Mumbai fisherfolk take a Rs 80-cr hit due to oil spill
17 August 2010;business-standard.com:Sanjay Jog:Mumbai: The oil spill and the subsequent ban on fish by the Maharashtra government and civic body have adversely impacted fish supply in Mumbai. For the last one week, while the fishermen in Mumbai’s suburbs were denied of their livelihood, the fish-eating population of the city could barely have a bite of any catch. This, in spite of the fact that most of the city’s fish arrive from other states like Karnataka, Gujarat, Goa, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. Around 60 fish markets across Mumbai were empty for the last week and the industry has had an estimated loss of Rs 60-80 crore. According to the Maharashtra Fishermen Action Committee, Mumbai’s daily consumption is estimated at 250 tonnes, but only 5-10 tonnes of fish arrived in the city during last week. “This was so because of the ban. Fish from other states were not allowed to enter the city,” said a source. A large number of retail shops who had a stock of frozen fish also made a loss in selling their merchandise at a low price following the ban, as they were forced to clear the stock. However, now things are looking brighter, with about 150 tonnes of fish arriving in Mumbai on Sunday. Sources at the state fisheries department and BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation did not dispute the numbers. They said Mumbaikars were asked not to eat fish because they could fall ill. But, officials at the fisheries department could not say how fish from other states could have affected the health of the city population. Damodar Tandel and Pradip Tapke, office bearers of the committee slammed the state government and Mumbai civic body for its advisory. “This impacted arrival of fresh and frozen fish from the rest of Maharashtra — both sea and fresh water fish — as well as from other parts of the country.” From June 10 to August 15 deep sea fishing by motor boats and trawlers has been banned in Mumbai and Maharahstra. However, there is no ban on fishing by small and marginal fishermen who net their catch along the coastline in small boats. “The ban on eating fish even affected the small and marginal fishermen as there were no takers,” said Tandel. “Taking into consideration a monthly income of Rs 10,000 by these small and marginal fishermen, we want the government to compensate this loss.” “Fish is exported to the Gulf, Japan and USA. Exporters who generally purchase fish in wholesale kept away all of last week because they did not get adequate orders due to the ban on fish consumption,” he added. A shop owner from south Mumbai, said he made losses of up to Rs 2 lakh last week. “We sell about 4,000 kg of fish comprising white pomfret, patta, surmai, bijira, pala and tuna. However, last week we did not get even 100 kg of fish. Supply from Orissa, Chennai and Andhra was barred,” he said. Due to the ban, he had to sell white pomfret at Rs 150 per kg against the Rs 400 per kg, bijira at Rs 100 per kg against Rs 300 per kg, patta at Rs 250 per kg against Rs 400 per kg and surmai at Rs 200 per kg against Rs 400 per kg.
17 August 2010;economictimes.indiatimes.com:NEW DELHI: The government has raised the price of sugarcane-extracted ethanol for mixing with petrol, sending the shares of sugar companies sharply up on stock exchanges. The cabinet committee on economic affairs on Monday approved an interim price of Rs 27 per litre for ethanol, compared with Rs 21.50 a litre earlier. The final price will be fixed after an expert group gives its recommendations for the mandatory blending with petrol up to a maximum of 10%. “The government intends to implement the programme (ethanol blending) early and this will be possible with a fixed price initially and thereafter a dynamic formula-based pricing recommended by the expert committee,” a government release said. A committee chaired by Planning Commission member Saumitra Chaudhuri is looking into ethanol pricing. The government made the sale of ethanol-added petrol mandatory in 2007 to rein in fuel cost, reduce dependence on imported hydrocarbons and reduce pollution levels. The plan did not take off due to a shortage of ethanol and opposition from the chemicals ministry. “The price of Rs 27/ per litre would be purely interim in nature and subject to adjustment from the final price,” the government release said clarifying that if a lower price is fixed then sugar companies will have to return the excess charges to oil marketing companies. Shares of sugar manufacturers rose over 6% on the stock exchanges after the government announced the interim price. On the NSE, Bajaj Hindusthan was up 6.11%, Simbhaoli Sugars 5% while Shree Renuka moved up 3.4%. Meanwhile, the chemical and fertiliser ministry opposed the decision, saying petrol-doping programme will hurt potable liquor sector and chemicals industry. The government hopes mixing of ethanol with petrol would be sustainable with the dynamic pricing formula, which will ensure that there is no adverse impact on oil or the sugar industry. The flexibility in blending is expected to ensure that surpluses are adequately utilised and deficit in supply in some parts of the country does not adversely affect the programme. Last month a group of ministers (GoM) had reaffirmed Rs 27 per litre price for ethanol for the blending programme, against Rs 18 a litre price suggested by the chemicals industry and oil marketing companies. The idea of mixing 5% ethanol in petrol has not made much progress because of non-availability, partly due to differences over pricing and supply with the ministry of chemicals, which argues that it would push the prices and availability of molasses, a key raw material for the liquour industry. Molasses, a by-product of sugar, is the raw material for both ethanol and alcohol. To resolve the issue, the government constituted a group of ministers and constituted a committee to give suggestions for the long term. The government has provided loans of Rs 300 crore to sugar mills in the last three years to add 365 million liters of ethanol capacity. The current production of ethanol is about 1.8 billion litres.
17 August 2010;economictimes.indiatimes.com:Rajeev Jayaswal:NEW DELHI: UK-based Vedanta Resources’ move to pick up a majority stake in Cairn India will be scanned by security agencies as it involves indirect acquisition of the country’s oil and gas assets by a foreign firm, said a senior government official. The government is taking extra caution as the deal could set a precedence for similar acquisitions by foreign firms, including those from China, he said, requesting anonymity. “It is indirect acquisition of a national property, which should not be allowed without addressing security concerns,” he said, adding that the Rajasthan oil fields are vulnerable to growing terror threat from across the boarder. London-listed mining group Vedanta Resources, on Monday, said, it, along with group company Sesa Goa, would pick up a controlling stake in Cairn India from Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy for $6.65 billion and will offer to buy another 20% from minority stockholders. A senior oil ministry official said that the government will take necessary action after Cairn and Vedanta approach it formally. “Cairn and Vedanta are free to make any deal as per the law as long as it does not involve national assets,” he said. Earlier, oil minister Murli Deora had said that oil and gas assets belong to the nation and that the government is its real owner. Vedanta and Cairn are yet to approach the government for approvals. Both the firms declined to comment on whether the deal requires vetting by security agencies. Cairn Energy holds 62.4% in its BSE-listed Indian arm, which operates the country’s largest producing oil fields in Barmer, Rajasthan. The oil fields alone constitute over 90% of the firm’s asset value.
15 August 2010;business-standard.com:Sneha Kupekar:Mumbai: Likely to form a joint venture with IOC, BPCL and HPCL. Mumbai International Airport (MIAL), owned by a GVK Power & Infrastructure (GVKPIL)-led consortium, is likely to form a joint venture operations group, with three public sector oil companies to provide a single point distribution and refuelling ATF (aviation turbine fuel) facility at the airport. The three oil PSUs (Public Sector Units) are Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL). A senior official from an oil PSU said: “The talks are still on, but yes, we are looking at having a single point ATF facility at MIAL, for which an operations group between the four is under consideration. However, no structure or such has been finalised.” A spokesperson at MIAL said, “This is yet to be formalised and hence, we would not like to comment at this stage.” Another source from the oil industry confirmed the development. “The discussions have been on for quite sometime, roughly two years. However, due to some glitches, it hadn’t taken off. The operations group, as orally agreed to, was to have a 25 per cent stake for each of the companies. But I don’t think the final agreement will be reached anytime soon.” The move will streamline the process of ATF distribution and refuelling. Also, it would save costs for the three oil PSUs, which together dispense around 210,000 kilo litres of ATF at MIAL every month. However, oil analysts aren’t too optimistic about the extent of cost saving. A Mumbai-based analyst with a brokerage company said: “Oil and gas is a predominantly capital-intensive industry. So, by having a single point for refuelling planes, they’ll just save on their administrative costs. But I don’t think it will be a large amount, as ATF itself does not account for a large part of an oil company’s business.” Since refuelling, storage etc are to be done from a single point, the move is likely to open up around 15-20 acres for land-strapped MIAL. Mumbai Airport has about 2,000 acres, out of which 1,000 acres are occupied. Even after the slum dwellers, occupying a large chunk of MIAL land, are shifted, only about 210 acres will be available for MIAL. MIAL is the country’s second-busiest airport, with over 600 flights a day, and the passenger traffic is expected to go up to 29-30 million this year, which will cross pre-recession levels.
Cairn India discovers oil reserves in Krishna Godavari basin
15 August 2010;economictimes.indiatimes.com:Cairn made the discovery in the second well drilled in the block KG-ONN-2003/1 in Krishna Godavari basin. "The company had informed the oil regulator DGH about the discovery but has not put any number to the potential reserves the find may hold," a source said. DGH has only been submitted technical data on the discovery and reserves would be known only when Cairn drills more wells to appraise the find, he said. Cairn had won the block KG-ONN-2003/1 in the fifth round of bidding of New Exploration Licensing Round (NELP). "It is too early to put a number to the discovery," the source said. Billionaire Anil Agrawal-controlled Vedanta Resources has concluded talks to buy a majority stake in Cairn India and an announcement is expected to be made any time now. "Probably, it will be made tomorrow," the source said.
14 August 2010;business-standard.com:Arijit Barman:Mumbai: State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Cairn’s principal joint venture partner in India, both in its producing fields and in the exploratory assets, is concerned over the potential ownership change at its partner. The oil and gas company is concerned over the ‘inexperience’ Vedanta has in oil exploration. With Cairn being the chief operator in the flagship Rajasthan blocks and in Ravva, Lakshmi and Gauri gas fields in Gujarat’s Cambay offshore basin, ONGC would not want Vedanta to become the operator after the deal. “We cannot afford to be laid back and would like to know how this deal would influence the operations of the gas fields,” sources familiar with the developments said. ONGC is yet to approach the petroleum ministry or Cairn on the issue. It is set to do so if the company perceives its interests being compromised.
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