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Orissa
govt. signs MoUs for seven additional steel plants
Bhubaneswar: MoUs between the State govt. of
Orissa and seven private companies were signed for establishing
seven more steel plants in the State with a total production
capacity of 12.35 million ton, and an investment outlay
of around Rs23,000 crore.
The
Jindal Steel & Power Limited, Bhushan Steel &
Strips Limited, Rungta Mines Limited, Stats Steel India
Private Limited, Jai Balaji Jyoti Steels Limited, Brand
Alloys Limited and Eastern Steels & Power Limited
are the various parties wuith whomn the State govt. has
entered into agreements.
Jindal
Steel & Power Limited has now revised the configuration
of its proposed plant and is keen instead on setting up
a six million ton steel plant at Angul besides a 900 mw
captive power plant instead of its earlier proposed two
million ton plant at Deojhar in Keonjhar district. The
company will also establish a benefication plant at Deojhar
in Keonjhar district. Company's revised project cost is
Rs13, 135 crore.
Similarly,
Bhusan Steel & Strips Limited proposes to set up a
three million ton steel plant at Meramundali in Dhenkanal
district at an estimated cost of Rs5,828 crore while the
Rungta Mines Limited will establish two steel plants with
the production capacity of one million ton each at Kamando
near Koira in Sundargarh district and Jharbandh in Dhenkanal
district with a total investment of Rs2,275 crore.
The
other four proposed steel plants are minor projects with
a capacity of 0.5 million ton or less. Stats Steel India
Private Limited will set up 0.5 million ton at Tangi in
Cuttack at an estimated cost of Rs855 crore while Jai
Balaji Jyoti Steels Limited proposes to establish a 0.33
million ton at Tanisar near Lathikata under the Sundargarh
district with an investment of Rs321 crore.
Besides,
Brand Alloys Limited and Eastern Steels & Power Limited
will establish a 0.27 million ton steel plant at Palaspanga
in Keonjahr district and a 0.25 million ton steel plant
at Lahandabud in Jharsuguda district respectively.
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ADB
sanctions US$400mn loan for PowerGrid projects
New
Delhi: The Power Grid Corporation of India has signed
an agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to
avail a US$400mn loan for funding its transmission projects
during 2005-09 which includes transmission elements of
the national power grid.
The loan comes with a 20-year term with a grace period
of five years. The loan will facilitate the distribution
of 2,500 mega watt (Mw) of power to Andhra Pradesh, Tamil
Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Pondicherry.
This loan is being availed to achieve the company's aim
of providing power to all by 2012. This is the third loan
that Power Grid is availing from the ADB. The earlier
loan were for $275 million and $250 million.
Power Grid achieved a turnover of Rs2,788 crore (provisional)
and net profit of Rs725 crore (provisional) for 2004-05.
Gross asset base of the company has grown to Rs21,553
crore (provisional) in 2004-05.
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1020
MW Tala hydro project to be commissioned
by June 2006
New Delhi: Power minister P M Sayeed has said that
the 1024 MW Tala Hydro-electric power project would be
commissioned by June 30, 2006 and would give power to
east and north Indian states including Delhi, Punjab,
Rajasthan and Haryana.
Sayeed
said this after an hour long meeting here with his Bhutanese
counterpart Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba.
Build
at a cost of Rs4,124 crores, power will be evacuated from
Tala in Bhutan to Siliguri in West Bengal through a transmission
network set up by Tata power and POwer Grid Corporation
of India Limited (PGCIL).
The
Government of Bhutan along with India had build the 1,020-mw
hydro-electric project through the Tala Hydro-Electric
Power Authority. The entire power from this project is
to be supplied to India.
A
run-of-the-river project, the 1020 MW THPA was taken up
for implantation in 1996. It is located in Tala, 60 km
up from Phunsholing, the gateway to Bhutan. The THPA has
an installed capacity of 1,020 MW. It is a run-of-the-river
project on the Wangchu river, downstream of Chukha Hydroelectric
project. It comprises a 92-meters high dam, a 22.25 kilometre
long head race tunnel, an underground power house complex
at Tala village to house 6 units of 170 MW generators
and three 440 KV single-circuit transmission lines to
reach the Ind0- Bhutan border.
The
THPA is the biggest Indo-Bhutan joint project. This project
is entirely funded by the Government of India (GOI) by
way of grants and loan.
The
Power Grid Corporation of India (PCI) and Tatas have formed
a joint venture for transmission of 3,000 mw of power
from Bhutan to the States in north India, including Jammu
and Kashmir via Delhi. The Tatas have 51 per cent and
the Power Grid Corporation of India (PCI) 49 per cent
holding in the joint venture.
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TRAI
asks operators to improve quality of telecom services
New Delhi: Facing a huge list of complaints including
call drops and congestion, the Telecom Regulator has asked
the operators to improve interconnection and stem further
deterioration of phone services.
"In
the last two years, there has been an exponential growth
in cellular mobile services. However, the provision of
interconnection has not kept pace with this growth, leading
to an increase in inter-network congestion and poor quality
of service to the customers," TRAI pointed out.
The
regulator has noted that the network conditions have also
deteriorated due to the inability of the mobile operators
to set up adequate towers and cell sites in cities.
TRAI
released a report on this problem with specific reference
to Lutyen's Delhi on September 1, 2005 and would shortly
release a report on this problem vis-à-vis other
cities of the country.
Presently
there are 47 million fixed line connections and 65 million
mobile connections. In the fixed line arena, BSNL and
MTNL are the incumbents in their respective areas of operation
and continue to enjoy the dominant service provider status
in the domain of fixed line services.
For
example, BSNL controls 79 per cent of fixed line share
in the country. On the other hand, in the mobile telephony
space, Airtel controls 21.4% subscriber base followed
by Reliance with 20.3%, BSNL with 18.6%, Hutch with 14.7%
subscriber base (as per June 2005 data).
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ONGC,
CIL sign pact for gasification of coal reserves
New
Delhi: The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC),
India's largest oil and gas producer, on Thursday signed
an agreement with coal producer Coal India Ltd (CIL) for
gasification of un-minable coal reserves in the country.
The
50:50 collaboration will use technology from Russia's
Skochinsky Institute of Mining to convert underground
coal into methane gas that can be used as fuel in industries,
for supplementing availability of domestic natural gas.
The
Memorandum of Understanding for the pilot project, at
an estimated cost of US$15.32mn (Rs75 crore), was signed
by ONGC chairman and managing director Subir Raha and
CIL chairman and managing director Shashi Kumar.
"We
hope to begin commercial production of gas through underground
coal gasification (UCG) by 2009," Raha said. Even
if 5 per cent of coal reserves in Gujarat were converted
into gas, it would yield 200 million standard cubic metres
per day of gas for 25 years.
However,
such a gas would contain only 24 per cent methane as compared
to 98 per cent in natural gas. It would also have only
10-30 per cent of the calorific value of natural gas.
Raha said 15 cities in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Maharashtra,
Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have been identified
for the pilot project.
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British
Airways to have more flights between Mumbai-London
Mumbai:
British Airways (BA) has doubled its flight frequency
from Mumbai to London and would be increasing services
from the national Capital soon. Now there will be two
flights daily between Mumbai-London instead of one earlier.
The
new flight (BA 126) would take off from Chhatrapati Shivaji
International Airport at 1340 hrs everyday and arrive
at London Heathrow Airport at 1805 hrs and is in addition
to BA 138, which departs from Mumbai at 0240 hrs.
The
airline also plans to double the number of flights between
London and Delhi from one to two per day, from next year
onwards.
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Coal
India to set up investment arm
New
Delhi: Coal India (CIL) is setting up an investment
arm for the acquisition of coal mines abroad by the end
of current fiscal.
According
to Coal India officials the company has applied to the
Government for setting up of Coal Videsh and expect to
get approval this fiscal.
CIL is looking at acquiring coal mines in Zimbabwe, South
Africa, Mozambique, Australia and Indonesia.
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General
Motors October sales rise two per cent
New
Delhi: General Motors India has reported a slight
increase of 2.79 per cent in October sales at 2,829 cars
as against 2,752 units in the same month last year.
Multi
utility vehicle (MUV) Chevrolet Tavera's sales grew by
35 per cent over the same month last year. On the whole
the Chevrolet brand including the Optra and Tavera showed
a 19.29 per cent rise in combined monthly sales.
The
company sold 1901 Taveras, 652 Optras and 274 Opel Corsas
in October.
Total
sales between January and October stood at 26,371 units,
up 24 per cent from last year. Theses included 15,444
Taveras, 6260 Optras and 4,620 Opel Corsas.
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Maruti
sales up 14.7 per cent in Oct.
New
Delhi: Maruti Udyog has reported 14.7 per cent increase
in sales in the domestic market during October at 50,308
vehicles as against sold 43,650 vehicles during the same
month last year.
The
company sold a total of 51,543 units, which included export
of 1,235 units, the company said in a statement.
MUL's
popular model sold the highest at 15,558 units.
The
company said its domestic sales in the A2 segment (which
includes Alto, Zen, WagonR, and Swift) climbed to 31,531
units, up 35.1 per cent from October 2004.
Sale
in the A3 segment (Baleno and Esteem) grew by 18.7 per
cent during the month compared to sales in October 2004.
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BHEL
to set up environment friendly power plant at Haldia
New
Delhi: Bharat Heavy Electricals has obtained a Rs130
crore order from Indian Oil Corporation for setting up
an energy efficient and environment friendly co-generation
power plant at IOC's Haldia Refinery complex.
The
'Frame-5 co-generation power plant' is being set up to
meet the requirements for uninterrupted power supply and
steam needs of the refinery. The plant is scheduled for
commissioning in 22 months, a BHEL release said here today.
The
gas turbine generator will be manufactured at BHEL's Hyderabad
plant, the heat recovery steam system (HRSS), of 130 tons
per hour capacity, and control system would be done at
its Trichy plant in Bangalore, the statement said.
BHEL's
scope of work in the project envisages design, engineering,
manufacture, supply, erection and commissioning of the
plant, the release said.
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TVS
two wheeler sales rise 17 per cent
New
Delhi: TVS Motor Co has reported its highest monthly
sales of two wheelers with a 17 per cent growth in October
at 1,37,886 units compared to 1,17,696 units, during the
same month last year.
Of
the total two wheeler sales in October, motorcycles and
scooters contributed 85,463 units, according to a company
statement.
Motorcycles
recorded its highest ever sales of 85,463 units in October
2005 compared to 74,683 units in the same period last
year recording a growth of 14 per cent. The company sold
over one lakh motorcycles in October.
The
company's entry-level model 'TVS StaR' sold over 50,000
units in October. The model has so far clocked 3,00,000
units since its phased launch earlier this year.
Scooter
sales during the month stood at 25,373 units compared
to 21,291 units in the same period last year, recording
a growth of 19 per cent.
Moped
sales stood at 27,050 units in October compared to 21,722
units in the same period last year, recording a growth
of 25.
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BMW
to enter Indian market with investment of Rs.110 crore
Mumbai:
BMW AG is formally entering the Indian market and
will set up a manufacturing and sales subsidiary in Chennai
with an initial investment of Rs 110 crore (euros 20 million).
The company intends to build an assembly plant in Chennai
and a wholly owned sales subsidiary in Delhi and will
employ around 200 people to begin with. The company expects
to roll out its first vehicle by early 2007.
The
company is also planning to expand its dealership network
of all metropolitan centres. The Indian foray is under
the company's expansion plans in Asia.
The Chennai plant will produce BMW 3 series and 5 series
saloons, with the production intended solely for the local
market.
At
present, two intermediary dealers with three outlets represent
the BMW group in India. Last year, the company delivered
122 vehicles through this network. In the first half of
2005, BMW sold 100 automobiles in India.
With an assembly plant in India, the BMW group will have
a total of 23 production locations in 13 countries worldwide.
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M&M
net up 73 per cent at Rs.243.5 crore
Mumbai:
Tractors and sports utility manufacturer Mahindra
& Mahindra (M&M) reported a 73.55 per cent rise
in consolidated net profit at Rs243.5 crore for the quarter
ended September 30, 2005 as compared to Rs140.3 crore
in the same period last fiscal.
Gross
sales and other income of the group has increased 25.79
per cent to Rs3170.1 crore for the quarter ended September
30, 2005 from Rs2,520 crore in the year-ago period, the
company informed the BSE.
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Coromandel
Fert. to forge JV with Tunisian companies
Mumbai:
Coromandel Fertilisers Ltd will forge a joint venture
with Groupe Chimique Tunisien (GCT) and Compagnie des
Phosphates de Gafsa (CPG) in Tunisia to manufacture phosphoric
acid.
The
company has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding
for the proposed joint venture with 15 per cent stake,
the company informed the stock exchanges on Wednesday.
The
MoU was signed on October 30 with GCT and CPG.
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Nalco
effects hike in aluminium price
New
Delhi: Rising international aluminum prices has led
to Indian aluminum producer Nalco to hike prices by Rs2,300
on every metric tonne from November 3.
The
company also denied that the decision to hike price was
influenced by the Chinese government's order to impose
curb on oversupply.
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BASF
India to transfer phorate activity to US company
Mumbai:
BASF India is planning to transfer its phorate activity,
valued at Rs4.44 crore, to the US-based AMVAC Chemical
Corporation.
The
board of directors of the company have approved the transfer
carried on by the agricultural products business of the
company to AMVAC Chemical Corporation, BASF India informed
the Bombay Stock Exchange.
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Banswara
Syntex to enter into JV with French company
Mumbai:
Textile company Banswara Syntex is entering into a joint
venture with a French company Carreman Fabrics India,
and will invest Rs6.5 crore in the venture.
The
board of the company at its recently held meeting approved
the decision, the company informed the BSE.
The
joint venture company would be located at Banswara (Rajasthan).
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Satyam
gets Indo-Australian business excellence award
Mumbai:
Satyam Computer Services has received the Indo-Australian
Business Excellency Award for its entrepreneurial role
in supporting industry growth, development and investing
in local human capital in Australia.
The
award was facilitated by leading bodies, such as Invest
Australia, the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade)
Australia-India Council, Western Australian Trade Offices,
Export Import Bank Of India, and Indo-Australian Chamber
Of Commerce, the company informed the BSE
At
present, Satyam employs 420 personnel in Australia, out
of which 32 per cent are locally recruited.
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Sun
Microsystems enters into OEM pact with Infozech Software
Bangalore:
Sun Microsystems India signed an OEM agreement with Infozech
Software, a leading provider of convergent billing, mediation
and rating solutions to telcos, for deploying Sun's Java
Enterprise System (Java ES) in Infozech Software's existing
and future products.
Sun's
Java ES will help customers of Infozech, greatly reduce
cost and complexity throughout the data centre, a sun
statement here said.
Using
the Java ES solution, Infozech will also cut the time-to-market
for new products, making available fresh offerings to
users at competitive prices and within the shortest possible
time, it said.
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