NEW DELHI:  India does not need to shoulder the responsibility of carbon cuts going by the “polluters pay” principal, but has respect for environment and is doing its share, Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal said today.

“By the ‘polluters pay’ principal, India does not need to shoulder the responsibility,” Mr Goyal said during an interaction with journalists at Indian Women Press Corps.

“But India does not shy away from its responsibility… People in India have always respected environment. We respect nature as god,” he said.

Comparing India with the US, he said in the latter, power is wasted as buildings are lit all night.

“In the US, you can see from your hotel window…. tall buildings lit brightly all night. If you have a telescope you can even what is written on the papers kept in the rooms.

“In India we do not waste energy,” he said.

The Minister also said that the central government is working actively with states to resolve power issues in the country.

He said he has been getting good response from the states and regular meetings are taking place.

About coal supply to power plants, Goyal said when the NDA government came to power, there was a major crisis.

“When we came, coal was a burning issue. Today there is enough coal for every plant,” he said.

“In two years, coal import for thermal plants will be zero,” he said.

The Minister said a network of train, and water ways is being developed to ensure uninterrupted coal supply to power plants.

New Delhi: The issue of burgeoning debt of power distribution companies will be sorted out soon as everybody is on board to resolve it, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday.

“Everybody is on board that discoms (issues) are going to be sorted out soon,” Mr Goyal said after many rounds of meetings with distribution companies and bankers here in the Capital.

Hit by subsidised tariffs, state electricity discoms are facing cash crunch and are incurring annual losses of about Rs 60,000 crore. This is also affecting public sector banks as their bad loans are rising. 

The Centre is working on recast debt of power distribution companies and a proposal in this regard is expected to be tabled before the Union Cabinet this month.  

The government wants to draw a long lasting financial restructuring plan that would provide incentives to discoms to generate more revenue. 

“Under the debt recast plan, the discoms will get some relief by way of reducing interest rate. That could be reduced from 11-12 per cent to 7-8 per cent. Besides the repayment tenure could be stretched,” a senior official of discom who attended the meeting on Friday said.

The Union Cabinet is expected to soon consider a proposal to recast over Rs 3 lakh crore loans of power distribution companies with a view to bring down their liabilities.

State-run electricity distributors are running out of cash and struggling to repay loans, squeezing banks’ ability to spur credit growth and undermining Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign to attract more energy-hungry manufacturers to build new factories.

The central government would like states to raise power prices gradually, but they must decide by themselves, Power Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters on Wednesday. 

State-run electricity distributors are running out of cash and struggling to repay loans, squeezing banks’ ability to spur credit growth and undermining Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign to attract more energy-hungry manufacturers to build new factories.

 Modi is to tell states to raise electricity prices in return for access to a financial bailout package, a politically contentious move that risks a backlash from farmers and consumers long used to free or cheap power.

The Power Ministry is working on a proposal to deal with over Rs 4 lakh crore loans of power distribution companies with a view to bring down their liabilities.

A proposal to provide permanent solution to issues of debt-ridden power distribution companies will be put before the Union Cabinet “very soon”, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said today.

Hit by subsidised tariffs, state electricity discoms are facing cash crunch and are incurring annual losses of about Rs 60,000 crore.

This is also affecting public sector banks as their bad loans are rising.

The Power Ministry is working on a proposal to deal with over Rs 4 lakh crore loans of power distribution companies with a view to bring down their liabilities. 

When asked about the ministry putting the proposal before the Cabinet, the minister said, “Very soon I can say at this juncture. The discussion with all major states facing problems are almost complete. I will meet Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister tomorrow in this regard”. 

Goyal has several rounds of meetings with different states including Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and bankers to sort out the issues relating to burgeoning debt ailing these discoms.

Earlier the UPA government had finalised a financial restructuring plan (FRP) for the discoms. But that did not serve as permanent solution.

About the banks’ readiness to take a hit by lower interest rate for these discoms, Goyal said, “I can assure you that every bank has hailed the innovative way in which a permanent resolution to the discom problems has been worked out. Banks are delighted at the entire proposal.”

Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal further said that the framework will completely liberalise the ability of the companies to use coal in the most cost-effective manner.

Government on Tuesday said it will soon notify the guidelines for swapping of coal linkages, a move that would help the nation save at least Rs 20,000 crore in electricity bills. 

“The correction of the grade of coal and the permission or ability to swap coal or exchange coal within plants, within the same company or even between the companies based on the guidelines — which we will be shortly notifying after approval — will help the nation save at least Rs 20,000 crore in power bills,” Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal said during a workshop here. 

He further said that the framework will completely liberalise the ability of the companies to use coal in the most cost-effective manner.

“We are looking at liberalising the coal linkages so that intra-company for example NTPC may have linkages for 45 plants it can swap it inter-se those plants in the most cost effective manner… states, public and private sector companies will also be permitted to exchange coal,” he said. 

On ailing discoms, he said that the government is working on a permanent solution and is in consultations with the states and ministries involved.

“We are working on final contours of our plan. It is being drawn up in consultation with the states which are largely affected with discom losses. We are also in consultations with various ministries involved and I am quite sure that we will find a permanent resolution to this problem,” Goyal said.

“Gradually, we will trace out the current level of losses which is Rs 60,000 core a year and hopefully not allow this situation to occur ever again,” he said. 

Although a majority of rural households do not have LPG or other clean cooking options, Uttar Pradesh scored better than other states while Jharkhand reported the lowest level of access to clean cooking energy, the survey found out.

Global investors are willing to commit up to USD 10 billion in the country’s renewable energy sector, Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said. 

“In one of my meetings in New York, a very large investor, which handles probably the world’s largest fund basket, has committed to me on the table that if you were to invite us to come in for renewable energy…then I’m willing to commit 10 billion dollars in a month,” he told reporters here. 

Goyal, who also holds the new and renewable energy portfolio, was speaking to reporters after the release of the report titled ‘Access to Clean Cooking Energy and Electricity – Survey of States’ (ACCESS). Replying to a query, he said the western world should give up its consumerist philosophy and actually start contributing to combating climate change.

At the function, he said: “The ACCESS study provides a holistic approach to analysing the deep distress in rural India due to poor cooking energy access and could be the handbook for all future discussions on this topic.”

“My government is committed to providing affordable and quality energy access to the entire country. I applaud the efforts of urban citizens who have already given up their LPG subsidies as part of the ‘Give it Up’ campaign. I would urge other citizens from urban India to do the same,” he said.

This will also have significant health benefits and improve the quality of life for an increased number of households, the Minister added. 

Goyal released an independent study by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), in collaboration with the Columbia University. According to the largest energy access survey in India, only a fifth of rural households have access to an LPG connection and 95 per cent of rural households use some form of traditional fuel for cooking.

Although a majority of rural households do not have LPG or other clean cooking options, Uttar Pradesh scored better than other states while Jharkhand reported the lowest level of access to clean cooking energy, the survey found out. 

ACCESS is India’s largest energy access survey, covering more than 8,500 households, 714 villages and 51 districts, across Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

The Union government has decided to revive the long-stricken Dabhol power plant by arriving at an arrangement in consultation in key stakeholders, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said today.

The Union government has decided to revive the long-stricken Dabhol power plant by arriving at an arrangement in consultation in key stakeholders, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said today.

The gas-fired 1,967 megawatt plant has remained shut since January last year for want of fuel after a decline in production at KG-D6 basin left it stranded.

But Goyal today said the project’s parent company, Ratnagiri Gas & Power Private Ltd (RGPPL), held a board meeting today where several issues were resolved and the project is expected to begin operations from November.

As part of the arrangement, RGPPL will be demerged into two separate companies owning the currently-defunct power plant and its LNG terminal, respectively. 

The central and state governments will provide financial support to the project, GAIL  will provide gas under the government’s recently-launched gas supply scheme for stranded power plants while NTPC  will operate it.

The Indian Railways will enter into a long-term power purchase agreement with the company at a price of Rs 4.7 per unit. 

RGPPL was formed jointly by NTPC and GAIL in 2005 to revive the controversial Dabhol plant in Maharashtra after it was shut down following a political controversy related to the pricing of its power sale deal with the state distribution company and after its erstwhile foreign promoter Enron went bankrupt.

RGPPL has debt of about Rs 8,500-9,000 crore, owned by banks such as SBI (Rs 1,750 crore), IDBI Bank (Rs 2,000 crore) and ICICI Bank (Rs 1,250-1,500 crore), among others, according to a Religare research note. 

Currently, NTPC and GAIL together hold about 51 percent stake in RGPPL; lenders, having converted part of their debt into equity, own about 35.5 percent while MSEB owns the remaining 13.5 percent.

Shedding light on the arrangement, IDBI Bank Deputy MD BK Batra told CNBC-TV18 that lenders and promoters (NTPC-GAIL) will jointly invest an additional Rs 1,000 crore in the demerged LNG company to help ramp up its capacity. 

IDBI’s own share of investment in the LNG plant would come to about Rs 125-150 crore.

The decision to demerge the LNG terminal — though an old proposal — is a sensible one, said former power secretary Anil Razdan.

“It makes perfect sense to make the LNG terminal a viable one because they were not able to get the required draft for six months of the year. So, if they need an investment of about Rs 1,000 crore, then the major partners should put in equity to make it a profitable venture,” he said.

On the power company front, IDBI’s Batra said the aim would be able to bring it up to a level where it is able to service its debt under the RBI’s 5/25 scheme.

Razdan hailed the government’s decision to allow Railways to buy power from the plant, saying that the government should now ensure the plant recieves enough gas for it to be able to go up to 50-60 percent capacity.

“The amount of gas they will currently get [under the stranded power plant scheme] will only cover about 350 megawatts,” he added.

The move to allow Railways to buy power is a “win-win”, former power secretary RV Shahi said. “The Railways’ cost of power procurement is quite high. With gas prices softening, there is further scope for the price to be reduced,” he said. 

“This is a big example of how everyone has come together to revive an asset and how we can get other productive assets up and running,” ICICI Bank CMD Chanda Kochhar told CNBC-TV18. 

“We should thank the FM, PMO, Railways and the Maharashtra government who have worked together to make this happen. Lenders worked with existing shareholders like NTPC and GAIL to revive Dabhol,” the ICICI chief added.