Government reviews decision after a week, eases ethanol rules
The government on Friday allowed use of both sugarcane juice and B-heavy molasses, a byproduct of the sweetener, to produce ethanol while capping the diversion of sugar for this purpose at 17 lakh tonnes. The decision came barely a week after it had banned the use of cane juice for ethanol production.

Centre to directly sanction critical mineral exploration projects to notified agencies
New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Mines announced on Friday that it will directly sanction exploration projects to notified private exploration agencies (NPEAs)

India pursues off-take agreements and investments in Australian mines for critical mineral supplies
New Delhi: India and Australia are in advanced talks to secure critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, and vanadium, among others, senior officials of India’s Mines Ministry said. According to multiple officials aware of the discussions, India is looking at securing “confirmed off-take agreements” or “investments in processing” or both, as it looks to meet green energy requirements and reduce carbon footprint. Apart from NMDC, which recently commissioned a gold mine in Australia and is expected to start pre-PFS (pre-feasibility  studies) there soon; KABIL (Khanij Bidesh India Ltd) – a JV of NALCO, Hindustan Copper and MECL – is also carrying out “due diligence” for two lithium and three cobalt mines in Australia.

Sajjan Jindal refutes allegations against him, calls them baseless, says cooperating with investigation
Mumbai: Denying the allegations of sexual assault levelled agaist him by a 30-year-old doctor-model, industralist Sajjan Jindal Sunday said that he is cooperating with the investigation.

21 companies bid for Centre's incentives to manufacture electrolysers

According to an official statement, the bids came in response to a tender by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) inviting players for setting up 1.5 GW manufacturing capacity for electrolyser manufacturing. Bids for electrolyser manufacturers were invited on July 7 this year.
 

Adani group spends $2.5 bn so far on green hydrogen value chain
Adani New Industries Ltd (ANIL), a wholly owned subsidiary of flagship Adani Enterprises, has spent $2.5 billion so far in developing a backward integrated value chain for its green hydrogen project and is on track to implement the first phase of the project with an annual capacity of 1 million tons by FY27, sources said. The aim is to increase the capacity to 3 million tons in the next ten years with an investment of $50 billion. This, of course, depends on market conditions and the success of the initial phase. The green hydrogen plant is coming up at Mundra in Gujarat.

Tata Steel to complete Kalinganagar project expansion: Vice President Rajiv Kumar
Kalinganagar (Odisha): Tata Steel aims to complete expansion of its Kalinganagar project by December next year, a company official said. The company had commenced the second phase of expansion of its Kalinganagar project in Odisha in November 2018 to reach the production capacity of 8 million tonnes per annum, from 3 MTPA, with an investment of ₹23,500 crore. "We are aiming to complete the project and make it operational by December end next year," Rajiv Kumar, Vice President, Operation, Tata Steel Kalinganagar (TSK), told PTI in an interaction.

Gold, silver prices remain stable; yellow metal trading at Rs 62,510/10g
New Delhi: The price of 24-carat gold remained stable during early trade on Monday, with ten grams of the precious metal selling at Rs 62,510, according to the GoodReturns website. The price of silver was also flat with one kilogram of the precious metal selling at Rs 77,700.

Rising gold prices elevate demand for antique & jadau jewellery this wedding season

Antique and jadau jewellery have stolen the show this wedding season among the brides though the families have to shell out more as the prices of gold have gone up. The average budget for gold jewellery in last year's wedding was Rs 5-7 lakh which has shot up to Rs 10 lakhs, said jewellers from Mumbai's Zaveri Bazaar.

We plan to build 2 mmtpa green ammonia capacity by 2035: Harsh Nupur Joshi, Head - New Energy, ONGC
New Delhi: The oil and gas giant plans to invest about INR 80,000 crore to INR 85,000 crore for these two projects of one million metric tonne per annum (mmtpa) each, its Group General Manager and Head of New Energy - Renewable, Harsh Nupur Joshi, told ETEnergyWorld in an exclusive interview. Edited excerpts:

ONGC planning to build 2 MTPA Green Ammonia capacity by 2035: Head - New Energy
New Delhi: The oil and gas giant plans to invest about INR 80,000 crore to INR 85,000 crore for these two projects of one million metric tonne per annum (mmtpa) each, its Group General Manager and Head of New Energy - Renewable, Harsh Nupur Joshi, told ETEnergyWorld in an exclusive interview.

Edited excerpts:

Russian oil discounts for India set to rise
New Delhi : Discounts on Russian oil purchased by Indian refiners are likely to increase going ahead with a fall in global demand and India looking at further diversifying its supplies.

Diesel sales recover after Diwali drop but still lower than last year
India's diesel consumption in the first half of December recovered from the steep fall seen last month on transporters taking a Diwali break, but sales were still lower than last year, preliminary data of state-owned firms showed. Diesel consumption at 3.15 million tonne during December 1 to 15 was 0.7 per cent higher than 3.13 million tonne demand in the first half of November. The demand was 8.1 per cent lower than 3.43 million tonne consumption in December 1-15, 2022.

Global coal demand set to fall as China uses more renewable resources
 

Kakrapar-4 nuclear reactor attains criticality
The fourth unit of the Kakrapar Atomic Power Project (KAPP-4) in Gujarat, with 700 MWe capacity, started controlled fission chain reaction and thus became critical at 1.17 am on December 17. Kakrapar is situated about 80 km from Surat.

France’s AFD to help SJVN set up solar projects
Public sector hydropower generator SJVN Ltd is discussing a collaboration with France’s official development agency AFD to set up solar projects in India.

15 years on, US nuke deal waits for power plug
The 2008 Indo-US nuclear deal remains more or less on paper, with a report flagging lack of “concrete progress" in India’s plans to import reactors from America and France.

Biden backs ethanol industry on low-emission aviation fuel tax credits
The Biden administration said on Friday it will recognize a methodology favored by the ethanol industry in guidance to companies looking to claim tax credits for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), a pivotal win for the politically powerful U.S. corn lobby.

Oil and gas should not be demonized, Elon Musk says
It is important to reduce carbon emissions to preserve the planet, but oil and natural gas should not be demonized in the medium-term, Elon Musk, the founder of electric car maker Tesla, said on Saturday.

Lithium producer SQM, Chile's Codelco agree to start talks with indigenous group
Chile's state copper company Codelco and lithium producer SQM have agreed to establish a roundtable with indigenous communities amid talks over a possible partnership between the two companies in the Atacama salt flat, Codelco said on Friday.