MSEDCL rejects MERC order
Mumbai: The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution (MSEDCL) has told the state power regulator that it cannot comply with the order given by the latter last month to purchase costly power.

In a letter sent to the commission MSEDCL said that the additional charge allowed to be recovered from consumers for costly power was unrealistic at Rs5.36 a unit as the prevailing rate in the market is Rs7-8 a unit and even the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission had increased the ceiling rate to Rs7.45 per unit. It said that the recovery for purchase of costly power is limited to 400 million units a month as per a MERC order.

MSEDCL said that for this limited quantity, there would be a gap of Rs 125 crore a month and if an additional 330 million units are procured, the gap will increase to Rs379 crore a month, which is financially un-sustainable for the organization.

MSEDCL suggested the commission should fix the additional charges for costly power realistically and revise the quantum of costly power that can be purchased. It said the tariff order for last year had addressed this issue properly. However, the new tariff order changed the mechanism to collect charges for high cost power, the letter said.
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Center not to give free power to power generating states
New Delhi: The center is unlikely to accede to the demands made by Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh for free power. These states have demanded that they receive a portion of the power they generate in the state free of cost, just as states producing hydroelectricity do.

The ministry of power has told these states that they can't stand in the way of the nation's progress by asking for compensation.
The chief ministers of these three states met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in December last year regarding their strategy for capacity addition. They argued that as in the case of states with hydel power potential, they should also receive a portion of the power produced in their state free of cost to compensate for the environmental costs of the power projects.

The ministry of power said though it accepted that their issue of environmmental impact is legitimate, and is being addressed through environmental policy governing coal mines and power plants but the ministry said it felt that a claim of free power on the grounds that hydro-rich states are given 12 per cent free power is not appropriate. The reason being that the distress and dislocation in the case of hydro power projects is much more severe compared to thermal power projects.

More importantly, the hydro-rich states do not receive any royalty for fuel. Besides which any initiative to give free power or power at variable cost from new thermal power plants would give rise to a similar demand from exisiting plants. This would mean a claim that covers as much as 70,000 mw of generating capacities.
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More foreign tourists visit India till April
New Delhi: The number of foreign tourists who visited India till April this year was higher than that for the same period last year. While 15,52,057 foreign tourists arrived in the country in 2006, this year the number was 17,55,565, an official release said. Also, the foreign exchange earned this year through tourist arrivals increased from Rs9,919 crore last year to Rs11,443 crore this time, it said.

The maximum number of 51,4453 tourists came to the country in the month of January this year. Last year, the corresponding figure of 44,4260 visitors arrived in the country.

However, the percentage change in the arrival of foreign tourists from the year 2005-06 to that in 2006-07 dropped from 14.4 per cent to 13.1 per cent.

The foreign exchange earnings also dropped from 16.3 per cent to 15.4 per cent, the release added.
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