(DH) Adding further uncertainty on economic front, the RBI has cancelled its three-day monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting scheduled from Tuesday, apparently due to lack of quorum. The RBI rules require at least four members to be present in the meeting. But three external members — Ravindra Dholakia, Pami Dua and Chetan Ghate — of the six-member MPC are retiring on September 30. The government has not yet been able to find replacements for these three members. These external representatives are are appointed by the government for a fixed term of four years. The rules of the MPC do not…
Author: Aruna Sharma
(LiveMint) will not delay state-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd BPCL’s plan to bring to India the much-awaited natural gasnatural gas from its Rovuma basin in Mozambique by 2024, said company officials today. BPCL through its upstream arm, Bharat Petro Resources Ltd (BPRL) holds 10% stake in the Rovuma Basin and plans to bring in 1 million metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa) of gas from the fields to India. “Financial closure for the project has been completed. Work is in progress. There are some disturbances on account of covid-19 but our partners have said the schedule for the first energy cargo for…
(PTI) The government has given additional three months’ time till December to millers to undertake mandatory export of their sugar quota allocated for this year, a senior Food Ministry official said on Monday.For the 2019-20 marketing year ending September, the government has allowed export of 6 million tonnes of sugar under the quota to help deal with surplus sugar.”Out of 6 million tonnes, 5.7 million tonnes of sugar have been contracted. And about 5.6 million tonnes have been moved from mills,” Subodh Kumar Singh, Joint Secretary in the Food Ministry, told PTI.Some mills faced difficulty in exporting during the current…
In a large scale reshuffle Government of India has transferred 16 Joint Secretary level officers in various ministries of Union Government. Among the prominent reshuffling Shyam Bhagat Negi, IPS, (HP:1990) is appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Coal while Amitabh Kumar, IRS (C&CE) (1992), is appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce. Appointments Committee Of the Cabinet released the list of Joint Secretaries on September 28 evening. Here is the complete list :-
(ET) In a big change in its business strategy, the country’s largest coal-fired power producer NTPC proposes to completely stop land acquisition for green field thermal projects and rather look for reducing its carbon footprint through aggressive renewable energy push. “We have taken the decision not to acquire any further land for green field thermal projects in near future and the focus will be on reducing the carbon foot print,” NTPC chairman Gurdeep Singh said in a statement to the shareholders at a recently concluded AGM. As part of its initiative to transform itself into a renewable player, NTPC has also decided to set up a separate green focused subsidiary. By…
(PTI) State-owned Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) has been forced to pay for its defaulting partner Videocon Industries Ltd after it had relied on a rarely used model to acquire stake in five oil blocks in Brazil, sources said. In September 2008, BPCL and Videocon Industries had formed a 50:50 joint venture to acquire a Brazilian oil exploration firm for USD 283 million. The two firms formed an incorporated joint venture IBV Brasil Petroleo Limitada to acquire Encana Brasil Petroleo Limitada from Canadian gas producers EnCana. Sources said usually such acquisitions are done through unincorporated joint ventures but BPCL chose to form an incorporated joint venture. Incorporated joint…
(PTI) The West Bengal government is planning to develop floating solar power projects in a big way as it does not require a large tract of land, a minister said on Friday. The government is exploring opportunities to take up 5 MW floating solar project on large ponds in the Bandel thermal power plant area, state power minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay said. The state is also commissioning country’s largest grid-connected floating solar project at Sagardighi thermal power plant in Murshidabad at a cost of Rs 22 crore, he said. “We are looking for more locations for setting up floating solar projects, particularly in thermal plant areas of the West Bengal Power Development…
(ET) Day after a massive fire was reported at the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) plant in Hazira, the oil and gas major resumed operations on Friday. ONGC has charged the 42-inch pipeline and started gas supply from Bombay High. Gas supply from Hazira resumed through a 2,700-km heart line which provides natural gas to Hajira-based companies along with states such as Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The Hazira plant is India’s largest gas-processing facility and a critical supplier of the fuel to domestic industries that receive gas from the Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur (HVJ) trunkline. The fire snapped fuel supplies to power and fertilizer companies but the company…
(ET) The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) is likely to remain non-functional for atleast one more month as the Supreme Court on Friday reiterated that the newly appointed members of the power regulator should continue to be on leave till a member law is appointed. Meanwhile, sources in the government said it has shortlisted the suitable candidates but the regulatory approvals may take time. The commission has been non-functional since August 28 as the apex court had asked two members of CERC to go on leave till the time a member-law is appointed. The contempt petition was filed by K K Agarwal and Advocate Ravi Sharma argued…
(LiveMint) The Reserve Bank of India will not approve bankruptcy resolution plans submitted by asset reconstruction companies (ARCs), a person aware of the matter said, a move that is likely to jeopardize the recovery of thousands of crores worth of bad loans. ARCs can instead purchase the debt of the stressed accounts from banks and participate as a creditor under IBC. RBI had recently rejected UV Asset Reconstruction Co. Ltd’s (UVARCL) resolution plan for the bankrupt telecom operator Aircel Group. “In order to allow ARCs to participate as resolution applicants, several enabling conditions need to be evaluated. There is a need to expedite the…