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HomeIndia TakesPSUs LIKE NTPC, DAMODAR VALLEY CORP MAY GET BACK CAPTIVE COAL BLOCKS DURING REALLOCATION

PSUs LIKE NTPC, DAMODAR VALLEY CORP MAY GET BACK CAPTIVE COAL BLOCKS DURING REALLOCATION

egNEW DELHI: The Centre is likely to reallocate to state-run firms such — as NTPC and Damodar Valley Corporation — as well as state government utilities their captive coal blocks that had been cancelled by the Supreme Court. This leaves only half of the mines for auction to the private sector in the first phase in December.

 

The coal ministry has assured most of the central public undertakings, state governments and their power and mining utilities that their previous blocks will be reallocated to them, a senior government official said.

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“In all probability, most government blocks will be returned to their previous owners, as demanded by the states and companies. The companies, however, will have to pay a price for the blocks and not be spared of the additional levy of Rs 295 per tonne as fixed by the Supreme Court,” said the official, who did not wish to be identified.

 

Of the 74 coal blocks expected to be auctioned by the government next month, about 33 belonged to government companies including NTPC, Damodar Valley Corp and state utilities of West Bengal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Punjab and Arunachal Pradesh.

 

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If required, the coal ministry can offer other blocks to government companies, the official said, adding that the ministry is in process of earmarking blocks for allocation under nomination process to government companies and auction to private firms. The move could offer some comfort to the state governments after the coal ordinance stripped them of their powers in the coal block allocation process.

 

The Coal Mines (Special Provision) Ordinance, 2014 gives the Centre complete right over coal blocks allocations, unlike the previous screening committee route under which the state governments were consulted for allotment.

 

The ordinance also suspended powers of state governments to prematurely terminate a mining lease for one year. Almost all affected state governments including Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal have written to the ministry seeking reallocation of blocks quashed by the Supreme Court. Representatives of the state governments and utilities have been meeting top coal ministry officials to press their demand for reallocation.

 

“The ministry has received letters from Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and the government of Maharashtra requesting reallotment of their coal blocks. The letters were received after issuance of the coal ordinance which does not provide for such reallocation,” the official said.

 

In September, the Supreme Court cancelled the allocation of coal blocks, including those that have started production, after declaring the allotment illegal and arbitrary. According to the coal ordinance issued on October 21, the government will ‘e-auction’ all the 204 cancelled captive coal blocks and 74 mines are expected to be put up for sale in the first round.

(Source: The Economic Times, November 17, 2014)

 

 

JSW ENERGY BUYS JAYPEE’S HYDRO PLANTS FOR Rs 9,700 CRORE

 

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: JSW Energy, controlled by billionaire Sajjan Jindal, has acquired two of Jaiprakash Power Ventures’ hydro power plants, with a combined capacity of 1,391 Mw, for Rs 9,700 crore.

 

The board of directors of Jaiprakash Power Ventures, a fully owned subsidiary of the Jaypee group, has approved the 100 per cent transfer of businesses of its operating power plants — the 300-Mw Baspa-II hydroelectric plant (commissioned in 2003) and the 1,091-Mw Karcham Wangtoo plant (commissioned in 2011), in Himachal Pradesh.

 

The price paid by JSW Energy, however, was higher than what analysts has estimated. “We expected Rs 9,000 crore for these assets. So, in our view, JSW Energy has overpaid about Rs 700 crore,” said Bhargav Buddhadev, an analyst with domestic brokerage Ambit Capital.

 

Jaypee’s entire hydropower portfolio of three plants was up for sale. Of these, JSW has bought two with an asset value of 50 years. Since the acquired capacity is operational, this deal would add to JSW’s generation capacity, revenue, PAT (profit after tax) and Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation). With a total hydro asset base of 1,300 Mw, JSW is now the largest private producer of hydro power in the country.

 

Earlier, Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance CleanGen had decided to buy Jaypee’s entire hydro portfolio but that deal had run into regulatory troubles. Before that, Abu Dhabi’s Taqa had pulled out of a deal to buy the assets for Rs 9,689 crore.

 

The Jaypee group, the largest private player earlier, has been selling assets to lower its debt burden. The standalone debt of the group’s flagship Jaiprakash Associates stood at Rs 28,164 crore as on March 31. Its interest cost in 2013-14 had almost doubled to Rs 6,094 crore from Rs 3,134 crore a year earlier.

 

“Jaypee Group continues to be on course to bring down its debt and consolidate its operations in the given economic scenario… With this transaction, we have demonstrated that precious assets of credible promoters always evoke interest, even when the economy is facing headwind,” said Group Chairman Manoj Gaur.

 

After the acquisition, JSW Energy’s aggregate installed and operational power-generation capacity has reached 4,531 Mw. “Considering the projects’ operational track record, with fairly stable hydrology, the acquisition will yield immediate cash flow. It is expected to enhance JSW Energy’s consolidated profitability & returns and create significant synergies,” the company said in a statement.

 

The acquisition also marks consolidation in the sector, which has been marred by over-leveraged balance sheets.

(Source: Business Standard, November 17, 2014)

 

 

KUDANKULAM NUCLEAR PLANT TO START COMMERCIAL OPS BY JAN 22

 

NEW DELHI: Commercial operations of the first 1,000 MW unit of Kudankulam nuclear power project is now expected to start by January 22, 2015, as an earlier deadline could not be met due to technical problems.

 

The Nuclear Power Corporation, which is implementing the 2,000 MW plant, has received permission from the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) for extending the deadline for commercial operation.

 

The plant, having two units of 1,000 MW capacity each, is being set up with technical cooperation of Russia. The first unit could not start commercial operations by the earlier specified date of October 22 on account of certain technical problems.

 

Nuclear Power Corp submitted before the CERC that technical problem relating to the turbine would be resolved by December 22, 2014 and sought one month time “for eventualities” during the rectification work.

 

Taking into consideration the technical problem, the regulator in an order dated November 10 has allowed Nuclear Power Corp to inject infirm power into the grid for the commissioning tests including full load test of the first unit till January 22, 2015.

 

Infirm power refers to supply that is not committed and mainly fed into the grid as part of testing purposes.

 

At Unit-I, the first and second stage turbine blades and diaphragm have been damaged which are being replaced by taking from Unit-II, according to Nuclear Power Corp.

 

“The replacement of blades and diaphragm would take about from 7 to 8 weeks time. Therefore, the COD is expected to be achieved by January 22, 2015,” the company had told the CERC.

 

Successful testing of reactor, turbine-generator, feed water pump system and the control and protection system of different transients are mandatory as per Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, before declaring Commercial Operation Date (COD) of the project.

 

COD refers to the day from which the unit starts full commercial generation of electricity.

 

CERC has also asked the company to file a status report on rectification work carried out at the unit by December 30.

 

Nuclear Power Corp, after synchronised the unit into the grid on July 15, had earlier planned to start commercial operations in September.

 

“However, while raising power, an increase in turbine thrust bearing temperature was observed and the temperature touched operational limit on reaching power level of 850 MW.

 

“For attending to the technical problem, Turbine-Generator was taken off the bar and reactor was shut down on September 26, 2014,” the company has informed CERC.

 

The turbine high pressure casing is being dismantled for carrying out inspection of the turbine and identify the problem along with specialists of the turbine manufacturer from Russia.

(Source: The Hindu, November 17, 2014)

 

INDIA WELCOMES G-20’S ENDORSEMENT OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY

 

NEW DELHI: For India, a small yet important success has come in the form of the G-20’s endorsement of energy efficiency as important to ensuring sustainable development and growth, and the push to industrialised countries to provide and “mobilise” finance to address climate change, including contributing to the Green Climate Fund.

 

The G-20 meet that concluded in Brisbane on Sunday also made it explicit that its efforts to address climate change would be in line with the decisions taken by countries in the UN-sponsored negotiations.

 

While it supports “strong and effective action” to address climate change, these actions would be consistent with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its “agreed” outcomes. The G-20 said its “efforts would support sustainable development, economic growth, and certainty for business and investments”.

 

Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu said the G-20’s recognition of the primacy of the UNFCCC was “very important”. “(On) climate change we are very keen that it should be under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change…there have been efforts to derail that process,” he said. “While climate change is necessary but at the same time some countries may not try to necessarily follow with the Framework Convention which was made under the United Nations aegis,” Prabhu said.

 

The US-China climate agreement aimed at limiting the amount of carbon emitted by the two countries, and US President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledging $3 billion and $1.5 billion contributions, respectively, to the Green Climate Fund put the issue of climate change on the agenda of the G-20 meet.

 

India, which had focused on remittance flows and black money besides economic growth jobs, was, unlike host Australia, not averse to reflecting concerns about climate change in the discussions and communique, provided that the primacy of the UN-led climate talks was not undermined.

 

“The G-20 has also addressed the issue related to climate change in a significant way,” Prabhu said at a press conference in Brisbane. The G-20 communique does a balancing act. If it acquiesced to demands from countries like India to clearly state the supremacy of the UNFCCC in climate-related matters, then it also gave space to the US and other developed countries as well.

 

The Brisbane communique refers to the proposed agreement as “under the UNFCCC” but doesn’t refer to the principles of the Convention. It goes on to describe the agreement that is to be finalised next year in Paris, as “applicable to all” without any reference to any form of differentiation between developed and developing countries.

 

Experts say that while the language of the communique in this regard was “interesting” the real gain is the acceptance by the G-20 that decisions on climate change have to be made under the aegis of the UNFCCC.

 

The other big gain was on the issue of climate finance and the agreement to provide for funds for both reduction of emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change. “The other important part has been the ‘adaptation’. Because, as you know, a country like India is facing enormous challenges in dealing with climate change, which is a reality as a result of past emissions. And, therefore, if the past emissions is a reality then adaptation is a necessity,” Prabhu said.

(Source: The Economic Times, November 17, 2014)

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