India's Power Sector

Yogi_G · Post by **Yogi_G** » 16 Mar 2009 05:27

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Busi ... 268803.cms

India and Kazakh talk joint-venture

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 31 Mar 2009 01:51

CERC to wield the stick on States not granting open access

Raj · Post by **Raj** » 08 Apr 2009 03:31

India to buy USD 7 billion of power plant equipment from China

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In a major boost to bilateral trade between two of Asia's largest emerging economies, Chinese companies are executing orders worth USD 7 billion for power plant equipment for upcoming projects in India.
....

Major Chinese suppliers include Dongfang Electric Corporation Limited, Shanghai Electric Group Company Limited and Harbin Power Equipment Company Limited.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 02 May 2009 06:00

BHEL: a drag on India’s power sector.

BHEL was supposed to be the mainstay of the country's power sector development. With this objective, the Indian government promoted BHEL as a public sector monopoly in power equipment manufacturing. Biased policy making did not leave any scope for private competition. Over a period of time, excessive government protection has made BHEL lethargic and uncompetitive. And, now that the Indian economy has switched over to a high growth trajectory and the country needs to expedite power generation capacity, BHEL turns out to be a serious drag. That has led to hard realisation among Indian policy makers that BHEL is not the answer to the country's power problems.

BHEL has failed to keep pace with technological advances in the power sector and remains a high-cost supplier of power equipment contrary. Its inefficiency translates into high cost of electricity for the Indian industry and dents its competitiveness.

Just how uncompetitive is BHEL can be gauged from the price quoted by the public sector power equipment manufacturer in the bidding held for the supply of supercritical turbine generator set to the Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Company's (Apgenco) 1,600 MW Krishnapatnam power project in 2008.

BHEL's quoted price for the contract was as much as Rs 500 crore higher compared to the offer submitted by the combine of domestic engineering major Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). BHEL's quoted price for the contract was about Rs 2,000 crore while the L&T-led consortium's was just over Rs 1,500 crore. Significantly, this was the first supercritical power project bid by L&T which had just forayed into this business venture.

Hardnews learnt that L&T's stunning success has forced the government to review its plan to place orders on BHEL on a nomination basis for the supply of initial 11 sets of 800MW and 660MW supercritical equipment to power projects of central utilities like NTPC and Damodar Valley Corp (DVC) during the 12th Plan period. This reflects the government's rethinking on its traditional policy to promote BHEL as a power equipment monopoly.

BHEL has also been outbid by another new player BGR Energy for equipment supply to the Rajasthan government's 1,200 MW Kalisindh thermal power project at Jhalawar near Kota. BGR bid for the project in consortium with China's Dongfang.

Equipment like boiler, turbine and generator together account for a fairly big chunk of power generation cost. Electricity tariffs for power plant built by BHEL are always on the higher side. Since BHEL still holds a lion's share in domestic power equipment supply market, average per unit electricity cost in India is almost double compared to China. No wonder, China has become the world's manufacturing powerhouse and India continues to lag behind.

With BHEL continuing to enjoy government's patronage, overseas power equipment suppliers avoid participating in bidding held for the supply of equipment to power projects of central and state public sector utilities. As a result, there is not much room for these utilities to bargain price with BHEL. These utilities often end up sourcing equipment at a monopoly price quoted by the public sector equipment manufacturer.

Thanks to BHEL's continued monopoly on domestic power equipment manufacturing supply, India has miserably failed in meeting its envisaged power generation capacity addition targets under successive Five Year Plans. For example, the country could add only half the capacity envisaged by the power ministry in the 10th Plan period.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 12 May 2009 02:33

Solar water heater a must for new houses

Have a good look at your roof before venturing to the nearest Bescom office. Because the electricity company now wants all new house owners, including those having two-storied buildings in 20X30 sites, to install solar water-heaters to get electricity connections.

Bescom sources said solar water-heaters are a must for houses more than 600 sq ft. House owners will also have to dig too deep into their pockets for shelling out an extra sum of Rs 20,000-Rs 30,000 for this. For those who have not done plumbing, this could be about Rs 80,000.

...

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 02 Jun 2009 01:35

The $10 billion attack

There finally seem to be some serious signs of an attack on the biggest problem facing this sector — transmission and distribution losses — which eat up over a third of the power generated in the country. This seminal move promises to fundamentally change the power landscape over the next few years.

The attack, worth over Rs 50,000 crore ($10 billion), has been in the works for quite some time but actually began in July last year, when the R-APDRP (Revised Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme) was approved by the Cabinet. Given the problems that were faced by the original APDRP programme, the focus this time around is on “actual demonstrable performance in terms of sustained loss reduction”.

The programme involves the establishment of baseline loss data verified by an independent third party in the first phase, for which Rs 10,000 crore has been budgeted. The rest of the funds would be used for actual upgradation of the transmission and distribution system in the second phase, for all towns with a population of 30,000 or more.

Only on actual progress in reduction of losses will the funding advanced to government-owned utilities in the form of a loan be converted to a grant fully (in the case of the first phase) or partially (in the second phase). Many utilities have already been enticed by the lure of this money and have taken the critical first steps towards the reduction of aggregate technical and commercial losses (which is a broader measure of transmission and distribution losses) to the targeted 15 per cent.

The programme is already gaining traction. Almost Rs 2,000 crore has already been sanctioned to 25 utilities across 13 states. Andhra has mopped up almost a fifth of these sanctions. Other states which have managed significant sanctions include Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Haryana. And all this was done in the January-March quarter. Power Finance Corporation, the nodal agency for implementing this programme, has targeted sanctions, and disbursements, of another Rs 1,900 crore this financial year.

One drawback of the scheme, however, is that it does not extend to private distribution utilities. So a pioneering state like Orissa, which began its reforms way back in the early 1990s and has privatised distribution utilities, cannot avail of this scheme even though it is grappling with very high losses on transmission and distribution. This proviso would also prevent other states from going ahead with privatisation of distribution utilities if they are considering it at all.

Gaurav_S · Post by **Gaurav_S** » 12 Jun 2009 10:01

NTPC-BHEL join hands to set up manufacturing unit in AP

NTPC-BHEL Power Projects Pvt. Ltd, the joint venture company, incorporated last year by NTPC and BHEL, will set up the green field unit with an investment of Rs 6000 crore in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.

The state government has allotted 750 acres of land for the unit.

The state cabinet, which met here today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, approved the land allocation at Mannavaram village under Srikalahasthi mandal at a nominal price of Rs 100 per acre.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 12 Jun 2009 20:55

Kaiga-3 synchronised to southern grid; Kudankulam may take longer: NPCIL news.

Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) on Wednesday said the 220-MWe third reactor of Kaiga Atomic Power Project (KAPP) has been successfully synchronised with the southern power grid.

NPCIL, however, has not been very successful with its Kudankulam power projects, whose first 1,000 MW unit is now expected to go on stream in November 2009 as against the scheduled August 2009.

KAPP-3, the country's 17th nuclear plant, was synchronised on 14 April and has been producing power continuously since then at 95 MW, NPCIL's spokesperson A I Siddiqui said.

The reactor achieved its first criticality (ie, chain reaction producing neutrons) on 26 February and the unit was synchronised on 11 April after he Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) authorised power generation from the plant. The plant was then shut down for conducting certain tests, Siddiqui said.

Two reactors of the Kaiga nuclear power plant have been in operation since 2000, while the fourth one is at an advanced stage of construction. Power generation at the unit will be subsequently increased to full power after completion of all tests, he said.

The Kaiga project in Uttar Kannada district of Karnataka comprises four units, each of 220 MWe, belonging to the pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR) family.

Commercialisation of the unit is expected in a month after completion of mandatory tests. The project will have a total installed power capacity of 4,120 MWe.

Meanwhile, NPCIL has pushed the schedule for sinchronisation of the 1,000 MW first unit of the Kudankulam nuclear power project from August to November 2009.

The project is unlikely to come up anytime this year, according to sources connected with the project and the Central Electricity Authority.

Jamal K. Malik · Post by **Jamal K. Malik** » 19 Jun 2009 17:03

Govt mulls 10% stake sale in Bhel
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Gov ... 675743.cms

It is nice move to off load,but govt. holding should remain above 50%

milindc · Post by **milindc** » 19 Jun 2009 18:07

We have solar heater in Hyderabad and except for months of Dec,Jan and Feb, we have 24x7 hot water. We installed 300L insulated tank with 3 copper panels.

VickersB · Post by **VickersB** » 19 Jun 2009 21:18

milindc wrote:We have solar heater in Hyderabad and except for months of Dec,Jan and Feb, we have 24x7 hot water. We installed 300L insulated tank with 3 copper panels.

Millindc,
We're currently having some construction done and were debating on weather or not to get the solar heater unit put. Could you please point out some pro's and con's? I like it because it's green technology but my concern was about reliability - We're in Chandigarh so the weather is a bit different than in Hyd. as the cold months are a bit longer and sever than in Hyd. Any suggestions would be welcome. TIA.

milindc · Post by **milindc** » 20 Jun 2009 00:46

VickersB wrote:
milindc wrote:We have solar heater in Hyderabad and except for months of Dec,Jan and Feb, we have 24x7 hot water. We installed 300L insulated tank with 3 copper panels.
Millindc,
We're currently having some construction done and were debating on weather or not to get the solar heater unit put. Could you please point out some pro's and con's? I like it because it's green technology but my concern was about reliability - We're in Chandigarh so the weather is a bit different than in Hyd. as the cold months are a bit longer and sever than in Hyd. Any suggestions would be welcome. TIA.

We bought a Tata BP Solar. Generally solar heater comes with Insulated tank (with option of electric heating element), which provides fallback if Sun is not out. The position where you install the panels is critical (make sure the sun falls on panel as early in morning as possible). The number of panels decide how quickly the water is heated. For us, continuous sun-light for 40 minutes heats up the water enough for the whole day. I'm surprised at efficiency of these copper panels.

If the family is large, then there is option of two inter-connected insulated tanks so that you get warm water in the morning. (During Winter the incoming cold water quickly reducing the overall temperature, two tanks will slow that process)

The biggest issue for us is that we have drain a bucket of cold water before the hot water arrives, basically the standing water in pipe is cold. You can design the pipe layout so that the distance between the tank and outlet is minimized. Our architect didn't get this right.

Also, if you are planning to get pneumatic pressurized system for your home, then the solar heater also needs to be pressurized which increases the cost by 2.5 times.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 20 Jun 2009 11:05

Go for a hybrid water heater.

geeth · Post by **geeth** » 20 Jun 2009 12:53

>>>We're currently having some construction done and were debating on weather or not to get the solar heater unit put. Could you please point out some pro's and con's? I like it because it's green technology but my concern was about reliability - We're in Chandigarh so the weather is a bit different than in Hyd. as the cold months are a bit longer and sever than in Hyd. Any suggestions would be welcome. TIA.

Not just to you, but to all people in general, who are planning to install solar water heaters.

1. Please check the calcium / Magnesium and silica content in the water being circulated in the water heater. If the calcium level is more than 100-150 PPM, then over a period of time it is bound to foam thick deposits inside the walls of the heating coils. This will act like insulators and can reduce the heating efficiency drastically. If there is excess calcium, it is better to install a water softener, which would cost about 20~25000 rupees for a house.

2. If you are installing pressure booster system for your home, pls restrict the pressure in the heating panel by fitting a pressure reducing valve or some such system. Details can be determined only after checking the plumbing.

Jamal K. Malik · Post by **Jamal K. Malik** » 25 Jun 2009 18:34

NTPC to float tender for 11 super critical units by Sept
http://www.business-standard.com/india/ ... t/65615/on

Country's largest power producer NTPC will soon float a tender to procure equipment for eleven 660 MW supercritical thermal power units as part of its 100-day programme.

VinodTK · Post by **VinodTK** » 27 Jun 2009 03:44

India may announce 2 nuclear sites during Clinton trip: US

suryag · Post by **suryag** » 27 Jun 2009 07:13

Darn everyone is fixated with this 100day thingie. Are they planning to take a hike after 100days ?

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 10 Jul 2009 04:17

PMO note slams power ministry

If you have been angry over the crippling power cuts lately, so is the office of the Prime Minister, which, in a note meant for internal circulation, has called it “a symptom of the deep malaise in the (power) sector”.

“… The power sector has underperformed,” concluded the note written by a senior official in the Prime Minister’s Office on June 30, at the peak of the power crisis in Delhi. The note swings between anger and despair.

“In fact,” it said, “persistent shortfalls on account of electricity generation, held back our GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth.” In plain language, the official is saying power shortage is holding back economic growth in India.

...
That is the deep malaise in the power sector: the stalled reform process. And at the root of the problem lies the power ministry, which, the note said, dumped reforms in favour of augmenting generation capacity in the public sector.

Here too, the results were unimpressive.

“Having conspicuously failed to add even 50 per cent of the target capacity of 44,000 megawatt in the X plan,” the note said, “the leaders of the sector pitched for an absurdly high target of 78,000 MW in the 11th.”
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It was Shinde’s ministry that note said, “…dragged its feet for two years on procedures” over rural electrification which was being driven by the Prime Minister’s Office.

As a result of this “pedantry”, Bharat Nirman targets for rural electrification couldn’t be met. But Shinde returned to the ministry for a second term. But now, it seems, he is going to have the riot act read to him.
...

nash · Post by **nash** » 10 Jul 2009 13:06

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/200 ... 461500.htm

Preliminary talks in Kazakhstan concluded.

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N-plans
Agreement with Kazakhstan likely to be signed shortly

India actively eyeing export of indigenously built 220 MWe PHWR

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Anil Sasi

New Delhi, July 9 Preliminary discussions on the possibility of setting up a nuclear power reactor in Kazakhstan based on India’s Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) design have been wrapped up.

A final decision on the issue, which could be a big step forward in India’s efforts to develop an export market for the indigenous 220 MWe PHWR, is likely once the inter-governmental agreement for cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy is finalised between the two countries, official sources said.

“Kazakhstan is likely to be the first overseas market for Indian-made reactors. Preliminary discussions between Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) and the central Asian nation’s nuclear utility Kazatomprom have been held. A final decision on whether this (India setting up reactor units in Kazakhstan) would be a stand-alone deal or a barter arrangement against Kazakh uranium supplies will be decided only after the broad-based civil nuclear agreement under discussion between India and the uranium-rich country is concluded,” an official said.

The agreement, which is likely to be signed shortly, is also expected to address the possibility of joint cooperation in uranium mining, deliveries of Kazakh natural uranium for the Indian nuclear industry, and personnel training.
India has been proactively exploring the possibility of exporting indigenous PHWRs to developing nations that are eyeing nuclear power generation but are constrained by small-sized electricity grids. India had earlier moved a resolution to enable export of indigenous reactors at the IAEA General Conference of Member States in Vienna in late 2007.

With the opening up of international civil nuclear cooperation, which has technically cleared the decks for India to enter the global nuclear trade, the potential for export of indigenous reactors and services is being viewed as a viable commercial proposition, an official said.

“Currently, India is perhaps the only country to have an actively working technology, design and infrastructure for manufacture of small reactors with a unit capacity of 220 MWe. These units have a great potential for exports, particularly to nations with small grids that are planning nuclear forays with relatively lower investment levels,” an official said.

Globally, the major developers of nuclear reactors in the EU and North America have moved on to larger reactor sizes of 700 MWe or 1,000 MWe and above. India stands out in having an active nuclear power programme using 220 MWe reactors, which is based on proven technology in a number of domestic atomic stations.

In all, 12 such 220 MWe PHWR reactors are in operation currently while three more are under construction.

Officials said small size nuclear reactors are apt for countries that have small grids of around 10,000 MW. Use of large reactor units in case of countries having small grids could potentially lead to grid failures if even a single large unit shuts down at any point in time.

Besides, assembling clusters of 220 MWe reactors is projected to be more cost-effective than large-sized reactors from the US or Europe, officials said. Several Asean countries are reported to be eyeing the nuclear option, with Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand among those having announced plans to tap atomic energy in the future.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 11 Jul 2009 02:18

BHEL caused over 70% of delays in power projects, says Power Minister Shinde

In a written reply to a question, Shinde informed that out of 15,000 Mw power generation capacity commissioned so far in the current Plan period, around 8,400 Mw, or 56 per cent, was held up due to delays in the supply of equipment. Bhel alone accounted for delays of nearly 6,100 Mw, or 72 per cent, of this capacity.

“There have been delays in implementation of power projects due to delay in supplies from power equipment manufacturing companies, including Bhel,” Shinde said.

The government has been able to achieve only around a half of the power capacity addition of over 27,000 Mw planned in the initial two years of the current Plan period (2007-12).

Shinde also informed that power projects totaling to a capacity of around 18,400 Mw, which are under construction for the current Plan period, have already been held up due to delayed supply of equipment.

This constitutes around 36 per cent of the total capacity of over 51,000 under construction in the current Plan period.

Hitesh · Post by **Hitesh** » 11 Jul 2009 05:43

Why are we going for small powerplants? We need to go for 1,000+ MW power plants. We do not have enough space to accommodate several thousands small powerplants to generate 800,000 MW that India needs. India only has enough space for several hundred of powerplants due to scarcity of suitable locations based on water supply, firm soil, and minimum distance from population centers.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 11 Jul 2009 14:06

It doesn't appear to have been mentioned here yet, but the 300MW first phase (of 4620MW total) of the Adani Mundra Power Plant has become active. Note that this is different from the 4000MW Tata Mundra Ultra Mega Power plant, which is a separate project, and is also under construction. When completed, the Adani plant will be the third largest thermal power plant in the world:
First unit of Gujarat’s Mundra power plant ready for operation

The Adani Power, an ancillary of the Adani Group, is ready to generate 330 MW out of 4620 MW capacity in Mundra power plant.

The country’s largest and world’s third largest thermal power plant, the Adani power plant will be completed by the end of 2012.

“At Mundra power project, the total capacity is 4620 MW. It is in four stages wherein the first unit is likely to be commissioned on May 20. And thereafter, all units will be commissioned one after the other every three months. These four units are basically meant for supplying 1000 MW power which we have committed through the PPA to Gujarat,” said Rajkumar Gupta, director, Adani Power Limited.

First unit of Adani’s Mundra power plant becomes operational

“We have successfully synchronised the first unit of 330 MW in a matter of just 28 months,” Adani Group chief Gautam Adani said.

The facility, about 400 km from here, was synchronised on Sunday. The power plant, the first by the leading private group, has a capacity of 4,620 MW, consisting four turbines of 330 mw each and five turbines of 660 mw each.

“We have planned to commission one turbine in every quarter. By March 2010, all the four turbines of 330 mw each will be commissioned and by June 2010, the first turbine of 660 mw will be commissioned,” he said.

This would imply ~9000MW of electrical generation capacity from a single town in the arid Kutch.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 16 Jul 2009 02:09

Shanghai Boiler cannot sell in India, says Alstom

Chennai, July 15 Alstom, the collaborator of BHEL for the manufacture and sale of boilers for supercritical thermal power projects, has said that its China licensee, Shanghai Boiler Works, cannot sell its boilers in India.

“Alstom confirms that it has licensed Shanghai Boiler Works of China to sell supercritical boilers only in China and has informed BHEL accordingly,” the French power equipment major told Business Line today.
...
The issue assumes significance because Reliance ADAG has joined hands with Shanghai Electric Corporation of China, the parent company of Shanghai Boiler, for the 4,000 MW Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project. It is believed that Reliance might source equipment from Shanghai Boilers, though it is not clear if there is an agreement between the two companies for the supply of boilers.

“If indeed, any of our licensees violates IPR stipulations, Alstom will take legal recourse in order to protect our rights,” Alstom has said in a letter to this newspaper.
...
Sources in the power sector feel that Reliance is aware of the possible IPR issues and hence would have satisfied itself of legalities before going ahead with Shanghai Electric. A former senior official of NTPC recalls that, while on a visit to Shanghai Electric along with officials from Reliance and the Ministry of Power, Shanghai Electric claimed it had “our own design”.
...

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 16 Jul 2009 05:54

Whichever company wins the Bolier Contracts, Alstom is the gainer in India.

The French power equipment major, Alstom, may have told its Indian collaborator, BHEL, it (Altsom) has licensed Shanghai Electric Corporation of China to sell super critical boilers only in China and not elsewhere.

While a letter written by the Ministry of Heavy Industries to the Ministry of Power gives an impression that Alstom is “contemplating to take legal recourse” for IPR violation by Shanghai Electric, sources in the power sector say that Alstom may not take any such legal action.

As it is, Alstom is sitting pretty.

Power industry sources point out that when NTPC tendered out for the supply of boilers for the Sipat project – India’s first super critical station of 3 x 660 MW configuration – Alstom had jointly bid with BHEL. At the time, there was no formal collaboration agreement between Alstom and BHEL.

When Doosan of Korea – another Alstom licensee – won the bid, Alstom “made similar noises”, saying that the Korean company could not sell supercritical boilers in India and it would take Doosan to court.

Finally, it made peace with Doosan by accepting an enhanced royalty and some “drawing verification charges”.

Alstom made more money than it would have if BHEL-Alstom had won the bid, says a source familiar to the issue. Indeed, BHEL-Alstom lost the bid because Alstom had quoted a high price for its technology.

Sources say that if Shanghai Electric is embolden to sell supercritical boilers in India, even by IPR violation, it could be because of the confidence that it could replicate the Doosan experience.Should the Government of India allow IPR violations to take place in the country, they queried.

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 17 Jul 2009 17:58

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8149710.stm

India's power dilemma...

negi · Post by **negi** » 27 Jul 2009 20:08

Ok I guess concern about a large scale import of power equipment from Chicom is becoming serious...

Is India doling out contracts to China?
Is this something which gained momentum during the Commie infested Govt in the last term ?

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 27 Jul 2009 20:32

negi wrote:Ok I guess concern about a large scale import of power equipment from Chicom is becoming serious...

Is India doling out contracts to China?
Is this something which gained momentum during the Commie infested Govt in the last term ?

I think it might be more due to the cheap chinese equipment. And kickbacks too cannot be totally ruled out given the state of the global economy.

Katare · Post by **Katare** » 27 Jul 2009 20:52

Although I believe that Chinese competition (and cost advantage) should be allowed in full force to keep desi companies on their tows but we must also ensure they don't use their undue advantages like scale built on free capital, subsidies, currency manipulation, quality waiver and tax structures. These are some of the issues that Indian companies can do little about. Fair competition and level playing field - yes. Dumping no!

GoI should also investigate the allegation that tax structure in China is ruling out Indian competition from entering China which is the world’s largest and fastest growing power equipment market. If Indian companies are not able to compete in China than Indian power companies would come out looser at the end at both-places/worldwide.

Katare · Post by **Katare** » 27 Jul 2009 20:56

It'll be nice if ToI publishes that entire letter or someone can find it somewhere......

AM Naik is very sharp, no-nonsense CEO and a patriotic Indian. He has touched on this issue in his previous interviews too. GoI should pay attention to what he is saying.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 28 Jul 2009 08:17

Katare wrote:Although I believe that Chinese competition (and cost advantage) should be allowed in full force to keep desi companies on their tows but we must also ensure they don't use their undue advantages like scale built on free capital, subsidies, currency manipulation, quality waiver and tax structures. These are some of the issues that Indian companies can do little about. Fair competition and level playing field - yes. Dumping no!

GoI should also investigate the allegation that tax structure in China is ruling out Indian competition from entering China which is the world’s largest and fastest growing power equipment market. If Indian companies are not able to compete in China than Indian power companies would come out looser at the end at both-places/worldwide.

Excellent point, if I may.

Protectionism is in, slowly but surely. There have to be high tech, strategic and industrial sectors where indigenous maal must be preferred within some well-specified % of higher cost. Losing these industries can be costlier in opportunity terms than the accountants will allow.

Yogi_G · Post by **Yogi_G** » 28 Jul 2009 08:22

I think we should look at the capacity of our heavyweights like BHEL which have a huge backlog of orders(4 years last I remember). If they are unable to meet the demands of the Indian power scenario then we have but little option other than importing equipment. but to import from China is another topic. We need the close involvement of RAW in the deal right from negotiation to installation, not overt but covert, this is something we must already be doing.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 29 Jul 2009 01:44

Reliance Power to raise Rs 20k cr ($4.2 billion) to fund projects this year

Reliance Power (R-Power) plans to raise over Rs 20,000 crore in the current financial year to fund projects, including the 4,000 Mw Krishnapatnam Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP).

It had raised a similar amount of debt in the last fiscal, too. In April, it tied up for Rs 15,000 crore to build the 4,000 Mw Sasan UMPP in Madhya Pradesh, while earlier this month it arranged finances for the Rosa and the Butibori projects.

R-Power would expedite the commissioning of its projects ahead of schedule, (Anil Ambani) said. Adding, “We are seeking to advance the commissioning of the Sasan project by almost three-years.” The 600 Mw first phase of the Rosa project will be commissioned this year.

R-Power has bagged three of four UMPP projects. It holds around two billion tonnes of coal reserves to be utilised for its upcoming thermal power projects.

Ambani said the company expects to commission nearly 3,000 Mw of electricity generation capacity by 2012. “We now have a multi-fuel project portfolio of over 33,000 Mw, comprising 19,000 Mw of coal, 10,000 Mw of gas and 4,000 Mw of hydro-based capacity,” he said.

Omar · Post by **Omar** » 03 Aug 2009 00:51

India will achieve uranium self-sufficiency by 2013: Anil

With the Jadugoda Uranium mill in Jharkhand expanded and the proposed expansion of Turamdih mill expected to be over next year, uranium production would go up. ...Besides, exploration of uranium is underway at Tummalapalle in Andhra Pradesh and it is expected to go on stream by 2013, he told reporters here. ..We are also working to explore uranium at Gogi near Gulbarga in Karnataka," he said and expressed the hope that a proposed project at Meghalaya would also be cleared soon.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 03 Aug 2009 03:41

Jindal, Reliance Power, L&T and Bharat Forge have all tied up with foreign collaborators to set up Power equipment manufacturing units of 660MW and above. Bhel is also increasing its capacity to 20,000 MW in stages.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 06 Aug 2009 07:41

Violent protests against Hanakon power plant

Another Nandigram is waiting to happen down south in Karnataka. Nearly 500 villagers took to the streets to protest against the proposed Hanakon thermal power plant in Karwar.

Protestors pelted stones at the police officers and the buses of Nuclear Power Corporation Limited (NPCL). The situation got worse as some of the protestors set an NPCL bus on fire.

The police had to resort to baton-charge and tear gas shelling to control the mob, which comprised mostly women. Fifty five protestors including 30 women have been arrested so far.

Locals have been opposing the project ever since its inception alleging that the plant will have a harmful impact on the environment.

The protests turned violent after the residents learnt that the central government had given its clearance to the controversial project without taking an NOC (no objection certificate) from the gram panchayat.

The residents also alleged that it was all politically driven and the Union government was ignoring the negative impact.

I can see why the Chinese model of smooth efficiency is so appealing to so many Yindians....

Rishirishi · Post by **Rishirishi** » 09 Aug 2009 00:51

Katare wrote:Although I believe that Chinese competition (and cost advantage) should be allowed in full force to keep desi companies on their tows but we must also ensure they don't use their undue advantages like scale built on free capital, subsidies, currency manipulation, quality waiver and tax structures. These are some of the issues that Indian companies can do little about. Fair competition and level playing field - yes. Dumping no!

GoI should also investigate the allegation that tax structure in China is ruling out Indian competition from entering China which is the world’s largest and fastest growing power equipment market. If Indian companies are not able to compete in China than Indian power companies would come out looser at the end at both-places/worldwide.

I have been to China several times and here are the Chinease polices.

1 Do not allow any foregin company to get an independant foothold in the Chinese market. They use various legislation to block outside companies.

2 Where ever Chinease companies do not have the expertise, they go for joint venture and then copy the tech. (they give a damn about copy rights)¨

3 Use the Chinease market to build up capacity and use this to create the export base.

4 Provide Chinese industry with hassle less business environmnet and provide raw material, capital and power below world market price.

Basically, China is happy to import raw material and export finished goods. They will not import finished goods from abroad.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 13 Aug 2009 02:17

L&T bags Rs 4,000-cr Jaiprakash power plant order

New Delhi, Aug. 12 Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) on Wednesday signed a Rs 4,000-crore agreement to supply power equipment to Jaiprakash Power Ventures (JPVL), a unit of Jaiprakash Associates Ltd.

L&T will source the super critical units boiler and steam turbine generator for the 1,320 MW thermal power project of JPVL coming up in Nigrie, Madhya Pradesh, from its joint ventures with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI).
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On the issue of cheaper power equipment imports from China, Mr Naik said that modified sub-critical boilers were being sold by Chinese firms as super critical boilers. “China has a regulated economy, instead of a market economy, so the price difference created by their export subsidies is unfair to the Indian industry. Moreover, even the value of the Chinese currency is artificially fixed and is not floating,” said Mr Naik.

Chinmayanand · Post by **Chinmayanand** » 17 Aug 2009 06:08

State lines up Rs 75,000 cr to boost power generation

More than Rs 75,000 crore worth of investments have been lined up for various power projects in Maharashtra alone, underscoring the fact
that both the investors and the government expect the demand for power to grow in the state in the near future.

According to senior executives from the state’s power department, these investments are spread in generation, transmission and distribution, and also include those projects that are currently at various stages of development after having obtained all approvals.

Maharashtra power secretary Subrat Ratho told ET: “In the next 3-4 years, over Rs 60,000 crore would be invested by state-run power utilities, with about Rs 30,000 crore marked for generation projects and Rs 15,000 crore each for transmission and distribution.” The remaining amount of Rs 15,000 crore would be invested by private players.

Interestingly, a major portion of debt has been committed by public financing companies, including Power Financing Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), said Mr Ratho. This development comes at time when most sectors across the world are struggling with a tight liquidity situation.

One of the biggest advantage for state utilities getting greater chunk of debt from PFC and REC is that they are less exposed to the volatility in the finance market, said KPMG executive director Arvind Mahajan. “Maharashtra utilities have been aggressive in implementing power projects, and have also been very successful. So, a lot of other states are using Maharashtra as a model as far as power projects are concerned,” he said.

Maharashtra Electricity Distribution Co MD Ajoy Mehta said: “A combined capacity of over 10,000 mw is expected to be added by state and private power generation firms by 2012. Subsequently, the state distribution arm may enhance its carrying capacity to 20,000 mw, from existing 10,000 mw.” If the target is achieved, power deficit could be mitigated, said Mr Mehta.

Currently, the state has to cope up with a power shortage of around 5,000 mw daily during peak hours and this is further expected to rise to 10,000 mw by the end of 2012. Meanwhile, NTPC and some private players, such as Tata Power, Reliance Power, Adani Power, JSW Energy and Jindal Power, are also expected to complete commissioning of few units.

Most of them have tied-up their debt component, and have even raised money from the capital market for equity. Private firms may add nearly 4,000 mw to the state grid by 2012, said analysts.

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 18 Aug 2009 10:24

Generation capacity has topped 150GW in June.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 23 Aug 2009 10:45

NHPC's Subansiri 2000 MW project in Arunachal Pradesh.