Automotive lube makers in a fix
Mumbai-- Technological advances increasing the longevity of engine oils manifold have put automotive lube manufacturers in a fix as industry sales volumes, which declined by 2.1 per cent during 2000-01, could fall further in years to come.

Senior industry officials say the technology-led innovations in the lube industry are responsible for the improvement in life of engine oils for both petrol and diesel-run vehicles.

For instance, most oils for petrol engines, which required to be changed after every 5,000 km just a few years back, can now run up to 20,000 km.

Engine oil life for diesel-run commercial vehicles, which used to be around 8,000-10,000 km, has now been extended to over 20,000 km.

In fact, Indian Oil's Servo brand of lubricants is offering a premium range of engine oils, which can long up to 45,000 km.

An Indian Oil official said: "The lubes business is driven by technology (leading to high-value sales), unlike other industries which are driven by growth in volumes. Only lube companies, which can produce better grades of oil, can sustain themselves in the future."

The issue is compounded by the replacement of older vehicles with newer ones, which come with better automotive and engine designs, thereby resulting in low oil consumption per vehicle.

Also, multi-grade engine oils, which can function over a wider temperature range, have replaced monograde oils meant for operation at a particular temperature range.
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Chennai to get new smart card manufacturing facility
Chennai--The US-based Versatile Card Technology Inc (VCT) has set up India’s first smart card manufacturing facility in Chennai. The unit, which has been set up at an investment of $7 million, has a capacity to manufacture 300 million cards. The facility will employ 60 professionals and has obtained approval from Mastercard and Visa, said top company officials.

They added that the facility would service the Indian market besides exports, which would account for about 90 per cent of production.

Indian credit card players and other high quality card users have had to import the card to India, which can now be sourced from VCT.

The size of the Indian card market is estimated to be about 5 million pieces.
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