Road Fund Board to take loans for work

A Rs.10,000-crore project for the development of 22 roads, including the hill highway, in the State to overcome traffic problems was cleared by the Cabinet on Wednesday.

Kasturirangan panel member Sunita Narain says the proposed dam will affect downstream flow

Athirappilly hydel power project proposed across Chalakudy River cannot be implemented in its present form, environmental activist Sunita Narain, who heads the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), has said. She is a member of the High Level Working Group on Western Ghats, chaired by K. Kasturirangan, which looked into the viability of the project.

The fertiliser ministry, in a note to the EGoM on domestic natural gas pricing, suggested that gas should not be priced more than $6 mmBtu.

When fully completed, the state is expected to become power-surplus from a deficit of 4,000 Mw a day at present

Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday clarified the state government had proposed to implement new power projects totaling Rs 16,350 crore in the coming years. Under the proposed investments, the state is implementing the Sillahalla hydel power project at Nilgiris at a cost of Rs 7,000 crore besides setting up 56 sub-stations at an expenditure of Rs 8,000 crore.

The Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) has directed the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) to provide an environment that will help promote generation of solar power in the State.

The board and other licensees should support individual initiatives for development of solar energy, the commission said in an order issued on Tuesday. The State government has published the draft of a Kerala Solar Energy Policy, 2013, it reminded the KSEB and other licensees.

Govt planning Rs 7,000 crore underground hydel project

The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday said the Japanese government had come forward to fund the upcoming power sector infrastructure in the state to the tune of Rs 7,000 crore. These will be taken up by the subsidiaries of the ailing Tamil Nadu State Electricity Board (TNEB).
Apart from this major development, the state announced its intent to invest up to Rs 7,000 crore in developing a new hydro-electric project in the state.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Thursday unveiled a slew of power and infrastructure projects, including a Rs. 7,000-crore underground power station with a capacity of 2,000 MW at Sillahalla in the Nilgiris district. Making a suo motu statement in the Assembly, she said objective of unveiling these projects, totally worth around Rs. 20,000 crore, was to restore Tamil Nadu to its position as a power-surplus State.

Ms. Jayalalithaa said the Sillahalla project would be implemented in two phases and it would take eight to ten years for completion.

Power situation likely to ease after six months: Annadurai

At a time when the State is reeling under acute power crisis, industrial units can make use of solar energy wherever possible for their electricity requirements that would not only help in cutting down their power tariff bills but also help in conserving electricity, P. Annadurai, Chief Engineer-Distribution, Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation, Tiruchi region, said on Sunday.

To Appoint An Agency To Prepare Detailed Project Report

The cash-strapped Kochi corporation is planning to appoint an agency for preparing the detailed project report (DPR) for executing the solar city project. With the local body paying an annual electricity bill of about Rs 9 crore to KSEB, it is keen on starting the project in the current fiscal. The DPR is expected to cost Rs 10 lakh, which will be funded by the Centre.

For most tourists, a visit to the hill station at Munnar is not complete without a boat safari on the scenic Mattupetty reservoir. But very few of them are aware of the impact of boating on the environment and wildlife.

The Kerala State Biodiversity Board and the Forest department have raised the alarm about the pollution caused by motorised boats plying the reservoir and the litter left behind by tourists.