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Bathinda refinery back as HPCL, Punjab review pact
100 per cent FDI in oil exploration sector offered
Anil scores a point on AoA
NRIs keen to invest in Punjab
Virgin daily flight to London
Exchange soon for power trading
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Advisory panel on energy set up
HCL net up
Mittal on board of GSM body
Pharma sector
Industrialists meet PSIEC chief
Auto scene
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Bathinda refinery back as HPCL, Punjab review pact
New Delhi, January 18 Talking to The Tribune on the sidelines of Petrotech-2005 here today, Mr Lal disclosed that the corporation is renegotiating the agreement with the state government on the financial concessions for setting up a nine million tonne capacity refinery at Bathinda, and an formal agreement is likely to be signed by mid-February. Work will start in after that and the refinery will be functional in 36 months. Commenting on Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s reported statement that an agreement between the HPCL and state government has been signed, he said, “No formal agreement has been signed so far. But we have agreed to stick to the project and hope that the state government will also give its consent to the re-negotiated financial concessions to the corporation.” Last week, the state Chief Minister had said that the corporation has agreed to bring down its demand on sales tax exemptions, resulting in savings of more than Rs 600 crore to the state exchequer. The corporation had earlier threatened to shift its refinery to the neighbouring Rajasthan, where huge oil reserves have been found, since the state government had declined to provide sales tax exemptions to the proposed refinery, promised by the previous Akali Dal government. However, the state government was confident that it would not be easy for the public sector oil major to shift the project at a time when the Congress government was in power in the state and the Centre. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje Sindhia had told The Tribune that the state was on the verge of signing an agreement with the HPCL with regard to a refinery near Barmer in the state. But Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar had scuttled the move as “it would have benefited a state where opposition party was in power.” The corporation has already spent over Rs 300 crore on the project. Declining to comment on the political pressure to reconsider their decision, Mr Lal observed, “we have decided to stick to the refinery project in Punjab.” He added that the shifting of the project to another state would have also required clearance from Ministry of Environment and Forests, besides long process of acquisition of land. He said the corporation would take the decision after considering all economic factors, like demand for oil productions, transportation and land costs. “The demand for petrol and diesel is growing at a fast pace in Punjab, Haryana, HP and J&K. The new refinery will meet that demand,” he added. Regarding the financing of the project, Mr Lal said the HPCL would fund this around Rs 9,000-crore project from internal accruals, and through debt equity from the market.
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100 per cent FDI in oil exploration sector offered
New Delhi, January 18 India has 30 billion tonnes of unexplored hydrocarbon reserves, said Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar while speaking at the roadshow at Petrotech-2005 here today. He invited them to bid for 20 oil and gas blocks, currently on offer in the fifth round of bidding under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP). “We are a hydrocarbon potential country and just about to become a hydrocarbon-rich country. We have a hydrocarbon resource base of 30 billion tonnes or 225 billion barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas waiting to be discovered,” said Mr Aiyar. Citing the large gas finds by Reliance Industries in two blocks in the Bay of Bengal and a significant oil find by Cairn Energy of the UK in Rajasthan, he said the offshore Cauvery, Krishna, Godavari and Mahanadi basins in the Bay of Bengal hold huge promise. On the West Coast, the Kerala-Konkan basin holds promise. “We are about to spur the first well in Block NEC-26 (block next to Reliance Industries gas bearing NEC-25 block off the Orissa coast), and are quite confident of finding gas there,” he said adding, “Bay of Bengal is North Sea of South Asia.”
India, he said, offers 100 per cent FDI in oil and gas exploration and production, transparent and stable policy regime, single window clearance and international best practices. Stating that there was 21 oil and gas discoveries in the last three years, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said more and more oil majors such as Cairn Energy and Niko Resources were coming to India. About foreign companies’ complaint that Indian procedures were time consuming, Aiyar said that within two months of the bids closing May 31, the award of blocks would be announced and the contracts would be signed by Sep 30. He said he would be leading more road shows to London, Dubai, Calgary, Houston and Moscow.
Ecuador invites Indian companies
Meanwhile, Ecuador, one of Latin America’s largest crude exporters, invited Indian firms in hydrocarbon exploration and setting up a Greenfield refinery. “We will be offering 11 blocks for exploration in May,” Ecuador Minister for Energy and Mines Eduardo Lopez Robayo said at the ongoing Petrotech 2005 energy conference here. Inviting India’s participation, Robayo said Ecuador has sizeable areas of unexplored oil reserves besides proven reserves of 4.6 billion barrels in five major fields. Ecuador is seeking private investment to raise oil production to about 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) by 2010 from over 500,000 bpd in 2003. Robayo who visited various facilities of ONGC, including the Mumbai High facility, expressed keenness to work jointly with Indian companies in research development, technological collaboration and training. In a joint communiqué issued during Petrotech, the two countries decided to formalise cooperation in the petroleum sector and set up an inter-governmental mechanism for cooperation. Keen to step up petroleum exports, Robayo said Ecuador is seeking participation for setting up a new refinery with an investment of $2.5 billion.
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Anil scores a point on AoA
New Delhi, January 18 REL informed the stock exchanges of the outcome of postal ballots on a Special Resolution to amend AoA, empowering RIL to appoint majority of directors. In the midst of the bitter battle between the brothers, when REL had initiated the move last month, RIL had reacted sharply, saying that despite holding majority equity, it was not consulted on the proposed changes and that there was no need to amend the AoA. In its communication to the BSE today, REL said “the altered Article envisages that so long as the Reliance Group of Companies and/or, its associates/affiliates and/or subsidiary companies hold 26 per cent or more of the paid-up voting equity share capital, have the right, inter alia, to appoint majority of the directors on the Board of the company.” With this, REL has reversed the position, obtaining from March 2004, under which RIL had empowered Anil Ambani as CMD to appoint the directors. The latest move to empower RIL to appoint directors in a group company was said to be a tactical move by Anil to seek adherence to similar practices in other group entities, including Reliance Infocomm. According to REL, empowering RIL to appoint majority of directors, including Chairman and Managing Directors, was in conformity with the company’s belief in maintaining the highest standards of corporate governance and transparency. When contacted, RIL spokesperson did not comment on the passage of the special resolution. Mukesh-controlled RIL had hit back at Anil Ambani by questioning the move for special resolution through postal ballot a day after REL
informed the stock exchanges on December 21 and said it had not sought the powers for appointment of directors.
— PTI
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NRIs keen to invest in Punjab
Mumbai, January 18 A large number of participants from the Punjabi diaspora evinced interest in education, health and rural development projects, sources in the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
(Ficci) told The Tribune. In their presentations before the NRIs, the Punjab government officials pointed out that the state government was making it easier for them to buy property in their ancestral lands. The Chief Minister told the participants that the Punjab government had amended the East Punjab Rent Restriction Act 1949 and the Punjab Security of Land Tenures Act to secure quick judicial redressal of the problems that NRIs faced. He further stated that the proposed Single Window Act for NRI Investment would simplify matters further for members of the diaspora. These amendments will enable NRIs to take possession of their residential, commercial and agricultural properties, Captain Singh is said to have told them. According to sources members of the Punjabi diaspora had evinced keen interest in investing in the state’s real estate markets after it was made known that returns on investment were high as 30 per cent in the state. The Punjab government has been pitching the ideas of attracting investments in residential townships near major cities in the state. The state government has also mooted the idea of developing new parallel townships adjacent to Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar. Delegates to the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas also suggested to the government that specific projects aimed to attract talent be set up in these towns as well. NRI doctors from Punjab also told the state government representatives that they were prepared to invest in rural health projects in the state.
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New Delhi, January 18 The airline is also negotiating with British aviation authorities to launch four weekly services from Bangalore this year, its General Manager (India) Andrew Fyfe told reporters here. While India and the UK decided last year to enhance the number of flights and airlines operating between the two countries, the British authorities have to grant permission to its carriers to operate to Indian destinations. Following the Indo-UK bilateral negotiations on air traffic rights last year, Virgin was granted ten additional flights out of 21 new ones. While British Airways got additional rights to fly to Chennai and Bangalore, British Midlands got maiden rights to operate to Mumbai. — PTI
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Exchange soon for power trading
New Delhi, January 18 It will help the states to deal with the power shortages during peak time besides encouraging trade of power from the surplus states to power deficit states like Haryana, Punjab and J&K. Talking to The Tribune, Mr R.P. Singh, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd., said, and “The NTPC has already appointed consultants to finalise the project exchange project once operational, it will facilitate the auctioning of power online, without entering into the long process of tendering.” He was talking on the sidelines of the International Conference on Open Access and Transmission Pricing in Restructured Electricity Market. With the introduction of the open access system, he said, a number of state electricity boards and power distribution companies are buying power from the power surplus states. The corporation has also plans to invest up to Rs 70,000 crore in the next eight years in the transmission sector. It will include new power lines in the northern region, including Srinagar to Leh line. “Over 500 power purchase agreements, that is around 3.5 per cent of the total energy transmission in the country, have been signed after the introduction of open access under the New Electricity Act, 2003. The setting up of the power exchange will further boost the trade of power,” said Mr Ravinder, Chief, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission.
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Advisory panel on energy set up
New Delhi, January 18 The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in a press statement issued here today said, “The committee will analyse the various options of leveraging the strength of the oil companies to optimally fulfil their required contribution to the national objectives of energy security, accelerated growth, sustained development and social objectives of the government policy.” The committee has been set up following the announcement of the Prime Minister to restructure the public sector oil companies. The members of the committee include Mr G.K. Arora, Mr B.C. Bora, Dr Vijay L. Kelkar, Mr G.V. Ramakrishnan and Mr U. Sundararajan.
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HCL net up
New Delhi, January 18 The total income of the company during the quarter went up by 45 per cent to Rs 506.9 crore, HCL Infosystems said. The board of directors also approved payment of 70 per cent second interim (quarterly) dividend.
UTI Bank
Helped by growth in the retail segment, UTI Bank has posted a 35.12 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 101.15 crore in third quarter ended December 31, 2004. However, the private sector bank’s net interest margin during the quarter was down to 2.90 per cent from 3.24 per cent in Q3 of 2003-04 largely due to a management strategy of rapidly growing the size of the bank”. The bank had posted a net profit of Rs 74.86 crore in the third quarter of previous fiscal, a bank press note said.
— PTI
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Mittal on board of GSM body
Chandigarh, January 18 This includes the name of Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited, who has become the first member from India to be inducted on the board. Mr Mittal said: “The induction of India’s first member on the GSM board recognises the increasing influence of India in the world mobile community.”
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Pharma sector
New Delhi, January 18 The consolidated sales of the company, however, grew 18 per cent as compared to last year to touch Rs 5,333.3 crore, Ranbaxy said in a release. In the fourth quarter, Ranbaxy’s net profit was down 10.9 per cent as compared to last fiscal to settle at Rs 156.5 crore on a turnover of Rs 1423.5 crore. The company’s sales in the quarter grew 24 per cent year-on-year. Ranbaxy’s global sales in 2004 grew 21 per cent to $ 1,178 million with the US accounting for 36 per cent, Europe 16 per cent and BRIC countries 26 per cent. Ranbaxy is setting up a New Drug Discovery Research (NDDR) facility on the outskirts of Delhi, which will be called R&D III and will be operational from Q2, 2005.
Suven
Suven Life Sciences has reported 43.8 per cent decline in net profit Rs 1.14 crore in the third quarter ended December 31, 2004, from Rs 2.03 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The net sales rose 6.8 per cent to Rs 13.52 crore in the October-December quarter from Rs 12.66 crore a year ago on account of improved domestic sales by 69.6 per cent to Rs 5.86 crore from Rs 3.45 crore, the Hyderabad-based pharma firm said. However, its lucrative exports declined sharply to 6.95 crore from Rs 9.14 crore. The profit before tax for the quarter declined to Rs 2.25 crore from Rs 2.95 crore. Its income from contract technical services moved up to Rs 0.71 crore from Rs 0.07 crore.
Cipla Ltd
Pharma major Cipla Ltd has posted a net profit of Rs 125.67 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2004, as compared to Rs 75.32 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2003, an increase of 66.84 per cent. Announcing the results, the company said its total income (net of excise) has increased from Rs 489.43 crore in Q3-03 to Rs 637.32 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2004.
Aurobindo
Higher interest, depreciation and R and D expenses cost Aurobindo Pharma heavily as its net profit declined sharply by 70.3 per cent to Rs 10.59 crore in the third quarter ended December 31, 2004, from Rs 35.62 crore in the same period last year. The earning per share nosedived to Rs 2.09 in October-December from Rs 7.36 a year ago, the Hyderabad-based Aurobindo said. The net sales also declined by 1.2 per cent to Rs 319.33 crore from Rs 321.14 crore in the corresponding period last year.
— Agencies
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Industrialists meet PSIEC chief
Chandigarh, January 18 Punjab had passed on the responsibility of developing industrial focal points to the PSIEC so that proper infrastructure could be made available for the growth of industry in the region, but the desired objectives were not being achieved, said Mr Sachdeva. The delegation comprised of representatives from focal point associations of Amritsar, Dera Bassi, Patiala, Mohali, Jalandhar, Moga, Kotkapura, Ludhiana, Batala and Chanalon. The members of the delegation apprised Mr Goel about various issues, including conversion of lease-hold plots to free hold and house tax.
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Auto scene
New Delhi, January 18 CNBC-TV18 in association with Autocar, a leading Auto Magazine, announced the winners of the 4th CNBC-TV18 Autocar Auto Awards 2005 in Mumbai. Other winners at the CNBC-TV18 Autocar Auto Awards 2005 included Hyundai Elantra for best value for money car, Toyota Land Cruiser Prado for most technologically advanced car, Skoda Superb for best design and styling, Maruti Udyog for manufacturer of the year and Ford Fusion for best driver’s car. Honda Unicorn won bike of the year award. CNBC-TV18 Autocar Auto Awards 2005 witnessed top cars being put through the ultimate test and evaluated by a panel of experts which included Dilip Chhabria, India’s leading auto stylist and designer; Hormazd Sorabjee, Editor, Autocar India; Naren Kumar, National Rally Champion and Asia Pacific Rally Championship driver; Rajeev Khanna, Former Rally Champion, Shapur Kotwal, Associate Editor, Autocar India; Manvendra Singh, Auto Historian and Renuka Kirpalani, Former Rally Champion and Host, Speed Auto Show.
HM Lancer
Hindustan Motors’ Lancer has been adjudged the best car in the mid-size diesel and petrol segment in the TNS voice of the customer awards. The TNS Study July 2003-September 2004 was conducted across 21 cities with a customer base of 7,000 judging 40 models. “The year 2005 has arrived with a deserving gift for the Lancer family and this award is a testimony to our continuous commitment to customer satisfaction,” Hindustan Motors Vice-President (Chennai Car Plant) S C Gupta commented. The results of the study revealed that the industry average in the mid-size segment for petrol cars was 87 points and Lancer had scored 91 points in the petrol segment and 93 in the diesel segment where the average was 88 points. — UNI, TNS
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