Reliance Power today said the first 660 MW unit of its Sasan ultra mega power project, in Madhya Pradesh, has been commissioned.

“The first 660 MW unit at the Sasan Ultra Mega Power Plant has been successfully synchronised on March 9, 2013,” a company statement said.
The first unit would start commercial operations or selling of electricity from the plant in the next fortnight. This is Reliance Power's first UMPP with an estimated investment of over Rs 20,000 crore. The project was awarded to the company in 2007.

Accused of supplying sub-standard coal at high prices, the country’s largest coal producer, Coal India (CIL), is planning to make third-party inspection of coal samples mandatory for all future fuel supply agreements (FSAs) with the user industries in the power, steel and cement sectors.

Sources privy to the development told FE that the move would restrain companies from levelling accusations against the coal PSU as the tests on coal samples would be undertaken by an independent agency whose selection would be mutually decided by CIL and the user companies.

A unique initiative started by the government is helping women from as far as Latin America and Africa light up their lives and homes. Barefoot Solar Engineers, a government initiative, teaches semi-literate and illiterate rural poor women to harness solar energy through the construction of photovoltaic systems and solar-powered lanterns.

The women are being trained under the ministry of external affairs' very successful Solar Engineer Plan as part of its India Technical Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme at Rajasthan’s Tilonia. The Barefoot College, a grassroots movement , was adopted as a training institute in 2008.

India is set to join a select group of countries having a specialised agency mapping its shale gas potential. A proposal to this effect has already been worked out by the oil ministry. The proposed agency will fall under the central government. It will have the mandate to map the presence of shale gas across various states in the Gangetic plain, Assam, Rajasthan and many coastal areas.

The agency will conduct studies on the basis of geological, geophysical and geochemical aspects of shale gas exploration, micro-seismic imaging, drilling, completion and production technologies and environmental hazards in shale gas exploitation.

Work on underpasses to create long-term assets

The UPA government's flagship social sector programme — the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) — will now be able to create permanent infrastructure assets, giving the seven-year-old scheme providing livelihood to almost 5 crore families annually an altogether new direction. The rural development ministry has decided to include building railway underpasses under the ambit of NREGS. An official announcement is expected shortly.

About 30% of people in India were below the poverty line in 2009-10 that was based on the monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) of R673 for rural areas and R860 for urban areas, Parliament was informed today.

“As per the latest available information, the poverty line at all India level for 2009-10 is estimated as MPCE of R673 for rural areas and R860 for urban areas. The percentage of people living below poverty line in the country in 2009-10 has been estimated at 29.8 per cent,” minister of State for Parliamentary affairs and planning Rajeev Shukla told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

Policy on CBM in a week, shale in a fortnight

After unleashing a frontal attack on subsidies and increasing the pricing freedom of oil companies, the government is set to unwrap key policy initiatives this month with a view to augmenting the country’s energy security. These include a new policy to attract investors to shale gas — a relatively new energy source successfully tapped by the US and Canada — and a potentially more remunerative regime for investors in coal bed methane (CBM) blocks.

As many as 99% of rural households had two square meals everyday througout the year in 2009-10, registering a gradual increase from 94.5% in 1993-94, according to a report by the National Sample Su

Private mining giants like Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and others likely to partner with Coal India under a new public-private partnership (PPP) model in the works won’t have any ownership rights in th

Coal India Limited (CIL) has strongly defended its position on the allegation of “abuse of dominance” levelled by Maharshtra State Power Generation Company (Mahagenco) and the Association of Power