India is highly energy starved. Since nature has not been benevolent to the country as neither is the country endowed with rich deposits of oil or gas nor with energy rich uranium. Consequently, to power a 1.25 billion people India spends a whopping $160 billion annually for importing oil and gas to meet the surging domestic demands. Frozen crystalline methane deposits also called 'fire ice' could offer a real hydrocarbon bonanza when it gets tapped. It would be a clean fuel and most importantly sourced from India so would help lasting in energy security. Today more than 85 per cent of India's domestic demand of oil and gas is met through imports. A 2014 Goldman Sachs report said, "India has a fifth of the world's population, but only a 30th of its energy." Commenting on the current situation, noted energy expert Ratan K Sinha, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, says, "India cannot perpetually depend on imported energy, very soon the country will have to look at options that will give the country energy independence." Amid this gloomy prognosis, there is one hydrocarbon source that is available in plenty but remains untapped, since technological challenges of commercially mining it are yet to be overcome. This is a hydrocarbon 'diamond' called gas hydrate which is a form of solidified natural gas that occurs at the bottom of the ocean. A just concluded Indo-Japanese expedition on board a world-class ship called Chikyu has again reinforced the huge potential of this energy rich deposit. In the 150 day, cruise of Chikyu that cost about Rs 616 crore exploratory drilling was done in the Bay of Bengal to map the hidden hydrocarbon resource. The seas of the country are home to some rich beds of what are called 'gas hydrates', these are essentially solidified lumps of the commonly occurring 'marsh gas'. This highly-inflammable gas called methane under certain very specific conditions solidifies along with water and forms a white 'ice cream' like substance. Methane DepositsThis white mass has been discovered in large quantities in the seas around the Krishna-Godavari-Mahanadi basin; in the Andaman Islands; off the coast of Saurashtra; and in the Kerala-Konkan region. When tapped it could power India with an abundant supply of natural gas for a long time. It should be noted that methane is a highly potent green house gas and hence its mining has to be done with great care to ensure none leaks out. These hydrocarbon rich deposits occur at times at depths of one km below the sea and in locations where the temperature is just right about 5-6 degrees Celsius. The enormous pressure at such depths forces the methane to solidify and it occurs intermixed with the soil and sand. Dr S.W.A. Naqvi, director of the National Institute of Oceanography in Goa, feels it is "exceedingly important" for India to tap this hydrocarbon goldmine since the country's exclusive economic zone is richly endowed with gas hydrates but they are difficult to mine as the technology for tapping them is still not developed. Naqvi says, "India needs to invest heavily in mastering this technology as the oil import bill is a huge burden on the country." Moreover, he says if this is successfully tapped, it could add to India's energy security. Gas hydrate resources in India are estimated at 1894 Trillion Cubic Metres (TCM). Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi forged a five-year partnership with the US for cooperation in gas hydrates. According to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, cooperation with the United States Department of Energy in the field of gas hydrates, would facilitate active participation of the National Gas Hydrate Programme of India (NGHP) and American scientists in joint data collection, analysis and identification of sites for pilot production testing. Exchange of scientific and technical information will help Indian scientists enhance understanding of Indian gas hydrates and keep them abreast with international developments. Speaking in Parliament, Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan informed that the National Gas Hydrate Programme (NGHP) expeditions have established the presence of gas hydrates on the east coast deep-water basins of Krishna Godavari, Mahanadi and Andaman in the Bay of Bengal. He added at present, here the mapping of the resource is still under way but as of now, "there is no assessment of gas hydrate potential in Bay of Bengal." Gas HydratesHowever, Pradhan noted that 'Hydrate Energy International' has estimated resource potential of gas hydrate in India at 933 TCF. For the exploration and development of gas hydrates, NGHP was formulated by the government in 1995. The first NGHP expedition was carried out in 2006, where coring and drilling at 21 sites in western offshore, eastern offshore and Andaman sea were done to know the occurrence of gas hydrates in offshore areas. Back in 2006, the presence of gas hydrates was first established in Krishna-Godavari Basin when drill ship 'Joides Resolution' did some surveys at a cost of USD 36 million which according to the government showed the presence of sizable reserves of good quality gas hydrates in the sedimentary basins in India. Results from the second site in KG basin are particularly remarkable it noted. These showed the presence of a 128m thick gas hydrate layer indicating massive to dispersed gas hydrates. Speaking about this success, the then petroleum minister Murli Deora remarked "this marks a very significant development in the country. R&D work is in progress to develop a commercially viable technology to produce natural gas from gas hydrates, which is so far not available anywhere in the world. Development of this unconventional source of energy could meet a large part of our ever increasing demand for gas in the decades to come." According to the ministry of petroleum, the gas hydrate samples had been physically collected for the first time in India in 2006, making New Delhi the third country in the world after USA and Japan to do so from its deep waters. Experts like Dr Aninda Mazumdar, a well-known a marine hydrocarbon scientist working at the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, who was onboard the ship Chikyu on its mission this year, says, "As of now the economics may be against exploiting gas hydrates but once oil and shale gas becomes scarce, the cost of extracting gas hydrates may become attractive so India needs to invest in R&D to be ready to overcome the forthcoming oil shock." (PTI)
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India's fuel demand in September rose at the fastest pace in more than a decade, providing further evidence of a pick up in industrial activity in Asia's third-largest economy. Fuel consumption, a proxy for oil demand, surged 15.1 per cent in September from the same month a year ago, the biggest rise since August 2005, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry. The fuel consumption figures come days after data showing India's industrial production expanded at its fastest pace in nearly three years, helped by a surge in capital investment. Fuel sales in the world's fourth-largest oil consumer totalled 14.70 million tonnes last month, the data showed, led by robust sales of diesel and petrol. Diesel consumption, which accounts for about 40 per cent of refined fuels used in India, rose 20.1 percent to 5.89 million tonnes, the strongest rise since August 2005. Weak monsoon rains spurred demand for diesel-fuelled generators used to power pumps for wells, as roughly half of India's farmland lacks irrigation. The South Asian nation suffered its first back-to-back drought in three decades this year, with the rainfall deficit of as high as 47 per cent in some regions. Construction activity also likely rose due to the drier conditions with the data showing consumption of bitumen, used for making roads, up by 51.6 per cent, while fuel oil usage was up 7.1 per cent in September. Sales of petrol, widely used for transportation, climbed 25.4 per cent to 1.9 million tonnes from a year earlier, the sharpest rise since May 2013, as demand for passenger vehicles rose in the month. Cooking gas sales increased 4.1 per cent to 1.6 million tonnes, while naphtha sales rose 38.4 per cent to 1.2 million tonnes.(Reuters)
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By Simar Singh Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel on Thursday laid the foundation for a new 800 MW unit of the state-owned Wanakbori thermal power plant in district Kheda. This will be the eighth and largest unit of the power station and will be set up by BHEL, drawing an investment of Rs 4,465 crore. Promising that the project would be completed by 2018, the chief minister accused the erstwhile UPA regime at the centre of setting back the project by six years by not issuing the necessary clearances required for its kick off. “We had sent an application to Government of India in 2009 for this project. Had timely environmental clearance been given, we would have been commissioning the unit today,” she said. The project promises to have lower emissions and coal consumption, as well as the bringing down of the per unit price of power produced at the Wanakbori plant. Speaking at the event, Gujarat Energy Minister Saurabh Patel said, “Today there are seven units of 210 MW each at this power plant. This unit will add another 800 megawatts and it will consume 25% less coal than the other seven units and will bring down the cost of power generation from Rs 3 per unit to Rs 2.40 per unit.” CM Patel further claimed that once completed the plant would add to Gujarat’s existing quota of surplus power, saying, “We currently have a power generation capacity of 24,000 megawatts and our peak demand is only 14,000 megawatts.” She also lashed at the opposition, saying that the BJP was bound to come back to power in the 2017 Gujarat state assembly elections. "The BJP-government is known for inaugurating all those projects for which we lay the foundation stone. I want to assure you that BJP will be in power in 2018 and I am confident that we will inaugurate this plant, for which we have laid foundation stone today,” Patel said.
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The Australian government on Thursday (15 October) reissued an environmental permit for construction of one of the world's biggest coal mines to Adani Enterprises, after clearing concerns about two rare outback species. The decision by Environment Minister Greg Hunt removes one hurdle for Adani to proceed with the stalled A$10 billion ($7 billion) project in the undeveloped Galilee Basin that could generate billions of dollars in export revenue for Australia. Shares in Adani jumped as much as 13 per cent in Mumbai on news of the reissued permit, but analysts said it would be hard to justify the project at a time when coal prices are mired at an eight-year low. "You can't see anything being developed in the short term," said Patersons Securities analyst Matthew Trivett. Adani, which wants to ship 40 million tonnes of coal a year in the mine's first phase, declined to comment on Thursday on when it aims to start producing, previously targeted for late 2017. The company has battled opposition from green groups since starting work on the project five years ago. A court in August temporarily blocked progress on the mine following a claim Adani failed to take into account the welfare of the yakka skink and ornamental snake. Hunt said the reissued environmental permit imposed conditions including improving the habitat of an endangered finch, protecting groundwater and providing A$1 million for conservation research. The project's proponents argue it is needed if Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to keep his promise to bring electricity to hundreds of millions of people living off the grid. Critics are concerned greenhouse gases from burning coal will hinder efforts at combating global warming. Several international banks have said they will not provide financing for coal mining in the Galilee Basin, while Standard Chartered and Commonwealth Bank of Australia pulled out of the project in August. "Minister Hunt is sacrificing threatened species such as the Black Throated Finch and precious ground water resources for the sake of a mine that simply does not stack up economically," Ellen Roberts, co-ordinator of the Mackay Conservation Group, said on Thursday. Adani, which stills needs state government approvals including a mining lease and permission to dredge for a port, has yet to line up funding. "It is certainty over the remaining approvals that is now key to the company progressing its plan," Adani Australia said in an emailed statement. While a push in India to rely more on solar and wind power and domestic coal has raised questions over the viability of the project, Adani has said the majority of Carmichael production had been pre-sold, guaranteeing revenue.(Reuters)
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A day after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs cleared a proposal to infuse funds in stalled highways projects where 50 per cent work has been completed till November 2014, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has identified 15 such projects. Ashish Sinha reports NHAI says these projects require a one-time financial assistance for completion. As per the NHAI's list, there are a dozen toll projects on the BOT or build operate and transfer model and three annuity projects. Sources said some of the these stalled projects may include the following incomplete highway projects. These include the Rampur-Kathgodam NH-87, Kishangarh-Udaipur NH8, Patna-Buxar NH-84, Parwanoo-Simla-Solan NH-22, Gwalior-Shivpuri NH-3 passing through Madhav National Park, Jalandhar-Amritsar NH-1, Ludhiana-Talwandi-NH-95, and Panvel-Indapur section of NH-17 among others. The projects reviewed by government also include Rs 1,082 crore four-laning of Bahrampur-Farakka stretch of NH 34, Rs 3,039 crore project for six-laning of Gurgaon-Kotputli-Jaipur highway under NH-8 and Rs 424 crore four-laning of Gwalior-Jhansi stretch on NH 75 among others. According to officials, for these stalled projects the funds would be provided on a loan basis at bank rate of two per cent. "A robust third party evaluation mechanism will be developed by NHAI to determine the eligibility of the concerned project and the extent of bridge fund required to complete the project," an official familiar with the issue said. In July, the road ministry had reviewed stalled road projects under different phases of the National Highways Development Project (NHDP) and had directed NHAI to focus on completion of on-going projects and evolve innovative financing models. The CCEA decision on providing one-time funding is one such solution, sources said. Overall, the government has estimated the requirement of about Rs 4 lakh crore, including borrowings of about Rs 1.53 lakh crore, in the next four years to complete stalled highways projects under its flagship road building programme. "On the basis of this revised work plan and considering its cost alongwith the revised parameters for the actual cost of land acquisition, funds requirement has now been estimated at about Rs 2,37,000 crore and borrowings at about Rs 1,53,000 crore over a period from 2015-16 to 2019-20," the roads ministry had informed the Parliament in July. ALSO READ | Half of Highway Projects Under BOT Face Implementation Risk Meanwhile the NHAI has also identified 17 projects to be awarded in Hybrid Annuity mode in 2016-17 fiscal where the government would provide 40 per cent of the project cost to the developer to start work. Remaining investment will have to be made by the contractor. Once completed, NHAI will collect toll and refund the amount in installments over a period of 15-20 years. The highways sector is currently struggling to roll out stuck projects worth Rs 3.8 lakh crore. Also, the developers in several projects are shying away due to shortage of funds and delays among other reasons. CRISIL ReportFew days back, the ratings and analysis firm CRISIL has said that half of the 92 highway projects in India on BOT model were facing implementation risks in near term. It also said that over 80 per cent of all under-construction projects have been impacted by the issues of land acquisitions and clearances. A majority of these projects were awarded between fiscals 2010 and 2012 after aggressive bidding. These 92 projects translate into 7,500 km of highway of which 5,100 km is under construction and 2,400 km is operational. CRISIL said it analysed 80 operational highways based on BOT model, of which 51 are toll-based and 29 annuity-based. It showed 26 projects spanning 2,385 km, or around 40% of the total length of operational BOT highways, are at high risk. These projects have a debt outstanding of Rs 17,100 crore. Of the toll-based projects, 24 of them -- spanning 2,230 km and having outstanding debt of Rs 16,760 crore -- are at high risk because their standalone cash flows are inadequate to meet debt obligations in the near term. The total outstanding debt of the 51 toll-based projects is around Rs 27,750 crore. In an official statement, the company said that based on risk classification, CRISIL believes 3,520 km of under-construction projects with a sanctioned debt of Rs 33,050 crore face high implementation risk in the near term. As per the statement, analysis of the reasons for delays shows that 80 per cent of all under-construction projects have been impacted by issues of land acquisition and clearances. "Sponsor support in terms of timely equity infusion and funding cost overruns is critical for such projects. But for half of them, financial health of the sponsor is too weak to ensure timely support," it said. According to CRISIL, the equity and cost overrun support required for under-construction BOT projects alone stands at around Rs 28,500 crore, of which Rs 9,300 crore could potentially be raised through stake sale by sponsors at a special purpose vehicle-level as well as raising equity through capital market. "Another Rs 6,700 crore is expected to come from operations and additional borrowings at the sponsor level. That leaves a significant shortfall of Rs 12,500 crore," it said. CRISIL said as many as 26 operational highways spanning around 2,400 km (covering 40% of the total length of operational BOT projects) are unable to service their outstanding debt of around Rs 17,100 crore. "Of these, 24 are struggling because of lower-than-estimated traffic. Timely support from sponsors to bridge cash-flow mismatches in these projects, therefore, has become critical. In the next two years, operational BOT projects are expected to face a shortfall of Rs 1,000 crore in servicing their debt obligation," it said.
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The Australian government on Thursday reissued an environmental permit for construction of one of the world's biggest coal mines to India's Adani Enterprises, after clearing concerns about two rare outback species. The decision by Environment Minister Greg Hunt opens the way for Adani to proceed with the A$10 billion ($7 billion) project in the undeveloped Galilee Basin that promises to generate billions of dollars in export revenue for Australia. Shares in Adani jumped as much as 13 percent in Mumbai on news of the reissued permit. Adani, which wants to ship 40 million tonnes of coal a year in the mine's first phase, has battled opposition from green groups since starting work on the project five years ago. A court in August temporarily blocked progress on the mine following a claim Adani failed to take into account the welfare of the yakka skink and ornamental snake. "The conditions I have imposed take into account issues raised by the community and ensure that the proponent must meet the highest environmental standards," Hunt said in a statement. The conditions include protecting and improving habitat for an endangered finch, protecting groundwater and providing A$1 million in funding for research to improve conservation of threatened species in the Galilee Basin. The project's proponents argue it is needed if Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to keep his promise to bring electricity to hundreds of millions of people living off the grid. Critics are concerned greenhouse gases from burning coal will hinder efforts at combating global warming. Several French and German banks have said they will not provide financing for coal mining in the Galilee Basin, while Standard Chartered and Commonwealth Bank of Australia pulled out of the project in August. "Minister Hunt is sacrificing threatened species such as the Black Throated Finch and precious ground water resources for the sake of a mine that simply does not stack up economically," Ellen Roberts, co-ordinator of the Mackay Conservation Group, said on Thursday. Adani, which stills needs state government approvals including a mining lease and permission to dredge for a port, has yet to line up funding. "It is certainty over the remaining approvals that is now key to the company progressing its plan to deliver mine, rail and port projects in Queensland that will deliver 10,000 direct and indirect jobs, and A$22 billion in taxes and royalties," Adani Australia said in an emailed statement. While a push in India to rely more on solar and wind power and domestic coal has raised questions over the viability of the project, Adani has said the majority of Carmichael production had been pre-sold, guaranteeing revenue. (Reuters)
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By Sanjeeva Shivesh Of late, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has announced that the busy Dhaula Kuan-Gurgaon-Manesar route in national capital region (NCR) will soon get a new mode of transport in the form of Metrino — a Rs 4,000 crore project. According to several reports, the minister has said that the detailed project report has been prepared, and the work on the Metrino will kick start in the next four months. This will be the first such project in India and shall be funded by foreign investors. What is Metrino?Metrino solution is an automated ropeway comprising of driverless 300kg pods hanging 5 to 10m above the street level from overhead guide-ways. These automatic and driverless vehicles or 'pods' can carry up to five passengers at a time. It's an innovative transportation method as each ride is on passenger demand. This means that instead of passenger waiting for the vehicle to come, there are vehicles waiting at stops, which passengers can just board and start moving. There are no timetables and no pre-defined routes. Therefore, this solution is also termed as personalised rapid transport (PRT). Metrino is Auckland (NZ) based successor of MISTER (Metropolitan Individual System of Transportation on an Elevated Rail)-PRT (developed in Poland by Olgierd Mikosza. The pod-based system is designed to move at a speed of 50 km per hour with each pod, on average spaced 10 m apart. The light steel truss based system uses existing right of way and is expected to cost considerably less. The 6ft by 20 ft off-line stops are usually on ground with parallel bays for quick entry and egress, from where the pods ascend or descend by 45 degrees on the main cogway. The Metrino stops can be positioned on the pavement or inside hotels, office or apartment buildings, malls, hospitals, cinemas and so on. According to the Metrino website, they have signed memorandum of understandings with about 20 cities in the world, but the solution has not been implemented anywhere. Comparison with other forms of urban transportAny good comparison of public transport system requires an assessment on parameters of project cost, speed and throughput, on demand availability, and accessibility of the network. Project development costsDelhi Metro's fully elevated 11.98 km Badarpur-Faridabad extension opened in 2015 has cost Rs 2,494 crore. The fully elevated 71.16 km Hyderabad Metro being developed by L&T is expected to cost Rs 17,000 crore at completion and the fully elevated 11.4 km Mumbai Metro 1 with 12 stations took Rs 4,321 crore. Thus, the average cost of a metro railway comes to close to Rs 250 crore per km. Further, these projects took at least 4 to 7 years to complete. Experts attribute 2 to 3 year of project delay to land acquisition. Comparatively, reports suggest that the cost of Metrino comes to Rs 50 crore per km and the 70km Dhaula Kuan-Gurgaon section is estimated to cost about Rs 4,000 crore. Gadkari has said that the project will be built in less than half the time it takes to build a Metro as it does not require land or major construction as pillars at long intervals would be erected in between the roads. On the face of it, Metrino offers unique construction and development advantages, hitherto missing in large-scale metro projects. Operation and maintenance costA quick review of O&M cost indicates that spent Rs 1,591 crore towards O&M while carrying 799.6 million commuters in 2013-14. As more than 80 per cent commuters travel about 10 km on DMRC network, we expect, the O&M cost approximately as Rs 2 per passenger per km. As we do not have a real-life data for O&M cost for Metrino, expert guesses can make us believe that operating cost of a lighter network shall be low. However, per commuter operating cost can change significantly with volume. ThroughputThe through put metric used for urban transport systems is peak hour peak direction traffic (PHPDT). Usually, most metro systems would have PHPDT ranging from 20,000 to 50,000. A bus system had PHPDT ranging from 2000 (ordinary) to 20,000 (BRT). The 204 km DMRC system carried 31.75 commuters on Raksha Bandhan day. It is estimated that during the peak hour, the system had more than 300,000 commuters on its 6 lines taken together. The Metrino website informs that it can carry upto 6,000 passengers per direction per hour at an average speed of 50 km per hour. We expect the throughput to be much less in real life conditions. Also, there are limits to carrying capacities. At the maximum, 100 pods can be kept per km of guide-way. An inter-pod distance of less than 10m will infringe on safety. Obviously, the five times capital cost advantage in favour of Metrino is neutralised by four to eight times disadvantage in throughputs. On demand availability and accessibilityThe USP of Metrino is on-demand availability. Unlike a metro railway or a bus solution, where passengers have to wait for the vehicle to arrive, the pods waiting at the stops can be quickly boarded. On a simple short length straight-line network, ideally 3 km to 15km, modern ropeway based PRT this has its benefits. Can Metrino solve the traffic woes of Dhaula Kuan-Manesar?We know that commuter journeys are hardly ever simple. It has its own unique combinations of points and distances. That's the urban transportation planner problem. Such challenges can be well addressed by combining different modes and solutions - metro, BRT, light rail, ropeways, buses, shared cars and bicycles. In that context, Metrino fits as a nice short to intermediate distance solution. Dhaula Kuan-Manesar is one of the busiest commuter stretches in NCR. More than 2.5 lakh vehicles ply on NH-8 between Dhaula Kuan and Gurgaon and over 1 lakh vehicle play between Gurgaon and Manesar. Thus number of people commuting would be significantly higher. Think about 2030, when this number could really be more than double. Keeping this in mind, it shall be a blunder if NCR commits to a system with less than 100,000 people per day carrying capacity. What is needed is a high throughout transport corridor that has capability to move 5 lakh people per day. (The author, Sanjeeva Shivesh, is CEO of The Entrepreneurship School, Gurgaon)
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Optimistic about the commercial commissioning of its Rs 35,000 crore refinery project at Paradip in Odisha "very soon," the IOCL has said the industry is looking at the project because of its volume and uniqueness. "The Paradip refinery is an important project for us and we are going to commission it very very shortly. The entire world is looking at the project as IOCL has made it as the world's largest facility," Indian Oil Coporation Ltd's Chairman B. Ashok said in Bhubaneswar. Ashok, however, declined to reveal the date for the refinery's commissioning. Asked about the tax exemption for Indian Oil's refinery project, Ashok saidL "It will be applicable on sale of products within Odisha. Concession on VAT is only a deferment and we will pay it back to the state government after a certain period. VAT is not an issue as the state government has promised full support to the project." He said said besides investment of Rs 35,000 crore in the refinery project, the oil major would invest around Rs 75,000 crore in associated projects. "We also expect investment of equal amount by others in Paradip," Ashok said. "A lot more economic activities will follow in the state of Odisha and Paradip with commissioning of the refinery project," Ashok said adding, work would soon start for the Rs 3,000 crore Polypropylene project at Paradip. The Indian Oil refinery would produce 5.97 million tonne of diesel, 3.4 million tonne of petrol, 1.45 million tonne of kerosene and ATF (aviation turbine fuel), 5,36,000 tonne of LPG, 1,24,000 tonne of naphtha and 3,35,000 tonne of sulphur.
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