Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd has expressed serious concern over the limited number and capability of construction contractors on one hand and vendors of balance-of-plant material on the other. According to the public sector major, the capabilities of manufacturers for both standard and supercritical units as well as other main plant package materials were in sync with the planned capacity addition, but delays in acquiring BoP material and issues regarding construction contracts were a menace to the timely completion of power projects.

Bhel officials, at a recent meeting with the ministry of power, said that India had limited number and capability of construction contractors as well as vendors of balance-of-plant materials such as coal and ash handling systems, water treatment plants, cooling water systems, air-conditioning and ventilation systems, fire protection systems, cooling towers, construction equipment, and civil works and services.

The equipment manufacturer stated that it was necessary to encourage indigenous industry to set up capacity for key inputs like high-grade CRGO steel for generators and transformers, critical casting and forgings for turbines generators, boiler quality plates, and special quality piping material as most of these items were currently being imported. There was a need to develop new qualified erection and commissioning agencies and contractors to take up civil, mechanical and electrical works in the construction of large power plants, they felt.

Existing players also needed to be encouraged to augment and build up capacities. Standardisation of unit ratings, layouts and specifications for thermal plants would enable batch production of equipment and these can be tied up with various equipment vendors, the officials said, adding that the vendor base in each area should be enlarged.

The CII Kerala Chairman, Mr Sanjaya Mariwala, has welcomed the withdrawal of 20 per cent power restriction by the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission on HT-EHT and LT consumers of KSEB. He said that CII has been demanding for withdrawal of the power restriction and it is a great relief for industry in the State which is reeling under the pressure of economic slowdown.

The power holiday for high tension industrial consumers in Andhra Pradesh will be brought down to about one day a week from three days and the domestic sector will not have any load shedding henceforth. The power situation has partly eased with gas-based independent power producers (IPPs) commencing generation from the gas supplied by GAIL through East-West pipeline of Reliance Industries Ltd. 

The unrestricted energy demand has been reduced from 230 million units a day to 205 mu, as against average demand of about 221 mu from the first week of April 2009. Therefore, the State continues to meet the gap of about 15 mu by power purchase from central generating stations.

According to a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office on Tuesday (April 28), while GAIL has stepped up gas supplies, all the power projects in the State will get gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin next month and this will pave way for additional capacity. In addition to generating power from various gas-based projects in the State, initially from re-gassified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) supplied by GAIL, and thereafter from LNG from the KG basin, the Generation Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (AP Genco) will add another 300-MW unit of Vijayawada Thermal Power Station in the first week of May.In the meantime, the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, has directed that the farm sector continue to get assured supply of seven hours till all their requirements are met. According to estimates, the rabi season will come to end by mid-May. The base availability of power is estimated at 165 mu and this has increased to about 184 mu, with IPPs generating an additional 750 MW using RLNG. According to supply data, AP Transco is supplying 191 mu with a peak demand of 8,430 mw and purchase of 18 mu. The load relief for the industrial consumers is about 15 mu.

Mr RS Mina has taken over as Director (Personnel) of NHPC Limited. Prior to this, he was Executive Director (Consultancy & Business Development) in NHPC. Born in 1957, Mina did his Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering in 1979. He also holds MBA degree with specialisation in Financial Management and Human Resource Development. He started his professional career as Engineer Trainee in Indian Petro Chemical Corporation Ltd. in 1980. His carrier with NHPC began in 1981 as Engineer (Electrical). 

ABB India, a power and automation technology group, has won substation orders worth Rs 425 crore from Powergrid, India’s national transmission utility, to boost capacity and help improve grid reliability. The orders were booked in the first quarter. According to a statement from ABB, it is responsible for the design, supply, installation and commissioning of 765/400 kilovolt (kV) substations at Agra (Uttar Pradesh), Wardha (Maharashtra), Bilaspur and Seoni (Madhya Pradesh), and of a 400/220 kV substation at Palakkad (Kerala). The projects are expected to be completed by mid-2011.“We are pleased to be a part of Powergrid’s efforts to strengthen India’s power infrastructure,” said Biplab Majumder, vice-chairman and managing director, ABB India. “These substations for the national grid are an integral part of the country’s plans to develop an ultrahigh-voltage transmission network, improving transmission efficiency and addressing growing demand for electricity.” The equipment to be supplied includes a range of circuit breakers; current transformers and capacitor voltage transformers, used for monitoring current and operations; surge arrestors; protection systems; control and relay panels; as well as the substation automation.The substation projects are part of Powergrid’s program to strengthen the national transmission grid and to enhance the inter-regional power transfer capacity to around 37,000 megawatts by 2012. An extensive 800kV and 1,200kV ultrahigh-voltage system is expected to form the backbone of the transmission network and facilitate the transfer of power across India.

Larsen & Toubro, India's top infrastructure and construction firm, may have burnt its fingers by trying to acquire the fraud hit Satyam Computer Services but this has not dampened its plans to diversify. The company has firmed up its decision for backward integration and is now planning to generate electricity instead of being a mere power project equipment supplier. An exhaustive blueprint is already in place for this purpose. 

The company is eyeing strategic stakes of up to 26 per cent in private power projects. It may also set up plants with a capacity of 660 megawatts preferably coal-based with an initial investment of Rs 1200 crore. In a nervous business environment, analysts say will only help L&T to gain an entry as most of the independent power players are desperate for funds.

But generation is not at the cost of the existing power engineering and contracting work. Most of its bulk orders are tied up with the government agencies and its supercritical manufacturing capabilities, key for the UMPPS, will be ready in two years time. L&T, till now was only making machinery that would generate power but now it wants to be a direct participant in India growth story by producing electricity in India. But it remains to be seen whether this backward integration be successful or backfires the Satyam way.

The country's largest hydro-electric power producer, NHPC, is foraying into wind power generation by setting up a 100-MW power project in Madhya Pradesh. "The company is setting up a 100-MW wind energy project at Kukroo in Madhya Pradesh," NHPC CMD S K Garg said. It also plans to enter into solar as well as other non-conventional sources of energy generation.

"We have received approval from the Madhya Pradesh Energy Development Corporation (MPEDC). NHPC is entering into wind power generation through its subsidiary Narmada Hydro-electric Development Corporation (NHDC)," he said. NHDC is a joint venture between NHPC and the Madhya Pradesh government, where NHPC holds 51% stake and the rest is held by the state government. The Centre for Wind Power Technology (CWPT), under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), had invited proposals for establishing wind energy project in Madhya Pradesh.

On being asked about the investments in the area of wind energy generation, NHPC Director (Finance) ABL Srivastava said, "This is (wind power project) in its initial stage therefore the investment has not been decided yet." Garg said, apart from wind energy, the company plans to enter other forms of energy generation -- solar, non-conventional sources etc. Besides, NHPC is also developing a 1,000-MW thermal power project at Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh through NHDC. The company is also working at making all its projects environment-friendly.

Ending delays in its captive mining effort, NTPC Ltd expects to start coal mining from its huge Pakri Barwadih block in Jharkhand in the second half of 2008-09. The block was awarded to the power utility in October 2004 but several impediments related to land acquisition, forest clearance and mining operatorship resulted in a delay of at least two years in the production schedule.

Located in the prolific North Karanpura coalfields of Jharkhand, the PB block has estimated reserves of 1.6 billion tonnes out of which at least 700 million tonnes are mineable. Once production starts from the PB block, it would be NTPC's first step in achieving coal security. NTPC is estimated to invest around Rs 1,800 crore to bring to the PB block to production. At peak production, the block could yield 15 million tpa, although production would begin at lower levels, NTPC officials said.

As far as domestic reserves are concerned, NTPC has been alloted eight coal blocks with aggregate reserves of nearly 6 billion tonnes, spread over Jharkhand and Orissa (see table). Two of these-Brahmani and Chichro-Patsinal, both in Orissa-would be operated in equal partnership with Coal India Ltd. The Brahmani block is said to hold 1.9 billion tonnes of coal.

NTPC is also pursuing coal block acquisition in Indonesia and Mozambique, and is also part of a multi-partite special purpose vehicle “International Coal Ventures Ltd” to explore coal mining opportunities in Australia, Indonesia etc. By 2012, NTPC is expected to annually need around 225 million tonnes of coal against 130.71 million tonnes consumed in 2008-09. According to industry norms, 1 million tonnes of coal is needed to run coal-fired power capacity of 200 mw for a year.

By this standard, NTPC's projected coal requirement stands for 45,000 mw of coal-fired capacity. NTPC has projected to add a total power capacity (including that owned in joint venture) of 22,430 mw during the 11th Plan period (April 2007 to March 2012). Out of this, 2,740 mw was commissioned in the first two years of the Plan period, while another 3,300 mw is scheduled to commission this fiscal, 2009-10. NTPC recently crossed the 30,144 mw installed capacity mark, including 2,294 mw coming from joint venture projects (this includes gas-fired capacity).

By 2012, NTPC would have over 50,000 mw of power capacity—mainly coal but also including hydropower and renewable energy. Currently, domestic coal (sourced from Coal India Ltd) meets 95 per cent of NTPC's requirement of coal-fired plants, while the rest is imported. In 2011-12, NTPC expects that captive coal production would be 15 million tonnes, mainly coming from the PB block.

NTPC also expects to import 15 million tonnes, while Coal India and its subsidiaries would supply the bulk-195 million tonnes. It is also learnt that the mining plans for two more coal blocks have been approved by the coal ministry. These mines-Chatti Bariatu and Kerandari-are expected to together yield 13 million tonnes of coal per year. As an industry thumb rule, coal production from alloted blocks is expected to have a gestation period of 72 months, including 27 months for preparation of the geological reserve report, which is applicable in the case of unexplored or partially-explored blocks.

Work on phase-I of the Meenakshi Group's 540-mw coal-based power project at Krishnapatnam at Thammenapatnam village, Chillukar, in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, is under way. Company officials said that the project was being set up in two phases, each having a capacity of 2x135 mw. The power plant, spread over 225 hectares, entails an investment of around Rs 3,000 crore. Meenakshi was in the process of achieving financial closure for the project which will have a debt equity ratio of 75:25. Development Consultants Pvt. Ltd has been appointed as consultant for the project.

Around 0.86 million tpa of imported coal will be required for phase-I, which is slated for commissioning in February 2012. Work on phase-II is likely to begin by October 2009 with completion scheduled for August 2010. Meanwhile, Meenakshi Power, a subsidiary of Meenakshi Group, has commissioned its 25-mw Middle Kolab hydropower project in Koraput district of Orissa.

Electrification of additional 4000 villages in the state under the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) are in advance stages and is likely to be completed by June this year. The progress of rural electrification in Orissa had suffered due to unavailability of adequate poles. But due to proactive steps taken by the state government, the Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs), entrusted with the task of rural electrification, have dumped poles in the villages to be electrified during the last two months.

Sources said, about 2600 poles have been erected in these villages during this period. This has expedited the electrification work in the villages which are covered under the RGGVY during the 11th five year plan period. The state government is pressing the 3 CPSUs, National Hydro-Power Corporation (NHPC), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (PGCIL), to complete the electrification of these villages by June 2009, sources said. 

Though the central PSUs reported electrification of about 5000 villages and habitations in the state under the scheme, the state government has sought the details of the villages and habitations electrified. Sources said, parallel physical work was started along with the survey and other preliminary work which has expedited the implementation process. As per the guidelines of the RGGVY, the physical work of the projects normally starts by May.

On the otherhand, the progress of rural electrification work in Angul and Nayagarh district is not satisfactory. NTPC, the central PSU entrusted with the work in both the districts had assured the state government to complete the work by May this year. However, given the slow pace of work, the deadline is unlikely to be met. Slow pace of the rural electrification work in these districts is attributed to the non-deployment of adequate manpower by the implementing agency. Though all the materials for erection were available, the work couldn’t proceed due to the non-availability of labour, sources added.

Alstom has been awarded a contract worth approximately 1 billion pounds by RWE power plc for the design and construction of a full turnkey, gas-fired combined-cycle power plant in Pembrokeshire, Wales. With an output of approximately 2,000 MW, the new plant will be the biggest and one of the most efficient of its kind in the UK, capable of supplying power to around three million homes. 

The new plant will be built on the site of the previous oil-fired power station. It will include five Alstom GT26 turbines and accompanying core components supplied by Alstom. It will offer high load flexibility while maintaining low emissions and high efficiency. The plant will be able to be run as efficiently at low load as at full capacity during peak hours, allowing the operator to respond to fluctuating energy demands. It will be among the most efficient of its kind. 

Approximately 40 per cent of the UK energy fleet was built before 1975 and will need replacement in the short to medium term. The Pembroke power plant is part of RWE npower’s plan to renew its power generation fleet with new, more efficient and more environmentally friendly power plants. “This new project clearly demonstrates that Alstom’s engineering expertise is crucial to the power industry in the UK, and around the world. This is the second contract signed by Alstom with RWE npower in less than 2 years, which underlines our customer’s confidence in our engineering ability,” said Philippe Joubert, President of Alstom Power. This project is the second one that Alstom has signed with RWE npower in the UK, following the contract won in 2007 for the gas-fired 1,650 MW Staythorpe power plant, currently under construction in Nottinghamshire. In addition to the Staythorpe power plant, Alstom is also building in the UK the Centrica’s Langage and E.On’s Grain power plants. Including the Pembroke plant, these four power plants will add close to 6 GW of new electrical power to the UK grid.

Reliance Industries has inked deals to supply gas from its eastern offshore KG-D6 fields to most power sector consumers, including Essar Power and an Anil Ambani Group firm. However, it is yet to sign the Gas Supply and Purchase Agreement (GPSA) with state-run NTPC Ltd and Ratnagiri Gas and Power, the owner of the Dabhol power plant. NTPC is to get 2.67 million cubic metres per day of gas from KG-D6 while Dabhol has been al located 2.7 mmcmd.

Ratnagiri Gas and Power cannot immediately take KG-D6 gas and so it has not signed the GSPA, which has provisions of take-or-pay,'' a Government official said. "In the case of NTPC, RIL has sent a draft GSPA and the agreement is likely to be signed soon. ''

The power sector had been allocated 18 mmcmd gas out of the initial 40 mmcmd volumes from KG-D6. Gas of 6.22 mmcmd would go to eight power plants in Andhra Pradesh, the landfall point of the gas from the Bay of Bengal fields. Essar's 300 MW power plant in Gujarat will get 1.08 mmcmd while ADAG's 220-MW Samalkot plant in Andhra Pradesh will get 0.19 mmcmd. Gas will be sold at government-approved rates of USD 4.20 per million British thermal unit plus taxes and transportation, the official said. Company officials could not be reached for comments.

The long-term fuel supply pact between the country's largest coal producer, Coal India, and power utilities led by navratna firm NTPC is set to miss the April-30 deadline on account of procedural delays. In a meeting between Coal India Ltd (CIL) and NTPC officials last evening, the draft of Fuel Supply Agreement (FSA) was fine-tuned and would now be sent to the boards of the two companies for approval, an official said.

The process of signing the FSA is likely to be completed in a month's time, he said, adding the pact between the two companies would act as a benchmark for other units to follow. When contacted, Coal India Chairman, Mr Partha S Bhattacharyya said, "All the issues (pertaining to the FSA) between both the parties have been worked out and the pact is likely to be signed around May 20.'' Earlier, CIL had set April 30 as the deadline for 72 power utilities, including NTPC, to conclude the FSA, which is a long-term supply-pact between the coal producer and consumers.

The pact has, however, been delayed by almost a year now due to differences over fixing of a "trigger level'', the minimum assured level of coal supply and offtakes, failing which both parties attract penalty. After a series of meetings between CIL and NTPC, the trigger level has been agreed at 90 per cent of the assured supply of 307 million tonnes (MT) to the power units, which have come up before March 31, 2009.

Reliance Industries has inked deals to supply gas from its eastern offshore KG-D6 fields to most power sector consumers, including Essar Power and an Anil Ambani Group firm. However, it is yet to sign the Gas Supply and Purchase Agreement (GPSA) with state-run NTPC Ltd and Ratnagiri Gas and Power, the owner of the Dabhol power plant. NTPC is to get 2.67 million cubic metres per day of gas from KG-D6 while Dabhol has been al located 2.7 mmcmd.

Ratnagiri Gas and Power cannot immediately take KG-D6 gas and so it has not signed the GSPA, which has provisions of take-or-pay,'' a Government official said. "In the case of NTPC, RIL has sent a draft GSPA and the agreement is likely to be signed soon. ''

The power sector had been allocated 18 mmcmd gas out of the initial 40 mmcmd volumes from KG-D6. Gas of 6.22 mmcmd would go to eight power plants in Andhra Pradesh, the landfall point of the gas from the Bay of Bengal fields. Essar's 300 MW power plant in Gujarat will get 1.08 mmcmd while ADAG's 220-MW Samalkot plant in Andhra Pradesh will get 0.19 mmcmd. Gas will be sold at government-approved rates of USD 4.20 per million British thermal unit plus taxes and transportation, the official said. Company officials could not be reached for comments.

Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) plans to shut half of its 240,000 bpd refinery for 45-50 days in March and April next year to raise its capacity to 300,000 bpd, its director for refineries, B.N. Bankapur, said on Tuesday (April 28). "It will be a major shutdown. We were planning to do it in December but we now plan to do it in March-April because of high seasonal demand for refined products in December," he said. He said the refinery would shut one 120,000 bpd crude distillation unit as well as a hydrocracker and a delayed coker unit.

India's crude oil imports and local sales of refined products expanded at the slowest pace in three years in 2008/09, as declining growth in Asia's third-largest economy pared demand, government data showed. Asia's No. 3 oil consumer's crude imports in 2008/09 rose 5.3 percent to 2.56 million barrels per day (bpd), helped by the commissioning of Reliance Industries' 580,000 bpd refinery in Western state of Gujarat in December. The new unit, situated next to Reliance's 660,000 bpd refinery, turned Jamnagar into the world's biggest oil complex.

Indian energy demand is expected to rise in April and May as the use of vehicles for a general election will lift diesel sales, while the low-priced Nano car being introduced this year is likely to raise gasoline demand. In March crude oil imports grew 11.7 percent to 2.77 million bpd. Oil sales rose 3.5 percent in 2008/09, while global crude oil prices shedding close to $100 dollar a barrel from the July peak on a global economic slowdown.

But in March India's oil product sales rose 3.9 percent to 12.19 million tonnes because of a slight revival in some sectors of the economy such as cement, steel and automobiles, and higher use of auto fuels for the election campaign. The Indian economy is expected to have grown at its slowest pace in six years in the 2008/09 fiscal year that ended in March, with the expansion projected to slow down further in the current year.

Diesel sales in March grew 8.8 percent to 4.8 million tonnes and petrol consumption rose 13.2 percent. The International Energy Agency in a report has said the outlook for petrol demand in India was promising as consumer appetite for new cars expected to remain strong. "The launch in late March of Tata Motors' Nano, a low-cost, no-frills car, should contribute to making transportation relatively affordable for large swathes of prospective Indian drivers," it said.

India exported 10.7 percent less oil products in 2008/09 than year ago on weak global oil demand and refining margins. In March exports declined 7.7 percent to 3.14 million tonnes than a year earlier. India imported 18.29 million tonnes of oil products in 2008/09, a decline of 19.2 percent on year, as private refiner Essar Oil supplied products to state-firms. Imports in March fell 36.6 percent from the same month a year earlier to 1.18 million tonnes. Diesel imports declined 35.1 percent in March to 187,500 tonnes, taking the total for the year to 2.73 million tonnes, down 7.3 percent from year before.

Weak demand and surplus refining capacity is likely to keep refining margins low this year with no immediate signs of significant recovery to peaks achieved in past years, a Reuters survey of analysts found. A fall in wholesale oil product prices has exceeded that in crude oil, which have slid by about $100 a barrel since summer last year, as global oil product demand has been falling sharply amid economic recession this year, squeezing oil refiners' profit.

The International Energy Agency estimates the fall will be at the fastest rate since the 1980s. The survey of six banks showed refining margins, indicators for oil refiners' profit levels, in Europe, including the Mediterranean, will average in a range from $1.07 to $5.14 a barrel, putting a mean forecast at $3.84 for 2009.

Margins were expected to average in a range from $7.17 to $8.45 a barrel this year in the U.S. Gulf coast, the oil industry hub in the world's top consumer the United States, the survey showed. Asian margins were likely to average $4.60-$5.76 a barrel. "Soggy demand and emerging supply overhangs in certain markets/products places risk on the downside," Citigroup wrote in a research note.

The U.S. Gulf margins averaged in a range of $9.90-$13.01 a barrel last year depending on the methodology each banks used to calculate margins. In Europe margins averaged a wider range of $2.18 and $10.84 last year. Some old European plants typically post lower profit than modern plants due to lack of refining units to convert loss making heavy fuel oils to more profitable light products, such as gasoline and diesel.

Margins were expected to recover slightly next year but will be nowhere near close to their peaks in 2007 in the United States and 2008 . Some analysts expected a modest rise in crude oil prices, but refined oil products to lag behind due mainly to increasing supplies from new plants mainly in Asia, such as Reliance Industry's Jamnagar in India, which have already started capping a rise in product prices.

The Jamnagar refinery will become the world's largest when it fully comes on stream later this year. Most analysts expected margins to fall the most sharply in Europe as a direct result of the additions of new capacity as demand in the region wqs seen as falling more quickly than most other areas of the world.

Morgan Stanley expected margins in Northwest Europe to average $4.00 a barrel this year, compared with less than half of the $8.47 average last year, and recover to $5.50 in 2012. "The world is long refining capacity right now -- and the world will now have to find room for the output of several new refiners, including the huge 580,000 barrels per day Jamnagar plant in India," Morgan Stanley said in its research note. "The arrival of new refining capacity in the face of weak demand leaves us bearish on margins overall, and therefore crude demand."

IndianOil, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation are literally walking the tightrope as they set about finalising their accounts for 2008-09. Indications are that while IOC and BPCL could sail through, the going may be tough for HPCL which posted a loss in the third quarter of last fiscal.

However, the Petroleum Ministry is optimistic that the trio would end the fiscal on a positive note. The Petroleum Secretary, Mr R.S. Pandey, said, “We are hopeful that the oil companies would not go into losses following the compensation package worked out by the Government.” One of the biggest concerns for the three refiners is their combined mark-to-market losses on the oil bonds estimated at nearly Rs 5,000 crore. “This is happening because the second and third tranche of oil bonds were issued at a low coupon rate of 6.5 per cent,” an oil industry executive said.The other relates to forex losses (on crude and product imports) incurred due to the “extraordinary volatility of the rupee” which work out to roughly Rs 8,000 crore. In addition, there are inventory losses to be accounted for. The trio had bought crude when prices had crossed $100 per barrel and were stuck with expensive stocks when it had crashed by over 50 per cent. According to top sources, the combined losses are believed to be around Rs 6,000 crore.This is not all. The three oil companies had to borrow heavily during the first nine months of the previous fiscal and the interest on these loans is in the region of Rs 8,500 crore. “The bonds were only issued in December 2008 by which time our borrowings had piled up,” they add. The Centre is not likely to make good any of these losses. At best, it will only compensate the oil majors for the balance portion of the under-recoveries (losses arising from selling petrol, diesel, kerosene and cooking gas at subsidised prices), which works out to a little over Rs 10,000 crore.For 2008-09, the total under-recoveries aggregate Rs 1,03,182 crore of which Rs 92,967 crore has been reimbursed to IOC, BPCL and HPCL in the form of oil bonds (Rs 60,967 crore as on February 11) and additional support, in the form of discounts on crude and products, from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), GAIL (India) and Oil India for the first three quarters (Rs 32,000 crore). “It is only the balance Rs 10,215 crore which the Centre will reimburse us. All other losses will have to be written off in our books,” an oil company official said.What has raised the hackles of the three refining companies is the fact that they have had to take the rap for interest costs as well as the mark-to-market losses on the oil bonds. “All this boils down to the timing of the issue of these oil bonds. In the first place, they were given to us a good 11 months into calendar 2008 when we were bleeding and had already borrowed heavily. To make things worse, we have had to incur losses totalling Rs 3,000 crore when the bonds were sold,” the official added.

Petronet LNG, which is the country’s biggest natural gas importer, plans to go upstream through acquisition of stakes in gas fields in Papua New Guinea and Australia, in partnership with ONGC. It also plans to set up gas liquefaction plants in the two regions, involving a total investment of up to $20 billion. The company is looking at these so-called farm-in arrangements for gas fields with total reserves of 7-12 trillion cubic feet (tcf) gas. These reserves would be able to support a 5-7 million tonne liquefaction plant for a 25-year period. Setting up of a plant of this capacity typically involves an investment of $8-10 billion and could take at least 5-6 years.“The company is serious about going upstream. The due diligence at both these locations is over. The talks on financial valuation will begin shortly. The purpose behind this initiative is to secure an independent source of energy supply for India and curb the volatility in delivered gas prices,” P Dasgupta, managing director and CEO of Petronet LNG said. The process is likely to be over by this calendar year.“We plan to set up a liquefaction plant in Papua New Guinea, where the gas fields are onshore. A similar plant might be set up in Australia at a later stage, where the gas fields are offshore. The purchase of stake in gas fields and setting up of liquefaction plants would require a total investment of as much as $32-40 billion, which will be funded through a mix of debt (70 per cent) and equity (30 per cent). “ONGC will bring in its expertise in upstream exploration as well as the investment. But we will need to get more equity partners since the investment size is huge,” said Dasgupta.

Aban Offshore, the country’s largest offshore oilrig service provider, reported a consolidated loss of Rs 93 crore for the quarter-ended March 2009 despite growing its revenues by over 17 per cent on a year-on-year basis. While waning demand for oil rigs and falling rig rentals resulted in four of Aban’s assets lying idle, the net loss was driven primarily by a one-off asset impairment charge of Rs 151 crore on the capital expenditure incurred on its jack-up rig Murmanskaya. Aban decided to terminate the bareboat charter of the jack-up rig (due for expiry in November) to avoid incurring the added cost, as the rig had been lying idle.Even as Aban’s consolidated quarterly revenues were up 17 per cent over last year, it declined by 8 per cent sequentially led by the idling of its rigs – due to either delay in deploying them (Aban Abraham and Aban Pearl) or completion of their old contracts. The company currently has four idle rigs with four more due to near their contract completion shortly. Considering that none of these rigs has a follow-on contract, Aban may find it difficult to deploy them any time soon as the demand for rigs (especially jack-up rigs) have fallen considerably. That said, Aban’s performance at the EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) level remained healthy. EBITDA margins improved by 5 percentage points to 55.7 per cent, helped partly by the long-term contracts sealed earlier.The one-time asset impairment charge, however, wiped away the company’s operating profits. While this write-off will help the company save the cost it otherwise would have incurred in keeping the bareboat, what’s notable is that Aban decided to call off the charter months before its lapse. Saddled with a gross debt of roughly over $3.3 billion, Aban is said to be considering re-financing debt obligations as its cash flows may not be sufficient to meet the debt repayment requirements.

Global Opportunistic Fund II (GOF II), a pre-IPO and IPO fund, has made significant gains from sale of shares in Reliance Petroleum Ltd (RPL), according to a press release issued by Global Capital Management, 100 per cent subsidiary of Global Investment House, a Kuwait-based private equity group. Global Capital Management manages GOF II.

Mr Shailesh Dash, Managing Partner, Global Capital Management, in a release on Sunday has been quoted as saying “the fund was one of the top 10 investors, along with Chevron, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, and Fidelity, in RPL”. However, its name did not figure in RPL’s shareholding pattern announced to the stock exchanges during the period June 2006 to March 2009. Chevron currently has 5 per cent stake unchanged and Fidelity continues to hold 1.67 per cent.Goldman Sachs, which has exited, was the only other name that figured in RPL disclosures on shareholders. “We have been liquidating our position in tranches to optimise our returns and I am happy to state that we have achieved an IRR of more than 70 per cent on this transaction and a multiple of 1.84x,” Mr Dash said, adding that the proceeds from this transaction would also be returned to the investors to ensure liquidity even in current times.Global Capital Management manages $3.2 billion of private equity assets. GOF II is now fully invested across 10 investments and has now exited four investments at IRRs between 40 and 350 per cent. The fund’s investments span 10 sectors, including healthcare, and more than 30 per cent of the fund is also invested outside the West Asia and North African region.The private equity player’s principal investment book’s annual returns, however, declined to a loss of 36 per cent against a return of 19 per cent in the previous year. Performance of its principal investment book was adversely affected by the unprecedented decline in the capital and debt markets of the Gulf Co-operation Council and the wider West Asia & North Africa region and repercussions for private investments, the firm said.

The long-term fuel supply pact between the country's largest coal producer, Coal India, and power utilities led by navratna firm NTPC is set to miss the April-30 deadline on account of procedural delays. In a meeting between Coal India Ltd (CIL) and NTPC officials last evening, the draft of Fuel Supply Agreement (FSA) was fine-tuned and would now be sent to the boards of the two companies for approval, an official said.

The process of signing the FSA is likely to be completed in a month's time, he said, adding the pact between the two companies would act as a benchmark for other units to follow. When contacted, Coal India Chairman, Mr Partha S Bhattacharyya said, "All the issues (pertaining to the FSA) between both the parties have been worked out and the pact is likely to be signed around May 20.'' Earlier, CIL had set April 30 as the deadline for 72 power utilities, including NTPC, to conclude the FSA, which is a long-term supply-pact between the coal producer and consumers.

The pact has, however, been delayed by almost a year now due to differences over fixing of a "trigger level'', the minimum assured level of coal supply and offtakes, failing which both parties attract penalty. After a series of meetings between CIL and NTPC, the trigger level has been agreed at 90 per cent of the assured supply of 307 million tonnes (MT) to the power units, which have come up before March 31, 2009.

Ending delays in its captive mining effort, NTPC Ltd expects to start coal mining from its huge Pakri Barwadih block in Jharkhand in the second half of 2008-09. The block was awarded to the power utility in October 2004 but several impediments related to land acquisition, forest clearance and mining operatorship resulted in a delay of at least two years in the production schedule.

Located in the prolific North Karanpura coalfields of Jharkhand, the PB block has estimated reserves of 1.6 billion tonnes out of which at least 700 million tonnes are mineable. Once production starts from the PB block, it would be NTPC's first step in achieving coal security. NTPC is estimated to invest around Rs 1,800 crore to bring to the PB block to production. At peak production, the block could yield 15 million tpa, although production would begin at lower levels, NTPC officials said.

As far as domestic reserves are concerned, NTPC has been alloted eight coal blocks with aggregate reserves of nearly 6 billion tonnes, spread over Jharkhand and Orissa (see table). Two of these-Brahmani and Chichro-Patsinal, both in Orissa-would be operated in equal partnership with Coal India Ltd. The Brahmani block is said to hold 1.9 billion tonnes of coal.

NTPC is also pursuing coal block acquisition in Indonesia and Mozambique, and is also part of a multi-partite special purpose vehicle “International Coal Ventures Ltd” to explore coal mining opportunities in Australia, Indonesia etc. By 2012, NTPC is expected to annually need around 225 million tonnes of coal against 130.71 million tonnes consumed in 2008-09. According to industry norms, 1 million tonnes of coal is needed to run coal-fired power capacity of 200 mw for a year.

By this standard, NTPC's projected coal requirement stands for 45,000 mw of coal-fired capacity. NTPC has projected to add a total power capacity (including that owned in joint venture) of 22,430 mw during the 11th Plan period (April 2007 to March 2012). Out of this, 2,740 mw was commissioned in the first two years of the Plan period, while another 3,300 mw is scheduled to commission this fiscal, 2009-10. NTPC recently crossed the 30,144 mw installed capacity mark, including 2,294 mw coming from joint venture projects (this includes gas-fired capacity).

By 2012, NTPC would have over 50,000 mw of power capacity—mainly coal but also including hydropower and renewable energy. Currently, domestic coal (sourced from Coal India Ltd) meets 95 per cent of NTPC's requirement of coal-fired plants, while the rest is imported. In 2011-12, NTPC expects that captive coal production would be 15 million tonnes, mainly coming from the PB block.

NTPC also expects to import 15 million tonnes, while Coal India and its subsidiaries would supply the bulk-195 million tonnes. It is also learnt that the mining plans for two more coal blocks have been approved by the coal ministry. These mines-Chatti Bariatu and Kerandari-are expected to together yield 13 million tonnes of coal per year. As an industry thumb rule, coal production from alloted blocks is expected to have a gestation period of 72 months, including 27 months for preparation of the geological reserve report, which is applicable in the case of unexplored or partially-explored blocks.

Despite its run-in with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Mumbai-based GSM telecom service provider Loop Telecom will launch its services in the Tamil Nadu and Orissa circles by next week. “To comply with the norms laid down by the government, we will launch with 10 per cent coverage in Tamil Nadu and Orissa,” said a senior executive.“We will roll out in three other circles in South India within 10-15 days of our launch in the first two circles. We are not doing a large-scale commercial launch at this point in time. This is to meet regulatory requirements,” said the executive. Loop Telecom, a subsidiary of Loop Mobile (formerly BPL Mobile Comm), is one of the eight new players given a mobile service licence. Last year, the company got the licence to start GSM operations in 21 telecom circles in the country. It has been allocated spectrum in 20 circles. The licence says operators are required to cover at least 10 per cent of each district headquarters in a circle in the first year.Loop recently contracted with Chinese network equipment vendor ZTE. With next week’s launch, the company will become the first new GSM operator to launch its services, in an already crowded market. Besides the presence of incumbents like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea, the recent entry of CDMA major Reliance has brought a new wave of declining rates in the sector. Aircel also made its foray into the mainstream GSM space with the launch of operations in Delhi and Mumbai.

Tamil Nadu Foodgrains Marketing Yard Ltd has signed a memorandum of understanding with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd for providing agri-business communication services to farmers, foodgrains processors, traders and the consuming public. TFMY is being established to provide better services in processing, upgradation of quality of consumer products and enable farmers get remunerative prices besides drawing attention to better agronomic practices. 

To carry forward the message to n ook and corners of the country and abroad, a communication network was felt a necessity, a TFMY press release said. Under the agreement, the BSNL will be establishing a telephone exchange at the yard and would provide services such as telephony, broadband Internet, mobile, wi-fi connectivity etc. The MoU was signed by Mr S. Rethinavelu, Chairman and Managing Director, TFMY, and Mr V.K. Sanjeevi, General Manager, BSNL, Madurai.

Virgin Mobile, the Virgin group's 50:50 joint venture with Tata Teleservices (TTSL), is targeting 10% share of incremental cellular subscribers in the next three years. If the current rate of around 15 million monthly additions continue, Virgin is looking at a base of over 54 million users by FY12. “We are looking at atleast 10% share of incremental market in the next three years through our differentiated offerings,” Virgin Mobile CEO MA Madhusudan said at a press conference in Mumbai on Tuesday (April 28). Virgin Mobile rolled out its branded services in March last year in India. However, its subscriber base or revenues are not known as they are accounted for in the books of TTSL. Mr Madhusudan declined to divulge numbers. Virgin was the first to introduce the concept of 'get paid for receiving calls' in India, where customers are credited with 10 paise for every call they receive. "That number is now down to 5 paise per call after regulatory changes. The benefits to users will continue as we share what we get," he said, ruling out any further reductions. 

Mr Madhusudan pointed out that Virgin was ahead of the industry in terms of non-voice revenues. "While around 8% of the industry's revenues come from non-voice services (excluding SMS), the number for us is 10% and is higher than industry average," he added. Virgin also unveiled a music phone, called vJazz, which allows free unlimited download of music tracks for one year. Prized at Rs 4,250, the handset has a 1.3 megapixel camera, 1,000 SMS and phonebook storage space, besides other features. The phone comes with a 1 GB SSD card, allowing ample memory space to save or listen to music. 

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has introduced GSM (global system for mobile communication) public call office (PCO) for customers in the Tuticorin Telecom District. According to Mr N.R. Natarajan, General Manager, BSNL, Tuticorin, the customers will need to buy a sim card for use by applying with photo and address proof from the authorised outlets of BSNL. Call conferencing facility is also available in the mobile PCO. The cost of the card is Rs 221 with a free talk time worth Rs 50. Further recharge cards are available for Rs 5,515 with a duration of 30 day validity and the customer can talk up to Rs 9,502. The call charges and duration will vary according to destinations, he added.

Indian telecom service operators are expected to offer a combination of 3G and WiMax (highspeed wirelessbroadband access) once spectrum auction for the two takes place post-elections when the new government assumes office. The combination of the two technology will gain popularity in the present conditions for cost reasons where funds are hard to come by apart from the intrinsic technological value of the two. 

CS Rao, chairman, WiMax Forum, India chapter said that operators are likely to go for 3G spectrum for voice services because the 2G spectrum availability is not much and higher spectrum is needed to support subscribers for voice usage. For data services like video streaming, WiMax will be used. 

Some vendors have already started manufacturing handsets, which support both 3G for voice and WiMax for data. Another reason will be cost, Rao said. The cost of deploying WiMax base station is much lower (about one-tenth) of deploying 3G network. The cost of setting a WiMax BTS is around $14,000 as against $35,000 for setting up 3G base stations. WiMax and 3G spectrum auctions are expected to held once the new government resolves issues with regard to reserve price. 

Rao said that he expects the auction to take place within two months of the new government coming to power. “Broadband penetration is the need of the hour... even the political parties have been giving a lot of weightage to broadband. Notwithstanding which political party comes to power they are likely to settle the issue within two months,” Rao said. Once WiMax spectrum auction takes place WiMax BTS can be deployed by operators within 90-120 days, whereas 3G network will take not less than six months apart from the higher cost. WiMax or the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a telecommunications technology that provides wireless transmission of data at a speed of up to 3 mbps without the need for cables and even while on the move. The technology will give an impetus to the penetration of broadband in the country and give immense push to the various e-governance programmes. India has about 6 million broadband connections now and is adding around 1 million subscribers per year. However, the government had set a target of 20 million users by 2010. 

The Securities and Exchange Board of India has sought clarifications from Bharti Group on whether the company has violated its norms by increasing promoter’s stake in Bharti Airtel from 60.91 per cent to 67.03 per cent without announcing an open offer. According to SEBI regulations, promoter group companies who together hold more than 55 per cent stake in an entity, have to go for a public offer if they acquire more than 5 per cent stake in a single financial year.SEBI has taken into account equity shares held by Bharti Telecom Ltd, Pastel Ltd and Indian Continental Investment Ltd in calculating the promoter group’s stake. When contacted, Bharti spokesperson said ICIL, a Bharti Group company, acquired 4.99 per cent in Bharti Airtel in FY 2007-08 and 1.28 per cent in FY 2008-09.“Both these transactions have been undertaken during two different financial years and are well within the creeping acquisition limit of 5 per cent in each financial year as permitted under the takeover regulations. Therefore, there is no question of breach of any takeover regulation. We have also filed the requisite declarations to the stock exchanges on all these transactions in time.” “While Pastel Ltd (owned by the Government of Singapore) is classified as a “deemed promoter”, it is not ‘a person acting in concert’ with the Bharti Group. Therefore, the shareholding of Pastel and Bharti Group can not be aggregated while determining the creeping acquisition limit,” the spokesperson said.

The ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) has found fresh evidence to point out that the Essar Group may have substantial interest in Loop Telecom. For instance, the e-mail IDs registered with the MCA of Essar Teleholdings Ltd is the same as that of Santa Trading, BPL Communications Ltd and Santa Securities Pvt Ltd as well as Loop Telecom Pvt Ltd. 

In its communication, MCA had said that the Essar Group does not hold more than 9.9% stake indirectly in Loop Telecom, but has provided funding to the tune of Rs 1,592 crore to the new operator through a host of instruments including non-convertible debentures. As per the existing telecom licensing rules, Essar Group currently owns close to 33% stake in its joint venture with Vodafone and, therefore, cannot have more than 10% stake in Loop Telecom which received licence to operate in 22 cities across the country. 

“It appears that through the funding of Santa Trading Pvt Ltd by the Essar Group, equity has been provided to BPL Communicationsm, which owns 48% of Loop Telecom,” the MCA told the DoT. MCA also added that Loop Telecom is owned by Santa Trading Pvt Ltd. This is owned by Ruias sister Kiran Khaitan, who owns BPL Communications and BPL Mobile Communications. Though the Essar group does not have any direct equity in Santa Trading, it, however, holds 9.99% in Loop Telecom.

The ministry of road transport and highways has approved the four laning of Pinjore-Nalagarh highway and has asked the Himachal Pradesh government to prepare a feasibility report on the same. The ministry clarified about the approval in a reply filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in relation to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh Industries Association (BBNIA) along with Laghu Udyog Bharati. 

The association had filed a writ petition in the high court peeved over the indifferent attitude of the Haryana government and ministry of road transport and highways over repair of National Highway No 21A, especially the portion from Pinjore to Baddi. The writ was treated as PIL in its first hearing held on March 18. The latest hearing was held on April 24 in which the reply was filed. 

In its petition, the association had urged the high court to give directions to the officials concerned in the Haryana government as well as of the ministry of road transport for immediate repair of road portion from Pinjore to Marranwala to Baddi without any delay. The association also requested the high court to give directions for the widening of road to four/six lane as per volume of traffic. The road transport ministry also stated that around Rs 4.86 crore have been released to the Haryana government for repairing this stretch. 

The four laning will take place in two phases. The Haryana Public Works Department (National highways) and Himachal government have been asked to complete the repair work soon. Deepak Bhandari, advisor of BBNIA, said that the association approached the high court about a month ago after making endless efforts to take up the matter with the Haryana PWD (NH) department. “Since, the transport ministry has approved the four laning process, work is expected to be complete soon. The Himachal government is likely to prepare the feasibility report in three-four months and by then the repair work is expected to be complete.” It is pertinent to note that there was no pucca road connecting Pinjore with the Baddi industrial belt. Despite industry representatives holding several protests and meetings with the government officials, no sign of progress could be seen on this link since last few years. Now, the repair work on the stretch is in progress. The stretch from Pinjore to 2.2 km ahead is being repaired and about 75% of the work is complete. From 2.2 km to 11.5 km, the tenders will soon be allotted for its widening and relaying. And from 11.5 km to 17.5 km, the work has been allotted and will be complete by June. The total cost on repair of this stretch comes to around Rs 15 crore.

Bangladesh may allow India to use its new deep sea port off Chittagong for exports from its north eastern states. The new port, the first phase of which is expected to be completed by 2016, can be used as a regional transit hub for India’s northeastern states, Nepal and Bhutan. Top officials said they expected Bangladesh to ask for better transit through Indian territory to Nepal, Bhutan and perhaps even China for letting India use its port.India has been keen on using Bangla ports for exports from its land-locked northeastern states. Chittagong used to be the preferred port till 1965. But a war between India and Pakistan stopped commerce through that route. Successive Bangla governments have ignored the demand for reopening Chittagong port for Indian use. Bangla strategists had earlier said the route could breach the country’s security. Irked by Bangladesh’s attitude in the past over opening up Chittagong port, India had started talks with Myanmar to develop Sitwe port in the Arakan province as an alternative gateway.Bangladesh, whose Chittagong port is increasingly getting overloaded, now plans to build a modern port with large container facilities which it could offer as a regional trade hub. Pacific Consultant International (PCI) of Japan has prepared a feasibility study for the projected $1.2-billion deep sea port which will be built off Sonadia island, 60 km from the existing Chittagong port. 

The port, to be built in three phases, will have six harbours and a capacity to handle 100 million tonnes of cargo. If transit facilities are allowed and the port connects to mainland India, it could rival the deep sea port project India is planning in Bengal. At present, Sri Lanka’s Colombo port is the favoured port for exports from south India because of its modern facilities. As a result, about 60 per cent of the container traffic to and from south India is trans-shipped from Colombo and not from Chennai. 

Container Corporation of India (Concor) has stepped up the number of its services to Port Pipavav in Gujarat thanks to a spurt in traffic volume. Mr Yash Vardhan, Director (International Marketing & Operation), said over the phone from New Delhi that the number of services between different inland container depots (ICDs) in the hinterland (northern and western regions) and the port was now close to two rakes a day, each direction, on an average.

The ICDs in the hinterland now connected to the port are located in Ahmedabad, Dadri, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Tughlakabad and Ludhiana. “Besides, we run regular reefer trains from Dadri,” said Mr Vardhan, pointing out that six reefer trains had moved so far from Dadri to Port Pipavav and the seventh one was currently loading.Earlier, i.e. till about a couple of months ago, the container train services to and from Port Pipavav were few and far between (with one or two trains a month) and that too with no fixed departures. “We’ve been responsive to the needs of the trade by stepping up the number of services and, depending on the cargo support, we will have no problems in offering more services,” Mr Vardhan made it clear.While the scheduled trains are now single stacked, there is a possibility of moving double stacked trains in a not too distant future, particularly between Jaipur/Jodhpur and the port. It might be noted that Pipavav Rail Corporation Ltd, a joint venture between Indian Railways and Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd, has constructed a 271-km long broad gauge line between Surendranagar Junction on Western Railway and the port via Rijula. “PRCL maintains the line, while we offer the rolling stock,” Mr Vardhan added.

Kochi Port has sought the assistance of the Indian Navy for smooth vessel movements after a strike resorted to by workers against the implementation of new manning scale. With the introduction of the National Industrial Tribunal Award, the marine crew as well as workers in the cargo handling section resisted implementing the award, which had resulted in disruption of marine operations. The new manning scale has been implemented in other operational areas such as traffic, mechanical and electrical departments where work is going on smoothly.

The port officials clarified that the reduction of manning scale will significantly resolve the shortage of personnel in various categories as well as reduce cargo handling cost in major ports, which will boost Exim trade. There will be no loss of employment potential for the workers due to the implementation of the award, the officials said. A senior port official said that the Naval officials are assisting the Port’s masters and engineers to operate the tugs for mooring operations and they were able to bring in more than five vessels and take out four vessels on Tuesday (April 28).The port had carried out around 10 movements on Monday (April 27) with the help of the Navy since the strike began. The officials also pointed out that the operations in the single point mooring were not affected as BPCL-KRL is using hired tugs for mooring operations. According to IGTPL officials, the strike has not affected the container terminal operations as the company managed to carry out cargo movements inside the terminal with 10 hired trailers.

Meanwhile, the Thuramugha Samrakshana Samithy, a forum of trade unions, alleged that the port authorities implemented the tribunal settlement unilaterally while other major ports put implementation on hold. The award, which had not been implemented for the last three years, had lost its legal validity, they said. If implemented, it would result in about 500 people directly employed by Kochi Port losing their jobs, the union forum alleged.

The step to slash jobs at the ports has been taken without a scientific assessment of the working of the ports, they added. The trade unions appealed for the withdrawal of the orders and for renewed discussions on the issues involved. They also warned that the trade unions would be forced to draw up strong protest action at the regional and national levels against the implementation of the award.

To prevent the entry and spread of swine flu virus in the country, the Government has put in place a series of measures including screening air travellers arriving at nine major international airports and setting up quarantine areas at these airports. Official sources said that from Wednesday (April 29), there will be enhanced surveillance of international passengers arriving at Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Goa, Kochi, Kolkata and Jaipur.

“This is being done to prevent the entry of passengers who may be carrying the virus. If there is a need, screening quarantine areas will be identified at the airports to segregate such passengers,” a senior Government official said. Passengers arriving from affected countries including the US, Mexico, Canada and Spain could come in for closer scrutiny.The Health Ministry is also working on a form to be given to all international passengers arriving in the country seeking details of whether they have been in a swine flu affected area in the recent past. “The forms, which will be on lines of the yellow fever forms which used to be distributed earlier, should be ready by Wednesday (April 29). The Ministry of Civil Aviation will be responsible for distributing these to airlines flying into the country,” an official said.Meanwhile, Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) will be providing infrastructural support at the airport to Airport Health Officials (AHO) who will begin screening incoming passengers from Wednesday (April 29) midnight. The inbound passengers from swine influenza affected nations will be screened for symptoms of the viral before they enter the immigration area, said a MIAL spokesperson.

MIAL will be setting up counters apart from providing a few rest rooms and an ambulance at the airport to assist AHOs in their check-up procedures. Despite the rapid spread of the virus, it was still too early to gauge its real impact on the industry, leading travel agents felt. According to Mr Ashwini Kakkar, Executive Vice-President, Mercury Travels, customers travelling in the next 10-15 days to the affected areas have been enquiring on what they should be doing before visiting those countries.

“However, we have not been able to conclusively suggest anything to them because there is very little known about the infection at the moment. There should be more clarity on the situation by next week or so,” he said. Mr Kakkar added that if the fear about the infection continues, the travel business could be impacted. The acting President, Travel Agents Fraternity of India, Mr Pradip Lulla said that so far there have been no cancellations. Thomas Cook’s India office also said it has not witnessed any major change in customers’ travel plans, as of now.