Malaysian PM keen on alliance with India for bids abroad
Bangalore: Malaysia is keen on forging an alliance with India to bid for projects in other countries in the technology and services sector. It is also interested in taking a look at the prospects in India, particularly in business process outsourcing, bio-technology, pharmaceuticals, the film industry and higher education.

The Malaysian Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said that the two countries, with their fast growing strength in IT and other areas, could accelerate the growth in bilateral trade and economic relations. Ahmad was addressing the Confederation of Indian Industry (Karnataka).

Badawi also said he was awaiting the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh's visit to his country to give shape to the aspirations of the two countries in adding a new dimension to the proposed Free Trade Agreement by including a comprehensive list of areas such as education, human resource development and agriculture.
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Cabinet clears INSAT- 4D/GSAT-5 project
New Delhi: The Union Cabinet has given its nod for undertaking the GSAT-5/INSAT- 4D spacecraft project at a total cost of Rs123.75 crore. The total cost includes a foreign exchange component of Rs83.25 crore. The project will enable telecom and TV operators to use the Indian National Satellite System, officials have said. The project would come up within eighteen months from the date of commencement.

The launch of high-powered INSAT-4D/GSAT-5 satellite with 24 C-band transponders - 12 with India coverage and 12 with expanded coverage - will enhance capacity in the INSAT system considerably providing much needed back-up to the present C-band capacity.

This satellite will provide C-band transponders available from foreign satellites systems in the Indian Ocean region.
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Infrastructure growth higher at 5.8 per cent year on year
New Delhi: The official six-industry infrastructure index has registered a 5.8 per cent year-on-year growth during April-November this year, against 5.4 per cent during the corresponding eight-month period of 2003.

Growth has been led by the energy sector, with rates during April-November being 3.3 per cent in crude petroleum (against minus 0.9 per cent during April-November 2003), 7.2 per cent in coal (3.1 per cent) and 6.8 per cent in electricity (3.2 per cent).

Only in the case of refined petro-products has growth been lower at 6.3 per cent (6.9 per cent). Output of finished steel has also increased by only 4.4 per cent year-on-year during April-November 2004, compared with last year's corresponding figure of 11.9 per cent, even as the growth rate for cement has been higher at 6.7 per cent (5.6 per cent).

During the latest recorded month of November, the overall index grew year-on-year by 5 per cent, against 6 per cent in the same month last year.
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$400 million ADB loan to upgrade power transmission grid
New Delhi: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a loan of $400 million to finance the upgrading of the national power transmission grid. The project will strengthen and expand the capacity of the national transmission grid, comprising 765 KV and 400 KV transmission lines as well as substations operated by Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (Power Grid).

The project aims to improve system reliability, facilitate inter-State power transfers by removing transmission bottlenecks, reduce transmission losses, facilitate efficient utilisation of existing and planned power plants, facilitate the development of a national power trading market, and promote increased private sector participation through open access to the national transmission grid.

PowerGrid's National Transmission Development Plan entails an investment of about $12.6 billion up to the year 2012.

As of March 2004, the peak power deficit in the country was about 11 per cent or 9,510 MW, while the energy deficit was about seven per cent (39,870 gigawatt-hours). Only around 31 per cent of rural households have access to electricity. PowerGrid, which is both the borrower and the executing agency for the loan, will fund $168 million of the total project cost of $568 million.

This is the third ADB loan to PowerGrid covering 70 per cent of the total project cost and comes from its ordinary capital resources, carrying a 20-year term, including a grace period of five years.
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