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Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
The need to find common ground
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R Gavai's advice to the Union government to refrain from selectively acting on collegium recommendations is timely. HT reported on Thursday that CJI Gavai issued this message after presiding over his first collegium meeting on May 26. According to people familiar with the matter, CJI Gavai was emphatic that segregating names from a batch of recommendations not only disturbs the seniority of judges but also sends an improper message about the collegium's authority and functioning. India has a nuanced process to pick judges for constitutional courts — where the senior-most judges pick judicial candidates and their names are confirmed by the executive, pending background checks. Selectively picking candidates out of a batch of names recommended by the collegium creates an unfavourable perception of bias and hurts the public standing of the judiciary. The smooth running of the judiciary — one of the pillars of India's democracy — depends on an honest and transparent working relationship between the courts and the executive. The selective picking of names by the executive, therefore, threatens to upset that delicate balance by creating an uneven playing field where some names are given precedence over others. Not only is this detrimental to critical processes such as seniority and filling of vacancies but also the standing of particular judges. This is not the first time such concerns have been raised. In 2014, then CJI RM Lodha wrote to then law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, objecting to the government's unilateral decision to drop former solicitor general Gopal Subramanium from a list of four recommended judges for the Supreme Court. Subramanium later withdrew his nomination. Between 2022 and 2023, a bench led by justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul noted that 'selective appointments' damaged the 'element of workable trust' needed between the judiciary and the executive, and sent 'a wrong signal'. The relationship between the government and the judiciary has remained fraught since a showdown over the proposed National Judicial Appointments Commission Act. This newspaper has been a constant advocate for greater transparency in the working of the collegium. But just because the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) — which guides the appointment and transfer of judges in constitutional courts — does not explicitly prohibit segregation, it doesn't mean that the practice should continue. The Centre should reconsider its stance.
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
CJI tells Centre not to act on collegium picks ‘selectively'
Chief Justice of India Bhushan R Gavai has conveyed to the Union government that the Centre should refrain from selectively acting on collegium recommendations, emphasising that appointments and transfers should not be cleared in instalments or by segregating names. According to people familiar with the matter, Justice Gavai issued this message after presiding over his first collegium meeting on May 26, which recommended a sweeping overhaul of key judicial positions across the country. 'CJI Gavai was emphatic that segregating names from a batch of recommendations not only disturbs the seniority of judges but also sends an improper message about the collegium's authority and functioning,' a person aware of the development said. This person pointed out that some of the recommendations made by CJI Gavai's predecessors have remained pending till date after the government segregated them. In a decisive opening move, CJI Gavai led the collegium in recommending the elevation of three high court judges -- Justices NV Anjaria, Vijay Bishnoi, and AS Chandurkar, to the Supreme Court. Apart from Justice Gavai, the collegium comprised Justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, JK Maheshwari, and BV Nagarathna. The Union government acted with speed, notifying the appointments on May 30, allowing the top court to reach its full sanctioned strength of 34 judges. The same meeting also proposed the appointment of five new chief justices -- Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva (Rajasthan), Justice Vibhu Bakhru (Karnataka), Justice Ashutosh Kumar (Gauhati), Justice Vipul M Pancholi (Patna), and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan (Jharkhand). In addition, four sitting chief justices were rotated between Madras, Rajasthan, Tripura, Telangana and Jharkhand high courts. In addition, this meeting proposed transferring 22 judges to various high courts based on administrative need and personal requests. The Delhi High Court, notably, received a proposed infusion of six judges, reflecting a focus on enhancing transparency in judicial appointments and accountability. These decisions follow the Supreme Court's recent strides towards openness, including the publication of collegium resolutions, judge profiles, and asset declarations on its official website – part of a transparency initiative launched under former CJI Sanjiv Khanna in early May. Another person familiar with the matter said that all collegium files related to judge transfers and chief justice appointments, except one delayed due to a late consent, have been cleared and may be formally notified within a week. 'All the files, except one where the consent of the judge concerned reached late and led to some administrative issue, have been cleared and are awaiting final notification by the government. They may happen within a week.' While the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP), which is the document guiding the appointment and transfer of judges in constitutional courts, does not explicitly prohibit segregation, the judiciary has consistently opposed the practice. In 2014, then CJI RM Lodha wrote to then Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, objecting to the government's unilateral decision to drop former Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium from a list of four recommended judges for the Supreme Court. Subramanium later withdrew his nomination. More recently, between 2022 and 2023, a bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul criticised the practice, noting that 'selective appointments' damaged the 'element of workable trust' needed between the judiciary and the executive. The bench warned that such conduct 'sends a wrong signal.' However, following Justice Kaul's retirement in December 2023, the matter has not been listed for further hearing. In 2014, the National Democratic Alliance government passed the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act, setting up an alternative system for the appointment of judges to constitutional courts which also proposed a greater role for the government in the process. But, in 2015, the Supreme Court struck down the law for being unconstitutional because it sought to tinker with the independence of the judiciary. Since the NJAC verdict, the relationship between the judiciary and the executive has remained fraught, with tensions often surfacing over the MoP, the document that outlines the process of judicial appointments. Despite several rounds of discussions, a new MoP has not been finalised, leading to frequent deadlocks and delays in judicial appointments. The executive has raised concerns about the lack of transparency in the collegium system, while the judiciary has resisted any perceived encroachments on its independence.
Time of India
7 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
India's biofuel sector transitioning from promise to partial implementation: Report
India's biofuel sector is slowly moving from a stage of promise to partial implementation, supported by strong government policies, rising need for decarbonization, and the push for rural value creation, according to a report by YES Securities. The report highlighted that while government support through initiatives like SAMARTH (for biomass), E20 (for ethanol), and SATAT (for compressed biogas or CBG) remains strong, the actual progress in building the required infrastructure is uneven across different segments. It said "India's biofuel sector is transitioning from promise to partial implementation, driven by policy tailwinds". Among all segments, ethanol blending has shown significant progress, with around 18 per cent blending achieved. This has also resulted in a visible return on capital employed (RoCE) for producers. Solid biofuels are also gaining ground in industries as substitutes for coal and furnace oil. This shift is being driven by better economics and pressure to meet environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals. However, the report noted that the CBG segment still faces several challenges. These include problems with feedstock logistics, underutilised production capacity, and the lack of infrastructure needed to monetise by-products, which are crucial for making CBG plants financially viable. The report added that investors should now focus on segments that are showing operational progress, have clear offtake guarantees linked to policy, and show a realistic path to scale. In terms of policy and mechanism support, the report explained the role of co-firing, which involves blending solid biofuels with coal in power plants. According to a Ministry of Power (MoP) order issued in 2021, all thermal power plants with a capacity of more than 200 MW are required to blend 5 per cent biomass starting from FY22. In regions prone to high stubble burning like Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, the limit has been increased to 7 per cent. This effort is being driven under the SAMARTH Mission, a government initiative to promote sustainable fuel use. India's coal-fired power capacity stands at about 210 GW. Even a 5 per cent blend would require around 10.5 GW of power to be generated from biofuels. This would translate to the use of 15-20 million metric tonnes (mmt) of biomass every year, creating a potential market of over Rs 500 billion. Public sector power utility NTPC has emerged as a leader in the co-firing space. As of early calendar year 2025, it has already co-fired more than 2.5 lakh tonnes of biomass across its units in Dadri, Jhajjar, and others. Some of these units have achieved 7-10 per cent biomass blending. Despite the policy push, the report pointed out several bottlenecks. These include variation in the calorific value and combustion characteristics of biomass, difficulties in logistics and storage due to the perishable nature of biomass, and the need for plant-specific burner modifications to enable efficient co-firing. The report concluded that while the biofuel sector holds significant promise, actual implementation will depend on overcoming these practical challenges and ensuring consistent progress across all segments.
Time of India
7 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
India's biofuel sector transitioning from promise to partial implementation: Report
New Delhi: India's biofuel sector is slowly moving from a stage of promise to partial implementation, supported by strong government policies, rising need for decarbonization, and the push for rural value creation, according to a report by YES Securities. The report highlighted that while government support through initiatives like SAMARTH (for biomass), E20 (for ethanol), and SATAT (for compressed biogas or CBG) remains strong, the actual progress in building the required infrastructure is uneven across different segments. It said "India's biofuel sector is transitioning from promise to partial implementation, driven by policy tailwinds". Among all segments, ethanol blending has shown significant progress, with around 18 per cent blending achieved. This has also resulted in a visible return on capital employed (RoCE) for producers. Solid biofuels are also gaining ground in industries as substitutes for coal and furnace oil. This shift is being driven by better economics and pressure to meet environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals. However, the report noted that the CBG segment still faces several challenges. These include problems with feedstock logistics, underutilised production capacity, and the lack of infrastructure needed to monetise by-products, which are crucial for making CBG plants financially viable. The report added that investors should now focus on segments that are showing operational progress, have clear offtake guarantees linked to policy, and show a realistic path to scale. In terms of policy and mechanism support, the report explained the role of co-firing, which involves blending solid biofuels with coal in power plants. According to a Ministry of Power (MoP) order issued in 2021, all thermal power plants with a capacity of more than 200 MW are required to blend 5 per cent biomass starting from FY22. In regions prone to high stubble burning like Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, the limit has been increased to 7 per cent. This effort is being driven under the SAMARTH Mission, a government initiative to promote sustainable fuel use. India's coal-fired power capacity stands at about 210 GW. Even a 5 per cent blend would require around 10.5 GW of power to be generated from biofuels. This would translate to the use of 15-20 million metric tonnes (mmt) of biomass every year, creating a potential market of over Rs 500 billion. Public sector power utility NTPC has emerged as a leader in the co-firing space. As of early calendar year 2025, it has already co-fired more than 2.5 lakh tonnes of biomass across its units in Dadri, Jhajjar, and others. Some of these units have achieved 7-10 per cent biomass blending. Despite the policy push, the report pointed out several bottlenecks. These include variation in the calorific value and combustion characteristics of biomass, difficulties in logistics and storage due to the perishable nature of biomass, and the need for plant-specific burner modifications to enable efficient co-firing. The report concluded that while the biofuel sector holds significant promise, actual implementation will depend on overcoming these practical challenges and ensuring consistent progress across all segments.
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Business Standard
09-06-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Solar Federation seeks extension of inter-state transmission fee waiver
The National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI) has urged the government to protect the viability of numerous renewable energy projects facing risks from delays beyond the control of developers, according to a person familiar with the matter. In the letter to the advisor to the Prime Minister's Office, the federation urged that the Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) charges waiver be extended to projects getting commissioned by June 2026 and meeting a specific criterion relating to connectivity application status, financial closure, land acquisition beyond the 50 per cent threshold, and if orders for equipment have been made. The federation, representing a broad spectrum of stakeholders across the solar value chain, stated that while the ISTS waiver, originally announced by the Ministry of Power (MoP), has played a "pivotal role in making renewable power more competitive", its delayed implementation by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) in February 2023 left many developers in a limbo. ISTS charges are the fees levied for using the transmission infrastructure to move electricity between states. They are imposed to cover the costs relating to building and maintaining transmission lines and other infrastructure required for interstate electricity transfer. According to an energy expert, industry estimates state that renewable energy projects of nearly Rs 5 lakh crore would be impacted if the waiver of ISTS charges is not extended. "Several RE developers made early investments, securing land, achieving financial closure, and signing definitive agreements based on the original MoP notification," the federation said. However, due to aspects like the nearly two-year lag in CERC's ratification and other uncontrollable factors, these developers are now at risk of missing the commissioning deadline of June 30, 2025, making them ineligible for the waiver. The federation flagged multiple aspects, including prolonged approvals under Section 68(1) of the Electricity Act due to an ongoing Supreme Court case on Great Indian Bustard conservation, delay in transmission planning and connectivity effectiveness, and delayed commissioning of critical transmission infrastructure. "Several developers applied for ISTS connectivity well before June 2023, in line with the ISTS waiver policy timelines. However, the effectiveness dates for granted connectivity are being issued much later, often in 2026 or 2027, due to delays in transmission system planning and execution," the federation said. The federation has proposed a milestone-based eligibility framework for the waiver. It has recommended that projects that had applied for transmission connectivity on or before June 30, 2023, achieved financial closure, acquired at least 50 per cent of the land required for their development, and placed orders for wind turbine generators and/or inverters must be considered for the purpose of availing the ISTS waiver. It argued that the approach is consistent with CERC's regulations and recent Ministry of Power notifications granting waiver flexibility to pumped storage and battery storage projects. "The proposed eligibility criteria will ensure that only serious and committed renewable energy developers, who had factored the ISTS waiver into their project design and commercial commitments, benefit from this extension," the federation said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
