RIL, HPCL and Tata Motors may witness some action today
Sep-20-2013 08:46 Hrs IST
Reliance Industries (RIL) and its partner BP plc of the UK may have finally been able to arrest the steep decline in output from their main gas field in the eastern offshore KG-D6 fields as they work to revive closed wells. The production is likely to begin rising by the end of the year and may increase to 16 mmscmd by 2015 as RIL-BP do repair work to revive six out of the nine wells on Dhirubhai-1 and 3 (D1&D3) fields that were shut due to high water and sand ingress. The oil regulator DGH has already approved a $662 million production work programme and budget for 2013-14, which includes six work over jobs in the D1&D3 fields. RIL-BP are formulating suitable compression configuration to deal with declining reservoir pressure and maximize recovery from the fields. KG-D6 output will see a big upswing in 2016-17 when newer fields in the block are brought to production.
The Gujarat High Court issued a notice to Jaypee Cement and Ultra Tech Cement, which have entered into a deal for a cement factory in Kutch, on a PIL filed by local villagers which alleges Jaypee Cement has encroached upon village land and is dumping waste in the area. A division bench of Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J B Pardiwala also stated that any deal between the two companies will be subject to the outcome of the PIL. Recently, Aditya Birla Group firm UltraTech Cement had announced it will acquire Gujarat Cement unit of Jaypee Cement Corp for Rs 3,750 crore.
The Cabinet is likely to consider today giving approval to Hindustan Petroleum Corporation%u2019s (HPCL) Rs 37,229 crore refinery in Rajasthan, just ahead of the planned foundation stone laying of the project by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. HPCL is to hold up to 74 percent stake in the project, while the balance 26 percent will be with Rajasthan government. Rajasthan government has also agreed to provide interest free loan of Rs 3,736 crore every year for 15 years from the date of commencement of production. The same is to be repaid by the joint venture in equal annual installments from 16th years after commercial production commences for the next 15 years. HPCL will have the marketing rights, including first right of refusal in respect of uplifting and purchase of all products (including petrochemicals), which would be produced by the refinery. The refinery, which is planned to go on stream in four years, will source half its crude oil from Cairn's Barmer oilfields, while the remainder will be imported.
Tata Motors plans to hike prices in the range of 1-1.5 percent across its passenger cars and commercial vehicles, while Maruti Suzuki India is still evaluating the situation. This is due to rise in input costs, and after having neutralized to the extent possible through internal efficiencies. The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) is currently keeping a watch on the situation. Earlier, Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) announced that it will hike prices by Rs 4,000 to Rs 20,000 across models, except the newly launched compact car Grand i10, from October 1, while General Motors%u2019 fourth price hike of the year will be across all models by Rs 2,000 to Rs 10,000. Toyota Kirloskar Motor too had announced a hike in prices of its key models by up to Rs 24,000 with effect from September 21, to partly offset higher cost of raw materials and rupee depreciation.
State-run Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) has increased its capital expenditure for 2012-17 by Rs 10,000 crore in view of additional projects undertaken by the firm. Earlier, the company had announced a capital expenditure plan of Rs 1lakh crore for the said period of adding transmission capacity. In the 12th Plan period (2012-17), the company had planned to invest Rs 1 lakh crore for transmission network addition, of which it has already made a capital expenditure of Rs 20,037 crore in the last financial year (2012-13). Earlier this week, the government has kick-started the process of inviting applications from the merchant bankers to manage the company%u2019s FPO.
Eveready Industries India, market leader of dry cell batteries, has hiked the prices of its batteries. The company will increased the prices of its batteries between 3%u0025 and 10% from October, 2013 - by increasing the respective MRPs of economy pencil size batteries by Rs 5 per strip of 10 batteries, for all D size batteries by Rs 10 per box of 20 batteries and also by rationalizing trade margins of certain other batteries. Continuous upward trends in cost of materials and overhead expenses have adversely impacted the cost of batteries. Eveready is the market leader of dry cell batteries selling more than 1.2 billion units annually.
Axis Bank, India%u2019s third largest private sector bank, has received approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to raise the limit on overseas holdings in the lender to more than 49%. The Board approved increasing the foreign equity holding in the Bank to 62% from 49%, subject to the condition that the holding of foreign institutional investors does not exceed 49%. Currently, the FII holding in the bank is 40.7%, while domestic institutional investors have 8.77%. Earlier on August 14, 2013, the Reserve Bank of India had issued a notice to the bank notifying that the foreign shareholding in the bank has crossed the overall limit of 49% of its paid-up capital and that no further purchases of shares of the bank would be allowed. The foreign shareholding in the bank as on June 30, 2013 was 48.96%. This includes investments through the foreign direct investment (FDI) route in the form of Global Depository Receipts of 8.08% and other foreign holdings including foreign institutional investors (FIIs) of 40.88%.
Rajoo Engineers updated the three broad solution categories offered by company for Blown Film lines - Economical, Balanced and Advanced. Named simply to suit their positioning, each of the ranges comes with adequate options for further personalization. Every solution comes with different price-points. The Economical Model (produced mostly indigenously) provides the best value proposition to the buyer. The Balanced Model is an intelligent hybrid of localized manufacture along with critical components sourced from the collaborators - Hosokawa Alpine, Germany. The natural extension being the Advanced Model, completely sourced from Hosokawa Alpine, Germany, which competes with the best in the world. Balanced and Advanced Models are offered in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Tanzania.
Celestial Biolabs has launched a new product %u2018Cadalmin GAe' which is a break through research in the management of joint paints of any aetiology. Cadalmin GAe provides relief to people suffering from Arthritis, Lumbago, Gout, Rheumatoid, Low back ache, Sciatica etc. This product is developed at CMFRI (Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute) a prestigious institute of Indian Council of Agricultural Research. This new product is a result of Experimental & clinical study exhibited Cadalmin GAe to be Mother Nature's first ever effective, well tolerated, safe research molecule devoid of harmful side effects. Celestial Biolabs (CBL) has been supporting Pharma, Bio-pharma and Biotech manufacturing with customized IT solutions and contract research. CBL also involved in the R&D, commercial production and marketing of enzymes, nutraceuticals. Celestial Biolabs is setting up a biotechnology facility in Genome Valley at Hyderabad, India to manufacture its own drug molecules, industrial enzymes and to contract research activities.
