NEW DELHI, May 14: The projected power demand of 1,354.87 billion units by 2017 will be met as 85,000 MW capacity addition is planned during the 12th five-year plan, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.
“I am sure … We will be able to meet the power demand by 2017,” Minister of State for Power K C Venugopal said during Question Hour.
He said a massive power capacity addition programme of 85,000 MW has been planned in the current five-year plan of which work on about 75,000 MW projects are already underway.
The 18th Electric Power Survey (EPS) report estimated the energy requirement in the terminal year of 12th Plan period (2012-17) at 1,354.874 billion units.
“The 12th Plan capacity addition targets are being finalised keeping in view the projected demand for electricity in the country,” the minister said.
He also stated that the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) had, in the Load Generation Balance Report (LGBR) for 2011-12, estimated energy shortage of 10.3 per cent and peak demand shortage of 12.9 per cent during the year.
Venugopal said the actual energy shortage was 8.5 per cent and peak demand shortage was 10.3 per cent.
On a supplementary regarding power theft, he said distribution and transmission are done by power utilities. The Central government provides funds to states to check power pilferage.
To another query, Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said power transmission lines collapsed in Assam leading to disruption. He said the power grid has been asked to rectify the transmission lines.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal informed the House that 6.08 lakh biogas plants were installed during the 11th Plan against a target of 6.47 lakh in the country. (PTI)

MUMBAI, May 14: Jammu & Kashmir Bank has posted a rise of 50.23 percent its net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2012, at Rs 208.12 crore against net profit Rs 138.56 crore in thesame period last year.
Total income has increased by 30.62 percent from Rs 1132.88 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 to Rs 1479.81 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2012.
Interest earned during the quarter ended March 31, 2012, was at Rs 1357.54 crore as compared to Rs 1013.86 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011, representing an increase of 33.90 percent.
Net non-performing assets (NPA) registered decrease of 7.33 percent to Rs 49.34 crore as on March 31, 2012 from Rs 53.24 crore
as on March 31, 2011.
Net NPA ratio declined to 0.15 percent against 0.20 percent for the previous year.Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of the bank, under Basel II, was at 13.36 percent as on March 31, 2012 as compared to 13.72 percent as on March 31, 2011. (UNI)

NEW DELHI, May 14: State-owned BHEL today said it has bagged Rs 380 crore order for setting up a 160 MW gas- based plant in Rajasthan.
BHEL has secured a contract for setting up a 160 MW Combined Cycle Power Plant (CCPP) in Rajasthan from Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (RRVUNL), said an official release.
The Rs 380 crore contract is the expansion project (Stage IV) of Ramgarh power plant in Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan.
BHEL’s scope of work envisages design, engineering, manufacture, supply, erection and commissioning of the Main Plant and providing equipment for the Gas-based power project, it said.
The equipment for the project will be supplied by BHEL’s Hyderabad, Trichy and Bangalore plants, while the company’s power sector – Northern Region will undertake erection and commissioning of the equipment.
Meanwhile, Industrial Systems Group (ISG), a unit of BHEL bagged an order worth Rs 312 crore from state-run NTPC for coal handling plant package for the Meja thermal power project in Uttar Pradesh.
The order includes mechanical, civil, structural and electrics and all related auxiliary facilities.
BHEL-ISG specialises in system integration of bulk material handling like coal and ash handling systems for thermal power plants, raw material handling for industry.
(PTI)

NEW DELHI, May 14: Polyester filament yarn maker Nakoda today reported a 35.42 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs 14.41 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2012, mainly on account of increase in its manufacturing income.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs 10.64 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 Nakoda said in a filing to BSE.
Net sales of the company stood at Rs 626.08 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2012 as against Rs 450.87 crore for the same period of previous fiscal.
The company’s board of directors have recommended a final dividend of Rs 0.25 for every share of Rs 5 for the financial year ended March, 2011.
“Income from the manufacturing segment rose by 95.24 per cent to Rs 457.77 crore from Rs 234.46 crore for the quarter under consideration,” it added. (PTI)_

NEW DELHI, May 14: Growing demand from South Asia and Latin America helped push up engineering exports, which grew 8.3 per cent in April to USD 5.2 billion, according to industry officials.
Engineering exports were USD 4.8 billion in April last year.
“The country-wise data has not been finalised. But, you can attribute it (growth) to the growing demand from Latin America and South Asia,” Engineering Export Promotion Council Executive Director R Maitra said.
In 2011-12, the export growth at USD 60 billion was mainly from the US, Singapore, UAE and China.
“So far, western countries especially the US seems to be doing well. In 2012-13, its difficult to say,” said another EPCH official, adding that engineering export growth of 15-20 per cent is expected in 2012-13 at about USD 72 billion.
However, the sectoral target would be set once the Commerce and Industry Ministry releases the Foreign Trade Policy, he said.
As per the trend since 2004-05, export share of the 27- nation European Union, North America has been declining while Latin America and South Asian nations have become major destinations of Indian engineering products.
India’s overall exports last month were USD 24.5 billion. (PTI)

SINGAPORE, May 14: Most emerging Asian currencies slid on Monday as investors cut risky assets further after talks in Greece to form a new government failed and a German vote pointed to growing opposition to austerity steps.
Increasing worries about political uncertainty in the euro zone outweighed any gain from China’s cut in banks’ required reserve ratio at the weekend to support the world’s second-largest economy.
The rupiah underperformed its Asian peers on foreign banks’ selling, although dealers said the central bank put a brake on the Indonesian currency’s slide.
The South Korean won followed the rupiah, hovering around a near four-month low, as foreign investors continued to unload the country’s stocks.
Some dealers said emerging Asian currencies along with other risk assets appeared to be excessively sold a bit, but this did not mean that it was time to buy them on dips yet.
‘If we see any good news from Athens, we could see a small rally in risk assets,’ said a senior Malaysian bank dealer in Kuala Lumpur, adding that risky assets, including regional currencies, were oversold.
‘Still, Greece politicians are walking in and out of place, trying to form an interim government just to get the bailout money. Germany Merkel’s party lost in the weekend election and Spanish banking is sinking. Keeping risks short is the only thing to do now,’ the dealer added.
Greece’s radical leftist leader spurned an invitation from the president for a final round of coalition talks on Monday, all but ensuring a new election that he is poised to win.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives suffered a crushing defeat on Sunday in an election in Germany’s most populous state, a result that could embolden the left opposition to step up attacks on her European austerity policies.
But caution is also growing over intervention by Asian authorities to defend their currencies.
Dealers said that on Monday morning, Bank Indonesia renewed a request made late last week not to buy dollar/rupiah above 9,250, stopping foreign banks’ bids for the pair, in addition to actual dollar selling.
The rupiah’s indicative price weakened to 9,240 per dollar, but its dealt prices were higher than that, with 9,270 actually traded, according to dealers.
Some state-run banks have been spotted at 9,240, dealers said.
The won softened to as weak as 1,149.8 versus the dollar, the weakest since Jan. 17, as foreign investors are poised to sell Seoul shares for a ninth consecutive session.
Investors are wary of possible dollar-selling intervention by South Korean foreign exchange authorities, dealers said.
(agencies)

UNDATED, May 14: Consumer goods exporter Li & Fung Ltd , whose global distribution and trading centres make it a barometer of consumer sentiment, said on Monday that it does not expect slower economic growth in China to have any impact on orders.
‘On the export front, we don’t see much impact on our orders as China is still the major manufacturing country,’ Chairman William Fung told reporters after a shareholder meeting. ‘On the retail front, slower consumption growth hasn’t affected us much as our retail operations are still not very big.’
China’s economy stuttered unexpectedly in April, with lower-than-expected output data, softening retail sales and easing prices suggesting economic headwinds might be stronger than previously thought, requiring more robust policy responses to counter them.
Li & Fung Chief Executive Bruce Rockowitz told Reuters last week that the trend of rising costs in China had stabilised and the country was still a preferred manufacturing base for high-quality products. (agencies)

UNDATED, May 14: Dubai is planning to tie up with Samsung Life Insurance in a partnership to sell life insurance in the emerging markets, the Financial Times reported.
Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), the sovereign fund that supervises the investment portfolio of the Government of Dubai, is expected sign a memorandum of understanding on Monday with Samsung Life Insurance, the report said.
The partnership would concentrate on selling life insurance products to the Middle East and north Africa, where penetration levels are low, the report quoted a person close to ICD as saying.
Dubai and Samsung may consider expanding into other non-life insurance products and other sectors, such as property, the report said.
(agencies)

JOHANNESBURG, May 14: Sub-Saharan Africa’s economies will expand at a slower rate in 2012 than earlier projected, undermined by global financial distress and a sluggish recovery in South Africa, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Monday.
Africa’s growth has remained above 5 percent in the last eight years, underpinned by strong prices for its natural resources, better governance and growing disposable incomes.
In its latest Regional Economic Outlook, the IMF forecast 5.4 percent growth this year from 5.1 percent in 2011. Its previous projections were 5.9 and 5.5 percent respectively.
‘The growth outlook for 2012 is somewhat less favourable than outlined in the October 2011 Regional Economic Outlook, with the growth projection for 2012 now cut by almost one-half a percentage point, driven in large part by the weaker economic outlook for South Africa,’ the IMF said.
Growth in Africa’s economic powerhouse was likely to be a relatively modest 2.7 percent this year and 3.4 percent in the next, held back by its reliance on trade with Europe and close links with western financial markets, the Fund said.
However, an upturn in drought-hit east Africa, fresh output in new natural resource producers such as Niger and Sierra Leone and recovery in post-conflict nations such as Ivory Coast should help boost the continent’s economic activity in 2012.
Sierra Leone and Niger could post outstanding growth of 35.9 and 14 percent respectively. Big oil-producers Nigeria and Angola will also be major drivers of the expansion.
Economies reliant on non-renewable resources are experiencing faster growth but are also suffering the worst volatility in exports, revenues and GDP expansion, the IMF said.
FEAR OF CONTAGION
The fund also said the rapid expansion of pan-African banks may be cause for concern in countries with poor regulation.
Banks such as South Africa’s Standard Bank, Togo-based Ecobank and Kenya’s KCB have been widening their reach, increasing competition in their new markets while improving technology and expertise.
‘But rapid expansion of these groups may, in some cases, have outpaced supervisory capacity. Under adverse economic conditions across the region, these banking grounds could become a channel for cross-border contagion,’ the IMF said.
Countries with fast-expanding loan books should prioritise strengthening the resilience of their financial sectors, the IMF said, pushing for cross-border supervision in the region.
‘Effective mechanisms for limiting cross-border contagion, such as ring-fencing arrangements aimed at preserving subsidiaries’ resources could be added to a review of existing banking-resolution frameworks,’ the IMF said.
Other than Nigeria, most African banking systems have remained resilient in the face of global financial stress due to their limited exposure to the global financial system, although they have suffered because of a drop in trade levels.
However, the IMF also cited Zambia as an example of an open frontier economy that can suffer a commercial credit crunch when foreign interest in sovereign bonds dries up and local banks switch to being solely financiers for the government.
(agencies)