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Kerala govt aims at 25-year master plan for land use

Ajayan — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:03:00 GMT

Kochi: Kerala is working on a land use policy that will ration land for housing, agriculture and industry and include strict environmental caveats, attempting to boost food production and avert what the state government calls an “imminent eco catastrophe”.

The draft policy, which aims to put in place a 25-year master plan for land use, is expected to be presented to the state cabinet later this month.

The policy, “which we propose to legislate after cabinet clearance, is to ensure food, water, housing, livelihood security and basic living amenities to every citizen of the state and maintain sustainability of the ecosystem in harmony with the integrity of the landscape,” Kerala revenue minister K.P. Rajendran said.

While the Land Reforms Act of 1963, initiated by Kerala’s first Communist government in 1958, was effective in redistributing land, there has been no follow-up action, leading to fragmentation of farm land on which food crops are grown. In the meantime, commercial utilization of land for mining, large shopping complexes, special economic zones, tourism resorts, and golf courses have been chipping away at food production.

Of the 3.88 million ha that comprises the state, only 268,000ha (6.86%) is under food cultivation, of which paddy land accounts for 247,000ha, down from 763,000ha at the time of the state’s formation in 1957. Rubber, cardamom, coffee, tea, cashew and pepper plantations cover 650,000ha (16.5%).

The total built-up area is 154,000ha (3.96%), of which residential area is just 36,000ha.

“Kerala is under unmistakable threat from an imminent eco-catastrophe that will make life miserable for the people,” the draft policy warns.

At least 685,000 of the more than 3.18 million people in the state do not own a house and live in rented or makeshift houses. And the 372,000 that own land are unable to afford building a house.

Ironically, there are at least 730,000 unoccupied homes in the state since it is treated as “a commodity to make lucrative business and investment”, the draft notes. Many of these are built by non-resident Indians as an investment from their savings.

The draft policy also takes into account demands by environmental organizations. A. Latha, head of the Kerala-based non-governmental organization River Research Centre, or RRC, says green activists have for long demanded that the floor size of housing units, for instance, be based on the number of persons staying or expected to live there. This will help in controlling use of land, she says.

Unscientific land use, historical lack of societal control on land management and conversion of land into “the most sought-after commodity for amassing material wealth have led to the present scenario where the land is debilitated, production plummeted, water resources depleted and contaminated; landlessness continues to haunt when land mafia flourishes”, the draft policy notes.

While the land reform in Kerala was important for social change and reform, it failed to satisfy the basic needs of people at the lowest social and economic strata, said P.K. Michael Tharakan, vice-chancellor of Kannur University in northern Kerala, and an economist who has written several studies on land reforms in the state,

“The present proposal prioritizing housing for the poor and promoting only environment-friendly industries in the state is in the right direction,” he said, adding that a conservative approach will be needed to ensure that all people are provided with basic housing facilities.

“Besides, in its efforts towards industrialization, a lot of environmental issues were forgone earlier,” he said. “Though some of the blunders cannot be undone, henceforth the government will have to be much stricter in allotting land for industries, keeping in mind ecological concerns.”

Energy | Power generation capacity to rise by 29%

Bloomberg — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:01:00 GMT

New Delhi: The power ministry said electricity generation capacity will increase 29% by 2012 as new plants start production, helping ease shortages in Asia’s third biggest economy.

Utilities will add 66,000MW of capacity in the five years ending March 2012, at least three times the capability built in the preceding five years, power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde told reporters in New Delhi on Thursday.

Govt may allow real estate activity along expressways

Rahul Chandran — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:13:00 GMT

New Delhi: The government is considering allowing real estate developers to commercially exploit land as part of its plans to build an expressway network around the country to supplement national highways.

Future plans: Roads secretary Brahm Dutt says the Planning Commission is working on a draft expressway legislation. Rajkumar / Mint

Road transport and highways secretary Brahm Dutt said he had held a meeting with real estate developers in October to look at the feasibility of allowing land development to cross subsidize the cost of building the expressways.

The cabinet committee on economic affairs, or CCEA, has so far approved the construction of some 1,000km of expressways at an estimated cost of Rs16,680 crore.

These expressways would be access-controlled, six- to eight-lane roads connecting Vadodara-Mumbai, Bangalore-Chennai, Delhi-Meerut and Kolkata-Dhanbad.

Dutt said that given the high costs of building the expressways, “real estate along expressways should be fully exploited”. He added that the government was looking at several models of land development.

The National Highway Authority of India, or NHAI, currently does not allow the commercial exploitation of land along highways.

Private concessionaires of highway stretches get their revenue solely through tolls. However, some states such as Uttar Pradesh have in the past bid out expressways based on the quantum of land that private concessionaires asked for as a sweetener to build on and finance the road.

Road transport and highways minister Kamal Nath had earlier this year announced the setting up of an expressway division within NHAI, which could eventually be spun off into a separate authority after the introduction of an expressway Bill.

Roads secretary Dutt said the Planning Commission was working on a draft expressway legislation.

Analysts, however, cautioned that in allowing land development to cross-subsidize infrastructure creation, the government runs the risk of the projects turning from being primarily expressway projects into primarily real estate projects.

Door open for India to join IPI gas pipeline

PTI — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:51:00 GMT

New Delhi: Iran Tuesday said the “door was open” for India to join the ambitious Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline but indicated that it could not wait indefinitely and the structure of the project could change in the future.

Iran has in place a bilateral arrangement with Pakistan on the gas pipeline and both the countries have begun work on the project, Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said here.

“We have a bilateral arrangement with Pakistan and the door is open for our Indian friends. That (IPI) will be a reality...but I am not sure about the future,” he said in an interaction at the Indian Council of World Affairs.

Mottaki claimed that more than 100 km of the pipeline has already been laid on the Iranian side and the Pakistani side has also “started action” on its side of the border.

“But when you consider this pipeline bilaterally, there is a definite capacity. If we make commitments with other partners, with other pipelines, to other regions, in such a case may be in the future the structure of the project may change. I do hope to have Indian participation as soon as possible,” he said.

Mottaki said the issue was discussed during his interactions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and external affairs minister S M Krishna yesterday.

“During our negotiations, there were some questions and concerns and they needed some more consideration on this project,” he said.

Mottaki said there was a desire on the part of India to go for this project and “definitely it will be a reality.”

He said through the completion of the IPI project, the three countries could present a “positive picture” of regional cooperation among themselves.

The 2,775 km-long pipeline was conceived nearly 20 years ago to deliver natural gas from Iran to Pakistan and India.

However, India has serious differences with Iran and Pakistan over the security of the project, pricing of gas and the delivery point in the country.

China too had expressed interest to join the proposed pipeline project.

Earlier delivering a speech, Mottaki pitched for creation of a unified Asian framework for better coordination among countries on strategic issues.

He said Asia lacked a framework for increasing cooperation within the continent and it had several sub-regional arrangements like the Asean and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

He noted that Europe spoke in one voice through the European Union while Africa also had a similar system.

Mottaki said that a pan-Asian framework was necessary as it was this continent that was driving economic growth when the world was facing a financial slowdown.

Grey areas cloud 3G auction prospects

Shauvik Ghosh — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:45:00 GMT

New Delhi: The much awaited (and much delayed) auction of spectrum required for third generation, or 3G, mobile services and WiMax services may not be as succesful as the government wants it to be, if the thin attendance at Monday’s pre-bid conference, held by the department of telecommunication, or DoT, is any indication.

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And those who attended were disappointed with the conference failing to explain any procedural issues as well as clarify various policies.

A similar pre-bid conference was held on 23 December last year, where the attendance was at least twice that on Monday. “There was no standing room the last time around and the number of people from other countries was negligible this time around,” an analyst with a global research firm said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Graphics: Sandeep Bhatnagar / Mint

DoT has scheduled auctions of 3G and broadband wireless access, or BWA spectrum, or radio waves, starting on 14 January. The auction is expected to earn the government at least Rs35,000 crore.

“This auction has been designed to favour the incumbent operators and in no way does it help or allow an international telecom operator to come in with any chance of creating a viable business,” the India representative of one of the largest telecom firms in the world said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he is not authorized to speak to the media. “No foreign operator would bid unless they are already present in the country and have a viable business in place already.”

The 3G auction could have been an entry route for international telcos that missed out on India’s telecommunications boom. The auction will also be the first such in the country for spectrum—the primary reason for the pre-bid conference. In the case of spectrum needed to provide second generation (2G) telecommunication services (the one currently available), telcos needed to pay around Rs1,651 crore for a UAS licence (Universal Access Services) and were allocated the spectrum along with the licence depending on availability.

3G spectrum, however, which is required for higher capacity voice calls and faster data access on mobile phones, will be auctioned.

“There are too many grey areas in the policy and other matters concerning the auction. A foreign operator does not want to participate in such a scenario,” added the India representative of the international telecom company.

“There are still too many unknowns, especially coming from Trai (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), not just on norms on mergers and acquisitions, but also on spectrum trading and sharing,” said a consultant who advises a number of telecom firms and who did not want to be identified given the sensitivity of the issue.

Trai is expected to come out with recomendations on spectrum management within the next three months based on the 2G spectrum committee report. The report recommends a number of policy changes including the delinking of licence from spectrum and making spectrum a tradable commodity. “If these policy changes and relaxations come into force, it could considerably increase the value of the spectrum auctioned,” the consultant added.

Other issues that are a cause of concern include the availability of 2G spectrum for the successful bidders.

DoT has said that winning bidders in the 3G auction will be eligible for 2G spectrum to start plain-vanilla telephone services. However, given that existing telecom operators have been clamouring for additional spectrum on a priority basis, it is unclear whether the new allottees will get the spectrum before them.

Potential bidders are also concerned about the price of the 2G licence in the event of spectrum being delinked from the licence, considering that winning bidders would have to get a UAS licence to operate telecom services in the country.

Another grey area is the timeline for getting a licence. If a new entrant is a winning bidder for 3G spectrum, DoT has not clarified on the amount of time to be given to get a UAS licence and whether there will be a fast-track process for clearing such applications. Recently, a government security clearance for Norway-based Telenor’s acquisition of stake in Unitech Wireless (a 2G service provider) took almost a year.

“It’s in the government’s interest to come out with all” details so that “potential bidders can take them into consideration when formulating their bidding and roll-out strategies”, said Kunal Bajaj, managing director with strategy analysis firm BDA Connect Ltd. This would increase the number of bidders, he added. It doesn’t make sense for a bidder to receive only 3G spectrum and no 2G spectrum, he said.

Officials of DoT present at the conference assured potential bidders that all the issues would be clarified soon. “Whatever queries have not been answered here will be answered on the DoT’s website,” said J.S. Deepak, joint secretary with DoT. “On 8 December, we will come out with the notice inviting applications (NIA) which will be a legal binding document on the auction. The frequencies of the spectrum on auction will also be given in the NIA,” he added.

Deepak also said that there was no link between the auction and the Trai consultation process on spectrum management.

“There were many issues that were not clarified but, overall, there was a lot of interest and the discussion was quite lively. Clarity is needed as far as the Trai 2G policy changes are concerned,” a senior executive with one of India’s Top 3 telecom firms said.

“But 3G is an evolution of 2G and if 2G issues are not cleared then how do we go ahead with the auction?”

shauvik.g@livemint.com

IFC turns focus on funding to poorer states

Niranjan Rajadhyaksha — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:05:00 GMT

Mumbai: The private sector lending arm of the World Bank group is sharpening its focus on the bottom of the pyramid.

New strategy: IFC executive vice-president and CEO Lars Thunell says the ‘countryside is still under-represented’ in its India portfolio. Abhijit Bhatlekar / Mint

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) will increase lending to enterprises in seven north Indian states that lag the rest of the country in average incomes and has set up a separate unit that works in these poorer states, the lender’s top manager said on Monday. “We have shifted focus to areas where we can contribute,” said Lars Thunell, executive vice-president and chief executive of IFC.

India is currently the biggest recipient of IFC funding, overtaking Russia, and accounts for around one-tenth of its global portfolio, but Thunell said “the Indian countryside is still under-represented” in its India portfolio. IFC will continue to fund large projects, but its new drive to invest in companies serving the needs of the poorest will lower the size of its median financing deal. The new strategy entails some changes in the way the lender is structured.

IFC has set up offices in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata in addition to its main India office in New Delhi, a process that Thunell describes as “massive decentralization”.

He added that employees will no longer be evaluated, incentivized and promoted only on the basis of “big fancy transactions”.

The drive to fund enterprises that touch those living at the bottom of the income pyramid also means that IFC is stepping up investments in areas such as microfinance and agro-industry.

Over the past few months, it has made investments in microfinanciers such as Shree Pathrakali Finance Co. Ltd in Varanasi, Belstar Investment and Finance Ltd in Bangalore and Asomi Finance Pvt. Ltd in Assam.

Venture capital portal www.vccircle.com reported that IFC had invested $1.2 billion (Rs5,532 crore) in at least 140 microfinance institutions in 60 countries by the end of June.

Thunell and his colleagues have been trying to get a feel of the situation on the ground by visiting places such as Barmer, Rajasthan, and meeting women who have borrowed from microfinance institutions in Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu, where Belstar Investment funds silk handloom artisans who make the famous Kanjivaram saris.

“Those who argue that microfinance forces people into a poverty trap do not understand the reality on the ground. They should meet the women who become productive after getting access to loans, and see the way their income helps families put children in school or invest in health,” said Paolo Martelli, director of IFC’s South Asia operations.

IFC is also taking a close look at private sector initiatives in climate change mitigation and better water use practices, especially in agriculture.

Thunell believes India can be at the forefront of innovation: “Indians can think out of the box. Just look at examples such as the Nano car, Apollo Hospitals, Aravind Eye Care and mobile phone costs.”

Finance ministry seeks $1 bn World Bank loan for roads

Rahul Chandran — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:36:00 GMT

New Delhi: The finance ministry has asked for a $1 billion (Rs4,610 crore) loan from the World Bank to build two-lane highways in areas that may not support roads built in partnership with private firms, an official of the multilateral lending institution said.

The loan would enable the construction of 4,500km of highways in eight states, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak with the media.

Seeking funds: A road under construction in Warangal, Andhra Pradesh. NHAI is in talks to raise funds for its projects. Mint

“We have received the request just a week back,” the official said, adding that the $1 billion could be the first part of a larger loan. The ministry had originally discussed borrowing as much as $2.91 billion, he said.

The roads will be built under engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts with the builder being in charge of design for the project as well. In EPC contracts, a private developer builds the highway for a fee, without owning any stake in the project.

A highways authority official, who declined to named, said the proposal originated from the ministry of road transport and highways and was to cover highways that are not part of the National Highways Development Programme (NHDP).

World Bank spokesperson Sudeep Mozumder confirmed that the department of economic affairs had made the loan request. The planned delivery of the project would be June 2012, he added.

The request comes even as the National Highways Authority of India, which administers the NHDP, is separately negotiating a loan for highways overseen by it, the World Bank official said. The highways authority official said that several proposals were being discussed but no specific request had yet been made.

An infrastructure analyst said building highways in partnership with private firms has hastened the process of bidding.

“The (World Bank’s) loans must meet the speed criteria. They should not sacrifice speed completely at the altar of governance,” said Siddhartha Das, infrastructure analyst with consulting firm Ernst and Young Pvt. Ltd.

New panel to studyhighway financing plans

Rahul Chandran — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:22:00 GMT

New Delhi: “The government has formed a committee to look at the long-term funancing needs of India’s highways authority,” two officials at the authority said on condition of anonymity.

The committee is chaired by Planning Commission member B. K. Chaturvedi and has expenditure secretary Sushma Nath, road transport secretary Brahm Dutt, National Highway Authority of India chairman Brijeshwar Singh and Gajendra Haldea, advisor to Planning Commission, and Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the plan panel, as members, among others.

One of the officials, however, said that there was no real reason for another committee to be formed because the cabinet committee on infrastructure had already asked the road transport ministry to look into the highway financing plans.

“The financing plan was to go to the empowered group of ministers,” the official said., adding that the ministry of road transport and highways did not feel the need for the issue to be put through another committee.

Corporate | IFC consultant for Vizhinjam terminal

Ajayan — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:40:00 GMT

Kochi: The Kerala government has appointed International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank group, as consultant for developing a proposed greenfield multi-crore international container port at Vizhinjam, near the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram. IFC will replace IL&FS.

IFC’s consulting fee will be in two tranches—a fixed cost of about Rs80 lakh, and a so-called success fee to be decided after the bidding process is complete.

Lars Thunnel, IFC executive vice-president and chief executive officer, said it would also help raise funds to achieve financial closure.

Replying to a question about whether IFC would directly invest in the project, he said that would depend on the terms of the government and the strategic partner.

India to unveil 20,000 MW solar power plan

Reuters0 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:50:00 GMT

Mumbai: India will soon launch an ambitious plan to boost its solar power generation from 3 MW to 20,000 MW by 2022, the country’s minister for new and renewable energy said on Friday.

“The amount which we are going to talk about is huge. I can only say that much,” Farooq Abdullah, told reporters, adding that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh plans to announce its new policy next week.

The policy framework, known in official circles as “the National Solar Mission,” will address the high cost of manufacturing solar panels as well as the high price of solar power, Abdullah said.

A rough rule of thumb is that one megawatt of coal generating capacity costs about $1 million to build, while solar capacity costs roughly double that.

“Our job is to bring the costs down. Whether we are going to give concession on import duties, whether we are going to give a sizeable subsidy to purchase solar power, all will be outlined in the mission,” he said.

India struggles with a severe shortage of electricity, with peak power falling about 12% below demand. Rolling blackouts are common and businesses rely heavily on backup generators.

The country has set a target to build 78,700 megawatts of new power capacity in the five years ending in 2012, but top officials have said India will fall short of that target.

Abdullah said 85 percent of the solar panels currently made in India are exported.

“We are unable to use them in the country as prices are high,” he added.

Indian firms including Moser Baer, XL Telecom & Energy, Bharat Heavy Electricals, KSK Energy Ventures already make solar panels or have plans to do so.

Abdullah also told reporteRs that the William J. Clinton Foundation is talking to the Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan to set up 3,000 MW solar power units in each.

China dams may hit plans in Arunachal

Utpal Bhaskar — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:45:00 GMT

There’s a new bone of contention between India and China, and it’s water.

The Indian government is concerned that the hydroelectric power projects planned in Arunachal Pradesh may be affected by China’s plan to divert water from rivers that flow into the Brahmaputra river to the arid zones of Xinjiang and Gansu.

Water woes: A file photo of the 2,000MW Subansiri lower project in Arunachal Pradesh. NHPC plans to develop hydropower projects that will generate 6,500MW of power in the state. Indranil Bhoumik / Mint

India’s ministries of water resources and power have expressed their reservations over China’s ambitious $62 billion (Rs2.9 trillion) south-north water diversion scheme as Arunachal Pradesh alone, among the north-eastern states, has a potential to generate 50,328MW of hydropower—the highest in the country, according to the Central Electricity Authority, India’s apex power sector planning body.

China and India, the world’s fastest growing major economies, have been sniping at each other over border issues, including the status of Arunchal Pradesh, an Indian state that China claims. Tensions have also risen after articles in the Chinese media criticizing Indian policy regarding Arunachal Pradesh.

The firms that are developing hydropower projects in Arunachal Pradesh include state-run NHPC Ltd, Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-Adag)-owned Reliance Energy Ltd, Jaiprakash Associates Ltd, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and GMR Group.

“There is a concern that any construction on the Brahmaputra will affect hydropower generation in Arunachal Pradesh,” said Union power secretary H.S. Brahma. “While 60% of the water in the Brahmaputra comes from India, 40% comes from Tibet. We have to study the impact.”

There is evidence that China is building a number of projects on the Brahmaputra, said a top official at the ministry of water resources who did not want to be identified. “While we expect minimal effect on Assam, hydropower generation on upstream projects in Arunachal Pradesh will get affected,” the official added. “While the issue has been taken up with China, it says it has no (such) plans.”

India’s foreign secretary Nirupama Rao had said on 4 November that China had denied it was building a dam on the Brahmaputra. She was responding to a question on the reported construction at the Zangmu site on the Chinese side of the Brahmaputra, which was confirmed by the National Remote Sensing Agency, according to media reports. “What I want to say is that this matter has been taken up not just once, but on a number of occasions with China, and China has consistently denied that it is engaged in any such construction activity on the Brahmaputra,” Rao said.

The Chinese embassy in New Delhi did not reply to email queries from Mint on the issue.

Geopolitical concerns over the sharing of river water make hydropower projects a major challenge, said K. Ramanathan, distinguished fellow at The Energy and Resources Institute. “Projects in Arunachal are anyway difficult to execute. There is a veil of secrecy about the availability of water from international rivers,” he said. “With China planning to divert Brahmaputra water, there will be an impact. How much will be affected is difficult to say. The way forward will be expediting the construction of projects in the North-East over the rivers originating in China to establish prior user commitment.”

Mint had reported on 21 March that the Planning Commission had recommended the accelerated construction of hydropower projects in the North-East on rivers originating in China to establish a certain degree of prior use claim. According to international laws, having a prior use claim strengthens a country’s claim.

S.K. Garg, chairman and managing director of NHPC, said: “We will have to study the impact (of the Chinese dam). It is too early to say anything on this issue at this point of time.”

NHPC plans to develop hydropower projects that will generate 6,500MW of power in the state; construction has already begun on the 2,000MW Subansiri lower project.

While spokespersons from JSPL and GMR denied that water diversion in China would affect their projects as the rivers they are to be developed do not originate there, an R-Adag spokesperson declined to comment on the issue. Questions emailed to Jaiprakash Associates on 6 November remained unanswered at the time of filing this story.

Hydropower projects are difficult to build as construction requires more specialized technology and design compared with thermal power projects. They also have to deal with delays in environmental clearances. The hydropower sector accounts for only 32,326MW of India’s 150,000MW power-generating capacity. The country plans to add another 16,501.17MW of total capacity by 2012.

utpal.b@livemint.com

Container rates to Europe up by 40-45%

P. Manoj — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:55:00 GMT

Bangalore: The cost of shipping cargo containers from India to Europe has risen by about 40-45% above the rates in May this year, on the back of a pickup in volumes and rate increases by carriers.

“There is a significant growth in container volumes going to Europe on a month-on-month basis,” said Apurva Jasraj, partner at Mumbai-based freight broking firm M. Jasraj and Bros. “October was better than September and in November so far, the same trend is continuing,” he said. Rates on India to Europe shipments is now about $850-900 (Rs39,525-41,850) for a 20ft container and $1,500-1,600 for a 40ft container, he added.

Six months ago, rates had fallen to $250-300 for a 20ft container and $450-500 for a 40ft container from about $1,100 for a 20ft container and $2,500 for a 40ft container in August 2008 as the financial crisis cut demand for goods.

The increase in trade to Europe has led many carriers to seek higher rates between $100 and $200 for a 20ft container from November. This is the third time that carriers are seeking rate hikes on this route since July this year. Carriers looking to hike rates further include Maersk Line, CMA CGM SA, Mediterranean Shipping Co. SA and Shipping Corp. of India Ltd (SCI).

“The rate increase is to meet the burgeoning operating costs and to make the service viable in the interests of the trade,” an SCI statement said. The state-run firm has hiked rates by $150 for shipping a 20-ft container to Europe beginning 5 November.

Govt approves Rs10,000 cr highways projects in three states

PTI — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:48:00 GMT

New Delhi: The government on Thursday announced approving eight projects, envisaging an expenditure of Rs10,883.89 crore, in the highways sector.

The projects, approved during the meeting of the public private partnership appraisal committee (PPPAC), are located in Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka and Haryana.

The 28th PPPAC meeting, chaired by finance secretary Ashok Chawla met on 16 October, 2009, and granted approval to eight projects of ministry of road, transport and highways. These projects are in three states, an official statement said.

The committee, which was constituted in January 2006 has so far approved 135 projects with a total cost of Rs1,37,025.62 crore, including 122 highways projects.

These include national highways (122 projects), ports (nine projects), airports (two projects), tourism infrastructure (one project) and railways (one project), the statement said.

The eight highways development projects approved by the PPPAC include six in Jammu and Kashmir and one each in Karnataka and Haryana.

The J&K projects include Rs971 crore scheme for four-laning of Qazigund to Banihal section, Rs1,987 crore scheme for strengthening and four-laning of Ramban to Banihal section, Rs986 crore for rehabilitation and strengthening of four-laning of Udhampur to Ramban section.

Govt panel clears port projects worth Rs7,757 cr

PTI — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:06:00 GMT

New Delhi: A government panel has sanctioned three port projects worth Rs7,757 crore, including the development of a container terminal at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust.

The other two projects include development of a container handling facility towards the north of JNPT as well as mechanization of coal handling facilities and upgrading of general cargo berth at Vishakhapatnam.

“The Public-Private Partnership Approval Committee (PPPAC) has given its nod for the three projects. These would now go to the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure for final approval,” a senior shipping ministry official said.

The PPPAC, headed by finance secretary Ashok Chawla, gave approved the long-pending Rs6,696-crore mega project for the development of a fourth container terminal at JNPT. The project has been granted a concession period of 30 years, which includes three years of construction.

The PPPAC has also cleared the Rs600 crore project for developing a container handling facility towards the north of JNPT for with 18 year concession period.

J&K to set up cable car project to connect heritage sites

PTI — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:22:00 GMT

Jammu: A Rs30 crore cable car project has been proposed by the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) government to connect heritage sites across the city.

“A cable car project (Gandola) will be set up at a cost of Rs30 crore to connect heritage sites of Bagh-e-Bahu, Mubarak mandi, Mahamaya temple, Bawe Temple and Peerkho temple for catering to the pilgrims visiting Vaishnodevi and also tourists,” Pawan Kotwal, divisional commissioner Jammu said.

The blue print for this project was first prepared in 1995 and initially the cable car was to take off from Mubarak Mandi, but after the declaration of Mubarak Mandi and Bahu Fort as heritage sites, the project had to be relocated.

“A committed has been constituted for identifying new sites for constructing lower and upper terminals for the proposed ropeway,” he said.

He called for making the project self-sustainable by generating its own revenue.

Kotwal also asked for designing the project in such a manner that it can retain the tourists for more time in the city of the temples by developing attraction sites at Manda, Peerkho, Bagh-e-Bahu, Aquarium, Mahamaya temple and Sidhra Golf course.

He said that this would improve the economy of the region by creating varied avenues for the people associated with the tourism industry.

DoT goof-up may cause delay in 3G

Shauvik Ghosh — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:45:00 GMT

New Delhi: India’s efforts to run third generation (3G) telecom networks have run into a first generation problem—of people trying to sell what they don’t as yet own—and the result could be yet another delay in the process of issuing licences for these data-rich services.

On 24 October, the department of telecommunications (DoT) had issued a so-called revised information memorandum (IM), a sort of all-you-wanted-to-know-about-3G document for potential bidders. The problem? It turns out the document promises spectrum that is not DoT’s to hand out.

Graphics: Sandeep Bhatnagar / Mint

The ministry of defence (MoD) has pointed out this and other discrepancies in a letter to DoT that has been reviewed by Mint. India’s Armed Forces occupy a significant amount of spectrum, or airwaves, needed to offer telecom services and DoT and MoD had in May worked out a way by which the latter would vacate some of this. This made spectrum available for 3G telecom services and broadband wireless access.

The letter from MoD claims DoT has included in IM the spectrum that has not been released and was not discussed between the two. It adds that the memorandum also doesn’t include spectrum already vacated by the Armed Forces.

When asked of the discrepancies, a senior official in DoT admitted that MoD had sent it a letter, but declined comment on the contents. “These issues are being looked into,” he added, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The 3G networks will have higher capacity for voice calls as well as provide services such as faster data and video streaming on mobile phones. BWA (broadband wireless access) spectrum is necessary for rolling out WiMax services to significantly increase broadband penetration, especially in far-flung areas where cables cannot reach. WiMax, short for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a telecommunications technology similar to Wi-Fi, or wireless fidelity, a standard that helps handheld devices and laptops access the Internet. WiMax is faster and offers longer range.

The government hopes to garner as much as Rs35,000 crore from the auction of 3G and BWA spectrum, a move that could help it bridge the fiscal deficit, which is estimated to be 6.8% of GDP for 2009-10. Auctions for both are scheduled for 14 January.

A delay in the process, which now seems likely, will require telcos to replan their strategies for roll-out of 3G services.

“Most of the operators have already got their roll-out plans in place, given that they would have to start deploying the valuable spectrum almost immediately,” said a Mumbai-based analyst working with an international brokerage firm, who did not want to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Going by MoD’s letter, the additional spectrum vacated by the Armed Forces would mean four 3G slots for GSM players in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh (West) and Himachal Pradesh in line with all other circles; two GSM-based slots in Rajasthan and the North-East; and three in West Bengal.

The government had earlier decided to auction four slots (to accommodate a total of four operators) of 5MHz 3G spectrum for GSM players in all circles in the country. India is divided into 22 mobile operating areas called circles.

In the October IM, DoT said there would only be two 3G GSM slots in Delhi and Gujarat, and none in Rajasthan and the North-East states (except Assam).

It also said only three operators could be accommodated in Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh (West), and one operator in West Bengal.

For CDMA operators, the memorandum said there was no 3G spectrum in Delhi, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan.

This also changes in the context of MoD’s letter, given that in each of these circles, the Armed Forces have vacated two slots of spectrum (10MHz). GSM and CDMA are rival technology platforms for mobile telephony.

The defence forces presently occupy huge amounts of both 2G (second generation) and 3G spectrum, but are expected to vacate the airwaves within the next three years on being given alternative optical fibre network.

The alternative network is being built by state-owned telcos Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd at a cost of almost Rs10,000 crore.

Earlier this year, in May, both the defence and telecom ministries signed an MoU, where the Armed Forces had agreed to release up to 45MHz of spectrum over a three-year period, of which 25MHz is for 3G services.

shauvik.g@livemint.com

PM endorses big reform of Railways

Rahul Chandran — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:20:00 GMT

If Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has his way, Indian Railways will undertake major institutional reform over the next 10 years, and the process may start as early as the next railway budget.

The major changes would include creation of an independent tariff regulator, shifting to commercial accounting practices by 2011, attracting more private investments, and spinning off the services function of Indian Railways.

In a letter to railway minister Mamata Banerjee dated 25 October, which has been reviewed by Mint, Singh has endorsed a review undertaken by the Planning Commission that set out detailed milestones for the overhaul of the country’s largest transporter.

Singh also sought a review meeting with the Railway Board’s chairman S.S. Khurana and Banerjee to discuss the response of Indian Railways to these suggestions.

Hindustan Times and The Financial Chronicle had first reported on 18 October the review undertaken by the Planning Commission and communicated to the Prime Minister by Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, India’s apex planning agency.

The review underlines the fact that spending by Indian Railways lagged targets. “In the first three years, they have achieved only 48% of the 11th Plan total in constant prices, and even this has only been possible because of higher-than-planned budgetary support,” the review said. Only 23% of the Plan was to be financed through budgetary support and the remaining through the railways’ earnings and borrowings. However, Central government support in the first three years was actually at 31%, while the railways, through borrowings and its revenue, contributed 69%.

India’s government departments work with a five-year planning horizon. The 11th Plan refers to the period between 2007 and 2012.

The review also points to issues related to the slow pace of track development, as well as outdated technology, which means India still continues to use substandard freight cars. According to the review, in South Africa, freight cars can carry as much as five times their weight while in India, they do only 2.7 times.

The review says the railways has added only 960km to its network between 1990 and 2007 as opposed to 20,000km added by China during that period. It says India should add about 1,000km every year over the next 10-12 years.

“The Planning Commission has its own recipes and views, and we have our own on the matter,” said a railway official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official said he was aware of the review and the recommendations, but denied knowledge of the letter from the Prime Minister.

The review also seeks to restrict the construction of new unviable lines only to those areas where the states are “willing to bear half the cost”.

The commission had also suggested the setting up of high-speed train services in collaboration with private investors for select segments such as Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Chennai-Bangalore, Delhi-Ludhiana and Delhi-Amritsar. It suggests that a dedicated group be set up for developing the projects, which could also be elevated in areas where land acquisition proves to be a problem. To be sure, former rail minister Lalu Prasad had announced these projects last year.

A former railway employee, who did not want to be identified, said this would be the third announcement on the subject. “They have not moved an inch forward. The first feasibility report was conducted by Rites in 2005-06 and another one by SBI Caps in 2007,” the official said. Rites Ltd is a state-owned engineering consultant and SBI Capital Markets Ltd is the merchant banking arm of India’s largest bank, State Bank of India.

“The present system of railway fare-setting disincentivizes cost control and it legitimizes reckless monopoly rent-seeking,” said Akhileshwar Sahay, a former railway employee who currently works for project management consultancy Feedback Ventures Pvt. Ltd. “Populist tariff-setting has to immediately get out of the system if Indian Railways does not have to go the same way as Air India in the next 10 years.” To be sure, the railways have made huge strides in customer interface, but in their internal governance and efficiency in freight operations, the national transporter was lacking, he added.

Other analysts, however, say that setting up regulators was not necessarily the best idea considering many regulators could be seen as non-transparent.

rahul.c@livemint.com

ONGC stops western offshore drilling after cyclone warning

PTI — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:16:00 GMT

New Delhi: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) today said it has suspended all drilling and outdoor operations in the western offshore in view of cyclone ‘Phyan´ in the Arabian Sea, but production is not affected.

“All drilling operations, helicopter sorties and construction and maintenance work has been suspended due to the cyclone warning,” ONGC chairman RS Sharma said.

Western offshore is the home for the nation’s largest oil field. Mumbai High accounts for 40% of the nations’ total crude output and production continues at the normal rate of 2,10,000 barrels per day.

Gas production from Mumbai High and the Bassien field were also normal.

“We are in cyclone preparedness. We have asked our personnel in the offshore to stay indoor during the next 24 hours,” Sharma said.

Project to link Gurgaon, IGI airport awaiting clearance

PTI — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:53:00 GMT

New Delhi: Haryana is awaiting clearance of Delhi government and the Centre on the project to link Gurgaon with IGI airport here through metro rail service.

Chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda Wednesday said he had written to Union urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy and offered to bear the entire cost of the project, including that of the Delhi stretch of 42 metres.

He was speaking at 31st meeting of the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) here.

He urged the Centre and Delhi Government to accord immediate approval to extension of metro link from Badarpur to Faridabad.

A detailed project report has already been prepared in this regard and the project approved by DMRC.

Hooda also requested the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to reconsider its proposal to extend metro service to Sonepat-Kundli in Haryana.

Referring to the issue of improvement of road connectivity between Delhi and National Capital Region towns, Hooda pointed out that the traffic between towns of the region and the city has increased manifold and existing road links are grossly inadequate.

He said important links that are still awaiting approval included a road connecting Mehrauli-Gurgaon with Andheria Mor-Mahipalpur and another road connecting Gurgaon with Nazafgarh. The chief minister pointed out that these links cannot be developed until and unless the Delhi Development Authority makes necessary provision in the Zonal Development Plans.

He said his government has plans to develop a number of modern townships in the state which includes Education City at Sonipat, Bio Science City, Medi City, Cyber City at Sampla, Fashion City, Entertainment City, World Trade City at Gurgaon, Leather City near Nuh, Leisure City near Sohna and Dry Port City near Prithla in Palwal.

Hooda said the Haryana government has already acquired 2026 acres of land to develop Rajiv Gandhi Education City at Sonipat.

Welcoming the Metro Railways (Amendment) Act, 2009, that provides legal frame work for extension of Delhi Metro outside NCT of Delhi, Hooda said his government has made concerted efforts to build transport infrastructure in the adjoining towns of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Bahadurgarh and Sonepat-Kundli.

The Delhi-Gurgaon metro project is likely to be completed by the end of June, 2010, well before the Commonwealth Games.

Hooda also urged the Central government to enhance budgetary support to NCRPB and grant-in-aid to states.

Drawing attention of the Centre towards pollution in river Yamuna, Hooda said the quality of water which Haryana is getting from Delhi is highly polluted.

Silent Valley: 25 years of an ecological triumph

Ajayan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:48:00 GMT

Kochi: The lion-tailed macaque is a shy creature, sticking to the trees and avoiding human contact for the most part. Easily identified by its white “beard”, it’s one of the most endangered primates on the planet. About a quarter of a century ago in Kerala, the animal symbolized a battle for hearts and minds, characterized as a conflict between “good” and “evil”.

Ground zero of the battle ground was a place named for the absence of sound—Silent Valley. The nice guys were the environmentalists, poets, artists, academics and thousands of school and college students energized by a cause they could identify with and came to call their own.

The bad guys were greedy politicians, the timber mafia and a corrupt state electricity board in hock to both.

On 15 November falls the 25th anniversary of this triumph of good over evil, which showed that people power could be successfully mobilized over issues such as environment and not just roti, kapda and makaan.

The movement permanently shifted the equilibrium of the debate over environment, making it difficult for green-unfriendly measures to succeed in the state. To be sure, 25 years on, Kerala’s environment is getting polluted like any other Indian landscape, with its verdant greenery being consumed into one giant urban sprawl that extends from north to south. But in those heady days, a quarter of a century ago, anything seemed possible.

“Those were times when any movement, be it environment conservation, the extreme Left, women’s empowerment etc., all were in their infancy and had the heat and fervour and dynamism,” said K. Ajitha, former Naxalite who shook the citadels of power in the 1970s and now leads a women’s movement known as Anweshi. “But as the days passed, communalism and corruption, which was then confined to the leadership, started getting down to the grassroots level and that explains the lack of any coordinated effort to fight for a socio-politico-economic cause, though movements are still active sparingly and only in pockets.”

While the Kerala State Electricity Board first proposed a dam across the Kunthipuzha river as far back as 1958, the first trees began to be felled in 1973. Over the next few years, there were sporadic protests over the plan.

Ecological report

Four years later, then electricity minister P.K. Vasudevan Nair travelled to the national Capital seeking approval for the dam plan. At about this time, V.S. Vijayan, a scientist at the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), sent a telegram to the Union power ministry, pleading that it hold off from clearing the project until his agency’s ecological report was completed.

Vijayan’s note was convincing enough for the power ministry to send Nair away empty-handed. The minister’s failure gave heart to the still-evolving resistance against the 120MW hydroelectric project that would submerge a 240 sq. km area along the Western Ghats that formed one of the most ecologically diverse forests on the planet.

The KFRI report that came three months after Vijayan’s telegram was damning about the environmental impact of the project. After submitting the report, Vijayan, who had earned the wrath of the Kerala government, quit to join Salim Ali, renowned as the Bird Man of India, at the Bharatpur bird sanctuary in Rajasthan.

“It was a most wonderful thing to help protect Silent Valley, home to 15 endemic varieties of birds,” Vijayan says. “I am not sure whether I will act in the same manner now. Then I was young and did not mind risking my job.”

Buoyed by Vijayan’s success, non-governmental organizations such as the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP), a movement of teachers and students that later came to be closely associated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPM, and the Kozhikode chapter of the Kerala Natural History Society swung into action.

School and college students and teachers led marches to the Silent Valley, distributed pamphlets and staged street plays to steer the mass movement, recounts M.K. Prasad, president of KSSP between 1979 and 1981. The poem Marathinu Stuthi (Ode to a Tree) by Sugathakumari—one of the key figures in the environmental movement—achieved a totemic status, being recited at the start of all campaign meetings.

Most threatened habitat

Prasad was also able to win over people with clout in the national Capital, including K.P.S Menon, former ambassador to the erstwhile Soviet Union, who had settled down in his home state. Menon wrote to then prime minister Indira Gandhi seeking her help in protecting the rainforests. Ali, also someone who had Gandhi’s ear, once trekked across the valley with R. Sugathan, an ornithologist at the Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary near Kochi, in the late 1970s. Sugathan remembers how Ali described Silent Valley as “not just an evergreen forest, it is a very fine example of one of the richest, most threatened and least studied habitats on earth”.

Ali made his views clear to Gandhi, who asked M.S. Swaminathan, then secretary in the department of agriculture and renowned for his critical role in India’s Green Revolution, to visit the site. Swaminathan recommended that the project be abandoned and suggested developing Silent Valley and the adjoining forests as a national rainforest biosphere reserve, giving the campaign a shot in the arm.

All this while, the Kerala government was intensifying pressure on the Centre to clear the project. There was a rare consensus on the project between the two main traditional political rivals in the state. Both the CPM and Gandhi’s own Congress party wanted the dam. Critically, though, their student and youth wings rebelled against the party line and backed the green movement. Gandhi constituted a multi-disciplinary committee headed by M.G.K. Menon, then secretary of the national committee for environment planning and conservation, to examine whether the project would be feasible without causing any significant ecological damage.

Victory

The committee said the dam would cause irreparable damage to the ecology and advised the Kerala government to abandon the project, suggesting an alternative site in Idukki district. In September 1984, Gandhi formally scrapped the project. A month later, she was assassinated and the Capital was convulsed.

The bloodletting in Delhi didn’t stop the declaration of Silent Valley as a national park on 15 November. A year later, Rajiv Gandhi, her son and successor as prime minister, inaugurated the park.

“By having the hydel project, the power picture would not have changed much, except that a vast tract of forest would have been destroyed,” says M.G.K. Menon. He is happy to have played a role in a campaign “that had a profound bearing on the conservation movement in the country”.

Kerala’s forest minister Benoy Viswam, who was instrumental in adding 148 sq. km outside the core forest area as a buffer zone for the park, sees the movement as a training ground for environment protection and conservation.

Darryl D’Monte, environmentalist and author of Temples or Tombs–Industry vs Environment: Three Controversies, calls the Silent Valley campaign a path-breaking movement that set the template for future agitations. “The KSSP that piloted the movement was a unique model environment organization with a blend of grass-roots activists and scientists,” he said.

S. Shivadas, the present warden, wants more of the surrounding area to be brought within the park’s ambit. “We must bring similar rich bio-diverse areas in the vicinity together.”

The Silent Valley movement was also the precursor to other conservation campaigns, such as the one against the Tehri dam in Uttarakhand and the Narmada Bachao Andolan against the massive Sardar Sarovar project that covered the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

While those protests failed to stop the dams being built, the Silent Valley movement made it difficult for such ventures in Kerala, although hydroelectric projects still do get proposed (and shot down) in the power-deficient state.

Conservation economics

Proposals for dams that would submerge forests at Pooyamkutty in Idukki district, Athirappilly in central Thrissur district and Patrakadavu adjacent to Silent Valley haven’t progressed beyond the drawing board.

Vijayan is today back in a state government role as chairman of the Kerala state biodiversity board, still actively fighting against dams. Although he’s been a resolute opponent of the hydel project at Athirappilly in central Kerala, Vijayan laughingly says he doesn’t fear the loss of his job this time around, a reflection of how green issues have become part of the political mainstream.

A key milestone during the Silent Valley campaign was the Forest Conservation Act, promulgated in 1980.

“The shifting of forests from the state list to the Concurrent List made Central government sanction mandatory for diverting forest land for non-forest uses,” said S. Shankar, a senior scientist at KFRI who also played an active role in the movement. This marked the birth of the “economics of nature conservation. It was the first move to give some value for nature”.

The movement had gained global attention two years before that with the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a coalition of governments and agencies committed to environment protection, passing a resolution recommending protection of the lion-tailed macaque at a meeting in the then Soviet Union in 1978 .

The Kerala government itself plans to celebrate the silver jubilee by felicitating all those who steered the campaign against the hydroelectric project. Jairam Ramesh, minister of state for environment and forests, will lay the foundation stone for an interpretation and research centre at Mukkali, the base station for the park.

This is intended to function as a resource centre displaying images and details of the flora and fauna found in the park and be a centre for students to undertake research programmes. The minister will also release a postage stamp on the Silent Valley National Park. The celebrations include film shows, exhibitions and street plays in schools and colleges across the state to create conservation awareness among children. “The park is now synonymous with the people’s movement and an inspiration for conservation,” said T.M. Manoharan, principal chief conservator of forests, Kerala.

ajay.m@livemint.com