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L&T-Tata
Steel's Dhamra port financial closure by July end
Mumbai: Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) and Tata
Steel Ltd are all set to reach financial closure for their
Rs1,400 crore Dhamra Port project being developed as a
50:50 joint venture in Orissa by July end. The port will
have a capacity to handle 12.5 million tonne of cargo.
According to L&T officials the estimated cost of
the first phase development of this port is at Rs1,400
crore, while the cost for the second is yet to be finalised.
Dhamra will be an exclusive bulk port, although the parties
are exploring idea of handling clean cargo like steel.
L&T officials have said that the port would have
18 metres draught after dredging, enabling bigger vessel
to call at Dhamra. Meanwhile, L&T is also expanding
facilities at Kakinada port in Andhra Pradesh at an esitmated
cost of Rs70 crore.
As the traffic has increased substantially at the port,
L&T plans to enhance infrastructure facilities.
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to News Review index page Iffco
to invest $1 bn in production ramp up
New Delhi: The world's largest fertiliser cooperative,
Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd (Iffco), has
announced a $1-billion (approximately Rs4,400 crore) investment
plan to ramp up domestic fertiliser production capacity
and reduce energy consumption at its ammonia-urea plants.
Out of this, around Rs 2,700 crore would be invested in the country and Rs1,700
crore in Egypt, according to its Managing Director, U.S. Awasthi. The
investments would be spread over a period of four years.
Out of the $1 billion investment, around $800 million would be invested in
backward integration of DAP/NKP production, while the remaining $200 million
would be invested in energy saving and urea production and expansion schemes.
According to Awasthi, the objective is to align Iffco's prices with international
prices, so that in future, when prices are freed, there is an alternative
support mechanism. The cooperative has lined up investment plans from sourcing
of rock phosphate to producing phosphoric acid that would eventually be used
to make di-ammonium phosphate. Simultaneously it will increase its urea production
capacity from the present 61 lakh tonnes to 86 lakh tonnes.
Iffco would be setting up a modern phosphoric acid plant in Egypt with a capacity
of 5 lakh tonnes of phosphate (P2O5) per annum in joint venture with El Nasr
Mining Company (ENMC). Iffco will hold 75 per cent while the Egyptian company
would hold the balance equity.
As per the agreement, ENMC would supply 2 million tonnes of rock phosphate
to the joint venture company and Iffco would buy out the entire production
for use in its Indian plants. According to Awasthi, this would lend stability
to the international prices of phosphoric acid.
Iffco is also in an advanced stage of negotiation with an Egyptian Government
entity to undertake rock phosphate mining. The venture envisages production
of two million tonnes of rock phosphate per annum, which would be the feedstock
for Iffco's second phosphoric acid plant with an installed capacity of five
lakh tonnes at Kutch in Gujarat.
The 10 lakh tonnes of phosphoric acid produced at its two plants would be
utilised in its new DAP plant proposed to be set at Kandla in Gujarat with
a capacity of 18 lakh tonnes. The cooperative would also be setting up a new
urea facility with a capacity of five lakh tonnes and increase capacity through
de-bottlenecking.
According to Awasthi, the new unit's production cost of urea would be around
Rs5,000 per tonne against of the current national average of more than Rs9,000.
"In total, the cut in production cost would result in savings in subsidy
of around Rs 1,000 crore per year as the production cost of urea would be
pruned substantially as well as of DAP," he said.
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to News Review index page Rs150
crore Tata Motors' order for Harig Crankshafts
Mumbai: Harig Crankshafts Ltd, an automotive components company, has bagged
an Rs 150-crore order from Tata Motors that has to be executed in the next
one year. Company officials said that they had already started dispatching
the auto components to Tata Motors valued at Rs 1.5 crore every month.
Forgings and crankshafts would be supplied for Tata Motors' trucks, officials
said.
To execute the order the company is undergoing an expansion of Rs50 crore,
which would be funded through Rs25 crore of debt and Rs25 crore of preferential
issue of equity shares.
Harig Crankshafts has tied up its debt requirements. The preferential issue
is likely to be made to FIIs, officials said.Officials also said that the
company's financial restructuring is complete, and by end of May the company
would become a zero-debt company.
In the previous two financial years the company reported loss mainly due to
the high interest cost.
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to News Review index page Siemens
transformer facility to come up in Maharashtra
Mumbai: Siemens Ltd is setting up a greenfield power transformer factory
at its Kalwa complex near Mumbai to cater to the domestic and overseas markets.
The factory, which will be the company's eighth in Maharashtra, envisages
an initial investment of Rs150 crore. The facility, which is scheduled to
go on stream by 2006-end, will undergo capacity expansion in phases.
J. Schubert, Managing Director of Siemens Ltd, said that with the introduction
of transformers in India, Siemens will now offer the complete portfolio of
products covering the energy segment, encompassing power generation, transmission
and distribution.
Schubert said the factory would produce transformers for domestic and export
markets up to 800 kV and 600 MVA ratings for AC and DC technology and special
application transformers, like traction furnace applications.
Pointing out that the State Government had assured stable power supply to
the factory, he said Siemens was exploring the option of setting up a generation
unit, mostly to cater to its own requirements at Kalwa. He said 20-30 per
cent of the products from the factory would be exported to countries such
as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as also to West Asia and other Asian countries.
The deployment of these transformers will significantly reduce transmission
losses and help manage the power distribution chain in India.
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to News Review index page TERI
award for BILT
New Delhi: Ballarpur Industries Ltd (BILT) has bagged this year's TERI
national award for corporate social responsibility.
The Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Gautam Thapar, said: "This award
for BILT is not just a recognition of the work that we have done in the past,
but also acknowledges that whatever we have done is in the right direction
and that it has impacted the participating public in the best possible way.
I am proud to say that we are committed to intensifying our efforts towards
this."
The company has five manufacturing locations in some of the most underdeveloped
areas of the country where it works extensively with the communities on a
broad range of issues ranging from health, education, income generation, skill
training for enhanced livelihood and strengthening the village panchayat system
through training of members on issues relating to governance, development
and fund management.
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to News Review index page Jain
Irrigation set to acquire Terra Agro Tech
Mumbai: Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd (JISL) has announced it's acquisition
of a strategic stake in Coimbatore-based Terra Agro Technologies Ltd. This
investment will culminate in the merger of Terra with the company in the next
6-9 months subject to compliances and requisite approvals. Terra is an unlisted
and closely held company promoted by Vijay Mohan and family, who are also
promoters of the Pricol group.
Terra is involved in the business of growing and processing of vegetables
and also has a manufacturing plant situated at Udmalpet taluk in Coimbatore.
The plant has an installed capacity of 1,600 tonnes per annum for vegetable
dehydration. The company has approximately 1,250 acres of land.
"This acquisition has multiple benefits for the company. It will add
new product line - vegetable and nutraceutical processing and dehydration
to our food processing division," the company said in a release quoting
Anil Jain, Managing Director, JISL.
It will also allow the company to increase its banana tissue culture market
penetration in Tamil Nadu and Kerala as well as some of the adjoining districts
of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Tamil Nadu has second largest banana production
in the country.
"Most importantly, it will give us wider and deeper foothold in the markets
in southern India to promote our core business of drip irrigation and PVC
& PE Pipes," it added.
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to News Review index page Tata
Tele asked to pay Rs.47.5 lakh to BSNL
Mumbai:
According to an interim order issued by the Delhi High Court on Monday, Tata
Teleservices will have to pay up Rs47.5 lakh, half of the amount demanded
by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) as interconnectivity charges payable by
TTSL's `Walky' service.
While TTSL could contest the demand itself it will have to pay up this amount
nevertheless, as this is part of the procedure.
BSNL, it may be recalled, had demanded that operators who had positioned their
fixed wireless services as services offering mobility would have to pay up
interconnection charges for the same.
Interconnect usage charges (IUC) are different for mobile services and fixed
line services. According to BSNL, operators who claimed to be offering mobility
on their fixed line services were evading IUC, while offering their customers
the benefit of mobility.
TTSL had filed a petition with the Delhi High Court, seeking to prevent BSNL
from taking action for non-payment of its demands.
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to News Review index page DLF
launches IT park in Chandigarh
New Delhi:
DLF Commercial Developers Ltd has launched its IT park in Chandigarh. The
DLF IT Park, located at Kishangarh has an office space of 800,000 sq. ft.
targeted at IT/ITES companies.
DLF has invested close to Rs240 crore for this purpose.
According to the company's spokesperson, "We have seen tremendous growth
in the IT/ITES sector in the last couple of years. Recognising the potential
in this sector, we have decided to focus on developing IT parks in cities
like Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Pune. Our aim is to be able
to provide our expertise to companies on an expansion mode and provide office
spaces to suit their need."
The DLF IT Park is spread over 12.4 acres at the Chandigarh IT Park and consists
of six office blocks. A strong presence of research and educational institutions,
a number of engineering colleges and universities offer attractive catchments
for the IT/ITES business," the spokesperson stated in a release.
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to News Review index page AFL
supply chain management solution for PCS Tech
Mumbai: AFL Private Ltd has bagged a contract to provide its supply chain
management (SCM) solutions to PCS Technology Ltd.
Under the contract, AFL will implement its surrogate customer account management
to help PCS Technology penetrate the market for personal computing and enterprise
computing products, an official statement has said.
The solution will focus on domestic distribution pertaining to inter-region,
intra-region, intra-State and intra-city movements of PCS products. AFL will
ensure timely pick-up and delivery of PCS consignments across the country.
It will also ensure prompt submission of original proof of delivery; shipment
track and trace; monthly turnaround time report and billing without any discrepancies
for all PCS consignments.
PCS Technology is a provider of personal computing solutions, high-end computing
solutions and networking enterprise solutions in India. It is also engaged
in the manufacture and marketing of personal computing and enterprise products.
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to News Review index page Corporate
Results: Tata Power, IOC, Mahindra & Mahindra, TVS Motor
Tata
power net up 213 per cent at Rs.170 crore
New Delhi: Tata Power has posted a net profit of Rs170.55
crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2005, registering
a 213 per cent jump over its net profit of Rs54.35 crore,
recorded in the corresponding quarter of the previous
year.
Total income grew to Rs1154.4 crore for the quarter under
review, a growth of 6.1 per cent over Rs1088 crore in
the corresponding quarter in 2004.
Tata Power posted net profit of Rs551.36 crore for the
year ended March 31, 2005, which is a 8.30 per cent growth
over Rs509.08 crore in 2004. Total income for the year
under review was at Rs4,317.57 crore, a decline of 1.85
per cent growth over previous year's Rs4,399.07 crore.
The unaudited consolidated result of the group has shown
a distributable profit of Rs590.73 crore for the year
ended March 31, 2005, up from Rs460.25 crore, the year
ago.
Total income of the group is Rs5,270.25 crore for the
year ended March 31, 2005 against Rs5,184.77 crore in
the previous year. The board has recommended a dividend
of 75 per cent (Rs7.50 per share) to the shareholders
for the year ended March 31, 2005.
The board approved a proposal to increase the limit of
foreign institutional investors' (FII) investment up to
35 per cent of the paid up capital of the company from
the present 24 per cent.
The Tata Power board has also authorised the management
to negotiate and finalise the sale of Tata Power broadband.
Tata Power broadband maintains its thrust in the wholesale
broadband business and functions as a carrier's carrier,
offering services to carriers, telecom service providers
and bulk users of bandwidth.
IOC
FY05 net drops by 30 per cent
New
Delhi:
Oil PSU major Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has reported
a 30 per cent dip in its net profit in 2004-05 to Rs4,891
crore from Rs7,005 crore in 2003-04.
During
January-March, the net profit fell by 51 per cent to Rs893
crore as against Rs1,850 crore in the corresponding period
the previous year as Government did not allow the company
to raise petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene prices in step
with the rise in cost of crude.
IOC,
which declared a final dividend of 100 per cent (Rs10
per share), lost Rs3,801 crore on selling kerosene at
a loss of Rs5.33 per litre and Rs2,788 crore on selling
LPG at a discount to Rs85.38 crore to the cost. Despite
this, IOC has become the first company in India to cross
a turnover of Rs 150,000 crore.
The
company posted a turnover of Rs150,677 crore in 2004-05,
15.7 percent higher than Rs130,203 crore of the previous
fiscal. But the company is only in profit due to high
gross refining margins of $6.2 per barrel in 2004-05 as
opposed to $5.3 per barrel in the previous year.
M&M
FY05 net up at Rs.724 crore
Mumbai: Auto major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M)
has posted a consolidated higher net profit of Rs724.07
crore for the year ended March 31, 2005 against Rs451.12
crore in 2003-04.
The
board has recommended a dividend of 100 per cent and a
special dividend of 30 per cent (Rs13 per share), the
company has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange. The consolidated
total income, net of excise, for the reporting year stood
at Rs9,565.51 crore as against Rs7,035.49 crore in FY04.
On
a standalone basis, M&M has posted a net profit of
Rs512.67 crore for FY05 (Rs348.54 crore in FY04) while
the total income stood at Rs6,769.05 crore (Rs5,057.44
crore), it said.
The
net profit and total income for the quarter ended March
31, 2005 stood at Rs152.66 crore (Rs145.63 crore in Q4
of 2003-04) and Rs1,951.30 crore (Rs1,525.72 crore), it
added.
TVS Motor posts
14 per cent growth in net profit
Chennai: TVS Motor Company has posted a 14 per cent growth in net profit
for the fourth quarter, though it has reported a lower net for the full 2004-05
fiscal.
The fourth-quarter net amounted to Rs47.92 crore, compared to Rs41.93 crore
in the corresponding previous period. The company clocked post-tax profit
of Rs137.57 crore for the full year against Rs138.49 crore earlier.
The board of directors has declared a second interim dividend of 60 paise
for each share (of Re 1 value), taking the total dividend for the year to
Rs1.30 (130 per cent).
Turnover for the fourth quarter stood at Rs 718 crore, marginally lower than
Rs 721 crore earlier. Increase in steel and nickel prices and lower sales
of two-stroke vehicles were behind the lower net profit for the year, Mr Venu
Srinivasan told newspersons.
While TVS Motor Company had been hoping to be able to sell 25,000 Centra motorcycles
a month, but has so far managed to sell only about 12,000.
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