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Displaced families to get stake in hydel projects
Focus on smaller cities to expand IT industry
Power Ministry opposes sale of Dabhol’s LNG terminal
No new ‘navratna’ PSU for now
HPCL offers 25 pc stake in Bathinda refinery to OIL
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Oil prices slide below $60
M&M evinces interest in Bihar
Singapore to set up SEZs in India
SEZs not at the cost of farmers, says Pawar
Caparo opens Rs 100-cr fastener plant
Subros to invest Rs 60 cr in Haryana
HFCL, Qualcomm reach pact to make CDMA handsets
Venus Remedies
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Displaced families to get stake in hydel projects
New Delhi, September 25 “All memorandum of understandings (MoUs) proposed between the Central power generation companies and states like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and J&K will have a provision of separate local area development funds, besides 12 per cent free power for the states,” said Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde here today. He said the Centre had observed that the state governments were diverting funds, raised by selling free power share from Central hydel projects, to the state budget at the cost of project-affected people, thus forcing the Centre to take this decision. Now onwards, power generation companies like the NHPC and NTPC will have to make a provision of at least one paisa per unit generated from the hydel projects for a local area development. Thus, the local community would annually get substantial amount from the project, depending upon total power generation. From this fund, the local authorities would finance necessary infrastructure and amenities for the affected people. In addition, the Power Minister said, “Under the revised financial package guidelines, the companies will have to construct houses for all those people, whose houses are submerged in the project, instead of offering mere financial compensation as prevalent now”. Notably, the state-owned power generation companies NTPC, NHPC and NEEPCO have signed MoUs with Arunachal Pradesh last week to build hydel power projects with a capacity of 15000 MW in the next 8-10 years, while agreeing to provide one paisa per unit generated from the project for local area development fund in addition to 12 per cent free power share for the state. On the demand of states to increase free power share in the projects, the minister said, “Under the present policy only 12 per cent free power could be given to the states in hydel projects. Considering severe power shortage in the country, the government is encouraging private and public investment in hydel power”. The private companies, he said, which had signed MoUs with the states by agreeing to provide 15-19 per cent free power share might find it difficult to raise necessary funds from the financial institutions and selling the power at prevailing rate. “I believe these projects will not be financially viable, especially when they do not have even prepared detailed project reports to evaluate the financial feasibility,” he said referring to controversial MoUs signed by Arunachal Pradesh with Reliance and other private companies. During 1992-93, over 60 MoUs were signed by the states to construct hydel projects (including in Himachal Pradesh), with private companies, but only one or two have materialised, he said. Regarding 3500 MW gas-based project in Dadri by Reliance, he said so far supply of gas for the project had not been ensured. The minister added that the government was in favour of tariff-based competitive bidding for all hydel projects so that people could get adequate power at reasonable rates.
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Focus on smaller cities to expand IT industry
Shimla, September 25 Exports revenues have been growing at an encouraging pace and the country is well on its way to achieve the target of Rs 1,39,700 crore in the current financial year, a jump of Rs 35,200 crore over the previous year, he said. However, the growth of the industry continues to be higher in the metropolis and other major cities, which have a huge potential, are still lagging, Mr Rai, who was here in connection with a seminar, said during an interview with The Tribune. The STPI has requisitioned the services of Frost and Sullivan, a global consultancy company, to evaluate the impact of software technology park scheme in fostering growth of the industry in the tier-II and tier-III cities (other than metros) and get the feedback so that issues of concern can be effectively addressed in the 11th Plan. Referring to Himachal Pradesh, he said things had started looking up of late and a number of companies had set up BPO services centres. All space available in the STPI, Shimla, has been occupied by five companies and six other are operating at various place in the state. He said the industry was gradually moving from big cities to the smaller ones mainly to cut costs and Himachal Pradesh with its vast pool of educated manpower and salubrious environment fits well into the scheme. He said the evaluation study would enable the government to know the views of the academia and policy makers, besides industry and other stakeholders and it would be in a position to take necessary measures to facilitate the growth of IT industry in smaller cities. The study would be completed in one month.
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Power Ministry opposes sale of Dabhol’s LNG terminal
New Delhi, September 25 “It will not help the project... the LNG terminal was part of the project when it was being built,” Power Minister
Sushil Kumar Shinde told reporters here. He was replying to a query regarding the ministry’s view on a proposal being considered by the Cabinet Secretariat to bifurcate the project and sell the LNG unit. “The Power Ministry has not mooted this proposal,” he said. Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt Ltd, the GAIL-NTPC joint venture which owns the Dabhol plant, had estimated at Rs 710 crore the cost for completing 15 per cent of the balance work on the 2.5 million tonnes LNG import and regassification terminal when they took over the Enron-owned plant last year. However, the terminal needs an additional Rs 1,000 crore.
— PTI |
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New Delhi, September 25 The proposal of the seven companies have been put before the Apex Committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary more than four months back, during which several meetings were scheduled but none held. Sources said one of the reasons for continuously deferring the meeting was that none of the companies seeking “navratna” status qualify for such rank. The PSUs that have applied for “navratna” status include Power Finance Corporation, Rural Electrification Corporation, Power Grid, National Hydroelectric Corporation, BSNL, Nalco and Hindustan Aeronautics. Sources said even the biggest company in the pack, BSNL, fails on many parameters for the coveted category. They said though the revenues of the company could be the envy of many, but they don’t measure up when it comes to other parameters like size. The score of BSNL in the appraisal touched 50, whereas for getting into “navratna” category the minimum score is 60. — PTI
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HPCL offers 25 pc stake in Bathinda refinery to OIL
New Delhi, September 25 Official sources said OIL, India’s second largest oil producer, is likely to take a 25 per cent stake in the 9-million-tonne refinery that is scheduled to come up by 2011. According to HPCL CMD M.B.Lal, the company had earlier offered an equity stake to the state government but without any result. OIL has posted Rs 1,689.93 crore net profit in 2005-06 as against Rs 1,061.68 crore during 2004-05. Both HPCL and OIL are likely to have an equal stake in the Bathinda refinery, while the balance amount could be raised through an initial public offer and from the financial institutions, said official sources. On September 5, the OIL Board had considered the HPCL offer but has not yet officially communicated its intent of picking up the stake. The refinery has been hanging fire for the past eight years. Although former Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar re-inaugurated the project last year, but the project work has been stalled due to a financial crunch. The refinery is estimated to cost Rs 14,144 crore. HPCL has planned a 1,011-km crude oil pipeline from the Mundra port in Gujarat to the inland refinery location at Bathinda in Punjab which is expected to cost Rs 3,790 crore. Notably, work on the Bathinda refinery has been held up because of the Punjab government’s reluctance to offer a good fiscal package for the project. But with the Congress-led UPA at the Centre and the Amarinder Government in Punjab Singh signed a deed of assurance with HPCL. The project was later delayed because an appropriate joint partner could not be finalised. BP’s recent exit was a major setback for HPCL, which then decided to go alone. Unlike other state-owned refineries, the Bathinda refinery will process both heavy and sour crude. Like Reliance Industries’ Jamnagar refinery, this, too, will have the flexibility to cater for variations in crude availability and product demand in the short term.
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Oil prices slide below $60
London, September 25 New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, shed 87 cents to $59.68 per barrel in electronic deals before the official opening of the US market. The contract had earlier plunged to $59.52 - the lowest value since March 8 - marking a fall of 24 per cent since its record high of $78.40, which was hit on July 13 as Israel bombed Lebanon. In London today, Brent North Sea crude for November delivery plummeted 93 cents to $59.48 per barrel in electronic trading after touching a low of $59.32 - also last seen on March 8. “The market is looking scary... it’s falling like crazy and people are bailing out of their positions,” said Mr Tony Nunan, Manager for energy risk management at Mitsubishi Corporation in Tokyo.
— AFP |
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New Delhi, September 25 “Verna is important for Hyundai’s India plans as the mid-sized segment has been witnessing exciting times in the last few years,” HMIL MD H.S. Lheen told reporters here. He said the new model, together with Accent would make the company a dominant player in the mid-size sedan market and already over 1,000 units of Verna had been despatched to dealers. While the three petrol variants of Verna will be powered by a 1.6 litre engine the diesel Verna will have a 1.5 litre engine. — PTI
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M&M evinces interest in Bihar
Patna, September 25 The “team Bihar” led by Mr Nitish Kumar tried to make the most of Mr Mahindra`s visit through a strong power-point presentation showcasing the investment opportunities in the state. Talking to the media Mr Mahindra said he was impressed with the presentation by government officials. “The heads of six strategic business units of M&M will now go through the areas of investments identified by the state government. We will get back with our feedback soon”, he said. The six strategic business units (SBUs) of M&M included automobiles, farm equipment, trade and financial services, information technology, infrastructure development and automobile component. Sources in the government disclosed Mr Mahindra had shown interest in automobile sector and agro-based industries keeping in view of agriculture- based economy of Bihar. It was also learnt the Nitish Government had offered M&M to take over the now-defunct scooter factory at Fatua to establish its base in the state.
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Singapore to set up SEZs in India
New Delhi, September 25 “This could become Singapore’s flagship venture in India and an area where the two countries can cooperate in bringing multinational companies to set up manufacturing bases in India,” Singapore Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Information, Communications and Arts Balaji Sadasivan said. In addition to manufacturing, companies in the services sector could also be invited to invest and make India a base for their operations.
— UNI |
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SEZs not at the cost of farmers, says Pawar
Pune, September 25 “Though we are in favour of the SEZs, we don’t want them to grow at the cost of the farmers’ deprivation,” he said. “The government’s idea of acquiring agricultural lands at government rates is not good. The concept of economic development by putting the farmers out on the streets is not welcome.” “At present, the government decides the rates, dispossessing farmers of their land, which creates misgivings between different parties”, he told reporters here after speaking at the annual meeting of the Maharashtra Rajya Draksha Bagaitdar Sangh. “Actually, it should be between the industrialists and the farmers. If at all the government is involved, then it should ensure that the farmers get rightful due and also some share (at least 12.5 per cent) of the developed land,” he said.
— PTI |
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Caparo opens Rs 100-cr fastener plant
Chopanki (Haryana), September 25 Maruti and Hero Honda will be among the clients for fasteners manufactured at this industrial township on the border of Haryana and Rajasthan. The Chopanki plant will be the group’s seventh in India while five more are planned. Caparo’s founder-Chairman Lord Swraj Paul, and group CEO Angad Paul were present at the inauguration of the plant by British High Commissioner Sir Michael Arthur. Mr Angad Paul said he expects the Indian operations, which currently contributes 6-7 per cent of the group’s global revenues, to “rise to 10 per cent next year and to 20 per cent by 2010.” Caparo’s Indian operations had posted a revenue of Rs 200 crore last year, which was likely to further rise to Rs 350 crore by the end of this year. Mr Angad Paul said Caparo, which recently acquired Steel Tubes of India Ltd, was in talks to acquire another Indian company by the end of this year. Caparo has lined up an investment of over Rs 100 crore for its Chopanki plant while it has already invested Rs 40 crore for this facility. The plant has started operating with a capacity of 6,000 tonnes with the completion of the first phase but the production would rise to 26,000 tonnes in the next 12-18 months when all four phases are completed.
— PTI |
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Subros to invest Rs 60 cr in Haryana
New Delhi, September 25 Mr Suri said the company had enhanced the capacity from 5 lakh AC systems to 7.5 lakhs per annum and was going ahead with further capacity enhancement to 10 lakh million AC systems by 2008. The company had achieved a sales turnover of Rs 225.90 crore for the first five months of the current year (2006-07) as against Rs 217.32 crore for the same period last year. |
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HFCL, Qualcomm reach pact to make CDMA handsets
New Delhi, September 25 With this, HFCL gets into the league of big telecom players like LG and Samsung. The move would also bring prices of CDMA mobile handsets further down and benefit operators like Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices. According to a release issued by Qualcomm today, the company has granted HFCL a patent licence to develop, manufacture and sell CDMA2000 subscriber units and modem card products. “The agreement will now allow HFCL to participate in the rapidly growing 3G CDMA market, and enable them to join other manufacturers in providing Indian operators with affordable, yet feature-rich and innovative wireless products,” Mr Marvin Blecker, President, Qualcomm Technology licensing, said. |
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Venus Remedies
Mumbai, September 25 |
NHPC contracts Gold Eternity BHEL contract NRI cell Lending rates up |
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