Chennai is well on the way to become a leading global city and to meet the demands of the fastest growing city by 2020

Chennai is well on the way to become a leading global city and to meet the demands of the fastest growing city by 2020, the State government will take steps to provide international infrastructural facilities in the coming years, said Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin here on Tuesday.

Delivering his special address at a seminar on ‘Chennai 2020,' organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, he said the State government had embarked upon several initiatives such as construction of circular high-speed corridors, a greenfield airport, implementation of Metro Rail project and construction of 11 more flyovers and overbridges; Financial City, Sports City, Media City and strengthening the water supply infrastructure among other things.

Mr. Stalin released a CD on ‘Chennai 2020' and said the Airports Authority of India was in the process of executing a project that included construction of a domestic terminal, cargo complex and multi-level car parking facilities; extension of international terminal and secondary runway through a bridge over the Adyar river.

“The State government is giving importance to environmental management. The Marina beach and many city parks have been upgraded. The Adyar estuary is being improved as Adyar eco-park. The Pallikaranai marsh has been declared a protected area and we have plans to restore the marsh area,” he said.

Mayor M. Subramanian gave an overall view and said Metro Rail covering 45 km would start functioning from 2015.

He urged the CII and Industry bodies to cooperate with the State government for early implementation of ongoing projects.

He said a portion of the Adyar estuary would be thrown open to public by January 2011 and the entire project completed in five to six years.

L. Mansingh, chairperson, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board, said Tamil Nadu would start getting natural gas produced from the Krishna-Godavari basin from 2012. The bidding process for Chennai City Gas distribution would begin in the next six to eight months.

Iceland offers tech tie-up to Gujarat cos

Ahmedabad: Iceland has offered technological tie-up to Gujarat-based companies engaged in geothermal energy sector.

Mr Gudmundur Eiriksson, Ambassador of Iceland to India, made this offer at a meeting of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) Regional Office in Ahmedabad, according to a release here today.

He said that the cost of geothermal energy generation is one-third compared with the cost of solar energy production. Iceland is already exporting geothermal technology to Abu Dhabi, Kenya and Sudan under the Development Assistance Project. He offered similar facilities for technological tie-up to Gujarat also.

oil exploration

Mr Eriksson also called upon oil exploration companies to consider the possibility of oil exploration in Iceland and said his country is prepared to offer blocks for the purpose.

He said the universities in Iceland offered special courses in geothermal, clean and green and renewable energy. Iceland and India could share similar technological tie–ups as both were in sensitive seismological zones, for which Iceland had excellent technology.

In view of typical climatic conditions of Iceland causing skin diseases, India's healthcare and pharmaceutical companies could export services and medicines there. Also, Gujarat-based seafood industry could benefit from Iceland's high technology in fisheries as well.

DuPont Sustainable Solutions to strengthen presence in India

Delaware: DuPont Sustainable Solutions (DSS) is on a growth curve in India. It is doubling its Group strength in the country in the next couple of years and setting up a Knowledge Management Centre (DKMC).

Its major presence now is in Chennai with the Coastal Training Technologies Centre, a e-Learning back office content developer, which has about 150 professionals. The DSS consists of DuPont clean technologies and Coastal Training Technologies at present.

The DSS, with focus on safety and renewable resources, is the most recent diversification by the $26-billion, science-driven company. The establishing of the DKMC in Hyderabad, to supplement the existing Services Centre at the DLF developed SEZ in the city, will be a significant step.

“Our plan is to shore up our consulting and training business in India and we feel we have many ways of connecting with customers. Clean technologies, environment, safety resources, training solutions are some which are promising in future,” said Mr James R. Weigand, President of DSS.

Ties with Indian majors

DuPont works closely with the Tatas, Reliance Group, the Aditya Birla Group on safety aspects as well as sustainable technologies. As for Tatas, starting from Tata Steel, Tata Chemicals, the engagement is growing now with Tata Power in their UMPP (Ultra Mega Power Project) in the area of safety, he told a group of visiting Indian Journalists at the company headquarters in Wilmington recently.

The company has also provided safety solutions to Hindustan Unilever. With the Reliance Group a close association in process management safety is on. Here also it started with safety issues.

“Our focus now in India is to offer safety and sustainable solutions to SMEs as well as large companies in the fields of oil and gas, transportation, chemicals, refining as well as in service industry, healthcare,” Mr Weigand explained.

Though companies are still not ready to spend big money on safety following the recession, things will improve with the economic turnaround. At present companies are focusing on investing in training, where we are quite strong and offer solutions, he explained.

“We do not compete with the likes of Deloitte or Mckenzie, but draw expertise from the inherent strengths of DuPont in many areas built over the years to provide management and consultancy services,” he said.

While refraining to project a definite number to the potential business turnover the DSS could bring into DuPont, Mr Weigand said, “Personally, I believe that it should contribute about 10 per cent ($26 billion present turnover) of the company's turnover in 10 years.”

Petroleum Ministry chalks out road map for shale gas exploration

New Delhi: Shale gas is the next buzz word in the Indian hydrocarbon scene. To facilitate fast track exploration of Shale gas, the Ministry for Petroleum and Natural Gas expects that the process of carving out suitable blocks will be completed by April 2011. This would allow floating of the first round of auctions of shale gas blocks in August next year.

“The Government has worked out a road map based on which, by May 2011, we hope to have a policy framework in place exclusively for shale gas, so that the blocks can be put on offer by August,” the Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr Jitin Prasada, told Business Line.

“The framework will be formulated after studying the international fiscal and contractual regimes for shale gas development,” he said adding that “Resource assessment and identification of Shale gas prospective areas is expected to be completed by March 2011.”

The Directorate-General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) is working on the policy framework, which would also need to define the role of the State Governments in the development of shale gas.

The floating of blocks will also mean that domestic companies such as Reliance Industries Ltd that have been acquiring shale gas assets overseas can look for opportunities in the country.

Shale gas is an unconventional source of energy which is found in non-porous rock. It has become an important source of natural gas in the US and interest in it has spread in Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia. In India, shale gas deposits are found in the basins of Gondwana (Central India), Assam-Arakan (North-East), Cambay (Gujarat), Rajasthan, Krishna Godavari (East Coast) and Cauvery.

Hydrocarbon exploration and production companies such as ONGC (in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Cambay Basin), Cairn India (Rajasthan), and Joshi Technologies International (JTI), a multi-national hydrocarbon producer (in Cambay Basin), are working on shale gas prospects in the country.

Currently, gas consumption in the country is 168 mscmd, of this about 130 mscmd is produced domestically. By 2015, the demand for gas in the country is estimated to be approximately 300 mscmd.

Technology support

To get better technology support, which would help in bringing down the cost of production of Shale gas, an accord is also expected to be signed on shale gas technology during the US President Barack Obama's visit next month. The US has successfully exploited its shale gas reserves, which currently account for 20 per cent of its gas production.

With different types of gas sources – natural gas, R-LNG, coal bed methane, and shale gas – the pricing of the fuel will also play an important role. Cost to develop shale gas has come down over the years. Four years ago, according to studies, a shale gas project was viable at a gas price of $ 6/mbtu and now it is viable at $3/mBtu.

Centre targets 100,000 MW in 12th Plan

Mumbai: The Centre has targeted capacity addition of 100,000 MW each in the 12 th Plan (2012-17) and 13 th Plan (2017-22), said the Union Power Minister, Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde.

Addressing the India Nuclear Energy Summit 2010 here on Friday, he said about 65,000 MW was slated to go online in the 12 th Plan. Of this, nearly 50 per cent of thermal plants would be subcritical while the balance would have supercritical technology.

In the 13 th Plan, the Centre would ensure that only supercritical technology came up as it was about two per cent more efficient than subcritical and consumed less coal, besides having a lower carbon footprint.

Hydel power

Over 1.48 lakh MW of hydel power capacity had been identified and despite doubts of environmental clearances, he was confident the projects would be set up. The Ministry was concentrating on modernisation, renovation and life extension of old power stations.

Like all emerging economies, India offered exciting growth opportunities, especially in the energy sector.

“Many of these opportunities will come from the energy sector where we have several schemes in operation. The New Electricity Policy is committed to providing electricity to all households by 2012 and plans to rapidly increase power generation. Nuclear energy plays a vital role in this as it is clean, fast and sustainable,” he said.

Later, while speaking to reporters, Mr Shinde conceded that environment issues remained and these were being coordinated with the Environment Ministry.

Dr Srikumar Banerjee, Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission, and Dr R.K. Sinha, Director, BARC, spoke on the roadmap ahead and the addition of 40,000 MW by way of light water reactors.

While the progress of indigenous technology would continue to supplement capacity augmentation, the more important task was to evolve a closed fuel cycle so that resources were conserved for the longer term.

CDEL to take Educomp products to China

New Delhi: Educomp Solutions on Tuesday announced an agreement with China Distance Education Holdings Ltd (CDEL), a provider of online education in China, granting the latter exclusive rights to licence and distribute Educomp's products in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan). “As part of the agreement, CDEL will provide students and schools in China with access to Smart Class, Edulearn and Wizlearn via its online platform,” Educomp said in a notice to BSE.

Ashok Minda Group completes Aksys buy

New Delhi: Auto component maker Ashok Minda Group said on Tuesday that it has completed the acquisition of specialist composite moulding manufacturer Aksys Koengen of Germany.

After the acquisition, Aksys will now been renamed Minda Schenk Plastic Solutions GmbH, Plant Koengen. The plant is a major supplier of components to Daimler, VW Group, Renault, PSA and GM.

This is the fourth major acquisition by the Group in Germany and the sixth acquisition in Europe. Over the last few years, it had acquired German auto component company KTSN, followed by Schenk & ALU Automotive in Germany, a subsidiary of Schenk in the Czech Republic and Tectro in Poland. Mr Ashok Minda, Chairman of the Ashok Minda Group said, “Aksys's technical leadership and Minda's management competence and presence in both Europe and India will offer tremendous advantage to our existing and new global customers. We are looking for various strategic opportunities in other parts of the world.”

The company further added that it is targeting a turnover of Rs 6,000 crore by the end 2013-14. In 2010-11, it expects revenues of Rs 2,500 crore. “The ratio of international business is also expected to grow phenomenally in the coming years. The international business from its present level of 40 per cent is expected to grow to about 50 per cent by 2013-14,” it said.

Uzbekistan plant

“Minda Group has also recently set up an auto component plant in Uzbekistan. This unit will primarily cater to the customers in the CIS region & Russia. Our presence in Germany through KTSN and Schenk, now including Aksys, plant Koengen, will provide us access to the European market.

“We will leverage on these acquisitions and new projects to become a major supplier of interiors of the cars, which is going to be one of the focus area for Ashok Minda Group,” said Mr Ashok Minda.

Aksys Koengen has special technologies for composites. The company has many patented technologies, which enables the production at a lower cost. It has an employee strength of about 200 and turnover of €40 million (Rs 240 crore).

The Ashok Minda Group is engaged in the manufacturing of safety, security and restraint systems, driver information and telematics system and interiors. It caters to two- and four-wheeler vehicle manufacturers in India and overseas, including Europe, North America, the CIS and ASEAN countries. The Group has 25 plants in India, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Vietnam and Uzbekistan.

Apollo signs MoU with BMJ group

Chennai: Apollo Hospitals Group on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the BMJ group, a medical publishing company and media arm of British Medical Association.

Under the agreement, Apollo will have access to all the BMJ knowledge base, including journals and website, and provide it to Indian doctors through mobile and electronic devices, including computerised web access and patient leaflets.

Micheal Chamberlain, chairman, BMJ group, said, “The MoU will help doctors in updating with the latest innovations and public health information.”

“The content will be Indianised through our expert panel,” Sangeetha Reddy, executive director of the group, said.

India to overtake Japan as largest small car hub

Mumbai: India aims to become the small car hub of the world by dethroning Japan, the biggest maker of compact cars, a majority of which is consumed domestically.

Last year, it had pipped Brazil to become the second-largest producer of such cars.

While Japan produced 3.4 million small cars between January and December in 2009, India manufactured 1.48 million units in the same period.

According to a top official from Tata Motors, the country’s biggest vehicle maker, India would certainly become the biggest manufacturer of compact, fuel-efficient cars, as there is a growing demand for such versatile cars worldwide.

Top manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor India and Tata Motors collectively sold 720,000 units of compact cars during the first six months of the year, reporting 32 per cent growth compared to the same period in the previous year.

The industry also collectively exported 191,000 compact vehicles during the first half of the current financial year. This was lower than the previous year by 2.6 per cent when the industry reported exports of 197,000 vehicles, primarily because of lower penetration levels, coupled with a stagnant demand in the European market.

“India will become the production centre of the world for compact cars, whose share could be as high as 80 per cent. The country will become the biggest manufacturer of small cars,” Tata Motors Managing Director and Chief Executive Carl-Peter Forster said.

Forster, who was brought on board by Chairman Ratan Tata earlier this year to steer the company’s global ambitions and to propel the businesses of Jaguar and Land Rover, was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of Aria, a crossover vehicle. Tata Motors plans to launch another small car in the coming months, which could be slotted between the Nano and Indica Vista.

“There are multiple segments within the small car segment, which could be explored and one of the segments is below the Indica Vista but above the Nano,” Forster added.

The company has been working on such a car for the past 3-4 years. Maruti Suzuki is presently the biggest manufacturer of compact cars in India, with a share of 53 per cent. Korean car maker Hyundai was till recently exporting half of its produce in India to overseas markets such as Europe.

Durables majors confident of 30% growth in 2010

Chennai: The consumer electronics and durables industry is expected to post at least 20-25 per cent growth this calendar year. Industry majors, LG and Samsung, are confident of outperforming the industry with at least 30 per cent growth in 2010 over 2009.

According to Mr Pradeep Kumar, spokesperson of the Consumer electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA), aided by increasing household income and expanding distribution networks, newer technology and price erosion in certain categories, the durables industry has seen better growth in 2010.

For example, in Q2 (April-June) 2010, 1.32 million air-conditioners were sold against 1.2 million in the comparable previous year period. Refrigerators registered a 30 per cent growth with total sales of 1.7 million units in Q2, 2010 (1.3 million).

In the audio-video segment too, the same kind of growth has been witnessed. LCD TVs, backed by sporting events and festive season demand, gained major sales during the period.

The major players such as Samsung and LG are focusing on structural revamping, launching new technologically superior products and increasing after-sales service network. They are replacing and upgrading their products – particularly air-conditioners, washing machines and refrigerators to drive the market demand in metros and tier II cities, say industry watchers and major retailers.

Says Mr Ajai Bajaj, Business Head (Air-conditioners), LG India, so far this year, LG has introduced 36 new models across split and window air-conditioners in the market.

“We have seen a growth of a little over 30 per cent in the first nine months of this year over that of last year,” he said. LG, which posted a turnover of Rs 13,000 crore in 2009, expects to register 30 per cent growth “comfortably” this year. LG commands 28 per cent share of the country's air-conditioner market.

According to Mr Rajiv Jain, Business Head (Washing machine and Refrigerator) LG India, the company has completely revamped its entire range of top-end front-loading washing machines with 13 new models during the year.

“Besides, we introduced a range of direct drive models too.”

In the refrigerator segment, LG launched over seven side-by-side models (which are part of the top-end collection).

“We expect these product categories to post at least 35 per cent growth in 2010. In fact, our fully automatic washing machine category has so far registered a growth of 50 per cent,” says Mr Jain.

Samsung too introduced a lot of new models in these categories. It has launched nine new models in its top loading washing machines category with 6.2kg-7.5kg capacity.

“The new product range is differentiated on account of its superior performance and water saving features,” said Mr Ravinder Zutshi, Deputy Managing Director, Samsung India.

The company has also signed up Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra as its new Brand Ambassador for its Home Appliance products. The company's turnover crossed $2 billion in 2009.

“We hope to post over 35 per cent growth during 2010,” says Mr Zutshi.