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NTPC aims to produce 50 million tonnes coal by 2010
New Delhi: With continuing coal shortages hamstringing domestic power production, the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is working on an ambitious plan to produce 50 million tonnes of coal over the next five years, aimed at wiping out the country's production deficit.

The Rs26,000-crore company is also working on an `integrated project development strategy' wherein it will focus on developing pithead stations close to the mines allocated to it, thereby bringing down the cost of power generated substantially.

The country has been facing an acute shortage of coal, with the Government projecting a shortage of around 11 million tonnes this year, and in 2006. NTPC had announced its foray into the coal-mining sector in 2002-03 and had applied for 16 coal mining blocks. The utility has, however, been able to bag only one coal block so far, with access to a number of these blocks still awaiting mandatory clearance. The company has projected an output of 10 million tonnes by 2007 from the Pakri Burwadih coal block - the only one awarded to it so far.

NTPC has also factored in a production of 30 million tonnes of coal from the blocks it is eyeing in Orissa and Chhattisgarh. The company is also scouting for a captive coal mining block at Brahmani district in West Bengal for the new 500-MW unit coming up in West Bengal.

Over 80 per cent of NTPC's stations are coal-fired, while the remaining use natural gas as fuel. NTPC will add 2,000 MW of thermal capacity by the end of 2006.
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Jet Air set to file charges against US entity
Mumbai: Jet Airways has appointed US law firm Paul Weiss, Rifkind, Whatron and Garrison to initiate legal charges against a company, with a similar name, which has accused the Indian airline of having terrorist links, said a press release.

The company press release has said that, "Ms Nancy Heckerman, President and Chief Executive Officer, of Jet Airways Inc, had made scandalous, scurrilous and baseless allegations regarding alleged links of Jet Airways (India) Ltd with undesirables in a letter of objection to the US Department of Transportation."

The primary motivation of Jet Airways Inc in filing the objection arises out of a trade name claim made by them that is currently being addressed before the US Patent and Trademark Office, the release said.

Jet Airways Inc, which is based in Maryland, has no airline-operating permit and has no aircraft, the release added. The Indian airline is scheduled to launch its operations to the US with a flight from Mumbai to Newark via Brussels on June 23.
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Tata Steel in JV with Iranian company
Mumbai: Tata Steel has signed a joint venture agreement with Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) to participate in its proposed steel-making projects and mining operations in Iran.

M. Moazenzadeh, Chairman, IMIDRO and B. Muthuraman, Managing Director, Tata Steel have signed an agreement in Tehran, an official statement said.

Tata Steel will partner IMIDRO in establishing a 1.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) steel slab-making facility, 1.5 mtpa of steel billet-making capacity, and a separate three mtpa export-oriented steel plant. The two will also partner in the exploration and mining of unexplored iron ore mines.

The statement said that Tata Steel would partner IMIDRO in the ongoing Hormozgan steel project, which would establish steel-making operations in the Persian Gulf Special Economic Zone (PGSEZ) at the port city of Bandar Abbas.

Tata Steel and IMIDRO will also xplore and mine unexplored iron ore mines at Gol-e-Gohar mines in the Kerman province of Iran and establish a gas-based pellet plant at Gol-e-Gohar using this ore.
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Emptoris to enter India through Intigma acquisition
Pune: The US-based Emptoris, a provider of enterprise supply management solutions for Global 5000 companies, has announced its entry into the Indian market through the acquisition of Intigma, a provider of spend data management technology, which has a fully owned R&D content centre in Pune.

Intigma is a privately held company based in the US.

Intigma pioneered the development of technology that automatically cleanses, enriches, and classifies unstructured procurement and supplier data. It has helped leading global companies overcome data quality issues to realise the full value of their enterprise software applications.

The acquisition of Intigma comes after a two-year strategic partnership Emptoris had with it. Intigma co-founders, Anand Soman and Kirit Pandit, have joined the Emptoris executive team as Vice-President of Emptoris Technology India, and Vice-President of Content Services respectively.

Emptoris has set up its fully owned subsidiary Emptoris Technologies India Pvt Ltd at Pune IT Park, and intends to have over 200 IT professionals within the first year at the Pune facility to support its global development, research and support activities.

Emptoris solution supports global deployment in 18 languages across six continents and 51 countries. Its clients include companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, Motorola, Dow Corning, Toro, Owens Corning, and Samsung America among others.
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