Canada invites Coal India to explore mining opportunities

Kolkata: Canadian High Commissioner in India Stewart Beck on Tuesday met N Kumar, Director (Technical) of Coal India Ltd, to seek investments for coal assets in British Columbia.
Coal is the mainstay of the British Columbian economy, on the west coast of Canada, representing over half of the total mineral production and the single largest export commodity of the province.
Though primarily a producer of metallurgical coal (used in firing blast furnaces for manufacturing steel), the Canadian province also has a fair share of thermal coal assets.
“It was a preliminary discussion. We have already floated a tender for exploring investment opportunities abroad,” Kumar told Business Line .
CIL currently holds interests in two assets in Mozambique acquired through a concession agreement between the African and Indian Governments.
As part of its plan to gainfully utilise the huge cash reserve, the national miner made an attempt in 2009-11 to acquire coal assets abroad. A couple of assets were also short-listed. However, the intricate Government policies on risk mitigation came in the way of striking the deals.
“I think it’s incumbent on the Government that the risk factor is reduced, otherwise this (acquisition plan) is not going to move,” the then coal secretary Alok Perti had said in a conference in Kolkata.
Earlier, at a meeting organised by the CII here, the Canadian High Commissioner said bilateral trade between the two countries is expected to grow 12 per cent in 2014. The Indo-Canadian trade stood at $5.5 billion in 2013.

Ritu Kumar label gets Rs. 100-cr Everstone funding

New Delhi: Private Equity firm Everstone said it will invest Rs. 100 crore for an undisclosed minority stake in the fashion label of designer Ritu Kumar. Ritu Kumar, a known face in India’s fashion fraternity, runs the eponymous premium fashion label.
Sameer Sain, Co-founder and Managing Partner of the Everstone Group, said, “Combining Ritu Kumar’s brand heritage, its strong management team and Everstone’s deep understanding and expertise within this space, Ritu Kumar will be poised for continued success and growth.”
Ritu Kumar, Founder-Director, said equally relevant would be its role in increasing visibility of the ‘Ritu Kumar Label line’. “In the last seven years, we have been developing structures within the company, including sub-brands and product lines, to create scale in the premium and luxury segments. Our requirements from a private equity partner were fairly stringent and in Everstone we believe that we have found excellent partners to grow with,” Amrish Kumar, Director and CEO, Ritu Kumar said.
The designer wear segment has seen much activity due to the opportunities it presents. Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton or LVMH’s private equity arm, L Capital, owns 40 per cent of premium retailer Genesis Luxury.

800-MW unit-I of AP Genco’s Krishnapatnam plant goes on stream

Hyderabad: The first unit of 800 MW (2x800 MW) of Sri Damodaram Sanjeevaiah Thermal Power Station in Krishnapatnam has been synchronised with the Power Grid late on March 31. This project being executed by AP Genco is expected to partly ease up the demand supply situation in the State. It is expected to generate 38 million units per day once both the 800 MW units get commissioned.
This is a landmark project for AP Genco as it is the first 800 MW supercritical unit in the State and also first amongst public sector utilities. While the first unit has now been synchronised, second unit is expected to be commissioned by July. This project has been taken up under the mega power policy formulated by the Government. The project has been developed by a special purpose vehicle formed by AP Genco, AP Discoms and Government of Andhra Pradesh.
BHEL, L&T and TPL served as major contractors for AP Genco project and Navayuga Engineering Company executed the sea water related works. The power plant is located at Krishnapatnam, about 25 km Nellore on a 1,170 acre site. Of the coal required for the project, 5 million tonnes per annum (about 71.4 per cent) is from Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd and 2 million tonnes per annum (about 28.6 per cent) is imported coal.
The project is expected to generate 11920 million units per annum. The power project entered into a power purchase agreement in November 2010.

Aurobindo Pharma acquires Actavis operations in 7 European countries

Hyderabad: Aurobindo Pharma Ltd has completed the acquisition of certain commercial operations in Western Europe from Actavis Plc. In January this year, the Hyderabad-based Aurobindo Pharma had signed an agreement with Actavis to acquire its personnel, commercial infrastructure, products, marketing authorisations and dossier licence rights in seven European countries for €30 million.
Both companies had also inked a long-term commercial and supply arrangement.
“The acquisition will make Aurobindo one of the leading Indian pharmaceutical companies in Europe with a top 10 position in several key markets,’’ Muralidharan, Senior Vice-President of European operations for Aurobindo, said here on Tuesday.
Smooth transition
Aurobindo would work to combine the strength of both enterprises in these markets and to identify and maximise all opportunities.
“We will continue to collaborate with Actavis to ensure business continuity and a smooth transition. In parallel, we will work closely with the acquired management teams to achieve a rapid and successful integration,’’ he added. Aurobindo’s scrip gained 4.67 per cent on BSE on Tuesday to end at Rs. 534.70

PE investments double in Q1 of 2014

Chennai: Private equity (PE) firms invested $2.27 billion in the January-March quarter of 2014 compared to $1.18 billion in the same quarter last year, an increase of 93%. The number of deals in the quarter was slightly lower at 89 transactions compared to 103 last year, implying the value per transaction has more than doubled. There were five $100 million or more investments in this quarter against one last year.
On a quarterly basis, the numbers were largely flat as there were 86 deals in the previous quarter worth $2.22 billion, as per data provided by Venture Intelligence, a PE research firm..
Infrastructure dominated other sectors in terms of big-ticket investments with the two largest deals belonging to the sector. Canadian pension funds - Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ) along with Omani sovereign wealth fund State General Reserve Fund (SGRF) invested 2,000 crore in L&T IDPL, the infrastructure development arm of engineering major Larsen & Toubro. The second largest PE deal involved Canadian pension fund PSP Investments (along with IDFC PE) partnering Abu Dhabi's National Energy Company (Taqa) to buy out two hydel power plants operated by Jaiprakash Power Ventures in the state of Himachal Pradesh. PSP and IDFC will put up a total of 1,960 crore for their 39% and 10% stake respectively, while Taqa will own 51%.
"Brisk activity in infrastructure before elections is really a surprise since it is such a policy driven sector. Pure finance VCs and PEs are in wait and watch mode and this is where large, long term sovereign and pension funds have walked in," said Arun Natarajan, CEO of Venture Intelligence. "Overall, large investments are going through but the middle market is still the same. The situation with initial public offerings has also not changed."
However, Sameer Mehta, director at Atlas Advisory, said that it was a due to expectations of change in government. "A new government led by Modi is seen as more infrastructure-centric compared to Congress' perceived socially-centric stance. These expectations are pulling in investors," said Mehta.
IT accounted for $895 million worth of investments. The big tech deals include the $260 million buyout of the Aditya Birla Group's BPO unit Minacs by CX Partners and Capital Square Partners, the $143 million fifth round raised by e-commerce firm Snapdeal.com which was led by eBay along with existing VC investors and General Atlantic's $100 million investment in healthcare software firm Citius IT. Online classifieds firm Quikr also raised $90 million from eBay and existing PE/VC investors.
"Like last year, when CSS Corp and Hexaware were the major deals, IT has continued to see strong activity. I expect this to continue as it is outward looking with markets abroad. Rupee has also helped them," said Natarajan.
Healthcare witnessed reduced activity. There were only nine deals worth $70 million in the sector with a $20 million as the largest. Mehta of Atlas Advisory said that it was due to cyclical reasons and also because there aren't many prospective firms which can be picked up in the market. "Healthcare is still strong. If there is a good venture, it will get funded," he said.

RBI relaxes rough diamond import norms

Mumbai: In a further liberalising of the norms for rough diamond imports, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has lifted restrictions on a number of mines abroad, to which advance remittances can be extended for such import of roughs.
Banks may use their own discretion to extend advance remittance to Indian importers in favour of global miners. Based on recommendations from the Gems & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), RBI had in 2007 notified five global miners of roughs — including Diamond Trading Company, UK; Rio Tinto, UK and BHP Billiton, Australia — to which an importer was allowed to make advance remittance without any limit and without a bank guarantee or standby letter of credit for import of roughs. The number was later extended to nine, including Al Rosa and Gokharan from Russia and Endiama EP from Angola.
“Henceforth, we will not notify the names of overseas mining companies from whom an importer may import rough diamonds into India, by way of advance payments, without any limit or bank guarantee or standby letter of credit,” RBI stated on Monday. At present, banks extend remittances to foreign miners on behalf of importers before the dispatch of consignments.
“RBI’s move will help the industry, as we will be able to procure rough diamonds from anywhere. Our hands will be free now,” said Shreyas Doshi, chairman, Shrenuj & Co.
Banks are now permitted to decide on the foreign mining companies to which an importer can make advance payments, without any limit or bank guarantee or standby letter of credit, the circular clarified. RBI cautioned that mining company in question should have recommendations from GJEPC and importers, be a recognised processor of roughs and have a good record.
The advance payment should be transferred directly to the account of the company concerned, not through numbered accounts or otherwise. The regulator has ,however, restricted remittances to any mining company without certification from the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme, established in 2003 by the United Nations to prevent diamond sales from financing war or human rights abuses.
For public sector undertakings, banks may permit the advance remittance with a specific waiver of bank guarantee from the ministry of finance, where the advance payment is equivalent to or exceeds $100,000. Banks are to report all such advances or remittances of over $5 million within 15 days of every six months.

Dell announces cloud-based solution for Indian healthcare providers

New Delhi: Dell Services has unveiled a cloud-based solution that delivers integrated clinical and financial systems for healthcare providers in India. This is a scalable and widely accessible to suit the unique needs of Indian healthcare providers.
Targeted at midsized hospitals, large hospital chains and clinic networks, the solution ensures that providers have instant access to uniform workflows and customized reports across entities and geographies. Through a centralized approach, the solution gives healthcare providers the ability to adopt automated workflows and business processes using a single-instance application, reducing operational complexity and dependencies on paper records. This not only prevents manual errors and time delays, but will also enhance decision making and improve the patient experience.
With this solution, end-users (physicians, nurses and back office staff) can access cloud-based applications and reports through the use of a simple conventional browser. The solution also allows users to remain connected via smart phones and other hand-held devices, ensuring secure and anytime, anywhere access to information.
Commenting on the role of cloud in enabling better healthcare outcomes, Dr Ashwin Naik, Founder and CEO, Vaatsalya, India's first hospital network focused on Tier II and Tier III towns said, "The healthcare industry in India is increasingly turning to IT adoption to improve patient outcomes. As hospitals and providers expand their operations with new referral centers, facilities, and acquisitions in new geographies, the need to access, integrate and connect these disparate systems is gaining importance. Cloud-based technology has the potential to addresses most of the IT-related issues -- access to the right information at the right time and operational efficiency, among others. More importantly it is affordable, scalable and flexible."
Dell is collaborating with Ubq Technologies and Ramco Systems to deliver an end-to-end proposition to providers. Ubq's Hospital Information System (HIS) solution, Medics, will serve as the front-end application for patient-centric activities and will integrate with Ramco ERP on Cloud to provide customers seamless enterprise-wide application on the cloud.
Delivered as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, the solution allows healthcare providers to quickly respond to increasing demands of infrastructure and storage, and train staff without huge capital investments and recurrent readiness costs.
"We are extending Dell's proven capabilities and global healthcare leadership to India and have brought in the best-of-breed combination of HIS and ERP to help providers achieve their goal of providing efficient, information-driven healthcare in an affordable way. We will continue to bring to India unique solutions that will allow healthcare providers to focus on their number one goal-- enhanced patient care," said Sid Nair, vice president and global general manager, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Dell Services. "The solution is truly one of a kind in terms of its capabilities, delivery model and pricing. We believe that this will be a game changer for the Indian healthcare industry, where hospitals are constrained by huge upfront capital investments, and higher cost of licensing, maintenance and support."

ACC plans waste-heat recovery system at four plants

Mumbai: After commissioning its first waste-heat recovery plant at Gagal in Himachal Pradesh, ACC plans to replicate the success at its cement plants in Wadi (Karnataka), Jamul (Chhattisgarh), Kymore (Madhya Pradesh) and Chanda (Maharashtra) with an investment of about Rs. 360 crore.
The Gagal heat recovery plant, which produces 7.5 MW, achieved stabilisation last week. It is expected to reduce over 44,000 tonnes of carbon-dioxide emission a year. Gagal, faces shortage of power during winter, as hydro-power plants taper off generation due to snowing.
ACC invested Rs. 100 crore to set up the plant which is fitted with a turbine that can enhance power production to 9 MW as and when steam availability in the cement plant improves. ACC expects to recover the investment made in Gagal in four-and-a-half years with an annual saving of Rs. 22 crore.
KN Rao, Director (Energy and Environment), told Business Line the four cement plants where the heat recovery system would be installed over 3-4 years are capable of producing 30-32 MW in all, resulting in a savings of `90-100 crore a year.
Renewable energy status
“The Wadi cement plant has the world’s largest kiln and is capable of producing up to 9 MW. We are exploring various options of funding the projects,” he said.
The cement industry has urged the Government to give renewable energy status to waste-heat recovery plants. Most of the cement companies are power surplus as they have captive power plants. The surplus power produced through waste heat is sold at Rs. 2.30 a unit due to lack of renewable energy status.
A few cement plants buy grid power at Rs. 6.20 a unit, while the production cost of thermal power works out to Rs. 4.50-5 a unit. The industry with a cement production capacity of 350 million tonnes is capable of producing about 1,000 MW through waste heat recovery, said Rao. “The industry has to invest Rs. 12,000 crore to set up 1000 MW heat recovery plants. It would be viable only if the Government fixes a competitive price for the surplus power,” he said.
Apart for heat recovery plant, ACC has drawn an elaborate plan to bring down energy consumption by 5 per cent at its 10 plants by improving efficiency.
Energy saving measures
The company targets to take up energy saving measures, which call for low investment and early payback. For instance, Rao said installation of variable speed drive to control the speed of large motors used in the cement plant does not call for huge investment and the project can be completed in sa hort span, besides payback is less than a year.

Sebi-approved film investment fund to be launched soon

Mumbai: Soon, those not connected with the Hindi film segment in any way will also be able to reap the benefits of the sector’s double-digit growth, with Third Eye Cinema Fund (TCEF), a Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)-registered alternative investment fund, set to hit the market.
TCEF, which will target well-heeled investors, aims to generate about 25 per cent returns.
Kewal Handa, chief executive of the fund and ex-managing director of Pfizer, says, “Given the growth of the Indian film industry, many individuals want to invest in it, but have no clue how to go about it. Also, there are many myths such as the segment isn’t professional and organised. With the digitisation of screens and the advent of a corporate structure in major studios/production houses, these myths are being busted. What better time to enter the industry and make it more professional and transparent?”
Handa and his team have already started pitching the concept to prospective investors. He is confident the first project under the new fund will be underway by the third quarter of this year.
To ensure transparency and professionalism, the fund has roped in various agencies as auditors and advisors. While IL&FS Trust Company will act as the fund’s trustees, Fidelis, the production audit agency, will oversee and keep a check on production, in terms of costs. KPMG will look after taxation and audit, while ALMT will be the fund’s legal advisor. Karvy will play the role of a registrar.
TCEF will follow the mini studio model and seek to invest in films across functions---from pre-production to distribution and marketing. Apart from co-producing and distributing Hindi films, the fund will also explore opportunities in distributing Hollywood films not backed by major Hollywood studios in India. It will also look at syndication of content across the satellite and digital platforms by acquiring the intellectual property rights (IPR) for either the entire film or just its music.
The fund’s advisory board includes directors such as Ashutosh Gowarikar, Kunal Kohli, John Mathew Mathan, Chandraprakash Dwivedi, Sagar Bellary and Nagesh Kukunoor.
Apart from Handa, the fund’s management also comprises Chief Investment Advisor Sandeep Bhargava and Chief Operating Officer Shariq Patel.
Patel says, “We will be looking at investing in films such that the money can keep circulating at a brisk pace. We understand the risk in the film business and, therefore, will invest in different films in different ways. Our interest will be in content-driven films with budgets of Rs 5-20 crore.”
While it might not be India’s first film fund, Handa is confident an approval from Sebi will stand it in better stead. “The fund will have a more professional approach to business and will undertake due diligence. It will operate in a transparent manner, with the NAV (net asset value) published every six months to show the heath of the fund, among other things,” he says.
In 2008, Religare Enterprises and Vistaar Entertainment Ventures had joined hands to start India’s first film fund, Vistaar Religare, with a size of Rs 200 crore. In 2012, DAR Media and MentorCap Management together launched the Rs 100-crore Dar MentorCap Film Fund. While DarMentorCap Film Fund had secured Sebi approval, the fund wasn’t actively involved in investing in cinema, barring co-productions under Dar Motion Pictures.

TIST team invited for Mars rover design contest

Kochi: A team of five students from Kerala has been selected for an international competition in the US for designing a rover for Mars mission.
The team from Toc-H Institute of Science and Technology (TIST) is among the 31 teams selected for University Rover Challenge (URC) from six countries.
This is for the first time a team from an engineering college in Kerala is selected for competing in the URC in the US. The team will also compete in CanSaT in US organised by American Astronautical Society (AAS) and American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics (AIAA) in association with NASA.
While the CanSat competition will be held in Texas in June, the URC will be held at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in the remote barren desert of southern Utah in May. The URC is the world's premier robotics competition for college students.
The six countries sending teams for the competition are the US, India, Egypt, Poland, Canada and Bangladesh. The students are from prestigious institutions, including Yale University, Cornell University and the Warsaw University of Technology.
It is for the second consecutive year that a team from TIST has been selected for the CanSat.
The five members of TIST team are: Muhammed Juhaim Ibnu Abdul Jabbar, PV Abimanyu Nair, Jibin Jose, Anoop Nayak and Joseph Stephen. The team’s faculty advisors are Kiran George Varghese and Shajan K Thomas.