Many a slip between planning, commissioning
Minister for Road Transport and Highways Kamal Nath called the Plan panel an “armchair advisor”, the outburst only reflected the growing resentment towards the Plan panel for creating bottlenecks in quick award of projects.

In some sense it is good that the Planning Commission (PC) and the Minister for Road Transport and Highways Mr. Kamal Nath have taken adversarial positions. The Planning Commission in its current avatar is performing an important role of guiding policy and thereby putting in some checks and balances that are very important in a democratic set up. What lies behind this is the unease of the Ministry with the stringent conditions laid down by the PC in the Model Concession Agreements for the award of the road projects. Some of the issues may be reasonable and can be debated, altered (some of them have already been) and not be reduced to public bickering.
However, it is important for people of our country to know the reason why the PC is taking this apparently intransigent position. The PC is wary about the manner in which the concessions are being granted by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The PC’s apprehension stems from the fact that projects with inflated stated costs are being granted on a cost plus basis with assured annuity returns. Their fear, which is not misplaced, arises from the fact that in the absence of a truly competitive price discovery in the bidding stage, NHAI would soon be bankrupt and hence lose its ability to build highways having adverse macro economic implications (Savings and Loans Crisis and the more recent Sub-Prime Crisis have been a consequence of poor regulations). The evidence to this comes from the fact that in a very large number of con (pun not intended) cession awards there is just one bidder. In two cases, when rebidding was done, the costs came down substantially. So, the PC i.e. Gajendra Haldea may be seemingly throwing a spanner in the works but it is an attempt to halt crony capitalism and prevent the country from its dire consequences.

India would be lucky to add 62K MW capacity
The Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council has said the country would be "lucky" to add even 62,000 MW of power generation capacity by the end of the 11th Five-Year Plan (2007-12), much less than the targeted 78,000 MW.

A partial explanation to the delay in power and other infrastructure projects is the shortage of skilled and semi-skilled workers. This in turn is a commentary on our education system that produces under-trained unemployable youth, but falls short in providing crucial skills of construction, project management etc. The growth of infrastructure projects has outpaced the growth of supply of the relevant skilled and semi-skilled workers. According to NSSO 13 million workers enter the market every year and only 3 million are skilled. The vocational curriculum is outdated and not based on clear standards. The certification process is based on theoretical testing and does not ensure employability.
According to a CEA white Paper, the project developers and major EPC contractors should contribute to build up a large skilled man power pool for power sector. CEA recommends that each project developer and major EPC contractors adopt ITIs near the project area and organize project specific training to obtain skilled workers for them and their contractors/ sub-contractors to ensure local availability of skilled man power. Project developers may coordinate the training activities for ITI with Director General Employment and Training, Ministry of Labour. HRD Division of CEA will overview the implementation of this recommendation. Similarly Power Utilities/CPSUs should train their engineers in Project Management to develop project management skills. CEA admits that there is a need to create at least ten accredited training institutions at different geographical locations for skills like HP welding, aluminum welding, crane operators, cable jointing, etc.

Regulator makes it mandatory for power cos to buy 6% renewable energy
The central power regulator has made it mandatory for all power utilities to purchase 6% green power, even though the country doesn’t have enough electricity generated through renewable energy sources.

While renewable energy portfolio is the way to go to make power sector green, but yes of course the supply shortages have to be made up by providing some tax breaks and other fiscal incentives for going green. Various State Commissions have specified the renewable purchase obligation (RPO) for their distribution companies as required under section 86(1)(e) of the Electricity Act 2003. They have also determined the tariffs of renewable sources generation based on different technologies. However, the specified RPO varies from 1% to 10% across the country. At the same time there is wide divergence in the tariffs of different technologies set by different Regulatory Commissions.

CWG-related contracts, construction work under CVC scanner
The Central Vigilance Commission is examining all construction work related to Commonwealth Games being undertaken by civic agencies following complaints of alleged large-scale corruption.

The idea of hosting the CWG in India is a consequence of a delusion of grandiosity; if Beijing can do the Olympics we can do this! This delusion is created by the international media that speaks about India and China in the same breath but what China can achieve India just cannot and let us humbly accept the fact. The CWG has lead to shoddy projects and put an enormous pressure on the resources without any long-term gains for the country. On this and only on this I agree with Mani Shankar Aiyar.

RIL moves CCI, alleges oil PSUs acting as cartel in ATF supply
Reliance Industries has moved the Competition Commission of India alleging state-owned oil firms IOC, BPCL and HPCL have formed a cartel to supply aviation turbine fuel (ATF) to Air India.

The RIL complaint will at least bring to the forefront the issues of bid rigging and anti-competitive trade practices in the procurement process of the government. But RIL complaining is like pot calling the kettle black!

Bill to settle disputes between regulators introduced
Introducing the Securities and Insurance Laws (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2010, Mukherjee said it would address the differences of opinion among statutory regulators, which could arise in future.

Hopefully, the Finance Ministry is in the process of creating a super regulator, while all these issues should lie in the domain of RBI.

Power sector freed from security curbs on equipment imports
In a major relief to domestic power companies importing Chinese equipment, a high-level committee has said that security related restrictions for importing telecom equipment will not apply to the power sector.

Govt may have to slash Nath’s 20-km-a-day target
The government may have to curtail Kamal Nath’s 20-km-a-day target for building and awarding national highways in the country because of resource constraints and a tepid progress in award in 2009-2010.

Key infrastructure targets may be missed
Bureaucratic hurdles may cause India's government to miss 2012 investment targets in key sectors such as roads, railways and ports, potentially crimping economic growth, an adviser to the planning commission said.

Regulatory commissions can decide power tariffs, rules Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has ruled that the electricity regulatory commissions are vested with the powers to fix tariffs for electricity.

Instead of feeding the poor, India lets grain rot
In Punjab, 49,000 tonnes of this foodgrain is ready to be destroyed after spending three monsoons—to be fit for human consumption, it cannot endure more than one—covered with tarpaulin.

Centre gears up for PDS revamp
After having systematically weakened the country’s Public Distribution System, the Centre is now gearing up for its complete revamp, on the eve of the approval of the draft food security law by the National Advisory Council.

No road map yet for diesel decontrol
The government ended the confusion over pricing of diesel saying the fuel has not been decontrolled like petrol, but reiterated its commitment to cutting wasteful subsidies.

Govt to bring in reforms to reduce litigation delays: Moily
It would also like to put in place a legal regulatory regime and an oversight mechanism for the smooth functioning of the judiciary without infringing on the independence of the institution

Expedite setting up of Biotech Regulatory Board: Plan panel
The Centre should speed up the establishment of a Biotechnology Regulatory Board, which will ensure that strict scientific procedures are followed while testing biotech crops, the Planning Commission said.

India working to rejig its subsidy system: Government
The government is reworking the subsidy regime to address the twin issues of meeting social obligation and lowering of fiscal deficit, Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrasekhar said.

NHAI to take up plan panel's objection on bidding with Finance Ministry
Objecting to Plan panel's contention that the revised norms for bidding to build roads are restrictive, the NHAI has said the new guidelines have evoked good response.

India hopes to resolve Chinese telco gear issue soon
India expects to resolve in a couple of weeks the restrictions on import of China-made telecom equipment, which the government had barred on security concerns.