11.14.06
Posted in Uncategorized, India, investment, Information Technology at 12:53 am by maasmedia
BHARTI Airtel and Microsoft on Sunday announced a strategic partnership that will offer a range of software and services for SMBs in India. The partnership will begin by offering to Indian SMBs Microsoft Solutions for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration. It will also offer other hosted applications like CRM, Accounting, ERP, Unified communications and select Microsoft ISV applications. Both companies said they hoped to target over 6.5 lakh SMBs in India through this tie-up.
This service is predominantly aimed at companies with five or more employees, and is expected to be available in January 2007. These companies will now be able to enjoy the same experience as large enterprise customers without initial investments using a pay-as-you-go model, Bharti said in a statement.
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09.06.06
Posted in India, SEZ, Real Estate at 8:47 am by Mridul
Haryana gives in-principle nod to project to be spread over 20,000 acres to real estate giant DLF Universal Ltd is going to match Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd in setting up a 20,000 - acre multi-product Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Gurgaon.
Senior Haryana State Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) officials say the private developer has offered the corporation a joint venture for the SEZ. “However, the project will have to be first approved by the Haryana Industrial Promotion Board (HIPB),” adds an official.
The proposed project, which has already received an “in-principle approval” of the Central government, is proposed to be set up on both sides of (Gurgaon-Jaipur) National Highway 8, bisecting the proposed Kundli Manesar Palwal (KMP) Expressway In fact, the proposed DLF SEZ will look on to the 25,000 - acre Reliance - HSIIDC joint venture SEZ likely to come up in Gurgaon and Jhajjar districts.
The proposed DLF SEZ will be developed in four phases. The first phase of 500 acres is expected to be completed by 2009 and the final phase by 2018.
The company expects the SEZ to attract an investment of Rs 1,24,000 crore in terms of fixed as-
sets like industrial, commercial and residential stock. The annual export potential of the project has been pegged at $10-12 billion once it is fully operational. The SEZ project will be developed through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) promoted by DLF
The company has identified land on both sides of NH 8 for the project, and has offered to keep any part of the land acquired by the state government for public purpose out of the SEZ project.
The project report submitted by DLF visualises 5,000-6,000 acres of the total project area being developed for industrial use in two parts - large industrial zone and small industrial zone. The large industrial zone will be developed with plots of 10, 25 and 50 acres, while the small industrial zone will be developed with plots of one, two and five acres. The company also proposes to demarcate a “free trade zone” within the processing area of the SEZ, which would lay emphasis on trading of goods and commodities manufactured within the SEZ, their packaging/ repackaging/ exhibition and the service sector, including BPOs, IT and ITES companies. The private developer will reserve about 2,000 acres for a commercial zone that will include shops and other establishments such as hotels, office complexes and banks. DLF will also develop about 20 million square feet of built-up infrastructure, which would include business centres, logistics park, warehouses and hotels.
Almost 10,000 acres will be developed solely as residential zone, providing all categories of houses for people working in the SEZ. DLF will also develop about 2,000 to 3,000 acres as institutional area, providing educational, healthcare and research infrastructure.
The private developer will provide connectivity to the 20,000-acre SEZ by creating an arterial road connecting NH 8 and the proposed Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway during the first phase of development. DLF also proposes to set up a gas-based captive power plant of 2,000 MW capacity at a cost of Rs 6,000 crore.
According to tentative company estimates, the land cost for the project will work out to Rs 10,000 crore. The development cost has been estimated at Rs 6,142 crore, the cost for readily built infrastructure at Rs 2,625 and the cost of project management at Rs 938 crore.
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Posted in India, investment, SEZ, Government at 8:41 am by Mridul
Warehousing hub at Kandla
A Rs 200-300-crore warehousing hub is coming up outside Kandla Port. Jointly promoted by Kandla SEZ and IL&FS, the facility is said to be India’s first in scope and dimensions. Already about 20 plots have been allotted for warehouse facility outside the port for setting up container freight stations and warehouses. The port has also facilitated establishment of storage facilities for over 8 lakh kilolitres of liquid which are being operated by private parties. The liquid handling facilities connect the tank farms directly to oil jetties through pipelines.
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Posted in Review, News, India, investment, IPO at 8:41 am by Mridul
Gold Souk IPO in 2007
NEW DELHI: Bullish on jewellery consumption in the country, Aerens Gold Souk, a jewellery mall under the Aerens group, is planning to come out with an IPO next year. The company is also negotiating with US and UK-based real estate funds, and hopes to finalise talks by the end of this fiscal, Aerens Gold Souk International director Ashish Gupta said. “As per our vision plan, we require $4 billion (about Rs 18,000 crore) for expanding our business. For funding of such magnitude we are looking at an IPO,” he said. Besides the IPO and real estate funds, the company is also exploring other sources for raising funds, including promoters’ contribution, private equity funding, debt, etc.
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09.01.06
Posted in Review, India, Government, Oil news, Oil Prices at 8:21 am by Mridul
Government may revise the fuel prices quarterly
Indian government is planning to make a model in which the fuel prices in India at for the retail consumers will be revised in every 3 months. After seeing the steep rise and falls in the oil prices in the recent past, the government is planning to take such a decision.
Our Review: This would mean that the government would first study the oil prices in the previous quarter and then after studying the pattern, the fuel prices will be decided for the next quarter. One fine day we may see that everyday we’ll have to open the newspaper and see the oil prices for the day like it happens in Gold and Share markets.
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08.31.06
Posted in Review, India, Oil news, Real Estate at 11:40 pm by Mridul
Reliance found more Gas in the Krishna Godavari Basin
This is good, Reliance has found more gas reserves in the Krishna Godavari Basin. Now the company will start the pumping process by June 2008. The company earlier had gas in this region in the shallow sedimentary basin, but now what they have found is the gas belonging to the older deeper sedimentary basins which will ensure higher yield and better and sustained gas flow. RIL will now have 80 mmscmd of gas at its disposal; will call for competitive bids to develop the market.
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Posted in Review, News, India, investment, SEZ, Government, Prices, Real Estate at 11:40 pm by Mridul
SEZ: Is it Export promotion or Real Estate Promotion: says RBI
Now the SEZ fever has disturbed the (Reserve Bank of India) RBI too. The RBI has said that the SEZ policy 2005 sees to be more focused on the Real Estate promotion rather that Export promotion. In the recent reports, the RBI has said that “the tax breaks for the SEZ are only justifiable only if they establish forward or backward linkage with the domestic economy”.
Our review: If RBI is now in picture, then it’s a matter of concern. This will definitely ignite the political dispute for SEZ into the states also. The promoters who have already set up their plants in the existing operational SEZ must be the most happiest persons coz they would be affected by any the policy change into the SEZ act, since their units were set up in the SEZ which the old policy was in action.
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08.30.06
Posted in News, India, investment, SEZ, Government, Real Estate at 2:53 am by Mridul
Kerala inviting partners for SEZ in State.
The Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) is inviting proposals, the real estate developers to partner into the SEZ that they are willing to set up in Kerala State. The corporation has acquired land in the Districts of Kannur, Kozhikode and Malappuram. KSIDC has acquired approximately 250 acres in each of the districts. The KSIDC has no problem setting up industries like textiles, garments, rubber products, healthcare, tourism, resorts, food processing etc.
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Posted in Review, News, India, Real Estate, Retail at 2:51 am by Mridul
After Reliance and Bharti: Birla also explore for Retail
Birla has also joined the retail race going on in India. After Reliance Retail and Bharti coming up with their Retail outlets, Birla is also exploring opportunities to grab some market share. Birla’s have joined hand with McKinsey to study and explore the opportunities in the sector. The Aditya Birla Group will be the third business house to enter into the organized retail sector.
Our Review: With many business houses getting into the organized retail sector. The best thing is that consumer is definitely getting benefited. Also this will also give up a boost to the Real Estate and the manufacturing sector in the country.
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08.29.06
Posted in Review, News, India, Mutual funds at 8:06 am by Mridul
Prudential ICICI MF /ahead of UTI MF
Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund (MF) and UTI MF are competing hard for number one position in the mutual fund business with the gap in asset under management (AUM) by the two fund houses narrowing down to just Rs 28 crore at Rs 30,143 crore for Prudential ICICI to Rs 30,115 crore managed by UTI as of June 30, 2006. Anil Ambani-owned Reliance MF was placed at third position with a gap of Rs 3,801 crore with AUM of Rs 26,314 crore among the 29 MF houses as of June 30 as per the latest data released by Association of Mutual Funds in India(AMFI).
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08.28.06
Posted in News, India, investment, Government, Real Estate at 6:03 am by Mridul
Industrial Model Town ; in Faridabad
THE HARYANA government has decided to set up an Industrial Model Town (IMT) in Faridabad. The Haryana Small Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC), entrusted with the task to develop the IMT, has started the process of acquiring 1,850 acres. According to Ballabgarh MLA M.S. Sharda Rathore, the state government issued a notification on July 31 empowering the HSIDC to acquire the land for the proposed IMT.
The Faridabad IMT would be on the pattern of Manesar in Gurgaon, she said. Both Indian and multinational companies will be provided industrial sites and facilities to set up pollution-free units. Sectors 66, 67, 68 and 69, situated across the Agra Canal in the Ballabgarh block, have been identified as the ideal location for the IMT in a preliminary survey
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08.25.06
Posted in Review, India, investment, SEZ, Act, Government, Information Technology, Real Estate at 3:44 am by Mridul
SEZ Caps: Central and State governments stands against each other.
So the SEZ war is on between the Central and the State Governments. PRESSURE is building on the central government from states for removal of the ceiling on SEZs by the empowered group of ministers (eGoM). The EGoM, which is meeting on Wednesday to review the cap, has to take the crucial decision on whether to maintain the cap at the original level, increase it, or do away with it.
State Ministers, Sharad Pawar, TJayanidhi Maran, Naveen Patnaik have been writing to the Central Government for this issue. They have asked the Government that the SEZ proposals for Maharashtra cannot be accommodated if the ceiling is not removed leading to loss of potential investment. With the commerce department formally approving 46 new SEZ proposals on Tuesday, the limit of 150 imposed by the EGoM has been exhausted, which has brought the State Ministries to react against the EGoM. The Orissa CM pointed out that his state, which had become an important investment destination for minerals and metals, IT and IT-enabled services, would lose out if the SEZ cap was not removed. He said Orissa was not as fast as many other states in getting sanctions and there should be fair and equal opportunities for all states in the sanctioning process.
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08.23.06
Posted in News, India, investment, Government, Real Estate, FDI at 10:51 pm by Mridul
FDI norms for Real Estate Development in India can be eased
Government of India is planning to ease the entry of the foreign investors in the country. The norms which were earlier being set by the Indian government were difficult so that the overseas Real Estate Developers cannot get into the market easily. But this news will not bring a cool breath to the Overseas Real Estate Developers.
The norms which were being set earlier:
For Commercial Development: A minimum area of 50000 sq mts.
For Residential Development : A minimum area of 10 Hectares.
These norms are now eased to 10000 sq mtr for the commercial and 10 Acres for the residential projects. Investors are not allowed to repatriate original investments before three years of completion of minimum capitalization. However in special cases, the foreign investor can be permitted to exit early but with prior FIBP approval.
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08.22.06
Posted in Review, News, India, investment, SEZ, Exemptions, Act, Information Technology at 11:27 pm by Mridul
Newly proposed policies by the Ministry of Finance for Special Economic Zones (SEZ)
So the Finance Ministry has come up with THEIR approach for the Special Economic Zones (SEZ’s). The Ministry has the following points to say:
(1) The New Units that are going to come up in these Special Economic Zones will have to make fresh investments in the Plant and Machinery i.e. they cannot shift their existing machinery into the SEZ.
(2) The Companies in the Special Economic Zones cannot trade the goods via the DTAs (Domestic Tariff Areas).
(3) Trading activities can only be carried out by those companies that are importing the good and reexporting them.
Now, the basic idea behind the SEZ is to attract investments, create infrastructure and employment and generate economic activities.
Our Review: Well, these points have both advantages and disadvantages for the developer and the companies opting to put up units in the special economic zones. The original equipment manufacturer will defiantly be a gainer in these conditions, since there will be no traders sitting up in these zones, so the manufacturer will be benefited by the tax sops. The developer will have to allot the units to the OEM’s only. So the developers may feel a little pinch from the real estate point of view in their SEZ’s. Well, what we feel is that there is nothing much to worry about. Because our country has got a good number amount of manufacturers and exporters right !!!!
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08.21.06
Posted in Review, News, India, airlines, Travel & Tourism at 7:32 am by Mridul
Air Sahara expanding bases to 14 more cities
Air Sahara, one of the most preferred airlines in India has announced an expansion plan to 14 cities across the country. The company must have already lost much market share because of the news of takeover by Jet airways, so this step seems to regain and show the presence into the market. The airline will add 66 new flights over the next four months, as four new aircraft, Boeing 737-800, join the fleet by the year-end. When this expansion plan falls into place, Air Sahara hopes to regain its pre-merger market share of around 12-13 % by early next year said Air Sahara President Alok Sharma. With this expansion plan, Air Sahara would be connecting Delhi to six international destinations in addition to its code-share flights with American Airlines.
“As far as pilots are concerned, 50 per cent of those who had resigned in the aftermath of the merger with Jet Airways, have resumed their duties with us and more were expected to come back,” Sharma said.
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Posted in India, investment, SEZ, Information Technology, Automobiles, Biotechnology at 6:56 am by Mridul
Mahindra & Mahindra investing Rs 1,500 cr in Maharashtra
Mahindra & Mahindra has shortlisted four states Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttranchal and Karnataka. The company is planning to invest Rs 1,500 crore in next 2-3 years, under its automobile, infrastructure and information technology business in Maharashtra.
The company has signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understating) with the Government of Maharashtra State for extending its Nasik facility for manufacturing its multi purpose vehicle “Ingenio”, with an investment of Rs 550 crore. The project will just double the capacity of the company. Mahindra & Mahindra has planned two SEZ in Maharashtra, one near Pune which will bring in Rs 1000 crore and a Biotech SEZ in Thane will fetch Rs 150-200 crore. The total investment would be around investment to around 1500 crore. The automotive division of M&M is also in talks with Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur for developing a bio-diesel technolgy.
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08.20.06
Posted in News, India, Government, Oil news at 6:17 am by Mridul
ONGC planning two refineries
NEW DELHI: ONGC, the country’s largest oil producer, is planning to build two refineries, minister of stole for petroleum and natural gas Dinsha Patel said on Thursday. ONGC has been trying to boost its refining capacity to ensure better margins and make up for a fall in domestic crude output. Patel said ONGC is examining the feasibility of setting up a refinery in Kakinada. It’s also exploring the techno-economic feasibility of setting up a well head refinery for processing crude oil discovered by Cairn Energy and ONGC in Rajasthan.
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08.19.06
Posted in Review, News, India, investment, SEZ, Service Tax, Exemptions, Act, Government at 6:17 am by Mridul
Service Tax breaks to SEZ in pipeline
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce is now planning to give service tax breaks to the companies opting to set up their units in the Special Economic Zones around the country. The companies which are already exempted from Service Tax in these SEZ’s are the companies that provide the services within the Special Economic Zone. Now the service providers having their units in SEZ will get this benefit too if this notification is issued. The export promotion council for EOUs and SEZ’s has taken up the issue with the government saying that “The SEZ Act clearly states that so long as a service is related to an authorised operation in an SEZ, exemption from service tax should be provided irrespective of where it is rendered.
Our Review: See, the Act is under and with the Government only and we feel that this Act is going to face amendments soon. How could be the finance ministry be happy with the Act when there is nothing that the government is getting from it. If it was upto the government, they would act as a sleeping partner in all the commercial activities going in the country.
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Posted in News, India, investment, SEZ at 6:05 am by Mridul
So here is the list of projects which are expected to start soon in India.
Reliance Haryana SEZ : SEZ (Haryana) : Haryana : Rs. 40,000 Cr.
Reliance Petroleum : jamnagar Petroleum Refinery (SEZ) : Gujarat : Rs. 25,000 Cr.
Mittal Steel Company NV : Integrated Steel (Jharkhand) - Phase 1 : Jharkhand :Rs. 15,000 Cr.
Nuclear Power Corp of India :Jaitapur Nudear Power :Maharashtra : Rs. 13,000 Cr.
Vedanta Alumina : Aluminium Smelter (Jharsuguda) : Orissa :Rs. 9,500 Cr.
SAIL : Integrated Steel (IISCO) : W Bengal, jharkhand : Rs. 8,107 Cr.
AP Power Development : Krishnapatnam Power : Andhra Pradesh : Rs. 8,000 Cr.
Bihar State Electricity Board : Nabinagar Thermal Power : Bihar : Rs. 8,000 Cr.
ONCC : Refinery (Barmer) : Rajasthan : Rs. 7,967 Cr.
Hindalco Industries : Integrated Aluminium (Sidhi) : Madhya Pradesh : Rs. 7,700 Cr.
Neyveli Lignite : Lignite-Based Power (South Gujarat) : Gujarat : Rs. 7,500 Cr.
Arunachal Pradesh Govt : Naying Hydro Electric Power : Arunachal Pradesh : Rs. 5,000 Cr.
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Posted in News, India, investment at 12:51 am by Mridul
Reliance in talks with Himachal Govt. for Joint Venture
After going on bullish about the Retail Business in India, RELIANCE Industries is in talks with the Himachal government for setting up 25 joint venture to run rural business hubs in the state. The business hubs in Himachal will be based on a similar model as that of Punjab. The company is evaluating various options and will be using the JV for the rural agri-retail business. The company is also learnt to be in talks and some central government outfits as well, primarily for warehouses.
Reliance is also exploring options to take over state government unit Himachal Pradesh Horticultural Produce, Marketing and Processing Corporation (HPMC). The company’s business arrangement with the state government will be for vegetables and apples.
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