Nation’s largest blast furnace goes on stream at SAIL plant

New Delhi: Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has operationalised the nation’s largest blast furnace at its Rourkela Steel Plant.

It will increase SAIL’s hot metal capacity by 2.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 4.5 mtpa, the company said in a statement.

Named ‘Durga’, the furnace is built at an approximate expenditure of Rs 1,600 crore. It has a useful volume of 4060 cubic metres.

SAIL chief C.S. Verma also inaugurated a new slab caster at Steel Melting Shop-II of the plant. The environment-friendly furnace ensures minimum emissions and recovers waste energy to the fullest. It also has a closed-loop cooling system resulting in almost zero water discharge.

The new slab caster, set up at an approximate expenditure of Rs 500 crore, incorporates the latest technologies and can cast slabs of width up to 2,500 mm with thickness of 220 mm, 250 mm and 300 mm. It will supply slabs to the new 4.3 metre wide plate mill being installed as a part of the Rourkela plant’s modernisation and expansion plan.

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India and Kuwait bilateral trade crosses US$ 17.63 billion

New Delhi: The Indian community in Kuwait has contributed to the latter's development and to bilateral relations between the countries. The bilateral trade between the two nations crossed US$ 17.63 billion during 2012-13, as per Mr Satish C Mehta, Indian Ambassador to Kuwait.

Both the countries believe that more is possible in every dimension of the relationship on back of close and friendly political, economic and trade, cultural, and people-to-people linkages, said Mr Mehta.

Infrastructure is the backbone of India’s economic development. It has invested about US$ 500 billion in infrastructure during the Eleventh Five Year Plan, which ended on March 31, 2012. "In the current Five Year Plan (2012-17) we aim to invest US$ 1 trillion in infrastructure alone. New roads, railway lines, ports, airports, metros and power plants are springing up all over the country to support a renaissance in manufacturing,” said Mr Mehta.

Kuwaiti investments in India stood at US$ 2.5 billion, Mr Mehta added. To explore new avenues of cooperation, Mr Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Minister for Amiri Diwan Affairs, Kuwait, visited India in March 2013, followed by visits of Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission and Mr E Ahamed, Minister of State for External Affairs, Government of India, in July 2013.

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Hero eyes 50 new markets, Rs 60,000-cr turnover by 2020

New Delhi: Hero MotoCorp, India’s largest two-wheeler maker, said on Thursday that it plans to have 20 manufacturing and assembly facilities to expand its presence to 50 countries across the world by the end of the decade. The company expects its annual turnover to increase to Rs 60,000 crore in this period.

To begin with, Hero MotoCorp will set up six assembly lines across three continents in 2014.

Pawan Munjal, managing director, Hero MotoCorp, said, “We will be selling in 50-plus countries by 2020. To top it all, I am talking of an annual turnover of Rs 60,000 crore.” The company's turnover was around Rs 24,000 crore in FY13.

ALSO READ: Hero MotoCorp sales rise marginally in July
The firm, which recently forayed into the African continent by launching motorcycles in Kenya, said it will be expanding to new markets. Hero would launch the brand in 10 more markets by the end of FY14. Earlier, its export market was restricted to Colombia in Latin America and the neighbouring countries of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.

“Between January and March 2014, we will launch some more additional markets, some in Africa, some in the Caribbean and Central American countries,” said Munjal. By 2017, the company expects 10 per cent of its sales to come from export markets.

Hero MotoCorp, which rolled out its 50-millionth bike here on Thursday, said it is now eyeing the 100-million mark.

“By the year 2020, we will have annual production of 12 million motorcycles and scooters every year. This will come from 20 assembly lines inside the country and outside the country,” said Munjal.

For the year ended March 31, 2013, total production was 6.2 million units. Currently, the company rolls out bikes from its three plants located at Gurgaon, Daruhera and Haridwar.

Last year, the firm had announced it will set up its fourth plant at Neemrana in Rajasthan and the fifth plant in Gujarat as part of a Rs 2,575 crore investment to enhance production and research and development capability.

The company plans to launch 12 new models in the next two quarters, starting September.

“In the next two quarters, we plan to offer more than a dozen new products to our customers. We are now ready, we will be up and running from September,” said Munjal. The new offerings will be across the entire product range of Hero MotoCorp, Munjal said, adding the company has also made a lot of progress in its R&D front to deliver new products. “A couple of weeks ago we test-fired an engine - the first time ever at Hero MotoCorp,” he added.

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Birla plans to invest $1 bn in US chemical plant

Mumbai: The Aditya Birla group is planning to invest $1 billion (about Rs 6,000 crore) in setting up a chemical/fertiliser plant in the US to take advantage of the falling gas prices in that country.

Another reason for the big-ticket investment plan was a reviving business sentiment there, a top official said.

"We have been looking at an investment in the US, as there is enough and cheap gas - priced at $3-3.50 a unit. So, like a lot of Indian chemical companies, we are looking at the country for investment in the next few months," said Aditya Birla Nuvo Managing Director Rakesh Jain. He added, depending on its due-diligence report, the group would make the investment either in a greenfield (new) plant or through an acquisition. A team was already camping in the US to scout for opportunities.

As of now, foreign markets account for nearly half of the group's $40-billion turnover, which it aims to increase to $65 billion by 2016.

The group has a significant presence in India's fertiliser space through Indo Gulf Fertiliser but it has to depend on government subsidy to make money. Amid a slowdown, subsidy payouts to fertiliser companies had delayed considerably. Hence, the look West policy, Jain said.

He added Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla had made it clear the group would not depend on the government for any subsidy or dole-outs and would like to compete with companies across the world on its own. "By investing in the US, our goal is to de-risk our businesses and take advantage of the global opportunities. With the US economy reviving very fast - on the back of (President Barack) Obama's policies, this is the right time to invest in the US," he said.

Jain, who has spent 20 years of his professional life in the US, said $1 billion was typical of the investment the group made in a greenfield plant. Another group company, Novelis, is also planning to invest $1 billion in expanding its capacity, mainly in

Latin America. The group expects, Novelis would from 2016 start generating cash surplus of close to $500 million a year and help its parent, Hindalco, meet its financial needs.

With its latest plan, Birla has joined a host of Indian companies investing in the North American markets for want of opportunities in India - and amid high interest rates and a slowdown here. Besides, the cost of gas price in the country is set to double, making investments in new power and chemical plants unviable.

In June this year, Apollo Tyres had announced it would invest $2.5 billion in acquiring US-based Cooper Tires. Similarly, Chairman Mukesh Ambani had recently said, with an investment of $5.7 billion as of March, Reliance Industries was the largest investor in the American shale gas space.

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India signs DTAC protocol with Morocco

New Delhi: India signed a Protocol amending the India - Morocco Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) in New Delhi today. The Protocol was signed by Dr Sudha Sharma, Chairperson, Central Board of Direct Taxes on behalf of Government of India and H.E. Mr. Larbi Reffouh, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to India on behalf of Government of the Kingdom of Morocco.

The Protocol is based on international standards of transparency and exchange of information. It provides for effective exchange of information including banking information between tax authorities of the two countries. It also provides that each treaty partner shall use its information gathering measures to obtain the requested information even though it may not need such information for its own domestic tax purposes.

The Agreement will enhance mutual co-operation between the two countries by having effective exchange of information in tax matters.

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Tata Steel wins order to supply rails to link Mecca-Medina

Mumbai: Tata Steel has won an order to manufacture 60,000 tonnes of high-quality rail for a new high-speed line linking the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

The new Railway will allow millions of pilgrims to travel 444 km between the two cities at speeds of 320 km per hour. Steel for the project will be made at Tata Steel’s Scunthorpe plant before being rolled into rail in lengths of 25 metres.

To start by year-end
Work on producing the rail will start at the end of this year and is expected to continue throughout 2014.

Gerard Glas, rail sector head, Tata Steel, said the company would contribute to this high-speed line which will have to overcome some major challenges in one of the most extreme terrains in the world.

Tata Steel rail has already undertaken projects in similar challenging conditions in Brazil and Mauritania.

The new line is expected to carry around 160,000 people a day — and even more during the Hajj pilgrimage.

They will be transported on a fleet of 35 new high-speed trains. Started in 2009, the project cost is estimated at €12 billion (about Rs 98,400 crore).

The new rail line is set to open to the public in late 2014 or early 2015.

Besides the two holy cities, the line will have three other stops, two in Jeddah for commuters and one in Saudi Arabia’s new King Abdullah Economic City, a residential, industrial and commercial macro-complex that is still being built.

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NISM's Rs 400-cr campus to be ready by 2015

NISM's Rs 400-cr campus to be ready by 2015

Business Standard: August 08, 2013

Mumbai: Sebi-backed National Institute of Securities Management (NISM), which imparts education related to the financial markets, has embarked on an ambitious project of setting up a sprawling new campus on the outskirts of Mumbai to cater to students across south-east Asia.

The estimated cost of the new learning centre, to be spread across 70-acres at Patalganga, near Panvel, less than 100 kms from Mumbai, is Rs 400 crore, which will be funded through the public-private partnership (PPP) route.

Bulk of the contribution will be made by the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), while marquee financial institutions including the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Deutsche Bank, ICICI Bank and Canara Bank have already agreed to be part of the project, which is slated to be completed in 2015-end.

The foundation stone for this project was laid by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in May this year, during the silver jubilee celebrations of Sebi.

Sandip Ghose, who was formerly with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and now a director, NISM, says, "The top management institutes in India do not have courses in capital markets and insurance. The ambition of NISM is it should have a campus befitting the institution."

NISM, from its new campus will not just aim to impart education to Indian students but also from countries in the region as well.

"The Indian stock market is one of the most mature, in Asia. Hence, we are expecting that NISM will grow into a major player in South Asia. Regions like Sri Lanka, Middle East, Mauritius and Africa have also evinced an interest in collaborating with NISM. We could also look at other SAARC nations, Singapore and Hong Kong among others, for partnerships in their stock market," said Ghose.

The institute is also planning to increase the number of short-term courses at its new campus, while the number of long-term courses would continue to remain the same. The shorter courses, typically between five and 15 days, are aimed at catering roughly 50,000 new individual entrants into the securities market every year.

NISM, an autonomous body governed by its board led by the Sebi chairman, consists of six different schools-School for Investor Education and Financial Literacy (SIEFL), School for Certification of Intermediaries (SCI), School for Securities Information and Research (SSIR), School for Regulatory Studies and Supervision (SRSS), School for Corporate Governance (SCG), School for Securities Education (SSE).

The institute, currently operates out of a building in Vashi, Navi Mumbai, and offers courses on capital markets and training and certification to intermediaries . Once the new campus is established, all the activities will be conducted at Patalganga.

NISM at present has three deans for its six schools. With the new campus, the institute will have more faculty members and is aiming for a student strength of 1,000 a year.

At present, NISM offers three programmes including Certificate in Securities Law, Post Graduate Programme in Securities Markets and Certificate in Financial Engineering and Risk Management (CFERM). Apart from this, NISM also provides mandatory certifications to the intermediaries through its testing centres. Ghose explained the institute was looking for an accreditation from All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for its course on capital markets which would have a duration of 10-15 months. This, according to Ghose, will also enable students to pursue further studies and research after they complete the course.

Going ahead, NISM aims to have its own identity and doesn't want to be know as an institute run by a regulator.

"We do not want to be recognised as a regulator's institute, though the support of Sebi is important in the journey of development," said Ghose.

After the establishment of the new campus, NISM aims to become an institution that sparks policy debates, which are both intra and inter-regulatory in nature.

Ghose said NISM would also be open to presenting recommendation papers to the regulators concerned on these issues.

Building on the research capacities in the nation, NISM is working to develop its own case studies in the area of capital markets. This, says Ghose, is to ensure there are contemporary case studies available for study on capital markets. Apart from academics the institute will also train the students on soft skills.

Besides the recent memorandum of understanding that NISM has entered into with Asia Pacific Institute of Management to launch its CFERM Programme at the institute's New Delhi campus, Ghose said they would be open to partnering with BSE and NSE for long-term investor education. NISM has been identified as the nodal agency for National Strategy for Financial Education.

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