30 March 2011;hindustantimes.com:New Delhi: To check the growing menace of diversion and use of kerosene for adulteration — that recently resulted in the brazen killing of additional collector Yashwant Sonawane — the government is planning to reduce the quota of kerosene sold through the public distribution system (PDS) to states. As n early 40% of PDS kerosene gets diverted and does not reach the beneficiary, it is felt that the only way the problem of adulteration and diversion can be checked is by reducing the quota to states. A senior official of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) said this is also being done in view of the reduced demand of kerosene following expansion and increase in LPG connections. “The petroleum ministry has taken a decision to reduce kerosene quota in proportion to corresponding increase in LPG connections during the current financial year.” The same, he said, was also discussed at a recent meeting with the members of the task force headed by Nandan Nilekani on direct transfer of subsidy. The PDS kerosene quota is released on monthly basis and its distribution is done by respective state governments against ration cards, the record of which is maintained by the states. On the issue of direct transfer of subsidies, officials said the petroleum ministry has suggested to the task force that since kerosene is distributed by the state governments, the cash equivalent to subsidy (on the quantity of PDS kerosene lifted by state governments) be passed on by the Centre and the supplies of PDS kerosene by the oil marketing companies to the state government will be made at the market price. The task force will submit its report within four months.
Autos to stay off roads today, owners want GPS for free
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
31 March 2011;timesofindia.indiatimes.com:NEW DELHI: About 40,000 autorickshaws will stay off the city's roads on Thursday. Auto drivers' unions have called a day-long strike demanding that the government should foot the bill for installing GPS instruments in their vehicles. The government has made it mandatory in order to bring down instances of overcharging and route deviations that TSR drivers routinely resort to. The autorickshaw unions participating in the strike have claimed that they were not against the GPS system, but said they cannot afford the cost of the instrument that will cost Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000. "Delhi government's order to buy GPS/GPRS instruments will put additional financial burden on us. We cannot afford it. If the government wants the public transport system in the city to be well-organized and disciplined it should bear the costs," said M S Mansoori, general secretary of Delhi Three-Wheeler Drivers' Union. He said more than 70% of the autorickshaw drivers will join the protest. "If the government does not listen to our demand, we may go on strike again," he added. The union leaders claimed that the agency authorized to sell the instruments was charging too much for the GPS instrument. "Private companies are offering the same instrument in less than Rs 5,000 while the government agency selling them are charging twice as much," said Sobran Singh Rajput, leader of Indian Three-Wheeler Drivers' Association. The government order asking autorickshaw owners to get GPS instruments installed in their vehicles was issued on March 17, Rajput added. Transport department officials said the installation of GPS in autorickshaws and taxis had been on its agenda for a long. "The idea is to keep a track of autos and taxis. Passengers can feel secure as the GPS instrument will also have a panic button. It will dissuade the TSR driver from overcharging as the route and fare will be clocked by the transport department on its GPS network. "We would not like to comment on the demands put by the striking unions. Passenger services will not be affected," said a senior official of the transport department.
Ford India rolls out 1,00,000th engine from its Chennai plant
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
29 March 2011;deccanherald.com:New Delhi: Car maker Ford India today said it has rolled out its 1,00,000th engine this month from its manufacturing plant at Chennai. "This significant milestone was achieved just 14 months after the engine plant opened for operations in January 2010," the company said in a statement. The engine plant has been set up as part of Ford's USD 500-million investment at the Maraimalai Nagar site with a capacity to produce 2,50,000 engines per year. It has been designed to meet the growing needs of the Indian vehicle market and export opportunities, Ford India said. "The plant achieved the 100,000 milestone amongst multiple variant launches for domestic and international markets," it added. Commenting on the achievement, Ford India President and Managing Director Michael Boneham, said: "This world-class manufacturing facility reinforces our intent and commitment to compete with great products and powertrains in all segments." Ford India Vice-President, Powertrain Operations (PTO) Radhakrishnan Balasundaram who heads the India Engine Plant said the company is confident that the next 100,000 engines will be produced at an even faster pace. The Chennai engine plant is the first Ford facility to feature a flexible production line manufacturing petrol and diesel engines. It produces five 'Duratec' petrol engine variants and one 'Duratorq' diesel engine variant for Ford vehicles. The plant has also exported more than one-third of the engines produced to South Africa and Thailand so far.
JCB launches BS III diesel engine for its off-road vehicles
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
30 March 2011;dailypioneer.com:New Delhi: Country’s largest producer of construction equipment maker JCB India on Tuesday launched indigenously developed Bharat Stage-III emission compliant 16 valve diesel engine for its off road vehicles. “India is JCB’s largest market and the group’s commitment continues with this first specifically designed off-highway engine. This engine is specifically adapted for Indian conditions,” said JCB India MD and CEO Vipin Sondhi after launching the new engine, adding, “the new engines will come in a range of 76 HP to 150 HP. From April 1 all our vehicles in this range will have the BS III engine.” JCB India has invested `130 crore on the development of the engine and it will be produced from its Ballabhgarh facility in Haryana. “The company will start producing the engine from April onwards and these will be fitted in its vehicles only,” he added.
Essar signs pact to buy Shell's Stanlow refinery for $350 mn
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
29 March 2011;hindustantimes.com:New Delhi: London-listed Essar Energy on Tuesday signed an agreement to acquire Royal Dutch Shell's Stanlow refinery in north-west England for $350 million. "The acquisition of the Stanlow Refinery, the second largest refinery in the UK, will give Essar Energy direct access to the UK market," the company said in a statement. Essar entered into an asset purchase agreement with Shell UK Ltd through its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, to acquire the oil refinery and other associated assets at Stanlow in Cheshire. "It (the refinery) is also aligned with Essar Energy's strategy to provide options for the export of products from its high value refinery at Vadinar in Gujarat," the statement said. Essar owns a refinery at Vadinar in Gujarat, which can process 280,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Company chief executive Naresh Nayyar said: "Stanlow is a high quality refinery and is an excellent fit with our strategy. We look forward to taking ownership of Stanlow in due course and making operational improvements, which will enhance production and better optimise the facility." The acquisition is subject to ratification by Essar Energy's shareholders at a general meeting, notice of which will be included in a circular to be sent out in due course. "It is expected that the acquisition will be completed during the second half of 2011," the statement said Essar had announced the acquisition on February 18. It also owns a unit in Kenya, and is expanding Vadinar. With the addition of Stanlow under its label, Essar Energy will now have a little less than 1% of global oil refining capacity of 88 million barrels per day.
29 March 2011;business-standard.com:New Delhi: Was to drill 22 gas wells & produce 53.4 mscmd till April; combined output so far 42 mscmd Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), the operator of the country’s biggest gas field, KG-D6, has not met its commitment on drilling gas wells, the government’s upstream oil regulator said today. Reliance had committed to drill 22 wells in the Dhirubhai-1 and 3 fields or D1, the largest of 18 gas discoveries in the block KG-DWN-98/3 or KG-D6 block in the Bay of Bengal, by April 2011 to produce 53.4 million standard cubic meters of gas per day (mscmd). Another 8-9 mscmd output was to come from MA oilfield in the same block, taking the total output committed in the Field Development Plan (FDP) to 61.88 mscmd by April 2011. Earlier this month, RIL projected the gas output from D1 and D3 gas fields will fall to 38 mscmd in 2012-13. Against its commitment, RIL has so far drilled and completed 18 production wells on D1 and D3 fields giving a combined output of about 42 mscmd, Director General of Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) S K Srivastava said today. Besides, two other wells have been drilled but not connected to the production system. “It has to drill two more wells by April,” he said, but did not say what action the government or DGH can take if Reliance failed to honour its commitment. Output from KG-D6 is to hit peak of 80 mscmd by 2012-13, with the company drilling a total of 31 wells. D1 and D3 gas fields and MA oilfield are currently producing about 50 mscmd, lower than 61.5 mscmd output the block had achieved in March 2010. “This fall in the output of KG-D6 has been reported. Our DG, DGH, is in contact with the operator (Reliance) of KG-D6... We do not know about the reasons for the fall... It is a technical issue… We are in correspondence with Reliance... We are in contact with them,” said Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy. Asked about the action government can take against RIL for not meeting its commitment, the minister said the question was “hypothetical”. When asked about what the government plans to do with regard to demand of crucial sectors like fertiliser and power if gas output continues to fall, he said the government will follow the priority line-up laid down by a group of ministers. The government, through its gas utilisation policy, has made allocations to various priority sectors like power, fertiliser, steel, city gas, refineries, petrochemicals, LPG and captive power. The power sector has been allocated 31.165 mscmd of gas on a firm basis and another 12 mscmd of gas on fall-back basis. The fertiliser sector has been given firm allocation of 15.508 mscmd, refineries have been given 5 mscmd of firm allocation and 6 mscmd of fall-back allocation and the steel sector has been given 4.19 mscmd firm allocations. A fall-back allocation implies that the sector will get gas if the firm allocation of other sectors is not fully consumed due to some reason.
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