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Reliance
eyeing BP's olefin and derivatives business
Mumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd, the largest private
sector company in India, may have begun a due diligence
exercise by way of acquiring global oil firm BP's olefin
and derivatives business, in a deal which may be worth
anywhere between Rs25,000 crore and Rs30,000 crore.
If
it fructifies, the deal will be the biggest-ever acquisition
by an Indian firm, dwarfing Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's
US$780mn (about Rs3,500 crore) deal to buy a stake in
Sudan oil fields. The Mukesh Ambani firm could find itself
catapulted into the top five petrochemical companies globally.
At
present, the value of RIL's petrochemicals business is
Rs12,500 crore.
For
close to a year, BP has been weighing the possibility
of spinning off the business to facilitate its sale. As
a second option, it has been considering a proposal to
list its petrochemicals unit as a separate entity on the
bourses and raise money for expansion of other businesses.
BP is keen to sell the petrochemicals business, which
suffered a loss of Rs3,900 crore last year.
BP
Plc is the world's second-largest oil group by shareholder
wealth. Recently, it had rebranded its olefins and derivatives
plastics business, ahead of a planned selloff. The unit,
called Innovene, is headquartered in Chicago. Formerly
known as BP Chemicals, it recorded sales of over US$15bn
last year and is the fourth largest petrochemicals firm
in the world.
Innovene
functions primarily as a feedstock supplier for petrochemicals
and plastics.
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Service
tax set to reap
Rs.12,650 crore as
revenue by 2007-08
New Delhi: With the annual increase in the number
of telephone users spiralling, particularly in the cellular
segment, the Govt. is set to collect a whopping Rs12,650
crore as service tax by the end of 2007-08, the Associated
Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) has said.
The
revenue department currently grosses Rs4,470 crore on
this account.
As
per the Assocham Eco Pulse (AEP) study, the service tax
revenue from the telecom revolution will register a three-fold
increase by the end of 2007-08, when the total subscriber
base would hit 278 million. The AEP study found that while
three million telephone subscribers are added per month,
the figure would go up to five million per month with
the total subscriber base growing three fold in the next
three years.
"The
telecom revolution, particularly in the mobile segment,
has helped the government revenue. What should be heartening
for the government is that the trend is going to continue,"
Assocham president, Mahendra K Sanghi, said releasing
the study.
Telephones
have been a major contributor to the service tax kitty
ever since the new tax was introduced in 1994. In 1998-99,
it contributed as much as 54 per cent to the total service
tax revenue.
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ONGC
to deliver deepwater gas by April 2006
Mumbai:
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation will deliver the country's
first deepwater gas in April 2006, according to its chairman
and managing director, Subir Raha.
The
gas production in the G-1 and GS-15 blocks of the Sagar
Samridhi deepwater field in the Krishna Godavari basin
will be to the tune of two mmscmd.
The
news about striking deepwater gas in the G-1 and GS-15
structures was announced in May. "We will deliver
India's first deepwater gas in April. ONGC is planning
to drill 12-16 more wells during the current fiscal at
Sagar Samriddhi. We are also ready to commence two new
production fields on the western coast - Delta-1 and Delta-33,
both shallow fields in Mumbai High. Delta-1 will commence
production in January 2006 with 3,000 barrels of oil a
day while D-33 is expected to start production by December
2006," Raha said.
The
D-33 block is yet to be officially ratified, but indications
are that it will be good for 15,000 barrels of oil and
two mmscmd of gas a day, he said. The oil and gas major's
capital expenditure of Rs10,400 crore last year is all
set to be repeated this year, Raha said.
Meanwhile,
ONGC is banking on erecting a floating production and
storage offloading (FPSO) platform at Mumbai High to get
it back to normal production schedules. Full restoration
by March 2006 can be a reality if the FPSO platform can
be successfully commissioned, Raha said.
According
to N.K. Mitra, Director, Offshore, ONGC, the FPSO platform
has to be tailor-made to suit Mumbai High's peculiar requirements;
expressions of interest have been invited before coming
out with a global tender. The platform will cost around
US$100,000 a day and will need to be working for 5-6 months
for Mumbai High to regain its original production level
of 2,65,000 barrels of oil a day, he said.
ONGC
has on August 27 completed the subsea pipeline restoration
work between Mumbai High and Uran. This will enhance oil
production by 60,000 barrels a day taking production to
2,13,200 barrels a day and gas to 8.5 mmscmd. After the
accident at Mumbai High last month, production had fallen
to 1,45,000 barrels of oil and 6 mmscmd.
Meanwhile,
ONGC has floated tenders for the removal of some 8,000
tonnes of debris - a job that is expected to take up to
18 months and cost upwards of Rs60 crore. The destroyed
platform will also need to be decommisioned.
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GAIL-Gazprom
consortium to start drilling in Bengal basin by Oct.
New Delhi: GAIL (India) Ltd will drill its first
offshore well in October, Proshanto Banerjee, Chairman
and Managing Director, GAIL, has said.
The
GAIL-Gazprom (a Russian joint stock company) consortium
was awarded exploration Block-26 in the Bengal basin as
part of the first bidding round under the New Exploration
Licensing Policy (NELP) in 2000. GAIL has a 50 per cent
equity participation in the block with Gazprom as the
operator. The block is located around 100 km south-east
from the Haldia port in West Bengal.
Environmental
clearance has been obtained from the Ministry of Environment
and Forests (MoE&F) and Directorate General of Hydrocarbons
(DGH) for carrying out drilling activities. The consortium
has assured the authorities that all possible measures,
specified by the MoE&F, would be taken to ensure that
there is no environmental damage due to drilling activities,
the GAIL Chairman said.
Moreover,
the consortium is gearing up to drill a second well for
which another drilling rig is being finalised. The consortium
has already completed geological and geophysical survey
of the block, Banerjee added.
Regarding
the process for identifying the locations for drilling,
he said, "the consortium has obtained an independent
interpretation of survey data from a reputed international
consultant to identify the locations for drilling. The
project management team for drilling has been put in place."
Talking
about the oil struck in the Cambay basin, he said, the
commercialisation of the block was expected soon. As of
now, production was being planned with an estimated recoverable
reserve of 3.5 million barrels, for 10 years, Banerjee
said. GAIL along with Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation
has struck oil in the Cambay basin block.
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HAL
may link up with Sukhoi for production of passenger jet
Moscow: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is
exploring the possibility of forming a joint venture with
the Russian aircraft manufacturer, Sukhoi, to produce
a passenger jet, senior officials of Bangalore-based HAL
have said here.
The
officials were talking to a group of Indian newsmen at
the MAKS 2005 air show, which concluded last week. It
was the first time that HAL had put up its stall at the
air show.
Under
the Russian Regional Jet (RRJ) programme, Sukhoi Aviation
Holding is developing a family of jets to carry 60, 75
or 95 passengers. Co-designed by Boeing, the jet is scheduled
to make its maiden flight by 2007 with deliveries set
to begin in 2008, sources in the company's Civil Aircraft
Division said.
Sukhoi
proposes to sell 800 jets by 2020, most of them abroad,
they said.
India
has already expressed its intention to invest US$100 million
in the venture which expects to corner about 16 per cent
(about 800 aircraft) of the total market share for the
short haul aircraft.
Pointing
out that there was a huge demand for smaller aircraft,
officials of the Russian carrier Aeroflot said the project
could be very competitive.
HAL
recently signed a multi-million, dollar deal with Russia
for supply of AL-55 engines for the intermediate jet trainers
(IJTs), which would replace the Kiran product of aircraft.
Under the agreement, India would buy 250 AL-55 engines
for IJTs with the option of another 1,000 engines to be
produced under licence in India.
Two
prototypes of IJTs have been test-flown and the IAF has
placed orders for a limited series production of 12 of
these aircraft, the officials said.
"A
demand of at least 200 aircraft is forecast with potential
for much higher numbers," they said.
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DoT
panel may put Rs.500 crore entry tag on 3G spectrum
New Delhi: The Department of Telecom is believed
to be considering an entry fee of about Rs500 crore for
the third Generation (3G) mobile service spectrum. DoT
officials who have gone through the preliminary round
of discussions over the draft spectrum report prepared
by its four-member panel are of the opinion that it did
not address key issues on many aspects and, therefore,
was not holistic in its suggestions.
Tata
group chief Ratan Tata had proposed an Rs1500 crore entry
fee for the spectrum besides a revenue-share as spectrum
is scarce and valuable.
The
draft spectrum report which mainly looked at the TRAI
recommendations, had proposed no entry fee on 3G spectrum
saying this would hamper the growth of such services as
operators would try to pass the cost of the service to
consumers.
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TCS
to initiate pilot project for efficiencies in rural employment
scheme
Chennai: Tata Consultancy Services Ltd is working
on a pilot project that would use technology to create
efficiencies in the National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme (NREGS).
S.
Ramadorai, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director,
TCS, has said that the objective is to minimise leakages,
measure productivity and quicken payment cycles.
The
EG scheme has been in place in Maharashtra. TCS has studied
the existing system and proposed changes for the project
that would go nation-wide. The changes would be in processes
and controls to be introduced into the system. These controls,
according to Ramadorai, would help check inflated schemes,
bogus registration, inflated muster leading to bogus attendance,
fraudulent requisition of funds, fraudulent wage payment
and the like.
The
pilot project would cover 10 districts. IT overhead costs
would come to about Rs4 crore.
Asked
how technology would play a role, Ramadorai, said, "Generating
unique registration numbers, barcoding of those, display
of information on Web sites to ensure transparency, schemed
databases, data reconciliation, management information
systems and the like all require technology."
Replying
to a question on whether TCS had got the mandate from
the Government for the whole project, Ramadorai said,
"We initiated the thought process. After the pilot,
how the Government manages it or rolls it out further
is its decision. Our idea is to prove that technology
can stop leakages."
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Tata
Tele-Services to launch international roaming along with
a new tariff plan
Kolkata: Tata Tele-Services Ltd (TTSL), the leading
CDMA cellular service provider, has decided to switch
its billing from per second pulse to per minute pulse
and has devised a differential tariff plan for calls made
within its own network.
Despite
DoT contemplating banning cellular operators from offering
lower rates for calls made within its network, the company
said it would go ahead with the new plan, scheduled to
be launched this month.
"Yes,
we are moving ahead with our launch plans to offer cheaper
rates for Tata Indicom mobile users. If DoT comes out
with a directive, then we will withdraw it," TTSL
COO Rajesh Puri said here.
Tata
Indicom will also launch its international roaming facility
shortly, allowing its telephone subscribers to receive
and make calls while travelling abroad, a senior company
official said.
"International
roaming is likely to start shortly. Once launched, it
will cover almost all major destinations in 20 to 25 countries
even in the initial stage," Tata Teleservices Ltd
(TTSL) Chief Operating Officer (East) Rajesh Puri said.
"Negotiations with international associations of
CDMA players are currently on for commercial terms after
which we will launch the facility following technical
stabilisation," Puri said without giving any fixed
timeframe.
Tata
Indicom subscribers can avail the roaming facility with
ease in countries like Canada, China, Japan, South Korea
and the US due to the strong presence of CDMA players
there. Whereas Europe still remains an issue due to lack
of any major CDMA player.
Most
mobile and telecom players in Europe were on the GSM network,
which was a separate technology for mobile service and
lacked compatibility with Code Multiple Division Access
(CDMA).
Puri
said the company hoped to resolve the 'problem' faced
by mobile and fixed line subscribers of Tata Indicom in
not being able to receive calls from Reliance phones.
Tata
Teleservices has filed a petition with the telecom tribunal
TDSAT this month against Reliance Infocomm for allegedly
'refusing' inter-connection in 12 circles.
As
per TRAI directive, service providers will have to provide
interconnections within 90 days of payments being made
by the seeking company.
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