BHEL bags Rs 73 cr order from Neepco

NEW DELHI, Oct 14: Outbidding leading European suppliers in a global tender, the Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has bagged an order for the supply of Hydro generating equipment from the North East Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO).

The Rs 73 crore-order is for Neepco’s 2x30 mw tuirial Hydro Electric Project at the Tuirial valley near Bilkhawthir town in Mizoram. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation(JBIC)-funded project is slated for completion in 2006.

The Hydro sets and main inlet valve for the project will be manufactured at Bhel’s Hardwar plant while the microprocessor based controls and static excitation equipment will be made by its electronics division, Bangalore. Its Jhansi plant would manufacture the transformers. (UNI)

ICRA downgrades MGF’s FD programme rating

NEW DELHI, Oct 14: Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency (ICRA) has downgraded the rating assigned to the fixed deposit programme of the Motor General Finance Limited (MGF) from MA- to MB" (MB Plus).

The revised rating, which indicates inadequate, safety continues to be under rating watch. The rating was kept under watch in FY 2000-01 pending amalgamation of MGF (India) Limited and goodwill India Limited with the Motor General Finance Limited (MGF).

The rating action takes into account completion of the amalgamation and provisional financial position of the amalgamated entity. The non-banking financial services industry is experiencing pressure on yields and non-performing assets which has affected the financial position of MGF provisional numbers of MGF indicate losses from operation. The company has curtailed its disbursements and has focused on recoveries, being used to retire debt.

The rating would continue to be on watch pending ICRA’s final view on the revised business plan and availability of the audited numbers of the amalgamated entity.

ICRA has withdrawn the ratings assigned to the fixed deposit programme of MGF (India) Limited and Goodwill India Limited following their amalgamation with the Motor General Finance Limited. (UNI)

MP energy Minister directs MPSEB for speedy recovery

BHOPAL, Oct 14: Madhya Pradesh Energy Minister Bisahulal Singh has directed the State Electricity Board (mpseb) to speed up the process of recovery of dues, amounting to Rs 925 crore, from all categories of consumers, including high-tension consumers.

Singh, in a letter to the Chairman of the board and the chairmen-cum-managing directors of the three power distribution companies, has asked them to implement a time-bound programme to improve power supply and to streamline the other arrangements including billing system by October 31.

The high-tension consumers pay a considerable portion of total revenue to the board and it is therefore necessary that the system of their billing is proper and there should be no arrears against them, Singh said in the letter, copies of which were released to the media today.

The board has its own computer system for issuing bills, he said adding, there is no logic in it for outsourcing high-tension consumers.

The Minister said the high-tension consumers should be issued monthly bills instead of in 45 days and expressed his displeasure that no concrete steps were taken for recovery of arrears from high-tension consumers which include the offices of the State and Central Government also.

Almost all the high-tension consumers have sets which continue to work even when their connections are severed. It is therefore, necessary to take other strict measures for recovery of dues from them, Singh said.

New software should be developed as per requirement which should give details of the charges for monthly consumption, amount of arrears, audit recovery, vigilance recovery, additional security and the recoveries under other heads, Singh said.

The Minister said that the Superintending Engineer concerned should be responsible for full payment of the amount billed.

If a connection has been severed due to non-payment of bill, it has to be ensured that he does not use generator sets.

There should be a ban on the use of generators till payment of the bill, he said.

Saying that if a recovery has to be made in installments, then the consumer should be made to give a bank guarnatee, he said, in case of non-payment till the prescribed date, it has to be recovered through bank guarantee.

The Superintending Engineer concerned would be responsible for this, Singh added in the letter. (PTI)

Natural gas share in India’s energy kit to treble

DUBAI, Oct 14: The share of natural gas in India’s energy basket is expected to multiply three times over the next two decades and the Government is actively considering allowing tax concessions for liquefaction and distribution of the valuable energy source.

This was revealed by Mr Suresh Mathur, chairman and CEO of Petronet LNG, a public sector joint venture, that has signed a 25-year LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) purchase deal with Qatar’s Rasgas.

He was presenting a paper on the recent developments and the future lng strategy in India at Gastech 2002 in Doha yesterday, Peninsula newspaper reported today.

A report prepared by a group of Ministers in India has projected that the share of natural gas in the Indian energy basket will go up to 20 per cent from a bare eight percentage points by the year 2025, said Mr Mathur.

India imports 75 tonnes of oil per annum at high costs. Efforts are on to substitute the import with that of lng wherever possible as it is not only desirable for sustainable development but is also environment-friendly.

However, as the country has vast coal reserves, this traditional energy source will keep playing a role in fulfilling the country’s energy needs, Mathur added.

India is one of the five top energy importers in the world and the demand is expected to grow by five to six per cent annually. India and China are the fastest-growing lng consumers in the world, said Mr Mathur.

Power and fertiliser producers are so far the largest gas consumers in India catering to the country’s vast and vibrant agricultural sector.

The transport sector and households are fast emerging as the new category of gas users.

Power production was barely 1,500 mega watts (mw) in India in 1950, a figure that has gone up to 11,000 mw. Over the next 10 years, the Government plans to add more than 100,000 mw to the existing capacity, claimed Mr Mathur.

The Government has completely deregularised the oil and gas sector and there are no restrictions on distribution. The Government plans to set up a regulatory authority for the sector.

Energy prices are now determined by market forces. Gas importers and distributors are free to set prices based on market forces, said the petronet chief.

Indian ports are ideally located to import gas from middle east countries at reasonable costs. LNG imports in India will begin next year and they will be peaking during 2013-14, he said. (UNI)

War on Iraq to shoot up oil prices

ABU DHABI, Oct 14: Crude oil prices may shoot up if tensions in the Gulf rise and in the event of a war against Iraq, though OPEC is ready to meet any oil shortfall in such a situation, an International Oil Conference has been told.

Sounding a warning on increasing tensions in the region UAE Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Obeid Bin Saif Al Nassiri said here yesterday that crude oil prices are likely to rise if political tensions in the region continue to deteriorate.

Sharing his sentiment at the opening of 10th Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, ADIPEC 2002, here yesterday, the Algerian Oil Minister Chekib Khalil said crude oil prices could skyrocket if the US attacks Iraq.

"The level of oil prices will hang on the extent of damage to Iraqi oil facilities and shortage of oil supplies in world oil market," Khalil said in an interview to Emirates news agency, WAM.

Al Nassiri told the conference attended by oil ministers from the organisation of petroleum exporting countries and top industry officials that recent developments had already affected oil markets and sent prices upwards.

"Crude oil is currently selling at a premium of over five dollars a barrel due to political tensions and it is poised to increase if the situation deteriorates," the UAE Petroleum Minister told the opening session of the conference. (PTI)

KPMG to advise IOC on entering S-E Asia

NEW DELHI, Oct 14: Indian Oil Corporation, the world’s 17th largest petroleum company, has roped in consultancy firm KPMG for preparing a blueprint on its proposed foray into the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia.

"We have engaged kpmg for preparing a detailed feasibility study to guide us in deciding the mode of entry to these countries for strengthening our business presence in South East Asia," IOC chairman and managing director M S Ramachandaran told UNI.

He said the company had an office in Malaysia and "from there we will tap these markets and expand our activities in South East Asia, after taking into account the findings of the study."

He said, "the consultant will also guide us in identifying possible partners and exploiting business opportunities in these countries."

IOC, India’s largest commercial enterprise and the only state-run company from the country in fortune magazine’s ‘global 500’ listing, at present has overseas offices in Dubai, Kuala Lumpur and Mauritius.

The company has closed its Kuwait office as the results fell short of expectations. The Dubai office of the company will now co-ordinate business activities for the entire West Asia.

IOC is present in Malaysia through a network of franchise blender-cum-distributor to blend and market ‘servo’ lubricants in South East Asia.

Apart from SE Asia, IOC has also identified Bangladesh as a potential target country for export of LPG,MSs, HSD, lubricants and bitumen and for undertaking related business in the hydrocarbon sector.

IOC had established Indian Oil (Mauritius) Ltd (IOML) as a wholly-owned subsidiary in Mauritius for implementing the projects of the oil major in the country.

IOC is the leader in the Indian petroleum refining and marketing sector. The corporation operates 7 refineries in Guwahati, Barauni, Digboi, Koyali, Mathura, Haldia and Panipat with combined capacity of 35.5 mtpa.

During the first quarter of the current fiscal, IOC registered an increase of 12.7 per cent in net profit at Rs 624.99 crore as compared to Rs 554.44 crore during the same period last year.

The company has been achieved this in spite of non-revision of the retail prices of Motor Spirit (MS) and High Speed Diesel (HSD) during April and May 2002 corresponding to the increase in the international prices.

The income from sales and operations achieved during the period was Rs 28,369.52 crore as compared to Rs 30,076.38 crore, recorded during the same period last year.

The company is currently implementing projects worth Rs 12,000 crore at its refineries to consolidate its market position for conventional refinery products as well as for downstream integration to produce value-added petrochemicals. (UNI)

Integrated sugar development scheme implemented for 12 sugar mills

CHANDIGARH, Oct 14: A Rs 20.63 crore integrated sugar development scheme has been implemented for 12 cooperative sugar mills in Haryana during the current financial year.

A spokesman of Haryana State Federation of Cooperative Sugar Mills said here today that under the scheme, seeds of sugarcane would be treated free of cost with hot moist air and the seeds of high quality varieties of sugarcane would be obtained from various sugarcane research centres and given to the farmers.

Nurseries would be prepared to get seed of sugarcane and each such nursery would be given a subsidy ranging from Rs 300 to Rs 500 per acre, he said, adding that interest-free loans would be given to get seed of sugarcane and subsidy would be given on its transportation.

He said that sugarcane of good quality was also being planted through tissue-culture. "Chemicals were being provided on subsidised rates for treatment of soil and seed of sugarcane. Similarly, subsidy was also being given on pesticides. Also, subsidy on chemical fertiliser and interest-free loans were being provided to promote early varieties of sugarcane," he said.

The spokesman said that the Panipat Cooperative Sugar mill had initiated a project to manufacture bio-compost which would be given on concessional rate to farmers so as to increase productivity in their fields.

Referring to the future plans, he said that the plan to set up distilleries at a cost of Rs 33 crore at two cooperative sugar mills was under consideration. "The bio-control laboratory at Sonipat sugar mill was being expanded at a cost of Rs 63.23 lakh. Such laboratories would be set up at the cooperative sugar mills of Meham, Shahabad and Jind at a cost of Rs 1.63 crore." The spokesman said that the cooperative sugar mills had crushed 361.38 lakh quintals of sugarcane during the last financial year as against 342.68 lakh quintals of sugarcane crushed during 2000-2001 and 274.71 lakh quintals during 1999-2000.

He said that 34.85 lakh quintals of sugar was produced during 2001-2002 as against 32.76 lakh quintals produced during 2000-2001 and 24.62 lakh quintals during 1999-2000.

He said that as a result of the efforts made to increase the recovery of sugar, on an average 9.64 per cent of sugar recovery was achieved during 2001-2002 as against 9.56 per cent during 2000-2001 and 8.97 per cent during 1999-2000. (PTI)

Call rates easy, G-secs rallies as inflation drop

MUMBAI, Oct 14: The interbank call money rate ruled easy and to close lower at 5.70-80 per cent today on sufficient supplies by state-run banks coupled with subdued demand on the second week of the reporting fortnight.

The call rate opened at 5.75-85 per cent and rose briefly to a high of 5.95 per cent in the morning as some banks covered heavily ahead of Tuesday’s Dussehra holiday.

The restrictions on borrowing and lending by banks in the call money market continued to create a temporary mismatch in liquidity, dealers said.

However, the rate drifted lower towards the afternoon as the demand subsided and supplies improved after RBI rejected parts of the repo amount.

The overnight interest rate closed at 5.70-80 per cent, down from 5.80-90 per cent of its Saturday’s close. A majority of the deals were conducted at a higher range of 5.75-85 levels, dealer said

The RBI today accepted Rs 10,234 crore in its repo auctions at a cut-off rate of 5.75 per cent, part of rs 13,645 crore it received in eight bids.

Government securities continued their bullish trend, with long-end papers gaining sharply as the abundant liquidity and expectation of a bank rate cut after the drop of inflation rate in two straight weeks boosted the buying interest.

Expectation of aggressive bidding in the forthcoming 15-year bond auction also aided the upbeat trend, dealers said.

Near-terms bonds were marginally up by 2-5 paise while longer maturity bonds gained by 15-25 paise.

The 7.40 per cent, 2012, and 7.55 per cent 2010 bonds were trading up by two paise each at Rs 102.25 and Rs 104.63 respectively.

The 7.46 per cent, 2017 bond which will be auctioned on Thursday was up by 14 paise at Rs 100.84 while the 8.07 per cent, 2017 bond rallied by 13 paise at Rs 105.77 per cent.

The Central Bank will auction (re-issue) 7.46 per cent Government stock 2017 for a notified amount of Rs 4,000 crore, using multiple price auction method on october 16. Players were confident that the auction will get a good response, given the abundant liquidity.

Meanwhile the inflation rate fell for the second consecutive week and stood at 3.34 per cent during the week ended September 28 due to lower prices of fruits and vegetables and fish-inland. (UNI)

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