Power sector wakes up to Rs.30k-cr opportunity

More than three months after the tariff policy amendments were unveiled by the government, the power sector is waking up to an obscure provision that has the potential to attract over Rs.30,000-crore investment into sewage water treatment plants around thermal generating stations.

The policy has made it mandatory for thermal plants within 50 km of sewage treatment facilities to use treated sewage water. The policy would ensure availability of more potable water in the areas adjacent to the power plant, the government had said.

“We have started implementing the policy for thermal plants with NTPC’s Nagpur unit being the first to source treated sewage water from the city’s municipal body. Additionally, we have always made extensive plans for groundwater conservation in coal and mineral mining,” power minister Piyush Goyal told reporters.

He added that the government was also looking at making thermal plants along the Ganges use treated water so that the effluent isn’t discharged into the river.

As per industry estimates, nearly 80 gigawatt (GW) of thermal capacity would be covered by the provision. If all these plants source their entire water requirement from sewage treatment plants (STP), it would amount to nearly 8,000 million litres per day (MLD). Typically, a thermal power station requires about 3-5 litres of water to produce one unit of power.

It is estimated that the extra cost for a power plant in procuring this water, including the associated pipeline of average 50-km length, would result in a tariff hike of about 5-7 paise/unit.

“This clause would apply mostly to the Centre and state-owned plants that are located around the periphery of cities and towns,” a top NTPC official told FE. He added that the company had already signed an informal agreement for use of sewage treated water at its plants in Mouda and Solapur in Maharashtra.

The company has been prompt in signing pacts for Maharashtra plants as several state-owned thermal stations have been forced to suspend operations temporarily due to scarcity of water this year.

This practice is likely to take off with NTPC’s involvement in it. The state-run thermal power giant has entered into an agreement with Vishvaraj Infrastructure, a company that has been selected to run Nagpur’s 200-MLD STP in a first public-private partnership project in water treatment.

“We will be supplying 150 MLD to NTPC Mouda plant while we are looking for buyers for remaining 50 MLD supplies,” Arun Lakhani, chairman and managing director of Vishvaraj Infrastructure, told FE. He added that the difficulty in making return on investment on sewage plants had been holding the interested investors at bay.

Most urban centres’ STPs are run by local bodies with grossly inadequate capacity to handle sewage generated by a particular centre. For example, Nagpur alone produces over 500 MLD of sewage water, but the treatment capacity is for only 100 MLD.

“The industry and government are both waking up to the water crisis. We already have the policy from the power ministry that will create incentives for private players to install STPs as buyers would now be available,” Arun Lakhani said.

This New is Originally Posted on THE FINANCIAL EXPRESS

Pune firm’s water management plan gets a thumbs up

Arun Lakhani, CMD, Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd

Pune: A city-based organisation's water management plan is among the four projects selected by the Centre and the European Union (EU) for study and implementation.

The city is hosting a three-day international conference on 'Water Management & Waste Water Treatment' will address acute water shortage and water management issues and delve on workable technologies for sewage treatment. The conference is organized by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Ecosan, and supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, and the EU.

City-based EcoSan Services Foundation's water management plan, 'NaWaTech', is one of the four projects selected by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India and EU. The project was showcased at Yashada on Thursday, the first day of the international conference.

The four projects that were showcased at the conference were selected under the framework of the India-European Union Science & Technology research and innovation project in water technology and management.

"With more people migrating to cities, water resources are dwindling. Hence, It has become mandatory to go for waste water treatment as the situation will only worsen. We have to look at shifting from the conventional approach. Research and innovation should be our constant endeavour," said Girish Bapat, the city's guardian minister of Pune.

"India pumps out almost 80% sewage out of the total water supplied. We can treat at least 60% of this. This water can be used for construction, gardening, etc," said Arun Lakhani, chairman and managing director of Vishvaraj Infrastructure, India, which has implemented the 24x7 water scheme in Nagpur using a public private partnership model.

The four projects showcased are NaWaTech, Eco India, Swings and Saraswati. They focus on various water treatment and management technologies developed and implemented by various research institutes. The projects are jointly funded by both DST-GOI and the European Commission. They were selected on the basis of minimum maintenance, low energy consumption, large scope to scale up and cost effectiveness.

"For the water-based projects, Rs 16mn funding has been provided jointly by DST and EU. Both the Indian and European consortiums will work jointly on these projects to assess and enhance the potential of natural and technical water treatment systems to suit local conditions," said Arvind Kumar, scientist-E of the International Multilateral and Regional Cooperation department, in DST-GOI.

NaWaTech, which stands for Natural Water Systems and Treatment Technologies, is a three-year collaborative project. It works under a consortium of seven European organizations and universities and seven Indian members, headed by NEERI which also includes the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). "NaWaTech is based on optimized use of surface water supply, rain water, storm water as well as grey water," said DB Panse, director Ecosan Services Foundation.

As per Panse added, NaWaTech's largest project has been implemented at the College of Engineering Pune campus. The second site where NaWaTech has been implemented is the 400-acre towship, Amanora Park Town.

Mangesh Dighe, head of environment cell head of PMC, said, "One such system has been installed at the Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran office in Pune. The water will supplied to the Indradhanushya centre, Sachin Tendulkar Park and a public toilet near Ambil odha." He also said that the PMC environment cell with the garden department will visit areas of the city to see which river, nullah and lake can be tapped for wastewater treatment project.

This News is Originally Posted on TIME OF INDIA

This budget restores balance in rural Bharat and India Inc: Arun Lakhani

Arun Lakhani, CMD, Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd

The Union budget 2016-17 is a step forward for the welfare of the people and growth in the country. For the infrastructure development, the government has announced fund allocation of at Rs 2.31 lakh crore that would aim to enhance the infrastructure base of the country. Guideline for renegotiation of PPP contracts is a long standing demand from international investors and will make the investment environment much more risk neutral.

It is a big step towards overseas funding comfort for PPP in infrastructure. A 228-percent higher grants to gram panchayats & urban local bodies in accordance with FFC recommendations will augment development process significantly in terms of providing basic facilities like clean healthy water, sanitation, and other basic amenities leading to smart towns of future. This budget restores balance in rural Bharat and India Inc. The approach of the Finance Minister is one of quantum jump rather than tinkering, which would accelerate the development process and put the Indian economy on a sustainable growth trajectory, while further expediting the ‘Make in India’ programme and ‘Swaach Bharat Mission’.

This New is Originally Posted on Business-Standard

Budget 2016: 'Hard working' budget for startups, could have been much better

The Union Budget for 2016-17 has been a mixed bag for the Startup Community. While a lot of announcements have been made regarding startups in India, the community largely feels a lot more could have been done. Incremental steps have been taken, but several contentious issues have not been tackled by the Budget.

"This is a hard working budget. We welcome the move to start rationalizing capital gains for investments in private companies, which will help create a level playing field relative to listed companies. However, the silence on removal of angel tax has been deafening," says veteran entrepreneur and Indifi Technologies, Co-Founder, Alok Mittal.

Think-tank, iSpirit, said that it was disappointed with no attention being given to easing taxation norms of software companies where there is significant friction, the confusion on "goods" verses "service" tax on online downloads, TDS on sale of Software products and competition from foreign selling B2C products without any tax in India. It added that there is a lot more that could be done to incentivize innovation and specifically ease the TDS conundrum which start-up and product companies  find themselves adversely caught in.

In a tweet chat Chairman & Co-Founder of Frictionless Ventures and Chair- Product Council, Nasscom, Ravi Gururaj says, "Tax holiday good, but MAT not helpful. Capital gains holding period of 2 year helps but 1 year would be better." Replying to a tweet that the Government seemed lackadaisical when it comes to emerging tech, Gururaj added that it was not fair to call out as lackadaisical. "Government's heart is right, but policy is a slog," he said. Below are the reactions from the Startup community in the country:

Mohandas Pai, Advisor, iSPIRT, Chairman, Manipal Global Education Services and Aarin Capital :- The Government continues to incentivize the start-up ecosystem as we have seen in the recent budget pronouncement. I am glad that the Government clearly recognizes that start-ups can be powerful problem solvers for the myriad issues facing the country and in turn generate employment as well. The Government's decision to allow for 100% deduction of profits for 3 out of 5 years between April 2016 and March 2019 is certainly a welcome step that will boost start-ups.

Padmaja Ruparel, President, Indian Angel Network:- Capital gains Tax exemption in regulated / notified fund of funds & lowering the period from 3 years to 2 years for definition of Long term Capital Gains in unlisted companies are both welcome. We had hoped that treating investments by AIFs and angel groups in unlisted companies would be aligned with the public market equity tax regime. We also welcome the SETU fund of Rs. 1000 crore to boost innovation and incubation and the one day registration process for start-ups will all help the eco system to grow.

Vishnu Dusad, Co-Founder & Governing Council member of iSPIRT & MD, Nucleus Software:-While there are no major sops announced for the software product industry, the Government must understand that incentives to this segment of the industry will result in an exponential leap in exports and place India in an unshakable position on the world software product stage. That said, the decision to tax the Royalty Income from Patents developed and filed in India at only 10% is a good move by the Government and will certainly encourage companies to develop and file more IPR in the country

Arun Lakhani, CMD - Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd :- $The union budget 2016-17 is a step forward for the welfare of the people and growth in the country. For the infrastructure development the government has announced fund allocation of at Rs. 2.31 lakh crore that would aim to enhance the infrastructure base of the country.

Guideline for renegotiation of PPP contracts is a long standing demand from international investors and will make the investment environment much more risk neutral. It is a a big step towards overseas funding comfort for PPP in infrastructure. The 228% higher grants to gram Panchayats & urban local bodies in accordance with FFC recommendations will augment development process significantly in terms of providing basic facilities like clean healthy water, sanitation, and other basic amenities leading to smart towns of future.

This budget restores balance in Rural Bharat and India Inc. The approach of the Finance Minister is one of quantum jump rather than tinkering, which would accelerate the development process and put the Indian economy on a sustainable growth trajectory, while further expediting the "Make in India" programme and 'Swaach Bharat Mission'.

Saurabh Srivastava, Co-Founder, Indian Angel Network:- The 3-year tax exemption for startups is indeed a positive move that will reduce compliance burden and cash outflows, allowing ventures to invest in product development and scaling-up the businesses. Exemption from capital gains tax is an expected move from this year's budget and will encourage more high risk investments into the ecosystem. However, would have been great if capital gains tax regime for unlisted companies was aligned with that for listed companies at least for investments made by SEBI registered AIFs. This would end the discrimination against domestic venture capital funds ( AIFs) as foreign funds anyway pay no capital gains tax by investing from Mauritius and other treaty friendly countries. By enabling one-day registrations for start-ups , the Government has focused on bringing in ease of business for the ventures. Many countries in the world do this already and, with the user of technology, I am sure this will get implemented expeditiously."

Sharad Sharma Co-Founder & Governing Council member of Ispirt:- Start-ups in the country will certainly benefit from the budget announcement of amending the Companies Act to announce easier and swifter registration of companies. Another positive announcement from the budget speech by Arun Jaitley has been the focus on Aadhar for subsidy delivery. The Aadhar powered India stack from authentication to execution, coupled with the open API policy in India, can certainly transform the way in which digitally focused companies can reach the masses quicker and more effectively.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma - Founder and CEO, Paytm:- I am really happy for Aadhar and IndiaStack. Finally, the government has provided legislative backing that will unleash the full potential of such an incredible platform. With the focus on digital payments and incentives to startups, the Finance Minister has boosted our Prime Minister's Digital India and Startup India plans. Overall, the budget creates a strong foundation for sustainable growth in rural & urban India. Steps to further improve Ease Of Doing Business will drive entrepreneurship which is essential for job creation.

Gaurav Bhatnagar, Managing Director, Travel Boutique Online:- A lot more could have been done in the budget for startups. The three year tax holiday is hardly going to be of help given most startups don't make money in initial years. Reducing the holing period for capital gains on shares of private companies is a welcome move. However, it might not be sufficient to prevent the rampant externalization of funded startups. The tax rate on long term gains on VC/angel investments needs to be rationalized since these investments carry far higher risks compared to investing in listed equities where LTCG is zero (in lieu of STT payments). Finally, I haven't yet reviewed how a "startup" would be defined to qualify for tax incentives etc but ideally raising any amount of capital shouldn't be part of the qualifying criteria. It puts bulk of the entrepreneurs at a great disadvantage. Yashish Dahiya, Co-Founder & Director, PolicyBazaar.com

Startups do not make profits in the first 3 years, but reducing the holding period for Capital Gains 2 years from 3 will be helpful. However, I thing the reduction in corporate tax for Small companies at 29% + cess would be irrelevant for start-ups. Lastly, I think there will be no major change in the startup ecosystem. The encouragement is good, but practically nothing has changed.

Shekhar Dasgupta, Founder, GreenField Software Pvt Ltd:- The announcements are at best just good intentions. The devil is in the implementation. Let me give an example why India does not have a good support system for startups from the Government.

PSU and Government tenders repeatedly specify, for certain categories, products by name from foreign vendors, usually large MNCs. Although India-made products meet the specifications mentioned in the tender, they cannot be quoted as they were excluded in the named category list. All Indian vendors, including SMEs are thereby excluded from even participation, forget about getting the business.

In such a scenario, reaching revenue thresholds for taxation purpose for a technology "product" company is really a moot point - if is relying on domestic market. All announcements for the SMEs appear like putting lipstick on a pig.

Abhinav Mathur, Director Talentiser Labs – Jobick:- The starting of a company in 1 day is great. However, closure of a company within a reasonable time is equally important. For the part on income tax, it should be exempt for a period of at least 5 years or on the recommendation of an auditor basis the business model of the company and depending on the losses being incurred. The holding period for capital gains should be reduced further, especially if a 50% of the Capital Gains are being invested back into startups. However, the silence on angel tax is a major concern area and should be explained clearly. The FM could have done much more.

Chiranjiv Patel, Incoming Regional Director, Entrepreneurs Organization, South Asia:- This budget is a populist one and overall clearly defined for the lower class, middle class, and higher class. Various initiatives in the budget are a significant boost to all startups business entrepreneurs and new manufacturing companies. The budget also taxes the riches and high-income people (nothing major for them) heavily, with passing benefits to lower class and middle class will be an attempt to balance the economy. Service tax exemption for housing will be a significant boost for home buyers and for the overall growth of the sector. This budget seems to be making an effort to create an agro economy as well. Considering all the initiatives by the finance minister, the Union Budget 2016 aims at jobs creation, rural development, and structural transformation which will lead to overall growth of the economy.

Alok Saraf, Partner - Private & Entrepreneurial Group, PwC India:- This budget is a Budget for the M&SME sector with various policy measures and tax incentives focusing on their needs. Policy measures on encouraging entrepreneurship, enhanced spending on rural development and infrastructure including on roads and railway, focus on developing one crore skilled workforce could be a big boost to the sector. On the tax side, tax holiday to start-ups, lower tax rate of 25% on new manufacturing facilities and increasing turnover threshold to Rs 2 crore for presumptive tax rate of 8% are all welcome moves for the sector. A thumps up from the sector.

Kiran Murthi, CEO, AskmeBazaar :- The Finance Minister has presented a business friendly budget which is encouraging for young and fast growing India. Taking the "Start-up India" action plan forward, the budget allocated Rs. 500 crore for SC/ST & Women entrepreneurs. The announcements made during the budget also include a 100 % tax exemption for 3 years for start-ups, which is a welcome step. The Minister also proposed an amendment of Companies Act to allow new start-ups to register in one day. These steps will help to creat a favorable business environment in the country.

Rahul Agrawal, Ceo and Co-Founder, MebelKart :- Budget 2016 comes with a huge boost for start-up ecosystem. The government fund announced today will provide SC/ST and women entrepreneurs with easy access to funding. Budget 2016 focuses a lot on ease of doing business. With tax exemption in the first three years and ease of registering business, it becomes easier for start-ups to focus on growth in their critical years.

Sheetal V Talwar, Chairman & Managing Director, Vistaar :- I think the steps towards Startup India are measures in the right direction. It will offer youngster an opportunity to set up businesses without having to worry so much about cumbersome compliance sand focus on building businesses. Each of the initiatives shoes this government and more than that MoS Jayant Sinha's understanding, empathy and identification with start ups and entrepreneurship.

Ishan Singh, REV - Re Capital Ventures :- Starting a company in 1 day is good, but It is not just company name incorporation - we need same day real time issue of PAN/ TIN numbers. The holding period for Capital Gains should also be one year to bring parity with listed shares.

This News is Originally Posted on ECONOMIC TIME