Standing committee on illegal coal mining-I: Reprimands MoC for poor response to illegal mining, criminal activities

May 20: The Standing Committee on coal and steel has hauled up the coal ministry (MoC) for not doing enough to curb illegal mining. The ministry had reasoned that maintaining law and order is primarily the responsibility of a state's law enforcing authorities. But the committee refused to be taken in by MoC's weak reasoning and has directed it to clean up its act.
 8The committee says that is surprised to learn that the ministry has merely requested the coal producing state governments to undertake a comprehensive review of the situation, assess the requirement of additional Central Paramilitary Forces (CPF) and issue appropriate directions to check the blatant illegal and criminal activities in mining areas.
 8Such actions have produced no visible results and the reports of illegal mining continue to pour in from different parts of the country. Anguished by the current state of affairs, the committee has requested the ministry and coal companies to make more sincere efforts by taking stern action against erring officials.
 8The committee has also said that the pending matter should be taken up at the highest levels of the concerned state governments in order to ensure better coordination with local police or law enforcing authorities of the state.
 8The committee has further stated that it would like to be apprised of the remedial measures taken by different state governments, as per the coal ministry's recommendations, to put an end to this clandestine business of illegal mining.
 8Since illegal mining takes place at abandoned mines after cessation of mining activities, the committee has stressed on the need to immediately implement mine closure plans in close coordination with state governments to prevent illegal mining.
  (Click on our 'Reports' section for more information)

Standing committee on illegal coal mining-II: MoC says mines outside CIL's purview difficult to monitor, but committee differs

May 20: The Standing Committee and coal ministry have two very different opinions on prevention of illegal mining that takes place outside the leased areas of Coal India subsidiaries.
 8The ministry has said that it is extremely difficult to take action against illegal miners and protect valuable minerals from unscientific mining in areas where surface rights do not belong to CIL.
 8However, the committee has found this reason inexcusable and, instead, has accused MoC of not discharging its responsibilities as far as stoppage of illegal mining is concerned.
 8Maintaining its stance on the issue, the committee has further stated that CIL and its subsidiaries only began to seriously pursue the pending cases in the courts after the committee's reprimands.
 8As per the information furnished by the MoC, the quantity of coal recovered from illegal mines during the last four years, up to July, 2011, has been pegged at 28,130.10 tonnes of coal worth Rs 401.09 lakh.
 8To avoid this situation from spiraling downward, the committee has necessitated on stringent action against those officers of the legal department of coal companies which fail to pursue the cases in criminal court and activate the local police officers for speedy trial.
  (Click on our 'Reports' section for more information)

IEA study recommends slew of initiatives to fund and promote CCS projects in developing countries

May 20: Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) has emerged as a major global initiative to reduce carbon emissions and manage climate change. The 'environment conscious' west is worried about carbon emissions and is seeking to develop the new, promising technology. India, on the other hand is a different story. Not only is the initiative missing, there is also an obvious lack of funding. An International Energy Agency (IEA) report has explored the challenges and opportunities that CCS presents.
 8The report makes a number of short term and medium term recommendations. Up to 2015, it has suggested, among other things, that additional funding of US $ 150-200 million be made available to enable CCS and pre-investment activities in developing countries.
 8This will help 5-10 demonstration projects proceed to final investment decision by the year 2015. With regard to this, the report has identified a number of potential funding vehicles that could be used to deliver the funds.
 8The medium term recommendations include availability of CCS funding, totaling US $ 5 billion, for the extra CCS costs of construction and operation of demonstration projects.
 8The financial and policy support for CCS demonstration and future deployment remains perhaps the most critical challenge for development of CCS technologies.
 8While a sum of US $ 21.4 billion is currently available to support large-scale CCS demonstration, only 60% has been allocated till date. In addition to this, additional funding has been limited since 2008.
  (Click on our 'Reports' section for more information)

BHEL secures Rs 380 crore order from RRVUNL for gas-fired plant at Ramgarh

May 20: State-run BHEL has bagged an order worth Rs 3.80 billion from Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (RRVUNL) for setting up a 160 MW gas based combined cycle power plant (CCPP) in the state of Rajasthan. This is the fourth phase of expansion of Ramgarh power plant, located in Jaisalmer.
 8Reinforcing its confidence in BHEL's capabilities, this is repeat order for BHEL as the project's third phase of expansion was also awarded to the state-run utility.
 8Under the contract, the equipment major will be responsible for design, engineering, manufacture, supply, erection and commissioning of the main plant along with providing equipment for gas-based power project with one frame 9E gas turbine with generator, one heat recovery steam generator, one steam turbine generator and associated auxilliaries with state-of-the-art controls and instrumentation (C&I) system.
 8Pertinently, BHEL has fully established state-of-the-art technology for gas-based CCPPs with gas turbines of ratings up to 290 MW and coal-based thermal sets up to 1,000 MW rating.
 8Further, to meet its customer demand, the company has introduced new rating Thermal sets of 150 MW, 270 MW, 300 MW, 525 MW and 600 MW, in addition to 250 MW and 500 MW sets in the sub-critical range.
 8Finally, BHEL has also equipped itself to produce thermal sets with supercritical parameters of 660/700/800 MW unit ratings, suited to Indian conditions, using Indian as well as imported coal.
 (Click on Details for more information)   Details

TAPI Gas Pipeline Project: Cabinet nod to GAIL to sign GSPA with TurkmenGas

May 20: The Union Cabinet today (May 17, 2012) approved the proposal of the petroleum ministry to permit GAIL to sign the Gas Sale & Purchase Agreement (GSPA) with TurkmenGas, Turkmenistan`s national oil company, for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) Gas Pipeline Project.
 8The TAPI gas pipeline is envisaged to be 1,680 km in length (144 km in Turkmenistan, 735 km in Afghanistan and 800 km in Pakistan) with a capacity of 90 MMSCMD of gas, with 38 MMSCMD each for India and Pakistan and the remaining 14 MMSCMD for Afghanistan.
 8The pipeline is expected to be operational in 2018 and supply gas over a 30-year period.
 8The source of the gas is the South Yolotan Osman field, recently renamed as Galkynysh, which has been certified by a reputed international consultant to be holding proven recoverable gas reserves of 16 trillion cubic metres.
 8The provisions of the GSPA have been structured to protect India`s commercial interests as India is at the tail end of the pipeline.
 8Afghanistan and Pakistan have committed to the safety and security of the pipeline through the Inter-Governmental Agreement and the Gas Purchase Framework Agreement signed among the four countries in December, 2010.
 (Click on Details for more information)   Details

Six NHPC projects stuck for want of clearances

May 20: Six NHPC-run hydel projects are stuck in clearance hurdles whereas Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for two hydro electric projects (HEPs), namely -- the 1,020 MW Bursar HEP and the 2,000 MW Subansiri HEP -- are yet to be formulated. The latest status of the projects' productions plans has been provided below:
 8The power major is yet to receive the environmental clearance for the 66 MW Loktak downstream project in Manipur. The in-principal forest clearance has been accorded by the environment ministry.
 8State-run NHPC is now pursuing the matter of obtaining clearances from Central Electricity Authority (CEA) for all the changes made in the DPR of Kotli Bhel-IA. The expenditure incurred, till April 2012, on this project works out to be Rs 92.72 crore.
 8For the 600 MW Tawang-I and 800 MW Tawang-II hydroelectric power projects (HEP), the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) has mentioned the need for the state of Arunachal Pradesh to provide a 15-20 year perspective plan for cumulative development of the river basin.
 8Despite repeated requests, the Shillong regional office (RO) has still not carried out a site inspection for NHPC's 3,000 MW Dibang Multipurpose project. Meanwhile, CEA has been requested to extend the vailidity of concurrence of this project by another 2 years up to January 21, 2014.
 8Apart from the projects mentioned above, the website also carries details on the 1,020 MW Bursar HEP in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and 2,000 MW Subansiri Upper HEP in Arunachal Pradesh.
  (Click on our 'Reports' section for more information)

Tipaimukh HEP: NEEPCO Board approves Rs 17.99 lakh additional expenditure for FY 2011-12, Rs 98 lakh for current fiscal

May 20: The NEEPCO Board has accorded post facto approval for the additional expenditure of Rs 17.99 lakh incurred on the Tipaimukh hydro electric project (HEP) over and above the approved sum of Rs 58 lakh for FY 2011-12.
 8The Board of Directors (BoD) has also approved the fund requirement of Rs 98.00 lakh for the current fiscal year for continuation of establishment, survey and investigation (S&I) activities, along with payment of arrears and committed liabilities.
 8Earlier, the board had given its nod for an amount of Rs 58 lakh, which included Rs 3 lakh per month for continuation of establishment, survey and investigation, and arrear payment of Rs 22 lakh. However, the approved fund fell short for meeting all outstanding dues and liabilities.
 8In addition to this, some unseen expenditure which was already paid for was not considered at the time of placing the original proposal before the Board. As a result, the total expenditure incurred during the previous fiscal increased to Rs 75.99 lakh.
 8The Tipaimukh HEP is being implemented by a joint venture company (JVC) of NHPC, SJVN and Government of Manipur (GoM), having stakes worth 69%, 26% and 5%, respectively.
  (Click on 'Details' for more information)   Details

Problems galore for NTPC's Barh-II STPP as BHEL repeatedly flounders on timelines for critical milestones

May 20: Slippage of 1-2 months for critical milestones of NTPC's 2x660 MW Barh-II super thermal power project (STPP) seems to have become the norm for equipment major BHEL, whose quantifiable achievements continue to increase negligibly with each passing month.
 8In March, BHEL had committed to supply the LP turbine and conclude boiler light up works by end of May and November this year, respectively.
 8However, despite NTPC's repeated requests to fast-track activities, BHEL has revised the likely completion dates to July and December 2012 for the above mentioned processes.
 8In the month of April, merely 5% progress has been made towards provision of turbine and completion of balance BLU works.
 8The excruciatingly slow pace of works has already forced the thermal major to postpone the anticipated commissioning for the project from January to June 2014.
 8If BHEL continues to flounder on its commitments, it is likely that the STPP may face another delay in its commissioning schedule.
 8The cumulative expenditure in the current financial year, up till the month of April 2012, against the current year annual plan outlay has been pegged at Rs 1,926 crore.
8Announced in 2006, the two-unit supercritical 1,320 MW Barh-II extension will deliver power mostly to north and east India, via six 400KV electrical substations linked to Kahalgaon, Sasaram and Biharsharif. 
  (Click on 'Details' for more information)   Details

ADB hails Powergrid's implementation of a sub-project of Powergrid development investment project

May 20: Asian Development Bank (ADB) has applauded Powergrid for successfully mitigating anticipated adverse environmental impacts associated with the Powergrid development investment project, Tranche 1 and 2, by implementing the Environmental Management Plan (EMP).
 8As per the semi annual environmental monitoring report on the investment program, it is evident that the impact of this power transmission project is not far reaching.
 8This is due to the fact that the sub-project activities are non polluting in nature and do not involve any disposal of solid waste, effluents and hazardous substances on land, air and water.
 8In addition to this, some localized impacts on natural resources like forest, whenever a transmission line passes through forest area, can be avoided or minimized through careful route and site selection.
 8Powergrid's approach towards project implementation involves selection of optimum route before design stage, proper implementation of EMP and monitoring mechanism through out project life cycle. These measures have considerably nullified the effects.
 8Moreover, the project is expected to reduce carbon footprint by transmitting the clean or green hydro power instead of thermal generation, which would otherwise emit 257 million tonnes (MT) of carbon dioxide during the 30 year lifecycle of the project.
 8Besides this, it has been stated that direct or indirect beneficial impacts, such as employment and business opportunities, of the sub-projects are likely to outweigh the negative impacts of the project.
 8To meet the funding requirement of the project, ADB had approved a Multi tranche Financing Facility of US $ 400 million and US $ 200 million for Tranche 1 and 2, respectively.
  (Click on our 'Reports' section for more information)

NHPC asks AHPL to fast-track E&M works at Teesta Low Dam-III HEP

May 20: State-run NHPC has pushed Ascent Hydro Projects Limited (AHPL), the contractor for electro-mechanical (E&M) works associated 132 MW Teesta Low Dam stage-III hydro electric project (HEP), to expedite the erection of auxiliaries in all four units and that of generator transformers in units 1 and 2.
 8With regard to the hydro-mechanical (HM) activities, the erection of radial gates in bays 1 and 2 is currently under progress whereas that in unit 6 has been completed last month. Alongside this, the erection of draft tube gates is nearing conclusion.
 8The dam and appurtenant works are not progressing as scheduled, with the actual concreting of cellular wall and l/b guide retaining wall during April falling short of the targeted quantities.
 8Against the target of 2,067 cum, merely 950 cum of cellular wall concreting was concluded during the month. However, the company has achieved its scheduled target of 550 cum concreting of barrage block I to II in the previous month.
 8The 132 MW project envisages the construction of a 32.5 m high barrage across the Teesta river and a 125 m x 22 m x 56 m surface power house, with four Kaplan turbine generator units, of 33 MW capacity, each. The project would afford an annual energy generation of 594.07 million units (MU), assuming 90% performance.
  (Click on 'Details' for more information)   Details

Naphtha prices (up to May 11, 2012 ): Prices fall down

May 20:  The average naphtha prices in the Arab Gulf and Singapore markets in the month of May 2012 (till May 11) stood at $101.21 and $104.55 per barrel respectively, which was lower than the average prices for all of April, at $110.94 per barrel for Arab Gulf and $114.44 per barrel for Singapore market.
 8The highest prices for Arab Gulf and Singapore markets during May 2012(till May 11) was recorded on May 2, at $105.12 and $109.35 per barrel respectively.
 8The lowest prices for the same period for Arab Gulf and Singapore markets were recorded on May 10, at $98.63 and $101.60 per barrel respectively.
 8The average price of naphtha in the Arab Gulf and Singapore markets in the last fiscal (April-March, 2011-12)was $103.51 and $105.57 per barrel respectively.
 8The website carries here detailed information on daily price variations of naphtha, along with prices of gas oil, in major world markets till May 11, 2012.
 (Click on Details for more information)   Details

Peak deficit at 9.5%, energy shortage at 10.1% in Apr'12

May 20:  The energy requirement and peak demand - the prime factors for determining the power supply position - recorded a deficit of 10.1% and 9.5%, respectively, during the month of April 2012. Both recorded a decline from their values during the previous month.
8As per the power supply report released by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the southern region of the country experienced the highest peak deficit of 14.4%, followed by the north-eastern region, with a registered shortage of 12.6%. Meanwhile, the western and eastern regions faced supply deficits of 10.5% and 4.8% respectively.
8During the month, against a total peak demand of 1,28,321 MW, only 1,16,191 MW of power was actually available in the country, resulting in a deficit of 12,130 MW. The peak deficit for April'11 till March'12 was at 10.6%. The shortage of peak availability during the said period was greater than 10% for the western and southern region.
8In terms of energy availability, against a total requirement of 83,878 million units (MU), there was a gap of 8,438 MU for the month. The highest energy shortage, of 16.7%, was witnessed in the southern region, followed by 10.1% deficit in the north-eastern region.
8The energy requirement for remaining regions fell short by 4-9%, with the minimum shortfall observed for eastern region at 4.3%. The peak deficit for the period April to March 2011-12 was 8.5%, with the highest deficit of 11.4% for western region.
(Click on our 'Reports' section for more information)

Q&A on auction of coal mines: Details

May 20: The website carries here, for our readers' perusal, answers to various questions pertaining to the auction of coal mines in the country. Detailed information has been provided for the following:
8Details of methodology of coal mine allocation--with or without auction
8Whether there was an auction policy at the time when coal mines were allotted to
8Coal India Limited apart from other companies ahead of 1993
8Intention of government with regards to auction of all coal mines in future and the time by which the process is likely to be started
8Likely impact of this on various industries including power generation
8Details of closed coal mines in the country, state-wise
8Measures being taken by the government for the safety of coal mines keeping in view the growing demand of coal
(Click on Details for more information)   Details

Performance of transmission sector-I: Surpasses targets for April 2012, achieves stringing of 632 ckm

May 20:  The country managed to surpass its target for new transmission lines during the month April 2012. While it was proposed to add a total of 358 ckm transmission lines, lines totaling 632 ckm were laid during the month.
 8However, looking at the voltage-wise data, the country has exceeded its targets for new 220 kV and 400 kV lines, but did not manage to add any 765 kV transmission lines in April.
 8As far as sector wise performance is concerned, the central sector fared much better than its counterparts, both in terms of numbers and achievement rate, by adding 501 ckm of lines. This is followed by the state (131 ckm) and private (0 ckm) sector.
 8With respect to installation of sub-stations, 2,480 MVA worth sub-stations were installed during the month, encompassing 400 kV sub-stations worth 315 MVA and 220 kV sub-stations worth a total 2,165 MVA.
 8As on April 30, 2012, a total of 9,432 ckm of 500 kV HVDC transmission cables have been laid, along with 5,730 ckm of 765 kV lines, 1,13,862 ckm of 400 kV lines and 1,40,301 ckm of 220 kV lines.
 8Alongside, 765 kV sub-stations worth 25,000 MVA, 400 kV sub-stations worth 1,51,342 MVA and 220 kV sub-stations worth 2,25,939 MVA have been installed during the five year period.
 (Click on our 'Reports' section for more information)

Performance of transmission sector-II: 10 new assets commissioned in Apr'12

May 20:  As per the latest statistics released by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), a total of ten assets have been commissioned in the month of April 2012. Out of these, a total of seven 220 kV lines have been commissioned, constituting almost 20.45 percent of the total length of all transmission lines laid.
 The details of some of these commissioned transmission assets have been given here:
 400 kV (all executed by PGCIL)
 8Durgapur-Jamshedpur D/C line (279 ckm)
 8Jamshedpur - Baripada D/C (part line) (216 ckm)
 220 kV
 8KPTCL's Madhavanahally S/S - Chamarajangar S/S line D/C line (83 ckm)
 8KSEB's Mannukkad (Chulliar) - Kanjikode (Palakkad) second D/C line (12 ckm)
 8MSETCL's LILO of Padge - Kalwa at Bapgaon D/C line (5 ckm)
 8MSETCL's LILO of Padge - Boisar (PG) line at Vasai S/S (5 ckm)
 8PSTCL's LILO of one circuit of LAlton Kalan - Sahnewal at Ludhiana (PG) (7 ckm)
 8RVPNL's Kalisindh - Jhalawar D/C line (19 ckm)
 (Click on our 'Reports' section for more information)

News Briefs-I

May 20: 8JPVL group FY12 consolidated net profit at Rs 400 crore: Jaiprakash Power Ventures Limited (JPVL) has registered a net profit of Rs 400.73 crore in the financial year 2011-12, a substantial rise from Rs 161.77 crore earned during FY 2010-11. The group's total income more than doubled to Rs 1,686.30 crore, from Rs 840.74 crore earned in FY11.
 --As far as the quarter ended March 31, 2012 is concerned, the company experienced a net loss of Rs 6.78 crore crore, as compared to a loss of Rs 16.92 crore posted during the corresponding quarter of FY11.The company's net income for the three month period stood at Rs 313.78 crore, up about 85.66% over the same period last year.
 8BoD of NMDC to meet on May 28, 2012: The board of directors of NMDC Limited will convene on May 28, 2012 to take on record the audited consolidated financial results of the company for the quarter ended March 31, 2012 and for the financial year 2011-12 as well as recommend the final dividend for FY12.

News Briefs-II

May 20: 8Elecon Engineering bags Rs 25 cr order from Tecpro Systems: Materials handling company Elecon Engineering Company Ltd has secured a LoI (Letter of Intent) from privately run Tecpro Systems Limited for engineering, manufacturing, supply, erection and commissioning of various equipments at coal handling plant (CHP) of the Haldia Thermal Power Project (2x300 MW). The order is valued at Rs 25.50 crore.
8BoD of RIL to meet on May 25, 2012: The board of directors of Reliance Infrastructure Limited (RIL) will convene on May 25, 2012 to consider and approve the audited financial results of the company for the year ended March 31, 2012 and to recommend the payment of dividend, if any, on equity shares.
8BoD of CIL to meet on May 28, 2012: The board of directors of Coal India Limited (CIL) will hold a meeting on May 28, 2012 to consider, approve and take on record the audited consolidated financial results of the company for the recently ended financial year ended March 31, 2012.

Petroleum ministry's proposal for gas price pooling in the power sector-I: The matrix

May 17: The petroleum secretary G.C. Chaturvedi gave an elaborate presentation on pooling of gas prices for the power sector so that new power plants can absorb the high cost of LNG.
The following are the major postulates of the mechanism proposed by the petroleum ministry for pooling LNG with domestic gas for the power sector:
8The weighted average price of gas after pooling will be $6.27/mmbtu. But Chaturvedi said that it would be fair to provide a subsidy on this price for around 4.1 MMSCMD gas presently being supplied to the North East region for power (at 60% of the regular price). The subsidy works out to about $2.5/MMBTU (40% subsidy), amounting to a significant Rs 670 crore per annum.
8As a compensatory mechanism, the price of 2.35 MMSCMD of gas being supplied to captive and group captive consumers should be increased to the level of Ras Gas price (about $10.7 per MMBTU during 2012-13 and to $12 per MMBTU during 2013-14 to generate a cash pool. At the Ras Gas price level, it will generate a corpus of about Rs 680 crore during 2012-13 and about Rs 880 crore during 2013-14.
8This corpus can be utilized for providing subsidy to the tune of 670 crore per annum to the North East.
8An additional charge of $0.50 per MMBTU over and above the weighted average price of $ 6.27/MMBTU is further proposed to absorb the domestic quantity reduction (KG-D6 upto 9 MMSCMD), exchange rate fluctuation, incremental RLNG price increase (of up to $1/mmbtu). For 2013-14, if D-6 gas goes down further by 5 MMSCMD, this additional cushion will have to be increased. The cushion amount will be adjusted during the next year or revised upwards in event of a shortfall.
8Due to this cushion, a uniform price can be offered to power sector consumers for a period of one year and repeated every year.
(Click on Details for more information)   Details

Gas price pooling in the power sector-II: Calculation of pool price with incremental RLNG

May 17: The petroleum ministry has worked out various pool price estimates for incremental RLNG quantity ranging between 7 to 20 MMSCMD to be used for pooling with domestic gas. The calculation is based on the quantity of domestic gas to be used for pooling, use of incremental RLNG, its current price and the weighted average price in case of pooling of domestic gas with RLNG.
8The quantity of domestic gas available for pooling has been estimated at 56.21 MMSCMD, at a price of $4.68 per MMBTU, while price of RLNG has been considered as $19 per MMBTU.
8As per the calculation, in case 7 MMSCMD of RLNG is used for pooling with domestic gas available, the weighted average price for pooled gas works out to be $6.27 per MMBTU.
8The weighted price of pooled gas goes up to $6.84 per MMBTU in case 10 MMSCMD of RLNG is available for pooling, to $7.70 per MMBTU for 15 MMSCMD of RLNG and further to $8.44 per MMBTU for 20 MMSCMD of RLNG.
Price calculations are given for every 1 mmscmd increase in RLNG supply from 7 mmscmd up to a maximum of 20 mmscmd.
(Click on Details for more information)   Details

Jurisdiction over Coal Mine Methane: Petroleum ministry prepares Cabinet Note

May 17: The sparring between the coal and petroleum ministries over the power to control coal mine methane has intensified. Jaipal Reddy's petroleum ministry is in the process of drafting a cabinet note seeking authorization for extraction of Coal Mine Methane (CMM) on the grounds that the matter falls with its purview rather than the coal ministry in accordance with the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961.
8The petroleum ministry is of the view that Coal Bed Methane (CBM), which is similar in nature to CMM, is already under the purview of the petroleum ministry and and the same logic should be extended to the extraction and distribution of CMM.
8In another twist, the petroleum ministry has sent a communication to the coal ministry seeking an explanation on how the latter had invited bids for CMM extraction, without an NOC from the petroleum ministry.
8The coal ministry however is yet to reply.
8The government is in the process of framing a policy on commercial lines for development of CMM by coal companies in their leasehold areas. CMM is different from CBM. CMM is the gas that is recovered from working mines prior to, during or subsequent to coal mining activities, while CBM is exploited as a natural gas resource.
By Nishit Shukla   Details

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