Lok Sabha on Friday (12 December) passed a bill which provides for fresh auction of 204 coal blocks de-allocated by the Supreme Court in September with the government allaying apprehensions of some parties that the legislation would lead to privatisation of the sector.The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, which replaces and Ordinance promulgated in October, was passed by voice vote overcoming demands by some opposition parties it be sent to the Parliamentary Standing Committee for closer scrutiny.The Bill provides for "allocation of coal mines and vesting of the right, title and interest in and over the land and mine infrastructure, together with mining leases, to successful bidders and allottees through a transparent bidding process."This will ensure continuity in coal mining operations and production of coal. The bill prescribes the conditions to rationalise the coal sector for mining operations, consumption and sale."Replying to the debate, Coal Minister Piyush Goyal allayed concerns raised by some members that the new legislation would pave the way for de-nationalisation or privatisation of the coal sector."We are in fact strengthening" the Public Sector Undertaking Coal India Limited, he said.Contending that new law will encourage transparency as allocation would be made through e-auction, he said the effort was to undo the damage caused during the previous UPA government when coal blocks were "given free".Responding to concerns about the workers' welfare, the Minister said there are enough laws to protect their interest and the new law will give maximum benefits to the people displaced by coal mine projects.Members from parties like Congress, Trinamool Congress, BJD and Left demanded that the bill should be referred to the Standing Committee for a thorough scrutiny."In all aspects, we have covered eastern states, interest of workers and overall economy of the country," Goyal said.Talking about the Ordinance as well as the Bill, the Minister said timely action taken by the government would benefit the coal-producing states of Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal. Besides, it would be beneficial for the power sector and consumers as a whole."Lakhs of crores or rupees would be going to the coal producing states like Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal... Provisions are there in the bill to ensure that funds will go directly to these states.The ordinance was issued in October to facilitate auctioning of the cancelled blocks and the first round would see auction of 74 blocks.Referring to concerns raised by members about coal production in the country, Goyal said Coal India Limited has the potential to produce one billion tonnes of coal."Government is looking to further strengthen Coal India," the Minister said while noting that more than 200 mines are yet to be explored by the state-run miner.clearances for mining and related activities at coal blocks would be faster in the present regime than what was seen before, he said.Earlier, Congress member Jyotiraditya Scindia said, "The proposed amendments are not required to auction the 74 coal blocks ... This bill must be sent to the standing committee."Scindia, former Power Minister, insisted that the bill "makes a mockery of the Supreme Court ruling" and contended that a "wonderful opportunity to recast the coal sector" was being wasted.Pitching for differential coal block allocation system, he said there should be price ceiling and reverse auction for regulated entities while for unregulated entities, the idea should be to maximise revenues through auction.Trinamool Congress member Kalyan Banerjee also demanded that the bill be sent to the standing committee, contending that there were several lacunae in the measure.Members of AIADMK and BJD asked the government to avoid another scam in the sector as witnessed during UPA regime.While BJD's Tathagata Satpathy and CPI(M) member Jitendra Chowdhury too wanted the bill to be sent to the Standing Committee and opposed any move to de-nationalise the coal sector, AIADMK's A Arunmozhithevan sought provision for compensating those who lose their land for coal mining activities.(Agencies)
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India's Essar Group will sign a long-term crude oil import deal with Russia's Rosneft during President Vladimir Putin's visit to New Delhi on Thursday, government and industry sources said. "Essar will sign an MoU (memorandum of understanding) with them (Rosneft)," two Indian government sources said. "The deal will be for 10 years," an industry source familiar with the matter said. Essar Group operates the 405,000 barrels per day (bpd) Vadinar refinery in the western state of Gujarat and also the 296,000 bpd Stanlow refinery in northwest England which is operating at below its capacity. Volumes, pricing and other details of the deal with state-controlled Rosneft, the world's largest listed oil firm by output, were not immediately known. Essar depends heavily on Iran to feed its Vadinar refinery. In January, sources told Reuters that Russia and Iran were negotiating an oil-for-goods swap deal. Russian Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev was quoted on Nov. 30 as saying the deal with Iran might be sealed soon. Iran Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh on Wednesday said there was no such plan in prospect. Russia, isolated by the West over its annexation of Crimea and role in the Ukraine crisis, has a close relationship with India that dates back to the Soviet era. India and Russia are expected to issue a joint statement aimed at strengthening the energy partnership between the two countries. State-run explorer Oil India Ltd will also sign an initial deal with Russia's state-owned Zarubezhneft to cooperate in the hydrocarbons sector, sources said. Oil India will explore hiring the Moscow-based firm's drilling vessel Deep Venture and seek Zarubezhneft's help in extracting heavy oil from the Indian firm's Rajasthan block. An Essar spokesman declined to comment. Oil India chairman S.K. Srivastava declined comment. Rosneft could not be immediately reached for comment. (Reuters)
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Oil prices fell to fresh five-year lows on Tuesday (9 December), prompting investors rattled by worries over global growth and renewed political uncertainty in Greece to dump shares.European shares hit a two-week low on Tuesday, with a further slide in crude oil prices hitting energy stocks. Greek stocks sank 6.6 percent, a day after the government announced it would bring forward a presidential vote by two months. Greek banks fell sharply, with National Bank of Greece down 8.8 percent and Alpha Bank dropping 7.9 percent. Greek government bond yields soared.Globally, Chinese shares were standout losers, notching up their biggest daily percentage loss in more than five years and reversing a two-week rally.In India, the benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex slipped below the 28,000 level and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty dropped below the 28,000 mark at midsession as funds and retail investors indulged in selling activity amid weak global cues after crude oil dipped to fresh five-year lows.After opening in negative terrain on continued selling activity by participants, the Sensex dipped below the psychological 28,000-mark to touch a low of 27,869.92. It, however, recovered marginally to 27,911.35, down by 208.05 points, or 0.74 per cent at 1330 hours.Major losers that pulled down the Sensex and Nifty from crucial levels were Sesa Sterlite, Tata Power, NTPC, Hindalco, Bhyarti Airtel, ONGC, Tata Steel, BHEL, SBI, Axis Bank, L&T, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Coal India, RIL and Cipla.Swelling Supply Glut Pulls Down OilBut the key action was in oil. Brent crude fell as low as $65.29 a barrel in Asian trade, its lowest since September 2009, on concern over a swelling supply glut.Brent, which has fallen some 40 per cent in the last six months, was last trading at $66.29 per barrel.European shares opened lower, following falls in stocks in Asia and on Wall Street on Monday.The pan-European Eurofirst 300 was down 1.3 per cent, hit by energy shares and after British grocer Tesco cut full-year profit expectations by almost a third."European markets are trading lower and following the sell off on Wall Street, as oil prices continue to stay under pressure. Investors are worried that there is no floor in sight for the crushing oil prices." Naeem Aslam, analyst at Avatrade, said in a note.Tokyo's Nikkei stock index close down 0.7 per cent, pulling away from 7 1/2-year highs as the stronger yen prompted investors to take profits on exporters.In the United States, the S&P 500 suffered its worst day since Oct. 22 as the falling oil price hit energy stocks.Shanghai shares dropped more than 5 per cent, dragged down by the financial and property sectors, for their biggest one-day percentage fall since August 2009.Dollar PullbackThe dollar fell 0.9 per cent to 119.62 yen, pulling away from a seven-year high of 121.86. The yen was up 1.1 percent against the commodity-linked Australian dollar, which earlier set a four-year low against the U.S. currency."People are cutting the higher-yielding currencies which they've been funding through being short yen and that position is being reversed somewhat, which is manifesting itself in a much lower dollar/yen," said Neil Jones, head of FX hedge fund sales at Mizuho bank in London.The dollar had earlier gained on a Wall Street Journal report that Federal Reserve officials were considering dropping an assurance that short-term interest rates would remain near zero for "a considerable time" at its policy meeting on Dec. 16-17.The euro strengthened 0.3 percent to $1.2354 as the greenback dropped a similar amount against a basket of currencies.German 10-year government bond yields, the euro zone benchmark, fell 2.4 basis points to 0.70 percent, just above a record low.The weaker dollar pushed gold above $1,200 an ounce. It was last up 0.3 percent at $1,206.10.(Agencies)
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Private equity firm I Squared Capital said it would buy a 109 km toll road from Malaysia's IJM Corp Bhd that connects two key touristic destination cities in northwestern India. Jaipur Mahua TollwayI Squared Capital did not disclose financial details of the deal in its statement on Monday. IJM Corp said in a separate statement the deal value was 5.25 billion rupees ($84.9 million). I Squared said it will initially buy a 74 percent stake in Jaipur Mahua Tollway Pvt Ltd from IJM through its ISQ Global Infrastructure Fund, and the remainder after getting approval from Indian authorities. Jaipur Mahua Tollway is a toll road that helps connect Jaipur, known for its historic buildings, with Agra, home to the Taj Mahal. The road has been operational since 2009 under a 25-year concession. (Reuters)
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Russia may set up a total of 20-24 nuclear energy units in India against previously agreed 14-16 plants as both countries are likely to come out with a roadmap for cooperation in the crucial energy sector during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit here for annual Summit talks on Thursday.Russian Ambassador Alexander Kadakin said on Monday (8 December) both countries are likely to start negotiations for setting up of unit five and six at the Kudankulam nuclear power complex soon and may sign a technical pact for unit 3 and 4 during Putin's visit."We have big plans on nuclear energy cooperation," he said, addressing a press conference ahead of the Russian leader's visit.Kadakin said trial run for unit 2 of Kudankulam nuclear power should start in March and that technical glitches in unit one are being resolved."Russia had agreed to help India build 14-16 nuclear units. Now it seems that the demand of India is much bigger and this may rise to 20-24 units," he said.Asked about escalation of cost in setting up of nuclear power plants, he chose not to link it to clauses in India's nuclear liability laws and only said prices have gone up everywhere."Cooperation between the two countries in peaceful uses of nuclear energy will prominently figure at the Summit level talks. More than that a very serious and important document is on the anvil which relates to our common vision of joint work in our efforts to satisfy India's requirement in energy through building a series of nuclear plants," the envoy said.He said Russia was also expecting from the Indian side the name of the new site for another "cascade of nuclear power units".Kadakin also took potshots at the western powers, saying the Summit is taking place "against the background of a burdened international milieu, when we face increasing pressure of the US and their allies, trying to force our country to succumb its state sovereignty and act against our own national interests"."This will never happen, and these daydreaming minions should better get rid of illusions that Russia would ever act under anybody's diktat or pressure. Who are they to dictate to us?," he asked. Kadakin complimented India for supporting Russia and standing against the "aspirations of certain states towards domination or their destructive mixing of political and economic goals".Asked about India's ties with the US and invitation to President Barack Obama to be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day parade, he said Russia was not jealous over it."We do not feel jealous. Though of course, I would say India is a very rich fiancee and those bridegrooms loitering around and roaming around India, its good. It is good to have have many grooms for a beautiful fiancee. But (no one) should deceive you by promising a marriage and then fail you," he said in a lighter vein.Kadakin said India was a super power in the making and it was free to make its friends.The envoy said Putin's visit will reiterate "anew that our countries were, are and will be strategic partners, bound by special and privileged cooperation, set to further jointly solve international problems in accordance with their national aspirations"."The new government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken active steps to impart a new dimension to India's external political and economic course 'Look East' by turning it into 'Act East' programme," he said.Asked about the status of the fifth generation fighter aircraft project between the two countries, he said talks were still on and hoped that the first aircraft will come out by 2018.He said India has been insisting on a "bigger share" in design of the fighter jet plane. "We have enough work left in the project," he said.On the proposed gas pipeline from Russia to India, he said studies are being conducted for the ambitious project.Noting that there was huge scope for enhancing bilateral trade which at $10 billion currently, he said a strong group of around 15 Russian business tycoons will accompany Putin to explore possible areas of cooperation.He said India was also working to have a trade pact with "Eurasian space" for improved trade and commerce.
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Reliance Industries Ltd said on Friday it has entered a pact with Mexico's national oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) to explore potential upstream oil and gas business opportunities in that country. The deal comes as Mexico, the world's tenth-largest crude producer, is implementing sweeping reform of the energy sector that was approved earlier this year and that ended Pemex's decades-long monopoly. Mexico's energy regulator last month said it seeks to lure over $50 billion in investment through 2018 to stem long-sliding crude production. Current production in Mexico is around 2.35 million barrels per day. Pemex and Reliance, controlled by India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, will also explore international markets for "value added opportunities", the Indian energy conglomerate said in a statement. Mexico's Pemex has been trying to expand its presence in India and other markets beyond neighbouring United States. The Mexican oil giant has said it sees India and China as future growth markets for crude. Pemex signed an agreement in September with ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas business unit of India's state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, to explore opportunities in Mexico's hydrocarbon sector. Pemex was unavailable to comment outside of regular business hours on Friday. Reliance, which operates the world's biggest refinery, said its tie-up with Pemex was in line with its strategy to expand its international asset base in regions with "attractive competitive opportunities." In June, Ambani told a shareholders meeting that Reliance, which has invested more than $7 billion on joint ventures in the United States, was looking to expand its international presence beyond the world's largest economy. Shares in Reliance, India's third-most valuable company with a market capitalisation of more than $50 billion, were up 0.7 percent at 964.60 rupees at 10:48 a.m., while the Nifty was up 0.12 percent. (Reuters)
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Hoping to boost the the wind energy sector in India, private players from different segments of the wind industry, have come together and launched the Indian Wind Energy Alliance on December 3, 2014. Bringing together the existing manufacturers and project developers’ associations, the Indian Wind Energy Alliance, (IWEA) aims to promote the interests of all stakeholders in the sector. The IWEA was launched by Piyush Goyal, Minister Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy, and is a consortium of the Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association (IWTMA) and the Wind Independent Power Producers Association (WIPPA). At the launch, Piyush Goyal cited PM Modi’s vision of providing power to all by 2019 and said: “There is need to enhance wind power development in the country, and the government will provide all the necessary support to the industry to achieve the target of 10,000 MW of wind power installations every year.” He also said the IWEA will be helpful to all and not wind energy project developers or wind turbine manufacturers alone, as it brings together various stakeholders. The alliance is to be chaired by Sumant Sinha, who is also the CEO and chairman of ReNew Power Ltd and vice chaired by Madhusudan Khemka, also the Managing Director of ReGen Powertech Ltd. Sinha believes, “the potential of the wind sector in India is far greater than what is currently being projected.” According to him, the formation of IWEA will provide an impetus to the wind energy industry by establishing and assisting scientific laboratories, workshops, institutes and organization in the Wind Energy Industry. At the launch, Madhusudan Khemka said: “Wind energy is poised to contribute substantially to India’s energy security, considering its generation has almost tripled during the last 6 years.” He added that the IWEA will be working with communities, governments and member organisations to ensure that the national ambitions are realized. Khemka says the formation of this apex body will also attract more private sector investments.” During the 11th Five Year Plan, the wind energy market attracted private sector investment worth Rs 44,000 crore and is said to have helped in reducing 68 million tonne of carbon emissions. As per an EY India report, wind power helped save 41 million tonnes of coal imports during the 11th Five Year Plan, leading to an estimated forex savings of Rs 19,800 crore. India is the fifth largest wind energy producer in the world but only generates around 6 per cent of the total wind power globally. Total installed wind power capacity worldwide in FY 2013-14 was 3,21,559 MW (end of 2013) of which India had 20,215 MW installed capacity. Only time will tell how effective this alliance is to be and what it can achieve in terms of improved wind power production. However, the positioning of comparatively lesser known players of the wind market speaks of changing trends in the sector. It would appear gone are the days of Suzlon Energy Ltd and Muppandal Wind, who own the largest wind farms in the country approximately 1500 mw each. Both chairman and vice-chairmen of IWEA represent companies that are not the names that pop up at the mention of wind energy players of India. Moyna@businessworld.inmmatbworld@gmail.com
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India on Tuesday (2 December) raised excise duties on petrol by Rs 2.25 per litre and on diesel by Re 1 per litre with immediate effect, the finance ministry said in a statement to parliament.The increases, which follow similar hikes in mid-November, seek to take advantage of a slump in world oil prices to shore up government revenues without stoking inflation.A source familiar with the matter said the latest measures were expected to raise an additional Rs 4000 crore ($650 million) in the remainder of the fiscal year to the end of March 2015.(Agencies)
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