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ONGC
makes huge gas find in the KG basin
New Delhi: Indian oil major, the Oil and Natural
Gas Corp, has made a huge gas discovery in deep-sea Bay
of Bengal, with initial reserves being assessed to be
in the range of 4 to 6 trillion cubic feet.
ONGC
struck gas in the the Krishna Godavari Basin block KG-DWN-98/2,
which lies adjacent to Reliance Industires' D6 block,
where 11.9 trillion cubic feet of certified in place gas
reserves have been struck till date. Officials said the
gas find could be at least half the size of Reliance discovery.
While
Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, who is in Oslo,
confirmed the gas find, ONGC officials said that formalities
have to be completed before an announcement about the
potential reserves can be made. As the company is now
governed by the SEBI rules, reserves have to be first
tested and then verified by Directorate General of Hydrocarbons
(India's upstream regulator) before they can be quantified
and announcements made.
ONGC
had acquired 90 per cent stake in the the Block KG-DWN-98/2
from Cairn Energy of UK for 135 million dollars in 2004.
Cairn Energy, which still holds 10 percent stake, had
in 2001 made oil and gas finds at four wells in the block
- gas at prospect 'N', gas at prospect 'R' (now named
Annapura), oil and gas in prospect 'P' and oil at prospect
'M'.
Cairn
had established 0.75 to 1 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves
in Annapura and at least 200 million barrels of oil reserves
in prospects 'P' and 'M'.
The
previous finds and the latest find together would make
up for at least 6 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves,
officials said.
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ONGC,
Norsk Hydro to explore projects in West Asia, Iran and
Cuba
New Delhi: ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas
arm of ONGC, has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU)
with Norsk Hydro, a private Norwegian upstream company,
whereby the two companies have agreed to cooperate in
third countries, particularly in West Asia. The petroleum
minister Mani Shankar Aiyer announced this from Oslo,
where he is currently on a tour.
The
two would also be looking at projects in Cuba and Iran,
the minister said. He, however, did not elaborate on the
kind of projects the two would be looking at in Iran.
The MoU is one of the five agreements signed during the
ongoing visit of the Petroleum Minister to Norway.
An
agreement was also signed between the Directorate General
of Hydrocarbons (DGH) of India and the Norwegian Petroleum
Directorate to enhance institutional cooperation as also
to pursue interaction in the areas of research and development,
and safety and training.
Further,
ONGC has also entered into three agreements with Norwegian
organisations in the areas of research and development.
In
association with the Hyderabad-based National Geo-Physical
Research Institute, ONGC has signed an agreement with
the Norwegian University of Science and Technology to
pursue cooperation in the area of reservoir modelling
for enhanced oil recovery using fractals and 4D seismic.
Other
areas envisaged in the agreement include cooperation in
the onshore and offshore areas with respect to enhanced
oil recovery and to develop the knowledge base for reservoir
surveillance.
ONGC
has signed another agreement with ROXAR Software Solutions
to cooperate in the area of integration of real time data
monitoring systems with log modelling and geological model
update process.
The
final agreement is between ONGC and SINTEF to collaborate
in the areas of occupational health, safety and the environment.
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Access
deficit charge: DoT asks TRAI to consult Govt. before
deciding
New Delhi: In an unprecedented move, the Department
of Telecom (DoT) has asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority
of India (TRAI) to share its views on the issue of Access
Deficit Charge (ADC) with the Government before taking
any decision.
Fixing
ADC so far has been under the purview of the telecom regulator
and the intervention by DoT on the matter could be an
indication of it being made a policy issue.
TRAI
is currently working on revising the deficit charges and
has conducted open house discussions with the industry.
ADC is a levy imposed by the telecom regulator to fund
unviable telephones in rural India.
The
issue has raised considerable controversy within the industry
over the last two years, since more than 95 per cent of
the fund collected from private operators is passed on
to the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd for its rural
obligations. The ADC kitty at present is Rs5,000 crore.
Private
operators have objected to the deficit charge on grounds
that BSNL may be using the fund for subsidising its cellular
business. The telecom regulator had indicated bringing
down the total ADC fund from the present level and also
a change in the way it was being collected.
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Govt
to shed eight per cent stake in Maruti
New Delhi: The Government has decided to offload
eight per cent stake in Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) to public
sector financial institutions. At the current market price
of Rs513, the sale of the stake will fetch Rs1,092.69
crore to the Centre. The Government currently holds 18.28
per cent stake in MUL, which will come down to 10.28 per
cent after the sale.
The
decision to offload eight per cent stake was taken at
the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
(CCEA) here on Friday.
Briefing
reporters after the meeting, the Defence minister, Pranab
Mukherjee, said the eight per cent stake would be sold
to the public sector financial institutions through competitive
bidding with the market price as the benchmark. Mukherjee,
however, did not give any timeframe for the sale saying
such a move does not have any specific time as the shares
would be sold when the market is bullish.
Japanese
automobile major Suzuki Motor Corporation, which holds
controlling stake in Maruti, officially has the first
right of refusal when the Government sells its stake in
MUL.
The
Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Sector Enterprises,
Santosh Mohan Deb, told reporters that the sale proceeds
from Maruti would be utilised for the National Investment
Fund and the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme
that was approved by Parliament in the recently concluded
monsoon session.
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IDC
survey: HCL Info, TCS, Infosys emerge as top employers
New Delhi: HCL Infosystems, Infosys and TCS have
emerged as the top employers in the IT segment, according
to a survey conducted by International Data Corporation
(IDC).
The
survey lists out the top 20 employers, which includes
Wipro, NIIT, IBM and Sun Microsystems.
While
Infosys is unchallenged on brand equity and remains the
company of dreams for the fourth year, the biggest surprise
this year is HCL Infosystems, which showed dramatic improvement
on employee satisfaction, said a press release. HCL Infosystems
received the highest ratings.
According
to the DQ-IDC Best Employer survey, growth opportunities
emerge as the single-largest factor driving job satisfaction.
Since 2001, this annual study has been conducted amongst
IT companies and information is collected from both the
HR departments as well from employees of the participating
companies. The compiled data yields the scores used for
the final ranking.
Compensation
has ceased to be the only parameter for satisfaction for
some time now and the trend continues this year as well.
Smaller companies fare better on overall satisfaction.
Larger ones continue to struggle despite great HR policies,
IDC said.
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Tata
Power, DVC sign up for Maithon power
project
Mumbai: Tata Power has said it would hold a 74
per cent stake in Maithon Power Ltd with state-owned Damodar
Valley Corporation holding the remaining 24 per cent stake.
The private sector power firm has signed the shareholders'
agreement and share purchase agreement with DVC for the
proposed power plant that is estimated to cost Rs3,800
crore.
While
Tata Power will contribute about Rs840 crore to the equity
corpus, DVC will put in about Rs300 crore.
The
project requires a 1200-acre plot and DVC has already
acquired a significant portion of this. The project is
likely to attain financial closure in June 2006.
According
to plans, it will comprise two generating units. Of this,
the first unit is scheduled to be commissioned in September
2009 and the second unit by March 2010.
The
project is a greenfield coal-based generation project
located at Maithon in Jharkhand. The site is about 250
km from Jamshedpur and Ranchi and 25 km from Asansol.
DVC
came into existence on July 7, 1948, by an Act of the
central legislature. It is the first multipurpose river
valley project of independent India.
DVC
stakeholders include the Union government and the state
governments of Bengal and Jharkhand.
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Aditya
Birla Group's cement despatches up 24.38 per cent
Mumbai: The Aditya Birla Group's cement production
for August grew 22.92 per cent to 21.32 lakh tonnes while
dispatches rose 24.38 per cent to 21.38 lakh tonnes over
August 2004.
The
Group's cement production for the April-August 2005 period
was 114.08 lakh tonnes, higher by 10.39 per cent against
103.35 lakh tonnes during April-August 2004.
The
dispatches stood at 113.69 lakh tonnes reflect a rise
of 10.51 per cent against 102.88 lakh tonnes attained
during April-August 2004.
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TVS
Motor launches three new 2-wheeler models
Mumbai:
The TVS Motor Company has announced the launch of three
new 2-wheeler models.
These
include the Victor Edge motorcycle, featuring a new125cc
engine and the Star City, a freshly styled 100cc 4-stroke
motorcycle. Also unveiled was the Scooty Pep+, which has
a new 90cc engine.
While
the motorcycles would be available nationwide, the scooterette
would be initially available only in Maharashtra.
The
new Victor Edge was priced a little above its 110cc variant.
All three products won't require the company to add any
production capacity.
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ICICI
Venture buys out Ranbaxy's allied chemicals buisness
Mumbai: ICICI Venture has acquired the allied business
operations of domestic pharmaceutical major Ranbaxy Laboratories
in an acquisition valued at Rs125 crore.
ICICI
Venture and Ranbaxy concluded the deal recently and Ranbaxy
is likely to make an announcement by the end of this week.
ICICI Venture was the front-runner among potential buyers.
Mape
Advisory Group, a boutique investment bank with significant
focus on the pharmaceutical sector, has advised the company
on its deal with ICICI Venture.
The
allied business includes animal healthcare, fine chemicals
and diagnostics. These three profitable businesses have
been witnessing a slowdown in growth over the last few
quarters, prompting the company management to divest them.
Total sales for the allied business operations are around
Rs150 crore.
Ranbaxy
is also likely to sell part of the diagnostics business
separately to Dade Behring. The US-based diagnostics major
has an alliance with Ranbaxy for the diagnostics business.
Ranbaxy Diagnostics started its operations in 1987 and
provides services to clinical laboratories and blood banks.
The
Delhi based Ranbaxy, which is now concentrating on its
core business - pharmaceuticals - has been working on
selling its allied businesses, as it started restructuring
its operations.
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Daimler
India to launch Actros trucks and new S-class Merc next
year
New
Delhi: Daimler Chrysler India on Thursday said it
plans to launch its premium commercial vehicle, Actros,
in India early next year and also intends to introduce
the next generation S-Class Mercedes in the latter half
of 2006.
"We
are at the end of the homologation stage and will deliver
the first Actros in early 2006. This would be in the completely
built unit (CBU) format," the President of Daimler
Chrysler India, Hans Michael Huber, said here on the sidelines
of the SIAM Annual Convention.
He
said the company sold 80,000 units of Actros globally
last year, with the major markets being Europe and West
Asia. The Actros trucks will compete with Volvo in India.
According to sources, Daimler Chrysler would be coming
out with two models of the Actros - a 33-tonner and a
40-tonner.
On
the pricing of the new Mercedes S-Class, Huber said that
it would be priced above the present S-Class price band
of Rs60-65 lakh. This year the company has so far sold
about 125 S-Class cars, which are priced at about Rs65
lakh.
Meanwhile,
company officials said that Daimler Chrysler expects to
buy auto parts worth 85 million euros from India in the
current calendar year. In 2004, the company sourced parts
worth 79 million euros from the country.
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