Kolkata The Prime Minister’s Office is asking state-run power utilities to follow the West Bengal model in terms of tariff. The said model keeps a margin after realising the real cost of production.

The move may have been prodded by the Planning Commission, which is pushing the Centre to raise the borrowing limits of Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, so these states can take further loans to clear the power sector of debt.

Power sector losses are accumulating as states continue to follow a cautious and staggered approach on tariff hikes despite the hefty increase in electricity purchase costs in recent years.

Rajasthan needs to hike its electricity tariff by 80%, Madhya Pradesh 65%, Tamil Nadu 55%, Punjab 24% and Haryana 15% to bridge revenue gaps of their discoms, according to credit ratings agency Icra.

ThiruvananthapuramKerala, counting on debt funding by Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to feed 80% of its proposed R1.18-lakh-crore high-speed rail corridor project, is likely to corner some Japanese industrial investment too, as if in bonus.

A business team, led by Japanese diplomatic officials, has been in talks with state industry officials on a project for manufacturing advanced technology components for high-speed trains.

New Delhi: Even as the central government is pushing states for mandatory implementation of open access (OA) for bulk power consumers, an analysis by a regulators’ body has revealed that contrary to expectations, the consumers in 12 states have had to pay more for power under the new regime.

OA at various levels is the hallmark of electricity reforms and the regime has been effective in 20 states since January 2009 on an optional basis. Under the OA regime, bulk consumers enter into bilateral deals with discoms and stay outside the ambit of the regulated tariff system.

New Delhi Power companies may soon be allowed to produce bank guarantee for duty-free import of equipment based on the provisional mega power certificate issued by the finance ministry.

Currently, developers furnish a fixed deposit receipt (FDR) of an amount equivalent to the duty on equipment import for getting tax relief. However, companies feel the current practice locks in a large sum of money that could, otherwise, be used for projects, especially at time when it is difficult to mobilise cheaper credit.

New Delhi The government is set to consider a proposal for a complete ban on private-public joint ventures (JVs) for developing mineral blocks allocated to state-run corporations and public sector undertakings under a special dispensation. The move would hit the plans of Adani Mining, Moser Baer, Vedanta, Monnet Ispat and the Jaypee Group, among others, in the minerals and metals business.

New Delhi Congress MP Jyoti Mirdha on Friday urged the group of ministers on pharma pricing, headed by Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, to extend the regime of price control to all the drugs available in the retail market.

Mirdha argued that profits earned by pharma companies were primarily used in promotional expenses and for foray into other businesses. She claimed that top-50 pharma companies spend over R5,300 crore every year, while generating sales of slightly over R28,769 crore.

New Delhi The Cabinet on Thursday approved the purchase of natural gas from Turkmenistan through a 1700 km cross-border pipeline passing through Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Petroleum and natural gas minister S Jaipal Reddy would be visiting Turkmenistan on May 23-24 to sign the Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement (GSPA). While the transportation charges for gas would be decided by the consortium of companies that would construct the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (Tapi) pipeline, India would pay a $0.50 per million metric British thermal unit (mmBtu) transit fee to Afghanistan and Pakistan for letting gas through their territory.

New Delhi To ensure food security in the coming years, a parliamentary panel on Thursday recommended that the government refrain from acquiring agricultural land for industrial purpose. It also said the government should not acquire land for private businesses and stressed on a clearer definition of ‘public purpose’ in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill (LARR), 2011.

New Delhi Punjab, the grain bowl of India, is in danger of losing the coveted tag as depleting groundwater levels force the state to seriously consider reducing the planting of water-intensive paddy crop in the medium-to-long term to avoid a disaster.

After a recent meeting with Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, the Planning Commission has decided to send a team of experts to the state to review the problem and suggest ways to tackle it, official sources told FE.