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Airports
Govt announces greenfield airport policy
The union government has announced a new policy for setting up new airports. A green field airport can now be set up after getting the required permissions from the ministry of civil aviation and the Home ministry. Till now, a cabinet clearance was required to do so. A steering committee, headed by the civil aviation secretary will examine the proposals for new greenfield airports.
In case, a greenfield airport is proposed up within 150 kms of an existing airport, the government will clear on a case-by-case basis. For example, the proposed airport at Greater Noida will require a cabinet clearance. since it is within 150 kms of the Delhi airport.
The government also empowered the aviation ministry to give clearance to private air strips strictly meant for private use. The number of private aircraft has increased from 96 in 1997 to 229 in September 2007.
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GMR gets licence for Turkish airport |
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Hyderabad-based GMR group, in association with two others, has received a 20-year licence to operate the airport in Istanbul and agreed to reduce the duration for building the terminal from the agreed time of 30 months to 18 months. |
The licence given to the consortium, comprising GMR Infrastructure Ltd., a Turkish firm and a Malaysian company, includes building an international terminal at the cost of Rs. 1,575 crore and operating it within that airport, called Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport.
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Avionics |
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Thales, Samtel form joint venture for avionics |
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French defence and aerospace major Thales and the Samtel group have announced a joint venture to design, manufacture and sell avionics systems in the Indian market. Samtel and Thales will hold 74:26 in the venture that was started with a capital of $12.5 million with more investments to be pumped in as the joint development efforts progress. Helmet-mounted sight and display, for use in defence and civilian aircraft, helicopters and fighters, will be the one of the main areas of operations for the new venture - named Samtel Thales Avionics
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The MMRDA is expected to earn Rs. 61.44 billion from various sources, of which a significant portion would be from the sale of land owned by authority in Bandra-Kurla complex, the release said.
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Cement |
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Heidelberg, Indorama to merge into Mysore Cem |
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German giant HeidelbergCement has decided to consolidate its presence in India by merging two private entities it owns - Indorama Cement and HeidelbergCement India Pvt Ltd - with Mysore Cements, a listed entity. Mysore Cements is a subsidiary of Cementrum I BV, a Dutch company controlled by Heidelberg. In July 2006, Heidelberg bought a 55% stake in Mysore Cements from original promoter the S K Birla Group.
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Financial Services |
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Reserve Bank to lend $5 bn for infrastructure |
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RBI will lend $5 billion to the government from a staggering foreign exchange reserves of $312 bn for improvement of infrastructure.
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RBI will lend five billion dollars to the India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd. (IIFCL), a 100 per cent state-owned arm of the India Infrastructure Finance company, which would finance the infrastructure projects of Indian companies, especially for capital imports." |
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German bank DEG plans to invest €100 m |
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DEG, the German development bank, has plans to invest €100 million in the current fiscal for projects in India. It aims to invest in at least seven projects, stated Mr. Josef Schnepper, Vice-President (German Corporates), DEG. In January, DEG had provided for €14 million long-term loan to the Chennai Water Desalination Ltd for its upcoming seawater desalination plant. |
"Till date, the total investment portfolio of the bank in India is to the tune of €320 million in 32 companies. Traditionally, DEG has been investing in Indian companies having German links. Now, we are looking for good Indian companies, who may not necessarily have German links. If we see good opportunity in Indian companies, we will invest. India is now a major investment destination," Mr Schnepper said.
He said that DEG is open to investments in areas such as agriculture, mining, manufacturing, IT, service industry, real estate and energy.
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French Development Agency to fund Indian projects
The proposed Agence Francaise de Développement (AFD), or French Development Agency, meant to fund Indian companies investing in clean technologies, water management and conservation of bio resources, would be set up within a couple of months, the French ambassador in India, Mr Jerome Bonnafont, has stated. A few issues remain to be sorted out with the Ministry of Finance for setting up the AFD.
He noted for the funding agency to be self-sustaining, its lendings had to be profitable. Till date, France has no mechanism for funding Indian companies. AFD, which has been a vehicle for funding projects in Africa, is now being extended into India.
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Petroleum |
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NELP deadline extended to June 30 |
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The Government has extended the NELP-VII (New Exploration Licensing Policy) bid date to June 30 from May 16. According to a Petroleum Ministry statement, this was done to give more time to prospective bidders to finalise their bidding strategy. |
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The seventh round of NELP was launched by Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas on December 13, 2007 offering 57 oil and gas blocks. The launch was followed by road shows at Mumbai, London, Houston, Calgary, Singapore and Perth. "In view of persistent demand, the Ministry has decided to extend the bid submission date for NELP-VII from May 16 to June 30," the statement said.
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MOL picks 35% stake in ONGC's block in Himalayan foothills |
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Budapest-based MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas Plc have taken a 35 per cent stake in Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's onshore exploration block in the Himalayan foothills. MOL will take stake in block HF-ONN-2001/1, according to an ONGC press release. After the farm-out, one exploration well is planned to be drilled in block HF-ONN-2001/1 by end of 2008 and another later. |
The proposed assignment of Participating Interest (PI) by ONGC to MOL is a part of strategic alliances ONGC wants to have with internationally renowned and experienced companies for exploration. Under this strategic initiative, ONGC has already approached the government for assignment of PIs in exploration blocks under NELP to affiliates of ENI of Italy, Petrobras of Brazil and BG of UK.
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| ONGC insures offshore installations for FY'09 |
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Oil and Natural Gas Corp has insured its offshore installations at annual gross premium of $29.025 million for 2008-09.
According to a statement issued by the company, "ONGC has been able to maintain the insurance premium of the policy for 2008-09 (May 11, 2008 to May 10, 2009) at almost the same gross premium as last year despite an overall upward revision of around 32 per cent in the insured asset value, from $15.89 billion to $21 billion. |
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"The renewal programme was managed by United India Insurance Company (UIIC), that led the consortium of nationalised insurance companies, comprising UIIC, New India Assurance, Oriental Insurance and National Insurance Company.
ONGC's major critical offshore operational assets -- production complexes, well-head platforms, pipelines, trunklines, drilling rigs, multipurpose support vessels, specialised vessels, third party liabilities and operational risks -- are insured under a comprehensive Energy Offshore Package Insurance Policy for a Combined Single Limit (CSL) of $750 million for any one accident/one occurrence.
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MRPL to expand capacity |
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Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) will invest Rs.80 billion in the next three years to expand the capacity of its present refinery at Mangalore from 9.69 million tonnes to 15 million tones. Selection of Licensors for Process Technology for major Licensed Units has been completed and the Basic Engineering and Design work was under progress. The tendering process for critical units was in progress and the project was expected to be completed by January 2011. |
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Ports |
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Antwerp to provide consultancy for ports in India |
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Antwerp Port Authority plans to invest in Indian port development projects and provide consultancy services to the new ports being built in the private sector. Antwerp Port Consultancy, a subsidiary of Antwerp Port Authority will take p port management activities in India
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Power |
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CCEA clears $ 2 billion FDI by Essar Power |
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The Union Cabinet on Friday approved Essar Power's proposal to infuse up to $2 billion as foreign equity in the company for undertaking various downstream projects including power and coal mining.The approval would allow Essar Power to invest in the permitted downstream activities, including investment in the power sector and coal mining for captive consumption.
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The foreign direct investment (FDI) in Essar Power would be increased to 100 per cent with an estimated investment of Rs. 8,000 crore as equity from Essar Power Holdings Limited (EPHL), a foreign entity which is a part of the Essar Group and is incorporated in Mauritius. |
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Railways |
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France and India to cooperate |
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France will sign an agreement with India to help modernise its massive railway system with a focus on safety, training and technology including fast trains, the French transport minister has stated. Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - the French National Railway Company - and the Indian Railways will co-operate through companies to modernise the railways in India," Dominique Bussereau, French state transport minister said. The focus will be to increase safety measures, prevent fires, introduction of high-speed trains and personnel training.
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Retail |
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Reliance Retail, M&S ink retail JV |
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Britain's leading retailer Marks and Spencer Group has announced its joint venture with Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Retail on Friday, involving an initial investment of £29 million, with plans to set up 50 stores over the next five years.
M&S plans to pick up majority stake of 51% in the joint venture, Marks and Spencer Reliance India Pvt. Ltd., while the balance will be held by Reliance Retail, once its application is cleared by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.
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The UK-based clothing and food retailer expects to increase sourcing from India and bring into the country a wide range of products from its global portfolio through its proposed stores. |
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Steel |
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Essar Steel to acquire Esmark of U.S. for $1.1 b |
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Essar Steel Holdings Ltd. (ESHL), a part of Essar Global Ltd., on Thursday agreed to acquire Esmark of the U.S. at an estimated enterprise value of $1.1 billion (Rs. 4,500 crore). ESHL has agreed to the material terms of a proposed tender offer for cash purchase price of $17 per share of all outstanding shares of Nasdaq listed Esmark. Esmark is a steel production and distribution company with a capacity of 2.4 million tonnes annually and steel distribution centres across the U.S.
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Telecommunications |
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RCom, Alcatel float venture for managed network services |
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Reliance Communications (RCom) and Alcatel-Lucent have joined hands to float a joint venture company that will provide managed network services. The joint venture will kick start with an outsourcing contract worth $400 million that will initially focus on providing managed services for RCom's wireless networks in 12 circles in the north and western regions of the country. Once RCom's internal needs are served, the company will eye other operators.
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Transport |
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Mumbai metro may be first private project to get JNNURM grant |
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The government is considering awarding a grant from the funds of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) to meet a funding gap in the Mumbai metro project's first corridor that is being built by the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG).
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If the decision is approved, the Mumbai metro will be the first project involving private participation to receive a JNNURM grant. Currently, JNNURM grants are mainly given to local bodies or city corporations for drinking water, drainage and sewage projects
Extending a grant to a private-participation project like the Mumbai metro will require the Cabinet to amend the JNNURM guidelines.
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Urban infrastructure |
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MMRDA gets Rs 66.43 billion for major projects |
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The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority was sanctioned a budget of Rs. 66.43 billion for the fiscal 2008-09. Major projects for which the authority has been allocated funds are the Rs. 7-billion Mumbai Urban Transport Project, Rs. 12.50 billion for the Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Project, Rs. 500 crore for developing four monorail projects and Rs 6.10 billion for building a land bank and Rs. 300 crore for maintaining the Mithi river, an official release said.
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The MMRDA is expected to earn Rs. 61.44 billion from various sources, of which a significant portion would be from the sale of land owned by authority in Bandra-Kurla complex, the release said.
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