OPINION, P6 ECONOMY, P2 ASHOK GULATI & PURVI THANGARAJ Lowering cattle count,rice acreage will make Indian agri emit less GHG BACK PAGE, P12 EDITORIAL DOMESTIC MARKET STRONG RIPOSTE RBI does well to stay accommodative; can be expected to keep yields within a comfort level Govt imposes stock limits on edible oils to check rising prices Taiwan president says won't be forced to bow to China HYDERABAD, MONDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2021 VOL XVIII NO. 134, 12 PAGES, `6.00 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E GREEN BUY Telecom licensing rules to be revamped In the next set of reforms, focus will be on simplifying the complex regulatory regime, says telecom minister Vaishnaw KIRAN RATHEE New Delhi, October 10 AFTER COMING OUT with a comprehensive set of reforms ranging from providing immediate cash flow relief to the financially stretched telecom operators to addressing long-term structural issues, thegovernmentwillnowfocus on rationalising the complex regulatory and licensing regime, telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said. In an interview with FE, Vaishnaw said the aim will be to make regulations “light-touch, focused on customers, on common people, and on marginalised sections of the society”. “There is a complex licensing regime in the telecom industry,which has been there for decades. We will look at rationalising it.Wewill benchmark where our regulations standvis-à-vis the global regu- ■ The next set will also focus on addressing a large number of litigations with the telecom industry ■ Trying to work out a Vivad-seVishwas kind of framework for resolving such litigations ■ The govt wants to reach out to the RELIANCE INDUSTRIES (RIL) on Sunday acquired REC Solar HoldingsAS (REC Group) from China Bluestar (Group) Co for an enterprise value of $772 million or `5,800 crore. The acquisition by RIL’s wholly-owned subsidiary, RelianceNewEnergySolar,will help the company set up its integrated metallic silicon to PV panel manufacturing giga factory in Jamnagar, startingwith 4 GWperannum capacityand eventuallytaking it to 10 GW. The technology will then be used to replicate such complexes globally in markets such as the US, Europe and Australia,it said in a statement. REC, with an employee strength of 1,300, has three manufacturing facilities — marginalised people and it's not possible if the industry is unhealthy ■ Telecom operators can expect realistic reserve prices for the upcoming spectrum auction There is a complex licensing regime in the telecom industry, which has been there for decades. We will look at rationalising it. We will benchmark where our regulations stand vis-à-vis the global regulations. —ASHWINI VAISHNAW, telecom & IT minister lations.Prime Minister Modi’s vision is that the Indian telecomindustryshouldbebenchmarked with the world,” Vaishnaw said. He, however, did not divulge which all licensing and regulatory matters will be reviewed. Vaishnaw further said the government has already startedworkingonthenextset two in Norway for making solargradepolysilicon and one in Singapore for producing PV cells and modules. RILwill have a ready access to REC’s existing capacities and furthersupport setting up under-construction 2 GW capacity of cells and modules in Singapore.It will also set up agreenfieldcapacityof2GWin France and another 1 GW capacity in the US,it said. Continued on Page 2 RIL picks up 40% stake in SP Group’s Sterling & Wilson Solar in `3,630-cr deal of reforms in the telecom sector, which will address the issue of litigations with the industry.Currently,there are a large number of litigations between the government and telecomoperatorsandamechanism is being worked out to resolve them. THE SHAPOORJI PALLONJI Group is divesting its second key asset within a month by selling 40% stake in Sterling & Wilson Solar,the solar EPC JV it runs with the Khurshed Yazdi Daruvala family,to RIL for `3,630 crore through a multi-stage transaction, Continued on Page 2 ISpA ANUPAM CHATTERJEE New Delhi, October 10 RIL buys REC Solar States seek Centre’s support to for `5,800 crore tide over looming power crisis STRAIGHT TALK ■ Focus will be on rationalising the complex regulatory & licensing regime in the second round of reforms COAL SHORTAGE FE BUREAU Mumbai, October 10 ON THE ANVIL reports PTI.For the SP Group led byShapoorji Pallonji Mistry,thisisthesecondassetsale in a month after the `4,400croredealforEurekaForbesit had inked with American PE firmAdvent International. Continued on Page 2 TO COMBAT THE looming powershortagestemmingfrom low coal stocks, states such as Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthanarelookingtoropein strandedpowerassetstoensure uninterrupted supplies and seeking capital support from the Centre to buy expensive spotpowerandpaycoalcompanies. Some states have already started resorting to power cuts during non-peak hours. AndhraPradeshchiefminister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to take steps such as increasing coalsuppliestothestate’spower plants and starting operations of pit-head powerplants,which are under corporate insolvency resolutionprocess“regardlessof the stage of the proceedings at Demands raised by states Andhra Pradesh ■ Start pit-head power plants stuck in NCLT ■ Domestic gas allocation for power plants ■ Higher working capital access to pay for coal and spot power Delhi ■ Divert coal supply to plants supplying to the state ■ Domestic gas allocation for power plants ■ Cap spot power prices Rajasthan is the worst-hit state by coal shortage; state has already resorted to one-hour power cuts in 10 districts NCLT”. He also requested for gassupplyfromtheReliance-BP and ONGC deep-waterwells off theeasterncoasttothestranded gas-based power plants with capacity of 2,300 MW in the state. Reddy further requested Modi to instruct banks to “provide working capital loans liberallytodiscomstillthecrisis is tided over in order to make coal payments and undertake market purchases”. Amidrisingdemandandlow coal stocks in its power plants, the state has been purchasing around 45 million unit (MU) of power from the spot market exchanges where electricity prices have risen from around `4.6/unit in mid-September to about`15/unit on October8. Continued on Page 2 Govt dispels fears, says coal supply exceeds demand FE BUREAU New Delhi, October 10 STATING THAT “ANY fear of coal stocks depleting at the power plant end is erroneous”,the Union coal ministry said on Sunday that although coal stock at power plants is currently about 7.2 million tonne (MT), another 43 MT of coal — equivalent to demand of 24 days — is lying at Coal India (CIL)minesandisbeingsuppliedtothepower plants. The Union power ministry said coal despatchalreadyexceededthe consumption on Saturday,with supply of 1.92 MT against consumption of 1.87 MT. As much as 1,36,159 megawatt (MW) of power plants in the country were running with coal stocks foreight days orless,leading tospeculationsofwidespreadelectricitysupplyshortage in the country. ■ Full report on Page 2 INDIAN SPACE ASSOCIATION Bhumandal Se Brahmaand Tak Inauguration of Indian Space Association by Shri Narendra Modi Hon’ble Prime Minister of India The Inaugural Ceremony Commences at 10:10 AM, October 11, 2021 Echoing the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, and motivated by the recent reforms in the space sector carried out by the government; ISpA aspires to be the collective voice of the Indian Space Industry. ISpA will undertake policy advocacy and engage with all stakeholders in the Indian Space domain, including the Government and its Agencies, to make India self-reliant, technologically advanced and a leading player in the space arena. in the august presence of Shri Sunil Bharti Mittal Shri Pawan Kumar Goenka Shri Jayant Patil Chairman, Bharti Enterprises Chairperson, INSPACe Chairman, ISpA Lt. Gen AK Bhatt (Retd) PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM Director General, ISpA with support of our founding members www.ispa.space info@ispa.space HYDERABAD