old oil pipelines in use, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) Chairman T.C. Jayasinghe said. The Cabinet has given approval for the project and the tender will be awarded to the lowest bidder by the tender board on Friday, he said. Two pipelines are for jet and crude oil while the others are for refined petrol and diesel. “The existing pipelines are old and their capacity is less; hence, the transportation of oil takes long resulting in the CPC having to pay demurrage at times. There are also leaks in some places leading to wastage,” he explained. The pipelines would run underground so there would be no logistical issues such as having to relocate people. The project was likely to be completed in one-and-a-half years, he said. Mr. Jayasinghe said the company which won the tender would have to undertake the US$ 60 million (Rs 8.7 billion) project using its own funds which the government would pay back in 12 years after a three-year grace period. Jonnu Smith Authentic Jersey
Government may cut gas price for producers by 20 per cent in October
Natural gas price paid to producers like state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Reliance Industries is likely to fall 20 per cent to $ 2.45 in October. This will be the fourth reduction in last 18 months following the formula approved by the government in October 2014. Price of natural gas produced from existing fields of ONGC and RILBSE 2.15 % is likely to fall to $ 2.45 per million British thermal unit with effect from October 1 as opposed to $ 3.06 currently, a senior official said. This rate is on gross calorific value (GCV) basis. The gas price was last cut on April 1 from $ 3.82 per mmBtu to $ 3.06 per mmBtu. On a net-calorific value (NCV) basis, the gas price was on that day cut to $ 3.4 per mmBtu as compared to $ 4.24 previously. On NCV basis, the new gas price is likely to be $ 2.7 from October 1. Jake Ryan Jersey
RIL to commission $35 billion projects in FY17
Reliance Industries (RIL) expects to commission projects with a total investment of $35 billion in 2016-17. These include petrochemical expansion projects that would place RIL among the top 10 global producers in that sector, the company said in its annual report for 2015-16. RIL has also sought shareholders’ approval to raise Rs10,000 crore through non-convertible debentures (NCDs) this fiscal year. “In the polyester chain, we added substantial volumes in an effort to further integrate our business …Reliance is confident of placing all our incremental output from the new projects in the domestic markets to meet India’s growing demand,” chairman Mukesh Ambani said in a letter to shareholders. RIL said its petrochemical plant expansion was on schedule and would provide the company the capacity and earning potential of a top pro ducer in the world. It is also upbeat on the impending launch of the Reliance Jio Infocomm telecom service. During the year, RIL and its subsidiaries arranged long-term foreign currency facilities of about $6.3 billion. RIL, which repor ted a gross refining margin of $10.8 a barrel in 2015-16, ma naging to outper form the Singapore benchmark with a premium of $3.3 a barrel, expects mar gin pressure, but ho pes to perform better than the benchmark. “The ability to ope rate at high utilisa tion levels and switch product slate et conditions enabled to suit market conditions enabled RIL to capture margin optimisation opportunities in the market.Overall, effective utilisation of secondary processing units, innova tive approach to optimise logistics cost and utilisation, production flexibility to swing to higher netback products and sourcing of bestvalue crude and feedstock-enabled RIL to sustain its performance even in a challenging margin environment,” the company said. RIL said it expanded its fuel retail pump network to 1,000. It sees opportunity for further expansion. The company also said: “Both Reliance and its partner BP are evaluating the new policy and investment plans to develop discovered resources.” AFFORDABLE 4G RIL has said its telecom arm Reliance Jio Infocomm will launch its 4G LTE services at “substantially lower “rates than rivals, rekindling fears of a bruising tariff war in an already competitive industry. “Affordability is a key to success of the digital revolution. Jio will make its services accessible and affordable to all consumers, “RIL said in its annual report on Thursday. Robert Newhouse Authentic Jersey
NHAI extended Rs 130 crore undue benefit to developers: CAG
Undue financial benefits to the tune of Rs 130 crore were extended by NHAI to developers of three highway stretches in Bihar and Jharkhand, official auditor CAG today said. The benefits were extended with regard to Mokama-Munger section of NH 80 in Bihar and Hazaribag-Ranchi section of NH 33 in Jharkhand besides construction of a four-lane bridge on river Kosi on NH 57. “National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) paid undue financial benefits to the concessionaire of Rs 51.03 crore,” CAG said regarding Mokama-Munger Highway stretch in its report tabled in Parliament today. NHAI and developer M/s Mokama-Munger Highway Ltd had signed an agreement in 2010 for construction of two-lane road on the stretch for a length of 68.58 km including construction of a 8.1 km bypass and two rail bridges. The undue financial benefit to the developer were extended in the form of “early completion bonus of Rs 21.83 crore in violation of the concession agreement and Rs 29.20 crore being part of annuity that was not payble due to reduction in scope of work,” the government watchdog said. The project was scheduled for completion in 730 days. Likewise the CAG said NHAI extended Rs 47.05 crore undue benefit to the developer of Hazaribag-Ranchi Expressway Ltd relating to 4-laning project between 71.16 km stretch of Hazaribag-Ranchi section of NH 33 in Jharkhand. “Payment of Rs 47.05 crore to the concessionaire as bonus for early completion was irregular and amounted to giving undue financial benefits to the concessionaire,” CAG said. It also said NHAI paid undue financial benefits of Rs 31.90 crore to the Kosi Bridge Infrastructure company for construction of four-lane bridge across river Kosi on NH 57 in Bihar. “NHAI paid undue financial benefits of Rs 31.90 crore to the concessionaire due to deficiencies in the issue of provisional completion certificate with effect from February 8, 2012 without completion of tests prescribed for safe and reliable commercial operation,” the CAG said. Emmanuel Sanders Womens Jersey
Mega NH project on lines of golden quadrilateral likely
‘Build Roads to Move India’ is likely to be the government’s mantra for a proposed massive widening of highways across the country in the next 4-5 years. On Thursday, the road transport ministry presented before PM Narendra Modi it’s ambitious plan to expand 16,000 km of national highways into six lanes and another 14,000 km to four lanes. About two dozen projects of six-laning would require an expenditure of at least Rs 2.5 lakh crore, which will be mobilised through a mix of 100% government funding or through public private partnerships. Sources said the proposal has been prepared to improve the average speed of vehicles, particularly those transporting cargo. Thursday’s meeting was attended by highway minister Nitin Gadkari, top officials from his ministry besides officials from Niti Aayog and finance ministry. “Now the issues will be thrashed out among departments for implemention. Some of the identified corridors are already under expansion and have also been included in the Bharatmala scheme,” a government source said. TOI has learnt that the ministry has proposed empowering the board of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to take decisions to implement the six-lane projects on the lines of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-era Golden Quadrilateral project — the country’s first major highway programme. Projects to be implemented by NHAI will connect areas of economic importance such as ports and manufacturing hubs. Sources said the identified 14,000 km, which would be widened to four lanes, would be taken up by the ministry or its agencies such as the state public works departments. “GQ (Golden Quadrilateral) brought revolution in the highway sector connecting four corners of the country. But then little was done to improve connectivity across the country in a planned manner and hardly any ring roads were built to improve traffic movement. Despite building so many kilometres of roads, we don’t see much difference in the average speed of cargo. That needs to be corrected,” said a government source. Deatrich Wise Jr Authentic Jersey
Gadkari reviews progress of highway projects in Punjab
Government has decided to issue a notice to developer of a highway stretch in Punjab over slow execution of project. The issue of slow execution of Ludhiana Talwandi package 1 project came up during a review meeting of highway projects in Punjab, which was chaired by Road Transport and Highways Minster Nitin Gadkari. “The road transport and highways minister today held a review meeting of the status of road projects in Punjab. The main focus of the meeting was to look into reasons for slow and delayed projects,” the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said in a statement. All problematic issues related to Ludhiana Talwandi Package 2, Bidhipur Dhilwan, Amritsar Bypass and Ludhiana Talwandi Package 1 were closely looked at, it said. “In the case of the Ludhiana Talwandi Package 1 project, the minister directed the official concerned to send a notice to the concessionaire for the delay in the project,” the statement said. Daryl Worley Womens Jersey
IRB’s AE Tollway commneces work on Agra-Etawah bypass
IRB Infrastructure today said its special purpose vehicle (SPV) AE Tollway has commenced construction work on the Rs 2,650 Agra-Etawah bypass road project. The company said it has also started toll operations on the road from August 1, 2016. Sudhir R Hoshing, Joint Managing Director, IRB Infrastructure Developers said, “We are pleased to commence the widening work of Agra-Etawah bypass road. Once completed, the corridor will provide congestion free, safe and more comfortable travel to commuters with much reduced travel time.” The company has recently achieved a financial closure for the project. It had bagged Rs 2,650 crore project of six laning of the 124 km section of Agra-Etawah bypass road on NH-2 in Uttar Pradesh. The project is on design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis, as envisaged by the NHAI under its Phase-V of the National Highway Development Projects (NHDP). Mike White Jersey
COMPLETE CONSTRUCTION WORK OF FOUR-LANE ROADS WITHIN DEADLINE: AKHILESH YADAV
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav directed officials to complete construction of four-lane roads connecting district headquarters and bridges over rivers within the stipulated deadline. “Good roads help in speeding up development. The roads not only reduce commutation time but also help in improving financial health of the state,” Yadav said during review of construction of roads and bridges on Wednesday. Yadav said that the SP government always stresses on good roads. “So when we came to power, our first priority was to improve roads and construct bridges over rivers. We ensured that all district headquarters were connected with all-season four-lane roads,” Chief Minister said. He gave specific directives to officials asking them to construct roads connecting Chitrakoot by November 2016, Deoria by October 2016, Balrampur by December 2016 and Lakhimpur Kheri, Hardoi and Gonda by March 2017. “All these should be four-lane all season roads and should be completed within specified time,” he said. Officers informed the CM that NHAI would connect Banda and Meerut headquarters by October 2016 and Uttar Pradesh State Highway Authority (UPSHA) will connect Sonebhadra by the end of this fiscal. Besides, Varanasi-Shaktinagar highway would be thrown open to public soon. Directives were also given to complete construction of bridge at Balua Ghat in Varanasi by October. The renovation of ghat in front of BHU’s gate facing Ramnagar should also completed by October 2016. Yadav also directed officials to complete the construction of bridges in Ghazipur, Bahraich, Mirzapur, Firozabad and Ballia. George Iloka Jersey