NTPC signs agreement with Power ministry
Kolkata: NTPC has entered into an understanding with the power ministry which sets targets of important milestones related to ongoing projects of NTPC Ltd namely Sipat-I (3X660 MW), Sipat-II (2X500 MW), Barh (3X660 MW), Korba (1X500 MW), Dadri-II (2X490 MW), Farakka- III (1X500 MW), Koldam Hydro Electric Power Project (4X200 MW), Loharinag Pala Hydro Electric Power Project (4X150 MW), Tapovan-Vishnugad Hydro Electric Power Project (4X130 MW) and targets for coal mining activities.

Targets relating to total quality management, human resource development, business development activities (including activities of gas exploration, distributed generation, R&R, ERP and subsidiaries of NTPC such as NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd, NTPC Electric Supply Company Ltd and NTPC Hydro Ltd), R&D and Energy Technology, project management certification, ash utilisation and environment measures are also part of the MoU.

NTPC said in a press release that it has been achieving "excellent" rating under the MoU signed with Government of India for all the years since inception of MoU and has sustained high performance levels. NTPC plans to be a 75,000 MW plus company by 2017.
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Mahanagar Gas begins PNG supply to South Mumbai
Mumbai: Mahanagar Gas would invest Rs1,200 crore in the next five years to expand gas distribution infrastructure and its customer base and would fund the expansion through internal accruals. The gas utility has started supplying PNG and CNG to the Mumbai metropolitan area. From the current customer base of 2.9 lakh, Mahanagar Gas plans to double it to six lakhin three years.

The company also plans to sell PNG to small industrial consumers in the State. For supplying gas, the company is also open to a joint venture with the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation.
Mahanagar Gas provides PNG to over 2.9 lakh homes and 850 small commercial and industrial consumers in the Mumbai metropolitan area. It also supplies CNG to vehicles through 126 CNG stations. Almost 52,000 taxies and cars and 1.24 lakh auto rickshaws in the region have converted to CNG.

ONGC currently supplies gas to Mahanagar Gas under the administrative price mechanism. But in view of the growing demand, Mahanagar Gas is exploring possibilities of procuring gas from other players in the market. The projected demand in five years is 4.5 MMSCMD (million metric standard cubic metres per day) from the current 1.4 MMSCMD of gas.
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Yahoo India to offer new facilities on the Net
New Delhi: After launching its tremendously successful `Answers,' product a community based solutions product, globally in December 2005 and in April 2006 in India, which has already attracted 90 million users worldwide and 12 per cent of online users in India, Yahoo India is looking to launch more products on the same lines.

One of the products under consideration is an online forum that could be used by myriad of users to gain feedback from other netizens.

Hence a company could send out a question online asking thousands of users as to the kind of features they expect in the product. Yahoo says the chances are you may get some interesting ideas to make your product kick off. For instance, in Brazil, Renault asked a question on `Yahoo Answers' as to the kind of features consumers would want in a car that the company was planning to launch. With the response it received from users of this platform, it actually incorporated some of these features. Similarly, in US, Toyoto used this platform for a pre-launch consumer feedback said Yahoo India officials.

In India, Yahoo has started with Gillette, and is looking at how more companies could use its platform.
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Bajaj Auto could make cars: Rahul Bajaj
Indore: Bajaj Auto says it may build start making cars to ward off the threat from the Tata one lakh car.

"The JD power study says that it (Tata's one lakh car) will affect the two-wheeler market. If that happens then we would also manufacture cars for the market," Rahul Bajaj, chairman, Bajaj Auto said.
International consultancy firm JD Power last week said that Tatas' people's car expected to be launched in 2008 could create a major dent in top-end motorcycle sales with its lucrative price tag, provided the corporate house gets the product right in the first shot.

Bajaj's statement is the first confirmation that the country's top three-wheeler and second-largest motorcycle maker was interested in developing a low-cost car.

Although Bajaj Auto is the second-largest motorcycle maker in the country after Hero Honda, it has an upper hand in high-end bikes with its runaway success Pulsar.
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Mittal's stake in Bathinda violates pact: ONGC
New Delhi: Steel baron Lakshmi N Mittal's acquisition of 49 per cent stake in Hindustan Petroleum's $3 billion Bathinda refinery violates the pact he had entered into with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation to pursue hydrocarbon opportunities exclusively an ONGC official said.

Though Mittal signed a joint venture agreement in July 2005 with ONGC to form ONGC-Mittal Energy for acquisition of oil and gas fields, refinery business and LNG projects, he recently decided to go it alone in investing Rs 3,300 crore in the Bathinda refinery.

Apart from this, Mittal has on his own bought 50 per cent stake in a Kazakhstan oil firm from Russia's Lukoil for $980 million and acquired 3 per cent stake in the $6 billion Chevron-operated Olokola LNG (OK-LNG) project in Nigeria.

The official said, "The July 24, 2005, agreement had earmarked 27 countries for exclusive pursuit of hydrocarbon opportunities by OMEL. For the rest of the world, it clearly stated that Mittal shall offer ONGC Videsh a partnership in any venture or business opportunity it wishes to undertake in the hydrocarbon sphere," added the official, who did not want to be named.

But there was no such restriction placed on ONGC, he said, adding that Nigeria and Kazakhstan fall under the 27 exclusive countries marked for OMEL.

Mittal and ONGC had agreed to participate on an exclusive basis through OMEL in the Schedule-I countries of Angola, Azerbaijan, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Romania, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, the official said.

In the Schedule-II countries of Bosnia, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Macedonia, Mexico, Nigeria, Poland, Sao Tome and Principe, South Africa, Sudan, United Kingdom and the US, the two agreed to bid jointly on a case-to-case basis, he said.

For Schedule-I countries, the agreement provided that OVL could bid alone for any project if it could not reach an agreement on the terms of a joint bid with Mittal.
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Titan to launch more global brands in India
Mumbai: Tata group-controlled Titan Industries is planning to introduce more international brands in India after seeing the success of the Tommy Hilfiger brand launched earlier.

Officials said Tommy Hilfiger has grown at more than 60 pc year on year. The company said it would bring in two to three more licensed brands into India in the next two to three years including at least one in the next one year.

Media reports had earlier suggested that the company was in talks with Hugo Boss for a possible entry into India through the franchise route.

The growing market for the company has prompted Titan to start a new manufacturing facility in India and outsourcing of watches from neighbouring countries as well as increasing its retail presence by around 50 pc in the coming fiscal.

The company will be opening a new facility in Rourkee with a manufacturing capacity of 2-3 million watches with an investment of Rs 10 crore that will be functional by late 2007.

Titan has also opened a sourcing office in Hong Kong for outsourcing of watches from China, Korea and other such countries and have made significant progress in that regard with nearly 20 pc of the production being sourced from these countries.

Titan has also expanded its range in the sports wear category by introducing the Aviator series of watches. The new series, inspired from World War II fighter aircraft is targeted at the up-market, global Indian and has been priced between Rs4,000 and Rs7,000.
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