HLL mulls merger of Modern Foods with itself
Mumbai: FMCG major Hindustan Lever Ltd has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that it will consider the merger of its subsidiary, Modern Food Industries Ltd with itself on September 8.

In a filing on the BSE, HLL said that a meeting of the board would be convened on September 8 to consider a proposal for amalgamating Modern Food Industries Ltd (MFIL) with the company and to settle the draft scheme of amalgamation.

HLL said its board would also consider demerging assets of the company at Jamnagar, Shamnagar and Daverashola plantations in Tamil Nadu into one or more subsidiaries and a scheme of arrangement for the said purpose would be settled as well.
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ONGC-Cairn Energy drop plans for Rajasthan refinery
Mumbai: The Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and UK's Cairn Energy Plc have shelved plans to build a refinery in the State of Rajasthan. ONGC officials have said that building a refinery in a land locked state was uneconomical.

With the Indian Oil Corp's Mathura, and the expanded Panipat refinery already based in the region and HPCL's nine million tonne per annum refinery coming up at Bhatinda by 2010, ONGC officials feel there will be no market for the planned refinery at Barmer.

ONGC plans to get its subsidiary Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) denominated as the official offtaker of crude oil found by Cairn Energy in Rajasthan and sell it to refiners. Reliance Petroleum is now being seen as a frontrunner in this regard.

ONGC-Cairn, the 30:70 owners of the Rajasthan project are now considering building a crude oil transportation pipeline from Barmer to Jamnagar in Gujarat, where Reliance has its refinery.
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GSPL and RIL sign up for gas pipeline project
Ahmedabad: Gujarat State Petronet Ltd (GSPL), a subsidiary of Gujarat State Petrochemical Corporation Ltd (GSPC), has signed an agreement with Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to transport natural gas from Bharuch to Jamnagar for a period of 15 years.

The project is expected to commence in the first quarter of fiscal 2008-09.

According to GSPL sources, the project size is about Rs400 crore. GSPL will lay a 250 km connecting pipeline from Bharuch to Jamnagar and transport the natural gas.

RIL is also laying a 42-inch pipeline near Bharuch for the project. RIL also has plans to transfer gas from its Krishna-Godavari basin block to its refinery at Jamnagar and has already started laying a pipeline from the KG basin in the Bay of Bengal to Bharuch in Gujarat.

For the rest of the distance, GSPL will connect the pipeline ending at Jamnagar and lay two connecting pipelines, one from Bharuch to Anand and the other from Rajkot to Jamnagar.
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Philips Semiconductors launches India chapter
Mumbai: Philips Semiconductors has formally launched its India chapter - NXP Semiconductors India.

The NXP acronym stands for Next Experience and as an independent entity, it is well-positioned to offer vibrant media technologies to consumers and end-users alike, the company stated in a press release.

The change in the company's identity follows an agreement arrived at in August 2006 between Royal Philips and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), Bain Capital, Silver Lake Partners, Apax Partners and AlpInvest Partners NV that will see them take an 80.1 per cent stake in the semiconductor business. The remaining 19.9 per cent of the semiconductor business will be retained by Philips.

The new entity will be supported by the tagline 'Founded by Philips.'

Headquartered in Bangalore, NXP India also has operations in Delhi and Mumbai. It has a total workforce of 700 R&D engineers and a sales network which covers the entire country. The core areas of the company s activities in India will include design, sales and software partnerships.
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Suzlon in 105 MW deal with US company
Mumbai: Suzlon Energy has signed 105 MW deal with Edison Mission Group for 50 units of Suzlon's S88-2.1 MW wind turbines. Delivery of the turbines is expected to begin in mid-2007.

'With signing of these orders, the company has a current consolidated order book position of Rs4587 crore, with Rs3787 crore in international orders and Rs800 crore in domestic orders.', a company release to the BSE has said.
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REL plans 1,000-MW coal-based project in Jharkhand
New Delhi: Reliance Energy Ltd plans to develop a 1,000 MW coal-based power project in Jharkhand at an investment of Rs5,000 crore.

The company says that it has identified around 1,300 acres of land in the State for the proposed Rajbar power project, which would receive its feed from a coalmine that will have a full production capacity of about 5 million tonnes per annum.

REL has submitted a detailed project report to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and has already received "in principle" approvals from the Punjab National Bank and Standard Chartered Bank for project financing, sources said.

The company says that it is looking at a completion time frame of around mid-2011, and that it has finalised arrangements with Indian and international coal mining companies for bringing in mining techniques and high-productivity equipment for the coalmine. REL is also looking at synchronising the commissioning schedule of the first unit of the power project with the commencement of mine operations.
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Aditya Birla Group signs up for viscose staple fibre JV in China
Mumbai: The Aditya Birla Group has announced a joint venture with Hubei Jing Wei Chemical Fibre Co of China for the manufacture of viscose staple fibre.

The Aditya Birla Group will invest in the joint venture, named Birla Jing Wei Fibres Company Ltd through Grasim Industries Ltd, Thai Rayon Public Company Ltd, and PT Indo Bharat Rayon, Indonesia. The Indian group will hold a majority stake with Grasim Industries Ltd having a little over 30 per cent.

"In viscose staple fibre, we are at the top. Our intent is to grow globally. The Asian and Chinese markets offer enormous potential for commodity and speciality fibres," the company said in a press release quoting its chairman, Kumar Mangalam Birla.

The press release did not offer any financial details on the venture, which is subject to requisite statutory approvals.

It is the second joint venture of the Aditya Birla Group in China. In 2003, the Group had set up the Liaoning Birla Carbon Ltd. The unit manufactures furnace grade carbon black.
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Mustard oil manufacturer KS Oils targets Rs1,000-cr turnover
Mumbai: KS Oils Ltd, a leading manufacturer of mustard oil in India, has said that it is looking at Rs1,000-crore turnover by the next fiscal through the acquisition of edible oil plants and intensive retailing. It also said that it hopes to see a turnover of Rs3,000 crore by 2010.

The company currently has a turnover of Rs608 crore.

The company recently acquired an edible oil plant in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, and is in the process of acquiring another in Madhya Pradesh, which it to finalise in a few weeks time.

The company also plans to sell its products through leading retailers. Retail forms 20 per cent of total oil sales and the company aims to push up this share to 50 per cent.

The company markets mustard oil under the brand names, namely, `Double Sher', `Kalash', `KS refined', and `KS gold', and enjoys market leadership in the edible oil sector in North East and East India.
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Visakhapatnam Steel plant sales up in Aug.
Visakhapatnam: The Visaskhapatnam Steel Plant has achieved sales of Rs679.5 crore during August, producing 3.33 lakh tonnes of hot metal, 2.78 lakh tonnes of liquid steel and 2.37 lakh tonnes of saleable steel during the month, according to a press release issued by the plant.

The plant also produced one lakh tonnes of special, or value-added, steel.

The cumulative sales for the April-August period stood at Rs3,205 crore, a hike of 9 per cent over the sales during the corresponding period last year.

Domestic sales accounted for Rs3,015 crore and exports Rs190 crore.

The cumulative production during the period was 16.88 lakh tonnes of hot metal, 14.8 lakh tonnes of liquid steel and 13.07 lakh tonnes of saleable steel.
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