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.

HDFC Bank opens representative office in Abu Dhabi

New Delhi: HDFC Bank, the second-largest private sector bank in India, opened its first representative office in Abu Dhabi, to provide services to the large number of non-resident Indians based in the UAE. Located on Salaam Street, this is the bank's second representative office in the UAE with the first in Dubai. HDFC Bank also operates a Wholesale Offshore Branch in Bahrain that offers corporate, trade finance and advisory facilities to both corporates and ultra high-net worth individuals.

The new representative office will facilitate opening of NRE accounts in India, and offer remittance services, fixed deposits and other related banking services for India accounts to NRIs based in Abu Dhabi. To cater to non-resident clients, HDFC Bank also partners with exchange houses across Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries for NRI remittances.

"The UAE is an important global business centre and this initiative reflects our commitment to bring world-class banking services to the doorstep of the Indian community in the region. We will continue to expand our off-shore operations to meet the banking requirements of our valued customers," said Mr. Abhay Aima, Group Head, Equities, Private Banking, Third Party Products, NRI and International Consumer Business, HDFC Bank.

UK's Dashtag among 14 FDI proposals cleared by FIPB

New Delhi: The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has cleared 14 FDI proposals worth Rs 113.35 crore including three from the pharmaceutical sector.

The board, headed by Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram, cleared the proposal of the UK -based Dashtag to increase foreign equity valued at Rs 68.22 crore. This is to carry out the business of pharmaceuticals specialising in dermatology, anti-histamines, antibiotics and oncology products.

FIPB also gave its nod to Prime Surgical Centers Private Ltd proposal to set up a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) to carry out the business of establishing and managing short stay surgery centres in India with its flagship centre in Pune. The company proposes to bring FDI worth Rs 14 crore in the venture.

A proposal relating to Mumbai-based Neo Capricorn Plaza Ltd for post-facto approval for issue of partly paid up shares to carry out the business of construction of five star hotels was also okayed.

FIPB also cleared the proposal of Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Company Ltd to increase foreign equity by way of issuance of FCCBs to carry out the business of shipbuilding, ship repairs, offshore assets production etc.

Nine proposals were deferred due to various reasons. These include applications of Multi Commodity Exchange of India, Multi Screen Media Pvt and Deutsche Investments India Private Ltd.

Also, seven requests for FDI including that of British Marine India, Atlas Equifin Ltd, Filtrex Technologies and IPsoft Netherland were rejected, a statement said.

India and France sign Administrative Agreement in the field of Sustainable Urban Development

New Delhi: Shri Kamal Nath, Union Minister of Urban Development, and Ms. Nicole Bricq, Minister for Foreign Trade, Government of France signed an Administrative Agreement in the field of Sustainable Urban Development in Paris. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Kamal Nath expressed appreciation for the related work in the field of Sustainable Urban Development carried out in France and felt that India could benefit immensely from the French experience.

Earlier, Shri Kamal Nath held talks with Ms. Nicole Bricq. The two Ministers expressed satisfaction at the maturity reached in the strategic relations between India and France. The two Ministers discussed ways to enhance economic and commercial relations between the countries. Shri Nath briefed the French Minister about the recent decisions taken by the Government of India to further liberalise the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regulations in India and reiterated the Government’s commitment to continuing with liberalization of the Indian economy.

Shri Kamal Nath stated that both India and France would benefit from the Agreement as it would provide an enabling platform for the officials, professionals, business leaders and local self-governing bodies to meet and share knowledge and best practices in the urban sector. He expressed the hope that this Joint Declaration would lead to enhanced cooperation and deepen the engagement between the two countries. He invited the international firms including French firms to participate in the process of making cities greener and more sustainable. This offers avenues for further cooperation in the coming years.

The implementation of this Agreement will take place under the aegis of the Indo-French Joint Working Group on Urban Development comprising representatives from the Ministry of Urban Development (India) and the Ministry of Regional Equality & Housing and the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development & Energy (France).

Shri Kamal Nath also participated in a business roundtable organized by the MEDEF International. The roundtable was attended by leading infrastructure companies.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister highlighted the immense challenges and opportunities that exist in the urban sector in India today. He informed that India would soon launch the next phase of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and that the Government of India is keen to encourage Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in urban sector, especially in larger cities, which would ease the process of investment and involvement in the burgeoning urban sector in India.

US hotel chain Wyndham to open 70 hotels here by 2016

New Delhi: The US-based Wyndham Hotel Group is set to expand to 70 properties in India by 2016, from 16 under various brands at present.

Targeting mostly the mid and mid-premium market, Wyndham will bring in globally established brands like Howard Johnson and Hawthorn Suits to India over the next five years, said Wyndham’s managing director (APAC), Frank Trampert. Wyndham owns 15 hotel brands and runs 7,000 hotels worldwide.

Wyndham already has properties in India under brands such as Ramada, Wyndham, Days Inn and Ramada Plaza. These operate under franchisee agreements with different local companies.

Under its alliance with the Unique Global Group, operating in the real estate segment, Wyndham will establish 35 mid-market hotels in metro and tier-II cities over the next five years, said Trampert. The properties would be developed and run by Unique Group under the Howard Johnson and other Wyndham brands.

“India is a key market for us and we have nearly doubled our presence in the past two years,” he said. The first hotel under the Howard Johnson brand would be opened in Bangalore next year. The price of the rooms would be between $80 and $120 a night and would be targeted at young domestic travellers.

In the first phase, 22 properties would be developed. Of these, seven would be Howard Johnson. “In the first phase, Unique will open hotels in Mumbai, Tirupati, Lucknow and Bhubaneswar,” said Raj Kumar Rai, chairman and managing director, Unique Group.

Unique would invest a little more than Rs 2,000 crore for setting up the properties -- 35 hotels with around 3,500 rooms. The company will also set up hotels in pilgrimage destinations such as Puri and Shirdi.

“Premium hotels would be established in partnership with different local allies,” added Trampert.

Unique Group is expecting a better occupancy across hotels, backed by its time-sharing business. The company has so far referred guests and partners of the time-sharing business to other hotels. “Now, they will be placed at our own chain of hotels,” said Rai. It expects Rs 300 crore revenue from its time-sharing business during FY13, up from Rs 200 crore in FY12.

The Wyndham-Unique alliance opened its first hotel at Udaipur under the Ramada brand last week

NLC, UP govt firm ink pact for power plant

Chennai: Central public sector company Neyveli Lignite Corp Ltd (NLC) has signed a memorandum of understanding with state-owned Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidhyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (UPRVUNL) to set up a power project in the state at an estimated investment of Rs 14,858 crore.

A joint venture company between NLC and UPRVUNL will set up the 1,980-Megawatt (3x660 Mw) coal-based super critical thermal power station in Ghatampur, Kanpur Nagar, in five years.

The capital investment of Rs 14,858 crore would be shared in the ratio of 51:49 by NLC and UPRVUNL.

The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructures of the Central government had approved the joint venture, NLC-UPRVUNL Power Ltd, in April 2012.

Subsequently, the Uttar Pradesh government approved the venture on September 25.

The feasibility report, environment impact assessment (EIA) and environment management programme (EMP) of the project are under preparation. The ministry of coal has been approached for allocation of coal blocks for the project.

The state government has already accorded clearance for land acquisition of 2,500 acres and has given allocation of 80 cusecs of water for this project.

As per he Gadgil’s Formula being followed by the Central Electricity Authority, Uttar Pradesh will get 64.39 per cent of power produced from this plant, which will work out to 1,275 Mw. The state government, however, has asked for 75 per cent of power generated from this plant.

The project is being set up in a comparatively backward region of the state, which will also generate employment opportunities and help the overall development of the area. Reliable and quality power would be available as the project is located close to power load centre, said an NLC release.

India-US biotechnology tie-up to invest in joint research

Mumbai: The Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE), the apex body of the biotechnology sector in India, and the US-based Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association (WBBA) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enable broad ranging co-operation in the field of biotechnology. The duo will support breakthrough discoveries in healthcare, agriculture and clean energy in the country.

Both ABLE and WBBA are to provide each others’ members an opportunity to co-operate and invest in the State of Washington and in India, in the field of biotechnology. These activities could be current ones that both associations are engaged in, or future ones that both may decide to do individually or jointly.

Activities could concern technical knowledge, market research, inputs for policy making, internships, exhibitions, workshops, seminars, capacity building, collaborations, investment and business partnering.

P. M. Murali, President, ABLE said, “The collaboration aims to achieve breakthrough discoveries to provide affordable solutions for critical diseases, important challenges in agriculture and energy on mutually agreed topics.”'

Chris Rivera, President, WBBA said, “We see India as the growth engine of tomorrow and one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The collaboration with ABLE is significant to facilitate best of research in biotechnology from both the countries.”

India and Netherlands Agree to Strengthen Bilateral Cooperation

New Delhi: On the invitation of Ms Edith Schippers, Minister of Health, Sports and Welfare, Government of Netherlands, Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare visited Netherlands on 3rd and 4th October, 2012.

During his two day visit, Shri Azad attended the Ministerial Meeting on the Responsible Use of Medicines and Anti-Microbial Resistance at Amsterdam on 3rd October and held a bilateral meeting with Ms Schippers at The Hague on 4th October.

Addressing the Ministerial Conference on 3rd October, Shri Azad said responsible and rational use of medicines is an important part of the national health policy in India. He said that due to high out of pocket expenditure on health, of which a larger part is on medicines, it is vitally important that drugs are prescribed rationally. He highlighted the need to look at adherence to Standard Treatment Guidelines, curbing unethical promotion of medicines by the drug manufacturers, better regulatory control over prescriptions and dispensing of medicines and to make the consumer aware the hazards of self medication. He said several steps have been taken by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare towards universalization of health care in its endeavour to make health care services accessible, affordable and equitable, such as Free Maternal Health Services, Free Child Health Services, Free Immunization, Adolescent Health Services, Family Planning Services, NCDS and JSSK.

Shri Azad said the Government of India proposes to further expand the Initiative for Universal Health Coverage by taking up Free Supply of Essential Medicines in Public Health Facilities in the country. This step, he said, is aimed at providing affordable health care to the people by reducing out of pocket expenses on medicines. Besides, Universal Health Coverage will also promote rational use of medicines and reduce the consumption of inessential medicines.

During the discussions on the issue of anti-microbial resistance, Shri Azad pointed out that this is an area of serious concern the world over. He stated that the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has developed the National Policy for Containment of Antimicrobial Resistance to tackle the issue of antimicrobial resistance and promote rational and responsible use of antibiotics in India. He highlighted certain salient features of the the National Policy for Containment of Antimicrobial Resistance India, such as curbing antibiotic use in animals, conducting infection surveillance in hospitals, improving hospital surveillance for monitoring antibiotic resistance, promoting rational drug use through education, monitoring, and supervision, developing and implementing a standard and more restrictive antibiotic policy, educating health professionals in good prescribing practices and using prescription guidelines, promoting improvements in personal and hospital hygiene and hospital infection control programmes, establishing a multidisciplinary national body to coordinate policies on antibiotic use and monitor their impact, promoting systems of supervision, prescription audit and feedback in institutional settings to ensure rational use of antibiotics.

Following the Ministerial Meeting on 3rd October, a bilateral meeting was held between Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ms Edith Schippers on 4th October, 2012 in the Ministry of Health, Sports and \Welfare at The Hague, Netherlands. During the bilateral meeting several matters of mutual interest and benefit were discussed.

Shri Azad and Ms Schippers agreed to further strengthen bilateral cooperation through signing of a broad based MoU between the two governments in the field of health & medicine for mutual benefit as well as a sectoral MoU between the respective food regulatory authorities to formalize cooperation in the important area of food safety.

Cloud services market to surpass $326 million in 2012: Gartner

The cloud services market in India is projected to grow 32.4 per cent in 2012 to total $ 326.2 million (about Rs 1,665 crore), according to IT research and advisory firm Gartner.

Software as a service ( SaaS) is the largest segment and is forecast to grow to $ 115.6 million in 2012, while infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is estimated to grow from $ 35.2 million in 2011 to $ 42.7 million in 2012, it said.

Cloud computing enables companies to use software, applications and various services on pay-per-use basis, without the need to set up and own IT infrastructure.

Business process services also known as business process as a service, or BPaaS, is the next-largest segment primarily because of the inclusion of cloud advertising as a sub-segment, it said.

BPaaS is forecast to grow to $ 112.1 million in 2012, up from $ 90.3 million in 2011, it said, adding cloud compute services will become the largest single segment within the public cloud services market in India growing to $ 140.8 million, and accounting for about 14 per cent of total public cloud services spending in the next four years.

Worldwide public cloud services revenue is on pace to total $ 111 billion this year, it added.

Gartner noted that high growth rates will occur in emerging markets, including the top three growth countries of India, Indonesia and China. However, 81 per cent of spending increases will come from North America and Western Europe.

For cloud services providers, this will require a strategic approach when considering both high-volume and high-growth markets. Both will be important in the development of sustained, global strategies, it added.

Oil India, IndianOil buy US shale stake for Rs 427 cr

New Delhi: Government-owned Oil India Limited (OIL) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) have together acquired 30 per cent stake in a producing US shale asset at an investment of $82.5 million (Rs 427 crore). This is the first shale acquisition by the two companies in the US. OIL will buy 20 per cent and IOC 10 per cent stake in the asset owned by Carrizo, a Nasdaq-listed company.

The deal entitles the two Indian firms to a 30 per cent stake in the daily production of 1,850 barrels of oil equivalent. The two companies, through their wholly-owned US subsidiaries, have acquired 30 per cent of Carrizo's interest in 61,500 acres in Colorado's Denver-Julesburg basin, a well-known producing one in the US.

The investment provides an early entry into a prolific unconventional oil play to the two companies.

This is not the first Indian investment in a US shale asset. Last September, Gail had acquired 20 per cent stake at Carrizo’s Eagle Ford shale acreage in south Texas for $95 million (Rs 492 crore). The acquisition was GAIL’s first shale gas asset in the US. Similarly, Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries (RIL) holds 45 per cent in Eagle Ford and 60 per cent in a Marcellus Shale gasfield through a joint venture with Carrizo. RIL’s shale gas business in the US comprises three upstream joint ventures with Chevron, Pioneer Natural Resource and Carrizo Oil & Gas, and a midstream joint venture with Pioneer. Aggregate investments since the inception of these joint ventures stand at Rs 22,000 crore ($4 billion).

OIL Chairman S K Srivastava said the acquisition will give the company a first-hand exposure in shale oil and gas. This will facilitate the company’s domestic shale gas plans when the government auctions acreages in the near future.

The total consideration of Rs 427 crore comprises an upfront payment of Rs 213.5 crore, and an assumption of Rs 213.5 crore of Carrizo's future drilling and development costs. OIL Director (finance) T K Ananth Kumar said the company had set aside Rs 7,000 crore to fund acquisitions this year. “Many other opportunities are being discussed, and we are hopeful of sealing more deals in coming months,” he said.

“Our share of peak production, estimated to reach in three-four years, would be 3,700 barrels of oil-equivalent a day,” said N K Bharali, director (human resources and business development). The joint venture would spend $230 million (Rs 1,190 crore) over the next three-four years on the shale property. Current output from the field comprises 69 per cent of oil, 14 per cent of natural gas liquids and 17 per cent of dry gas, Bharali said.

OIL to pick bankers for FPO
OIL Director (finance) T K Ananth Kumar said the market condition is good for the follow on public offer and the company will select three bankers on October 17, after which finance ministry will decide on a road map. On September 14, the government decided to disinvest 10 per cent of its equity, meaning its stake would come down to 68.43 per cent.