Role of media and social networking sites in internal security challenges
1. Media:
Any communication channel through which any kind of information, news, entertainment, education, data, promotional messages etc. can be disseminated is called media.
Media could be broadly classified as:
1. Print Media (newspapers, magazines, books, etc.)
2. Electronic Media (news websites, social networking sites, mass SMS schemes, television, internet, radio, cinema etc.)
Besides there are many other forms of mass communication which cant be classified in either of the above forms like various forms of dances etc.
1. Principles governing media:
The experience of freedom of press with the British made our founding fathers realize its importance and hence it was included in the constitution in the form of freedom of speech and expression as articulated in the constitution in Article 19(1) a. This freedom of speech and expression is not absolute but is limited by scenarios given in Article 19(2) of the constitution. The article says that nothing in the freedom of speech and expression shall affect the operation of any existing law, or prevent the State from making any law, in so far as such law imposes reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred by the said sub clause in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence.
1. Internal security challenges:
According to Wikipedia, Internal Security could be defined as the act of keeping peace within the borders of a sovereign state or other self-governing territories, generally by upholding the national law and defending against internal security threats.
What could be the internal security threats facing India?
1. Terrorism
2. Communalism
3. Naxalism
4. Cyber Hacking and its aftermath
1. Role of Media:
1. In terrorism:
India has been home to terror activities since its independence. Terrorism funded through foreign land is not new to India. Pakistan has funded terror in J&K area, while many of its state and non-state actors are allegedly involved in many of terrorist attacks in various parts of the country, the most talked of being the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Similarly India has many terror outfits operating within its own frontiers which have carried out terrorist activities in the country.
TV has been the most important broadcast media with reach comparable to newspapers. With the coming of cable TV in India, there has been a tremendous increase in the news channels available to an individual. Though news through print media comes only a day later, news channels via the broadcast media provide information 24x7. This enables them to provide real time information to the public especially those affected by the terrorist attack. But without any curbs on the amount of coverage, these forms of media can be used by the terrorists to mislead the investigation agencies and/or the public as was the case during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks [1]. In the 26/11 attack, the handlers of the terrorist used the media coverage to tell them the exact locations of the policemen and advised them about the best way to attack the police. Thus the thoughtless media coverage, in a way helped the terrorist [2]. Also the goriest details of the attack were shown virtually non-stop [2]. Situations like the Mumbai attack check the credibility of our media. This incident certainly weakened the media demand to regulate itself.
1. In Communalism:
India is home to different communities having different religious sentiments. The history of India is full of incidents of communal tensions most particularly between Hindus and Muslims. Broadcast media particularly news TV channels is often criticized for its non-stop live coverage of these incidents which might incite the communities to further wreak havoc. Even print media sometimes thoughtlessly carries messages from the leaders of opposing factions creating further tensions.
One particular incident would be the Gujarat riots of 2002. The report of The Editors Guild of India on media ethics states that the local newspaper of Gujarat Sandesh had headlines which would "provoke, communalize and terrorize people. The newspaper also used a quote from a VHP leader as a headline, "Avenge with blood". But the same report also lauded some other local newspapers for their coverage [3]. Broadcast media was heavily criticized for the gory images that were shown non-stop.
One other such incident would be the recent Assam riots. The social media and the SMS were blamed for rumour mongering during the Assam unrest. They were alleged of misrepresentation of facts and doctoring news which incited the opposing factions and led to huge migration of north easterners across the country [4].
1. In Naxalism:
The term Naxalism takes its name from the village Naxalbari in West Bengal where a group of left radical communist brought an uprising against a local Zamindar in 1967. Today, the Naxal movement is spread across various districts of West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand to varying degrees. Our PM while addressing the police force in 2009 even announced that Naxalism is the greatest internal security threat to India [5]
Media can be used very effectively to mainstream the naxal areas. Innovation is the key here. Street Plays can be used to educate the junta about various schemes of the govt. Recently Home Ministry issued guidelines which apart from providing SOP (Standard Operating Procedures) to security forces while working in Naxal areas gave a directive to screen movies on Indias freedom struggle and national leaders in such areas, which is a welcome move [6].
1. In Cyber Space:
The problem with cyber security related to massive social media networks is that there is limited knowledge about the consequences of the snooping which is carried by various countries in the name of security. Countries like US are not only snooping on their own citizens but are also able to freely intrude the privacy of any individual in other countries too. US has the specific advantage of having the servers of main social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter etc. within its frontiers and hence in the outreach of their laws.
Experts have suggested India to build our own social networks like the way China has its own. Though the reason China built its own social networks was to suppress public dissent and monitoring online activities to identify troublemakers, India can follow the same to avoid personal information of millions of individuals going into the hands of US and other countries. But then again, this kind of islanding would defeat the purpose of internet.
Also the media networks are regularly hacked by enemy countries to spread false information and to recover classified data. Recently hacking of New York Times and Twitter servers by Syrian agencies was in news. Similarly the US and China continue to exchange blows in the field of hacking.
1. Possible ways to plug the shortcomings of media:
1. Sensitizing journalists about the possible effects of non-stop display of gory images during coverage of riots, terrorist affected areas etc.
2. Preparing guidelines for the coverage of areas affected by man-made disaster.
3. Building solid networks and creating a task force to combat any kind of hacking.
There could be many more suggestions but then they would grossly interfere with the freedom of press.
Question Bank
1. Enumerate ways to use social media in combating Naxalism.
2. Enumerate ways in which media could be used to promote social harmony.
3. Enumerate ways in which broadcast media can be used to create awareness about terrorism.
4. If you were to prepare guidelines for media to operate in disaster situations, what points would your draft include?
by Jayesh Nikam
Bibliography
1. Ansari trained 26/11 terrorists to mislead media and investigators; http://www.indianexpress.com/news/-ansari-trained-2611-terrorists-to-mislead-media-and-investigators-/1018217/
2. Its official! Media helped 26/11 terrorists; http://www.niticentral.com/2012/08/30/its-official-media-helped-2611-terrorists-5832.html
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Gujarat_violence#Media_coverage
4. http://www.thehoot.org/web/The-rumour-mills-on-social-media/6182-1-1-19-true.html
5. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/naxalism-gravest-internal-security-threat-pm/517294/0
6. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/mha-script-for-naxal-areas-aid-patriotic-films/1160106/
Showing posts with label mumbai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mumbai. Show all posts
Monday, January 13, 2014
Infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.
Infrastructure is the basic facilities needed for the functioning of a community or society. In other words, it is the basic physical or organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprises. The 12th 5YP envisaged the investment requirement in infrastructure to the tune of $1trillion, with 47% of this fund coming from the private sector.
1. Physical infrastructure:
* Energy: coal, oil and natural gas, hydro, nuclear and renewable.
* Transport: roadway, railway, airway and waterway.
* Communication: telecom and postal services.
* Urban: transport housing and civic amenities.
2. Social infrastructure: (I will not cover this part)
* Education
* Health
Energy: India will produce 71% of its energy needs domestically by 2016-17, and 69% by 2021-22. The remaining will be met through import.
Integrated energy policy (IEP) 2031-32
Sector2003-04 (%)2031-32 (%)Power generation 2012 (%), total-2,14,000MW
Coal5142-6557 (1, 20,000MW)
Oil3628-330.6 (1,190MW)
Natural gas97-129 (18,900MW)
Hydro23-418.5 (39,3240)
Nuclear15-62.02 (4780)
Renewable5-712.5 (28,000MW)
Coal: Indias reserve as on March, 2012 was 293.5billion tones (40% proven and some 40bn tons proven) & Domestic production-540million tons in 2011-12 (import-100mn tons) need to increased to 795mn tons by 2016-17; even then there will be import need of 185mn tons.
* IEP says present potential to last for 40years.
* Mines & Mineral (development and regulation) bill 2011 for simple and transparent mechanism for granting of mining lease or prospecting license through competitive bidding; Coal forecasting, private participation and captive mining for merchant uses.
* Pricing change from useful heat value (UHV) to Gross Calorific Value (GCV) in 20012 (grade I-VII: 15% ash & moisture content) - mainly Bituminous coal. Need to invest in super-critical boiler technology.
* Liquefaction of coal: gasification to liquefaction (Sasol process in S. Africa and Fischer Tropsch process in Germany).
Oil & Natural Gas: 73% import dependent, 90% import by 2031-32. Indias Refining Capacity 215mmt in 2013, exporting 60.84mmt of petroleum products worth $50bn (20 refineries: 17 public & 3 Pvt.).
Steps taken by the govt.:
* New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP), 1999- 177 oil & N. Gas discoveries in 39 NELP blocks.
* Deregulation of prices: petrol, diesel-dual pricing, L.P.G- 9 cylinders/year, kerosene-direct cash transfer through ADHAAR, underway; import parity pricing system underway.
* Pipeline Network (16 crude pipelines- 106MMT).
* Vision 2015: Piped Natural Gas by re-gasification of Liquefied Natural Gas to 200 cities.
* Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG Vitaran Yojana, 2009- 75% population by 2015 -5.5cr new connections
* Rangarajan formula on gas pricing: KG-D6 gas price to go up to $8.4mbtu from $4.2mbtu by April 2014.
* International effort: India-Oman (1100km) undersea pipeline, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI-1700km) pipeline to transport 3billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.
* Lost opportunities: Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline and India-Bangladesh-Myanmar natural gas pipeline.
(Sweden has declared that they will have nothing to do with oil by 2050).
Hydro: potential of around 1, 45,000MW: environmental, and relief and rehabilitation issues. (157 projects-57,672MW, 38-mega dam with 320MW capacity, 12% free to Arunachal Pradesh).
Nuclear: 20 power plant running 4780MW, two at Kudankulam (2000MW) yet to connect to grid, five under construction (3300MW)
* Target-20,000MW by 2022 and 63,000MW by 2032.
* Signed Civil Nuclear Energy Treaty with 9 countries (US, Canada, Russia, France, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, S. Korea, Argentina and Namibia).
Major Issue: Safety and Environment (Sweden, Germany and Japan will discard Nuclear Energy by 2040).
Other sources:
Coal Bed Methane (CBM): 4th largest proven reserved. 33 exploration block- Assam, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, M.P, T.N, Odisha, Rajasthan Production started 0.28mmscmd (million metric standard cubic meters per day).
Gas/Chathrate Hydrates: Methane Gas trapped inside ice in coastal sea, ocean sediments, polar seabed, and permafrost (around 300mt deep in temperate region and nearer in polar region).
Shale Gas: 2012 draft policy for the exploration and exploitation: Shale Gas in India: look before you leap. It is being considered by a group of ministers. India is believed to have technically recoverable resources of 96 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of wet shale gas.
* Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) has identified 6 basins as potentially shale gas bearing: Cambay, Assam-Arakan, Gondwana, Krishna-Godavaari, Kaveri and the Indo-Gangetic basin. MoPNG has signed a MoU with the Deptt.of states USA.
* US geological survey: India has recoverable resources of 6.1 trillion cubic feet (tcf) in 3 of the 26 sedimentary basins.
* ONGC: 34 tcf in Damodar basin alone with 8tcf recoverable (47tcf- total conventional reserves)
* Procedure: hydro-fraction or fracking- horizontal drilling by injecting a mixture of water, chemicals (guar gum), and sand into the well at very high pressures (8000psi-pounds per square inch) to create a no. of fissures in the rock to release the gas. It requires minimum land area of 80-160 acres and 3-4 million gallons per well (11,000 15, 000 cubic mts of water).
* TERI- india will be a water stressed country by 2030, so the result might not be as dynamic as in the US.
* India-waterportal.org: next 15-20 years, consumption of water will increase by 50%, supply by 5-10%; resulting in to the scarcity of water.
* Possibility of contamination of aquifer (both surface and sub-surface) from hydro-fracturing fluid disposal.
Nuclear Fusion: ITER-international thermonuclear experimental reactor, Cadarache, France; started in 2005-07 to be completed by 2018. It has 7 member countries: Japan, China, India, S. Korea, US, Russia and EU. 50MW input power to produce 500MW output.
Renewable Energy: Potential 89,760MW, present installed capacity-28,000MW & plan to double renewable energy generation by 2017.
Small Hydro: less than 25MW, 3496MW installed with potential of 15,000MW.
1. Bio-fuel: 5% (earlier 10%) blending target, Brazil-25%.
* Bio-diesel (mono alkyl esters of long chain fatty acid): jatropha, karanj, Mahua, Soyabean oil
* Ethanol (water soluble alcohol30% oxygen): Bagasse (2239/5000MW), Corn, Sorghum, Potatoes, Wheat, Sugarcane.
2. Solar: Photo Voltaic (363MW) and thermal (800MW) - 1000MW by 2013
* JN National Solar Mission 20,000MW grid connection by 2022.
* Major issue: Gallium, Arsenic, Selenium, Indium and Tellurium getting depleted.
Wind: more than 18,000MW in operation, and total capacity of 49,130MW.
* Rare Earth Elements (REE) use in magnets in Wind Mills is available mainly in China.
Tidal and Wave Energy: ocean currents are the store house of infinite energy. West coast of India is the most favorable region for harnessing this energy.
Geothermal Energy: when the Magma from the interior of earth comes out on the surface, tremendous heat is released. This heat energy can successfully be tapped and converted to electrical energy. Also the hot water that gushes out through the geyser wells is used in the generation of thermal energy. Himalayan region has major potential.
Bio-energy/ Biomass: energy derived from biological products which include agricultural residues, municipal, industrial and other wastes (1200MW/17,000MW).
Waste to Energy (WtE) incineration Okhla 16MW has taken off but yet to connect to Grid, Ghazipur- 10MW, Narela-Bawana 36MW
Ministry of New and Renewable Energys (MNRE) flagship program on energy recovery from urban and industrial waste, announced in May 2011 aimed to generate 84MW of power from waste by providing subsidies upto Rs 10cr to developers.
Negative effect of WtE incineration:
1. WHO: Dioxins are one of the dirty Dozen a group of dangerous chemicals known as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) - potential of causing cancer.
Central Pollution Control Board and Chennai based Non-profit org. Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) revealed life threatening levels of particulates and toxic chemicals including Dioxins which is 30-40 times above permissible level in Okhla, Delhi. Those who live close to incinerator since 2009 are experiencing incidences of cancer and low birth weight.
1. The United States environmental protection agency (USEPA) recognizes incinerators emit 2.5 times more carbon dioxide per MW than coal fired power plants.
2. Cost twice the cost of Nuclear Energy, and incinerator relies heavily on govt. fiscal and financial incentives.
3. US largest WtE company, Covanta, recently announced its plan to conclude operations in the U.K., whereas, the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad announced its plan to construct Indias largest incinerator using Covantas technology. Europe is committed to ending the land-filling and incineration of recyclable waste by 2020. Aiming instead to implement a resource-efficiency strategy that will boost a circular economy; where, all waste is treated as a resource rather than requiring expensive infrastructure to dispose of it.
(Sustainable waste management option; prevent, reuse and recycle).
Alternative: Plasma Gasification of municipal waste.
* Yoshii, Japan 24tonne per day running for decade released less than 1% to that of incineration plants.
* 200 municipal solid waste gasification plants under construction or in operation globally.
* India: Pune & Nagpur, 68 tons each/day commercial plants employing this technology have been disposing of medical and other hazardous wastes.
* British Airway partner Solena (US based bio-fuel co.) to set up plants that will gasify 1300 tons/day of Londons solid waste to use as ATF.
Challenges in power sector: total installed capacity-2, 14, 000MW; Industrial sector-45%, domestic-22%, agriculture-17% and commercial-8.9%); Transmission & Distribution Loss (India-24%, world average-15%, US & EU-4%, China-7%), Power theft (20,000cr annual loss), under pricing and subsidies. The overall power shortage-8.6% and peak shortage of -9%.
Power sector reform:
1. Power discipline: unbundle by amending states electricity act (central electricity act, 2003 amended)
2. Merchant sale of electricity
3. Integrated energy policy 2031-32
4. 1% cut in consumption Rs1000cr saving in the economy.
Initiatives taken in Power Sector:
* 4UMPP, coal-based of 4000MW: Sasan-MP, Mundra-Gujarat: three units of 800MW commissioned in 2012, Krishnapatnam-A.P, TilaiyaJharkhand.
* Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY), 2005: rural electrification program to provide free connection (202lakh achieved by 2012) to BPL household.
* National Grid: inter-regional transmission capacity of 27,750MW connected to Northern, western, eastern and NE region in a synchronous mode operating at the same frequency and same mode with southern region.
* Open Access: buyer to choose supplier & vice-versa at the interstate level is now fully functional, facilitative framework created through the central electricity regulatory commission (CERC), 2008.
* Bachat Lamp Yojana (BLY) Scheme: Replacement of incandescent bulb by CFL (in the long run by LED).
* 11th plan target-62,374MW, achievement: 54,964MW. 12th plan target: 88,537MW.
Other initiatives in energy sector:
* National Energy Fund: 0.1% Cess of turnover in energy products for companies worth Rs100cr.
* National Mission for Enhanced Energy Emission (NMEEE): to save 23 million ton oil equivalent in 5 years.
* Energy Conservation building Code
Energy Security: it means having access to the requisite volumes of energy at affordable prices, i.e., supply must be impervious to disruptions and sufficient quantity must be available in time from variety of sources.
Communication:
1. Telecom: 2nd largest telephone network after China.
National Telecom Policy 2012:
* To secure affordable, reliable and high quality telecom and broadband services across the country.
* One nation-one license across services area.
* One-nation full mobile no. portability and work towards free roaming
* Rural Tele-density from 39- 70% by 2017 and 100% by 2020 (total telephone in 2012-951 connections with 96.7% wireless, urban tele-density-169%, overall- 78.66%)
* Telecom, broadband connectivity as basic necessity and work towards right to broadband.
* Affordable and reliable broadband on demand by 2015 (175mn-2017, 600mn-2020 from 2mbps to 100mbps)
Present status: TRAI begged the total no. of internet subscribers in India as of March 31, 2013 at 164.81 million and broadband penetration-1%; 12mn, 7/8 access internet through mobile, expected to cross 165mn by March 2014. However, comScore put the no. of internet users in India at 74 million. Net users spend the most time on Facebook, followed by LinkedIn and twitter. While the most unique visitors sites is Google, and the most popular site for news is Yahoo.
Broadband policy 2004: 22.8mn internet subscribers including 13.7mn broadband by 2012.
* Substantial transition to new IPv6 by 2020
National Optic Fiber Network (NOFN)-2.5lakh broadband connections to gram panchayat for e-health, e-education, e-governance, funded under universal service obligation fund (USOF)-7310 towers set up by 2012. USOF has also signed an agreement with the BSNL to provide rural wire-line broadband connectivity with a speed of 512Kbps.
Village Public Telephones Scheme has covered 97% of villages.
Two years after the Department of Telecom (DoT) decided to set up a telecom equipment testing lab at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore to address security issues, foreign vendors have now refused to share their design details with the premier academic institute as it could hurt their business interests. This sudden turn of events will now further delay the setting up of a full-fledged Telecom Testing and Security Certification Centre (TTSCC), which should have become fully operational by April 2013. It will also hurt Indias preparedness towards creating the Telecom Security Directorate as mandated by the National Security Council. TTSCC could be established under the DoT.
1. Postal Services: Amongst the largest network in the world in terms of area covered and people served. It has broadly 4 service areas:
2. Communication services letters, post cards
3. Transportation: Parcel logistic post
4. Financial: saving banks, life insurance
5. Premium value added services: speed post, business post, retail post
Project Arrow launched in 2008: IT driven project to modernize the Post Offices to become part of core banking solution and real time banking services, better mail delivery, remittances, insurance, saving, Speed Post-One India One Rate Scheme for just Rs.39 for any consignment weighing up to 50gms (Leasing out land, develop shopping complexes in postal departmental land, etc. are the other initiatives).
Transport: Road, Railways, Waterways and Airways.
Civil Aviation: 15 international airports out of the total 187 airports (manage by the Airport Authority of India, set up in 1994). Construction of airports through PPP: IGI T3 Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Greater Mumbai and Completely Pvt.-Kolkata & Chennai.
* Operators: 15 scheduled operators including 2 regional and 2 cargos, around 419 aircrafts (Directorate General of Civil Aviation).
* 9th largest in the world with 18% CAGR: 142 million passengers (14mn international) - 5% of travelling population, 1.6 million tons of air cargo.
* Worldwide Revenue-$671bn in 2012, just 1% profit, 2013-1.6% (10.6bn), need 7 to 8% profit to cover capital cost.
19111st flight: Allahabad to Naini, 1947 four service providers
1953Nationalized: Domestic-Indian Airlines & Air India International: merged in 2007-70% completed.
1992Open Sky Policy for Cargo
2003Kingfisher (operation operation from 2005-2012: loss making)
2007Jet Airways-Air Sahara; KFA- Air Deccan; merged.
Issues: Aviation Industry - $20bn debt.
* Strict Entry Rules: At least 5 fleet- Rs 50cr, next 2 fleet-2cr paid up capital, International Route: 5years experienced plus 20 fleet, 10% capacity in route II to be employed in route I (need to fly non-profitable route), Route preferences to national carrier (Paris-exclusive for Air India).
* High Excise duty on ATF: 4-40%, costing 45% operating cost (33% world average). Monopolies of the 4 state own suppliers. Import will save 25-30% of the ATF cost.
* Forged Pilot license: 14, and substandard pilot training schools.
* Air India Problems: Rs 5000-7000cr annual losses and 42,000cr since 2006. Retirement age 60years; large expatriate pilots recruited with 40% higher salary. Ordered 50 Boeing (27 Dreamliner 787) & 40 Airbus aircrafts; 6 Boeing 787 delivered on Jan2013 which constitute 4% of AIs total capacity (Delhi-Paris, Frankfurt, 3 domestic and 1 Standby). Indian Pilots Guild-AI employees (440)-Boeing; Indian Commercial Pilots Association-IA employees (700)-Airbus; strike for parity of pay.
* Dreamliner Boeing 787: 210-290 passengers, 16,000km non-stop, 20% more fuel efficient. But due to overheating of brakes, A/C problems, electrical fires, cracked cockpit window, battery malfunction50 dreamliners were grounded globally.
Steps taken:
* Air India: Rs 30,000cr ($6bn) debt restructuring plan.
* DGCA: to phase out Expatriate pilots in 9 months.
* Direct import of ATF & FDI up to 49%: (Jet Airways-Etihad (24%), Air Asia India, Spice Jet- Emirates/ Tiger Airways, Indigo- Qatar Airways).
* Unbundled services: check-in baggage above 15Kg, preferential seats, meals/snacks, carriage of sporting equipment and musical instruments will bear extra charges.
Railways: Introduced in 1853 between Bombay & Thane: 34Km.
* Freight: 1.025billion metric tons in 2012-13 (china, US & Russia), 2011-12: 969mmt. Earnings: 30% passenger tickets and 70% freight.
* Budget 2013-14: Rs 63,363cr (Revenue-Rs.57, 863cr, 2.3% of GDP): 16 zones.
ZonesHQEarnings: passenger %Goods %Total %
NorthernN. Delhi15911
CentralMumbai CST14810
Southern centralSecunderabad8.38.88.7
Northern centralAllahabad6.78.78.1
Broad gauge1.676mt74%
Meter gauge1mt21%
Narrow gauge0.762mt4%
Major Issues:
* Cross-subsidy: Garibh rath/student concession/passand freight charges & upper class ticket set high.
* Competition from other modes of transport: Road-4-6 lane, expressway & golden quadrilateral & waterway- coastal shipping, pipelines, and cheap airplanes.
Steps required:
* Gauge conversion
* Doubling of existing single lanes
* Electrification
* Pvt. Participation in wagon & coach manufacture
* Running Duranto express-long distance train.
Steps initiated:
1. Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC):
Eastern DFC 1839 Km: Dankuni, Kolkata-Ludhiana, Punjab (target-2017, WB-66% funding)
Western DFC 1499Km: JNPT Mumbai- Dadri/Rewari, Delhi-UP (target-2016, Japan International Cooperation Agency-77% funding).
1. Adarsh Station: drinking ware, waiting rooms, dormitories (60/980 stations)
2. Anbhumati Coaches: Latest modern milieu
3. Computerized unreserved ticketing system
4. Kisan Vision Project: Cold storage, temperature controlled perishable cargo centers through PPP
5. Linke Holfmann Bush (LHB): Better riding comfort, speed, longer life, amenities, controlled discharge toilet: implemented in 14 Rajdhanis, 12 Shadabdis, and 11 AC Duranto Coaches.
6. Bio-toilets: 8 trains running with 436 bio-toilets, DRDO to complete it by 2016-17.
7. GPS system & RFID (radio frequency identification device) technology for tracking railway trains.
8. Onboard fire-detection & fire fighting equiptment.
Feasibility study underway:
1. DFC: East-West (Kolkata-Mumbai), North-South (Delhi-Chennai), East Corridor (Kharagpur-Vijayawada), South Corridor (Goa-Chennai), and Chennai-Bangalore freight corridor.
2. High Speed Rail Corridors: 160-200Km/hr; High Speed National Rail Authority (NHSRA) Constituted.
* Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar
* Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad
* Hyderabad-Chennai
* Chennai-Ernakulum
* Howrah-Haldia
* Delhi-Patna
4. Biometric VCD: Drivers Vigilance Telemetry Control System.
Small wrist-watch like device to monitor drivers posture, pulse, etc. constantly. If the driver consumed alcohol and is half asleep in the cabin, station manager would get alarmed and automatically stop the train. Russia has been using for Loco-pilots (train pilots)
1. Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS): Combination of GPS & Radio Frequency
Applies brakes without pilots and avoid collision of human errors, rain, fog, sabotage
(Anti-Collision Device-Raksha Kavach was invented by Rajaram Bojji and patented by Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd).
IR requires Rs.16, 000cr to implement all these steps.
Kakodkar Committee Railway Safety 1lakhcr
Sam Pitroda Committee on modernization of IR 5.6lakhcr
IR Vision 2020: Annual outlay of Rs 1.4lakhcr is required over a decade with estimated annual gross budgetary support of Rs.50, 000cr by the central govt. need to fix the 15,000 unmanned level crossings which is responsible for 40% of the accident in 2011, in the next 5yrs.
Water Ways: Shipping-95% of Indias trade volume and 68% in terms of value.
Seaports: 13 major ports accounted for 74% of the cargo transport (12 govt. & 1 corporate owned-Ennore port), 187 notified intermediate and minor ports. Two new major port being proposed: Sagar in W.B & in A.P to add 100million tones of capacity.
Commodity transport in terms of volume: POL (petroleum, oil & lubricants)> Container Cargo> Other Cargo> Coal.
Inland Waterways:
NW1: Allahabad-Haldia: 1620Km, 1986
NW2: Sadiya- Dhubri: 891Km, 1988
NW3: Kottapuram-Kollam: 205Km, 1991
NW4: Kakinada-Pondicherry: 1095Km, nov.2008
NW5: Talcher-Dhamra(Brahmani river): 623Km, nov.2008
NW6: Lakhipur-Bhanga (River Barak)-target; 1st phase 2016-17 & 2nd phase 2018-19: 121Km, 2013
Road: NH-2% of the total roads NH/Expressways-70,000Km, State Highway-1,54,522Km: National Highway Authority of India (NHAI)
National Highway Development Project (NHDP);
2. Golden quadrilateral: 5846 completed
3. NS-EW: 7142/6053
4. NHDP phase III-VII: 39809/5959
5. Port connectivity: 380/368
6. SARDP-NE: 388/49
7. Other NHs: 1390/964
8. NH34: 5.5/
Total 55,460/19,239 completed till December 2012.
New Initiatives:
* Engineering Procurement & Construction (EPC): contact for far flung areas not viable under BOT (toll). 100% govt. funding-to reduces cost and time overrun.
* Introduction of Radio Frequency Identification (FRID)
* Less than 5hectare areas not to insist on environment clearance by MoEF.
* Select highway projects to private players under Operate, Maintain and Transfer (OMT).
Urban Infrastructure:
JNNURM (65mission cities) was launched for 7yrs, but it has been extended till April 2014. Its sub-components under the Unban Infrastructure and Governance (UIG) include: Urban renewal, water supply, sanitation, sewerage and solid waste management, urban transport, development of heritage areas, and preservation of water bodies. It has also emphasized on 3 key mandatory pro-poor to enhance the capacity of urban local bodies:
1. Internal earmarking within local body budgets for basic services to the urban poor.
2. Earmarking at least 20-25% of developed land in all housing projects (both pvt. & public) for the economically weaker sections/low income groups.
3. Implementation of seven-point charter for provisioning of 7 basic entitlements/services.
The Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT): a sub-component of the JNNURM for development of infrastructure facilities in all towns and cities other than the 65 Mission Cities covered under its UIG sub-mission. So far it has covered 672 towns and cities under UIDSSMT.
Urban Transport: under JNNURM, proposal for Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) have been approved in Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Indore, Jaipur, Pune-Pimpri-Chinchwad, Rajkot, Kolkata, Surat, Vijayawada and Vishakapatnam. Purchase of 15,260 bus have been approved and till nov.2012, more than 12,620 modern intelligent transport system (ITS)-enables low-floor and semi-low-floor buses have been delivered to the states/cities.
Metro Rail Projects: NCR-3rd phase 103.5Km started, Bangalore-42.3Km by dec.2013, Kolkata-14.67Km by 2015, Chennai-46.5Km by 2015, Kochi-25.6Km, Mumbai-42.94Km, Hyderabad-71.16Km and Jaipur-7Km.
Achievements of the govt. in Infrastructure sector in the last few years:
1. Special purpose Vehicle (SPV)
India Infrastructure Finance Company (IIFCL) set up in 2006 for long term projects by providing up to 20% of the project cost both through direct lending to project companies and by refinancing banks and financial institutions. It raised fund both from domestic and international market on the strength of govt.s guarantees. At the end of 12th plan it will become a catalyst for mobilizing resources for financing infrastructure by providing guarantees for bonds issued by private infrastructure companies rather than expanding its direct lending operations. This would enable mobilization of insurance and pension funds, external debt, and household savings.
Infrastructure Debt Fund (IDF): tax free bonds up to Rs.50, 000cr- 1st IDF NBFC set up by ICICI, BoB, CITI, and LIC.
Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF): RIDF-XIX in 2013-14 to Rs.20, 000cr for warehouse, god-own, cold storage, silos
Viability Gap Funding (VGF): 20% cost to be borne by the govt. with a corpus of Rs.2000cr; 13 new projects qualified under VGF-cold chains and post harvest storage, education, health, and skill development, NIMZ, oil/gas/LNG storage facility, irrigation, telecom, infrastructure in agri. Market
PPP: toll, annuity, VGF, Negative grantBOT-expressway, BOO-Mobile tower, BOOT- highway, DBOT (design built operate transfer), DBFO (design built fund operate), BLT (built lease transfer)
WB report- India received almost half of Pvt. Participation in Infrastructure (PPI) since 2006, in developing countries, and 98% of the total regional investment with a total investment of $20.7 billion in 2011. By end dec.-2012, there were 900 PPP projects in infrastructure sector.
Challenges:
* Resources requirement: 47% pvt.; FDI- decline in inflow in the last few years due to regulatory uncertainties, slower growth, and delays in acquisition of land; Long term resources-Banking, Insurance, Pension
* Pricing: subsidy, under-pricing, cross-subsidization
* PPP model: sufficient?
* Govt. inefficient spender
* Dovetailing- Planning Commission
* Apolitical
## ONGC acquisition of Crude oil asset abroad: (Indian companies investment commitment to date in overseas market-$100billion, actual investment-$25billion)
Overseas oil assets dont constitute energy security-neither ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) nor its Chinese counterpart actually brings any significant quantities of oil from any of its overseas assets. Most of OVLs overseas oil production is sold in the local or international markets and the company is compensated in cash payments. Gazprom was nominated the sole export agency for gas exports from Sakhalin. As for gas, OVL does not bring to India even a molecule of gas produced in its own fields in Sakhalin, Vietnam or Myanmar. China fares better in this regard, primarily because it has had the foresight to build transnational gas pipelines. Even in the case of producing fields, equity participation is subject to certain contractual terms with the host government. Sharing equity with other partners as in a consortium or joint venture is also subjected to the terms of the consortium or joint venture agreement or the operating agreement between parties.
August: OVL acquired 10% stake in Mozambique gas field from Anadarko Petroleum Corp of US. It also acquired in June, along with OIL, 10% stake in the same block from Videocon Group, and 2 blocks each in Columbia and Bangladesh.
Types of participation:
Production sharing agreements-usually has an express provision with the host government wherein the foreign investor can take his share of production in kind (ownership of the mineral vests with the host government, except in the U.S. impose Domestic Market Obligations where the operator is required to sell part or all the production to the local market). Sometimes, the domestic market has prior claim and only surpluses can be exported. Certainly OVL can exercise its option to take its profit shareex anteand bring the oil or gas to India wherever it is able to do so.
Service contracts- envisage only a pre-determined fee, not a share in production,
* If the circumstances allow it, OVL can swap its equity oil with other buyers, for example; it can swap Sakhalin/Venezuelan oil with Japan and divert oil bound for Japan from the Persian Gulf region to our ports.
* When international prices of crude/gas reign high, a risk-free asset whose production/development costs are reasonable can make an excellent investment option, provided we have not paid a higher-than-competitive price for acquiring the asset.
References: Indian Economy by Dutt & Sundaram and Ramesh Singh, India year book, Economic Survey, The Hindu, Times of India, Yojan and, Union Budget.
Ringthing Hongchui
Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.
Infrastructure is the basic facilities needed for the functioning of a community or society. In other words, it is the basic physical or organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprises. The 12th 5YP envisaged the investment requirement in infrastructure to the tune of $1trillion, with 47% of this fund coming from the private sector.
1. Physical infrastructure:
* Energy: coal, oil and natural gas, hydro, nuclear and renewable.
* Transport: roadway, railway, airway and waterway.
* Communication: telecom and postal services.
* Urban: transport housing and civic amenities.
2. Social infrastructure: (I will not cover this part)
* Education
* Health
Energy: India will produce 71% of its energy needs domestically by 2016-17, and 69% by 2021-22. The remaining will be met through import.
Integrated energy policy (IEP) 2031-32
Sector2003-04 (%)2031-32 (%)Power generation 2012 (%), total-2,14,000MW
Coal5142-6557 (1, 20,000MW)
Oil3628-330.6 (1,190MW)
Natural gas97-129 (18,900MW)
Hydro23-418.5 (39,3240)
Nuclear15-62.02 (4780)
Renewable5-712.5 (28,000MW)
Coal: Indias reserve as on March, 2012 was 293.5billion tones (40% proven and some 40bn tons proven) & Domestic production-540million tons in 2011-12 (import-100mn tons) need to increased to 795mn tons by 2016-17; even then there will be import need of 185mn tons.
* IEP says present potential to last for 40years.
* Mines & Mineral (development and regulation) bill 2011 for simple and transparent mechanism for granting of mining lease or prospecting license through competitive bidding; Coal forecasting, private participation and captive mining for merchant uses.
* Pricing change from useful heat value (UHV) to Gross Calorific Value (GCV) in 20012 (grade I-VII: 15% ash & moisture content) - mainly Bituminous coal. Need to invest in super-critical boiler technology.
* Liquefaction of coal: gasification to liquefaction (Sasol process in S. Africa and Fischer Tropsch process in Germany).
Oil & Natural Gas: 73% import dependent, 90% import by 2031-32. Indias Refining Capacity 215mmt in 2013, exporting 60.84mmt of petroleum products worth $50bn (20 refineries: 17 public & 3 Pvt.).
Steps taken by the govt.:
* New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP), 1999- 177 oil & N. Gas discoveries in 39 NELP blocks.
* Deregulation of prices: petrol, diesel-dual pricing, L.P.G- 9 cylinders/year, kerosene-direct cash transfer through ADHAAR, underway; import parity pricing system underway.
* Pipeline Network (16 crude pipelines- 106MMT).
* Vision 2015: Piped Natural Gas by re-gasification of Liquefied Natural Gas to 200 cities.
* Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG Vitaran Yojana, 2009- 75% population by 2015 -5.5cr new connections
* Rangarajan formula on gas pricing: KG-D6 gas price to go up to $8.4mbtu from $4.2mbtu by April 2014.
* International effort: India-Oman (1100km) undersea pipeline, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI-1700km) pipeline to transport 3billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.
* Lost opportunities: Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline and India-Bangladesh-Myanmar natural gas pipeline.
(Sweden has declared that they will have nothing to do with oil by 2050).
Hydro: potential of around 1, 45,000MW: environmental, and relief and rehabilitation issues. (157 projects-57,672MW, 38-mega dam with 320MW capacity, 12% free to Arunachal Pradesh).
Nuclear: 20 power plant running 4780MW, two at Kudankulam (2000MW) yet to connect to grid, five under construction (3300MW)
* Target-20,000MW by 2022 and 63,000MW by 2032.
* Signed Civil Nuclear Energy Treaty with 9 countries (US, Canada, Russia, France, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, S. Korea, Argentina and Namibia).
Major Issue: Safety and Environment (Sweden, Germany and Japan will discard Nuclear Energy by 2040).
Other sources:
Coal Bed Methane (CBM): 4th largest proven reserved. 33 exploration block- Assam, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, M.P, T.N, Odisha, Rajasthan Production started 0.28mmscmd (million metric standard cubic meters per day).
Gas/Chathrate Hydrates: Methane Gas trapped inside ice in coastal sea, ocean sediments, polar seabed, and permafrost (around 300mt deep in temperate region and nearer in polar region).
Shale Gas: 2012 draft policy for the exploration and exploitation: Shale Gas in India: look before you leap. It is being considered by a group of ministers. India is believed to have technically recoverable resources of 96 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of wet shale gas.
* Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) has identified 6 basins as potentially shale gas bearing: Cambay, Assam-Arakan, Gondwana, Krishna-Godavaari, Kaveri and the Indo-Gangetic basin. MoPNG has signed a MoU with the Deptt.of states USA.
* US geological survey: India has recoverable resources of 6.1 trillion cubic feet (tcf) in 3 of the 26 sedimentary basins.
* ONGC: 34 tcf in Damodar basin alone with 8tcf recoverable (47tcf- total conventional reserves)
* Procedure: hydro-fraction or fracking- horizontal drilling by injecting a mixture of water, chemicals (guar gum), and sand into the well at very high pressures (8000psi-pounds per square inch) to create a no. of fissures in the rock to release the gas. It requires minimum land area of 80-160 acres and 3-4 million gallons per well (11,000 15, 000 cubic mts of water).
* TERI- india will be a water stressed country by 2030, so the result might not be as dynamic as in the US.
* India-waterportal.org: next 15-20 years, consumption of water will increase by 50%, supply by 5-10%; resulting in to the scarcity of water.
* Possibility of contamination of aquifer (both surface and sub-surface) from hydro-fracturing fluid disposal.
Nuclear Fusion: ITER-international thermonuclear experimental reactor, Cadarache, France; started in 2005-07 to be completed by 2018. It has 7 member countries: Japan, China, India, S. Korea, US, Russia and EU. 50MW input power to produce 500MW output.
Renewable Energy: Potential 89,760MW, present installed capacity-28,000MW & plan to double renewable energy generation by 2017.
Small Hydro: less than 25MW, 3496MW installed with potential of 15,000MW.
1. Bio-fuel: 5% (earlier 10%) blending target, Brazil-25%.
* Bio-diesel (mono alkyl esters of long chain fatty acid): jatropha, karanj, Mahua, Soyabean oil
* Ethanol (water soluble alcohol30% oxygen): Bagasse (2239/5000MW), Corn, Sorghum, Potatoes, Wheat, Sugarcane.
2. Solar: Photo Voltaic (363MW) and thermal (800MW) - 1000MW by 2013
* JN National Solar Mission 20,000MW grid connection by 2022.
* Major issue: Gallium, Arsenic, Selenium, Indium and Tellurium getting depleted.
Wind: more than 18,000MW in operation, and total capacity of 49,130MW.
* Rare Earth Elements (REE) use in magnets in Wind Mills is available mainly in China.
Tidal and Wave Energy: ocean currents are the store house of infinite energy. West coast of India is the most favorable region for harnessing this energy.
Geothermal Energy: when the Magma from the interior of earth comes out on the surface, tremendous heat is released. This heat energy can successfully be tapped and converted to electrical energy. Also the hot water that gushes out through the geyser wells is used in the generation of thermal energy. Himalayan region has major potential.
Bio-energy/ Biomass: energy derived from biological products which include agricultural residues, municipal, industrial and other wastes (1200MW/17,000MW).
Waste to Energy (WtE) incineration Okhla 16MW has taken off but yet to connect to Grid, Ghazipur- 10MW, Narela-Bawana 36MW
Ministry of New and Renewable Energys (MNRE) flagship program on energy recovery from urban and industrial waste, announced in May 2011 aimed to generate 84MW of power from waste by providing subsidies upto Rs 10cr to developers.
Negative effect of WtE incineration:
1. WHO: Dioxins are one of the dirty Dozen a group of dangerous chemicals known as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) - potential of causing cancer.
Central Pollution Control Board and Chennai based Non-profit org. Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) revealed life threatening levels of particulates and toxic chemicals including Dioxins which is 30-40 times above permissible level in Okhla, Delhi. Those who live close to incinerator since 2009 are experiencing incidences of cancer and low birth weight.
1. The United States environmental protection agency (USEPA) recognizes incinerators emit 2.5 times more carbon dioxide per MW than coal fired power plants.
2. Cost twice the cost of Nuclear Energy, and incinerator relies heavily on govt. fiscal and financial incentives.
3. US largest WtE company, Covanta, recently announced its plan to conclude operations in the U.K., whereas, the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad announced its plan to construct Indias largest incinerator using Covantas technology. Europe is committed to ending the land-filling and incineration of recyclable waste by 2020. Aiming instead to implement a resource-efficiency strategy that will boost a circular economy; where, all waste is treated as a resource rather than requiring expensive infrastructure to dispose of it.
(Sustainable waste management option; prevent, reuse and recycle).
Alternative: Plasma Gasification of municipal waste.
* Yoshii, Japan 24tonne per day running for decade released less than 1% to that of incineration plants.
* 200 municipal solid waste gasification plants under construction or in operation globally.
* India: Pune & Nagpur, 68 tons each/day commercial plants employing this technology have been disposing of medical and other hazardous wastes.
* British Airway partner Solena (US based bio-fuel co.) to set up plants that will gasify 1300 tons/day of Londons solid waste to use as ATF.
Challenges in power sector: total installed capacity-2, 14, 000MW; Industrial sector-45%, domestic-22%, agriculture-17% and commercial-8.9%); Transmission & Distribution Loss (India-24%, world average-15%, US & EU-4%, China-7%), Power theft (20,000cr annual loss), under pricing and subsidies. The overall power shortage-8.6% and peak shortage of -9%.
Power sector reform:
1. Power discipline: unbundle by amending states electricity act (central electricity act, 2003 amended)
2. Merchant sale of electricity
3. Integrated energy policy 2031-32
4. 1% cut in consumption Rs1000cr saving in the economy.
Initiatives taken in Power Sector:
* 4UMPP, coal-based of 4000MW: Sasan-MP, Mundra-Gujarat: three units of 800MW commissioned in 2012, Krishnapatnam-A.P, TilaiyaJharkhand.
* Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY), 2005: rural electrification program to provide free connection (202lakh achieved by 2012) to BPL household.
* National Grid: inter-regional transmission capacity of 27,750MW connected to Northern, western, eastern and NE region in a synchronous mode operating at the same frequency and same mode with southern region.
* Open Access: buyer to choose supplier & vice-versa at the interstate level is now fully functional, facilitative framework created through the central electricity regulatory commission (CERC), 2008.
* Bachat Lamp Yojana (BLY) Scheme: Replacement of incandescent bulb by CFL (in the long run by LED).
* 11th plan target-62,374MW, achievement: 54,964MW. 12th plan target: 88,537MW.
Other initiatives in energy sector:
* National Energy Fund: 0.1% Cess of turnover in energy products for companies worth Rs100cr.
* National Mission for Enhanced Energy Emission (NMEEE): to save 23 million ton oil equivalent in 5 years.
* Energy Conservation building Code
Energy Security: it means having access to the requisite volumes of energy at affordable prices, i.e., supply must be impervious to disruptions and sufficient quantity must be available in time from variety of sources.
Communication:
1. Telecom: 2nd largest telephone network after China.
National Telecom Policy 2012:
* To secure affordable, reliable and high quality telecom and broadband services across the country.
* One nation-one license across services area.
* One-nation full mobile no. portability and work towards free roaming
* Rural Tele-density from 39- 70% by 2017 and 100% by 2020 (total telephone in 2012-951 connections with 96.7% wireless, urban tele-density-169%, overall- 78.66%)
* Telecom, broadband connectivity as basic necessity and work towards right to broadband.
* Affordable and reliable broadband on demand by 2015 (175mn-2017, 600mn-2020 from 2mbps to 100mbps)
Present status: TRAI begged the total no. of internet subscribers in India as of March 31, 2013 at 164.81 million and broadband penetration-1%; 12mn, 7/8 access internet through mobile, expected to cross 165mn by March 2014. However, comScore put the no. of internet users in India at 74 million. Net users spend the most time on Facebook, followed by LinkedIn and twitter. While the most unique visitors sites is Google, and the most popular site for news is Yahoo.
Broadband policy 2004: 22.8mn internet subscribers including 13.7mn broadband by 2012.
* Substantial transition to new IPv6 by 2020
National Optic Fiber Network (NOFN)-2.5lakh broadband connections to gram panchayat for e-health, e-education, e-governance, funded under universal service obligation fund (USOF)-7310 towers set up by 2012. USOF has also signed an agreement with the BSNL to provide rural wire-line broadband connectivity with a speed of 512Kbps.
Village Public Telephones Scheme has covered 97% of villages.
Two years after the Department of Telecom (DoT) decided to set up a telecom equipment testing lab at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore to address security issues, foreign vendors have now refused to share their design details with the premier academic institute as it could hurt their business interests. This sudden turn of events will now further delay the setting up of a full-fledged Telecom Testing and Security Certification Centre (TTSCC), which should have become fully operational by April 2013. It will also hurt Indias preparedness towards creating the Telecom Security Directorate as mandated by the National Security Council. TTSCC could be established under the DoT.
1. Postal Services: Amongst the largest network in the world in terms of area covered and people served. It has broadly 4 service areas:
2. Communication services letters, post cards
3. Transportation: Parcel logistic post
4. Financial: saving banks, life insurance
5. Premium value added services: speed post, business post, retail post
Project Arrow launched in 2008: IT driven project to modernize the Post Offices to become part of core banking solution and real time banking services, better mail delivery, remittances, insurance, saving, Speed Post-One India One Rate Scheme for just Rs.39 for any consignment weighing up to 50gms (Leasing out land, develop shopping complexes in postal departmental land, etc. are the other initiatives).
Transport: Road, Railways, Waterways and Airways.
Civil Aviation: 15 international airports out of the total 187 airports (manage by the Airport Authority of India, set up in 1994). Construction of airports through PPP: IGI T3 Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Greater Mumbai and Completely Pvt.-Kolkata & Chennai.
* Operators: 15 scheduled operators including 2 regional and 2 cargos, around 419 aircrafts (Directorate General of Civil Aviation).
* 9th largest in the world with 18% CAGR: 142 million passengers (14mn international) - 5% of travelling population, 1.6 million tons of air cargo.
* Worldwide Revenue-$671bn in 2012, just 1% profit, 2013-1.6% (10.6bn), need 7 to 8% profit to cover capital cost.
19111st flight: Allahabad to Naini, 1947 four service providers
1953Nationalized: Domestic-Indian Airlines & Air India International: merged in 2007-70% completed.
1992Open Sky Policy for Cargo
2003Kingfisher (operation operation from 2005-2012: loss making)
2007Jet Airways-Air Sahara; KFA- Air Deccan; merged.
Issues: Aviation Industry - $20bn debt.
* Strict Entry Rules: At least 5 fleet- Rs 50cr, next 2 fleet-2cr paid up capital, International Route: 5years experienced plus 20 fleet, 10% capacity in route II to be employed in route I (need to fly non-profitable route), Route preferences to national carrier (Paris-exclusive for Air India).
* High Excise duty on ATF: 4-40%, costing 45% operating cost (33% world average). Monopolies of the 4 state own suppliers. Import will save 25-30% of the ATF cost.
* Forged Pilot license: 14, and substandard pilot training schools.
* Air India Problems: Rs 5000-7000cr annual losses and 42,000cr since 2006. Retirement age 60years; large expatriate pilots recruited with 40% higher salary. Ordered 50 Boeing (27 Dreamliner 787) & 40 Airbus aircrafts; 6 Boeing 787 delivered on Jan2013 which constitute 4% of AIs total capacity (Delhi-Paris, Frankfurt, 3 domestic and 1 Standby). Indian Pilots Guild-AI employees (440)-Boeing; Indian Commercial Pilots Association-IA employees (700)-Airbus; strike for parity of pay.
* Dreamliner Boeing 787: 210-290 passengers, 16,000km non-stop, 20% more fuel efficient. But due to overheating of brakes, A/C problems, electrical fires, cracked cockpit window, battery malfunction50 dreamliners were grounded globally.
Steps taken:
* Air India: Rs 30,000cr ($6bn) debt restructuring plan.
* DGCA: to phase out Expatriate pilots in 9 months.
* Direct import of ATF & FDI up to 49%: (Jet Airways-Etihad (24%), Air Asia India, Spice Jet- Emirates/ Tiger Airways, Indigo- Qatar Airways).
* Unbundled services: check-in baggage above 15Kg, preferential seats, meals/snacks, carriage of sporting equipment and musical instruments will bear extra charges.
Railways: Introduced in 1853 between Bombay & Thane: 34Km.
* Freight: 1.025billion metric tons in 2012-13 (china, US & Russia), 2011-12: 969mmt. Earnings: 30% passenger tickets and 70% freight.
* Budget 2013-14: Rs 63,363cr (Revenue-Rs.57, 863cr, 2.3% of GDP): 16 zones.
ZonesHQEarnings: passenger %Goods %Total %
NorthernN. Delhi15911
CentralMumbai CST14810
Southern centralSecunderabad8.38.88.7
Northern centralAllahabad6.78.78.1
Broad gauge1.676mt74%
Meter gauge1mt21%
Narrow gauge0.762mt4%
Major Issues:
* Cross-subsidy: Garibh rath/student concession/passand freight charges & upper class ticket set high.
* Competition from other modes of transport: Road-4-6 lane, expressway & golden quadrilateral & waterway- coastal shipping, pipelines, and cheap airplanes.
Steps required:
* Gauge conversion
* Doubling of existing single lanes
* Electrification
* Pvt. Participation in wagon & coach manufacture
* Running Duranto express-long distance train.
Steps initiated:
1. Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC):
Eastern DFC 1839 Km: Dankuni, Kolkata-Ludhiana, Punjab (target-2017, WB-66% funding)
Western DFC 1499Km: JNPT Mumbai- Dadri/Rewari, Delhi-UP (target-2016, Japan International Cooperation Agency-77% funding).
1. Adarsh Station: drinking ware, waiting rooms, dormitories (60/980 stations)
2. Anbhumati Coaches: Latest modern milieu
3. Computerized unreserved ticketing system
4. Kisan Vision Project: Cold storage, temperature controlled perishable cargo centers through PPP
5. Linke Holfmann Bush (LHB): Better riding comfort, speed, longer life, amenities, controlled discharge toilet: implemented in 14 Rajdhanis, 12 Shadabdis, and 11 AC Duranto Coaches.
6. Bio-toilets: 8 trains running with 436 bio-toilets, DRDO to complete it by 2016-17.
7. GPS system & RFID (radio frequency identification device) technology for tracking railway trains.
8. Onboard fire-detection & fire fighting equiptment.
Feasibility study underway:
1. DFC: East-West (Kolkata-Mumbai), North-South (Delhi-Chennai), East Corridor (Kharagpur-Vijayawada), South Corridor (Goa-Chennai), and Chennai-Bangalore freight corridor.
2. High Speed Rail Corridors: 160-200Km/hr; High Speed National Rail Authority (NHSRA) Constituted.
* Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar
* Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad
* Hyderabad-Chennai
* Chennai-Ernakulum
* Howrah-Haldia
* Delhi-Patna
4. Biometric VCD: Drivers Vigilance Telemetry Control System.
Small wrist-watch like device to monitor drivers posture, pulse, etc. constantly. If the driver consumed alcohol and is half asleep in the cabin, station manager would get alarmed and automatically stop the train. Russia has been using for Loco-pilots (train pilots)
1. Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS): Combination of GPS & Radio Frequency
Applies brakes without pilots and avoid collision of human errors, rain, fog, sabotage
(Anti-Collision Device-Raksha Kavach was invented by Rajaram Bojji and patented by Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd).
IR requires Rs.16, 000cr to implement all these steps.
Kakodkar Committee Railway Safety 1lakhcr
Sam Pitroda Committee on modernization of IR 5.6lakhcr
IR Vision 2020: Annual outlay of Rs 1.4lakhcr is required over a decade with estimated annual gross budgetary support of Rs.50, 000cr by the central govt. need to fix the 15,000 unmanned level crossings which is responsible for 40% of the accident in 2011, in the next 5yrs.
Water Ways: Shipping-95% of Indias trade volume and 68% in terms of value.
Seaports: 13 major ports accounted for 74% of the cargo transport (12 govt. & 1 corporate owned-Ennore port), 187 notified intermediate and minor ports. Two new major port being proposed: Sagar in W.B & in A.P to add 100million tones of capacity.
Commodity transport in terms of volume: POL (petroleum, oil & lubricants)> Container Cargo> Other Cargo> Coal.
Inland Waterways:
NW1: Allahabad-Haldia: 1620Km, 1986
NW2: Sadiya- Dhubri: 891Km, 1988
NW3: Kottapuram-Kollam: 205Km, 1991
NW4: Kakinada-Pondicherry: 1095Km, nov.2008
NW5: Talcher-Dhamra(Brahmani river): 623Km, nov.2008
NW6: Lakhipur-Bhanga (River Barak)-target; 1st phase 2016-17 & 2nd phase 2018-19: 121Km, 2013
Road: NH-2% of the total roads NH/Expressways-70,000Km, State Highway-1,54,522Km: National Highway Authority of India (NHAI)
National Highway Development Project (NHDP);
2. Golden quadrilateral: 5846 completed
3. NS-EW: 7142/6053
4. NHDP phase III-VII: 39809/5959
5. Port connectivity: 380/368
6. SARDP-NE: 388/49
7. Other NHs: 1390/964
8. NH34: 5.5/
Total 55,460/19,239 completed till December 2012.
New Initiatives:
* Engineering Procurement & Construction (EPC): contact for far flung areas not viable under BOT (toll). 100% govt. funding-to reduces cost and time overrun.
* Introduction of Radio Frequency Identification (FRID)
* Less than 5hectare areas not to insist on environment clearance by MoEF.
* Select highway projects to private players under Operate, Maintain and Transfer (OMT).
Urban Infrastructure:
JNNURM (65mission cities) was launched for 7yrs, but it has been extended till April 2014. Its sub-components under the Unban Infrastructure and Governance (UIG) include: Urban renewal, water supply, sanitation, sewerage and solid waste management, urban transport, development of heritage areas, and preservation of water bodies. It has also emphasized on 3 key mandatory pro-poor to enhance the capacity of urban local bodies:
1. Internal earmarking within local body budgets for basic services to the urban poor.
2. Earmarking at least 20-25% of developed land in all housing projects (both pvt. & public) for the economically weaker sections/low income groups.
3. Implementation of seven-point charter for provisioning of 7 basic entitlements/services.
The Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT): a sub-component of the JNNURM for development of infrastructure facilities in all towns and cities other than the 65 Mission Cities covered under its UIG sub-mission. So far it has covered 672 towns and cities under UIDSSMT.
Urban Transport: under JNNURM, proposal for Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) have been approved in Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Indore, Jaipur, Pune-Pimpri-Chinchwad, Rajkot, Kolkata, Surat, Vijayawada and Vishakapatnam. Purchase of 15,260 bus have been approved and till nov.2012, more than 12,620 modern intelligent transport system (ITS)-enables low-floor and semi-low-floor buses have been delivered to the states/cities.
Metro Rail Projects: NCR-3rd phase 103.5Km started, Bangalore-42.3Km by dec.2013, Kolkata-14.67Km by 2015, Chennai-46.5Km by 2015, Kochi-25.6Km, Mumbai-42.94Km, Hyderabad-71.16Km and Jaipur-7Km.
Achievements of the govt. in Infrastructure sector in the last few years:
1. Special purpose Vehicle (SPV)
India Infrastructure Finance Company (IIFCL) set up in 2006 for long term projects by providing up to 20% of the project cost both through direct lending to project companies and by refinancing banks and financial institutions. It raised fund both from domestic and international market on the strength of govt.s guarantees. At the end of 12th plan it will become a catalyst for mobilizing resources for financing infrastructure by providing guarantees for bonds issued by private infrastructure companies rather than expanding its direct lending operations. This would enable mobilization of insurance and pension funds, external debt, and household savings.
Infrastructure Debt Fund (IDF): tax free bonds up to Rs.50, 000cr- 1st IDF NBFC set up by ICICI, BoB, CITI, and LIC.
Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF): RIDF-XIX in 2013-14 to Rs.20, 000cr for warehouse, god-own, cold storage, silos
Viability Gap Funding (VGF): 20% cost to be borne by the govt. with a corpus of Rs.2000cr; 13 new projects qualified under VGF-cold chains and post harvest storage, education, health, and skill development, NIMZ, oil/gas/LNG storage facility, irrigation, telecom, infrastructure in agri. Market
PPP: toll, annuity, VGF, Negative grantBOT-expressway, BOO-Mobile tower, BOOT- highway, DBOT (design built operate transfer), DBFO (design built fund operate), BLT (built lease transfer)
WB report- India received almost half of Pvt. Participation in Infrastructure (PPI) since 2006, in developing countries, and 98% of the total regional investment with a total investment of $20.7 billion in 2011. By end dec.-2012, there were 900 PPP projects in infrastructure sector.
Challenges:
* Resources requirement: 47% pvt.; FDI- decline in inflow in the last few years due to regulatory uncertainties, slower growth, and delays in acquisition of land; Long term resources-Banking, Insurance, Pension
* Pricing: subsidy, under-pricing, cross-subsidization
* PPP model: sufficient?
* Govt. inefficient spender
* Dovetailing- Planning Commission
* Apolitical
## ONGC acquisition of Crude oil asset abroad: (Indian companies investment commitment to date in overseas market-$100billion, actual investment-$25billion)
Overseas oil assets dont constitute energy security-neither ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) nor its Chinese counterpart actually brings any significant quantities of oil from any of its overseas assets. Most of OVLs overseas oil production is sold in the local or international markets and the company is compensated in cash payments. Gazprom was nominated the sole export agency for gas exports from Sakhalin. As for gas, OVL does not bring to India even a molecule of gas produced in its own fields in Sakhalin, Vietnam or Myanmar. China fares better in this regard, primarily because it has had the foresight to build transnational gas pipelines. Even in the case of producing fields, equity participation is subject to certain contractual terms with the host government. Sharing equity with other partners as in a consortium or joint venture is also subjected to the terms of the consortium or joint venture agreement or the operating agreement between parties.
August: OVL acquired 10% stake in Mozambique gas field from Anadarko Petroleum Corp of US. It also acquired in June, along with OIL, 10% stake in the same block from Videocon Group, and 2 blocks each in Columbia and Bangladesh.
Types of participation:
Production sharing agreements-usually has an express provision with the host government wherein the foreign investor can take his share of production in kind (ownership of the mineral vests with the host government, except in the U.S. impose Domestic Market Obligations where the operator is required to sell part or all the production to the local market). Sometimes, the domestic market has prior claim and only surpluses can be exported. Certainly OVL can exercise its option to take its profit shareex anteand bring the oil or gas to India wherever it is able to do so.
Service contracts- envisage only a pre-determined fee, not a share in production,
* If the circumstances allow it, OVL can swap its equity oil with other buyers, for example; it can swap Sakhalin/Venezuelan oil with Japan and divert oil bound for Japan from the Persian Gulf region to our ports.
* When international prices of crude/gas reign high, a risk-free asset whose production/development costs are reasonable can make an excellent investment option, provided we have not paid a higher-than-competitive price for acquiring the asset.
References: Indian Economy by Dutt & Sundaram and Ramesh Singh, India year book, Economic Survey, The Hindu, Times of India, Yojan and, Union Budget.
Ringthing Hongchui
E-WASTE
E-WASTE
IMPORTANT POINTS TO REMEMBER
THE LEGISLATION
The E-Waste (Management &Handling) Rules, 2011 advocates extended producer responsibility(EPR),putting the responsibility of disposing a product on its original producer, no matter how many times the product changed hands. According to the guidelines, all manufacturers of electronics, distributors, bulk consumers and enterprises are liable to set up waste collection centers. States pollution regulatory bodies are tasked with ensuring that norms are followed. According to rules, states pollution control boards were required to undertake inventorisation of e-waste.
E-WASTE SCARE
* A united nations Environment programme report, Recycling from e-waste to resources, predicted that by 2020,indias e-waste from old computers will jump 500% from what it was in 2007.
* An ASSOCHAM study released last year said that barely 4.5% of indias e-waste gets recycled. Growing at a compounded annual growth rate of about 20% , India generates more than 4.4 lakh tons of e-waste.
* 2010 report by the centre for science and environment said India generates 3,50,000 tonnes of electronics waste every year and imports another 50,000 tonnes. Only 19,000 tonnes of this is recycled.
* The western region generates 1/3rd of e-waste in India, with Mumbai topping the list with the maximum e-waste generated (around 10%).
* As per country level Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment assessment study. Mumbai and pune falls under the top ten cities that are generating maximum quantities and Mumbai alone generates maximum among all.
* The annual report of MoEF released in mid-2012 said that India would have generated a 8 lakh tones of e-waste up eight times in the past seven years by December 2012.
HARMFUL ELEMENTS
* E-waste Contains toxic substances like lead and cadmium in circuit boards; lead oxide and cadmium in moniter cathode ray tubes; mercury in switches and flats screen monitors; cadmium in computer batteries; polychlorinated biphenyls(pcbs) in older capacitors and transformers; and brominated flame retardents on PCB, plastic casing, cables and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) cable insulation that release highly toxic dioxins and furans when burned to retrieve copper from the wire.
* Antimony(Sb)- Exposure to high levels can lead to severe skin problems
* Cadmium(Cd)- Long term exposure can damage the kidneys and bone structure.
* Lead(Pb)- When built up, can have irreversible effects on the nervous system, particularly in children.
* Polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs)- They can cause suppression of the immune system, liver damage, damage to the nervous system and reproductive organs and behavioral changes.
* Triphenyl phosphate(TPP)-It is a strong inhibiter of key enzyme system in blood.
* Mercury-It can damage the brain and kidneys ,as well as fetuses.
-REPORT ON ASSESSMENT OF ELECTRONIC WASTES
CASE STUDY
Mumbai is sitting on a time bomb. Last few years have pegged the city as the countrys largest generator of electronic waste(e-waste). Making its way through the un-organised network of kabadiwallahs this waste lies in an evergrowing pile at deonar land-fill. Unknown to many, this e-waste has serious environmental implications, its toxic lead, cadmium, mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) releasing toxins slowly into groundwater and, when incinerated, into the air.
In 2011, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) introduced the E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules, which put the onus of proper disposal of e-waste on producers and consumers. The rules hope to curb the dangerous increase in e-waste generation and answer a critical question: How do we protect ourselves from the 8 lakh tonnes of e-waste generated in India annually?
The Players
According to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) records, India has 71 registered recycling centres meant to do just that. Mumbai has 17 dismantlers/ recyclers listed on the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) site.
The e-waste recycling process at companies is similar. For instance, say a laptop has been given away to be recycled. Its parts are checked to see if they can be refurbished and reused. Unusable parts are dismantled and segregated ferrous and non-ferrous metals, plastic, glass, paper.
The difference between recycling and dismantling companies lies at this end of e-waste processing - recyclers are able to reuse the materials obtained, dismantlers have to send them to recycling companies. The collected hazardous waste is then sent to a government hazardous waste treatment facility. Precious metals recovered are sold in the commodities market. Delhi-based Attero is the only company in India that can extract precious metals from e-waste.
E-waste is the richest waste available at our disposal, yet not many have even heard of it, says BK Soni, who is part of a seven-member team set up by the MPCB to look into waste management. Soni is also the founder of Ecoreco, an eco-recycling company that started handling e-waste in 2007.Everything is done in an eco-friendly manner, without the use of chemicals or incinerators, says Soni. Ecoreco, whose focus is corporates and has a client list that includes Infosys, Mahindra, and Wipro, recycles about 4,000 metric tonnes of e-waste every year at its factory in Vasai.
In 2010, Karan Thakkar registered his company EcoCentric as a dismantler. His company has two e-waste collection bins at Express Towers at Nariman Point and NM College, Vile Parle. I want to focus on the first layer of e-waste disposal which is collection and the one area that is solely lacking, says Thakkar, who hopes to introduce collection points across the country. EcoCentric also focuses on corporates and has seen a four-fold increase in the number of corporates approaching them, ever since the E-waste Rules, 2011 got implemented in 2012.
One of the biggest fears people have about getting their e-waste recycled is disposal of data. We use a degausser which erases the magnetic field (information) stored on a magnetic drive, says Gaurav Mardia, founder of E-incarnation Recycling. Other companies use a software, or a hammer or shredder to destroy the magnetic drive. Mardias company has managed to dismantle 300 tonnes of e-waste at his Tarapur factory. Ninety-nine per cent of the e-waste that comes in can be converted to raw material, he adds.
Problems
The main challenge is to responsible e-waste management is two-fold: rules and guidelines are lacking, and awareness is missing too.
Theres been no national survey to check on progress. There are no national registries so it is difficult to hold producers accountable so how can they be fined? There is no sense on who are the players, what are the quantities being sold. We need a system to move waste in an efficient manner, says Satish Sinha, associate director at Toxics Link, an environmental NGO.
Sinha and his team were responsible for pushing for the e-waste legislation. The rules have serious loopholes: they fail to prevent other countries dumping their e-waste in India, they dont include details of environment-friendly technology to be used while disposing of e-waste, they do not mention the number of collection points, number of authorised recyclers required in cities or the amount of waste to be collected and disposed. A study conducted by Toxics Link, E-waste Management in India - Role of State Agencies , found that most states have failed to implement the e-waste rules. In addition, theres an absence of any public information related to e-waste on the websites of most (15 of the 35) pollution controls boards. Few companies have been given permission to recycle and the market has more informal than formal players. Most people arent aware of e-waste facilities and even if they are, they arent convinced enough to use their services. The kabadiwallah, after all, gives more money per item.
In the case of e-waste recycling companies, most cant afford to pay. EcoCentric offers around Rs10 per kg, E-incarnation has free pick-ups but doesnt pay.
Ecoreco pays depending on the quantity, quality and distance. As picking up the e-waste and transferring it to a factory is a huge cost, these companies naturally prefer corporate clients who give in bulk and are usually based in one location.
The need of the hour is devising means of getting the public interested in e-waste recycling. Companies such as Attero have incentives to engage consumers in handling their e-waste and are working with schools, NGOs and colleges. Consumers are getting more aware but it is happening very slowly, says Rohan Gupta, COO, Attero.
The government cant do everything, says Soni. The change has to come at the top. People need to start worrying about the environment.
Recent- There is the current news that in china for recycling e-waste they have kept ATM like machine where people can give there mobiles phones instead of money. So its very useful in india as you know some manufactures have reduced the price of mobile phones drastically so in general generating more e-waste. Because there value decreases by time. So in the near future it will be the need of an hour.
Name:Ketan R. Gawade
References: newspaper and google
IMPORTANT POINTS TO REMEMBER
THE LEGISLATION
The E-Waste (Management &Handling) Rules, 2011 advocates extended producer responsibility(EPR),putting the responsibility of disposing a product on its original producer, no matter how many times the product changed hands. According to the guidelines, all manufacturers of electronics, distributors, bulk consumers and enterprises are liable to set up waste collection centers. States pollution regulatory bodies are tasked with ensuring that norms are followed. According to rules, states pollution control boards were required to undertake inventorisation of e-waste.
E-WASTE SCARE
* A united nations Environment programme report, Recycling from e-waste to resources, predicted that by 2020,indias e-waste from old computers will jump 500% from what it was in 2007.
* An ASSOCHAM study released last year said that barely 4.5% of indias e-waste gets recycled. Growing at a compounded annual growth rate of about 20% , India generates more than 4.4 lakh tons of e-waste.
* 2010 report by the centre for science and environment said India generates 3,50,000 tonnes of electronics waste every year and imports another 50,000 tonnes. Only 19,000 tonnes of this is recycled.
* The western region generates 1/3rd of e-waste in India, with Mumbai topping the list with the maximum e-waste generated (around 10%).
* As per country level Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment assessment study. Mumbai and pune falls under the top ten cities that are generating maximum quantities and Mumbai alone generates maximum among all.
* The annual report of MoEF released in mid-2012 said that India would have generated a 8 lakh tones of e-waste up eight times in the past seven years by December 2012.
HARMFUL ELEMENTS
* E-waste Contains toxic substances like lead and cadmium in circuit boards; lead oxide and cadmium in moniter cathode ray tubes; mercury in switches and flats screen monitors; cadmium in computer batteries; polychlorinated biphenyls(pcbs) in older capacitors and transformers; and brominated flame retardents on PCB, plastic casing, cables and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) cable insulation that release highly toxic dioxins and furans when burned to retrieve copper from the wire.
* Antimony(Sb)- Exposure to high levels can lead to severe skin problems
* Cadmium(Cd)- Long term exposure can damage the kidneys and bone structure.
* Lead(Pb)- When built up, can have irreversible effects on the nervous system, particularly in children.
* Polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs)- They can cause suppression of the immune system, liver damage, damage to the nervous system and reproductive organs and behavioral changes.
* Triphenyl phosphate(TPP)-It is a strong inhibiter of key enzyme system in blood.
* Mercury-It can damage the brain and kidneys ,as well as fetuses.
-REPORT ON ASSESSMENT OF ELECTRONIC WASTES
CASE STUDY
Mumbai is sitting on a time bomb. Last few years have pegged the city as the countrys largest generator of electronic waste(e-waste). Making its way through the un-organised network of kabadiwallahs this waste lies in an evergrowing pile at deonar land-fill. Unknown to many, this e-waste has serious environmental implications, its toxic lead, cadmium, mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) releasing toxins slowly into groundwater and, when incinerated, into the air.
In 2011, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) introduced the E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules, which put the onus of proper disposal of e-waste on producers and consumers. The rules hope to curb the dangerous increase in e-waste generation and answer a critical question: How do we protect ourselves from the 8 lakh tonnes of e-waste generated in India annually?
The Players
According to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) records, India has 71 registered recycling centres meant to do just that. Mumbai has 17 dismantlers/ recyclers listed on the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) site.
The e-waste recycling process at companies is similar. For instance, say a laptop has been given away to be recycled. Its parts are checked to see if they can be refurbished and reused. Unusable parts are dismantled and segregated ferrous and non-ferrous metals, plastic, glass, paper.
The difference between recycling and dismantling companies lies at this end of e-waste processing - recyclers are able to reuse the materials obtained, dismantlers have to send them to recycling companies. The collected hazardous waste is then sent to a government hazardous waste treatment facility. Precious metals recovered are sold in the commodities market. Delhi-based Attero is the only company in India that can extract precious metals from e-waste.
E-waste is the richest waste available at our disposal, yet not many have even heard of it, says BK Soni, who is part of a seven-member team set up by the MPCB to look into waste management. Soni is also the founder of Ecoreco, an eco-recycling company that started handling e-waste in 2007.Everything is done in an eco-friendly manner, without the use of chemicals or incinerators, says Soni. Ecoreco, whose focus is corporates and has a client list that includes Infosys, Mahindra, and Wipro, recycles about 4,000 metric tonnes of e-waste every year at its factory in Vasai.
In 2010, Karan Thakkar registered his company EcoCentric as a dismantler. His company has two e-waste collection bins at Express Towers at Nariman Point and NM College, Vile Parle. I want to focus on the first layer of e-waste disposal which is collection and the one area that is solely lacking, says Thakkar, who hopes to introduce collection points across the country. EcoCentric also focuses on corporates and has seen a four-fold increase in the number of corporates approaching them, ever since the E-waste Rules, 2011 got implemented in 2012.
One of the biggest fears people have about getting their e-waste recycled is disposal of data. We use a degausser which erases the magnetic field (information) stored on a magnetic drive, says Gaurav Mardia, founder of E-incarnation Recycling. Other companies use a software, or a hammer or shredder to destroy the magnetic drive. Mardias company has managed to dismantle 300 tonnes of e-waste at his Tarapur factory. Ninety-nine per cent of the e-waste that comes in can be converted to raw material, he adds.
Problems
The main challenge is to responsible e-waste management is two-fold: rules and guidelines are lacking, and awareness is missing too.
Theres been no national survey to check on progress. There are no national registries so it is difficult to hold producers accountable so how can they be fined? There is no sense on who are the players, what are the quantities being sold. We need a system to move waste in an efficient manner, says Satish Sinha, associate director at Toxics Link, an environmental NGO.
Sinha and his team were responsible for pushing for the e-waste legislation. The rules have serious loopholes: they fail to prevent other countries dumping their e-waste in India, they dont include details of environment-friendly technology to be used while disposing of e-waste, they do not mention the number of collection points, number of authorised recyclers required in cities or the amount of waste to be collected and disposed. A study conducted by Toxics Link, E-waste Management in India - Role of State Agencies , found that most states have failed to implement the e-waste rules. In addition, theres an absence of any public information related to e-waste on the websites of most (15 of the 35) pollution controls boards. Few companies have been given permission to recycle and the market has more informal than formal players. Most people arent aware of e-waste facilities and even if they are, they arent convinced enough to use their services. The kabadiwallah, after all, gives more money per item.
In the case of e-waste recycling companies, most cant afford to pay. EcoCentric offers around Rs10 per kg, E-incarnation has free pick-ups but doesnt pay.
Ecoreco pays depending on the quantity, quality and distance. As picking up the e-waste and transferring it to a factory is a huge cost, these companies naturally prefer corporate clients who give in bulk and are usually based in one location.
The need of the hour is devising means of getting the public interested in e-waste recycling. Companies such as Attero have incentives to engage consumers in handling their e-waste and are working with schools, NGOs and colleges. Consumers are getting more aware but it is happening very slowly, says Rohan Gupta, COO, Attero.
The government cant do everything, says Soni. The change has to come at the top. People need to start worrying about the environment.
Recent- There is the current news that in china for recycling e-waste they have kept ATM like machine where people can give there mobiles phones instead of money. So its very useful in india as you know some manufactures have reduced the price of mobile phones drastically so in general generating more e-waste. Because there value decreases by time. So in the near future it will be the need of an hour.
Name:Ketan R. Gawade
References: newspaper and google
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