Greenfield projects may come under watch
At the behest of financial institutions and banks lending to the power sector, new greenfield projects, starting with the five new `ultra mega' power projects, could come under a rating watch of the country's four rating agencies.

It is hoped that the move will improve the bankability of individual power projects and provide additional degree of comfort to lenders for facilitating speedy financial closure, according to Government officials.

The move is also expected to activate the bond market as a source of long- term funding for power projects and also trigger the interest of venture capital funds and facilitate international resource mobilisation, officials said. The ratings are expected to be an ongoing process.

The four rating agencies — Duff and Phelps, Crisil, CARE and ICRA have submitted an initial paper for the rating of the `ultra mega' projects to the lending institutions said an official involved in the exercise.

Each of the five proposed `ultra mega' power projects, with capacities of up to 4,000 MW, is expected to entail investments of around Rs15,000 crore.
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Technical textile market grows fastest: to touch $7 billion by 2007
New Delhi: Industry experts say the Indian technical textile market is growing the fastest in the sector and is poised to grow to $7 billion by 2007 from $4 billion now.

The Indian technical textile industry produces products for all the 12 segments of the industry. These include home textiles (upholstery), transport textiles (seat belts, car covers), medical textiles (surgical dressings), sport textile (artificial turfs) and protective textiles (fire retardant textile).

It also includes industrial textile (conveyor belts), geotextiles (soil erosion control), packaging textile, agro textile (fishing nets), clothing textiles (shoe laces) and construction textile (scaffolding nets).

The Government has also undertaken initiatives for promoting the sector that includes a scheme for integrated textile parks. The Government will also provide the requisite infrastructure for setting up units and a technology upgradation fund scheme for which 5 per cent would be reimbursed on the interest charged by the lending agency.
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Changes suggested in food procurement system
New Delhi: The Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies has suggested discontinuation of the present system of foodgrain procurement. The Institute in a study has said that the central government's procurement arm Food Corporation of India should be restricted to undertaking buffer stock operations and that FCI's inefficiencies are such that distributing food free costs less than stocking it. It adds that stocking cost accounts for 41 per cent of the present food subsidy.
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ADB may double aid to India
Hyderabad: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) may nearly double the quantum of aid to India to meet the country's growing investment requirements in infrastructure sector.

At present, ADB's annual financial aid to India is in the range of $1billion to $1.5 billion a year. ADB will increase this to two to $2.25 billion said Haruhiko Kuroda, president, ADB.

Kuroda has also cautioned the government that it should include significant labour reforms in the ongoing economic reforms. He said India needs to upgrade its infrastructure and bring in labour reforms.

In his keynote speech on 'Investing in Infrastructure: Key to Economic Growth' at the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) here, Kuroda said ADB would assist in implementing the National Urban Renewal Mission, a prestigious programme of the UPA government.
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2.5 lakh sq. ft. mall to come up in Chandigarh
Chandigarh: Meters and Instruments, which is among the oldest industrial units in the city, plans to build a shopping mall-cum-multiplex in the city's industrial area with an investment of Rs130 crore.

It has signed a deal with Delhi-based Real Tech Constructions for building the mall and will source technical and marketing expertise from two Canada — based companies — Asia Property Group (APG) and NAI Global. The mall would be the largest in the city with an area of 2.5 lakh sq feet with at least two to three basements for parking and a six-story shopping complex.

The mall will also have dedicated floors, partially or completely, based on wedding, children entertainment zone and youngsters. The mall would be opened in the next 18 months once the environmental clearance is achieved and the building plans are given a go-ahead by the Administration.

The management has already applied for conversion of land and deposited the first installment of the conversion fee with the Chandigarh Housing Board.
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