Chennai: VA Tech Wabag, a water and wastewater management company, will increasingly operate its overseas businesses out of India to take advantage of lower costs and higher margins, according to Rajiv Mittal, Managing Director of the Chennai-based multinational.
Earlier, its international businesses were run out of Austria, the base of its erstwhile parent company, which it acquired in 2007.
But now, new subsidiaries fully handled out of India have emerged as better paying verticals, says Mittal. In 2013-14, the overseas businesses contributed over 60 per cent of the company’s revenue of about ₹2,230 crore.
The business in Egypt, Tanzania, the Philippines, Nepal and Oman are directly under Indian team support, on the basis of financials, technology and manpower. Even the large markets in Latin America are supported from India.
“We believe the margins from this vertical are closer to those in India, by about 10-12 per cent, rather than that those of international markets with margins of around four-five per cent,” he said.
The company takes advantage of the global reach of the 90-year-old Wabag brand with lower costs and comparable expertise available in India. This gives it an edge over international competition, he said.
The company has strengthened its operations in South-East Asia, West Asia – with focus on Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia – and entered Africa last year, he said.
Also, common functions like human resource management, finance, treasury, MIS (Management Information System) reporting are being brought to India for better control and done at one-fifth the cost the company will have to pay in Europe. “This is helping us rationalise costs. We are not reducing but shifting people,” Mittal said.
Markets handled out of Austria cover Central and Eastern Europe, including Turkey, and North Africa, part of West Asia. It is also slowly moving into some CIS countries.
Over the last three years, VA Tech Wabag achieved its annual guidance targets for revenue and order intake. For 2014-15, its revenue guidance is pegged between ₹2,600 crore and ₹2,700 crore and an order intake of ₹3,200 crore-3,400 crore. As of now, its order book stands at ₹5,354 crore.
Success in my Habit
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Donald Trump to sign two realty deals in India
Mumbai: After changing the skyline of many global cities with his trademark flamboyant construction style, New-York based real estate mogul and billionaire Donald Trump is making his maiden trip to India this August. He would be accompanied by his son Donald Trump Junior, who would be on his second visit to India.
Though his India itinerary is being firmed up and under tight wraps, cementing two new realty deals and scouting for fresh tie-ups to expand his company ‘Trump Organisation’s’ global footprint into India is set to be the high point of Trump’s India agenda, according to available information.
One of the two deals includes a yet-to-be announced residential project with existing partner Panchshil Realty in Pune. The formal inking of the Trump Tower deal in Mumbai, announced earlier with Lodha Developers, is also part of the agenda. The new Trump Tower project to be announced in Pune with Panchshil Realty would comprise 6,000 square feet sized river-front apartments spread across 1.2 million square feet, while the Lodha project comprises a 77-storey residential Trump Tower in Worli, in mid-town Mumbai.
The latter would be the signature tower in The Park project, which is part of Lodha’s 17.5 acre township in Worli. Sources indicated that the Lodha-Trump deal is valued at around Rs. 160-170 crore.
Both the ultra premium luxury projects would be owned, developed and promoted by local developers, with Trump lending only his brand name in return for a fee, as part of the brand licencing deal arrangement.
According to industry watchers, brand licencing tie-ups are a win-win strategy for both the sides, as it involves zero investment by the foreign party, and allows the local developers to levera
Though his India itinerary is being firmed up and under tight wraps, cementing two new realty deals and scouting for fresh tie-ups to expand his company ‘Trump Organisation’s’ global footprint into India is set to be the high point of Trump’s India agenda, according to available information.
One of the two deals includes a yet-to-be announced residential project with existing partner Panchshil Realty in Pune. The formal inking of the Trump Tower deal in Mumbai, announced earlier with Lodha Developers, is also part of the agenda. The new Trump Tower project to be announced in Pune with Panchshil Realty would comprise 6,000 square feet sized river-front apartments spread across 1.2 million square feet, while the Lodha project comprises a 77-storey residential Trump Tower in Worli, in mid-town Mumbai.
The latter would be the signature tower in The Park project, which is part of Lodha’s 17.5 acre township in Worli. Sources indicated that the Lodha-Trump deal is valued at around Rs. 160-170 crore.
Both the ultra premium luxury projects would be owned, developed and promoted by local developers, with Trump lending only his brand name in return for a fee, as part of the brand licencing deal arrangement.
According to industry watchers, brand licencing tie-ups are a win-win strategy for both the sides, as it involves zero investment by the foreign party, and allows the local developers to levera
Govt to make e-clusters in 8 cities: Prasad
New Delhi: Communications and Information Technology (IT) Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday said the government would develop new manufacturing clusters for electronic goods in eight cities as part of its agenda to boost manufacturing.
Prasad said manufacturing was a priority for the government and the sector had the potential to employ 28 million.
The ministry would develop the clusters in Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Maheshwaram, Bhiwadi, Jabalpur, Hosur and Kakinada.
Prasad said the government had identified eight other cities where it would offer subsidies and incentives to companies setting up facilities. The government would extend the modified special incentive subsidy scheme (M-SIPS) to Ahmedabad, Ghaziabad, Vadodara, Gandhinagar, Nagpur, Nashik, Aurangabad and Thane. In July 2012, the government had notified M-SIPS, under which refunds would be given on capital expenditure for new units or for expansion of more than 25 per cent of existing capacity in specific new or existing electronics clusters. The earlier government had allocated Rs 10,000 crore for the scheme.
According to Prasad, the government would promote semiconductor fabrication in India. The earlier government had in February approved the establishment of two semiconductor units. State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam have been directed to improve the quality of services. Their performances would be monitored, according to Prasad. The government has decided to spend Rs 5,000 crore for setting up 8,000 mobile towers in the northeast, said Prasad.
On spectrum allocation, Prasad said he was working out a "transparent arrangement for spectrum issues," keeping in view the objectives of consumer welfare and the country's growth in mobile telephony. The government has approved preferential market access guidelines that force it and its agencies to give preference to locally-made electronic and telecom equipment for procurements.
PMA was mootedto incentivise domestic manufacturing in the country, which presently dependson large-scale imports to meet its demand for electronic goods.
The policy isone of the many initiatives taken by the government in the past two years toget an electronics manufacturing ecosystem going. According to governmentestimates, Indiaimports about $40 billion of electronics items.
Prasad said manufacturing was a priority for the government and the sector had the potential to employ 28 million.
The ministry would develop the clusters in Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Maheshwaram, Bhiwadi, Jabalpur, Hosur and Kakinada.
Prasad said the government had identified eight other cities where it would offer subsidies and incentives to companies setting up facilities. The government would extend the modified special incentive subsidy scheme (M-SIPS) to Ahmedabad, Ghaziabad, Vadodara, Gandhinagar, Nagpur, Nashik, Aurangabad and Thane. In July 2012, the government had notified M-SIPS, under which refunds would be given on capital expenditure for new units or for expansion of more than 25 per cent of existing capacity in specific new or existing electronics clusters. The earlier government had allocated Rs 10,000 crore for the scheme.
According to Prasad, the government would promote semiconductor fabrication in India. The earlier government had in February approved the establishment of two semiconductor units. State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam have been directed to improve the quality of services. Their performances would be monitored, according to Prasad. The government has decided to spend Rs 5,000 crore for setting up 8,000 mobile towers in the northeast, said Prasad.
On spectrum allocation, Prasad said he was working out a "transparent arrangement for spectrum issues," keeping in view the objectives of consumer welfare and the country's growth in mobile telephony. The government has approved preferential market access guidelines that force it and its agencies to give preference to locally-made electronic and telecom equipment for procurements.
PMA was mootedto incentivise domestic manufacturing in the country, which presently dependson large-scale imports to meet its demand for electronic goods.
The policy isone of the many initiatives taken by the government in the past two years toget an electronics manufacturing ecosystem going. According to governmentestimates, Indiaimports about $40 billion of electronics items.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Regen Powertech to launch wind-solar hybrid systems
Chennai: Regen Powertech Ltd, one of India’s leading wind turbine manufacturing companies, is ready to launch wind-solar hybrid systems, the company’s Managing Director, Madhusudan Khemka, said.
While the idea of putting a solar power plant under a windmill is not altogether new, Regen has perfected the system, marrying photo-voltaic plants of either 500 kV or 750 kV with Regen’s 1.5 MW wind turbines. The tweaking has been done in terms of optimising power electronics. The cost of the solar plant would be 20 per cent lower than a standalone solar plant of the same capacity, Khemka told journalists on the sidelines of Renergy 2014 , a renewable energy conference-and-expo, organised here by the Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency. There are always sufficient chunks of land which won’t fall in the shadow of the wind tower, he said. This is important because if a shadow falls on any part of a solar plant, the generation of electricity of the entire plant will suffer. Though Khemka did not disclose costs, he said the economics worked out favourably.
Regen, which produces gearless turbines with permanent magnet-based generators using technology licensed from Vensys of Germany, sold 300-MW capacity of machines in the twelve months ended March 2014. The company has extended its financial year till September.
Khemka said that the company has orders worth 550 MW to be executed this year. “We are extremely busy this year,” he said. He said the company had enough land banks under its control to support 1,000 MW of wind turbine installations.
While the idea of putting a solar power plant under a windmill is not altogether new, Regen has perfected the system, marrying photo-voltaic plants of either 500 kV or 750 kV with Regen’s 1.5 MW wind turbines. The tweaking has been done in terms of optimising power electronics. The cost of the solar plant would be 20 per cent lower than a standalone solar plant of the same capacity, Khemka told journalists on the sidelines of Renergy 2014 , a renewable energy conference-and-expo, organised here by the Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency. There are always sufficient chunks of land which won’t fall in the shadow of the wind tower, he said. This is important because if a shadow falls on any part of a solar plant, the generation of electricity of the entire plant will suffer. Though Khemka did not disclose costs, he said the economics worked out favourably.
Regen, which produces gearless turbines with permanent magnet-based generators using technology licensed from Vensys of Germany, sold 300-MW capacity of machines in the twelve months ended March 2014. The company has extended its financial year till September.
Khemka said that the company has orders worth 550 MW to be executed this year. “We are extremely busy this year,” he said. He said the company had enough land banks under its control to support 1,000 MW of wind turbine installations.
GMR Infra-led consortium bags Rs 389-cr order
Bangalore: A consortium led by GMR Infrastructure Limited has won three construction packages of rail line doubling of Multi Modal Transport System (MMTS) – Phase II works on Secunderabad Division of South Central Railway in the State of Andhra Pradesh, India. Rail Vikas Nigam Limited has issued the Letter of Award to the GMR consortium on 11th June 2014.
The total contract is valued at Rs. 389 crore of which GMR’s share of work is about Rs. 207 crore.
The work includes construction of roadbed, major and minor bridges, track linking, outdoor signal & telecom (S&T) Works, Over Head Electrification (OHE), Traction Sub Station (TSS) & General Electrical works for MMTS – Phase II on Secunderabad Division of South Central Railway in the State of Andhra Pradesh, India.
GMR is the Lead Member of the consortium with TATA Projects & Kalindee Rail Nirman Ltd. as the partner for OHE and Track works, S&T works respectively. The Project is scheduled to commence by middle of July 2014, with a completion period of 30 months.
BVN Rao, Business Chairman, Urban Infrastructure and Highways, expressed, “This is a testimony of our continuing interests in Railway projects, as we see a huge potential to upgrade the Railway Infrastructure in the country. This includes the Dedicated Freight corridor (DFC) and the upcoming high speed Railway projects, as recently announced by the Government”.
The total contract is valued at Rs. 389 crore of which GMR’s share of work is about Rs. 207 crore.
The work includes construction of roadbed, major and minor bridges, track linking, outdoor signal & telecom (S&T) Works, Over Head Electrification (OHE), Traction Sub Station (TSS) & General Electrical works for MMTS – Phase II on Secunderabad Division of South Central Railway in the State of Andhra Pradesh, India.
GMR is the Lead Member of the consortium with TATA Projects & Kalindee Rail Nirman Ltd. as the partner for OHE and Track works, S&T works respectively. The Project is scheduled to commence by middle of July 2014, with a completion period of 30 months.
BVN Rao, Business Chairman, Urban Infrastructure and Highways, expressed, “This is a testimony of our continuing interests in Railway projects, as we see a huge potential to upgrade the Railway Infrastructure in the country. This includes the Dedicated Freight corridor (DFC) and the upcoming high speed Railway projects, as recently announced by the Government”.
Reliance Jio, RCom to ink roaming pact
New Delhi: In what will extend the telecom alliance between the two brothers beyond infrastructure-sharing, Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Communications (RCom) is tying up with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio for a pan-India intra-circle agreement, straddling the 800-MHz and 2,100-MHz bands.
Currently, their alliance is restricted to sharing towers and fibre-optic network.
Through the deal, to be signed in a few days, Reliance Jio, which faces challenges in the 2,300-MHz and 1,800-MHz spectrum bands (these don’t offer subscribers high-speed data indoors), can now address this issue by using RCom’s 800-MHz band. RCom has five MHz of 800-MHz spectrum in most circles across the country and currently, this spectrum is unused. After the spectrum is liberalised, it can be used for fourth generation (4G) long-term evolution (LTE) services, too.
The intra-circle roaming pact will also give Reliance Jio roaming rights on RCom’s 2,100-MHz 3G band and offer services on this band. The roaming deal will bring Reliance Jio on a par with rivals who have an advantage in that they have spectrum across bands to offer seamless data and voice services. While Bharti has spectrum across the 900-MHz, 1,800-MHz, 2,100-MHz and 2,300-MHz bands, Vodafone has spectrum in the 900-MHz, 1,800-MHz and 2,100-MHz bands.
Earlier, Reliance Jio had spectrum in the 2,300-MHz band. After the recent telecom spectrum auction, it bought spectrum in the 1,800-MHz band. However higher bands aren’t well suited for 4G LTE data services, as telecom companies have to invest large sums in more towers for quality similar to that in a lower band. With this deal, the company will be able to offer customers roaming rights on RCom’s spectrum in the 800-MHz and 2,100-MHz bands.
Both the companies declined to comment on the matter. The intra-circle roaming deal follows the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal removed a stay on companies roping in new subscribers. A few years earlier, Vodafone, Airtel and Idea Cellular had signed an intra-circle roaming pact to use each other’s 3G spectrum to offer services in places where they didn’t have spectrum.
Reliance Jio and RCom have already signed a number of deals. These include deals to share inter-circle and intra-circle fibre optic networks, as well as towers. Under the tower deal, Reliance Jio can use about 45,000 towers of RCom across the country. For using the towers, Reliance Jio had promised to pay Rs 12,000 crore for 10 years.
RCom is set to gain from the latest deal, too, as its revenue share will be based on Reliance Jio subscribers’ the usage of its network. It is expected the funds will help reduce the company’s debt.
STRONG SIGNAL
Through the deal, Reliance Jio, which faces challenges in the 2,300-MHz and 1,800-MHz spectrum bands (these don’t offer subscribers high-speed data indoors), can now address this issue by using RCom’s 800-MHz band
RCom has five MHz of 800-MHz spectrum in most circles across the country and currently
The roaming deal will bring Reliance Jio on a par with rivals who have an advantage in that they have spectrum across bands to offer seamless data and voice services
With this deal, RJio will be able to offer customers roaming rights on RCom’s spectrum
Currently, their alliance is restricted to sharing towers and fibre-optic network.
Through the deal, to be signed in a few days, Reliance Jio, which faces challenges in the 2,300-MHz and 1,800-MHz spectrum bands (these don’t offer subscribers high-speed data indoors), can now address this issue by using RCom’s 800-MHz band. RCom has five MHz of 800-MHz spectrum in most circles across the country and currently, this spectrum is unused. After the spectrum is liberalised, it can be used for fourth generation (4G) long-term evolution (LTE) services, too.
The intra-circle roaming pact will also give Reliance Jio roaming rights on RCom’s 2,100-MHz 3G band and offer services on this band. The roaming deal will bring Reliance Jio on a par with rivals who have an advantage in that they have spectrum across bands to offer seamless data and voice services. While Bharti has spectrum across the 900-MHz, 1,800-MHz, 2,100-MHz and 2,300-MHz bands, Vodafone has spectrum in the 900-MHz, 1,800-MHz and 2,100-MHz bands.
Earlier, Reliance Jio had spectrum in the 2,300-MHz band. After the recent telecom spectrum auction, it bought spectrum in the 1,800-MHz band. However higher bands aren’t well suited for 4G LTE data services, as telecom companies have to invest large sums in more towers for quality similar to that in a lower band. With this deal, the company will be able to offer customers roaming rights on RCom’s spectrum in the 800-MHz and 2,100-MHz bands.
Both the companies declined to comment on the matter. The intra-circle roaming deal follows the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal removed a stay on companies roping in new subscribers. A few years earlier, Vodafone, Airtel and Idea Cellular had signed an intra-circle roaming pact to use each other’s 3G spectrum to offer services in places where they didn’t have spectrum.
Reliance Jio and RCom have already signed a number of deals. These include deals to share inter-circle and intra-circle fibre optic networks, as well as towers. Under the tower deal, Reliance Jio can use about 45,000 towers of RCom across the country. For using the towers, Reliance Jio had promised to pay Rs 12,000 crore for 10 years.
RCom is set to gain from the latest deal, too, as its revenue share will be based on Reliance Jio subscribers’ the usage of its network. It is expected the funds will help reduce the company’s debt.
STRONG SIGNAL
Through the deal, Reliance Jio, which faces challenges in the 2,300-MHz and 1,800-MHz spectrum bands (these don’t offer subscribers high-speed data indoors), can now address this issue by using RCom’s 800-MHz band
RCom has five MHz of 800-MHz spectrum in most circles across the country and currently
The roaming deal will bring Reliance Jio on a par with rivals who have an advantage in that they have spectrum across bands to offer seamless data and voice services
With this deal, RJio will be able to offer customers roaming rights on RCom’s spectrum
Mahindra enters affordable housing with 2 projects
Mumbai: Auto-infotech conglomerate Mahindra Group, has entered affordable housing through its property development arm Mahindra Lifespaces (MLDL). Through the newly created business vertical Happinest, MLDL will launch two such housing projects in Boisar near Mumbai and Avadi in Chennai. The two projects will have 2200 apartments and a total of one million sq ft. The apartments, priced below Rs 20 lakh, will be launched in the next two months.
The projects, targeted at families with monthly income of Rs 20,000 to Rs 40,000, will be built in phases. While the first phase will be completed in12 months, the entire projects will be completed in two years.
The company’s foray into affordable housing coincides with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s focus on home for all within 75 years of India’s independence or by 2022.
The company has tied up with credit scoring agencies such as Inventure and mico housing companies such as Mahindra Finance, Muthoot, MFHC and HFFC for housing finance for its customers.
Companies such as Tata Housing, Usha Martin and Jerry Rao’s Value and Budget Housing have launched affordable housing projects in the past but the category as a whole had not been a favourite with top realty developers due to lower margins in the segment, consultants said.
“By 2030, about 600 million people will live in urban centres and 70 per cent of the new jobs will be created in cities. To meet the demand, you need a new Chicago every year. It sounds very daunting but it is a $150 billion opportunity,” said Anand Mahindra, Chairman of Mahindra group.
“If I were in Delhi, I would be trying to see how policy can be streamlined to become reality through incentives, creation of templates and ecosystem,” Mahindra said.
On leveraging intra group synergies, he said the group would leverage synergies within group companies like IT and other skills.
The projects, targeted at families with monthly income of Rs 20,000 to Rs 40,000, will be built in phases. While the first phase will be completed in12 months, the entire projects will be completed in two years.
The company’s foray into affordable housing coincides with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s focus on home for all within 75 years of India’s independence or by 2022.
The company has tied up with credit scoring agencies such as Inventure and mico housing companies such as Mahindra Finance, Muthoot, MFHC and HFFC for housing finance for its customers.
Companies such as Tata Housing, Usha Martin and Jerry Rao’s Value and Budget Housing have launched affordable housing projects in the past but the category as a whole had not been a favourite with top realty developers due to lower margins in the segment, consultants said.
“By 2030, about 600 million people will live in urban centres and 70 per cent of the new jobs will be created in cities. To meet the demand, you need a new Chicago every year. It sounds very daunting but it is a $150 billion opportunity,” said Anand Mahindra, Chairman of Mahindra group.
“If I were in Delhi, I would be trying to see how policy can be streamlined to become reality through incentives, creation of templates and ecosystem,” Mahindra said.
On leveraging intra group synergies, he said the group would leverage synergies within group companies like IT and other skills.
Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram sets a target of creating 45,000 new jobs in 2014-16
Kochi: The first IT park in the country, the Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram has set a target of creating 45,000 new jobs during 2014-16 as part of its efforts to emerge a major centre of the information technology industry.
Technopark, which is poised to celebrate its Silver Jubilee next year, currently provides direct employment to 45,000 IT/ITeS professionals through its 330 IT companies.
With the completion of the ongoing construction activities this year of TCS, Infosys, UST Global, Tata Elxsi, IBS and Technopark's Phase III building, around 45,000 additional direct jobs will be created in Thiruvananthapuram. This will lead to a total of 90,000 direct jobs and 3,50,000 indirect jobs.
Technopark CEO K G Girish Babu said the capacity built during the last 24 years would be doubled during the next two years in terms of employment through companies located in the IT park. Clocking an impressive growth during the FY 2013-14, Technopark's export turnover could be around Rs 5,000 crore as compared to Rs 3,500 crore in 2012-13. It also added 1.1 million sq ft of built-up space during the period.
Under Phase I and II of Technopark, construction of buildings on a total area of 2.5 million sq ft is progressing, which will be completed within a year. The companies building their own campuses are Infosys, TCS, UST Global, Tata Elxsi and IBS.
Technopark Phase II is an 86-acre Special Economic Zone (SEZ) campus being jointly developed by Infosys and UST Global. When fully developed, it can accommodate 50,000 IT/ITeS professionals.
Technopark, which is poised to celebrate its Silver Jubilee next year, currently provides direct employment to 45,000 IT/ITeS professionals through its 330 IT companies.
With the completion of the ongoing construction activities this year of TCS, Infosys, UST Global, Tata Elxsi, IBS and Technopark's Phase III building, around 45,000 additional direct jobs will be created in Thiruvananthapuram. This will lead to a total of 90,000 direct jobs and 3,50,000 indirect jobs.
Technopark CEO K G Girish Babu said the capacity built during the last 24 years would be doubled during the next two years in terms of employment through companies located in the IT park. Clocking an impressive growth during the FY 2013-14, Technopark's export turnover could be around Rs 5,000 crore as compared to Rs 3,500 crore in 2012-13. It also added 1.1 million sq ft of built-up space during the period.
Under Phase I and II of Technopark, construction of buildings on a total area of 2.5 million sq ft is progressing, which will be completed within a year. The companies building their own campuses are Infosys, TCS, UST Global, Tata Elxsi and IBS.
Technopark Phase II is an 86-acre Special Economic Zone (SEZ) campus being jointly developed by Infosys and UST Global. When fully developed, it can accommodate 50,000 IT/ITeS professionals.
L&T Shipbuilding delivers first commercial vessel to Qatar company
Chennai: L&T Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro, on Friday delivered its first export commercial vessel, built at the Kattupalli Shipyard near Chennai, to Halul Offshore Services Company WLL (HOSC) of Qatar.
A statement from L&T said, the ship, Halul 42, is the first in a series of six platform supply vessels (PSVs) to be delivered to HOSC.
Ali Bin Jassim Bin Mohammad Al-thani, chairman of HOSC, received the vessel at a ceremony at the Kattupalli Shipyard.
The PSV has an overall length of 78.60 metres and a breadth of 18 metres with a dead-weight of 3,450 tonnes and a deck area of 725 sqmetres.
It has been designed as a multi-purpose vessel equipped for fire-fighting, rescue and standby, offshore supply, oil recovery and other offshore related activities. The vessel has state-of-the-art diesel-electric propulsion with dynamic positioning capability.
The vessel has twin azimuth thrusters and twin bow thrusters that give it high manoeuvrability and station-keeping ability in all sea and weather conditions, typically prevalent in Arabian Gulf and the North Sea.
The company claims that the vessel complies with the latest marine, environmental and crew accommodation regulations. The external fire-fighting capability, survivor facilities and fast rescue boats make Halul 42 capable of enhancing the safety of any offshore field where the vessel is deployed. The ship is certified for carriage of noxious cargo and dangerous goods in packaged form.
Larsen & Toubro is a $14.3 billion technology, engineering, construction, manufacturing and financial services conglomerate, with global operations. Its products and systems are marketed in over 30 countries worldwide. L&T is one of the largest and most respected companies in India's private sector.
L&T set up the Rs 4,000 crore port-cum-ship building company jointly with Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation ( TIDCO) in two phases on a 1,200-acre of land at Kattupalli, through L&T Ship Building Limited (LTSB), for developing a minor port and building specialized ship, along with a repair unit.
In the third quarter of financial year 2013-2014, L&T Shipbuilding bagged orders for six specialized commercial vessels, valued at US$154 million.
A statement from L&T said, the ship, Halul 42, is the first in a series of six platform supply vessels (PSVs) to be delivered to HOSC.
Ali Bin Jassim Bin Mohammad Al-thani, chairman of HOSC, received the vessel at a ceremony at the Kattupalli Shipyard.
The PSV has an overall length of 78.60 metres and a breadth of 18 metres with a dead-weight of 3,450 tonnes and a deck area of 725 sqmetres.
It has been designed as a multi-purpose vessel equipped for fire-fighting, rescue and standby, offshore supply, oil recovery and other offshore related activities. The vessel has state-of-the-art diesel-electric propulsion with dynamic positioning capability.
The vessel has twin azimuth thrusters and twin bow thrusters that give it high manoeuvrability and station-keeping ability in all sea and weather conditions, typically prevalent in Arabian Gulf and the North Sea.
The company claims that the vessel complies with the latest marine, environmental and crew accommodation regulations. The external fire-fighting capability, survivor facilities and fast rescue boats make Halul 42 capable of enhancing the safety of any offshore field where the vessel is deployed. The ship is certified for carriage of noxious cargo and dangerous goods in packaged form.
Larsen & Toubro is a $14.3 billion technology, engineering, construction, manufacturing and financial services conglomerate, with global operations. Its products and systems are marketed in over 30 countries worldwide. L&T is one of the largest and most respected companies in India's private sector.
L&T set up the Rs 4,000 crore port-cum-ship building company jointly with Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation ( TIDCO) in two phases on a 1,200-acre of land at Kattupalli, through L&T Ship Building Limited (LTSB), for developing a minor port and building specialized ship, along with a repair unit.
In the third quarter of financial year 2013-2014, L&T Shipbuilding bagged orders for six specialized commercial vessels, valued at US$154 million.
Apollo Tyres to invest Rs 400 cr in Kerala
Chennai: Apollo Tyres Limited is planning to invest about Rs 400 crore at its Kerala facility to expand its off-highway tyres manufacturing capacity.
According to Satish Sharma, president - APMENA Region, Apollo Tyres, growing demand, especially in the global market, has pushed the company to go for expansion.
At present, the company’s Kalamassery plant in Kerala manufactures 30 tonnes of off-highway tyres and its capacity would be raised to 110 tonnes in the next 18-24 months, he said.
These tyres are used in specialised vehicles like loaders, golf vehicles, agriculture equipments and others. The company exported 60 SKUs to the European operations, he said.
On the company’s Chennai plant in which the company invested around Rs 2,300 crore, Sharma said, “We thought the break-even will be reached in seven years, but in three years the plant reached break-even level.” The plant, located at Oragadam, on the outskirts of Chennai, was inaugurated three years ago.
“The real challenge now is manufacturing, not sales. To address this issue, we are now planning to expand the capacity of the plant by around 30-35 per cent,” said Sharma. The overseas market contributed to around nine per cent last year for Apollo Tyres and the company expects to increase this to 14 per cent in 2014-15, said Sharma.
The official said in the last few months, the company witnessed around 40 per cent growth in overseas business. The company said it was open to inorganic growth, which would give both market access and manufacturing capacities.
“One of our major focuses is the Asean region and this is the market where the company needs a manufacturing base,” said Sharma.
“It is not only to avail duty benefits, but it is important for the company to be close to the market and to avoid high freight rates,” he said.
The company is looking at manufacturing facility in Thailand, Indonesia and Philippians. “It will take another two years to decide on the destination. The focus now is to make the eastern Europe facility up and running by 2016.” The facility is a greenfield project and the company is investing around ^500 million in this facility, over four years.
According to Satish Sharma, president - APMENA Region, Apollo Tyres, growing demand, especially in the global market, has pushed the company to go for expansion.
At present, the company’s Kalamassery plant in Kerala manufactures 30 tonnes of off-highway tyres and its capacity would be raised to 110 tonnes in the next 18-24 months, he said.
These tyres are used in specialised vehicles like loaders, golf vehicles, agriculture equipments and others. The company exported 60 SKUs to the European operations, he said.
On the company’s Chennai plant in which the company invested around Rs 2,300 crore, Sharma said, “We thought the break-even will be reached in seven years, but in three years the plant reached break-even level.” The plant, located at Oragadam, on the outskirts of Chennai, was inaugurated three years ago.
“The real challenge now is manufacturing, not sales. To address this issue, we are now planning to expand the capacity of the plant by around 30-35 per cent,” said Sharma. The overseas market contributed to around nine per cent last year for Apollo Tyres and the company expects to increase this to 14 per cent in 2014-15, said Sharma.
The official said in the last few months, the company witnessed around 40 per cent growth in overseas business. The company said it was open to inorganic growth, which would give both market access and manufacturing capacities.
“One of our major focuses is the Asean region and this is the market where the company needs a manufacturing base,” said Sharma.
“It is not only to avail duty benefits, but it is important for the company to be close to the market and to avoid high freight rates,” he said.
The company is looking at manufacturing facility in Thailand, Indonesia and Philippians. “It will take another two years to decide on the destination. The focus now is to make the eastern Europe facility up and running by 2016.” The facility is a greenfield project and the company is investing around ^500 million in this facility, over four years.
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