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Gas pipeline project: India, Pak to appoint financial advisors
New Delhi: Taking another step forward towards a smooth implementation of the $4.16-billion Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project, the two countries, India and Pakistan, have decided to independently appoint financial consultants by September.

Speaking to presspersons at the end of the two-day meeting of the joint working group (JWG), the Pakistani Secretary for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Ahmed Waqar, said the appointment of a financial advisory consortium was desirable at this juncture as international expertise was required for the project.

The two sides would appoint their own respective financial advisory consortium to advise on the project structure and related technical, financial, commercial and legal matters.

The consultants would be expected to submit their report by November-end when the Petroleum Minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar, is likely to travel to Pakistan for signing an agreement on the project.

To carry the process forward, the two sides also agreed that the next meeting of JWG would take place in Islamabad towards the end of August. The JWG has laid down a framework for further negotiations on the project. The two sides agreed that once the basic issues pertaining to the project were satisfactorily resolved between the three countries (Iran-Pakistan-India), they would enter into a `Framework Agreement', Indian Petroleum Secretary, S.C. Tripathi, said.

The two sides had broad agreement on composition of gas, technical standards and techno-economic considerations that would make the project cost-effective for both the countries. It was also agreed that India would submit a draft text to the Pakistani side before the next meeting of the JWG, Tripathi added.

Pakistan is looking at importing 10 million standard cubic metres per day of gas from Iran beginning 2010 and raise it to 60 million standard cubic metres per day (MSCMD) over the next five years.

India on the other hand will begin with 60 MSCMD of gas and increase imports to 90 MSCMD in three years time. During the two-day meeting of the JWG, other pipeline proposals were also discussed, namely, the Turkemistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan pipeline and the Gulf-South Asia pipeline.
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PM constitutes energy co-ordination committee
New Delhi: The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, has constituted an energy co-ordination committee, which will guide government policy in the energy sector. The committee will formulate a coordinated policy response, cutting across ministries in order to improve the overall energy scenario in the country as well as address energy security concerns, a PMO statement has said.

The committee will be chaired by the PM and will have finance minister, P Chidambaram, petroleum and natural gas minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar, power minister, PM Sayeed, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, as its members.

The committee will be serviced by the PMO and the energy division of the Planning Commission will facilitate any policy analysis required by the Committee.

The committee will coordinate preparatory work on energy policy and security issues. It may also commission specialised studies depending upon the requirements arising from time to time.

The committee will, among other things, identify key areas requiring energy policy initiatives, so that the overall objectives of economic development, energy security and energy efficiency are met; monitor vulnerabilities that directly impinge on energy security aspects; outline the follow up action needed for implementing identified policy initiatives; identify institutional mechanisms for implementing policies; periodically monitor key policy decisions
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Chidambaram promises funds for knowledge centres across the country
New Delhi: Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has said that the Government would find "ways and means" to meet the demand for Rs6,500 crore to create over six lakh village knowledge centres across the country.

The Government has already granted Rs100 crore for connecting 10,000 tele-centres under the project through NABARD.
Speaking at the concluding function of the two-day National Alliance on Mission 2007, Chidambaram said he would discuss the recommendations with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

He said the village knowledge centres would be powerful instruments for delivery of e-governance, health and education, commercial information and other Internet linked services.

"Projects like this must be demand driven, participative and over a period of time, be based on a model that is revenue generating," he said.

Initiated by the M.S. Swaminathan Foundation, Rs3,000 crore would be required for connectivity and capacity building and Rs500 crore for coordination process.

Elaborating on the role of panchayats network, Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said the these grassroots institutions should run the knowledge centres in the village and suggested that these should become central to the Bharat Nirman programme.
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Maharashtra Govt.: Dabhol plant to be commissioned by Sept. 2006
Mumbai: The first phase of Dabhol Power Project will be commissioned by July 2006 and the second by September 2006, the Maharashtra Energy Minister, Dilip Walse Patil, told the Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday. He was briefing the House about the progress achieved in the resolutions of controversies in the project.

All the litigations, claims and awards of the tribunals had been settled between the Maharashtra Government and GE-Bechtel, he said.

Maharashtra Power Development Company Ltd had paid Rs630 crore to GE and Rs700 crore to Bechtel in lieu of all liabilities on behalf of the Indian interests, he said.

Patil also said Rs495 crore was paid towards the outstanding bills of the Maharashtra State Electricity Board to Dabhol Power Corporation and Rs700 crore was paid to various banks for settlement of loans. In a separate note issued to the media persons, Patil said that the help of GE and Bechtel would be taken for assessing the additional fund requirements to restart the project.

After getting control of the project, the Government plans to create an LNG terminal with the help of the Special Purpose Vehicle specially created to restart the project.

The Government may exempt the sale of Dabhol assets from stamp duty, the note said.
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