Cement, Energy and Environment

•• News Brief Energy CHANGES IN POWER TARIFF POLICY TO BE PLACED BEFORE CABINET The Power Ministry will take up with the Union Cabinet issues related to changes in the tariff policy and the Electricity Act 2003, said Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power Jyotiraditya Scindia . ''There will be two separate Cabinet notes .... I am speaking with stakeholders and we are on the last mile, and I certainly hope that in a month or so we will be ready on both," Scindia told media persons at the 86th Annual General Meeting of FICCI. "The one (Cabinet note) on the tariff policy will hopefully come earlier," he added. Scindia, after taking over as Power Minister, constituted an advisory committee with members from the industry, such as Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry and ICICI Bank Managing Director Chanda Kochhar, among others. The group has deliberated on several issues and given its recommendations to the Ministry. The industry wants the Government to come up with a mechanism wherein the variation in fuel and power purchase cost is recovered by the power generating firms. "We are going to discuss transmission and financial issues for the sector in our next (Advisory Group) meeting," Scindia said. Courtesy: The Hindu Business Line, New Delhi, 22.12.2013 Pg. No.: 5 INDIA PREPARED FOR FACING GENERAL OIL AND GAS EMERGENCIES - lEA The emergency response of its member countries to oil and gas supply disruptions has been one of the key missions of International Energy Agency since its inception in 1974. Although India is not a member country of lEA, it was an active participant in lEA's recent SEQ meeting held in Paris on October 16 and October 17. 2013 and attended by petroleum secretary Vivek Rae. The Secretary disclosed that while throwing light on Ind ia's energy scenario during the meeting , the lEA pointed out that India is well prepared for facing oil and gas emergencies which might arise in the near future. Appreciating India's oil and gas potential, the agency said that the country seems to be moving in the right direction in terms of achieving energy security as the country has prepared itself fairly well for forcing oil and gas emergencies of a general nature. The International Energy Agency (lEA), has however pointed out that India needs to improve availability of energy data in order to take effective action at the times of emergency. Expressed disappointment on the way the country is currently handling its energy data, which is being administered by multiple departments, the agency has extended its help to put in place an appropriate data management system at PPAC which will be comparable to international standards. Courtesy: Total Energy, November- December 2013 Pg. No.: 11 DOMESTIC COAL PRICE MUST BE ALIGNED TO GLOBAL RATE: MONTEK Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, said that the prices of indigenously mined coal should be aligned to global market to prevent distortion in the energy market in India. "We should try to align the domestic coal price to international. Even if you do not do that , the coal prices would certainly go up...And that is an important issue that we have to face," Ahluwalia said, while addressing KPMG Energy Conclave in New Delhi. The Deputy Chairman said that the recent decision of passing on the higher cost of imported coal to consumers is an absolutely unavoidable move. "Because of the cheaper domestic supply, the demand is more and it is distorting the market. We solve that problem by ultimately pooling of coal, " he said . According to Ahluwalia, Indian coal is priced much below that of imported coal. And gradually, the country is becoming more dependent on imported coal. This results in deviation of electricity, as some sectors face much higher tariff, he said. Courtesy: Total Energy, November- December 2013 Pg. No.: 25