The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Ambani gas row deepens further RIL threatens to stop supply to Reliance Infra New Delhi, September 24 Raising the pitch in their gas row, group firms of warring Ambani brothers today hit at each other, with RIL saying it has served notice to stop gas supply to Anil-led Reliance Infra, which in turn warned against the “malafide” action. A spokesperson of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries said the action was prompted by a payment “default” on the part of Reliance Infrastructure for gas supplied during the first fortnight of September. Pursuant to this, RIL invoked the letter of credit (bank guarantee) to recover an amount Rs 12 lakh towards marketing margin for supplies in first half of this month. Questioning the legality of RIL’s notice of September 22, Anil Ambani group’s Reliance Infra today shot back a letter saying: “Until this bonafide and genuine dispute with regard to legality of charge towards marketing margin is resolved, you are not entitled to suspend” the supplies. “We are continuing to make the payment of lawful sales consideration at the rate of $4.2 per mmBtu and are entitled to receive uninterrupted supply of gas under the GSPA (Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement),” R-Infra replied. “... you (RIL) will be entirely responsible for any loss or damage that will be caused to us as a result of any ill-advised action taken by you for non-payment of the illegal charge of marketing margin,” ADAG firm said, adding that the notice was “misconceived, malafide and is liable to be withdrawn with immediate effect”. Reliance Infra has been getting gas from RIL for its 220-MW Samalkot power plant in Andhra Pradesh for the past five months at a price of $4.2 per mmBtu and marketing margin of 0.13 per mmBtu. The Anil Ambani group, fighting a legal battle for securing 28 mmscmd gas for Reliance Natural Resources from RIL at a price of $2.34 per mmBtu under a family settlement, had last week questioned the marketing margin of $0.135 per mmBtu and had informed RIL that it would not pay the same. Earlier in its letter, Reliance Infra had told RIL that their gas supply agreement was not a result of any marketing undertaken by RIL or any agency and “since there has been a complete absence of any marketing, the charge in respect of marketing margin is clearly unwarranted”. — PTI
	NTPC signs pact with RIL for KG gas Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 24 Despite stiff resistance from Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries to supply gas to NTPC, the state-run power corporation has signed a pact with the company to buy gas for units located on the western coast. RIL will supply 0.61 million metric standard cubic meters of gas a day for its plant in Anta in Rajasthan, at $4.2 per mmBtu. According to industry sources, gas from KG-D6 would partially replace expensive LNG, bringing down cost of electricity generation and saving nearly Rs 80-90 crore annually. Though the corporation was allocated 2.67 mmscmd by the government, only 0.61 mmscmd of gas for Anta unit has been signed for now. The gas will start flowing in the next 7-10 days. The government’s allocation was for NTPC’s Kawas, Gandhar and Anta power plants in Gujarat, but RIL had protested saying that it wanted the pending legal dispute over gas it had committed in a 2004 tender of the state-run firm resolved. NTPC vehemently fought back saying its litigation against RIL was for future expansion projects at Kawas and Gandhar and the present supplies were for present plants. The volume of gas under these GSPAs is 0.61 mmscmd, which will be initially supplied only to the power plant in Anta due to capacity constraint in GAILs GREP pipeline. The quantities and price of gas under the GSPAs signed for five years are as approved by the Government. Supply of gas to NTPC is expected to commence within a week, RIL statement said. The state-run power utility signed a Gas Sales and Purchase Agreement (GSPA) with RIL and a separate Gas Transportation Agreement with Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure Ltd. NTPC, which unlike the 40-odd other customers of K-G D6 gas was initially opposed to paying $ 0.135 per mmBtu marketing margin to RIL, has agreed to pay the levy.
	Bharti-MTN Deal Dual listing not possible: Sharma New Delhi, September 24 In what could be a dampener for the proposed $23 billion Bharti-MTN deal, the government today said dual listing, as sought by South Africa, may not be possible as it needs a policy change on rupee convertibility. “At this stage nobody is in a position to talk about the policy change on convertibility. However, the government will always be supportive of the initiative by an Indian company for an overseas transaction and acquisition,” Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said here today. Even Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said yesterday that “we welcome the deal but it should in the context of existing laws of the land”. The two companies are in exclusive talks till September 30 and this is the second time in a little over one year that the two firms have come back to the negotiating table after a futile attempt last year. According to original terms of the transaction, Bharti will acquire 49 per cent in MTN and the South African firm will acquire 36 per cent economic interest in Bharti. The fate of the deal also hinges on whether the South African firm is exempted from making an open offer as market regulator SEBI revised the takeover norms on Tuesday. The recently amended takeover rules make a 20 per cent additional offer mandatory for an investor who acquires 15 per cent of an Indian firm through American Depository Receipts (ADRs) or Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) with voting rights. Asked whether the new FDI rules permit the companies to exceed the foreign investment limits in different segments, Sharma said when the decision was taken was by Empowered Group of Ministers “we were very clear... sectoral caps will not be breached”. Sharma’s assertion on keeping the sectoral caps as sacrosanct could also come in the way of Bharti-MTN deal as the government would keep a vigil to ensure that FDI policy changes unveiled in February this year are not misused. — PTI
	KMG Infotech logs into Punjab Rajmeet Singh Tribune News Service Mohali, September 24 US-based software services provider and consultancy KMG Infotech is keen on training people to feed its blooming BPO business. The company is currently in talks with regional engineering colleges here. Sharing details with The Tribune, Subash C Bhatia, founder and chairman of KMG Infotech, said with the setting up of its base in Mohali’s IT park, the company was keen on using the facility to specifically feed its domestic market and use the upcoming facility at Chandigarh’s IT park to cater to the international market. Bhatia, who was in the city to start operations of the KMG towers, said the company aimed at making Punjab a focal point for US exports. The Mohali centre will be a software development, BPO and an education centre. Already, Rs 12 crore has been invested in creating the infrastructure, with another Rs 6 crore in the pipeline. The power department was making all efforts to provide a special feeder to the IT towers here, he added. Minister of Industries and Commerce Manoranjan Kalia inaugurated the KMG towers later. The company plans to generate direct technical employment to around 600 persons from Punjab. It has created a niche in the property and casualty insurance sector and established brand equity in the insurance domain. Within the country, the KMG has its branches in Bengaluru, Gurgaon, Kolkata and Mohali.
	G-20: India to push for expansion of World Bank capital Pittsburgh, September 24 India will push for the expansion of the capital of the World Bank, similar to that of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a top Indian official said today, ahead of the key G-20 Summit tomorrow to review the progress made to check the global economic crisis. "From our point of view, we would also like to have the capital of the World Bank to be expanded and of course there is the whole question of climate change which is very much on the agenda in the run up to Copenhagen," said Meera Shankar, the Indian Ambassador to the United States. Shankar told reporters on the eve of the start of the two-day G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh that one of the issues that is being discussed is "the issue of financing for climate change for developing countries and I think there is the view that this should be done through the existing multilateral financial institutions". "While that is something which can be considered, we feel that there should be net additionality of funding and should not detract from the existing orientation and existing missions of these institutions," she said. Shankar said this was one of the suggestions made by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the first G-20 meeting that many poor developing countries will be very adversely effected by the economic crisis and argued that there is a need to provide additional capital to the multilateral institutions so that they are in a position to respond quickly to any crisis requirements from these countries. — PTI
	JLR to shut one UK plant London, September 24 Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover will invest £800 million (over Rs 6,200 crore) on developing eco-friendly products as part of a decade-long new business plan, which will also see the company shutting one of its plants in the UK. The new business plan is designed to increase its global competitiveness, drive growth and sustain profitability and respond to the challenges of climate change. A Tata Motors spokesperson said as part of the new business plan £800 million have been dedicated to environmental innovation, which will in part be supported by the European Investment Bank’s funds. Also, one of the two plants in West Midlands would be shut and the workforce would be transferred to the other as part of strategy to streamline and become cost competitive. “There will not be any job loss as the workers will be transferred to the other facility,” the spokesperson said, adding by the first half of next year JLR would be able to finalise which one of the West Midlands plant would be shut. The consolidation will be reached by the middle of the next decade, he added. He said 800 new jobs will be added to JLR’s other plant at Liverpool, where Land Rover’s new vehicle LRX Concept would be manufactured. JLR has a total of 14,500 workers, currently working in its three plants in the UK. — PTI
	Shriram Life out to woo Punjabis Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 24 There exists a huge gap between people who can afford insurance and those who are actually insured, feels chief executive officer, Shriram Life, Gerhard Joubert. He expressed these views when he was in the city to launch the “Happiness ka Roadmap” campaign in Punjab. Talking to The Tribune, the CEO said after spreading its wings in the south, the company aimed to target those Punjabis who want to save something for the rainy days. “Both service and business-class people in the state want to do long-term investments. There is no dearth of money either. The company aims to reach the rural segment through their trained staff that is more competent to sell the product as compared to part-time agents hired by other companies,” he said. He agreed a lot had to be done to generate awareness about insurance policies amongst the masses. The GDP penetration of the insurance sector was just 4 per cent in India as compared to 10-12 per cent in western countries. Gerhard informed that the company had commenced its operations in 2006. Considered as a late entrant in life insurance space, the company paced with other leading insurers in south India and has become a major player by selling about 3 lakh policies with a premium of Rs 1,000 crore and a total cover of Rs 4,600 crore. Besides Ludhiana, the company opened branches in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Chandigarh this year. In the next three years, 35 more branches will be opened throughout the country.
	Maruti puts brakes on SX4 New Delhi, September 24 The country's largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), has temporarily stopped production of its mid-sized sedan SX4. According to industry sources, the company has stopped production of the current SX4 model in order to change engine, which would be compliant with the Bharat Stage-IV norms. From April, 2011, 11 cities in India are supposed to be upgrading to the Bharat Stage-IV emission norms and Maruti Suzuki's SX4 is currently compliant with only Bharat Stage-III norms. When contacted, a MSI spokesperson declined to comment, saying we don't comment on specific model production. — PTI
	Reliance Infratel files prospectus for IPO Mumbai, September 24 Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Communications today said its telecom tower subsidiary Reliance Infratel has filed the draft prospectus for its initial public offer with market regulator SEBI. "Reliance Infratel has filed its draft red herring Prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI," RCom said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Reliance Infratel, a passive telecom infrastructure provider, is planning an IPO for divesting 15.60 crore equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash at a premium to be decided through a 100 per cent book-building process. The net issue would constitute 10 per cent of the post-issue paid-up equity capital of the company, the statement said. — PTI
	GM, Reva ink pact New Delhi, September 24 US-based car maker General Motors today joined hands with Reva Electric Car Company to develop and produce electric vehicles in the domestic market as part of its plan to make the country a global hub for environment friendly vehicles. “We are pleased to join hands with Reva to bring affordable small car platform-based electric vehicles to the market in line with government objectives to reduce fossil fuel dependence,” General Motors India, the Indian subsidiary of GM, president and MD Karl Slym told reporters here. Speaking about the tie-up, Reva Electric Car Company deputy chairman and chief technology officer Chetan Maini said: “Each of the partners will use their strengths, with the aim of making India a global hub for the development and manufacturing of electric vehicles and related technologies.” The two companies have already started the feasibility study of GM’s vehicle platforms to produce electric cars and are expected to announce the details in the near future. — PTI