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GS Paper: GS3-13.Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc:

  • Pokhran-II nuclear tests

    Yesterday, May 11 was celebrated as the National Technology Day. It marks the day on which India successfully test-fired its first nuclear bombs in 1998.

    Practice question for mains

    Q. India’s nuclear policy of ‘No First Use’ needs a revamp. Examine.

    India and nuclear weapons

    • India is currently among eight countries in the world that have a publicly known nuclear weapons program.
    • At the time of our independence, leaders were opposed to fully embracing nuclear weapons.
    • Just two years before in 1945, the world had witnessed the horrific nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
    • Mahatma Gandhi called the use of nuclear weapons morally unacceptable.

    Why India did equip itself with nuclear arms?

    • Then PM Jawaharlal Nehru was sceptical but kept the door open for future consideration.
    • This future beckoned early, as India’s defeat in the 1962 Sino-Indian War gave rise to legitimate fears about national security.
    • Then in 1974, India conducted its first nuclear test, codenamed “Smiling Buddha”, at Pokhran in Rajasthan.
    • Then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi called the test a peaceful nuclear explosion.
    • India demonstrated to the world that the country could defend itself in an extreme situation and chose not to immediately weaponize the nuclear device it tested at Pokhran.

     The Pokhran II tests

    • India’s fence-sitting finally ended when it detonated another device in 1998, again at Pokhran.
    • Assigned the code name Operation Shakti, the mission was initiated on May 11, 1998.
    • The tests consisted of 5 detonations, the first being a fusion bomb while the remaining four were fission bombs.
    • One fusion and two fission bombs were tested on May 11, and two more fission bombs on May 13.
    • With the tests, India achieved its objective of building fission and thermonuclear weapons with yields up to 200 kilotons.

    Aftermath

    • After Pokhran-II, Vajpayee had declared India a nuclear state — then the sixth country in the world to join this league.
    • Unlike in 1974, India had this time chosen to actively develop its nuclear capabilities, and the tests followed economic sanctions by the United States and Japan. The sanctions were later lifted.

    Back2Basics: India’s nuclear programme

    • India started its own nuclear programme in 1944 when Homi Jehangir Bhabha founded the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
    • Physicist Raja Ramanna played an essential role in nuclear weapons technology research; he expanded and supervised scientific research on nuclear weapons and was the first directing officer of the small team of scientists that supervised and carried out the test.
    • After independence, PM Nehru authorised the development of a nuclear programme headed by Homi Bhabha.
    • The Atomic Energy Act of 1948 focused on peaceful development.
    • India was heavily involved in the development of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty but ultimately opted not to sign it.
    • In 1954, two important infrastructure projects were commissioned. The first established Trombay Atomic Energy Establishment at Mumbai (Bombay). The other created a governmental secretariat, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), of which Bhabha was the first secretary.

    Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)

    • The NSG is a multilateral export control regime and a group of nuclear supplier countries that seek to prevent nuclear proliferation by controlling the export of materials, equipment and technology that can be used to manufacture nuclear weapons.
    • The NSG was founded in response to the Indian nuclear test in May 1974 and first met in November 1975.
    • It was solely aimed to deny advanced technology, and isolate and contain India.

  • [pib] Kailash – Mansarovar Yatra Route from Dharchula to Lipulekh

    The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has completed the construction of road from Dharchula to Lipulekh along the China Border, famously known as Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra Route.

    We can expect a prelims question asking to arrange few passes from West to East or vice versa. Click here to get through all such Himalayan Passes.

    Darchula – Lipulekh road

    • The road is an extension of Pithoragarh-Tawaghat-Ghatiabagarh road. In this 80 Km road, the altitude rises from 6000 feet to 17,060 feet.
    • It originates from Ghatiabagarh in Uttarakhand and terminates at Lipulekh Pass, the gateway to Kailash Mansarovar.
    • With the completion of this project, the arduous trek through treacherous high-altitude terrain can now be avoided by the Pilgrims of Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and the period of journey will be reduced by many days.

    (Note: The Lipulekh Pass links Uttarakhand with China’s Tibetan Autonomous Region.)

    Significance

    • At present, the travel to Kailash Mansarovar takes around two to three weeks through Sikkim or Nepal routes.
    • Lipulekh route had a trek of 90 Km through high altitude terrain and the elderly yartris faced lot of difficulties.
    • Now, this yatra will get completed by vehicles.

    Also read:

    The Northern and Northeastern Mountains | Part 2

    Back2Basics: Border Roads Organisation (BRO)

    • The BRO develops and maintains road networks in India’s border areas and friendly neighboring countries and functions under the Ministry of Defence.
    • It is entrusted for construction of Roads, Bridges, Tunnels, Causeways, Helipads and Airfields along the borders.
    • Officers from the Border Roads Engineering Service (BRES) and personnel from the General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) form the parent cadre of the Border Roads Organisation.
    • It is also staffed by officers and troops drawn from the Indian Army’s Corps of Engineers on extra regimental employment.
    • The BRO operates and maintains over 32,885 kilometers of roads and about 12,200 meters of permanent bridges in the country.

  • [pib] Data on Energy Savings

    The Union Ministry of Power has released a Report on “Impact of energy efficiency measures for the year 2018-19”.

    Things to note:

    1) UJALA Scheme

    2) PAT Scheme

    3) Standards & Labeling Programme

    Possible mains question:

    Q. Discuss the role of Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in “institutionalizing” energy efficiency services in India.

    About the report

    • This report was prepared by an Expert agency PWC Ltd, who was engaged by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE).
    • The objective of this study is to evaluate the performance and impact of all the key energy efficiency programmes in India, in terms of total energy saved and the related reduction in CO2 emissions.

    Data on energy savings

    • With our energy efficiency initiatives, we have already reduced the energy intensity of our economy by 20% compared to 2005 levels. This includes both the Supply Side and Demand Side sectors of the economy.
    • The implementation of various energy efficiency schemes has led to total electricity savings to the tune of 113.16 Billion Units in 2018-19, which is 9.39% of the net electricity consumption.
    • Energy savings (electrical + thermal), achieved in the energy-consuming sectors is to the tune of 16.54 Mtoe, which is 2.84% of the net total energy consumption in 2018-19.
    • Overall this has translated into savings worth INR 89,122 crores against last year’s savings of INR 53,627 crore.
    • These efforts have also contributed to reducing 151.74 Million Tonnes of CO2 emissions, whereas last year this number was 108 MTCO2.

    (Note: Mtoe= million Tonne of Oil Equivalent)

    What led to this significant savings?

    • The study has identified the following major programmes, viz. Perform, Achieve and Trade Scheme, Standards &Labelling Programme, UJALA Programme, Municipal Demand Side Management Programme, etc.
    • There is huge capacity still for bringing efficiencies especially in MSME sector and a Housing sector that has now been taken up.

    About the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE)

    • The Bureau of Energy Efficiency is an agency under the Ministry of Power created in March 2002 under the provisions of the nation’s 2001 Energy Conservation Act.
    • Its function is to develop programs which will increase the conservation and efficient use of energy in India.
    • The mission of BEE is to “institutionalize” energy efficiency services, enable delivery mechanisms in the country and provide leadership to energy efficiency in all sectors of the country.

    Back2Basics

    1) PAT Scheme

    • Perform Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme is a flagship programme of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency under the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE).
    • NMEEE is one of the eight national missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) launched in the year 2008.
    • The scheme aims to reduce specific energy consumption in energy-intensive industries through certification of excess energy saving which can be traded.
    • It refers to the calculation of Specific Energy Consumption (SEC) in the baseline year and projected SEC in the target year covering different forms of net energy going into the boundary of the designated consumers’ plant and the products leaving it over a particular cycle.
    • Those eight Energy Intensive Sectors included are Chlor-alkali, Pulp & Paper, Textile, Aluminum, and Thermal Power plants, Fertilizer, Iron & Steel and Cement.

    2) Standards & Labeling Programme

    • It is one of the major thrust areas of BEE.
    • A key objective of this scheme is to provide the consumer with an informed choice about the energy-saving and thereby the cost-saving potential of the relevant marketed product.
    • The scheme targets display of energy performance labels on high energy end-use equipment & appliances and lay down minimum energy performance standards.

    3) UJALA Scheme

    • Launched in 2015, the Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA), in a short span of time, has emerged as the world’s largest domestic lighting programme.
    • The main objective is to promote efficient lighting, enhance awareness on using efficient equipment which reduces electricity bills and helps preserve the environment.
    • The Electricity Distribution Company and Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) a public sector body of the Ministry of Power is implementing the programme.

  • GARUD portal for fast-track approval to COVID-19 related drone operations

    Civil Aviation Ministry and DGCA have launched the GARUD (portal for providing fast track conditional exemptions to government agencies for COVID-19 related drone operations.

    Possible prelim question:

    The Garud Portal which sometimes finds mention in the news is related to-

    a) Air travel of defence personnel

    b) Airlifting of the stranded Indian citizens

    c) Registration of Remotely-piloted aircraft system (RPAS)

    d) None of these

    GARUD portal

    • GARUD is an acronym for ‘Government Authorisation for Relief Using Drones’.
    • The objective of the portal is to assist governmental entities in seeking exemption for COVID-19 related Remotely-piloted aircraft system (RPAS) operations.
    • The Civil Aviation Ministry has clarified that any violation of provisions will make the conditional exemption null and void and will lead to penal action.

  • The evergreen debate of Food versus Fuel

    The article discusses the recent decision of the government to make alcohol from rice. The move was bound to trigger the debate over food security of the country with a population ravaged by hunger and poverty. While the 2009 biofuel policy had stressed the use of non-food resources, the 2018 updated policy allowed using excess grains. We all want to make a shift towards a green economy but is this the right time? Let’s find out.

    What decisions did the government take?

    • The National Biofuel Coordination Committee (NBCC) chaired by the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas decided to use “surplus” rice available with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) for conversion to ethanol.
    • The objective is to make alcohol-based hand-sanitisers and for the blending of ethanol with petrol. 
    • This decision is not only audacious but also an affront to the millions of people who are deeply affected by food insecurity.

    The food question

    • In 2009, the National Policy on Biofuels stressed on the use of non-food resources to avoid a possible conflict between food and fuel.

    • Take the US’s example: In 2018-19, an astounding 37.6 per cent of the corn produced in the US is used for making ethanol.

    • In addition to cereals, oilseed crops like rapeseed, soybean and sunflower were used for biofuel production.
    • Rise in food prices: Such diversion of food crops to produce biofuel was considered one of the reasons for the rise in food prices globally.

    What should be India’s strategy in this debate?

    • There is rampant poverty, hunger, and malnutrition in India.
    • India’s position in the Global Hunger Index has slipped nine places, ranking 102 among the 117 countries in 2019.
    • The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) 2015-16, found that 38.4 per cent of children under five years are “stunted” (height for age) and 21 per cent are “wasted” (low weight for height).
    • In fact, over a period of 10 years, wasting has increased from 19.8 per cent in NFHS-3 to 21 per cent in NFHS-4.

    The dictums of 2018 Policy

    • The 2018 National Policy on Biofuels had a target of 20 per cent blending of ethanol in petrol and 5 per cent blending of biodiesel in diesel by 2030.
    • This was to be achieved by increasing production using second-generation bio-refineries and developing new feedstock for biofuels.
    • It allowed the production of ethanol from damaged food grains like wheat and broken rice, which are unfit for human consumption.
    • The new policy allowed the use of excess food grain for ethanol in a bounty crop year, if endorsed by the Union Ministry of Agriculture.

    Possible dangers

    • The quantity of rice from which ethanol will be produced has not been announced, nor do we know the price at which such rice will be sold by the FCI.
    • About 85 per cent of rice is Kharif crop, heavily dependent on monsoon.
    • Despite the prediction of a normal monsoon, What happens if the monsoon predictions go wrong? Will we be able to import grain?
    • Less damaged grains: Despite the commonly held belief of a lakh of tonnes of rotting grains, the FCI’s storage practices are actually quite good.
    • Damaged grains as a percentage of total quantity issued by the FCI has been just about 0.01 per cent to 0.04 per cent in the last five years.
    • Hardly any ethanol can be made from such a small amount of damaged grains.
    • Making ethanol from sound quality grains deprives food to humans as well as livestock.
    • At the time when uncertainties are looming large, it is imperative that food security and food price stability be given the highest priority.

    Way forward

    • Ethanol can be produced from other ingredients such as B and C heavy molasses, sugar, sugar syrup, and sugarcane juice.
    • Ethanol has also been blessed with a low GST and enjoys relaxed conditions for inter-state movement if used for blending with petrol.
    • Since the economy faces a bleak prospect due to the impact of COVID-19, the government should first use the food grains to meet the requirement of about 10 to 20 crore people without ration cards.

    The UPSC could ask a question on the following lines “Diverting food grains for making fuels has always been a contentious issue from the food security angle. At the same time reducing India’s dependence on import for fuels is as much a serious concern. The National Policy on Biofuels-2018 sought to strike the balance between the two. Critically analyse the various provisions of National Policy on Biofuels-2018 which were different from 2009 policy.”

    Conclusion

    The government must ensure the food safety of the country first and if it still has surplus rice, it must facilitate export to friendly countries which are suffering an adverse impact of COVID-19 on their economies.

    Back2Basics: Generations of biofuels

    • There are three types of biofuels: 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation biofuels.
    • They are characterized by their sources of biomass, their limitations as a renewable source of energy, and their technological progress.
    • The main drawback of 1st generation biofuels is that they come from biomass that is also a food source.
    • This presents a problem when there is not enough food to feed everyone.
    • 2nd generation biofuels come from non-food biomass, but still compete with food production for land use.
    • Finally, 3rd generation biofuels present the best possibility for alternative fuel because they don’t compete with food.
    • However, there are still some challenges in making them economically feasible.

    Important Provision of ‘National Policy on Biofuels, 2018

    • The government aims at increasing the utilization of biofuels in the energy and transportation sectors of the country by promoting the production of biofuels from domestic feedstock in the coming decade through this policy.
    • Larger goals such as the adoption of green fuels, national energy security, fighting climate change, generating employment, etc. would be facilitated through this policy. Along with that, technological advancements in the field of biofuels will also be encouraged.
    • MNRE has set an indicative target of 20% blending of ethanol in petrol and 5% blending of biodiesel in diesel to be achieved by 2030.
    • The percentage of the same currently stands at around 2% for petrol and less than 0.1% for diesel.

  • ‘BharatMarket’: An e-commerce platform for retail traders

    Traders’ body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said that it will soon launch a national e-commerce marketplace ‘BharatMarket’ for all retail traders in collaboration with several technology partners.

    A prelims question with tricky options to throw you off track-

    The BharatMarket initiative recently seen in news is-

    A. Trade of Bharat-22 Exchange Traded Fund (ETF)

    B. Platform for farmer to sell their produce

    C. Initiative in power sector

    D. e-commerce platform

    Here you have to play safe…..

    BharatMarket

    • The marketplace will integrate the capabilities of various technology companies to provide end-to-end services in the logistics and supply chains from manufacturers to end consumers, including deliveries at home.
    • It will include nationwide participation by retailers and aims to bring 95 per cent of retail traders onboard the platform, who would exclusively run the portal.
    • It has been already started as a pilot project, initially with a limited number of essential commodities, in six cities — Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Lucknow, Kanpur and Bengaluru.
    • This will be an effective way to get essential commodities to consumers during the lockdown period and within containment zones.

  • Global Energy Review 2020, Report

    Covid-19 is having a ripple effect on the global energy space. Consistent lockdowns have reduced energy demand by almost 30 per cent in India.

    Covid-19 shock global energy demand

    • The IEA’s Global Energy Review studies the impacts of the Covid-19 crisis on global energy demand and CO emissions.
    • The projections of energy demand and energy-related emissions for 2020 are based on assumptions that the lockdowns implemented around the world.
    • It projects a 6 per cent fall in energy demand in 2020 — seven times the decline after the 2008 global financial crisis.
    • Electricity demand is set to decline by 5 per cent in 2020, the largest drop since the Great Depression in the 1930s.

    Global Energy Demands

    • The countries in full lockdown are experiencing an average decline of 25% in energy demand per week, while in those with a partial lockdown, the fall in energy demand is about 18% per week.
    • Global energy demand declined by 3.8% in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the first quarter of 2019.
    • Further, it is expected that the impact of Covid‑19 on energy demand in 2020 would be more than seven times larger than the impact of the 2008 financial crisis on global energy demand.

    Considering the above scenario the global demand of various energy sources can be analysed as given below

       Coal Demand:

    • It has been declined by 8% compared with the first quarter of 2019.
    • The reasons for such decline include, China – a coal-based economy – was the country hardest hit by Covid‑19 in the first quarter and cheap gas and continued growth in renewables elsewhere challenged coal.

    Oil Demand:

      • It has declined by 5% in the first quarter, majorly due to curtailment in mobility and aviation, which account for nearly 60% of global oil demand.
      • The report also estimates that the global demand for oil could further drop by 9% on average in 2020, which will return oil consumption to 2012 levels.
    •  Gas Demand:
      • The impact of the pandemic on gas demand has been moderate, at around 2%, as gas-based economies were not strongly affected in the first quarter of 2020.

    •  Renewables Energy Resources Demand:

      • It is the only source that has registered a growth in demand, driven by larger installed capacity.
      • Further, the demand for renewables is expected to rise by 1% by 2020 because of low operating costs and preferential access for many power systems.

    •  Electricity Demand:

      • It has been declined by 20% during periods of full lockdown in several countries.
      • However, the residential demand is outweighed by reductions in commercial and industrial operations.

    Indian scenario

    • The declines in electricity and transport demand in India have been among the deepest globally, but the contractions over the full year are likely to be smaller than the global average.
    • The impact of the crisis on energy demand is heavily dependent on the duration and stringency of measures to curb the spread of the virus.
    • At the same time, lockdown measures are driving a major shift towards low-carbon sources of electricity including nuclear, hydropower, wind and solar PV.

    Data on renewables

    • After overtaking for the first time ever in 2019, low-carbon sources are set to extend their lead this year to reach 40 per cent of global electricity generation — 6 percentage points ahead of coal.
    • Electricity generation from wind and solar PV continues to increase in 2020, lifted by new projects that were completed in 2019 and early 2020.

    Back2Basics: International Energy Agency (IEA)

    • The IEA is an autonomous organisation which works to ensure reliable, affordable and clean energy, headquartered in Paris, France.
    • It was established in the wake of 1973 (set up in 1974) oil crisis after the OPEC cartel had shocked the world with a steep increase in oil prices.
    • India became an associate member of the International Energy Agency in 2017.

  • National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP)

    • To augment infrastructure and create jobs in the country, the government task force on National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), which in its report projected total investment of Rs 111 lakh crore in infra projects over five years.
    • It said that 18 per cent of the targeted investment is expected to be made in the road sector.

    It is estimated that India would need to spend $4.5 trillion on infrastructure by 2030 to sustain its growth rate. The endeavour of the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), is to make this happen in an efficient manner.

    What is the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP)?

    • NIP includes economic and social infrastructure projects.
    • During the fiscals 2020 to 2025, sectors such as Energy (24%), Roads (19%), Urban (16%), and Railways (13%) amount to around 70% of the projected capital expenditure in infrastructure in India.
    • It has outlined plans to invest more than ₹102 lakh crore on infrastructure projects by 2024-25, with the Centre, States and the private sector to share the capital expenditure in a 39:39:22 formula.

    Key benefits of NIP

    • Economic: Well-planned NIP will enable more infra projects, grow businesses, create jobs, improve ease of living, and provide equitable access to infrastructure for all, making growth more inclusive.
    • Government: Well-developed infrastructure enhances the level of economic activity, creates additional fiscal space by improving the revenue base of the government, and ensures the quality of expenditure focused in productive areas.
    • Developers: Provides a better view of project supply, provides time to be better prepared for project bidding, reduces aggressive bids/ failure in project delivery, ensures enhanced access to sources of finance as a result of increased investor confidence.
    • Banks/financial institutions (F1s)/investors: Builds investor confidence as identified projects are likely to be better prepared, exposures less likely to suffer stress given active project monitoring, thereby less likelihood of NPAs.

    Projects include

    • The report contains recommendations on general and sector reforms relating to key infrastructure sectors for implementation by the Centre and states.
    • These projects will be implemented under the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), a first of its kind exercise, by consulting states, relevant ministries and departments.
    • Three committees will be set up to monitor project progress, eliminate delays, and find ways to raise resources, along with a steering committee in each of the infrastructure ministries.
    • Sectors such as energy (24%), roads (18%), urban (17%) and railways (12%) amount to around 71% of the projected investments.
    • The projects will also be spread across sectors such as irrigation, mobility, education, health, water and the digital sector.

  • Sharp fall in oil prices is opportunity for India to increase stockpile

    This article highlights the opportunity that the sharp drop in the oil prices presents to India. It also highlights several issues with India’s strategic petroleum reserves and suggests ways to deal with them. We have covered an article from livemint on the same topic in the past week.

    Negative price in the international market for WTI crude oil

    • Oil prices continue to decline globally, with crude hitting multi-decade lows, as global demand evaporates.
    • Earlier last week, in unprecedented price action, the near-month contract for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) sweet crude oil dropped to -$37.63 a bbl.
    • A negative price has never before been registered for a major global crude oil benchmark.
    • The extreme price action is a signal that there is a global oil glut with few places to store oil.
    • Global oil markets have been severely disrupted.
    • While WTI does not feature in India’s basket, Brent Crude Oil, which does, is trading around $25 a barrel, the lowest in 18 years.

    Price of oil: The silver lining of the future recovery

    • Even as India suffers from a lockdown, a silver lining for future recovery and reconstruction is the price of oil.
    • Given India’s growth aspirations and lack of self-sustaining oil production, a sharp reduction in oil prices is a bonanza.
    • Normally, reduced oil prices would translate into surplus for the consumers and a fiscal bonus for the government through increased tax collections.
    • However, given that the demand for petrol has slumped, those gains will not accrue right away.
    • Opportunity for India: India should look at this as an opportunity to strengthen its energy security by buying oil and filling up our Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR).
    • Considering that India was the third-largest consumer of energy in the world, as well as the third-largest importer of oil in 2018, we are particularly vulnerable to oil price fluctuations.
    • The dramatic reduction in oil prices offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity for us to fill up our reserves in an extremely cost-effective way.

    India’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) Programme

    • Currently, we do maintain an emergency stockpile of oil reserves: Under the existing Strategic Petroleum Reserves programme, India claims to have 87 days of reserves.
    • Out of this, refiners maintain 65 days of oil storage and the rest of the reserves are held in underground salt caverns maintained by Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL).
    • The existing and planned capacity for the underground reserves is 10 and 12 days of import cover for crude oil respectively.

    Following point highlights the importance and various issues with India’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR). SPR plays an important role in India’s energy security.  A question based on its role may be asked by the USPC “Assess the importance of Strategic Petroleum Reserves for India and what are the issues associated with that need to be improved?”

    Issues with the strategic reserves

    • First, capacity does not directly translate into utilisation, which is partly because oil is an expensive commodity most days of the year.
    • In 2019, the average closing price of a barrel of crude was $57.05.
    • In 2018, it was $64.90, and in 2017, U$50.84.
    • Of the existing 10 days of capacity, only about 50 per cent is utilised.
    • The second issue is with regard to the refinery holdings.
    • In India, the SPR arrangement between the oil refineries and the Union or state governments is not specified well, though most of the refineries that hold stock are publicly-owned companies.
    • In fact, a breakdown of which refineries hold SPR and in what form (crude or refined) or information about where they are located is not publicly available.

    Need for transparency in relation to SPR

    • The first step, therefore, should be to introduce transparency and accountability in relation to the SPR.
    • The procedures, protocols and facts about Indian SPR storage require greater public and parliamentary scrutiny, just like India’s other strategic reserves (for instance, foreign exchange).
    • For this, there should be timely and reliable dissemination of information.
    • Instead, it is now shrouded in secrecy.
    • The ambiguity surrounding mobilisation process: The lack of transparency around our SPR holdings is compounded by the ambiguity surrounding the mobilisation process.
    • SPR reserves are meant to be used in emergencies, where time is likely to be of the essence.
    • The SPR mobilisation process could be made more efficient by laying out designated roles for different agencies to avoid redundancies in times of crisis.
    • There should be role and process clarity regarding SPR mobilisation.
    • For instance, to begin with, there should be clarity on who (or which agency) can define an emergency and therefore order a mobilisation.

    Diversification of SPR

    • Further, in order to mitigate risks better, India should look to diversify its SPR holdings.
    • Diversification can be 1)Based on geographical location (storing oil either domestically or abroad), storage location (underground or overground) and 2) Product type (oil can be held in either crude or refined form).
    • Storage and transportation costs could be saved by diversifying geographically.
    • 3) Diversification could also be in the form of ownership — either publicly owned through ISPRL or by private oil companies, such as ADNOC of Abu Dhabi.
    • The private companies could fill up the SPR when prices are low and take advantage of price arbitrage.
    • This could achieve a degree of price stability and reduce the cost for India to buy such large quantities of oil.
    • The only requirement for this to work is to have a clear contract with the private companies about the mandatory minimum level of stock that they should preserve for use in emergency times.

    Storing oil abroad

    • With oil dirt-cheap, if we can purchase more than we can store in our existing facilities, why not go abroad for more storage space?
    • For instance, one option could be to operationalise, modernise, and add to the oil tanking facilities at Trincomalee in Sri Lanka.
    • Another opportunity would be to enter into a strategic partnership with Oman (Ras Markaz) for oil storage.
    • Partnership with Oman would also help India avoid the potential bottleneck of the straits of Hormuz.
    • Geopolitical risk factor: Since many of these places could potentially be vulnerable to geopolitical risks, only a small part of India’s overall SPR strategy should involve storing abroad.

    Conclusion

    Energy is and will remain vital to India’s aspirations for growth. The sharp fall in the price of oil presents an opportunity for the Union government to increase its SPR stockpile and achieve a degree of energy security.

  • Rohtang Pass and its location

    The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has opened the Rohtang Pass, three weeks in advance, for transporting essential supplies and relief materials to Lahaul and Spiti districts of Himachal Pradesh.

     Rohtang Pass

    • It is a high mountain pass (elevation 3,980 m) on the eastern Pir Panjal Range of the Himalayas around 51 km from Manali.
    • It connects the Kullu Valley with the Lahaul and Spiti Valleys of Himachal Pradesh, India.
    • The pass lies on the watershed between the Chenab and Beas basins.
    • On the southern side of this pass, the Beas River emerges from underground and flows southward and on its northern side, the Chandra River, a source stream of the river Chenab, flows westward.

    Another pass in new:

    https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/sela-pass-tunnel-project/