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HAL hands over first Dhruv helicopter to ONGC
Mumbai: Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) on Thursday delivered the first of three advanced light helicopters ordered by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).

A HAL statement has said that three civil variants of the Dhruv helicopter, its flagship product, were ordered by the ONGC in June, at an estimated cost of Rs111 crore. Two other helicopters will be delivered to the oil exploration firm in the coming months.

ONGC chairman Subir Raha has hinted his firm might order more helicopters in the near future. The delivery of the first Dhruv assumes significance in the wake of the recent fire mishap at ONGC's Mumbai High platform when the lack of such advanced aircraft hampered rescue operations.

The ONGC will position the Dhruv helicopters at its bases in New Delhi, Nazira in Assam and Rajamundry in Andhra Pradesh.

"Tailor-made for ONGC's offshore and rescue operations, the five-seat Dhruv has emergency floatation gear, sonar locator beacon, life rafts, stretcher, oxygen system, ambu-bag and intravenous hook provisions," the statement said.
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HAL: Light Combat Helicopter prototype to be ready by '07
Mumbai: State-owned aircraft manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd on Thursday said the prototype for the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) will be completed by 2007.

"The research and development process for the LCH design is progressing and the prototype is expected to be ready by 2007," HAL Chairman Ashok K Baweja said.

Baweja said the company is bidding in several countries including South America and Europe for marketing Advanced Light Helicopters (ALHs) and LCH.

"We have received orders for manufacturing 300 ALH aircraft, which will be delivered in the next ten years," he said, adding that the "Defence sector including army, navy and airforce continue to be major customers of the company."

Baweja said Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) has placed an order for three Dhruv helicopters in civic role for Rs111 crore, including maintainence and pilot services.

HAL on Thursday handed over the first Dhruv aircraft to ONGC and would commission remaining by the end of this fiscal, he said. He said the company has stepped up the production capacity to 30 aircraft per year against 18 aircraft last year.
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Bharti to invest Rs.4,000 crore on network expansion
Hyderabad: Bharti Televentures Ltd plans to invest Rs4,000 crore in the current fiscal towards network expansion across 23 circles.

The company has said that it is set to double its base stations from the present 10,000 to 20,000 and also expand operations to 5000 towns and cities from about 2,800 now.

All towns with a population of more than 10,000 would be covered, according to the senior management of Bharti Televentures.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday to announce Airtel's expansion plans, officials said South India had become a key market for growth, with three circles out of four that Bharti operates having about one million users.

Bharti was forging ahead not just in mobile services but was also eyeing the broadband market with services in 50 towns, officials said.

Officials also said that Value-added services have become an important aspect of revenue generation and now range between 15 and 20 per cent of the revenues in larger cities, which compared well with some of the mature markets.

Maharashtra minus Mumbai and Andhra Pradesh had emerged as two of the fastest growing markets in the South. Given the current low tariffs and cheaper handsets the market had again grown by about 2.5 million last month and this trend was likely to continue, officials said.
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Sakhalin-1 to begin production from Oct.1
Moscow: The Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project, in which ONGC-Videsh Ltd (OVL) has equity, will begin production on October 1, according to the president of the state oil firm Rosneft, Sergei Bogdanchikov.

India joined the project in 2001 when OVL acquired a 20-per cent equity stake from two Rosneft subsidiaries. OVL will invest nearly US$3 billion in Sakhalin-1, which makes it India's biggest foreign investment. ExxonMobil with 30 per cent of the equity is the project operator.

The $12bn offshore Sakhalin-1 project will produce 90,000 tonnes, about 660,000 barrels of crude, by the end of 2005 and is scheduled to reach peak production of 250,000 barrels a day by the end of 2006.

The project is estimated to yield about 307 million tonnes (2.3 billion barrels) of oil and 485 billion cubic metres of natural gas.
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Rs.26 crore order for BHEL from Ethiopia
New Delhi: Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd has bagged an Rs26-crore order from Ethiopia for setting up 230-kV substations on turnkey basis.

The equipment manufacturer outbid Chinese and other multinational companies to bag the project from Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCO), a BHEL release said.

BHEL's scope of work in the project includes design, supply, installation, civil construction and construction of 230 kV Nefas-Mewucha and Gashena substations as well as expansion of Coubite substation, it said, adding the substations are scheduled to be completed in 14 months.

The World Bank-funded project is part of the rural electrification programme initiated by the Ethiopian government.
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Tata Power gets clearance for captive jetty at Trombay
Mumbai: The environment and forests ministry has accorded its approval for the Tata Power Company's (TPC) proposal to set up a captive coal unloading jetty at Trombay. The company, which proposes to invest Rs127 crore in the project, hopes to complete the jetty by July 2006.

TPC, which has a generation capacity of 1,330 megawatts at its Trombay plant, imports nearly two million tonnes of coal from Indonesia.

In order to maintain regular supply of coal to the Trombay plant, the company has decided to construct a captive berthing jetty on its own land with unloading arms and conveyors system.

Earlier TPC used to bring coal by rail from Central India.

Thereafter, the company started importing Indonesian coal, with the highest calorific value and lowest ash and sulphur content through Dharamtar jetty.

TPC had roped in Water and Power Consultancy Services (I) Ltd for the preparation of a detailed project report along with an environment impact assessment report.
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Varun Shipping to acquire three LPG carriers for Rs.1,000 crore
Mumbai: Varun Shipping Company Ltd (VSCL) has signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) for the acquisition of three 1991 built LPG carriers, each with a cargo carrying capacity of around 35,500 cubic measurements (cbm).

VSCL will be making the acquisition through its wholly owned Singapore based subsidiary, VSC International Pte Ltd, and all the vessels are likely to be delivered by November this year.

According to senior officials of the company, in the last fiscal VSCL had acquired three ships at a cost of US$100mn, the last one being a LPG carrier worth US$40mn.

Officials said that VSCL intends to become one of the leading players in energy transportation sector and the fleet expansion programme will continue depending on market opportunities.

Upon conclusion of the said acquisitions, VSCL along with other group companies will own nineteen vessels, including eleven LPG carriers.
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IVRCL to set up Rs.500 crore desalination plant near Chennai
Chennai: IVRCL Infrastructure & Projects Ltd has bagged a Rs500-crore contract to set up a sea water desalination plant for the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board.

The project, expected to supply drinking water to Chennai, has been awarded on a Design, Build, Own, Operate and Transfer basis with the transfer to happen after 25 years. The project is to come up at Minjur on the northern outskirts of Chennai.

IVRCL and its technical partner M/s BEFESA Construction Y Tecnologia Ambiental S.A.U., Spain, would float a special purpose vehicle to implement the project, the company has said in a communication to the stock exchanges.

The desalination project is expected to contribute significantly to meeting the city's drinking water requirement of 840 million litres a day.
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Skoda to roll out two new models — Combi launch next month
Chennai: SkodaAuto India is planning to introduce two more luxury cars by this year and double its manufacturing capacity from 15,000 to 30,000 cars per annum.

Talking to reporters SkodaAuto India Pvt Ltd, officials said that they will roll out two new variants, the Octavia Combi and the diesel version of the top-end Skoda Superb this year. While the Combi will hit the road by the end of next month, the launch of the diesel Superb is slated for the end of this year, he added.

SkodaAuto India, a subsidiary of Volkswagen group, is also planning to come out with 'a car for India.'

''The car for India is likely to hit the roads in 2009,'' he said, without giving any further details on the proposed car. The company is also planning to tap the South East Asian market soon. ''We have already selected dealers in Bangladesh", he added.
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CNBC-TV 18 to launch business leader award
Mumbai: CNBC TV18 and Airtel have joined hands to launch the India Business Leader Award (IBLA 2005) programme, which would be part of the Asia Business Leader Awards initiated by CNBC Asia.

According to a press release issued by the channel, the India business leader would be felicitated by the Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, at a function in Delhi.

The IBLA 2005 would reportedly have four award categories — India Business Leader of the Year, India Corporate Citizen of the year, India Innovator of the Year and India CEOs' Choice of the Year.

As a build up to the awards function, the channel would also launch an on-air initiative, which would include a series of 30-minute shows anchored by the channel's Corporate Editor, Govindraj Ethiraj.
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