Congress alleges power scandal by SAD
Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday claimed that a power scandal was unravelling itself in Punjab, where the deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal allegedly handed over power projects to private companies on a platter, resulting in a loss of hundreds of crores of rupees to the state exchequer, which was being passed on to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) consumers. Amarinder announced that the Congress government will review these projects to make up for the losses and ensure that the state’s interests are protected which have otherwise been surrendered to the private power companies by the Akali-BJP government for obvious reasons, the Akalis and the Badals are infamous for. “What was the logic in making commitment to private companies for buying power?” he asked, while adding, “with the result the state, which is already reeling under financial crisis, has to make payment to the companies without consuming their power”. He said, the brunt was being borne by the common consumers who were being slapped with exorbitant bills to facilitate payment to the private companies. He pointed out, much against the prevailing practices and the recommendations of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission that the power projects to private companies should be allotted through competitive bidding, Sukhbir allotted these through ‘memorandum of understanding’ (MOU) route, which were heavily in favour of the private companies. “And now the state has to bear the brunt and the heavy financial losses”, he pointed out. Referring to the PSPCL’s inability to find buyers for its power produced by the private power companies, Amarinder said, thanks to the terms and conditions dictated by the private power companies, the PSPCL power generation costs Rs 3.60 per unit, while in the national grid electricity is available for around Rs 3 per unit only. The former chief minister said, he had consistently been raising the concern over the way the power projects were allotted to the private companies and his stand has now been vindicated. “Isn’t it strange and surprising that Sukhbir allowed the power companies such terms and conditions that while their interests remain protected, the PSPCL will have to bear the losses?” he asked, while alleging that it clearly proves beyond any doubt the “particular” interest for which Sukhbir has surrendered state’s interests to private power companies. Wesley Matthews Jersey
Government plans two funds to charge up power sector
The power ministry plans to set up two funds of $1billion 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 $1billion.” The government set up the Rs 40,000 crore NIIF in 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 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. Whitey Herzog Womens 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
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
Tata Power consumer base crosses 2-million mark
Tata Power, India’s largest integrated power firm, today said it has crossed the two million consumer base milestone in the country. In 2015-2016, Tata Power’s consumer base in Mumbai increased to over 6.64 lakh, and in Delhi it went up to over 15.15 lakh consumers, a company said in a statement. For more than a decade now, Tata Power has been offering affordable power tariff across most consumer categories and the remarkable increase in the company’s customer base is evidence of the same, it said. In Mumbai, the company added 18,511 direct consumers and 42,157 changeover consumers to its network in 2015-16, growing to a total of 6,64,407 connections. In financial year 2015-16, Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd registered a consumer base of 15.15 lakh spanning across an area of 510 sq km in northern and north-western parts of Delhi, it added. “…Our growing consumer base speaks of the relationship we share with our customers. We constantly strive to reach new heights through constant innovation and are committed to ensuring that our customers have a great experience,” Tata Power MD and CEO Anil Sardana said. “We are extremely proud and happy to have achieved this milestone and stay committed to delivering superior services at competitive prices,” Sardana added. Tata Power further said it remains committed to offer its consumers reliable and uninterrupted power supply at competitive prices in the years to come. Anthony Sherman Authentic Jersey
West Bengal demands 344 MW power from Tilaiya UMPP
The government of West Bengal has asked the centre to allocate 344 Megawatt power from Tilaiya ultra mega power plant (UMPP) after Maharashtra and Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd (TPDDL) refused to take power from the project. Reliance Power had in April terminated the power project after delay in handing over of land by the host state Jharkhand and had said scrapping the project would result in a Rs 360-crore reduction in its planned capital expenditure. As per PPA norms, 18 procurers of electricity from the plant had to pay Rs 114.43 crore to Reliance Power as termination fee. Maharashtra and TPDL, however, refused to pay the termination fee of around Rs 10 crore of the Tilaiya project, saying they did not want to pay for a project which never took off and that they do not require power from the plant anymore. However, only Rs 80.56 crore have been received so far. The government wants to re-bid the project going ahead and West Bengal wants to tie up for power from plant whenever it becomes operational. “The West Bengal government has asked for a total allocation of 400 MW from the centre which includes 344 MW from the Tilaiya plant,” an official source said. According to the official, West Bengal has said it will require power in the 13th plan as the state has ended power purchase agreements with many hydro power projects in the north east due to time and cost overruns. However, the centre has said it will first approach the existing procurers of the Tilaiya UMPP and if no requirement arises, it will give the power to West Bengal. Of the 18 procurers, Reliance Infra-backed BSES had earlier expressed interest in buying the power discarded by Maharashtra and TPDDL. Apart from these, other procuring states of the project include Jharkhand, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar. Travis Sanheim Authentic Jersey
Hydel firm responsible for 2013 flood in Srinagar: NGT
Holding a private hydroelectric company responsible for aggravating the situation during the 2013 flash flood in Srinagar town, the National Green tribunal (NGT) has directed GVK-Alaknanda Hydro Power company to pay Rs 9 crore as compensation to flood-affected residents of the town in Pauri district for damage caused to properties and also for the restoration of flood-affected areas. Thousands of metric tons of muck swept by strong currents of the river Alaknanda during the torrential rain on June 16 and 17 caused massive destruction in the town. The NGT found the company responsible for not disposing of the muck and debris generated due to the construction work for the 330 MW Srinagar hydroelectric project as per the guidelines. When torrential rains lashed the town on June 16 and 17, 2013, the gates of the dam were closed because of which the reservoir got filled up. Later, when the gates of the dam were opened suddenly, a huge volume of water gushed out and flooded some areas of the town. The force of the water was so great that it swept the debris and muck and deposited them in the flooded areas. Prem Ballabh, vice-president of Srinagar Bandh Apda Sangharsh Samiti, an organisation of 96 members who had lost their properties in the flood, said, “The flood water would have receded fast had there been no muck and debris. The water remained for long thereby destroying our houses and other structures. The 96 members of the samiti whose properties were lost or damaged will get part of the compensation amount depending on the quantum of loss they suffered.” According to Vimal Bhai, convener of Matu Jansangthan, the company has also not constructed a retention wall, because of which the damage was more. The tribunal has directed the company to pay Rs 9,26,42,795 to the Emergency Relief Fund Authority within 30 days as compensation to be paid to the victims affected by the incident. The tribunal also directed Alaknanda Hydro Power Co Ltd to pay an amount of Rs 1 lakh each to the applicants, as well as to Bharat Jhunjhunwala, another respondent, to meet the cost of litigation. It also directed that 1% of the amount of compensation awarded shall be deducted from the said deposited amount and remitted to the registrar, National Green Tribunal, as per the National Green Tribunal Rules, 2011. The tribunal also directed the Uttarakhand government to issue necessary directions to the district magistrate of Pauri to depute a s ub-divisional magistrate to look after the claims made by the affected people. D.J. Hayden Jersey