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ONGC to set up 3 refineries; gives 400 pc dividend
Tata Tele moves SC against TDSAT order
Banks told to lighten debt burden of farmers
Canada commits $ 6.75 m for R&D
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Task force on medical tourism set up
PSL bags $55.5 million outsourcing contract
Panel to boost venture capital formed
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ONGC to set up 3 refineries; gives 400 pc dividend
New Delhi, September 21 It's subsidiary MRPL has announced 10 per cent dividend amounting to Rs 175.26 crore for the year 2004-05 and another subsidiary ONGC Videsh Ltd, proposed 35 per cent dividend amounting to Rs 105 crore for the previous fiscal year. Addressing a press conference after the 12th Annual General Meeting held here, ONGC CMD Subir Raha said, “The company will set up a new 15 MT capacity refinery in Mangalore, besides enhancing the capacity of present Mangalore refinery to 15 MT, new refineries in Rajasthan and at Kakinada.” ONGC and its subsidiary MRPL have plans to set up a 7.5 MT capacity refinery in Barmer district in Rajasthan in collaboration with Cairn Energy. It will process newly found oil reserves in the state along with imported crude oil through Gujarat, he said. “ONGC is likely to start deepwater gas production in the country in 2006-07. It is developing five more oil basins — Bengal, Vindhyana, Kutch, Himalyan foreland and Andaman Nicobar — in the country to enhance domestic oil and gas production. The company has also plans to invest about Rs 3,300 crore in Assam to restore its oil supplies,” said Mr Raha. Mr Raha said ONGC has secured rights to market LPG, kerosene and aviation turbine fuel (ATF). MRPL has been nominated, he said, by the government to execute various projects like Mangalore Special Economic Zone, Mangalore LNG Complex, Kakinada SEZ and refinery. ONGC will also start commercial production of coal bed methane (CBM) by 2007, besides power generation from gas fields in Tripura and enter into retailing sector. “We are holding discussions with the consortium to bring gas from our Russian operations in Sakhalin to India. Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar will soon visit Russia. Oil production may start from Sakhalin next year,” he said adding that the company might opt for swapping of that gas with other players after shipping it. OVL, ONGC’s subsidiary has a 20 per cent stake in Sakhalin along with Russian Roseneft and US oil-major Exxon Mobil. Earlier in the AGM, the shareholders appreciated the stand taken by the company CMD against the Petroleum Minister’s move to appoint two government directors on the company board. The AGM took a decision to re-appoint four directors who were scheduled to retire from the company board. Claiming that the company was facing an identity crisis, Mr Raha told shareholders, “Companies are not departments. Legal companies are legally liable for compliance of the listing agreement, there is nothing like a listed department. If the state refuses or withdraws protection, the choice is either to dissolve the company and carry out the purpose through a department, or let the company run as an enterprise.” Shareholders asked the company management to strongly raise the issue of payment of huge subsidy to oil marketing companies, at the government since it was affecting the profit margins. Commenting on the performance of ONGC and its group companies, Mr Raha said, “ the net profit of the ONGC group has gone up from Rs 9,380 crore in 2003-04 to Rs 14,339 crore in 2004-05, registering a growth of 53 per cent. During the same period, the net profit of the MRPL increased from Rs 459 crore to Rs 880 crore.” ONGC will also invest Rs 500 crore in the R&D sector to set up an energy centre in Delhi for fundamental research on alternative fuels, especially to develop electricity- run vehicles.
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May bid again for Petrokazakhstan The Oil and Natural Gas Corp is considering making a rebid for acquiring Petrokazakhstan, a Canadian oil firm in Kazakhstan. Though Petrokazakhstan has already accepted a bid by China's CNPC, the deal has to be ratified by the firm's shareholders. ONGC officials said here today that the EGM of Petrokazakhstan is slated for October 18, before which the company can make a revised offer. China National Petroleun Corp (CNPC) clinched the PetroKazakhstan deal last month, with a winning bid of $ 4.18 billion against ONGC's offer of $ 3.98 billion. ONGC had joined hands with global steel major Mittal Steel to scout for oil property abroad. The Committee of Secretaries has already given the nod to ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of ONGC, to make a counter bid. — PTI
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Tata Tele moves SC against TDSAT order on Walky
New Delhi, September 21 With the TDSAT verdict, the private operator would have to pay a whopping about Rs 300 crore as levy to state-owned BSNL, as well as increase call tariff to Rs 2.10 for a three minute call from Rs 1.20 now. When contacted, Tata Teleservices spokesperson confirmed from Mumbai that they have moved the apex court against the TDSAT order. Last week, TDSAT had ruled that Walky service offered by Tatas was a mobile service, thus the private company was liable to pay a levy called the Access Deficit Charge (ADC) to state-owned BSNL as per the interconnect order of telecom regulator TRAI. Tatas have been offering Walky services for more than a year now and they would end up paying close to Rs 300 crore to the BSNL as the levy has to be paid retrospectively. Tata Teleservices had also asked the Department of Telecom three months time to implement the TDSAT order, but did not get any respite. According to sources, Tatas have also sought clarification with regard to existing subscribers that whether they would also be affected by the TDSAT order or whether only fresh subscribers would be covered by it. Tatas had opposed paying the levy retrospectively, saying that subscribers prior to the TDSAT judgement should not be considered as WLL (M). According to BSNL officials, as per the prevailing traffic pattern, it is expected that the total ADC due amount from Tata Teleservices and other service providers would be about Rs 450 crore from such services and Tatas alone would have to pay about Rs 300 crore. — PTI
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Banks told to lighten debt burden of farmers
Chandigarh, September 21 Talking about the new industrial policy, he said the state government would provide 24-hour assured and affordable power supply to the industry. He urged upon the private sector banks to come forward in extending credit facilities to the agricultural sector. Mr S.C. Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director, PNB in his keynote address, said 45 new branches of commercial banks and regional rural banks (RRBs) were opened in the state during the review period (June 2004 to June 2005), thus raising the total number of branches from 1,600 to 1,645. The total deposits of the banks in the state increased from Rs 27,445 crore in June 2004 to Rs 36,087 crore in June 2005, showing growth of 31.5 per cent. Similarly, advances also increased by Rs 4,920 crore from Rs 14,324 crore to Rs 19,244 crore during the review period, thereby showing a growth of 34.3 per cent as compared to growth of 27.5 per cent during the corresponding period last year. The banks disbursed loans worth Rs 2,046 crore to the agriculture sector in the state. Advances to small-scale industries in the state increased by 24.4 per cent from Rs 2,342 crore in June 2004 to Rs 2,913 crore in June 2005. Speaking about credit flow to these industries, Mr Gupta said at the time of formation of the state, it had only 162 large and medium units and about 5,000 such industries.
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Canada commits $ 6.75 m for R&D
New Delhi, September 21 Announcing the assistance at the 11th Technology Summit and Technology Platform 2005 here, Canadian Trade Minister Jim Peterson said succeeding globally also meant partnering globally. “As a knowledge economy, we understand the benefits of close ties with this emerging R&D power house. Not only will this funding help advance Canadian research and development, but enhance our commercial relations with India, and give our companies the edge in their sectors of expertise,” he said. The funding would assist in the development and commercialisation of new technologies under the new International Science and Technology Partnership programme. The five-year programme, totalling $ 20 million, is aimed at building science and technology relationships with a view to commercialising innovative ideas with India, China, Israel and Brazil. Speaking after a meeting with the Canadian Minister, Minister of State for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal said India provided an attractive investment possibility for any country. “India was willing to partner with any country on a 50:50 basis,” he said, adding that bureaucratic bottlenecks were not perceived as bottlenecks when it came to investment in India. Earlier, speaking at the inauguration of the two-day meet, Mr Sibal said success of any collaboration could only be ensured if it was beneficial to the common man.
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Task force on medical tourism set up
New Delhi, September 21 "The task force under the chairmanship of Director-General of Health Services will assess the opportunities for promoting India as health destination," Ramadoss said at the Assocham conference on health tourism. The task force would work in an inter-ministerial approach with inputs from various ministries such as tourism, external affairs, railways and civil aviation, he said, adding it would come out with the report soon.
Healthcare access
The Apollo group of hospitals has tied up with Reliance Infocomm to ``enhance access geographically and
financially'' to high-quality healthcare across the country. Speaking at the launch of the collaborative tele-medicine facility, Ms Sangita Reddy, Executive Director (Operations), Apollo Group, said over 240 Reliance WebWorlds in 105 cities would link with five major Apollo hospitals within a month to provide people access to best treatment in the country. The tie-up will be a major respite for people living in the remote areas. Instead of travelling long distances to consult a specialist, they can go to the nearest Reliance WebWorld and submit their medical history and diagnostic reports. These reports and images will then be digitised and transmitted over Reliance broadband network to the hospital's centralised tele-medicine portal.
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PSL bags $55.5 million outsourcing contract
New Delhi, September 21 The contract amount has been signed for an aggregate value of $ 55.5 million initially, with the likelihood of eventually exceeding double that amount once the total extent of the award has been firmed up. PSL Ltd is engaged in various types of pipe coating and manufacturing with plants across Daman, Kandla, Chennai and Vishakhapatnam. A press statement issued today by the PSL Ltd., stated that mandate has been handed to the company after 10 days of evaluation of their Kandla facilities by a six-member team from Saipem and Dolphin Energy Ltd. According to Ashok Punj, Managing Director of the company," the present order represents a breakthrough to the extent that for the first time, Indian capabilities are being utilised to service offshore pipe coating requirements in the Gulf."
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Panel to boost venture capital formed
New Delhi, September 21 To be chaired by Mr Nitin Desai, the committee will also examine the policy environment for venture capital and make recommendations, which would lead to basic industrial research
and development being converted into new ventures. It will also suggest policy changes to encourage the flow of venture capital for facilitating start-ups and new ventures. The committee will submit its report to
the commission by December this year. Other members of the panel are Mr Nandan
Nilekani, Mr Rajiv Lall, Mr Saurabh Srivastava and Prof. N.L. Sarda. Mr Shravan Nigam, Adviser, Planning Commission, will be the Member Secretary of the committee.
— PTI
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Electronic expo in Munich
A business delegation of electronic industry will participate in the world's mega trade show for electronic production "Productronica" to be held in Munich from November 15 to 18 this year.
The exposition, held once in two years, exhibits range of products and technologies. The range includes semiconductors, micro-system technology, component technology and manufacturing technologies. The visit is being organised by the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce.
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New HAL Director
Bangalore, September 21
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