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66 cos bid for 52 oil, gas blocks under NELP
Power Ministry to sign MoU with Arunachal for power projects
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IMF confident of getting quota hike passed
Another M’rashtra bank placed under moratorium
Ford reaches deal to offer buyouts to workers
Gold plunges to 3-month low
NTPC to set up N-power project
TN gets ultra mega power project
WB not to allow industry at Singur if Tata project fails
Mobile Asia from Oct 13
Corpn Bank inks pact with OBC, Indian Bank
Hutch offer in Haryana
Corporate
Results
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66 cos bid for 52 oil, gas blocks under NELP
New Delhi, September 15 After the evaluation of bids, the blocks are expected to be awarded by November 15 and contracts would be signed by January 2007. “We are happy with the overwhelming response of the domestic and foreign companies in this round and hope that it will attract an investment of $8 to $10 billion in oil and gas exploration,” said Mr Anil Razdan, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, today. Addressing a press conference, he said, except for three blocks, the government has received bids for oil blocks. ONGC has submitted bids for 45 blocks while Reliance Industries has bid for 21 blocks. However, for 13 blocks, which include four deep- water, two shallow offshore and seven onland blocks, only one bid each was submitted. The oil companies, individually and in consortiums, purchased 310 data packages before bidding amounting to Rs 78.60 crore as against Rs 22.75 crore worth data in the previous round, indicating increasing interest in the exploration sector. Mr V.K. Sibal, Director-General, DGH, maintained that unlike previous rounds of bidding, this round attracted global giants like Total (France), Santos (Australia), Petrogas (Oman) and BG (UK). He added that three blocks, for which no bid was submitted, would be offered again to the companies in the next round of bidding. ONGC has partnered with BP, BG, ENI for putting in bids for deep-sea block and had Cairn Energy of the UK, GAIL, HPCL and Oil India Ltd as partners for other offshore and on-land blocks. “The response is very good. We offered the highest-ever acreage in this round. India has political stability and there is transparency in our system,” Mr Sibal said. BP, which submitted an unsuccessful bid for a block in last year's round, evinced interest in two deepwater blocks this time. Meanwhile, Canada's GeoGlobal Resources is looking for five onland blocks in a tie-up with Oil India Ltd., while Calgary's Niko Resources Ltd has entered solo bids for three blocks. Mr Anil Kumar Jain, Director in the Petroleum Ministry, disclosed that previous five rounds of bidding resulted in an investment of about Rs 7,130 crore and 58 discoveries. Out of 16 discoveries, he said, 510 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent reserves had been confirmed. In the remaining discovered fields work was under process. From the NELP-I round, said Mr Jain, we were already getting gas worth 3 lakh cubic metres per day. |
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Power Ministry to sign MoU with Arunachal for power projects
New Delhi, September 15 “On September 21, an MoU will be signed between the Arunachal Pradesh Government and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and National Hyrdoelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) for setting up around 21,000 MW generation capacity,” Mr Shinde said while inaugurating the 9th India Power Forum, 2006, organised by India Energy Forum (IEF). “There was a tie for two to three years, but now an amicable solution has been worked out and the Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister has responded well,” he said Endowed with perennial rivers and streams, Arunachal Pradesh is considered a powerhouse for electricity generation with an estimated potential for 50,000 MW. NTPC Chairman and Managing Director T. Sankaralingam said the company was proposing undertaking projects totalling 4,500 MW, with an investment of around Rs 220 billion. Of the identified project in the state, the NTPC is planning to undertake two hydropower projects — 4,000 MW Etalin and 500 MW Attunli. An investment of Rs 25,000 crore by NHPC is planned for five power projects in the state. Out of the five projects, the Dibang hydroelectric project of 3,000 MW will be undertaken in a tie-up with the Arunachal Pradesh Government. The other four projects — Tawang I and Tawang II of 750 MW each, Subansiri Upper of 2,000 MW and Subansiri Middle of 1,600 MW, are to be undertaken by NHPC on its own.
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IMF confident of getting quota hike passed
Singapore, September 15 “What is clear is that there was a very clear majority in the Board to endorse the resolution, if not, it would not have been brought here,” IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato said here. The Fund had agreed on a two-year reform programme, the second stage of which would see a revision of the formula followed by further quota adjustments and increases in so-called basic votes, which African countries are pushing for. A few days back, India had expressed its opposition to the proposal, saying that it was based on the current “flawed” formula and sought the support of developing nations to stall the move. India has always held that the developing world deserves to have a much greater “voice” in the management of international financial institutions, Finance Minister P Chidambaram had said at the Commonwealth Finance Ministers’ meeting in Colombo on September 13. Many countries find the present quota structure as skewed in favour of the US and Europe. A member’s quota delineates basic aspects of its financial and organisational relationship with the IMF, including voting powers and access to
finance. The current quotas in IMF are roughly determined by the size of a country’s gross domestic product, openness to trade and reserves. When it comes to votes, South Korea, China, India and Japan have just 12 per cent of the voting rights, the US has 17 per cent and Europe has over a third. The US, which has a veto power in IMF, is keen on a formula where GDP carries greater
weight. — PTI |
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Another M’rashtra bank placed under moratorium
Pune, September 15 SSCB Chairman Dyaneshwar Agashe said here that the bank’s capital adequacy ratio had dipped to 4 per cent against the norm of 9 per cent, prompting the RBI to place it under moratorium till further orders. The announcement of merger plans last week had set off panic among customers, who have withdrawn Rs 150 crore since Sunday. Because of the moratorium, customers would now be able to withdraw only Rs 1,000 per month from their respective accounts, Mr Agashe said. Shree Suvarna Cooperative Bank, having a deposit of Rs 800 crore in its 12 branches in Mumbai (two), Solapur (1) and Pune (9), is the largest non-schedule cooperative bank in Maharashtra. He said that the proposal to merge SSCB with Cosmos Cooperative Bank had already been approved by the latter’s annual general meeting, adding that “our AGM would be meeting to approve the same within the next 45 days.” SSCB is the second Maharashtra-based bank to have been placed under moratorium this month. — PTI
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Ford reaches deal to offer buyouts to workers
Detroit (US) September 15 The deal will help Ford accelerate a restructuring plan aimed at stemming massive losses amid a steady decline in its market share. The earlier plan only offered buyouts to workers at 14 plants slated for closure. “Once again, our members are stepping up to make hard choices under difficult circumstances,” UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said yesterday. “Now, its Ford Motor company’s responsibility to lead this company in a positive direction which means using the skills, experience and dedication to quality that UAW members demonstrate every day in order to deliver quality vehicles to customers.” The packages range from straight buyouts for younger workers to a special early retirement package for workers with 28 years of services, said Mr Brian Quantz, Vice- President of UAW Local 900 in Wayne, Michigan. Workers with 28 years of service are eligible for two years’ leave at 85 per cent of their regular wages and then can retire with their full pension and healthcare benefits, Mr Quantz said. The deal calls for workers to start signing up for retirement packages on October 16 and workers have to accept the buyout offers until November 27, Mr Quantz said. The deal calls for workers to begin leaving Ford’s payroll on January 1 and all workers should be off Ford’s payroll by September 1, 2007. — AFP
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New Delhi, September 15 Gold was down by Rs 190 at Rs 8,830 per 10 gm, a level last seen on June 16, on heavy selling by stockists triggered by a weak overseas trend. Gold traded lower in other Asian markets after jewellers, the largest users of the metal, deferred purchases as analysts predicted that the prices might fall further. In international markets, which normally set the price band in domestic markets here, the precious metal fell by $2.40 to $572.85 an ounce. The metal also fell as crude oil traded below $64 a barrel for the fourth day, lowering the precious metal’s appeal as a hedge against inflation. In domestic market here, standard gold and ornaments fell by Rs 190 each at Rs 8,830 and Rs 8,680 per 10 gm, respectively. Sovereign also fell by Rs 50 at Rs 7,500 per piece of 8 gm. Gold ETF norms soon
Meanwhile, SEBI is busy giving the finishing touches to the long-awaited detailed guidelines on the Gold Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), which will allow retail investors to buy and sell gold like units of mutual funds. SEBI and Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) officials were currently involved in giving the finishing touches to the detailed guidelines on Gold ETF, AMFI’s Chairman A.P. Kurian said while speaking at a seminar organised in Mumbai by Dun & Bradstreet today. Forward Markets Commission (FMC) Chairman S. Sundareshan, who also attended the function, declined to comment when asked whether Gold ETF were to be listed on commodity exchange or stock exchanges.
— PTI |
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NTPC to set up N-power project
New Delhi, September 15 The company is also looking to acquire coal mines abroad and is scouting for locations in various states, including Tamil Nadu, to set up its maiden nuclear power project. "We will buy 25,000 tonnes of LNG or about 2.5 million metric standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd) of LNG over next three months in spot cargoes," NTPC Chairman and Managing Director T Sankarlingam told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar. Mr Sankarlingam did not say the price at which the company would buy LNG, though global spot markets are ruling at around $8 to $10 per million British thermal unit. Besides buying LNG from spot markets, the company has forayed into exploration and production of natural gas and is looking to tie up long-term agreements as well to meet fuel requirements at its gas-fired projects. — PTI
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TN gets ultra mega power project
New Delhi, September 15 “We have decided to set up an ultra mega power plant in Tamil Nadu. With this, the total number of projects has now increased to eight,” Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar here. The other seven projects are coming up in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. The Power Finance Corporation, the nodal agency for setting up these projects, has already received preliminary bids from more than a dozen companies including Tata Power, Reliance Energy, GMR and state-run NTPC Ltd the Sasan (MP) and Mundra (Gujarat) projects. These two projects would be awarded on the basis of tariff-based bidding to developers by the end of this year, while other projects would follow subsequently. Besides Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Goa had also asked the Power Ministry to consider including these states for setting up ultra mega plants, each of which would require an investment of up to Rs 20,000 crore. — PTI
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WB not to allow industry at Singur if Tata project fails
Kolkata, September 15 “If the Tata Motors project fails to come up there, then the signal which the government would receive is that preference of the local people of the area was for agriculture,” Industry Department Principal Secretary Sabyasachi Sen said here. In that case, the government would not allow setting up of any industry in that area, Mr Sen said. The issue of land acquisition for the Tata project by the state government has been politicised as the Congress and the Trinamool Congress have opposed the acquisition of ‘fertile’ land at Singur in Hooghly district and demanded that the project be shifted to an alternative site in the state. Tata Motors had sought 1,000 acres at Singur from the West Bengal Government for setting up the ambitious Rs 1 lakh car project.
— PTI |
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Mobile Asia from Oct 13
New Delhi, September 15 ‘’Our vision for 2009 has been completed in 2007. With 3.9 million new subscribers joining in August to September, the mobile handset industry will see 100 per cent growth in the next three years,’’ Indian Cellular Association (ICA) President Pankaj Mohindroo said here. The mobile handset industry grew from Rs 200 crore to over Rs 20,000 crore from 2001 to 2006. With mobile phones now becoming an intrinsic part of individual lifestyles, the ICA is also looking at rural penetration, he said while announcing the launch of Mobile Asia, 2006 — a four-day mobile exhibition to be held here from October 13. The mobile expo will see participants like Airtel, AOL,
Haier, I-mate, LG, Motorala, Nokia, Reliance Communications, Sagem, Samsung and Tata Teleservices. |
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Corpn Bank inks pact with OBC, Indian Bank
Mumbai, September 15 The CMDs of Corporation Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Indian Bank at a meeting today signed the MoU, which would facilitate to build e-payment system and share IT, treasury and training resources. The three banks would also collaborate on foray into capital markets, international and other financial ventures, besides sharing business syndications and common procurement of IT and other assets. The three financial institutions would also cooperate with bancassurance and any other mutually acceptable areas.
— PTI |
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Hutch offer in Haryana
Chandigarh, September 15 Customers can choose any model out of three handset models under the
offer, which are C115, C113 (black and white screen) and C157 (coloured screen). The offer with the coloured screen phone is available for Rs 2,998 while a connection with black and white screen will be available for Rs 1,699.
— TNS |
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Corporate Results
New Delhi, September 15 BHEL CMD A. K.Puri said: “This is also the highest year-on-year growth in the past three decades. Net profit has soared by over 76 per cent to Rs 1,679 crore. Speaking at the 42nd AGM of the company, Mr Puri said: “BHEL recorded a surge in economic value addition (EVA), which catapulted to Rs 1,079 crore from Rs 504 crore the year before”. BHEL secured the highest-ever orders worth Rs 18,938 crore in a single year. With Rs 37,600 crore orders at the close of the financial year, the company expects to achieve a healthy top and bottom-line growth in 2006-07 and beyond, said the CMD. A strategic plan 2012 was being developed to ensure long-term growth. About the trends in the global power plant equipment industry, Mr Puri said the International Energy Outlook studies indicated a sharp rise in the net electricity consumption among emerging economies with annual average growth of 4 per cent from 2002 to 2025. BHEL had now established its presence in all six inhabited continents of the world. The highlight of the year was the single largest export order for any capital goods manufacturing company in the country for a 500 MW power plant in Sudan, he said. MSTC to pay
498 pc dividend
MSTC Limited today announced an unprecedented 498 per cent dividend for 2005 -06 after recording a net profit of Rs 54.75 crore on a turnover of Rs 7,700 crore for the year. Announcing this after the 41st AGM of the company here today, MSTC Chairman and Managing Director Malay Sengupta said the public sector unit, previously known as Metal Scrap Trading Corporation, had been giving increasing dividend to its share holders every year.
— Agencies |
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