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Power(12 News Items)
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General
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Taking strong exception to the proposals to levy Rs
9,222 crore on people in the name of true-up charges, Rs 887 crore in the
name of slab change and Rs 12,000 crore in the name of increase in
development charge, fixed charge, and one-metre-one house system,
Communist Party of India (Marxist) appealed to the Andhra Pradesh
Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) to rectify the anomalies
instead of allowing the government to burden people.
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Addressing a virtual public hearing of APERC here
on Monday, CPM leader Ch Babu Rao said that as per the latest proposals
on the change of slabs, the poor people, who consume less than 50 units
per month would be burdened by 38 per cent; who consume less than 75 per
cent would be burdened by 26 per cent; who consume less than 100 units would
be burdened by 54 per cent; and who consume less than 200 units would be
burdened by 45 per cent.
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These proposals would burden the poor people giving
relief to the rich people, he pointed out.
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Since the power generation expenditure is coming
down throughout the world and power purchase rates are also coming down,
the power tariff should come down, he noted. Babu Rao demanded total
abolition of true-up charge system and withdraw the proposal to enhance
power tariff.
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The State Cabinet's decision to hand over the
Damodaram Sanjivaiah thermal power station at Krishnapatnam to a private
person on lease for 25 years is nothing but suicidal, he said.
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Referring to the decision to purchase solar power
from Adani Company for 25 years is detrimental to the interest of the
State, he pointed out recalling that the government had announced earlier
that it would cancel the agreements signed by the previous government to
purchase power from private companies.
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On the revenue deficit of the Electricity
department, Babu Rao said that the government failed to pay the
subsidies, huge electricity bill arrears from various government
departments, halting of power generation in the public sector plants and
purchasing power from private companies are some of the reasons for the losses.
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CPM activists staged a protest at the public
hearing holding placards.
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suffered losses due to
power towers and lines have been given a chance to get reasonable
compensation by instructing them to quickly resolve the files pending
with some collectors for a long time.
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The commission said it had taken steps to ensure
immediate compensation to the victims of the electrical accident. He said
efforts would be made to bring awareness among consumers in utilizing
power-saving devices. He said 65 objectors had registered on the occasion
to express their objections, suggestions, and views and would receive
objections from them within these three days.
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The CMDs of APEPDCL, APSPDCL, and APCPDCL have
given detailed presentations on Discom’s statistical data, performance,
initiatives taken up and others were presented along with ARR and Tariff
proposals for the financial year 2022-23. The ARR of the APEPDCL is Rs
16,371.39 crore, APSCPCL is Rs 18,348.69 crore and APCPDCL is Rs
10,678.59 crore. Around 17 objectors across the three Discoms areas have
submitted their objections through video conferencing from the Vizag
Corporate office.
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While the public hearing was going on, left parties
staged protests in front of the EPDCL office by demanding the government
not to privatize Discoms and should not put the burden on the public by
enhancing the tariff.
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The UT Powermen Union today held a protest at
Sector 17 against the decision of the Central Government to hand over the
UT Electricity Department to a private company.
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Employees submitted a memorandum to the UT
Administrator against the move to privatise electricity distribution. The
memorandum was received by the SDM (East) on behalf of the UT
Administrator.
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Gopal Joshi, general secretary of the union, said
due to the adamant attitude of the government, the employees would
observe a one-day strike on February 1 followed by a two-day strike on
February 23 and 24.
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The High Court, on January 20, had sought a response
from the UT on a fresh plea moved by the union seeking a stay on further
steps in handing over of power services to a private company. The next
date of hearing is March 6.
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Maharashtra may face a power shortage in the wake
of a dip in the coal supply from the Coal India arms. Against the daily
requirement of 1,34,000 tonnes, the state-run Maharashtra State Power
Generation Company (MahaGenco) is currently receiving 1,20,000 tonnes
which have impacted power generation at its generation plants located in
Nashik, Chandrapur, Paras, Parli and Bhusawal.
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These generation plants are expected to have coal
stock for 22 to 24 days as mandated by the Central Electricity Authority
but the stocks have been dipped ranging between 0.91 days at the Nashik
plant & 4.82 days at the Koradi plant. If the coal supply is not
restored earlier, the state-run Maharashtra State Electricity
Distribution Company (MahaVitaran) will be forced to procure the market
from the open market or through power exchanges to fill the gap and avoid
shortages.
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A senior MahaGenco officer told the Free Press
Journal, ‘’ The MahaGenco has already sought the intervention of the
Ministry of Coal for early restoration of coal supply from the Western
Coalfields, Mahanadi Coalfields, South Eastern Coalfields. Besides, the
Ministry of Railways has been urged to provide an additional number of
rakes for uninterrupted coal supply.
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The coal shortage is attributed to the lack of coal
production in the coal mines by WCL for want of explosives. In addition,
railways have preferred to supply coal to pit head based power generation
plants citing technical issues for supply to non-pit head based power
plants meaning those plants which are located far away from mines citing
the availability of rakes.’’ He further said that the MahaGenco with a
thermal generation capacity of 10,170 MW, has
recently cleared dues worth Rs 2,000 crore to the Western Coalfields to
avoid further reminders.
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The officer said there has not been a coal supply
that is coming from the Western Coalfields situated at Chandrapur, Nagpur
and Umred areas. ‘’The Coal India through its arms should daily supply 1,40,000 tonnes so that against the MahaGenco’s daily
need of 1,20,000 tonnes, it can store the remaining stock for the rainy
season.
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MahaGenco CMD Sanjay Khandare admitted reduction in
coal supply but said MahaGenco will receive a good amount of coal supply
by February. ‘’Besides, the coal suppliers have given an option of supply
through road instead of a railway that is being explored. The Railway
Ministry has assured to increase more rakes. In addition, MahaGenco has
floated the tender for the import of coal of 20 lakh tonnes,’’ he said.
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Meanwhile, the Railway Ministry has said that it is
consultation with the ministries of coal and power are already having a
road map in place of supplying rakes to long-distance thermal power
plants which is being implemented to build adequate coal stock with these
plants.
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Thousands of powerloom operators from the textile
town of Ichalkaranji have unanimously decided not to pay the electricity
bills.
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For January, the powerloom operators have received bills
without the subsidy amount being deducted. The state government has
stopped the power subsidy for the powerlooms that did not registered their details on the special online portal
created by the textile department. The deadline for this was December 31,
2021
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The government, which provides subsidies in
hundreds of crores every year, suspected that the subsidised power is
being used for purposes other than intended.
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Vinay Mahajan, the president of Ichalkaranji
Powerloom Owners Association, said, “We had raised technical difficulties
in registering the details online. We had suggested the changes to be
made in the portal. The department had sought uploading of age-old
documents for the machines in use, which we are unable to furnish. After
the decision to stop the subsidy, we met the authorities and minister
Aslam Sheikh and demanded an extension of the deadline to file the
details. Until then to not stop the subsidy. However, despite our
request, we have received bills without deducting the subsidy amount and
we are not able to pay the inflated bill. So, we have decided to not pay
the bills.”
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Filling details on the online portal is mandatory
for the powerlooms with 27 horsepower or more consumption. Only 970
powerloom operators filled the details online and over 10,000 have not.
The government is providing subsidies for over 3% of the power consumed.
Around Rs 150 crore is spent towards the subsidy by the government.
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The textile commissioner’s office had written to
the finance manager of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company
Limited (MSEDCL) to stop subsidised bills to the powerlooms with 27 HP or
more consumption, who did not register.
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While the coal shortage crisis may seem over for
some power plants, another crisis is lurking for generation stations
located far from mines.
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These plants — termed ‘foreign’ by Indian Railways
— have begun suffering because of bias in allotment of rakes among
railway zones in the race to post higher despatch figures.
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Last week, Rattan India Power-operated Amaravati
power plant in Maharashtra shut down one of its units due to coal
shortage resulting from insufficient rake allotment by SECR, the south
east central zone of the railways.
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The power ministry on January 17 issued an memo seeking details of remedial action taken by
the Railways as grumblings from private power plants facing similar
situation grew louder, government sources have told Times of India.
Industry sources said L&T’s Nhava and Vedanta NSE -3.46 %’s Talwandi
Sabo power plants are among other plants facing similar predicament.
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The trend is more pronounced in zones with
heavy-duty coal lifting such as SECR, which largely services SECL (South
Eastern Coalfields Ltd), Coal India Ltd’s largest mine.
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“The shorter intra-zone haul allows faster
turnaround of rakes. This automatically helps zones to improve their
loading and despatch figures. There is also another reason. Railway zones
are under pressure to show higher despatch figures. For example, in cases
where SECL coal has to cross other zones, the empty rakes are
commandeered by the other zone on their way back for despatch of coal
from WCL (Western Coalfields Ltd) to elsewhere, say the north,” one
industry executive said requesting anonymity.
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After last year's coal crisis, the power ministry
had in December asked plants to import 10% of their coal requirement.
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In an order that may help in keeping a close watch
on erring coal-based thermal power plants (TPPs) which fail to properly dispose
of environmentally hazardous fly ash, the National Green Tribunal (NGT)
has directed the Centre to set up a fly ash management and utilization
Mission for monitoring scientific management and utilization of the
remains of burnt coal, and asked it to take adequate action against
non-compliant power plants.
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Besides monitoring the disposal of annual stock of
unutilised fly ash, the Mission will also see how 1,670 million tonnes of
legacy (accumulated) fly ash could be utilized in the least hazardous manner
and how all safety measures could be taken by the power plants.
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The Mission will be jointly headed by the
secretaries of environment, coal and power ministries, keeping on board
chief secretaries of respective states. The panel of secretaries, in coordination
with power plants and statutory regulators, will have to draw a roadmap
for utilization and disposal of entire legacy fly ash as per remedial
action recommended by an expert committee which was formed by the NGT.
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"The failures of the TPPs are alarming. We
find no reason not to accept all the recommendations (of the expert
committee) and to direct remedial action," observed the bench,
headed by NGT chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel, in its order on January 18.
The Tribunal made the observation while hearing a plea, filed by advocate
Ashwani Kumar Dubey.
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Its final order came while disposing of a plea in
the fly ash dyke breach incident of Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh in April,
2020. The breach of the dyke, belonged to the Sasan Ultra Mega Power
Project, resulted in the death of six villagers (including three
children) and destruction of crops. The Tribunal in its order asked the
TPP to pay higher compensation to families of six persons who died in the
dyke breach incident.
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The Tribunal, referring to report of the expert
committee, found serious gaps in storing of fly ash in ponds and dykes,
and failure to prevent fugitive emissions and installation of devices to
control air pollution. "Such failures have been found to have
resulted in serious damage to the environment and the public health which
need to be remedied in a mission mode as per mandate of Constitution of
India and the NGT Act," it observed.
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The Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry has
raised the issue of increase in power tariff for MSME sector by
Electricity Supply Companies (ESCOMs) in Karnataka.
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They have reached out to Chief Minister Basavaraj
Bommai urging the government to not increase the electricity pricing for
MSME sector.
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Only six months ago the tariffs were increased,
pointed out B.A. Nazeer, Director of KCCI in a conversation with KNN.
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MSMEs are not in a good shape,
this revision of power tariff for the sector comes as a blow which will
lead to closure of units in the state, cautioned Nazeer.
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“We are against this hike as low demand in the
market is already slowing the economic activities, this revision will
only hamper the units which are trying to barely sustain themselves”,
added Nazeer.
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A letter was sent to the Chief Minister’s office
which pressed on the concern of ESCOMS proposing to increase the tariff
by Rs 2 per unit.
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However it has been conveyed to us that this
decision is made at a corporate level and not at the government level and
we take cognisance of that, said KCCI Director.
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State energy minister Nitin Raut has informed chief
minister Uddhav Thackeray that he has no option but to discontinue
electricity supply to various government departments over non-payment of
crores to the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd
(MSEDCL). Street lights in urban and rural areas are likely to be shut
off if the energy department goes ahead with its decision to discontinue
supply as a move to pressure the urban and rural development departments
to clear past dues.
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In a letter to to the CM last week, Raut has said
that the MSEDCL has already taken loans worth approximately Rs 45,000
crore. “There is coal shortage across the country. The Centre has already
informed the Reserve Bank of India not to extend loans to MSEDCL. Grants
have not been released. If we can disconnect the electricity supply of
other consumers who have not paid their bills then why not of government
departments who owe MSEDCL around Rs 16,000 crore?” he told TOI. The
letter points out that the limit for loans has been reduced from Rs
25,000 crore to Rs 10,000 crore. Besides, the state government is yet to
release Rs 7,978 crore in grants.
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MSEDCL provides electricity to approximately 2.8
crore consumers across the state. Agricultural pump users owe the company
approximately Rs 41,000 crore, and while the new agricultural pump policy
has helped recover some dues, it is not enough, Raut informed Thackeray
in the letter.
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Raut said he has asked for an urgent meeting with
the chief minister to discuss the issue. “It is my duty to appraise the chief minister of the dire situation
before we go ahead with the decision to disconnect supply,” he said. The
letter points out that the rural development, water supply, and urban
development department owe a substantial amount to the company as does
the industry department.
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Out of total of 15 stations of NTPC that supply
power to Delhi, seven stations, including Dadri-I, are old and expensive.
Of these, six have completed 25 years from their Commercial date of
Operation (COD) and have fully recovered their capital cost and the
seventh one will do so in April 2022.
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Delhi Discoms had stopped scheduling power from the
Dadri-I plant, in November 2020 after it completed 25 years from its COD
and had sought exit from it. The NTPC had denied exit to the Discoms,
which in turn had approached Central Electricity Regulatory Commission on
this issue.
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“Average power purchase price from Dadri-I to Delhi
consumers is around Rs 6.50/unit against the average price of Rs
3.50/unit power sold by NTPC to consumers in rest of the country,” said a
discom official, not wishing to be named.
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Around 18 GW hydro capacity addition
is required to meet the hydro purchase obligation (HPO) norms by 2030 in
the country, according to rating agency Icra NSE 0.70 %. To further the
growth of hydro energy segment, the Centre has outlined policy measures
over the last two-year period to promote the investments in the segment
through notification of HPO norms, long term trajectory for HPOs as well
as tariff rationalization measures.
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"Based on the notified hydro purchase
obligation norms & trajectory available till 2030, incremental hydro
power capacity requirement is estimated to remain significant i.e. at
about 18 GW, which corresponds to about 39 per cent increase over the
existing installed hydro power capacity in the country," said
Girishkumar Kadam, Senior Vice President & Co-Group Head - Corporate
ratings, Icra.
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The HPO norms have been subsequently notified by
SERCs (state electricity regulatory commission) in few states only, in
line with policy targets as of now, he noted.
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Hence, he stated that timeliness as well as
consistency in the notification of HPO norms by SERCs in other states as
well as subsequent implementation of the same by the obligated entities
too remain a key monitorable.
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According to an Icra statement, the hydro energy
segment faces many other challenges like elongated construction schedule,
significant resettlement, rehabilitation and land acquisition issues,
delays in clearances and geological/ topological risks which have led to
significant time and cost over-run for hydro projects.
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This is also reflected from the fact that average
project cost for the commissioned hydro project capacity by CPSUs ( central public sector undertakings) during FY
2017-2021 remained at about Rs 13-14 crore /MW.
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Given the high level of capital intensity for hydro
projects, tariff competitiveness of hydro energy too remains modest from
the ultimate off-takers' perspective.
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On the contrary, tariff competitiveness for solar
and wind energy has significantly improved with the bid tariffs remaining
well below Rs 3/unit for last 3 to 4 years as against the average power
purchase cost for majority of the state discoms remaining Rs 4-5/unit,
depending on the mix of sources in power purchased, it noted.
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Icra says hydro capacity addition in India has
remained sluggish historically, with the significant execution challenges
as also seen in the incremental capacity addition of about 22 GW between
2000 and 2021, representing CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) of mere
3 per cent in the hydro segment.
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Further, it says that share of hydro in the overall
power generation capacity has declined considerably over the period, with
a significant rise in thermal capacity addition seen in 2005 till 2015
and thereafter in the renewable energy segment.
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With improved tariff competitiveness of solar &
wind energy and strong policy focus by the Centre, share of renewables
(solar & wind segment) is estimated to grow considerably in the
energy generation mix, going forward, it pointed out.
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However, it stated that the hydro energy segment
also remains systemically important from the grid perspective so as to
meet the flexibility requirements / peaking power supply.
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In this context and to further the growth of hydro
energy segment, the Centre has outlined policy measures over the last
two-year period to promote the investments in hydro segment through
notification of HPO norms, long term trajectory for HPO as well as tariff
rationalization measures, it noted.
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The HPO is set at 0.18 per cent for FY2022 which in
turn is set to increase up to 2.82 per cent by FY2030 at national level,
as notified by Ministry of Power, it stated.
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"Tariff rationalization measures such as
backloading of tariff with 2 per cent escalation and provision for
budgetary support at Rs 1 crore /MW for hydro projects of > 200 MW
capacity, is expected to alleviate the concern on tariff competitiveness
considerably, in the initial years," Siddhartha Kaushik, Assistant
Vice President - Corporate Ratings, Icra, said.
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While tariff rationalisation measures were outlined
by Ministry of Power in March 2019, the same are yet to be incorporated
by Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) in its tariff
regulations applicable for hydro projects.
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Further, the policy clarity in terms of support
measures especially for pumped hydro storage capacity remains a key
monitorable too, it stated.
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In a bid to fufill the commitment made by the Prime
Minister Narendra Modi at the Glasgow Environment Summit two months ago
that India would become carbon neutral by 2070, the Centre has decided to
phase out the India's thermal power plants.
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While speaking at the Energy Summit organised by
the Indian Chamber of Commerce that Union Energy Secretary Alok Kumar
said to achieve a carbon balance, the country will have to switch to an
alternative system within 50 years. All thermal power plants in the
country will be shut down by 2070 to reduce carbon emissions.
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Switching to renewable energy would reduce the
toxicity of carbon emissions. A guideline is being prepared to make use
of solar energy, compressed biogas, hydrogen and
battery power instead of thermal power, which presently accounts for more
than 60 percent of India’s total installed power generation capacity.
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The decision to completely stop the production of
coal in the power sector will be implemented. The current thermal power
generation is two lakh megawatts per day. In ordert to end this
completely in 50 years, at least 4000 MW of thermal power will have to be
reduced every year.
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The center aims to generate five lakh megawatts of
solar power instead of thermal power. At present, solar power generation
is only one lakh megawatt. The Union Ministry of Power hopes that the
battery technology will be developed in such a way that it can store
large amounts of energy. Battery storage facilities may be similar to
power substations. During the daytime, solar energy can be stored in the
batteries and then it can be distributed later during night.
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The Center also hopes to develop hydrogen
technology for power plants to generate electricity. The turbine that produce electrcity can be powered by
compressed biogas (CBG) and hydrogen.
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Modi had said at the 26th UN Climate Change
Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow that environmentally
conscious lifestyle choices can go a long way in tackling climate change.
He urged to make 'Lifestyle for Environment' a global mission. He also
said that India is working very hard on tackling climate change related
issues.
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Closing down 20-year-old thermal power plants can
save Rs 53,000 crore over five years, according to an analysis by Climate
Research Horizon. Old coal-fired thermal plants use more coal to produce
power, said the study.
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Renewable(13 News Items)
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Prerna Wadikar from Bengaluru has come up with a one-of-a-kind
invention that makes portable energy access more affordable using
lithium-ion battery technology.
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Prerna, who pursued an engineering degree in
computer science, did her Masters in Public Policy from IIM-Bengaluru and
later went on to pursue MBA from Oxford University.
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For her effort in making a socially conscious
innovation, she received the Vice Chancellor’s Social Impact Award from
Oxford University in 2021.
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The award is given to university students who show
exceptional achievement and commitment to positive social change.
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She was awarded not only for her invention but also
for her contributions to Oxfordshire, where she worked with immigrant
communities and also extended the Oxford India Business Conclave to the
students of India.
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She tells The Better India that growing up she was
always inspired by her grandmother. She says, “Everyone in my house gave
importance to education. My grandmother did her PhD after the birth of
her fifth child. She used to teach in a school and also run a part-time
free school at her home. She was my biggest inspiration because she made
her mark during an era when no importance was given to educating girls.”
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Her mother, a yoga teacher, has always encouraged
her to use science for the betterment of people. She says, “Since
childhood, there was always an atmosphere in my home that encouraged me
to do or learn something new.”
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A court in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday ordered former
chief minister and CPI(M) leader V S
Achuthanandan to pay ₹10.10 lakh to Oommen Chandy, former CM and
senior Congress leader, in a defamation suit filed in connection with the
solar scam case.
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In an interview to a news channel in July 2013,
Achuthanandan, then the opposition leader, alleged that CM Chandy was
behind the fictitious solar firm and that he knew about the cheating
case. He also alleged that Chandy had accepted a portion of the
commission from the main accused, Saritha S Nair, for the help given to
her.
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Chandy filed a defamation suit in 2014, saying that
the grave charges invited embarrassment to him and sullied his image. He
first sought damages of ₹1 crore but later reduced it to
₹10.10 lakh.
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The principal sub-court found his contention right
and ordered Achuthanandan to pay damage with 6 per cent interest and with
court fees. In 2019, Chandy appeared before the court in person to
explain his position. Though the counsel for Achuthanandan repeated the
allegation, he failed to substantiate charges with evidence, the court
found.
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“These charges were made without any basis and they
intended to sully his image, so the petitioner has every right to claim
damage,” said the court.
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Chandy has hailed the verdict, saying truth will
prevail always. “Many hands and conscience are clear. The CPI(M) cooked up stories after stories to portray me
in bad light. I was sure truth will prevail,” said Chandy, who is a
general secretary of the AICC. The counsel for Achuthanandan said he will
move an appeal in a higher court soon. Achuthanandan is undergoing
treatment for Covid-19 at a private hospital in the state capital.
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The solar cheating case relates to an alleged con
woman, Saritha Nair, and her second husband Biju Radhakrishnan, who
floated a company called ‘Team Solar’ in 2013 and cheated many promising
them stakes in the firm and good returns after selling imported solar
panels. They allegedly cultivated good contacts in corridors of power and
flaunted them to attract investors.
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Radhakrishnan was later convicted in a murder case.
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The cheating incident surfaced in
2014 and 60 cases were registered against the two. Then CM Chandy
had sacked two of his private secretaries and the state public relations
director when their names allegedly cropped up in the case. Later the
main accused Nair had raised sexual assault charges against many Congress
leaders, including Chandy, K C Venugopal, Adoor Prakash MP, A P Anil
Kumar, Hibi Eden MP and Abdullha Kutty. Later the government had
constituted a judicial commission.
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The case was one of the reasons for the Congress’s
drubbing in 2016 assembly elections. In her complaint, Nair alleged that
she was subjected to sexual abuse by the accused in return of favours
granted to her. Later, the judicial commission also recommended a probe
into sexual assault charges.
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Saritha Nair is in judicial custody now in
connection with another cheating case.
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She was convicted in seven cases related to solar
cheating case, but out on bail, she allegedly cheated some people
promising them government jobs. She also tried to contest against Rahul
Gandhi in Wayanad but her papers were rejected. Later the Supreme Court
had slapped a fine on her when she approached it.
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The solar scam case was handed over to the CBI last
year after Nair had petitioned the CM complaining that she was yet to get
justice in sexual assault cases and sought a central agency probe.
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Ayana Renewable Power Private Limited (Ayana), a
Bengaluru-based renewable energy platform majority controlled by National
Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), today announced it has
surpassed 1 GW (AC) of operational renewable energy capacity in India. It
is now one of the largest RE developers in the nation with an operating
portfolio of 1.19 GW (AC).
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The developer hit the milestone with the
commissioning of a 300 MW (AC) interstate transmission system (ISTS)
connected solar PV project in the Bikaner district of Rajasthan. The
project is spread across approximately 1,500 acres and is connected to
765/400 KV PowerGrid substation. The project benefits from a 25-year
power purchase agreement with the Solar Energy Corporation of India
(SECI).
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The Rajasthan plant, one of the largest projects
developed by Ayana, has generated employment for close to 2,000 people.
In addition, the project is expected to meet the equivalent demand of 1,41,000 end consumers, and it is estimated to help
avoid 6,23,000 tonnes of annual CO2 emissions over 20 years.
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Founded in 2018, Ayana is also backed by CDC Group,
UK’s development finance institution, and EverSource Capital managed
Green Growth Equity Fund (GGEF). The platform develops utility-scale
renewable power solar and wind generation projects across India to build
cost-effective capacity. Ayana, currently engaged in the development and
management of over 3 GW (AC) of renewable energy capacity across multiple
Indian states, aims to hit an overall RE portfolio of 10 GW (AC) by 2025.
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Shivanand Nimbargi, managing director and chief
executive officer of Ayana, said, “We started Ayana with a vision to
create significant renewable energy capacity across India, complementing
it with the development of communities around us. With the support of our
stakeholders, we have achieved this significant milestone of 1 GW (AC)
operational renewable energy capacity, which is in line with our
long-term goal to achieve 10 GW (AC) of renewable energy portfolio by
2025. We will continue to accelerate and contribute to meeting India’s
energy transition plan of having an RE capacity of 500 GW (AC) by 2030.”
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The Mon District Administration, Government of
Nagaland and Mithun Rural Development Foundation (MRDF) signed a 20-year
agreement to set up solar mini-grids in rural areas of Nagaland.
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The tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
was signed to deliver last mile access to electricity in the
‘economically constrained villages,’ a press release informed.
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The first three mini-grids would be installed in
Longkei, Totok Chingha and Chenwetnyu under Mon district by as early as
February 2022 and it envisages to cover 1000
villages in the next 7 years, it said.
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Calling the agreement a landmark development, it
informed that the MoU is also aimed at encouraging the use of a clean
energy platform to increase local household incomes by 15-20% per annum
and for enterprises by 20% in the targeted villages.
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Other goals of the initiative are to improve
livelihoods, support women entrepreneurs and increase the GDP of the
state, while reducing GHG emissions aligning with the UN Sustainable
Development Goals and reduce the carbon footprint along with generating
green jobs.
·
The set up of the mini-grids will aim to develop
the community through an Integrated Village Development Programme
involving all members of the community and not just the customers, the
release said.
·
The local administration will help facilitating
coordination between the Village Council/Village Development Boards and
MRDF, it added.
·
It was further informed that the Smart Power India
(SPI) would play an important role in supporting the entire programme
framework and value chain including design, delivery and facilitating
financial and market linkages, the release further noted. A subsidiary of
the Rockefeller Foundation, SPI was established in 2015 to “develop and
scale sustainable models to accelerate electricity access and spur
economic development amongst the rural underserved communities.”
·
The MRDF is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) floated
specifically for rural development of North-East India through the
platform of renewable energy based mini-grids to service the electricity
access needs and is supported by organisations such as Smart Power India
(SPI), ONGC and NABARD.
·
The release quoted Vijay Bhaskar, Managing
Director, MRDF as saying that the association is
“aimed at arriving at a sustainable and holistic model of rural economic
development based on DRE mini-grids, which can be implemented and scaled
to about 1000 villages of Nagaland.”
·
“The MoU is aimed at sustainable socio-economic
development through DRE,” stated Jaideep Mukherji, CEO, SPI, further
stressing on the importance of reducing carbon footprint “which would
require a collective effort from every level of the society.”
·
Extending full support to the MDRF and SPI’s efforts,
Deputy Commissioner Mon, Thavaseelan K also informed that the targeted
“clusters are economically backward and DRE mini-grid interventions will
bring an all-round development to the region as they will integrate
clean, high-quality and reliable energy with livelihoods, agriculture,
health, education and public infrastructure.”
·
The District Administration is also assisting MRDF
by coordinating the efforts of various departments such as health,
education, renewable energy, rural development with the work in the
villages, the release added.
·
The Union budget to be presented next month may
give a push to the energy service company (ESCO) model in commercial
buildings as part of India’s plan to reduce carbon emissions, two
government officials aware of the deliberations said.
·
ESCOs offer design and implementation services for
energy-efficiency projects after doing energy audits.
·
The move to encourage ESCOs follows Prime Minister
Narendra Modi pledging at the COP26 summit to cut India’s total projected
carbon emission by 1 billion tonnes and achieve net-zero carbon emissions
by 2070.
·
“There can be 100 or 200 ESCOs in a country like
India. So, what is being discussed is that the ESCO model needs to be
promoted because somebody can invest on the basis of a robust contract,
and the owner of that building or that factory will not have to invest,
and he can service the ESCO investment through the energy savings. It is
a very good model, but the contract has to be robust, and the risks have
to be mitigated," union power secretary Alok Kumar said in an
interview.
·
“There are several proposals under discussion with
the finance ministry, and ESCO (for commercial buildings) was one of
them. I don’t know what will be there in the budget. That’s the finance
ministry’s call," Kumar added.
·
Mint had earlier reported that India may offer
viability-gap funding or grants to companies for building energy storage
projects and offshore wind power plants in the budget as part of a plan
to transition from fossil-fuel-powered energy to renewables. A scheme
tentatively named Roadmap for Sustainable and Holistic Approach through
National Energy Efficiency may also be announced in the budget.
·
The government is also considering installing new power
transmission lines to tap the large hydropower potential in India’s
northeast region and incentives for setting up battery-swapping
infrastructure for electric vehicles.
·
Queries emailed to the finance ministry
spokesperson early Sunday morning weren’t answered until press time.
·
India’s energy efficiency measures have shown
positive results in its domestic lighting programme, with the
government’s UJALA scheme helping cut LED bulb prices.
·
State-run Convergence Energy Services Ltd (CESL)
runs the Gram Ujala scheme that offers the world’s cheapest LED bulbs in
rural areas for ₹10.
·
While 350 million compact fluorescent lamp (CFL)
bulbs have been replaced with LED bulbs, the target is to reach 770
million.
·
At the Glasgow summit, Modi promised to meet 50% of
India’s energy requirements from renewable energy by 2030 and increase
non-fossil fuel power generation capacity to 500 gigawatts by the end of
this decade.
·
India intends to achieve net-zero emissions by
2070, as promised at the COP26 event in Glasgow last year. In addition,
India aims to achieve 50% of its energy needs from renewable sources by
2030 and to increase non-fossil fuel electricity generation capacity to
about 500 GW in the current decade.
·
In view of these goals, the Government of India
(GoI) has authorized a multibillion-dollar plan to build transmission
lines to connect renewable energy installations to the grid.
·
Establishing “green energy corridors”
·
In two stages, India is establishing “green energy
corridors.” On its website, India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
states, “The Green Energy Corridor Project focuses on synchronizing
electricity supplied from renewable sources, like solar and wind, with
traditional power stations in the grid.” According to the Hindustan
Times, one phase will provide 20 gigawatts (GW) of renewable power to the
national grid.
·
According to the report, the government is also in
the midst of constructing 63 GW of renewable power capacity. By 2030,
cumulative non-fossil fuel power capacity is predicted to rise by 66%.
India’s renewable energy production capacity would expand by 16 GW in the
financial year 2023, as per rating agency ICRA. India plans to reduce
predicted carbon emissions by one billion tons by 2030.
·
Green energy investments are also steadily
increasing. Green energy ventures in India got $7.27 billion in foreign
direct investments from 2014-15 to June 2021. The United States received
$797.21 million of this total in 2020-21.
·
The government also wants to make sure that the
national grid isn’t jeopardized by the massive increase in electricity
generated by renewable energy sources like solar and wind. The grid
frequency stays within the range of 49.90-50.05 Hz (hertz) because of the
upkeep of the aforementioned corridors. According to the study, the
government also recently installed an Automatic Generation Control (AGC), that sends signals to power stations every four
seconds to sustain frequency and provide a more dependable electricity
grid.
·
Powering up
·
From Financial Year 2021-22 to Financial Year
2025-26, transmission systems will be built over a five-year period. The
Central Financial Assistance (CFA), according to the statement, will
offset intra-state distribution charges and maintain power costs low. By
2022, another stage of the project should be able to supply approximately
24 GW of renewable energy. India has established a non-fossil energy
capacity of 157.32 GW. According to the report, this accounts for 40.1
percent of total installed electricity capacity.
·
Schemes with incentives for production and use of
clean energy are needed to reduce the carbon intensity of the economy and
designing such schemes will be a priority for NITI Aayog, vice chairman
Rajiv Kumar said.
·
Green transition will be a priority for the federal
policy think tank in 2022, Kumar said in an interview. That entails
framing schemes that promote the production and use of clean energy and
reduce the economy’s carbon footprint.
·
Given Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s support for
the initiative, the time is ripe for giving a big push to natural farming
and to expand it to all the states, Kumar said.
·
“Already about 30 lakh farmers are practising it in
11 states. The target must be now to reach one crore farmers in the next
three years. At the same time, we have to take a very nurturing view of
it. You cannot mandate it. That will not work it. You have to build the
confidence by handholding," he said.
·
Modi had set the goal of India achieving net zero
emissions by 2070, at a climate summit last year. Natural farming is just
the reverse of using chemical fertilizers, which pump out carbon into the
atmosphere.
·
“If you do natural farming, you capture carbon.
That is a very big advantage. It also reduces water use by about a fourth
at least. You can also grow crops in arid areas," Kumar said.
·
Reliance Industries Ltd has initiated talks with
global investors to raise as much as $3 billion
in equity to fuel its ambitious plans for the renewable energy business,
said two people directly aware of the matter.
·
The discussions are at a preliminary stage, and the
billionaire Mukesh Ambani-controlled refining-to-retail conglomerate has
so far reached out to a select group of potential investors, including a large
pension fund and a few sovereign wealth funds based in the Middle East,
the people said requesting anonymity as the talks are private.
·
“Like Jio platforms, this time too, the discussions
are being led by Manoj Modi, a RIL veteran and long-time close associate
of chairman Mukesh Ambani," one of the two
people said.
·
“The discussions are a precursor to a more formal
round of talks where the valuation and structure of potential investments
will be discussed," the second person said. “While the quantum of the
initial fundraise has largely been decided, the final figure may change
somewhat," the person added.
·
Neither of the people mentioned
above did not say how much equity Reliance Industries plans to sell in
its renewable energy business.
·
A spokesperson for Reliance Industries did not
respond to an emailed query until press time.
·
Jio Platforms, which houses RIL’s digital business
assets, had in 2020 raised a total of $10.3 billion through equity deals
with five investors comprising Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity
Partners, General Atlantic and KKR.
·
Reliance Industries, which currently generates more
than half of its revenues from refining and petrochemicals, is building
the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex on 5,000 acres in
Jamnagar, Gujarat. The company said last June that the complex would have
giga factories to produce integrated solar photovoltaic modules,
electrolyzers, fuel cells and energy storage. RIL plans to invest more
than ₹75,000 crore in these initiatives over the next three years to
become a net-zero company by 2035.
·
Reliance Industries’ plans echo those of other
global oil firms such as Royal Dutch Shell, Eni Spa and BP Plc, who have
pledged to turn net-zero carbon amid pressure from investors and green
activists.
·
“The bulk of the new funding will go to Reliance
New Energy Solar Ltd, which has announced plans to build the solar
capacity of at least 100 gigawatts (GW) by 2030," the first person
said.
·
Reliance New Energy has so far stitched four clean
energy deals and a partnership to further its clean energy ambition. Last
October, it acquired REC Solar Holdings AS from China National Bluestar
(Group) Co. Ltd at an enterprise value of $771 million to leverage its
abilities in manufacturing panels and polysilicon and gain access to a global
customer base. It also on-boarded Germany’s NexWafe’s technology to
deliver competitively priced PV panels and picked a 40% stake in Sterling
and Wilson Solar. Last August, Reliance New Energy invested $50 million
to buy equity in the US energy storage firm Ambri Inc. and to also pursue
an exclusive partnership to set up a large-scale battery manufacturing
facility in India that could further bring down costs for Reliance’s
green energy plan.
·
Last December, Reliance Industries took a $736
million equivalent green loan from five banks to fund its acquisition of
REC Solar, marking its first such financing. This month, it proposed
₹5 trillion over 15 years to for a 100GW renewable energy plant and
green hydrogen eco-system development in Gujarat.
·
The Niti Aayog has prepared a draft policy for the
Indian Railways to set up electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure
at railway stations across the country, in a bid to promote the use of
such vehicles. The draft policy, which has been shared with the ministry
of railways, also recommends supply of renewable energy to the charging
facilities in line with Indian Railways’ aim to become net-zero carbon
emitter by 2030.
·
The policy is under discussion with the ministry of
railways, said Amitabh Kant, Niti Aayog’s chief executive officer. The
apex public policy think tank has recommended that while the railways can
plan to put in place EV charging facilities at all stations in a phased
manner till 2030, the facility can be immediately provided at 123
redeveloped railway stations.
·
“Railway stations are landmark locations and they
play a unique role in the entire transport sector, which make them
strategic locations for providing public charging solutions for EVs,” Kant
said. Niti Aayog officials have recently discussed the draft policy with
the railway ministry officials. Rajeev Jain, additional director general,
PR, railway ministry, said, “We have very recently received the
communication. We are working on it.”
·
Under the Centre’s FAME-II (Faster Adoption and
Manufacturing of Hybrid and EV) scheme, the push is towards adoption of
EVs, especially in public and shared transportation, in a big way in the
country. The aim is to support approximately 7,000 e-buses, 500,000
electric three-wheelers, 55,000 electric four-wheeler passenger cars and
one million electric two-wheelers through subsidy, said a NitiAayog
official.
·
For this, providing a good and accessible EV
charging infrastructure network is critical. While the Centre has taken
several initiatives to scale up EV charging facilities, NITI officials
said, railway stations can provide a secure and accessible charging
infrastructure to city residents.
·
Ayana Renewable Power Private Limited (Ayana), a
Bengaluru-based renewable energy platform majority controlled by National
Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), today announced it has
surpassed 1 GW (AC) of operational renewable energy capacity in India. It
is now one of the largest RE developers in the nation with an operating
portfolio of 1.19 GW (AC).
·
The developer hit the milestone with the
commissioning of a 300 MW (AC) interstate transmission system (ISTS)
connected solar PV project in the Bikaner district of Rajasthan. The
project is spread across approximately 1,500 acres and is connected to
765/400 KV PowerGrid substation. The project benefits from a 25-year
power purchase agreement with the Solar Energy Corporation of India
(SECI).
·
The Rajasthan plant, one of the largest projects
developed by Ayana, has generated employment for close to 2,000 people.
In addition, the project is expected to meet the equivalent demand of 1,41,000 end consumers, and it is estimated to help
avoid 6,23,000 tonnes of annual CO2 emissions over 20 years.
·
Founded in 2018, Ayana is also backed by CDC Group,
UK’s development finance institution, and EverSource Capital managed
Green Growth Equity Fund (GGEF). The platform develops utility-scale
renewable power solar and wind generation projects across India to build
cost-effective capacity. Ayana, currently engaged in the development and
management of over 3 GW (AC) of renewable energy capacity across multiple
Indian states, aims to hit an overall RE portfolio of 10 GW (AC) by 2025.
·
Shivanand Nimbargi, managing director and chief
executive officer of Ayana, said, “We started Ayana with a vision to
create significant renewable energy capacity across India, complementing
it with the development of communities around us. With the support of our
stakeholders, we have achieved this significant milestone of 1 GW (AC)
operational renewable energy capacity, which is in line with our
long-term goal to achieve 10 GW (AC) of renewable energy portfolio by
2025. We will continue to accelerate and contribute to meeting India’s
energy transition plan of having an RE capacity of 500 GW (AC) by 2030.”
·
The Union Ministry of Renewable Energy has allowed
households to get rooftop solar panels installed by themselves or by any
vendor of their choice. Now, a photograph of the installed system would
be sufficient to avail the benefits or subsidy under the government
scheme.
·
Till now, the households were to choose the vendor
from the list of vendors to avail the benefits. This would help many
households which are interested in installing solar panels on their
terrace.
·
The decision to simplify the rooftop solar scheme
was taken in a review meeting chaired by Union Minister for Power and
Renewable Energy R.K. Singh recently. In the meeting, the minister gave
directions for simplifying the rooftop scheme, so that people would able
to access equipment and materials needed to set up rooftop solar power.
·
“Henceforth it is not required for any household to
get the rooftop installed by any of the listed vendors. The households
may install a rooftop by themselves or get the rooftop installed by any
vendor of their choice, but inform the distribution company about the
installation with a photograph of the system,” the minister said.
·
The minister asked the
individuals who have set up or want to set up a rooftop solar
power scheme to inform the power distribution company.
·
It is mandatory that the individual must give
intimation to the power distribution company about the installation of
the rooftop scheme. It can be given either in the material form through a
letter or on the designated website, which has been setup by every Discom
and by the Centre for the rooftop scheme.
·
The distribution company will ensure that the net
metering will be provided within 15 days of the information being
received. The subsidy to be given by the government, which is 40 per cent
for the rooftop scheme up to 3KW capacity and 20 per cent beyond 10KW
capacity, will be credited to the account of the householder by the
Discom within 30 days of the installation.
·
To ensure that the quality of the solar power panel
and inverter is according to the prescribed standard, the Centre will
publish the lists of solar power manufacturers and inverter
manufacturers, whose products meet the expected quality standards and the
price lists, from time to time. The householder can select the solar
power panels and inverter of his or her choice.
·
As of December, Tamil Nadu has a total installed
solar rooftop capacity of 537 MW, of which 75 per cent is in the
industrial sector, 19 per cent is commercial and six per cent is in the
public sector, according to data from Bridge to India.
·
While the state built an early lead in adding
capacity, recent data shows that frequent policy changes discouraging new
rooftop solar installations have significantly slowed down the pace of
growth. These policy flip-flops fly in the face of the state’s own target
to set up 3600 MW of rooftop solar by 2023.
·
Real estate advising platform Housing.com has made a foray into solar power
business by launching "Solar Rooftop" – a solar rooftop
solution for homes under its rental and allied services platform Housing
Edge.
·
"With the help of this innovative residential
solution, homeowners can save up to 90 per cent on their electricity bills.
In this context, Housing.com has entered
into a partnership with Loom Solar, an emerging SolarTech start-up under
Government of India’s Start-up India initiative," the company said
in a statement.
·
The partnership will leverage and augment the
strength of both the organisations for providing a one-stop solution to
home owners for their solar needs and laying the foundation for creating
future ready homes, according to the statement.
·
At Housing.com, we
continuously aim to create new offerings to add greater value to our
customers. This tie up with Loom Solar is another step in that direction.
Rooftop solar is one of the crucial elements in creating sustainable
living solutions and we are confident that demand for this will continue
to rise exponentially in the near future,” said Dhruv Agarwala, group
CEO, Housing.com, Makaan.com & PropTiger.com.
·
Indian homes and commercial establishments are
increasingly opting for installing solar power plants at their rooftop as
part of a larger drive towards sustainable living. The country added a
record 1.3 Gigawatt of rooftop solar power capacity in the first nine
months of 2021.
·
"Loom Solar recently crossed 50,000 homes
adopting rooftop solar systems and this tie-up with Housing.com takes another footstep towards
addressing the bigger mission," said Amod Anand, Co-Founder &
Director, Loom Solar.
·
Housing.com said
even in its pre-launch phase, solar rooftop solutions have emerged as one
of the most popular and fastest growing categories under Housing Edge with
20 per cent Month-on-Month growth in user enquiries.
·
To increase the outreach of Solar Rooftop
solutions, in addition to this partnership, the firm has tied up with
three more companies for providing solar rooftop solutions including Home
Scape, My Sun & Solar Square.
·
India intends to achieve net-zero emissions by
2070, as promised at the COP26 event in Glasgow last year. In addition,
India aims to achieve 50% of its energy needs from renewable sources by
2030 and to increase non-fossil fuel electricity generation capacity to
about 500 GW in the current decade.
·
In view of these goals, the Government of India
(GoI) has authorized a multibillion-dollar plan to build transmission
lines to connect renewable energy installations to the grid.
·
Establishing “green energy corridors”
·
In two stages, India is establishing “green energy
corridors.” On its website, India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
states, “The Green Energy Corridor Project focuses on synchronizing
electricity supplied from renewable sources, like solar and wind, with
traditional power stations in the grid.” According to the Hindustan
Times, one phase will provide 20 gigawatts (GW) of renewable power to the
national grid.
·
According to the report, the government is also in
the midst of constructing 63 GW of renewable power capacity. By 2030,
cumulative non-fossil fuel power capacity is predicted to rise by 66%.
India’s renewable energy production capacity would expand by 16 GW in the
financial year 2023, as per rating agency ICRA. India plans to reduce
predicted carbon emissions by one billion tons by 2030.
·
Green energy investments are also steadily
increasing. Green energy ventures in India got $7.27 billion in foreign
direct investments from 2014-15 to June 2021. The United States received
$797.21 million of this total in 2020-21.
·
The government also wants to make sure that the
national grid isn’t jeopardized by the massive increase in electricity
generated by renewable energy sources like solar and wind. The grid
frequency stays within the range of 49.90-50.05 Hz (hertz) because of the
upkeep of the aforementioned corridors. According to the study, the
government also recently installed an Automatic Generation Control (AGC), that sends signals to power stations every four
seconds to sustain frequency and provide a more dependable electricity
grid.
·
Powering up
·
From Financial Year 2021-22 to Financial Year
2025-26, transmission systems will be built over a five-year period. The
Central Financial Assistance (CFA), according to the statement, will
offset intra-state distribution charges and maintain power costs low. By
2022, another stage of the project should be able to supply approximately
24 GW of renewable energy. India has established a non-fossil energy
capacity of 157.32 GW. According to the report, this accounts for 40.1
percent of total installed electricity capacity.
|
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Oil & Gas(11 News Items)
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·
Reliance Industries expects the global natural gas
crunch and the gas price rally to continue benefiting India’s oil-to-telecoms
conglomerate with more earnings in the coming months after higher oil and
gas production and price realizations helped it deliver record quarterly
earnings.
·
Reliance Industries, the biggest company in India
led by Asia’s richest person Mukesh Ambani, expects India to raise the
cap on the offshore gas sales by 60 percent in April, to $10 per million
British thermal units (MMBtu), the group’s senior vice president for
exploration and production, Sanjay Roy, said at the presentation of the
Q3 results, as carried by Bloomberg.
·
The higher gas prices and the increased gas
production from the Krishna-Godavari (KG) oil and gas fields in the Bay
of Bengal drove higher revenues and core earnings for the conglomerate in
the quarter ended December 31.
·
According to Roy, Reliance Industries and BP, its
partner in the KG fields, expect to raise gas production to 30 million
cubic meters per day next year, from 18 million cubic meters per day now.
·
In its quarterly earnings report, Reliance
Industries said on Friday that the revenues of its Oil & Gas segment
increased multi-fold in the quarter to December 2021, led by a ramp-up of
gas production from the KG D6 block. Revenue growth was also supported by
higher gas price realization in KG D6 and CBM blocks, the conglomerate
said.
·
“The recovery in global oil and energy markets
supported strong fuel margins and helped our O2C business deliver robust
earnings. Our Oil & Gas segment delivered strong growth in EBITDA
with volume growth and improved realization,” Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and
Managing Director, said in a statement.
·
Ambani also noted Reliance Industries’ recent
commitments to invest billions of U.S. dollars in renewables in India.
The conglomerate plans to invest as much as $76 billion in green energy
projects in India over the next 15 years, it said earlier this month.
·
2022 has now commenced with a surge in Omicron-led
COVID-19 cases that are threatening to jeopardize global economic activity
yet again, for the third time in less than two years. In this period of
volatility and vulnerability – the only constant has been the will of the
economy to reinvent itself, realign its goals and reimagine its vision
for a better, safer world. This sounds well; but when seen from an oil
and gas perspective, some introspection is necessary.
·
The challenge ahead
·
Determined to recover after two years of unexpected
halts, the wheels of the economy are now gaining pace and the demand for
crude is expected to surge. While encouraging, India remains heavily
import-dependent, shedding USD 100 bn and above each year on importing
oil while its citizens are forced to shed Rs 100 and above for a litre of
petrol. Thus, for India, this positive progress will further pressure the
exchequer that is already writhing after a year of steep social welfare
spending. Unless domestic capacities are augmented and import dependence
reduced, any growth in demand will convert itself into a toxic cycle of
shrinking public spending, spiralling inflation,
and stagnant economic activity. To match expected demand, the domestic
oil and gas sector needs relief through reduced tax burden,enhanced marketing freedom, greater incentive for
production of unconventional fuels, domestic parity and more.
·
The economy functions in a closely knit web of
interconnected and interdependent industries, with oil and gas providing
basic nourishment for uninterrupted functioning. For this, augmenting
capacities of the domestic sector is key. To
encourage domestic producers, the Prime Minister has asserted the
importance of shifting from revenue-oriented thinking to
production-augmenting actions that can guarantee long-term profitability.
Ultimately, each economic target that our country is todaywholeheartedly
pursuing – whether in boosting manufacturing, increasing employment,
achieving aatmanirbharta or becoming a USD 5 trillion economy – remains
dependent on the capacity of the oil and gas sector to provide and
perform.
·
A Budget to fuel India
·
Now, given a new year and a fresh Budget, the
government must consider making some crucial policy reforms in the
domestic oil and gas sector to support energy autonomy and shield the
country and its people from volatile global crude markets. Leading
operators of oil and gas businesses have been communicating some concerns
and possible solutions for the sector that have become even more relevant
in view of the upcoming Budget 2022-23. The government should look at
making interventionsin some critical areas. These are:
·
- Improving domestic production through a
simplified tax structure at par with newer regimes like HELP
·
- Increasing competitiveness for domestic producers
by introducing import parity and marketing freedom
·
- Encouraging new investments in exploration to improve
investor sentiment
·
- Bringing oil & gas sector under the ambit of
GST
·
- Incentivizing investments in the exploration and
production of unconventional fuels like shale
·
Pre-NELP blocks today comprise 90 per cent of
India’s domestic production while being burdened by a limiting tax
structure that draws away 67 per cent of income through various taxations
in royalty, cess, and profit petroleum. These blocks also encounter
natural challenges that come from ageing fields and diminishing output.
To help these blocks extract their true potential, technology
up-gradation, and fresh investment is key.
However, a heavy tax burden has converted these mature resources into
low-performing assets. Here, the government still has a large role to
play in revising the tax structure and encouraged the sector through
production-linked incentives to increase investments in technology
up-gradation.
·
India’s domestic producers are also encountering an
unexpected challenge in uneven import parity. Domestic crude sales to
refineries are subject to CST/VAT while the same is not applicable on
imported crude. This makes domestic crude costlier by 3 per cent and the
additional cost must be borne by the domestic producer. There is also
lack of marketing freedom as the government volumes of crude for
designated refineries, thus reducing bargaining power of domestic crude
producers and lowering their sales realizations. This is unexpected in
India that has spelt aatmanirbharta and encouraging domestic production
as key pillars in its economic growth journey.
·
The government recognises the potential in the
country’s unexplored regions and has been incentivising exploration
through successive policies such as HELP, NELP, OALP, and DSF. These bids
have introduced flexibility, but exploration is a time-consuming process
and new fields will take at least 5-6 years before it reaches significant
levels of production. Nonetheless, attracting fresh investments and new
players is key to domestic competitiveness and
if enabled, can bring rich dividends to the government.
·
The past few months have witnessed growing
discussions on the possibilities of revising the GST structure and
reconsidering the exempted category of five hydrocarbon fuels. There is
reluctance, among both the Centre and states, as their exchequer sees
significant contribution from the sector. Nonetheless, it is important to
evaluate the possibility and more importantly, initiate the process of
simplification and uniformity that comprises the core of the GST
framework.
·
Finally, there is great scope for the government to
incentivise commercial shale production which can be a potential
gamechanger for India – not only in achieving energy security but also in
curtailing our dependence on coal. Though the cost of production is
initially higher, causing some apprehension, a robust policy for shale
production can attract rich investments in the sector, increasing income
for the government and also bringing long-term energy security.
·
Let’s act today for an energised tomorrow
·
The oil and gas sector, especially in India, is at
the cusp of necessary transformation without which, economic progress
will become a folly. While the oil and gas industry’s recovery has been
better than expected in 2021, uncertainty remains over market dynamics in
the coming year. As we move into 2022, many companies are looking to
reinvent themselves by practicing capital discipline, focusing on
financial health, committing to climate change, and transforming business
models.
·
The industry today has an important role to play in
aiding the country’s growth goals as well as sustainability targets. Key
revisions in policy structure can lend necessary autonomy to the sector
in augmenting its performance with stronger investments and technology
upgradation. If India is indeed to fulfill its goal of becoming a USD 5
trillion economy and achieving aatmanirbharta, the oil and gas industry
must not just be marginally profitable but instead, highly prosperous.
·
India's fuel demand will continue to recover
through the current quarter as the easing of Covid-19 pandemic-related
restrictions boosts economic activity, Fitch Ratings said on Monday,
adding a caveat that this was subject to the risk of a
resurgence in infections and the resultant impact on economy and
mobility.
·
The recovery should support higher throughput at
most oil marketing companies and strong prices are expected to improve
the financial profiles of upstream oil and gas companies.
·
Fitch said it "expects India's petroleum
product demand to remain moderately strong in the fourth quarter of the
financial year ending March 2022 (4QFY22), as the easing of Covid-19
pandemic-led restrictions boosts economic activity."
·
However, recovery expectations remain subject to
further restrictions due to the risk of a resurgence
of Covid-19 cases in India with the emergence of new variants, even as
the country makes progress in its vaccination plan.
·
"We expect improved demand for petroleum
products to reach pre-pandemic levels in 4QFY22 (January-March 2022), but
the full financial year's demand is still 2-4% below that in FY20,"
Fitch said.
·
Demand rose by 5% yoy in April-December 2021, but
the overall monthly average was about 8-10% lower than the pre-pandemic
level at 16.4 million tonnes. This is because there were still some
pandemic-related restrictions in some regions of the country in 1HFY22.
·
"We expect the recovery to continue through to
4QFY22, subject to the risk of a resurgence in
Covid-19 cases and the resultant impact on economic activity and
mobility," it said.
·
In its 'India Oil & Gas Watch' report, the
rating agency said capex is likely to stay high as oil marketing
companies (OMCs) expand their refining capacity and retail networks, and
upstream companies enhance production.
·
"We expect stable crude oil production, which
should marginally increase in FY23 as upstream producers continue to
invest in exploration and development," it said.
·
India's natural gas production increased by 22% yoy
in April-December 2021 and the momentum is likely to continue over the
next 12-18 months, driven by expanded production at new fields, before
stabilising in FY23.
·
"We believe rising domestic production and
higher liquefied natural gas (LNG) spot prices are likely to weigh on LNG
imports through to 1HFY23. However, LNG imports should rise steadily over
the medium-term as consumption picks up pace," it said.
·
Core oil refining margins are likely to improve in
2HFY22 (October 2021 to March 2022), as petrol and diesel spreads
continue to strengthen amid the economic recovery.
·
The 1HFY22 (April-September 2021) reported margins
of BPCL, IOC and HPCL improved to $5.1 per barrel, $6.6 and $2.9 a
barrel, respectively, on account of rebounding demand, wider gasoline
spreads and inventory gains.
·
"We expect the OMCs to generate steady
marketing margins in 2HFY22, as they continue to pass on higher crude oil
prices to consumers," Fitch said.
·
"Government cuts to gasoline (petrol) and
gasoil (diesel) excise duties, as well as to value-added tax in some
states, should cushion retail fuel-price affordability and the OMCs'
marketing margins."
·
However, record-high retail fuel prices may limit
the extent to which the changes are passed on should the crude oil prices
continue to rise, it said.
·
India's crude oil production declined by 3%
year-on-year in April-December 2021, while natural gas production rose by
22%.
·
The steep rise in gas output was due to a
production ramp-up at the KG-DWN-98/2 and KG-D6 deepwater projects.
Natural gas production to further increase over the next 12-18 months,
driven by expanding production at the new fields, before stabilising in
FY23.
·
"Crude oil production should stay stable in
4QFY22, before marginally increasing as upstream producers continue to
invest in exploration and development and enhance existing facilities to
offset the natural decline from mature fields," Fitch said.
·
The government increased the domestic gas price at
the last October 2021-March 2022 reset to $2.9 per million British
thermal units (mmBtu), from an all-time low of $1.8 in April
2021-September 2021.
·
The price is linked to prices of four global
liquefied natural gas (LNG) benchmarks, including Henry Hub and National
Balancing Point, in the previous 12 months and is implemented with a quarter's
lag.
·
Global gas prices rose during 2021 and we expect
global prices to stay high in 1Q22, driven by high demand in Asia,
production bottlenecks and uncertainty around Russia's Nord Stream 2
pipeline as well as limited gas in European storage facilities.
·
This is likely to result in higher domestic gas
prices during 1HFY23, helping boost profitability at upstream companies.
However, the impact on upstream companies will be marginal, due to its
low share in the revenue mix, Fitch said.
·
The government's higher price ceiling for gas
produced from deepwater and other difficult fields of $6.13 per mmBtu,
from $3.62, is likely to benefit production at Reliance Industries Ltd's
Krishna Godavari basin field.
·
Fitch Ratings expects India’s petroleum product
demand to stay moderately strong in the fourth quarter of the financial
year ending March 2022 (2HFY22), as modest Covid-19 pandemic restrictions
boost economic activity. However, recovery expectations remain subject to
further restrictions due to the risk of a resurgence
of Covid-19 cases in India with the emergence of new variants, even as
the country makes progress in its vaccination plan. We expect the
economic recovery to support higher throughput at Indian oil marketing
companies – Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, Indian Oil
Corporation Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited – and at
refineries, such as, HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited.
·
We expect a further improvement in the core gross
refining margin in 2HFY22, as gasoline and diesel spreads continue to
strengthen amid the economic recovery. The 1HFY22 reported margins of
BPCL, IOC and HPCL improved to USD5.1/barrel, USD6.6/barrel and USD2.9/barrel,
respectively, on account of rebounding demand, wider gasoline spreads and
inventory gains. HPCL’s lower gross refining margin is due to a planned
refinery shutdown.We expect the OMCs to generate steady marketing margins
in 2HFY22, as they continue to pass on higher crude oil prices to
consumers. Government cuts to gasoline and gasoil excise duties, as well
as to value added tax in some states, should cushion retail fuel-price
affordability and the OMCs’ marketing margins.
·
Surging prices have doubled India's oil import bill
this financial year while gas import costs have risen 61%.
·
India paid $82.4 billion for the crude oil it
imported in the nine months through December 2021, a 108% jump over $39.6
billion paid over the same period in 2020, according to the Oil Ministry
data. The jump was primarily due to spiraling prices as the volume of
imported oil increased only 9% in the same period.
·
The bill for nine months has already eclipsed the
entire year’s import spending of $62.2 billion in 2020-21. At the current
pace, this year’s import spending would easily surpass $101.4 billion of
2019-20 and may match $112 billion of 2018-19.
·
Oil was trading above $88 per barrel on Monday, 36%
up since the beginning of the current financial year, as supply has
lagged a sharp recovery in global demand. Geopolitical tensions in the
Mideast and Eastern Europe have also aided price rise in recent days.
·
The average price of the Indian basket of crude oil
is about $73 per barrel this fiscal year as against $45 in 2020-21 and
$60.5 in 2019-20.
·
The natural gas import bill too has expanded 61% to
$8.7 billion even though volumes fell 3% in the April-December period.
India paid $7.9 billion in 2020-21 and $9.5 billion in 2019-20 for the
import of gas.
·
Natural gas prices have skyrocketed in the global
market as supply failed to match demand. Record-high rates in the spot
market have curbed Indian consumption of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Asia-delivered LNG has traded above $30 per mmBtu for months in the spot
market. Even LNG volumes obtained under long-term contracts have become
expensive as these are mostly linked to oil prices that have sharply
risen this year.
·
The upcoming LNG terminal at Simar port in
Gir-Somnath district’s Chhara region, being built at an estimated cost of
Rs 4,300 crore, will be ready for commissioning in the April-May period
next year. The project, however, will not be fully commissioned for
another two years due to issues in the R-LNG evacuation pipeline, said
government sources aware of the developments.
·
Gujarat State Petronet Ltd (GSPL), the transmission
company of Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC), is to lay an 86km
R-LNG evacuation pipeline. The pipeline will connect the terminal to the
GSPL gas grid in the state. But construction work is yet to start on the
pipeline, said sources.
·
GSPL had raised some issues with the downstream
regulator, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB). GSPL had
been waiting for more than two years for the authorization letter to
start laying the pipeline.
·
The Rs 622 crore pipeline
will be laid between Chhara and Lothpur. “PNGRB only recently issued the
authorization letter,” said a source. “Even if the tendering process is
completed in the next few months, it will take at least three years for
the pipeline project to be completed.”
·
A stretch of the pipeline passes close to the
eco-sensitive zone of the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary that is home to Asiatic
lions. So the final approval from the state forest department and the
Union environment ministry is required, said sources.
·
According to the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL)
guidelines, if a project lies within 10km of any sanctuary, a
no-objection certificate is required from the standing committee of the
board.
·
According to a September 2006 notification, oil and
gas transportation pipelines in the vicinity of national parks,
sanctuaries, coral reefs, and other ecologically sensitive areas require
prior clearance from the Union environment ministry.
·
The State Board for Wildlife, Gujarat, recommended
the pipeline project to the state government for consideration about
fourteen months ago, said sources.
·
GSPL had entrusted Secon Pvt Ltd with the task of
undertaking an Environmental Impact Assessment study and preparing the
Environmental Management Plan as well as the Risk Assessment &
Disaster Management Plan for the proposed pipeline. The pipeline is
expected to be 86.61km long and 36 inches in diameter with total capacity
of 18 million metric standard cubic metres per day.
·
The pipeline alignment has been planned in such a
way that near the ecologically sensitive areas, cutting of trees will be
minimized or avoided completely, said sources in GSPL.
·
Oil marketing companies (OMCs), including Indian
Oil Corporation (IOC) are likely to post strong set of results for the
quarter ended December 31, 2021.
·
Higher prices of Brent crude and healthy demand
could aid both gross refining margins or GRMs as
well as volumes for the OMCs.
·
Price hikes will aid marketing margins in the
quarter even as volumes could grow in double digits on a sequential
basis. Lower price hikes in domestic LPG though could have some impact on
the results.
·
The growth in production of natural gas in the
country as well as the continuous uptick in the prices of liquified
natural gas (LNG) could impact India’s LNG imports during Q4 FY21 as well
as for the April-September period next fiscal, ratings agency Fitch said
on Monday.
·
“We believe rising domestic production and higher
spot LNG prices are likely to constrain LNG imports during Q4 FY22 and H1
FY23. Natural gas consumption in April-November 2021 was up 9 per cent
y-o-y, as India’s economy recovered.
·
Geopolitical tensions have created fresh fears of
oil supply disruptions, resulting in high crude prices. According to
Goldman Sachs, crude prices are likely to breach the $100/bbl mark in the
third quarter of 2022. This isn’t good news for India. Mint explains:
·
What is the outlook for crude prices?
·
Crude prices have begun soaring to a multi-year
high after the drone attacks by Houthi rebels of Yemen on targets in the
United Arab Emirates (UAE). On 20 January, the Brent future hit a
seven-year high of $88.3 per barrel, and the outlook remains bullish for
crude futures. In addition, the growing presence of the Russian military
at the Ukrainian border has raised red flags—the US has threatened
serious implications in case of a Russian invasion. An escalation of the
crisis would only exacerbate supply concerns and lift crude prices.
·
Are other factors also driving up prices?
·
Strong demand, weak investment, and a lack of spare
capacity are among other factors driving up prices. According to the
International Energy Agency, worldwide oil demand has now recovered to
pre-pandemic levels, but supply is short by at least a million barrels
per day. Bank of Baroda says although the US can sell from its strategic
petroleum reserve, its supply is limited: Crude inventories may have
fallen to 593 million barrels, the lowest since November 2002. The brief
outage of the Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline due to an explosion also caused a
spike in oil prices recently.
·
What is the impact on the prices of ATF?
·
The cost of crude’s downstream products, including
aviation turbine fuel (ATF), has increased and is expected to rise
further. On 16 January, ATF prices rose 4.2%, taking the price in New
Delhi to ₹79,294.91 per kilolitre. The pandemic-induced low demand
and high fuel prices have been major concerns of the aviation industry
which has for long sought relief in
fuel rates.
·
What’s the larger picture?
·
India imports 85% of its domestic oil requirements.
The import bill, therefore, will go up. Already, India’s oil import bill
has more than doubled to $71.1 billion between April and November 2021. A
$10 per barrel increase in crude raises India’s inflation rate by around
50 basis points and widens the fiscal deficit by about 40 basis points.
Any crude price shock has a bearing on the Current Account Deficit (CAD)
to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio that rises sharply even if the GDP
itself is growing.
·
What about the duty structure?
·
Fuel prices are a politically sensitive subject.
With several assembly elections approaching, oil companies have suspended
fuel price revisions. Petrol and diesel prices have been static since 2
December even though crude has risen from $70.5 a barrel to $87.5 a
barrel now. Every $1 increase in crude necessities a 50 paisa per litre
hike in the prices of petrol and diesel. To keep fuel prices from rising
post elections, both the Centre and states would need to cut excise duty
and the value added tax (VAT) on fuel further.
·
On a consolidated basis, India's largest
conglomerate Reliance Industries (RIL) reported a 37.9% jump in net
profit to Rs 20,539 crore on a 57% rise in net sales to Rs 185,027 crore
in Q3 FY22 over Q3 FY21.
·
Consolidated profit before tax stood at Rs 25,227
crore in Q3 FY22, rising 68.4% from Rs 14,982 crore posted in Q3 FY21.
EBITDA for the quarter was at Rs 33,886 crore ($ 4.6 billion), higher by
29.9% year on year. EBITDA growth was driven by robust operating
performance across businesses.
·
Finance cost decreased by 11.9% to Rs 3,812 crore
in Q3 FY22 as against Rs 4,326 crore posted in the corresponding quarter
of the previous year. Lower finance costs reflected large paydown of
debt, other liabilities and stabilization of exchange rates. Outstanding
debt as on 31 December 2021 was Rs 244,708 crore in Q3 FY22. Cash and
cash equivalents as on 31 December 2021 were at Rs 241,846 crore.
·
The company posted an exceptional item (gain) of Rs
2,872 crore on account of divestment of shale gas assets, partially
offset by provisions for liabilities pertaining to GAPCO amounting to Rs
36 crore.
·
Commenting on the results, Mukesh D. Ambani,
chairman and MD of Reliance Industries said, I am happy to announce that
Reliance has posted best-ever quarterly performance in Q3 FY22 with
strong contribution from all our businesses. Both our
consumer businesses, Retail and Digital services have recorded highest
ever revenues and EBITDA. During this quarter, we continued to focus on
strategic investments and partnerships across our businesses to drive
future growth. Retail business activity has normalized with strong growth
in key consumption baskets on the back of festive season and as lockdowns
eased across the country. Our digital services business has delivered
broad based, sustainable, and profitable growth through improved customer
engagement and subscriber mix. The recovery in global oil and energy
markets supported strong fuel margins and helped our O2C business deliver
robust earnings. Our Oil & Gas segment delivered strong growth in
EBITDA with volume growth and improved realization. We are making steady
progress towards achieving our vision of Net Carbon Zero by 2035.
·
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) rose 1.44%
to Rs 165.95 after ONGC Videsh entered the development stage with the
declaration of commerciality (DoC) in its Brazil offshore project BM-SEAL-4.
·
ONGC Videsh is the wholly owned subsidiary and
overseas arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).
·
ONGC Videsh had registered a major gas discovery in
2019 in its deep offshore block BM-SEAL-4, Brazil, located in the Sergipe
Alagoas Basin. Petrobras is the Operator of the block with 75%
Participating Interest (PI) and in which partner ONGC Videsh holds 25%
PI.
·
ONGC Videsh, after detailed evaluation, has now
entered into the development stage with the submission of declaration of
commerciality (DoC) for the block BM-SEAL-4.
·
The block development module of Petrobras envisages
the installation of a shared FPSO and a gas pipeline.
·
The name suggested to the Brazilian regulator for
the field is Budi. The development module is presently in the contract
planning phase and is expected to start production after 2026.
·
The Consortium plans to continue all operational
activities for submission of the Development Plan to the Regulator and
meeting the target for the first oil.
·
ONGC is India's largest integrated oil and gas
company. ONGC is 60.41% owned by the Government of India.
·
The state-run oil major's consolidated net profit
surged 328.81% to Rs 18055.01 crore on 45.93% rise in net sales to Rs
122029.47 crore in Q2 FY22 over Q2 FY21.
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Coal(7 News Items)
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·
Maharashtra may face a power shortage in the wake
of a dip in the coal supply from the Coal India arms. Against the daily
requirement of 1,34,000 tonnes, the state-run Maharashtra State Power
Generation Company (MahaGenco) is currently receiving 1,20,000 tonnes
which have impacted power generation at its generation plants located in
Nashik, Chandrapur, Paras, Parli and Bhusawal.
·
These generation plants are expected to have coal
stock for 22 to 24 days as mandated by the Central Electricity Authority
but the stocks have been dipped ranging between 0.91 days at the Nashik
plant & 4.82 days at the Koradi plant. If the coal supply is not
restored earlier, the state-run Maharashtra State Electricity
Distribution Company (MahaVitaran) will be forced to procure the market
from the open market or through power exchanges to fill the gap and avoid
shortages.
·
A senior MahaGenco officer told the Free Press
Journal, ‘’ The MahaGenco has already sought the intervention of the
Ministry of Coal for early restoration of coal supply from the Western
Coalfields, Mahanadi Coalfields, South Eastern Coalfields. Besides, the
Ministry of Railways has been urged to provide an additional number of
rakes for uninterrupted coal supply.
·
The coal shortage is attributed to the lack of coal
production in the coal mines by WCL for want of explosives. In addition,
railways have preferred to supply coal to pit head based power generation
plants citing technical issues for supply to non-pit head based power
plants meaning those plants which are located far away from mines citing
the availability of rakes.’’ He further said that the MahaGenco with a
thermal generation capacity of 10,170 MW, has
recently cleared dues worth Rs 2,000 crore to the Western Coalfields to
avoid further reminders.
·
The officer said there has not been a coal supply
that is coming from the Western Coalfields situated at Chandrapur, Nagpur
and Umred areas. ‘’The Coal India through its arms should daily supply 1,40,000 tonnes so that against the MahaGenco’s daily
need of 1,20,000 tonnes, it can store the remaining stock for the rainy
season.
·
MahaGenco CMD Sanjay Khandare admitted reduction in
coal supply but said MahaGenco will receive a good amount of coal supply
by February. ‘’Besides, the coal suppliers have given an option of supply
through road instead of a railway that is being explored. The Railway
Ministry has assured to increase more rakes. In addition, MahaGenco has
floated the tender for the import of coal of 20 lakh tonnes,’’ he said.
·
Meanwhile, the Railway Ministry has said that it is
consultation with the ministries of coal and power are already having a
road map in place of supplying rakes to long-distance thermal power
plants which is being implemented to build adequate coal stock with these
plants.
·
The ministry of railways on Monday said the public
transporter is implementing a roadmap, prepared in consultation with the
power and coal ministries, for providing coal rakes to power plants
located far away from mines to build up fuel stocks.
·
Responding to a TOI report published on Monday on
low fuel stocks at distant power stations due to the South East Central
Railway’s focus on units within the zone in rake allotment, the ministry
said many plants in the zone are keeping low stocks as per new norms.
·
It said the rake supply to such shorter distance
plants “naturally” improves because a large number of them are equipped
with mechanised unloading systems, especially the ‘hopper’ mechanism,
which results in a faster turnaround time of three hours. On closure of
one unit of the Amaravati power plant in Maharashtra due to fuel
shortage, the ministry said the supplies were lower because the plant was
not equipped with a hopper system.
·
The ministry said many rakes had to be “stabled”
after distant power plants regulated coal intake in the April-June period
of 2020 to save inventory costs and ran short once power demand picked
up. Stocks are being built up now.
·
Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Coal India Limited, under the Ministry of Coal, Government
of India achieved the 100 Million Tonnes Coal Dispatch, a spectacular 16
percent growth on Saturday. According to NCL, "This feat assumes
significance considering the dependency of the Indian economy on coal,
the steep rise in coal demand, and the ongoing COVID pandemic
situation".
·
This spectacular achievement comes along with 16%
y-o-y growth in coal dispatch. NCL has sent 100.38 MT of coal to its
consumers till date, it added.
·
The Mini Ratna (Category-I) company reported a 17
percent growth in coal dispatch to powerhouses also more than 82 percent of
coal was sent through eco-friendly mode. NCL operates primarily on social
upliftment, sustainable development, and environmental up-gradation.
·
CMD NCL Shri Bhola Singh & FDs have
congratulated the Team NCL on dispatching 100 MT coal 42 Days prior to
its consumers than last year’s.
·
Moving beyond commitment, NCL has supplied 109% of
its Annual Contract Quantity( ACQ) to power
consumers.
·
In the FY 2021-22 NCL has produced 95.14 MT of coal
posting positive growth over the last fiscal in spite of the COVID pandemic.
·
Background:-
·
Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) has produced
115.04 Million Tonnes (MT) coal i.e. 101.80% of the target in FY 2020-21
with 6.50% growth over last year. It was for the 3rd consecutive year
when NCL surpassed the 100 MT milestone. NCL is
one among the 3 subsidiaries of Coal India Limited to cross 100 MT in FY
2020-21.
·
According to the NCL, the coal production of the
company is higher than the target. The proposed or actual production of
previous years is more than the planned target. So the positivity rate of
the upcoming year is higher.
·
NCL is a mini Ratna company of the Government of
India excavating coal from its 10 Opencast coal mines based out of
Singrauli and Sonbhadra District of MP and UP respectively. The company
is moving ahead towards sustainable mining and has taken vast initiatives
like FMC projects, Coal Corridor, and others.
·
Domestic offers for metallurgical (met) coke in
eastern India have increased by INR 2,000/t on the back of coking coal prices
that have risen by $44/tonne (t) w-o-w. The offers in western India were
heard to be unchanged.
·
While the buyers are reluctant to accept the higher
offers, sellers are unwilling to lower their offers in apprehension of
further rise in coking coal prices. Buyers' reluctance When inquired
about the buyers' reluctance to accept raised offers, CoalMint learnt
that the met coke being sold at present has been produced using
·
National People’s Party state president and Rajya
Sabha member, WR Kharlukhi said coal mining cannot be stopped completely
and all politicians of the state are to be blamed for the mess it has
caused.
·
“All the politicians have been in the government,
(whether of) Congress or other parties. I accept that we politicians are
to be blamed for this and not the people who support the economy of the
state. We are not helping them to find a way out,” he said Sunday.
·
Kharlukhi took a swipe at former Chief Minister,
Mukul M. Sangma for going hammer and tongs about illegal coal mining and
transportation in the state after joining the All India Trinamool
Congress.
·
“He was CM for eight years. He should look back at
what he did (about illegal mining) during that period,” he said.
·
Stating that he is not saying the Opposition should
not raise the issue, Kharlukhi said, “Politicians are to be blamed for
not doing anything. When in the opposition, they turn it into an issue
and when ruling, they do nothing. So, we need to discuss and find a way
out.”
·
He felt no one should stop people from earning from
an area and environmental hazards are cited to stop people from mining.
Similar is the issue of pollution associated with the coke plants, he
said.
·
Asserting that he is not supporting illegal
activities, Kharlukhi said the generally poor people of the area thrived
after the discovery of coal. But the sudden ban without any alternative
livelihood spelt disaster for them, compelling them to do what they think
is right to eke out a living.
·
The NPP leader stated coal mining cannot be stopped
completely. “The government, NGT (National Green Tribunal) and the people
should sit together and find a way out. It is very easy for people in the
city to say cry illegal or pollution and not find a solution for the
survival of the people,” he said.
·
“Our people will accept if you come with an idea
and give them a proper alternative solution. It is easy to give an order
but the impact of the order on the lives of the people must be assessed
first,” Kharlukhi said.
·
He pointed out that people who used to benefit from
all kinds of trades associated with coal mining are now suffering. “We
have to see the reality on the ground and make a decision,” he said.
·
Kharlukhi said everyone has been talking about
scientific mining and policy. “Research has to be done on the feasibility
of mining beyond rat-hole and come out with a policy,” he added.
·
While the coal shortage crisis may seem over for
some power plants, another crisis is lurking for generation stations
located far from mines.
·
These plants — termed ‘foreign’ by Indian Railways
— have begun suffering because of bias in allotment of rakes among
railway zones in the race to post higher despatch figures.
·
Last week, Rattan India Power-operated Amaravati
power plant in Maharashtra shut down one of its units due to coal
shortage resulting from insufficient rake allotment by SECR, the south
east central zone of the railways.
·
The power ministry on January 17 issued an memo seeking details of remedial action taken by
the Railways as grumblings from private power plants facing similar
situation grew louder, government sources have told Times of India. Industry
sources said L&T’s Nhava and Vedanta NSE -3.46 %’s Talwandi Sabo
power plants are among other plants facing similar predicament.
·
The trend is more pronounced in zones with
heavy-duty coal lifting such as SECR, which largely services SECL (South
Eastern Coalfields Ltd), Coal India Ltd’s largest mine.
·
“The shorter intra-zone haul allows faster
turnaround of rakes. This automatically helps zones to improve their
loading and despatch figures. There is also another reason. Railway zones
are under pressure to show higher despatch figures. For example, in cases
where SECL coal has to cross other zones, the empty rakes are
commandeered by the other zone on their way back for despatch of coal
from WCL (Western Coalfields Ltd) to elsewhere, say the north,” one
industry executive said requesting anonymity.
·
After last year's coal crisis, the power ministry
had in December asked plants to import 10% of their coal requirement.
·
In an order that may help in keeping a close watch
on erring coal-based thermal power plants (TPPs) which fail to properly dispose
of environmentally hazardous fly ash, the National Green Tribunal (NGT)
has directed the Centre to set up a fly ash management and utilization
Mission for monitoring scientific management and utilization of the
remains of burnt coal, and asked it to take adequate action against
non-compliant power plants.
·
Besides monitoring the disposal of annual stock of
unutilised fly ash, the Mission will also see how 1,670 million tonnes of
legacy (accumulated) fly ash could be utilized in the least hazardous manner
and how all safety measures could be taken by the power plants.
·
The Mission will be jointly headed by the
secretaries of environment, coal and power ministries, keeping on board
chief secretaries of respective states. The panel of secretaries, in coordination
with power plants and statutory regulators, will have to draw a roadmap
for utilization and disposal of entire legacy fly ash as per remedial
action recommended by an expert committee which was formed by the NGT.
·
"The failures of the TPPs are alarming. We
find no reason not to accept all the recommendations (of the expert
committee) and to direct remedial action," observed the bench,
headed by NGT chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel, in its order on January 18.
The Tribunal made the observation while hearing a plea, filed by advocate
Ashwani Kumar Dubey.
·
Its final order came while disposing of a plea in
the fly ash dyke breach incident of Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh in April,
2020. The breach of the dyke, belonged to the Sasan Ultra Mega Power
Project, resulted in the death of six villagers (including three
children) and destruction of crops. The Tribunal in its order asked the
TPP to pay higher compensation to families of six persons who died in the
dyke breach incident.
·
The Tribunal, referring to report of the expert
committee, found serious gaps in storing of fly ash in ponds and dykes,
and failure to prevent fugitive emissions and installation of devices to
control air pollution. "Such failures have been found to have
resulted in serious damage to the environment and the public health which
need to be remedied in a mission mode as per mandate of Constitution of
India and the NGT Act," it observed.
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