Amid anti-Telangana agitations impacting power supplies in Andhra Pradesh, the Union Power Ministry has set up a special team to monitor the functioning of electricity grid the state.
Power projects which have made good progress in land acquisition are likely to be accorded top priority for gas allocation.
In the new policy, which is likely to be called the Gas Linkage Policy, the government is mulling the option of giving preference in allotment to greenfield (new) power projects over brownfield (expansion).
The government will soon work on a plan to make electricity distribution grids 'smart', which may enable users to choose tariff plans and help distributors check power theft. The Power Ministry would shortly be setting up an 'India Smart Grid Task Force', to be chaired by Sam Pitroda, advisor to the Prime Minister on innovation.
The government will make energy efficiency labels mandatory for four appliances, including refrigerators and florescent lamps, from January 7 next year. So far energy efficiency labelling for electric appliances was voluntary under the Standards & Labelling Program being run by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, the Power Ministry's nodal agency on energy conservation.
Govt went against its own recommendation of Jun 20, 2007, where along with the 2 Jindal companies, it wanted 40% coal block to go to Lanco.
"Only one unit of APGenco's 234 MW Jurala Priyadarshini in Karnataka became functional during the previous fiscal," a power ministry official said.
The 1,967 MW plant has not been operating since August because of stoppage of natural gas supplies from domestic fields.
Jeffrey R Immelt, global chairman of General Electric Company was in New Delhi on Thursday as part of his three-day visit to India
With deficient monsoon reducing hydropower generation in the country by around 40 per cent, the power ministry has started stressing more on power from coal and natural gas.
The Union Cabinet in June decided to price all domestically produced natural gas at an average of the price prevailing at international gas trading hubs and the actual cost of importing liquid gas.
In a letter to the state principal secretary (energy and petrochemicals) S Jagdeesan on September 4, RIL executive director PMS Prasad said NTPC is currently buying natural gas on spot basis, which could potentially increase the cost of power by about Rs 1,500 crore.
NTPC has taken RIL to court seeking performance of a bid by the Mukesh Ambani firm to supply 12 million standard cubic meters per day of gas to its Kawas and Gandhar expansion projects at $2.34 per mmBtu. However, the oil ministry has opposed the same price in case of supplies to be made to Anil Ambani Group firm RNRL on the basis of a private family agreement.
State power utility NTPC Ltd will not lose any money even if it was to get natural gas at prices higher than those committed by Reliance Industries five years ago, the Power Ministry has told the committee on public undertakings.
RIL is charging $0.135 per million British thermal unit marketing margin on sale of gas from its eastern offshore KG-D6 fields, a levy which was opposed by state-run NTPC.
RIL has complained the to power ministry about NTPC's reluctance to sign an agreement to buy gas from it and said that the power PSU stands to lose Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion)on buying imported LNG.
The interlocutory application filed on Tuesday made it clear that $4.20 per mmBtu price approved by the government for RIL's KG-D6 gas was without prejudice to the state-run firm's case seeking the fuel from the Mukesh Ambani-run company at $2.34 per mmBtu price committed in 2004.
In the face of oil minister's comment that Reliance Industries Ltd gas to NTPC could be given at a government-approved price, the state-owned power major on Saturday said it will continue to fight legally for the fuel's contracted price and seek power ministry's help.
Reliance Industries is believed to have signed agreements to sell gas from its eastern offshore KG D-6 fields to six power producers, including GVK, in Andhra Pradesh.
Of this, Rs 6,090 crore (Rs 60.9 billion) is planned for the 11th Plan and Rs 14,030 crore (Rs 140.3 billion) for the 12th Plan.
NHPC plans to issue 10 per cent of its new equity shares in the public offer, while the government alongside will divest its five per cent stake in the company. According to the listing norms by market regulator Sebi, independent directors should form 50 per cent of the board which is headed by executive chairman. To meet Sebi norms, NHPC should have seven independent directors on board before it can go to the market.
Of the 17.99 mmcmd gas allocated to the power sector, gas supply pacts of only 2.67 mmcmd allocated to NTPC remained to be signed. NTPC's opposition has also delayed the GSPA for a separate 2.7 mmcmd allocated to the Dabhol power plant and the same is now slated to be signed next week.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-run Reliance Industries will sell natural gas from its eastern offshore KG-D6 fields to Anil Ambani Group firm's power plant in Andhra Pradesh at government approved rates.
"I could say 40,000 Mw is certainly achievable, 60,000 Mw is a possible target but 77,000 Mw looks a bit difficult," said Kirit Parikh, member (energy), Planning Commission. He attributed the apprehension over meeting the capacity addition target mainly to the non-achievement of financial closures of some projects. About 15 per cent -- 12,000 MW -- of the power generation target for the current Plan period has been achieved.
Wants another committee to review adverse report of experts against 6 dams
Fresh addition of power capacity in the first half of the 2008-09 financial year has fallen short of target by nearly two-thirds because of delays in supply of critical components for thermal projects and non-availability of fuel for a nuclear project.
"We have set a target of 5,653 MW capacity addition in the first 100 days of this government. We have already achieved 2,300 MW... We hope to achieve the target," Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters in New Delhi. The power ministry has added a meagre 15,000 MW capacity out of the targeted 78,700 MW, during the XIth Plan period (2007-12). "With proper planning and time bound implementation, we can achieve the target," Shinde said.
The power ministry had approached the department of disinvestment in August 2007 for approval for NTPC's FPO, which could fetch the company nearly Rs 6,000 crore to part-finance its expansion programme.
On paper, only 8,000 villages remain to be electrified in the country, but the situation on the ground shows euphoria over numbers is misplaced
Central Electricity Authority data reveal that orders for some higher capacity (500-800 Mw) equipment have not been placed.
Under attack over the alleged power projects scam in Arunachal Pradesh, Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday rejected allegations of wrongdoing and said those who have "planted" the story against him "will be beaten up with shoes".
The reshuffle is aimed at speeding up the implementation of the government's ambitious programmes like the SmartCity project and focus on key sectors like Mines, Information Technology and Road Transport.
A massive power failure hit Pakistan after midnight as authorities struggled on Sunday to restore electricity supply in the country which has been plagued by a crippling energy crisis.
Under the scheme, the government proposes to provide electricity to all households by December 2018, ahead of the earlier target of March, 2019.
With an eye on channelising domestic savings into the power sector, the finance ministry is considering granting income-tax exemptions for individual investments up to Rs 50,000 in power infrastructure bonds.
'There is space for many faces and many tongues in this Republic of ours. But it only has one Constitution, and its citizens are vigilant,' says Mitali Saran.
Energy-hungry India, which currently faces huge power deficit, will become an electricity surplus country in next four-five years, Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told Rajya Sabha on Monday.
Eight states will be knocking at the doors of the power ministry this month to seek more time to unbundle their State Electricity Boards into separate transmission, generation and distribution entities.
With a little bit of jugglery, the government will be able to meet its Eleventh Plan target of adding 78,000 Mw capacity -- more than the total capacity addition achieved in the last three Plans -- despite slippages in some of the projects.
The power minister briefed the investors on various steps undertaken by the government.
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