Success in my Habit
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Delhi metro has carried over 1.25 bn commuters
NEW DELHI: Since it began its operation in 2002, the Delhi Metro has so far carried more than 1.25 billion commuters in the national capital, which is more than the country's total population.
Till yesterday, the Delhi Metro, whose network now expands across the National Capital Region, carried over 1.27 billion people.
"It is a unique achievement for any urban mass transport system," a DMRC spokesman said.
As per the 'Census of India and Preparation of the National Population Register' report, India's projected population in 2011 will be about 1.20 billion.
Currently, in Delhi Metro, over a hundred trains are making more than 2,000 trips a day on a 125-kilometre long Metro network carrying over 1.15 million commuters everyday.
After the completion of phase 2, when the Delhi Metro network will extend to almost 190 kilometres, more than two million commuters are expected to travel by the modern transport system everyday.
Till yesterday, the Delhi Metro, whose network now expands across the National Capital Region, carried over 1.27 billion people.
"It is a unique achievement for any urban mass transport system," a DMRC spokesman said.
As per the 'Census of India and Preparation of the National Population Register' report, India's projected population in 2011 will be about 1.20 billion.
Currently, in Delhi Metro, over a hundred trains are making more than 2,000 trips a day on a 125-kilometre long Metro network carrying over 1.15 million commuters everyday.
After the completion of phase 2, when the Delhi Metro network will extend to almost 190 kilometres, more than two million commuters are expected to travel by the modern transport system everyday.
Railways shortlists 8 bidders for Kanchrapara coach factory
KOLKATA: The Railways has decided to invite financial bids for the proposed Rs 500-crore coach factory in Kanchrapara by November. Eight global majors, including two in consortium with Indian partners, have been shortlisted by the railways for setting up the factory.
“We will invite financial bids from the shortlisted bidders in November,” a railway official said.
The eight shortlisted bidders include leading global players in rail transportation like Bombardier Transportation India, Alstom India, Siemens of Germany and Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) of Spain and Hyundai-Rotem, which is part of Korea’s Hyundai group. Hyundai Rotem has worked in the Delhi Metro.
CAF has been part of top international projects like Heathrow Express and the Hong Kong’s Airport Express. The other bidders include Stadler Rail of Switzerland with Titagarh Wagons, Jindal Rail India with Hitachi and Kawasaki Heavy Industries with Texmaco. The project is close to railway minister Mamata Banejee’s heart.
The project will come up as part of a JV, in which the Railways will hold 26% equity. The majority 74% will be held by the potential JV partner. The Railways had announced plans to manufacture some 500 EMU/MEMU coaches in the factory.
Established in 1863, the Kanchrapara workshop was set up by the then Assam Bengal Railway. It is one of the oldest such facilities in existence under the Indian Railways and had served the defence department in aircraft maintenance and in production of armoured cars and grenade shells during the Second World War.
“We will invite financial bids from the shortlisted bidders in November,” a railway official said.
The eight shortlisted bidders include leading global players in rail transportation like Bombardier Transportation India, Alstom India, Siemens of Germany and Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) of Spain and Hyundai-Rotem, which is part of Korea’s Hyundai group. Hyundai Rotem has worked in the Delhi Metro.
CAF has been part of top international projects like Heathrow Express and the Hong Kong’s Airport Express. The other bidders include Stadler Rail of Switzerland with Titagarh Wagons, Jindal Rail India with Hitachi and Kawasaki Heavy Industries with Texmaco. The project is close to railway minister Mamata Banejee’s heart.
The project will come up as part of a JV, in which the Railways will hold 26% equity. The majority 74% will be held by the potential JV partner. The Railways had announced plans to manufacture some 500 EMU/MEMU coaches in the factory.
Established in 1863, the Kanchrapara workshop was set up by the then Assam Bengal Railway. It is one of the oldest such facilities in existence under the Indian Railways and had served the defence department in aircraft maintenance and in production of armoured cars and grenade shells during the Second World War.
Liberty footwear enters telecom; to offer WiMax services
NEW DELHI: Eyeing business potential in the fast growing telecom sector, footwear major Liberty group has tied up with Israel-based Runcom Technologies to offer WiMax mobile broadband and communication services.
The Liberty group has formed a Joint Venture -- Sunfest Runcom Technologies -- with Runcom Technologies Limited of Israel, and has started negotiations with potential operators, which bagged Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum in the auction held in June.
The JV would be offering end-to-end solutions for mobile broadband using WiMax technology that would progress to Long Term Evolution (LTE or 4G).
"The JV has set up a plant in Bawal in Haryana to manufacture Base Stations, Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) both indoor and outdoor and USB Tongs for Broadband Wireless Access and Mobile and Fixed 4G networks (WiMAX-LTE)," Adesh Gupta, CEO and Founder of Liberty group, said.
This will include 2000 Base Stations per month and 10,000 CPE/USB Tongs per month, he added.
Five leading firms, including Reliance Industries, Qualcomm, Aircel and Bharti Airtel are likely to venture into mobile broadband segment and may opt for WiMax technology.
RIL is the only firm, which has pan-India licence for BWA while others had bagged spectrum for limited number of circles.
India has a tele-density of over 50 per cent, but broadband penetration is still poor. The target for this year is to achieve 20 million broadband connections and 40 million internet connections, as per the broadband policy of 2004.
Asked about the business model of the JV firm, Vidhi Gupta, Managment Executive with Liberty group, said, "We would be offering end-to-end solutions for WiMax deployment and would focus on three main areas -- manufacturing, EPC Contracts and System Integration and managed services."
On joining hands with the Israeli firm, she said, Rumcom Technologies has pioneered OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) and NLOS (Non Line Of Sight) technology, which has been adapted by WiMax forum besides other leading operators for offering mobile broadband using WiMax technology.
The company (Runcom) is engaged in developing, manufacturing and marketing superior technological standards and silicon products, fixed and mobile terminals, base stations, ASN gateways, Network Operating Centres and Value Added Services, Vidhi Gupta said.
Currently the JV has lined up an investment of Rs 30 crore to set up the manufacturing facility, Adesh Gupta said, adding that more money would be pumped in as and when the business grows.
The Liberty group has formed a Joint Venture -- Sunfest Runcom Technologies -- with Runcom Technologies Limited of Israel, and has started negotiations with potential operators, which bagged Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum in the auction held in June.
The JV would be offering end-to-end solutions for mobile broadband using WiMax technology that would progress to Long Term Evolution (LTE or 4G).
"The JV has set up a plant in Bawal in Haryana to manufacture Base Stations, Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) both indoor and outdoor and USB Tongs for Broadband Wireless Access and Mobile and Fixed 4G networks (WiMAX-LTE)," Adesh Gupta, CEO and Founder of Liberty group, said.
This will include 2000 Base Stations per month and 10,000 CPE/USB Tongs per month, he added.
Five leading firms, including Reliance Industries, Qualcomm, Aircel and Bharti Airtel are likely to venture into mobile broadband segment and may opt for WiMax technology.
RIL is the only firm, which has pan-India licence for BWA while others had bagged spectrum for limited number of circles.
India has a tele-density of over 50 per cent, but broadband penetration is still poor. The target for this year is to achieve 20 million broadband connections and 40 million internet connections, as per the broadband policy of 2004.
Asked about the business model of the JV firm, Vidhi Gupta, Managment Executive with Liberty group, said, "We would be offering end-to-end solutions for WiMax deployment and would focus on three main areas -- manufacturing, EPC Contracts and System Integration and managed services."
On joining hands with the Israeli firm, she said, Rumcom Technologies has pioneered OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) and NLOS (Non Line Of Sight) technology, which has been adapted by WiMax forum besides other leading operators for offering mobile broadband using WiMax technology.
The company (Runcom) is engaged in developing, manufacturing and marketing superior technological standards and silicon products, fixed and mobile terminals, base stations, ASN gateways, Network Operating Centres and Value Added Services, Vidhi Gupta said.
Currently the JV has lined up an investment of Rs 30 crore to set up the manufacturing facility, Adesh Gupta said, adding that more money would be pumped in as and when the business grows.
Fortis Healthcare aims at pan-Asia presence
SINGAPORE: No matter how healthy or rich Asian economies are, one thing is certain: Asians will never stop getting sick. That helps explain why Malvinder Singh left his home in New Delhi this year to move to Singapore. He first made a fortune in 2008 selling the generic-drug giant that his family built, Ranbaxy Laboratories.
Now, Singh, 37, is trying to expand Fortis Healthcare, another of the family companies, from a string of hospitals around the Indian subcontinent into a pan-Asian healthcare network.
“There is a huge opportunity for growth in Asia for healthcare,” Singh said in a recent interview. “There are multiple markets which need investment that we would want to be a part of.”
Fortis experienced a major setback in July when its bid to acquire Parkway Holdings, a regional hospital operator based in Singapore, lost out to a higher bid from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund. But Singh, who has a master’s degree in business administration from Duke in North Carolina, said he was undeterred. Having spent almost $1 billion in the past two years buying up assets in healthcare and other sectors around the world, he said he was already scouting for
new targets.
The attraction is clear: With a population of more than 1.1 billion, most with no access to formal healthcare, India represents one of the fastest-growing healthcare markets. And the country’s relatively low costs are increasingly attracting medical tourism patients from abroad.
But Singh is after much more: not only a slice of China’s 1.3 billion people and Indonesia’s 227 million, but also the emerging class of affluent Asian medical tourists, many of whom flock to Singapore for quality private care. By building a regional network of hospitals, moreover, he hopes to bring better care to the poorest parts of India.
“The challenge for the country and for us as healthcare providers is to see how to create a model where you’re able to create infrastructure and investment in healthcare and bring it closer to the people, so it’s more accessible,” said Singh, the Fortis chairman.
Many in India still wonder why Singh and his younger brother, Shivinder, decided to walk away from their pharmaceutical company, which has deep ties in their family.
Along with another Indian drug company, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Ranbaxy became known globally for overturning big drug companies’ patents in court fights and then churning out lower-cost versions of their best-selling products.
By the middle of the decade, though, competition from cheap generics was proving as tough on generic-drug makers as it was on big pharmaceutical companies. In 2005, Ranbaxy’s profit fell by two-thirds and its share price by nearly a half.So in 2008, the Singhs sought a solution by marrying Ranbaxy to the Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo. For Daiichi Sankyo, Ranbaxy offered low-cost manufacturing and access to 60 new markets, including crucial emerging markets like India, to offset falling sales at home. “We had what they wanted,” Mr Singh said.
Selling their stake in the company to the Japanese earned the Singhs $2.3 billion, vaulting them to No. 13 on Forbes magazine’s ranking of the richest Indians. Malvinder Singh retained his position as head of the company. In September 2008, however, the Food and Drug Administration in the United States banned 30 Ranbaxy drugs made at two of the company’s Indian plants, citing manufacturing problems uncovered that year. Ranbaxy’s stock dropped by two-thirds, and in May 2009, the company replaced Singh as chief executive and paid him a severance of `4.8 crore, or $9.6 million. Singh declined to discuss the FDA case or his departure from Ranbaxy.
Singh turned to another family company, Fortis Healthcare. Founded in 1996 , Fortis has grown from a single hospital in northwest India into a network of 48 hospitals and clinics. Last year, the Indian healthcare market was estimated at $38 billion, and given the country’s fast-growing, increasingly affluent population, more and more Indians are suffering from lifestyle diseases common to developed countries.
India already has the largest number of diabetics in the world after China, for example, yet Indians, on average, spend only $55 a year on health care. “There’s a huge gap in India,” Singh said. “The healthcare market in India is very fragmented. The corporatisation of healthcare is still emerging.”
To achieve the advantages of size, Fortis embarked on an acquisition spree, acquiring three hospital chains in India from 2005 to 2009. The company now has 10 more hospitals under construction.
In March, Fortis leaped overseas, buying 24% of Parkway from the private equity firm TPG for $685.3 million. With hospitals in Malaysia, China and India, Parkway gave Fortis a foothold across Asia. The chain is also popular with medical tourists; a third of its patients in Singapore come from abroad, mainly from Indonesia.
Some analysts expressed doubt about whether Fortis could benefit from an international network. Unlike the managers and engineers who follow manufacturing investments overseas, doctors and nurses often cannot work in countries where they are not licensed. Losing out on its bid to take over the rest of Parkway, therefore, was a blow to Fortis’ strategy.
As a result, Singh said, Fortis is now considering moving into hospital management as an alternative. “An acquisition to get kick-started might be the way to start,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean it’s the only way.”
)
Now, Singh, 37, is trying to expand Fortis Healthcare, another of the family companies, from a string of hospitals around the Indian subcontinent into a pan-Asian healthcare network.
“There is a huge opportunity for growth in Asia for healthcare,” Singh said in a recent interview. “There are multiple markets which need investment that we would want to be a part of.”
Fortis experienced a major setback in July when its bid to acquire Parkway Holdings, a regional hospital operator based in Singapore, lost out to a higher bid from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund. But Singh, who has a master’s degree in business administration from Duke in North Carolina, said he was undeterred. Having spent almost $1 billion in the past two years buying up assets in healthcare and other sectors around the world, he said he was already scouting for
new targets.
The attraction is clear: With a population of more than 1.1 billion, most with no access to formal healthcare, India represents one of the fastest-growing healthcare markets. And the country’s relatively low costs are increasingly attracting medical tourism patients from abroad.
But Singh is after much more: not only a slice of China’s 1.3 billion people and Indonesia’s 227 million, but also the emerging class of affluent Asian medical tourists, many of whom flock to Singapore for quality private care. By building a regional network of hospitals, moreover, he hopes to bring better care to the poorest parts of India.
“The challenge for the country and for us as healthcare providers is to see how to create a model where you’re able to create infrastructure and investment in healthcare and bring it closer to the people, so it’s more accessible,” said Singh, the Fortis chairman.
Many in India still wonder why Singh and his younger brother, Shivinder, decided to walk away from their pharmaceutical company, which has deep ties in their family.
Along with another Indian drug company, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Ranbaxy became known globally for overturning big drug companies’ patents in court fights and then churning out lower-cost versions of their best-selling products.
By the middle of the decade, though, competition from cheap generics was proving as tough on generic-drug makers as it was on big pharmaceutical companies. In 2005, Ranbaxy’s profit fell by two-thirds and its share price by nearly a half.So in 2008, the Singhs sought a solution by marrying Ranbaxy to the Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo. For Daiichi Sankyo, Ranbaxy offered low-cost manufacturing and access to 60 new markets, including crucial emerging markets like India, to offset falling sales at home. “We had what they wanted,” Mr Singh said.
Selling their stake in the company to the Japanese earned the Singhs $2.3 billion, vaulting them to No. 13 on Forbes magazine’s ranking of the richest Indians. Malvinder Singh retained his position as head of the company. In September 2008, however, the Food and Drug Administration in the United States banned 30 Ranbaxy drugs made at two of the company’s Indian plants, citing manufacturing problems uncovered that year. Ranbaxy’s stock dropped by two-thirds, and in May 2009, the company replaced Singh as chief executive and paid him a severance of `4.8 crore, or $9.6 million. Singh declined to discuss the FDA case or his departure from Ranbaxy.
Singh turned to another family company, Fortis Healthcare. Founded in 1996 , Fortis has grown from a single hospital in northwest India into a network of 48 hospitals and clinics. Last year, the Indian healthcare market was estimated at $38 billion, and given the country’s fast-growing, increasingly affluent population, more and more Indians are suffering from lifestyle diseases common to developed countries.
India already has the largest number of diabetics in the world after China, for example, yet Indians, on average, spend only $55 a year on health care. “There’s a huge gap in India,” Singh said. “The healthcare market in India is very fragmented. The corporatisation of healthcare is still emerging.”
To achieve the advantages of size, Fortis embarked on an acquisition spree, acquiring three hospital chains in India from 2005 to 2009. The company now has 10 more hospitals under construction.
In March, Fortis leaped overseas, buying 24% of Parkway from the private equity firm TPG for $685.3 million. With hospitals in Malaysia, China and India, Parkway gave Fortis a foothold across Asia. The chain is also popular with medical tourists; a third of its patients in Singapore come from abroad, mainly from Indonesia.
Some analysts expressed doubt about whether Fortis could benefit from an international network. Unlike the managers and engineers who follow manufacturing investments overseas, doctors and nurses often cannot work in countries where they are not licensed. Losing out on its bid to take over the rest of Parkway, therefore, was a blow to Fortis’ strategy.
As a result, Singh said, Fortis is now considering moving into hospital management as an alternative. “An acquisition to get kick-started might be the way to start,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean it’s the only way.”
)
Corus to sell Teesside steel unit to Thai co for $500 m
MUMBAI: After months of negotiations, Corus has finally agreed to sell the mothballed steel unit at Teesside in the UK to Thailand’s Sahaviriya Steel Industries for about $500 million, bringing to an end year-long efforts by Tata Steel that were occasionally marred by interference from British political parties and trade unions.
Corus, the international subsidiary of Tata Steel, will sell its steelmaking assets and power generation facilities to revive the Teesside unit after a key client walked away from a contract in 2009 making operations at the unit unviable.
Tata Steel later said the loss from the reneged contracts amounted to about $233 million, about 80% of Teesside’s business. It also put at risk over 1,000 jobs and sparked off strong political and labour opposition.
“The deal is expected to create significant number of new jobs at the plant in addition to Teesside’s existing workforce of over 700 people,” Corus said in a statement.
Although three buyers had expressed interest in the Teesside unit in the past year, Tata Steel’s talks with Sahaviriya Steel Industries strengthened after the Thai steelmaker showed interest in the Corus technology for construction-grade steel. SSI doesn’t have the technology.
Sahaviriya Steel Industries is one of the biggest steel producers in Thailand. President of the company, Win Viriyaprapaikit, said: “We have great respect for the tradition of steelmaking at Teesside and for the highly skilled Teesside workforce, having previously purchased slab from Teesside Cast Products.”
In May last year, Tata Steel gave a financial assistance of about £425 million in phases, with about £200 million to pay off debts and for improving the balance sheet.
According to people familiar with the development, Sahaviriya Steel Industries is exploring options of relocating vital plant and machinery from Teesside to Thailand. The company would then be able to export to markets closer home and also cater to customers within Thailand, the people added.
The plan to ship the machinery is also in line with a recent proposal to develop an offshore wind farm business on the site at Teesside. Earlier, there were unconfirmed reports that Tata Motors, another group company, would set up a car making unit at the Teesside site.
Corus, the international subsidiary of Tata Steel, will sell its steelmaking assets and power generation facilities to revive the Teesside unit after a key client walked away from a contract in 2009 making operations at the unit unviable.
Tata Steel later said the loss from the reneged contracts amounted to about $233 million, about 80% of Teesside’s business. It also put at risk over 1,000 jobs and sparked off strong political and labour opposition.
“The deal is expected to create significant number of new jobs at the plant in addition to Teesside’s existing workforce of over 700 people,” Corus said in a statement.
Although three buyers had expressed interest in the Teesside unit in the past year, Tata Steel’s talks with Sahaviriya Steel Industries strengthened after the Thai steelmaker showed interest in the Corus technology for construction-grade steel. SSI doesn’t have the technology.
Sahaviriya Steel Industries is one of the biggest steel producers in Thailand. President of the company, Win Viriyaprapaikit, said: “We have great respect for the tradition of steelmaking at Teesside and for the highly skilled Teesside workforce, having previously purchased slab from Teesside Cast Products.”
In May last year, Tata Steel gave a financial assistance of about £425 million in phases, with about £200 million to pay off debts and for improving the balance sheet.
According to people familiar with the development, Sahaviriya Steel Industries is exploring options of relocating vital plant and machinery from Teesside to Thailand. The company would then be able to export to markets closer home and also cater to customers within Thailand, the people added.
The plan to ship the machinery is also in line with a recent proposal to develop an offshore wind farm business on the site at Teesside. Earlier, there were unconfirmed reports that Tata Motors, another group company, would set up a car making unit at the Teesside site.
Shale gas exploration acreages to be available from next year
MUMBAI: The Directorate General of Hydrocarbon (DGH) today said that shale gas exploration acreages in the country will be available from next year.
At present, the Ministry of Petroleum is working on a shale gas regime to find out the most suitable one for the country.
"We are expecting that by next year shale gas exploration acreages will be given. Currently, we are also working to find out a better shale gas regime. This shale gas regime will be a win-win situation for all," DGH's Director General Sunil Kumar Srivastava told reporters here.
Areas such as Cambay basin, Krishna-Godavari basin and Assam-Arakan basin are considered as most prospective areas for shale gas exploration, he said.
However, Srivastava said that given the variability of shale across India, a rapid pace of source development would probably come only after successful explorations in the initial basins.
The government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the US on shale gas, where the US Geological Survey (USGS) is likely to do a resource assessment of certain shale basins in India, he said.
Besides, the Government plans to move to the open acreage licensing policy (OALP) regime by 2012, he said adding the OALP will make India a favourable destination globally for exploration and production of crude and natural gas.
This will enable upstream companies to bid for any oil and gas block without waiting for the announcement of bidding under new exploration licensing policy (NELP) regime.
Commenting on ninth round of new exploration licensing policy (NELP), Srivastava said, "NELP-IX will be formally launched in September, followed by road show."
The production from Reliance Industries' KG Basin block is on track and producing as much as they committed, he said.
At present, the Ministry of Petroleum is working on a shale gas regime to find out the most suitable one for the country.
"We are expecting that by next year shale gas exploration acreages will be given. Currently, we are also working to find out a better shale gas regime. This shale gas regime will be a win-win situation for all," DGH's Director General Sunil Kumar Srivastava told reporters here.
Areas such as Cambay basin, Krishna-Godavari basin and Assam-Arakan basin are considered as most prospective areas for shale gas exploration, he said.
However, Srivastava said that given the variability of shale across India, a rapid pace of source development would probably come only after successful explorations in the initial basins.
The government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the US on shale gas, where the US Geological Survey (USGS) is likely to do a resource assessment of certain shale basins in India, he said.
Besides, the Government plans to move to the open acreage licensing policy (OALP) regime by 2012, he said adding the OALP will make India a favourable destination globally for exploration and production of crude and natural gas.
This will enable upstream companies to bid for any oil and gas block without waiting for the announcement of bidding under new exploration licensing policy (NELP) regime.
Commenting on ninth round of new exploration licensing policy (NELP), Srivastava said, "NELP-IX will be formally launched in September, followed by road show."
The production from Reliance Industries' KG Basin block is on track and producing as much as they committed, he said.
Sunil Mittal, GM Rao may find berth in new RBI board
MUMBAI: RBI’s central board is set to see a total revamp with a host of members completing their four-year term. Industrialist Sunil Mittal of the Bharti group and GM Rao of GMR are likely to be the new faces in the reconstituted board. According to sources, the two businessmen have been sounded out for their consent for being considered for nomination.
The government had last reconstituted the central bank’s board in June 2006. At that time, Wipro chairman Azim Premji, Aditya Birla Group of Companies chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, Ambuja Cement chairman Suresh Kumar Neotia and Sanjay Labroo of Asahi Glass were inducted as members in place of Ratan Tata, NR Narayana Murthy and KP Singh, who had retired.
Besides the industrialists, there will be other retirements as well although it is not clear whether any member will be reappointed. In 2006, Chartered Accountant YH Malegam, Supreme Court Advocate HP Ranina and Ashok S Ganguly, member, Investment Commission and Knowledge Commission, were reappointed.
Sources said there is a likelihood that the entire board may change, in which case the central bank will lose some long-standing experts like Mr Malegam, who have outlasted several governors and has been the most active member on the board of the central bank.
The government has the powers to nominate 10 directors on the RBI board as per section 8(1)C of the RBI Act, 1934. According to the RBI Act, the central board shall include the governor and at the most four deputy governors, four directors nominated from RBI local boards, 10 directors nominated by the government and one bureaucrat also to be nominated by the government. Most of the industrialists and experts are nominated by the government under Section 8(1)C of the Act, which provides for the appointment of 10 nominees.
While the board does not have any role in monetary policy, it is the ultimate body that governs the working of RBI. The central bank’s HR policies and employee benefits are determined by the board.
The government had last reconstituted the central bank’s board in June 2006. At that time, Wipro chairman Azim Premji, Aditya Birla Group of Companies chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, Ambuja Cement chairman Suresh Kumar Neotia and Sanjay Labroo of Asahi Glass were inducted as members in place of Ratan Tata, NR Narayana Murthy and KP Singh, who had retired.
Besides the industrialists, there will be other retirements as well although it is not clear whether any member will be reappointed. In 2006, Chartered Accountant YH Malegam, Supreme Court Advocate HP Ranina and Ashok S Ganguly, member, Investment Commission and Knowledge Commission, were reappointed.
Sources said there is a likelihood that the entire board may change, in which case the central bank will lose some long-standing experts like Mr Malegam, who have outlasted several governors and has been the most active member on the board of the central bank.
The government has the powers to nominate 10 directors on the RBI board as per section 8(1)C of the RBI Act, 1934. According to the RBI Act, the central board shall include the governor and at the most four deputy governors, four directors nominated from RBI local boards, 10 directors nominated by the government and one bureaucrat also to be nominated by the government. Most of the industrialists and experts are nominated by the government under Section 8(1)C of the Act, which provides for the appointment of 10 nominees.
While the board does not have any role in monetary policy, it is the ultimate body that governs the working of RBI. The central bank’s HR policies and employee benefits are determined by the board.
IDBI best public sector bank for SME financing: D&B
MUMBAI: IDBI Bank has received the best public sector bank award for financing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from global business information provider Dun and Bradstreet.
"IDBI Bank has developed a special business model to serve the SMEs in the country that has enabled the bank to develop a quality SME portfolio through a dedicated streamlined credit decision process," said T. R. Bajalia, executive director and head (SME Group), IDBI Bank.
The award was presented to IDBI Bank at the "Dun & Bradstreet - Polaris Software Banking Awards 2010" here.
"The bank's focus is on service quality and consequently, utmost importance is being accorded to the building of an efficient SME sales network, effective client management mechanism besides borrower friendly, easy to understand and competitive products," he added.
IDBI Bank's operations during the quarter ended June 30, 2010, resulted in a net profit of Rs.251 crore.
D&B India developed a proprietary quantitative model based on various parameters for identifying the top banks across the spectrum. The model is based on the twin premise of recognising the size and growth of the banks.
For this purpose, D&B India identified a number of crucial parameters related to business, profitability, network, priority sector lending, asset quality, global business etc relevant to each award category.
The final ranking of the banks was arrived at using a composite score of these weighted parameters. The information has been collated from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) documents and annual reports of the banks.
"IDBI Bank has developed a special business model to serve the SMEs in the country that has enabled the bank to develop a quality SME portfolio through a dedicated streamlined credit decision process," said T. R. Bajalia, executive director and head (SME Group), IDBI Bank.
The award was presented to IDBI Bank at the "Dun & Bradstreet - Polaris Software Banking Awards 2010" here.
"The bank's focus is on service quality and consequently, utmost importance is being accorded to the building of an efficient SME sales network, effective client management mechanism besides borrower friendly, easy to understand and competitive products," he added.
IDBI Bank's operations during the quarter ended June 30, 2010, resulted in a net profit of Rs.251 crore.
D&B India developed a proprietary quantitative model based on various parameters for identifying the top banks across the spectrum. The model is based on the twin premise of recognising the size and growth of the banks.
For this purpose, D&B India identified a number of crucial parameters related to business, profitability, network, priority sector lending, asset quality, global business etc relevant to each award category.
The final ranking of the banks was arrived at using a composite score of these weighted parameters. The information has been collated from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) documents and annual reports of the banks.
Apollo Tyres to invest rs 1100 crore this year in its plants
KOCHI: Tyre major Apollo Tyres ltd, will be investing rs 1100 crore this year in its 9 plants in India and abroad and was looking at Asia for expansion, a top official of the company said.
'We will be looking at several countries for expansion.. we are looking at Asia, where we see lot of growth potential', Apollo Chairman, Onkar S Kanwar, told reporters here. Without naming the country, he said depending on raw material availablity and expansion of market, a decision would be taken.
During the current fiscal the total capacity of the Indian plants will touch 1450 tonnes, while 200 tonnes each would be added to the South African and European plants.
With regard to its investments this year, Kanwar said rs 900 crore investments would be made in Apollo's five plants in India.
The company would be investing rs 300 crore in its Green field Chennai plant this year, to make it the most efficient, modern and productive tyre plant across Asia. The plant is already producing truck-bus radial and passenger car tyres and four months ago since production commenced, dispatch of consignments to OEMs has also started, he said.
At the Chennai plant, where the total investment till the end of this year would be rs 2300 crore, only Diploma Engineers had been employed as the IT driven machinery requires technical know how and advanced skills. By the end of this year, the plant will produce 16,000 passenger car and 6000 truck-bus radial tyres every day, he said.
Apollo will be investing rs 200 crore in its Baroda plant and also has plans to invest rs 200 crore in Peramabra unit in kerala, which is under lock out since the past two months. It will be investing 30 million dollars at its South Africa plant and 6 million euros for Europe plant, he said.
Describing the Perambra plant as his 'personal baby' kanwar said it pains to see that the unit has been closed since the last two months due to labour problems causing a production loss of 300 tonnes of tyres a day. So far the loss to the company is to the tune of rs 300 crore. The daily loss works out to rs 5 crore, he said. There is heavy absenteeism and the company should be allowed to take secondary labourers, he said. Competition was harsh and there was hardly any margins.
He said workers should resume jobs, 'We want to be fair, but firm', he said adding among all its indian plants, Perambra plant was low on productivity
'We will be looking at several countries for expansion.. we are looking at Asia, where we see lot of growth potential', Apollo Chairman, Onkar S Kanwar, told reporters here. Without naming the country, he said depending on raw material availablity and expansion of market, a decision would be taken.
During the current fiscal the total capacity of the Indian plants will touch 1450 tonnes, while 200 tonnes each would be added to the South African and European plants.
With regard to its investments this year, Kanwar said rs 900 crore investments would be made in Apollo's five plants in India.
The company would be investing rs 300 crore in its Green field Chennai plant this year, to make it the most efficient, modern and productive tyre plant across Asia. The plant is already producing truck-bus radial and passenger car tyres and four months ago since production commenced, dispatch of consignments to OEMs has also started, he said.
At the Chennai plant, where the total investment till the end of this year would be rs 2300 crore, only Diploma Engineers had been employed as the IT driven machinery requires technical know how and advanced skills. By the end of this year, the plant will produce 16,000 passenger car and 6000 truck-bus radial tyres every day, he said.
Apollo will be investing rs 200 crore in its Baroda plant and also has plans to invest rs 200 crore in Peramabra unit in kerala, which is under lock out since the past two months. It will be investing 30 million dollars at its South Africa plant and 6 million euros for Europe plant, he said.
Describing the Perambra plant as his 'personal baby' kanwar said it pains to see that the unit has been closed since the last two months due to labour problems causing a production loss of 300 tonnes of tyres a day. So far the loss to the company is to the tune of rs 300 crore. The daily loss works out to rs 5 crore, he said. There is heavy absenteeism and the company should be allowed to take secondary labourers, he said. Competition was harsh and there was hardly any margins.
He said workers should resume jobs, 'We want to be fair, but firm', he said adding among all its indian plants, Perambra plant was low on productivity
TVS Motor to invest Rs 200 cr on capacity expansion
NEW DELHI: Motorcycle maker TVS Motor Company on Thursday said it will invest Rs 200 crore by April next year to increase its production capacity to 28 lakh units.
The company also said it will set up a design centre in Indonesia where it has a manufacturing facility.
"There is an increasing demand and to meet that we are increasing our production capacity to 28 lakh units from the existing 21 lakh units per annum. It will entail an investment Rs 200 crore by April 2011," TVS Motor Company Chairman Venu Srinivasan told reporters on the sidelines of the SIAM summit here.
He said the company expects to sell 18 lakh of two wheelers in the domestic market and export 2.5 lakh units this year.
On the three-wheeler front, the company expects sales of 50,000 units.
Commenting on the overseas operation, Srinivasan said TVS expects its Indonesian arm to break even by next year. "By next year we should have a design center there," he said.
He also said TVS plans to make Brazil, where it has an assembly unit, to be the hub for the Latin American market.
"We have a capacity of assembling 50,000 units in Brazil per year. We want this to be the hub of Latin America and supply to countries like Columbia, which is an interesting market," Srinivasan said.
The company assembles its motor cycle 'Apache' in Brazil right now. He also said the company is looking to increase export to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and ASEAN countries.
TVS Motor reported a rise of 14.80 per cent in its total two-wheeler sales at 15,21,912 units in the last fiscal year.
The company also said it will set up a design centre in Indonesia where it has a manufacturing facility.
"There is an increasing demand and to meet that we are increasing our production capacity to 28 lakh units from the existing 21 lakh units per annum. It will entail an investment Rs 200 crore by April 2011," TVS Motor Company Chairman Venu Srinivasan told reporters on the sidelines of the SIAM summit here.
He said the company expects to sell 18 lakh of two wheelers in the domestic market and export 2.5 lakh units this year.
On the three-wheeler front, the company expects sales of 50,000 units.
Commenting on the overseas operation, Srinivasan said TVS expects its Indonesian arm to break even by next year. "By next year we should have a design center there," he said.
He also said TVS plans to make Brazil, where it has an assembly unit, to be the hub for the Latin American market.
"We have a capacity of assembling 50,000 units in Brazil per year. We want this to be the hub of Latin America and supply to countries like Columbia, which is an interesting market," Srinivasan said.
The company assembles its motor cycle 'Apache' in Brazil right now. He also said the company is looking to increase export to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and ASEAN countries.
TVS Motor reported a rise of 14.80 per cent in its total two-wheeler sales at 15,21,912 units in the last fiscal year.
Auto component sector to see 4-fold growth by 2020
NEW DELHI: The Indian auto component industry expects to grow by over four-fold to $113 billion by 2020 as there have been projections of a similar jump in car manufacturing in the country in the next decade, said Automotive Component Manufacturers’ Association.
The total passenger car production in the country will jump four times to reach 9 million cars in the next ten years, the industry body said in its forecast report on Friday. Although a major chunk of this will come from the fast growing domestic market, exports are likely to form around 35% of the total market by 2020.
“India would be among the top-five vehicle producing countries in the world by 2020,” said ACMA executive director Vinnie Mehta.
Indian component industry is expected to clock a total revenue of $25 billion in the current fiscal. Given high growth projections, the local component industry is looking to invest $35 billion over the next decade.
Production of two-wheelers and three-wheelers are expected to double to 2.2 crore units by 2015 and reach three crore units by 2020 driven by current low penetration levels, expanding rural sales and growth in exports. Commercial vehicles production is forecast to cross the 22 lakh-units mark in the same period.
ACMA also said the local component industry would create an additional employment for over 10 lakh people in the next decade. To meet the increased requirement of skilled hands the government has decided to set up a dedicated skill development body for the auto industry to train 25 million people in the next decade. The Automobile Skill Development Council — under the umbrella of the National Skill Development Council (NSDC) — is expected to be established soon, a government official said on Friday.
To maintain competitiveness of the domestic component makers, ACMA has sought safeguard measures from the government against cheap imports of finished parts, primarily those coming from China. “Imports from many countries particularly from China and Thailand have risen significantly. There has been virtual dumping of certain spares from China and we have asked the government to take preventive measures,” said ACMA president Jayant Davar.
The total passenger car production in the country will jump four times to reach 9 million cars in the next ten years, the industry body said in its forecast report on Friday. Although a major chunk of this will come from the fast growing domestic market, exports are likely to form around 35% of the total market by 2020.
“India would be among the top-five vehicle producing countries in the world by 2020,” said ACMA executive director Vinnie Mehta.
Indian component industry is expected to clock a total revenue of $25 billion in the current fiscal. Given high growth projections, the local component industry is looking to invest $35 billion over the next decade.
Production of two-wheelers and three-wheelers are expected to double to 2.2 crore units by 2015 and reach three crore units by 2020 driven by current low penetration levels, expanding rural sales and growth in exports. Commercial vehicles production is forecast to cross the 22 lakh-units mark in the same period.
ACMA also said the local component industry would create an additional employment for over 10 lakh people in the next decade. To meet the increased requirement of skilled hands the government has decided to set up a dedicated skill development body for the auto industry to train 25 million people in the next decade. The Automobile Skill Development Council — under the umbrella of the National Skill Development Council (NSDC) — is expected to be established soon, a government official said on Friday.
To maintain competitiveness of the domestic component makers, ACMA has sought safeguard measures from the government against cheap imports of finished parts, primarily those coming from China. “Imports from many countries particularly from China and Thailand have risen significantly. There has been virtual dumping of certain spares from China and we have asked the government to take preventive measures,” said ACMA president Jayant Davar.
Tata Motors in tie-up with IndusInd Bank
CHENNAI: Automaker Tata Motors has entered into an understanding with IndusInd Bank for financing its range of passenger vehicles .
A MoU was signed in this regard by senior executives of the both companies, Tata Motors said in a statement.
"..IndusInd ranks in the top retail financiers for Tata Motors commercial vehicle segment today and we are happy to extend this partnership for our passenger vehicle business as well, ", Tata Motors Passenger Vehicle Business Unit Vice President R Ramakrishnan said.
"With this tie-up IndusInd Bank would be in a position to cater the financial needs of Tata Motors customers for the entire range of vehicles sold by Tata Motors," IndusInd Bank Consumer Finance Division Executive Vice-President S V Parthasarathy said.
IndusInd Bank currently has over two million customers and a network of 224 branches and 533 ATMs across 28 states, it added.
A MoU was signed in this regard by senior executives of the both companies, Tata Motors said in a statement.
"..IndusInd ranks in the top retail financiers for Tata Motors commercial vehicle segment today and we are happy to extend this partnership for our passenger vehicle business as well, ", Tata Motors Passenger Vehicle Business Unit Vice President R Ramakrishnan said.
"With this tie-up IndusInd Bank would be in a position to cater the financial needs of Tata Motors customers for the entire range of vehicles sold by Tata Motors," IndusInd Bank Consumer Finance Division Executive Vice-President S V Parthasarathy said.
IndusInd Bank currently has over two million customers and a network of 224 branches and 533 ATMs across 28 states, it added.
I am the least-paid Fortune 500 CEO: SBI Chairman
The State Bank of India broke into the Fortune 500 club during Om Prakash Bhatt’s current five-year tenure as chairman — surely something to celebrate. And he is proud of the fact that not only did he get SBI there, but the bank has also been inching up a few notches with every passing year.
However, there is something about that list which bothers him. He points out that he is the lowest-paid CEO on the Fortune 500 list. (The SBI chairman’s compensation in the last financial year was Rs 27 lakh, while on an average a Fortune 500 CEO earns more than $10 million or Rs 47 crore a year).
Maybe Bhatt has something to look forward to when he hangs up his boots as the top boss of the bank in March 2011. Being the head of the country’s largest commercial bank, he would get a red carpet welcome from any financial services company in the private sector, which wants to fortify its position in the country and there would be a willing candidate in Bhatt.
By his own admission , he cannot afford to retire on the pension of SBI. “I need to work to support my family,” he says rather humbly over coffee in his rather spacious 18th floor office in Mumbai’s central business district — Nariman Point.
The building is like a fortress with two sets of checks and a barricade, designed to keep out a moving vehicle without credentials. And why not? It’s the headquarters of the country’s largest bank with a deposit base of over Rs 8 lakh crore and a turnover of Rs 86,000 crore.
His room has a lovely view of the Arabian Sea and parts of Marine Drive and there are at least three sets of room ACs to keep the temperature, of a place where some of the hottest decisions of the banking sector are taken, a little low.
A replica of Krishna and Arjun at the battlefield of Kurukshetra rests on a table, perhaps reminding him of the continuous battle to keep his place under the sun.
There are innumerable trophies which line a cabinet on one side of the room from the various battles won. Besides, there is a hockey stick, which adorns one wall — signed by the Indian hockey team which won the Asia Cup a few years ago.
Dressed in a black suit, looking every inch the proverbial banker, the 59-year-old from Dehradun, answers all the questions in a similar soft tone throughout the course of the two-hour-long chat.
ED takes over Raju's 4,000-acre property
HYDERABAD: Charging that the property was acquired from the proceeds of the Satyam scam, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday took possession of 4,000 acres belonging to Satyam founder B Ramalinga Raju and his family members in Loyapalli village near Ibrahimpatnam of Ranga Reddy district.
The ED, which has attached 347 such properties so far, gave some time to the Rajus for handing over these properties to them and when that didn’t happen, it began taking physical possession of the land. The property in Loyapalli is one among the 347 properties that has been attached but is the single largest asset. The ED began the process of physical attachment of the property after its adjudicating authority in Delhi last week confirmed the provisional orders issued by the ED on these properties.
Taking physical possession includes installing a board that carries a warning on it saying that this is now a property of the government and that trespassers will be prosecuted etc. Among the remaining assets which have been attached by the ED but where the physical possession is still to happen are the spacious Jubilee Hills residence of Teja Raju, son of Ramalinga Raju.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Blackstone invests Rs 1,350 cr in Moser Baer's energy biz
New Delhi : Largest investment by a single PE investor in power sector.
US-based private equity (PE) fund Blackstone has invested $300 million (Rs 1,350 crore) in Moser Baer Projects Private Ltd (MBPPL), the unlisted energy business of Delhi-based global technology company Moser Baer India.
The investment will fund MBPPL's plans of commissioning 5,000 mega watt (Mw) of power generation capacity — 4,000 Mw of thermal power, 500 Mw of solar power and 500 Mw of hydro power — over the next six years in India and Germany. The group's 1,200-Mw Annuppur Project-1 in Madhya Pradesh, which has achieved financial closure, is the most advanced one.
The largest investment by a single PE investor in the Indian power sector will help MBPPL establish, what it called, "one of the country's leading independent power generation business".
"We have an appetite of investing $1 billion (around Rs 4,500 crore) in the power sector over the next five years, provided we get good deals," said Akhil Gupta, chairman and managing director of Blackstone Advisors India Private Ltd.
MBPPL has a 7.4-Mw operating solar farm asset in Germany and a 5-Mw solar power project under construction in Tamil Nadu. Besides, the company will invest in the country's largest solar power plant, a 45-Mw one, in Gujarat, whose financial closure is expected within a month.
"We have not done anything on the solar thermal front as yet and we will look at coal from Coal India and its subsidiaries. Our power projects will be fuelled from domestic coal," said Deepak Puri, founder of MBPPL. Moreover, Moser Baer doesn't intend to list MBPPL this year, though it is considering listing in a few years.
"We don't need more private equity and we think we will reach grid parity in three years," Puri said.
The PE fund has so far invested $1.25 billion (around Rs 5,600 crore) in 12 Indian companies. It recently secured a 12.5 per cent stake in Monnet Power Company (MPCL) for $60 million (Rs 275 crore). It also has investments in Indian companies like newspaper firm Jagran Prakashan, garment maker Gokaldas Exports, Allcargo Global Logistics, Nagarjuna Construction and Emcure Pharmaceuticals.
"The accelerated development of India's infrastructure industry in general and the power sector in particular is a pre-requisite for unlocking our country's economic potential and availability of growth capital will remain essential to enable this development. We have put together a highly qualified investment banking team to exclusively advise infrastructure companies on capital raising and mergers and acquisitions," said Venkat Ramaswamy, executive director, Edelweiss Group, which acted as the financial advisor to MBPPL.
Blackstone has said that infrastructure development continued to remain one of its key investment themes in India. Moser Baer's shares closed 6.6 per cent higher at Rs 66.45 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
US-based private equity (PE) fund Blackstone has invested $300 million (Rs 1,350 crore) in Moser Baer Projects Private Ltd (MBPPL), the unlisted energy business of Delhi-based global technology company Moser Baer India.
The investment will fund MBPPL's plans of commissioning 5,000 mega watt (Mw) of power generation capacity — 4,000 Mw of thermal power, 500 Mw of solar power and 500 Mw of hydro power — over the next six years in India and Germany. The group's 1,200-Mw Annuppur Project-1 in Madhya Pradesh, which has achieved financial closure, is the most advanced one.
The largest investment by a single PE investor in the Indian power sector will help MBPPL establish, what it called, "one of the country's leading independent power generation business".
"We have an appetite of investing $1 billion (around Rs 4,500 crore) in the power sector over the next five years, provided we get good deals," said Akhil Gupta, chairman and managing director of Blackstone Advisors India Private Ltd.
MBPPL has a 7.4-Mw operating solar farm asset in Germany and a 5-Mw solar power project under construction in Tamil Nadu. Besides, the company will invest in the country's largest solar power plant, a 45-Mw one, in Gujarat, whose financial closure is expected within a month.
"We have not done anything on the solar thermal front as yet and we will look at coal from Coal India and its subsidiaries. Our power projects will be fuelled from domestic coal," said Deepak Puri, founder of MBPPL. Moreover, Moser Baer doesn't intend to list MBPPL this year, though it is considering listing in a few years.
"We don't need more private equity and we think we will reach grid parity in three years," Puri said.
The PE fund has so far invested $1.25 billion (around Rs 5,600 crore) in 12 Indian companies. It recently secured a 12.5 per cent stake in Monnet Power Company (MPCL) for $60 million (Rs 275 crore). It also has investments in Indian companies like newspaper firm Jagran Prakashan, garment maker Gokaldas Exports, Allcargo Global Logistics, Nagarjuna Construction and Emcure Pharmaceuticals.
"The accelerated development of India's infrastructure industry in general and the power sector in particular is a pre-requisite for unlocking our country's economic potential and availability of growth capital will remain essential to enable this development. We have put together a highly qualified investment banking team to exclusively advise infrastructure companies on capital raising and mergers and acquisitions," said Venkat Ramaswamy, executive director, Edelweiss Group, which acted as the financial advisor to MBPPL.
Blackstone has said that infrastructure development continued to remain one of its key investment themes in India. Moser Baer's shares closed 6.6 per cent higher at Rs 66.45 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Kurl-on to invest Rs 150 cr in Saudi, India plants
Ahmedabad: After diversifying from sleep comfort to providing end-to-end home comfort solutions last year, Kurl-on Ltd will invest around Rs 150 crore in the next couple of years on setting up three mattresses manufacturing plants, one in Saudi Arabia and two more in India.
In Saudi Arabia, the Karnataka-based company, part of the Rs 2,000-crore Manipal Group, is looking to invest around Rs 60 crore, and expects to initially sell nearly 12,000 high-end mattresses a month, Mr T. Sudhakar Pai, Chairman, told Business Line here. Kurl-on is a well-known brand in West Asia.
The company's aggressive plans are aimed at giving its expansion activities a definitive direction. It is repositioning itself as a player in India's Rs 1 lakh crore home comfort industry. Thus, operating on a bigger canvass, it would manufacture a whole range of products for home comfort also.
Furniture business
Kurl-on is also focusing on furniture and furnishing. It has already signed a joint venture agreement with Mr Cesare Giacomuzzo for the manufacture of furniture and is looking for partners across India to manufacture other products.
To fund its expansion and diversification plans, which includes finding partners and franchisees across India for making various home comfort products, Kurl-on may also raise funds from the capital market next year. Based on the current market evaluation of Kurl-on at Rs 1,600 crore, the company could raise up to Rs 400 crore via an IPO and get listed on the bourses. “We have the shareholders' nod. And many a private equity (PE) player have also approached us,” he added.
India plans
In India, where the company currently has five manufacturing units, it will establish two more plants with an investment of around Rs 90 crore, to double its current production capacity.
One of these plants will be in the Jhagadia industrial hub, near Ankaleshwar, in Bharuch district of Gujarat, where the company will invest Rs 60 crore. Last week, the company was allotted 25 acres at Jhagadia for the purpose.
Mr Pai said Kurl-on is also planning to set up a new plant in the North-East, preferably in Assam, with an initial investment of Rs 30 crore. Kurl-on is expecting to increase its turnover from Rs 417 crore in 2009-10 to Rs 1,000 crore in the next two years. With this objective, he said it aims to expand its network to a total of 150 exclusive company-owned flagship showrooms, called “Kurl-on Nests”, on a partnership or franchisee basis, and also 500 other outlets on the shop-in-shop model in the next three years.
Ashok Leyland wins order for buses from Sri Lanka
Chennai: Ashok Leyland has bagged an order for 1,000 buses from the People's Leasing Company in Sri Lanka, according to a press release from Ashok Leyland. The $26-million order represents Ashok Leyland's largest single order for buses from Sri Lanka.
The delivery of the ‘Viking' model buses, of 42-58 seats, is to commence immediately and is to be completed before March 2011. The order is being part funded by the Asian Development Bank.
Ashok Leyland of the Hinduja group is a leader in the Sri Lankan bus market with sales of more than 8,000 over the past six-seven years.
Tata-Sikorsky venture to roll out aerospace components from Nov
Hyderabad: The Tata-Sikorsky joint venture to manufacture aerospace components and systems at the Aerospace Park on the outskirts of Hyderabad will start rolling out products from November.
Announcing this at MAN'EXE, the 7th leadership series on manufacturing excellence organised by the CII here on Wednesday, Mr Kanna Lakshminarayana, Minister of Industries, Andhra Pradesh, said the new industrial policy (2010-15) announced by the State would give a big thrust to manufacturing.
The State has come up with several incentives, has the lowest power tariff for industries and the largest number of notified SEZs (Special Economic Zones), over 50. It is also looking at the National Manufacturing Investment Zones, being proposed by the Centre, he said.
Tata Advanced Systems, the Tata Group company, formed the venture with Sikorsky Aircraft, US, to manufacture aerospace components in India. As part of it, they set up a manufacturing unit at the Aerospace & Precision Engineering SEZ (special economic zone) at Adibatla village to begin making components and assembling Sikorsky S-92 helicopter cabins. It will also make components for other aerospace OEMs.
Transforming india
In his keynote address, Dr V. Sumantran, Executive Vice-Chairman, Hinduja Automotive and Board of Director of Ashok Leyland said a “Combination of planning and entrepreneurship was a must for India to achieve the goal of transforming into a happy, developed country.”
He cited two recent headlines: By 2015, Indian GDP will cross China's and India to emerge a Detroit of the East.
While they read great and achievable, there is cause of concern, because we tend to celebrate too early. These are goals which need tremendous work and effort to achieve. India needs relentless investments in infrastructure, especially power and energy to drive the high growth rates.
He listed several advantages the country has in terms of the large youth force and low cost demand driving innovation and frugality, an old world virtue internalised amongst the people that could be channelized for the growth story.
Trump card
Dr Sumantran said India's trump card would be IT-enabled manufacturing. Cloud competing, he said, makes small and medium enterprises competitive. However, he expressed concern about the general lack of high quality across industries. This has to be addressed.
Earlier, the Chairman of CII-AP, Mr Shakthi Sagar, in his welcome, said India was emerging as a manufacturing hub with more companies shifting their units.
The national manufacturing policy and the manufacturing investment zones should provide an impetus.
Announcing this at MAN'EXE, the 7th leadership series on manufacturing excellence organised by the CII here on Wednesday, Mr Kanna Lakshminarayana, Minister of Industries, Andhra Pradesh, said the new industrial policy (2010-15) announced by the State would give a big thrust to manufacturing.
The State has come up with several incentives, has the lowest power tariff for industries and the largest number of notified SEZs (Special Economic Zones), over 50. It is also looking at the National Manufacturing Investment Zones, being proposed by the Centre, he said.
Tata Advanced Systems, the Tata Group company, formed the venture with Sikorsky Aircraft, US, to manufacture aerospace components in India. As part of it, they set up a manufacturing unit at the Aerospace & Precision Engineering SEZ (special economic zone) at Adibatla village to begin making components and assembling Sikorsky S-92 helicopter cabins. It will also make components for other aerospace OEMs.
Transforming india
In his keynote address, Dr V. Sumantran, Executive Vice-Chairman, Hinduja Automotive and Board of Director of Ashok Leyland said a “Combination of planning and entrepreneurship was a must for India to achieve the goal of transforming into a happy, developed country.”
He cited two recent headlines: By 2015, Indian GDP will cross China's and India to emerge a Detroit of the East.
While they read great and achievable, there is cause of concern, because we tend to celebrate too early. These are goals which need tremendous work and effort to achieve. India needs relentless investments in infrastructure, especially power and energy to drive the high growth rates.
He listed several advantages the country has in terms of the large youth force and low cost demand driving innovation and frugality, an old world virtue internalised amongst the people that could be channelized for the growth story.
Trump card
Dr Sumantran said India's trump card would be IT-enabled manufacturing. Cloud competing, he said, makes small and medium enterprises competitive. However, he expressed concern about the general lack of high quality across industries. This has to be addressed.
Earlier, the Chairman of CII-AP, Mr Shakthi Sagar, in his welcome, said India was emerging as a manufacturing hub with more companies shifting their units.
The national manufacturing policy and the manufacturing investment zones should provide an impetus.
Domestic airlines registered a 17 per cent growth during January-July 2010
New Delhi: India’s domestic airlines witnessed a surge of nearly 500,000 passengers in July 2010 in comparison to the corresponding period in 2009.
It is the 7th consecutive month for the domestic airline industry to report an increase in the passengers flown in comparison with the same period in 2009.
As per the latest data collated by the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the domestic airlines flew 17.56 million passengers during January-July 2010 as against 14.53 million passengers carried during the same period in 2009, thereby, registering a 17 per cent growth.
India to witness 9-9.5 per cent growth rate over 2013-15: Morgan Stanley
New Delhi: Witnessing continuing structural reforms, globalisation and a sterling demographic dividend, India is bound to increase its growth rate to 9-9.5 per cent over 2013-15, even as China will moderate down to 9 per cent by 2012 and to 8 per cent by 2015, as per a new report by Morgan Stanley, authored by Chetan Ahya (managing director for Asia and India economist) and Tanvee Gupta.
India has one of the lowest median ages among the major economies and with the large working age population, India is bound to reap twin effects. One, it will allow people to save a large proportion of their income, thereby increasing the country’s rate of savings and two, it will boost the number of people who work and contribute to growth. With structural reforms the additional workers will find work and the sheer rise in the number of workers would increase gross domestic product (GDP) growth. Also with reforms, productivity per worker would increase raising the GDP even faster.
Moreover, globalisation gives additional job opportunities, extra capital to augment rising domestic savings and additional know-how. Basing its analysis on the above cited factors, the report expects India to become the world's fastest-growing economy. Kaushik Basu, Chief Economic Advisor to the Government has also been forecasting similar formats of development.
Underlying the forecast is the assumption that India will significantly increase its expenditure on infrastructure and in plant and machinery. Infrastructure expenditure has gone up from 5.4 per cent of GDP in 2005 to 7.5 per cent in 2009 and is poised to go up to 8 per cent of GDP in 2010. Over 2012-17, the forecast is that India's infrastructure spend would be US$ 1 trillion as compared with US$ 530 million over the previous five-year period.
Another assumption is on the quantity and quality of the young people coming into the workforce. While India will be the largest contributor to the world's workforce — all of 136 million people — over the next 10 years (fully a quarter of the entire world's additional workforce) in comparison China will add just 23 million.
The report also assumes that there would be an increase in the number of young people completing their education, making India the largest contributor to the pool of tertiary educated workforce in the world.
All these changes would be supported and complemented by further reform by the government in fiscal consolidation, opening up of retail to foreign direct investment, public sector reform and divestment, and improvement in governance that would reduce transaction costs.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Steelmaker Corus to invest 185 million pounds in Britain
LONDON: Indian-owned steelmaker Corus will invest 185 million pounds to rebuild a blast furnace in south Wales, the company announced on Monday in a move that is set to safe-guard jobs.
The investment at the Port Talbot steelworks, equivalent to 225 million euros or $289 million, will begin in July 2012 and aims to increase the facility's output by up to 400,000 tonnes a year, Corus said in a statement.
The company is owned by India's Tata Steel -- the world's eighth-biggest steelmaker.
"This investment is a major step in achieving Tata Steel's ambition to position Port Talbot as a producer of high-quality strip products on a global scale and an internationally competitive cost base," said Kirby Adams, chief executive of Tata Steel Europe.
Union bosses welcomed the move.
"This investment shows that Corus believe that there is a strong future for the British steel industry," said Michael Leahy, head of the Community union.
A Corus spokesman added that the investment may see building contractors take on new staff.
Tata Steel, part of India's sprawling Tata Group conglomerate, bought Anglo-Dutch company Corus for $13.7 billion in 2007.
Transgene Biotek acquires US-based Marillion
Hyderabad: Transgene Biotek Ltd has said that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Marillion Pharmaceuticals Inc, a US Oncology Biopharmaceuticals company based in Exton, Pennsylvania, in an all-share deal.
The Director of the Hyderabad-based Transgene Biotek, Mr S.S. Marthi, in a statement to the stock exchange, said the transaction would accelerate growth of the company business and broaden scope of drug development.
Marillion Pharmaceuticals, a clinical stage bio-pharmaceuticals company, engaged in development and commercialisation of novel therapeutics in oncology, has presence in the US and manufacturing and licensing partners in the UK and Europe.
New entity
The merger of the two companies and Marillion's products with Transgene's own drug pipeline are expected to create an oncology platform and products for the new merged company. The new entity will be able to play a role in licensing deals with multinational pharmaceutical companies as also develop and commercialise drugs. The revenues are likely to come from Marillion's presence in the US and network of collaborators in Europe. Both the companies see significant expansion of drug development right from the early stage and pre-clinical trials to late stage clinical trials. The merged entity will have a research and business platform and an expanded presence in major markets.
According to the statement, Marillion's portfolio includes three clinical stage products useful in oncology and complements Transgene's portfolio. The latter has earlier out-licensed a manufacturing process to Dr Reddy's Laboratories and its recombinant Hepatitis B vaccine technology to vaccine producer Serum Institute of India.
The Director of the Hyderabad-based Transgene Biotek, Mr S.S. Marthi, in a statement to the stock exchange, said the transaction would accelerate growth of the company business and broaden scope of drug development.
Marillion Pharmaceuticals, a clinical stage bio-pharmaceuticals company, engaged in development and commercialisation of novel therapeutics in oncology, has presence in the US and manufacturing and licensing partners in the UK and Europe.
New entity
The merger of the two companies and Marillion's products with Transgene's own drug pipeline are expected to create an oncology platform and products for the new merged company. The new entity will be able to play a role in licensing deals with multinational pharmaceutical companies as also develop and commercialise drugs. The revenues are likely to come from Marillion's presence in the US and network of collaborators in Europe. Both the companies see significant expansion of drug development right from the early stage and pre-clinical trials to late stage clinical trials. The merged entity will have a research and business platform and an expanded presence in major markets.
According to the statement, Marillion's portfolio includes three clinical stage products useful in oncology and complements Transgene's portfolio. The latter has earlier out-licensed a manufacturing process to Dr Reddy's Laboratories and its recombinant Hepatitis B vaccine technology to vaccine producer Serum Institute of India.
Adani buys Aussie coal assets in $2.7 bn deal
Ahmedabad/New Delhi: Entire 50 mt yearly output for its power projects here; looking for more mine buys
India’s biggest coal importer, Adani Enterprises, has acquired an Australian coal asset of Linc Energy in a cash and royalty deal worth $2.7 billion (Rs 12,500 crore). This would be the largest single investment by an Indian company in Australia and a second coal acquisition abroad for Adani. It owns a coal mine on Indonesia's Bunyu island that produces six million tonnes per annum (mtpa).
Adani will pay A$500 million (Rs 2,100 crore) in cash and A$2 (Rs 41.60) per tonne in royalty for the first 20 years of production from the mine in Galilee Basin of Queensland state. Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board has approved the deal and the provisional Queensland government has given “an indicative approval”.
The Galilee tenement has a thermal coal resource of 7.8 billion tonnes, making it the largest single tenement in Australia. Adani estimates an annual production of 50 mtpa from the mine. “The entire quantity will be imported into India. We are using the integrated play of coal, mining and port, which is available within the group,” Devang Desai, group chief financial officer, told Business Standard. He said the company was looking to buy more coal assets in Indonesia and Australia.
The group is also planning to set up an import terminal at Mackay, which will enable the company to ship the coal to India. "While multiple evacuation routes are available for mined coal, Adani (through Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone) has recently been awarded Preferred Proponent Status for the development of Dudgeon Point Terminal at Mackay, Queensland, which entitles Adani the right (subject to technical and commercial feasibility) to develop a coal terminal of 30-60 mtpa capacity," the company said in the statement.
The coal from Galilee would support the rapid expansion of sister firm Adani Power Ltd, which is developing power projects at Mundra, Dahej and Bhadreshwar in Gujarat, Tiroda and Kawai in Maharashtra and Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh. The combined capacity of these projects is estimated to be 13,000 Mw.
"Adani Group aims to achieve 20,000 Mw power generation capacity by 2020, of which 13,000 Mw power projects are being implemented by the company. There is a clear need for securing coal supply and the Australian coal asset will help us reach to the target," an executive said.
The group has tied up the entire quantity needed for 6,600 Mw power capacity through domestic linkages. Some of its present requirement is also being met from its captive mine in Indonesia. The additional imports will be used for its capacity addition plan in the power sector, besides trading. “We have a two-pronged play in the coal sector. We have 50 per cent share in total coal imports into the country and we need coal for captive use. So, the Australian coal will be used for both the purposes,” said Desai.
Coal Grab
Galilee tenement has coal reserves of 7.8 bn tonnes
Adani will take 4 years to begin operations
Plans to import coal to feed its power projects in India
Adani aims to produce 20,000 Mw of power by 2020
Adani Enterprise shares gained 2.11% to close at Rs 622.55 on BSE
The company imported about 25 mt of coal in 2009-10, as against 18 mt in 2008-09. According to Desai, about a 10th of their imports were from Australia. Since it has its own mine in Indonesia, the company is importing 70 per cent from that country.
While the group is looking for mines in Australia to ensure supplies for domestic sale and its own power projects, Linc Energy wanted to exit the thermal coal mining business, since this was not part of its core activity of coal gasification.
The markets cheered the news of the acquisition, with the Adani share gaining 3.9 per cent to touch an intra-day high of Rs 633.40 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. It later shed some weight, to close the day up by 2.1 per cent, at Rs 622.55.
India’s biggest coal importer, Adani Enterprises, has acquired an Australian coal asset of Linc Energy in a cash and royalty deal worth $2.7 billion (Rs 12,500 crore). This would be the largest single investment by an Indian company in Australia and a second coal acquisition abroad for Adani. It owns a coal mine on Indonesia's Bunyu island that produces six million tonnes per annum (mtpa).
Adani will pay A$500 million (Rs 2,100 crore) in cash and A$2 (Rs 41.60) per tonne in royalty for the first 20 years of production from the mine in Galilee Basin of Queensland state. Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board has approved the deal and the provisional Queensland government has given “an indicative approval”.
The Galilee tenement has a thermal coal resource of 7.8 billion tonnes, making it the largest single tenement in Australia. Adani estimates an annual production of 50 mtpa from the mine. “The entire quantity will be imported into India. We are using the integrated play of coal, mining and port, which is available within the group,” Devang Desai, group chief financial officer, told Business Standard. He said the company was looking to buy more coal assets in Indonesia and Australia.
The group is also planning to set up an import terminal at Mackay, which will enable the company to ship the coal to India. "While multiple evacuation routes are available for mined coal, Adani (through Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone) has recently been awarded Preferred Proponent Status for the development of Dudgeon Point Terminal at Mackay, Queensland, which entitles Adani the right (subject to technical and commercial feasibility) to develop a coal terminal of 30-60 mtpa capacity," the company said in the statement.
The coal from Galilee would support the rapid expansion of sister firm Adani Power Ltd, which is developing power projects at Mundra, Dahej and Bhadreshwar in Gujarat, Tiroda and Kawai in Maharashtra and Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh. The combined capacity of these projects is estimated to be 13,000 Mw.
"Adani Group aims to achieve 20,000 Mw power generation capacity by 2020, of which 13,000 Mw power projects are being implemented by the company. There is a clear need for securing coal supply and the Australian coal asset will help us reach to the target," an executive said.
The group has tied up the entire quantity needed for 6,600 Mw power capacity through domestic linkages. Some of its present requirement is also being met from its captive mine in Indonesia. The additional imports will be used for its capacity addition plan in the power sector, besides trading. “We have a two-pronged play in the coal sector. We have 50 per cent share in total coal imports into the country and we need coal for captive use. So, the Australian coal will be used for both the purposes,” said Desai.
Coal Grab
Galilee tenement has coal reserves of 7.8 bn tonnes
Adani will take 4 years to begin operations
Plans to import coal to feed its power projects in India
Adani aims to produce 20,000 Mw of power by 2020
Adani Enterprise shares gained 2.11% to close at Rs 622.55 on BSE
The company imported about 25 mt of coal in 2009-10, as against 18 mt in 2008-09. According to Desai, about a 10th of their imports were from Australia. Since it has its own mine in Indonesia, the company is importing 70 per cent from that country.
While the group is looking for mines in Australia to ensure supplies for domestic sale and its own power projects, Linc Energy wanted to exit the thermal coal mining business, since this was not part of its core activity of coal gasification.
The markets cheered the news of the acquisition, with the Adani share gaining 3.9 per cent to touch an intra-day high of Rs 633.40 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. It later shed some weight, to close the day up by 2.1 per cent, at Rs 622.55.
Indian law firm forms ventures with UAE, Saudi counterparts
New Delhi: In a first of its kind venture, an Indian corporate law firm has tied up with its counterparts in UAE and Saudi Arabia seeking to leverage the fast growing India-Gulf trade, investment and people-to-people ties.
The Indian law firm Kochhar & Co has formed separate joint ventures with the Law Offices of Mohammad Issa Odeh (MIO) in UAE, and with the Law Offices of Khalid Alnowaiser in Saudi Arabia.
“These are pioneering JVs. Since we are the only such Indian law firm, we hope to attract a lot of legal work especially in big-ticket infrastructure ventures in the Gulf, as a majority of the work in the sector in the region is supported by Indian construction companies,” Mr Rohit Kochhar, Chairman and Managing Partner, Kochhar & Co, said.
“The focus will also be on arbitration as well as legal documentation work for large commercial contracts, investment funds and even outbound investments for the Royal families there. With our JVs, we aim to be the largest legal services player in the Gulf within five years,” Mr Kochhar said.
Noting that some of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, are in the region, he said that through these JVs, his law firm was looking at representing these funds, not just for their investments in India, but globally.
These JVs will also look at providing legal support to Indians who have lost money to Gulf-based companies during the recent real estate crisis in that region, he said.
“The Arab world has a major shortage of high quality legal talent that are English speaking. We have such lawyers and at prices at least 50 per cent cheaper than the English-speaking lawyers from developed countries,” he said.
Incidentally, India is the largest trading partner of the Gulf Cooperation Council that includes Saudi Arabia and the UAE. In 2008, India-GCC trade crossed $91 billion.
Saudi Arabia is India's fourth-largest trading partner with bilateral trade at over $25 billion. Besides, over four million Indian workers in the Gulf, including about two million in Saudi Arabia, remit to India around $5 billion annually.
The Indian law firm Kochhar & Co has formed separate joint ventures with the Law Offices of Mohammad Issa Odeh (MIO) in UAE, and with the Law Offices of Khalid Alnowaiser in Saudi Arabia.
“These are pioneering JVs. Since we are the only such Indian law firm, we hope to attract a lot of legal work especially in big-ticket infrastructure ventures in the Gulf, as a majority of the work in the sector in the region is supported by Indian construction companies,” Mr Rohit Kochhar, Chairman and Managing Partner, Kochhar & Co, said.
“The focus will also be on arbitration as well as legal documentation work for large commercial contracts, investment funds and even outbound investments for the Royal families there. With our JVs, we aim to be the largest legal services player in the Gulf within five years,” Mr Kochhar said.
Noting that some of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, are in the region, he said that through these JVs, his law firm was looking at representing these funds, not just for their investments in India, but globally.
These JVs will also look at providing legal support to Indians who have lost money to Gulf-based companies during the recent real estate crisis in that region, he said.
“The Arab world has a major shortage of high quality legal talent that are English speaking. We have such lawyers and at prices at least 50 per cent cheaper than the English-speaking lawyers from developed countries,” he said.
Incidentally, India is the largest trading partner of the Gulf Cooperation Council that includes Saudi Arabia and the UAE. In 2008, India-GCC trade crossed $91 billion.
Saudi Arabia is India's fourth-largest trading partner with bilateral trade at over $25 billion. Besides, over four million Indian workers in the Gulf, including about two million in Saudi Arabia, remit to India around $5 billion annually.
Indian IT firms top Europe survey
London: Cognizant first, TCS third, Infosys fourth in Performance and Satisfaction study.
Indian information technology (IT) service providers Cognizant, TCS and Infosys have topped the latest ranking of service providers in Europe, in a survey done by EquaTerra, an IT advisory service provider.
In the Performance and Satisfaction (SPPS) study by EquaTerra for 2009-10, Cognizant has captured the first position, with a 79 per cent score. TCS and Infosys have taken the third and fourth position, with 75 per cent and 74 per cent scores, respectively. The second place was taken by US company Compuctacenter, with 78 per cent.
The study evaluates client satisfaction by surveying over 2,000 client relationships from 750 top IT spending organisations across Europe, covering 12 countries. The ranking covers 25 IT service providers in all. Cognizant topped the rankings in seven of the eight parameters the study focused on. These include Relationship Management (actively managing the relationship at the operational and strategic levels), Innovation (actively identifying innovation opportunities), Transition (completing the transition successfully on time and budget and with the required functionality), Quality (meeting the service levels as set out in the Service Level Agreement), Price (charging for services in line with current market price) and Risk (shouldering reasonable commercial risk and making necessary investments to reduce it).
Jef Loos, director, EquaTerra, said this ranking, based on two-thirds of all IT deals in Europe, gives a near-accurate evaluation of client satisfaction. “We choose the clients and do cross-reference where the same client is serviced by more than one IT service provider,” Loos said.
He further said, “Cognizant had not one dissatisfied client, which makes the company the best performer among the top 25 IT outsourcing service providers that we evaluated.”
Apart from Cognizant, TCS and Infosys, the other major IT companies to appear in the top 25 list are Wipro (15), Mahindra Satyam (17) and HCL (18).
Francisco D’Souza, President and CEO, Cognizant, said,“Over the years, we have made significant investments in bringing our industry-leading, client-focused processes to Europe. Our high-touch relationship model, deep domain expertise and consulting skills, our unique reinvestment philosophy, and our ability to build strong multicultural teams around the globe have helped our customers navigate structural changes in the economy and their businesses, enabling them to stay efficient, effective and innovative.”
Indian information technology (IT) service providers Cognizant, TCS and Infosys have topped the latest ranking of service providers in Europe, in a survey done by EquaTerra, an IT advisory service provider.
In the Performance and Satisfaction (SPPS) study by EquaTerra for 2009-10, Cognizant has captured the first position, with a 79 per cent score. TCS and Infosys have taken the third and fourth position, with 75 per cent and 74 per cent scores, respectively. The second place was taken by US company Compuctacenter, with 78 per cent.
The study evaluates client satisfaction by surveying over 2,000 client relationships from 750 top IT spending organisations across Europe, covering 12 countries. The ranking covers 25 IT service providers in all. Cognizant topped the rankings in seven of the eight parameters the study focused on. These include Relationship Management (actively managing the relationship at the operational and strategic levels), Innovation (actively identifying innovation opportunities), Transition (completing the transition successfully on time and budget and with the required functionality), Quality (meeting the service levels as set out in the Service Level Agreement), Price (charging for services in line with current market price) and Risk (shouldering reasonable commercial risk and making necessary investments to reduce it).
Jef Loos, director, EquaTerra, said this ranking, based on two-thirds of all IT deals in Europe, gives a near-accurate evaluation of client satisfaction. “We choose the clients and do cross-reference where the same client is serviced by more than one IT service provider,” Loos said.
He further said, “Cognizant had not one dissatisfied client, which makes the company the best performer among the top 25 IT outsourcing service providers that we evaluated.”
Apart from Cognizant, TCS and Infosys, the other major IT companies to appear in the top 25 list are Wipro (15), Mahindra Satyam (17) and HCL (18).
Francisco D’Souza, President and CEO, Cognizant, said,“Over the years, we have made significant investments in bringing our industry-leading, client-focused processes to Europe. Our high-touch relationship model, deep domain expertise and consulting skills, our unique reinvestment philosophy, and our ability to build strong multicultural teams around the globe have helped our customers navigate structural changes in the economy and their businesses, enabling them to stay efficient, effective and innovative.”
Manufacturing expands for the 16th consecutive month in July 2010
New Delhi: India's manufacturing witnessed an upswing trend in July 2010 on the back of new orders and better export demand, as per a private survey. The HSBC Markit Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) went up to 57.6 in July 2010 from 57.3 in June 2010, marking 16th consecutive month of expansion in manufacturing.
The factory output index of the PMI rose to a four-month high of 62.3 in July 2010, raising expectations of further expansion in India's manufacturing growth story.
"India is on a roll. The economy was given another leg up in July as new orders continued to pour in. Even the export sector appears to be holding up well, despite worries over cooling demand abroad," according to Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian Economics Research, HSBC.
PMI, a survey-based compilation of key manufacturing data, is considered a good leading indicator of manufacturing activity. An index level above 50 indicates expansion in manufacturing, whereas a PMI reading of below 50 indicates a contraction in manufacturing. The HSBC India Report on Manufacturing is based on data compiled from monthly replies to questionnaires sent to purchasing executives in over 500 manufacturing companies. The variables in the survey include employment, output, new orders, suppliers' delivery times, and stock of items purchased.
Even as India saw an expansion in its manufacturing sector, China's PMI dropped to 51.2 in July 2010, as per official data released on August 1, 2010. "It's a good reading, especially compared to China where production was a bit softer," said Sonal Varma, Economist at Nomura Holdings.
The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) expects Indian industry to start fresh projects that will entail an investment of about US$ 140.6 billion in 2010-11.
In his monetary policy review for April 2010, D Subbarao, Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on July 27, 2010 revised the gross domestic product (GDP) growth target for 2010 to 8.5 per cent, said "Domestic drivers of growth are robust."
The factory output index of the PMI rose to a four-month high of 62.3 in July 2010, raising expectations of further expansion in India's manufacturing growth story.
"India is on a roll. The economy was given another leg up in July as new orders continued to pour in. Even the export sector appears to be holding up well, despite worries over cooling demand abroad," according to Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian Economics Research, HSBC.
PMI, a survey-based compilation of key manufacturing data, is considered a good leading indicator of manufacturing activity. An index level above 50 indicates expansion in manufacturing, whereas a PMI reading of below 50 indicates a contraction in manufacturing. The HSBC India Report on Manufacturing is based on data compiled from monthly replies to questionnaires sent to purchasing executives in over 500 manufacturing companies. The variables in the survey include employment, output, new orders, suppliers' delivery times, and stock of items purchased.
Even as India saw an expansion in its manufacturing sector, China's PMI dropped to 51.2 in July 2010, as per official data released on August 1, 2010. "It's a good reading, especially compared to China where production was a bit softer," said Sonal Varma, Economist at Nomura Holdings.
The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) expects Indian industry to start fresh projects that will entail an investment of about US$ 140.6 billion in 2010-11.
In his monetary policy review for April 2010, D Subbarao, Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on July 27, 2010 revised the gross domestic product (GDP) growth target for 2010 to 8.5 per cent, said "Domestic drivers of growth are robust."
M&A deals treble to near US$ 50 billion from 2009 level
New Delhi: India Inc's merger and acquisitions (M&As) have touched nearly US$ 50 billion level from January-July 2010, over three times the total in 2009. M&A deals in 2009 were worth about US$ 16 billion.
The deal valuations are also witnessing a revival in line with the recovery in stock markets and overall economy, besides the value of M&A deals has risen. According to data compiled by research firm VCCEdge, the M&A deal value increased by almost five-times to US$ 5.4 billion in July 2010, up from US$ 1.1 billion in July 2009.
The cumulative M&A deal value so far in 2010 from January to July’10 has touched US$ 49.7 billion, as compared to US$ 16.3 billion in the whole of 2009, VCCEdge said in its monthly deal report. The number of M&A deals so far this year stood at 411. Indian companies announced 64 M&A deals in June 2010 with a total value of nearly US$ 14.1 billion. March has been the biggest month in terms of M&A deals so far this year, which saw 72 deals worth a total of US$ 14.35 billion.
VCCEdge further pointed that the number of domestic deals stood at 21 in July 2010 and the value of domestic deals went up to US$ 2.03 billion in the month, from US$ 282 million in July 2009. The value of inbound deals rose sharply year-over-year to US$ 2.01 billion in July 2010 from US$ 744 million. The average deal size rose to US$ 216 million last month, from US$ 61 million in July 2009.
According to the report by VCCEdge, energy, healthcare and materials each has witnessed deals worth over US$ 1 billion . The biggest deal in the month of July was Reliance Natural Resources Ltd's merger with another Anil Ambani Group firm Reliance Power in an all-stock deal valued at US$ 1.56 billion. The top five deals accounted for 88 per cent of total M&A deal activity in July 2010, VCCEdge added. The deals included Fortis Healthcare's 25.37 per cent stake in Parkway Holdings for US$ 1.12 billion; Japanese major JFE Steel's US$ 1.03 billion purchase of 14.99 per cent stake in JSW Steel; ABB's US$ 965 million buyout offer for ABB India and Piramal Diagnostic Services' US$ 128 million sale to Super Religare Lab (SRL).
The deal valuations are also witnessing a revival in line with the recovery in stock markets and overall economy, besides the value of M&A deals has risen. According to data compiled by research firm VCCEdge, the M&A deal value increased by almost five-times to US$ 5.4 billion in July 2010, up from US$ 1.1 billion in July 2009.
The cumulative M&A deal value so far in 2010 from January to July’10 has touched US$ 49.7 billion, as compared to US$ 16.3 billion in the whole of 2009, VCCEdge said in its monthly deal report. The number of M&A deals so far this year stood at 411. Indian companies announced 64 M&A deals in June 2010 with a total value of nearly US$ 14.1 billion. March has been the biggest month in terms of M&A deals so far this year, which saw 72 deals worth a total of US$ 14.35 billion.
VCCEdge further pointed that the number of domestic deals stood at 21 in July 2010 and the value of domestic deals went up to US$ 2.03 billion in the month, from US$ 282 million in July 2009. The value of inbound deals rose sharply year-over-year to US$ 2.01 billion in July 2010 from US$ 744 million. The average deal size rose to US$ 216 million last month, from US$ 61 million in July 2009.
According to the report by VCCEdge, energy, healthcare and materials each has witnessed deals worth over US$ 1 billion . The biggest deal in the month of July was Reliance Natural Resources Ltd's merger with another Anil Ambani Group firm Reliance Power in an all-stock deal valued at US$ 1.56 billion. The top five deals accounted for 88 per cent of total M&A deal activity in July 2010, VCCEdge added. The deals included Fortis Healthcare's 25.37 per cent stake in Parkway Holdings for US$ 1.12 billion; Japanese major JFE Steel's US$ 1.03 billion purchase of 14.99 per cent stake in JSW Steel; ABB's US$ 965 million buyout offer for ABB India and Piramal Diagnostic Services' US$ 128 million sale to Super Religare Lab (SRL).
SEBI amends MF regulations
Mumbai: To bring greater transparency in the fee structure and improve turn-around time for customer service processes, market regulator SEBI has amended four mutual fund regulations and omitted one schedule.
These regulations pertain to offer period, allotment of units, refund of excess subscription, account statements and management fees chargeable by the asset management companies. Changes made in management fees have been described in the table given below.
The offer period for ELSS (earnings linked savings scheme) have been brought down by 30 days. These will now be open for more than 15 days instead of 45. Fund houses are now expected to refund excess subscription money within five working days instead six weeks. A failure to do so would start attracting penal interest at 15 per cent per annum on the expiry of five working days.
These regulations pertain to offer period, allotment of units, refund of excess subscription, account statements and management fees chargeable by the asset management companies. Changes made in management fees have been described in the table given below.
The offer period for ELSS (earnings linked savings scheme) have been brought down by 30 days. These will now be open for more than 15 days instead of 45. Fund houses are now expected to refund excess subscription money within five working days instead six weeks. A failure to do so would start attracting penal interest at 15 per cent per annum on the expiry of five working days.
DoT amends telecom licence rules
New Delhi: In view of national security concerns, the Directorate of Telecommunications (DoT) has made it mandatory for equipment suppliers to share design, development and supply chain details, besides allowing inspection of their manufacturing facility by the Indian government or concerned certification agencies.
According to the amendments to the telecom licence agreement — the unified access service license (UASL) — the equipment providers have to give access to their hardware and software for examination at the time of procurement of equipment. The process would be repeated every year and an inspection would be carried out every two years.
The software code would be kept in the escrow account in an encrypted form and would be used in case of security emergency.
A penalty of 100 per cent of the contract value would be levied by telecom equipment supplier in case malware/spyware is found in the equipment. Operators would also have to pay a fine of Rs 50 crore for every purchase of equipment in case there is a security breach.
The licensee will also work towards a phased plan to take over the maintenance of the equipment locally — entirely by Indian engineers and dependence on foreign engineers will be minimum or almost nil within a period of two years.
DoT in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs had been working on the amendment to the licence to address security concerns. It had accepted feedback from the industry and all stakeholders.
DoT had in December, last year made it mandatory for telecom service providers to seek security clearance before placing an order for telecom equipment. Despite this, many orders for Chinese equipment manufacturers Huawei and ZTE have been pending with the department since the last six months.
According to the amendments, telecom service providers will also have to form an organisational policy on security and management of their network. The policy will have to be submitted to the government within 30 working days from the date of the amendment to the UASL licence conditions.
According to the amendments to the telecom licence agreement — the unified access service license (UASL) — the equipment providers have to give access to their hardware and software for examination at the time of procurement of equipment. The process would be repeated every year and an inspection would be carried out every two years.
The software code would be kept in the escrow account in an encrypted form and would be used in case of security emergency.
A penalty of 100 per cent of the contract value would be levied by telecom equipment supplier in case malware/spyware is found in the equipment. Operators would also have to pay a fine of Rs 50 crore for every purchase of equipment in case there is a security breach.
The licensee will also work towards a phased plan to take over the maintenance of the equipment locally — entirely by Indian engineers and dependence on foreign engineers will be minimum or almost nil within a period of two years.
DoT in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs had been working on the amendment to the licence to address security concerns. It had accepted feedback from the industry and all stakeholders.
DoT had in December, last year made it mandatory for telecom service providers to seek security clearance before placing an order for telecom equipment. Despite this, many orders for Chinese equipment manufacturers Huawei and ZTE have been pending with the department since the last six months.
According to the amendments, telecom service providers will also have to form an organisational policy on security and management of their network. The policy will have to be submitted to the government within 30 working days from the date of the amendment to the UASL licence conditions.
Sebi tightens disclosure norms
Mumbai: Asks companies to submit shareholding details one day prior to the day of listing.
In a move that will help investors take better-informed investment decisions in the newly-listed entities, the market regulator has directed companies to submit shareholding details to stock exchanges one day prior to the day of listing.
The regulator has also amended the way depository receipts are disclosed as part of the shareholding pattern. The decisions were taken at the board meet of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).
“The board decided to mandate that the companies shall file shareholding pattern according to the Clause 35 one day prior to the date of listing, which shall be uploaded on the website of exchanges before commencement of trading,” said a release issued by Sebi. Currently, unlisted companies disclose their shareholding pattern as part of their prospectus and submit it to the exchanges on a quarterly basis.
In another decision, which will bring in more transparency in terms of actual holding of depository receipts (DRs), Sebi has directed companies to classify such holdings as ‘promoter/promoter group’ and ‘non-promoter’. “In the quarterly shareholding pattern, the disclosure of shares held by custodians, against which depository receipts have been issued, shall be classified as promoter/promoter group and non-promoter,” said the release.
Further, if there is a change of more than two per cent in the paid-up share capital due to any corporate event, the same has to be disclosed to the stock exchanges within 10 days.
“The board also decided that in order to ensure updated public dissemination of shareholding pattern, whenever the change (+/-) exceeds two per cent of the paid up share capital of the company after a corporate event, companies shall file revised shareholding pattern with the stock exchanges within 10 days from the date of such change in the capital structure,” added the release.
In a move that will help investors take better-informed investment decisions in the newly-listed entities, the market regulator has directed companies to submit shareholding details to stock exchanges one day prior to the day of listing.
The regulator has also amended the way depository receipts are disclosed as part of the shareholding pattern. The decisions were taken at the board meet of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).
“The board decided to mandate that the companies shall file shareholding pattern according to the Clause 35 one day prior to the date of listing, which shall be uploaded on the website of exchanges before commencement of trading,” said a release issued by Sebi. Currently, unlisted companies disclose their shareholding pattern as part of their prospectus and submit it to the exchanges on a quarterly basis.
In another decision, which will bring in more transparency in terms of actual holding of depository receipts (DRs), Sebi has directed companies to classify such holdings as ‘promoter/promoter group’ and ‘non-promoter’. “In the quarterly shareholding pattern, the disclosure of shares held by custodians, against which depository receipts have been issued, shall be classified as promoter/promoter group and non-promoter,” said the release.
Further, if there is a change of more than two per cent in the paid-up share capital due to any corporate event, the same has to be disclosed to the stock exchanges within 10 days.
“The board also decided that in order to ensure updated public dissemination of shareholding pattern, whenever the change (+/-) exceeds two per cent of the paid up share capital of the company after a corporate event, companies shall file revised shareholding pattern with the stock exchanges within 10 days from the date of such change in the capital structure,” added the release.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
India will need 1,150 planes worth $130 bn: Boeing
NEW DELHI: Major aircraft manufacturer Boeing revised upwards its market outlook for India saying the country would require 1,150 planes worth $130 bn over the next two decades.
The company, which had earlier estimated that 1,000 planes worth about $100 bn would be required in the country in the same period, revised its outlook on the basis of the estimated growth rates of GDP and passenger traffic.
"Most of these aircraft will be twin-aisle or the Boeing 787-8 type which will be able to fly point-to-point to destinations in Europe and the US to Indian cities," Boeing India President Dinesh Keskar told reporters here.
In 2000, there were only two Indian carriers -- Air India and British Airways -- serving the India-London route with 24 weekly frequencies. This year, there are six airlines serving the sector with 104 frequencies.
Noting that the average seats per flight on these routes had declined from 412 in 2000 to 297 in 2010, he said this showed that the large aircraft like B-747s have been replaced by twin-aisle widebody aircraft like B-777s or Airbus A-330s.
Keskar said that there would no delay in the delivery of the first Boeing 787-8 or Dreamliner to Air India.
"The first Dreamliner will be delivered to Air India in the late first quarter or early second quarter of 2011. The delivery to Air India remains on track. This aircraft is now in the final assembly line," he said, adding that the 787 flight test programme was "progressing well".
Responding to questions, Keskar said India would become one of the "significant leasing markets" with a large chunk of planes being taken by Indian carriers on lease.
Roughly two-thirds of the Indian aviation market was now served by no-frill carriers like IndiGo, SpiceJet, JetLite, JetKonnect and Kingfisher Red. "This trend will continue over the next two decades".
The Boeing India chief said air travel in India, which was tied closely to the country's economic growth, would "largely recover by 2011".
Despite going through the most severe recession in the history of the aviation industry, the Indian airlines have been "one of the fastest to recover".
"We believe there will be a record 50 mn passengers this year if the trend continues", Keskar said, adding that Indian airlines carried a record 44 mn passengers in 2009.
The company, which had earlier estimated that 1,000 planes worth about $100 bn would be required in the country in the same period, revised its outlook on the basis of the estimated growth rates of GDP and passenger traffic.
"Most of these aircraft will be twin-aisle or the Boeing 787-8 type which will be able to fly point-to-point to destinations in Europe and the US to Indian cities," Boeing India President Dinesh Keskar told reporters here.
In 2000, there were only two Indian carriers -- Air India and British Airways -- serving the India-London route with 24 weekly frequencies. This year, there are six airlines serving the sector with 104 frequencies.
Noting that the average seats per flight on these routes had declined from 412 in 2000 to 297 in 2010, he said this showed that the large aircraft like B-747s have been replaced by twin-aisle widebody aircraft like B-777s or Airbus A-330s.
Keskar said that there would no delay in the delivery of the first Boeing 787-8 or Dreamliner to Air India.
"The first Dreamliner will be delivered to Air India in the late first quarter or early second quarter of 2011. The delivery to Air India remains on track. This aircraft is now in the final assembly line," he said, adding that the 787 flight test programme was "progressing well".
Responding to questions, Keskar said India would become one of the "significant leasing markets" with a large chunk of planes being taken by Indian carriers on lease.
Roughly two-thirds of the Indian aviation market was now served by no-frill carriers like IndiGo, SpiceJet, JetLite, JetKonnect and Kingfisher Red. "This trend will continue over the next two decades".
The Boeing India chief said air travel in India, which was tied closely to the country's economic growth, would "largely recover by 2011".
Despite going through the most severe recession in the history of the aviation industry, the Indian airlines have been "one of the fastest to recover".
"We believe there will be a record 50 mn passengers this year if the trend continues", Keskar said, adding that Indian airlines carried a record 44 mn passengers in 2009.
Godrej to invest Rs 300-cr in chemical, animal feed businesses
On back of a healthy growth in the first quarter of the current fiscal, Godrej Industries Limited (GIL) is planning a major expansion in its agri and chemical businesses at an investment of around Rs 300-crore, a top company official said.
Godrej Industries has earmaked Rs 230-crore for setting up a new chemical manufacturing unit at Ambernath, near Mumbai. Another Rs 75-crore will be invested in its animal-feeds arm for expansion, he said.
"The last quarter has been very positive for Godrej Industries--the chemical and agri-feeds subsidiaries have posted strong growths. We are looking at setting up 4-5 animal feed units at an investment of Rs 10-15-crore each in Maharashtra, UP and south India," GIL's Managing Director, Nadir Godrej, told media today.
However, he did not divulge any further details. Godrej currently has 6-7 company-owned units besides operating 20-30 third party units. The total production capacity is around 1-million MTPA.
The upcoming units will add another 1,00,000 MTPA to the existing ones, Godrej said.
"Animal feed contributes around 50 per cent of the total revenues of Godrej Agrovet (Rs 1,500-crore) and we expect a 15-20 per cent growth here this fiscal," Godrej added.
Godrej Industries has earmaked Rs 230-crore for setting up a new chemical manufacturing unit at Ambernath, near Mumbai. Another Rs 75-crore will be invested in its animal-feeds arm for expansion, he said.
"The last quarter has been very positive for Godrej Industries--the chemical and agri-feeds subsidiaries have posted strong growths. We are looking at setting up 4-5 animal feed units at an investment of Rs 10-15-crore each in Maharashtra, UP and south India," GIL's Managing Director, Nadir Godrej, told media today.
However, he did not divulge any further details. Godrej currently has 6-7 company-owned units besides operating 20-30 third party units. The total production capacity is around 1-million MTPA.
The upcoming units will add another 1,00,000 MTPA to the existing ones, Godrej said.
"Animal feed contributes around 50 per cent of the total revenues of Godrej Agrovet (Rs 1,500-crore) and we expect a 15-20 per cent growth here this fiscal," Godrej added.
Blue Star expects Rs 22-bn orders in FY11
MUMBAI: Refrigeration and cooling systems manufacturer Blue Star Ltd hopes to book orders worth Rs 22 billion this fiscal, a top official said.
The orders will be under its electromechanical projects business, Vir Advani, executive director, told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.
"About 600 crores (6 billion) rupees of order inflow this year will be from relatively new markets under the electromechanical projects business." "The core business under electromechanical projects, which is commercial buildings, will continue to be by far the largest. That somewhere in terms of inflow will be around 1,600 crores (16 billion) rupees," he added.
The company operates under three business segments - electromechanical, which includes projects and equipments; cooling products; and professional electronics and industrial systems. The firm orderbook at June-end stood at 19 billion rupees.
The orders will be under its electromechanical projects business, Vir Advani, executive director, told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.
"About 600 crores (6 billion) rupees of order inflow this year will be from relatively new markets under the electromechanical projects business." "The core business under electromechanical projects, which is commercial buildings, will continue to be by far the largest. That somewhere in terms of inflow will be around 1,600 crores (16 billion) rupees," he added.
The company operates under three business segments - electromechanical, which includes projects and equipments; cooling products; and professional electronics and industrial systems. The firm orderbook at June-end stood at 19 billion rupees.
Tata Capital, Japan's Mizuho to set up PE fund
MUMBAI: Tata Capital, a unit of diversified Indian conglomerate Tata Group, said on Tuesday it will set up a private equity fund in Singapore
jointly with Japan's Mizuho Securities.
Further details were not immediately available. In July, Tata Capital had said it plans to raise $1 billion for private equity funds by December 2011.
Tata Capital's offerings include consumer and corporate finance, equity research, investment banking and private equity, according to the company's website.
jointly with Japan's Mizuho Securities.
Further details were not immediately available. In July, Tata Capital had said it plans to raise $1 billion for private equity funds by December 2011.
Tata Capital's offerings include consumer and corporate finance, equity research, investment banking and private equity, according to the company's website.
Employees at Indian Volvo bus plant strike over pay
STOCKHOLM: About 600 employees of a Volvo bus plant in India are striking for better pay and the return to work of four colleagues suspended following a dispute at the plant, a spokesman for the Swedish group said on Tuesday.
The strike has lasted for a week, Per-Martin Johansson told media, but a labour conflict which has slowed down production has been going on for about three months, he added.
"The union has asked for higher wages and the return to work of the four employees who were suspended," Johansson said.
Four of the plant's employees were suspended following a dispute at the plant in April, during which they allegedly physically assaulted a manager.
During the three month labour conflict some employees have worked less or not at all in protest.
The conflict has set the plant's production pace back 60 buses, Johansson said. The factory rolled out 535 buses last year.
Johansson would not comment on the cost of the labour conflict to the Swedish company, but Indian financial newspaper Business Standard said it had cost "close to 50 crore rupees" or about eight million euros or 10 million dollars to Volvo.
Volvo Group -- which makes trucks, buses and boat and aircraft equipment -- does not include the Volvo Cars brand.
Volvo Cars was sold in 1999 to US auto giant Ford, which in turn completed the brand's sale to China's Geely on Monday.
The strike has lasted for a week, Per-Martin Johansson told media, but a labour conflict which has slowed down production has been going on for about three months, he added.
"The union has asked for higher wages and the return to work of the four employees who were suspended," Johansson said.
Four of the plant's employees were suspended following a dispute at the plant in April, during which they allegedly physically assaulted a manager.
During the three month labour conflict some employees have worked less or not at all in protest.
The conflict has set the plant's production pace back 60 buses, Johansson said. The factory rolled out 535 buses last year.
Johansson would not comment on the cost of the labour conflict to the Swedish company, but Indian financial newspaper Business Standard said it had cost "close to 50 crore rupees" or about eight million euros or 10 million dollars to Volvo.
Volvo Group -- which makes trucks, buses and boat and aircraft equipment -- does not include the Volvo Cars brand.
Volvo Cars was sold in 1999 to US auto giant Ford, which in turn completed the brand's sale to China's Geely on Monday.
BP sells Colombian business for $1.9 billion
LONDON: British oil giant BP said on Tuesday it will sell its Colombian business for a total of $1.9 billion (1.4 billion euros) to national oil company Ecopetrol and Talisman of Canada.
The divestment is part of BP's plans to sell off up to $30 billion of assets, as it faces soaring costs from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster.
The news comes just one week after BP's vilified chief executive Tony Hayward resigned in the wake of a record second-quarter loss of $16.9 billion dollars - the biggest quarterly loss in British corporate history.
"BP today announced that it has agreed to sell its oil and gas exploration, production and transportation business in Colombia to a consortium of Ecopetrol, Colombia's national oil company (51 percent), and Talisman of Canada (49 percent)," it said in a statement.
"The two companies will pay BP a total of $1.9 billion in cash ... for 100 per cent of the shares in BP Exploration Company (Colombia) Limited, the wholly-owned BP subsidiary company that holds BP's oil and gas exploration, production and transportation interests in Colombia."
The transaction, which is subject to regulatory and other approvals, is expected to complete by the end of 2010.
The divestment is part of BP's plans to sell off up to $30 billion of assets, as it faces soaring costs from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster.
The news comes just one week after BP's vilified chief executive Tony Hayward resigned in the wake of a record second-quarter loss of $16.9 billion dollars - the biggest quarterly loss in British corporate history.
"BP today announced that it has agreed to sell its oil and gas exploration, production and transportation business in Colombia to a consortium of Ecopetrol, Colombia's national oil company (51 percent), and Talisman of Canada (49 percent)," it said in a statement.
"The two companies will pay BP a total of $1.9 billion in cash ... for 100 per cent of the shares in BP Exploration Company (Colombia) Limited, the wholly-owned BP subsidiary company that holds BP's oil and gas exploration, production and transportation interests in Colombia."
The transaction, which is subject to regulatory and other approvals, is expected to complete by the end of 2010.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)