New Delhi, April 9
Making a breakthrough in the US, Reliance Industries today said it would invest $1.7 billion in a joint venture with Atlas Energy Inc to produce gas from shale, sedimentary rocks, in the Marcellus region.

The investment would be scaled up to $3.5 billion over the next 10 years, RIL CFO Alok Agarwal said.

Reliance will take 40 per cent stake in the about 3,00,000 acres Marcellus shale gas project, which spans parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York and could hold enough natural gas to satisfy US demand for a decade.

Nasdaq-listed Atlas will hold the remaining 60 per cent and also the operatorship. RIL had earlier unsuccessfully bid for acquiring controlling stake in bankrupt chemical maker LyondellBassel.

Flush with revenues from its eastern offshore KG-D6 gas field back home, the Mukesh Ambani-run firm has been on the lookout of acquisitions in the United States. Separately, its twin refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat are looking at directly selling fuel into the US.

"Reliance Marcellus LLC (a subsidiary of RIL) has executed definitive agreements to enter into a joint venture with Atlas Energy Inc... Under which Reliance will acquire a 40 per cent interest in Atlas' core Marcellus Shale acreage position," the company said in a statement.

The Indian firm will pay $ 339 million in cash to close the deal and foot Atlas' drilling cost of up to $1.36 billion.

"The (300,000 acres) acreage will support the drilling of over 3,000 wells with a net resource potential of about 13.3 trillion cubic feet gas equivalent," the RIL statement said, adding that the deal was expected to be closed by the month-end.

Shale gas is natural gas stored in organic-rich sedimentary rocks. It is considered an unconventional source as the gas may be attached to or "adsorbed" onto organic matter. The gas is contained in difficult-to-produce reservoirs that require special completion, stimulation and/or production techniques to achieve economic production.

In addition to funding its own 40 per cent of drilling obligations, Reliance has agreed to fund 75 per cent of Atlas' respective portion of drilling and completion costs until the $1.36 billion drilling carry is fully utilized, Atlas said in a separate statement.

"Under the framework of the joint venture, Atlas will continue acquiring leasehold in the Marcellus region and Reliance will have the option to acquire 40 per cent share in all new acreages," Reliance said. — PTI

Reliance Industries has informed oil regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) that four smaller gas finds surrounding the D-1 and D-3 fields in the Krishna-Godavari basin can be commercially exploited.

RIL on February 19 informed the DGH that four smaller gas finds, surrounding the D-1 and D-3 fields, which are currently producing around 62 mmscmd of gas, can be commercially exploited, sources in know of development said.

RIL estimates that four smaller gas finds in the prolific KG-D6 block may contain 1-2 trillion cubic feet of reserves and may help prolong peak output of 80 million standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd) from the block, sources said.

RIL has so far made 25 oil and gas discoveries in KG-D6, of which two, D1 and D3, have been put on production at an investment of $ 8.836 billion. Besides D1 and D3 gas fields and MA oil discovery, nine other gas finds were previously declared commercial and now four more may be added to the list. — PTI

Mumbai, April 9
BGR Energy Systems today said it had entered into an agreement with the Orissa government for setting up a 1,320-MW power project at an investment of Rs 6,287 crore.

The company has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Orissa government for setting up a 1,320 MW independent power producer at Bhapur in Nayagarh district at an investment of about Rs 6,287 crore, BGR Energy Systems said.

The MoU was signed by chairman and managing director BGR Energy Systems B G Raghupathy and Energy Secretary P K Jena on behalf of the Orissa government.

The proposed project would be implemented by a special purpose vehicle, it said.

As per the MoU, the state government would assist the project with land acquisition, water, mandatory clearances and also facilitate allotment of captive coal blocks to be utilised for the it.

Besides, the state government is entitled to purchase 12-14 per cent power generated from the plant at a variable cost as determined by the Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission.

The plant is scheduled to be commissioned in 54 months and is expected to provide direct employment to more than 1,200 people. — PTI 

New Delhi, April 9
For the nine telecom companies, which have put in their bid for the auction of the 3G spectrum, today was the start of the day from where they will feel more pressure on their finances and possible mergers and acquisitions.

As e-auction for the 3G services got underway this morning smoothly, experts were of the opinion that this would be a major turning point in the Indian telecom sector with the winners taking all.

The losers may have little option but to bow out and sell the business to bigger rivals, as and when the government allows mergers between domestic telecom companies.

As many as nine telecom companies -- Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Vodafone Essar, Idea Cellular, Tata Teleservices, Aircel, Etisalat, S Tel and Videocon Telecommunications -- are participating in the online auction process across 22 circles simultaneously where three to four slots are available.

The auction will be held from 9 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. on all days, except Sundays and national holidays.

The experts said the auction could take days to complete as there was likely to be intense bidding with operators playing hard at protecting their geographical strongholds.

Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Vodafone Essar, Tata Teleservices, Idea Cellular and Aircel are bidding for all-India spectrum, while Videocon, S Tel and Etisalat are bidding only for selective circles.

During the e-auction, the telecom operators will have to match the base price, set at Rs 35,000 crore for one 3G slot by the government.

At each round, the price would be hiked over the previous round's price depending on the demand. The auction will end when demand is equal to the number of slots available in each service area.

The experts were also of the opinion that the fight would be fierce and bids would run high, enabling the government to easily net the budgeted Rs 35,000-crore from the auction.

Reports said the bid data would be made public after the auction was completed. The winning firms would have to deposit the money within 10 days after the auction.

The successful bidders would be allowed to offer 3G services on a commercial basis from September 1. 

Baddi, April 9
India will be the hub for exports of all Amway products to countries in South East Asia. The company plans to set up its manufacturing base here so that it can cater to the demand in Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, Africa and Europe.

This was revealed by MD and CEO of Amway Bill Pinckney, while talking to mediapersons here today. “Our aim is to make India a hub for exports. The decision will be taken in the next six months on whether we will build own and operate a facility, or if we will get our goods manufactured on contractual basis,” he said.

Pinckney said as of now, Amway had three manufacturing facilities - in the USA, China and India. “As of now, China and India manufacturing facilities cater to the domestic demand only. But as we expand our business, we are looking at starting exports from India. Also, our e-commerce business has started picking up and we now have sales worth Rs 12 crore on this site. As this business expands, we will need to increase our production capacities here,” he said.

“We have a range of 115 products, which are manufactured through seven contract manufacturing facilities in India. As business expands, our contract manufacturing facility here, Sarvottam Care, too, has tripled its production capacity.,” he added.

The MD said they also proposed to increase the number of touch points (points of sale) of the company from the present 130- 300 and the number of experience centres from the present 10 to 15 in the next two years. “Since 70 per cent of our business is through these touch points, we are looking at expanding these,” he said.

Pinckney said the company would also introduce about five new products - mainly in the beauty and nutrition and wellness segment. “These are our fastest growing segments. The focus will be on children nutrition and lifestyle nutrition products. With all these initiatives, we hope to increase our turnover from Rs 1,407 crore in 2009 to Rs 2,500 crore by 2012,” he said. 

BRIEFLY

Videocon mobile services in Mumbai
Mumbai: Videocon's mobile services were launched in Mumbai today at a glittering event by the Mumbai Indians IPL team. Among those present on the occasion included Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar, team owner Nita Ambani and chairman of the Videocon group Venugopal Dhoot. — TNS

Rural banks meeting
Chandigarh: A review meet for select regional rural banks of the country for implementation of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, was organised by Nabard at its regional office here today. The meet was chaired by S.C. Kaushik, CGM, Nabard, Punjab Regional Office. He stressed the need for banks to be vigilant while dealing with customers. — TNS

AOC unveils LCD TV
NEW DELHI: AOC, the in-house brand of TPV Technology, has launched a brand new series of AOC LCD TV and AOC “All-in-One PCs”. AOC’s LCD TV series, called “Nautilus”, has been launched in 22” /26” /32” and 42” screen sizes. AOC plans to pitch in the entry level full feature 22” LCD TV at an attractive price point of Rs 13,000. — TNS

Forex reserves at $279 bn
Mumbai: The foreign exchange reserves rose by $ 2 billion to $ 279.096 billion for the week ended April 2 as against $277.042 billion in the previous week. Foreign currency assets, during the week, marginally went up to $ 254.730 billion from $252.755 billion in the previous week, the RBI said in its weekly report today.— PTI

Jet fare hike on cards
Mumbai: Jet Airways today said it would raise fares by 10-15 per cent as early as this month to offset rising jet fuel prices, a decision that possibly stems from confidence about returning passenger demand. — PTI

Shree Ganesh opens in red
Mumbai: Shree Ganesh Jewellery House today listed with a discount of 0.44 per cent at Rs 258.85 on the BSE. After opening weak on the BSE, shares of Shree Ganesh Jewellery House fell by 26.46 per cent to Rs 191.20 over its issue price of Rs 260. — PTI