The Delhi High Court on Monday (12 January) sought response of the Centre on a plea of former Congress MP Naveen Jindal's company JSPL challenging a Coal Ministry order and ordinance provisions "which allow change of end-use" of coal blocks in Chattisgarh and Odisha to power from steel.A bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva issued notice to the Coal Ministry asking it to come with answers as to why end-use was changed and where, while hearing pleas of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and Naveen Jindal who was present in the court.The petitioners have sought setting aside of the December 18 order of the ministry as well as provisions of the Coal Ordinance "which provide for change of end-use from steel to power"."Have someone here (on next date) to explain why it (end- use) was changed. Also come ready with answers to the question where all you have changed the end-use," the court told Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain, who appeared for the ministry.The court has posted the matter for hearing on January 15.JSPL in its plea has contended that it was allocated coal blocks in Odisha and Chhattisgarh for the purpose of setting up steel and sponge iron production units, respectively.After the allocations were cancelled by the Supreme Court through its orders of August 25 and September 24 last year, the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Ordinance, 2014, was promulgated mandating the government to auction or tender the coal blocks, it has said. Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Rajiv Nayar and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for JSPL and Naveen Jindal, submitted that pursuant to the ordinance, the Coal Mines Rules were notified and under the same the ministry passed an order on December 18 changing end-use of their coal blocks from sponge iron and steel to power.They alleged that the December 18 order was passed arbitrarily and in violation of the Ordinance as well as the Constitution.They argued that change of end-use has also resulted in making JSPL ineligible for participating in the ongoing auction process which is expected to culminate on February 14.They also alleged that while changing the end-use, captive power plants were also excluded from the power sector, hence, they are unable to bid for the blocks even for that.They said that they have set up steel and sponge iron units in Odisha and Chhattisgarh for over Rs 24,000 crore and the entire investment would be "rendered fruitless" if they are unable to bid for the blocks which were earlier allocated to them and based on which the units were set up after obtaining all necessary environment and forest clearance.During the proceedings, the ASG said that JSPL can purchase the tender document and submit it any day before February 14, 2015.He also said there are other coal blocks available for JSPL, including those which have been put up for non-regulated end-use like steel and sponge iron.Sibal, however, was not in agreement saying very few blocks have been put up for non-regulated end-use.He also said that bidding for a far away block would not help them as they set up their units based on the Utkal and Gare Palma blocks in Odisha and Chhattisgarh respectively.(PTI)
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India expects falling crude prices to cut its revenue losses on fuel sales to 770 billion rupees ($12 billion) in the current fiscal year ending March, from an earlier estimate of 850 billion rupees, Oil Secretary Saurabh Chandra said on Friday. State-owned oil companies sell crude and refined products to state refiners at discounted rates to partly compensate them for losses on fuel sales at regulated prices. Chandra said revenue losses could go down further as oil prices are easing. India has raised factory gate duties on petrol and diesel by 2 rupees ($0.03) a litre to fund infrastructure projects in the current and next fiscal years. The increase, the third since Prime Minister Narendra Modi lifted diesel price controls in October, seeks to cash in on lower world oil prices to bolster strained government finances without stoking inflation. The higher excise duties came into effect from January 2.
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India will stick to its plans to open up the coal industry to private firms and sell a stake in state-run Coal India Ltd, despite the resistance by mine workers, the country's coal and power minister said on Thursday. The five mineworker unions of the world's largest coal miner called off a five-day strike in its second day on Wednesday, after coal and power minister Piyush Goyal assured them a committee would be formed to address their concerns. The strike had been seen as a test of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's resolve to push through tough economic reforms. Mineworkers fear the entry of private companies will pressure Coal India to reduce costs, eventually leading to pay and job cuts at the inefficient state behemoth that accounts for about 80 percent of the country's total output. Coal fuels 60 percent of India's power production and worker strikes have previously crippled power plants. "If they have any concerns they are always open to further discussions and dialogue." Goyal told a news conference. "(But) there is absolutely no change in any of our plans." Goyal said increasing competition is key to meeting demand for cheap coal and realising Prime Minister Modi's goal of supplying round-the-clock power to India's 1.2 billion people by 2019. The country still has 280 million people living without power in 56 million homes, Goyal said. In late December, Modi resorted to a rarely-used executive decree to implement coal reforms that would allow an auction of coal mines and lead to private companies commercially mining the fuel for the first time in 42 years. The government is also looking to divest a 10 percent stake in Coal India in a sell-off drive to meet its budgetary needs. Goyal said he hoped the formation of the committee will help Coal India workers air their views so that they "do not have to go on strike again". S.Q. Zama, secretary general of the Indian National Mineworkers Federation, said that though Goyal did not agree to consider reversing the decision on commercial mining, workers were relieved that the government will not fully privatise Coal India as many had feared. The first two days of the strike led to a production loss of about 1 million tonnes for Coal India, which normally produces about 1.4 million tonnes a day during this time of year. (Reuters)
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India will stick to its plans to open up the coal industry to private firms and sell a stake in state-run Coal India Ltd, despite the resistance by mine workers, the country's coal and power minister said on Thursday. The five mineworker unions of the world's largest coal miner called off a five-day strike in its second day on Wednesday (07 January), after coal and power minister Piyush Goyal assured them a committee would be formed to address their concerns. The strike had been seen as a test of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's resolve to push through tough economic reforms. Mineworkers fear the entry of private companies will pressure Coal India to reduce costs, eventually leading to pay and job cuts at the inefficient state behemoth that accounts for about 80 per cent of the country's total output. Coal fuels 60 per cent of India's power production and worker strikes have previously crippled power plants. "If they have any concerns they are always open to further discussions and dialogue." Goyal told a news conference. "(But) there is absolutely no change in any of our plans." Goyal said increasing competition is key to meeting demand for cheap coal and realising Prime Minister Modi's goal of supplying round-the-clock power to India's 1.2 billion people by 2019. The country still has 280 million people living without power in 56 million homes, Goyal said. In late December, Modi resorted to a rarely-used executive decree to implement coal reforms that would allow an auction of coal mines and lead to private companies commercially mining the fuel for the first time in 42 years. The government is also looking to divest a 10 per cent stake in Coal India in a sell-off drive to meet its budgetary needs. Goyal said he hoped the formation of the committee will help Coal India workers air their views so that they "do not have to go on strike again". S.Q Zama, secretary general of the Indian National Mineworkers Federation, said that though Goyal did not agree to consider reversing the decision on commercial mining, workers were relieved that the government will not fully privatise Coal India as many had feared. The first two days of the strike led to a production loss of about 1 million tonnes for Coal India, which normally produces about 1.4 million tonnes a day during this time of year. Goyal said the unionised miners have promised to help make up for the loss. (Reuters)
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Coal India Ltd unions, protesting against a move to open up the industry to private firms, called off a five-day strike on its second day on Wednesday after a meeting with the coal and power minister, staving off a looming power crisis. The company accounts for about 80 per cent of India's total output and strikes have previously crippled power plants, hampering government efforts to reform the coal industry. Coal fuels 60 per cent of the country's power production. Coal India struggled to produce and ship less than half of its daily target on Tuesday, the first day of the strike, threatening to exacerbate a shortage of the fuel. A union leader said they decided to end the strike late on Wednesday after minister Piyush Goyal agreed to form a committee to look into any issues with a recently passed executive order, which would allow private companies to mine and sell the fuel for the first time in 42 years. "We have withdrawn the strike," said Jibon Roy, general secretary of the All India Coal Workers Federation. "The minister agreed to form a committee... They will see what are the problems in the ordinance (executive order). Normal discussions on other demands will continue." Coal Secretary Anil Swarup confirmed the strike was called off. Known for its industry-lagging productivity, Coal India has fallen short of its output targets for the last six years, making the country the third-largest coal importer despite sitting on the world's fourth-largest reserves of the fuel. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ministers have said that increasing competition is key to ending India's power shortage. But miners fear this will lead to pay and job cuts at Coal India, which has come to be seen as an exemplar for deep-rooted inefficiency in state enterprise. Coal India digs out about 1,100 tonnes of coal per employee a year, compared with 36,700 tonnes per employee at U.S.-based Peabody Energy and 12,700 tonnes per employee at China's Shenhua Energy, according to industry body Assocham in New Delhi. It produced 645,000 tonnes on Tuesday, less than half of its usual daily output at this time of year, mainly using contract workers, a company official told Reuters. It dispatched about 800,000 tonnes from new output and stocks from railway sidings, another official said. Coal India has a permanent workforce of 286,196, excluding supervisors and executives, and also employs about 65,000 contract workers. (Reuters)
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi envisions 100 smart cities by 2020. To realise this vision, the government has undertaken a few encouraging steps such as relaxation of foreign direct investment (FDI) norms in the construction sector and issue of long-term infrastructure bonds to facilitate easier flow of foreign and local capital.
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Brent crude oil fell below $50 a barrel for the first time since May 2009 on Wednesday, hammered by a growing supply glut and weak global demand. The pace of global business growth eased to its weakest rate in over a year at the end of 2014, according to JPMorgan's Global All-Industry Output Index, produced with Markit. Weak economic activity is adding to fears of deflation, with euro zone inflation data due later on Wednesday expected to show the first annual fall in consumer prices since 2009. Benchmark Brent crude futures were down 85 cents at $50.25 by 0916 GMT, having fallen as low as $49.66, a level last seen in May 2009. U.S. futures were down 40 cents to $47.53 a barrel, having fallen to $46.83, their lowest since April 2009. Oil markets are down for a fifth straight session and off by more than 10 percent this week. Prices have lost around 57 percent since their peak above $115 last June as stockpiles of oil mount with no signs of a cut in production from OPEC. "There's a surplus in production of 1-1.5 million barrels per day in 2015 and there's absolutely no sign OPEC will intervene to cut production at a time of lower demand," said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodity analyst at SEB in Oslo. He added that there was also little sign that prices at these levels were likely to have an impact on U.S. shale production. The slide in oil prices has increased fears of deflation, which in turn has further clouded the demand outlook. Nobuyuki Nakahara, a former oil executive and ex-member of the Bank of Japan's policy board, told Reuters he expected further price falls. "Oil prices are likely to keep falling due to slower Chinese growth and because the years of prices above $100 before the recent plunge were 'abnormal' historically," he said. "I would not be surprised if the price falls to as low as around $20," he added. (Reuters)
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The five-day strike by coal industry workers across the country entered its second day on Wednesday as negotiations between government officials and trade unions failed late on Tuesday night. On its first day, the strike impacted 75 per cent of the 1.5 million tonnes of daily coal production, while fuel supplies to nearly 100 power plants across the country may also be impacted if the impasse continues. Unions said nearly 5 lakh workers, including those of Coal India, have joined the strike, which is being described as the biggest industrial action since 1977. "We are united and continue our strike on the second day," Indian National Mine Workers' Federation (INTUC) Secretary General S.Q. Zama told PTI, adding "we will continue with the strike till January 10." However, the unions - whose negotiations with Coal Secretary Anil Swarup failed on Tuesday - are open for talks with Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal or Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "We don't have any information about the meeting of the trade unions with the Coal Minister but we are available and open for discussions both with the Coal Minister and Prime Minister," Zama said. A senior Coal India official told PTI that workers will launch the protest more "aggressively" from Wednesday. (PTI)
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