ONGC to invest Rs35,000 crore in Mangalore SEZ
New Delhi: The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's (ONGC), subsidiary Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) will invest Rs35,000 crore over the next five years in the Mangalore special economic zone (SEZ).

ONGC has also set up a special purpose vehicle, Mangalore SEZ in Bangalore for developing the special economic zone in which ONGC will hold 26 per cent stake.

Of the remaining stake 23 per cent would be held by the Karnataka government, through its Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) while 51 per cent will be jointly held by Kannara Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd.

The New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) has also shown an interest in the SEZ, subject to the approval of the ministry of shipping, road and transport. If NMPT gets the ministry's approval, the KIADB and NMPT will together hold 23 per cent in Mangalore SEZ Ltd.
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CII puts GDP 2005-06 growth at more than 8 per cent
New Delhi: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) says the Indian economy is expected to post more than 8 per cent GDP growth for the fiscal year 2005-06, in line with the estimates released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO).

A good monsoon, an impressive growth of manufacturing and services sectors and a higher share of services sector in the GDP (54 per cent this fiscal, against 53 per cent in the last fiscal) were some of the reasons for the high projection, the CII's State of the Economy report said.

CII said industrial production growth stood at 7.8 per cent growth during April-December 2005, and stressed the need for propelling the growth in mining and electricity sectors.

The report also noted that the capital goods sector had sustained its growth momentum by growing at 15.7 per cent during the first three quarters of 2005-06 and that the consumer goods production category also continued to do well.

The report stressed the need for implementing measures like introducing flexibility in labour laws, encouraging large-scale production, and reducing the delays in shipment of finished goods and a greater availability of credit at lower interest rates to double India's share in global textiles trade from the current 4 per cent to 8 per cent by 2010 as envisaged in the National Textile Policy (2000).
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Cochin port gets deep draft port status
Kochi: On the completion of the first stage of capital dredging work in the channels, the Cochin port has been declared a deep draft port, ready to handle mainline vessels requiring drafts of up to 12.5 metres. The other deep draft ports are Mumbai, Chennai, Mudra and Goa.

The Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways T R Baalu gave the Cochin Port the said status at a function held at the Cochin Port Trust on Sunday.

The minister said that the port saved Rs9 crore since it was completed ahead of schedule. Its original estimate was Rs33 crore. He said the Centre would pursue the "National Maritime Policy'' for the development of ports and shipping units in the country.

On January 31, 2005, Cochin Port Trust had signed a Licence Agreement with the Dubai Ports International (now Dubai Ports World — DPW) for the construction and operation of an International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) at Vallarpadam on Build Operate Transfer (BOT) basis.

Under the Licence Agreement, the operation of the existing Rajiv Gandhi Container Terminal (RGCT) was transferred to the India Gateway Terminal Private Limited (subsidiary company of the Dubai Ports International), on April 1, 2005.
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India overtakes China in growth of telecom connections
Chennai: India overtook China last month to become the fastest growing telecom market in the world.

Dayanidhi Maran IT and telecom minister said during January 2006, India added 5.30 million new subscribers (for all new fixed and wireless lines), as against 5.0 million added by China. During December 2005, Indian telecom subscriber base grew by 4.70 million.

India is expected to add 4.50 to 5.50 million new phone connections on an average every month achieve 250 million telecom connections before 2007 Maran said.
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Higher budgetary allocation for agriculture: Pawar
Latur: The agriculture sector would benefit from the announcements in the forthcoming Union Budget to the tune of a few thousand crore rupees said agriculture minister Sharad Pawar.

Pawar said, "During the NDA regime, the allocation was Rs80,000 crore and under UPA it was increased to 1.15 lakh crore last year and this year, we plan to hike it to Rs1.40 lakh crore", Pawar said.

The government has also decided to double the quantum of agricultural loans within the next three years. A new watershed development authority was being planned by the Centre, Pawar said.

He said a provision of Rs450 crore was being set aside for subsidy to sprinkler systems by farmers, he said. He said there was also a proposal for providing 40 per cent Central and 10 per cent state subsidy for purchasing sprinkler sets, he said. The farmers were expected to pay 10 per cent while banks would give loans for the balance 40 per cent, he added.

Referring to the recent spate of farmers' suicides in Maharashtra and other parts of the country, Pawar said the central and state government and farmers would have to sit together to finalise ways to resolve the problem.
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Kerala Government to set up coconut water manufacturing units
Thiruvananthapuram: The State Government is planning to set up three units to manufacture `Neera', a coconut water-based soft drink, said the Kerala chief minister, Oommen Chandy.

Addressing the press in the city, he said the three units would be set up on an experimental basis as part of the State Government's `Kerala Vision 2010' initiative. The government would decide on more units based on the performance of the three pilot units, he added.

Other proposals under study include a proposal to make bio-fuel from tapioca using technology developed by the city-based Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, he said.
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