Sustainability Outlook Headlines

ADB to give $150 million loan to Petronet

Asian Development Bank (ADB) today said it will provide USD 150 million loan to Petronet LNG Ltd to part finance expansion of its Dahej LNG import terminal in Gujarat. Petronet, the nation's largest importer of gas in its liquid form (liquefied natural gas or LNG), is expanding its 10 million tonne per annum Dahej terminal to 15 million tonnes at an estimated cost of about Rs  2,950 crore by end 2016.

ADB will provide a USD 150 million loan (about Rs  915 crore) to Petronet to increase the capacity of Dahej LNG terminal "to help... Read more..

Growth of green building enhancing market prospects

Escalating investment in the real estate and construction industry, coupled with the growing need to reduce energy consumption across the commercial, residential and government sectors, is propelling the Indian lighting control systems market.

Green building projects, in particular, are illuminating avenues for lighting control systems since they have to comply with various national standards set by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA... Read more..

International Finance Corp provides $15 million loan to Parag Milk Foods

Global development finance institution International Finance Corp has provided a $15 million loan to dairy company Parag Milk Foods to expand its milk processing facilities, the private investing arm of the World Bank announced on Wednesday. 

The loan will also be used by the Pune-based venture to enhance dairy farm productivity and boost incomes in rural India, according to a press statement released by IFC. 

Parag Milk Foods will expand supply chain linkages across over 50,000 farmers and food... Read more..

'Green Energy Corridor' projects get international aid

 Working to setting up commercial cooperation in renewable energy with developed and developing countries, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has firmed up international cooperation agreements with Germany and United States to establish “Green Energy Corridors” in the country.

Officials in the MNRE said the Ministry had been interacting with several developed and developing countries for cooperation in the renewable energy sector with a view to establish commercial cooperation for supplies of indigenously manufactured renewable energy products, systems and devices.... Read more..

NSL Power to invest $45 mn to set up windfarms in Maharashtra

 NSL Power, which plans to invest $45 million to set up new wind farms in Maharashtra, is planning to raise around $15.75 million from the International Finance Corporation.

NSL Renewable Power Private Limited is the ‘Sponsor’ for Jath Wind Energy Private Limited. IFC is an equity holder in the Sponsor, holding 7.9% on a fully diluted basis.

According to company's project disclosure, NSL Power is planning to set up a 40MW wind power plant in Vaspet, Sangli District of Maharashtra through an SPV called Jath Wind Energy Private Limited. The project company has been setup for... Read more..

World Bank plots India’s path to ambitious 20GW solar target

 The World Bank has talked up the potential of solar energy in India but warned that the country must make a number of changes if it is to hit its own ambitious deployment target of 20GW by 2022.

In a new report, the bank said falling costs had made solar a promising technology to improve the country’s access to energy and help it to reduce emissions without limiting economic growth.

“In a short span of three years, India has made impressive strides in developing its abundant solar power potential,” said Onno Ruhl, World Bank country director for India.

“With more than... Read more..

CII moots public-private model for banana cold chains in TN

Lack of cold storage infrastructure is proving to be a costly miss for the State. The Confederation of Indian Industry has estimated the loss of opportunity at over Rs 2,700 crore.

Speaking at the second edition of Tamil Nadu Banana Festival 2013, Ravichandran Purushothaman, Chairman, CII Tamil Nadu Banana Festival 2013 and President, Danfoss Industries (India) said that despite being the sixth largest producer of banana in the world, Tamil Nadu is losing over Rs 2,700 crore due to lack of cold storage infrastructure.

Government targets to roll out subsidies for electric cars by April 2014

The ministry of heavy industries is targeting to roll out subsidies for electric vehicles - under the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan by April of 2014.

The policy unveiled by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier this year was stuck due to the slowdown in the economy. However, the senior government official on Thursday said, the heavy industry ministry is planning to get all the cabinet approvals before the 1st of April so that the incentives start flowing to electric vehicle makers from April 1.

... Read more..

Identifying green materials

Today everyone is chanting the mantra of green – in environment, agriculture, architecture or products. However knowing how subjective we can be on our opinions and argue in favour of our personal ideas, how do we ensure that we all agree on what green means? Without a commonly understood and agreed upon criteria for identifying the green, say in building materials, we will not be able to converge on a larger agenda of sustainable buildings.

Many institutions have strived towards defining the characteristics of materials, mainly... Read more..

Delhi airport hosts mega solar power plant

 The GMR Group-operated Delhi International Airport has become the first in Asia to host a mega solar power plant on its premises.

A 2.14 MW solar plant has just been set up and is all set for ribbon-cutting, it is learnt.

The airports of Kochi and Bhubaneswar have solar plants, but they are of 100 kW capacity each. Delhi is the first to have a megawatt scale, ground-mounted system.

As a thumb rule, at latitudes such as of Delhi, a 1 MW solar plant will generate 1.5 million units of electricity. Delhi International Airport Ltd will save at least Rs 2 per unit of... Read more..

Develop agriculture for multilateral trade: Assocham

Assocham applauds India's successful negotiation on its Food Security Bill to allow countries to provide subsidy on staple food crops without any threat of punitive action, at the recently concluded WTO 9th Ministerial Conference (MC9).

Assocham believes it is now important for India to create a competitive edge in the sector, making it conducive for multilateral trade.

The Chamber appreciates the ministry of commerce's unrelenting stand on the peace clause, allowing India an opportunity to create a more efficient and self-sustainable agriculture ecosystem in coming years.... Read more..

India in the lowest quartile for energy security: WEF report

A report comparing the energy architecture of 124 countries has ranked India 98th in terms of providing energy security and access to its citizens.

Low electrification rates and high import dependence put India in the lowest quartile globally, the report released on Wednesday said.

The Planning Commission said in its 12th Plan document many states make do without even the minimum of six to eight hours of electricity supply. Some villages “connected” under the remote rural electrification programme... Read more..