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Quick update: Railways to set up captive nuclear power plants

The Railways plans to set up captive nuclear power plants to meet its rising demand for energy.

The Railways plans to set up captive nuclear power plants to meet its rising demand for energy. ?Talks are going on with Nuclear Power Corporation for setting up captive nuclear plants to cater to the growing demand of power for running an increased number of trains,? said a senior railway ministry official. There are about 42,00 electrical locomotives running, and out of the total 65,000-km rail route, 23,541 km has been electrified. The Railways spent R8,000 crore on electricity last fiscal while its diesel bill was around R15,000 crore. Captive power plants will reduce the Railways consumption rate to R4 a unit of electricity, from R5.4 now. Currently, the demand is about 3,000 MW of peak requirement and is estimated to reach about 5000 MW over the next ten years.

Jindal Power ties up R5,418-crore loans for Chhattisgarh plant

Jindal Power, a subsidiary of Jindal Steel and Power, has tied up R5,418 crore in loans for two units of its upcoming 2,400 MW generation plant in Chhattisgarh. The project at Tamnar comprises four units of 600 MW each and will cost about R13,500 crore. ?All the clearances are in place for the project. The first two units are near commissioning. They will cost approximately R7,740 crore, of which debt is R5,418 crore. This is being funded by a consortium of nine banks, led by State Bank of India?, Jindal Power?s director (finance) B S Raman said. The two units will get 65% of their coal requirement from Coal India, while the remainder will be met through imports.

Govt mulls compulsory purchase of hydro power by discoms

The ministry of power plans to make it compulsory for distribution companies to purchase a certain percentage of their energy requirements from hydel sources. Power minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said the ?Hydro Purchase Obligation (HPO)? being considered would be like the existing Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) that mandates power distribution companies to meet certain percentage of their energy needs by buying renewable power or green energy certificates.

Aviation policies implemented in ad-hoc manner: Capa

Major aviation policy decisions in India, like the FDI policy, have often been implemented in an ?ad hoc manner? and retraced at times, leading to political controversies, disillusioned investors and industry losses, aviation consultancy firm the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (Capa) said. ?India has made no serious attempt to address the industry?s core structural challenges, particularly the fiscal and cost environment.? In its ?India Aviation Outlook Report? for 2013-14, the Sydney-based firm said ?major decisions have been taken in the absence of a policy framework and without the institutional capabilities to assess and understand their implications.? Policy decisions were ?frequently implemented in an ad-hoc manner on the basis of limited consultation, without consideration for the overall structural dynamics of the industry and without sufficient clarity on the detail.?

Agreement signed to form implementation agency for RRTS

The NCR states and the Centre have entered into an agreement to form the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC). The agency would build three rapid regional transit system (RRTS) corridors connecting Delhi-Gurgaon-Alwar, Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut and Delhi-Panipat at a cost of R72,000 crore. Urban development secretary Sudhir Krishna said the RRTS corridors, expected to be built in five years once the construction work starts, would ?completely transform the National Capital Region?.

India?s logistics sector likely to cross $200-bn mark by 2020

India?s logistics sector is likely to cross the $200-billion mark by 2020, minister of state for road transport Sarvey Sathyanarayana said. ?Currently India?s logistics sector is valued at around $125 billion and likely to cross the $200 billion by 2020,? he said at a CII conference in Delhi. The logistics sector is projected to grow at 10 to 12% for the next three years.

GVK to go slow on oil & gas business

GVK Oil and Gas Ltd, GVK group?s oil and natural gas exploration wing, will go slow on investing further into the development of seven deep-water blocks it has on the west coast due to inordinate delay in getting government clearances. According to the latest annual report of GVK, the group which is primarily concentrating on the development of a $10-billion coal project in Australia for its future energy security, is disappointed with the ministry of defence restriction on proceeding further in some of the blocks.

Govt commissions study on special economic zones

Concerned over wanning interest of investors in SEZs, the government has commissioned a study to economic think-tank Icrier, which will look into the impact of free trade agreements on these zones. ?We have asked them (Icrier) to look into various facets of SEZs. In some quarter people have raised that tree trade agreements are affecting these zones. So how does the FTA environment affect the SEZ. This is also one of the mandate which we have given to them,? joint secretary in the commerce ministry Rajeev Arora said. The study will also look at the various schemes available for exporters outside the SEZs. The SEZ developers and units have demanded from the government that the export promotion schemes should be extended to the units in these enclaves as well.

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First published on: 07-08-2013 at 03:57 IST
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