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Powerinfo Weekly
Volume 1(9); 3 July 9 July 2015
suffered
from
deficiencies.
The
consultants report was merely to assist
the Board in evaluating the bids. It was
not binding. The Board can independently
take action based on the consultants
report, which clearly said that both bids
suffered from deficiencies, the government
argued. As for the other ground that the
delay was causing cost overrun, the
government said it as misconceived. All
that the judge could examine was the
competence of the Board to scrap the
tender and call for a fresh one. There was
no finding whatsoever in the impugned
order that the Board was incompetent or
was barred by law from doing so, the
government stated.
The judge failed to note the extraordinary
defects found in the Indo-Chinese
Consortiums bid. The petitioner had
submitted an incomplete price bid, which
rendered it completely impossible to
award the contract, the govern-ment
clarified. Based on the grounds, the
government asked the High Court to set
aside the single judges order.
The Hindu; July 8, 2015 (Edited)
for
unit
10
plants
get
e-auction
to fuel economy
PROBAL BASAK
Kolkata: Recover the coal sector for me,
the entire economy will rebound. This
was PM Narendra Modis first message to
Union Coal Secretary Anil Swarup last
October after appointing him as an OSD
in
the
ministry.
Recalling
the
conversation, Swarup now believes, with
the successful auctioning of coal blocks to
captive miners and state-owned CIL
recording
double-digit
production
growth, he and the CIL management are
on course to deliver on the PMs mission.
GAURAV MISHRA
New Delhi: The government is
considering a push for underground
mining to extract deep-seated coal in a bid
to boost coal production, but is facing
challenges of resources and lack of
machinery. Theres a definite thrust
towards it. We are trying to understand
it, coal secretary Anil Swarup said. India
has set itself an ambi-tious target of
increasing coal production from 565.77
MT in 2013-14 to 1.5 BT by 2020 to
reduce dependence on imports. The most
prevalent method of coal mining in India
is opencast or surface mining, used for
extracting coal deposits at shallow depths.
Its a more efficient process than
underground mining, the latter needing
high technical expertise and greater
investments. The share of underground
coal mining in India has slumped from
16.3% to 8.8% in the last decade.
The primary reason is rise in production
from opencast mines, which is increasing
at a greater rate than under-ground
mines. Some potential underground mines
have also been converted to opencast
mines, said S.K. Dubey, technical
secretary at the Central Mine Planning
and Design Institute (CMPDI), the
consulting arm of CIL. The most efficient
way to carry out underground mining is
to extract long panels of coal with use of
massive shearers and a roof support
system through longwall mining. A
typical longwall machine moves along the
coalface cutting coal slices while the roof
is allowed to collapse.
This mining technique hasnt been
successful in India because, Dubey said,
We dont have large areas of continuous
coal deposits underground. This makes
esti-mation and implementation of mining
very difficult. We had very ambitious
projects in the 1970s and 1980s, which
were unsuccessful due to these conditions.
In China or the US, large deposits of coal
seam are available free from geo-mining
DEBJOY SENGUPTA
Kolkata: CIL will relinquish 75% of the
area in the 2 coal blocks it had acquired in
Mozambique about 6 years ago.
The move follows the local government's
decision to double charges of holding the
blocks, which have so far not yielded any
coal worth the effort. At a board meeting last week, it was decided that Coal
India Africana Ltd, will just about keep 54
sq km of the 205 sq km blocks that it had
earlier acquired, a senior coal sector
official said. The decision was taken
following completion of a near 3-year
exploration programme.
About 6 years ago, Coal India had won a
5-year licence for exploration and
development of A1 and A2 blocks in
Mozambique's north-western province of
Tete. The blocks were unexplored and it
was upon CIL to explore and ascertain the
quality of coal there. Following the
acquisition, CIL set up Coal India
Africana for carrying out the exploration
at the 2 blocks.
When CIL acquired the blocks, the
authorities in Mozam-bique had indicated
that the 205 sq km area holds a mix of
premium and normal variety of coal, and
reserves could be around 1 BT. We were
told that 20% of the deposits in these
blocks are expected to be of superior
variety, good enough to be used in steel
making, while the remaining was expected
to be thermal used as fuel in power plants.
It seemed a viable option at that time,
said the official said.
The Economic Times; July 7, 2015
(Edited)
RITWIK MUKHERJEE
Kolkata: Three of Kolkatas premier
institutes of techn-ology and management
have joined hands to encourage, promote
and conduct collaborative research and
development activities on efficient solar
cells develop-ment using state-ofthe-art
laboratory facilities. The Indian Institute
of Engineering Science & Technology,
Shibpur (IIEST), Centre of Excellence for
Green Energy & Sensor System
(CEGESS) and Heritage Institute of
Technology, Kolkata (HITK), have also
lined up plans to introduce specialised
M.Tech course on renewable energy at
HITK. A MoU to this effect was signed.
This MoU and subsequent association
will facilitate joint training and research
activities by students and faculty
members. The joint collaborative research
projects, publications in journals, R&D
activities on various types of solar cells
such as organic and inorganic solar cells
are significant components of this
association, P.K. Agarwal, CEO, Heritage
Group, said. The Modi government has
set an ambitious target of 100 GW of
installed solar energy by 2022. Industry
officials think it may remain a pipe dream
unless the industry and the government
address the crucial issue of shortage of
efficient human resources.
Different studies in this regard suggest
that India will require nearly 1 million full
time efficient manpower to put up and
manage this solar capacity.
Financial Chronicle; July 7, 2015
(Edited)
New Delhi: India will open its solarexpansion programme this month by
offering 2,100 crore ($330 million) to
set up projects across 5 states. State-run
Solar Energy Corp. of India will invite
bids for a total of 3 GW of capacity in
Gujarat, MP, UP, Karnataka and TN, MD
Ashvini Kumar said. All will be tendered
by March. Solar Energy Corp. will tender
700 MW in Gujarat, 750 MW in MP, 370
MW in UP and 500 MW each in
Karnataka and TN, Kumar said. India
aims to set up 25 solar parks by 2019,
accounting for a fifth of the 100 GW
target. The government has ear-marked
4,050 crore of funding support. So far
15 states have proposed 20 solar parks.
LiveMint; July 6, 2015 (Edited)
Indias $100 bn solar energy push to be
driven by foreign companies as locals
take backseat
REUTERS
New Delhi: Indias $100 billion push into
solar energy over the next decade will be
driven
by
foreign
players
as
uncompetitive local manufacturers fall by
the wayside, no longer protected by
government restrictions. The money
pouring into Indias solar industry is
likely to be soaked up by foreignorganised projects such as one run by
Chinas Trina Solar. Last week, Softbank
became the latest foreign player to enter
Indias solar market, leading an
investment of up to $20 billion. The
Japanese firm said it would consider
making solar panels locally, but with
Taiwans Foxconn rather than a local
manufacturer.
Many Indian solar panel producers have
benefited over the past 6 months from a
surge in demand for panels not yet
fulfilled by foreign companies. But their
small scale and outdated technology will
quickly make itself felt when global
players
arrive.
The
smaller
manufacturers of India, especially cell
manufacturers, will be adversely hit
because they are unable to compete both
on technology and even on price
UPADHYAY,
28
be
recovered
through
guaranteed
operation of the plant at 80% PLF. The
energy charge was linked to the specified
station heat rate and the same was passed
through to the discoms.
GMR stated that after passing of the AP
Reorganisation Act, the Vemagiri unit had
become an inter-state generating station.
Hence, any dispute on tariff for a
generating station having a composite
scheme for generation and sale of
electricity in more than one state has to be
decided by Central commission under
Section 79(1)(f) of the 2003 Act. This was
accepted by CERC which asked both AP
and Telangana utilities to file their
responses. But AP contends that GMR
Vemagiri is located in the state and, as per
the Reorganisation Act, it alone can
decide on the compensation issue.
Telangana says as per the PPA, power is
supplied to Telangana also and it can also
have a say in the dispute. Since the PPAs
were scrapped, there is no way that
Telangana could intervene, according to
AP. On the other hand, CERC said that
since GMR Vemagiri supplies power to
both AP and Telangana, any dispute shall
be dealt only by CERC and not the ERCs
of two the states.
Deccan Chronicle; July 7, 2015
(Edited)
DEBABRATA
DAS
&
RICHA
MISHRA
New Delhi: The Centre has allowed
NTPC and PTC India to charge dollarlinked tariffs for their new solar projects.
Minister of New and Renewable Energy
Piyush Goyal had taken a decision on this
recently. We have asked NTPC and PTC
to go for dollar-linked tariffs for 1,000
MW each on a pilot basis. If successful
they can go up to 10,000 MW each with
the same tariff mechanism, MNRE
Secretary Upendra Tripathy, said. The
idea of developers getting dollar-linked
tariffs from distribution utilities has been
mooted to get grid parity for solar power.
Distribution utilities are expected to
quote tariffs in dollar-linked rates for 25year contracts. Currently, solar power is
sold at around 6-7 a unit, coal-based
power is sold at 3-4 a unit and gas at
around 4-7 a unit. Dollar-linked tariffs
can bring down solar power costs to
below 4-5 a unit, according to industry
officials. However, the model could
require hedging cost to cover rupee
depreciation against the dollar. Modalities
are yet to be firmed up.
The Hindu Business Line; July 6, 2015
(Edited)
Regulators order on purchasing power
may weigh on Mahagenco
400-crore
auction
for
the
Maheshwaram
power
transmission
project. This is the second time in a week
that transmission companies did not bid
for projects despite qualifying. The
qualified bidders for the Maheshwaram
project were state-owned PGCIL, Essel
Infra,
Sterlite
Grid,
Kalpataru
Transmission, CLP India and a
consortium of Tata Power and Tata
Realty. Of these, only Sterlite, Power
Grid and Kalpataru bid. L&T pulled out of
auctions for the 823 crore Chhattisgarh
A, 1,976 crore Chhattisgarh B and
863 crore Sipat transmission projects.
European major Isolux also did not bid
for 2 of 3 projects. Jindal Power, too, had
qualified for 2 projects but did not bid for
either.
rest comes from sales made under longterm agreements that provide greater
revenue certainty. The precarious
financial position of state distribution
utilities, however, remains a concern.
Impacted by weak demand from
distribution utilities, JSW Energy had
reported a fall in sales revenue in 2013-14.
Higher power sales the next year,
however, helped the company grow
revenues 7.7 %. JSW Energy seems to be
well placed on the fuel front too. It runs
its Barmer plant on lignite from the
Kapurdi mines operated by Barmer
Lignite Mining Company (BLMC), its JV
with the Rajasthan government.
During 2014-15, JSW Energy reported a
year-on-year 19 % increase in power
production from its 3 plants to 20,307
MW. Greater availability of lignite,
thanks to the governments approval for
expansion of capacity of the Kapurdi
mines, helped. The plant, which accounts
for a third of JSW Energys operational
capacity, saw its PLF go up from 68% in
2013-14 to 78% last fiscal. This could go
up further once the BLMC-run Jalipa
mines turn operational in 2015-16. JSW
Energy has also benefitted from the
significant cool-off in international coal
prices. Its plants at Vijayanagar and
Ratnagiri run on imported coal. With the
downtrend in global coal prices unlikely
to reverse soon, it should remain in a
sweet spot.
In 2014-15, JSW Energys net profit rose
79% year-on-year to 1,350 crore. Its
operating profit increased 12% to 3,854
crore. Higher power sales (despite lower
realisations) and cheaper coal improved
operational
profitability.
Lower
exceptional loss, primarily due to the
companys move towards complete
hedging of its foreign currency exposure
to buyers credit, boosted net profit. Also,
JSW Energys healthy balance sheet has
improved. Its consolidated debt-to-equity
ratio came down to 1.1 times as on March
2015 from 1.4 times a year ago.
The Hindu Business Line; July 6, 2015
(Edited)
OUR BUREAU
New Delhi: Reiterating the lopsided India
story, the Socio Economic and Caste
Census of rural areas revealed that 1 out
of 3 families is landless, less than 5% of
the rural households pay income tax, but
over 68% have mobile phones. The result
of the first such Census in independent
India - the last one was conducted in 1932
- did not include caste-specific data
despite the title saying so. I am sure that
with the enormity of schemes and the
reach that all governments have, this
document will form the basis of helping us
to target groups to support in terms of
policy planning, said Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley, while releasing the report in
the presence of Rural Develop-ment
Minister Chaudhry Birender Singh. The
paperless Census was carried out in all
640 districts of the country with the help
of a handheld device.
It said that of the total 24.39 crore
households in the country, 17.91 crore are
in rural areas. Of the rural households,
18.46% belong to a Scheduled Caste and
10.97% to a Schedule Tribe while 68.5 %
belong to other categories. Interestingly,
over 36.5 lakh families (a little over 2%)
belong to no caste or tribe category.
Five States with a high percentage of
rural SC households are Punjab, WB, TN,
HP and UP. On sources of income, the
Census says 5% of the households draw
government salaries, over 3.57% relied on
the private sector, and little over 1% of
households on public sector enterprises.
However, the bad news is that over 6.85
crore households (38.27%) hold no land,
deriving a major part of their income from
casual manual labour. Also, the number of
households with destitutes or those living
on alms is over 6.68 lakh; as many as 4.08
lakh households rely on rag-picking.
RACHITA PRASAD
Mumbai: The Adani Group has reportedly
hired influen-tial figures from both sides
of the political spectrum in Australia to
convince the government of the benefits
its $7 billion Carmichael mine project and
secure necessary approvals. According to
Australia's The Sydney Morning Herald,
working for Adani are several staffers,
lobbyists and consultants with strong ties
to Labor, Liberal and National parties.
The report said Adani has hired people
who have previously worked in
Queensland government in areas with
oversight of elements of the project.
The Sydney Morning Herald report said
Adani's key lobbying firm is Next Level
Strategic Services, led by David Moore
and Cameron Milner. Moore was the chief
of staff for former deputy premier Jeff
Seeney when he was opposition leader for
the Liberal National Party of Queensland,
and was a chief of staff during the Howard
59
Govt: No wrongdoing in
land allotment to Essar Power
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Gandhinagar:
Strongly
rejecting
Congress'
allegations
of
state
government's collusion with Essar
Power Gujarat Ltd (EGPL) for forcibly
acquiring farmland near Vadinar, the
revenue ministry said that certain
individuals are unnecessarily trying to
rake up controversy and stall the coal
corridor project. In a statement, the
revenue department said that out of the
total 23,81,138 sq m required for the coal
corridor, EGPL had legally purchased
20,90,567 sq m (87.79%) from the farmers.
The company has acquired 1,66,126 sq m
as per land acquisition rules and the
government has allot ted 1,24,445 sq m
for which EGPL has paid the full amount.
Giving details, the revenue department
said that the company required 238.11
hectare land of which they purchased
209.05 ha from the farmers and acquired
16.61 as per land acquisition rules.
EGPL also paid the government 17.18
crore for 12.44 ha land that was allotted
to the company. EGPL got the possession
of this land on May 15. EPGL is building
a nearly 12 km coal corridor to reduce the
transportation cost of fuel. Presently,
imported coal is transported from Bedi
port, 45 km away, by dumpers to the
power plant.
The Times of India; July 6, 2015
(Edited)