GAUTAM ADANI PLANS A 5000 MW PUSH INTO POWER SECTOR

NEW DELHI: Gautam Adani plans to acquire power plants with a total capacity of 5,000 mw, but he will avoid aggressive bids to ensure good returns, a source close to the tycoon said a day after Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group outbid him to buy 1,800 mw hydro power capacity from Jaypee Group.

Gautam Adani is directly involved in evaluating offers and negotiations, something he left to company executives in the past, the source said. The company is in talks with several power sector players, including GMR, Lanco, Indiabulls, Avantha Power and Athena, the source said.

Another person in the Adani Group said there are many sellers in the market, offering projects with a combined capacity of nearly 50,000 mw.

The Adani Group was also in the race for the Jaypee’s assets, which Reliance Power clinched for about Rs 12,000 crore.

“Reliance Power offered Rs 12,300 crore. Adani found this price too high for 1,800 mw hydro power assets,” said the source.

According to the source Adani was not willing to go beyond Rs 11,000 crore as the return on equity, according to the group’s calculations, would have been much lower than its own benchmark of 12%.

The source said that JSW had offered an attractive value, but the proposal included a share-swap, which was not acceptable to the Jaypee group as it wanted cash to reduce its debt.

The Adani group is already India’s biggest private power producer with a capacity of 8,620 mw, but it plans to grow much bigger and is looking at various projects as a number of developers are willing to sell off their delayed and fuel-starved power generation projects.

“Adani Group is present in almost entire value chain of power sector through green field projects, starting from coal mining, transportation, generation and electricity transmission. The group is prepared to grow inorganically now and utilise its strengths to turnaround stranded assets acquired at prudent valuation,” said the source.

Industry officials say Adani Power, Reliance Power, Tata Power and Essar Power have started taking interests in acquisition opportunities despite their high level of debt.

“Adani Group has set vision to have 20,000 mw of generation capacity by 2020 and there are ample opportunities available to achieve its goal through acquisitions. It has decided to acquire power generation assets with potential to earn 11-12% return on equity. The group is open for both conventional and renewable power projects,” said a source close to Gautam Adani.

The Adani group’s power business has grown with the help of new projects developed from scratch. Its plans to buy new capacity would be a new strategic direction for the group. Reliance Power has also focused primarily on organic growth before its sudden announcement that it had signed an exclusive MoU to acquire three hydroelectric plants of the Jaypee group, which would help it diversify its largely thermal portfolio and make it the country’s biggest private player in the hydropower sector.

The power sector has been in turmoil for at least two years as new plants of thousands of megawatts have been stranded or under utilised due to severe fuel shortage. This has increased the debt of many companies to unmanageable levels and also raised concerns among banks and institutions that have lent large sums to developers.

However, the outlook has improved after recent government measures to push Coal India to increase production, speed up environmental clearances and begin discussions on ways to help gas starved plants start generation electricity.

(Source: The Economic Times, July 30, 2014)

DERC MOVE MAY HELP DISCOMS IN POWER PURCHASE

NEW DELHI: Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission is in the process of finalizing new demand side management regulations, expected to help all three discoms-BYPL, BRPL and Tata Power Delhi -plan their power procurement more efficiently. The regulations will help in managing the load demands between high and low peak periods, and is aimed at reducing the discoms’ overall power purchase costs.

Industry officials said the electricity demand curve in Delhi has seen a shift in recent years. “The load curve in Delhi is fluctuating. Earlier, we had one peak demand time, now there are at least two-one in the afternoons and one at night during summers. With this variation load curve, the management of power purchase becomes more difficult for companies because they need to procure more power for peak hours and end up having excess during non-peak hours. Selling power at non-peak hours doesn’t fetch much in the market either and discoms usually have to sell it at lower prices,” said DERC chairperson P D Sudhakar.

To resolve the problem, officials said the demand side management regulations would be aimed at reducing the demand for power at peak hours. ”

Manufacturing firms can be asked to shift their power consumption from identified peak hours to lean hours. By flattening the demand curve, it will be easier for power companies to distribute their overall power supply arrangements,” said a senior official. It will be along the same lines as time-of-the-day metering, but officials said, that for demand side management, consumers would be given incentives to shift their peak hour consumptions to non-peak hours. “There are certain things that can be shifted to lean hours. We will have to identify such consumers who can change their load pattern and give them adequate incentives to utilize power in lean hours as much as possible,” said an official.

DERC also said that its target for demand side management would be mostly consumers in the commercial and industrial categories. “Individual load for domestic consumers is very low and does not make much impact on load variations.

Domestic consumers shifting their consumption to lean hours won’t make much difference. We have to concentrate on high volume consumers,” Sudhakar said. The regulations are expected to be finalized within a month. A public hearing for the demand side management regulations has already been held and suggestions given by stakeholders are being incorporated in the regulations as well.

(Source: The Times of India, July 30, 2014)

GAURAV GOGOI PITCHES CONSTRUCTION OF HYDRO POWER PROJECTS ON RIVER BRAHMAPUTRA TO COUNTER CHINA

GUWAHATI: Assam Chief minister Tarun Gogoi’s son and first time MP, Gaurav Gogoi pitched for expediting the construction of hydro power projects on River Brahmaputra to counter China’s massive activity on Brahmaputra which is called Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet.

Union Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Santosh Kumar Gangwar in parliament recently stated Government of India is aware of construction activity on the Chinese side which is a Run of the River (RoR) hydroelectric project.

He had stated recently released ‘Outline of the 12th Five Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People’s Republic of China indicates that three more hydropower projects on the main stream of the Yarlung Tsangpo/Brahmaputra River in Tibet Autonomous Region have been approved for implementation by the Chinese authorities.

The MP from Koliabor, Gaurav added various use of river Brahmaputra including hydro power and transportation will help India in establishing users right over the river.

“Hydro-power is clean energy source and the projects on Brahmaputra need to be put on fast-track because China is also doing similar activities on the river. Fast the projects come up on Brahmaputra, Assam and parts of Northeast can overcome power crisis,” Gaurav said.

Several projects are facing logjam due to opposition from anti dam groups.

(Source: The Economic Times, July 30, 2014)

ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION DROPS AS RAINS LOWER DEMAND

NEW DELHI: With rains starting to cool down the country, power demand has started to taper off.

The national consumption of electricity in the last one week was 6.4 per cent lower than it was in the last week of June, data from the National Load Dispatch Centre show.

The effect of slowing demand has started to impact spot prices of electricity as well. On the Indian Electricity Exchange or IEX, spot prices for electricity came down 2 per cent month-on-month to Rs. 3.80 per unit (kilowatt hour) during July. In June, prices had risen 19 per cent month-on-month to reach Rs. 3.89 per unit.

As per the data, during the week of July 21-27, the total electricity consumption in India was 20,280.6 MU (million units) compared with 21,669.9 MU during the week of June 23-29. The average electricity consumption per day during the previous week was 2,897 MU.

Although electricity demand is coming down, power generators are taking no chances. The actual power generation in the country is beating the targeted power generation, data from the Central Electricity Authority show.

For example, on July 24, India’s power generators excluding renewable sources produced 2,801.04 MU of electricity, which was around 23 MU more than the targeted production.

In fact, between April 1 and July 24, power generators produced 5.34 per cent more electricity than the targeted production.

(Source: Business Line, July 30, 2014)

TATA POWER EXPLORES RENEWABLE ENERGY OPPORTUNITIES

NEW DELHI: To expand its clean energy portfolio, Tata Power is looking for opportunities in India as well as overseas, including in the Middle East and Africa.

The private power utility has an installed generation capacity of more than 8,580 MW, with around 1,170 MW coming from clean energy sources. Tata Power, Chief — Business Development, India Business & Renewables, Rahul Shah told PTI that the company was looking for opportunities in the renewable energy space, both within India and outside. Besides India, opportunities are being eyed in the Middle East, South East Asia and parts of Africa.

Out of current renewable capacity, hydel projects make up for about 447 MW while wind plants account for around 460 MW. The company aims to have 18,000 MW capacity by 2022, with 20-25 per cent contribution coming from clean energy sources.

Among others, the company is executing two wind power projects in South Africa, together having more than 220 MW capacity. These are being implemented through Cennergi (Pty) Ltd — a joint venture between Tata Power and Exxaro Resources.

As per the company’s latest annual report, it continues to evaluate investment opportunities in Africa, Turkey, Middle East, South East Asia and the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation) region. Apart from India, other SAARC members are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

“While Indian market continues to remain the primary focus of business for your company, it has started making investments into projects in select international geographies to strengthen and diversify its portfolio and for greater impetus for growth,” the report said.

Through its subsidiaries, Tata Power is also currently engaged in providing management and technical advisory services to two distribution companies in Nigeria.

(Source: The Economic Times, July 30, 2014)

AUDIT FIRMS VYING FOR ADVISORY MANDATE FOR R-POWER’S JAYPEE DEAL

NEW DELHI: Leading audit and financial advisory firms, including Ernst & Young, KPMG, Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers, are in talks with Reliance Power to get the “financial due diligence programme management” and “merger integration advisory” mandate from the Anil Ambani group to support it in its acquisition of three hydroelectric power plants from Jaypee Power Ventures Ltd.

The advisory deal, which is to the tune of Rs 10 crore, is expected to be one of the largest in this sector. A few days ago, Reliance Power piped its competitors to acquire the entire hydroelectric portfolio of the Jaypee group, which included the 300 Mw Baspa Stage 2 in Himachal Pradesh, the 1,091 Mw Karcham Wangtoo plant in HP and 400 Mw Vishnuprayag plant in Uttarakhand. The total portfolio that is being acquired will add in 1,800 Mw of additional capacity for Reliance Power. The company already has about 5,000 Mw of hydroelectric power assets in various parts of the country. A Reliance Power spokesperson declined to comment on the mandate.

A spokesperson at KPMG said, “We don’t comment on any specific company or individual; hence, we will not be able to respond to your queries as per our policies.” Deloitte declined comments, while emails to EY and PwC remained unanswered till the newspaper went to press.

The deal is valued at Rs 12,000 crore, which is higher than what Abu Dhabi National Energy Company had earlier valued at Rs 9,689 crore. The company had a few days ago pulled out of the deal after which the Adani group also had shown interest. The Anil Ambani group has already set up a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Power, which has been christened as Reliance CleanGen, to take over the assets.

According to sources, Reliance Power will take over around Rs 9,500 crore of the debt in these three plants, while the remaining Rs 2,500 crore will be infused as fresh equity in the new company. To finance the equity portion, it is in talks to rope in a minority financial investor apart from putting in money through its own internal accruals.

Reliance Power has cash reserves of around Rs 3,000 crore and is generating cash of Rs 1,500 crore annually. The company is also expected to refinance the debt, which has high rate of interest with cheaper debt of a longer maturity in order to reduce the interest outgo. Experts say one of the sources could be Chinese banks with which the group has had close relations and have received long-term loans at attractive interest rates.

In the power sector also, Reliance Power has bought bulk of its power equipment for its 400 Mw Sasan power plant from China, which has been supported with cheap loans from the country.

(Source: Business Standard, July 30, 2014)

TORRENT POWER POSTS NET PROFIT OF RS 86 CRORE IN Q1

AHMEDABAD: Torrent Power Limited reported a net profit of Rs 86.24 crore in the first quarter of 2014-15 as against net loss of Rs 7.39 crores reported during the first quarter of 2013-14, the company said in a statement.

“The company earned net profit (after minority interest) of Rs.86.24 crore in Q1 FY 2014-15 as against net loss (after minority interest) of Rs 7.39 crore during the comparable quarter of the previous year,” the statement said.

The total income from operations for Q1 stood at Rs 2,562.67 crores, up by 16.29 % from Rs 2,203.71 crores in the corresponding quarter of previous financial year, the statement said.

Torrent Power Limited, the Rs 8,932 crore integrated power utility of the Torrent Group, is among the the largest private sector players in the country in power generation, transmission and distribution. Its current generation capacity is 2002 MW and it distributes nearly 13.25 billion units to over 2.87 million customers in Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Surat in Gujarat, Bhiwandi in Maharashtra and Agra in Uttar Pradesh.

(Source: Business Standard, July 30, 2014)

INDIA AND RUSSIA HOLD MAJOR CONSULTATION TO SET UP 22 NUCLEAR POWER PROJECTS IN INDIA

NEW DELHI: India and Russia held major consultation in the realm of nuclear research away from the public eye ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Brazil in July.

Nuclear energy was a key element at Modi-Putin talks. Both countries are discussing to set up Russian assisted 22 nuclear power projects in India.

Last month a scientific forum was held at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in the Russian city of Dubna with support from both the governments. The aim of the forum were to strengthen the existing co-operation further as well as explore the possibility of stronger ties between scientific research centers of India and JINR in the fields of fundamental theoretical and experimental physics.

JINR is a large multidisciplinary scientific-research institute with unique set of the basic research instruments executing its program on basis of broad international cooperation, including 150 institutes and universities of Russia. JINR could serve as a “bridge” connecting Russian organizations with institutes and universities of India, facilitating mutually beneficial cooperation on Russian and Indian scientists, according to officials of the both governments.

The forum was participated by more than 60 leading reserchers from JINR member states and 20 reputed experts from leading scientific research institutions of India, in particular from TIFR (Mumbai), IMSc (Chennai), IISc (Bangaluru), IOP (Bhubaneswar), IACS (Kolkata), Calcutta University, BARC (Mumbai). Currently there were two Indian scientists who are working at JINR as employees.

One very important part of the forum was a series of visits of the Indian scientists to the unique experimental facilities of JINR that included the Nuclotron-M in LHEP, accelerator complex in FLNR, IBR-2 reactor and spectrometer complex in FLNP.

JINR was established through the Convention signed on 26 March 1956 in Moscow by representatives of eleven founding states to unite their scientific and material potential in order to study fundamental properties of matter. It was registered with the United Nations on 1 February 1957. The Institute is situated in Dubna 120 km to the north of Moscow. The main fields of JINR’s activity are theoretical and experimental studies in elementary particle physics, nuclear physics, and condensed matter physics.

JINR comprises seven Laboratories, each being comparable with a large institute in the scale and scope of investigations performed.

JINR has at present 18 Member States: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Cuba, Czech Republic, Georgia, Kazakhstan, D. P. Republic of Korea, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. Participation of Egypt, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Republic of South Africa and Serbia. This is on based on bilateral agreements signed on the governmental level.

(Source: The Economic Times, July 30, 2014)

BUSINESS FAMILIES’ NEXT GENERATION TAKES INTEREST IN SOLAR POWER PROJECTS

NEW DELHI: It’s the land of the rising sons. Many second-generation entrepreneurs from families that run businesses ranging from alcohol to education are seeing a new dawn in solar energy.

These families include those controlling the Emami Group, Ruchi Group, Mohan Breweries, Hero automobiles, Nova dairy products, Sintex water tanks, Cargo Motors and India Gate basmati producer KRBL.

Business is easy and profitable, and brings tax benefits, the stamp of being eco-friendly, as well as unlimited, free supply of the key input — sunlight. This year’s weak monsoon has made it even more attractive as sunny days in the usually cloudy period has brightened the slack season.

The Munjal family of Hero Moto-Corp has given responsibility of its renewables business to Rahul Munjal, who earned his degree in economics from University of Rochester, US.

Karan Dangayach, whose father heads water tanks maker Sintex, saw sunshine after studying marketing and sustainable enterprise at University of Michigan. He has promoted Shashwat Cleantech to develop solar projects and market solar water pump solutions.

Solar power inspires Ketan Mehta, 25, who studied at the Indian Institute of Technology-Roorkee and set up Ray Power Infra instead of joining his father’s Jodhpur National University.

The cost is higher for solar power than conventional sources on a per-megawatt basis, but these projects don’t rerequire huge funds since their size is usually small at between 1 MW and 50 MW, Mehta said.

“Hence, there is no entry barrier for those interested in the energy sector.” Mehta aims to commission 100 MW of solar power projects on its own and 200 MW of capacity as an engineering procurement and construction contractor in a year.

“It is refreshing to deal with this set of second-generation entrepreneurs, most of whom have had exposure to quality education in the West that has an influence on their thinking. The common theme among this set of promoters is a genuine concern for the environment plus their conviction that they can lead the change from profitability to sustainability, which is essential for the growth of their enterprise,” said Sujoy Ghosh, country head of First Solar for India, a US-based solar power equipment maker. Kameswara Rao, PwC India leader for energy utilities and mining, said limited risk and assured returns over long period make solar power attractive.

“Also, presence in renewable energy helps companies to showcase their commitment towards environment,” he said.

“Unlike conventional power projects, solar power has a very little downside due to shorter execution period.” Kuldeep Saluja, who runs the Rs 1,700-crore dairy firm that sells the Nova brand of milk products, is helping his 30-year-old son Sharad Saluja to install 10 MW of solar power project.

“No other business offers you payback period of less than six years and assured returns for 19 years,” the senior Saluja said. The family has also invested Rs 300 crore on wind projects.

National Solar Energy Federation of India chairman Pranav Mehta said renewable energy has given opportunity to a large number of new generation entrepreneurs in the power sector, which has been monopoly of the government and large industrial houses.

(Source: The Economic Times, July 29, 2014)

DELHI SCHOOLS TRY OUT SOLAR POWER

NEW DELHI: In a bid to increasing the use of solar power, several public schools are considering setting up roof-top solar power plants.

The environment department of Delhi government has already installed these in four government schools—Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalayas in Mayur Vihar Phase I, Mangolpuri, Jwalapuri and RK Puram, Sector 12—which will produce 10 kilowatt each.

Vasant Valley School set its kit up about a year-and-a-half ago. Principal Rekha Krishan says, “It takes care of about a third of our power requirement.”

Usha Ram, principal, Laxman Public School, too had tried to set up solar power plants for the hostel a couple of years ago, “but it didn’t work for us,” she says.

She’s keen to take it up again with the help of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). “We need it for our own requirement. We just need proper assistance,” she says.

After attending a workshop by TERI, some other schools are also considering this option.

“TERI conducted a workshop last week on roof-top photovoltaic systems and had invited teachers involved in the eco-clubs,” says Savita Mehta, VP communications, Amity, “But the costing and other aspects of the project have to be worked out.”

Springdales School, Pusa Road, principal, Ameeta Mulla Wattal says she’s been trying to go solar for about five years but it hasn’t worked out.

“At least five government empanelled agencies have done audits but it’s proving to be very expensive in spite of the subsidies. We do have a few water heaters and lamps but that’s more of a statement of sustainability.”

The projects at government schools, says a senior official in the environment department, will be funded by a mix of government agencies—30% by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and 70 per cent by Delhi government.

The Delhi State Industrial And Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd will provide technical support.

“The equipment has been installed but will be commissioned in a month or so,” said the official.

(Source: The Economic Times, July 30, 2014)

ASTONFIELD RENEWABLES BAGS 4 MW SOLAR POWER PROJECTS IN MAURITIUS

KOLKATA: Astonfield Renewables, a renewable energy company floated by Sourabh Sen with headquarters in New York and Mumbai, has won an order for two solar power projects with 4 mw capacity in Mauritius under the government’s 10 mw solar photovoltaic (PV) programme.

The firm’s bid emerged among the top three of the 56 submitted by leading solar PV developers across the globe, the company said in a statement. “Astonfield is one of only three companies to have been awarded this tender capturing 40% of the allocated projects,” said the company, which has operations spread across India, eastern Africa and the Middle East.

“One of the first multinational solar PV developers to be awarded utility-scale solar PV power projects in Africa, Astonfield, will leverage its presence in India and its global development expertise to deploy the most efficient and technologically advanced solar PV projects in Mauritius,” the statement said.

The company plans to invest about $8.2 million to develop the projects, with two major local banks vying to provide the financing. The first 2 mw project to be located in La Gaulette will be developed by Astonfield while the second project, to be located in Union Flacq, will be developed in partnership with Alteo Energy.

Co-chairman and director of Astonfield Renewables, Ameet Shah said, “With this additional capacity, Mauritius is positioning itself to be the clean energy hub for not only its territory but also East Africa as we are determined to use the country as a platform for financing activities, engineering and project management related work.”

Shah, who was appointed to the prestigious US Department of Commerce Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee, added, “Mauritius has taken a bold step in reducing its dependency on fossil fuels, especially being such a small island and much more vulnerable to climate change. Since the country benefits from great solar resources throughout the year, it makes sense to make the most out of it. These projects are in synch with the Maurice Ile Durable concept.”

(Source: The Economic Times, July 30, 2014)

GE INVESTS IN THREE WIND PROJECTS IN INDIA

NEW DELHI: GE Energy Financial Services has bought stakes in three wind projects of Atria Power that will have a total capacity of 126 MW when ready. This is part of GE’s commitment to invest $1 billion annually in renewable energy projects worldwide. GE Energy Financial Services and Atria Power did not disclose financial details.

Located in Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh, the first project of 25.6 MW is expected to commence commercial operations in September. The two other projects, of 50 MW each, are located in Betul district of Madhya Pradesh and expected to start commercial operations in December this year and June 2015, respectively.

“GE’s global experience, financial structuring capabilities and commitment to advanced technology complements our strategy to develop low-cost renewable energy projects with maximum energy output,” Atria Power director Sunder Raju said in a company statement.

The projects will use GE 1.6-87.5 wind turbines, serviced by the company under an operations and maintenance agreement, to generate 76 MW of the total capacity. Additional turbines will be supplied and serviced by another manufacturer to generate 50 MW. Atria Power manages construction and operations.

Raghuveer Kurada, business leader for India and Southeast Asia at GE Energy Financial Services, stated that partnering with Atria Power accelerates its global growth and the India wind portfolio. GE Energy Financial Services is one of the world’s biggest investors in wind power, with a portfolio of projects spanning nine countries and a capacity totalling more than 13,000 MW in operation or under construction.

Kin Advisors was the exclusive advisor to Atria Power on this transaction. Atria Power has a 125 MW renewable energy portfolio, and plans for an additional 700 MW in wind and solar.

(Source: The Economic Times, July 29, 2014)

COAL MINISTRY TO REVIEW STATUS OF FORMATION OF JV, SPV NEXT WEEK

NEW DELHI: The Coal Ministry has convened a meeting next week to review the progress on setting up special purpose vehicles (SPV) and joint ventures (JV) among state-owned firms which have been jointly allocated coal blocks.

“Additional Secretary, Ministry of Coal, will hold a meeting with the representatives of the state government on August 4…to review the current status of formation of SPV/JV company amongst the state government companies/corporations, those who have been allocated coal blocks jointly for the end use i.e power as well as for mining,” according to the meeting notice.

The Coal Ministry had earlier asked states to advise the companies that have been allocated mines to either form SPVs or JVs for projects.

Kick-starting the process of coal blocks allocation, the government had last year allocated 17 coal mines – 14 to power and 3 to mining public sector undertakings (PSUs).

Of the 14 blocks allotted to power PSUs, four were allotted to NTPC.

Other power PSUs that were allocated mines included Neyveli Uttar Pradesh Power Ltd, Odisha Thermal Power Corp, Jammu & Kashmir State Power Dev Corp, Chhattisgarh State Power Gen Co Ltd, Andhra Pradesh Generation Co, Maharashtra State Power Generation Co, Rajasthan Vidyut Utpadan Nigam and Punjab State Power Corp Ltd.

Three blocks were allotted to mining PSUs like Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corp and MP State Mining Corporation Ltd.

(Source: The Economic Times, July 30, 2014)

COAL MINISTRY COLD TO CIL STAKE SALE

NEW DELHI: The government’s disinvestment plan, which depends heavily on a proposed 10% sale of its equity in Coal India (CIL), could face a hurdle with the coal ministry being ambivalent to the proposal.

In response to a department of disinvestment (DoD) note, the coal ministry — cautious not to be seen as working against the interest of workers — has not given a clear-cut approval to the proposed disinvestment in the coal major. But it has not said a strict ‘no’ either and left it to the finance ministry to take a call on the modalities and timing of the stake sale.

In a veiled warning, the ministry said the CIL disinvestment would not be easy. It pointed out how CIL workers’ unions had threatened to go on a nationwide agitation when the UPA government tried to push through the share sale in December 2013 and, again, in January this year.

The Modi government has targeted an ambitious R63,425-crore mop-up from disinvestment in FY15. The proposed 10% stake sale in CIL alone is expected to fetch around R24,000 crore, more than a third of the total annual target. Sources said the coal ministry’s response over CIL disinvestment was sent to DoD in the second week of July. While it has put the ball in the finance ministry’s court, officials in the coal ministry said it would soon hold meetings with trade unions to build consensus and take them on board over the proposal.

Sources said there could be an offer for higher quota of government shares to employees at a discounted price. Several CIL employees could not get company shares reserved under the staff quota during its IPO. The last government even thought of providing these employees shares in the company at the IPO price under a special offer programme.

(Source: The Financial Express, July 30, 2014)

AUSTRALIA APPROVES ADANI’S $15.5 BILLION CARMICHAEL COAL PROJECT

MELBOURNE: The Australian government on Monday approved Indian firm Adani Mining Pty Ltd’s controversial A$16.5 billion ($15.5 billion) Carmichael coal and rail project in Queensland, subject to strict conditions to protect groundwater.

The Carmichael mine, which could become Australia’s largest coal mine at 60 million tonnes a year, has sparked protests from green groups and marine tour operators worried about carbon pollution and export of the coal from a port near the Great Barrier Reef.

Greenpeace said the conditions imposed on the project would do little to protect the environment from the bigger impact of shipping through the World Heritage-listed reef and burning the huge amounts of coal the mine will produce.

“A massive coal mine that will damage the Great Barrier Reef and do damage to the local environment and fuel climate change is not protecting the environment,” said Ben Pearson, Australia Pacific programme director for Greenpeace.

The Carmichael coal lode is in the outback Galilee Basin, where massive reserves of coal remain untapped due to the hefty costs of building ports and rail lines to the east coast nearly 500 kilometres (310 miles) away.

Hurdles to Galilee Basin projects have increased as coal prices have sunk to near five-year lows and as global pressure to cut coal to curb carbon emissions has stoked uncertainty over long-term demand, making it tough to raise funds for projects.

Despite the challenges, Adani and compatriot GVK, which is working on a rival Galilee Basin coal project with Australia’s richest woman, Gina Rinehart, are still planning to build large new mines, rail lines and a port terminal.

“We welcome the Minister’s approval of the Carmichael Mine and Rail project, which takes us another step closer to delivering our multi-billion dollar mine, rail and port development,” Adani Chairman Gautam Adani said in a statement.

The environmental conditions imposed on Adani’s project were largely to address concerns raised by landowners worried that coal projects in the area will affect groundwater supply from the Great Artesian Basin.

“The strict conditions will ensure the protection of the environment as a paramount concern,” Australia’s environment minister, Greg Hunt, said in a statement.

Adani, which recently lined up South Korea’s POSCO Engineering & Construction Co Ltd to build the rail line for the project, aims to start producing in 2017, which would be three years behind its original target.

Adani and GVK’s combined port plan had already won government approval, but that is being challenged by green groups and marine tour operators.

(Source: The Economic Times, July 29, 2014)

GVK TOKISUD TO BEGIN COAL PRODUCTION BY NOVEMBER

HYDERABAD: GVK Coal (Tokisud) Company, a subsidiary of GVK Power & Infrastructure Ltd, expects to start coal production at its Tokisud mine in Jharkhand and supply the fuel to the parent company’s 540-MW Goindwal Sahib thermal power plant in Punjab by November.

The diversified Hyderabad-based infrastructure company, which has commissioned the plant at an investment of about Rs. 4,000 crore, is expected to begin power generation by December once the coal supplies from the Tokisud mine are steady.

The Tokisud mines have 52 million tonnes (mt) of reserves and is expected to supply around 2.32 mt a year to the Goindwal Sahib project.

In addition, GVK expects to commission the Seregarha mine, also in Jharkhand, shortly. GVK has a 55 per cent stake in Seregarha Mine Ltd that owns the asset, while steelmaker Arcelor Mittal holds the rest. GVK has invested around Rs. 450 crore to develop the mine, which is estimated to have 66.6 mt reserves. Once operational, it will be able to contribute 1 mt coal a year to the Goindwal plant, according to GVK’s annual report.

Besides, GVK’s 330-MW Alaknanda hydro electric project, being set up at an investment of Rs. 4,750 crore in Gugali, Uttarakhand, is nearing completion.

The company had originally planned to begin commercial operations in the middle of 2013. But the natural calamity of June 2013 in Uttarakhand delayed the operations. With the restoration works completed, the company expects to commence power generation shortly.

GVK’s gas-fired projects continue to suffer because of inadequate fuel supply. The company hopes alternative gas supply arrangements to come through.

Meanwhile, GVK has submitted a revised proposal for the Shivpuri Dewas Expressway to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The decision follows the NHAI invitation to reconsider the company’s earlier decision to terminate the contract. GVK had signed a concession agreement with the NHAI for four-laning of Shivpuri Dewas section of National Highway No.3 for a stretch of 342 km in Madhya Pradesh, with a concession period of 30 years.

It had served the termination notice as the NHAI could not provide 80 per cent of the land and environment clearance.

(Source: Business Line, July 30, 2014)

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