Govt expects $12bn FDI inflow for FY 2006-07
Kolkata: The government expects an inflow of $12bn foreign direct investment into the country during FY07, according to a senior government official. Last year, the FDI flow was $8.4bn.

Ajay Dua, secretary in the department of industrial policy promotion, said that during the current year, of the expected $12bn FDI, $8bn was expected to come in the form of equity, and the balance from re-invested earnings and other capital inflows. Dua was speaking at the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce here.

Countries like Taiwan, Japan and South Korea would be investing in India in a big way. A few Taiwanese firms were already in the process of setting up manufacturing units in India, Dua said.

So far, the US was the largest contributor, followed by European Union states and the Netherlands.
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Monsoon rains expected to hit Mumbai by Thursday
Thiruvananthapuram: The rapidly progressing monsoon is likely to throw up a low-pressure area off the Konkan coast around Thursday, June 1), which is expected to usher rains into Konkan and Goa, including Mumbai.

The National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) has said that there is a good probability of the `low' getting embedded into the prevailing north-south offshore trough. The system may then move northward subsequently, taking the rains into North Konkan and adjoining Gujarat by Friday.

Widespread rains with scattered heavy to very heavy rains are expected to start in Konkan, Goa and the Gujarat region around Thursday. Central parts of Maharashtra and Marathawada may also receive fairly widespread rains during this period.
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NTPC working on parameters of proposed power exchange
New Delhi: With the consultants, Nord Pool ASA and Crisil, having submitted their final proposals for setting up electricity pooling mechanism in the country, NTPC is now working out the broad contours of the proposed nationwide Power Exchange.

NTPC has taken a lead in the initiative to set up a wholesale market for electricity, which is also expected to see participation from trading major PTC India Ltd and Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. It is also likely that these companies may initially acquire some equity in the project, Government officials said.

Nord Pool, the world's only multinational exchange for trading power and one of the most efficient pooling mechanisms, is owned by the national grid companies of Norway and Sweden. Keeping in mind the success of the pooling mechanism in the Scandinavian countries, a broadly similar structure could be considered for India, Government officials have said.

A power exchange would basically function on the lines of commodity exchanges and provide a platform for buyers, sellers and traders of electricity to enter into spot and forward contracts.

Currently, inter-regional power transfer capacity of around 6,000 MW is available in the country, which is expected to increase further to about 9,500 MW in the coming few years.
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New weekly service to connect Tuticorin port with the US east coast
Chennai: A consortium of shipping lines has launched a new service to provide direct service between Tuticorin and the US East Coast. Also, for the first time, Tuticorin will be directly connected to the Mediterranean Port of Barcelona through the service.
Called IDX, the regular weekly service will call at Tuticorin every Thursday. The first vessel Zim Mumbai called at the port on May 26 to unload 50 TEUs (twenty equivalent unit) and load 184 TEUs, according to a Tuticorin Port Trust press release.

The consortium will be operated by ZIM Integrated Shipping Lines, Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), Emirates Shipping Lines (ESL) and MAC Andrews Company. Zim will operate three of the eight vessels while SCI and ESL will deploy two vessels each. MAC will deploy one vessel. The vessel sizes are 2,500-2,600 TEUs.

The port of rotation will be Colombo, Tuticorin, Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Barcelona, New York, Norfolk, Charleston, Barcelona and Colombo.

The new service will help exporters in the South, especially in Tirupur, Karur and Bangalore. The transit time will be 25 days to New York, 27 days to Norfolk, 29 days to Charleston and 16 days to Barcelona, the release said.
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