The world gives lecture on climate but if we tell them that we want the necessary fuel for nuclear energy to move forward, they refuse, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday hit out at developed
Coal India (CIL) will have to spend around Rs 1,800 crore for importing over 200 million tonnes (mt) of coal valued at current international prices to meet domestic demand during the 11th Five-Year Plan period, according to the public sector behemoth's latest estimates. The imports are necessitated due to a number of letters of assurance (LoA) issued by the coal ministry recently. The LoAs have been issued to different independent power producers, captive power producers, cement and sponge iron units. CIL's estimates, worked out on the basis of applications received by way of LoAs issued to different coal consumers, reveal that the total domestic coal demand during the 11th plan period would be around 773 mt as against the projected production of 520 mt. CIL has received 400-odd applications for the 11th plan period, taking the total coal demand figure to around 773 mt. This leaves a shortfall of over 200 mt to meet domestic requirement. However, the state-run company has also worked out a second conservative estimate of 706 million tonnes for the period. This estimate is based on the feedback that some power units may not be able to commence production during the period. Highly placed CIL sources said, "A necessity for imports is genuinely felt if actual demand and supply are taken into consideration during the 11th plan. Talks on imports have just begun and we have to work out the issue in the shortest possible time to cater to requirements.' For the first time, the new coal distribution policy, announced a few months ago, has kept provisions for meeting domestic coal demands through imports and that might have prompted CIL to work out its internal assessments till 2011-12. The imports would come mostly from Indonesia, South Africa and Australia. Internationally, prices of non-cocking coal are ruling at $90 a tonne. The average domestic price of the product is Rs 800 a tonne. According to CIL estimates, the major part of the domestic demand for coal would come from power plants, taking up about 533 million tonnes, followed by sponge iron, cement and captive power units. Till date, the coal ministry has issued LoAs to 64 new and upcoming units.
Creating basic infrastructure in schools was the most important goal of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), the government's most ambitious scheme to provide education to all children in the 6-14 age group. Reports, however, point out that the government has a long way to go as a vast number of schools are still devoid of basic facilities like classrooms, drinking water and toilets. According to a report by the National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NEUPA), under the human resource development ministry, about 30 per cent elementary schools in the country do not have a pucca building for holding classes. This when the government has been consistently increasing the allocation for the scheme. The government has been collecting a 2 per cent cess on all taxes from 2004-05 to fund the SSA and the mid-day meal scheme. Statistics from all schools imparting elementary education (more than 80 per cent of them are government schools) show that a primary school has on an average only 2.8 classrooms for classes I-V. The minimum requirement is five rooms. The number is 4.1 for all schools (primary and upper primary). An upper primary school requires around eight classrooms. The survey found that of the existing rooms, only 72.96 per cent are in good condition, the other being vulnerable to adverse weather conditions like rain. The data show that more than 60 children sit in one room in more than 16 per cent schools This is in sharp contrast with public schools, which have one room per 20 children. More than 50 per cent schools do not have a boundary wall. Around 58.1 per cent primary and upper primary schools have common toilets for boys and girls. Around 15 per cent schools do not have access to safe drinking water. This means lakhs of children stay either thirsty or have to drink unsafe water. Under the mid-day meal scheme, the government allocates money for constructing kitchens in government and aided schools. But data show that by 2006-07, only 29.36 per cent schools had kitchen sheds. Officials, however, emphasise that the dropout rates are coming down and enrolments are increasing. The allocation for the SSA is Rs 10,671 crore for this fiscal. The ministry wants about Rs 18,000 crore for the programme in the next fiscal. The SSA and the meal scheme are run with the money collected from the 2 per cent education cess on income tax, excise, Customs duty and service tax. The proceeds from the cess are credited into the Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh. About Rs 10,393 crore is expected to be transferred to the fund during 2007-08.
Jindal India Thermal Power, a subsidiary of the BC Jindal group, is planning a power generation capacity of more than 4,500 mw in four years. Jindal Power will invest Rs 20,000 crore for the capacity, expecting high returns. "We expect 15-18 per cent return on investment for these projects,' said Director Punit Gupta. Though power is a regulated return sector, private sector companies have managed to better the 14 per cent return that the regulator allows. The Jindal group, which follows many other private sector companies in diversifying into power, is setting up the projects in the coal-rich states of Orissa, Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. While it is planning a 2,000 mw project in Madhya Pradesh, for which a memorandum of understanding will be signed with the state government shortly, work on the 1,200 mw plant in Orissa is in progress. Financial closure of the Rs 4,400 crore Orissa project is expected by next month-end. The company also expects to procure main plant equipment (boiler-turbine-generator) through bidding. The project is expected to be commissioned by September 2010. "In Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, the states have the first right to purchase of 30 per cent of the power, while in Orissa it is 25 per cent,' said Gupta. The rest of the power will be contracted through PTC India. The company is also planning a foray into hydroelectricity.
India, the world's biggest wheat producer after China, may not have to import the grain before August because the country has sufficient stockpiles, Commerce Secretary G K Pillai said. The country has imported almost 1.8 million tonnes of wheat since July to build stockpiles. Purchases in the year ending June may drop to 2 million tonnes, less than a third of the previous year, the US Department of Agriculture said on January 11.
Anurag Viswanath & Manoranjan Mohanty / New Delhi India seeks to emulate China's SEZ policy though it is increasingly under attack there.
Reliance Industries on Wednesday announced that it has discovered natural gas reserves in an exploration block in the Krishna Godavari basin off the country's east coast. The discovery, named Dhirubhai-39, was made in block KG-DWN-2003/1, lying about 50 km from Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh. "The gas discovery has been made in the very first exploratory well in this block,' stated a release from the company. Reliance Industries holds 90 per cent interest in the block, while Hardy Exploration and Production India Inc has the balance 10 per cent.
Beverages company Coca-Cola today reported an 18 per cent growth in volumes in India for the December quarter. Coming on the back of a 21 per cent growth in the September quarter this consistent performance puts the company on track for strong growth in the country. In the first quarter of 2007 growth was just four per cent. That improved to 12 per cent in the second quarter. The company could manage only single-digit growth through 2006.
The Supreme Court today asked the central government to co-opt two eminent scientists in the 29-member Genetic Engineering Approval Committee while granting permission for open field trials for genetically modified food items. The Bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan named Nobel prize winner and agriculturist MS Swaminathan and former vice-chairman of the Knowledge Commission, PM Bhargav. They shall be present at the meetings of the committee to add transparency to the proceedings.
The name Gore Vidal takes up more than two-thirds of the space on the cover of my old paperback collection of some of his essays. For good reason, as the same cover has New Statesman, a considerable thunderer in those days, describing Vidal as "America's finest essayist'. In it is a little gem, his 1974 essay, "What Robert Moses Did to New York city', which educated Indians worried about the urban blight afflicting their country can read with benefit.
After power equipment, engineering major Thermax is strengthening its presence in the water treatment business. "If power is the theme today, we believe the next big story would be water,' said Managing Director and Chief Executive M S Unnikrishnan, in a post-press meet chat with Business Standard. The water infrastructure in SEZs and new cities could come through public-private partnership.
