Energy News Monitor I Volume VIII, Issue 2

Challenging India’s Democracy: A Comparative Study on the Narmada Project in India and the Three Gorges Dam Project in China

Yuting Guo, Student-International Relations - Political Science, Wellesley College, U.S.

ndia, a well-recognized democracy, holds the largest and most intricate elections in the world. Though it possesses a mature procedural democracy in which citizens can vote, India lacks substantive democracy that functions in the interest of the governed. Minority voices are often ignored in national development projects. In the case of the Narmada Project, the people-elected government did not conduct a detailed cost-benefit analysis, did not serve to improve people’ standard of living, and did not implement effective development-oriented policies on resettlement. Thus, there were direct conflicts between the Indian government and the underprivileged people from the Narmada Valley over decades. In contrast, the authoritarian Chinese state government carried out a systematic plan of building the Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest dam, and successfully relocate millions of citizens with its adjusted “Resettlement with Development” policy. The resettlement failure of the Narmada Project suggested that the India’s democracy by the people was not fully for the Indian people because the Indian government’s developmental project actually worsened people’s lives. Therefore, this paper intends to challenge the Indian democracy by comparing India’s Narmada Project with China’s Three Gorges Dam Project in three aspects: the purpose of building mega-dams, the cost-benefit analysis, and the resettlement policies.

I. Building Dams for Development

The Narmada Project in India built two mega-dams, the Narmada Sarovar Dam and the Sardar Sarovar Dam. The latter one is the biggest dam in South Asia so far. The project was constructed on the Narmada River, which runs through Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat. The river winds through a 1,300km of forest and fertile agricultural land, and reaches the Arabian Sea.[1] Twenty five million people lived in the Narmada river valley, and 57.6% of them were Adivasis, a tribal group.[2] In 1961, Nehru laid the foundation of a 49.8m-high dam, the progenitor of the Sardar Sarovar Dam.[3] The Sardar Sarovar Dam’s current height is 121.92m.[4] The Narmada Project was estimated to generate 1,450MW power, and displaced about 0.12 million people.[5]

Like the Narmada Project in South Asia, the Three Gorges Dam is the biggest dam in China and in the world. It resides on Yangtze River. As the world’s third longest river, Yangtze River runs 18 provinces in China and links the Tibetan highlands with the East China Sea.[6] The river drains nearly 19 per cent of China’s total area.[7] It also supports about 400 million people.[8] The Three Gorges Dam Project, which started in 1994, was estimated to generate 13,000 MW electricity and displaced 1.5 million residents.[9]

The reason why India and China, two rising powers, built mega-dams on their vital rivers, was for development. Despite that the two projects vary in scale due to distinct natural conditions, both projects were the regions’ lifelines and were planned for decades. Leaders in both countries shared the same belief that “building a dam was to modernize the country.” In India, Nehru claimed, “Dams are the temple of modern India.”[10] Seemingly, dam building became equated with nation building. From a desire to modernize, India has built 3,600 big dams, and out of them 3,300 was built after Independence according to the Central Water Commission.[11] Similarly in China, building the Three Gorges Dam had been on the government’s agenda since the 1920s. Even during the tribulations of the Second World War, Chinese engineers were confidently writing on their ability to design and construct a dam on the Yangtze.[12] Prior to the Communist China, the Nationalist Government's Resources Commission enlisted American financial and training support for the project in the mid-1940s.[13] The project aimed to produce nationalistic pride, to strengthen government, and to modernize the country.

Although the common purpose for building mega-dams was for development, these two countries varied in motives. India built the dam because of the pressure from population growth. The Indian government claimed that the Narmada region needed irrigation to ensure food security for its growing population. The project would build canals to irrigate 75,000 ha arid area in Kajasthan and 1.8 million ha in mostly drought-prone area in Gujarat.[14] On the other hand, the motives behind building the Three Gorges Dam Project in China were to reduce flood hazard downstream, to provide electricity that meets the industrial and domestic demands in eastern and central China, and to improve navigation along the upper Yangtze River.[15] As governments in both countries expected to benefit from their projects, costs in each project were exceptionally high as well.

II. Cost-benefit Analysis

The environmental and social costs were as tremendous as the dams themselves. In India, Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) and Narmada Sarovar Project (NSP) submerged cultivable land and forests, and consequently caused deforestation, soil salinization. For instance, the SSP inundated about 1,200 hectares of prime forestland.[16] In Madhya Pradesh alone, the Narmada Project destroyed 1.25 lakh ha of excellent cultivable land and untouched forests.[17] 100,000-300,000 people were displaced, and cultural relics disappeared.[18] The submergence also meant a loss of climatic study for evolutionary scientists. In China, the reservoir flooded 24,500 ha of cultivated land and orchards, and about 35 km2 of residential districts and 824 km of roads.[19] By 2009, over a period of 17 years, some 1.5 million people resettled.[20] In addition, two large cities, eleven district centers, and one hundred sixteen villages were submerged.[21] The affected area also included one hundred and eight historical and cultural monuments.[22] The precious yellow alluvial soil that allowed dual cropping of rice and oranges disappeared as well.[23] Besides the dam’s environmental damage, China faced an additional challenge of the existing deforestation prior to the building of the dam. Different from the Narmada Reservoir area, the Three Gorges area experienced a decline in forestland from 20% in the 1950s to 10% or less in the late 1980s.[24] Extensive deforestation resulted in soil erosion and land degradation, and caused hazards to the dam construction. Hence, the Chinese central government had to implement a different set of measures to increase forest cover, which the Indian government did not need to do with its abundant forest in the reservoir.

The giant scale of the Three Gorges Dam and the prior deforestation brought enormous difficulties to the construction, but the Chinese Central Government carried out a detailed data collection for the project and successfully built the dam. The Chinese State Council established the Three Gorges Project Construction Committee (TGPCC) to gather environmental and social-economic data in the region, and oversaw the construction.[25] The Central Government also left some room for open debates although this authoritarian regime did not usually allow criticism towards government projects. Furthermore, the committee effectively used existing tools such the household system to estimate the number of displacees in the reservoir region accurately.

On the other hand, the Planning Commission of India failed to provide a cost-benefit budget. In fact, it only justified the project with the supportive perspectives of experts, and dismissed open debates among the people. Roy argued that, the government should have come out with a “white paper” that would give the project wide publicity and would allow for criticism.[26] Even worse, the government did not have submergence data on resettlement nine months before the submergence.[27] Without knowing the number of displacees, the Indian government could not guarantee proper resettlement. This action clearly violated the Supreme Court order, which demanded the government to displace residents properly before the submergence. The Morse Committee, an independent group set up by the World Bank to review Sardar Sarovar Project, was even appalled to discover that no studies on the downstream environment had been done.[28] The Indian government’s lack of planning and preparation for such a huge developmental project reflected its irresponsibility for the Indian people. Consequently, this challenged the Indian government’s true purpose of constructing such an immense developmental project.

Critics also questioned reasons why the Gujarat government built the dam, which might be unnecessary in the region, and further pondered who would benefit the most under the name of development. One researcher pointed out that Gujarat got sufficient rain every year, and its drought-prone areas were primarily caused by human decisions.[29] The project directed water via canals to irrigate the arid land in Gujarat. In fact, rather than irrigate the arid land effectively, instead canals wasted water resources because water that is exposed in the dry environment evaporates faster. Experts advised that Gujarat should either build pipelines or traditional water tanks rather than construct a dam.[30] Another researcher emphasized that building canals in the arid region would curtail the dam’s ability to generate electricity because the water canal directly drained water out of the reservoir, which consequently made less water stay in the reservoir. Roy further questioned the Gujarat government’s sudden emphasis on region’s need for water. She asserted that when the Gujarat Government announced its plan of how it was going to use its share of water, it did not mention the drinking water for villages in Kutch and Saurashtra, the arid areas of Gujarat.[31] When the project ran into political trouble, the Government immediately switched to emphasize the urgency of constructing Sardar Sarovar Project to meet the region’s thirst. Therefore, the Indian government’s motives for building a dam for irrigation and electricity purposes were greatly undermined.

While the unnecessary construction of Narmada Project plundered forest of Adivasis, it served the interest of the rich and privileged. As the government of Madhya Pradesh deprived its areas of forest and natural resources, and uprooted tribal people, it signed a power purchase contract with a private company, S. Kumars, one of India’s leading textile magnates.[32] The Sardar Sarovar Dam turned to be the lifeline for politicians, who received contributions from private companies.[33] Moreover, there were conflicts between capitalist and poor peasants. For instance, rich farmers from Gujarati and commercial classes of Bombay used religious symbols to defend the Narmada Project. They marched against the underprivileged Adivasis, Dalits, and Mulisms, and published the endorsement of particular religious leaders to maintain their “moral” legitimacy for their class interests.[34] Therefore, social-economic disparity grew between two classes under the name of development.

In contrast, China urgently needed to build a national dam that would provide sufficient electricity for China’s fast development. The electricity would meet the great energy demand in Eastern and Central China. The clean hydropower from the Three Gorges Dam allowed China to reduce its reliance on coal, a major air pollutant in China. Hence, it was in China’s national interest to build the Three Gorges Dam to satisfy its booming economy and to improve its environment.

III. Resettlement

Resettlement of people is the most vital component in any developmental project. An ineffective development project for the people could turn into a destruction of people’s livelihoods. A government’s irresponsibility could produce catastrophic effects on individuals. Thus, any developmental project requires a comprehensive plan that upholds the interest of the people. In the cases of the Narmada Project and the Three Gorges Dam Project, both Indian and Chinese governments displaced a great number of underprivileged residents from the reservoir areas. The resettlement policies and their consequences in these two countries however, turned out to be quite different.

In India, about 57.6% of the people affected by the Sardar Sarovar Dam were Adivasi.[35] In their old villages, the Adivasis did not have money, but were insured by unlimited natural resources. If the rains failed, they had forests to turn to and rivers to fish in. Their livestock was their fixed deposit.[36] Unfortunately, the developmental project destroyed landless Adivasis’ traditional village system, and drove them into destitution. For the Adivasis who were resettled, they had to relearn new skills. For those who were not resettled, they moved to live in urban slums. Roy proposed that there was a war between modern, rational, progressive forces of “development” and an irrational, emotional “anti-development” resistance fuelled by a pre-industrial dream. It was virtually a battle between Nehru’s and Gandhi’s ideologies.[37]

The Indian government claimed to have provided a social cultural rehabilitation program for the displacees. Resettlement & Rehabilitation, a subgroup of Narmada Control authority, closely monitored these programs. Members of this subgroup regularly visited the families affected by the submergence in three states, made eighteen inspections in certain sites, and reported to the Supreme Court.[38] In addition, the government promised not to uproot tribals without land settlement. This “land for land” rehabilitation program was the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal Award (NWDT- Award), which ensured the long-term sustainable development for the tribals.[39]

Absurdly, the Indian government asserted to establish effective rehabilitation programs, but it did not even have a figure for the number of people that were displaced by the dams.[40] Whether the government had carried out those promises under the NWDT or not were still debated by the public. Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), a social movement against the Narmada Project, declared that under the Land Acquisition Act of 1894 the government only gave cash compensation for the displacees.[41] However, the landless tribals often squandered the cash, and ended up with destitution. In 1969, the Central Government set up the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal (NWDT) to adjust its cash compensation policy, but it took the NWDT another ten years to announce its Award that provided land resettlement rather ineffective cash compensation.[42] The government still kept using illegal means of cash compensation rather implemented the NWDT Award.[43] Twenty years after the Tribunal’s Award, the tattered residents in the alley still lived with the fear of eviction. There had been no signs of “development” in the region: no roads, no schools, no wells, and no medical aid.[44]

Inevitably, impoverishment resulted from the improper government resettlement policy pushed tribals to rebel against the government and the Narmada Project. In each state, people had their own organizations that challenged governments’ ineffective resettlement and rehabilitation policies. In 1986, these organizations massed into a single organization called the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA).[45] Its leader, Medha Patkar, organized countless marches and protests against the Indian government and the World Bank. This enormous resistant force successfully interrupted the construction of the Narmada Project. As the construction work on the Sardar Sarovar dam site continued sporadically since 1961, and fully resumed in 1988[46], people’s protests eventually pressured Supreme Court to suspend the project in 1995. However in 2000, the Supreme Court ignored the global protests, and approved Sardar Sarovar dam to increase the height to the current height of 121.92 m. It has been an endless battle between the Indian state and the underprivileged minorities every time the state attempted to increase the Sardar Sarovar Dam’s height.

During the construction, the government applied repressive methods to quell protests. It imposed the Indian Official Secretes Act to the dam site and its adjacent areas, which prohibited the gathering of groups of more than five people.[47] As the state used force or police to repress the protestors by firing[48], the whole area was turned into a police camp. Activists such as Medha Patkar were arrested several times. The state’s excessive use of force not only violated the people’s rights but also raised questions about the motivation of the government. Violence escalated in the region. NBA organized indefinite hunger strikes for a “Hamara gaon mein hamara Raj”, which was “Our rule in our villages.”[49] It also wrote petition to the Supreme Court during the escalation of repression in the valley.[50] Displacees’ vehement rebellions against the government clearly indicated the Indian government’s failure to implement its resettlement policy. The government did not take responsibility of taking care of its citizens’ livelihoods. The violence between the governing and the governed challenged India’s democracy for the governed was not of the people, by the people, nor for the people.

In contrast, China’s Three Gorges Dam Project faced little resistance. The Chinese government successfully implemented the resettlement project. Similar to their Indian counterparts, 42.7% of Chinese migrants were rural, underprivileged peasants.[51] Nearly 90% of the poverty stricken population in Chongqing resided in the reservoir region.[52] Once the building of the Three Gorges Dam was underway, it forcibly displaced a population, who were often already poor and ended up worse off.[53] Some of them moved uphill above the reservoir, where land was steep and infertile. Some rural migrants resettled in small cities and towns. They often soon lost their new urban jobs despite their temporary improvement in infrastructure and social services.[54] For those rural migrants who resettled in distant regions, they had great difficulty of their rebuilding livelihoods in a different province. They had to adapt to the local society and rebuild their networks. Surprisingly, although a majority of designated migrants anticipated a lower standard of living in their new homes, they still showed strong support for the Three Gorges Project for the sake of the national interest.[55]

The resettlement policy in China was relatively more applicable, and development-oriented than the one in India. Since previous relocation policy in China lacked of planning, and the government simply gave cash compensation to the relocatees as India did in the Narmada Project, the State Government learned from its previous resettlement failures of hydro projects to adjust its policy in the mid-1980s prior the construction of the dam in 1994. It emphasized on the restoration of relocatees’ livelihoods in the near resettlement. Instead of handing out cash directly to the relocatees, the government invested relocation funds into local developmental projects such as improvement of new farmland for the relocatees. In this way, the “Resettlement with Development”[56] policy avoided the eventual impoverishment of the resettled people and forced the government to make a long-term commitment to the relocatees. As planned, urban residents were settled in newly built cities, and rural residents were resettled in the countryside and remained in agriculture.

Nevertheless, problems on the near settlement gradually emerged, as more people were displaced locally. There was a shortage of cultivable land. More than 90% of the reclaimed land was rocky or sandy.[57] To solve this dilemma, a combination of near and distant resettlement replaced the original policy of the near resettlement in 1998. The distant resettlement policy suggested that regions along the middle and lower Yangtze River, which benefited from cheap hydro-generated electricity from the project and had a safer production zone from flooding, would accept displacees and help them resettle.[58] These displacees could choose distant resettlement destinations according to their wills. Meanwhile, the government also began to stress the restoration of industrial enterprises to their original scale by encouraging company mergers to enhance profits.[59]

The Chinese government adjusted its resettlement policies under different conditions, and designated plans for what was the best for the people or for the society. Though the resettlement was still against the will of the individuals, relocatees understood that they were sacrificing for the whole nation. They anticipated personal sacrifices and knew the insecure consequences of resettlement.[60] Perhaps, as part of Chinese collective culture, these designated migrants rationalized personal sacrifices by affirming the positive macro-impact of the project. They simply conformed to the government’s policy so that they could still pursue a better life like the slogan “moving out, being stable, and becoming wealthy gradually.”[61] Most importantly, the state government’s systematic resettlement policy at least provided basic livings and certain employment opportunities for the relocatees. This government guarantee did not put the underprivileged into destitution as their Indian counterparts. Therefore, the Chinese government successfully carried out the Three Gorges Dam Project and its resettlement program with little resistance.

IV. Conclusion

Developmental projects aim to improve people’s standard of living in the long term. Under different circumstances, governments have various motives to build mega-dams for development. In the case of Narmada Project, India claimed to irrigate more land and generate electricity, while China expected the Three Gorges Dam Project to meet its increasing industrial demand of energy, control flood downstream, and improve navigation upstream. With these three goals of development, the Chinese government fulfilled its detailed plan to build the Three Gorges Dam in its national interest. However in India, as the natural conditions in region indicated the nonnecessity of constructing the Narmada Project, the Indian government seemingly constructed the project for capitalists and rich farmers rather for the nation. Its failure to design a comprehensive plan for the project undermined its developmental purpose for the people.

On the other hand, the construction of mega-dams inevitably induced huge environmental and social-economic costs in both countries. Cultivable land and prime forests were submerged. Millions of residents moved out of their homes. Among all the issues related to the cost of the project, resettlement was probably the most complicated and problematic, but at the same time the most controllable or managed by humans. A government’s resettlement policy could determine the success of a project. China completed its Three Gorges Dam Project although it faced a bigger challenge due to the project’s giant scale and prior deforestation. Its adjusted “development-oriented” resettlement program provided displacees with basic livings. In contrast, the Indian government failed to carry out a proper resettlement and rehabilitation program for its displacees. Its developmental project only brought impoverishment and underdevelopment to the underprivileged citizens in the reservoir. Even worse, the government suppressed the protestors violently, and struggled to construct the project under enormous resistance.

The Indian government’s true purpose of building the dams and its irresponsible actions during the construction challenged whether Indian democracy was really for the Indian people. The Indian state did not listen to minority’s voices but repressed them. India’s procedural democracy, in the form of elections, did not reflect the government’s responsibility for the people. Yet, its interests-oriented policy destroyed Adivasis’ livelihoods but satisfied certain privileged classes such as rich Gujarati famers, the Bombay businessmen, and the textile tycoon. After the destruction were made, the democratic Indian government did not and was not willing to provide basic livings for its 0.12 million citizens as the undemocratic China did for its 1.5 million citizens. This lack of substantive democracy greatly challenged India’s well-recognized democracy.

Bibliography:

Sanjay Sangvai, ”Narmada Displacement: Continuing Outrage,” Economic and Political Weekly, (37: 22), 1-7 June 2002

Jashbhai Patel, “Who Benefits Most from Damming the Narmada?” Economic and Political Weekly, (25: 52), 29 December 1990

Arun Ghosh, “A Plea for Open Government: Case of Narmada Project,” Economic and Political Weekly, (24: 30), 29 July 1989

Parita Mukta, “Worshipping Inequalities: Pro-Narmada Dam Movement,” Economic and Political Weekly, (25: 41), 13 October 1990

Jashbhai Patel, “Is National Interest Being Served by Narmada Project?” Economic and Political Weekly, (29: 30), 23 July 1994

Afroz Ahmad, “The Narmada Water Resources Project, India: Implementing Sustainable Development,” Ambio, (28: 5), August 1999

Bina Srinivasan, “Repression in Narmada Valley,” Economic and Political Weekly, (28: 49), 4 December 1993

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Concluded

Views are those of the author

Author can be contacted at [email protected]

Courtesy: Politics of South Asia, Term Paper 5/12/11

NEWS BRIEF

NATIONAL

OIL & GAS

Upstream

Great Eastern, Dart Energy & Essar eye stake in ONGC's methane blocks

June 28, 2011. State-run Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has said Essar, Great Eastern Energy and Australia-based Dart Energy have evinced interest in picking up a "significant" stake in its coal-bed methane blocks located in Bokaro, Jharkhand and Raniganj. Coal-bed methane (CBM) is an eco-friendly natural gas stored in coal seams used mainly as industrial fuel. The three interested parties already hold CBM blocks in India. Great Eastern is the first company to start commercial production of coal-bed methane gas in the southern part of Raniganj. Essar has also made a commercial success in an adjacent block in Raniganj. Dart Energy has two CBM blocks, one each in Assam and Satpura (Madhya Pradesh). ONGC's CBM portfolio has shrunk to four after the company relinquished five blocks without any commercial success some time ago. Three of the four blocks, where commercial production of gas is expected, are Jharia, Bokaro and north Karanpura in Jharkhand state. One block is at Raniganj in West Bengal. ONGC had bagged seven blocks in the first two rounds of bidding while it was given two blocks on nomination basis.

Vedanta rejigs deal with Cairn Energy Plc, to buy 10 pc more

June 28, 2011. Vedanta Resources Plc will buy another 10% in the Indian arm of Cairn Energy Plc as part of a restructuring of the much-delayed deal that will result in a $600 million reduction in the price tag. The tax, known as royalty, is currently paid entirely by ONGC and the government had insisted that its burden had to be reduced before it approved the deal. Both Cairn and Vedanta Resources have resisted this, but eventually had to give in as the government would not budge. Cairn agreed to remove the non-compete fee of ` 50 per share to sweeten the deal for Vedanta, as payment of royalty would make the transaction less attractive for it. Vedanta has decided to acquire the additional 10% equity in Cairn India immediately and wait for the government's approval to close the transaction by acquiring another 30%, both companies announced in separate statements. The 10% sale transaction will be completed on or before July 11, raising Vedanta's stake in Cairn India to 28.5%.

CAG refuses to hear Reliance on KG-D6 field audit

June 26, 2011. In a startling development, the CAG has refused to give Reliance Industries an opportunity to comment on its draft audit report that indicts RIL for allegedly receiving undue favours from the Oil Ministry. The nation's top auditor turned down a request of the Oil Ministry to allow private firms like Reliance and Cairn India, against whom the draft report has passed strictures, an opportunity to present their views on the audit objections.

Cairn questions estimates of KG basin gas reserves

June 23, 2011. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Cairn India have crossed swords again as the British explorer has questioned the estimates of gas reserves in the state-firm's deep-sea block in the KG Basin - a contention sternly rejected by ONGC. The two companies have been squabbling for almost 10 months over royalty payments in the Cairn-operated oilfield in Rajasthan, which is a potential deal breaker in Vedanta's $9.6-billion bid for a controlling stake in Cairn's Indian arm.

Reliance Industries' Andhra offshore gas fields costs rose $3 bn in 2 years: CAG draft

June 23, 2011. Reliance Industries Ltd's investment plan for bringing its showcase Andhra offshore gas fields to production increased by almost $3 billion, a comparison between the cost of major elements of the company's initial and revised estimates shows. Comparison of 13 elements of the two plans for D1 and D3 fields in the Comptroller and Auditor General's draft report shows estimates increasing from $2.39 billion to $5.19 billion. Reliance discovered the field in 2002 and submitted the initial plan in 2004, envisaging a production of 40 mcmd (million cubic metres per day) of gas. It revised the plan in 2006, with an output of 80 mcmd.

ONGC overstated reserves in KG basin block: Cairn India

June 22, 2011. State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) may have overstated the natural gas reserves in its much-talked about KG basin KG-DWN-98/2 block, which sits next to Reliance Industries' prolific KG-D6 fields. Cairn India, which had made four discoveries in the KG-DWN-98/2 block before selling 90 per cent out of its 100 per cent stake in the block to ONGC in 2005, has written to the oil regulator DGH saying the state-owned firm is grossly overstating the reserves in block. ONGC estimates that the blocks holds an in-place volume of 25.61 million tonnes of oil and 197 billion cubic metres of natural gas. It is proposing an investment of over $7.3 billion to produce up to 30 million standard cubic metres per day of gas.

RIL strikes natural gas in KG D9 block

June 22, 2011. Reliance Industries has made a natural gas discovery in the very first well drilled on its D9 block in the Krishna Godavari basin off the east coast of India, its junior partner Hardy Oil and Gas Plc said. Reliance hold 90 per cent interest and is the operator of the deep-sea block KG-DWN-2001/1(D9). Reliance-Hardy combine had won the 11,605 square kilometer (equivalent to 48 North Sea blocks) in the third round of bidding under New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) in 2003. Hardy hold 10 per cent interest in the block. Hardy did not give reserves the discovery may hold saying the potential commerciality of this discovery is being ascertained through more data gathering and analysis. The D9 exploration licence is located in the Krishna Godavari Basin on the east coast of India and presently covers an area of approximately 8,695 square kilometers. The licence's minimum work programme provides for the drilling of four exploration wells.

Downstream

IOC Paradip refinery to go on stream by mid-2012

June 27, 2011. Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL), the nation's largest oil marketing firm hopes to commission its proposed 15 million tonne per annum refinery project at Paradip by the middle of 2012. The oil major has already invested ` 8000 crore on the project. The refinery will produce 5.97 million tonnes of diesel, 3.4 million tonnes of petrol, 1.45 million tonnes of kerosene/ATF (Aviation Turbine Fuel), 536,000 tonnes of LPG, 124,000 tonnes of naphtha and 335,000 tonnes of sulphur, all of which will be for sale in the domestic market.

IOC buys extra Saudi oil for July, Essar seeks more

June 22, 2011. Saudi Aramco will supply an additional one million barrels of oil to Indian Oil Corp for July while Indian private firm Essar Oil has requested similar volumes. Essar's request has not yet been confirmed as the refiner is seeking volumes for loading in the first half of July. Indian refiner MRPL bought about 600,000 barrels of extra Saudi oil for July earlier. IOC is India's biggest refiner, controlling over 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude processing capacity. It normally buys about 110,000 bpd of oil from the Kingdom. Essar operates a 280,000 bpd refinery at Vadinar in western Gujarat state and on average buys 500,0000-600,000 barrels Saudi crude in a month.

Transportation / Trade

GSPC awards contract to Punj for ` 8.2 bn

June 27, 2011. The state venture Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) awarded Punj Lloyd a contract to commission submarine pipeline project in an exploration block on the east coast of India. The value of contract is estimated at ` 826 crore and it is scheduled to be completed by April 2013.

Court reserves order on RIL gas to Welspun

June 23, 2011. The Bombay High Court reserved its judgment on the issue of supply of reduced gas from Reliance Industries, to sponge iron making units such as Welspun Maxsteel and Ispat Industries. Mumbai-based Welspun Maxsteel is contesting an oil ministry directive to Reliance to cut gas supplies to steel companies. The petroleum ministry asked Reliance Industries to reduce natural gas supplies to non-core users such as steel plants, so that the demand of core industries like fertiliser and power plants are met. The ministry's directive was issued after a sharp drop in output at Reliance Industries KG-D6 fields. Production fell from 61.5 million standard cubic meters per day in March 2010, to under 50 mscmd.

Aadhaar can be given as proof of identity for LPG connections

June 22, 2011. People seeking new LPG connections from Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation can now submit their Letter of allotment of Aadhaar - unique identification authority number -- as a proof of identity. These oil marketing companies had advised their distributors to accept Aadhaar issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) as proof of identity and address. The Aadhaar (Letter issued by UIDAI) would be included in the list of documents sufficient for issue of new domestic LPG connections. According to UIDAI, so far 94,78,591 Aadhaars had been issued in the country.

Policy / Performance

Bihar govt slashes VAT on diesel

June 28, 2011. Bihar government decided to slash the VAT (value added tax) on diesel by 0.36 per cent from 18.36 per cent to 18 per cent, reducing the price of diesel by 14 paise per litre.

Tamil Nadu govt removes 4 pc VAT on LPG

June 28, 2011. The Tamil Nadu government decided to drop the 4% VAT (value added tax) on LPG to provide relief to domestic consumers in the backdrop of the Centre's decision to hike petroleum and cooking gas prices. The decision will be effective July 1. The total waiver of VAT on LPG would cost the exchequer ` 120 crore per year. The 4% VAT waiver will reduce the price of LPG by ` 14.73 per cylinder to ` 389.67.

GAIL seeks exemption from payment of fuel subsidies

June 28, 2011. State-run gas utility GAIL India Ltd said it should be exempted from payment of fuel subsidies as it does not get any upside from rise in crude oil or natural gas price. GAIL along with Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) have to compensate for at least one third of the revenue that fuel retailers lose on selling auto and cooking fuel at the government controlled rates. Upstream firms contributed `30,297 crore or 38.75 per cent of the total revenue loss of ` 78,189 crore in 2010-11 fiscal. GAIL's share in this was ` 2,111 crore or 6.97 per cent of the total upstream share. ONGC, whose revenue increases with rise in crude oil prices, paid ` 24,892 crore, or 82.16 per cent of the upstream contribution, towards fuel subsidies. In 2009-10, GAIL paid a subsidy of ` 1,327 crore. This was 9.20 per cent of the total upstream contribution of ` 14,430 crore. In that year, upstream contribution was 31.33 per cent of the total revenue loss of ` 46,051 crore. During the first quarter of the current fiscal, upstream firms may have to chip in ` 14,446 crore, roughly one-third of the retailers revenues. Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum lost on selling diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene below cost. Of this, ONGC may have to contribute ` 12,123 crore, OIL ` 1,640 crore and GAIL ` 683 crore. GAIL will import at least one shipload of liquefied natural gas (LNG) every month to make up for fall in domestic gas output. Reliance Industries' eastern offshore KG-D6 field has seen output fall from 61.5 million standard cubic meters per day to less than 48 mmscmd. LNG costs about $12.5 per million British thermal unit, double the price of KG-D6 gas.

RIL was consulted before finalising report: CAG

June 28, 2011. Government auditor CAG said that it had consulted Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) before finalising the draft performance audit report on hydro carbon production sharing contracts at its KG-D6 gas fields. CAG did not mention its observations or seek comments of the private firms on its audit objections during the interactive meetings it had with RIL and Cairn days before finalising its draft report.

Cost of developing Reliance's KG-D6 less than estimates of experts: Oil ministry

June 27, 2011. The cost of developing India's largest oilfield in Reliance's D-6 block was actually less than the estimates of global experts such as Mustang International, which calculated a figure of $9.03 billion, oil ministry said in response to the objections from the national auditor about raising expenditure to $8.8 billion. The government had appointed the US-based Mustang in October 2007 to validate RIL's cost estimates of $8.8 billion for producing natural gas from D1 and D3 fields in the block. The oil ministry decided to take a third-party opinion when questions were raised that Reliance had inflated cost estimates. The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) had initially approved RIL's plan to invest $2.47 billion to produce 40 million standard cubic metres per day (mscmd) gas from D1 and D3 fields in 2004, but questions were raised when in December 2006 the technical arm of the oil ministry approved a revised estimate of $8.8 billion for doubling the production to 80 mscmd.

No VAT on kerosene; hikes on diesel, LPG non-taxable: U'khand

June 27, 2011. Uttarkhand said it would waive off VAT (value added tax) on kerosene, and would not charge VAT on the amount recently increased for diesel and LPG after the Centre decided to hike prices of petroleum products.

WB govt withdraws cess on LPG

June 25, 2011. West Bengal government's decision to withdraw cess on LPG and thus save ` 16 per cylinder for the consumers with immediate effect. The state government would not collect cess of Rs 16 per LPG cylinder and this would effectively put the burden of hike at ` 34 and not ` 50 on consumers in the state.

Despite fuel price hike, cos to lose in FY 12

June 25, 2011. Despite one of the steepest hike in fuel prices, state-run oil firms will still end the fiscal will a whooping ` 121,700 crore revenue loss on selling diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene at government rates. An Empowered Group of Ministers had approved a ` 3 per litre hike in diesel price, which after including local sales tax translated into a ` 3.37 per litre increase in retail price at Delhi.

No specific proposals for EGOM meet on fuel hike: Reddy

June 24, 2011. Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy said his ministry has made no specific proposal on increasing auto and cooking fuel prices. Reddy said only a detailed analysis of the scenario developing from spike in rates of international crude oil, on which India depends on to meet more than three quarters of its energy needs, has been submitted to the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM). Besides Reddy, the EGoM, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee includes Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Road Transport Minister C P Joshi, Chemical and Fertiliser Minister M K Alagiri and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. State-owned oil firms are together projected to lose a whopping ` 1,66,712 crore in revenues this fiscal on selling diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene at government-controlled rates, which are way below the market price. The EGoM will deliberate on measures including an increase in the retail price, duty reduction and government subsidy, to tackle this loss. Oil firms currently lose ` 15.44 per litre on diesel, ` 27.47 per litre on kerosene and ` 381.14 on the sale of every 14.2-kg domestic LPG cylinder.

Diesel, kerosene & LPG price hike coming in July

June 23, 2011. The government will raise diesel, cooking gas and kerosene prices next month after a gap of one year as cash-strapped state firms say their borrowings have risen alarmingly and they will be forced to cut fuel supplies, starting with cooking gas.

Can’t blame RIL for capex hike: Ministry

June 23, 2011. Reliance Industries can’t be blamed for claiming capital expenditure higher than was initially envisaged for the KG D6 gas field unless the company pocketed the money, feels the petroleum ministry. This view will soon be conveyed to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) which found fault with RIL’s claim for higher capital spend.

POWER

Generation

Karma Energy to invest ` 2.4 bn in Dhule power project

June 28, 2011. Karma Energy, the subsidiary of Weizmann Limited, said it plans to invest ` 240-crore to set up a 60 MW power project at Dhule in Maharashtra. The company has developed and is currently operating about 33 MW wind power projects in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, with further projects aggregating over 620 MW under various stages of implementation in Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra. The firm also plans to invest Rs 75-100 crore each year to add 25-30 MW in hydel and wind energy generation. The firm's first 3.5 MW hydel power project in Bhatot in Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh will be commissioned in August this year, while the 4 MW project in the same district will be operational in two years.

NTPC commissions super critical 660 MW unit at Sipat

June 28, 2011. State-run power major NTPC said it has started operations of the first super critical 660 MW unit at Sipat plant in Chattisgarh. The plant, located in Bilaspur, has an installed capacity of 2,980 MW. With the commissioning of 660 MW, NTPC's installed capacity has increased to 34,854 MW, while the total operational capacity at Sipat plant is now 1,660 MW. The Sipat project has three units of 660 MW in stage I and 2 units of 500 MW in stage II, which are already operational. NTPC has an operational capacity of over 8,000 MW in Western Region and work is progressing for over 4,000 MW capacity at Mouda, Vindhyachal, Sipat and Solapur. According to the statement, the company is focused on introduction of high efficiency supercritical and ultra super-critical coal-based power plants. The entity has floated tenders for 9 units each of 660 MW and 800 MW for its upcoming projects in 12th plan.

Haryana offers NPCIL two sites for setting up n-power plant

June 22, 2011. Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) has offered two sites to Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) for setting up a second nuclear power plant in the state, even as the process of setting up the first plant is underway.

NHPC to invest ` 24 bn on three JV projects in J&K

June 22, 2011. Power utility NHPC said it will invest ` 2,400 crore on setting up three projects in J&K under a joint venture with Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corporation and PTC India. The joint venture entity -- Chenab Valley Power Projects Pvt Ltd -- will implement three projects having a total capacity of over 2,100 MW. Currently, NHPC -- the country's largest hydro electric power producer -- is engaged in the construction of ten projects at various locations in the country, having a total installed capacity of 4,502 MW.

Transmission / Distribution / Trade

Perdaman lawsuit baseless, co ready to supply coal: Lanco

June 27, 2011. Terming a A$3.5-billion lawsuit filed by Perdaman as "baseless", Lanco Infratech said the company is ready to comply with the tenets of its coal supply agreement with the multi-national firm. Multinational Perdaman Industries has filed an A$3.5-billion (about 16,600 crore) lawsuit in the Supreme Court of Western Australia, alleging that Lanco is not complying with a 25 year-long coal supply pact for its upcoming Collie urea plant in Western Australia. Perdaman had entered into the pact with Griffin Coal, which was snapped up by Lanco for A$730 million in March this year. The coal supply of about 2.7 million tonnes per annum is to start in 2015, when the urea plant project is expected to achieve financial closure.

Bhel scouts foreign cos for acquisition

June 26, 2011. Keen to expand its overseas operations, especially in African market, state-owned power equipment maker Bhel is targetting to increase its revenue from exports to ` 4,500 crore this fiscal and may pick up stake in ventures abroad. The company is, however, working on a stragetic plan and will announce new targets for export revenues in next 5-6 months. The company is growing manifold in the international markets and is focussed especially on Africa.

Mjunction to sell imported coal

June 24, 2011. Mjunction services, a 50:50 joint venture between Tata Steel and Steel Authority of India, has decided to sell imported coal through its online arm, coaljunction. The first online sale of imported coal is expected to start next month. Mjunction's move comes at a time when Indian companies, particularly in the cement, steel and power sectors, are actively looking to supplement domestic coal supplies with overseas resource support. This year coal imports for use in domestic market is likely to touch 100 million tonnes. Mjunction, which is looking at import of thermal coal from countries such as Indonesia and South Africa, hopes to bring in the first shipment of 60,000 tonnes in July. Coaljunction, is a division of Mjunction and was formed for e-auction of coal. It conducts e-sales on behalf of Coal India and its subsidiaries.

For Coal India, the country's largest coal producer, this has proved profitableprofits. However, sale of imported coal will be coaljunction's own offering and follow a model different from existing model of e-sales. India's coal imports are set to rise significantly this year due to increased demand from cement, steel and power industries. With total demand set to double to 710 million tonnes, India is likely to import nearly 100 million tonnes of coal in 2011-12. Last year imports were 85 million tonnes.

Policy / Performance

Schneider Electric India looks for growth in energy and performacne management sectors

June 28, 2011. Targeting India's booming middle class, Schneider Electric India, subsidiary of the Euro 19.58 billion French energy management solutions provider, has entered the retail market. This is the first time the French multinational has entered this segment anywhere in the world, even before its other high growth market, China.

J-K govt to insure 450 MW Baglihar HEP Project

June 22, 2011. Jammu and Kashmir government said it is in the process of insuring the 450-Mega Watt Baglihar hydro-electric power (HEP) project in Ramba district of the state. Sealed tenders are invited from all public sector General Insurance companies for insurance of Civil, Hudro-Mechanical works of 450 MW Baglihar project stage-1 Chanderkote, a Short Term Tender (STN) notification issued by the Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation (JKSPDC) said. The insurance will cover the risk of fire and its allied perils, natural calamities like earth-quakes, floods and slides, along with terrorism, machinery breakdown insurance and electronics equipment insurance.

INTERNATIONAL

OIL & GAS

Upstream

Gas, oil abundant in Alaska's Cook Inlet

June 28, 2011. Alaska's Cook Inlet basin still has potential for abundant natural gas and oil discoveries even after five decades of production.

The Inlet area likely holds 19 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas -- nearly nine times the last estimate -- and 600 million barrels of recoverable crude oil.

Gas driller fined $180,000 for Marcellus violations

June 28, 2011. Independent energy producer Chief Oil & Gas has been fined $180,000 by Pennsylvania regulators for environmental violations in the Marcellus Shale. Chief Oil & Gas has paid the civil fine, which was related to a hydraulic oil spill and the failure to maintain a drill pit at a natural gas well in Somerset County.

The company has since made repairs at the site to prevent future spills. The Marcellus shale is an underground rock formation that stretches across much of Pennsylvania, as well as portions of New York and West Virginia.

Drilling in the Marcellus accounted for 271.5 billion cubic of natural gas during the last six months of 2010 (1.5 bcf per day).

North Sea oil, gas producers see tax exemption on new fields

June 27, 2011. U.K. Treasury officials are in talks with North Sea oil and gas producers to try to avoid having a new windfall tax lead the producers to abandon plans for new fields.

Floating LNG is for bigger players, not game changer

June 24, 2011. The gas industry has its hopes pinned on floating LNG production to unlock stranded resources as demand for the fuel soars, but the technology is far from revolutionizing output methods and set to remain in the realm of the bigger players for now.

Nigerian state oil company probably won’t list until petroleum bill passed

June 23, 2011. Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., the state-owned oil company, probably won’t list on the local bourse until lawmakers pass a petroleum bill to regulate the oil industry. A law to reform the way the oil industry is funded and regulated has been in the legislature for more than two years. Oil exploration in Nigeria slumped to the lowest in a decade after producers including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Total SA backed away from investment.

Transocean says Gulf spill disaster result of bp’s cost-savings decisions

June 23, 2011. Transocean Ltd. said its internal investigation found BP Plc was largely responsible for last year’s fatal drilling catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico and reiterated its refusal to help BP pay claims stemming from the worst U.S. offshore oil spill.

‘Head-Scratcher’ petroleum release to inflate U.S. crude glut

June 23, 2011. Oil producers tumbled the most in more than a year after the U.S. government announced plans to pour as much as 1 million barrels of stockpiled crude a day into an amply supplied market. The U.S. and 27 other nations pledged to tap government-controlled oil inventories in response to civil war in Libya that disrupted shipments and after Saudi Arabia failed to persuade fellow members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to plug the gap with increased output.

BP plans to build 300 wells in Oman

June 22, 2011. BP aims to develop 300 natural gas wells in Oman in what would be one of the company's largest global projects. BP is considering investing $15 billion over 10 years to develop the Block 61 tight gas fields in the country. The company will submit a field development plan to the government, which includes a 1.2 billion cubic-feet-a-day gas processing plant, with production seen starting by early 2017.

Downstream

Saudi Aramco may tender $7 bn Jizan refinery in 2Q12

June 27, 2011. State-run Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Saudi Aramco, may invite bids in the second quarter next year, earlier than planned, for the contract to build a $7 billion refinery at Jizan in the kingdom's southwest that will supply the local market. The 400,000-barrel-a-day Jizan refinery, to be located on the Red Sea, aims to provide refined products for the domestic market, which is facing rapidly rising demand.

Transportation / Trade

Oil rises on concern IEA emergency crude release may limit future supplies

June 24, 2011. Oil rose in New York, reversing plunge on concerns that stockpile releases by consuming nations may restrict the ability to respond to supply disruptions in future.

The International Energy Agency agreed to release 60 million barrels to buyers starting next week. Oil stockpiles among the 28 member-countries of the IEA declined by 340,000 barrels a day during the first quarter of this year, the Agency said.

The IEA announced the release of 2 million barrels a day for 30 days to make up for supplies choked off by an armed rebellion in Libya. The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve will provide 30 million barrels, European members will supply about 20 million and Asian nations the remainder.

Iraq boosts oil supplies to Jordan

June 22, 2011. Jordan has started receiving additional oil supplies from Iraq as officials in Amman continue to explore alternatives to address the Kingdom's energy woes. Jordan has started to receive 15,000 barrels of Iraqi oil daily as part of an agreement struck between Baghdad and Amman. The boost in Iraqi oil comes amidst a drop in Egyptian gas supplies, which Jordan relies on for 80 percent of its electricity needs. Iraqi heavy fuel oil accounts for the remaining 20 percent. Jordan currently receives 100 million cubic feet of natural gas from Egypt daily, well below the 250 million cubic feet stipulated in an amended agreement between the two sides.

Goldman Sachs says Libya oil exports may rise, near-term prices ‘choppy’

June 22, 2011. Libyan oil exports could rise by as much as 355,000 barrels a day in the short term from the opposition-controlled part of the country after rebels pledged to resume shipments.

Libya, holder of Africa’s largest oil reserves, has seen production drop from about 1.6 million barrels a day in January, before fighting started between opposition forces and troops loyal to leader Muammar Qaddafi, to 200,000 barrels in May.

Libyan rebels expect to produce 100,000 barrels of oil a day from fields they control. Exports could climb as high as 585,000 barrels a day if Qaddafi is removed from power and production is resumed from western fields currently held by the government.

Policy / Performance

Australia gives environmental nod to Inpex LNG project

June 28, 2011. Australia gave environmental approval to Inpex Corp's Ichthys liquefied natural gas project, paving the way for Japan's top oil and gas developer to make a final investment decision on the $20 billion project later this year. Inpex proposes to develop the Ichthys field in the Browse Basin off the North West Shelf of Australia to produce 8.4 million tonnes of LNG, liquefied petroleum gas and condensate each year. More than 70 percent of the project's total output is expected to be delivered to Japan, the world's biggest LNG importer, starting in 2017, mostly via long-term agreements, Inpex said.

Russia proposes oil, gas venture with Japan near disputed islands

June 28, 2011. Russia will call on Japan to jointly develop oil and natural gas resources near an island chain north of Japan. Russia will propose to jointly develop deposits off one of the islands in the Pacific known in Japan as Kunashiri. The project would be part of the economic cooperation focus that the two nations agreed to in February to discuss and could be brought up in high-level bilateral talks to be held this year. Still, Russia may not restrict partnering with Japan to develop natural resources near the disputed islands.

Tripoli Running out of gas as Qaddafi bets on NATO divisions for survival

June 27, 2011. Libyans in the capital are getting on their bikes to avoid the hundred-meter lines and weeklong waits at gas pumps -- evidence that the rebellion against Muammar Qaddafi, backed by NATO warplanes and international sanctions, is applying a squeeze on the territory that remains under his control.

Japan says to relax oil reserve requirements

June 24, 2011. Japan will tap its emergency petroleum stockpile as part of global efforts to bolster tightening oil supplies.

The trade ministry has decided to relax refiners' oil reserve requirements by three days to 67 days' worth and that the lower requirements will take effect for one month from June 27. Japan will continue to use its oil reserves appropriately if needed in the future.

Australia's military looks north to protect oil and gas

June 22, 2011. Australia is looking to boost its military power in the northwest to protect its booming offshore oil and gas sector and counter new challenges from China and the Indian Ocean. The shift, being considered in a defence posture review, could see new amphibious assault ships and the planned Joint Strike Fighters based across Australia's sprawling north and western coastlines, where resource companies have invested billions in offshore oil and gas projects.

POWER

Generation

China hydroelectric production eases power shortage

June 28, 2011. China’s hydropower generation rose in June after the eastern and central regions received rainfall, easing an electricity supply shortage. Daily hydropower generation gained 12 percent from two weeks earlier to 2.31 billion kilowatt-hours in mid-June. Rainfall that has increased hydropower production also reduced the use of air-conditioners, easing electricity shortages “noticeably” in Chongqing municipality and the provinces of Zhejiang, Hunan and Anhui.

China Energy, Seamwell to build $1.5 bn ‘clean coal’ plant

June 27, 2011. China Energy Conservation & Environmental Protection Group, a state-owned project developer, will build a $1.5 billion “clean coal” plant in Inner Mongolia with U.K.-based Seamwell International Ltd. The companies agreed to collaborate on the electric power plant that’ll harvest its energy from gasified coal deep underground, the first commercial plant of its size in the world. The plant on the YiHe Coal Field will produce power by the end of 2014 or 2015. It will generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity for about 25 years.

China is promoting cleaner energy to meet a 2020 goal of cutting the amount of carbon it emits per unit of economic output by 40 percent to 45 percent from 2005 levels as demand for power grows in the world’s biggest energy consumer market.

Westinghouse eyes stake in new Lithuanian nuclear plant

June 23, 2011. Westinghouse Electric Company, the United States-based arm of Japan's Toshiba Corp, said it was ready to take a stake in a new Lithuanian nuclear power plant.

Lithuania has said it could offer the strategic investor up to 51 percent of the new plant it wants to come online by 2020, with the rest shared between the Baltic state and its regional partners.

Westinghouse said it has offered its latest AP-1000 reactor, which still has to receive the final approval in the U.S., which is expected later in 2011.

Policy / Performance

GE unit seeks power, natural gas and oil projects

June 27, 2011. At a time when electricity prices are low and credit is tight, power companies looking to build new capacity may be able to find a partner in GE Energy Financial Services, which has $21 billion in assets already invested in the energy sector.

In California, one of the fastest growing power markets in the United States, GE Energy Financial recently announced the financing of two natural gas-fired power plants - privately-held Competitive Power Ventures' 800-megawatt Sentinel and Calpine's 619-MW Russell City - for a combined $1.65 billion.

This could be good news for power plant developers struggling to secure financing in an environment of tight credit and power prices lowered by recession-related cuts in electric demand and an oversupplied natural gas market.

Protesters demand French nuclear plant closure

June 27, 2011. Thousands of demonstrators formed a human chain outside France's oldest nuclear power plant to demand the site be closed as the government mulls whether to extend its life by a decade.

The plant at Fessenheim, in Alsace, has become a flashpoint in the renewed debate over nuclear safety in France following the Fukushima disaster in Japan.

Its location near the German border has also made Fessenheim a point of tension between France, which is heavily reliant on its 58 nuclear reactors and has defended their safety, and Germany, which has decided to abandon nuclear power.

Ecology Minister Natalie Kosciusko-Morizet said there would be no decision until a report from the nuclear safety watchdog was submitted in early July and the results were in from safety tests set up in the wake of Fukushima.

Some 5,000 mostly German demonstrators stretched out over four or five km outside the plant in a protest organised by French, Swiss and German associations, supported by France's socialist and green parties.

The No. 1 reactor at Fessenheim has been in service since 1977. The plant is operated by French power group EDF.

The demonstrators fear the site is vulnerable to earthquakes and flooding, whilst EDF and the French nuclear safety authority say this has been taken into account in the plant's design and that risks are regularly reassessed.

China may lift nuclear approvals by mid-2012

June 25, 2011. China's suspension of nuclear project approvals, put in place in the wake of Japan's nuclear crisis, could be lifted by mid-2012.

The State Council, or cabinet, suspended approvals of new nuclear projects on March 16, days after Japan's quake-ravaged nuclear complex triggered radiation worries worldwide, especially in neighbouring China. China is building about 28 reactors, roughly 40 percent of the global total under construction, and the central government has fast-tracked approvals in the past two years. China will continue to develop its nuclear power industry more efficiently in coming years.

China to invest $62 bn on hydropower dams

June 23, 2011. China will invest 400 billion yuan ($62 billion) in the construction of four hydroelectric dams on a tributary of the Yangtze river to help boost the share of non- fossil fuels in the energy consumed by the nation. Total installed capacity of the four dams on the Jinsha river will be 43 million kilowatts.

Russia among EU neighbors to test nuclear safety

June 23, 2011. Russia and six other neighbors of the European Union agreed to follow the EU's lead by imposing new safety checks on their nuclear power stations.

European nuclear watchdogs agreed details of new safety checks on the region's 143 reactors. By June 1, regulators will have to start checking power plants' resilience to earthquakes and tsunamis to avert any crisis like that at Japan's stricken Fukushima plant, but terrorist scenarios will be left out.

Google, Soros invest $25 mn in energy efficiency company

June 23, 2011. Transphorm Inc. closed a $25 million round of financing from an investment fund managed by Soros Fund Management LLC and existing investors such as Google Inc. to fund its power waste reduction technology.

Transphorm says its products reduce power waste by 90 percent and simplify the design and manufacturing of electrical devices such as motor drives, power supplies and inverters for solar panels and electric vehicles.

Indonesian law to upset coal price equation

June 22, 2011. Indian power developers have sought government intervention as a new law in Indonesia, the largest coal supplier, makes imports economically unviable. Indonesia has said it would not allow exporting companies to sell coal at prices below notified rates after September 23.

Renewable Energy / Climate Change Trends

National

REC eyes renewable energy foray; plans investment

June 26, 2011. Looking to diversify into power generation, state-run Rural Electrification Corporation plans to set up renewable energy projects entailing an investment of about ` 2,800 crore in the next five years. REC, which offers finance for various power projects, plans to enter renewable energy sector through its subsidiary REC Power Distribution Company Ltd. Noting that plans for renewable energy are at initial stages, Khunteta said the company is in discussions with a number of players for the same. REC has already approached the Himachal Pradesh government for setting up about five to seven hydro electric projects.

Birla Surya to invest ` 54 bn in solar power unit

June 24, 2011. Birla Surya Limited, a part of the Yash Birla Group, plans to invest ` 5,400 crore, over the next five years, to set up an integrated unit for fabrication of multi-crystalline silicon wafers and manufacturing solar photovoltaic cells. The company would invest ` 1,493 crore in the first phase that would entail setting up of a manufacturing unit with 60 megawatt capacity for multi crystalline silicon wafers and a fabrication unit of capacity 125 mw. The decision to foray into solar power was driven by the opportunity arising from the government's National Solar Mission which aims at capacity of 20 gigawatts by 2022.

CLP may invest in first Indian solar project

June 23, 2011. CLP Holdings Ltd., the biggest power supplier in Hong Kong and India’s largest owner of wind farms, may invest in its first solar project in India next year. The Hong Kong-based company has begun collecting sun irradiation data at Indian wind farms to also evaluate the possibility of installing solar plants. CLP aims to get 20 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020 and may complete its first 55-megawatt solar plant in Thailand. India is CLP’s third-largest market by revenue after Hong Kong and Australia. Building solar plants alongside wind farms can be more efficient because the projects can share infrastructure, such as power lines and personnel. CLP didn’t bid for licenses in India’s first solar auction in part because the government limited the size of photovoltaic projects it awarded to 5 megawatts. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said that it may consider changing the rules in India’s second solar auction, expected later this year, to lift restrictions on the size and amount of projects awarded to companies. In India, CLP has about 2,613 megawatts of capacity either built or under construction, including a 1,320-megawatt coal plant in Haryana.

Kerala, NTPC to rope in tribals for wind energy generation plan

June 22, 2011. The Kerala government has mooted a business-model with tribals of Palakkad to rev up its green energy production with an 80-mw wind power plan. The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) will join hands with National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) for the proposal. According to the business plan, KSEB and NTPC will float an offer for utilisation of tribal-habitated land in Palakkad for wind power generation. If they agree, they would be adequately compensated by way of price of the land. The state outfit will also enter into a long-term agreement with the tribals. According to the accord, the tribals are to to be paid a fixed amount of money from every unit of power that is generated from the windmills that come up on their land. The two places identified as high potential for wind generation are Attapadi and Kanjikode in Palakkad district. Kerala has urged for additional power from central pool at subsidised rate, so that the state could be compensated for dropping several hydel projects on environmental reasons. KSEB expects the demand for power to reach about 6,000 mw in another ten years, while generation from both hydel and small thermal plants would remain at about 2,300 mw.

Global

China energy limits plan submitted to State Council

June 28, 2011. China’s National Energy Administration has submitted a draft of plans for limiting total regional energy consumption to the State Council. The plan will mainly target energy consumption in terms of fossil fuels.

Global consumers crave green energy in survey-Vestas

June 28, 2011. Consumers around the world overwhelmingly support the rollout of renewable energy, but many have mistaken views about "green" products, according to a survey conducted by TNS Gallup for Vestas Wind Systems. The survey, which polled 31,000 consumers in 26 countries in May, was designed to show companies how they could link their image to their customers' views on climate change and renewable energy. But the poll also showed that many consumers were ill-informed about companies' environmental impacts, as well as the availability of renewable power.

Germany got 19.2 pc of its power needs from renewables

June 28, 2011. Germany generated 19.2 percent of its power needs from renewable energy including wind and solar in the first quarter of 2011, up from 17.1 percent for the year- earlier period.

Obama’s $7 bn renewable energy grants targeted for audits

June 28, 2011. Government investigators are auditing some of President Barack Obama’s more than $7 billion in renewable energy grants to determine whether the money was awarded properly and the recipients were eligible.

Dong signs supply deal for 600 turbine foundations to cut costs

June 28, 2011. Dong Energy A/S, the largest operator of offshore wind farms, is seeking to lower the cost of developing power projects by signing a long-term supply contract for turbine foundations that will be made by Bladt Industries A/S. The agreement gives the energy company the option to buy as many as 600 of the structures, the industry’s first foundation supply deal that covers multiple offshore wind farms. European utilities planning large-scale offshore wind projects want to curb the technology’s costs as governments simultaneously bet on it to meet targets for using renewable energy. The size will likely ensure lower prices for the foundations.

Clean energy innovations boost economy: Google

June 28, 2011. Breakthroughs in clean energy technology could boost the U.S. economy by more than $155 billion a year and create more than 1.1 million new jobs by 2030, Google said. The study by the internet search giant's philanthropic arm examined the possible benefits of aggressive innovations in clean power generation, grid-storage, electric vehicle and natural gas technologies. In addition to improving the economy, development of new energy technology would reduce U.S. household energy costs by $942 a year, lower oil consumption by more than 1.1 billion barrels a year and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 13 percent by 2030.

Australian greens say major hurdles remain in carbon

June 28, 2011. The Australian government faces major hurdles in securing backing from the Greens for its plan to cut carbon emissions, the Greens leader said, raising the risk that talks could fail and possibly sinking the policy. Uncertainty over the fate of the policy, which would tax carbon emissions from next year, has begun to frustrate investment decisions, especially in the huge coal-fired power industry and in renewable energies and plantation forestry.

Japan’s Ricoh taps wind, solar power to fuel London highway billboard

June 27, 2011. Ricoh Co., the Japanese office- equipment maker, said it erected the world’s first billboard fueled by wind and solar power. The 12-by-3-meter (39-by-10-foot) sign is on the U.K.’s M4 motorway linking London to Heathrow Airport. It’ll advertise Tokyo-based Ricoh’s products and follows the installation last year of a solar-powered board in New York’s Times Square. The board will use the same power in a year as 1.4 typical U.K. homes, according to Ricoh. It was developed by the Japanese companies Ad Gear Ltd. and Zephyr Corp.

Shell gets $876 mn for Canadian carbon capture project

June 25, 2011. Royal Dutch Shell Plc will receive C$865 million ($876 million) from the governments of Alberta and Canada to fund a carbon capture and storage project. Shell and its partners will receive the money over 15 years, based on meeting certain performance targets. Development of Canada’s bitumen reserves has contributed most of the nation’s increase in carbon emissions since 1990 when output was supposed to begin to decline under the Kyoto Protocol.

The Canadian authorities pledged their support for the project in October 2009. Alberta has committed C$2 billion to fund four carbon capture and storage projects including Quest, which it says will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5 million tons a year starting in 2015.

Alberta, home to Canada’s oil and gas industry, is counting on carbon capture and storage technology to help slow its output of the gas amid criticism from environmental groups and politicians in the U.S. and the European Union.

Shell and its competitors in the oil and gas industry are not only counting on the technology to allow them to continue exploiting fossil fuel reserves, they also expect governments to help pay for development of carbon capture and storage.

Germany scraps plan to cut wind industry

June 24, 2011. Germany will not cut the wind industry's subsidies as fast as planned, government sources said, in a move aimed at encouraging investment in that form of renewable energy.

The annual reduction in feed-in tariffs (FIT) for land-based wind energy systems would remain at 1 percent from 2012 rather than doubling to 2 percent. The government had previously called for faster cuts in tariffs, threatening the business of German wind companies such as Nordex and PNE Wind.

The nuclear crisis in Japan's Fukushima plant in March, caused by a massive earthquake and tsunami, prompted Europe's biggest economy to resolve to pull out of nuclear power by 2022 and catapulted renewable energy back into the public eye. But since then industry experts and investors have criticized Germany's failure to spell out how it will make a clear shift to renewable energy.

The German government will continue to gradually cut support to the solar sector -- necessary to make it competitive with conventional forms of energy. But current plans foresee that when nuclear production goes entirely offline by 2022 the gap will not be filled with renewable power, but rather with coal and gas.

Solar industry ripe for consolidation

June 23, 2011. The solar power industry may be heading for a shake-out as sliding solar cell prices and looming overcapacity spark a round of consolidation and force small and weaker players out of the market. Solar companies are rapidly increasing their capacity to produce equipment despite fears that demand could slip this year as countries such as Italy cut solar power subsidies.

Google, Citigroup Raising investment in biggest U.S. wind farm

June 23, 2011. Google Inc., the world’s biggest Internet search engine, and Citigroup Inc. will provide $204 million in additional funding for the largest U.S. wind farm. The companies will each invest $102 million in the 1,550- megawatt Alta Wind Energy Center being developed by Terra-Gen Power LLC, an affiliate of ArcLight Capital Partners LLC and Global Infrastructure Partners. That’s in addition to $55 million each that the companies agreed in May to provide to the project in Tehachapi. The wind farm is being built in stages. The first five stages have a capacity of 720 megawatts and are complete, with 300 more megawatts expected to go into operation this year. Citigroup and Google will now fund the fifth stage with today’s investment. Their prior support was for the fourth. Both investments are leveraged leases in which the backers purchase the projects as they go into service and lease them back to Terra-Gen, which will manage the operations.

GE, partners to invest $63 mn in green tech

June 23, 2011. General Electric Co and its venture capital partners will invest a further $63 million in 10 clean-energy start-up ventures.

The investments, in areas such as solar thermal systems and LED lighting, are part of GE's ongoing "ecomagination challenge," a program that reviews thousands of start-ups' business plans for possible funding. Much of the technology is focused on reducing energy use in the home, or on better communication between energy users and utilities.

Polluters winners from carbon scheme

June 23, 2011. A European plan to raise funds for clean energy has backfired spectacularly, helping trigger a rout on its carbon trading scheme, and so cutting available green funds and benefiting polluting coal plants. Additional causes for the latest sell-off included eurozone woes over Greece, and an EU efficiency directive which could send carbon emissions lower. The EU's emissions trading scheme has endured a slew of damaging scandals from its launch in 2005, including VAT fraud, the re-sale of used credits, phishing scams and cyber-theft. Most importantly, the scheme which is supposed to cap the carbon emissions of about 11,000 factories and power plants has seen a permanent surplus of permits called EU allowances (EUAs) since its launch in 2005.

New foe for U.S. solar energy: the railroads

June 23, 2011. Railroad company Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp has joined an unlikely coalition of environmentalists, American Indians and politicians who are opposing a massive solar energy project planned for California's Mojave Desert. The railroad is sounding the alarm over what it says are potentially "catastrophic" consequences of a proposed 663.5 megawatt solar facility that would be so bright that the glare could temporarily blind train operators.

Silver’s 74 pc surge creates ‘headwind’ for solar rivalry with fossil fuels

June 23, 2011. Soaring silver prices are hampering the solar industry’s ability to compete with fossil fuels. Panel makers consume about 11 percent of the world’s supply of silver, the metal in solar cells that conducts electricity. The metal has appreciated 74 percent to $35.30 a troy ounce on average so far this year from $20.24 for last year. Prices for solar cells have dropped about 27 percent this year and would be even lower if each panel didn’t require about 20 grams of silver.

Petrobras to use biodiesel additive from International Fuel

June 22, 2011. Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil’s state-run oil company, will use a fuel additive from International Fuel Technology Inc. to improve the chemical composition of biodiesel. International Fuel’s PerfoLift BD-4 provides oxidation stability and controls the formation of deposits in biodiesel blends. Petrobras will use the additive at its three biodiesel plants, which can manufacture at total of 150 million liters (39.6 million gallons) of fuel a year.

Spain suspends subsidies to 279 solar-power installations

June 22, 2011. Spanish regulators suspended subsidies to 279 solar-power installations, bringing to 1,561 the number of rooftop and open-field installations punished for not proving they followed rules for earning above-market prices. The National Energy Commission announced the latest series of sanctions after completing checks on 86 percent of the 8,201 power stations suspected of not meeting regulatory requirements, the regulator said. The owners of photovoltaic parks and rooftop systems failed to prove they were capable of producing power by the Sept. 30, 2008, deadline to be eligible for earning the highest consumer- subsidized rate. That tariff is 47.5 euro cents ($0.678) a kilowatt-hour, or about nine times today’s spot price paid to operators of fossil fuel power plants.

Spain’s government is trying to reduce aid for many of the nation’s renewable-energy plants as a way to lower electricity costs for businesses and homes and help the economy emerge from its worst slump in 60 years.

EPA proposes 2012 ethanol use at 13.2 bn gallons

June 22, 2011. The U.S. would have to use 13.2 billion gallons of mostly corn-based ethanol in 2012 as mandated by Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed, but the agency slashed the target for advanced cellulosic ethanol output.

The EPA proposed cutting the amount of cellulosic ethanol, which is made from switchgrass and other agricultural waste, that must be produced next year to between 3.45 million and 12.9 million gallons from the original goal of 500 million gallons.

The EPA sets the renewable fuel standard every year as required by Congress, based on gasoline and diesel demand projections from the U.S. Energy Department.

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[1] Arundhati Roy, the Cost of Living: the Greater Common Good and the End of Imagination, London: Flamingo, 1999, 30.

[2] Ibid. 21.

[3] Ibid. 30.

[4] The Times of India. Available from http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-04-02/ahmedabad/28137716_1_narmada-dam-height-narmada-control-authority-nca Accessed 12 May 2011.

[5] Afroz Ahmad, “The Narmada Water Resources Project, India: Implementing Sustainable Development,” Ambio, (28: 5), August 1999, 398.

[6] Baruch Boxer, “China's Three Gorges Dam: Questions and Prospects,” The China Quarterly, No. 113, March 1988, 95.

[7] Ibid. 95.

[8] Ibid. 95.

[9] Michael Zmolek, “Review Essay: Damming the Narmada and the Three Gorges,” Refuge, (12:1), June 1992, 35.

[10] Arundhati Roy, the Cost of Living: the Greater Common Good and the End of Imagination, London : Flamingo, 1999, 15.

[11] Ibid. 15.

[12] Baruch Boxer, “China's Three Gorges Dam: Questions and Prospects,” The China Quarterly, No. 113, March 1988, 100.

[13] Ibid. 102.

[14] Afroz Ahmad, “The Narmada Water Resources Project, India: Implementing Sustainable Development,” Ambio, (28: 5), August 1999, 398.

[15] Yan Tan, Fajun Yao, “Three Gorges Project: Effects of Resettlement on the Environment in the Reservoir Area and Countermeasures,” Population and Environment, (27: 4), March 2006, 351.

[16] Arundhati Roy, the Cost of Living: the Greater Common Good and the End of Imagination, London : Flamingo, 1999, 79.

[17] Jashbhai Patel, “Is National Interest Being Served by Narmada Project?” Economic and Political Weekly, (29: 30), 23 July 1994, 1962.

[18] Ibid. 1962.

[19] Yan Tan, Fajun Yao, “Three Gorges Project: Effects of Resettlement on the Environment in the Reservoir Area and Countermeasures,” Population and Environment, (27: 4), March 2006, 353.

[20] Ibid. 353.

[21] Ibid. 353.

[22] Ibid. 353.

[23] Ibid. 353.

[24] Kwai-cheong Chau, “The Three Gorges Project of China: Resettlement Prospects and Problems,” Ambio, (24: 2), March 1995, 99.

[25] Yan Tan, Fajun Yao, “Three Gorges Project: Effects of Resettlement on the Environment in the Reservoir Area and Countermeasures,” Population and Environment, (27: 4), March 2006, 355.

[26] Arun Ghosh, “A Plea for Open Government: Case of Narmada Project,” Economic and Political Weekly, (24: 30), 29 July 1989, 1688

[27] Narmada Bachao Andolan, “Violation of Court Orders,” Economic and Political Weekly, (28: 42), 16 October 1993, 2238

[28] Arundhati Roy, the Cost of Living: the Greater Common Good and the End of Imagination, London : Flamingo, 1999, 82.

[29] Jashbhai Patel, “Is National Interest Being Served by Narmada Project?” Economic and Political Weekly, (29: 30), 23 July 1994, 1957.

[30] Ibid 1957.

[31] Arundhati Roy, the Cost of Living: the Greater Common Good and the End of Imagination, London : Flamingo, 1999, 39.

[32] Ibid.59.

[33] Sanjay Sangvai, ”Narmada Displacement: Continuing Outrage,” Economic and Political Weekly, (37: 22), 1-7 June 2002, 2132.

[34] Parita Mukta, “Worshipping Inequalities: Pro-Narmada Dam Movement,” Economic and Political Weekly, (25: 41), 13 October 1990, 2300.

[35] Arundhati Roy, the Cost of Living: the Greater Common Good and the End of Imagination, London : Flamingo, 1999, 21.

[36] Ibid. 65.

[37] Arundhati Roy, the Cost of Living: the Greater Common Good and the End of Imagination, London : Flamingo, 1999, 11.

[38] Afroz Ahmad, “The Narmada Water Resources Project, India: Implementing Sustainable Development,” Ambio, (28: 5), August 1999, 401.

[39] Ibid. 401.

[40] Arundhati Roy, the Cost of Living: the Greater Common Good and the End of Imagination, London : Flamingo, 1999, 18.

[41] Ibid. 22.

[42] Arundhati Roy, the Cost of Living: the Greater Common Good and the End of Imagination, London : Flamingo, 1999, 31.

[43] Sanjay Sangvai, ”Narmada Displacement: Continuing Outrage,” Economic and Political Weekly, (37: 22), 1-7 June 2002, 2133.

[44] Arundhati Roy, the Cost of Living: the Greater Common Good and the End of Imagination, London : Flamingo, 1999, 49.

[45] Ibid. 44.

[46] Ibid. 43.

[47] Arundhati Roy, the Cost of Living: the Greater Common Good and the End of Imagination, London : Flamingo, 1999, 45.

[48] Bina Srinivasan, “Repression in Narmada Valley,” Economic and Political Weekly, (28: 49), 4 December 1993, 2641.

[49] Arundhati Roy, the Cost of Living: the Greater Common Good and the End of Imagination, London : Flamingo, 1999, 48.

[50] Ibid. 47.

[51] Yan Tan, Fajun Yao, “Three Gorges Project: Effects of Resettlement on the Environment in the Reservoir Area and Countermeasures,” Population and Environment, (27: 4), March 2006, 352.

[52] Yan Tan, Fajun Yao, “Three Gorges Project: Effects of Resettlement on the Environment in the Reservoir Area and Countermeasures,” Population and Environment, (27: 4), March 2006, 355

[53] Juan Xi, Sean-Shong Hwang, Xiaotian Feng, Xiaofei Qiao, & Yue Cao, “Perceived Risks and Benefits of the Three Gorges Project,” Sociological Perspectives, (50: 2), Summer 2007, 325.

[54] Li Heming, Paul Waley, Phil Rees, “Reservoir Resettlement in China: Past Experience and the Three Gorges Dam,” The Geographical Journal, (167: 3), September 2001, 204-205.

[55] Juan Xi, Sean-Shong Hwang, Xiaotian Feng, Xiaofei Qiao, & Yue Cao, “Perceived Risks and Benefits of the Three Gorges Project,” Sociological Perspectives, (50: 2), Summer 2007, 333.

[56] Juan Xi, Sean-Shong Hwang, Xiaotian Feng, Xiaofei Qiao, & Yue Cao, “Perceived Risks and Benefits of the Three Gorges Project,” Sociological Perspectives, (50: 2), Summer 2007, 334.

[57] Yan Tan, Fajun Yao, “Three Gorges Project: Effects of Resettlement on the Environment in the Reservoir Area and Countermeasures,” Population and Environment, (27: 4), March 2006, 358.

[58] Li Heming, Paul Waley, Phil Rees, “Reservoir Resettlement in China: Past Experience and the Three Gorges Dam,” The Geographical Journal, (167: 3), September 2001, 205.

[59] Yan Tan, Fajun Yao, “Three Gorges Project: Effects of Resettlement on the Environment in the Reservoir Area and Countermeasures,” Population and Environment, (27: 4), March 2006, 368.

[60] Juan Xi, Sean-Shong Hwang, Xiaotian Feng, Xiaofei Qiao, & Yue Cao, “Perceived Risks and Benefits of the Three Gorges Project,” Sociological Perspectives, (50: 2), Summer 2007, 323.

[61] Yan Tan, Fajun Yao, “Three Gorges Project: Effects of Resettlement on the Environment in the Reservoir Area and Countermeasures,” Population and Environment, (27: 4), March 2006, 352.

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