Category: Editorial

PGCIL lords over India’s electric power transmission infrastructure with a vast spread of inter-state and inter-region network. On top of it, PGCIL is also awarded projects on nomination basis. This combination enables PGCIL to offer really low bids and even bid at a loss. Some power transmission projects are awarded through Tariff Based Competitive Bidding […]

Defence sector production is fully liberalized. Government allows 100 per cent FDI, upto 49 per cent is under automatic route. Earlier stipulations of foreign OEMs being required to form jvs with domestic firms if they wanted to set up manufacturing units in India, have been done away with. All these changes happened way back in […]

Finally, the government has cracked the whip on non-submission of Letter of Credit (LoC) by discoms. Two issues forced the government’s hand. First there were huge unpaid power bills by discoms to the tune of Rs 30,522 crore at end of June 2019. Second, this non-paying behavior produces cascading financial stress for gencos which have […]

What should be the Renewable Power Obligation (RPO) of industries with Captive Power Plants? The Ministry of Power (MoP) had taken a balanced decision in its order dated Feb 1, 2019, wherein it had linked RPO cap with date of completion (CoD) of CPPs. This decision was arrived at after consultations with the Ministry of […]

The oil regulator, Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) wants to declare the Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) pipelines of BPCL and HPCL running between their Mumbai refineries and the Mumbai airport as common carrier. The impetus for this is, affordability and route navigation. Mumbai is an extremely congested city with heavy traffic, the airport […]

CBI has re-started investigations into the irregularities, violations related to the privatization of Delhi airport. The CBI has asked the ministry of civil aviation (MoCA) for complete OMDA files between AAI and GMR from beginning to till date. This is our four-part cover story for this edition. In 2006, the UPA-1 had awarded the contracts […]

The Part-II of FAME is here. Known by the acronym, it is actually the policy structure of incentives and promotion for the faster adoption of manufacturing of electric vehicles in India. It has already been implemented since Apr 1, 2019 and will have a validity of three years. The government is providing incentives to the […]

With Ayushman Bharat or Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), PM Modi has rolled out the biggest government funded healthcare plan anywhere in the world. The scheme which became operational on Sep 25, 2018 in a short span of five months is already reporting an impressive beginning. Details on pmjay.gov.in website shows that twenty states […]

The government is making a big push for electric vehicles. The growth forecast is high and the policy is clear. However, the uptake will depend on the ability of the state governments to create charging infrastructure. The policy field was cleared last year. The ministry of power clarified in Apr 2018 that charging stations do […]

More than 20,000 households of Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir have been electrified under Saubhagya. Most of the beneficiaries of the scheme are from BPL and SC/ST category. The scheme has given electricity to those who never saw lights in their life at their homes. They are happy and excited. The government has connected […]

The Supreme Court has given its ruling in the case of three Power Stress projects of Tata, Adani and Essar established in the state of Gujarat. The ruling comes after hearing all parties and after a six-year long legal process. The ruling was made on the joint application made to the Supreme Court by the […]

Power sector financial stats is thunderous. Gross loans and advances given to power sector as on June 2017, stood at Rs 559,025 crore, out of which Rs 37,941 has become NPA. Out of a total 40,130 MW stressed power assets, 24,405 MW capacity has been commissioned while the rest is at construction stage. Out of […]