Air India may lose privilege of being sole carrier of government staff if Cabinet note goes through
Loss-making Air India may soon lose the privilege of being the sole carrier of government employees. The civil aviation ministry is preparing a Cabinet note that will allow them to opt for the cheapest fare, regardless of carrier. Currently, government employees can only use other carriers if there is no Air India option. “The finance ministry, in one of the review meetings, has asked us to abolish this rule mandating Air India for official flights,” said a senior aviation ministry official, seeking anonymity. “We are preparing a Cabinet note, which should reach the Cabinet for approval in 15 days.” Air India, in the midst of a government bailout programme, may not have too much sympathy among some members of the government. Cabinet Minister M Venkaiah Naidu recently vented his ire on Twitter about missing a meeting 10 days ago because his Air India flight was delayed. The current rules mandate all central government employees should fly Air India on official trips. In case a destination is not connected by Air India, the official has to apply for an exemption from the civil aviation ministry. Ken Crawley Womens Jersey
Will Jigajinagi help fulfil the demand for an airport in Vijayapura?
Will the long pending airport project of the district get finally realised with MP Ramesh Jigajinagi joining the Modi Cabinet? This is the question lingering on people’s minds here after the MP of the district got elevated to the position of Minister of State in NDA government recently. Since the airport project comes under Civil Aviation Ministry of the Union government, locals expect that the Minister of the district serving in the Union government will use his authority to get the project implemented. It may be noted that Vijayapura, which is one of the prominent tourism districts of the State for having numerous world-famous monuments, needs an airport to boost its tourism that has still not been tapped fully. Considering this, the government in 2010 had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a private firm to develop the airport here. The government had granted 727 acres of land near Burnapur village for the project that had estimated to cost Rs. 100 crore. Jeff Petry Womens Jersey
Piped natural gas for more citizens
Minister of state for petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday said Pune’s gas distribution company Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited (MNGL) has a very important role to play in the smart city project. Speaking to MNGL officials, Pradhan said the piped natural gas (PNG) must be made available to all households in the city and adjoining areas so that residents can avail the facility, which is safe and convenient. “The MNGL has to work hard to spread the eco-friendly fuel network across the city. Pune is a rich city in its heritage and has got immense potential to promote the eco-friendly fuel and natural gas,” he said. MP Anil Shirole assured his full support to the MNGL and said the PNG project will be implemented in the city in a time-bound manner. MNGL’s managing director A M Tambekar felicitated Pradhan. Among other officials who were present at the event included independent director Rajesh Pande and director (commercial) J Vedagiri. In October last year, Pradhan had launched the consumer connect initiative in the city. In November last year, the urban development ministry had asked all states and municipal corporations to supply PNG and CNG stations in smart cities. Pune has been ranked second in the list of 98 smart cities. Petroleum and natural gas authorities have urged the civic bodies to ensure speedy approvals for laying gas distribution pipelines in smart cities. The MNGL is supplying PNG to areas of Prabhat Road, Bhandarkar Road, Kothrud and some areas around Deenanath Mangeshkar hospital, besides areas like Pimple Gurav, Wakad, and Shahunagar. However, many households in Pimple Saudagar have been deprived of gas connections due to delay in permission granted by the PCMC for laying the network. Joel Iyiegbuniwe Authentic Jersey
Gail India tenders to buy 6 LNG cargoes for 2017 delivery
Gail India has launched a tender to buy six liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes for delivery in 2017, according to trade sources. The supply is to be purchased based on a link to Brent crude oil prices, one of the sources said. Price-sensitive Indian importers have taken advantage of relatively low LNG prices to bolster purchases and provide additional supply to gas-starved domestic industries. Vincent Rey Jersey
India’s refineries to go capacity deficit by 2030
With increasing domestic consumption of petroleum products, India would run short of its production by 2030, warned Indian Oil Corporation’s (IOC) director of refineries Sanjiv Singh. The country with a refining capacity of 230 million tons (MT), is presently a net exporter of petroleum products. The government is also seeking to ramp up its refining capacity to 300 MT in 15 years. However, Singh told Economic Times that the planned expansion of refineries may not be adequate to meet the growing demand, both domestically and for exports. He pointed out that the country’s surplus capacity too was not as robust. Over the last two years, India’s net export of petroleum products had fallen continuously to hit 32.3 million tons (MT) in fiscal 2016 from 42.6 MT the previous year. Data shows that fall in petroleum product export coincides with growth in domestic consumption. In 2015-16, consumption of petroleum products increased 11 per cent to 183 MT, while the production grew nominally by 4.5 percent. Singh pointed out that the situation should not worry India as there was always the option of importing. However, he highlighted that the opportunity to invest in production ramp up was more lucrative as the country is slated to achieve a 7.6 percent growth this year, and would continue to put up good performance going ahead. “Nothing is going to drastically change till 2030. Oil and gas consumption is going to grow even till 2040,” he said on the impact of green fuels on oil and gas business. However, disruptive technologies cannot be discounted, he cautioned. The official noted that given India’s strength in refining, it may not be well suited to import refined oil products as much as importing the crude oil itself. “The crude market is very wide but the products are available only with a few companies,” he told ET. IOC, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum and many private refiners like Essar and Reliance Oil are all expanding their production capacity. However, the problem of environmental damage from refining remains, unless clean development mechanisms are invented and implemented. Oil products basically include petrol, diesel, naphtha, ATF and feedstock for petrochemical plants and other industries. In 2014, India was the fifth largest refiner in the world after the U.S., China, Russia and Japan. Matthew Slater Jersey
D Rajkumar New Chief Of Bharat Petroleum; Utpal Bora To Head Oil India
Technocrats D Rajkumar and Utpal Bora were on Monday appointed as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Oil India Ltd, respectively. Mr Rajkumar is, at present, working as Managing Director of Bharat Petro Resources Ltd, a unit of BPCL focused on exploration and production. Mr Bora is Executive Director in Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Limited. They have been appointed to the posts for five-year term, an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said. Mr Rajkumar will take over the charge on or after October 1, 2016 after retirement of BPCL’s current chief S Varadarajan in September. BPCL is a state refiner and retailer. Senior IAS officers Anil Kumar Jain and Ravi Kapoor were among the 10 contenders for the top job at Oil India Ltd, the country’s second biggest state-owned oil and gas explorer. Mr Bora was selected on the recommendation of a three-member search-cum-selection Committee, headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha, officials said. Matt Stajan Jersey
RIL’s block holds 3.7 times established gas reserves: Niko
Reliance Industries flagging eastern offshore KG-D6 block holds 3.7 times more established gas reserves at 2.6 trillion cubic feet, the company’s minority partner Niko Resources said. Niko, which holds 10 per cent interest in the KG Basin block, in its earnings statement for 2015-16 fiscal said its share of proved reserves in KG-D6 block stands at 265 billion cubic feet of gas equivalent (2.65 Tcf for 100 per cent interest). After adding probable reserves, this jumps to 406 billion cubic feet of gas equivalent (Bcfe) or 4.06 Tcf. This compares 70 Bcfe of proved reserves for Niko’s 10 per cent share stated in the financial statement for the previous fiscal ended March 31, 2015. “Proved reserves and proved plus probable reserves of 265 Bcfe and 406 Bcfe, respectively, for the D6 Block in India as at March 31, 2016 reflect the reclassification of reserves for the R-Cluster and Satellites undeveloped discoveries due to the economic viability of the development of these discoveries at the prices assumed in the reserve evaluations of these fields,” Niko said. RIL, which is the operator of the block with 60 per cent interest, has so far brought to production only two gas and one oil discoveries out of the 19 find it had made so far. Hydrocarbon reserves are classified as proved (P1), probable (P2), or possible (P3) depending on their potential for being converted into actual production. P1 reserves are one which have 90 per cent certainty to be produced while probable reserves are one with 50 per cent certainty. P3 reserves are one with just 10 per cent chance of being produced. BP plc of UK holds the remaining 30 per cent stake in KG-D6 block. Niko Chairman and interim CEO Kevin J Clarke said with the government approving pricing freedom, subject to a cap, for discoveries in high pressure-high temperature, deepwater and ultra-deepwater areas, the KG-D6 consortium is moving ahead with developing the undeveloped discoveries. Kansas City Chiefs Womens Jersey
Petronet LNG plans $3 billion investment in overseas push
Petronet LNG aims to spend up to $3 billion in the next five years to expand overseas, setting up terminals in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka among other countries, its managing director said. Falling spot LNG prices have boosted consumption of the fuel in India and triggered demand for LNG infrastructure in countries long shut out of the gas trade. “We are thinking global and we are not looking inwardly only at India … we have potential and we should aim for 30 billion-40 billion rupees’ ($445 million-$596 million) worth of projects every year for five years,” Prabhat Singh told Reuters in an interview. Petronet has previously just focused on importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) for regasification at its plants at Dahej in Western Gujarat state and at Kochi in the southern state of Kerala. Singh said the company plans to invest Rs 50 billion to build a 5 million ton a year (mtpa) terminal at Kutbdia in Bangladesh and company officials would visit Bangladesh on July 23 to take the proposal forward. “We are hopeful of a favourable response from them,” he said. Last month Petronet also submitted a proposal for a 1-mtpa floating LNG terminal in Sri Lanka, which wants a gas link for its 600-megawatt power plant, Singh said. That would require 13 billion rupees in investment. Rising Indian demand for LNG has prompted Petronet to operate its 10 mtpa Dahej plant at 120 per cent capacity, meaning it is regassifying and selling an additional 20 per cent gas. However, its Kochi plant is operating at a fraction of its 5-mtpa capacity as pipelines linking the terminal to industrial clients are not ready yet. The country’s current LNG consumption is about 58 million cubic metres a day (mcmd), up from about 45 mcmd last year, Singh said, and Petronet is on the lookout for overseas gas deals to meet rising Indian demand. Russia last month offered Petronet and other Indian companies a stake in the second phase of its Yamal LNG project. Torry Holt Womens Jersey
Civil Aviation Ministry gets ready for a green take-off Plans 146 MW of solar-power generation at airports; 30 MW already in pipeline
The Union Minister of Civil Aviation Sh. Ashok Gajapathi Raju today reviewed the progress of energy and water conservation measures at Airports Authority of India (AAI) airports across the country. The important review meeting was attended by Minister of State Sh. Jayant Sinha and Secretary of the Department, besides Chairperson AAI and other senior officers. Airport Directors of 12important airports also attended the deliberations so that they could be sensitized to implement these initiatives at their respective airports. During the meeting, the Airport Director, Jaipur dwelled at length on the energy conservation measures recently undertaken at the airport. These include maximum use of LED lighting, installation of efficient air-conditioning equipment, provision of energy efficient pumps and motors, a roof top solar power plant of 1 MW capacity and a 1.8 MW ground-based solar power plant under implementation. All Airport directors were encouraged to adopt similar initiatives, some of which have a payback period of as low as two years. AAI has already installed solar power plants at 16 airports with a total capacity of 5.4 MW. So far, 51 lakh energy units have been generated from these plants leading to a reduction of 4,600 metric tonnes in carbon emissions. By December 2016, additional 24.1 MW of solar power plants will become operational at 11 more airports. Infact, the perspective plan of AAI targets augmenting the solar power generation to 116 MW by including 16 more airports. The status and scope of water conservation, water-recycling and sewage treatment plants at the airports was also deliberated upon. AAI is already using re-cycled water for horticulture, fire-fighting and air-conditioning requirements at several airports. The Union Minister directed the Chairman AAI to provide similar infrastructure at all airports under his jurisdiction.It may be recalled that in June 2016, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the AAI were honored with the National Excellence Awards 2016 by Govt of India in Ministry and PSU category respectively for taking outstanding steps towards use and promotion of solar energy. Sh. Raju appreciated the efforts of AAI and conveyed that not only should our airports be self-sufficient in energy and water requirements, but we should now look at feeding power to the national grid as we have sufficient open spaces available. He also directed that an airport-wise action plan on both energy and water conservation should be developed by AAI within one month. Sh. Jayant Sinha also appreciated the efforts at Jaipur airport and advised AAI to go ahead with its ambitious program in a structured. Jim McMahon Womens Jersey
ONGC mulling to relax eligibility criteria for hiring rigs; move may risk high stake business
ONGC is looking at relaxing eligibility criteria for hiring rigs in a move that could potentially put at risk the high stake business, casting doubts on its rationale given that rigs are available easy and cheap and the state run explorer can actually be more selective than ever. So far rigs that have been lying idle continuously for three years or more were not eligible to bid for ONGC jobs due to safety concerns. The change in clause, if approved, would allow rigs that have been lying idle for over three years, if they can produce certificate proving their fitness. “ONGC has received several representations for considering changes to the Bid Evaluation Criteria Clause with respect to rig idling. A committee is presently examining it,” ONGC said in a response to ET’s query. Industry is surprised by the timing of ONGC’s decision as there is oversupply of rigs and the company does not need to relax norms, especially at the cost of safety. In closed room off-record conversations, industry executives told ET that they suspect this move is to favour some specific service providers whose rigs haven’t drilled a single well in more than three years. ONGC did not respond to a specific query on this allegation. “On the basis of committee report, a decision shall be taken considering the interests of the company, upholding transparent procurement procedures,” ONGC said. The proposal is likely to be considered by the company next week. Over a year ago, ET had reported that ONGC was considering hiring nine rigs from private companies through nomination rather than the mandatory tendering process, triggering controversy over the reason behind it. The plan was scrapped after ET’s report. Industry sources alleged the same set of service providers were being “helped” then too. Industry executives said recent tenders of international oil majors require that rigs have not been lying idle for more than 6-12 months. Globally, rig utilisation is less than 70% and availability of rigs is not a problem for ONGC. Industry executives said the firm’s move may be to support service providers at the time of slowdown, but they raised safety concerns. “Downturn in crude oil prices started hardly one and a half years back and until then, prices for hiring rigs was high and operators worldwide were busy. We saw rig availability almost exactly matching ONGC requirement and sometimes supply did not match up to the demand. But that’s not the case now. So why relax the norms now?” asked a senior executive. Thomas Vanek Jersey