Power systems provider Rolls-Royce has joined hands with Kirloskar Oil Engines for cooperation in building and commissioning of emergency gensets for nuclear power plants in the country. "Rolls-Royce and engine and genset manufacturer Kirloskar Oil Engines (KOEL) have signed a declaration of intent for exclusive cooperation on the building and commissioning of emergency gensets for nuclear power plants in India," a release said. Under the arrangement, Rolls-Royce will supply MTU engines and key components, and take responsibility for basic engineering and genset configuration, while KOEL, as a main contractor to Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL), will integrate the systems and assemble and test the gensets on site in the country. "Working together with KOEL, we see good chances of gaining entry into the emergency genset market for nuclear power stations in India," Rolls-Royce Power Systems Chief Sales Officer Michael Haidinger said. India is putting its focus on nuclear power to help meet its long-term energy requirements. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already declared that nuclear power will form a mainstay of the country's power supply, he said. Commenting on the cooperation, KOEL Executive Director Rajendra Deshpande said, "This will enable us to pool our own experience and expertise as a local supplier with the technological leadership of MTU in the area of nuclear emergency gensets." KOEL has already delivered 20 emergency gensets to nuclear plants in India and is the only domestic company supplying high capacity gensets to NPCIL. (PTI)
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Mining baron Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Group has bid for the most number of 14 coal mines out of 23 on offer in the first round of auction which also have aggressive bids by Aditya Birla Group, Adani and Naveen Jindal group, but was shunned by foreign players.Vedanta Group put in as many as 25 bids through several group firms, with some mines getting multiple bids, according to bid data available after close of technical bids yesterday.Aditya Birla Group put in 15 bids for 8 blocks while Naveen Jindal-led JSPL, which was the worst hit by the cancellations of coal block allocations by the Supreme Court, put in 13 bids for 6 blocks. Adani bid for six.The Gare Palma IV/7 block in Chhattisgarh with extractable reserves of 56.62 million tonnes (MT) was the most sought-after block attracting as many as 16 bids from firms like Balco, Hindalco, JSPL, Monnet Ispat, Sesa Sterlite and Sarda Energy & Mineral.Parbatpur Central in Jharkhand attracted just one bid from JSW Steel.While no foreign player bid for the 23 mines that were in production before the Supreme Court cancelled their allocation, other domestic players in the fray include GMR, GVK, Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group and Lanco.Industry estimates suggest these blocks may fetch tens of thousands of crores of rupees in revenue while the exact estimate is not known.These 23 coal mines have geological reserves of over 1500 million tons and many firms have given multiple bids for one coal block.As many as 176 bids have been received by the government for these 23 mines under Schedule II category (under production) in the first tranche of the auction process after the Supreme Court in September 2014 cancelled allotment of 204 mines since 1993 terming the allotment as "arbitrary and illegal".Gare Palma IV/7 block in Chhattisgarh with geological reserves of 67.149 MT was previously allocated to Sarda Energy & Mineral Ltd. For this block, Naveen Jindal-led JSPL has submitted as many as four bids, followed by two each from Balco and Hindalco. Besides Balco, another Vedanta Group firm Sesa Sterlite has also submitted technical bid for the block.Other bidders for the mine include Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys, Jaiprakash Associates, Monnet Ispat and Energy, OCL Iron and Steel, Rungta Mines, Sarda Energy and Ultra Tech Cement.After Gare Palma IV/7 block in Chhattisgarh, maximum 12 bids each have been received for Tokisud North block in Jharkhand, Bicharpur mine in Madhya Pradesh and Gare Palma IV/4 in Chhattisgarh.Firms like Adani Power, Essar Power, Balco, DB Power, GMR Chhattisgarh Energy, GVK Power Goindwal Sahib Limited, India Power Corporation Haldia Ltd, Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd, Jindal Power, Lanco Amarkantak Power Ltd and West Bengal Power Development Corporation are in the race for Tokisud Power, which was previously allotted to GVK Power (Govindwal Sahib).Tokisud North Mine has geological reserves of 103.24 MT while the extractable reserves is 51.97 MT.For Bicharpur mine with a geological Reserves of 56.20 MT and extractable reserves 29.12 MT, bidders include ACC Ltd, Birla Corp, Hindalco, Hindustan Zinc, Jayee Cement, Monnet Ispat, OCL India, OCL Iron and Steel, Rungta Mines, Sarda Energy and Ultratech Cement.This block was earlier given to Madhya Pradesh State Mining Corporation.(Agencies)
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Consultants and advisors from Singapore would assist the Andhra Pradesh government in chalking out strategies in key areas and executing plans in building a brand new capital city. They would assist the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) to strategise and focus on key areas such as infrastructure planning, development control, housing, solid waste management and integrated transport systems, according to the Andhra Pradesh government. In a meeting on capital development and building, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu reviewed the development models suggested by them, an official statement said. The greenfield capital of Andhra Pradesh, which lost Hyderabad to Telangana, is proposed to come up on the southern side of Krishna river near Vijayawada. Suggesting that the processes and systems have to be streamlined, they said the government has to make the environment conducive for private investors through policy changes and faster clearances. The chief minister asked the government of Singapore to also work with AP officials on solid waste management and on revamping municipalities. A Singapore-based expert in solid waste management pointed out that Andhra Pradesh needs streamlining of garbage collection and segregation of waste. As part of the partnerships between Andhra Pradesh and the government of Singapore, officials from both sides will work with the CRDA on identifying local growth engines and revenue generators, the statement said. The consultants maintained the capital region has a lot of potential for private sector investments to bring latest technologies, innovation, create solid waste management industry and eventually, have a solid waste management centre. Expressing confidence that Andhra Pradesh will have the best capital with Singapore's support, Naidu said he wants to create models of development in the capital in a way that they are second to none in the world. During their earlier sessions with officials, the advisors discussed about assistance to AP in governance, planning, transport, housing, economic development, land use, environment and parks, utilities and capital city development. Minister P. Narayana, Special Chief Secretary (Planning) S.P. Tucker, Principal Secretary (Urban Development) A. Giridhar, CRDA CEO N. Srikanth and the principal secretary to the chief minister, Satish Chandra, were among those present. (PTI)
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Ahead of Delhi polls this Saturday (7 February), petrol price was cut on Tuesday (3 February) by Rs 2.42 per litre and diesel by Rs 2.25 a litre in step with fall in international oil prices.Petrol in Delhi will cost Rs 56.49 a litre from midnight tonight as compared to Rs 58.91 now. Similarly, diesel will cost Rs 46.01 per litre as against Rs 48.26 at present.This is the 10th straight reduction in petrol price since August and sixth in diesel since October.The latest cut in fuel prices, which are generally revised on 1st and 15th of the month, comes days ahead of February 7 polling for Delhi Assembly, for which BJP is locked in a fierce battle with AAP while Congress is also in the fray.Even after the price reduction, state fuel retailers are making a margin of Rs 4 a litre on petrol and about Rs 3.6 per litre on diesel which they want to use for recouping inventory losses.Oil firms buy crude oil at one price but by the time it is processed and turned into fuel - a process that may take up to six weeks, a fall in international rates results in inventory loss, sources said.Despite reductions, petrol will cost more than ATF, which is of superior quality and used in aircraft.A litre of jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF) costs Rs 46.51 per litre in Delhi.New rates of petrol and diesel will be effective midnight tonight, Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the nation's largest fuel retailer, announced here.After the price cuts, petrol price is the lowest since September 2010 while diesel is cheapest since March 2013.ATF has a higher octane than petrol and diesel is a heavier fraction in the distillation process. Traditionally, auto fuels being of lesser quality than ATF would cost less.Four consecutive excise duty hikes since November, totalling Rs 7.75 a litre on petrol and Rs 7.50 on diesel, have however, reversed this.But for these, the cumulative reduction of Rs 17.11 per litre in petrol price in ten cuts since August and Rs 12.96 a litre on diesel since its deregulation in October, would have been higher.Petrol and diesel prices were last cut on January 17 by Rs 2.42 and Rs 2.25 a litre respectively."Since that price revision, international prices of both petrol and diesel have continued to be on a downtrend and the rupee-US dollar exchange rate has appreciated. The combined impact of both these factors warrant a decrease in retail selling prices of both petrol and diesel," IOC said.(PTI)
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By 2050, cities will be home to more than two-thirds of the world’s population. They already wield more economic power and have access to more advanced technological capabilities and ecological services than ever before. Simultaneously, cities are struggling with a wide range of challenges and threats to sustainability in their core support and governance systems, including transport, water, energy, communications, healthcare and social services. Meanwhile, multiple digital devices, connected through the Internet, are producing a vast amount of data. With this knowledge and allied to innovative physical planning and design, cities could reduce costs, cut waste and improve efficiency, productivity and quality of life for their citizens. In the face of the mammoth challenges of economic crisis and increased demand for services, ample opportunities still exist for the development of innovative solutions and interventions to produce what is termed the ‘smart city’. A number of institutions and research agencies have initiated a dialogue on how cities and towns are becoming ‘smart’. By this it meant that intelligence is becoming infused into the systems and processes that make them work — into things no one would recognise as computers: buses and cars, appliances, roadways, power sources, clothes and even natural systems such as agriculture, storm water and waterways. By creating more interconnected and intelligent systems, city leaders, policymakers, planners and citizens can harvest new trends and insights from data, providing the basis for more informed decisions.Cities in India as elsewhere have been subject to a number of intervention programmes initiated by many institutions, groups, agencies and sources with different priorities and differing ambitions. However, despite these efforts and investments, the most disadvantaged areas of cities have remained consistently disadvantaged and certainly not ‘smart’ by any stretch of the imagination. In looking for a way to capture and use information to make better decisions, I have become convinced that a more holistic approach is needed, based on ‘diagnostic thinking and conservative surgery’ derived from a humanistic approach to shaping public and private built environments and interests from a broader platform. Thus, better decision-making will allow more efficient and effective use of funding and resources as well as enable the scaling of good practices across all communities.Despite historical social events and changes in industry, population and culture, Indian cities continue to emanate a culture of pride, hospitality and potential. There is a real determination to create an environment in which all citizens have equal opportunities. Engagement with a smart cities initiative will reveal an urgent need for a solution to improve stakeholder interconnectivity and to enable metric-based collaborative decisions that consider programme effectiveness as well as an individual’s sense of empowerment and well-being. If successful, Indian cities will enjoy smart city resource and funding efficiencies, scale successful programmes and expand the impact to one that effects social as well as physical regeneration, even for the most challenged segments of the nation. A smart city uses technology to transform its core systems and optimise finite resources. At the highest levels of maturity, a smart city is a knowledge-based system that provides real-time insights to stakeholders and enables decision makers to manage the city’s subsystems proactively. Since cities grapple on a daily basis with the interaction of water, transportation, energy, public safety and many other systems, India must be committed to a vision of smart cities as a vital component of building a creative and innovative smart nation. Given the number of stakeholders and the need to leverage data from intervention programmes, smart cities must begin with a strong project management process in place. Establishing a method for regular communication with stakeholders will allow information sharing and stakeholder buy-in during the development and delivery process. Smart city planning must incorporate community-level input, in order to create a fully representative planning environment. The development of this framework is a dependency for effective decisions based on the metrics that will be made available by the community planning solution. The execution model and rollout of this framework must incorporate the type of information and analysis that will be available via the community planning solution.A lot of resources are being invested into research on behalf of the various agencies working in specific geographical areas of urban centres and city environments, with little evidence of real change. An evidence-based decision-making model would enable a composite analysis of the information currently held. This will create a collection of meaningful data to help determine the key priorities and most appropriate type of interventions required for specific geographical areas, and it will help agencies to measure the level of their success within those areas.First, we need to determine the measurements that will indicate success. It would propose the creation of two groups of new metrics: one to determine the success of similar groups of interventions and one common outcome measure that will apply to any intervention. These may be combined with other data (such as value for money) to make decisions on interventions, including (but not limited to) whether they should be scaled, provisionally funded or discontinued.Second, India’s cities need to implement a robust and consistent approach to decision-making and enabling the capture of any outcome metrics. It is imperative to the success of this model that these results (or assessments) are captured prior to the commencement of, during (when relevant) and at the end of an intervention to enable objective decision-making.Each group of related interventions, such as those targeting mobility, water supply, job creation, housing or public space, require a common set of success indicators. These success metrics will enable similar interventions to be compared and assessed on an equivalent basis. This recommendation is critical to enable city leaders to answer such questions as: Which of our public space interventions has been the most successful?Indian cities must define a common metric, which will be measured across all interventions regardless of type. All programmes should capture this metric as a way of evaluating the quality of the intervention against outcomes of other related or unrelated initiatives (such as transportation programmes, park development, or creative district programmes). In turn, this metric could be used at the city level to determine, quantitatively, the largest contributors to overall city ‘smartness’. Accordingly, the city will be able to answer questions such as: Which intervention most benefits the city’s well-being?Other data that can be captured during the execution of an individual intervention will provide further input into determining programme, or intervention success. Key in the current climate of reducing budgets and fiscal tightening would be calculating the value for money a programme delivers. In effect, it would be meaningless to look only at the individual success of a programme with regard to how well it delivers benefit either compared to its peers of the same intervention type or with regard to the city’s ambitions, if the city cannot afford to run an intervention or to scale it.In summary, the challenge of India’s smart city initiative is achievable if it is supported by the right approach, content, enablement and governance structures. If implemented, a new paradigm has the potential to enhance the planning process but will require resources and strong project management and also outstanding leadership, perseverance and commitment. In my experience, the journey will involve many challenges, however, the potential to transform India’s cities into smart cities is unparalleled — the journey, therefore, will be a worthwhile one.The author is the director of the Center for Technology and Environment and a professor at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University. This text is the joint copyright of The President and Overseers of Harvard College and the Author of Record. No reproduction of any part of this article in any form is allowed without the express permission of the Author of Record. He can be contacted at kirkwood@gsd.harvard.edu(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 23-02-2015)
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Reliance Industries has hit the forex debt market second time in as many weeks to raise about $1 billion in a benchmark 30-year dollar-money note sale to international investors.On January 22, the company had raised $1 billion by selling 10-year bonds at an interest rate of 4.125 per cent, which the company claimed was the lowest in Asia and with almost no new-issue premium. In 2014, the company had raised over $3.3 billion in forex debt."Reliance is in the market with a benchmark issue to sell 30-year US dollar-denominated Reg S fixed rate senior unsecured notes. The company has given an initial price guidance of 285 bps above the 30-year US treasury bills/ The company may raise up to $1 billion," multiple sources at merchant bankers working on the issue told PTI, requesting they not be named.Company officials could not be reached for the comment.They also said the benchmark issue could be as large as $1 billion and will be priced tonight after the New York markets open, and will be listed on the Singapore Exchange.The lead arrangers to the issue are Barclays, HSBC and Citi, among others.The issue has been rated Baa2 by Moody's Investors Service with a stable rating and the proceeds from the issue will be used to fund the company's capital expenditure of Rs 1.8 trillion over the next few years."RIL's Baa2 rating reflects its leading market position, globally competitive refining business which has consistently commanded higher margins than its competitors, and vertically-integrated operations across the hydrocarbon chain. The rating also recognises RIL's moderate financial leverage, strong operating cash flow and excellent liquidity," says one of Moody's vice presidents and senior credit officers Vikas Halan in a note offering the rationale for the rating.(Agencies)
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Redressing the financial health of power distribution companies in the country would provide the much needed fillip to the power sector. Budgetary allocations for restructuring of their debts, grant of interest subsidy, moratorium schemes should be considered by the Finance Minister. They should be utilised promptly so that the debts do not stack up and render the allocation dated. Budget allocations for the National Electricity Fund for interest subsidy loans should be made. Creation of a power sector fund to revive stalled and financially stressed power generation projects including equity support and debt restructuring by lenders including deferring interest payment, shifting completion timelines should be considered. To redress the transmission logjam, a separate budgetary provision should be created for laying/augmenting the power transmission systems.Re-instating the rate of depreciation on wind mills in this budget again to 80 per cent will improve internal accrual for replacement of assets. Further, the minimum alternate tax on power sector needs to be rationalised so that the intended tax benefit and cash flow is not eroded. Also amortisation of development cost should be allowed to developers under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) / Build Operate Terminate (BOT) model although they do not ‘own’ the assets. Additionally, service tax exemption granted to activities like laying of electric cables should also be specifically extended to activities of transmission/distribution of electricity by power generating companies essential for sale of power. For service tax purposes, granting "Electricity Distribution Franchisee” same status as "Distribution Utility" should be considered. Benefits of section 32AC of the Income Tax Act, 1961 should be extended to power generating and distribution companies.Amitabh Sharma, Partner, Khaitan & Co.
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A "breakthrough understanding" to open India's nuclear power sector to U.S. firms reached during President Barack Obama's visit to New Delhi last month could be finalised this year, Indian officials say. The Jan. 25 announcement by Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi followed six weeks of intensive talks, but few details were released beyond a framework based on India's acceptance of the principle that plant operators should bear primary liability in the event of a nuclear disaster. Significant work remains on the fine print of a deal aimed at unlocking projects worth tens of billions of dollars that have been stuck the drawing board for years. India wants to nearly treble its installed nuclear capacity, which would make it the world's second biggest market after China. U.S. officials say details of an insurance scheme to protect suppliers from crippling lawsuits need to be thrashed out and India still has to ratify a U.N. nuclear convention. Indian officials do not rule out completing the process this year. "We are committed to moving ahead on all implementation issues at an early date," said Syed Akbaruddin, chief spokesman at India's Ministry of External Affairs. "There are no policy hurdles left." General Electric and Westinghouse, a unit of Japan's Toshiba, were fully briefed on the meetings of a nuclear "contact group" that hammered out the nuclear compromise in London, say sources with direct knowledge of the talks. Bringing them into the mix was crucial because the prospect of huge lawsuits, like those against Union Carbide over the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster, has until now kept U.S. and other foreign firms on the sidelines. India and the United States signed a landmark agreement to cooperate on nuclear power back in 2008. Yet an expected bonanza never materialised because India later passed a law that would expose reactor makers to liability if there was an accident. The liability issue has became a metaphor for the unrealised potential of the bilateral business relationship and a question mark against Modi's "Make in India" mantra. 'Not Incompatible'As the days counted down to Obama's visit, Indian officials persuaded their U.S. counterparts that their law was "not incompatible" with international standards that place the burden of liability on the operator, said one senior U.S. official. New Delhi also proposed setting up an insurance pool with a liability cap of 15 billion rupees ($244 million). The state-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India would pay premiums to cover its liability. Suppliers would take out separate insurance against their secondary liability - which could not exceed that of the operator - at a "fraction" of the cost. India must still ratify the International Atomic Energy Agency's Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC), which requires signatories to channel liability to the operator and offers access to relief funds. "We would be looking at how quickly we can ratify the CSC - this is part of our assurance to the suppliers, along with the insurance pool," said an Indian member of the contact group, set up by Obama and Modi at a Washington summit last year. The U.S. official said Washington expects the Indians to ratify with the IAEA in the near future, along with documentation "stating what their law intends" on the issue of liability, which should offer further reassurance to U.S. firms. A Question Of DetailThe U.S. industry would have preferred the issue to be settled by amending the liability law, something considered politically impossible for Modi to achieve at the moment. "We want to see all the detail before we say: 'Yes, it works for us'," Westinghouse President and CEO Daniel Roderick, who joined Obama's delegation, told Reuters. That note of caution, however, masks the extent to which negotiators engaged with the industry to address fears that it could end up on the hook in a disaster on the scale of the 2011 reactor blasts at Tepco's plant in Fukushima, Japan. "For the first time, we had a comprehensive inventory of concerns," said the Indian negotiator. Westinghouse has been granted land in Modi's home state of Gujarat to build six reactors, while GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy is eyeing a similar project in Andhra Pradesh. The liability roadblock has prevented commercial talks from starting on the projects, with a combined capacity of 10,000 megawatts. India has 21 nuclear reactors with an installed capacity of 21,300 MW. It plans to launch construction of 40,000 MW of capacity in the next decade. (Reuters)
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