Handling the energy crisis
Energy commodities comprise gas, oil, coal, renewable energy and electricity.
Today we face the following challenges related to energy:
1. Increasing demand
2. meeting these demands keeping in mind sustainability
Planning Commission:
by 2016-17, the country will manage an approximate 6.7 million tonnes of oil and by 2021-22, this will rise to 850 million tonnes. However, this will meet only 70 per cent of the expected demand; the remaining 30 per cent will have to be sourced through imports.
Even though India possesses a rich heterogeneous mix of energy components, deterring policies have created a difficult environment for potential investors.
Coal
Current situation:
- Today, 54 per cent of the total electricity generation capacity is coal-based, and more than 70 per cent of energy generated is from coal-based power plants.
- As per the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-12), 67 per cent of the planned capacity added is also coal-based.
- Coal will continue its dominant position in India’s energy mix for many years to come.
Issues regarding coal:
1. Match between demand and supply:
While domestic production is set to touch 795 MT in 2016-17, the projected demand for coal will be 980 MT during the same period.
Coal India Limited and its subsidiaries - 293.5 billion tonnes presently, with a few blocks being given to private parties for production of electricity and captive use.
From 2012, the country has seen a paradigm shift in coal policy, with the Comptroller and Auditor General stating that there was a national loss of Rs.1,76,000 crore. This resulted in the Ministry of Coal removing coal blocks
So we need to have a clean coal policy with respect to exploration, mining and use.
2. Reduction in dependability on imported coal: Last year for instance, we imported 100 million tonnes from Indonesia.
3. Pricing, regulation and resolving disputes for domestic coal, in a manner favourable to both coal blocks and users.
Gas
Current situation:
Natural gas resources in India were an estimated 1330.26 billion cubic meters (as of March 31, 2012). There has been a steady increase in the availability of natural gas, mostly due to indigenous discoveries of more reserves.
Issues:
- KG-D6 basin experience has not gone down well with the majority of the people
- The main issues of tariff are being debated.
- we could not even explore 40 per cent of our probable gas reserves in last seven decades --> state owned companies can be blamed for this
Suggestions:
- private sector participation is needed as exploration requires expertise and is capital intensive
- government should now explore attractive opportunities to lure foreign investors for gas exploration.
- government can fix contracts based on the O&M or Public-Private Partnership model, which would ensure that operators don’t pocket extra profits or face undue losses.
- New Exploration Licensing Policy requires revision to derive maximum benefits from gas acquisition and create more employment opportunities.
- We could provide a right of first refusal to state-owned companies if they undertook time-bound responsibilities to do the job
Oil
Current:
Current estimates of crude oil reserves in India stood at 759.59 million tonnes, with maximum reserves in the western offshore. In March 2012, the crude oil refining capacity of the country was 198 million tonnes per annum.
Issues:
With lack of good resources, crude oil has to be imported.
pricing of petroleum products drawn from crude oil, which fluctuates every fortnight.
Suggestions:
Instead of fortnightly revision, we can have annual pricing based on the previous year’s import parity.
Electricity
Current:
- per capita consumption touching 1000 KW, but we are still lagging behind China and other developing countries.
- The total installed capacity for electricity generation was 2,66,387 MW in March 2013
Issues:
1. distributing electricity at the retail level at affordable and reasonable prices
2. the regulatory framework for the electricity business needs strengthening
3. Loss in distribution
Suggestions:
rationalising tariff and incentivising reduction of losses.
Renewable energy
Current:
- Renewable energy generation has a potential of 89,774 MW, with Gujarat having the highest potential.
- Renewable energy comprises 60 per cent of electricity and 40 per cent of other sectors.
Issues:
country does not have any existing Renewable Energy Law
Suggestions:
Climate change is a global issue, warranting the new government to implement a Renewable Energy Law, that would make it mandatory for all conventional energy users to use a certain percentage of renewable energy. This process has started in electricity, but needs strict implementation across all segments.
Overall one more suggestion:
energy commission for formulating synchronous policies with other inter and intra ministerial departments.
iny nuclear power plants that could be far cheaper to build than their behemoth counterparts could herald the future for an energy industry that has come under scrutiny since the Fukushima disaster.
William Magwood, the incoming head of the Nuclear Energy Agency, told The Associated Press this week that many in the industry are pinning their hopes on the nascent technology.
But finding long-term investors has been tough. Companies have been drifting away from the project, citing funding and regulatory questions.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates is an investor in the reactors, which are slotted together like Lego blocks. They would have factory-built parts hauled by train or truck making assembly possible anywhere.
The politics of quota and merit
Good article for essay and discussion purpose. Basic point being raised:
There is unquestionable value in a general policy of reservation because it attacks caste-based inequities that have proved so damaging to our society; but through an ever-expanding scheme of reservation, we have lost sight of what our aims were in the first place.
The Supreme Court on Thursday made it clear that it was open to the Delhi Lieutenant-Governor deciding on the timing for dissolution of the Assembly and it could not impose any opinion on him or the President of India as to when they should take a call on the issue.
When Justice Lodha wanted to know from the Centre whether the L-G could revisit the Presidential proclamation and make recommendation within one year, the period for which President rule could remain in force as per law, Additional Solicitor General K.V. Viswanathan said “the L-G can send his recommendation to the President even before the expiry of one year.”
The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the Delhi Government to bear the treatment cost of the son of a rickshaw-puller afflicted with Gaucher’s disease, — a genetic disorder — saying that shying away from shouldering the burden is violation of the child’s fundamental right to life and equality before law.
The patient, Mohammed Ahmed, through his father, Mohammed Sirajuddin, had moved the Court seeking a direction for free treatment when the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) had refused to treat him due to paucity of funds.
The Delhi Government as well as the Union Government had also refused to take responsibility on the same grounds.
Activist lawyer Ashok Agarwal appearing for the petitioner argued before the Court that denial of free treatment to him was violation of his fundamental rights to life and equality before law.
Russia, the United States, the European Union and Ukraine have agreed on a plan to resolve the crisis in Ukraine through a constitutional reform that would grant more powers to Russian-speaking regions. After eight-hour talks in Geneva, the Foreign Ministers of the four nations signed a joint statement on de-escalation of the Ukraine crisis.
The Supreme Court order that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) can audit telecom operators can open a Pandora’s Box, and lead to similar demand in other industries, unhappy service providers said.
An apex court bench, headed by Justice K. S. Radhakrishnan, upheld a Delhi High Court order that CAG can audit the revenue receipts of telecom operators.
Rajan S. Mathews, Director-General, Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) — the GSM body — said: “We have two concerns.
>> First, multiple audits by multiple agencies (DoT, TRAI, Telecom Enforcement, Resource and Monitoring (TERM) cells, SEBI and now CAG), increasing the costs and time to operators.
>> Second, increasing the scope of CAG to private entities. By the logic of the court, every tax payer should also be subject to audit by the CAG, in addition to the IT department. This ruling will become a larger issue for corporate India and not just mobile operators
R.K. Dhowan new Navy chief
In a move that could ignite a controversy, the government has appointed Vice-Admiral R.K. Dhowan as the new Navy chief, superseding Vice-Admiral Shekhar Sinha.
The Navy has been without a chief since the resignation of Admiral D.K. Joshi in February, when he resigned owning moral responsibility for a series of accidents on board submarines and warships.
The government picked him ahead of Vice-Admiral Sinha saying the latter had direct supervisory command at the time of the submarine accidents.
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