| Project Update
Eni to invest $ 4 bn in Venezuela
Italian oil and gas group Eni has earmarked $4 bn (approx
Rs 16,000 crore) to invest in Venezuela. The company has reached
an agreement in principle with PDVSA, Venezuelas state-owned
oil company, to develop an area of the Orinoco belt, one of
the worlds largest oil reserves. Eni hopes to begin production
at a rate of 30,000 bpd in 2010, and step up to 300,000 bpd
by 2014.
Contact: Eni. Website: www.eni.it
Indsil, Good Earth to operate manganese mine in Indonesia
Indsil Electrosmelts Ltd has formed a joint venture with Nagpur-based
Good Earth group of companies to operate an already acquired
5,000 hectare manganese ore mine in Indonesia. Detailed geological
surveys are being conducted for the purpose of accurate assessment.
Estimated production from this mine is around 300,000 tpa.
A 100 per cent subsidiary will be formed in Indonesia to operate
the mine.
Contact: Indsil Electrosmelts Ltd.
Tel: 0422-2554 922/3/4. Fax: 0422-2554 925.
E-mail: indsilho@indsil.com Website: www.indsil.com
Suzlon announces retrofit programme
Suzlon Energy Ltd (SEL) will undertake a Rs 100 crore retrofit
programme to resolve blade cracking issues discovered during
the operations of some of its S88 turbines in the US. The
retrofit programme involves the structural strengthening of
1,251 (417 sets) blades on S-88 (2.1 MW) turbines, of which
930 blades are already installed, while the remaining blades
are in transit or inventory. The programme is expected to
be completed over six months.
Contact: Suzlon Energy Ltd.
Tel: 020-4012 2000. Website: www.suzlon.com
Patel Engg to expand international operations
Patel Engineering will invest nearly $100 million (about Rs
400 crore) over the next two years, in equipment and allied
areas, in a bid to strengthen its overseas operations.
Patel Engineering already has a subsidiary, ASI Contractor
Inc, in the US, through which it implements projects in the
region.
The company is planning to invest nearly Rs 100 crore over
the next two-three years for purchasing additional tunnelling
equipment and is also looking at acquiring a coal mine, located
either in Mozambique or Australia.
Contact: Patel Engineering Ltd.
Tel: 022-2678 2916/2885/2560.
Fax: 022-2678 2455/1505.
Website: www.patelengineering.com
York Transport Equipment mulls unit in India
Singapore-based York Transport Equipment (Asia) Pte Ltd -
a subsidiary of the Jamshedpur-headquartered TRF Ltd - will
set up its production unit under the York India umbrella for
manufacturing and distributing trailer undergears and trailer
components. One possible location for the unit will be the
Mumbai-Delhi corridor. The Tata Strategic Management Group
has undertaken a study to determine the size of the market
for York products in India and its growth potential.
Contact: York Transport Equipment (Asia) Pte. Ltd. Tel: 065-6861
0577. Fax: 065-6861 4045.
E-mail: enquiry@yorktpt.com.sg
Website: www.yorktransport.com
Delay in 267 infra projects to cost Rs 21,500 crore
The delay in 267 central infrastructure projects in sectors
like petroleum, power and railways has resulted in cost overrun
of over Rs 21,500 crore. The cost has gone up by 15.51 per
cent or
Rs 21,531.41 crore and the anticipated cost would be Rs 1,60,391.97
crore as against the approved expenditure of
Rs 1,38,860.56 crore. The delay varied from two months to
13 years.
l In the petroleum sector, the delay in 25 projects by up
to four years is expected to cost Rs 10,183.13 crore more.
The cost has gone up to
Rs 46,366.06 crore from the approved expenditure of Rs 36,182.93
crore.
l The railways will spend Rs 8,500 crore more due to time
overruns on 33 projects. Some projects are running 13 years
behind schedule.
l Delay in 86 road transport and highway projects will result
in a cost overrun of Rs 532.96 crore; the delay is from one
month to six years.
Government acquires land for Tata project
The Chhattisgarh government has acquired land from more than
1,000 people at a compensation of Rs 34.75 crore in Bastar
district to facilitate Tata Steel build its greenfield integrated
steel plant in the district. The company will need 2160.58
hectare to set up its 5 mn tpa steel plant.
Contact: The Chhattisgarh government
Website: chhattisgarh.nic.in
Electrotherm to introduce
corrosion - resistant steel
Electrotherm (India) Ltd will launch corrosion-resistant steel
(CRS) bars that increase the life-span of buildings with a
little more investment at the time of construction. The product
will be introduced under the brandname of Electro CRS-Gold
in Gujarat and Mumbai initially. The CRS bars will be available
in
8 mm to 32 mm sizes in both Fe 500 and Fe 415 grades.
Contact: Electrotherm (India) Ltd.
Tel: 02717-234 553/234 613/660 550.
Fax: 02717-237 612/234 616.
E-mail: ho@electrotherm.com
Website: www.electrotherm.com
10 mtpa LNG terminal to come up in Mundra
A consortium of energy-to-transport majors, Adani group, Gujarat
State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) and Essar Oil, will invest
Rs 10,000 crore to build a 10 mtpa liquefied natural gas (LNG)
regassification terminal at Mundra in Gujarat. However, the
companies are yet to ink a long-term LNG sourcing contract.
Work on this third LNG terminal in the country is scheduled
to be completed by 2012-13.
Contact: Adani Group.
Tel: 079-2656 5555/2555 5555.
Fax: 079-2656 5500/2655 5500.
E-mail: info@adani.in Website: www.adanigroup.com
Phenix Varco to set up two plants
Ahmedabad-based Phenix Varco Pruden plans to invest Rs 200
crore to set up two manufacturing plants, one in the south
and the other in north for pre-engineered buildings over the
next five years.
The company has recently set up a plant in Ahmedabad with
an investment of Rs 80 crore with a capacity of 60,000 tonne
which will later be scaled to 180,000 tonne with the addition
of the two new plants.
The demand for pre-engineered steel buildings is set to grow.
Currently the market for pre-engineered steel buildings forms
roughly 1 mtpa of the total 3-mtpa steel construction industry.
Contact: Phenix Varco Pruden
Tel: 079-2640 5563/2646 1314. Fax: 079-2640 0828.
Website: phenixvarcopruden.com
Shah Alloys keen on JV with Posco
Ahmedabad-based Shah Alloys (SAL) is negotiating with Posco’s
Indian subsidiary, Posco India, to form a joint venture to
either to set up a greenfield steel manufacturing plant or
to outsource steel manufacturing to SAL.
Contact: Shah Alloys Ltd.
Tel: 079-6662 9100. Fax: 079-6662 9110/20/50.
E-mail: info@shahalloys.com
Website: www.shahalloys.com
Nippon plans Rs 450 crore expansion
Nippon Paints has chalked out plans to invest Rs 450 crore
in India over the next three years. The company will expand
its industrial paints portfolio
and also enter the fine chemicals business. Nippon has acquired
31 acre in Gurgaon to set up a new plant once
the volumes pick up in India. The company has launched its
new product - Premium all-in-1, which is Indias first odour-free
paint.
Contact: Nippon Paints.
Tel: 044-4550 2222. Fax: 044-4550 2277.
E-mail: tu@nipponpaint.co.in
Website: www.nipponpaint.com
TCIL’s 200,000 tpa capacity cold rolling facility
Tinplate Company of India Ltd (TCIL) is finalising plans to
set up a 200,000 tpa capacity cold rolling facility to feed
its second electrolytic tinning line scheduled to be commissioned
by May this year at an investment of Rs 450 crore. The backward
integration project will be implemented within the next two
years. The company is also augmenting the capacity of its
Jamshedpur unit from 180,000 tpa to 380,000 tpa at an investment
of Rs 210 crore.
Contact: Tinplate Company of India Ltd.
Tel: 033-2243 5401/5407. Fax: 033-2220 4170.
Website: www.tatatinplate.com
Universal Power to acquire Moloney Electric
Private equity fund, Peepul Capital has invested $15 mn (around
Rs 60 crore) in Universal Power Transformers (UPT), a manufacturer
of power equipment based in Bangalore.
UPT will expand its existing facilities, for shoring up working
capital and for acquiring Canada-based Moloney Electric Inc.
The company has three manufacturing facilities, located in
Toronto, Spruce Grove and Sackville in Canada.
Contact: Universal Power Transformers.
Tel: 080-2839 6184/88/6877.
Fax: 080-2839 7271.
E-mail: contact@upt.in, Website: www.upt.in
Tata Green mulls 2-wheeler battery unit
Tata Green Batteries, part of Tata Autocomp GY Batteries,
is planning a
Rs 70-crore manufacturing plant for two-wheeler batteries.
The plant is likely to have capability to manufacture both
VRLA and Electrolite batteries, currently in demand from original
equipment manufacturers and the replacement business sector.
Contact: Tata Autocomp Systems Ltd.
Tel: 020-6608 5000. Fax: 020-6608 5034.
Website: www.tacogroup.com
Manufacturing wall panels
Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd (RCF) has tied up
with Rapidbuilding Systems of Australia to manufacture prefabricated
wall panels. The Australian company has developed a process
to turn the waste gypsum into high-quality plaster, which
can be used to make rapidwall. A Rs 75-crore panel-making
unit will be set up in Trombay, which is expected to earn
1.1 lakh carbon credits per year worth € 1.65 mn (Rs
10.33 crore). The World Bank has evinced an interest in buying
up to 10 lakh such credits.
The company is also working out a tripartite arrangement with
Rapidbuilding Systems and The Fertilizer and Chemicals Travancore
for another panel unit.
Contact: Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd.
Tel: 022-2404 5001/2/3/4. Website: www.rcfltd.com
Orissa proposes Rs 7,500 crore annual plan
The size of the annual plan of Orissa for 2008-09 has been
pegged at
Rs 7,500 crore, inclusive of the additional Central assistance
of Rs 100 crore for projects of special interest to the state
and the Rs 100-crore special grant given for improving highways.
The state has also asked the Centre to establish educational
institutions such as IIT, IIM, IIIT and Central universities,
to meet the growing need for highly skilled manpower for upcoming
industries. Exemption from income tax
and Central excise tax for a period of 10 years for the Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput
region was also demanded. The state will aim at a growth rate
of over 9 per cent during the plan to reduce poverty by 15
percentage points.
Contact: Orissa Government.
Website: orissa.gov.in
SEL Manufacturing to expand capacity to 20,195 tpa
SEL Manufacturing has earmarked Rs 810 crore for raising the
spinning capacity by 20,195 tpa from the existing 17,240 tpa.
The company will also set up greenfield manufacturing plant
of terry towel with a capacity of 12,600 tpa besides setting
up an open-end spinning and captive power plant with a capacity
of 20 MW.
The power plant is proposed to be set up based on bio-mass
for which rice husk and pet coke will be used as fuel. Commercial
production at the terry towel plant is likely to begin in
July this year while all other plants are scheduled to start
production by 2009.
The company is planning another Rs 650 crore expansion and
the project will come up on 30 acre at the same site in Ludhiana
where earlier expansion is taking place.
Contact: SEL Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
Tel: 0161-2510 269/270. Fax: 0161-2510 268.
E-mail: ipo@rssalujagroup.co.in
Website: www.salujafabrics.com
Daikin earmarks Rs 140 crore to set up unit
Daikin Industries, through its 100 per cent Indian subsidiary,
is setting up an air-conditioning equipment and systems production
facility at the Neemrana Industrial Area in Rajasthan at an
investment of Rs 140 crore. Construction of the factory will
commence shortly and commercial production is scheduled to
begin by March 2009. In the first
phase the plant will manufacture 20,000 variable refrigerant
volume units and 1,800 chiller units per annum. The Indian
market for air-conditioning systems is estimated to grow to
Rs 7,500 crore by 2010.
Contact: Daikin Industries Ltd.
Tel: 0124-455 5444. Fax: 0124-455 5333.
Website: www.daikin.com
TN to build 120-km circular high-speed corridor
To ease congestion in Chennai and its suburbs, the Tamil Nadu
Government will construct a 120-km circular high-speed transportation
corridor over the banks of major water courses in the city
at a cost of Rs 2,300 crore. The four-lane and six-lane expressway
will be linked to the Chennai bypass road and constructed
over the banks of Adyar river, Buckingham Canal, the Cooum
and Mambalam canal. The National Highways Authority of India
will construct 60 km of the expressway
and the remaining will be constructed by the state government.
The transportation corridor will benefit people travelling
from the central parts of Chennai to Tambaram, Rajiv Gandhi
Information Technology Corridor and East Coast Road, as well
as vehicles going from Chennai to Tirupati, Bangalore and
Kolkata.
Contact: Tamil Nadu Government.
Tel: 044-25671475. Fax: 044-2567 0083.
E-mail: transec@tn.gov.in
Apollo’s Chennai plant to go on stream next year
Apollo Tyres has targetted June 2009 to begin commercial operations
at its upcoming greenfield plant at Oragadam, Chennai. The
plant will be capable of producing 30,000 car tyres a day.
Apart from these, the Rs 4,200-crore Apollo Tyres is investing
Rs 100 crore in a plant to produce tyres for off-highway vehicles.
The company also intends to set up a greenfield plant in Hungary
to produce passenger car tyres at an investment of
€ 200 mn.
Contact: Apollo Tyres.
Tel: 024-383 002-18. Website: www.apollotyres.com
H&R Johnson to expand capacity
H&R Johnson (India) Ltd has chalked out plans to expand
capacity and add 10 more House of Johnson outlets at an investment
of Rs 1,000 crore over the next five years. The company will
open three more units, in the South, West and North and expand
its bathroom products and industrial tiles division and test
market its wooden floorings too.
Contact: H&R Johnson (India) Ltd.
Tel: 022-2654 7300/3064 7300. Fax: 022-3064 7400.
Website: www.hrjohnsonindia.com
IL&FS sets up fund for urban infra
Bengal Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation (BUIDC),
a joint venture between the government of West Bengal and
IL&FS Infrastru-cture Development Corporation (IL &
FS IDC) has created a project development fund of Rs 10 crore.
The fund
will be utilised in the planning and
development of urban infrastructure projects in the state.
IL&FS IDC
is also in talks with the West Bengal
Green Energy Development Corpo-ration Ltd (WBGEDCL) for fun-ding
grid connected solar photo voltaic projects.
Contact: IL&FS Infrastructure Development Corporation.
Tel: 022-2653 3333/3232.
Fax: 022-2653 3038. E-mail: info@ilfsindia.com Website: www.ilfsindia.com
China eyes WB for investments
China-based Sino Steel has shown interest in investing in
West Bengal and wants to set up a unit to manufacture rollers
used in the steel sector. Another Chinese company also wants
to set up a joint venture for setting up a heavy vehicle manufacturing
unit in the state. Bilateral trade between India and China,
which has been increasing annually on an average 30 per cent,
reac-
hed $38.7 bn (around Rs 154,000 crore) in 2007, up by 55 per
cent over the last year.
Contact: SinoSteel Corporation.
Tel: 086-10-6268 6689. Fax: 086-10-6268 6688.
E-mail: info@sinosteel.com Website: sinosteel.com
KE-Burgmann pumps in ¤ 1 mn in India
Chennai-based KE-Burgmann Flexibles India, a wholly-owned
subsidiary of KE-Burgmann of Denmark, will pump in €
1 mn (approx Rs 6.3 crore) in India to further expand its
Chennai facility and expand its exports portfolio of industrial
joints. The company will manufacture Flexgen, Combine - X,
Hi-Flex and Thermoflex type compensators at its recently opened
Raipur factory which will cater to the industrial belt in
and around Raipur and Eastern and Central India.
Contact: KE-Burgmann Flexibles India.
Tel: 044-2632 1234/2002/2003.
Fax: 044-2632 2001/2646 0449.
Website: www.ke-burgmannindia.com
Finolex chalks out plans to expand capacity
The recent Union Budgets decision to focus on irrigation and
drinking water projects, has given Finolex Industries an incentive
to ramp up in its capacity. The company is also
looking at the feasibility of setting up a new plant with
a capacity of 30,000 tonne for the manufacture of
PVC pipes either at Uttaranchal or Himachal Pradesh.
Contact: Finolex Industries Ltd.
Tel: 020-2740 8200. Fax: 020-7477 217/7475 232.
E-mail: fil@finolexind.com
Website: www.finolex.com
Mahindra’s electrical steel processing plant goes on
stream
Mahindra Intertrade Ltd (MIL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (M&M), opened its electrical
steel processing plant in Vadodara recently. The company has
initially invested Rs 30 crore on the plant, set up on 10
acre, to function as a one-stop shop for processed electrical
steel requirements. The plant will manufacture laminations
for transformer cores providing a high-tech processing back-end
for OEMs located in Gujarat. It is equipped with cutting-edge
equipment imported from technology leaders in the metal forming
space, having the widest lamination line configuration to
meet the demand of even the largest transformer in the world.
Contact: Mahindra Intertrade Ltd.
Tel: 022-2493 5185/86. Fax: 022-2495 1236/1872. Website: www.mahindraintertrade.com
Reliance plans manufacturing complex at Jamnagar
Reliance Life Sciences (RLS) plans to set up an active pharmaceutical
ingredients (API) and formulations manufacturing complex at
Jamnagar at its multi-product SEZ. The manufacturing complex
will focus on the export markets where Reliance has a presence
and will also have a unit of contract research organization
(CRO), Reliance Clinical Research Services (RCRS), a wholly-owned
subsidiary of RLS. The unit will have facilities to conduct
clinical trial and monitoring, pharmacovigilance, biometrics
and regulatory affairs.
Contact: Reliance Life Sciences. Tel: 022-6767 8000. Fax:
022-6767 8099.
E-mail: ccd@relbio.com Website: www.relbio.com
Binani Zinc to Rajasthan double capacity
Binani Zinc has earmarked
Rs 500 crore to double its capacity. The company has zeroed
in on three mines in Rajasthan, while a new plant will be
set up between Jodhpur and Udaipur. The company is planning
a technology upgrade to bring down operational cost and improve
profit margins. The group is also scouting for mines with
zinc concentrates to tap the export markets.
Contact: Binani Zinc Ltd.
Tel: 0484-2540 274-78. Fax: 0484-2532 134.
E-mail: zinc@binanizinc.co.in
Website: binaniindustries.com
WB gets Rs 20,000 crore Vedanta investments
The Vedanta Group will set up aluminium manufacturing plants
in Burdwan district of West Bengal at an investment of Rs
20,000 crore. The group has acquired, and will revive, the
now-defunct West Bengal Aluminium Corporation.
Along with this, Vedanta will also set up new units with a
view to taking the total smelter capacity to 6.5 lakh tpa.
Additionally, a power plant of 3,000 MW capacity will be set
up in two phases of 1,500 MW each. The twin projects will
require 1,000 acre and are scheduled for completion within
the next two years.
Work on the project could take off immediately on the 270
acre that is already in the possession of Vedanta. The state
government will make available additional land that will be
required for setting up the projects.
Contacts: The Vedanta Group. Website: www.vedantaresources.com
Adhunik Metaliks to undertake Phase III development
Adhunik Metaliks Ltd has finalised the third phase of investment
at its integrated steel plant located at Rourkela. The Rs
422 crore development includes increasing sponge iron production
from 1.5 lakh tpa to 3.15 lakh tpa and setting up a 17 MW
capacity captive power plant. The ferro-alloy plant of 19,300
tpa capacity will be set up to augment the existing 40,000
tpa of ferro alloys. A lime calcination plant of 56,000 tpa
capacity will also be set up.
Contact: Adhunik Metaliks Ltd.
Tel: 033-3051 7100. Fax: 033-2289 0285.
E-mail: info@adhunikgroup.com. Website: www.adhunikgroup.com
KMDA signs MoUs with Simplex, Merlin, Dhoot
The Kolkata Metropolitan Develo-pment Authority (KMDA) has
signed agreements for three different projects totaling investments
of Rs 850 crore.
KMDA has signed an MoU with Simplex Projects Ltd to build
a multi-level manual car park near the City Centre at an investment
of Rs 50 crore. The PPP model will provide parking space for
500 cars. Simplex will pay Rs 25 crore for the land and will
run the facility on a build and operate basis.
An MoU was also signed between the KMDA and the South City
Merlin consortium to develop an IT Logistic Centre at Salt
Lake on 4.3 acre, at a total investment of Rs 300 crore. The
project is expected to be completed by 2010.
KMDA has agreed with Dhoot Developers Ltd to develop a corporate
park at Salt Lake in an area of 7.5 lakh sq ft to house 4
lakh sq ft of office space and a parking bay for 800 cars.
Dhoot will pay Rs 188 crore for the land and will also share
50 per cent of the yearly profits with KMDA.
Contact: The Kolkata Metropolitan. Development Authority.
website: www.cmdaonline.com
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