The Narendra Modi government is sinking deeper into the land acquisition quagmire. On 31 May, the land ordinance was re-promulgated for the third time, after the Congress-dominated Rajya Sabha refused to put its stamp on the Bill. The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance had been promulgated first in December 2014 and again on 3 April this year. The Bill has been passed by the Lok Sabha, but persistent opposition and street protests have forced the government to refer it to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC). The government’s stance defies logic. From the point of view of parliamentary strategy, the heavens would not have fallen if the Prime Minister had allowed the previous Land Bill to lapse in May. Once the JPC completes its work, the BJP-led government has the numbers to pass the Bill even if it has to convene a joint session of the two houses of Parliament. So what does the government hope to achieve by keeping alive a controversial policy measure through an ordinance? Will any acquisition of land by corporate groups be initiated under the newly-promulgated ordinance? With shrill protests over the land Bill, it is unlikely that any business entity will risk acquiring land under the terms of the current ordinance. An RTI filed by civil activist Venkatesh Nayak nails the lie that land acquisition is the main hurdle to completion of projects. The government record shows that as of February this year, only 8.2 per cent or 66 of the total 804 projects have been halted due to problems in acquiring land. The bulk of the projects have been on hold for various reasons such as lack of clearances (non-environmental), unfavourable market conditions, lack of funds and lack of promoter interest. In an earlier case of D.C. Wadhwa versus state of Bihar, in 1987, the Supreme Court had found that between 1967 and 1981, the Bihar government had promulgated 256 ordinances that “were kept alive for periods ranging between one and 14 years by re-promulgation from time to time”. Coming down heavily on this practice of governance through ordinance, the court held the practice of repeatedly re-promulgating ordinances as unconstitutional. However, in respect of the powers of the President to promulgate ordinances defined by Article 123 of the Constitution, there is silence on the issue of re-promulgation. Legally it is an open issue, but ethically, the discordant notes are becoming stronger. The previous re-promulgated ordinance in April was challenged by the Delhi Grameen Sabha in the Supreme Court, which gave notice to the government and other parties. With the April ordinance having been replaced, the petition will become redundant, but it is only a matter of time before a fresh legal challenge is mounted. (This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 29-06-2015)
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The development model implemented in the city shows a "shift" from inclusive growth to creation of global cities marked by capital-intensive projects that often "neglects" the concerns of poor people, a new study has claimed. The research done by UK-based non-governmental institute Overseas Development Institute (ODI), however, has praised urban local bodies of the city in pro-active planning for urban expansion in comparison to other Indian cities. "Ahmedabad demonstrates a number of characteristics of smart growth through proactive planning for urban expansion to minimise the impact of the expanding urban population. This has helped create a more compact urban area with a much lower sprawl than cities such as Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune, which have similar populations," the study said. Titled "Towards a better life? A cautionary tale of progress in Ahmedabad", the study by a group of three researchers, has been funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The report draws "loopholes" in Sabrmati Riverfront Development Programme and Bus Rapid Transport project, where in poor citizens were the "sufferers" in the bid to achieve fast growth. "In case of Ahmedabad, there has been an increasing control by the state government with a stronger focus on attracting private investment at the cost of involving communities. This goes to the heart of what is meant by 'development' in developing countries," the report claimed. "In case of Ahmedabad, and indeed in much of urban India, there has been a shift in the conception of development from inclusive growth to creation of global cities marked by capital-intensive projects, such as the the Sabarmati Riverfront project, that often neglects the concerns of poor people," it said. "The $242 million project to beautify and reclaim Sabarmati River's east bank epitomises the new approach," it said. "River pollution was reduced. However expensive new land was sold off to private developers and 10,000 slum households were relocated to the periphery of the city amid deep community opposition," it added. The study was conducted to know how the urbanisation has been made in terms of material well-being, environment and political voice in the context of urbanisation over the past 20 years in Ahmedabad, and in particular how has it impacted poor people of the city. "The abandonment of slum upgrading in favour of rehabilitation and resettlement of slum-dwellers has accentuated the exclusion of the urban poor," the study said. (PTI)
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The country's 13th major port will come up at Dahanu near here on fully reclaimed land and the project envisaging an investment of up to Rs 6,000 crore is likely to be completed over the next three years, the Centre announced on Friday. The proposed port would be located 4.5 nautical miles off the Dahanu coast in northern Maharashtra's Palghar district, about 150km from Mumbai. In a first, the Centre has tied up with the state government by making it an equity partner to ensure the port gets completed fast. The port, which will have a capacity to handle 60-100 million tonne of cargo per annum, will be built completely on the reclaimed land spread over 2,500 acres. The largest container port JNPT will own 76 per cent in the proposed port and the remaining 24 per cent will be held by the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB), Union Shipping Secretary Rajive Kumar told reporters. The project will be executed on public-private partnership model, he said. JNPT and MMB signed an agreement for the port and Kumar exuded confidence that the project should be a reality in up to three years. Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari, who was present on the occasion, said no land will be acquired or people displaced for the port. Also, there will be no cutting down of forests since the port will come up on 2,500 acres of reclaimed land. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said there were some issues because of litigation surrounding the port for nearly two decades, but congratulated the MMB for finding a way out to set up the venture. He said from 1996 onwards attempts were on build a new port in the State but the plan got stuck in litigations. The proposed site is located near Vadhwan Point and will serve as a satellite port of JNPT based in Navi Mumbai. Gadkari said initial studies on the project will start soon and hoped to lay the foundation stone by December. A senior Government official said the port shall have a capacity of 60-100 million tonne per annum and primarily handle containers and other "unclean" cargo like coal which is being abandoned by Mumbai Port due to local considerations. Gadkari said it will help power plants located in Maharashtra get the critical coal with faster turnarounds. Maharashtra has a 720km coastline but has only two major ports - JNPT and Mumbai Port. Besides, there are private ports in the State at Dharamtar, Dighi and Jaigad. (PTI)
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Anil Ambani-led Reliance Power on Saturday (6 June) signed an agreement to invest $3 billion in setting up a mega power plant and a floating LNG import terminal in Bangladesh which faces acute power shortages. Reliance Power will set up a 2 million tonnes a year floating LNG import terminal as well as 3,000 megawatt power plant, according to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by Sameer Gupta, Executive Vice President of Reliance Power, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi' two-day visit here. The company will use the equipment it had contracted for its Samalkot project in Andhra Pradesh for setting up the power plant in Bangladesh in three years from the date of signing power purchase agreement (PPA). The equipment will be under appropriate warranties from General Electric (GE), USA and the other global suppliers, the company said in a statement. Reliance Power was implementing a 2,400 MW gas based power project at Samalkot in Andhra Pradesh. The project was to be allocated gas from Reliance Industries' KG-D6 block but due to the drastic decline in production, the project has not got any gas so far. The equipment for the project has been procured and is ready with the company. Use of these brand new equipments will put the implementation of Bangladesh project on fast track. "Reliance is proposing to utilize these brand new equipment from Samalkot project, including advanced class 9FA machines supplied by GE, for the proposed project at Bangladesh, under appropriate warranties from GE and the other equipment suppliers. This will help set up the project on a fast-track basis," it said. The company in the statement said it will invest USD 3 billion in an integrated facility comprising of 3,000 MW of LNG based combined cycle power plant and LNG Terminal with a Floating Storage and Re-gasification Unit (FSRU). This will be the largest foreign investment in Bangladesh which faces acute power shortages. The project will be developed in phases. The first phase is expected to be completed within 3 years of signing of PPA and securing all approvals and financing. Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) shall provide land for the power project at appropriate locations. The FSRU terminal shall be set up at Maheshkhali Island in Cox's Bazar district of Bangladesh. "The project can be set up quickly and can power the country's rising demand for electricity and will provide clean and green power," the statement said. The project is in line with the Master Plan of 2010 for Bangladesh, under which BPDB envisages to develop a 3,000 MW LNG based power project so as to meet the growing power demand and supplement the domestic gas reserves in the country.(PTI)
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Oil group OPEC agreed to stick by its policy of unconstrained output for another six months on Friday, setting aside warnings of a second lurch lower in prices as some members such as Iran look to ramp up exports. Concluding a meeting with no apparent dissent, Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali al-Naimi said OPEC had rolled over its current output ceiling, renewing support for the shock market treatment it doled out late last year when the world's top supplier said it would no longer cut output to keep prices high. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will meet again on December 4, Naimi said. With oil prices having rebounded by more than a third after hitting a six-year low of $45 a barrel in January, officials meeting in Vienna saw little reason to tinker with a strategy that seems to have resurrected moribund growth in world oil consumption and put a damper on the US shale boom. "You'll be surprised how amicable the meeting was," a visibly pleased Naimi told reporters after the meeting. Oil prices rose by nearly $1 a barrel after the decision, paring some of this week's losses on news that OPEC had not raised its output ceiling to match current output levels that are much higher, as a handful of analysts had suggested. Friday's decision defers discussion of several tricky questions set to arise in the coming months as members such as Iran and Libya prepare to reopen the taps after years of diminished production. Iranian oil minister Bijan Zanganeh had promised to press the group for assurances that other members would give Tehran room to add as much as 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of supply once Western sanctions are eased. But most delegates saw little reason for Tehran to pick a fight now. "When the production comes, this matter will settle itself," one OPEC delegate told Reuters. That may not occur until 2016, according to many analysts who question how quickly Tehran will win relief from sanctions and be allowed to sell more crude. Libya, still afflicted by a crippling civil war, hopes to double production to some 1 million bpd by September if key ports resume working, but past efforts have failed to deliver a sustained recovery in shipments. Despite small gains on Friday, US oil is on track for its first weekly decline since March as traders weigh deteriorating physical market conditions. But prices are still $15 off their lows, and some analysts see further gains ahead. "The markets are moving in OPEC’s favour," said Dr. Gary Ross, executive chairman of PIRA Energy Group. "Prices are stimulating robust demand growth and slowing capex. This was the objective of the Saudi strategy and it’s working." Don't raise the roofOPEC output has exceeded the group's 30 million bpd ceiling for most of the past year, reaching 31.2 million bpd in May, its highest in three years, according to a Reuters survey. Notably absent from this week's agenda were efforts to push for output constraints - even from hawks such as Venezuela, which faces deepening budget woes at prices below $100 per barrel. While oil ministers have maintained a relentlessly upbeat attitude this week, some analysts see dark clouds gathering. The US tight oil industry has been more resilient than many had expected, with falling costs helping sustain the revolution and possibly setting up another downward spiral. "Balances show we are oversupplied and OPEC is in pedal-to-the-metal mode," said Bob McNally, founder and president of Washington-based consultancy The Rapidan Group. He said Brent crude could fall back to $50 a barrel. It was not clear whether OPEC had made any decision regarding Indonesia's request to rejoin the group after a more than six-year hiatus in its membership. Now a net importer of oil, Indonesia hopes to foster better dialogue between producers and consumers.
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A number of initiatives are being launched in India to promote green and sustainable lifestyles as the country marks UN World Environment Day on Friday. Union Minister Anant Geete will flag off a rally of electric and hybrid vehicles to spread environmental awareness. A major attraction of the rally will be a launch by Mahindra and Mahindra of its E-verito sedan, which is the first four-door pure electric model in the country, the Ministry of Heavy Industries said. (India Inc Celebrates World Environment Day) Indian Railways said issues related to the environment like solid waste management, pollution control, water management and energy management will be discussed at a workshop on "Environmental Challenges before Indian Railways and Solutions" in New Delhi on Friday. "We are also planning to introduce water audit to assess consumption and wastage at major stations like New Delhi, Old Delhi, Nizamuddin, Lucknow and Varanasi," a Railway Ministry official said. Besides, a waste water recycling plant is also being planned at Delhi Lahori Gate. Recycled water will be used for washing and horticulture purpose. Railways also plans installing rain water harvesting facilities at its all new projects. Prime Minister Narendra Modi planted a 'Kadamb' sapling at his Race Course Road residence lawns and exhorted people to plant as many trees as possible. Modi said people should take pride in the number of trees planted by them, just the same way they take pride in worldly possessions. He said that living in harmony with nature is the only way to avoid a catastrophic situation on the planet. Modi also placed a traditional earthen-pot (matka) along with the sapling, which is a traditional way of conserving water, and ensuring that the sapling has regular water supply, a PMO statement said. Union Minister for Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar was present on the occasion. No Cars DayAir India employees are observing the day by not using cars and plastic. "Employees are to observe 'No Cars Day' by leaving their cars at home and using public transport system on June 5. Besides, Air Indians will observe a 'No Plastics Day' by not only desisting to use plastic bags which pose health and environment hazards but also dissuade others from using such bags," it said. Chairman and Managing Director Rohit Nandan has also appealed to his 23,000-odd employees to switch off non-essential lights in Air India buildings, offices and homes between 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm to support energy conservation. "Let us all hold our hands and move forward in the right direction to conserve nature and pass on the benefits to our next generation," Nanadan said. The Indian Navy said it is using environment-friendly vehicles at the naval base of Southern Naval Command in Kochi. "Battery operated environment friendly trucks, cycles, motor cycles and forklifts are being used in naval premises for transportation of men and material. This has reduced air pollution and wastage of fuel," the navy said. "Aero generators, Solar and Wind hybrid power generation systems are installed at some units as part of sustainable source of clean energy", it said. India is the world’s third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and environmental issues are becoming a growing public concern in the country. The Modi government has said it is commited to fight global warming. The country has set unprecedented targets for clean energy and to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum. India's renewable energy investments rose to $4 billion last fiscal year to March 31 from $3.4 billion a year earlier. India reckons its renewable energy industry could generate business opportunities worth $160 billion in the next five years, making it a lucrative market. The government wants to quintuple India's renewable energy capacity to 175 gigawatts by 2022. That will more than double the share of renewable energy sources in the mix of fuel India consumes from the current 6 per cent.
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Jaipur Metro, touted as one of the fastest built metro systems in the country, was opened to public on Wednesday. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje flagged off the inaugural train on 9.6-km long route from Mansarovar to Chandpole. Raje along with ministers, officers and supporters travelled in the train from Mansarovar to Chandpole and alighted at Civil Lines station while returning. After the opening ceremony, the Jaipur Metro commenced its regular commercial operations from all its 9 stations - Mansarovar, New Aatish Market, Vivek Vihar, Shyam Nagar, Ram Nagar, Civil Lines, Railway Station, Sindhi Camp and Chandpole. "After this, we will try to connect the next part of the project with it," Raje told reporters at the Civil Lines station. She visited Mansarovar station where Jaipur Metro CMD N.C. Goel briefed her about the functioning and operations. People in buildings along the metro line were seen greeting and waving hands as the train undertook its first official journey. Large number of locals were seen queuing up at the ticket counters to enjoy their first ride in the Jaipur metro. As per the time table issued by the JMRC for first three months, trains will operate from Mansarovar to Chandpole and from Chandpole to Mansarovar at a frequency of 10 to 15 minutes from 6.45 AM to 9 PM every day. The fare structure varies for peak and off-peak hours. They have been fixed in multiples of Rs 5 and a flat discount of Rs 5 has been offered for off-peak hours. For the first six months, off-peak fares will be charged throughout the day. Automatic fare collection system has been installed to collect and manage the fare revenue. To encourage people to travel in the metro, up to 15 per cent discount has been offered on smart cards, which can be recharged using Jaipur Metro website or Ticket Vending Machines installed at all stations. Two types of tourist cards, one-day tour card and three-day tour card, have been introduced, which can be used for unlimited number of trips during their validity. For effective execution of the project in its initial stages, the total work of Phase-1 was divided into two parts- Phase-1A and Phase-1B. The phase 1A is from Mansarovar to Chandpole, opened on Wednesday, while work on phase 1B from Chandpole to Badi Chaupad is underway. Funded By StateThe project, which was initiated by the previous government and fully funded by the state government and its agencies, has commissioned in about 4 years and a quarter with estimated cost of Rs 2,023 crore and is one of the fastest project implementations in the metro sector, the JMRC said. A double-decked elevated corridor, common for the metro and BRTS, is one of features of the civil structure of the Jaipur Metro. All the metro stations are supported by a single row of piers to make the overall structure lighter and more open. Of the nine stations, Chandpole is an underground station. Thirty per cent of Jaipur Metro's operation and maintenance staff, including train operators and station controllers, are women, the JMRC added. Rajasthan police has been given the responsibility of the metro and 789 police personnel have been sanctioned for security. Latest security equipment have also been provided at all the metro stations. Feeder services will be available to provide last mile connectivity to the passengers at all the nine stations. Urban Development and Housing minister Rajpal Singh, Food minister Hem Singh, Industry minister Gajendra Singh, BJP state president Ashok Parnami, MLAs Ghanshyam Tiwari and Mohan Lal Gupta and other leaders were present at the inaugural ceremony. (PTI
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Nearly a year after oil markets entered a deep downward spiral, unmoored from the $100-a-barrel mark that had anchored them for years, some OPEC members are publicly talking for the first time about a new "fair" price for their crude. Oil ministers from Iraq, Venezuela and Angola said in Vienna this week that a price of $75 or $80 a barrel - barely $10 above the going rate - could be just fine. Iraq's Adel Abdel Mahdi said it would be "equitable". Privately, one Gulf OPEC delegate also told Reuters he reckons crude may be trading around this level next year, once markets rebalance. It remains to be seen whether this new range becomes a common refrain for the group, which has effectively given up efforts to maintain prices in order to defend its share of the world market. Importantly, Saudi Arabia - which for years had pointed to $100 a barrel as a "fair price for producers and consumers" - has given no indication that it subscribes to this view. Yet simply by uttering the numbers, OPEC ministers are helping to quench a craving among traders, investors and energy executives for clarity on medium-term oil prices, an indication as to when months of uncertainty and volatility may end. To be sure, there's no indication that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries as a whole feels any urgency to push prices back up into the $70s - in fact quite the opposite. The group is expected on Friday to agree to maintain its current production for months to come. Even if Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies begin talking seriously about shoring up the market, finding the right balance will be tricky: Iran needs more than $100 a barrel to balance its budget; yet too high a price threatens to revive competition from the U.S. shale industry, where urgent efforts to cut costs have already helped temper some of the downturn. “If oil prices recover, shale production will go higher again. So we need to get used to a totally different dynamic," Eni Chief Executive Claudio Descalzi said on Wednesday. Price Bands And FairnessAs a policy, OPEC has not openly targeted specific oil prices for over a decade, ever since it abandoned a $22 to $28 price 'band' instituted after the late-1990s crash. As the market entered a years-long bull run, members' expectations rose gradually and informally, with OPEC stressing the need to meet demand rather than pump up prices. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, with OPEC cutting output desperately to shore up prices that had fallen from nearly $150 a barrel to less than $40, Saudi King Abdullah surprised traders by saying bluntly that $75 was a "fair price". Over the following year or two, that view shifted up to around $100, a mark that OPEC managed to maintain effortlessly for most of the previous five years. As recently as May 2014, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi was repeating that mantra: "One-hundred dollars is a fair price for everybody - consumers, producers, oil companies," he said. Since the group's decision last November to maintain production despite a growing global glut, the role of swing supplier has fallen to hundreds of shale drillers who are quickly curbing activity to halt the rapid rise in U.S. production - a messy, volatile process that has contributed to heightened uncertainty on the outlook. There's a gap of nearly $40 a barrel between the highest and lowest Brent forecasts for next year, with an average of around $70, according to a Reuters poll this week. “Uncertainty is the rule of the game in this industry. It is a permanent coup d’état," said French oil company Total's Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne. New Goal Or Wishful ThinkingIraqi oil minister Abdel Mahdi told an OPEC seminar that an "equitable price" would be $75 to $80. His Venezuelan counterpart Asdrubal Chavez, asked the same question, said: "We share the same opinion of the minister of Iraq." The oil minister of Iran declined to answer. Chavez's view was particularly surprising as Venezuela is one of OPEC's biggest price hawks, and has been working feverishly if fruitlessly to get big non-OPEC producers such as Russia and the powerful Gulf OPEC members to talk about across-the-board production cuts and revive prices. Just three weeks ago, President Nicolas Maduro said it was "in the best interests of Venezuela and OPEC to see the price stabilise at $100 in the medium term" - although months earlier he cautioned his citizens that prices would never return there. One executive from a major Western oil company, also in Vienna, said the signals were likely hopeful visions rather than statements of intent: "It's their way of saying we like these prices. Consumers would want lower prices." Indeed, India's minister of petroleum, Dharmendra Pradhan, said at the same seminar that around $65 - plus or minus $2 or $3 a barrel - would be acceptable. Paul Horsnell, global head of commodities research at Standard Chartered and a veteran OPEC watcher, said he was surprised to hear the "fair price" refrain returning, although he cautioned that $80 was too low to be a long-term norm. "If non-OPEC outside North America hasn't managed to grow for five years with prices above $110, it's not going to grow at $80," he said. Others said it may not be too far off the mark. Ann-Louise Hittle, a senior oil analyst at Wood Mackenzie, expects prices to average $70 a barrel next year, low enough to maintain demand growth and also prevent U.S. production from resuming its breakneck growth. But she cautioned against reading too much into the comments. "It's significant that somebody is even talking about price after the last meeting, but until the Saudis say it, it's not something you want to put a lot of credence into." (Reuters)
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