Tata Power and DVC in JV for Jharkhand project
Mumbai: The Tata Power Company (TPC) has entered into a 74:26 joint venture with the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) for a proposed 1000 MW project in Jharkhand. This agreement will be the first initiative in public-private partnership in the area of generation under the provisions of the Electricity Act 2003.

The right bank thermal power project is being developed by Maithon Power.

According to a company release, TPC will be entitled to nominate up to seven directors while DVC can nominate up to three directors on the board of the new company.

The total land required for the Maithon project is about 1100 acres and 50 per cent of the land has been acquired by DVC. The power generated will be exported to western and northern states after meeting the requirements of DVC in terms of a PPA (power purchase agreement) to be executed between both the players.
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NTPC to sign gas deal with Reliance
New Delhi: The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) will sign a gas sale and purchase agreement with Reliance Industries by next week towards supply of gas to its Kawas and Gandhar power plants in Gujarat.

The Kawas and Gandhar expansion projects are of 1300 MW capacity each and are expected to be commissioned by 2007-end.

Reliance had quoted a price of $2.97 per MMBTU for supply of LNG/gas bettering offers from Shell, Yemen LNG and Petronas for LNG.

RIL would supply natural gas from the Krishna-Godavari offshore basin in Andhra Pradesh up to the boundaries of the projects in Gujarat, at a distance of 1400 km through a pipeline.
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Nooyi: Pepsico to invest upto $500 mn in India
New Delhi: US cola giant Pepsico has said that it will invest up to $500 million to consolidate its beverages and snacks business in India.

According to Indra Nooyi, President and Chief Financial Officer, Pepsico the country has invested over Rs3000 crore directly and Rs900 crore through its partners so far, and it intends to invest $300-500 million more over the next three to five years. Nooyi said Pepsico's business has grown four fold in the last five years and the company has put in place a strategy to expand further.

The company is also looking at sourcing top management from India.
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Tamilnadu Petro to invest Rs.1,750 crore in LAB units overseas
Chennai: The Tamilnadu Petroproducts (TPL) plans to invest about Rs1,750 crore to build linear alkyl benzene (LAB) plants in Singapore and Saudi Arabia, in its effort to corner about ten per cent of the global market share.

The Singapore plant is likely to have an annual capacity of 80,000 tonne of LAB, an important ingredient in detergent manufacturing, and would be ready for production in about two years.

The Singapore venture would be followed in a year by another 80,000 tonne plant in Saudi Arabia, in association with the Al Zamil group, company officials said. The two plants would more than double TPL's existing capacity of 120,000 tonnes.

A manufacturing plant in Singapore would enhance competitiveness by bringing down logisitics and energy costs. The Saudi plant would largely serve the Middle East and TPL expects to invest $ 150 million there. The difference in costs is because the plant would use normal paraffin to make LAB, and not kerosene, the commonly used ingredient.
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Unichem Labs acquires API unit at Indore
New Delhi: Unichem Laboratories has said that it has acquired an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) facility at Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The company has bought the API facility under the Securitisation Act, Unichem informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

It currently has an API facility at Roha, Maharashtra that will be further augmented with this acquisition.

The facility will be upgraded for regulatory approvals from USFDA & other developed markets, it added.
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Air Sahara sells out Singapore/Kuala Lumpur flights in hours
New Delhi: Within a few hours of opening booking for its Delhi-Singapore-Delhi and Chennai-Kuala Lumpur-Chennai services, Air Sahara today sold all seats on offer to the two destinations.

Air Sahara had come up with an inaugural fare of Rs10,000 for a round trip to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur for one month starting May 11. Air Sahara executives claimed the entire month's stock was sold out in no time. Executive also said that travel agents were among the first to book tickets, with most of them booking seats in bulk.

Air Sahara's Singapore flight, will have Boeing 737-800s operating on the route, while the Kuala Lumpur flight will have Boeing 737-700s.
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Jet`s Singapore round trip to cost Rs.14,000
New Delhi: Jet Airways has decided to make an introductory offer of Rs14,000 for a round trip to Singapore from Mumbai, according to information available on the airline's website. The introductory offer will be valid for tickets booked up to April 30, 2005.

Jet Airways will fly daily between Mumbai and Singapore. The lowest price on Jet Airways' business class, called Club Premiere, for a return trip on the Mumbai-Singapore route is Rs46,400.

It is worth noting that Air Sahara, the other Indian private carrier that has announced service to Singapore from Delhi, is offering tickets for Rs10,000 for a limited period of a month starting from May 11, 2005.

Although Jet's fare is higher than Air Sahara's, it is still lower than the average fare of Rs16,000 charged by other airlines.
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First private sector ICD ready for users
Kolkata: Kolkata based Allied ICD Services Ltd, promoted by the PDP group, will set up the first private sector funded inland container depot (ICD) in the eastern region at Durgapur in West Bengal.

The total cost of the project is estimated to be around Rs40 crore. The commissioning of the project will be in phases and will also be the first ICD to be funded by a private company. The unit will serve chemical, cement, ferro alloys and sponge iron units in the Haldia and Durgapur industrial clusters.

The belt has witnessed a rapid increase in number of small and medium units, from just 300 a decade ago to nearly 3000 now.

The ICD will have warehouses, petrol station and customs clearance facility, and the project will be fully commissioned by April 2006. The existing ICDs in the region are at Kolkata and on the Nepal border.
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Cognizant expanding Chennai operations
Chennai: Cognizant Technology Solutions will scale up its infrastructure in Chennai and set up its first tier two-city development facility in Coimbatore, as part of its $76 million expansion.

The expansion is line with Cognizant's target of a 44 per cent increase in revenue for 2005 to $845 million against $586.7 million achieved in 2004.

Cognizant will construct a complex in Siruseri, near Chennai, which would be ready for occupancy in phases, starting December 2005. It will also build a 1,50,000 sq ft software development block on a six acre area adjacent to its existing complex in Thorapakkam. This facility can accommodate approximately 1,500 personnel and will be completed in December, 2005. Cognizant will invest $25.4 million for the Chennai expansion plan.

Cognizant will add 7,200 professionals to its workforce and take its global headcount to 22,500 by 2005 end.
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Daikin to double turnover in next fiscal
Mumbai: After the buyout of its Indian partner, the Delhi based Shriram group, in Daikin Airconditioning India, the Japanese consumer durable company is chalking out an expansion strategy to boost its revenues.

Daikin has recently invested Rs50 crore to wipe out its accumulated losses in a move to clean up its balance sheet. The company expects to make profits in 2005-06.

The company has withdrawn from the window ACs segment citing competition and low margins. Window ACs comprises over 60 per cent of the Rs30 billion air conditioner market in India. Daikin currently enjoys around 8 per cent market share here. It stopped manufacturing its products in India in 2003. Around 60-70 per cent of its products are sourced from its Thailand facility, due to Free Trade Agreement benefits.
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