Neyveli Lignite Corporation aims 12,221 MW capacity by end of 13th five year plan

Neyveli Lignite Corporation aims 12,221
MW capacity by end of 13th five year plan
30 May 2015
Neyveli Lignite Corporation plans to
achieve a total generation capacity of
12,221 MW by the end of the 13th five
year plan in 2022, against 2,990 MW at
present, a top company official has said.
The corporation expects to achieve a
lignite mining capacity of 49 million
tonnes per annum (MTPA) by that year,
compared to 30.60 MTPA in the lignite
mines of Tamil Nadu/ Rajasthan at
present, NLC Chairman-cum-Managing
Director B Surender Mohan said.
This would result in total power
generating capacity going up to about
12,221 MW against 2,990 MW in NLC-
owned power projects in Tamil Nadu/
Rajasthan, he added.
Mohan said work is on to erect a 1,000
MW unit at Neyveli and another 250 MW
plant in the town.
He said the 1,000 MW thermal power
plant (2×500 MW) at Tuticorin, a joint
venture between NLC and Tamil Nadu
Power Limited, is expected to go on
stream in June this year.
The 4,000 MW coal-based Sirkali thermal
power project in Nagapattinam district is
also under the active consideration of
NLC and they are constantly pursuing the
matter with the state government to get in-
principle approval for land allocation, he
said.
Mohan was addressing a special meeting
of NLC employees organised by the
company yesterday at Neyveli.

Neyveli Lignite plans to add 8,455 MW capacity in 10 years

Neyveli Lignite plans to add 8,455 MW
capacity in 10 years
Jan 27, 2014
Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) plans to
increase its production capacity to 11,195
MW from the current 2,740 MW over the
next 10 years.
B Surender Mohan, chairman and
managing director, NLC said that over the
next 10 years, NLC’s production capacity
will be increased to 11,195 MW –
consisting of 4,140 MW (lignite based
capacity), 6,980 MW (coal based) and 70
MW in wind and solar. Lignite production
capacity of 30.6 million tonne will be
increased to 38.85 MT.
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According to Mohan, owing to the
increased overhead expenditure, NLC
could not meet the stringent O&M norms
fixed by CERC. He said that NLC’s power
plants are generating power at 26% higher
cost than the O&M cost prescribed by
CERC, i.e. Rs 6.47 lakh a MW more than
the CERC norms, mainly on account of
high employee cost.
“It is imperative NLC’s growth be
commensurate with expenditure. We
should have strict cost control measures
to curtail the avoidable overhead
expenditure to the maximum possible
extent,” he said.
New projects
Both units of TPS-II Expansion – the
2X250 MW and 2X500 MW – shall
commence commercial operation in this
fiscal (Unit-I by February 2014 and Unit-2
in March 2014).
Meanwhile, Unit I and Units II of NLC’s
joint venture project – NTPL – are expected
to be commissioned in February 2014 and
May 2014 respectively. Fuel supply
agreement for this plant has been signed
with Mahanadi Coal Fields of Coal India.
For the 2×500 MW Neyveli New Thermal
Power Plant (NNTPP), Mohan said, the
contract for two packages has already
been awarded and tender finalisation for
the remaining package is in advanced
state. Unit-I is expected to be
commissioned in August 2017 and Unit-2
in February 2018.
As for the 3×660 MW project in Uttar
Pradesh, the tender is in progress for
major packages. But more than 50% of
the land required for the power project
has been acquired.
For the 4,000 MW Sirkali Thermal Power
Project in Tamil Nadu, NLC is awaiting the
Tamil Nadu Government’s in-principle
approval for allocation of land. The coal
for the same will be sourced from the
Jilga-Barpalli Coal Block of Chattisgarh
State.
The 1X250 MW Bithonok Thermal Power
project has regained momentum, said
Mohan, on getting recommendation of
Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) MoEF
for consideration of environment
clearance. Another 250 MW Barsingar
expansion project with the linked mines is
also in the anvil, with an alternate source
in place of one of the proposed mine at
Palana, which have been dropped due to
land acquisition reasons.
As part of diversification into renewable
energy, earlier NLC announced that it is
planning to set up a 10 MW solar plant at
Neyevli, for which it has called for
tenders. It is now planning to set up
another 10 MW in Barsingsar, Rajasthan.
On fuel linkage to NNTPP, NLC Board has
already approved ‘Resturcturing of Mine I
& Mine IA’ at capital outlay of Rs 1,458
crore, with a project schedule of 26
months from April 30, 2013, to commence
lignite production by mid 2015.

Airtel to infuse Rs 6,400 crore in 3G services that brought 84% growth in data consumption in FY15

The proportion of its 3G sites increased
to 33.3% of the total in the quarter ended
March 2015, from 22.6% a year earlier.
KOLKATA: Sunil Bharti Mittal-led Bharti
Airtel is pumping in $1 billion (Rs 6,400
crore) in this financial year to ramp up
pan-India 3G coverage, expanding the
network in new and existing circles to
deploy data spectrum purchased in
March.
“Airtel will roll out 3G networks
aggressively over the first six months (of
this financial year) as it has acquired
additional 3G airwaves in many circles to
plug coverage gaps,” a person familiar
with the matter told ET.
India’s No. 1 mobile carrier will take a
call on injecting additional funds in 3G
network expansion by September end
after getting a fix on whether revenue
growth has met the target, a second
person said. “We have no comments and
as a policy do not give service-specific
capex details,” a spokesman said in
emailed response to ET’s queries on 3G-
related spending.
Airtel will aggressively roll out 3G
networks over the first six months and
“would look at upfronting this capex in the
first half ” itself, Gopal Vittal , managing
director & CEO for India & South Asia, had
said during the fourth-quarter earnings
call.
The proportion of its 3G sites increased
to 33.3% of the total in the quarter ended
March 2015, from 22.6% a year earlier,
brokerage UBS wrote in a recent report.
Airtel’s 3G drive comes as widespread
adoption of 4G is still some time away.
Industry experts believe a key reason is
creation of a robust, pan-India fallback
data services option since 4G coverage is
likely to be patchy over the next six
months or more and confined.
In its report, UBS said Airtel’s 4G rollout
could play second fiddle to 3G in absence
of compatible devices. “We believe 3G
will meet the mass market’s data needs in
India, given the wide gap between the 3G
and 4G ecosystems,” UBS said.
Prevailing technology will be 3G, felt
Sandeep Girotra , India head of telecom
gear maker Nokia Networks . “There will be
a sprinkling of 4G but only selectively
among incumbents for about a year,” he
said.

ITC to invest Rs 8,000 crore in Telangana ITC Limited will invest Rs 8,000 crore in Telangana for expanding its paper plant capacity and setting up of a new hotel

ITC Limited will invest Rs 8,000 crore in
Telangana for expanding its paper plant
capacity and setting up of a new hotel.
(Reuters)
Business conglomerate ITC Limited will
invest Rs 8,000 crore in Telangana for
expanding its paper plant capacity and
setting up of a new hotel, company
Chairman Y C Deveshwar said today.
“As a commitment from ITC we assure
you that we will be investing Rs 8000
crore in the state of Telangana. We will
expand our paper plant capacity and set
up a new hotel in Hyderabad,” Deveshwar
said during the launch of Telangana’s
new Industrial policy here.
Later talking to PTI on the sidelines, he
said paper plant expansion itself would
need around Rs 4,500 crore.

V-Mart to invest Rs 200 crore, add nearly 200 stores in 5 years

The company is also targeting over four-fold
jump in revenue to touch Rs 2,500 crore by
2020 with smaller towns expected to be its
key growth drivers.

Retail chain V-Mart will
invest around Rs 200 crore to add nearly
200 new stores in different part of the
country in the next five years.
The company is also targeting over four-
fold jump in revenue to touch Rs 2,500
crore by 2020 with smaller towns
expected to be its key growth drivers.
“We will have around 300 stores in the
next five years with a revenue of around
Rs 2,500 crore by then,” V-Mart Retail
Chairman and MD Lalit Agarwal told PTI.
The company had a revenue base of Rs
574.96 crore in FY 2013-14. It is, at
present, operating 109 stores in 91 cities.
Agarwal said: “We have clear vision that
smaller towns will be our growth drivers
as they have very high potential and
aspiration level is growing up.”
Of the total stores that the company has,
56 are in tier III clusters, 35 are in tier II
towns and 18 in tier I cities.
“Presently, the tier III clusters contribute
between 55 to 60 per cent of our revenue
and we strongly believe that it would go
up to 75 per cent in next three years,”
Agarwal said.
V-Mart is present at district level markets
including Purnia, Saharsa, Madhubani,
Motihari, Basti, Gonda, Lakhimpur,
Bahraich and is in process to expand its
base in the Eastern regions of Bengal and
Orissa.
“We are finalising the properties there.
Presently we are concentrating on Orissa
and Bengal,” he said.
He said in order to drive up sales further,
the company would enhance its in-house
labels, while also increasing offering
existing brands. Currently, it has 21 in-
house labels, which contributes around 25
per cent of the sales.
“We would increase the ratio to 50 per
cent from the existing 25 per cent in the
next three years. We would add more
labels and expand the depth of the
existing ones,” he added.

Reliance Jio 4G One Step Away From Commercial Launch

The much awaited 4G services from
Reliance Jio has reached its penultimate
stage or simply a step away from its
commercial launch. The company has
started offering the beta version of its 4G
services in the first week of March, 2015.
Typically, in beta phase of any launch, a
company or a service provider for that
matter, offers the service in its entirety
but to a closed group.
Reliance Jio had completed the alpha
phase of its 4G services by February.
During this period, the company
completed TSTP (Test Schedule and Test
Procedure) for 4G technology in 19-20
circles where it has demonstrated 4G
speeds of 29 Mbps to 34 Mbps.
According to industry insiders, the beta
launch of Reliance Jio will go for around
40 days whereby all stakeholders
(employees and vendors) will test its 4G
services. Once the beta phase is
completed, Reliance Jio will see whether
4G city coverage is ubiquitous and
consumers get desired speed. If the KPIs
(key performance indicators) are met and
the network is stable, Reliance Jio will go
for a commercial launch of network in
that city.
In the beta phase, besides the voice and
data services, Reliance Jio is testing
various applications like Jio Drive which
is similar to Apple FaceTime where people
can make video calls. In terms of app,
Reliance Jio is focusing on various apps
be it magazine store, movie store,
entertainment store and others. So, with
the flick of a finger, one can read
magazines, listen to music, watch movies
or do video calls.
If everything goes as per plan and the
beta launch was successful, the Mukesh
Ambani led telecom firm would make the
commercial launch of the 4G services by
second quarter of FY 2015-16.
Reliance Jio has invested Rs 70,000 crore
and the 4G network will cover 5,000
towns and cities accounting for over 90
percent of urban India and 215,000
villages in India. To provide pan India 4G
coverage, the company is planning to
commission more than 100,000 base
stations by end-2015.
In order to provide better service to
consumers, the company is planing to
automate 4G services by launching a
customer portal where prospective
consumers can fill in their details and
choose their tariff plan from the existing
bouquet of services which can be
changed as per consumers requirement.
To provide convenience, Reliance Jio is
planning to deliver 4G SIM cards at
customer locations. All these services will
be unique from Indian perspective.

Reliance Industries to Restart Petrol Pump Network by March Next Year

Reliance Industries plans to
fully resume its petrol pump network by
March next year as government ending
diesel subsidies have given it a level-
playing field to compete with state-
owned retailers.
“Reliance plans to re-commission the
entire network of 1,400 outlets by the
end of FY 2015-16. As on March 31,
2015, over 300 outlets are operational,”
the company said in its latest annual
report.
The firm had ventured into selling petrol
and diesel through a network of nearly
1,400 petrol pumps in 2006, but had to
shut operations as it wasn’t getting
subsidies extended to state-run
operators.

Bihar to get roads worth Rs 50,000 crore: Nitin Gadkari

PATNA: In a big-ticket pre-poll
announcement aimed at wooing voters in
Bihar, Union Minister for Road Transport
and Highways Nitin Gadkari today
announced that the state will get roads
worth Rs 50,000 crore and the work will
be started this year itself.
“Bihar will get roads worth Rs 50,000
crore. The work will be started this year
itself. There is no dearth of money in my
ministry. The only thing needed for such
projects is will power and a vision for
development,” Gadkari said.
The Union Minister also said that a water-
port will be constructed along the Ganga
in Patna to connect it with Kolkata via
water way by next year. He added that
small planes that could land on water
would also be brought.
“Once this water-port is ready, trains will
not be necessary for going to Kolkata
from here (Patna). People can easily
travel on the Ganga to reach there,” he
added.
Gadkari was speaking at a function
organised here by NDA constituents – BJP,
Lok Janshakti Party and Rashtriya Lok
Samta Party (RLSP) – to mark the
completion of one year of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s government at the
Centre.
The Union Minister also said that his
Ministry will open “Driving Training
Centres” in all assembly constituencies
across the country, including Bihar.
“People will learn driving at these centres.
The test of their driving skill will not be
taken by DTO but by computers. They will
have to take the test again if they fail,” he
said.
Gadkari said the Driving Training Centres
will cut down issue of bogus licenses
where people get them without even
visiting the District Transport Officers
(DTO).
“Over 30 per cent licenses in the country
are bogus ones. Five lakh accidents
happen in India every year…1.5 lakh
people die in accidents and three lakh are
injured,” he said and added that such
centres have been opened in Maharashtra
and West Bengal but Bihar did not show
any interest in them.
In another major announcement, the Union
Minister revealed that there is a plan to
open “50,000 institutions in the country
which will provide various facilities like
fitness certificates and pollution
certificates to vehicles”.
“Each of these institutions will provide
jobs to 50 youths, thereby giving
employment to 2.5 lakh persons in the
country,” he added.
He also said that his ministry has plans to
provide electric rickshaws and battery-
operated buses across the country to cut
down on environmental pollution. He also
said efforts are on to encourage farmers
to produce bio-diesel and ethanol for this
purpose.
Speaking on the occasion, Gadkari, who
has held various charges previously,
including the post of National President of
the BJP, defended the Land Acquisition
Bill moved by the Centre and asserted
with a “promise” that not an inch of land
will be acquired for industrial and
corporate houses.
He said the clause of 80 per cent consent
of people while acquiring land has been
removed only for projects related to rural
infrastructure like dams, irrigation
projects, industrial corridor, defence
installations and affordable housing.
Poking fun at the opposition to the land
acquisition bill by various non-NDA
parties, Gadkari said, “Congress President
Sonia Gandhi is worried about the
employment of Rahul Gandhi, RJD Chief
Lalu Prasad is worried about the jobs of
his sons and daughters, while Prime
Minister Narendra Modi is worried about
the unemployment of crores of people of
India.”
Gadkari also asked the people to vote
“NDA government to power” in the
forthcoming Bihar elections as it has
“powerful engines like Sushil Kumar Modi,
Ram Vilas Paswan and Upendra
Kushwaha”, who will ensure the
development of the state.
Speaking on the occasion senior BJP
leader and former Deputy Chief Minister
Sushil Kumar Modi lauded the way the
central government has tamed inflation
and made it a non-issue for opposition
parties.
Sushil Modi also exhorted the people of
the state “to rise above caste and religion
to bring in an NDA government in Bihar as
Sonia Gandhi, Nitish Kumar and Lalu
Prasad failed in their chance to develop
the state”.
Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly
Nand Kishore Yadav, Bihar BJP President
Mangal Pandey, LJP leader and Jamui MP
Chirag Paswan, RLSP leader Arun Kumar
and several other leaders from all the
three parties also spoke on the occasion.

Big development push for Chhattisgarh: MoUs worth Rs 24,000 cr signed during PM Narendra Modi’s visit

Big development push for Chhattisgarh:
MoUs worth Rs 24,000 cr signed during
PM Narendra Modi’s visit

From railway lines to steel plants and
pipelines, the MoUs are meant to enhance
development of the state and for regions
hit by Naxal menace.

NEW DELHI: In a big push for
infrastructure development in
Chhattisgarh, MoUs worth Rs 24,000 crore
were signed at Dantewada in the presence
of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on
Saturday.
From railway lines to steel plants and
pipelines, the MoUs are meant to enhance
development of the state. Here is a list of
the MoUs that were signed:
1) MoU between Government of
Chhattisgarh, NMDC, IRCON and SAIL for
140 km rail line between Rowghat and
Jagdalpur. Estimated project cost: Rs
2,000 crore.
2) MoU between Ministry of Steel,
Government of Chhattisgarh, SAIL and
NMDC for 3 million ton Ultra Mega Steel
Plant with an investment of approximately
Rs 18,000 crore.
3) MoU between Government of
Chhattisgarh and NMDC for Slurry Pipeline
and 2MTPA Pellet Plant at Nagarnar in
Bastar District with an investment of Rs
4,000 crore.
4) MoU between Government of
Chhattisgarh and SAIL for setting up
1MTPA Pellet Plant at Dalli-Rajhara, Balod
District with an investment of Rs 826
crore.
The 140-km rail link, to be constructed at
a cost of Rs 24,000 crore, will connect
Bastar region with important cities of the
state like Raipur, Bilaspur and Durg. The
rail link will also help in easy and cheaper
transportation of iron ore for industries.
Over 10,000 people in the region are
expected to get direct and indirect
employment opportunities through the
ultra-mega steel plant project.