Refineries

IOCL, BPCL and HPCL have formed a joint venture company – Ratnagiri Refinery Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPL) – for setting up of a 60 MMTPA grass root refinery cum Petrochemical Complex in Maharashtra at an estimated cost of Rs 3.5 lakh crore.

TAPI

On 23.02.2018 Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India (TAPI) ceremonially broke ground on the Afghan section of an ambitious, multi-billion dollar gas pipeline, expected to help ease energy deficits in South Asia.

Ethanol Blending

The government, through Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), is implementing the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme under which, OMCs sell ethanol blended petrol (EBP) of upto 10 per cent. Since its inception, the scope of EBP Programme has been progressively widened to 21 States and 4 Union Territories.

Budget 2018

The Union Budget for 2018-19 will have an overall positive impact on the power sector as the thrust towards expanding electricity access through flagship schemes is expected to boost demand. The budget allocates Rs 3,800 crore for Deendayal Upadhayaya Gram Jyoti Yojna (DUGJY) and Rs 4,900 crore for Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS). The government […]

Affordable flying

On April 27, 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the RCS scheme in Shimla to boost air travel between smaller cities by making flights far more affordable for “tier 2” and smaller towns. “I want to see people who wear hawai chappal (flip flops) in a hawai jahaz (airplane),” Mr Modi said. That was the […]

To ramp-up production

After a gap of nearly two years, the coal ministry has restarted the process of allocating mines. It has allocated 11 coal blocks to three subsidiaries of Coal India Ltd. Of these 11 mines, 5 are de-allocated and six are new mines. These blocks are estimated to have a production of 225 mn tonnes per […]

Indonesian Coal Scam

On January 22, 2018, the CBI has registered a case against Ahmed AR Buhari, promoter of Chennai based Coastal Energy Pvt Ltd (CEPL), and unknown officials of NTPC, APCPL and MMTC for causing Rs 487 crore loss to NTPC and APCPL in the import of coals from Indonesia during FY12 to FY15.

14 CEZs to create local jobs

For promoting port-led industrialization, the government has identified 14 Coastal Economic Zones (CEZs) covering all the Maritime States and Union Territories under the Sagarmala programme. The National Perspective Plan for all 14 CEZs have been prepared in consultation with relevant state governments and central ministries.

UPERC restores PPAs for 540 MW

The UP Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) has given a new lease of life to Bajaj Energy Pvt Ltd’s (BEPL) five thermal power plants that the private developer had to shut down after the UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) unilaterally terminated power purchase agreements (PPAs) with the company in August last year.