After fertiliser, the power ministry has also opposed the recommendations made by the Rangarajan panel to increase domestic gas price from the current $4.2/mmbtu to $8.8/mmbtu, saying it will impact the power sector by about R46,360 crore annually.

The gas supplies to the sector have completely halted from the KG D6 block of Reliance Industries, which recently hit an all-time low of 15.5 mmscmd from a peak of 69.43 mmscmd in March 2010.

The proposal for the doubling of natural gas price made by the Rangarajan committee has the oil and power ministries at loggerheads.

Unfavourable conditions severely affected hydro power generation in the state during 2012-13 with the country’s largest Nathpa Jhakri project producing 833 million units (MU) less compared to the last financial year. It was for the first time since 2006-07 that the project missed the generation target set by the Union Ministry of Power in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the year.

A delayed monsoon coupled with a prolonged and relatively harsh winter resulted in low discharge in the Sutlej for most part of the year leading to a steep decline in generation.

The Power Ministry is considering setting up a National Power Committee for ensuring stricter grid discipline among the States and penalise the ones overdrawing electricity from the grid.

BHOPAL: The state government has initiated legal proceedings to terminate power purchase agreement with Maheshwar Hydel Power Corporation Limited, starting with serving a legal notice of default to the promoters of the company. Delay in execution of the project is said to be the major reason for this action.

Notice has been served as project activities of the Maheswhar project are at a standstill and no funds are available for the completion of the project and rehabilitation and resettlement of the oustees. As no payments have been made, M/s BHEL and other contractors have withdrawn their personnel from the dam site.

It only mentions that inter-state short-term access is now fully functional

Open access to consumers especially for 1 Mw and above is yet to take off on a large scale. However, the Economic Survey is completely silent on this aspect, though it does mention that open access at the inter-state level is now fully functional. Open access refers to the free sale of electricity by distributors to consumers and is seen as a tool for fostering competition among power suppliers

Chief minister Jagadish Shettar has written to Union power minister to consider setting a UMPP in Karnataka

Karnataka has sought to push the Centre to set up an Ultra Mega Power Project ( UMPP) in the coastal Dakshina Kannada district. In a letter to Union Minister of State for Power, Jyotiraditya M Scindia, Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar noted that a team of officers visited four potential sites identified by Central Mine Planning & Design Institute (CMPDI) for setting up thermal power plants in coastal region of the state last year.

Cyrus Mistry, Anil Ambani and Chanda Kochhar on the 22-member advisory panel

Power sector heavyweights including, Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry and ADAG Chairman Anil Ambani, along with top bankers, will meet power minister Jyotiraditya Scindia tomorrow to discuss issues hurting fresh investment running into lakhs of crore in the sector. This will be the first meeting of a 22-member advisory panel for the power sector.

The 1,000-km pipeline will feed industries at Belgaum, Dharwad, Gadag, Bellary, Davanagere, Chitradurga, Tumkuyr, Ramanagaram & Bengaluru

State-owned gas utility GAIL India Ltd today commissioned a Rs 4,500 crore pipeline carrying gas from the just operationalised Dabhol LNG terminal into Bengaluru that promises to change the energy landscape of the region. The 1,000-km pipeline will feed industries at Belgaum, Dharwad, Gadag, Bellary, Davanagere, Chitradurga, Tumkuyr, Ramanagaram and Bengaluru which have till now been using costlier and polluting liquid fuels like naphtha and diesel as feedstock.