FLAG Telecom in talks with Lanka Bell for under-sea cable
New Delhi: FLAG Telecom, a Reliance Communications enterprise, is in talks with Lanka Bell, a private Sri Lankan wireless telecom operator, to lay an under-sea cable linking India and Sri Lanka. The $25-million project will also connect Sri Lanka and the Maldives with a single cable.

Once it fructifies, it will be the second under-sea cable project connecting the two countries as Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has also entered into an agreement with Sri Lanka Telecom, a Lankan state-owned telecom company, for laying an under-sea cable.

FLAG owns extensive optical fibre network connecting four continents and key markets in Asia, Europe, West Asia and the US.

Reliance had acquired FLAG in 2004. Last year FLAG signed an agreement with China Telecommunications Corporation to provide direct telecommunication service, including a global hubbing service, to subscribers in the two countries. FLAG has a customer base of 180 operators including some large international carriers.

Reliance Comm is all set to launch its new cable system FALCON this week, which will connect India to West Asia.
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MRPL argues for change in subsidy-sharing method
New Delhi: Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) has proposed to the Petroleum ministry that only the quantity of crude oil utilised for production of petroleum products consumed in the domestic market may be considered for computation of subsidy sharing. This is yet another attempt by MRPL to ease off some of the subsidy burden by seeking a change in the computation process on kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Along with other public sector and private refiners, MRPL too shares the subsidy burden in the form of discounts to the oil retailing companies. State-owned marketing companies take into account the entire quantity of crude oil processed by MRPL to establish the total quantum of subsidy on kerosene and LPG.

With almost 50 per cent of its products were being exported, MRPL has been arguing for some time that this results in heavy under realisation vis-à-vis the refinery transfer price (RTP), and it says that only that quantity of crude oil, which is used for production of products consumed in the domestic market, be computed for subsidy purposes.
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ONGC restarts Hazira units
New Delhi: The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd's Hazira gas processing complex has reached a throughput level of 28 million standard cubic metres a day (mscmd). According to ONGC, with this throughput it is now supplying gas to the Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur (HVJ) pipeline at 70 per cent of its pre-shut-down level.

According to a statement issued by the company here, the processing units are restarting operations, in series and with the fifth processing unit coming online on Saturday the plant has now reached a throughput of 28 mscmd.

It may be recalled that the ONGC plant shut down in the wake of massive floods engulfing Gujarat at the beginning of August. It restarted operations from August 19, restoring 6 mmscmd, 48 hours ahead of schedule, the statement said. The gas supply scaled 28 mscmd five days ahead of schedule, the statement said. ONGC expects to restore complete processing of 40 mmscmd in the next few days, it added.
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IndiGo to fly on Hyderabad- Chennai route
Hyderabad: IndiGo Airline, the latest entrant on the domestic aviation sector, is set to link up Hyderabad and Chennai later this month with the addition of one more aircraft into its fleet. The private airliner, which commenced operations barely four weeks ago, expects to add one plane a month to its fleet and take the number of aircraft to six by December 2006. The airline expects to add nine more aircraft in 2007.

The airline has ordered a total of 100 planes.

According to IndiGo's president and CEO, Bruce Ashby, the company currently employs about 450 people and expects to break even after about 18 months, inline with industry standards for new entrants.
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Pushpanjali Construction unveils Rs1,200-cr investment plans
New Delhi: North-India based Pushpanjali Construction Pvt Ltd has said that it intends to invest Rs1,200 crore over the next three years as part of its overall expansion programmes, and will develop residential projects in several cities.

The company may also tap the capital markets with a initial public offer.

The company has said that it will foray into the education sector and plans to start an engineering and medical college in Uttar Pradesh with an investment of Rs140 crore.

According to the company, the total investment in the housing projects would be around Rs1,000 crore which will be sourced through internal accruals, advances from customers and debts. The company also said that acquisition of land at Ghaziabad, Noida and Jaipur was nearing completion.
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Vaptech to invest $2mn in India operations
Hyderabad: Vaptech, a New Jersey-based business process outsourcing services provider, has announced expansion plans that would see the company investing $2 million in its India operations.

A statement from the company quoted the president, Ms Vijaya Lakhsmi Andapalli, as saying that the company planned to induct about 300 people at its Hyderabad centre.
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