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Govt offers 57 oil & gas areas for exploration
Emami opens first Indian auction house
RBI constitutes working group
Fuel Pricing |
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SBI, UTI MFs to manage post office insurance funds
Maruti tops in design, performance
Air India joins Star Alliance
Re rise to continue, says Amro chief
Vikram Pandit to focus on profitability, cost structure
Praj inks JV with Brazilian company
Udyog Rattan Award for Punbus MD
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Govt offers 57 oil & gas areas for exploration
New Delhi, December 13 NELP-VII offers a record number of 57 blocks, two more than NELP -VI, which comprises 19 deepwater blocks, 9 shallow water blocks and 29 onland blocks. The 57 blocks cover a sedimentary area of about 1.71 lakh sq. km, comprising blocks in Gujarat-Saurashtra, Mumbai, Kerala-Konkan, Krishna-Godavari, Andaman Offshore, Assam-Arakan, Purnea, Bengal, Ganga, Satpura-Rewa, Vindhyan, Rajasthan, Cambay, Palar and Cauvery. Launching the seventh round of NELP, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora hoped that global companies like Chevron Corp, BP Plc and Exxon Mobil Corporation, which have superior technology to search for reserves in deep waters and remote regions, will bid this time. “I don’t think there is any other country which has such a liberal bidding process... Companies like Chevron Corp, BP Plc and Exxon Mobil Corp. had not bid last time (NELP VI), but this time they won’t make that mistake,” Deora told newspersons while giving details about the bidding process. He also expected Steel Baron Lakshmi N Mittal also to participate in collaboration with a domestic consortium. Petroleum Secretary M S Srinivasan said the government expects companies to invest $ 3.5 billion in areas they secure in the NELP-VII auction. The previous six rounds had drawn cumulative investments worth $ 8 billion, he said. After six rounds, the area under exploration has increased four times to 44 per cent of Indian Sedimentary Basin area from 11 per cent before implementing NELP. Hydrocarbon reserves accretion has already been more than 600 million metric tonne of oil equivalent. As the exploration work progresses in NELP blocks, new oil and gas discoveries are pouring in. Under NELP, 49 oil and gas discoveries have already been made in 15 exploration blocks (five blocks in NELP I, four blocks each in NELP II and NELP III, and two in NELP IV), Srinivasan said. He said in this latest auction, blocks have been divided into three categories - Type A, Type B, and Type S on the basis of geological perceptions, size of the blocks and tailor made bid evaluation criteria framed accordingly. The government has set April 11, 2008 as the closing date for bids and thereafter it will evaluate the bids, make awards, finalise and sign the production sharing contracts within four months. Promotional road shows for NELP-VII are planned at Mumbai, London, Houston, Calgary and Singapore beginning Janaury 8, 2008, Deora said.
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Emami opens first Indian auction house
New Delhi, December 13 The Emami Chisel Art would also be holding their first auction in February, the preview of which would be available in Delhi late next month. This auction will focus on modern and contemporary art. The new venture plans to stage about four auctions every year. With the first one kicking off in February, there would be three more auctions in April, September and December every year. Another important factor of this project is the setting up of an art banking division, which will be manned by a consultant to guide buyers through the process of parking funds in rare artworks. The works, in turn, will be put up at the auctions when they appreciate and are likely to draw healthy bids. The size of the Indian art market, including the auction market, has been pegged at Rs 300 crore and is growing at 35-50 per cent annually. The group hopes to generate sale proceeds of around Rs 10 crore from the first auction itself, says Vikram
Bachhawat, Director, Emami Chisel Art The auction house has kept December 15 as the cut-off date for accepting consignments from collectors, galleries and artists, the paintings, which will finally go under the hammer, will be picked by a panel of experts by the end of this month. Some of the artists who will go under hammer include MF
Husain, SH Raza, FN Souza, Bikash Bhattacharjee, Ganesh Pyne, Shyamal Datta Ray and B
Prabha. Some of the younger names include Sekhar Roy, Manish Pushkale, Farhad Hussain, Chhatrapati Dutta and Samindranath
Mazumdar. |
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RBI constitutes working group
New Delhi, December 13 Chairing the third meeting of the National Board of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises today, Minister for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) Mahabir Prasad said the MSME had written to more than 40 MSME organisations to know about at least 100 such units that had became sick primarily due to credit-related problems. Outlining the performance of National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), the minister said during the past three years NSIC had taken took certain steps to help the micro and small entrepreneurs in a big way. A number of new schemes had been launched, including distribution of steel and copper, providing financial assistance in collaboration with banks and export credit insurance with the help of ECGC, helping new entrepreneurs through incubators, implementing performance and credit rating scheme. Representatives of MSME associations and trade unions from all over the country and senior officials of various ministries from the central as well as the state governments participated in the day-long meeting.
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GoM meeting postponed
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 13 “The meeting (of GoM), earlier scheduled for December 14, has been postponed by a couple of weeks due to non-availability of some ministers,” Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora told newspersons here today. The ministerial group is to look into pricing of some essential commodities, including petrol, diesel, domestic cooking gas and PDS kerosene. Besides, Mukherjee the GoM includes Defence Minister A K Antony, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister T R Baalu and Consumer Affairs Minister Sharad Pawar. Unprecedented rise in crude prices in the international market has mounted pressure on the UPA government to go for either hike in retail prices of fuel or effect a cut on duties to save the fuel marketing companies like Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum from heavy losses. These companies are projected to lose Rs 69,753 crore on sale of petrol, diesel, LPG and PDS kerosene as the government has not allowed them to raise prices in line with the price of imported crude. Petrol is being sold at a loss of Rs 8.74 a litre, diesel at Rs 9.92 per litre, kerosene Rs 20.53 a litre and LPG at a loss of Rs 256.35 per cylinder.
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SBI, UTI MFs to manage post office insurance funds
New Delhi, December 13 This decision would help in managing POLIF and RPOLIF professionally in line with other Life Insurance Companies, Finance Minister P Chidambaram told newspersons. It also approved constitution of the Investment Board as the apex body for the purpose of laying down the policy guidelines and investment strategy, which will set the framework for the day-to-day decisions of investment. It also approved one post of CIO of the level of Additional Secretary, four posts of the level of Director/JAD and 11 posts for secretarial support. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave its nod for establishment of an integrated network of Trauma Centres along with Golden Quadrilaterals, North-South and East-West Corridors of the National Highways by upgrading the trauma care facilities in 140 identified State Government Hospitals. Of this 20 State Government Hospitals will be upgraded to Level I Trauma Centres; 40 to Level II and 80 to Level III at a total cost of Rs 732.75 crore during the XIth Five Year Plan period, Chidambaram said. Setting up of the integrated network of Trauma Centres will ensure that each accident victim on these corridors is able to get competent medical assistance within the shortest possible time thereby saving precious lives, he said. The CCEA also approved implementation of Marketing Support and Services Scheme with a budget provisions of Rs 316.81 crore to ensure that handicrafts artisans get enhanced opportunities for access to domestic as well as international high end markets and various marketing channels. The scheme, to be implemented in 11th Plan period would enable the artisan to achieve full time employment, get better returns on their products, besides creating new opportunities for productive employment in rural areas, he said.
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Maruti tops in design, performance
New Delhi, December 13 According to JD Power Asia’s 2007 India Automotic Performance, Execution and Layout StudySM (APEAL) has ranked Maruti Suzuki India’s Zen Estilo the highest in the compact segment for good performance in vehicle exterior, vehicle interior, seats, engine, transmission, visibility and driving safety, and fuel economy. The company’s premium hatchback Swift lead the premium compact segment with a score of 787 out of 1,000 while its sedan SX4 was ranked the highest in the mid-size segment with a score of 835. “Clearly, Maruti has been very successful in delighting its customers with the performance and design of its recently launched models, which is an area where Maruti has traditionally underperformed in the past,” said Mohit Arora, senior director at J.D. Power Asia. Mahindra-Renault Logan (entry mid-size), Chevrolet Optra (premium mid-size), Toyota Innova (MUV/MPV) and Honda CR-V (SUV) ranked highest in their respective segments, according to the study. The study provides an analysis of what excites and delights owners about their new vehicle’s performance and design during the initial 2-6 months of ownership. It was redesigned in 2007 to meet changes in new technologies and features of vehicle models. The study found new-vehicle design and performance in India averaged at 784 points in 2007.
— PTI
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Air India joins Star Alliance
Beijing, December 13 “Air India is delighted in being invited to join Star Alliance... In addition, the recently announced fleet expansion of over 100 aircraft will help Air India serve the public better in terms of global reach and services,” Air India’s CMD V Thulasidas said. The decision to accept Air India into the grouping was taken by the Star Alliance Board that met here today. Star Alliance Board Chairman Glenn Tilton said: “India has long been on the radar of Star Alliance... Having now come to an agreement with Air India makes us the first airline alliance to secure a member in India, which will enable our customers to receive more benefits when travelling to, from and within India in the future.” Thulasidas said that the Indian carrier would now be able to offer more value to passengers patronising member airlines of the alliance. The specialised teams at Air India, Star Alliance and its member carriers will now be working on the integration process, which once completed, will make India’s flag carrier a part of the Star Alliance network. Star Alliance members include Singapore Airlines, US Airways, Swiss and Lufthansa.
— PTI |
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Re rise to continue, says Amro chief
Mumbai, December 13 “I expect the rupee to appreciate vis-a-vis the dollar through 2008. However, the appreciation will be gradual and perhaps, not as rapid as it has been in the last few months,” ABN Amro Bank’s newly-appointed India chief Meera H Sanyal told PTI here today. Sanyal recently took over the reins of the bank’s Indian operations following the departure of its former chief, Romesh Sobti to private sector lender, IndusInd Bank. Currency hedging would henceforth assume an important role and corporates should focus on this aspect, Sanyal said. Praising the Reserve Bank of India for having done an “excellent job” in maintaining macro-economic stability in the country, Sanyal said that she did not expect any further rate hikes. On inflation, Sanyal said that indications are that it would remain well within the RBI’s comfort zone of below 5 per cent. However, she warned that if global oil prices rose further, then inflation could pose a problem. — PTI
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Vikram Pandit to focus on profitability, cost structure
In an interview with US magazine Businessweek after being elevated to the top Citi post, he said the right businesses would be positioned for the future in financial services. Responding to a query about his limited exposure to retail banking and credit card businesses, which are among the weak spots of Citigroup, Pandit said he was committed to ensuring that each of those areas are run by the best people. “The consumer operation is not a monolith... It’s a collection of great businesses... I’m committed to making sure every one of those areas has the best people running them. And I’m not saying we already don’t. I’m just saying that I’m committed to making sure that’s the case,” he pointed out. Pandit, 50, was the chairman and chief executive of Citi’s Institutional Clients Group that includes markets and banking and alternative investments before becoming the CEO. When asked by Businessweek whether he would consider splitting up the company, Pandit said he would not “get down to any options today, nor do I want to take any options off the table. What I’m saying is that this company has a lot of great businesses and is in a lot of the right areas to capture future trends.” Replying to a query on Wall Street gripe that he does not have deep operational experience, Pandit pointed out such an experience is about different things such as understanding businesses, risk and motivating people. — PTI
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Praj inks JV with Brazilian company
Mumbai, December 13 The Pune-based company will have the majority 54 per cent stake in the joint venture, while the remaining 46 per cent will be with Jarauga, a leading engineering, procurement, construction and manufacturing (EPCM) company, Praj Industries Chairman Pramod Chaudhari said. Brazil is a pioneer in the application of ethanol as a transport fuel blend and with the rise of the crude oil price, it has further increased its use of ethanol by introducing flex fuel cars. The joint venture will operate from Sao Paolo, where Praj has already an office, and will have a number of Brazilian nationals, including in the top management. Pramod Chaudhari will be the chairman in the joint venture.
— PTI |
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Udyog Rattan Award for Punbus MD
New Delhi, December 13 |
Suzlon-PEDA MoU ONGC RIL awarded SAIL Jindal Steel PEC peas Finolex Cables |
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