Success in my Habit

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Two years from now, 7mn more rural homes to have LPG gas

NEW DELHI: The government will provide cooking gas connections to 7 million rural households, incurring an additional subsidy of Rs 2,700 crore a year to supply villages with the fuel that is predominantly sold in urban areas .

The government will also waive the upfront payment of Rs 1,400 for each customer and minimise paperwork to help villagers switch from firewood and kerosene to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), two oil ministry official said.

The cabinet had rejected a similar proposal from the oil ministry about three months ago as some ministers were concerned about the subsidy and others demanded a simplified connections.

"The new proposal is made simple so that the poor in villages can get connections without any hassle," an official with direct knowledge of the matter said. The ministry has set a two-year target to connect seven million rural households.

The oil ministry has re-worked the scheme and the same is expected to be placed before the Cabinet for its approval by the end of this month, the official said requesting anonymity.

The oil ministry has argued that fear of subsidy should not deprive rural population from using the clean fuel. Officials said that total LPG subsidy in the current fiscal year is estimated to be Rs 32,000 crore, while the new scheme that would cheer rural people would increase it by only 8.4%.

"Today almost entire urban population is using subsidised LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). Why rural people should not get the same benefit?," a central minister, who did not want to be identified, said. The government must devise ways to exclude rich availing the highly subsidised fuel and it must extend the facility to the poor, the minister said. Fuel subsidy on kerosene, cooking gas and diesel is estimated at Rs 72,800 crore for 2010-11 .
"Local dealers are obliged to give gas connections to villagers by verifying their residence and other details," the official said. State-run oil companies and the ministry will monitor the scheme and any malpractice by dealers would cost them the dealership, the official added.

The government has proposed to provide the new connection along with first cylinder of cooking gas in rural areas at a total cost of just Rs 635 per unit.

The subsidy will be shared between the government and state-run oil companies, which can leverage their funds for corporate social responsibility (CSR). Public sector oil companies, including Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, mandatorily spend 2% of their net profit on CSR activities. Their combined annual CSR kitty is estimated between Rs 800 and Rs 1,000 crore.

The government proposes to waive off the one-time security deposit of Rs 1,250 for the connection and Rs 150 for the regulator. The beneficiary will pay about Rs 635 per unit for other services, including the cost of a 14.2 kg gas cylinder, which costs approximately Rs 350.

The oil ministry has set a target to provide 10 million (1 crore) new gas connections, mostly in villages, every year till 2015. As per the ministry data, state-run oil companies have so far provided 8.5 million connections this year.

Penetration of clean cooking fuel like piped natural gas (PNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) will also help the government in proportionately reducing supply of highly subsidised kerosene, which is often misused for adulterating costly fuel such as diesel, an official in the ministry said.

Tata Motors global sales up 21 pc in Dec; JLR flat

NEW DELHI: Tata Motors today said its global sales increased by 21 per cent in December 2010 to 90,294 units on robust demand for commercial vehicles but sales of luxury brands from Jaguar Land Rover remained flat.

Jaguar Land Rover sales were at 21,353 units during December, up just one per cent from the same month in the previous year, Tata Motors said in a statement.

While sales of luxury sedans of Jaguar brand was down by 10 per cent last month at 4,332 units, Land Rover sales was up by 4 per cent at 17,021 units, it added.

Commercial vehicles sales were higher by 29 per cent to 48,168 units from the same month a year ago, it said.

Total passenger vehicle sales stood at 42,126 units in December 2010, up 13 per cent from the corresponding month of the previous year, the company said.

The Tata Motors Group global sales comprises Tata, Tata Daewoo and Hispano Carrocera range of commercial vehicles, Tata passenger vehicles along with the distributed brands in India--Jaguar and Land Rover.

During the April-December period, total global vehicle sales rose 29 per cent at 7,68,834 units.

While total passenger vehicle sales increased by 30 per cent at 4,06,157 units, commercial vehicle sales jumped 29 per cent at 3,62,677 units in the first nine months of this fiscal.

IndiGo orders 180 Airbus A320s worth $15.6 billion

Private low-cost domestic carrier IndiGo has placed a firm order for purchasing 180 single-aisle Airbus A320 passenger jetliners, making it the largest single order for such a large number of jets in commercial aviation history.

IndiGo has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for 180 eco-efficient Airbus A320 aircraft of which 150 will be A320neo's and 30 will be A320s. It will also make IndiGo a launch customer for the A320neo. Engine selection will be announced by the airline at a later date.

At the prevailing catalogue price of Airbus Industrie, the order is estimated to be worth about $15.6 billion.

It is not for the first time that IndiGo has raised eyebrows by placing a huge order for commercial jetliners. In 2005 too, the private airline had created a flutter by ordering 100 Airbus A320 aircraft. It flies 34 Airbus A320s on 25 destinations on the domestic sector and plans to launch international flights by August.

The A320neo, available from 2016, incorporates new more efficient engines and large wing tip devices called Sharklets delivering significant fuel savings of up to 15 per cent.

“This order for industry leading fuel efficient aircraft will allow IndiGo to continue to offer low fares,'' IndiGo co-founders Rakesh Gangwal and Rahul Bhatia said. “Ordering more A320s is the natural choice to meet India's growing flying needs. The opportunity to reduce costs and to further improve our environmental performance through the A320neo is key to our decision,'' they said.

“The A320 Family is the recognised market leader. The A320neo, offering the maximum benefit for minimum change, will ensure that this continues to be the case for many years to come,'' Airbus Industrie Chief Operating Officer (Customers) John Leahy said.

Some 6,800 Airbus A320 Family aircraft have been ordered and some 4,500 delivered to more than 310 customers and operators worldwide, making it the world's best-selling single-aisle aircraft family. The A320neo will have over 95 per cent airframe commonality with the A320 Family whilst offering up to 950 km more range or two tonnes more payload.

IL&FS to take over Maytas Properties

The Company Law Board (CLB) on Thursday allowed infrastructure finance company IL&FS to take over Maytas Properties, a company promoted by the family members of disgraced Satyam founder Ramalinga Raju.

IL&FS has been allowed to hold 80 per cent of the equity in Maytas Properties, Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid told reporters here on Thursday.

The new promoter will pump Rs 150 crore into the crisis-ridden company over the next 18 months, he said.

“I permit the induction of four nominees of IL&FS group as director on the board of Maytas Properties including the Chairman,” CLB chairman Justice D.R. Deshmukh said in the order.

He further said that existing director of Maytas Properties — Rama Raju, D. Gopal Krishnana Raju and D. Venkata Satya Raju — would resign immediately on induction of IL&FS group as the strategic investor in Maytas Properties.

According to the CLB order, IL&FS will be required to hold at least 40 per cent equity in the property company for next three years.

In order to allow IL&FS to take over the company, the paid up capital of Maytas Properties would be raised from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh.

IL&FS had already taken over Maytas Infra, another company which was promoted by the kins of Raju.

HDFC Q3 net up 33 p.c. at Rs. 891 crore

Mortgage major HDFC today posted 33 per cent rise in third quarter profit at Rs 891 crore, boosted by higher retail sales and one-time income from sale of its investment in IL&FS.

Buoyed by the healthy numbers, the company said that it expects to close the fiscal with around 25 per cent spike in loan book.

The total income rose by 20.2 per cent to Rs. 3,321 crore in the period under review against Rs. 2,762.2 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Significantly, the company’s non-performing asset (NPA) levels came down to 0.85 per cent during the period under review from 0.94 per cent in the same period last fiscal.

HDFC also set aside an additional provision of Rs. 272 crore during October-December period to meet the recently introduced higher provisioning norms set by the home finance regulator National Housing Board (NHB) for dual rate home loans, company Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Keki M. Mistry said.

NHB increased the provisioning coverage ratio of teaser loans to 2 per cent from 0.4 per cent.

HDFC earned a one-time income of Rs. 167.22 crore from the sale of its investment in IL&FS. In the reporting quarter, the lender had offloaded 2 per cent of its stake in educational arm of IL&FS.

In the same quarter last year, its other income, primarily from treasury operations stood at a lower Rs. 51.3 crore.

HDFC reported a 20.6 per cent increase in its loan book at Rs. 1,09,051 crore at the end of December compared to Rs. 90,110 crore in the same period last fiscal.

HDFC saw a massive 39 per cent jump in retail loan disbursals during the reporting quarter, and the overall loan book rose 27 per cent to Rs. 5,387 crore, Mr. Mistry said.

“We are hopeful of clocking 20-25 per cent rise in the loan book for the full fiscal. We are also hopeful of maintaining a good interest spread and margins in the next quarter,” Mr. Mistry said.

“Our interest spread stood at 2.15 per cent, while net interest margin (NIM) at 4.31 per cent,” he added.

Interest spread refers to the percentage difference between the interest rate charged on a bank loan and the lender’s cost of funds.

The net interest margin (NIM) is the difference between interest income generated by a bank and the interest it pays to its lenders. NIM indicates how successful the investment decisions are in comparison to the debt it raised.

Starbucks, Tata Coffee sign pact for collaboration

In a significant step toward market entry in India, U.S.-based Starbucks Coffee Company on Thursday signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tata Coffee, one of the region's leading providers of premium Arabica coffee beans.

The MoU will create avenues of collaboration between the two companies for sourcing and roasting high-quality green coffee beans in Tata Coffee's facility in Coorg in south India. In addition, Tata and Starbucks will jointly explore the development of Starbucks retail stores in associated retail outlets and hotels.

The two companies also will explore social projects to positively impact communities in coffee growing regions where Tata operates.

Commenting on the announcement, Tata Coffee Chairman R. K. Krishnakumar said, “We welcome Starbucks entry into India because of its unique experience with the store format and for its commitment to society, values that we share.”

“India is one of the most dynamic markets in the world with a diverse culture and tremendous potential,” said Starbucks Coffee Company Chairman, President and CEO Howard Schultz.

“This MoU is the first step in our entry to India. We are focused on exploring local sourcing and roasting opportunities with the thousands of coffee farmers within the Tata ecosystem. We believe India can be an important source for coffee in the domestic market, as well as across the many regions globally where Starbucks has operations.”

Tata Coffee, with its large Arabica coffee production base spread over different growing districts of the South, has supplied premium coffee beans for Starbucks in the past and is now building a structure for a long-term relationship.

In the areas of sourcing and roasting, Tata Coffee and Starbucks will explore procuring green coffee from Tata Coffee estates and roasting in Tata Coffee's existing roasting facilities. At a later phase, both will consider jointly investing in additional facilities and roasting green coffee for export to other markets.

Nokia Siemens expands delivery centre

Nokia Siemens Networks expanded its global service delivery centre and relocated it to a new site in Chennai.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Armando Almeida, Head of Global Services, said the new facility, in 90,000 sq. ft., would manage over 87,000 base station sites.

Mr. Almeida said the Chennai centre was the first one set up by Nokia Siemens in 2007 to pioneer its global service delivery model providing remote delivery support across its services. It was one of the three centres operating now, the other two being in Noida and Lisbon, Portugal.

He said two other service delivery centres were now being set up in Russia and Brazil and these would become operational before the end of 2011.

Mr. Almeida said the Chennai facility, with its vast engineering and telecom talent, had played a significant role in the success of the company's alternative service delivery model. This model allowed the company to centralise and consolidate operations for customers around the world. It provided significant cost savings and improved operational efficiency, freeing up resources to allow operators to focus on the business goals.

Since 2007, the team in Chennai had grown from 120 people to over 1,000 supporting staff, 77 million subscribers and 87,000 base stations on customers' networks globally. The centre at present provides remote services including planning, optimisation services and complete network operations. It also emerged as a centre of competence for 3G and, together with the Noida centre, had delivered 90 projects in 3G globally.

Godrej Properties-Jet Airways land deal likely by end Q4

Adi Godrej-led Godrej Properties on Friday said it will close a deal to buy private air carrier Jet Airways 2.5-acre plot at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) here during the ongoing quarter of the 2010-11 financial year.

“We will close the deal in this fiscal itself. However, we can’t provide any further details on this,” a top Godrej Properties official said on condition of anonymity.

Jet Airways, the owner of the land parcel at the BKC, wants to sell the property so that it can pay off the Rs. 400 crore it had borrowed from HDFC Bank to buy the land from the Maharashtra government.

While the official did not divulge the financial details of the deal, it is understood that Godrej is willing to pay around Rs. 500 crore for the land parcel.

Godrej plans to develop a commercial property on the site, the official said, adding this would be done in a timeframe of 2-3 years.

3 Cummins plants inaugurated

Cummins in India on Friday inaugurated three plants at its Phaltan, Pune, Megasite. The company invested Rs.500 crore in these plants. The 300-acre project qualifies for ‘mega project' of the Maharashtra Government.

Half of the acreage is set up as a Domestic Tariff Area and the other half as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for exports.

The first three plants that were launched today [Friday] were Tata Cummins' second manufacturing facility producing engines for commercial vehicles, power generation and industrial markets, an engine rebuild centre and a reconditioning facility for remanufacturing engines and components.

According to Tim Solso, Chairman and CEO, Cummins Inc., “… the concept of co-locating our businesses at a common campus offers the advantage of scale and greater synergy to our operations. We believe a project of the scale of the Megasite involving investments of about $300 million spanning the next few years, is a demonstration of our commitment to further strengthen our long and valued association with India.”

Anant Talaulicar, Managing Director of Cummins Group in India, said, “We have significantly and profitably grown our businesses in India over the last few years and we expect this positive trend to continue in future.”

Over the last few years, the Cummins Group in India has been executing an aggressive growth plan involving all nine affiliated companies. The second Tata Cummins plant, The Cummins India rebuild centre for high horsepower engines and Cummins Technologies India's ReCon plant are the first of several forthcoming projects to come up at the Megasite.

Tata Cummins, one of Cummins Group's nine affiliated companies, is a joint venture between Cummins Inc. and Tata Motors and was formed in 1993. The joint venture's existing Jamshedpur plant produces the B series and ISB electronic engines for commercial vehicles, power generation and industrial markets.

The new plant at the Megasite will make the B Series mechanical engine, a cost-effective BS-III compliant solution for the Indian market and the ISB electronic engines for the BS-IV norms. The facility has been designed to make 90,000 units annually, and can expand to 1.20 lakh units.

The high horsepower rebuild centre will rebuild engines from 19 litres (K19) up to 60 litres (QSK60 series) and also repair all other Cummins manufactured engine models.

The third facility, ReCon India, introduces the new concept of remanufacturing in India, which requires 85 per cent lesser energy than making the very same product from new parts. The facility will offer professionally remanufactured, high quality engines and components built in accordance with stringent functional specifications of the original product. The business will offer the latest emissions capable products, covered under Cummins warranty.

Intel reports record profit of $3.4 bn in Q4


Bolstered by increased demand from enterprises, Intel’s profit surged 48 per cent to a record of $3.4 billion for the three months ended December 2010.

In the year-ago period, the global chip maker had a profit of $2.3 billion.

“2010 was the best year in Intel’s history. We believe that 2011 will be even better,” Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini said.

Intel’s huge fourth-quarter profit came on record revenues of $11.5 billion.

“PC client group revenue flat, data centre group revenue up 15 per cent, other Intel architecture group flat and Intel Atom microprocessor and chipset revenue of $391 million flat, all sequentially,” Intel said in a statement on Thursday.

Even though, revenues from consumer PC was almost flat, the sluggishness was mostly offset by higher demand from businesses.

The fourth quarter also saw a net gain of $140 million from equity investments and interest.

For the full year, the company reported a profit of $11.7 billion on revenues of $43.6 billion.

Intel said that it expects revenues of $11.5 billion - which could be plus or minus $400 million - in the first quarter of 2011.