Even as heavy industries secretary Satyanarayana Dash on Thursday called for the implementation of the amended Indian Boilers Act 2007 at the earliest, a senior power ministry official told FE that the notification of the new law is being held up due to vehement opposition from some states, especially West Bengal.
Speaking at a seminar, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CCI) on boilers and pressure vessels in the Capital, Dash said, ?There would be no solution to the power sector problems unless you solve the administrative problems (like inspector raj over boilers) that are creating roadblocks in the whole process.?
Referring to the delay in the notification of the law, Dash said that he will urge the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion to ensure that ?all relevant notifications and orders are issued at the earliest so that the reconstituted Central Boiler Board comes into force at the earliest.? He said this was necessary for boilers and manufacturers to get the benefit of third-party inspections as well as fix the periodicity of inspections as per manufacturers? prescriptions.
Currently, state government appointed inspectors hold a monopoly on inspecting boiler users as well as manufacturers. Moreover, inspections are an annual exercise during which period plants are mandated to shut down operations, irrespective of the manufacturers? recommended frequency for inspecting the boilers in question. The Parliament amended the law in November 2007 to abolish inspectors? monopoly and allow international third party inspection agencies for boilers.
Dash was responding to Congress MP and industrialist Navin Jindal who had questioned the hold-up in the notification of the amended law and asked for the inspector raj to be abolished as soon as possible. However, a senior power ministry official said some state governments have been opposing the law right since 1994 when it was originally introduced in the Rajya Sabha.
?Some states are opposing it even now, the loudest opponent being West Bengal,? the official said, trying to rationalise UPA government?s predicament in notifying the new law, given its outside supporters, the Left parties are ruling in the state.
Arguing that the boiler law reforms and standardization of boiler ratings and specifications are essential to achieve project schedules and achieve power capacity addition targets, Dash urged boiler users and manufacturers to ?switch over to standardisation? in a big way. ?This is the one pivotal consideration in achieving power sector targets.?
?Boilers and pressure vessels form an important element of many infrastructure and industrial segments, including power, fertilisers, paper, cement, petrochemicals and refineries. Considering the overall demand patterns, there is a need to substantially augment the existing indigenous manufacturing facilities as well as create additional capacity by new players not just in boilers, but all associated equipment required in thermal power plants,? he said.
?Our energy GDP elasticity index is 1.5, meaning with 1% growth in GDP, the commensurate energy demand goes up by 1.5%. So the requirement of energy to sustain the high GDP growth rates of 8-9% is really very high,? he added. To sustain India ?s current GDP growth through to 2030, the country needs to augment its energy supply by 4-5 times the current consumption levels, he stressed.
Pointing to China?s aggressive capacity addition in the power sector in the last five years, the Heavy Industries secretary said China was able to do this by using ?standardised sets? and India must take a clue from there in order to meet the ambitious capacity addition target of 1,60,000 mw in the Eleventh and Twelfth Five Year Plan. Of this, the government aims to add 78,500 mw capacity in the Eleventh Plan period, compared to the mere 22,000 mw added in the Tenth Plan.
Although the government is emphasising the use of hydro, nuclear and renewable sources of energy, the primary dependence will still remain on thermal power generation based on fossil fuels, which contribute 64% of the country?s total installed capacity currently. In this context, more efficient use of India ?s coal reserves is imperative which needs better utilisation of boilers and hence, boiler reforms need primary attention, Dash said.
He urged experts in the boiler industry to brainstorm on how non-coking coal resources can be best utilised to efficiently produce power with the least of greenhouse gas emissions in a non-polluting manner. While India?s high-ash non-coking coal reserves are at 245 billion tonnes, the annual production rate is 361 million tonnes.