Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) drafted Policy on Exploitation of Shale Gas

The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) drafted a safe as well as encouraging policy on exploitation of shale gas that is seen as the new hope for fuelling India’s burgeoning appetite for hydrocarbons. DGF drafted the policy in the wake of the CAG’s strictures against the DGH and the Petroleum Ministry on violations in the KG-D6 contract.

The draft policy does not permit cost recovery and hence profit sharing — the two features that came under criticism by the CAG in its audit report. However it banks on production-linked payment (PLP) as the Centre’s share from the discovery.

The draft stated that the PLP would be a fixed percentage of revenue receipts from the shale gas or shale oil sold from the contract area, net of royalty on a monthly basis. Royalty would be in line with what is prescribed in the Oilfields (Regulation & Development) act. The PLP quoted at the time of the bidding for blocks assumes significance as it would carry the maximum 60 per cent weight for deciding the award of the block. The total investment quoted for completing the promised minimum work programme would get 40 per cent weightage. As a fiscal incentive, the contractor will be exempt from PLP payment for the first five years from the start of commercial production or from the date of entering the development and production phase, whichever is earlier.

The maximum period of PLP exemption would be 10 years from the date of signing of the contract and will not be extended under any circumstance since it is an incentive for faster development.

As per the policy, the explorer will be given the freedom to market shale gas within India on an arm’s length basis, with shale oil marketing following the prevailing norms of the New Exploration Licensing Policy. The other incentive proposed in the draft is customs duty exemption on the import of goods and materials for exploration and exploitation of shale gas or oil.

The blocks are to be awarded through open international competitive bidding with up to 100 per cent equity participation by foreign companies. The operating firm in a consortium would be the one which has minimum 25 per cent equity. The contract would be for 30 years with the first five years kept for exploration, appraisal and evaluation of the prospect and its feasibility.

Govt plans national biomass mission

Aiming to give a boost to renewable energy, the Government today said it plans to launch a national mission on biomass on the lines of the programme to promote solar energy in the country.

“We are working on national mission on biomass which will be put up before the Cabinet for final approval,” the New and Renewable Energy Minister, Mr Farooq Abdullah, said here.

The Minister was talking to reporters on the sidelines of a CII conference on biomass.

He said the project will be on the lines of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) under which the Government is planning to produce more than 20,000 MW of power from solar energy resources by the year 2020.

Referring to the proposed national mission for biomass, Mr Abdullah said it will be carried out in two phases.

“First phase will be in 12th Plan and the second phase will be in 13th Plan,” he said.

Asked about the monetary allocation for the biomass mission, he said the details would be known only after the Cabinet gives its approval for it.

Mr Abdullah told the conference that the country was working to reap the advantages of the biomass products such as ethanol, which will help in saving the expenditure on petroleum products.

He said by adding 5 per cent ethanol in petroleum projects, the country can save over Rs 4,000 crore annually but it was earlier proving to be difficult as “certain lobbies” were working against this project.

“But the Government finally put its foot down” by stating strong action will be taken against those who work against this programme, Mr Abdullah said.

He said gradually the Government will move towards adding 10 per cent ethanol in petroleum products.

National Urban Transport Policy

The Government has formulated a National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) in April, 2006 which envisages safe, affordable, quick, comfortable, reliable and sustainable urban transport systems, establishment of quality focused multi-modal public transport systems that are well integrated, providing seamless travel across modes, land use transport integration, introducing intelligent transport systems for traffic management etc. The implementation of the policy is an ongoing process. This was stated by the Minister of State for Urban Development, Shri Saugata Roy in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

The policy provides for general guidelines for financial support. However, central assistance to States/UTs for urban transport is provided under the various schemes of the Ministry.

National Policy for Senior Citizens

The Government had constituted a Committee on 28.1.2010 under the Chairpersonship of Smt. Mohini Giri, to inter-alia draft a new national policy on older persons. Other members of the Committee were:

(i) Shri. M. M. Sabharwal, President Emeritus, Helpage India;

(ii) Dr. K. R. Gangadharan, Chairman, Heritage Foundation;

(iii) Smt. Shielu Sreenivasan, President, Dignity Foundation;

(iv) Representatives of Ministries of Health & Family Welfare, Rural Development, Finance, Home and Women & Child Development; and

(v) Principal Secretaries/Secretaries in charge of Welfare of Senior Citizens of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Delhi, Maharashtra and West Bengal.

(vi) Joint Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment as Member Secretary.

The Committee submitted the draft National Policy on Senior Citizens 2011 on 30.3.2011 which inter-alia, accords priority to the needs of senior citizens aged 80 years and above, elderly women, and the rural poor. Some of the salient policy objectives are to:

• Mainstream the concerns of senior citizens, especially older women, and bring them into the national development debate;

• Promote income security, homecare services, old age pension, healthcare insurance schemes, housing and other programmes/ services;

• Promote care of senior citizens within the family and to consider institutional care as a last resort;

• Work towards an inclusive, barrier-free and age-friendly society;

• Recognize senior citizens as a valuable resource for the country, protect their rights and ensure their full participation in society;

• Promote long term savings instruments and credit activities in both rural and urban areas;

• Encourage employment in income generating activities after superannuation;

• Support organizations that provide counseling, career guidance and training services; etc.

The Committee also suggested the areas of intervention to be made by Central/ State Governments towards implementation of the policy objectives.

The draft Policy has been circulated to State Governments, seeking their comments. It has also been placed on the Ministry’s Website (www.socialjustice.nic.in) for information of the general public and feedback, if any. The draft policy will be finalized after the process of consultation with State Governments and concerned Central Ministries/ Departments is completed.

Review of National Water Policy

The Union Minister of Water Resources & Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal held Consultation Meeting with the representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions from the States of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, Dadar & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu for review of the National Water Policy on 2nd November, 2011 at National Water Academy, Pune. Speaking on the occasion, he stated that our National Water Policy should be truly a National Policy with full participation of all stakeholders throughout the country. He called upon the elected representatives of the Panchayati Raj Institutions to provide specific feedback for policy inputs to address present concerns in water resources sector.

The Union Minister of State for Water Resources Shri Vincent H. Pala briefed the elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions about the consultation process undertaken by the Ministry of Water Resources for review of National Water Policy. More than 50 elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions from the States of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, Dadar & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu participated in consultation meeting. A video conferencing was also arranged so that more elected representatives could participate in the consultation meeting from their respective places, viz., Nagpur, Vadodara, Gandhinagar, Goa, Silvassa, Indore, Jabalpur, etc.

The first National Water Policy was adopted by National Water Resources Council in 1987. This was revised and updated in April, 2002. Since then not only major developments have taken place in water sector, but also a greater realization has come that water is a prime natural resource, a basic human need and a precious national asset. Planning, development and management of water resources needs to be governed by national perspectives. Therefore, it was considered necessary to review the provisions of the National Water Policy in consultation with all stakeholders to re-orient the policy directives according to the changing times.

The Ministry of Water Resources has initiated a comprehensive consultation process for review of National Water Policy with a view that all sections of the society join hands in resolving complex issues of water management in current scenario of water scarcity and impending dangers of climate change. Consultation meeting has been held with the Hon’ble Members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water Resources, Hon’ble Members of the Consultative Committee for Ministry of Water Resources and Hon’ble Members of the Parliamentary Forum on Water Conservation and Management. Consultation meetings have also been held with academicians, experts and professionals; corporate representatives and NGOs. Consultation meetings with the representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions from Southern States were held on 16.06.2011 at Hyderabad, from North Eastern States on 30.06.2011 at Shillong, from Northern States at Jaipur on 14.07.2011 and from Western States on 02.11.11 at Pune.

Panchayati Raj Institutions have been given vital role in the areas of Drinking water, Minor irrigation, water management and watershed development as per Eleventh Schedule of our Constitution. All these subjects are critical in ensuring livelihood to the rural population and the involvement of the Panchayati Raj Institutions is, therefore, vital. The experiences and in depth knowledge of the subjects at the grass root level by the representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions would help in a long way in identifying the correct approaches for addressing various issues in water resources and to appropriately reflect them in the National Water Policy.

During the Consultation meeting, the elected representatives highlighted the issue of potable drinking water and sanitation, sewage treatment, deterioration in water quality, depletion of ground water level, illegal sand mining from river beds and suggested desilting, making mandatory construction of farm ponds, roof top rain water harvesting, maintenance of water infrastructure as part of contract, adequate funding to local bodies, construction of check dams, etc.

Shri G. Mohan Kumar, Additional Secretary (Water Resources), Government of India, Shri Chetan Pandit, Chief Engineer, National Water Academy and other senior Officers from Central/State Government were also present during the consultation meeting.

National Policy for Welfare of Senior Citizens

The National Policy on Older Persons, 1999 envisages State support to ensure financial and food security, health care, shelter and other needs of older persons to improve the quality of their lives.

The Ministry of Social Justice &Empowerment is implementing the scheme of integrated programme for Older Persons under which financial assistance is provided to Non-Governmental Organisation, Panchayati Raj Institutions, Local Bodies,etc. for running and maintenance of old age homes. An amount of Rs 60.73 lakh, Rs.52.02 lakh and Rs. 67.18 lakh were released to NGOs in Assam for running and maintenance OAHs under the scheme during 2008-09, 2009-10, and 2010-11 respectively.

Besides, Various concessions/Facilities like income tax rebate; concession in rail and air fare; separate queue for older persons and geriatric clinic in several government hospitals, etc.are provided to senior citizens by the Central Government.

PPP CONCEPT

“Public Private Partnership” (PPP) Partnership between a public sector entity (Sponsoring (PPP) authority) and a private sector entity (a legal entity in which 51% or more of equity is with the private partner/s) for the creation and/or management of infrastructure for public purpose for a specified period of time (concession period) on commercial terms and in which the private partner has been procured through a transparent and open procurement system

Traditionally, private sector participation has been limited to separate planning, design or construction contracts on a fee for service basis – based on the public agency’s specifications.

Expanding the private sector role allows the public agencies to tap private sector technical, management and financial resources in new ways to achieve certain public agency objectives such as greater cost and schedule certainty, supplementing in-house staff, innovative technology applications, specialized expertise or access to private capital. The private partner can expand its business opportunities in return for assuming the new or expanded responsibilities and risks.

PPPs provide benefits by allocating the responsibilities to the party – either public or private – that is best positioned to control the activity that will produce the desired result. With PPPs, this is accomplished by specifying the roles, risks and rewards contractually, so as to provide incentives for maximum performance and the flexibility necessary to achieve the desired results.

Some of the primary reasons for public agencies to enter into public-private partnerships include:

• Accelerating the implementation of high priority projects by packaging and procuring services in new ways;
• Turning to the private sector to provide specialized management capacity for large and complex programs;
• Enabling the delivery of new technology developed by private entities;
• Drawing on private sector expertise in accessing and organizing the widest range of private sector financial resources;
• Encouraging private entrepreneurial development, ownership, and operation of highways and/or related assets; and
• Allowing for the reduction in the size of the public agency and the substitution of private sector resources and personnel

                                            PPP Models in practice

There are range of PPP models that allocate a responsibilities and  risks between the public and private partners in different ways. The following terms are commonly used to describe typical partnership agreement.

(a)Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) : a contractual arrangement whereby the concessionaire undertakes the construction, including financing, of a given infrastructure facility, and the operation and maintenance thereof. The concessionaire operates the facility over a fixed term during which it is allowed to charge facility users appropriate tolls, fees, rentals, and charges not exceeding these proposed in its bid or as negotiated and incorporated in the contract to enable the concessionaire to recover its investment, and operating and maintenance expenses in the project. The concessionaire transfers the facility to the Government Agency or Local Government unit concerned at the end of the fixed term.

(b)Build-Own-Operate-and-Transfer (BOOT) : a project based on the granting of a concession by a Principal (the Union or Government or a local authority) to the concessionaire, who is responsible for the construction, financing, operation and maintenance of a facility over the period of the concession before finally transferring the facility, at no cost to the Principal, a fully operational facility. During the concession period the promoter owns and operates the facility and collects revenue in order to repay the financing and investment costs, maintain and operate the facility and make a margin of profit.

(c)Build-and-Transfer (BT) : a contractual arrangement whereby the concessionaire undertakes the financing and construction of a given infrastructure or development facility and after its completion turns it over to the Government Agency or Local Government unit concerned, which shall pay the proponent on an agreed Schedule its total investments expended on the project, plus a reasonable rate of return thereon. This arrangement may be employed in the construction of any infrastructure or development project, including critical facilities which, for security or strategic reasons, must be operated directly by the Government.

(d)Build-Own-and-Operate (BOO) : a contractual arrangement whereby a concessionaire is authorized to finance, construct, own operate and maintain an infrastructure or development facility from which the proponent is allowed to recover its total investment , operating and maintenance costs plus a reasonable return thereon by collecting tolls, fees, rentals or other charges from facility users.

(e)Build-Lease-and-Transfer (BLT) : a contractual arrangement whereby a concessionaire is authorized to finance and construct an infrastructure or development facility and upon its completion turns it over to the government agency or local government unit concerned on a lease arrangement for fixed period after which ownership of the facility is automatically transferred to the government agency or local government unit concerned.

(f)Build-Transfer-and-Operate (BTO) : a contractual arrangement whereby the public sector contracts out the building of an infrastructure facility to a private entity such that the concessionaire builds the facility on turn-key basis, assuming cost overrun, delay and specified performance risks. Once the facility is commissioned satisfactorily, title is transferred to the implementing agency. The private entity however, operates the facility on behalf of the implementing agency under an agreement

(g)Design Built Finance Operate (DBFO) : a contractual arrangement whereby the concessionaire is authorized to detailed design work, which will reduce time and money required for project preparation.  The states could then bid the project based on the Feasibility Report instead of the Detailed Project Report.  For this, appropriately drafted TOR for Feasibility Report consultants and also a Manual of Specification and Standard for BOT Projects needed to be adopted by the States.

(h)Contract-Add-and-Operate (CAO): a contractual arrangement whereby the concessionaire adds to an existing infrastructure facility which it is renting from the government. It operates the expended project over an agreed franchise period. There may, or may not be, a transfer arrangement in regard to the facility.

(i)Develop-Operate-and-Transfer(DOT) : a contractual arrangement whereby favourable conditions external to anew infrastructure project which is to be built by a private project proponent are integrated into the arrangement by giving that entity the right to develop adjoining property, and thus, enjoy some of the benefits the investment creates such as higher property or rent values.

(j)Lease Management Agreement : an agreement whereby the State Government, the government agency or the specified agency leases a project owned by the state government, the government agency, or, as the case may be, the specified government agency to the person who is permitted to operate and maintain the project for the period specified in the agreement.

Green building policy to focus on reduction of energy consumption

The green building policy, proposed to be brought by the Kerala government, will aim at reduction of energy consumption of existing buildings by 15 per cent and new buildings by 30 per cent.

The policy will focus on recycling of water as well as zero discharge of waste. It may also offer tax breaks to people constructing buildings following green building norms.

The objective of the policy will be to minimise human and environmental impact of construction projects. Technologies should suit Kerala’s environment.

Besides the Public Works Department, other departments will also be involved in the implementation of the policy. A regulatory committee would be formed as part of these efforts. The opinions of experts will be sought in finalising the policy and its implementation.

Public Works Minister V. K. Ebrahim Kunju announced plans for drawing up the policy in the Assembly on Monday. Already a decision had been taken to apply green technologies to some of the buildings. There are also plans to build cinema halls using green building technology.

DRAFT NATIONAL TELECOM POLICY-2011

It is widely acknowledged that Information and Communication Technology and Electronics (ICTE) have enormous transformative power that is changing everything: Governance, business, commerce, entertainment, society. As new technologies emerge every day, the pace of change is accelerating. Many of these changes occur whether planned or not. But the most beneficial changes are unlikely to take place without adequate planning.

A national agenda for ICTE and  draft  National Telecom Policy  to drive that agenda which the Minister for Communications and IT, Shri Kapil Sibal released on 10th October, 2011 for public consultation and feedback in 4 weeks.

Department of Telecommunications welcomes you to the POLICY PORTAL. This online feedback portal has been designed and developed to generate wider public participation and to enrich the national policy formulation. Your suggestions/comments are important and will help us in formulating a forward looking policy, which will shape the Telecom landscape of the country for years to come. 

Seeking to eliminate the ambiguities of the past, the draft National Telecom Policy 2011 will remove national roaming charges, make broadband available on demand, bring in an ‘one-nation, one-licence' policy and allow mobile numbers to be ported to any part of the country.

Under the new draft policy unveiled by Communications Minister Kapil Sibal here on Monday, users will be allowed to port their mobile numbers, keeping the same number, even while switching service areas. It proposes to accord the telecom industry the status of an infrastructure sector, helping it get easy credit flow for funding rollout plans or expansion.

With the policy aiming at an ‘one-nation, one-licence' regime, the distinction between local and STD calls will vanish. Telecom operators would not require separate licences for operations in various parts of the country, and a single licence would suffice. “We will seek Telecom Regulatory Authority of India recommendations on new licences, migration to new licences and [an] exit policy,” Mr. Sibal said.

In the wake of the 2G scam, the Minister said, spectrum allocation would be delinked from licences and radio waves made available at market-determined prices. As the market was crowded with too many players, the government would bring in an exit policy.

The draft policy would target full MNP and free roaming. “I want India to become a hub of telecommunication. Draft NTP targets broadband on demand.”

Mr. Sibal said 300 Mhz of radio waves would be made available by 2017 and another 200 Mhz by 2020. “We will ensure adequate availability of spectrum and its allocation in a transparent manner through market-related processes.” Asked whether spectrum would be auctioned this year, he said: “It looks difficult this year.”

Any allocation of spectrum would be delinked from all future licences. Till now, all licences for mobile telecom services were given bundled with a start-up spectrum of 4.4 Mhz. “We shall enact a Spectrum Act which, inter alia, deals with all issues connected with wireless [spectrum] licences and their terms and conditions. There would be a periodic audit of spectrum allocated to service providers.”

The audit would ensure that spectrum, a scarce resource, was utilised effectively and efficiently. The draft policy also talked about permitting spectrum pooling, sharing and, later, trading for optimal and efficient utilisation of the frequency.

The Ministry would draw a road map for availability of additional spectrum every five years.

AADHAR to be linked to MGNREGS wages

With the AADHAR scheme apparently in limbo, the Centre is making a desperate effort to provide it social content.

As of now, only 3.5 crore unique identification cards have been issued as against an enrolment of 10 crore people across the country.

Matters turned worse when the Reserve Bank of India issued a directive that bank accounts could not be opened on the basis of UID cards.

But later it issued a clarification accepting AADHAR cards as proof of identity and residence.

What is bothering the Union government is that AADHAR will be judged not by the coverage in terms of numbers but by the impact it creates as a card-bearing benefit. But possession of the AADHAR card is not mandatory.

Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has taken the initiative to link AADHAR with payment of wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in the five States where the ministry has been appointed registrar for issuance of UID cards.

To facilitate this, Mr. Ramesh held a meeting with Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Chairman Nandan Nilekani.

Under a Memorandum of Understanding the UIDAI signed with the States, the ministry has been appointed registrar for collection of data in Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Tripura and West Bengal. Other Central government departments such as Food and Civil Supplies and Information and Technology have been assigned the role in other States.

Within its limited jurisdiction, the Ministry is seeking to provide the UID card a social content.

The MGNREGS wages will be paid in these States through AADHAR-linked bank accounts.

The Ministry will hold a meeting of officials on October 23 and 24 to decide whether to start the project across these five States or make a beginning by concentrating on a few districts in each of them, and the time frame to implement the scheme.

Uphill task

Mr. Ramesh favours a reasonable timeline of 12 months to issue UID cards to all job cardholders. But that seems an uphill task as of now, even if linking AADHAR to MGNREGS wage payment is limited to these five States. For, as against the 3.09 crore job cards issued in these States, only 39 lakh BPL households have been provided with bank accounts.

Out of these households with bank accounts, West Bengal accounts for 22.16 lakh, way behind the 1.08 crore job cards issued there. In Assam too, only about 20 per cent (7.42 lakh) of the job card holders (38.4) have secured bank accounts.

It is pretty bad in Bihar, where only 1.73 lakh MGNREGS workers have bank accounts, though the number of job card holders is 1.16 crore, and in Jharkhand, where only 2.6 lakh out of 39.5 lakh job card holders have bank accounts.

Tripura is the only State which has done well, ensuring that four lakh MGNREGS workers out of 5.9 lakh job card holders have bank accounts.

New electronics policy aims to create 2.8 crore jobs

Communications and IT Minister Kapil Sibal on Monday unveiled the draft National Policy on Electronics, 2011, aimed at achieving a turnover of $400 billion for the sector by 2020, which involved investment of about $100 billion, besides creating employment for 2.8 crore people. The final policy is likely to come by December this year.

“At the current rate of growth, the domestic production can cater to a demand of only $100 billion in 2020 as against demand of $400 billion and the rest would have to be met by imports…a demand-supply gap of nearly $300 billion. Unless the situation is corrected, it is likely that by 2020 the electronics import may far exceed oil imports,” Mr. Sibal said after unveiling the draft.

“The National Policy of Electronics-2011 envisions creating a globally competitive electronics systems design and manufacturing (ESDM) industry, including nano-electronics, to meet the country's needs and serve the international market. This is a quantum jump from production level of about $20 billion in 2009. This inter alia, includes achieving a turnover of $55 billion of chip design and embedded software industry, and $80 billion of exports,” he pointed out.

Mr. Sibal also said the policy was also aimed at making India the hub of electronic manufacturing. “The policy proposes setting up of over 200 electronic manufacturing clusters (EMCs) and providing assistance for setting up of greenfield EMCs and upgradation of brownfield EMCs…I have talked to chief ministers and ministers regarding finding a place for setting up such clusters,” he added.