US firm to construct energy projects in West Bengal

Astonfield Management Ltd, a US-based infrastructure project management company, will begin construction of renewable energy projects in West Bengal this year. The firm has received official allotments from the West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency (WBREDA). The first three projects granted to it are a 10 MW biomass unit at Gangarampur in South Dinajpur, five MW of solar-PV unit in Bankura district and one MW of manure-to-power unit at Kalyani in Nadia. 'With the current progressive thinking and vision, West Bengal is poised to become the crown jewel for renewable energy technology in India. Astonfield Renewable Resources (ARR) is also looking forward to supporting this vision and executing a well defined programme to roll out renewable energy solutions in the state,' Astonfield Management director Sourabh Sen said here Thursday.

Of these three projects, the 10 MW biomass project will cost approximately Rs.600 million while Rs.1 billion would be spent for the five MW solar power unit and Rs.80 million for one MW of manure-to-power project. When completed, the five MW solar PV installations in Bankura will be the largest solar facility in India. Presently, the largest existing solar power plant is located in Maharashtra, which currently generates 500 KW of energy per day. Astonfield Renewable Resources intends to spend Rs.20 billion on renewable energy projects over the next two years in India. The Astonfield Group had earlier announced their India presence in Bangalore in July last year and begun their work with West Bengal. They decided to invest Rs.60 billion in India over a period of next two years.

Source: Indiaprwire.com

31st January, 2008

Rs.10000 cr package for Arunachal

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday announced development projects worth about Rs.10,000-crore for Arunachal Pradesh. He also laid the foundation for six of them during his maiden visit to the northeastern State. The package includes a Rs. 5,500-crore 1,840-km trans-Arunachal Pradesh highway that will stretch from Tawang to Mahadevpur. In three or four years, Itanagar would be connected with a four-lane highway, Dr. Singh said. He laid the foundation for the 3,000-MW Dibang power project, the country’s biggest hydel project, and the 110-MW Pare power project. He said the Dibang project alone would generate over Rs. 300-crore revenue for the State.
Dr. Singh also laid the foundation for a new Secretariat building in Itanagar, a rail link between Itanagar and Harmuti, and water supply projects for Itanagar and Naharlagun. The Prime Minister announced a new greenfield airport for the State capital, operationalisation of the airports at Pasighat, Along, Daporijo, Ziro and Tezu and a daily helicopter service between Guwahati and Tawang, for which the Centre would provide a subsidy. “Arunachal Pradesh is the easternmost State of our country, and the sun kisses the country here first. That is why for the country it is the land of the rising sun,” he said in his half-hour speech before a capacity crowd at the Indira Gandhi Park here.

Dr. Singh said there were four major areas in which the government needed to work to ensure rapid development: connectivity, infrastructure, educational and healthcare facilities, and economic development. Dr. Singh, who also unveiled a bust of the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, said: “Arunachal Pradesh was a favourite of two of our beloved leaders, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. If Indiraji created Arunachal Pradesh, Rajivji granted Statehood to it.” Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu requested Dr. Singh to constitute a high-level committee for finding a lasting solution to the Chakma-Hajong refugee problem. Mr. Khandu said the State was endowed with rich natural resources. But it lacked the financial resources for converting them into goods and services.

Source: The Hindu

1st February, 2008

NTPC to infuse 4375 cr for thermal power project in Assam

The board of directors of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) at its meeting held on Jan. 30, 2008 accorded the investment approval for Bongaigaon Thermal Power Project (3 X 250 MW) in the state of Assam at an estimated cost of Rs 43,753.50 million.

Source: Myiris.com

30th January, 2008

NHPC hands over DPRs to Jaiprakash & REL

National Hydro Electric Power Corporation (NHPC) has handed over the detailed project reports (DPRs) of two major hydropower projects in Arunachal Pradesh to Jaiprakash Associates and Reliance Energy.Dorjee Khandu, Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, said Jaiprakash Associates had paid Rs 111 crore and Reliance Energy Rs 77 crore to NHPC against the DPRs prepared by it after years of survey and investigations in Siang basin.The two projects - 1600 Mw Siang Lower and 1000 Mw (Siyom) taken up by NHPC - got into problems after the state government signed a memorandum of association with PPDS in 2005-06 following payment of upfront money of Rs 5.1 crore by Jaiprakash Associates and Rs 3.1 crore by Reliance Energy to the government.Khandu said Tato-II was also awarded to Reliance Energy on payment of Rs 2.17 crore upfront money and the issue was being processed by the Central Electricity Authority.Arunachal Pradesh, considered to be the future power house of the country with over 55,000 Mw hydropower potential, has signed MoUs and MoAs with PSUs and PPDS for 53 projects with a total installed capacity of 24,087 Mw.

Source: Business Standard

28th January, 2008

TATA Power, IOC to form JV

In what might be the first such partnership in the country, India’s largest oil-refiner, the state-owned Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOC), and Tata Power Co. Ltd will soon form a joint venture (JV) to set up a 1,000MW power project at Mirthapur in Orissa. “While Tata Power will have a majority stake of 74%, the balance will be held by us. The project will have an initial capacity of 500MW, which will be later ramped up to 1,000MW. Tata Power will also do the operation and maintenance work for the project,” said OIC director for planning and business development B.M. Bansal. A Tata Power spokesperson declined comment, citing the silent period before the declaration of the firm’s third quarter results on Tuesday. The project may require an investment of around Rs4,000 crore.
The JV will guarantee power supply to IOC’s Paradip refinery and sell the surplus power to the grid at a profit. The JV is also significant in view of IOC’s attempt to reduce risks both in terms of investment and commissioning a project.

Analysts say though such arrangements are common between firms that are part of the same group, this will be the first time that two separate business entities operating in diverse sectors are joining hands to set up a power plant. A New Delhi-based power sector analyst who did not wish to be identified said: “It’s a fairly significant and a logical move for IOC... Even with the coal linkage the power generated from the project will be 60% cheaper than grid power. Getting a captive coal block will reduce the generation costs further. The arrangement will also give Tata Power a merchant power project. Having IOC as a partner will also make getting a captive coal block easier.”
“The JV is in the process of finalization along with the debt to equity ratio for the project. While the project presently has coal linkages, we will also be trying to get coal blocks for captive power generation purpose,” Bansal added. IOC plans to spend Rs30,000 crore on its greenfield Paradip refinery, which will add 15 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to its capacity. IOC wants to expand its capacity from 60.2mtpa of crude to 76.7mtpa

Source: Livemint.com

28th January, 2008

Bihar to transfer five closed sugar mills to private bidders

Bihar will transfer five closed sugar mills to successful private bidders, including Reliance Industries and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, in February and the mills are expected to start crushing by 2009-10 season. Reliance Industries, the country's biggest private refiner, and state-run oil firm HPCL were among major industrial houses who have submitted financial bids for reviving 15 sugar mills in the state. Reliance Industries Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd won bids for one and two mills respectively.

The winners would be given the mills on a 60-year lease and are likely to use them for extracting ethanol, which is to be mandatorily mixed with petrol from this year. SBI Capitals conducted the auction for the mills at Rayam, Lohat, Motipur, Sugauli and Bihta. Transfer of these units should be completed by the end of February after which they will submit project plan, sources said. The state government will invite fresh bids for the remaining 10 mills in March, Mishra said. The mills will be given to oil refining firms to produce ethanol for blending with petrol, Mishra said.

Source: Domain-b.com

28th January, 2008

JSW Steel to set up 300 MW captive power plant

JSW Steel Ltd has announced that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on January 28, 2008, inter alia, were taken the decisions to set up 300 MW Captive Power Plant and 6 MTPA Steel Plant in West Bengal.To meet the entire requirement of power captively at 10 MTPA capacity, the Board has approved the setting up of a new 300 MW captive power plant at an estimated cost of Rs 825 Crores to be financed by way of debt of Rs 550 Crores and balance out of cash accruals to be commissioned by October 2010.Setting up of a 6 MTPA Steel Plant in the State of West Bengal and investment in the Equity Capital of JSW Bengal Steel Ltd: Following the execution of the Development Agreement to set up a Steel plant with an annual capacity of 10 MTPA in phases in the State of West Bengal, the Board has approved to set a 6 MTPA integrated steel plant upto slab stage through its subsidiary, JSW Bengal Steel Ltd. The project cost is estimated at Rs 15,000 Crores to be raised by way of equity of Rs 5,000 Crores and debt of Rs 10,000 Crores in JSW Bengal Steel Ltd.The Company will invest around Rs 1000-1500 Crores and the balance amount will be raised at an appropriate time by way of an Initial Public Offering. This project will be implemented within 3 years and is expected to be commissioned by March 31, 2011.

Source: Equity Bulls
28th January, 2008

India's GMR Group bags Nepal hydropower project

Indian infrastructure projects major GMR Group has been awarded a major hydropower project in Nepal after several political obstacles, paving the way for more Indian firms to enter one of the most lucrative sectors in the Himalayan nation. The Bangalore-based GMR Energy has signed a pact with Nepal's ministry of water resources to develop the 309 MW Upper Karnali hydropower project in one of the most inaccessible and underdeveloped regions of Nepal, officials said. GMR's senior vice-president Avinash Shah signed the deal that will give power-starved Nepal 12 per cent free energy, amounting to about 36 MW.

Despite the Maoists earlier asking the government not to sign any major deal before the April election and a French company threatening to move court, saying it had been granted an earlier licence, GMR has beaten 13 contenders. The mega power projects signed between the governments of India and Nepal are yet to get off the ground due to political hostility. When GMR had first bid for the project, it had offered 7.5 per cent free energy to Nepal and 33 per cent free equity, officials said. Its competitors included Reliance Energy and the Jindal Group. After the Nepal government formed a committee headed by former finance secretary Bhanu Prasad Acharya to assess the bids, GMR was declared the best bet for both Upper Karnali and the 402 MW Arun-III projects.

Yet, a cabinet committee decided that bids would be re-evaluated on the basis of who offered the highest amount of free energy, even though Nepal underwent six hours of power outages daily and faced a 11-hour daily outage in dry months. After five days of negotiations, GMR agreed to increase its free energy offer and will give Nepal 27 per cent free equity, officials said. The ministry said it would now begin negotiations for Arun-III. But GMR will not get another project since a parliamentary committee has directed the government not to award more than one project to a company at a time. The directive is expected to be a blessing for the second contender for Arun-III project - India's Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam, which will begin negotiations with the concerned ministry. Talks are to start in the first week of February.

GMR is reportedly targeting to wrap up the initial spadework for the project in two-and-a-half years while construction would take four to five years. Before that, it will have to pay the government around $7,900 per MW as bank guarantee and a fifth of that per MW for project survey. The breaking of the ice in Nepal's hydropower sector is an outcome of a push by the Indian government and Nepal's finance ministry, officials said. India's outgoing ambassador to Nepal Shiv Shankar Mukherje had said last year that hydropower had the ability to kick-start Nepal's floundering economy.

Source: Hindustan Times

25th January, 2008

JSW Steel may develop deep sea port in West Bengal

Steel major JSW Steel Group today said it would look into the possibility of setting up a deep sea port in West Bengal. After meeting West Bengal Chief Minister, JSW Steel Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Sajjan Jindal said that Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had asked the company to study and submit a report on proposed deep sea port in the state. "We will carry out a feasibility study which will begin in first week of February," Jindal said. The group has developed three ports in Goa, Ratnagiri in Maharashtra and Kakinada in Andra Pradesh. This would, howeber, be first time the group will foray into deep sea port. Sources said Jindal was keen in three sectors, steel, power and a port for West Bengal.

The Centre was also carrying out its own independent feasibility study. The shortlisted consultants had sought change in terms of reference to carryout the study. Meanwhile, Jindal said the power plant capacity would be ramped up to 1,800 MW from 1200 MW to be set up in the first phase at the Salboni steel project. The steel project would require 1,000 MW and rest power would be pushed to the state or national grid. JSW Steel would also develop two ITIs on the PPP model to train local people for the steel plant in Salboni, which would attract an investment of Rs 35,000 crore.

Source: The Economic Times

25th January, 2008

Arcelor-Mittal chooses sites for its proposed project

The world's largest steelmaker Arcelor-Mittal has chosen Torpa and Kamdara blocks in Khunti and Gumla districts of Jharkhand as its sites for the proposed 12-MT greenfield steel project in the state. "Now that they have selected sites, they might go for acquisition of land on their own or can approach the state government," Jharkhand Industry secretary K K Khandelwal said here.
Chief Minister Madhu Koda has on several occasions said any private sector company could approach on their own to acquire land. The sites are close to two rivers - Karo and Koel- to meet water demand for the project and also has rail links.

The steel giant, which reportedly applied for four mines, including Karampada and Ghatkuri in Jharkhand, requested the state government the necessary support and permission for developing the infrastructure in the areas. The government has already assured all help to the Arcelor-Mittal, whose high-level team had visited Ranchi on November 15. The group had on October 8, 2005 signed an MoU with the state government to set up a mining and steel-making operation in the state, entailing an investment of approximately Rs 40,000 crore. The company's iron ore requirement is pegged at 600 MT for the first 30 years of operation. The company also has a proposal of a captive power plant of 2500 MW. The Central government has already allotted the steel major steam coal at Jharkhand's Sereghara block.

Source: The Hindu

26th January, 2008

Auto SEZ to come up in Jhargram

Following the chief minister's clarion call for industry and development to go ahead full steam, despite the many problems in the state on the land acquisition front, Mr Sumanta Chaudhuri, chief executive officer, West Bengal Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation, said today two major infrastructure projects were on the anvil for the state ~ an auto SEZ and park in Jhargram, Midnapore (West) and an industrial hub in Fatapukur, Jalpaiguri. With Tata Motor's small car Nano making a global impact after its unveiling at the 9th Auto Expo held in New Delhi recently, the state, where the small car factory is slated to start production, seems poised for more growth in the automobile sector. A case in point is the auto park and SEZ that will come up at Guptomoni in Jhargram. The auto park will have an auto SEZ and house automobile components manufacturers, Mr Chaudhuri said. The public-private partnership project is a special purpose vehicle between the WBIIDC and Bengal Srei, with the former as facilitator. “We require 500 acres that will be acquired by direct purchase. It should take not more than eight to nine months for the purchase to come through,” Mr Chaudhuri said. The CEO, WBIIDC was speaking on the sidelines of the inaugural function of a two-day workshop on Export Documentation and Procedures organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce here today.

Source: The Statesman

24th January, 2008

Facor to invest Rs.2500 cr in Orissa in next 3 years

Delhi-based Facor group (Ferro Alloys Corporation) is planning to invest Rs 2,500 crore in Orissa over the next four years. “We are planning to integrate all our operations and, therefore, have decided to invest Rs 2,500 crore to set up a 0.5-million tonne greenfield stainless steel manufacturing unit and a 250Mw thermal power unit in Orissa,” Ashim Saraf, joint managing director, Facor, told mediapersons at Garividi on Monday.

The group has ferro alloy units at Garividi near Visakhaptnam and Randia district in Orrisa and an alloy steel unit in Maharashtra, producing about 1,30,000 tonne of ferro chrome, ferro silicon and other material. It sells these products to other alloy steel units, besides exporting them. “Once we set up our stainless steel unit, the entire ferro alloy products would be used in our unit,” he added.

Of its total financial requirement of Rs 2,500 crore, the group will contribute Rs 800 crore and would borrow Rs 1,600 crore from financial institutions. Of the proposed investment of Rs 800 crore by the promoters, a strategic partner would contribute 50 per cent. “We are negotiating with some foreign firms for financial and technical support to implement this project. We expect Rs 400 crore investment from the strategic partner,” he said. The company clocked a net profit of Rs 35 crore on a turnover of Rs 777 crore in the last financial year. It projects around Rs 100 crore net profit on a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore this fiscal.

Source: Business Standard

22nd January, 2008

Titagarh Wagons in pact with FreightCar

Kolkata-based wagon manufacturer, Titagarh Wagons, today signed a joint venture agreement with FreightCar America for manufacturing wagons. Umesh Chowdhury, managing director, Titagarh Wagons said, a new company would be formed where FreightCar would hold a 51 per cent stake and the balance would be with Titagarh Wagons. The joint venture agreement was signed today at Writers Building, the state secretariat. Sources said, the investment was likely to be in the region of Rs 120-160 crore. Around 100 acres had been identified near the Kalyani expressway. Last year, GE Equipment Services and GE Commercial Finance, part of General Electric Company, picked up a 15 per cent stake in Titagarh Wagons.

Titagarh Wagons is in the business of manufacturing railway wagons, bailey bridges, heavy earth moving and mining equipment, steel and iron castings. Chowdhury said, GE finances a lot of FreightCar’s wagons globally. The wagons to be manufactured by the joint venture would be lightweight and work on the prototype would commence soon. The wagons would leased to the Indian Railways. “Last year in the budget it was announced that private players could design wagons, and this would be a new type of lightweight wagon,” he explained. Chowdhury said, negotiations with the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) for land would now be initiated.

Source: Business Standard

23rd January, 2008

Caparo Group setting up component plant for Tata's Nano

NRI industrialist Swraj Paul-owned Caparo Group, a key vendor for Tata Motors' Nano project, is setting up a Rs 120-crore facility at Singur to supply sheet metal and vehicle frames for the world's cheapest car - due for commercial launch later this year. With the Rs one lakh car already unveiled and Tatas resolving other issues with the West Bengal government, the component manufacturers have to gear up to meet the Nano deadline, Caparo Group CEO Angad Paul said on Monday.
"We have to be ready before the Tatas are ready," Paul said on the sidelines of a breakfast meeting between industry leaders and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown here.

He said the Caparo facility would supply 12 to 15 per cent of the Nano components, including sheet metals and vehicle frame. Asked whether the project would offer enough margin to component suppliers, considering the fact that Nano was the world's cheapest car, Paul said if there was no profit, he "would not go into a project." While there was always a battle of margins with customers, "as a CEO, I have to increase the companies' sales 10-fold and enhance margins." He said while the Tatas had initial plan to make 250,000 cars a year, they may ramp up the capacity to go up to a million. "This car can sell in seven figures in India alone." The Caparo Group has lined up investment of Rs 1000 crore, mainly in automobile components. It has already commissioned 19 plants in the country while nine more are in the pipeline. It is supplying components to Maruti Suzuki, Honda, General Motors and JCB.

Source: The Hindu

21st January, 2008

J & K clears Rs.2116 cr industrial investment proposals

The Jammu and Kashmir government has cleared 104 industrial proposals worth Rs 2,116 crore for the medium and large sectors during the last three years. J-K's Apex Project Clearance Committee (APCC), which met here yesterday under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary B R Kundal, said the total investment mobilised by State Industrial Development Corporation (SIDCO) through these investment proposals has been to the tune of Rs 2,116 crore. Out of the total proposals, 30 units have gone into production and 74 units are at various stages of implementation. The employment potential envisaged in these proposals are up to 17,500 people. Kundal asked the pollution control board and SIDCO to jointly inspect the proposed sites of these units and ensure that the laid norms of Industrial Policy and natural beauty in their respective area of operation are maintained. The chief secretary also emphasised to explore possibility of public private partnership to identify and develop land for industrial purpose. He also asked SIDCO to prepare a comprehensive plan for this purpose. The meeting was attended by senior state government officials.

Source: The Economic Times
19th January, 2008

HDIl to invest Rs.2000 cr in Kochi

Housing Development and Infrastructure (HDIL), through its subsidiary, Blue Star Realtors, will invest Rs 2,000 crore on developing the HDIL Cybercity at Kalamaserry near Kochi. The investment, over a period of 48 months, will go into setting up what is billed as Kerala’s first integrated information technology (IT) township on 70 acres of land. The township will have a built-up area of 80 lakh sq ft. It will house facilities for IT/ITeS businesses, residential apartments, villas, schools, shopping malls, a multiplex, club house, service apartments and a star hotel.

The foundation stone laying ceremony for the cybercity will be conducted by Kerala Chief Minister V S Achutanandan on Saturday. “HDIL Cybercity is expected to provide 60,000 direct and 1,50,000 indirect jobs,” Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan, chairman, HDIL, said. “The project will generate over Rs 425 crore in revenues for the Kerala government by way of stamp and registration duty and Employee Welfare and Village Tax.” HDIL is the flagship construction and real estate development company of the Wadhawan Group.

Source: Business Standard

20th January, 2008

Rio revives talks for ore mining in Orissa

The India story continues to inspire Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto. While it is reviving plans to develop iron ore mines in Orissa in joint venture with Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC), Rio is also ready to sell Australian ore to India for the time being. Once it gets the nod to start mining in Orissa, Rio expects to export 25 million tonne (mt) iron ore a year from India by the fifth year. We are well-placed in India and are quite optimistic about negotiations with the Orissa government. We will be able to bring this project to fruition,” Rio Tinto chief executive (iron ore) Sam Walsh told the Australian media in Perth on January 15. He said the company was expecting stronger global mineral demand. When contacted by ET, an Orissa government official confirmed that the talks have become active again, but declined to divulge any details. Rio has 51% stake in integrated mining projects at Gandhamardan and Malanjtoli in Orissa. The state-run firm OMC holds the remaining stake in the venture. The JV, at the time of inception in late 1990s, studied the possibilities of mining in Gandhamardan and Malangtuli then, the ore reserves there were estimated at 800 mt. The project was to start in 2006 with a target of 25 mt per year by 2011 and take the capacity to 50 mt. But the project failed to get off the ground. If the project materialises this time around, Rio may consider evacuation of iron ore through Paradip port, which has the necessary infrastructure and experience to handle iron ore cargo. Earlier, there was a commitment from the Paradip Port Trust (PPT) to make available a deep-draught berth with 17-18 metre draught throughout the year to facilitate the movement of ships of 2,00,000 deadweight tonne (dwt) capacity. Rio's optimism, despite India's notorious red-tapism, comes at a time when it is trying to fend off a potential takeover bid by BHP Billiton, reported the Australian media. On the London Stock Exchange (LSE), the Rio Tinto scrip moved up on Friday on hopes that BHP Billiton is about to come out with an improved takeover proposal. Late last year, BHP had made an offer for Rio, valuing the company at $134 billion. Though Rio has been active in the country for the past few years, it was unsuccessful in making a mark in the local mining sector. Its attempts to forge alliances with local companies for mining did not bear fruit. It is currently into diamond prospecting and exploration in states like Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. The group’s major products include aluminium, copper, diamonds, energy products, gold, industrial minerals and iron ore.

Source: The Economic Times

21st January, 2008

WBIDC sign JV for aerotropolis project

The West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) signed a joint venture development agreement with Bengal Aerotropolis Projects (BAPL) yesterday for setting up India's first aerotropolis (airport city) in the Durgapur-Asansol region of Bardhaman district, at an estimated investment of Rs10,000 crore. BAPL is a special purpose vehicle that has been set up to implement the Durgapur Aerotropolis project. The consortium includes Pragati 47 Development, Citystar Infrastructures, Land Lease Company (India) and Pragati Social Infrastructure & Development, (a joint venture of Housing & Urban Development Corporation). The Durgapur Aerotropolis, to be spread over an area of 2,300 acres of land, will entail an investment of Rs 10,000 crore. It will house an industrial park, IT park, housing facilities, hospitals, markets, theme parks, schools, community centres, etc.

Source: TravelBizMonitor.com

19th January, 2008

Governent approves greenfield international airport at Kannur

The Government today has given ‘in principle’ approval to the Government of Kerala (GoK) for setting up of a Greenfield International Airport through the PPP route at Kannur in relaxation of the Policy on Airport Infrastructure relating to Greenfield Airports. The proposed Kannur airport is located in Kannur district and falls outside the municipal limits of Kannur. The site is at about 80 km aerial distance from Calicut airport, about 229 km from Cochin airport and 125 km from the Mangalore airport. GoK has strongly recommended the project since this would promote tourism and trade in Northern Kerala. The proposed airport will also act as a cargo hub for perishable cargo like cut flowers, vegetables, fruits, sea food etc. Ministry of Tourism, GoI has also supported the setting up of the airport since it has potential to open up tourism for North Kerala, which has not seen sufficient tourism development.

As per a study conducted by AAI, major impact of the proposed Kannur airport will be felt at Calicut airport. With the commissioning of Kannur airport, 55% traffic of Calicut airport is expected to get diverted. The estimated loss of revenue due to the diversion of traffic on account of the proposed Kannur airport will be to the extent of 27.6% at Calicut airport, 5.1% at Cochin airport, 3.0% at Bangalore airport, 1.5% at Trivandrum airport and 0.75% at Mumbai airport. Since airports at Calicut and Trivandrum are AAI airports, the proposed airports could impact the revenue of AAI. The remaining are private airports. Indian aviation sector has been witnessing robust growth in the recent years and this trend is expected to continue in future for quite some time belying all traffic projections. It is expected that all the above airports would record impressive financial performance in future. Certain activities at the airport like Security, Air Traffic Control, Customs, Immigration, MET etc. would be reserved for GOI entities. These would be performed by the relevant central government agencies. Provision of these services would be on cost recovery basis and the airport operator would enter into agreement with the respective agencies. it would be part of revenue expenditure and as such would not be capitalized. For performance of these services at the airport, necessary provisions would need to be made by the relevant government agencies to ensure that there is sufficient capacity to provide these services, as and when required.

The salient features of the project are as follows: The airport will be built over 2000 acres of land and will have a single runway, sanction has been accorded for acquisition of the land. The project would be implemented through the Pubic Private Partnership (PPP) route with an estimated project cost of Rs. 929.5 crores, excluding costs pertaining to land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation which would be borne by the GoK.A Joint venture Company (JVC) between KINFRA, a GOK entity with 26% equity participation and a private strategic partner with 74% equity participation would be set up to implement the project. The selection of the strategic partner would be done by GoK. Airport Operator would invest 30% of the total required capital investment and the balance would be through debt financing. There is no equity participation sought from AAI. GOI/GOK would not be signing any concession agreement with JVC.

However, since the underlying assets belong to the State Government, GOK could give concession to the JVC in respect of land indicating its terms and conditions as well as such other conditions which the State Government would wish to impose on the JVC. GoK may also consider grant of any other concessions to the JVC.Traffic projections have been made but since Kannur airport is a PPP project, the traffic risk would be borne by the private developer who would undertake his own due diligence in the matter. Since the project is a State Sector project, the primary responsibility of project implementation rests with the State Government. GOI would guide the State Government regarding the method for selection of the strategic partner. GoK would be advised to follow a transparent bidding process to select the strategic private partner. GOI has also issued a Model RFQ and RFP for PPP projects and GoK would be advised to adopt it.

Source: PIB

17th January, 2008

DLF, Gayatri Projects tie up for road project

DLF has signed an understanding with Gayatri Projects to develop roads and highway projects across the country. The two plans to develop projects valued at Rs 1,000 crore every year. DLF-Laing O'Rourke, the joint venture between DLF and Laing O'Rourke would be the contractor for the projects of DLF-Gayatri Projects. Gayatri Projects at present has projects valued of Rs 3,450 crore under construction in states like Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Orissa. These projects include national and state highways, dams, reservoirs, ash ponds and major canal works. “This venture is a significant development in the overall growth plan of DLF. Having already ventured into new businesses of hotels, specialized economic zones and financial services, this agreement in infrastructure domain would further diversify its portfolio,” said Rajiv Singh, vice-chairman, DLF. Gayatri Projects has already won five BOT projects, which are currently under execution.

Source: The Economic Times

17th January, 2008

NCC bags order worth Rs.502 cr

Nagarjuna Construction Company Ltd (NCC) has bagged six new orders valued at Rs 502 Crores as per details given below:

1. An order valued at Rs 185 Crores from Engineer-in-Chief (PH), Public Health, Government of Andhra Pradesh for Water Supply Improvement Scheme at Warangal in Andhra Pradesh to be completed over a period of 18 months.

2. An order valued at Rs 84 Crores from the Commissioner, Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation, Visakhapatnam, for infrastructure facilities at Vizag to be completed over a period of 18 months.

3. An order valued at Rs 50 Crores from M/s. Salarpuria Properties Pvt Ltd, Bangalore, for construction of Salarpuria Cyber Gardens at Hitech City, Hyderabad, to be completed in 16 months.

4. An order valued at Rs 53 Crores from Engineer-in-Chief (PH), Public Health, Hyderabad in the Water Supply Improvement Scheme at Kadiri in Anantapur District, to be completed over a period of 15 months.

5. An order valued at Rs 53 Crores from Project Engineer, Public Health Engineering Department, Government of Chhattisgarh, Raipur, in the Augmentation Water Supply Scheme at Raipur, to be completed over a period of 20 months.And;

6. An order valued, at Rs 77 Crores from Chief Engineer, Karnataka Urban Water Supply & Drainage Board, Bangalore for Re-modelling of WS Distribution Network at Mysore to be completed over a period of 24 months.

Source: Business Standard

17th January, 2008

Simplex to foray into thermal power production

The Kolkata-based Simplex Infrastructures has put on hold its intentions to enter standalone mining projects and instead is foraying into thermal power production through a joint venture. It is pinning its hopes on bagging a 1,000 MW thermal power project on a BOT basis in Chhattisgarh. The company has already identified a technical partner for the purpose and the entry would be through a special purpose vehicle. “This will pave the way for us to enter coal mining, as mining by itself is a capital-intensive proposition,” said Mr N.K. Kakani, Executive Director, Simplex Infrastructures Ltd, here on Monday. Simplex has an MoU with Thailand-based Banpu Public Company for contract mining in India. Banpu is the largest coal producer and distributor in Thailand. With a combined production capacity of 3.3 million tonnes per annum, Banpu produces sub-bituminous and lignite coal which is suitable for use as a base load fuel for domestic cement producers and utility generators.

Source: The Business Hindu Line

16th January, 2008

Vedanta to up Sesa Goa's iron ore production capacity

Vedanta Resources on Tuesday said it will ramp up Sesa Goa's iron ore production capacity to 20-25 million tonnes per annum from the current capacity of 12.2 million tonnes per annum. Vedanta had recently acquired a majority stake in Sesa Goa. The ramping up of the production will be done over a period of three years, a senior company official said at a function here. The company also intends to ramp up the pig iron production capacity to 1-million tonnes per annum from the present 2,92,000 tonnes per annum. Metallurgical coke production of Sesa Goa will also be increased to 7,50,000 tonnes per annum from the present 3,22,000 tonnes per annum. The production increases will be achieved through de-bottlenecking, the official said adding the capex in all over the next three years for this purpose will be Rs 3,000 crore.

Source: The Economic Times

15th January, 2008

MRPL's refinery expansion cost may rise to Rs.11k cr

Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) on Wednesday said the cost of expanding its refinery capacity to 15 million ton is likely to jump to over Rs 11,000 crore due to rise in input cost. The expansion of Mangalore refinery capacity from 9.69 million ton to 15 million ton was budgeted at Rs 8,000 crore in 2006 but is now being estimated to cross Rs 11,000 crore, MRPL chairman RS Sharma said.

Source: The Economic Times

17th January, 2008

Vedanta invites EOIs for Orissa alumina smelter

Anil Agrawal-promoted Vedanta Aluminium Ltd has invited bids for setting up various facilities on turnkey basis at Alumina Refinery in Orissa. Vedanta Aluminium, a group company of the UK-based Vedanta Resources, has commissioned the greenfield alumina refinery at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi and is in the process of completing the alumina smelter. The company has invited bids of within a fortnight from EPC contractors having experience in design, engineering, manufacturing, erection, testing, digestion and red mud disposal. The Expression of Interest have been invited for settler and washer, evaporators, alumina handling etc, said an advertisement issued by the Vedanta Aluminium. The parent company Vedanta Resources is diversified into metals and mining group with revenues in excess of $6.5 billion. Vedanta Resources, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, has operations in Zambia and Australia and its major metal produced are aluminium, copper, zinc and lead.

Source: The Economic Times

15th January, 2008

Punjab Electricity Board invites bids for power project

Punjab State Electricity Board on Monday invited bids from domestic as well as international developers for setting up a 1,320 MW power project at Rajpura in the State. The pre-qualification bids have been invited by Nabha Power Ltd, a wholly owned special purpose vehicle of PSEB, which has been appointed as the nodal agency for executing the bidding process. The proposed coal-based power project is proposed to be awarded on the basis of tariff-based competitive bidding. The project would be set up on built, own and operate basis, PSEB said in an advertisement.

The project is a part of the state government's targeted capacity addition of 9,000 MW by the end of 11th plan period. PSEB has an installed capacity of 6,300 MW at present. The land for the project would be acquired by Nabha Power Ltd and later on handed over to selected developer after issue of a Letter of Intent. Nabha Power would also be responsible to obtain necessary coal linkages, water allocation and various other statutory clearances. The state government is reported to have identified about 1,300 acres of land. The last date of submission of prequalification bids - request for qualification - by developers is March 7. Power Finance Corp has been appointed as consultant for the project, while PSEB would procure power produced from the project.

Source: Hindu Business Line

16th January, 2008

Himachal project gest $400mn WB loan

Public sector Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (SJVNL) today signed a $400 million World Bank loan agreement for building the 412-Mw Rampur hydel project in Himachal Pradesh. The agreement was signed by SJVNL chief HKSharma and Isabella Guerrio, country director, World Bank, among other officials of the central government in New Delhi today, a SJVNL spokesman said here. The Rampur project is being built on the Sutlej river in Shimla district 130 km from here.

The project is adjacent to the country’s largest hydel project — the 1500-Mw Nathpa Jhakri project — also built and run by SJVNL, a Central government and Himachal government undertaking company. The filtered water of the Nathpa project is being used through underground tunnels by the Rampur project to bring down costs of the project. The Rampur project is slated to be commisioned by January 2012 within the 11th Plan period and will generate 1,770 million units of electricity. The Himachal government is a major beneficiary of this project.

Source: Business Standard

16th January, 2008

Vedanta plans Rs.24000 cr Orissa plant for steel foray

Non-ferrous metals giant Vedanta Resources is planning to enter the Indian steel sector with a 5 million tonne plant at an investment of about Rs 24,000 crore in Keonjhar district of Orissa and envisaging its commissioning by 2012-13. "We are impressed at the growing consumption of steel in India and are keen to enter its steel sector. We are planning to build a 5 million tonne steel plant at Keonjhar district of Orissa. If we find a suitable partner, we should be able to commission it by 2012-13 at an investment of about Rs 24,000 crore," company sources said.

Vedanta, which is the holding company of Sterlite Industries, has proposed to form a company - Sterlite Iron and Steel Company - for the project. Apart from the plant, the project would involve developing iron ore mines. The company would be a joint venture between the Vedanta group and Volcan Investments, Vedanta's holding company. The project is estimated to generate more than 7,000 jobs. The project would be a fully integrated one and its produce would range from hot rolled and cold rolled coils to long products. M N Dastur and Company has been entrusted to prepare the feasibility report of the project. For 5 MT plant, the company would require 500 million tonne of iron ore reserve, for which it is expected to apply for the necessary mining lease.

Meanwhile, Vedanta has began trial run of its Rs 3,500 crore alumina plant at Lanjigarh in Orissa but is yet to ensure adequate bauxite linkage for its different projects. "We envisage being number one producer of aluminium next year in the country," Vedanta Head Business Development C V Krishnan said.

Source: Business Standard

16th January, 2007

RIL in $6-8b coal-to-oil project

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is venturing into synthetic fuels through a $6-8 billion project that will turn coal into oil. Globally, this is called coal-to-liquid, or CTL, technology. RIL aims to produce about 80,000 barrels of oil per day through the process. The Rs 30,000 crore project will consume about 30 million tonnes of coal annually. India has 248 billion tonnes of coal reserves of which 93 billion tonnes are proven reserves. Coal-to-liquids technology converts synthesis gas into hydrocarbons, which can be converted into petrol, diesel, naphtha, chemicals and even electricity. RIL has tied up with two American companies — Texas-based KBR and Utah-based Headwaters CTL, LLC — for technology.

Sources said RIL has sought three coal blocks from the government for the CTL project. The company is likely to make a presentation to the Union ministry of coal next week. An RIL spokesperson refused to comment. Since the project requires large quantities of coal and involves open-cast mining, RIL is simultaneously pursuing underground coal gasification (UGC) projects, which are more feasible, according to a source. For this, India’s biggest private-sector refiner is in talks with British oil giant BP plc. RIL has already reached an understanding with the governments of Gujarat and Rajasthan and was also pursuing UGC projects in Madhya Pradesh, where it has been awarded blocks for coal bed methane. Sources said RIL has sought allocation of three blocks from the government —- Bankhui, Sakhigopal B and Alaknanda in the Talcher district of Orissa, which contain about 1,600 million tonnes of geological reserves. The Union Budget had last year increased the ambit of captive coal mining to include both coal gassification and liquefaction, which allowed private companies to seek coal blocks for such projects. Before that, only power, steel & iron and cement industries were allowed entry. Globally, such projects are not unusual. South Africa, the world’s leading coal miner, has produced coal-derived fuels since the 1950s.

The country currently meets nearly one-third of its gasoline and diesel needs through coal. Sasol, the South African petrochemicals giant, announced in October 2007 that it is considering investing $6 billion for CTL projects in Assam.

Source: Sify.com

14th January, 2008

Govt plans ultra-mega hydro power projects

Following the success of coal-based ultra-mega power project (UMPP), the government is now planning ultra-mega hydel projects. It is considering to replicate the model in the hydro sector by inviting tariff-based bidding for ultra-mega hydro projects. The move is aimed at harnessing the true potential of the countrys hydro sector and facilitating fast project development. “A new UMPP scheme for hydro projects may soon be announced by the power ministry. Already, a task force on hydro power set up under the directions of Prime Ministers Office (PMO) has given approval for starting UMPP for the sector and the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has formulated guidelines for implementing it, an official of the power ministry said.

The UMPP scheme is currently applicable only to 4,000 MW and above thermal power plants. Under it, tariff-based bidding is invited by shell companies floated by Power Finance Corporation (PFC). The proposed UMPP scheme for hydro projects would follow a similar model with PFC being designated the nodal agency responsible for forming shell companies and inviting and finalising bids. The shell companies would also have representation from National Hydro Electric Power Corporation (NHPC), CEA and the power ministry. The shell companies shall engage consultants for preparation of detailed project report (DPRs) and RFQ and RFP documents for the identified projects. They would also award the project to successful bidders who quote the lowest levellised tariff. It is expected that the threshold size of hydro UMPP projects would be kept at 500 MW. Only such projects would qualify as UMPP where initial works like preparation of DPR, acquisition and notification of land, application for environmental and forest clearances, and defence clearance processes have been completed by the shell company.

The first projects to be bid out under hydro UMPP scheme would be Ratle (690 MW), Kwar (520 MW and Kiru (600 MW) all in Jammu & Kashmir and Lohit (2475 MW) in Arunachal Pradesh. The DPRs of these projects are complete or are in advanced stage of completion. In the next phase, bids for Naba (100 MW), Naire (800 MW), Oju-1 (700 MW) and Oju-ii (100 MW) could be invited. “If all goes well over 10,000 MW capacity may be offered under hydro UMPP in the Eleventh Plan (2007-2012) itself,” the official said. India has an estimated hydro-power potential of 1,50,000 MW, of which only 33,700 MW has been tapped. During the new plan, about 16,500 MW of hydro electric power capacity is targeted to be added.

Source: The Econmic Times

14th January, 2008

MOU signed for construction and development of Kirtania port, Orissa

Govt inks pact with Chennai companySaturday January 12 2008 12:35 IST
The State Government on Friday signed concession agreement with Madras-based Creative Port Development private limited for construction and development of the Kirtania port at Subarnarekha mouth in Balasore district on BOOST (build, own, operate, own, share and transfer) basis.The State Government had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the company for construction of the port in December 2006. This port will cater to the needs of Orissa, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and other north eastern states.Besides, it is expected that the port will attract a large number of industries.The developer will construct the port in three phases with ten berths. The detailed project report (DPR) will be prepared by joint venture L&T and Danish company Ramboll.The port will be connected by rail line from Rupsa and road from the national highway.The first phase port will be commissioned in 2010 with four berths. The projected capacity of the port will be from 14 million tonne per annum to 50 million tonne per annum.It will handle cargo like coal, iron ore, agricultural products and machineries.There will be no displacement for construction of the port on 1,018 acres.

The concession agreement was signed by Principal Secretary in the Commerce and Transport Department Priyabrata Patnaik and Ramani Ramaswami, joint Managing Director of the company.The cost of the project has been estimated at Rs 2,187 crore and the company will operate the port for a period of 34 years including four years of construction.The company will give a share to the Government out of the gross revenue earned from the port. In first five years, the company will pay five percent of the gross revenue to the Government while from the sixth to the tenth year it will have to pay eight percent.Ten percent of the revenue will be paid by the company from the 11th to 15th year while from the 16th year to the end of lease period it will pay 12 percent.The Government has, however, agreed for a five year moratorium from the in-operation date on the shares payable by the company.The accrued amount will be paid during the subsequent five years in equal quarterly installments with simple bank interest.

Source: Newindpress.com

14th January, 2008

Neo Metaliks in steel queue

City-based Neo Metaliks has proposed a 1.5-million-tonne steel plant in Bengal. The company is the latest to join the list of firms that have queued up to build steel mills in the state, including JSW, Bhushan and Videocon. Neo Metaliks, which is part of hosiery maker Rupa Group, has applied to the state government for coal linkages and land. Director Ravi Agarwal said the company was planning to invest between Rs 2,500 crore and Rs 3,000 crore in the project.

“We need around 800-1,000 acres for this project. The government has not got back on our formal proposal but will possibly identify plots in the Durgapur-Asansol region,” he added. The company plans to make mainly long products. It has applied for iron ore blocks in Orissa and Jharkhand and coal blocks in Madhya Pradesh, Bengal and Jharkhand. The company plans to set up pellet plants near iron ore mine pitheads to use resources better. It will then bring the pellets to the Bengal plant to manufacture the final product. The steel plant will be set up in two to three years. The company has started expanding its existing business.

It has a 150,000-tonne pig iron plant in Durgapur which it wants to convert into a 500,000-tonne high-grade alloy steel or auto casting steel plant.“We are considering these two options and a decision will be taken in three to four months,” Agarwal said. The company is setting up a sinter plant and a coke oven unit to keep raw material prices in check. The cumulative investment in the expansion projects is pegged at Rs 400 crore. It will be done over the next two years. Neo Metaliks is expected to post a turnover of Rs 300 crore this year. Agarwal said the company had targeted a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore by 2009-10. The group, on the other hand, is expecting to do Rs 1,000-crore business in the next fiscal.

Source: The Telegraph

9th January, 2008

Centre reviews steel projects

The Union government has demanded action from state governments of Chattisgarh, Orissa and Jharkhand regarding the pending steel projects. An explanation for the delay has also been asked.Close to 5 million tonnes of steel is projected to be imported this year and like wheat imports in 2006-07 this is happening for the first time in more then two decades for India.Mega projects like POSCO, Arcelor Mittal, Tatas have failed to take off in the face of widespread local resistance essentially by tribals.R S Pandey, Secretary of Steel GOI said, ''People in that area are accepting that POSCO should be set up, some clearances are pending but we are confident construction will begin by April 2008.'' But this confidence of officials is not backed by ground realities. Villagers literally drove out State officials trying to acquire some 4000 acres of land for the controversial POSCO project.The central government is worried because from being an exporter India has become a net importer of steel for the first time in several decades.Already more than 4 million tonnes of steel have been imported this financial year another million tonnes could follow in the next few months.Most steel projects are being planned in these three states. Apart from POSCO there are more than 15 mega steel projects.Small projects are also stuck, mainly due to fierce protests by tribals against forced land acquisition, often abetted by the State governments. The list includes Arcelor Mittals and Tatas project in Orissa and Jharkhand. Another Tata project in Chattisgarh, Essar in Jharkhand and Jindals in Jharkhand and Chattisgarh.Pandey said, ''We are hopeful that with the new land acquisition act in place this process could be expedited.'' Apart from local resistance, environmental concerns have also held up steel projects. POSCO which is likely to impact more than 21,000 people in Orissa, is yet to get the Supreme Court's nod for acquiring forest land.In neighbouring Chhattisgarh some 17 proposals involving forest land are pending with the centre. An inter-ministerial committee headed by the Union steel secretary will now be meeting shortly to find a way out of this mess. But the real solution lies in better evaluation of human costs and unless this is sorted out any resolution will be impossible.

Source: NDTV.com

11th January, 2008

ICML looks at rolling out premium car and SUV and increasing its tractors capacity

A Sonalika Group company, International Cars & Motors (ICML) is looking at launching a premium car and a sports utility vehicle (SUV) in collaboration with Pininfarina, reports agency sources. Pininfarina is an Italian design house. It is believed that, during the Auto Expo this week, the details of the new product would be known. The company would be using the technology of Pininfarina to launch a world car and a SUV. These new launches are likely to be rolled out from a separate facility at Himachal Pradesh and the work is also believed to be under way for this. It will have a capacity to manufacture 5,000 units a month. However, the investment involved in the project is not yet known.

Also, International Tractors, the flagship company of the group, is increasing its tractors` capacity by 40,000 units to 80,000 units at Bihar, sources said.

Source: Myiris.com

9th January, 2008

Bharati Shipyard to set up shipbuilding yard at Dabhol

Bharati Shipyard said on Thursday that it would be setting up a new shipbuilding yard at Usgaon near Dabhol port in Maharashtra, at an estimated cost of Rs 600 crore. The proposed yard, which will have the capacity to build up to 1-lakh DWT vessels in the first phase, is scheduled to be completed in two years. The yard would be spread over an area of 250 acres, of which Bharati has already acquired 180 acres.

Source: Hindu Business Line

10th January, 2008

Barak Valley to commence production in Badarpur Energy

Barak Valley Cements announced that the project of establishing 6 MW biomass based thermal power plant in the name of Badarpur Energy is completed. This plant is now ready to commence commercial production. The management of the company decided to commission the commercial production in this plant in the month January 2008.Badarpur Energy was formed to establish a 6 MW bio-mass based multi-fuel thermal power plant at Devendra Nagar, Badarpurghat, Assam.

The 6 MW biomass power generating unit will use husk, major by-product of rice industry as a fuel for generating power. The average cost of power is estimated to be about Rs 2.20 per unit. The power generated by this plant will meet the entire energy requirement of the cement production facility and contribute towards conservation of fossil-fuels. This multi-fuel, environment-friendly power plant will be the first of its kind in the North-East.

The entire expansion plan of the company under execution is also likely to be completed as per schedule. The cement capacity expansion to 1050 TPD was scheduled to complete by end of April 2008 and it is expected to be completed by February, 2008, the company said.

Source: Myiris.com

9th January, 2008

Tata Steel gears up for another century

100 seems the magical figure for Tata Steel this year. As India's oldest steel company completes 100 years, it is all set to cross the magical figure of Rs 100 thousand crore in turnover this year. CNBC-TV18’s Kenan Machado and Krupali Pandit Yadav report, that Tata Steel won't just stop there. Life seems to have come full circle for Tata Steel. Having started operations in 1907, India's largest private steel maker sees its turnover for fiscal 2008 slightly more than Rs 100,000 crore or nearly USD 25 billion. And that's thanks to its USD 12.9 billion acquisition of Corus early last year.

B Muthuraman, MD, Tata Steel said, “The Corus turnover is USD 18 billion and Tata Steel turnover is about USD 6 billion, which is USD 24 billion. Between Natsteel Asia and Tata Steel Thailand it’s more than a billion and a half.” But age hasn't seemed to have slowed down the steel giant. Having had to move the setting up of a new 6 million tonne steel plant within Orissa to Kalinganagar, from Gopalpur, Tata Steel has turned a roadblock into an opportunity. It plans to set up a new 150,000 tonne colour coated galvanizing plant in Gopalpur with an investment of Rs 250 crore rupees. And 3,200 acres of land acquired for the original steel plant there won't be wasted either.

“As you know, Gopalpur is SEZ land and we are looking for partners who will come and implement it,” Muthuraman said. It is also getting a fresh lease of life from the beleaguered Chattisgarh and Jharkhand projects. While work on the Chhattisgarh project will start this year and be commissioned four years later, work on the new 12 million tonne project in Jharkhand will start in 2009 and will be commissioned in 2013. That, it seems, may be enough tonic for Tata Steel to face another century.

Source: Moneycontrol.com

7th January, 2008

IOC set to start preliminary feasibility studay for PCPIR at Nayachar

Indian Oil Corporation is geared up to start a preliminary feasibility study for the petroleum, chemicals and petrochemicals investment region (PCPIR) at Nayachar. IOC plans are to connect its existing project in Haldia with its Nayachar project to create an integrated petroleum complex. Currently, IOC is awaiting a formal letter from the government identifying the island as the chosen site for the hub. The Indonesia-based Salim Group, which will develop Nayachar as the site for the chemical hub, has started soil tests. IOC will be the anchor investor. IOC has asked for an additional 84 acres to expand capacity of its Haldia refinery from 6 mln tons to 7.5 mln tons - a proposal that has been cleared by the Union fertiliser ministry. The expansion now awaits clearance from the Calcutta Port Trust. IOC also wants to build a paraxylene plant to supply feedstock material to Mitsubishi Chemicals plant- clearance for which is awaited shortly.

Source: Plastmart.com

7th January, 2008

Nuclear Power Corporation gets Rs.2000 cr for equipment procurement

Undeterred by the uncertainties over the Indo-US civilian nuclear cooperation deal, state-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd is going ahead with its plans to set up the country's first 700 MW generating units.The Centre recently sanctioned Rs 2,000 crore to NPCIL for advanced procurement of equipment for four 700 MW plants of pressurized heavy water reactors. The company has placed its orders with state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.NPCIL, which commissioned two 540 MW plants at Tarapur in the last couple of years, now will have to scale up for the four 700 MW units that require huge turbines. In order to have a good pricing mechanism, NPCIL has placed an order for eight of these turbines, NPCIL sources said.The Centre has also given clearance for pre-project activities of four 1,000 MW units each and the work will begin shortly, the sources said.The Centre has also sanctioned up to Rs 18,000 crore for Kakrapar units 3 and 4 and Rajasthan units 7 and 8. In Maharashtra, at Jaitapur in Ratnagiri district that will behousing up to 10,000 MW nuclear power plants after the Indo-US deal comes through, the land acquisition process was nearing completion, and the pre-project work was on, NPCIL said.At Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu, sources said, the first unit was expected to reach advanced stages of completion by this December end. NPCIL at a function this month erected the reactor pressure vessel of Kudankulam unit 2 which is expected to become operational in 2009.The country's first Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) has made a lot of progress with its safety vessel erection, the most difficult process, completing last month. Plans have been drawn to have four ore FBRs by 2020, two at Kalpakkam site, NPCIL Chairman S K Jain said. The sites for others are yet to be identified, he said.India's nuclear power programme witnessed ups and down last year with fuel mismatch making 14 operating reactors of the total 17 reactors run almost below 50 per cent average capacity factor even as a new uranium mill was commissioned in the middle of the year at Jadhuguda to double fuel production. NPCIL's hope has also brightened with the starting of uranium mining in Andhra Pradesh and the recent environmental clearance for better grade uranium mines in Meghalaya.Regarding efforts by NPCIL to overcome short-term shortage of uranium fuel, the company's engineers said they have developed in-house a new strategy for reactor operation with a reconfigured reactor core. Earlier, the company was consuming about 27 kg uranium fuel for generating one million units of power but now only 20 kg was required, they said.The company's profit during 2006-07 slipped to Rs 151 crore compared to the highest profit during the year 2003-04 which was at Rs 2604 crore, when the plants were operating at little above 80 per cent capacity factor."With the new mill began operating at Turamdinh in Jharkhand for doubling the production of yellow cake, and ground breaking of a new mine in Andhra Pradesh, we expect to go full capacity in the next four years," said Jain.NPCIL is also working on diversification programmes to set up wind and hydro energy projects.Jain said NPCIL which began the operation of 10 MW wind farm in Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu in January last year, has plans to set up projects at several sites across the country.NPCIL is also working closely with Tehri Hydroelectric Development Corporation Ltd for building hydroelectric projects, including schemes for pump storage.The Maharashtra government has asked NPCIL to carry out the feasibility studies on pumped storage schemes, Jain added.

Source: Udayavani

8th January, 2008

Reliance, HPCL to revive 12 sugar mills in Bihar

In a development that could mark heavy investment in Bihar, and open the doors for more investments in the future, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance group and public sector oil behemoth Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL), besides other players are all set to take over the 12 closed state-owned sugar mills on a long-term lease basis. In the competitive bidding invited to take over the sugar mills, Reliance emerged as the highest bidder for the Motipur sugar mills while HPCL managed to ‘outbid’ the other interested players for wresting control of the three other closed mills. SBI Capital, which was engaged by the state government to oversee the bidding process will now submit its report before the latter hands over the LoI to successful bidders. “After completing the required formalities, the government will sign agreements with each bidder for transfer of the mills assets to the bidders. All this should be settled within a month or two,” the cane development minister Nitish Mishra told ET. The state government is satisfied that big players like Reliance, HPCL, Upper Ganges and several others are willing to bet on Bihar. “Things are changing for the better in Bihar and the players are no more shy of investing here”said a cane department official. In fact, Jindal steel and other public sector oil companies were also keen on participating in the competitive bidding, but unfortunately they could not do so,” said a cane department official. Both Reliance and HPCL were among those who had bid for the Motipur mill. Reliance, however, managed to edge out HPCL by a very slender difference in the bid amount. “The bid offer made by Reliance for the takeover of the Motipur sugar mill was Rs 57 crore against Rs 56 crore of HPCL,” according to a government official, who conceded a difference of Rs 1 crore allowed Reliance to emerge as the highest bidder. Both Reliance and HPCL, besides Upper Ganges, were also locked in the bid for the takeover of the Hathau sugar mill. HPCL emerged as the highest bidder. Ironically, the bid amount of all the interested parties for the Hathua mill was below the reserved price of Rs 71 crore fixed by the government. Sources said that the state government had the right to settle the deal in favour of HPCL even though the bid amount was below the reserved price. “After all, it was a competitive bidding process, and the reserved price of Rs 71 crore may not reflect the real value,” observed an official who was involved with the bidding process. Apart from the Hathua sugar mill, HPCL emerged as the highest bidder for the takeover of the Sugauli and Lauriya sugar mills. Given the fact that the centre has made mandatory reforms for ethanol blending, both Reliance and HPCL will essentially utilise the sugar units for ethanol production. The Lohat sugar mill is likely to be bagged by New Delhi-based RollCOM project, which emerged as the highest bidder for this unit. The state government had appointed SBI Caps as a consultant to conduct a diagnostic study for the revival of the 15 closed state-owned sugar mills and two distilleries. In its report submitted to the government, SBI Caps made a case for the revival of only eight sugar mills while the seven other closed units were deemed as unviable for sugar production. On the basis of the report, the state government decided to invite bids for the takeover of the 15 mills, eight units for revival and seven other for non-sugar industrial use. Out of the eight closed mills, which were identified by SBI caps as revival units for sugar production, bid offer for their takeover, was however, made for only five units by the Reliance, HPCL and Rollcom projects. That there was no response for the three closed revival units will indeed cause worry for the state government. “We will take a decision in due course of time,” said the cane minister. Interestingly , SS Infrastructure made the highest bid for producing sugar in the Rayam sugar mill even though the SBI caps had declared that the unit was unviable for sugar production. As for the other six closed units, which were identified as unviable units for sugar production, the Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority (BIADA) emerged as the sole highest bidder. Official sources said the BIADA will develop the land coming under the jurisdiction of the six mills for industrial use.

Source: The Economic Times

5th January, 2008

Sail to invest Rs.10000 cr for expansion of RSP

As steel major - POSCO - plans to set up a 12 MTPA project in Orissa, SAIL on Friday said it is investing Rs 10,000 crore for modernisation and expansion of its Rourkela steel plant. Union Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on the sidelines of foundation-laying of the plant's expansion, "The Steel Authority of India Ltd has signed MoU for only technical cooperation with the POSCO for better coordination." Referring to the merger of Nilachal Ispat Nigam Ltd of Orissa with SAIL, the steel minister said it required clearance from the state government and after the formalities, there would be no problem for the SAIL to go ahead with the plan. Paswan said he would speak to the Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for pending renewal of the mining lease of mines in the state. As the production after modernisation and expansion of the Rourkela steel plant would increase, the SAIL required more mines and oars, he said.

Source: The Economic Times

6th January, 2008

Paradip-Haldia pipeline to go on stream soon

The 330-km Paradip-Haldia crude oil pipeline of Indian Oil Corporation(IOC) will go on stream in four to six weeks, chairman Sarthak Behuria said today.The Rs 1,178 crore pipeline was originally scheduled to be commissioned in March 2006 but the project got delayed as the work on setting up a single point mooring and storage facility at Paradip was stalled due to issues ranging from technical problems to the replacement of the contractor.Behuria admitted that IOC had run into rough weather relating to the last point connection at Paradip.He was talking to reporters on the sidelines of Intaglio, an international B-school meet, hosted by the Indian Institute of Management in the city.Crude from vessels would be stored in Paradip and pumped through the pipeline to Haldia.Apart from ensuring assured supply of large volume of crude, the pipeline project will reduce the transportation cost substantially to the refineries in Haldia and Barauni.IOC’s Haldia refinery will benefit the most from this pipeline and is expecting a net positive impact of $1 per barrel in its gross refining margin.In another development, Behuria was scheduled to call on West Bengal Chief Minister later today but refused to divulge the agenda of his meeting."IOC is keen on setting up a petrochemical unit at the proposed PCPIR (petroleum, chemical and petrochemicals) hub at Nayachar but we have not received any communication from the government of West Bengal so far," Behuria said.

Source: Business Standard

5th January, 2007

Ground work for JSW Steel's Bengal project to start in Feb 08

Sajjan Jindal-owned JSW Steel will start the site work for the 10-million tonne project in West Bengal in the first week of February, a year after it had signed the development agreement with the state government. "It will be a gala event as we commence the site work for our project in West Bengal. This will happen in the first week of February," a company official said. The company had signed the development agreement with the state government to put up the integrated plant with Rs 35,000 crore investment at Salboni near Kharagpur. The Phase I, with a capacity of three million tonne, would see investment of Rs 10,000 crore and go on stream in three years from now. A brain child of the late O P Jindal, father of JSW Steel's Vice Chairman and Managing Director Sajjan Jindal, the project too courted controversies over land acquisition. But the company was able to reach to an amicable solution with the landowners by offering stock options and reasonably good compensations. In fact, JSW Steel is the first entity Indian corporate history to offer stock options for land acquisitions. JSW Steel formed a special purpose joint venture with two state government entities with an authorised capital of Rs 100 crore in which JSW Group hold the majority 89 per cent stake. The company has already got possession order of 4,300 acres of land from the state government, but to source iron ore for the project it would have to depend on the market. It is taking efforts to secure linkages of iron ore. It would revive two closed blocks in Kulti for coal. JSW Steel currently produces around 6.8 million tonne in its Vijaynagar facility where capacity expansion to go up to 10 million is currently on. It merged SISCOL with itself. SISCOL produces one million tonne steel. Capacity expansion is also being thought upon here as well.

Source: Economic Times

6th January, 2008

2007: Year of new landmarks, strategic initiative by SAIL

Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) ended the calendar year 2007 with landmark achievements in all key operational areas, be it production, sales, productivity, techno-economics or project implementation, with highest-ever capacity utilisation of 116%. The company's success was widely recognised by various institutions of repute through awards/accolades, notable among which are the SCOPE Gold Trophy for Excellence & Outstanding Contribution to Public Sector Management for 2006-07, India's Employer of Choice Award 2007 by CNBC-TV18 and Watson Wyatt, Businessworld-FICCI-SEDF CSR Award 2006, Prime Minister's Shram Awards to 10 employees, Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar to 41 employees (over 40% of the total awards given), etc.

Production:

The company touched new peaks in production with hot metal output of 15 million tonnes, crude steel of 14 million tonnes and saleable steel of nearly 13 million tonnes. With finished steel production touching 11 million tonnes, its proportion in saleable steel rose from 81% in 2006 to 83% in the just-concluded year. Highest-ever continuous casting of 8.7 million tonnes was also achieved during 2007 with a growth of 6% over the previous year. Substantially higher volumes of value-added items like high corrosion resistant TMT wire & rounds, SAILMA structurals, electrode quality wire rods, HR coils/plates/sheets for LPG manufacturers and 90 UTS rails were produced. Major techno-economic parameters like coke rate and energy consumption were further improved during 2007. Best-ever coke rate of 535 kg/tonne of hot metal and specific power consumption of 460 kwh/tonne of saleable steel were achieved.

Mines & collieries

The captive mines of SAIL achieved record production of 26 million tonnes of iron ore during 2007 and met 100% of the requirement of the SAIL plants. Thrust was given on expansion of the existing iron ore mines and proposals for development of new mines were taken up on priority. Inhouse coal production was also given a thrust, resulting in 59% improvement in output during the year.

Marketing:

While notching up highest-ever sales of nearly 12 million tonnes during 2007, SAIL strengthened its countrywide marketing network by appointing over 700 new dealers. As on date, there are 1,283 dealers covering all districts of the country, helping to improve reach of steel materials to all corners of the country.

Capital projects:

During 2007, SAIL gave the go-ahead for a record investment of more than Rs. 40,000 crore for expansion & modernisation of its steel plants at Bhilai, Rourkela, Durgapur, Burnpur and Salem. Several major projects under the company's ongoing expansion & modernisation plan 2010 were commissioned during the year. These included technological upgradation of blast furnaces, rebuilding of coke oven batteries, modernisation and expansion of finishing mills, etc. At present, 42 projects involving more than Rs. 5,500 crore investment are under implemention.

Several new strategic initiatives were taken to consolidate the company's future. These include: Formation of a special purpose vehicle with NTPC, RINL and NMDC for acquiring equity stakes in coal mines abroad.

Formation of a joint venture (JV) company with M/s Jaypee Associates for a 2.2 million tonne cement plant at Bhilai. Similar JVs are being set up at Bokaro and Rourkela. Further expansion of captive power plants undertaken, with initiative to set up wind power units in Tamil Nadu. MoU with RINL and NMDC to set up a 4 million tonne integrated steel plant in Chhattisgarh. MoU with POSCO, Korea to establish a strategic alliance for aligning and cooperating in a wide range of strategic business and commercial interest areas.

Initiative to develop Special Economic Zone at Salem with M/s IL&FSIDC in advanced stage of approval. Approval for setting up 8 steel processing units in 7 states where SAIL does not have a manufacturing base. This will help in downstream processing of SAIL products, adding value to and widening the product portfolio.

Human resource development:

Even as the company achieved highest-ever labour productivity of 218 tonnes/man/year in 2007, up by 9%, several new initiatives were introduced in the HR area during the year in order to achieve consistent growth and foster a motivational climate, including ingenious reward and motivation schemes related to daily performances, resulting in enhanced level of performance and employee satisfaction, and a major to provide better exposure to large number of employees, both workmen and executives, through visits to sister units, other companies in India and abroad.
Contribution to society:

SAIL continued to enhance its activities in the area of corporate social responsibility during 2007. Among the major initiatives were setting up 5 schools in steel townships providing completely free education, including midday meals, transport, etc., for underprivileged children living in peripheral areas; opening of 4 free health centres in steel townships; holding over 235 health camps in 10 states to provide free medical check-ups, path lab treatment, medicines, immunisation, etc., to over 4.5 lakh people; and adoption of 79 villages in 8 states for comprehensive development as model steel villages.

Special/new products:

SAIL continued to develop and commercialise new products during 2007. Some of the special quality steels supplied for high technology applications through special development efforts included IS 2062 grade C plates for construction of a railway bridge on the Chenab river by the Konkan Railways; DMR 249 grade steel to the Indian Navy for manufacture of India's first indigenous aircraft carrier/battleship; GOST/NES grade plates to the Indian Navy for repairs/maintenance of warships; High tensile plates for manufacturing of instantaneous/temporary bridges during movement of troops and materials in border/unconnected areas; IS 2062 copper bearing structurals for border fencing; Jackal/Spade steel plates for Army tanks/armoured vehicles; Corrosion resistant and micro-alloyed rails for various applications of Indian Railways, etc.

Source: Moneycontrol.com

2nd January, 2007

Singur plant to roll out first Tata samll car

The assembly and roll-out of Tata Motors' small car would be from the Singur plant in the state and not from Pune or Uttarakhand as speculated, a West Bengal government official claimed on Thursday. A high-level official of West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) said that the roll-out would be made from the Singur assembly plant, whose civil construction was nearing completion. "It would be silly if the company rolled out the small car from a different plant," the official said.

However, a Tata Motors' official, when asked on the company's decision on location of the roll-out of the low-cost car, said "We expect to start commercial production in the middle of next financial year as stated in earlier occasions." The WBIDC official said that although the company planned to showcase the car at the upcoming Auto Expo at New Delhi this month, it would be a prototype from the Pune plant. He said the company had not changed the deadline of rolling out the car during the middle of the current year. "The car would roll out during the middle of 2008."
Test run of the car would take place during April this year, he said.

The mother plant would require 640 acre and the vendor park 290 acre. Already, nearly 55 vendors have agreed to come to Singur, with a promised investment of Rs 2,200 crore. This was in addition to the Rs 1500-crore investment to be made by Tata Motors at the plant. To speed up construction work, Tata Motors would switch from two-shift to three-shift operations, he said.

Source: The Hindu

3rd January, 2008

Rotterdam Port call on L&T for a tie-up

Attracted by growth opportunities, the Port of Rotterdam Authority, which operates one of the largest ports in the world, has opened negotiations with India’s biggest engineering and construction firm Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T) for investing in a greenfield port in India. A formal announcement of a deal could come as early as later this month. “This is one market that we cannot afford to ignore,” said a Port of Rotterdam executive, who didn’t want to be named. “We are exploring opportunities for port business in India and are in talks with L&T. We believe that 2008 will be a critical year for the project, when we may make an announcement. A high-level delegation from the Netherlands will be in India this month to discuss the plans and work out the modalities.”
He declined to say what locations are being considered for the proposed port. M.V. Kotwal, senior executive vice-president and member of the board, L&T, confirmed the development, saying: “They have initiated talks with us, but it is too premature to comment.”

Port of Rotterdam is looking to use the joint venture to acquire 5,000 acres, but will outsource port operations under a revenue sharing arrangement. Explaining the business plan, the Port of Rotterdam executive said the company aims to develop and provide land and infrastructure, do mapping, coordinate marine traffic, issue rules, regulations and permits, and market the port overseas. “We have done the appraisal study and plan to develop it (much like the) Sohar port in Oman,” he said. “A special economic zone (SEZ) will be part of the new port.”

The Sohar port is a 50:50 joint venture between the government of Oman and Port of Rotterdam.
Indeed, L&T is setting up a modular fabrication facility at the Sohar port at an investment of $40 million (Rs158 crore). The facility will fabricate integrated decks of 10,000-20,000 tonnes, jack-up rigs, and so-called floating production storage and offloading vessels. The facility is being set up by L&T Modular Fabrication Yard Llc. with Zubair Corp., a local partner. L&T is among the 13 firms that have been shortlisted for developing nine new ports in Gujarat, where it is the lone bidder for the Sutrapada port project. These nine ports will be awarded to private operators for a period of 30 years.

The company also has plans to set up the country’s biggest shipbuilding facility at Kattupalli in Tamil Nadu, in an effort to tap growing domestic and global demand for ships. L&T will invest around Rs3,000 crore in the shipyard and port project, and will build cargo ships, warships and offshore oil rigs. “This would be significant for the Indian port sector as the Port of Rotterdam has been watching and waiting for opportunities in the Indian port sector for a long time. They have been associated as a consultant for the Indian port sector for long. It remains to be seen whether the proposed port will be a container or a bulk port. Without including the SEZ, the minimum estimated investment will be of $500 million, which is inclusive of breakwater cost,” predicted Arvind Mahajan, executive director at audit and advisory firm KPMG. L&T posted a net profit of Rs2,261 crore in the year ended March 2007 on sales of Rs20,348 crore.

India already has 12 major ports and 187 non-major ports, which handle more than 90% of foreign trade. These 12 Union government-run ports— Chennai, Cochin, Ennore, Jawaharlal Nehru, Kolkata (including Haldia), Kandla, Marmugao, Mumbai, New Mangalore, Paradip, Tuticorin and Visakhapatanam— have a capacity to handle 508 million tonnes per annum of cargo.

Source: Livemint.com

3rd January, 2008

West Bengal forms expert committee on chemical hub

The West Bengal government Wednesday formed an environmental expert committee to monitor all activities in East Midnapore's Nayachar Island for locating there a chemical hub after Nandigram was abandoned for the project in the face of stiff resistance from villagers. "We have formed an environmental expert committee, headed by former chairman and managing director of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Subir Raha, to look into all the environmental aspects of the project," Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee told a press conference after a cabinet meeting here.

The committee will give its suggestions to the government on setting up the chemical hub project at Nayachar, a 40 sq km island in the Hooghly river about 150 km from Kolkata.A high-level steering committee chaired by the chief minister would also be set up to monitor the project on regular basis. State cabinet ministers, including Industry Minister Nirupam Sen, will be its members. It will facilitate execution of four sanctioned projects, including the chemical hub at Nayachar, with Indonesia-based Salim group. With Nandigram in revolt, the proposed chemical hub was shifted to Nayachar, where the state government owns 11,000 hectares of land. The Haldia Development Authority (HDA) also owns some land. The Geological Survey of India (GSI) has also conducted a study at Nayachar before setting up the project there. Wednesday's cabinet meeting also decided that the district magistrate will suggest suitable land to the government for any project, keeping in mind the loss to and displacement of local people, Bhattacharya said.

Source: Khabrein.info

2nd January, 2008

Tata Power, Monnet Ispat, Jindal Photo to form coal JV

Tata Power Company (TPC), Monnet Ispat and Energy and Jindal Photo Film are forming a joint venture company to develop a 290-million tonne (MT) coal mine at Mandakini in Orissa. The companies, which are building power plants of 1,000 mega watt (MW) each in the state, will hold equal stakes in the JV mining company and consume coal in equal proportion. The development, industry observers say, is another instance of corporate houses coming together to meet raw material needs at a time when the demand is fast outstripping supply.

Currently, Tata Power is jointly developing a coal block with AV Birla flagship company Hindalco Industries in Jharkhand. Similarly, Hindalco and Essar Power, through their JV firm Mahan Coal Company, are developing coal mines at the Mahan block of Sidhi-Singrauli fields in Madhya Pradesh. According to sources, the Tatas, Monnet and Jindal are setting up pit-head power plants in Orissa, having a cumulative capacity of 3,000 MW, with an aggregate investment of over Rs 12,000 crore. “The MoU for the power projects had been signed in mid-2006. However, it has been awaiting coal linkage,” sources said. Confirming the allocation of the coal mine for the pit-head project in Orissa, a TPC official said: “Each company will have the right to consume almost 98 MT coal from the reserve in Mandakini. The power projects are expected to come up by 2012.” A major part of the power generated from the projects will be used for captive purposes. Monnet Ispat has signed an MoU with the Orissa government to set up a 0.25 MT steel plant with an investment of Rs 255 crore. For supporting the steel plant with power, the company will set up a 600 MW project in the first phase, which will be expanded to 1,000 MW in the second phase, said sources. In September 2006, TPC had signed an MoU with the Orissa government to set up a 1,000 MW coal-fired power project. The company is looking to add another 1,000 MW in the second phase. TPC is also setting up captive power plants for Tata Steel’s expansion projects in Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Jharkhand. In the Tata-Hindalco JV, the latter holds a 70% stake. The mines allotted to Hindalco and the Tatas are located in Palamau, near Latehar, where the Birla company is setting up its greenfield project.

Source: The Economic Times

2nd January, 2008