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India’s Diesel Subsidy Spurs Pollution Worse Than Beijing

Molecular biologist George Easow’s move to India to start a clinical diagnostics business lasted just three weeks before he was convinced to return to the U.K. The convincing was done by his seven-month-old daughter Fiona. Within days of moving to New Delhi , the child was wheezing and gasping for air because of smog. “She could hardly breathe,” said her father. Fiona was kept indoors and put on medication. Nothing worked. “We had to make a call,” Easow said, adding her symptoms disappeared once back in the U.K. and haven’t returned. For the 16.8 million residents of India’s capital, the wheezing continues. The bad news is it’s going to get worse. New Delhi isn’t alone as cities across the nation suffer from some of the worst air quality in the world. That’s costing the country 1.1 trillion rupees ($18 billion) in shortened life spans of productive […]

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India moves ahead in forming coal regulator

India has given the go-ahead for the creation of a regulator for the country’s coal sector. "The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given [the] nod to the proposal to set up [a] coal regulator through an executive order," Press Trust of India quoted a senior minister as saying Thursday. Coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal had informed Parliament last week the regulator would be set up by executive order "as enactment of legislation would take some time," Press Trust reports. The bill is pending but the current session of Parliament is the last before a general election likely to take place in April and May. Nearly 70 percent of India’s electricity is generated by coal. "India’s coal-centered energy landscape will not change dramatically over the next 30 years," the International Energy Agency stated in a 2012 report. India’s Ministry of Power estimates 62 gigawatts […]

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New Delhi orders probe on gas pricing

New Delhi’s government called for a criminal probe of charges against federal oil minister Veerappa Moily, Reliance Industries Ltd.’s Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani and others following complaints of irregularities in the pricing of natural gas in the Krishna-Godavari basin. The capital city’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said Tuesday the Anti-Corruption Branch of the Delhi government was asked to probe the issue based on complaints filed by former Cabinet Secretary T.S.R. Subramanian, former Navy chief Adm. Tarun Tahiliani, a lawyer and a former expenditure secretary, Press Trust of India reports. The issue relates to the federal government’s plans to allow producers to increase the price of natural gas to around $8 per million metric British thermal unit from the current price of $4.20, from April 1. Kejriwal said the complaint alleged "collusion between some union ministers and Reliance Industries Ltd." that purportedly […]

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India needs nuclear power, for now — minister

India needs to rely on nuclear power until it can further develop renewable energy, a government official said. New and Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah, speaking at the opening Thursday of Delhi Sustainable Development Summit 2014, cited India’s growing needs for energy amid its developing economy. "India is moving forward. India needs energy. Therefore, please forgive us. We have to use nuclear energy [until] renewable energy comes up to such a level that we are able to dispense with fossil fuels and nuclear energy," Press Trust of India quoted Abdullah as saying. India, the fourth largest energy consumer in the world after the United States, China and Russia, has increased its oil imports from about 40 percent of demand in 1990 to more than 70 percent of demand by 2011, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh , at […]

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Initial agreement signed for mega solar project in India

A group of state-owned Indian companies have signed an initial agreement for setting up what the government says is the world’s largest solar power plant. The 4,000-megawatt plant in the northwestern state of Rajasthan would be spread across 19,000 acres. "The MOU signed today will have to get the approval of the Cabinet and then the project will move forward," Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Praful Patel said at the signing ceremony in New Delhi Wednesday, Press Trust of India reports. The consortium of six state-run companies includes Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, known as BHEL, and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited. Construction for the first phase of 1,000 megawatts is expected to start in about three years. The plant will rely on crystalline silicon technology. The Hindu newspaper cited New and Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah as saying at the […]

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Indian lawmaker group calls for boosting renewable electricity

India has 7.5 million households without access to electricity, a new report by a group of Indian lawmakers says. The report, submitted Monday to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by the lawmakers, known as the Climate Parliament Group of MPs, notes that per capita electricity consumption in the country’s rural households was 8 units per month compared to 24 units in urban households. "The reason for such low level of consumption is not low demand, but poor access to energy. In spite of a number of programs and schemes for rural electrification, India has one of the lowest levels of access to modern energy," Press Trust of India quotes the report, "RE-Energising India: Policy, Regulatory and Financial Initiatives to Augment Renewable Energy Deployment in India," as saying. Noting the Indian government in 2001-02 had pledged to provide "electricity for all by 2012," a […]

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India to review oil and gas estimates

The Indian government announced plans to review more than a dozen basins across the country to update its estimated oil and natural gas potential. M. Veerappa Moily, India’s energy minister, set up a multilateral team to reassess the nation’s reserve potential. The Hindu, an Indian newspaper, reported the team will spend the next 30 months evaluating the reserve potential in 26 basins across India. The survey covers an estimated 1.2 million square miles of Indian territory. The newspaper reported Monday the last such exercise was carried out 20 years ago for 15 reserve areas. The Indian government is looking to secure more oil and gas reserves to help support its expanding economy. In early January, state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd. said it expects to produce as much as 353 million cubic feet of natural gas from offshore reserves by 2018. The […]

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Iran looking at exporting natural gas to India via deep sea

Sunanda Pushkar Tharoor was found dead in a Delhi hotel on Friday night. Follow us for the latest updates on the case. The Congress vice-president must rethink his speeches. He needs to bring these down to the level of the common man if he wants to make any impact. In 1947, one of the wealthiest businessmen in Calcutta, Adinath Sen, welcomed a young bride into his home. Given how rich and well-respected Sen was, to be his daughter in-law must have been something of a coup, even though there was gossip about how Sen junior was a party boy inclined to both alcohol and […] Its net revenue stood at Rs 1.03 lakh crore vs estimate Of Rs 1.04 lakh crore. The company’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation stood at Rs 7,622 crore, higher than the estimate of Rs 7,420 crore. Without […]

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India to cut Iran crude imports to 9-9.5 mil mt in 2014-15

India will lower its crude oil imports from Iran by 15% to 9 million-9.5 million mt in fiscal year 2014-2015 (April-March), from an estimated 11 million mt in fiscal 2013-2014, a senior petroleum ministry official said Tuesday. Essar Oil and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. — two of the largest importers of Iranian crude in the country — are expected to end the current fiscal year with imports of 4 million-4.5 million mt each, and Indian Oil Corp. will import around 1 million mt, R.K Singh, joint secretary for refineries at the petroleum ministry, said on the sidelines of the Petrotech 2014 conference near New Delhi. This is down from 13.3 million mt in fiscal year 2012-2013. The cut is in line with the 15% annual reduction countries have to show to be eligible for US waivers from sanctions against Iran, he said. […]

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India reviews diesel deregulation for bulk consumers: official

India is reviewing its policy of deregulating diesel prices for bulk consumers introduced in January 2013 after bulk sales have dropped as those consumers shifted to the retail sector, a senior oil ministry official said Thursday. "Bulk diesel sales have dropped dramatically and [as a result] subsidies have increased," Petroleum Secretary Vivek Rae said. Rae was speaking on the sidelines of a Petrotech 2014 pre-conference session in New Delhi. India in January 2013 allowed oil companies to raise diesel prices each month by Rupees 0.50/liter in the retail sector but announced deregulated prices for bulk consumers. Bulk consumers include state-run bus transport corporations, the Indian Railways, and small and medium-size enterprises that use gasoil to run their facilities. They buy gasoil directly from refineries. The Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, which is a part of the oil ministry, in a November report on […]

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