MSEB discontinues load-shedding on power availability from eastern region
Mumbai: Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB), which was until recently carrying out a daily load-shedding of 1,100 mw to 2,500 mw, has discontinued it since last four days thanks to the availability of about 900 mw from the eastern region (ER). MSEB was able to meet its daily demand of 12,500 mw without resorting to a load-shedding. MSEB, which has been the largest beneficiary of the ER power, was saving about Rs three crore daily as it was drawing the ER power above 49.5 Hz frequency.
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Trai QoS measurement to benefit VSNL most
Mumbai: Tata Group-owned Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) will be one of the biggest beneficiaries once the Quality of ILD Services (QoS) measurement is implemented by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). Industry sources said, "The biggest beneficiary of the QoS implementation will be VSNL which has the infrastructure using a combination of cable and satellite bandwidth with many Point of Presence (POP) and employs Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technology." Sources added, "The new operators offering rock-bottom prices using the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology may find it a bit difficult once the measurement system is launched."
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Adams to be part of Cadbury India's mass markets division
Mumbai: Cadbury India has completed the preliminary process of assessing all the brands of Adams, which is being totally integrated into the company. Adams will now be part of the Mass Markets division of Cadbury India. Cadbury India is optimistic about the takeover of the Adams range, with significant synergies available to the business. "Adams will not exist as a separate entity, but will form a part of the Mass Markets division of CIL. It will be totally integrated into CIL," a company spokesperson said.
Some Adams brands have very strong equity in the Indian market. Cadbury India feels that the new portfolio will evolve over a period of time.
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Gail signs deals with 3 fert firms to sell natural gas
New Delhi: In a major departure from the prevailing highly subsidised gas pricing norm, state-run gas firm Gail (India) has struck a deal with three fertiliser and power firms for selling natural gas from Ravva satellite fields at market price. "We have signed agreements to sell 0.9 million standard cubic metres per day of gas from Ravva satellite fields, off the Andhra coast, at market price," Gail chairman and managing director Proshanto Banerjee said. Gail will sell gas from the Ravva satellite fields to Nagarjuna Fertiliers, Lanco Group's power project in Kondapalli and GVK's Spectrum power project, all in Andhra Pradesh, at $3 per million BTU (British Thermal Unit) as opposed to the prevailing subsidised rate of $1.44 per million BTU for gas from other fields.
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MobileFirst STD rates now cheaper by up to 30 per cent
New Delhi: MobileFirst, an alliance of cellular operators BPL Mobile, Escotel, RPG Cellular and Spice on Sunday announced new outgoing rates which are 20 to 30 per cent cheaper for long distance calls from mobile phones and two new post-paid tariff plans. The new rates are effective from May 1, 2003. In pre-paid tariff package for MobileFirst subscribers, local outgoing calls can be made to landlines at a flat rate of Rs 3 per minute, including the 'PSTN' charges. In the new Interconnect Usage Charge (IUC) regime, the STD calling rates for distances less than 200 km have come down to a single composite rate of Rs 3.50 per minute for calling all landlines, mobile phones and WLL (wireless in local loop) phones.
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Toyota to phase out Qualis
Bangalore: Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd has decided to phase out its flagship brand Qualis and replace it with a new multi-purpose vehicle, which will be launched globally during the later part of the year. Sources told that the new MPV to be launched in India would be the same as the one that will be launched globally. The plan to introduce a new MPV and phase out Qualis was unveiled at a recent suppliers' meet organised by the company, sources said. One of the main criticisms against Qualis was that Toyota had launched in the Indian market a model that was dated and was at the end of its life. However, the company redesigned the vehicle for Indian conditions and Qualis went on to post good sales for Toyota-Kirloskar Motor redefining the Indian MPV segment.
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NTPC bags US award
New Delhi: National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has been awarded the `Climate Protection Award 2003' by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). According to an official release, the award has been conferred on the power generation major for transferring technology to India and implementing it successfully to reduce the plant emissions through efficiency improvement.
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