MUMBAI, May 31: Country’s largest utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) today said it will launch six new models this fiscal and has planned a capital expenditure of Rs 5,000 crore for the next three years.
“We have a capital allocation of Rs 5,000 crore for the next three fiscals and plan to launch six new models this fiscal,” M&M president (automotive business) Pawan Goenka told reporters here during a post-earnings conference call.
However, Goenka did not offer any details on the new models or launch dates.
He also announced an investment of another Rs 2,500 crore in group companies during the next three fiscals.
On the tractor front, however, the company, which is the largest manufacturer of the farm equipment in the country, sounded cautious saying its expects sales growth to halve this fiscal from 10-12 per cent forecast earlier to five-six per cent.
M&M, the flagship of the USD 14.4-billion Mahindra Group, yesterday reported a more-than-expected 44 per cent jump in net profit for the March quarter at Rs 874.5 crore on strong volume growth.
Net sales rose to Rs 9,241.28 crore for the quarter as against Rs 6,633.84 crore a year ago period.
Consolidated net for the full fiscal, 2011-12, rose to Rs 3,126.66 crore, while sales jumped to Rs 58,241.40 crore.
On the much-delayed new plant in the South, Goenka said, the company is in talks with some states but so far it has not finalised the location.
Goenka also said its much-talked about car XUV500, launched on an international platform, will be rolled out in Australia, Chile and Western Europe as early as next month. Already this highly successful car is being sold in South Africa and Brazil and is selling 150 units a month in South Africa alone, Goenka added.
On the call for deregulating diesel price—M&M is a pure-play diesel player—Goenka said he is all for this but expressed opposition to the call for a special Rs 80,000 cess on diesel vehicles. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, May 31: With GDP growth slowing to a nine year low of 6.5 per cent in 2011-12, industry today demanded a revival package to put the country’s economy back on higher growth path.
“A comprehensive ‘Economic Revival Package’ has to be announced at the earliest,” CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said.
Demanding bold actions from the government and the RBI exclusively aimed at salvaging the economy, the chamber expressed hope the political leadership, across party lines, would converge and their actions would be “swift and decisive”.
Ficci said the current global situation remains fragile and there is an urgent need to take steps on the domestic front to guard against uncertainties.
Seeking “immediate corrective actions”, Assocham President Rajkumar Dhoot said: “Investment environment should be improved and this may even call for some review of tax proposals and further relaxation of FDI norms”.
He said fall in the growth numbers would have impact on employment generation.
CII said repo rate and CRR cuts are called for from RBI as also measures from the Government to kick start the investment cycle, since growth in capital formation has been negative for the last few months.
At 6.5 percent, the GDP growth in 2011-12 has been at a lower level than during the crisis period growth of 6.7 percent.
Industry was of the view that the Centre and state governments have to work in tandem to ensure that major projects that are held up are put under implementation mode within one month. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, May 31: Bharti Airtel has selected Alcatel Lucent to create Internet protocol (IP) access network, which will enable it to deliver faster mobile broadband services to its subscribers.
This IP network will allow Bharti Airtel to meet the surging bandwidth requirements of customers while accessing data, video and Internet services on an array of devices, such as smart-phones, tablets and laptops, Bharti Airtel said in a statement.
“Given the exponential growth in the uptake of data in India, we thought it is the right time for us to transition to a scalable IP-based access network for reasons of both cost and performance,” Bharti Airtel Director (Network Services Group) Jagbir Singh said.
The company added that CEN-based IP access network will help the operator to offer its customers various services such as video streaming, high speed data, social network-based applications, online gaming, video conferencing and online collaboration.
This network would also be catering to the DSL broadband as well as 2G/3G/4G voice and data traffic.
“It is a whole new world and Bharti Airtel is ready for its challenges and we are delighted to partner with Bharti Airtel in this journey,” Alcatel-Lucent India President and Managing Director Munish Seth said. (PTI)

LONDON, May 31: Britain’s car insurers look set to be investigated by anti-trust regulators after the Office of Fair Trading said ‘dysfunctional’ competition pushes up annual premiums by 225 million pounds ($349 million).
Insurers of drivers involved in accidents they did not cause earn fees by referring customers to replacement-car firms and repair garages, jacking up the bill paid by the at-fault driver’s insurer, said the OFT, a consumer watchdog.
‘Competition in this market does not appear to work well for drivers,’ chief executive John Fingleton said on Thursday, as the OFT provisionally called for a probe of the sector by the Competition Commission.
‘The focus that insurers have on gaining the competitive edge through raising their rivals’ costs means that drivers pay more than they need to for their motor insurance policies.’
Insurers of drivers involved in accidents they did not cause earn fees referring customers to replacement car firms that hire vehicles at high rates and for longer than necessary, jacking up the bill paid by at-fault drivers’ insurers, the OFT said.
Insurers of not-at-fault drivers also refer customers to repairers for a fee, further inflating competitors’ costs.
Analysts said a Competition Commission inquiry would make a ban on insurers earning referral fees more likely, potentially denting profit at Admiral, Britain’s No.2 insurer and more dependent on such sources of income than rivals.
‘The uncertainty this announcement brings to the suitability and sustainability of Admiral’s business model is likely to hang over the stock for months to come,’ Shore Capital analyst Eamonn Flanagan said in a note.
Shares in Admiral, which makes about 60 percent of its profit from referral fees and other revenue not directly related to car insurance, were down 2.6 percent by 0738 GMT, underperforming a flat FTSE 100 share index.
The OFT, which launched an investigation into the motor insurance market in December amid concern a lack of competition was pushing up premiums, said it would reach a decision on whether to refer the matter to the Competition Commission by October.
That potential investigation comes as Britain’s biggest insurer, Royal Bank of Scotland’s Direct Line Group, is preparing for a stock market flotation pencilled in for the second half of this year.
Other major British motor insurers include Aviva and RSA. ($1 = 0.6438 pound)
(agencies)

NEW DELHI, May 31: India’s largest realty firm DLF has reduced net debt by only Rs 33 crore in the fourth quarter of last fiscal, 2011-12, to a whopping Rs 22,725 crore and aims to cut it further from expected divestment of non-core assets up to Rs 4,000 crore in next six months.
According to a presentation by an analyst, DLF’s net debt stood at Rs 22,725 crore as on March 31, 2012 from Rs 22,758 crore at the end of third quarter of last fiscal.
It plans to reduce debt through “strengthen operational cash flows, enhance momentum on non-core divestments along with a moderation in land aggregation and capex”.
On non-core asset divestment, DLF said: “Potential value for further divestments in next six months stands at Rs 3,000-4,000 crore”.
DLF has raised about Rs 1,774 crore in last fiscal through divestments of non-core assets, including plots and IT parks. The divestments proceeds has reached Rs 4,844 crore till date.
The overall target of divestment of non-core assets of Rs 10,000 crore would be achieved in the medium term, it added.
“The company has also made significant progress in divestment initiative of non-core assets and expects closure in the near term,” DLF said, adding the company is looking to sell its hotel business Amanresorts, a prime plot in Mumbai and wind energy business.
As part of business strategy for this fiscal, DLF wants to conserve cash with moderate capex and land acquisition and protect margins through ‘cost escalation’ clauses.
It would “focus on high margin projects (Luxury/Plotted); moderate volumes in mid-income segment” and also concentrate on fresh launches with the improvement in the approval cycle.
Yesterday, DLF had reported a 39 per cent fall in its consolidated net profit at Rs 211.70 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2012 on account of higher interest outgo. It had posted a profit of Rs 344.54 crore a year-ago period.
The revenue fell by four per cent to Rs 2,747 crore in the Q4 of 2011-12 fiscal from Rs 2,870 crore in the corresponding period of previous fiscal.
For the entire 2011-12 fiscal, the net profit fell by 27 per cent to Rs 1,200.82 crore from Rs 1,639.61 crore in the previous fiscal. The revenue rose marginally at Rs 10,224 crore in 2011-12 from Rs 10,144 crore in 2010-11 fiscal. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, May 31: State-owned BHEL today said it has bagged a Rs 1,143 crore contract from country’s largest power generation utility NTPC for setting up a 500-MW power generating unit at its Vindhyachal Super Thermal Power Station in Madhya Pradesh.
“NTPC has placed a major order on the company for supply and installation of the main plant package (boilers, turbines and generators) for a power project in Madhya Pradesh involving one generating unit of 500 MW,” BHEL said in a statement.
“Valued at Rs 1,143 Crore, the contract envisages setting up a 1×500 MW thermal power generating unit at NTPC’s Vindhyachal Super Thermal Power Station (STPS), in Madhya Pradesh,” the statement said.
On commissioning of the unit, 12 million units of electricity will be added to the grid, every day, BHEL said.
“With the commissioning of this unit, the cumulative generating capacity of the power station will be enhanced to 4,760 MW,” it said.
BHEL’s scope of work in the contract envisages design, engineering, manufacture, supply and erection & commissioning of Steam Generator and Steam Turbine Generator along with associated Auxiliaries and Controls & Instrumentation.
The equipment for the project will be manufactured at BHEL’s Trichy, Ranipet, Haridwar, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Bhopal Plants, while the company’s Power Sector, Western Region, will be responsible for erection and commissioning of the equipment.
The company has established the capability to deliver power plant equipment of 20,000 MW per annum. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, May 31: India’s economic growth rate slipped to 5.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011-12, lowest in nearly 9 years due to poor performance of the manufacturing and farm sectors.
The Gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the January- March quarter of 2010-11 was 9.2 per cent, according to the government data released today.
GDP in 2011-12 also moderated to 6.5 per cent from 8.4 per cent in the 2010-11.
During the quarter ending March 31, growth in the manufacturing sector contracted to 0.3 per cent, from 7.3 per cent in the corresponding period of 2010-11.
Farm output also exhibited a similar trend and expanded by just 1.7 per cent during the quarter, compared to 7.5 per cent in the Q4, 2010-11.
However, mining and quarrying production growth stood at 4.3 cent during the quarter under review, as against a growth of meagre 0.6 per cent in Q4 of in 2010-11.
Growth in the construction sector slowed to 4.8 per cent during the January-March quarter of 2011-12, from 8.9 per cent in the year-ago period.
The trade, hotels, transport and communications segment grew by 7 per cent during in the quarter under review, as against 11.6 per cent expansion in the year-ago period.
However, electricity, gas and water supply grew by 4.9 per cent in the January-March period, compared to 5.1 per cent growth in the corresponding period last fiscal.
The growth of the services sector, including insurance and real estate remained unchanged at 10 per cent in the fourth quarter ended March. (PTI)

ROURKELA, May 31: Rourkela Steel Plant has recorded significant success in the field of energy management through strategic planning and effective implementation.
The steel plant registered specific energy consumption of 6.868 giga calories per tonne of Crude Steel (TCS), which is the lowest ever since inception, RSP sources said.
The previous best was 6.8702 G cal/TCS in 2010-11.
Energy conservation measures taken up by the Energy Management Department in RSP have yielded a saving of 3.3 per cent over the period of four years from 7.0948 G Cal/TCS in 2008-09 to 6.8602 G Cal/TCS in 2011-12.
This has resulted in a financial savings of about Rs 108 crore at the present cost of energy, they said.        The major projects implemented in recent years were enrichment of BF gas to CPP-I by injection of mixed gas, oxygen enrichment of blast in blast furnaces 2 and 3, re-building of energy efficient Battery-IV with zero leak doors, mixed gas firing in MP Boilers 1 and 2, commissioning of high top pressure operation of BF-III and commissioning of new energy efficient 700 TPD ASU-III of TOP-II.
The most challenging target of specific energy consumption, i.E., 6.7346 GCal/TCS has been taken for the year 2012-13.
For this many major energy conservation projects will be taken up in the near future besides other small energy conservation activities.
The new units namely coke oven cattery, new blast furnace, new sintering unit and the new plate mill having state of the art energy efficient technologies will further improve the performance of the steel plant on the energy conservation front. (PTI)

BEIJING, May 31: State-owned China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has for the first time accepted outside investment in its gas business in response to government calls to open energy and other infrastructure projects to private investors.
Chinese firms have long been effectively shunned from industries such as energy, banking, telecom and railways but Premier Wen Jiabao has been keen to open these sectors to private investment.
The parent of PetroChina on Wednesday signed an agreement with several state and private investors to co-fund the third West-to-East gas pipeline that would take central Asian gas to China’s southeastern coast.
‘CNPC has made an audacious innovation in the business mode of the third West-to-East gas pipeline by introducing outside investors, changing the previous method of funding all projects itself,’ the top Chinese oil and gas producer said in a press release.
It did not elaborate on the investment structure.
The project would cost 116 billion yuan ($18.25 billion) and CNPC would contribute 32.5 billion yuan, or 52 percent of registered capital, to the yet-to-be-established joint venture, the China Securities Journal reported on Thursday.
The National Social Security Fund, Urban Infrastructure Industry Fund and Baosteel Group each will contribute 10 billion yuan, the newspaper said.
The National Social Security Fund is a state pension fund, and Urban Infrastructure Industry Fund was launched in March by the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, a lobby group for private businesses.
Baosteel Group is the parent of Baoshan Iron & Steel and China’s third biggest mill by production.
The third cross-country gas pipeline, including one trunk line and eight branches, will span more than 5,000 km from the northwestern boarder in Xinjiang to coastal Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province in the southeast, and have transportation capacity of 30 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year, the same as the second line that was put in use in late 2009.
CNPC’s first West-to-East pipeline has an annual capacity of 17 bcm.
Jiang Jiemin, chairman of both CNPC and PetroChina, said last week that the construction of the third pipeline will be completed in two to three years.
CNPC’s oil and gas businesses are mainly operated by PetroChina.
($1 = 6.3577 Chinese yuan)
(agencies)

NEW DELHI, May 31: Reflecting slowdown in the economy, the growth rate of eight infrastructure sectors slowed down to 2.2 per cent in April because of poor performance of crude oil, natural gas, petroleum refinery products and fertilisers.
The eight core sectors that also include coal, electricity, cement and finished steel, and have a weightage of 37.9 per cent in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), had grown by 4.2 per cent in April 2011.
The cumulative growth rate of infrastructure industries during 2011-12 also slowed down to 4.4 per cent, from 6.6 per cent in 2010-11, according to the data released by the commerce and industry ministry today.
Natural gas and crude oil production contracted by 11.3 per cent and 1.3 per cent respectively during April.
Petroleum refinery products and fertiliser production shrunk 2.8 per cent and 9.3 per cent respectively during the month.
Coal, Steel and cement output grew by 3.8 per cent, 5.8 per cent and 8.6 per cent in April 2012. In the same month last year, coal output had grown 2.7 per cent, steel – 2.9 per cent and cement – 0.1 per cent.
However, electricity generation slowed down by 4.6 per cent, from 6.4 per cent in April 2011. (PTI)