2G scam: 'Candid' Tata admits chemistry problem with Maran

NEW DELHI: Tata Group chief Ratan Tata and corporate lobbyist Niira Radia deposed before the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee probing the 2G scam on Monday, leaving its members feeling that while Tata had been "candid" in his deposition, Radia was "evasive." 

Tata admitted before the committee his group had a "chemistry problem" with ex-telecom minister A Raja's predecessor, Dayanidhi Maran. He indicated that things indeed improved after Maran was replaced by Raja in May 2007, but denied having been part of an effort to ensure Raja became telecom minister again in 2009. He added, "I didn't manipulate the system for 2G license allocation." 

On being asked about his letter to DMK chief and Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi praising Raja's stewardship of the telecom ministry, Tata said, "We had a chemistry problem with Maran." He pointed out that Tata Teleservices' applications were kept pending for more than 80 days and he had, in fact, been disadvantaged as GSM operators seemed to enjoy more clout. 

His claim that there was no controversy about spectrum allocation when he wrote to Karunanidhi was, however, challenged by committee members who said the decision to shift the cut-off date had been taken and finance ministry as well as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had already written to Raja by then. 

BJP leader Yashwant Sinha told Tata that it would have been unexceptional if he wrote to the Prime Minister but instead he sent a letter to Karunanidhi showering encomiums on Raja. Tata is believed to have said the letter was carried in a sealed cover by Niira Radia. "I did not leak it, it did not benefit me," he is learnt to have said. 

Niira Radia was questioned by the committee on her taped conservations which suggested she had mounted a concerted campaign efforts to re-install Raja as telecom minister in May 2009. Radia replied saying she was "too small a fry" to influence ministerial appointments. 

Radia, who met the committee before Tata, is learnt to have drawn a warning from PAC chair Murli Manohar Joshi when she said some of the leaked tapes on her conversations with Raja, Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi, Tata and other industrialists and journalists, were "doctored". Asked to substantiate her claim, she said the tapes were with the CBI. 

Joshi is understood to have warned her to choose her words carefully as her deposition to a committee can be a matter of privilege. Asked why she had not filed a legal case if the tapes were tampered, Radia said she was waiting for further CBI chargesheets. In a bid to correct herself, she said the context of her conversations was often not clear. 

With Joshi later telling the media that Radia was "evasive", it appears the lobbyist did attract the ire of members. She said her work was both public relations and communication and it involved listening to what people had to say and conveying this to her clients. She is learnt to have often said that she did not remember what exactly transpired. 

Tata, however, said the tapes were genuine and he recognized his voice. On the land deal involving Voltas, Tata said his firm was a tenant. 

Asked by Congress's Saifuddin Soz whether price of 2G spectrum involved a loss of revenue, Tata did not respond directly. He said revenue sharing and upfront payment, as suggested by Soz, could be options but different formulas have worked in different countries. He said rather than being a beneficiary, Tatas had suffered in the past. 

Tata said he had met Radia when he was trying to create a Tata tie-up with Singapore Airlines. He admitted that he felt Radia would give him a voice in Delhi where the GSM telecom operators seemed to enjoy an advantage. He claimed firms like Vodafone and BSNL had got spectrum in excess of their rights. 

On Radia, Joshi said, "Our experience was that she did not come out clearly. Regarding the tapes first she tried to be evasive giving various excuses. Later when PAC confronted her saying she had already appeared before the CBI, she accepted that she had heard some of the tapes and they were genuine." PAC has now asked her to submit a list of tapes that she has already heard. 

On Tuesday, Anil Ambani, senior officials of Etisalat, DB group, S Tel, and Unitech Wireless are set to appear before the PAC.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/2G-scam-Candid-Tata-admits-chemistry-problem-with-Maran/articleshow/7869611.cms

Anil asks minister to allocate gas to power plant

Industrialist Anil Ambani  met Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy  on Wednesday, seeking natural gas allocation for his group's upcoming power projects.

"He (Anil Ambani) is interested in power projects. He met me in that connection," Reddy told reporters after an hour-long meeting with Ambani. 

The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group chairman sought natural gas for a power project, but refused to give details, Reddy said. 

"We discussed in generalised terms," he said, adding that gas allocation was done by an empowered group of ministers and Anil Ambani's suggestion and request will be considered by that group.

Source: Anil asks minister to allocate gas to power plant - Rediff.com Business

RPower to increase capacity of its mega projects by 50%

RELIANCE Power, the flagship company of the Anil Ambani group, plans to expand four large coal-fired power projects by 50% to generate an additional 8,000 MW of power, which may be sold at more attractive merchant rates, company sources said. 

The company will scale up three ultra mega power projects of 4,000 MW each at Sasan, Krishnapatnam, and Tilaiya. Similarly, it will expand the Chitrangi plant in Madhya Pradesh, for which Reliance Power plans to use coal from mines dedicated to the Sasan project. 

The company has already applied for environment clearance for additional 1980 MW in Sasan and plans to seek approvals for the rest. 

A company spokesman said Reliance Power would seize opportunities to maximise value from its existing resources, but he declined comment of specific expansion plans. "It is our constant endeavour to optimise the utilisation of our existing resources like land, water and fuel linkages across all our projects to create and enhance the value for our stakeholders," the spokesman said. 

In the Chitrangi project, Reliance Power has tied up power purchase agreements (PPAs) for 1,241 MW out of its 4,000 MW capacity. The balance as well as the planned additional capacity of 2,000 MW each at Chitrangi and the three UMPPs would be available for sale at market-driven price, which analysts say are more than double the rates agreed in the PPAs. 

Another official of Reliance Power said that since these projects have all approval and basic infrastructure, such as land, is already in place, it would be much easier to increase generation in the shortest period. "Had we started for a fresh projects with similar size, it would have taken much longer time,” he said. 

The company aims to commission the first unit of 660 MW in Sasan in November 2012 and one new unit every subsequent quarter. The entire project of 6,000 MW in Sasan will be fully commissioned by December 2014. Similarly, the first unit of 660 MW in Krishnapatnam will be commissioned in September 2013 and it will be fully commissioned by December 2015. 

As per the new plan, each of these four power projects (three UMPPs and Chitrangi) will have nine turbines of 660 MW each, the official said. 

In November 2010, the company placed orders worth $8.2 billion with Shanghai Electric Corporation for buying 42 super critical turbine of 660 MW each, each turbine costing around $200 million. Of this, 36 turbine will be installed in these four projects.

Source: Article Window