Escorts Construction Equipment eyes land in Gujarat and MP for manufacturing unit

BANGALORE: Escorts Construction Equipment (ECEL), the fully owned equipment arm of the Rs 3,000-crore Escorts Group, is in talks with the governments of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh to acquire land for a manufacturing unit.

Escorts will manufacture cranes, backhoe loaders and excavators at the proposed plant, which will have an installed capacity of 50,000 units. The company refused to share investment details but industry sources said Escorts will invest over Rs 5,000 crore.

Madhya Pradesh is currently the frontrunner for the proposed plant, a company executive said on condition of anonymity. Escorts has zeroed in on the two states because of logistical convenience, huge vendor base and availability of huge land parcel.

"We will require 40 acres of land and are currently negotiating with state governments. The decision will depend on the facilities the state governments offer," said Rajesh Sharma, vice-president, sales and marketing, ECEL. Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are fast emerging as the favoured investment destination for corporates because of their tax regime and cheap labour. Gujarat has already attracted investments from domestic and foreign automakers.

While Ford and Peugeot have decided to set up manufacturing plants in Sanand, Maruti Suzuki has finalised a deal with the state government to set up aRs 18,000-crore manufacturing facility after production at its Manesar plant in Haryana was hit by a series of labour strikes.

In 2008, Tata Motors moved its production of 'Nano', the world's cheapest car, to Gujarat from West Bengal where it was facing stiff resistance from farmers. In a recent report on India's manufacturing sector, property consultancy firm Knight Frank India said that Gujarat's manufacturing sector is growing at 30% annually and has gained traction from corporates due to faster project clearances.

Separately, the company is also doubling its manufacturing facility at Ballabhgarh, Haryana. "We are operating at full capacity and is de bottling the plant to take up the production capacity to 12,000 units by 2012," Sharma said.

Global retail firms may face hurdle in 28 of 53 cities opened for FDI

NEW DELHI: With BJP, JD(U), AIADMK, BSP and Trinamool Congress strongly opposing FDI in multi-brand retail, global chains may face problems in opening stores in 28 of the 53 cities which have been thrown open to retailers like Walmart and Carrefour. The parties and alliances ruling in 11 major states have strongly opposed the decision of the Central government to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail which is dominated by small traders. According to 2011 Census, there are 28 cities in 11 states ruled by the parties opposed to the decision. These include big cities like Bangalore, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Patna, Allahabad and Bhopal which have over one million population, the threshold set by Cabinet while approving FDI in retail on November 24. Excluding Punjab, BJP and NDA rule in eight states, including Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Chattisgarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh. BJP indicated that states where the party is in power may not permit foreign stores. Besides, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has already stated that no foreign retailers would be allowed in her state. The final authority for granting the trade licence rests with the states under their respective shops and establishment Acts. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar yesterday vehemently opposed the decision to allow 51 per cent FDI in retail saying "It will ruin the retailers and lead to a point of unemployment".

Ford likely to locate second car manufacturing plant in Gujarat

AHMEDABAD:US carmaker Ford is likely to make an announcement on the setting up its secondcar manufacturing facility in Sanand taluka near here, official sources said on Tuesday.

Ford India's proposed site is likely to be next to Tata Nano's plant in Sanand. The company currently has a manufacturing facility at Chennai.

"Ford has been in discussion with the government to set up its second car manufacturing plant at an investment of nearly Rs 5,000 crore. It has decided on a 400 acres of land at Sanand for the facility," the state government officials told PTI.

The District Collector of Ahmedabad is in the process of earmarking 400 acres of land in Sanand, nearly 40 km from here, for Ford India, they said.

In reply to a query on announcement of manufacturing facility in Gujarat,Ford India in a statement said, "As part of our plan to introduce eight new products by the middle of the decade, Ford is expanding its capacities at its existing facility in Tamil Nadu as well as exploring other options."

In August last year, Ford had announced to launch eight new models in India by 2015 in a bid to tap the burgeoning domestic car market.

The introduction of the new vehicles would be part of the company's plan to bring more products from its global portfolio and other Asia Pacific and African markets.

The company has already invested USD 500 million to expand production capacity to two lakh units annually at its Chennai facility. It also has an engine manufacturing plant with an installed annual production capacity of 2.5 lakh units.

IRB Infra bags Rs 3,600-cr NHAI project in Gujarat

MUMBAI: Construction and engineering firm IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd on Friday said it has bagged the Rs 3,600-crore first ultra mega project of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).

The company has emerged as the preferred bidder for six-laning of Ahmedabad to Vadodara section of National Highway-8 on Design Build Finance Operate Transfer (DBFOT) Toll basis, IRB Infrastructure Developers said in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The project involves building over 102 km of the highway and improving another over 93 km stretch of the existing Ahmedabad Vadodara Expressway under Phase-V, it said. The project, costing approximately Rs 3600 crore, would be built in three years under the terms of the contract, it said.

IRB would get tolling rights on Ahmedabad Vadodara expressway from the appointed date and has a concession period of 25 years. The premium offered to NHAI in the first year is Rs 309.60 crore which will increase by 5 per cent YoY, it added.

The work involves upgradation of existing section of NH-8 between Ahmedabad and Vadodara from existing two-lane highway to a six-lane super expressway and value addition to the existing Ahmedabad Vadodara Expressway, it said.

Shares of the company closed today at Rs 213.65 on the BSE, up 1.11 per cent from its previous close.