The “Strategy paper on Coal Import Substitution” has been prepared as a report of the IMC (Inter-Ministerial Committee). The paper focusses on the present energy mix of the country, domestic coal production,
About 300 people in Japan's Hyogo and Chiba prefectures sought medical treatment, with one girl in serious condition, in the last week of January after consuming frozen meat dumplings produced by
baglihar inspection: Pakistan has said that it will inspect the Baglihar dam before it becomes operational. Spokesperson of Pakistan's foreign office, Mohammad Sadiq, said on January 30 that the
Low carry-over stock coupled with likely fall in wheat output may compell India to import about 2 million tonne of the grain during 2008-09 marketing year, a report published by the US department of agriculture said. The country's buffer stock is expected to be below 4 million tonne. Wheat production is also pegged lower by 1.3 million tonne at 74.5 million tonne, compared to the previous marketing year, the report said. Wheat production is projected to be lower as the total area under wheat acreage has declined by 5,00,000 hectare. The fall in acreage has been in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar due to poor soil moisture and higher temperatures during sowing, it said. USDA warned that India's wheat supplies are expected to come under pressure as demand for the grain through the public distribution system continues to rise. "Unless the government resorts to wheat imports, stocks by the end of 2008-09 marketing year could fall below the desired buffer stock level of 4 million tonne,' it added. With the general election due inearly 2009, the Indian government would take all steps to increase domestic supply of wheat and check rising prices, it said.
Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Mulri Deora has said a pro-active approach had been adopted to address the shortage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). In a letter to Chief Ministers on LPG shortage in certain parts of the country, Mr. Deora said as an urgent measure, an additional 52,000 metric tonnes of LPG would be imported in March 2008 to tide over the crisis. He sought the cooperation of the Chief Ministers in curbing diversion of domestic LPG stocks.
GUWAHATI, Feb 17
Coal India (CIL) will have to spend around Rs 1,800 crore for importing over 200 million tonnes (mt) of coal valued at current international prices to meet domestic demand during the 11th Five-Year Plan period, according to the public sector behemoth's latest estimates. The imports are necessitated due to a number of letters of assurance (LoA) issued by the coal ministry recently. The LoAs have been issued to different independent power producers, captive power producers, cement and sponge iron units. CIL's estimates, worked out on the basis of applications received by way of LoAs issued to different coal consumers, reveal that the total domestic coal demand during the 11th plan period would be around 773 mt as against the projected production of 520 mt. CIL has received 400-odd applications for the 11th plan period, taking the total coal demand figure to around 773 mt. This leaves a shortfall of over 200 mt to meet domestic requirement. However, the state-run company has also worked out a second conservative estimate of 706 million tonnes for the period. This estimate is based on the feedback that some power units may not be able to commence production during the period. Highly placed CIL sources said, "A necessity for imports is genuinely felt if actual demand and supply are taken into consideration during the 11th plan. Talks on imports have just begun and we have to work out the issue in the shortest possible time to cater to requirements.' For the first time, the new coal distribution policy, announced a few months ago, has kept provisions for meeting domestic coal demands through imports and that might have prompted CIL to work out its internal assessments till 2011-12. The imports would come mostly from Indonesia, South Africa and Australia. Internationally, prices of non-cocking coal are ruling at $90 a tonne. The average domestic price of the product is Rs 800 a tonne. According to CIL estimates, the major part of the domestic demand for coal would come from power plants, taking up about 533 million tonnes, followed by sponge iron, cement and captive power units. Till date, the coal ministry has issued LoAs to 64 new and upcoming units.
on january 11, France decided to extend its October 2007 ban on a variety of gm maize. It decided to activate a European Union guideline that prohibits the cultivation of gm corn. The variety,
India, the world's biggest wheat producer after China, may not have to import the grain before August because the country has sufficient stockpiles, Commerce Secretary G K Pillai said. The country has imported almost 1.8 million tonnes of wheat since July to build stockpiles. Purchases in the year ending June may drop to 2 million tonnes, less than a third of the previous year, the US Department of Agriculture said on January 11.
The us president, George W Bush, signed a new energy law on December 19. It intends to reduce reliance on oil imports and sets higher fuel efficiency standards for the first time since 1975.
