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NTPC to get into nuclear power generation
New Delhi: State run power major NTPC plans to foray into nuclear power generation but the organisation says its entry will depend on a number of factors such as cost economics, fuel availability and necessary approval.

The company plans to add 2000mw of nuclear capacity during the 12th Plan period.
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ONGC, AP refinery to achieve financial closure soon
Hyderabad: The ONGC chairman Subir Raha has said that the proposed Kakinada greenfield oil refinery will achieve financial closure soon and would be completed within 42 months. He said issues relating to detailed project report and others would be taken up at the board level soon.

Earlier this month ONGC signed a memorandum of understanding with the Andhra Pradesh government to set up a refinery along with a Special Economic Zone.

This refinery project is being taken up by the consortium lead by ONGC, and it includes MRPL, ILFS and the state government through Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Ltd.
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Indian Airlines, Air India to issue IPO by early next year
Mumbai: Air India and Indian Airlines will come out with an initial public offerings in early 2006 to finance expansion plans, according to the civil aviation minister Praful Patel.

He also said the government would soon appoint advisors who will decide the right valuation and percentage of the IPO.

Passenger traffic in India is expected to grow at a 20 percent rate until 2010.

Patel said besides converting old planes of Indian Airlines into freight carriers, the government was also looking at prospects of leasing out aircraft for cargo.

The government recently cleared the purchase of 43 aircraft from European plane maker Airbus for domestic carrier Indian Airlines to replace its ageing fleet.

Indian Airlines, which currently has several Boeing Co. 737s aged between 20-25 years, will receive a mix of short-haul and medium-haul Airbus A319, A320 and A321s.
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BPCL revises Bina refinery project cost
Mumbai: State run Bharat Petroleum Corporation has revised upwards the cost of its Bina refinery project to Rs 9,100 crore from the original estimate of Rs 6,354 crore. The project is being set up by Bharat Oman Refineries, the joint venture company floated by BPCL and Oman Oil Company Ltd.

The refinery in which BPCL will hold 50 per cent stake, is expected to be completed by 2009.
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Tata Metaliks allotted 350 acres for expansion in West Bengal
Kolkata: West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) has granted 350 acres of land in Kharagpur to Tata Metaliks' for its expansion and diversification plan.

The company had asked for 500 acres of land, as it said was not possible to carry out further expansion at the location.
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Gammon India to raise up to $100 million
Mumbai: Construction company Gammon India plans to raise up to $100 million by issuing foreign currency convertible bonds or global depository receipts in the international markets.

The company's shares ended down 0.81 per cent at Rs377.7 in a flat Mumbai market on Friday.
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Toyota mulls using India as global sourcing base for auto parts
Bangalore: Toyota Motor Corp, the world's second largest car maker, is planning to source auto parts from Indian suppliers in its factories overseas, and expand its sourcing base beyond the one unit it owns in India.

Toyota wants to take advantage of the rising quality of Indian suppliers and lower wage costs in the South Asian country, which has been boosting exports of auto parts through companies such as Bharat Forge Ltd.

According to the company, it has 80 suppliers in India and they have all been reporting an improvement in quality audits and the number of defective or rejected parts, calculated in parts per million, has dropped to about 30 from about 1,000 when Toyota first started sourcing parts locally.

If Toyota taps any of the existing suppliers to buy automobile parts, it will help extend the sourcing business beyond the Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts Pvt. unit.

Started last year, the Toyota auto-parts factory at Bidadi in Karntaka supplies transmissions to the Japanese company's factories overseas.
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Kingfisher Air to use small planes for domestic routes
Mumbai: The Vijay Mallya-promoted private carrier, Kingfisher Airlines, is planning to acquire smaller aircraft with 50-80 seat capacity for the domestic routes. The company has has already placed an order for three A319 aircraft with 144-seat capacity and is evaluating the prospects of acquiring aircrafts with 50- to 80-seat capacity.

The airlines also recently decided to purchase five 550-seater superjumbo Airbus A380s. The airline has a fleet of six A320s with seating capacity of 174. The airline plans to expand its fleet to 11 aircraft by January 2005.

In reference to the plans of inducting superjumbo planes into the Kingfisher Airlines fleet, UB Group chairman and managing director Vijay Mallya said there would not be any delay in deliveries of A380s as it is scheduled for 2010.
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Bharti Teletech launches set top box
New Delhi: Bharti Teletech, India's largest fixed line phone manufacturer and flagship of the AirTel Group, has entered into the manufacture of digital set top boxes used for the Direct-to-Home (DTH) services with an initial investment of about Rs 9 crore.

However, the Bharti Group does not plan to enter the DTH arena at this juncture.

With the set top boxes introduced by Bharti, the subscribers would be able to watch the 33 free-to-air channels of Prasar Bharati and listen to 12 FM channels.

Currently Bharti has intorduced two models of set top boxes, costing Rs2,295 and Rs2,995. The dish antenna would cost about Rs500. In fact, the company has tied up with few vendors to supply dish antenna and set top box in a package. The boxes being imported would be sold under the "Beetel" brand and the company has fixed a target of selling 200,000 boxes by the year end. The company plans to start manufacturing the boxes at its two facilities in Ludhiana and Goa by next year.

The company has also started talking to various other channnels like Star, Zee and Sun TV for providing content.
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