Blackstone invests $100 mn in International Tractors Ltd

Mumbai: The Blackstone Group today announced that its affiliate Blackstone Capital Partners (Singapore) has signed an agreement to acquire 12.5% of International Tractors Limited (ITL) in a structured transaction for up to USD 100 million (Rs 520 crores). The flagship company of the Sonalika Group, ITL is a leading manufacturer of tractors under the brand name 'Sonalika'.

Incorporated in 1995, ITL has grown to have an annual turnover of USD 500 million. It currently has 10% share of the domestic tractor market. In addition, ITL exports tractors to over 70 countries worldwide. The company aims to grow its position in India as well as expand its presence in the global markets.

Mr. L. D. Mittal, chairman, ITL, said: "Blackstone in India has an exceptional track record in partnering with companies during their growth phase. We have already witnessed the value-addition that they bring to us. Their strategic inputs will further enable us to achieve our ambitious growth plans.

In addition to helping us scale up our operations, this deal will provide us access to Blackstone's global best practices." "ITL is intrinsic to India's efforts in enhancing agricultural productivity and enriching its farmers.

Favourable macro-economic trends such as rising minimum support prices and rising labour costs are leading to increased adoption of mechanization by farmers. ITL's cost-effective manufacturing facilities with deep value engineering and strong product development capabilities provide it with a competitive advantage to capture this market.

Customers identify with the Sonalika brand for its product strength and commitment to the consumer. Further, ITL's tractors are in great demand in international markets as well," said Akhil Gupta, Senior Managing Director and Chairman of Blackstone India. Delhi-based SSV Fincorp Services led by its CEO, Amit Tandon, was the exclusive advisor for this transaction.

Mahindra Insurance Brokers ties up with LeapFrog

Mahindra Insurance Brokers (MIBL), a subsidiary of Mahindra Finance, on Thursday signed a strategic partnership with LeapFrog Investments, one of the world’s largest investors in insurance to under-served consumers. Under the agreement, LeapFrog’s subsidiary, Inclusion Resources Singa-pore, would invest Rs 80.41 crore for a 15 per cent stake in MIBL.

Bharat Doshi, executive director & group chief financial officer of Mahindra & Mahindra and chairman of Mahindra Finance, said despite substantial growth in rural areas, markets in rural India were still under-served. “Considering our large network and LeapFrog Investments’ experience in regions like Africa and Asia, we believe we would be able to have a different approach to serve that market,” he said.

“The goal of the new partnership would be to introduce new suites of products for people who don’t have any access to insurance services. The first product in the offing would be health insurance. A pilot study has already been initiated by the two parties for health insurance,” said Andrew Kuper, president and founder of LeapFrog.

Through this initiative, MIBL aims to be India’s leading insurance broker by 2015. Doshi said the partnership was a step towards MIBL’s expansion in the insurance sector. Ramesh G Iyer, managing director, Mahindra Fina-nce, said as a non-banking financial company, MIBL already knew the cash flow of its customers. Now, it would focus on increasing its presence using customer insights.
“Now, our focus, through MIBL, would be on offering additional rural and livelihood products at affordable prices. The key is to make people understand insurance is a security product, not an investment product,” Iyer said.

This is LeapFrog’s second investment in the Indian market in a year. In September 2011, it had invested Rs 67 crore in Shriram Credit. As an impact investment fund, LeapFrog targets both robust financial returns and significant social impact. Currently, about eight million people across six countries in Africa and Asia have access to LeapFrog products.

Italy's Maschio Gaspardo Group enters India

Italy based agricultural machinery manufacturing company Maschio Gaspardo Group has entered in India and set up a new facility at Ranjangaon near Pune.

The company has invested Rs 200 crore in this facility and will invest additional Rs 100 crore in the next five years.

At the beginning the Pune plant will manufacture at the beginning rotary tillers, mulchers and seeders for the domestic market.
The annual capacity of this plant is 20,000 units. Initially, it will manufacture over 500 machines per month. Maschio Gaspardo group specializes in the production of agricultural machinery for tillage, sowing, seeding, landscaping, forage-making, sprayers and crop care. It has also set up an R & D centre in India. Over 60 per cent localization has been achieved in this plant and remaining will be imported from Italy and China. The Pune plant will currently employ 120 people and will be increased to 250.

To start with, the new plant will manufacture products for Mahindra & Mahindra and New Holland India. Plans are also underway to serve the needs of Maschio Gaspardo Group's other global customers, by providing local supply to their India and Asia Pacific facilities. It has already sold over 17 thousand units to Mahindra and Mahindra since 2010. Gaspardo had a partnership with M & M for its OEMs.

Commenting on this, Alessio Riulini, director, Maschio Gaspardo India, said, “The growing importance of Indian agricultural market gives this country a central position in Maschio Gaspardo Group’s global strategy. Pune is an ideal location for our new plant because the city provides a strong infrastructure and a rich talent pool of skilled workforce in the manufacturing sector. Our new plant represents a key milestone in Maschio Gaspardo Group’s long-term vision of investing in fast growing markets and aligning our manufacturing footprint with the needs of our global customer base.”

He added, “Indian market requirements are very limited as compare to USA or Europe as field sizes, conditions of soil, power of tractors are lesser than other markets. The new plant will aid Maschio Gaspardo Group to achieve its aim for 2012; to exceed 280 million USD turn over.”

Dr Reddy’s launches Amoxicillin tablets, capsules in US market

Hyderabad: Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories has launched Amoxicillin tablets, capsules, and oral suspension in the US market.

The product is a bio-equivalent generic version of Amoxil (Amoxicillin) tablets, capsules, and oral suspension.

Officially launched on September 17 in the US, Amoxicillin tablets (500 mg and 875 mg), capsules (250 mg and 500 mg), and oral suspension (125 mg/5 ml, 200 mg/5 ml, 250 mg/5 ml, and 400 mg/5 ml) are approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA).

In a press release, the Hyderabad-based pharma major said the Amoxil brand and generic tablets (875 mg) has US sales of approximately $22.2 million, capsules ($67.2 m), and oral suspension ($89.5 m), for the 12 months ended June 30, 2012 quoting IMS Health.

Dr. Reddy’s Amoxicillin tablets will be available in bottle counts of 20 and 100; Amoxicillin capsules in bottle counts of 100 and 500 and oral suspension in 200 mg/5 ml and 400 mg/5 ml, in three counts of 50 ml, 75 ml, and 100 ml.

Amoxicillin oral suspension in 125 mg/5 ml and 250 mg/5 ml will be available in bottle sizes of 80 ml, 100 ml, and 150 ml.

Gamesa to supply wind generators to Indo Rama Renewables

Chennai:Gamesa Wind Turbines Private Ltd will supply 30 MW of wind energy generators to Indo Rama Renewables, a subsidiary of Indo Rama Synthetics (I) Ltd.

This marks the entry of Indo Rama into the renewable energy market.

The order from Indo Rama Renewables involves supply of 15 wind mills, G97-2.0 MW units, which Gamesa will erect and commission in Jath, Maharashtra, by December end this year, according to a press release from Gamesa.

“The Indo Rama Renewable contract strengthens the Gamesa 2.0 MW portfolio in Maharashtra,” said Ramesh Kymal, Chairman and Managing Director of Gamesa in India.

“The company is fast emerging a market leader with the Gamesa 2.0 MW platform among the growing IPP segment.”

The release quoting Vishal Lohia, Executive Director, Indo Rama Synthetics, said, “Indo Rama has made its entry into the Indian renewable energy arena with the 30 MW order for Gamesa 2.0 MW turbines in Maharashtra. This is the first of several investment plans that have been chalked out, we have aggressive plans to be a leading renewable Independent Power Producer (IPP) and an active participant in the Indian renewable energy platform.”

Renew Power
To Gamesa, this contract comes weeks after the announcement of the single largest 75 MW order with another IPP, ReNew Power, in Maharashtra.

India contributed 14 per cent of Gamesa’s total sales in the first half of 2012.

International calls set to become cheaper on new TRAI rule

New Delhi: International long distance call charges are set to come down with the telecom regulator introducing a new measure that will intensify competition in this segment. TRAI has allowed telephone users of one operator to use calling cards issued by another operator.

For example, a Vodafone user will now be able to make calls to the US or UK using Reliance’s global calling card. Until now, a Vodafone subscriber was forced to make ISD calls using only Airtel’s network.

The new system also opens up the game for foreign giants such as BT, AT&T and Orange which can now sell their voice calling cards to retail and enterprise users in India. These multinational firms, at present are offering only data services to large corporates.

TRAI has directed all operators to open up their access networks to enable customers to make the choice and use calling cards of other players.

According to industry watchers, this could trigger a price war in a segment, where tariffs have remained flat over the past few years. In addition, consumers could also get dynamic pricing on various international routes. An operator with more traffic to the Gulf region could offer cheaper calls than another player which has heavy traffic on the US route. Although there are 27 companies in the country with a licence to offer international long distance services, most of them are not offering voice calling facility to retail users. That’s because the telecom company which owns the subscriber does not allow another operator to give access to their services. As a result, ISD tariffs in the country have not declined for many years. A call to the US, for instance, is priced at around Rs 7, which has been at the same level since 2008.

The TRAI is examining a number of other aspects in the long distance telephony segment, including ways to bring competition in the cable landing station segment. There are 12 undersea cables landing on Indian shores but most of the landing stations are controlled by just two players — Bharti Airtel and Tata Communications. According to other ILD players, this has kept the landing charges artificially high which in turn is adding to the bandwidth cost.

HCL Tech signs five-year deal with Freescale

New Delhi: HCL Technologies on Wednesday entered into a five-year deal with Freescale Semiconductor, manufacturer of embedded processing solutions. The companies declined to give the deal value but sources said that it was a multi-million dollar deal.

HCL will be managing desktop support, computer, storage, database, telecom (network and security) and process automation. It will deliver services to Freescale across 20 countries, handling a user base of 19,000 employees spread across 80 locations.

Freescale will also leverage HCL’s global delivery centres in Poland and Shanghai for multilingual helpdesk support. It will develop more resilient systems, optimise its operational costs, increase visibility into IT operations, experience reduced technology complexity and drive innovation to existing and new initiatives.

“HCL will be sharing our vision of building a robust and agile IT environment required to keep pace with the growing technological innovation demands of the business and creating new ideas and technologies for the next generation opportunities,” Hal Yarbrough, Director of IT Infrastructure at Freescale Semiconductor, said.

HCL Technologies infrastructure services division (ISD) manages mission critical environments and handles over three million devices for over 1.7 million end users.

The ISD business contributes 26 per cent to the overall revenue of $4.2 billion as of June 30.

Pune based property firm Panchshil Realty ties up with Trump to launch Trump Towers, Pune

Mumbai: Pune based real estate firm Panchshil Realty today announced the launch of Trump Towers Pune, a Trump branded residential property.

This marks the entry of the Trump brand, associated with Donald Trump into the luxury real estate market in India. "We are thrilled to announce Trump Towers Pune. It will be an amazing building in one of the hottest locations in India," said Donald Trump. Located in Kalyani Nagar, an upscale neighbourhood, the project is scheduled to be completed by 2015.

The company said that it had secured all the required approvals and construction was already underway. "As a company, Panchshil has always believed in providing the best living spaces to customers by creating innovative projectsWe are proud to bring the Trump Brand to India and are excited to introduce one of the most luxurious living experiences in Pune.

Trump Towers Pune will be the address symbolizing the upper-crest living in Pune and be the most prestigious address to reside in," said Sagar Chordia, Director of Panchshil Realty, the developer of Trump Towers Pune. It is important to note that Trump Towers Pune is not owned, developed or sold by Donald J. Trump, the Trump Organization or any of their principals or affiliates.

Zero G Apartments Private Limited is the owner, developer and promoter of the property (in association with Premsagar Hotels Private Limited, Atul Chordia and Sagar Chordia), and uses the "Trump" name and mark under license from DT Marks Pune LLC. Trump Towers Pune is slated to be one of the tallest residential buildings in the city with two 22-storey towers. Each floor houses one spacious apartment of approximately 6000 sq ft with five bedrooms and an exclusive home theatre room. Panchshil Realty has also partnered with Philippe Starck for his foray into India under the yoopune brand.

Venezuela seeks more investments from India in petroleum sector

New Delhi: Venezuela is keen on more investments from India in the petroleum sector. This was conveyed to Foreign Minister S.M Krishna by his Venezuelan counterpart at a meeting here on Tuesday.

The statement comes days after reports that Venezuela may appropriate assets, including some in which Indian oil companies have invested in partnership with a Spanish firm.

Meanwhile, to promote trade and investment ties between India and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, it was agreed to set up an India-CELAC Business Council and Chief Executive Officers Forum. A joint statement issued after the first meeting of the India-CELAC Troika Foreign Ministers, while expressing satisfaction over the growth of commercial, economic and investments relations between India and the region, said trade at $25 billion in 2012 was “still far below potential.”

The two sides also agreed to set up an energy forum, a science forum and an agriculture expert group to boost ties.

Addressing the media, Krishna said Tuesday’s discussions also explored ways to provide value addition to business activities by direct trading, imparting technology and setting up mutually beneficial partnerships in the manufacturing sector.

“India has offered to share its experiences in e-governance, telemedicine, tele-education with CELAC countries, use of satellite technology to map mineral resources of the region as well as to assist in weather forecasting,” the Minister said.

Aurobindo gets US FDA nod for anti-asthma, chewable tablets

Chennai: Aurobindo Pharma today announced that it has received the final approvals from the US Food and Drug Administration to manufacture and market ‘montelukast sodium tablets’ and montelukast sodium chewable tablets in the US market.

Montelukast Sodium is used for treating prophylaxis and chronic treatment of asthma, prevention of exercise-induced broncho-constriction in patients older than 15 years of age.

The annual sales of Montelukast Sodium tablets were about $3.5 billion and that of the chewable tablets is $1.1 billion, in the twelve months ending March 2012, says a press release from Aurobindo.

The products are made in Hyderabad.

Aurobindo now has a total of 157 bulk drug approvals from the US FDA, the release said.

In 2011-12, Aurobindo achieved a turnover of Rs 4,281 crore and made a net loss of Rs 42 crore. On the BSE today, the Aurobindo share is trading at around Rs 114.

HPCL, Mittal Energy joint venture picks IBM solution

Bangalore: IBM today announced that HMEL, a joint venture between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Mittal Energy Investment Pte Ltd., Singapore, has adopted a new IBM analytics-based solution to transform the way the company manages its financial and operations data.

HMEL had earlier partnered with IBM for the design and implementation of manufacturing execution systems (MES) including the selection of select processes and applications, as well as managing the mechanics of the project. The new IBM solution integrates information from the various components of the MES, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and control systems within the refinery and delivers a consolidated, single view of the data.

The technology will enable HMEL to analyse key corporate business processes including planned versus actual investments, production, key performance indicators, among others. The system will generate near real-time information for HMEL business executives to make more intelligent decisions around optimising productivity and margins. HMEL has built the 9 MMTPA (million metric tonne per annum) Guru Gobind Singh Refinery in Bathinda, Punjab that has a capability of processing 180,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

The IBM analytics solution also equips the organisation with power to interpret, transform and derive process operation actions from the information. It provides an industry standards based information model and associated integration techniques, enabling HMEL to turn data into information that can be accessed and delivered through Web services.

"As a greenfield project, we wanted to leverage the best of technology to ensure world-class operations and efficiency. We needed a solution that would provide us with a centralised view of all our assets for operational management purposes," said Moiz Tankiwala, Chief Operating Officer, HMEL.

IBM has been working alongside HMEL as part of Project Prism, the umbrella programme to implement strategic applications for HMEL, to support the ERP system, manage master data (MDM), build key performance indicator (KPI) dashboards, and create an integration business application environment. The Cognos Business Intelligence solution helps HMEL in building an enterprise-class Performance Management platform closely aligned with their existing technical architecture.

Vanitha Narayanan, Managing Partner, Global Business Services, IBM India/South Asia said: “Amidst complex processes, like in a refinery, use of analytics can transform financial processes and improve operational efficiencies.”

GRI A+ rating for RIL's Corporate Sustainability Report

Mumbai: The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has awarded A+ level to Reliance Industries (RIL'd) sustainability report 2011-12, said the company in a statement on Monday. "This is the seventh year in a row that RIL has received the highest application level on sustainability reporting. RIL is also the first Indian company to adhere to the GRI 3.1 Oil & Gas Sector Supplement, released in February 2012," said the statement.

The statement also said, "RIL has received the coveted rating this year for its report titled 'Partnering India's New Future Sustainably. The company adheres to all sustainability reporting guidelines and allocates sufficient resources towards its environmental stewardship, product responsibility and social institution building efforts."

The report was presented to GRI, Amsterdam, the Netherlands for application level check, as per the New GRI 3.1 Guidelines. RIL's report also takes into account guidelines laid down by the American Petroleum Institute and the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association.

The report is also aligned with the National Voluntary Guidelines for Social, Environmental and Economic Responsibilities of Business, released by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India, in November 2011.

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a non-profit organization that promotes economic, environmental and social sustainability. GRI provides all companies and organizations with a comprehensive sustainability reporting framework that is widely used around the world.

IRDA unveils reforms, okays demat policies

Mumbai: Big bang reforms are set to take place in the insurance industry with the regulator's final nod to 'insurance repositories' — that will facilitate demat policies —coupled with major relaxations in investment guidelines for life companies.

IRDA chairman J Harinarayan announced on Monday the draft investment guidelines that allow insurance companies to buy credit protection through derivatives, lend up to 10% of their shares and carry out short-term repo transaction in bonds. The regulator is also set to ease investment limits that will give Life Insurance Corporation of India more leeway to invest in companies.

Speaking at the sidelines of the 15th insurance summit organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Harinarayan said dematerialized life insurance policies will soon become a reality with the insurance regulator set to grant certificate of registration to five entities for setting up insurance repositories. Demat policies will enable consumers to get their policies serviced anywhere and, more importantly, allow a one-time 'know your customer' process that will be valid for all insurance purchases across companies.

The six companies that have received IRDA approval for setting up insurance repositories are: NSDL, CDSL, Karvy, CAMS and STCI. According to Cams Repository Services CEO S V Ramanan, demat policies will benefit policyholders as they will not have to worry about losing the document which has to be preserved for 20-30 years and it will also do away with the need to transfer their policies if they shift their home. Repository services will also conduct basic policy servicing on behalf of insurance companies.

Harinarayan said that the regulator will also come out with a whistleblower policy on the lines of Reserve Bank of India. Addressing the insurance summit, Harinarayan flagged off the absence of annuities in the product portfolio of private companies , high level of attrition among insurance employees, and the complex languages in insurance contracts as a matter of concern.

Mankind Pharma set to tap core drugs market

New Delhi: Mankind Pharma is set for a major turnaround over the next two to three years. The Rs 2,000-crore company, best known for its consumer brands like Prega News, Manforce, Unwanted-72 and Kaloree-1, is now eyeing the market for diabetes and cardiovascular drugs to record growth in both turnover and profit.

Mankind Pharma, India’s seventh-largest drug maker, aims to rise to the second or third position over three to four years, says chief executive and Chairman R C Juneja. “We are planning to launch 15-16 products in the chronic therapy segment this financial year. Currently, our profit margins are very low compared to the industry, primarily because most of our products are in the low-margin segments, and these are priced low. Introducing drugs in the chronic segment would not only contribute to the turnover, but also boost profit,” he told Business Standard.

The acute segment includes diseases that usually last for a short duration and require therapies like anti-infectives, pain-killers or analgesics. The chronic segment includes diseases that are recurring in nature and include lifestyle diseases. It includes therapies anti-diabetics, cardiovascular, cancer etc.

The company is targeting a growth of 28-30 per cent this financial year, which would raise its turnover to about Rs 2,500 crore, Juneja said. Driven by robust growth in the consumer brand segment, the company’s pharmaceutical business has been growing about 18 per cent annually, compared with the industry average of 13-14 per cent. However, the company’s net profit margins, growing at 12-13 per cent, are slightly below the industry average of about 20 per cent. The chronic segment foray would help boost this, Juneja adds.

Ashish Mehra, managing director, Strategic Decisions Group, says Mankind’s entry into chronic therapy is essential for it to expand beyond small town to big cities. “It started with acute therapy in rural areas, and then moved to towns. Now, when it wishes to enter big cities, there are big players dominating the market. These companies are already strong in the acute segment. So, to compete with these, Mankind needs to tap the chronic segment,” he said.

A source close to the company said Mankind also planned to divest stake in its personal care business, which primarily comprises products like ‘Adiction’ deodorant and ‘Don’t Worry’ sanitary napkins. The move would help the company concentrate on the pharmaceuticals and the over-the-counter (OTC) businesses, he said.

Juneja, however, said this was a “tentative plan”. “We have decided to watch for a year and then take a final call,” he added. For now, the company is not adding any product to the segment.

Analysts say the personal care business could be a roadblock to the company’s ambitious plans and this could be a reason why it is considering selling the business.

Sanjiv D Kaul, Managing Director, ChrysCapital, which holds 11 per cent stake in the company, agrees. “After pharmaceuticals and OTC, personal care was an obvious move. This was also complemented by the company’s huge sales network. However, it does not want to be diverted from its aim of becoming a leading pharmaceutical company. So, at some point it may divest the personal care business,” he says.

Currently, Mankind has a sales force of about 7,000, and the company is steadily increasing this number. “We would hire about 700 people by March,” says Juneja. “We would record growth only by introducing new products and strengthening sales and marketing,” he adds.

Juneja started his career in 1975 as a medical representative with Lupin. In 1984, he, along with two of his brothers, decided to start a formulation business called Bestochem. In 1995, Juneja and his brother, Rajeev, set up Mankind Pharma. Rajeev Juneja now looks after the company’s marketing division.

“I started the company with merely Rs 5,00,000 and no loan,” says Juneja. His son, Arjun Juneja, has now joined the company’s operations team.

Unlike its counterparts, Mankind started by focusing on rural areas, tier-II and tier-III cities. “They understood the DNA of the Indian pharmaceutical market very well. That is why their business model is very unique. At a time when no pharmaceutical company saw value at the bottom of the pyramid, Mankind started from the outskirts, and gradually moved to the centre. They created the market there and later, others joined the bandwagon,” says Kaul.

However, some feel the transition to selling products in the chronic segment in big cities may not be easy, and the company may have to put in place a stronger and more effective strategy. “So far, Mankind has opted for a price-penetration strategy. They launched most of their products with very low prices compared to others, acquiring a significant market share. But gradually, they increased prices. However, this strategy may not work for essential products in the chronic segment,” said a sector analyst. He added the company would have to develop innovative therapies, backed with science and quality, to capture the chronic market.

While the company has received offers from major multinational companies for its pharmaceutical business, Juneja asserts there was absolutely no reason or plan to sell, even if the valuation was huge. “I do not want to leave money for my kids. I would like to leave an asset which they can run and serve the country with,” he says.

The company has 10 manufacturing plants in the country. Recently, it built a research and development centre in Manesar.

Saint-Gobain plans solar energy solutions

Chennai: Saint-Gobain India is looking at supplying solar systems here, backed by the group’s solar energy equipment production facilities in Europe.

A division of the company, Saint-Gobain Solar Solutions, will offer and set up rooftop solar photovoltaic systems of a wide range of capacities, according to Mr S. Eisenhower, Director-Operations, Saint Gobain India.

The Indian subsidiary of the multinational Saint-Gobain will import the solar modules from group company Avancis Solar in Torgau, Germany. The facility makes thin film photovoltaic modules.

In recent years, the factory’s capacity has increased from about 30 MW to over 200 MW and is growing, he said.

The factory is being expanded to produce about 300 MW of solar modules annually.

Mr Eisenhower was speaking to Business Line on the sidelines of a seminar on renewable energy on Tuesday.

A company official said the solar division is in talks with integrators – people assembling solar energy rooftop equipment – to offer the Avancis range of modules. The company hopes to build a network of integrators who will use the modules, besides acting as a distribution chain. Saint-Gobain sees particular potential in the hospitality and healthcare segment, where there is keen interest for solar photovoltaic and solar powered-steam generation applications.

The policy environment for distributed energy generation capacity is slowly falling in place, with support for solar power generation as a part of renewable energy options. Also, grid power shortage in many States is driving residential and industrial consumers to set up backup power.

The company is also a major supplier of components the for solar power generation capacities being set up under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

It manufactures curved mirrors for solar concentrators and flat mirrors used in solar thermal applications. It has supplied mirrors to power over 150 MW of such applications under the scheme, the official said.

Madhucon arm commissions second unit in Nellore

Hyderabad: Simhapuri Energy, a subsidiary of Madhucon Projects Ltd, has commenced commercial operations of the second unit of 150 MW in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh. With this, the first phase of 300 MW has gone on stream.

The diversified Hyderabad-based infrastructure holding company, Madhucon is implementing 1,920-MW thermal power plant with a total outlay of Rs 11,270 crore. The company expects to complete phase II of 300 MW by November-December.

Seventy per cent of the capacity will be supplied to Power Trading Corporation under tolling agreement and the balance goes towards merchant power. Once both the phases are implemented, they are expected to contribute about Rs 600 crore to the company’s revenue.

The company has long-term imported coal supply pact for the plant located close to the Krishnapatnam port.

Madhucon's subsidiary PT Madhucon Sriwijaya Power in Indonesia has signed a power purchase agreement with PT PLN (Persero) for supply of power for 25 years from its proposed 300 MW mine mouth coal plant to be set up in south Sumatra. The company hopes to tie up funds for the Rs 2,100 crore Indonesia project by the year end.

COAL mines
The company’s coal subsidiary PT Madhucon Indonesia has rights for three coal mines. One of the mines located at Diwas in South Sumatra has commenced commercial production with an output of 25,000 tonnes a month.

British Petroleum, JBF Industries ink PTA pact

Mumbai: British Petroleum (BP) had signed a licensing agreement with JBF Petrochemicals, a wholly-owned subsidiary of JBF Industries, for supplying purified terephthalic acid (PTA) technology. This would be the first instance of BP supplying the technology to any company.

Under the agreement, JBF would source BP’s PTA technology for its proposed 1.25-Mt plant in Mangalore. The project’s estimated capital expenditure is $600 million (Rs 3,300 crore), and the debt-equity ratio for funding the project is proposed at 1:2. It is expected to be on stream by 2014.

“The commencement of this plant would help us procure raw material for our polyester plant from captive sources. This would make our products cost-effective and reduce reliance on sourcing from others, including imports,” said Rakesh Gothi, managing director, JBF Industries.

Currently, JBF Industries procures about 1 Mt of PTA from three companies--- Indian Oil Corporation, Reliance Industries and Mitsubishi. The company also imports some PTA from Korea and Taiwan.

“This is the first third-party non-affiliate. The licence recognises the quality of BP’s technology and builds on the excellent relationship between our companies. Our PTA technology has significantly lower capital and operating costs, compared with conventional PTA plants. It is more energy-efficient, uses less water and produces less solid waste than its competitors. We have invested significantly in our proprietary technology,” said Nick Elmslie, chief executive of BP’s global petrochemical business.

“There are two routes to monetise this — investment and licensing. We have decided the maximum value to BP would be through investing in projects such as our Zhuhai 3 project in Guangdong, China, and through licensing,” he added.

Licensing to JBF is the first instance of BP licensing PTA technology to a company in which it hasn’t invested and has no stake.

Over the years, the PTA market has grown at a high rate. Asia now accounts for about 80 per cent of the demand, with China alone accounting for about 50 per cent. “The market has now attained such scale---50 million tonnes a year and growing at about seven per cent---that three to four world-scale plants would be needed every year. This creates material opportunity for us to add value by way of our technology,” said Elmslie.

According to B C Arya, chairman of JBF Industries, the investment in Mangalore would make the company’s integrated operations in India and the United Arab Emirates competitive in the long term.

Aditya Birla Group to buy Canada's Terrace Bay Pulp for Rs 605 cr

Mumbai: The Aditya Birla Group on Thursday signed an in-principle agreement to buy the assets of Ontario-based Terrace Bay Pulp Mill for Rs 605 crore ($110 million). The acquisition would be carried out through AV Terrace Bay (Canada), a special purpose vehicle in which two group companies, Grasim Industries and Thailand-based Thai Rayon Public, would hold stake.

Grasim, the group’s Indian company, would hold 40 per cent stake in AV Terrace Bay, while the remaining 60 per cent would be held by Thai Rayon. The transaction, subject to court approvals in Canada and other regulatory approvals in Canada, Thailand and India, is expected to be closed by July 31.

In January, Terrace Bay Pulp Mill was placed under the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act.

“The acquisition of the Terrace Bay Mill and its subsequent conversion into a dissolving grade pulp mill is a major strategic move. In the viscose staple fibre (VSF) business, we enjoy global leadership. To sustain growth, we have an integrated business model, spanning the entire value chain—from plantation to pulp to fibre. Terrance Bay Mill…will be geared to provide superior quality pulp for our VSF plants worldwide," said Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla.

Over the next three years, Grasim would contribute Rs 242 crore ($44 million) of the total equity contribution of $110 million. An additional Rs 1,375 crore ($250 million) would be invested in a phased manner to enable the mill to produce dissolving grade pulp, with a capacity of 2,80,000 tonnes a year, the group said in a statement.

Till its conversion, likely in 2015-16, the mill would produce and sell paper grade pulp. These operations should restart by October, the statement said. Terrace Bay Pulp Mill is considered an anchor mill, owing to its location and significant consumption of residual chips produced by regional sawmills.

The Aditya Birla Group has significant presence in Canada. Its major companies include AV Nackawic and AV Cell in the pulp & fibre business, Aditya Birla Novelis in the metals business, Aditya Birla Minacs in the ITES business and Columbian Chemicals in carbon black business.

Shares of Grasim on Thursday closed at Rs 2,659.80, down 0.73 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

SEBI cuts deadline for transfer of shares to 15 days

Mumbai: The stock market regulator SEBI has reduced the deadline for transfer of equity shares from one month to 15 days.

Henceforth, shares lodged for transfer with registrars will take 15 days for registration from the date of lodgement.

In addition, SEBI has also prescribed 15 days for registering transfer of debt securities. Any delay in transfer that results in an opportunity loss has to be compensated, said SEBI.

This provision has been incorporated in the listing agreement for debt securities.

SEBI has directed all registrars and transfer agents to adhere to these timelines for transfer of shares and debt securities.

In another circular on Thursday, SEBI has revised the norms and format of periodic reporting by registrar and transfer agents (R&T).

In future, R&T agents have to record their observations on deficiencies and non-compliances.

They also have to record corrective measures initiated to avoid such instances (in the future) in their report to SEBI.

Effective September 30, R&T agents are expected to file half yearly reports to SEBI in the revised format.

This report has to be submitted within three months of expiry of the half year.

R&T agents are also expected to report any change in their status or constitution in this report.

Nod to Rs 92,160-crore petroleum facilities region in Tamil Nadu

The Union Cabinet has approved India’s fifth petroleum, chemicals and petrochemical investment region (PCPIR) in Tamil Nadu. The Rs 92,160-crore PCPIR, in Cuddalore and Nagapattinam districts, would be earmarked for petroleum, chemicals and petrochemical production facilities. “The PCPIR envisages developing infrastructure, including roads, rail, air links, ports, water supply, power and desalination plants at a total cost of Rs 13,354 crore,” according to an official statement. It would cover an area of 256 sq km, with a processing facility.

According to the government’s PCPIR policy, infrastructure is developed through public private partnerships to the extent possible, with the Centre providing the required viability gap funding (VGF). The Tamil Nadu government has sought Rs 1,143 crore from the Centre as VGF and Rs 1,500 crore as budgetary support for the project. The government has identified Nagarjuna Oil Corporation and state-owned Chennai Petroleum Corporation as the lead anchor tenants in the proposed PCPIR.

Nagarjuna Oil Corporation, a joint venture between Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation and Nagarjuna Fertilisers and Chemicals, is setting up a 6 million tonne per annum (mtpa) refinery at Cuddalore, with an investment of Rs 9,660 crore. It has already started work for the refinery, the deadline for which is September 2013.

Chennai Petroleum Corporation plans to set up a 15 mtpa refinery and a petrochemical complex in the region, with an outlay of Rs 40,000 crore.