New Delhi: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Saudi Organization for Certified Public Accountants (SOCPA) yesterday at ICAI Bhawan, New Delhi.
The MoU interalia provides that both ICAI and SOCPA would be working together in establishing possible co-operation in respect of Corporate Governance, technical research and advice, quality assurance, forensic accounting, issues for Small and Medium Sized Practices (SMPs) etc.
As ICAI has taken upon itself being a mentor and collaborative partner to transition economies, developing of accountancy profession in Saudi Arabia is a step forward in achieving the desired goal.
Mr. Mohammad Alaqeel, Assistant Secretary General for Membership and Professional Development, SOCPA stated “This MoU would be a step forward to strengthen bilateral relation between India and Saudi Arbia”.
CA. K Raghu, President, ICAI remarked “This MoU will establish closer working linkages between ICAI and SOCPA as it will enable the two to draw synergies from the professional expertise available with each other in areas of accounting, technical research, corporate governance and alike.”
Success in my Habit
Saturday, June 21, 2014
FIEO inks pact with Afghanistan export promotion agency
Mumbai: The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Export Promotion Agency of Afghanistan (EPAA) and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of Afghanistan, following the visit of a 10-member business delegation representing natural herbs, fresh fruits and dry fruit sectors from Afghanistan.
The signing of the agreement is important since Afghanistan has just got over with elections signifying that the environment is conducive for conducting business. The MoU was signed by Ajay Sahai, Director-General and CEO, FIEO, and Najilla Habibyar, CEO of EPAA.
The MoU is aimed at facilitating exchange visits of investment and trade missions, project study groups, with both parties providing information on standard requirements of their respective countries.
While FIEO will share its experience with EPAA and support the agency in terms of capacity building and exchange programmes, it would cooperate with EPAA to enhance the export capacity, particularly in processing and packing of Afghanistan’s products.
The signing of the agreement is important since Afghanistan has just got over with elections signifying that the environment is conducive for conducting business. The MoU was signed by Ajay Sahai, Director-General and CEO, FIEO, and Najilla Habibyar, CEO of EPAA.
The MoU is aimed at facilitating exchange visits of investment and trade missions, project study groups, with both parties providing information on standard requirements of their respective countries.
While FIEO will share its experience with EPAA and support the agency in terms of capacity building and exchange programmes, it would cooperate with EPAA to enhance the export capacity, particularly in processing and packing of Afghanistan’s products.
10 Indian varsities in Times Asia rankings
Mumbai: Ten Indian institutions have made it to this year’s Asia University Rankings by Times Higher Education, while Japan topped the list with 20 institutes on the top-100 list. Last year only three institutions from India had figured on the list. IIT-Bombay is not on this year’s list (see chart). Last year it was ranked 33.
Panjab University, 32nd on list this year, was the topmost from India. This institution was also the topmost institution of higher education in the country, according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings released in October 2013. The rankings revealed that China is posing a stiff challenge to Japan, which used to enjoy supremacy in the region. Although the latter retained its premier position, with the University of Tokyo scoring the No. 1 position and other 19 of its universities in the top 100, it lost two candidates from the list. On the other hand, China has improved its position with 18 of its universities figuring on list against 15 in 2013.
It showed that India made maximum progress in this year’s rankings. India now has 10 universities on the list. Panjab University (32nd rank) is followed by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Kharagpur (45th), IIT-Kanpur (55th) and six more IITs. Jadavpur University (76th), Aligarh Muslim University (80th) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (90th) have also found place on the list.
In third place is South Korea with 14 institutions, followed by Taiwan with 13 (down from 17 last year). While Japan is the top-most country, the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (81st in 2013) and Yokohama National University (joint 96th) have exited the table this year and three more institutions are close to the precipice: Okayama University (down nine places to 94th), Kanazawa University (96th) and Chiba University (which has fallen a massive 23 places to 98th).
India’s Secretary for Higher Education Ashok Thakur writes the question of whether the country should go “full hog” for the global university rankings “has mercifully been laid to rest by none other than the president of India, Pranab Mukherjee, who has made it clear that as a matter of policy, all institutions in the country have to participate wholeheartedly in the rankings process”.
Phil Baty, editor of Times Higher Education Rankings, said these prestigious rankings were wonderful news for India. “A drive to introduce systematic quality assurance and accreditation for the country’s huge range of higher education institutions, plus plans to boost university research, should push it even further. And the election of a majority government raises the prospect of further decisive action in the higher education sphere, cutting through the red tape that has untrammeled previous initiatives,” he said.
The Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2014 is one of the world’s largest academic reputation surveys with 10,000 academics in 2013 and almost 60,000 since 2010. It has thirteen indicators across five areas taken into account, and examines all the core missions of the modern global university — research, teaching, knowledge transfer and international activity.
Panjab University, 32nd on list this year, was the topmost from India. This institution was also the topmost institution of higher education in the country, according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings released in October 2013. The rankings revealed that China is posing a stiff challenge to Japan, which used to enjoy supremacy in the region. Although the latter retained its premier position, with the University of Tokyo scoring the No. 1 position and other 19 of its universities in the top 100, it lost two candidates from the list. On the other hand, China has improved its position with 18 of its universities figuring on list against 15 in 2013.
It showed that India made maximum progress in this year’s rankings. India now has 10 universities on the list. Panjab University (32nd rank) is followed by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Kharagpur (45th), IIT-Kanpur (55th) and six more IITs. Jadavpur University (76th), Aligarh Muslim University (80th) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (90th) have also found place on the list.
In third place is South Korea with 14 institutions, followed by Taiwan with 13 (down from 17 last year). While Japan is the top-most country, the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (81st in 2013) and Yokohama National University (joint 96th) have exited the table this year and three more institutions are close to the precipice: Okayama University (down nine places to 94th), Kanazawa University (96th) and Chiba University (which has fallen a massive 23 places to 98th).
India’s Secretary for Higher Education Ashok Thakur writes the question of whether the country should go “full hog” for the global university rankings “has mercifully been laid to rest by none other than the president of India, Pranab Mukherjee, who has made it clear that as a matter of policy, all institutions in the country have to participate wholeheartedly in the rankings process”.
Phil Baty, editor of Times Higher Education Rankings, said these prestigious rankings were wonderful news for India. “A drive to introduce systematic quality assurance and accreditation for the country’s huge range of higher education institutions, plus plans to boost university research, should push it even further. And the election of a majority government raises the prospect of further decisive action in the higher education sphere, cutting through the red tape that has untrammeled previous initiatives,” he said.
The Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2014 is one of the world’s largest academic reputation surveys with 10,000 academics in 2013 and almost 60,000 since 2010. It has thirteen indicators across five areas taken into account, and examines all the core missions of the modern global university — research, teaching, knowledge transfer and international activity.
India, Russia to set up study group to push FTA
New Delhi: India and Russia have agreed to set up a joint study group to look at the feasibility of a free trade agreement between India, the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
The decision to set up a study group was agreed at the four-hour long meeting between Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry O. Rogozin and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj here on Wednesday.
“Formalities for these are under process in all the countries and a formal announcement of the constitution of the study group will be made as early as possible,” said a spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs.
The study group is being set up both the leaders feel the existing level of bilateral trade at $10 billion did not reflect the potential.
The spokesman added that the principal focus was on improving the untapped potential between India and the customs union countries of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan in terms of economic and commercial engagement.
Hydrocarbons, nuclear energy, pharmaceuticals, fertilisers, diamonds, cooking coal and infrastructure development were the sectors identified for enhancing trade.
Energy ties
The two leaders also had a detailed discussion about cooperation in the field of hydrocarbons and energy.
The two leaders also felt that the CEO Council, which was set up last year, should be asked to work more intensively to make suggestions for boosting trade and investment ties.
At the meeting the possibility of India having a trade show in Moscow in September also came up.
Sushma Swaraj also informed the Russian Deputy Prime Minister about Kudankulam attaining criticality of 1,000 MW on June 7.
“They discussed the way ahead and the understanding was that Kudankulam II is likely to attain criticality by the end of the year,” the spokesman added.
Rogozin is here to prepare the ground for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit later this year for the annual summit meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The decision to set up a study group was agreed at the four-hour long meeting between Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry O. Rogozin and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj here on Wednesday.
“Formalities for these are under process in all the countries and a formal announcement of the constitution of the study group will be made as early as possible,” said a spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs.
The study group is being set up both the leaders feel the existing level of bilateral trade at $10 billion did not reflect the potential.
The spokesman added that the principal focus was on improving the untapped potential between India and the customs union countries of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan in terms of economic and commercial engagement.
Hydrocarbons, nuclear energy, pharmaceuticals, fertilisers, diamonds, cooking coal and infrastructure development were the sectors identified for enhancing trade.
Energy ties
The two leaders also had a detailed discussion about cooperation in the field of hydrocarbons and energy.
The two leaders also felt that the CEO Council, which was set up last year, should be asked to work more intensively to make suggestions for boosting trade and investment ties.
At the meeting the possibility of India having a trade show in Moscow in September also came up.
Sushma Swaraj also informed the Russian Deputy Prime Minister about Kudankulam attaining criticality of 1,000 MW on June 7.
“They discussed the way ahead and the understanding was that Kudankulam II is likely to attain criticality by the end of the year,” the spokesman added.
Rogozin is here to prepare the ground for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit later this year for the annual summit meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Technopark Incubator setting up ‘OpeniSpace’ for start-ups
Thiruvananthapuram: The Technopark-Technology Business Incubator is setting up an ‘OpeniSpace’, an open innovation space on its campus, for innovators and young student entrepreneurs.
P K Kunhalikkutty, Minister for IT and Industries, will inaugurate the space in the presence of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy at a function here this afternoon.
Plug-and-play
The ‘OpeniSpace’ start-up space will provide plug-and-play facilities with four to 12 seats along with Wi-Fi Internet connectivity to young entrepreneurs.
This is a joint initiative of the Technopark Incubator and Rajdhani Technologies-Istrian Technologies-Waybeo Ventures.
The incubator had mooted the project due to insufficient space for start-ups, according to K C Chandrasekharan Nair, Managing Director.
Out of the 190-odd start-ups, around 40 firms shared virtual space here.
“We now have over a thousand applications pending for allotment of space. We hope to provide them space at OpeniSpace,” Nair added.
Free IDs, licences
The ‘OpeniSpace’ huts will also offer 50 free email IDs, software licences, virtual work spaces, servers, cloud infrastructure and other hardware for start-ups at minimum cost.
Concepts like Bring-Your-Own-Device, Platform-As-A-Service and Software-As-A-Service will also be promoted here.
The park will also provide a data farm to provide cost-efficient data storage facility to companies operating in the campus with support from HP Cloud services and IBM BlueMix.
The incubator has already signed MoUs for these purposes.
Those attending the inaugural function include Aruna Sundararajan, Managing Director, Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation; P H Kurian, Principal Secretary (IT), Kerala; K G Girish Babu, CEO, Technopark; Hrishikesh Nair, CEO, Technopark Incubator; and Biju Ramesh.
‘YES’ summit
This is being done on the sidelines of a function to mark the formal announcement and logo launch of Young Entrepreneurs Summit (YES) by the Chief Minister.
YES is a key initiative included in the State Government’s ‘Mission 676’ programme. The State Industrial Development Corporation will organise the summit in Kochi in September.
Partners to the event are Kerala IT, Technopark, the Technopark-TBI, Infopark, Kerala state Industrial Infrastructure Corporation, the Startup Village, TiE, and the Confederation of Indian Industry.
P K Kunhalikkutty, Minister for IT and Industries, will inaugurate the space in the presence of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy at a function here this afternoon.
Plug-and-play
The ‘OpeniSpace’ start-up space will provide plug-and-play facilities with four to 12 seats along with Wi-Fi Internet connectivity to young entrepreneurs.
This is a joint initiative of the Technopark Incubator and Rajdhani Technologies-Istrian Technologies-Waybeo Ventures.
The incubator had mooted the project due to insufficient space for start-ups, according to K C Chandrasekharan Nair, Managing Director.
Out of the 190-odd start-ups, around 40 firms shared virtual space here.
“We now have over a thousand applications pending for allotment of space. We hope to provide them space at OpeniSpace,” Nair added.
Free IDs, licences
The ‘OpeniSpace’ huts will also offer 50 free email IDs, software licences, virtual work spaces, servers, cloud infrastructure and other hardware for start-ups at minimum cost.
Concepts like Bring-Your-Own-Device, Platform-As-A-Service and Software-As-A-Service will also be promoted here.
The park will also provide a data farm to provide cost-efficient data storage facility to companies operating in the campus with support from HP Cloud services and IBM BlueMix.
The incubator has already signed MoUs for these purposes.
Those attending the inaugural function include Aruna Sundararajan, Managing Director, Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation; P H Kurian, Principal Secretary (IT), Kerala; K G Girish Babu, CEO, Technopark; Hrishikesh Nair, CEO, Technopark Incubator; and Biju Ramesh.
‘YES’ summit
This is being done on the sidelines of a function to mark the formal announcement and logo launch of Young Entrepreneurs Summit (YES) by the Chief Minister.
YES is a key initiative included in the State Government’s ‘Mission 676’ programme. The State Industrial Development Corporation will organise the summit in Kochi in September.
Partners to the event are Kerala IT, Technopark, the Technopark-TBI, Infopark, Kerala state Industrial Infrastructure Corporation, the Startup Village, TiE, and the Confederation of Indian Industry.
Tata Power crosses 500MW renewable energy capacity
Mumbai: Tata Power recently crossed the milestone of 500MW renewable energy capacity with the commissioning of solar plant at Palaswadi in Maharashtra.
"This achievement is in line with the company's commitment to have a 20-25 per cent contribution in energy generated from clean power sources that includes a mix of hydro, solar, wind, geothermal, and waste gas generation,'' said an official.
Tata Power has a total operating capacity of 460.6MW from wind farms and 54MW in solar generation. In addition the Company has 447 of hydro and 202.5MW from waste gas based generation.
The company has aggressive plans to increase its generation capacity from green energy sources alone, based on projects that are already in advance stage of execution. It has a dedicated team that looks for opportunities in the renewable energy space and development of clean technology, officials said.
"The Company has been working in different areas of renewable power generation - both grid connected as well as distributed generation,'' the officials added.
Tata Power managing director Anil Sardana said: "We are committed to reduce carbon footprint through "clean and renewable energy" generation and further diversify energy portfolio to reduce fuel price risk. The Company has aggressive plans of additional generating capacity by 2022."
"This achievement is in line with the company's commitment to have a 20-25 per cent contribution in energy generated from clean power sources that includes a mix of hydro, solar, wind, geothermal, and waste gas generation,'' said an official.
Tata Power has a total operating capacity of 460.6MW from wind farms and 54MW in solar generation. In addition the Company has 447 of hydro and 202.5MW from waste gas based generation.
The company has aggressive plans to increase its generation capacity from green energy sources alone, based on projects that are already in advance stage of execution. It has a dedicated team that looks for opportunities in the renewable energy space and development of clean technology, officials said.
"The Company has been working in different areas of renewable power generation - both grid connected as well as distributed generation,'' the officials added.
Tata Power managing director Anil Sardana said: "We are committed to reduce carbon footprint through "clean and renewable energy" generation and further diversify energy portfolio to reduce fuel price risk. The Company has aggressive plans of additional generating capacity by 2022."
Water management firm Wabag to cuts costs by shifting control from Austria to India
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.
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.
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.
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