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RIL declares commercial viability of fourth gas discovery
New Delhi: Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), India's largest private sector oil firm, has declared the commercial viability of a fourth gas discovery in the Bay of Bengal.

The company, which had previously declared the commercial viability of only three out of the 15 discoveries made till date, has estimated 46 billion cubic feet or 1.2 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves in the Dhirubhai-6 find, according to V K Sibal, Director General of Hydrocarbons - government's upstream nodal agency. "We have received notice of commerciality from Reliance and we are evaluating it," he said.

Of the Dhirubhai-1, 2 and 3 fields previously declared commercial, Reliance plans to invest $2.47 billion in Dhirubhai-1 and 3 to produce 40 million standard cubic metres per day of gas by end of 2007.

Reliance has found gas in a dozen out of the 15 wells drilled so far in the deep sea block KG-DWN-98/3 (also known as KG-D6) but only the first three discoveries - Dhirubhai 1, 2 and 3 have been declared commercial. "We estimate an upside potential of 20 trillion cubic feet in the block," Sibal said.

Reliance, which holds 90 per cent interest in the block, has estimated 14 tcf of in-place reserves. Niko Resources of Canada holds the remaining 10 per cent stake in the block. The DGH has estimated 5 tcf of reserves in Dhirubhai- 1 and 3 fields.

Reliance, which has in its kitty 30 domestic exploration acreage and interests in blocks in Yemen and Oman, also holds 30 per cent interest in the producing fields of Panna/Mukta and Tapti in Mumbai offshore.
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Panna-Mukta-Tapti JV hikes output as GAIL lifts full quota
Kolkata: The Panna-Mukta-Tapti joint venture between British Gas, Reliance and ONGC has raised its production to million standard cubic metre per day (mmscmd) with GAIL lifting its entire quota of 6 mmscmd at $3.86 per mmbtu (million metric ton British thermal unit). The rest of the production is being sold directly through Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Gujarat Gas Corporation Ltd, Indian Petrochemical Corporation Ltd and Reliance at $4.08 mmbtu.

The joint venture had earlier been forced to reduce output. The consortium had previously asked for close to $4.2 per mmbtu for supplies to GAIL before finally settling at $3.86 for the current fiscal.

Having launched a $600-million expansion plan recently, the joint venture is expecting augmented production at the Panna field in 2006. Production at the Tapti field will be raised before the monsoon in 2007.
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NDTV's 24x7 channel to launch in Canada
New Delhi: New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV) has acquired the licence from the Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) for the launch of its English news channel NDTV 24x7 across Canada.

The channel will be launched through ATN, a publicly listed company on TSX Venture Exchange, as part of ATN's bouquet of South Asian channels across Canada. ATN, which owns and operates six television channels across Canada, has programming alliances with leading international broadcasters. Indian channels are increasingly going to foreign shores in order to cater to the large Indian Diaspora.
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SBI syndicates Rs1,512 crore loan for Bhushan Ltd steel plant
Mumbai: The State Bank of India has syndicated a project term loan of Rs1,512 crore for Bhushan Ltd for expansion of its integrated steel plant project in Orissa.

Bhushan Ltd is a secondary steel manufacturer with plants at Chandigarh, Derabasi and Kolkata. It is setting up a backward integration project to manufacture HR coils, steel billets, pig iron, sponge iron, with an installed capacity of 1.2 million tonnes at Jharsuguda in Orissa.

According to a press release, the project is being set up in two phases, with the first having already commenced production. The first phase includes sponge iron, captive power generation and steel billets and was also syndicated by the SBI.

In the second phase the total term loan component is Rs1,925 crore of which Rs413 crore has been arranged as external commercial borrowing and Rs1,512 crore as rupee term loan.

The SBI was the lead arranger for the term loan and the issue received an overwhelming response.
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Satnam gets board nod to raise Rs110 crore
New Delhi: The board of directors of Satnam Overseas Ltd has approved raising additional long-term funds of up to Rs110 crore through a public issue or on a private placement basis.

The company said in a notice to the Bombay Stock Exchange that the board has also called for an extraordinary general body meeting to consider the issue.
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SingTel increases stake in Bharti Telecom
New Delhi: Singapore Telecom (SingTel) has increased its stake in Bharti Telecom to 32.81 per cent from 26.96 per cent for an aggregate cash consideration of approximately $252 million (around Rs1,100 crore). Bharti Telecom is the holding company of the listed Bharti Tele-Ventures, which provides telecom services under the Airtel brand.

The acquisition will hike SingTel's stake in Bharti Tele-Venture to 30.84 per cent from 28.16 per cent. Bharti also announced that it has scrapped its plan to float a sponsored ADR, in July, due to lack of sponsorship interest by principal shareholders.

Following the fresh acquisition by SingTel, the Indian promoters, Bharti Enterprises, now hold 45.9 per cent stake in Bharti Tele-Ventures. "SingTel's increase in stake is an expression of confidence in India," Bharti said. SingTel has bought the shares through its subsidiary Pastel Ltd.

The company may further increase its stake in Bharti once the centre comes clear on the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy guidelines. The centre had earlier announced an increase in the FDI cap from 49 per cent to 74 per cent.
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Bharat Hotels to invest Rs1,000 crore
Mumbai: Bharat Hotels, owners of the Grand Group of Hotels, plan to add seven five-star hotels in the country over the next three years at an investment of Rs1,000 crore.

Lalit Suri, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Hotels Ltd, said the group expects to finalise the details of the seven luxury hotel projects over the next six months. The new projects are planned at Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bekal (Kerala), and Jaipur.

The group currently owns five-star hotels under the `Grand' brandname at New Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, Srinagar, Bangalore, Udaipur, and Khajuraho.

According to Suri, the group would use a mix of funding options including internal accruals, borrowings and private placement of equity with venture capital funds to finance the projects. While it plans to raise Rs250 crore in loans, it hopes to pump in Rs300 crore from internal accruals over the next three years.
The group achieved a gross profit of Rs77 crore on a turnover of Rs200 crore in 2004-05 and is targeting a turnover of Rs300 crore in the current fiscal, he said.

It plans to privately place 10-15 per cent equity with venture capitalists following which the promoter shareholding in the company will come down by about 10 per cent. Currently, the promoters hold directly and indirectly about 98 per cent equity in the company whose capital base is at Rs72 crore.

Suri also said that the company might come out with an IPO in the next two years.
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Corporate Results: Lupin, Rediff.com
Lupin's FY05 net up 5.8 per cent
Mumbai: Pharma company Lupin Ltd has registered a 5.8 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs91.84 crore for the year ended March 31, 2005. This is up from Rs 86.80 crore for the corresponding fiscal last year.

The board has recommended a dividend of 65 per cent on equity share of the face value of Rs10 each, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange today.

Total consolidated income for FY'05 has increased to Rs1,284.55 crore from Rs1,266.55 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2004. On a standalone basis, the company's net profit for the financial year ended March 31, 2005 fell to Rs84.36 crore as compared to Rs98.71 crore in FY04.

Total income increased from Rs1,164.83 crore in FY-04 to Rs1,179.90 crore for the year ended March 31, 2005.

Rediff.com shrinks net loss further
Mumbai: Online news and infotainment provider rediff.com has reported a net loss of $0.24 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2005, compared to a loss of $2.10 million for the corresponding period last year.

Total revenue for this quarter was $3.46 million ($2.55 million), an increase of 35.68 per cent. Net loss for the year ended March 31, 2005, was lower at $1.43 million compared to a loss of $5.72 million last year. Total revenue for this fiscal was $12.63 million ($9.45 million), an increase of 33.65 per cent.

The revenue break-up shows that India Online contributed to $2.1 million for this quarter, an increase of 88 per cent compared to last year.
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