Fly Ash Pollution of nearby water bodies had forced the Orissa State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) to issue a notice to the massive 3000 MW NTPC Talcher Thermal Power Plant.While the notice asked for immediate shutdown of 4 untis of 500 MW,NTPC has only closed down 1 unit citing that closing more units will lead to massive power disruptions in nearby states.The action comes following NTPC bad fly ash managment system which has led to two past incidences of water pollution.There was a danger that the massive amounts of fly ash being generated would lead to breakdown of the storage dykes and lead to more pollution.
Indian Electricity Companies are crying for a bailout from the government after coal prices surged last year amidst shortages of coal.Note before the Lehman crisis,Indian private power producers were riding a boom equivalent to a mini tech bubble trading at crazy valuations.The reason was that the Indian government had opened the Electricity sector to the […]
Natural Gas in USA is seeing massive investments and interest due to very large shale gas discoveries enabled by improvements in Gas Drilling and Extraction Technology.Billions of Dollars have been invested by domestic and international oil and gas companies.Plans are being made to Export Natural Gas from America as the price of Natural Gas in USA has now become considerably lower than other parts of the world.While prices of other Fossil Fuels like Oil and Coal are rising at steep rate,Natural Gas Prices have fallen even below the 2008 crisis levels and are now at around $3.5/mmbtu.With production increasing Natural Gas is increasingly looking to garner marketshare gains in the energy sector in the US.Countries around the world like India and China are also looking to tap shale gas deposits as Energy Scarcity increases around the globe.
Note Indian ministries and regulators have been found to be massively corrupt with the 2G Telecom Scandal facing the glare from the Supreme Court .Huge loss has been caused by ministers,corporate CEOs and various politicians a number of which are in jail right now.The CAG report had said that Reliance had doubled its cost in the KG-6 Basin leading to a huge loss for the Indian government.A number of other lapses (intentional) has been found by the DGH and the Ministry each time favoring the private oil and gas companies in India.Now the CBI has filed a case of corruption against the the former chief of the DGH V K Sibal for scuttling a probe by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) for showing undue favors to the private companies.Note India has been stuck by a number of scams in the stock market pertaining to mid cap and small caps.This has led to huge losses for investors with some companies like Reliance Telecom,Unitech having over 90% of their share values eroded.Reliance the biggest Indian company by market capitalization might be facing the same fate if the investigative agencies and the courts do their jobs.
Now India’s Largest Company Reliance too has seen its stock fall to a post Lehman low on concerns that it has colluded with the Oil Regulator and Ministry to gold plate its costs in the KG 6 Gas concession.Reliance is India’s biggest oil and gas company with interests throughout the supply chain.Note its nothing new as Reliance has always been known to be the most powerful corporate in India .However with the government’s own auditing department CAG raising allegations of collusion and corruption,Reliance too may find itself snared in the corruption scandal.Note the infamous Nira Radia tapes had ample proof of how the powerful Reliance group manages the appointment of its favored persons in key federal ministries.The company must now by hoping that the Supreme Court which is already preoccupied with a ton of corruption cases does not take a keen interest and gets the CBI to investigate the allegations.
Indian Telecom Companies are using more than $500 million in fuel subsidies meant for the poor and generating more than 6 million tons of carbon dioxide every year by using diesel gensets at telecom towers not connected to the grid.Note the Telecom Industry in India has not exactly covered itself with glory on other matters with the 2G Telecom Scam already putting top executives in jail and implicating top telecom companies as well.The issues of massive fuel wastage in telecom towers has been raised in the past in greenworldinvestor as telecom tower companies viom,gtl,airtel and others have tried to put lipstick on the pig by making a mockery of green initiatives by committing to convert only a minuscule number of total towers to renewable energy.