NEW DELHI: Less than a day after Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) announced a hike in consumer power tariff through power purchase adjustment charges (PPAC), it withdrew the order. This is the first time a tariff order has been withdrawn in Delhi since DERC was constituted in 2001. While the regulator said the order stands withdrawn till it receives complete information from various power generators on fuel pricing, sources said the step was taken under political pressure as Delhi is heading for assembly elections. The withdrawal raises questions on DERC’s ‘independent’ functioning amid political pressure.
“It has been brought to the notice of the commission that various generators, including NTPC, supplying power to Delhi have provided only part of the information regarding pricing of fuel and billing of power generated at their stations. Additional information has been called for and is yet to be submitted,” DERC said in a statement on Friday.
Had the PPAC order announced on November 13 come into force on November 15, bills of Tata Power consumers in north/northwest Delhi would have increased by 2.5%. BRPL consumers in south and west Delhi would have paid 4.5% more and BYPL consumers in east and central Delhi would have paid 7% more.
DERC chairperson P D Sudhakar told TOI the order was withdrawn without ‘outside’ interference. “There is no intervention from any political party or the LG office. Nor is there any influence from the government. The PPAC withdrawal is entirely DERC’s decision,” said Sudhakar firmly, when questioned. “Generally, we announce PPAC on a provisional basis. But on Friday morning, we realized that the generation companies did not disclose details on the break-up of fuel charges and other details to us,” Sudhakar said, adding that they had not gone into this aspect on Thursday before announcing the PPAC.
DERC did not say when a revised PPAC order will be issued, but officials said it might take two to three weeks.
For a city that has been under President’s rule for 10 months and is heading for fresh polls, a hike in tariffs will be a huge setback for the ruling BJP at the Centre. AAP and Congress had announced protests when the hike order was passed on Thursday. “It’s ironical that in less than 24 hours after DERC announced PPAC charges, the regulator realized that it had incomplete information pertaining to the order. It’s unheard of for any state to withdraw a tariff related order. These elections are crucial for the BJP, which has to combat AAP’s popularity in Delhi to form a government. A tariff hike would be detrimental to them,” said an expert.
This is not the first time DERC’s functioning has come under the scanner. In 2010, former chief minister Sheila Dikshit’s government had passed an order stalling a tariff revision a day before its scheduled announcement.
At that time, the government was accused of aiding discoms that did not want the controversial order which would have slashed tariffs by 20%. DERC is a quasi-judicial body which works independently without any intervention from the government. But consumer groups have long accused it of working at the government’s behest. The withdrawal of a tariff announcement in election season also hints strongly at government interference, experts said.
(Source: The Times of India, November 15, 2014)
DISCOMS WARN OF OUTAGES IF TARIFF NOT RAISED
NEW DELHI: Discoms are unhappy with DERC’s decision to withdraw Thursday’s order on power purchase adjustment charges (PPAC). They were banking on the hike to meet rising expenditure, and now warn that their inability to pay generation companies may lead to blackouts in Delhi.
The three private discoms-BSES Rajdhani, BSES Yamuna and Tata Power Delhi-will now have to manage with the present tariffs announced in July. Reacting to the news of the withdrawal, one discom shot off a letter to the government stating that the cost of power from central and local generating stations had increased significantly and they might not be able to meet these costs at current tariff levels. “The cost of power from NTPC stations such as Dadri and Badarpur has increased from Rs 4 per unit to around Rs 6 per unit and the cost of power from generating stations in Delhi has increased from Rs 4 per unit to Rs 11 per unit,” the letter said.
Discoms said they have little money to pay the generating companies in the present scenario. Power supply to east Delhi discom BYPL is already regulated from at least two sources, including DVC and SJVNL.
Sources in the companies blamed political pressure for DERC’s decision to withdraw the hike. “The Electricty Act empowers DERC to work independent of any political pressure but that is not happening,” said a source. The companies claimed delaying PPAC expenses would burden consumers more in the future. “Ultimately, these are costs that power generators are charging and we are compelled to pay on a monthly basis, otherwise they will regulate power and Delhi will face outages,” said the source.
(Source: The Times of India, November 15, 2014)
TRANSMISSION PROJECTS OF Rs 53,000 CRORE TO BE AUCTIONED
NEW DELHI: The government will auction eight contracts to set up power transmission projects worth Rs 53,000 crore in the biggest global bidding round ever since the sector was opened in 2010 and in the next three years.
The bidding will provide an opportunity to private firms like Tata Power, Reliance Infrastructure, Sterlite Energy, Larsen & Toubro, GMR Energy, Lanco Infratech and JSW Energy to bag mega transmission projects connecting several power plants to consumers.
The proposed schemes will benefit the power starved states of south India that face acute power transmission congestion.The transmission contracts include a 2,500-km long high capacity power evacuation link between Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu worth.`26,820 crore. The transmission system will facilitate inter-state transfer about 6,000-MW of electricity.
An empowered committee on transmission decided to bid these projects though the state-run Power Grid Corporation of India was keen to take them up on nomination basis, a senior government official said.
“The empowered committee on transmission has approved tariff-based competitive bidding of over Rs 53,000 crore power evacuation schemes. This is the biggest ever auction of power transmission projects in the past and in the near future. These are pending projects and have got accumulated for lack of decision and such large scale packages are not likely to be bid at least in the next three years,” he said.
Electricity transmission in India is a monopoly of Power Grid Corp that owns and operates about 45% of inter-state transmission system. The government has decided that future inter-state transmission system schemes would be awarded under tariff-based competitive bidding.
The proposed schemes include a Rs 8,570 crore inter-regional transmission link to facilitate import of power from Maharashtra to Telengana and Andhra Pradesh.
A Rs 7,032-crore transmission system strengthening scheme beyond Vemagiri in Tamil Nadu has also been approved. A transmission line worth Rs 4,440 crore between Ajmer in Rajasthan till Moga in Punjab has also been proposed. Besides, two separate transmission lines connecting NTPC and Odisha Power Generating Corp have been planned.
(Source: The Economic Times, November 15, 2014)
BHEL ACHIEVES Rs 125-CRORE Q2 PROFIT
NEW DELHI: State-owned Bhel on Friday saw its net profit tumble nearly 73 per cent to Rs 124.84 crore in three months ended September this year as lower revenues from power and industry segments took a toll on its profitability.
Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel), which is currently facing tough business conditions, had a net profit of Rs 455.95 crore in the September quarter last year.
Net sales of the power equipment maker fell to Rs 6,027.58 crore in the second quarter of current fiscal. In the year-ago period, the same stood at Rs 8,819 crore, according to a regulatory filing.
Reflecting tough business conditions, Bhel’s revenues from power as well as industry segments declined in the latest quarter under review. In the 2014 September quarter, power segment saw revenues fall to Rs 4,736.95 crore from Rs 7,576.38 crore in the year-ago period.
Besides, revenues from industry segment dropped to Rs 1,582.36 crore from Rs 1,739.18 crore in the same period a year ago.
In accordance with guidelines in the Companies Act, 2013, the carrying amount of the assets as on 1 April, 2014, has been depreciated over the remaining revised useful life of the fixed assets, the filing said.
‘Consequently, depreciation for the quarter and half year ended 30 September, 2014 is higher by Rs 17.37 crore and Rs 44.31 crore, respectively, and the profit before tax is lower to this extent,’ it said.
(Source: Millennium Post, November 15, 2014)
GVK POWER NET LOSS WIDENS TO Rs 236 CRORE AS GAS SHORTAGE WEIGHS
HYDERABAD: The loss widened due to stoppage in gas supply to two of its power plants coupled with interest costs related to infra projects, the company said.
“The loss during the quarter was attributable mainly due to stoppage of supply of gas at two power plants and temporary stoppage of supply to one plant as a result of which the plants operated at very low capacity,” the company said in a release.
“The interest cost on the borrowing for the acquisition of stake in Mumbai and Bangalore Airports also has an impact on the consolidated profit,” the company added. However, consolidated total income from operations stood at Rs 698.76 crore during the period against Rs 691.91 crore during the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
In its airport business, Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) recorded a revenue of Rs 580.67 crore against Rs 523.07 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, registering an increase of 11.01%. The net loss was Rs 68.87 crore against a profit of Rs 84.77 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) recorded revenue of Rs 234.36 crore against Rs 160.36 crore, registering an increase of 46.15%. Net profit was Rs 5.57 crore against a profit of Rs 38.62 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
In the transportation vertical, GVK Jaipur Expressway recorded a revenue of Rs 73.88 crore, registering an increase of 8.96%. Net profit was Rs 16.80 crore against Rs 13.86 crore, an increase of 21.15 %. Traffic increased by 2.73% over the same period.
(Source: The Financial Express, November 15, 2014)
CESC Q2 NET PROFIT UP 12% AT RS 192 CRORE
KOLKATA: The RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group flagship power company CESC has posted a 12.28 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 192 crore for the quarter ended September, 2014 compared to a net profit of Rs 171 crore during the corresponding period last year.
Net sales during the quarter rose 2.23 per cent to Rs 1,647 crore, against Rs 1,611 crore in the year-ago period.
“In all parametres it has done better than before. Also, units sold during the quarter was marginally higher. Improved efficiency and higher plant loading factor has contributed to the growth,” said Sanjiv Goenka, chairman, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group.
(Source: Business Standard, November 15, 2014)
ALL CLEAR FROM AUSTRALIA FOR $7.5-BN PROJECT: GAUTAM ADANI
BRISBANE: The Australian government has given all environmental and regulatory clearances for the $7.5 billion coal mining, rail and port project, said Gautam Adani, chairman, Adani Group, in an exclusive interview to The Indian Express. The Adani group has already invested over $ 3 billion in Australia.
“We have got all clearances. South Korean major Posco has agreed to pick up a minority stake in the rail project. It has been given the contract to build the $2.2 billion railway network from the pithead in Carmichael to the Abbot Point port,” Adani said. Two other companies had bid for the rail project contract.
Though the Adani group started work on the mining, rail and port project three years ago, it had been facing environmental hurdles. He is part of the business delegation that PM Narendra Modi took to Australia. His mining company, Adani Mining, is headquartered in Brisbane, Queensland.
“In the first phase, we will mine 40 million tonne of coal a year from 2018,” Adani said. The Abbott Point port already has a capacity to lift 50 million tonne. The port company will add another berth to increase capacity. The company will call for bids for expansion of the port soon, for which Posco has evinced interest.
Jeyakumar Janakaraj, CEO and country head, Adani Mining, said the project would have a debt-equity ratio of 60:40. “The initial capex is $7.5 billion. Initial funding has been tied up. The total financial closure will be achieved by end of next year,” he said.
The Carmichael mine in the Galilee Basin is the one of the largest thermal coal mines in the world, and the largest in Australia, with JORC certified resources of 11.05 billion tonne of coal, said Janakaraj. It will be linked by a 388 km rail line to a new terminal at the Abbot Point port.
According to Janakaraj, the mining, rail and port projects will be executed by different companies. Adani Mining itself is fully owned by Adani Enterprises through Adani Global. About two-third of the coal output would be exported to India and the balance to Korea, Japan, Taiwan, etc.
“We are in an advanced stage of negotiation with consumers,” he said.
Adani was also likely to rope in another equity partner, Janakaraj said. “It will be a third party equity partner apart from Posco, but will again hold minority stake,” he added. Posco too would hold not more than 26%, the majority being held by the Adani Group.
(Source: The Financial Express, November 15, 2014)
