<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Govt to allow pvt firms in defence production </b>
Pioneer News Service / New Delhi
The Union Government in an effort to enhance the role of private sector in defence production and ordnance factories is keen to allow working arrangements between the private industry and ordnance factories through memorandum of understanding (MoU), Union Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here on Friday.
Announcing that the Government was committed to have a proactive defence industry at a seminar organised by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on Defence Outsourcing here, he said the ordnance factories can have working arrangements with private industry.
The minister, however, said it would not be possible, at present, to allow joint ventures and equity participation by private manufacturers in the restrictive guns and ammunition manufacturing sector.
The turnover of the eight Defence Ordnance factories during 2004-05 was to the tune of Rs 6,150 crores, of which orders already to the extent of Rs 1,900 crores are outsourced to private industry.
Mr Mukherjee clarified that joint ventures and co-production could be undertaken in the defence public sector undertakings. Stating that the Government was committed to have a proactive defence industry, he said available resources, capability and infrastructure should be treated as national assets and harnessed to the fullest extent.
The Defence Minister stressed the need for indigenisation and urged the private sector to prepare for "risk sharing" in quest for developing futuristic weapons systems.
Speaking on the subject of offloading, he said the Government wanted to enforce outsourcing of support systems of the armed forces, so that the forces were confined to task of soldiering. He urged the private sector to set up specialised agencies for these as was the practice followed by armies in the Western countries.Â
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<b>India's Industrial Growth Sharply Slows</b> <!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->NEW DELHI - India's industrial growth sharply slowed to 7.2 percent in the July-September quarter from 10.4 percent in the previous quarter, according to government data released Friday, and analysts said the slowdown â due in part to high oil prices â would likely continue.
Still, the average 9.9 percent industrial growth in the April-September period â the first half the current fiscal year ending March 2006 â was good enough to help the broader economy expand more than 7 percent this year, analysts said.
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It was expected, its important for India to look for other resource of Energy.
<b>US autopart maker to invest 130 million dollars in India </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->NEW DELHI, India (AFP) - US automobile component maker Delphi has said it will invest five billion rupees (130 million dollars) to manufacture fuel injection systems in India.
The company, which has a partnership with India's TVS, will also set up a technical centre for product development in the southern city of Chennai, the Press Trust of India reported Saturday.
"The investment would be made over a span of four to five years," Delphi-TVS managing director T.K. Balaji was quoted as saying by the news agency
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KOLKATA: West Bengal looks as if it is in strong contention for housing a Tata Motors automobile project soon.
The state industrial development corporation, WBIDC, has had a top-level meeting with representatives from Tata Motors on Wednesday over the issue and initial feedback from the stateâs commerce and industry department at Writersâ Buildings suggests that the meeting was âvery positive.â
Tata Motors has been scouting the countryside for a suitable place to set up its âpeopleâs carâ project, which will enable the masses to have motor cars for Rs 1 lakh. Almost every state had made a pitch and Tata Motors has had negotiations with various state industrial development corporations. But the one they had with WBIDC, is being touted as a ânear clincherâ by sources in the state government.
With the Assembly elections near, the state government is prohibited under election laws to make any statement. However, when contacted by ET, Sabyasachi Sen, the commerce and industry secretary, said, âWe are currently negotiating with the Tatas for the auto project. The project proposal will shortly be placed before the Tata Motors board in Mumbai. We are hopeful that the outcome will be a positive.â
<!--emo&:ind--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/india.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='india.gif' /><!--endemo--> ISRO, Tatas join hands for H-powered vehicles
Bangalore: Taking cues from its fortunes in space, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is now exploring opportunities on the ground. Leveraging its expertise in using hydrogen to power rockets, the ISRO is working on a new generation engine for automobiles, which will be powered by hydrogen.
ISRO has already reached an agreement with Tata Motors for a pilot project to see whether hydrogen can be used to fuel automobiles. ISRO and Tata Motors are working on developing a prototype of a hydrogen-powered automobile, which is expected to hit the roads next year, G Madhavan Nair, chairman, ISRO, said.
ISRO uses liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as fuel for its cryogenic engine, where hydrogen works as the fuel and oxygen as the oxidiser.
Nair who is also the department of space secretary said that work has already started.
"We are working with Tatas to see how best a prototype can be put on road by next year. If we succeed, we can have a bulk transportation system. Even cars can switch over to hydrogen fuel cells," Nair added.
He said while Tata Motors would use its expertise in making cars, ISRO would take care of the storage and handling of Hydrogen.
ISRO proposes to use its rocket propulsion technology in the vehicle. The vehicle would not have an internal combustion engine since it will be powered by electricity.
Nair said, "Hydrogen and atmospheric oxygen will combine in the fuel cell to produce electricity and the by-product will be water vapour."
<b>Industrial production growth dips</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Industrial production growth declined in November to 5.3 per cent, against 15.8 per cent in the same month last year, the lowest since October 2006 when it stood at 4.51 per cent and the lowest in the 2007 calendar year.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
NEW DELHI: One of the world's biggest imaging and photographic companies, Fujifilm Corporation is setting up a wholly-owned subsidiary in India with an initial investment of Rs 10 crore and plans to capture a significant share in the growing domestic market.
The new subsidiary named as Fujifilm India Pvt Ltd will enable the company to capture the rising demand of digital imaging products, photo and graphic systems and medical equipment, while continuing its partnership with its existing dealers and distributors.
"After studying the Indian market carefully, we have realised that the demand for our products here is growing. Our focus will be on creating a strong market for Fujifilm digital cameras and medical systems in India to capture a substantial share in years to come," Fujifilm Corporation India Branch Office General Manager Kenichi Tanaka said.
He said the company will invest an initial capital of Rs 10 crore to set up the subsidiary which is expected to be fully operational by April this year.
"We will be able to buy some software locally through the new company for our medical systems like SYNAPSE (PACS) and also provide support in terms of marketing and training to our partners here for the other segments like photo, graphics and digital camera," Tanaka added.
The company operates in India through its branch office and dealers, including Jindal Photo Limited (JPL) and PID Private Limited (PIDPL).
Commenting on the growth of digital imaging market in India, Tanaka said, "we expect the market here to grow at a rate of 30-40 per cent every year, while the company's target is to grow faster than the industry rate."
When asked about the market share which the company was targeting across segments in India, Tanaka declined to share specific details, but said Fujifilm expected to have a greater share in the digital camera market here as compared to what it had in Japan.
The company manufactures and markets a range of consumer and business products, including digital cameras, mobile printer, photo film, film camera Instant, photofinishing products graphic systems, medical systems, professional films, life science systems and motion picture films.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
MUMBAI: Global chip maker Intel will invest more than USD one billion in India over the next three years as it seeks to prepare light-weight personal computers in partnership with Indian and foreign hardware firms.
"We have committed to spend over a billion dollars spread over next three years plus. We are focusing on a number of new initiatives for enabling easy availability of personal computers (PCs) and broadband Internet in India," Intel Technology India Director- marketing and operations John A McClure said.
The company is partnering with foreign and Indian computer hardware brands like ASUS Technologies, HCL, Wipro and Zenith for preparing light weight easy-to-use Internet platforms.
"From our India experience, we have learnt that mobility is particularly what even a first time PC buyer is looking for. They want lightweight products, that could run on battery for three to four hours, is easy to store and doesn't take too much space," McClure said.
The company is working on different designs for specific market segments. It is also preparing to introduce Wimax technology in India, the fastest wireless BB technology available at lower cost than optical fibres.
"This is the best technology to bridge the PC-broadband Internet gap in India. With three million broadband Internet subscription against a PC deployment of 35 million, India has the worst broadband-PC ratio in a large market," he said.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
NEW DELHI: American aircraft major Boeing on Thursday announced a decision to establish a JV with premier conglomerate Tatas to carry out defence-related aerospace component work and said it planned to make the promised Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul facility in Nagpur operational by 2009.
Tata Industries Limited and Boeing Company have agreed on a plan to form a joint venture company that will initially have over USD 500 million of defence-related aerospace component work in India for export to Boeing and its global customers, they said in a joint statement.
"This joint venture between Tata and Boeing is an important part of our strategy to build capabilities in defence and aerospace," Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata said.
Under the agreement, the proposed JV will be established by this June and begin work on building Boeing aerospace components shortly thereafter.
Manufacturing capabilities established within the JV firm would in later phases be leveraged across multiple Boeing programs, including the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition.
On the proposed MRO to be set up at Nagpur as a part of the offset for Air India acquiring 68 Boeing planes, US firm's President (India) Ian Thomas told reporters here, "we have certainly decided to make the MRO operational by 2009."
The US firm has committed to invest USD 100 million in the MRO project, besides investing additionally in a pilot training establishment for Air India as well as another for a school for training for pilots.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Tokyo, Japan, February 15, 2008 - NSK Ltd. (NSK; Headquarter: Tokyo, Japan; President and CEO: Seiichi Asaka) and ABC Bearings Limited (ABC; Headquarter: Mumbai, India; Managing Director: Pradip Patel) are pleased to announce the completion and official opening ceremony on February 15th of their joint venture bearing plant located on the outskirts of Chennai City.
The new plant in Chennai, a central industrial city in Southern India, will manufacture bearings for the automotive industry, targeting supply to both Japanese and local automotive manufacturers, as well as other foreign-owned companies located in India.
ABC and NSK have maintained a good relationship since 1998, with NSK providing technical support for bearing production.Â
Against a background of rapid economic growth in India, both companies decided to form the JV Company in order to produce bearings to meet the growing demands of the automotive industry.
For NSK, this joint venture is an opportunity to increase sales to Japanese and foreign automotive manufacturers in India. For ABC, the plant offers new opportunities to increase sales to their existing customers by providing a greater range of bearing types.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Chennai: The â¬46-billion global automotive component major Robert Bosch GmbH has established a joint venture with the Chennai-based Igarashi Motors India Ltd (IMIL) to develop and manufacture DC motors and systems for wiper, HVAC (heating ventilating and air conditioning), engine cooling and window lift applications. Bosch will hold 51 per cent shares, while the rest will be with IMIL.
The spokesperson of Robert Bosch GmbH told Business Line that the joint venture company would be headquartered in Chennai and âthe target market for JVâs products is India. However, we do not rule out the possibility exporting the product in the long-run. Concrete plans are yet to be discussed.â
It may be noted that this was the first investment of the German company in Tamil Nadu, which is emerging as a hub for automotive industry. Though the quantum of investments was not disclosed, the spokesperson mentioned that with existing customers, the sales of the joint venture company would be running âinto Euros eight digitsâ from 2009. By the end of 2008, the company would have around 100 employees.
The technological know-how and long standing contacts with automotive customers in India will come from Bosch, while IMILâs contribution will be in the form of getting associates (workforce), local supplier network and testing equipment.
<b>To a question on the most striking reason for Bosch to choose IMIL, the spokesperson said the partner had been operating in Chennai for over a decade now and established a sound supplier base. Besides, the distribution costs were low in Chennai. Moreover, IMIL had well-developed human resources, which could support the new company also, the spokesperson added.</b>
Bosch Ltd in India will support the joint venture company in terms of offering legal, environmental and aftermarket services.
The Managing Director of Bosch Ltd and Bosch representative in India, V.K. Viswanathan, said, âwith this joint venture, we are expanding our range of products manufactured locally in India.â<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Mumbai: With the Tamil Nadu cabinet clearing the project, Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T) will move ahead to set up a Rs3,000 crore new shipyard-cum-port project at Kattupalli in Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu as a special economic zone (SEZ). The planned port will also have a facility to handle container cargo, say company officials who did not wish to be identified.
The cabinet clearance will pave the way for L&T to sign a memorandum of understanding with the state government to set up the project through a joint venture with the state-owned Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corp. Ltd (Tidco). L&T will hold close to 98% stake in the joint venture.
The cabinet approval will also allow L&T to acquire about 1,200 acres of land from Tidco to set up the project. Once the land is in its possession, L&T will submit a proposal to the Union commerce ministry to develop the project as a SEZ that will build cargo ships, warships, offshore oil rigs and other heavy engineering products.
L&T plans to start construction work on the project after the SEZ is notified. The commerce ministryâs decision on the SEZ is expected within two months of L&T submitting the application. L&T is currently negotiating shipbuilding orders worth $1-2 billion (Rs3,930-7,860 crore) with global shipowners.
The proposed shipyard at Kattupalli will be capable of building 25 ships a year and repair 50-60 ships annually.
When fully operational, the shipyard-cum-port project is likely to employ close to 10,000.
L&T plans to begin building ships by end-2009 and deliver the first ship 12-14 months later. Mint had first reported on 4 July that L&T had picked Kattupalli for the SEZ project.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
AHMEDABAD: High-Tech specialised cargo vessels with the âmade-in-Indiaâ tag will soon set sail as L&T will hand over the first of eight high-tech heavy lift vessels. L&T is manufacturing the vessels for a Netherlands-based firm at its Hazira shipbuilding yard in Surat. The order, worth e250 (Rs 1,443 crore), placed by the Netherlands-based Rollerdock to the Mumbai-based engineering giant, is one of the biggest in the Indian shipbuilding sector.
âThe first of the heavy lift vessels will be delivered to the Netherlands company in April this year. This is a very specialised vessel (RORO) and is of 8,300 tonnage each. It can take extremely heavy cargo by truck or lift,â said a senior official of L&T Shipping. The deal, struck between the two companies in August last year, marks the foray of L&T into the highly technical area of shipbuilding â an area where the Dutch have years of skill and expertise.
âThe Rolldock project with L&T involves the expertise of several leading Dutch companies that are leading players in manufacturing ship parts, sales, distribution and repairs,â the Holland Marine Equipment MD Martin Bloem told ET.
Mr Bloem is on a six-day India visit and will visit several cities in India with a delegation of officials from various Netherlands-based companies who are leaders in various aspects of the shipbuilding trade.
âL&T marked its entry into this field in April 2006 by securing an order from the Netherlands-based Rolldock (earlier Zadeko Ship Management) for four heavy-lift semi-submersible cargo ships, technically described as RORO.
The company placed orders for four more vessels of the same specifications subsequently,â said the L&T official.L&T ventured into the shipbuilding business last year. by converting a part of its heavy engineering complex at Hazira into a yard that could build three mid-size ships a year with a cargo-carrying capacity of 15,000 to 20,000 tonnes.
India has around 20 shipyards, majority of them being state-owned, but none has the kind of capacity L&T has at its yard. Cochin Shipyard, which can build the largest ships currently, can build ships with a cargo-carrying capacity of 110,000 tonnes.
With capacities in traditional shipbuilding countries such as Japan, South Korea and Norway booked for the next few years, fleet owners across the world have started looking at new destinations such as China, Vietnam and India.
Indiaâs share in the global shipbuilding business is expected to grow to around 15%, or $22 billion, by 2020 from the current 0.4%, aided mainly by cost competitiveness and abundant supply of skilled manpower, according to a source in the shipping industry.
âThe Dutch have excellence in making specialised vessels, which is the current trend in shipbuilding sector compared with other countries who make only large vessels. The technology we use and the systems are of high-end quality. India can emerge as one of the leading players in shipbuilding if it specialises in these areas with out co-operation, said Mr Bloem.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Mumbai: Indiaâs biggest engineering and construction firm, Larsen and Toubro Ltd, is in talks with a Dutch shipowner for a new building contract valued at more than $100 million (Rs397 crore) said a person familiar with the development.
âYes, L&T is negotiating with a dutch shipowner for a new building order. But, I cannot tell you the name of the shipowner, the number of ship order being negotiated or the value of the contract,â said Coert Kleijwegt, managing director of Hong Kong-based shipbroking firm Orient Dutch Shipbroking Ltd earlier this week.
Kleijwegt did say that the Dutch shipowner negotiating the deal was one of the shareholders of the Netherlands-based RollDock BV, which signed a memorandum of understanding with L&T on 13 February to built two modular carriers at Hazira yard in Gujarat, each having a cargo carrying capacity of 20,000 tonnes.
This will take L&Tâs order book to 10 ships.
L&T is currently building eight ships valued at about Rs1,150 crore. These comprise six for RollDock and two from BigLift Shipping BV, also of the Netherlands.
L&T launched its shipbuilding venture in May 2006 with an order for building four ships valued at Rs440 crore from the Rotterdam-based shipping firm Zadeko Ship Management CV (now known as RollDock BV). RollDock placed a repeat order in August 2007 with L&T for building two more ships valued at more than $70 million.
âWe have chosen L&T to build the ships on the basis of its quality of ships, timely delivery and price considerations,â said Diederik Legger, managing director, RollDock.
In June 2007, L&T won a contract for construction of two ships valued at more than $94.95 million from the Netherlands-based BigLift Shipping BV, a part of the Spliethoff Group.
Mumbai-based L&T has recently secured clearance from the Tamil Nadu cabinet to set up the countryâs biggest shipbuilding facility at Kattupalli in Thiruvallur district near Chennai.
The Rs3,000 crore proposed shipyard-cum-port project will be capable of building 25 ships in a year, including five very large crude carriers, each with a capacity to carry 300,000- 350,000 tonnes of crude oil, and 20 Panamax vessels, which can each carry 120,000-200,000 tonnes of dry bulk commodities and are called thus because they can pass through the Panama Canal carrying cargo. The yard will also be able to repair 50-60 ships a year.
L&T ventured into shipbuilding last year by converting part of its heavy engineering complex at Hazira into a yard that could build three mid-size ships with a cargo carrying capacity of 15,000-20,000 tonnes in a year. Although, the company is now expanding the capacity of the Hazira yard to make six ships a year, it cannot make bigger ships there. The yard opens into a river that has limited draft (depth in shipping terminology). That explains its decision to build a new yard at Kattupalli.
India currently has 27 yards with a shipbuilding capacity of 2.8 million tonnes (mt), which is small by global standards. âIndiaâs shipbuilding capacity is projected to increase to 5mt by 2012 and further to 18mt by 2017,â said Umesh C. Grover, director, technical and offshore at state-run Shipping Corp. of India Ltd.
âTo achieve this target, India will have to increase its shipbuilding capacity four times its present capacity over the next six-eight years,â said Ajit Tewari, chairman and managing director at state-run Hindustan Shipyard Ltd.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>What is the extent of Dolphin Offshoreâs involvement in the offshore sector ?</b>
We are basically in turnkey EPC type contract business and are concentrating on work that needs to be done underwater, above water and on water - the three dimensions called integrated services.
We undertake work of revamping, modification and integration of the infrastructure for oil and gas market.
<b>How niche a segment is revamping, modification etc.?</b>
In modification, we are basically convert platforms which are currently controlling production from 2 to 4 wells by expanding the production capacity to 6 or 8 wells.
In other words, we are looking to increasing the capacity of the platforms. In India, not many local companies are involved. What many in the field do is to secure the contract and sub-contract to someone else. I find we are the only ones who provide integrated services where we can do the entire operation on a turnkey basis.
<b>Between a jack-up rig and semi-submersible rig which do you think is gaining prominence?</b>
The water depth in which you operate determines the choice. If you have a 300 foot leg length of jack up rig you cannot work in 350 metres of water. On the other hand, a semi-submersible rig being a vessel that actually floats on water at all times is more useful.
It is either anchored into position or has a dynamic positioning system to maintain a fixed position to enable the vessel to undertake drilling. So these can be used in water depths where the jack-up rig cannot be used.
<b>Do you operate world wide and do you also undertake pipe laying operations in the offshore sector?</b>
We neither operate overseas nor undertake pipe laying operations. We restrict ourselves to the Indian offshore and have currently no focus on overseas operations. However, we do provide lot of support services to the pipe laying operations undertaken by other companies.
<b>I understand that of late a diver's salary has been spiralling steeply upwards?</b>
Yes. Divers salaries are touching international standards. We are paying our divers between US $ 300 to $ 500 a day. For instance, what is being paid to our divers now is twice what we were paying them last year.
There is however, a greater demand for Indian divers now.
<b>Do you supply divers or they are only for in-house operations?</b>
We are not in the business of 'body' shopping - providing divers. We have around 60 divers working offshore right now.
We undertake more and more projects, either turnkey or otherwise, where we provide and carry out the work and handle all the management ourselves.
Sometimes we provide a diving system - a vessel or divers to our clients according to their requirements. So we work both ways.
<b>As there are no institutes for divers, do you have any plans to start one?</b>
India has no such institute as yet. Predominantly the UK and Australia have become popular destination for these courses.
We have been pursuing with the government to set up an institute, but it is not going to be easy and is very expensive.
<b>What are your diversification plans?</b>
We are in the process of setting up a shipyard for which we have been granted permission by the Gujarat Maritime Board.
It will be set up in Jafrabad. In terms of investment it will involve Rs 400 crore and will be designed to build vessels of 100 to 120 metres in length mostly for the offshore oil & gas and coastal trade.
<b>Are you banking more on overseas orders than those from India?</b>
However big one may think the Indian oil and gas market is, it is actually much smaller in size. For example, the Middle East market is 10 to 12 times bigger than the Indian one.
Bharati Shipyard and other Indian shipyards are actually geared for the offshore sector. Therefore, the acceptance of Indian vessels in international market is growing.
Shipbuilding per se is not new to us since we are already doing a fair amount of such work and we believe this will provide us with a big opportunity to undertake all our fabrication work too. We also want to concentrate on developing a repair facility for offshore jack up and the OSVs market.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
JSW Infrastructure & Logistics has drawn up a mega plan for developing a slew of seaports, airports and shipyards in various parts of the country, some of which are already in the process of taking shape.
This follows their ambitious Jaighar project where the company is developing a shipyard and a port scheduled to be commissioned within next two years.
The plan is to support the groupâs steel, power and other downstream projects, and provide a logistics backbone. âWe are going to develop a port in Kakinada, Gujarat and West Bengal,â said Capt BVJK Sharma, director of JSW Infrastructure & Logistics.
âThe port in West Bengal will meet the basic requirements of the 10-million tonne steel plant which is being set up there. Once the plant comes up, we will set up a cement and power plant as well, which is a natural offshoot,â he said.
âSince we need a port in West Bengal we are trying initially to tie up with Dhamra Port and simultaneously developing our exclusive captive port in West Bengal. We have been in discussion with the Tataâs for our long-duration cargo contract.
We are looking for a gateway for moving bulk cargo to and from our West Bengal and Jharkhand projects mainly being coal, coke, limestone and the export of steel, etc.
Our objective is to have deep-water ports capable of handling capesize and even larger vessels,â said Capt Sharma.
JSW group is is developing a ship repair and ship building project at Kakinada with an investment of over Rs 1,000 crore.
In Gujarat, it is building a 1,200 mega watt (mw) power plant at Simar and have also requested the government for permission to build a captive port. It would be set up at a cost of Rs 800 crore.
In Andhra Pradesh, the company is looking for a tie-up with the Gangavaram port. In case this proposal does not come through, they plan to build their own captive port. Capt Sharma did not want to indicate the investment that would be involved in the West Bengal port project.
According to an official, the company has three divisions which are actively involved in setting up a railway corridor, mega-township, undertake water supply management, sewage treatment plant and air cargo handling.
The company also has plans to enter into inland water transport in a big way and will set up a railway corridor for connectivity between Ratnagiri and Jaigarh.
The Jaigarh ship building and repair facility involves an investment of Rs 250 crore as much of the infrastructure and the land is already available.
âWe will set up a number of greenfield airports in various cities like the one we have in Bellary where private operators such as King fisher and Air Deccan besides our own aircraft already operate,â said Capt Sharma.
âWith regard to ship building, we are in the process of entering into an agreement with a foreign major for establishing a tie-up and if all goes well, the agreement will be signed soon.â
He however declined to name the foreign party.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Hyderabad: India should plan to have 3-4 semiconductor fabrication facilities (fabs), which should suffice to face global competition, according to top officials of the San Jose, California based, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI). Run-up to Budget 2008-09
There is need for India to emerge as a producer of all kinds of chips (integrated circuits).
Hence, the demand for necessary infrastructure or else the country would be at the mercy of emerging powers like Korea, China, Japan and Taiwan.
SEMI, which sets global standards for the semiconductor industry, would be willing to bring in all the players involved to set up a possible âgreenfieldâ fab in India on a single platform, they said.
<b>Stanley T. Myers, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), SEMI, and a veteran in the semiconductor industry, said: âIndia is leading the way in the development of smart cards, mobiles, basic software, navigation for automobiles, low-end laptops, etcâ.</b>
Most of these are silicon based.
To get the momentum going and emerge as a key player, India would require strengths in chip design and manufacture.
The issue is whether to be a complete player or develop key strengths and outsource the others.
India should develop a fully integrated manufacturing system in the semiconductor area, feels Paul L.M. Davis, Executive Vice-President of SEMI.
There is a growing demand for the products in the domestic market, the manufacturing industry offers huge job opportunities, consumer electronics is driving the chip design industry, and hence the country needs to be a complete player, he told Business Line here.
The global semiconductor industry is showing around 8-10 per cent average growth in revenues and 12-15 per cent average growth rate in unit product basis. Growing middle class hunger in both China and India as well as the production areas coming up would drive the growth upwards in the near term, Myers said.
Personal Digital Gadgets seem to be driving the market in emerging economies, while innovations in segments like automobiles, safety devices and consumer electronics are all pushing the chip features further. In fact, silicon mobility is being stretched to its limits, said Myers, who has been closely associated with the industry.
SEMI is currently engaged in the massive exercise of facilitating wafer transition from the present 300 mm to 450 mm or towards more efficient chips. âWe bring in critical decision makers and scientists to discuss issues and then optimise effort and investments, as the transition is getting tougher and expensive,â he said.
With its global presence and more than 1,500 volunteers from all areas of the semiconductor industry, SEMI wants to bring the best to countries and technology developers, Myers said.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Gildemeister AG, the euro 1.6-billion ($2.3 billion) German maker of turning and milling equipment, is planning a production facility in India to meet the growing demand for machine tools by a vibrant domestic manufacturing industry.
'We have earmarked an initial budget of euro 10 million (Rs.590 million) to set up a manufacturing base in India to roll out a range of CNC (computer numerically controlled) metal-cutting machines, lathes and tools/dies, with an installed capacity of 400 units per annum,' Gildemeister board member Thorsten Schmidt told IANS here.
'As our machines can be used for dual-use technologies, we are waiting for clearance from the German government to go ahead with our India plans, including transfer of technology. We hope to set up the plant by 2009-10,' he said.
The Bielefeld-based company has short-listed Bangalore, Pune and Delhi as possible locations for setting up the production facility and prepared a blueprint for building a modular plant for capacity expansion in future.
In the run up, Gildemeister has floated its Indian subsidiary - DMG India - to set up a technology centre in Bangalore, with an upfront investment of euro 7 million (Rs.413 million) to provide customised solutions to its customers in the Indian sub-continent and South Asia.
'The technology centre will have multiple operations ranging from showcasing our products and services to existing and prospective customers, a bonded warehouse for spares and components, a state-of-the-art training facility to impart specialised skills to engineers of our customers using our latest CNC machines,' Schmidt said.
With prospects of India emerging as a manufacturing hub for capital goods and a plethora of electronic gadgets in the ICT (information and communication technologies) segment, Gildemeister is looking for a first-move advantage in setting shop before its German, Japanese and Chinese rivals plan similar production bases in India.
'Though we have been present here since 1999 through distributors, a sustained growth of 20-25 percent over the last five years has given us good volumes to justify a manufacturing base in India for consolidating our business and expanding market share in the face of stiff competition from Indian and other overseas players,' Schmidt noted.
During calendar year (CY) 2007, the company sold 180 machines as against 100 machines in 2006. It has an order book to ship about 250 machines till date during this year (CY 2008), valued at euro 35 million (Rs.2.07 billion). Revenue from India sales was euro 27 million (Rs.1.6 billion) in CY 2007.
The company has supplied machines to about 6,000 customers over the last eight-nine years and had repeat orders from many among them.
Incidentally, some of Gildemeister's Indian customers such as L&T, Godrej & Boyce and Tata Industries cater to aerospace and defence industries, where its machines/tools can be used for dual-use purposes.
'Hence, we have to take official clearance case-by-case to ship some of our high-end CNC machines and tools to these customers and ensure our products are used for specific purpose,' Schmidt pointed out.
Machine tools that are in demand for extensive use by the Indian manufacturing sector include those based on turning, milling, ultrasonic and laser technologies.
Though India's share of Gildemeister's global exports is a mere two-three percent, Schmidt is upbeat that the technology centre and a production facility within the next two years will double its share and catch up with China, where it has a manufacturing plant in Shanghai, with an installed capacity of 800 units per annum.
'Global exports account for about 60 percent of our annual revenues, with 30 percent from Europe, 24 percent from Asia-Pacific and six percent from Americas. India will be our second largest market in Asia.
'A manufacturing facility in India with 75 percent indigenisation will enable us to not only reduce the price of our machines by 30-35 percent, but also halve delivery cycles from four weeks and eliminate overheads such as shipping and transport costs from ports,' Schmidt added.
DMG India Managing Director S.G. Narayan said with the opening up of the defence sector and the aviation sector flying high, the potential for machine tools and CNC machines would be about 25,000 units per annum over the next five years from over 10,000 units currently.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
BANGALORE: Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries is looking at setting up an over $5 billion photovoltaic (PV) cell manufacturing facility in Jamnagar. Junior minister for commerce Jairam Ramesh said here on Monday that the government has received an expression of interest from the company for an integrated facility that would do everything from "sand to silicon". Jamnagar in Gujarat is home to Reliance's refinery, the world's biggest.
A Reliance spokesperson declined comment. A semiconductor industry analyst said he would be surprised if Reliance gets into the sector. "They typically look for quick returns, and a PV cell manufacturing facility will take at least seven years to start paying back," he said. But whether or not Reliance takes the plunge, the government's semiconductor policy announced early last year appears to be delivering dividends.
Ramesh told journalists at a conference that seven projects worth $7 billion (over a 10-year period) had been confirmed in the Fab City in Hyderabad. "Another five projects worth $800 million have been given in-principle approval, and five proposals worth $6 billion are under active consideration," he said.
The bulk of the proposed investments are for setting up PV cell/module manufacturing facilities. A photovoltaic or solar cell is a device that converts solar energy into electricity. Assemblies of cells are used to make PV modules/arrays. Individual cells are used for powering small devices such as electronic calculators, while arrays generate a form of renewable electricity, particularly useful when electrical power from the grid is unavailable such as in remote rural areas.
The investment is partly the result of the semiconductor policy, where the government would bear 20-25% of the capital expenditure during the first 10 years, subject to a minimum investment of Rs 2,500 crore for semicon manufacturing (wafer fabs) plants and Rs 1,000 crore for ancillary plants.
Arul Shanmugasundram, GM in Applied Materials, supplier of manufacturing systems and related services to the global semiconductor industry and which is supplying products to Indian PV players like Moser Baer, says the domestic opportunity for PV cells is big. "There's plenty of sunlight available in India, there's a huge energy shortfall, and now the government is also encouraging solar energy through incentives (the feed-in tariff policy under which an attractive tariff is paid for energy from solar cell farms)," he said.
Solar energy is not very competitive now, but higher volumes and improved technologies are expected to bring costs down sharply.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
BANGALORE: India has attracted committed investments of $7 billion (Rs 28,000 crore) in the semiconductor industry after the government announced a semiconductor policy last fiscal (2006-07), said a top official.
"Besides these committed investments, five more proposals with a combined investment of $800 million (Rs 3200 crore) have been given in-principle approval for setting up captive solar photovoltaic (PV) cell manufacturing facilities in the Fab City coming up in Hyderabad," Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh told reporters here Monday.
In addition, three proposals from Videocon ($250 million), Moser Baser ($2 billion) and Hindustan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co ($1 billion) for setting up manufacturing facilities in semiconductors and solar PV cells are being actively considered by communications and IT ministry.
"Reliance Industries has made an expression of interest to set up a mega solar PV cell plant with an upfront investment of $5 billion (Rs 20000 crore) at Jamnagar in Gujarat," Ramesh said after inaugurating the two-day ISA (Indian Semiconductor Association) Vision Summit 2008.
Giving the breakup of committed and proposed investments in the emerging semiconductor sector, Ramesh said SemIndia Systems Ltd would invest $3 billion (Rs 12000 crore) to set up ATMP (assembly, test, marking and packaging) facility in phase one and a fabrication unit to make silicon chips for domestic and export markets in phase two by 2011.
"Neotech Solutions India will invest $2 billion (Rs 8000 crore) to manufacture solar PV cells as part of the ecosystem being built in the Fab City. The Delhi-based company has been allotted 50 acres of land."
"Similarly, Hyderabad-based Solar Semiconductor will invest $1 billion (Rs 4000 crore) to produce high-quality PV modules. Titan Energy Systems Ltd, another Hyderabad-based leading PV modules manufacturer, will invest $750 million for setting up its second unit in the Fab City, which has been given the special economic zone (SEZ) status."
Solar Semiconductor has also been allotted 50 acres in the 1,200-acre Fab City, located near the greenfield Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
Three other companies, which have been cleared to set up their PV cells manufacturing units are XL Telecom and Energy Ltd ($75 million), KSK Energy Ventures Ltd ($70 million) and Embedded Systems Solutions ($5 million).
The first two firms, which are Hyderabad-based, have been allotted 50 acres each, while the third firm (Bangalore-based Embedded Systems) has been given 10 acres.
The five companies whose applications have been approved in-principle to set up solar PV cells manufacturing plants in Fab City with a combined investment of $800 million (Rs.32 billion) included Chandradeep Solar (three acres), NeoTech Solutions (10 acres), Photon Energy Systems (10 acres), Ram Terra Solar (25 acres) and Surana Ventures (25 acres).<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
New Delhi, Mar 13 (UNI) Leading manufacturing and end to end solution provider in power transmission and distribution Emco Ltd today said it has bagged contract worth Rs 92 crore M/s Corporate Power Ltd, Ranchi, Jharkhand.
The order is for supply, erection, testing and commissioning of 400 kV double circuit double strung transmission line on turnkey basis from Hempur to PGCIL Grid Substation at Namkum (near Ranchi), the company said in a statement.
