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BP, Chevron
and ExxonMobil eye Reliance gas find
London:
Three of the world's biggest energy companies, BP, Chevron
and ExxonMobil are competing for a stake in a giant natural
gas field discovered by Reliance Industries in the deep
waters of the Bay of Bengal.
The three energy giants are in talks with Reliance Industries,
India's largest private sector exploration company, for
an interest in a field in the Krishna Godavari basin.
Lord Browne, BP's chief executive, held talks with Mukesh
Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, during a visit
to India last week to sign an agreement to help Hindustan
Petroleum build a US$3bn refinery in Punjab. The meeting
was followed by further talks between executives of the
two companies.
The Reliance field, within easy reach of one of the world's
fastest growing energy consumers, was 2002's largest gas
discovery. UK energy consultants Wood Mackenzie values
the field at US$4bn taking into account only the proved
and probable reserve estimates of 6 trillion cubic feet
a conservative valuation since the field holds possible
reserves of 14 trillion cubic feet.
Reliance has a foreign partner in the field Niko Resources
of Canada, which holds a 10 per cent stake.
In the original auction, Indian regulators ruled that
bidders must either demonstrate deep water exploration
experience, which Reliance lacked at the time, or link
up with a group that did.
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India
in wait-and-watch mode over PetroKazakh revamp
New Delhi: India is hopeful of acquiring assets
held by the Canadian firm PetroKazakhstan once the company
is restructured in-line with the proposed legislation
of Kazakhstan Government that gives the Government pre-emptive
right to buy oil and gas assets on sale in the country.
Disclosing
this the petroleum minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar, said
that "After PetroKazakhstan gets restructured and
the legal framework is known, then perhaps we can start
talking about how we can secure Indian participation in
assets run by PetroKazakh."
The
lower house of Kazakhstan Parliament has passed a legislation,
which would give Kazakhstan national oil company the right
to acquire 51 per cent stake in PetroKazhakstan.
"We
are awaiting the passage of this legislation by the upper
house," Aiyar said on the sidelines of a bio-fuel
conference here.
The
Minister told pressperson that he had held talks with
his Kazakh counterpart, V. Shkolnik, early this month
to see if Indian firms can be involved in PetroKazakhstan
after the Kazakh Government passes a new law allowing
the State to intervene in the sale of oil assets to foreigners.
The
shareholders of PetroKazakhstan would meet on Tuesday
(October 18) to ratify the Chinese oil company, CNCP's
bid.
The Canadian law stipulates that PetroKazakhstan would
have to inform its shareholders of any better bid than
the one made by CNCP before the shareholders ratification.
The
Indian consortium was ahead of the Chinese firm in the
first round, the Minister added.
Asked
whether he smelt any foul play by Goldman Sachs, the merchant
bankers acting on behalf of the seller PetroKazakhstan,
the Minister said that, "It looks like the goal posts
were changed after the match started." The merchant
banker had sought certain clarification on OVL-Mittal
bid on August 19, asking them to submit the clarifications
on August 22, but the sale announcement came before that.
PetroKazakhstan
accounts for about 12 per cent of oil production in Kazakhstan
and is the third largest oil producer in that country.
It owns 500 million barrels of reserves, 150,000 barrels
a day of crude output and a refinery in Kazakhstan.
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Ratan
Tata ensures infrastructure in place for Posco
New Delhi: Ratan Tata, as chairman of the Investment
Commission, has taken active interest in ensuring that
crucial infrastructure such as roads are in place for
the South Korean steel major's US$12bn steel venture in
Orissa.
These
roads, categorised, as ''roads of economic importance'',
are crucial for ensuring movement of goods from the project
site to the port and back. These roads would also ensure
smooth movement of goods from the plant site to other
locations in the country as well as of raw materials from
mines to the project site.
Tata
informed finance minister P Chidambaram on the importance
of these roads for the steel major after which the FM
himself wrote to the road transport, highways and shipping
minister TR Baalu to facilitate the speedy and timely
implementation of these road projects.
While
Posco's project would be located in Paradeep in Jagatsinghpur
district, the mines are located in the districts of Keonjhar
and Sundargarh, which are closer to Jharkhand.
Therefore, as many as five road projects, covering a distance
of over 500 km, will be built by 2009 at an estimated
cost of around Rs2,000 crore for which funding would mostly
come from the Centre. The developers for four of these
projects could approach the Centre for grant under viability
gap funding as they would be executed under the BoT route.
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Mukesh
Ambani to start fresh-food chain from Punjab
Chandigarh: Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries
is planning to set up a fresh-food chain in Punjab with
an initial investment of Rs5,000 crore.
Ambani
has already held discussions in this regard with the chief
minister, Capt. Amarinder Singh, the finance minister,
Surinder Singla, and the union agriculture minister, Sharad
Pawar, and the union civil aviation minister, Praful Patel,
in this regard.
As
per the plan Mukesh Ambani would buy fresh foods, especially
green vegetables, from Punjab for export to Central Asia,
Europe and the USA. Towards this end he would set up his
own cargo facility near Amritsar in order to transport
the fresh stocks by air from Punjab to other parts of
the world and is keen to have his own fleet for transportation
purposes.
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SCI
to invest Rs.6,500 crore in 34 vessels over five years
New Delhi: The Shipping Corporation of India (SCI)
plans to acquire 34 vessels, at an investment of about
Rs6,500 crore, spread over five years.
According
to S. Hajara, chairman and managing director, SCI, this
will include the company's annual investment of Rs1,293
crore for the current fiscal. Hajara has also handed over
a dividend cheque of Rs67.86 crore to the Union Shipping
Minister, T.R. Baalu.
The
amount was the final dividend of 30 per cent for 2004-05
against the Government's shareholding of 80.12 per cent
in SCI.
With
this, the company has now paid an aggregate dividend of
70 per cent amounting to Rs158 crore to the Government
for 2004-05; it had already paid an interim dividend of
Rs90.47 crore.
The
corporation would focus on sectors such as crude products,
LNG transportation, and bulk carriers, with special emphasis
on offshore segment.
To
increase its presence in offshore oil segments, Hajara
said the company could consider joint ventures with foreign
shipping companies.
SCI
recorded net profit of Rs1,420 crore in 2004-05, the highest
since its inception. It owns a fleet of 84 ships, with
49,34,847 dwt, according to a statement.
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Hyundai
Motor mulling diesel engine plant in India
New Delhi: Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest
automaker, said it may produce diesel engines in India
for locally assembled cars.
Hyundai Motor, has US$500mn of investments earmarked until
2008 for raising its share of India's vehicle market to
25 percent by 2010.
Four
of the seven types of cars and sports-utility vehicles
sold by Hyundai Motor in India are run by diesel engines
imported from South Korea. The 1.1-litre Santro and 1.3-litre
Getz compete with Tata Motors Ltd.'s diesel-engine Indica
hatchback.
Tata
Motors is the nation's biggest maker of diesel-powered
cars with 80 percent of Indica and Indigo sedans having
diesel engines.
Hyundai
Motor may make diesel engines with 1.1 litre and 1.3 litre
capacities in India, both used on minicars and compact
vehicles, S.S. Yang, the carmaker's managing director
for India said.
Maruti,
the largest carmaker in India and 54 percent owned by
Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp., will make 1.3-litre diesel
engines for exports. Half of the engines, made with technology
from Fiat SpA and General Motors Corp.'s Adam Opel AG,
will be exported to Asian and European Union countries,
the carmaker said.
Mumbai-based
Tata Motors last week introduced a turbo- charged version
of its diesel engine in the 1.4-litre Indica hatchback.
Ford Motor Co., the second-biggest U.S. automaker, has
said it will offer customers a diesel engine when its
Fiesta car goes on sale next month.
Maruti
will start offering diesel engines in its cars from 2007
after its diesel engine factory is completed.
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Mumbai
High Court spikes Rs.5,500 crore mill land sale
Mumbai:
In a landmark judgment, the Bombay High Court has
set aside the sale of 600 acres of surplus textile mill
land in Mumbai at Rs5,500 crore by National Textile Corporation
(NTC) in prime city locations.
NTC
has sold five of its defunct mills in Mumbai - Jupiter,
Mumbai, Apollo, Elphistone and Kohinoor - for Rs2020.75
crore over the last six months.
The judgment, delivered by Justices S Radhakrishnan and
SD Dharmadhikari, said the sale was illegal as it was
not in conformity with a Supreme Court directive in the
matter.
The Bombay Environment Action Group had challenged the
sale on the ground that development control rules had
been violated in the process.
The court also held that whenever mill land was sold,
one-third of it had to be reserved for open space, one-third
for low-cost housing by the Maharashtra Housing and Area
Development Authority (MHADA) and one-third for mill-owners'
benefits.
Apart from the five mills it has already sold, the company
is planning to bring another 10 mills under the hammer,
once it receives clearance from the Municipal Corporation
of Greater Mumbai (MCGM). There are 58 textile mills in
Mumbai, of which 20 are owned by NTC and two by Maharashtra
State Textile Corporation. The rest are private mills.
The judgment is also comes as a setback to private mill
owners in the city as it sets aside the 2001 amendment
to the municipal corporation's Development Control Rule
(DCR) 58, under which mills whose original structures
have not been pulled down can be redeveloped completely
without two-third of the land being set aside for low-cost
housing and open spaces.
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Liberty
Shoes spreads wings to Dubai
Mumbai:
Liberty Shoes is setting up a wholly owned subsidiary
in Dubai for expanding its overseas presence.
The
board of directors at their meeting has approved the setting
up 100 per cent wholly owned subsidiary at Dubai, the
company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.
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Logistics
enters German market
New
Delhi: TVS Logistics has entered the German market.
The company's subsidiary in UK TVS Automotive Europe has
recently signed an agreement for cooperation with Wincanton
for offering supply chain management.
The
two companies to work together in the European automotive
market to offer state-of-the art supply chain management,
a company statement said here.
It
also said the two companies would also focus on providing
services to the new entries in European Union such as
Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Poland and Slovakia.
The
company said the key element to the agreement would be
to provide a one-stop solution to Indian suppliers or
mainland Europe manufacturers to sell or source from either
Europe or India.
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Nucleus
Software net jumps 160 per cent in Q2
New
Delhi: Nucleus Software Exports has posted a 160 per
cent year-on-year increase in net profit in the second
quarter of 2005-06 to Rs8.78 crore.
The
company's revenues were up were up 48 per cent at Rs35.72
crore during July-September as compared to the same period
last year.
The
share of revenues from products and product-related services
rose to 36 per cent in the second quarter from 24 per
cent in the same period a year ago and was the main reason
for the higher increase in net profit.
The
company is expecting to increase the share of revenues
from products and product-related services to 40 per cent
by the end of 2005-06 from 36 per cent at present.
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Dr
Reddy's introduces liver drug Vibilov
Hyderabad:
Dr Reddy's Laboratories has announced the nationwide
launch of Viboliv (Metadoxine), a drug to help prevent
liver damage, in 500mg tablet and 300mg injectable form.
In
a press release here, the company said Metadoxine has
a direct effect on alcohol metabolism, accelerates the
transformation of alcohol into acetaldehyde and thereon
its urinary excretion.
According
to the company, the drug aids in preventing liver damage
resulting from prolonged alcohol intake and helps in reversing
fatty liver degeneration.
This
is the first brand of Dr Reddy's in the Rs 199-crore segment,
the release said.
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Marvel
Entertainment ties up with First Serve Toonz
Thiruvananthapuram: Marvel Entertainment, a global
entertainment and licensing company, listed on the New
York Stock Exchange tied-up with Indian animation company,
First Serve Toonz (FST), Indian to co-produce an animated
television series.
To
be based on Marvel's renowned X-Men character franchise,
the series will be centred primarily on the popular `Wolverine'
character.
Under
the terms of the agreement, FST, which operates its studios
in India, will begin pre-production immediately on 26
episodes in a 2D-3D combination of characters and background.
The
initial episodes are expected to be ready for worldwide
distribution by summer of 2007.
FST
will not only produce but, in combination with Marvel,
will also oversee the creative direction of the series.
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FICCI:
Consumer durables market poised for high growth
New
Delhi: A survey by the Federation of Indian Chambers
of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has found that most of
the consumer durables segments are set to see a double-digit
growth in the current fiscal.
The
colour television segment is expected grow by 15-20 per
cent, the projected growth for the VCD/MP3 player segment
is 20 per cent, 25 per cent for DVDs, 5-10 per cent for
refrigerators, 20-25 per cent for air-conditioners, 5-10
per cent for washing machines and 25 per cent for microwave
ovens.
The
survey also highlights the shift towards the organised
segment. The share of the unorganised segment has come
down sharply to 8-10 per cent from 40-50 per cent, as
the price differential between the two segments narrows
down.
The
survey also says that rural India offers a huge growth
opportunity for consumer durables manufacturers. While
the urban consumer durables market is growing annually
at 7-10 per cent, the rural market is zooming ahead with
an annual growth of 25 per cent.
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