India will invest Rs127 billion on lines to transmit power from solar parks to enable Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of boosting clean energy capacity to 175 gigawatts by 2022.
The dedicated transmission lines, part of the so-called green corridor project, will transmit 20 gigawatts of power capacity from 34 solar parks across 21 states, the government said Wednesday in a series of reports commissioned by minister for power, coal and mines Piyush Goyal. The reports were written by Power Grid Corp. of India Ltd to develop plans to integrate renewable energy on the national grid.
The green-energy corridor is part of the country’s plans to boost transmission capacity to enable a seamless flow of electricity from clean electricity producing states to consuming states that face power shortages. New lines will also help manage intermittency challenges of renewable energy, especially as clean sources increase their share of power generation to almost 50% in some states.
The inter-state portion of the transmission investments will cost Rs80 billion, while intra-state lines will require another Rs47.45 billion, according to the government.
India will receive a soft loan of about €1billion for the corridor’s development from the German development bank KfW, Goyal informed India’s lower house of Parliament last week.
Intra-state transmission under the plan will be funded through a 20% equity state held by the state government, 40% in the form of a grant from the National Clean Energy Fund and the soft loan accounting for the remaining 40%.
The inter-state transmission schemes are to be funded as 30% equity by Power Grid Corp. and 70% as a soft loan, according to Goyal.
Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) has distributed over 1.4 crore LED bulbs across the 30 districts of Karnataka. The distribution has led to a saving of Rs. 729 crore annually in consumer bills.
The price of LED bulbs under the UJALA programme has been lowered to Rs. 65 per 9W LED bulb.
The bulbs are made available in Karnataka under the Hosa Belaku programme. The 9W LED bulbs can now be procured at the revised, lower rates at the following locations: BESCOM corporate office, KR Circle, Bengaluru One centres, Karnataka One centres at Hubballi, Dharwad, Gulbarga, Mysuru, Ballari, Davanagere, Belgavi, Gadag, Tumkuru, Shimoga and major post offices in Bengaluru.
EESL, under the Ministry of Power, is the execution agency for this scheme and has advised the consumers not to pay more than Rs. 65 per bulb.
Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines, Shri Piyush Goyal launched ‘Coal Mitra’, a Web portal for flexibility in Utilization of Domestic Coal and released reports on ‘Renewable Energy Integration: Transmission an Enabler’, ‘Green Energy Corridor II’ and ‘Electricity Demand Pattern Analysis’, here today. He was presiding over an event, ‘Empowering the Grid to meet Future Challenges’, organized by the Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (PGCIL), under the auspices of Ministry of Power.
The Coal Mitra Web Portal has been designed to bring about flexibility in Utilization of Domestic Coal by transferring the reserves to more cost efficient State/Centre owned or Private sector generating stations, leading to lower generation costs and ultimately lesser cost of electricity for the consumers.
The web portal would be used by the State/Central Gencos to display information about normative fixed and variable charges of electricity for the previous month as well as margin available for additional generation so as to enable the utilities identify stations for transfer of coal. It would host data on Operational and Financial parameters of each coal based station; Quantity and source of supply coal to the power plant; and Distance of Power plant form the Coal mine.
The Cabinet, on 4th May 2016, approved the proposal for allowing flexibility in utilization of domestic coal amongst power generating stations. Further, Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has issued the methodology for this on 8th June 2016, followed by the issuance of a memorandum by the Ministry of Power on 10th June 2016. The methodology for use of transferred coal in Independent Power Producers (IPPs) generating stations would be issued separately.
During the event, Shri Goyal would be releasing 3 reports viz., ‘Renewable Energy Integration: Transmission, an Enabler’, ‘Green Energy Corridors – II’ and ‘Electricity Demand Pattern Analysis’. The first two reports, prepared by PGCIL, cover aspects of comprehensive transmission plan to integrate renewable energy sources into the National Grid and role of Transmission as an Enabler in growing Renewable Energy (RE) penetration scenario. The last report has been prepared by Power System Operation Corporation Limited (POSOCO).
The ‘Renewable Energy Integration: Transmission, an Enabler’ report covers the study of balancing and stability issues for 15% & 30% RE capacity penetration and the aspects of Balancing Reserve Analysis with Thermal Power Plants, both gas and supercritical coal, Reservoir type Hydro & Pumped Storage Plants and the Way forward.
The ‘Green Energy Corridors-II’ (Part-A) report details about the identified capacity of Solar Parks and transmission infrastructure requirement in various states at Intra-State and Inter-state level. It inter-alia covers the financing options available for rationalization of transmission tariff and the challenges to be addressed to facilitate smooth integration of solar power parks.
The ‘Electricity Demand Pattern Analysis’ report covers the analysis of data archived by POSOCO since 2008 with insights towards diurnal, seasonal and yearly demand patterns, decomposition of demand data into seasonal trends at all levels – National, regional and individual State level. The Demand Pattern Analysis may be used by Central and state level planning agencies for Generation, transmission and distribution planning, Identification of areas/sectors with maximum growth and Behavioral pattern of the population residing in that state/ region. It can also be used as valuable input for research by the academia and the industry.
Making a new announcement at the event, Shri Goyal said that the Power Ministry has approved that henceforth Government and PSUs would be able to swap coal with private companies. Further, he said, “I would like to see the Coal sector open up and achieve the next level of Efficiency in power generation. For this the Ministry is working tirelessly and guidelines for coal swapping would be out in next 30 days.” He envisioned this coal swapping initiative to be cross sectoral and not confined to the power to power sector swaps.
Congratulating PGCIL on achieving 1 lakh crore market capitalization, Shri Goyal said that it is no mean feat to achieve, especially looking at the current state of the global economy. He asked the Maharatna company to develop a robust mechanism to unlock its capital and expand the portfolio rapidly to achieve the target to integrate 175GW Renewable Energy in the National Grid and reach out to 5 crore families still without power. Shri Goyal exhorted PGCIL to grow from an Asset Holding Company to a Project Management and Implementing company. The Minister also commended PGCIL’s exemplary work done in Varanasi to untangle overhead transmission lines by laying down underground cables, a step that needs to be replicated across the nation, he said.
Expressing conviction in India’s global leadership in technical and human skills, the Minister said that in the next 15 years India would quadruple its energy capacity. Shri Goyal also directed the Ministry officials to chalk out a plan to guarantee 24×7 Power to all Telecom towers in the country. “Not a drop of diesel would be used in any telecom tower in the country. Find a way how to achieve this”, he said.
Going a step further, the Minister gave everyone a food for thought when he envisioned the mapping of essential utilities/services like education, health, water supply, power sector infrastructure etc. into mobile apps and then draw up a plan to ensure uninterrupted power supply to all of them. He said that building such a cohesive platform would automatically ensure 24×7 Power for All in the times to come.
Other dignitaries present at the event were Shri P.K. Pujari, Secretary Power, Shri S.D. Dubey, Chairman, CEA, Shri I.S. Jha, CMD, PGCIL, along with senior officials of the Power Ministry, Heads of State Utilities and officials from International Financing Agencies.
Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) has distributed over 1.4 crore LED bulbs across the 30 districts of Karnataka. The distribution has led to a saving of Rs. 729 crore annually in consumer bills.
The price of LED bulbs under the UJALA programme has been lowered to Rs. 65 per 9W LED bulb.
The bulbs are made available in Karnataka under the Hosa Belaku programme. The 9W LED bulbs can now be procured at the revised, lower rates at the following locations: BESCOM corporate office, KR Circle, Bengaluru One centres, Karnataka One centres at Hubballi, Dharwad, Gulbarga, Mysuru, Ballari, Davanagere, Belgavi, Gadag, Tumkuru, Shimoga and major post offices in Bengaluru.
EESL, under the Ministry of Power, is the execution agency for this scheme and has advised the consumers not to pay more than Rs. 65 per bulb.
While Launching the Garv-II mobile App for tracking rural electrification in real-time basis on Tuesday, Union minister of state for power, coal, mines and RE, Piyush Goyal also unveiled the Citizen Engagement Window ‘SAMVAD’ which has been created to enhance participation of public at large.
GARV-II also has a citizen engagement window ‘SAMVAD’to enhance participation.
People can contribute in the programme by providing their feedback and suggestions which shall be automatically forwarded to the concerned Managing Directors and Superintending Engineers of DISCOMs through SMS & Email on their dashboard.
During the Garv-II launch event, the Minister presented awards to the best performing GVAs as well as the Digital India Award 2016 to GARV for featuring in the Top 3 best Apps that have played a pioneering role in bringing Good Governance in the country.
Goyal Launches Citizen Engagement Window `SAMVAD’ As Part of Mobile App Garv II
While Launching the Garv-II mobile App for tracking rural electrification in real-time basis on Tuesday, Union minister of state for power, coal, mines and RE, Piyush Goyal also unveiled the Citizen Engagement Window ‘SAMVAD’ which has been created to enhance participation of public at large.
SAMVAD is part of the GARV-II mobile App and is aimed at enhancing citizen engagement. People can contribute in the programme by providing their feedback and suggestions which shall be automatically forwarded to the concerned Managing Directors and Superintending Engineers of DISCOMs through SMS & Email on their dashboard.
During the Garv-II launch event, the Minister presented awards to the best performing GVAsas well as the Digital India Award 2016 to GARV for featuring in the Top 3 best Apps that have played a pioneering role in bringing Good Governance in the country.
Over 400 GVAs from 19 States,who interacted with the Minister. State Power Secretaries from 29 States were also connected through video conferencing.
Govt. plans to replace gold import with mining of high-value products to improve India’s current account deficit.
The demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes is being seen positively by a large part of the population cutting across the lines of age, income levels and area of residence, a nationwide survey conducted by C-Voter has suggested. A whopping 80-86 percent of those surveyed said the inconvenience caused by the demonetisation is worth the effort of combating black money.
C-Voter, an international polling agency headquartered in India, conducted its survey in close to half the total parliamentary constituencies on Monday.
The wide-ranging support for the demonetisation cut across the barriers of categorisation. The numbers remained consistently high when broken down on the basis of area of residence, income levels or by age groups.
A landslide 86 percent of the respondents living in urban and rural areas said the inconvenience was worth it. This was 80.6 percent in semi-urban areas. The highest level of support however seems to come from those from the higher income group, 90.6 percent of whom said the move is worth it. Also tellingly, the lowest level of support in the ‘below 25’, 25-45, 45-60 and 60+ was 83.3 percent.
A picture of broad support also emerged for those who thought the demonetisation was a ‘good move and equally well implemented’. This sentiment was reflected in 71 percent of those surveyed in urban areas, 65.1 percent in semi-rural zones and 59.4 percent of rural respondents.
Conversely, 23.8 percent of urban, 24.3 percent of semi-urban and 36 percent of rural respondents agreed with the charge of some opposition parties that demonetisation was a ‘good step but poorly implemented’.
Source Link : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Over-80-percent-dont-mind-inconvenience-of-demonetisation-says-C-Voter-poll/articleshow/55566700.cms
Demonetisation will help lower the burden on honest taxpayers and extract more from the dishonest, said Union Minister Piyush Goyal . In an interview with Himangshu Watts , he also said people queuing up at ATMs should realise electronic money transfer is the way forward. Edited excerpts:
Is demonetisation an opportunity?
It’s a huge opportunity to prepare India to offer its people a better quality of life, an opportunity to rid the country of black money, corruption, terrorism and drug financing through fake currency. It’s an impactful measure to bring down the use of cash, encourage people to use the banking system.
What will be the impact?
As India becomes more tax-compliant, government revenues will improve and we will be able to serve the poor better. We can have better roads, healthcare, education and improve the life of farmers. As the country moves towards banking transactions, taxes can be collected more efficiently and effectively, which will help bring down tax rates. Inflation can be brought under control, because cash is used for hoarding also. If inflation is brought down, interest rates will fall. Once rates fall, we have the opportunity to, maybe, achieve the goal of ‘housing for all’ faster; take roads, infrastructure to India’s interiors.
How has the banking system responded to the task?
I don’t see any parallel (of such an operation) in the world… (with) such large amounts of currency to be moved through a country of the size of India. There are two lakh ATMs to be recalibrated. Each takes 3-4 hours. It’s a task of unparalleled scale which India has successfully achieved. What gains can people expect? There will be 100% gains. The finance minister and the Prime Minister will let the nation know.
How does the unreturned currency flow to the government?
Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it. But very clearly, whatever doesn’t come back (is) extinguished liability for the RBI.
Will it be used for social welfare?
There are two streams of benefits. One, there is more honesty in the system and it becomes more difficult to become dishonest. The corrupt are fearful that this government means business. More taxes mean more money to spend for public welfare. Also, the black money that comes out ensures funds to serve the people.
How exactly do people benefit?
It means the dishonest will have to pay more tax. For the honest, there will be less tax. Less tax from the honest and more tax from the dishonest.
Will tax rates fall?
That is for the finance minister to say.
How will demonetisation change elections?
All parties should welcome it. One big source of funding for a cadrebased party like BJP is to take donations from workers and supporters. The other is larger donations above Rs 20,000, which are also easier to collect, and where donors, or corporates, also show sensitivity towards clean politics. As more people start approaching donors for clean money, it will help clean up the political process.
Will the election atmosphere be different?
I’m sure corrupt practices will come down. There are rumours that some parties and leaders take money to give seats to candidates.
What about political opposition?
Today, we have the Communists and Mamata Banerjee attacking us. I’d like to ask them to answer to the poor —labourers in tea gardens, coffee plantations, and contract workers — who are paid in cash. What is their interest that those people should be paid in cash, not cheque? Is it not a fact that contractors don’t even pay minimum wages? We’ve increased minimum wages by 42%. We’re not confident that contractors pass it on to the poor. Very often, they take thumb impression or signature on blank paper.
Trade has been disrupted.
There is a short-term disruption. We’re monitoring the situation and will make sure that inconvenience is tackled quickly.
What is your strategy for digital payments?
People should realise they can comfortably transact in daily life without cash. We are getting reports that even hawkers are installing e-wallets in their mobiles. India should leverage the huge opportunity today to bypass and leapfrog the debit and credit card age — just as India telescoped into the mobile revolution, leapfrogging other nations who first went through 100% landline penetration.
Will there be changes or relaxation in limits?
It’s an evolving situation. The queues have shortened and deposits are 50% less than on the first day. Our focus now, having addressed the urgencies in cities, will be rural India. Of course, cities will adapt to new technologies faster. I won’t be surprised if very soon you are able to swipe your card in temples.
What is the message to people standing in queues?
I’d say you have a plethora of options. Obviously, debit or credit cards are very much available in cities. India has 71.2 crore debit cards, 2.6 crore credit cards and over 20 crore RuPay cards of Jan Dhan accountholders. People now have the opportunity to activate those.
Power sector does not need any “crutches” in form of tax incentives as it is no longer facing any stress and can stand on its own, Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal has said.
The statement assumes significance in the run-up to the Union Budget as various sectors are seeking tax breaks and other incentives from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
“I believe that now we do’t have to have the crutches of tax incentives. We can stand on our own,” Goyal told PTI.
He was replying to a query on whether the Power Ministry will seek any tax incentives for the sector from Jaitley.
“Now the approach has been that my power sector can stand on its own. You have seen that with all transparency we have brought all costs down. Now the stress that is faced by the sector is by and large over,” Goyal said.
The Minister further said that the UDAY scheme will itself help save Rs 1.8 lakh crore annually within next three years and the savings will go to the people of India.
The government in November launched Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) for revival of debt stressed power distribution companies.
The accumulated debt of these companies is over Rs 4 lakh crore and they suffer losses to the tune of over Rs 60,000 crore every year.
Under the scheme, 75 per cent of the debt of these firms will be taken over by the states which would issue bonds to repay the loans. The remaining debt will be repaid by discoms by issuing bonds guaranteed by states.
According to energy expert C P Krishnan, the power generating companies have been getting better tax incentives, but the issue is with discoms’ debt.
The cash strapped discoms are not able to buy power which is the main reason for generators running their plants at lower plant load factor as electricity cannot be stored, he said.
He was of the view that states have been giving subsidised or free power to certain category of consumers like farmer but they did not pay the discoms which resulted in mounting debt year after year.
However, he expressed hope that Centre may bring out some models of innovative financing for clean energy or other power projects to further boost the sector.
Urging Japanese companies to invest and manufacture products in India, Power Minister Piyush Goyal today said energy cooperation with Japan will be defining feature of bilateral relationship.
“Energy cooperation with Japan will be defining feature of our relationship,” Goyal said while addressing at the Institute of Energy Economics Japan in Tokyo today.
Goyal is on a visit to Japan to attend the 8th India-Japan Energy Dialogue from January 12 to 14. This is the first ministerial level visit from India to Japan after Japa’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited India in December 2015.
“We invite Japanese companies to come to India, Make in India and Conserve Energy in India”, Goyal tweeted.
“Japan has 70-80 per cent of lighting from LEDs, we are targeting 100 per cent LED penetration in India by 2019,” a Power Ministry release quoted Goyal as saying.
Speaking on climate change, Goyal said, “USA & Europe with just 10-12 per cent of the world’s populations have contributed 50 per cent of green house gases emissions while India contributes only 2.5 per cent with 17 per cent of population.”
The developed countries should support the developing & emerging economies with green technology, low cost finance to keep energy costs affordable, he said.
“Climate justice demands that the developed world reassess its lifestyle and consumption of electricity and petroleum products”, Goyal added.
Earlier in the day, Goyal attended three roundtable conferences on Clean Coal Technologies and Efficient Coal Based Power Generation, Super-Efficient Appliances & LEDs and Energy Efficient Petroleum Refining- Energy Audit in Refineries.
He will also participate in two roundtable conferences to be held on the theme of Energy Storage Technologies and Smart Grids/Smart Meters on Thursday.
Earlier in the day Goyal tweeted, “South grid capacity increased 71 per cent in last 18 months. Investing Rs 42,950 crore to increase it by almost 3 times by 19-20 to ensure cheap power.”
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