Reliance's 3,500mw gas-based power plant in UP
New Delhi: Reliance Industries has announced its plans to set up the world's largest power plant in Uttar Pradesh, having a capacity of around 3,500mw. "The project will produce power at a cost of around Rs 2 per unit and will operate on domestic natural gas produced from Reliance's gas fields in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin in Andhra Pradesh," Anil Ambani, vice-chairman, Reliance Industries, said.

The project, which will be completed in phases of 1,000mw to 1,500mw each, will entail an investment of Rs 10,000 crore. The first phase will be completed in three years' time. RIL is in the process of selecting a project site. The power produced from the project will serve Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and other northern states like Rajasthan.
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ECIL gets two orders for toll collection system
Hyderabad: Electronics Corporation of India (ECIL) has announced the rollout of an electronic toll collection (ETC) system that has helped the company bag two orders worth Rs 4 crore from the Andhra Pradesh Transport Department and Rewa Toll Ways of Madhya Pradesh road projects.

With this system, vehicles having to pass the tollgate will first pass through a sensor system embedded on the highway just before the tollgate. This system helps electronically classify the vehicle, capture images of the vehicle, calculate and print the amount to be paid by the vehicle owner, according to ECIL.
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H-P agrees to Rs 850 as exit price for Digital GlobalSoft
Bangalore: Hewelett-Packard has accepted a final exit price of Rs 850 for each share of Digital Globalsoft Ltd, which it is buying back through a reverse book-building process in a bid to make it a 100 per cent subsidiary and de-list its shares.

HP had earlier said it would pay Rs 750 per share of Digital in its buy-back process and had earmarked about Rs 1,000 crore. Digital GlobalSoft, in a notice to the Bombay Stock Exchange on Tuesday, said it had received the formal communication from HP (the ultimate parent of Compaq Computer Holdings Ltd) pursuant to the conclusion of the reverse book building process conducted by HP.
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Tata unit, Saba Soles in JV with Italian companies
Chennai: Tata International's leather division and Saba Soles have set up joint ventures with Italian companies in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry respectively to manufacture soles for footwear. Tata's venture with Europlastica Moda is based at Irungattukottai, southwest of Chennai. Saba Soles has joined hands with Mondial Soule to put up a plant in Pondicherry.

S Audiseshiah, executive director of the Council for Leather Exports, linked the development to the increasing importance of Indian leather footwear industry in the global trade, says a business newspaper.
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TN Petroproducts is through with debt-swap exercise
Chennai: Tamilnadu Petroproducts Ltd has just completed a debt-swap exercise that will save the company at least Rs 4 crore in interest costs next year. The company borrowed about Rs 115 crore at an interest rate of around nine per cent and closed the existing loans that carried a 13.5 per cent interest rate.

It borrowed Rs 100 crore and Rs 15 crore from two private banks, company sources told a newspaper. Last year, TPL's interest costs amounted to around Rs 35 crore. The company has decided to set up a subsidiary to run two bio-mass power plants that will supply electricity to two other group companies, Manali Petro and Tuticorin Alkalies. The Tuticorin Alkalies project will be a 3-MW co-generation plant that will produce both steam and electricity. The Manali Petro project comprises two units of 2.5-MW capacity each.
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Spartek mulls over major consolidation scheme
Hyderabad: Spartek Ceramics India Ltd, the Chennai-based ceramic tiles, granite and sanitaryware company, has now shifted its focus from turnaround to consolidation at an outlay of over Rs 100 crore.

The consolidation process includes inducting foreign investments of around Rs 40 crore, setting up new plant in the Krishna-Godavari basin at an investment of around Rs 50 crore and a joint venture in Gujarat, for which the investments and capacities were currently being worked out, Spartek Ceramics managing director T Krishnaprasad said. He said the CDR programme involved prepayment in return for debt reduction and substitution of high-cost debt with lower interest loans.
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