Mumbai: State exploration firms ONGC and Oil IndiaBSE 2.23 % (OIL) have signed a $2.48-billion deal to acquire 10% stake from Videocon in a giant gas project in Mozambique, which may help ship an estimated 6 million tonnes a year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to India.
ONGCBSE -0.18 % Videsh (OVL), the overseas arm of the state explorer, said the deal marks its entry into a world-class project with significant upside potential, and would help it achieve long-term production targets of 20 million tonnes of oil equivalent by 2018 and 60 million tonnes by 2030.
"Considering the growing importance of natural gas in the primary energy basket, this acquisition is a significant step by OVL/ONGC group towards the energy security of our country," said OVL Chairman Sudhir Vasudeva.
This is ONGC's third significant global acquisition since it bought Hess Corp's 2.7% stake in Azerbaijan's largest oil field and an associated pipeline for $1 billion. It also signed a deal to buy ConocoPhillips's 8.4% stake in Kazakhstan's Kashagan project for $5 billion last November, but the deal is facing obstacles from China.
Oil India officials said gas from the project would be shipped to India. "Gas production from the Rovuma basin should commence by 2018 with an initial production of 10 million tonnes per annum, which will go up to around 30 mtpa by 2024. So, with our 10% stake now and Bharat Petroleum's 10% stake in the basin, we can easily ship close to 6 mtpa to India," said Oil India CFO T Ananth Kumar.
"Over the next five years, we will be investing an additional $2.5 billion in this project as we will also be partnering in the upcoming LNG infrastructure," he said.
He also said that Oil India will be borrowing abroad to fund this acquisition, "We will be raising around $800 million of the total $1 billion that we will be investing from overseas investors and will exercise the external commercial borrowing option and also launch an overseas bond issue," he added.
"We are satisfied with this valuation, as in the Mozambique energy asset our entire business model was to build value and exit, but this does not mean that we will exit our Brazil assets also. Decision to use this cash to retire our debt will be taken shortly by our advisors Standard Chartered Bank," said VideoconBSE 5.30 % Industries CMD Venugopal Dhoot.
Bankers involved in the transaction lauded the deal. "This is a great transaction and reinforces Videocon's track record of investing in world-class assets across Ravva, Brazil and East Africa. For OVL and OIL, this provides an entry into a very strategic asset," said Gaurav Mehta, Executive Director, UBS, Videocon's Advisor.
"From a logistics point of view, we are the most natural home market for this gas, and that suits the energy security objective of the Indian consortium," said Raj Balakrishnan, head of M&A at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which advised OVL.
Success in my Habit
Friday, June 28, 2013
Easier entry, faster registration for foreign institutions
Mumbai: Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) will now be able to enter Indian markets faster and register themselves more quickly with the regulator accepting the recommendations of the Chandrasekhar committee report.
While the time required for registration is supposed to be a week or less, the need for documentation can push it to over six months, according to those in the know. The new norms are expected to significantly reduce the time required to do so. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has given its nod to the suggestions of the committee, which include lower Know Your Client (KYC) requirements for entities backed by governments and doing away with the need for registration with the regulator, according to a press release following a board meeting today.
Sebi has said FIIs, sub-accounts and qualified foreign investors (QFIs) are to be merged into a new investor class to be termed “foreign portfolio investors” (FPIs). Neither FIIs nor their sub-accounts will require prior registration with the regulator. Instead, they would register themselves directly with designated depository participants (DDPs).
The regulator has also adopted a risk-based approach to KYC, dividing it into three categories on the basis of perceived risk. The first will cover organisations backed by the government, such as sovereign wealth fund. The second will cover regulated entities such as foreign mutual funds, while all other entities would fall in the third category.
Also, it has clearly defined foreign direct investment as any investment exceeds 10 per cent stake in the company.
Richie Sancheti, senior associate at Nishith Desai Associates, indicated the move would do much towards rationalisation of foreign inflows.
"The move to harmonise and streamline the KYC norms will ease the process of entry of foreign portfolio investors into India. Sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors can invest more easily on a disintermediated basis. While the complete committee report is awaited, the earlier press release did clarify that other investors that get categorised under category III portfolio investors on the basis of risk weightage, may not be permitted to issue participatory notes,” he said.
Yogesh Chande, consultant, Economic Laws Practice, suggested entities already registered might have some leeway. “It will be good to see how existing FII and FII sub-accounts would glide into the new regime. My sense is, perhaps they will be automatically grandfathered. The risk based-approach to KYC is a welcome move,” he said.
Other recommendations would likely require a move from the government, according to the Sebi statement.
The committee had also suggested the category III entities should not be allowed to issue participatory notes. This did not find a mention in the press release following the Sebi board meet.
While the time required for registration is supposed to be a week or less, the need for documentation can push it to over six months, according to those in the know. The new norms are expected to significantly reduce the time required to do so. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has given its nod to the suggestions of the committee, which include lower Know Your Client (KYC) requirements for entities backed by governments and doing away with the need for registration with the regulator, according to a press release following a board meeting today.
Sebi has said FIIs, sub-accounts and qualified foreign investors (QFIs) are to be merged into a new investor class to be termed “foreign portfolio investors” (FPIs). Neither FIIs nor their sub-accounts will require prior registration with the regulator. Instead, they would register themselves directly with designated depository participants (DDPs).
The regulator has also adopted a risk-based approach to KYC, dividing it into three categories on the basis of perceived risk. The first will cover organisations backed by the government, such as sovereign wealth fund. The second will cover regulated entities such as foreign mutual funds, while all other entities would fall in the third category.
Also, it has clearly defined foreign direct investment as any investment exceeds 10 per cent stake in the company.
Richie Sancheti, senior associate at Nishith Desai Associates, indicated the move would do much towards rationalisation of foreign inflows.
"The move to harmonise and streamline the KYC norms will ease the process of entry of foreign portfolio investors into India. Sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors can invest more easily on a disintermediated basis. While the complete committee report is awaited, the earlier press release did clarify that other investors that get categorised under category III portfolio investors on the basis of risk weightage, may not be permitted to issue participatory notes,” he said.
Yogesh Chande, consultant, Economic Laws Practice, suggested entities already registered might have some leeway. “It will be good to see how existing FII and FII sub-accounts would glide into the new regime. My sense is, perhaps they will be automatically grandfathered. The risk based-approach to KYC is a welcome move,” he said.
Other recommendations would likely require a move from the government, according to the Sebi statement.
The committee had also suggested the category III entities should not be allowed to issue participatory notes. This did not find a mention in the press release following the Sebi board meet.
Govt extends 24x7 Customs clearance for exports
New Delhi: The government will provide Customs clearance for all exports 24x7 from four major airports in Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai from July.
“All exports, including those made under the export incentives scheme as well as duty drawback scheme, will now be able to be move out of the country on a 24x7 basis,” the finance ministry said in a statement.
The expansion of the 24x7 facility at the four major air cargo complexes/airports follows closely on the heels of similar Customs clearance facility for exports under Free Shipping Bills (without claiming export incentives), made available this month at Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Coimbatore, Goa, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Nashik, Vishakhapatnam and Thiruvananthapuram.
“All exports, including those made under the export incentives scheme as well as duty drawback scheme, will now be able to be move out of the country on a 24x7 basis,” the finance ministry said in a statement.
The expansion of the 24x7 facility at the four major air cargo complexes/airports follows closely on the heels of similar Customs clearance facility for exports under Free Shipping Bills (without claiming export incentives), made available this month at Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Coimbatore, Goa, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Nashik, Vishakhapatnam and Thiruvananthapuram.
Indo-US higher education dialogue for growing together as two leading knowledge societies of the world
New Delhi: India-U.S. Higher Education Dialogue-2013 was convened on 25th June, 2013 at New Delhi. The Dialogue was Co-Chaired by Minister of Human Resource Development, Dr. M.M. PallamRaju and U.S. Secretary of State Mr. John F. Kerry. The Dialogue is the third major event in a row after the India-US Higher Education Summit held on 13th October, 2011 and the HE Dialogue held on 12th June, 2012 at at Washington DC. The Dialogue was attended by Ms. Tara Sonenshine, US Under Secretary of State, Ms Martha Kanter, US Under Secretary of Education, US Ambassador to India, Ms. Nancy Powell other officials and academics from different institutions and Community Colleges from US side and Mr. Sam Pitroda, Advisor to Prime Minister, Ms. NirupamaRao, Ambassador of India to US, Mr. Ashok Thakur, Secretary, Higher Education, Dr. T. Ramasami, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology and Vice Chancellors, Directors of IITs, other Academics and representatives of industry including CII, FICCI and ASSOCHAM.
Opening the Dialogue along with Secretary Kerry, Minister Dr M. M. PallamRaju emphasized the need to look for and work upon new avenues for collaboration so that the two countries could grow together as two leading knowledge societies in the world.
HRM Dr M. M. PallamRaju said that his vision is to transform the country’s educational institutions into hubs of knowledge creation and promoters of innovation as also provide opportunities to its youth for their skill development and employment. The Minister added that overall during the XII Five Year Plan 2012-2017, we intend to achieve an additional enrolment capacity of 10 million students in higher education including 1 million in open and distance learning so as to raise the country’s Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Higher Education from 18.1% at present to 25.2% by 2017 and reach the target of 30% GER by 2020. HRM also said that skill development and vocational education should be, in his view, an integral part of our education system and the role of business and industry would be of great relevance. He expressed deep satisfaction at the initiatives taken recently and hoped that the Dialogue would provide more opportunities for mutual engagement.
Secretary Kerry in his opening remarks said the two countries need to focus on providing education, skills and cultural values to the children who form the most valuable part of the future world population. He remarked that technology should be used as a tool to instill values in children so that they are able to use the information and education they receive for the betterment of the society and nation building. Secretary Kerry also outlined the contours of the broad relations between the two countries upon which the Higher Education Dialogue need to be carried forward.
The India-US Higher Education dialogue has been very instrumental in strengthening educational Collaborations between the two countries. President Obama and Prime Minister Dr. Singh have termed the collaboration between India and US as “defining partnership of the century” and have outlined that knowledge sharing is an important component of it. The major initiatives include enhanced two-way student mobility, research collaborations, faculty development, collaborations for establishment of Community colleges, collaborations for Cyber Systems, and Technology Enabled Learning including Massive Open On-Line Courses (MOOCs).
The major announcements made during the Dialogue include 8 Joint Research partnerships under Singh-Obama 21st century Knowledge Initiative; announcing the final list of 126 Raman Fellows, supported by the University Grants Commission (UGC), who are ready to travel to US Institutions for Post-Doctoral research and “Connect India” Programme aimed at inviting students from US institutions for short term courses in India. The following four MoUs were also signed during the Dialogue:
1. MoU between IIT Delhi and University of Nebraska on Cyber Systems
2. MoU between IIT Bombay and edX on Massive Open On-Line Courses (MOOCs)
3. MoU between AICTE and American Association of Community Colleges on cooperation for establishment of Community Colleges
4. MoU between ITM Group of Institutions and Montgomery College on Cooperation in Capacity Development
The deliberations in the Dialogue focused on enhancing opportunities for student/scholar mobility and collaboration, Community Colleges and Technology Enabled Learning and Massive open On-Line Courses (MOOCs) during the working sessions Co-Chaired by Mr. Ashok Thakur, Secretary, Higher Education and U.S. Under Secretary of State Ms. Tara Sonenshine.Ways for working together and collaborations were discussed for maximum leveraging of resources, competence and knowledge. Some of the important ideas that emerged from the Dialogue include:
1. Deepen educational relations on a sustainable basis in the areas of skill development, learner centric technology integrated education, building human capital for meeting skill requirements at all levels from elementary to tertiary liberal education and establishing stronger and larger people and institutional linkages, We would upscale the Raman Fellowships to encourage more students for their post- doctoral studies.
2. Create a single-point/ nodal agency in select institutions to meet the needs of international students and facultyto upgrade infrastructure.
3. Workshops to be held to promote Twinning arrangements between Indian and US institutions as per UGC Regulations.
4. Sharing best practices through joint workshops in the collaborative domains of community colleges, vocational education, MOOCs and other models of online education, UGC and AICTE to develop frameworks for using MOOCs.
5. UGC and AICTE to work with their counterparts to embed mechanisms for standard setting and quality assurance mechanisms and vocational education and skills.
6. Greater involvement of industry in both countries to develop strong industry-academia linkages.
7. Develop better understanding of mutual strengths and leverage them to our mutual advantage for sustainable relationships across the three major themes discussed working sessions, i.e. research collaborations and student/ scholar mobility; community colleges; and Technology Enabled Education.
Six students from U.S. and India who are beneficiaries of Passport to India and Fulbright-Nehru Scholarship Programmes also shared their experiences.
The Dialogue, which has now become an annual event along with the India-US Strategic Dialogue, will be taken forward in the coming years for improved relations between India and the United States.
Earlier, before start of the India-US Higher Education Dialogue, HRM Dr. M. M. PallamRaju also had a very fruitful bilateral one-on-one meeting with Secretary of State Mr. John Kerry.
Opening the Dialogue along with Secretary Kerry, Minister Dr M. M. PallamRaju emphasized the need to look for and work upon new avenues for collaboration so that the two countries could grow together as two leading knowledge societies in the world.
HRM Dr M. M. PallamRaju said that his vision is to transform the country’s educational institutions into hubs of knowledge creation and promoters of innovation as also provide opportunities to its youth for their skill development and employment. The Minister added that overall during the XII Five Year Plan 2012-2017, we intend to achieve an additional enrolment capacity of 10 million students in higher education including 1 million in open and distance learning so as to raise the country’s Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Higher Education from 18.1% at present to 25.2% by 2017 and reach the target of 30% GER by 2020. HRM also said that skill development and vocational education should be, in his view, an integral part of our education system and the role of business and industry would be of great relevance. He expressed deep satisfaction at the initiatives taken recently and hoped that the Dialogue would provide more opportunities for mutual engagement.
Secretary Kerry in his opening remarks said the two countries need to focus on providing education, skills and cultural values to the children who form the most valuable part of the future world population. He remarked that technology should be used as a tool to instill values in children so that they are able to use the information and education they receive for the betterment of the society and nation building. Secretary Kerry also outlined the contours of the broad relations between the two countries upon which the Higher Education Dialogue need to be carried forward.
The India-US Higher Education dialogue has been very instrumental in strengthening educational Collaborations between the two countries. President Obama and Prime Minister Dr. Singh have termed the collaboration between India and US as “defining partnership of the century” and have outlined that knowledge sharing is an important component of it. The major initiatives include enhanced two-way student mobility, research collaborations, faculty development, collaborations for establishment of Community colleges, collaborations for Cyber Systems, and Technology Enabled Learning including Massive Open On-Line Courses (MOOCs).
The major announcements made during the Dialogue include 8 Joint Research partnerships under Singh-Obama 21st century Knowledge Initiative; announcing the final list of 126 Raman Fellows, supported by the University Grants Commission (UGC), who are ready to travel to US Institutions for Post-Doctoral research and “Connect India” Programme aimed at inviting students from US institutions for short term courses in India. The following four MoUs were also signed during the Dialogue:
1. MoU between IIT Delhi and University of Nebraska on Cyber Systems
2. MoU between IIT Bombay and edX on Massive Open On-Line Courses (MOOCs)
3. MoU between AICTE and American Association of Community Colleges on cooperation for establishment of Community Colleges
4. MoU between ITM Group of Institutions and Montgomery College on Cooperation in Capacity Development
The deliberations in the Dialogue focused on enhancing opportunities for student/scholar mobility and collaboration, Community Colleges and Technology Enabled Learning and Massive open On-Line Courses (MOOCs) during the working sessions Co-Chaired by Mr. Ashok Thakur, Secretary, Higher Education and U.S. Under Secretary of State Ms. Tara Sonenshine.Ways for working together and collaborations were discussed for maximum leveraging of resources, competence and knowledge. Some of the important ideas that emerged from the Dialogue include:
1. Deepen educational relations on a sustainable basis in the areas of skill development, learner centric technology integrated education, building human capital for meeting skill requirements at all levels from elementary to tertiary liberal education and establishing stronger and larger people and institutional linkages, We would upscale the Raman Fellowships to encourage more students for their post- doctoral studies.
2. Create a single-point/ nodal agency in select institutions to meet the needs of international students and facultyto upgrade infrastructure.
3. Workshops to be held to promote Twinning arrangements between Indian and US institutions as per UGC Regulations.
4. Sharing best practices through joint workshops in the collaborative domains of community colleges, vocational education, MOOCs and other models of online education, UGC and AICTE to develop frameworks for using MOOCs.
5. UGC and AICTE to work with their counterparts to embed mechanisms for standard setting and quality assurance mechanisms and vocational education and skills.
6. Greater involvement of industry in both countries to develop strong industry-academia linkages.
7. Develop better understanding of mutual strengths and leverage them to our mutual advantage for sustainable relationships across the three major themes discussed working sessions, i.e. research collaborations and student/ scholar mobility; community colleges; and Technology Enabled Education.
Six students from U.S. and India who are beneficiaries of Passport to India and Fulbright-Nehru Scholarship Programmes also shared their experiences.
The Dialogue, which has now become an annual event along with the India-US Strategic Dialogue, will be taken forward in the coming years for improved relations between India and the United States.
Earlier, before start of the India-US Higher Education Dialogue, HRM Dr. M. M. PallamRaju also had a very fruitful bilateral one-on-one meeting with Secretary of State Mr. John Kerry.
India, Hungary join hands for 'gas monitoring system'
Gandhinagar: Gujarat Info Petro Ltd, a subsidiary of Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation, has signed an agreement with Cason Engineering Plc, Hungary, in pursuant to the MoU signed during the Vibrant Gujarat Summit-2013, for a gas monitoring system.
The agreement was signed by V. K. Sharma, CEO, Gujarat Info, and Ferenc Szakács, Chairman and CEO of Cason, according to a release here.
Gujarat Info provides IT services to government departments, boards, corporations and corporate houses as an apex consultant and total solutions provider.
User-friendly
Cason is a Hungary-based technology company having experience in developing, manufacturing and implementing systems for gas distribution network monitoring.
It has developed and installed new solutions with leading technologies for large oil pipeline operators in Europe and other countries worldwide.
The agreement aims to provide automation services for gas and oil companies in India.
The joint technical solutions generate easy and fast accessibility to the latest leading technologies for the rapidly developing city gas distributor industry.
Advantages
The main advantages of the offered solutions are to provide tool to control the procurement and sales procedures of daily purchased gas volume and to provide access for stakeholders to the relevant daily business data with technology reports and alarms via Web-based applications.
Safety measures
The consortium will also offer a special pipeline monitoring system and leak detection to leading oil pipeline operators to decrease the number of accidents and incidences such as thefts and pilferages caused by third parties in the pipelines.
This will provide solutions for disaster management and security issues of cross-country pipelines.
The agreement was signed by V. K. Sharma, CEO, Gujarat Info, and Ferenc Szakács, Chairman and CEO of Cason, according to a release here.
Gujarat Info provides IT services to government departments, boards, corporations and corporate houses as an apex consultant and total solutions provider.
User-friendly
Cason is a Hungary-based technology company having experience in developing, manufacturing and implementing systems for gas distribution network monitoring.
It has developed and installed new solutions with leading technologies for large oil pipeline operators in Europe and other countries worldwide.
The agreement aims to provide automation services for gas and oil companies in India.
The joint technical solutions generate easy and fast accessibility to the latest leading technologies for the rapidly developing city gas distributor industry.
Advantages
The main advantages of the offered solutions are to provide tool to control the procurement and sales procedures of daily purchased gas volume and to provide access for stakeholders to the relevant daily business data with technology reports and alarms via Web-based applications.
Safety measures
The consortium will also offer a special pipeline monitoring system and leak detection to leading oil pipeline operators to decrease the number of accidents and incidences such as thefts and pilferages caused by third parties in the pipelines.
This will provide solutions for disaster management and security issues of cross-country pipelines.
Monday, June 24, 2013
Daimler India Commercial Vehicles exports first batch of 64 Fuso trucks to Sri Lanka
Chennai: Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), a wholly owned subsidiary of German automotive giant Daimler AG, exported the first lot of 64 Fuso trucks manufactured at its Oragadam plant in the outskirts of Chennai. These trucks are headed towards Sri Lanka as part of the company's commitment to export to various countries in Asia and Africa. Last month DICV along with Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation, another entity of Daimler Trucks based in Japan, launched the new Fuso range of trucks at DICV's plant at Oragadam. The Oragadam plant has been identified by Daimler as one of its production hubs in the Asia-Pac region with significant export commitments.
Said Marc Llistosella, MD & CEO, DICV: "The export of the first Fuso trucks to Sri Lanka is a realisation of our promise to export from DICV, Chennai. The quality standards at our state-of-the-art plant in Chennai combined with the quality of parts from Indian suppliers has made this possible. Going forward, more trucks will be exported to other Asian and African markets." The FUSO trucks range manufactured at DICV's Oragadam plant comprise 5 models spanning medium/heavy-duty (25 - 49 tonne referred to as 'FJ', 'FO' & 'FZ') and light/medium-duty (9 - 16 tonne referred to as 'FA'& 'FI').
DICV will export locally assembled trucks from the Mitsubishi Fuso range to 15 markets in Asia and Africa like Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Mauritius and the Seychelles. Sri Lanka will be followed by Bangladesh, Zambia, Kenya and Brunei later this year Currently 19 plants across the world produce 175,000 Fuso trucks sold in 150 countries. The Oragadam plant along with the Kawasaki plant in Japan will be Daimler's two global competence centers. Although the new lineup will be branded Mitsubishi Fuso in export markets, in India they will be badged Bharat Benz, Daimler's Indian brand. There will be some product differences too - though they will be from the same platforms, the products will be market specific.
Said Marc Llistosella, MD & CEO, DICV: "The export of the first Fuso trucks to Sri Lanka is a realisation of our promise to export from DICV, Chennai. The quality standards at our state-of-the-art plant in Chennai combined with the quality of parts from Indian suppliers has made this possible. Going forward, more trucks will be exported to other Asian and African markets." The FUSO trucks range manufactured at DICV's Oragadam plant comprise 5 models spanning medium/heavy-duty (25 - 49 tonne referred to as 'FJ', 'FO' & 'FZ') and light/medium-duty (9 - 16 tonne referred to as 'FA'& 'FI').
DICV will export locally assembled trucks from the Mitsubishi Fuso range to 15 markets in Asia and Africa like Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Mauritius and the Seychelles. Sri Lanka will be followed by Bangladesh, Zambia, Kenya and Brunei later this year Currently 19 plants across the world produce 175,000 Fuso trucks sold in 150 countries. The Oragadam plant along with the Kawasaki plant in Japan will be Daimler's two global competence centers. Although the new lineup will be branded Mitsubishi Fuso in export markets, in India they will be badged Bharat Benz, Daimler's Indian brand. There will be some product differences too - though they will be from the same platforms, the products will be market specific.
ibiboGroup acquires redBus.in at estimated $100 mn
Bengaluru: ibiboGroup, a joint venture between Naspers, a South African media power house, and Chinese internet company Tencent, has acquired Pilani Soft Labs, which has redBus.in as its flagship platform.
The company did not disclose the size of the acquisition but industry sources estimated it at slightly over $100 million (about Rs 600 crore).
Pilani Soft Labs was founded in 2006 by three BITS Pilani graduates - Phanindra Sama, Charan Padmaraju and Sudhakar Pasupunuri. redBus.in, the company's flagship product today, has grown to become one of the largest bus ticketing platforms, issuing a little over 12 million tickets annually, with around 600 staffers.
In 2011, Pilani had raised $6.5 million in a series-C round of funding from Helion Venture Partners, SeedFund and Inventus Capital Partners.
As per ibiboGroup, the acquisition of redBus will help it to expand and diversify its existing travel assets such as Goibibo.com (online travel aggregators) and TravelBoutiqueOnline (a business-to-business online travel platform for agents). The combined volumes of redBus.in and ibiboGroup's existing travel assets would make the group one of the biggest online travel companies in India.
"This acquisition catapults us to become a stronger online travel player in India," said Ashish Kashyap, chief executive of ibiboGroup. After the acquisition, redBus will continue to run it as an independent operation, he added.
"We are excited to be a part of ibiboGroup. Naspers' strong belief in the internet industry and operating experience in multiple countries will help redBus grow into a renowned brand in the coming years," said Phanindra Sama, co-founder and chief executive of redBus.in.
Apart from, redBus.in, the other products of Pilani, including BOSS, a cloud-based enterprise resource planning software for bus operators and SeatSeller, an inventory distribution platform for agents, will also become part of ibiboGroup.
"We are excited to be a part of ibiboGroup. Naspers' strong belief in the internet industry and operating experience in multiple countries will help redBus grow into a renowned brand in the coming years," said Phanindra Sama, co-founder and chief executive of redBus.in.
Avendus Capital was advisor to both sides for this transaction.
The company did not disclose the size of the acquisition but industry sources estimated it at slightly over $100 million (about Rs 600 crore).
Pilani Soft Labs was founded in 2006 by three BITS Pilani graduates - Phanindra Sama, Charan Padmaraju and Sudhakar Pasupunuri. redBus.in, the company's flagship product today, has grown to become one of the largest bus ticketing platforms, issuing a little over 12 million tickets annually, with around 600 staffers.
In 2011, Pilani had raised $6.5 million in a series-C round of funding from Helion Venture Partners, SeedFund and Inventus Capital Partners.
As per ibiboGroup, the acquisition of redBus will help it to expand and diversify its existing travel assets such as Goibibo.com (online travel aggregators) and TravelBoutiqueOnline (a business-to-business online travel platform for agents). The combined volumes of redBus.in and ibiboGroup's existing travel assets would make the group one of the biggest online travel companies in India.
"This acquisition catapults us to become a stronger online travel player in India," said Ashish Kashyap, chief executive of ibiboGroup. After the acquisition, redBus will continue to run it as an independent operation, he added.
"We are excited to be a part of ibiboGroup. Naspers' strong belief in the internet industry and operating experience in multiple countries will help redBus grow into a renowned brand in the coming years," said Phanindra Sama, co-founder and chief executive of redBus.in.
Apart from, redBus.in, the other products of Pilani, including BOSS, a cloud-based enterprise resource planning software for bus operators and SeatSeller, an inventory distribution platform for agents, will also become part of ibiboGroup.
"We are excited to be a part of ibiboGroup. Naspers' strong belief in the internet industry and operating experience in multiple countries will help redBus grow into a renowned brand in the coming years," said Phanindra Sama, co-founder and chief executive of redBus.in.
Avendus Capital was advisor to both sides for this transaction.
RBI relaxes norms for residential real estate
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to relax norms for residential housing projects by lowering the standard asset provisioning requirement and risk weight for loans given to those projects. The move is aimed at boosting demand for this segment. With risk weight and provisioning requirement coming down, banks will now charge lower interest rates for such loans.
Earlier, residential housing projects were under the commercial real estate (CRE) category, which attracted higher risk weight and standard asset provisioning because the regulator considered it a sensitive sector. Now, RBI has decided to carve out a sub-sector within CRE as Residential Housing (CRE-RH).
CRE-RH would consist of loans to builders and developers for residential housing projects (except for captive consumption).
“As loans to residential housing projects under the commercial real estate sector exhibit lesser risk and volatility than the CRE sector taken as a whole, it has been decided to carve out a separate sub-sector called Commercial Real Estate-Residential Housing,” said RBI.
Loans to the new sub-sector will attract a risk weight of 75 per cent, compared to 100 per cent for CRE. Standard asset provisioning requirement will be 0.75 per cent, compared to 1 per cent in CRE. For individual housing loans, standard asset provisioning is 0.4 per cent, while risk weight is 50 per cent for loans up to Rs 75 lakh and 75 per cent above Rs 75 lakh.
“It's a very good move. Banks will be able to lend more money to developers. It will encourage supply and have cooling impact on prices,” said Rajeev Talwar, executive director, DLF.
RBI also said integrated housing projects comprising some commercial space (shopping complex, school, for example) can also be classified as CRE-RH, provided that the commercial area in the residential housing project does not exceed 10 per cent of the total floor space index (FSI) of the project.
“In case the FSI of the commercial area in the predominantly residential housing complex exceeds the ceiling of 10 per cent, the project loans should be classified as CRE and not CRE-RH,” said RBI.
Some of the realty players, however, have demanded for opening of more sources of funding from RBI.
“It is too small a cut to make any impact. RBI should open other sources of funding,” said Ashish Raheja, managing director of Raheja Universal.
Earlier, residential housing projects were under the commercial real estate (CRE) category, which attracted higher risk weight and standard asset provisioning because the regulator considered it a sensitive sector. Now, RBI has decided to carve out a sub-sector within CRE as Residential Housing (CRE-RH).
CRE-RH would consist of loans to builders and developers for residential housing projects (except for captive consumption).
“As loans to residential housing projects under the commercial real estate sector exhibit lesser risk and volatility than the CRE sector taken as a whole, it has been decided to carve out a separate sub-sector called Commercial Real Estate-Residential Housing,” said RBI.
Loans to the new sub-sector will attract a risk weight of 75 per cent, compared to 100 per cent for CRE. Standard asset provisioning requirement will be 0.75 per cent, compared to 1 per cent in CRE. For individual housing loans, standard asset provisioning is 0.4 per cent, while risk weight is 50 per cent for loans up to Rs 75 lakh and 75 per cent above Rs 75 lakh.
“It's a very good move. Banks will be able to lend more money to developers. It will encourage supply and have cooling impact on prices,” said Rajeev Talwar, executive director, DLF.
RBI also said integrated housing projects comprising some commercial space (shopping complex, school, for example) can also be classified as CRE-RH, provided that the commercial area in the residential housing project does not exceed 10 per cent of the total floor space index (FSI) of the project.
“In case the FSI of the commercial area in the predominantly residential housing complex exceeds the ceiling of 10 per cent, the project loans should be classified as CRE and not CRE-RH,” said RBI.
Some of the realty players, however, have demanded for opening of more sources of funding from RBI.
“It is too small a cut to make any impact. RBI should open other sources of funding,” said Ashish Raheja, managing director of Raheja Universal.
CCEA approves mechanism for coal supply to power producers
New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today approved the following mechanism for supply of coal to power producers:
Coal India Ltd. (CIL) to sign Fuel Supply Agreements (FSA) for a total capacity of 78000 MW including cases of tapering linkage, which are likely to be commissioned by 31.03.2015. Actual coal supplies would however commence when long term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) are tied up.
Taking into account the overall domestic availability and actual requirements, FSAs to be signed for domestic coal quantity of 65 percent, 65 percent, 67 percent and 75 percent of Annual Contracted Quantity (ACQ) for the remaining four years of the 12th Five Year Plan.
To meet its balance FSA obligations, CIL may import coal and supply the same to the willing Thermal Power Plants (TPPs) on cost plus basis. TPPs may also import coal themselves. MoC to issue suitable instructions.
Higher cost of imported coal to be considered for pass through as per modalities suggested by CERC. MoC to issue suitable orders supplementing the New Coal Distribution Policy (NCDP). MoP to issue appropriate advisory to CERC/SERCs including modifications if any in the bidding guidelines to enable the appropriate Commissions to decide the pass through of higher cost of imported coal on case to case basis.
Mechanism will be explored to supply coal subject to its availability to the TPPs with 4660 MW capacity and other similar cases which are not having any coal linkage but are likely to be commissioned by 31.03.2015, having long term PPAs and a high Bank exposure and without affecting the above decisions.
Background
A proposal had earlier been moved for approval of CCEA for import of coal by CIL in order to meet the shortfall in the domestic coal requirement of the thermal power plants (TPPs) from time to time.
In the meeting held on 05.02.2013, the CCEA had laid down certain guidelines for import of coal on cost plus basis/pooling of prices and also directed formation of an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) to consider the cases of power plants with aggregate capacity of about 16000 MW which would be commissioned by 31.03.2015 but are not having any linkage for supply of coal. On the basis of the recommendations of IMC, the matter was further considered by CCEA in the meeting held on 22.04.2013. The CCEA inter-alia directed to consider the feasibility of higher cost of imported coal being allowed as a pass through in case of PPAs signed on competitive bid basis.
The revised proposals submitted by Ministry of Coal (MoC) in pursuance of the above directions and in consultation with Ministry of Power and other Ministries were considered by the CCEA at its meeting today.
Coal India Ltd. (CIL) to sign Fuel Supply Agreements (FSA) for a total capacity of 78000 MW including cases of tapering linkage, which are likely to be commissioned by 31.03.2015. Actual coal supplies would however commence when long term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) are tied up.
Taking into account the overall domestic availability and actual requirements, FSAs to be signed for domestic coal quantity of 65 percent, 65 percent, 67 percent and 75 percent of Annual Contracted Quantity (ACQ) for the remaining four years of the 12th Five Year Plan.
To meet its balance FSA obligations, CIL may import coal and supply the same to the willing Thermal Power Plants (TPPs) on cost plus basis. TPPs may also import coal themselves. MoC to issue suitable instructions.
Higher cost of imported coal to be considered for pass through as per modalities suggested by CERC. MoC to issue suitable orders supplementing the New Coal Distribution Policy (NCDP). MoP to issue appropriate advisory to CERC/SERCs including modifications if any in the bidding guidelines to enable the appropriate Commissions to decide the pass through of higher cost of imported coal on case to case basis.
Mechanism will be explored to supply coal subject to its availability to the TPPs with 4660 MW capacity and other similar cases which are not having any coal linkage but are likely to be commissioned by 31.03.2015, having long term PPAs and a high Bank exposure and without affecting the above decisions.
Background
A proposal had earlier been moved for approval of CCEA for import of coal by CIL in order to meet the shortfall in the domestic coal requirement of the thermal power plants (TPPs) from time to time.
In the meeting held on 05.02.2013, the CCEA had laid down certain guidelines for import of coal on cost plus basis/pooling of prices and also directed formation of an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) to consider the cases of power plants with aggregate capacity of about 16000 MW which would be commissioned by 31.03.2015 but are not having any linkage for supply of coal. On the basis of the recommendations of IMC, the matter was further considered by CCEA in the meeting held on 22.04.2013. The CCEA inter-alia directed to consider the feasibility of higher cost of imported coal being allowed as a pass through in case of PPAs signed on competitive bid basis.
The revised proposals submitted by Ministry of Coal (MoC) in pursuance of the above directions and in consultation with Ministry of Power and other Ministries were considered by the CCEA at its meeting today.
President commissions first unit of ONGC Tripura plant
Agartala: When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid the foundation stone for the 726.6-MW gas-based ONGC Tripura Power Company at Palatana in Tripura in 2005 – barely kilometres away from the Bangladesh border – not many, even in ONGC boardroom, were convinced if the project would take off.
Never before had power equipment weighing up to 280 tonne been brought to this land-locked State, which suffers from poor connectivity. All the power projects commissioned here so far were only of 10-30 MW capacity each.
About eight years later, President Pranab Mukherjee dedicated to the nation the first 363.3 MW unit on Friday. He was all praise for the role of Bangladesh in making this happen.
“India has many power generation utilities. Many more are coming up. But this one is special. Because if Bangladesh had not extended exemplary co-operation in allowing transit of the heavy equipment through their territories, OTPC would have never been a reality,” Mukherjee said in the presence of Bangladeshi diplomats in India.
He stressed on extending the scope of such initiatives for mutual benefit.
“We are trying to set up a common grid (through West Bengal border) to supply power (to Dhaka). NTPC is also setting up a thermal power station in Bangladesh,” the President said.
Fillip to North-East
Gas was discovered in Tripura as early as in 1974. The state-owned ONGC had established production potential to the tune of 5 million standard cubic metres or more.
According to the State Chief Minister, Manik Sarkar, two more E&P companies, engaged in exploration in Tripura, recently reported encouraging results. But in the absence of consumption base, exploration and production activities never gained pace in the State until the late Subir Raha, then ONGC chairman, responded positively to a proposal from the State Government to set up a power generation utility.
For ONGC, this opened the prospect to monetise the gas and step up exploration in the State.
For Tripura and the entire North Eastern region, this was the single largest investment. “From power-starved we are now power surplus. The changed status evinced interest among business,” said Manik Sarkar.
The ONGC company recently agreed to set up a 1.3 million tonne a year fertiliser plant jointly with Chambal Fertiliser and the Tripura Government to monetise its fresh gas discovery at Khubal.
This means that Tripura will witness Rs 5,000 crore of investment in the next three years. This is over and above an approximately Rs 10,000 crore investment in the last couple of years involving the power project.
Never before had power equipment weighing up to 280 tonne been brought to this land-locked State, which suffers from poor connectivity. All the power projects commissioned here so far were only of 10-30 MW capacity each.
About eight years later, President Pranab Mukherjee dedicated to the nation the first 363.3 MW unit on Friday. He was all praise for the role of Bangladesh in making this happen.
“India has many power generation utilities. Many more are coming up. But this one is special. Because if Bangladesh had not extended exemplary co-operation in allowing transit of the heavy equipment through their territories, OTPC would have never been a reality,” Mukherjee said in the presence of Bangladeshi diplomats in India.
He stressed on extending the scope of such initiatives for mutual benefit.
“We are trying to set up a common grid (through West Bengal border) to supply power (to Dhaka). NTPC is also setting up a thermal power station in Bangladesh,” the President said.
Fillip to North-East
Gas was discovered in Tripura as early as in 1974. The state-owned ONGC had established production potential to the tune of 5 million standard cubic metres or more.
According to the State Chief Minister, Manik Sarkar, two more E&P companies, engaged in exploration in Tripura, recently reported encouraging results. But in the absence of consumption base, exploration and production activities never gained pace in the State until the late Subir Raha, then ONGC chairman, responded positively to a proposal from the State Government to set up a power generation utility.
For ONGC, this opened the prospect to monetise the gas and step up exploration in the State.
For Tripura and the entire North Eastern region, this was the single largest investment. “From power-starved we are now power surplus. The changed status evinced interest among business,” said Manik Sarkar.
The ONGC company recently agreed to set up a 1.3 million tonne a year fertiliser plant jointly with Chambal Fertiliser and the Tripura Government to monetise its fresh gas discovery at Khubal.
This means that Tripura will witness Rs 5,000 crore of investment in the next three years. This is over and above an approximately Rs 10,000 crore investment in the last couple of years involving the power project.
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