State-run gas utility GAIL India is likely to sign a gas-supply agreement with Houston-based Vega Energy Partners shortly. The deal is for supplying gas to the Cove Point LNG Terminal project located at Lusby in Maryland, US. Vega Energy Partners is engaged in the management, optimization, and development of natural gas assets. The $3.8-billion Cove Point LNG project is owned by Dominion Cove Point LNG, LP with which GAIL had signed a terminal service agreement in April 2013 (through GAIL Global (USA) LNG LLC) for booking 2.3 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) liquefaction capacity in Cove Point LNG Terminal.
At a time when it is facing flak for its failure to supply fuel consistently to power plants, public sector behemoth Coal India (CIL) has cleared a long-pending proposal to set up a 1,600-Mw (2x800 Mw) pithead power plant at the Sundergarh district in Odisha. While there are questions about whether CIL should initiate such a project at this juncture, experts say the pithead thermal power plant could actually be the way forward in overcoming the challenges of coal transportation. The idea of mining companies generating power to sell to consumers was mooted almost a decade ago in 2005, when the CIL board gave an in-principle nod to its subsidiary, Mahanadi Coalfields, making a foray into power generation.
Ranbaxy Laboratories has sued the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for revoking approvals granted to the Indian firm to launch copies of two drugs including AstraZeneca Plc’s heartburn pill Nexium. The FDA told Ranbaxy this month that it believed its decisions to grant the company tentative approvals for copies of Nexium and Roche AG’s antiviral Valcyte were in error, after it found that Ranbaxy’s plants at the time were not compliant with the FDA’s manufacturing quality standards. The agency also stripped Ranbaxy of six-month market exclusivity on the launch of generic Valcyte. In the suit filed in the District Court for the District of Columbia, Ranbaxy stated that the FDA’s move violated constitutional rights, exceeded the agency’s statutory authority, and was arbitrary, capricious, and otherwise contrary to law.
State-owned Power Grid Corporation of India’s (PGCIL) board has approved two transmission projects worth over Rs 1,000 crore. The transmission major would be implementing two projects valued at Rs 1,046.71 crore. The company would carry out sub-station works associated with system strengthening in Southern region for import of power from Eastern Region at an estimated cost of Rs 972.42 crore. This project is to be commissioned within 36 months from the date of investment approval. Besides, the company would be implementing a Common Transmission Scheme associated with ISGS Projects in Nagapattinam / Cuddatore Area of Tamil Nadu at an estimated cost of Rs 74.29 crore. This project has a completion schedule of 30 months.
The country’s top iron ore producer National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) and state controlled miner Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) are vying for 51 percent stake in a mega steel project planned in Keonjhar district. The steel mill, with a projected capacity of five to six million tonne per annum (mtpa), is likely to come up under Patna tehsil in Keonjhar, the site earlier identified for the 12 million tonne steel plant by ArcelorMittal. Since ArcelorMittal has already scrapped its Odisha project, the land is proposed to be used for the ultra mega steel plant in the state. NMDC has already submitted a draft tripartite memorandum of agreement to the Odisha government. The government has conveyed its in-principle approval to form special purpose vehicle (SPV) by NMDC, OMC and the state’s land acquisition agency Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco).
State-run NTPC, the country’s biggest power generator and thermal coal consumer, plans to acquire at least 26 percent stake in coal mines abroad to secure long-term fuel supplies for all its power plants. This is a shift from the company’s earlier stance of seeking only minority stakes in such mines to ensure fuel for plants that operate only on imported coal. In the current fiscal, NTPC is targeting tie-ups for 17 mt of imported coal. It is looking at long-term tie-ups of imported coal for at least five years for coal with energy content between 4,200 and 6,000 gross calorific value (GCV).
It is two years since ONGC formed a ‘Centre for Delivery’ for producing oil and gas from ‘high temperature, high pressure’ reservoirs, but it will take at least a year more for actual drilling to commence. These tough-to-tame reservoirs are estimated to hold about 350 million tonnes of oil and gas, though it is practical to expect that only a seventh of it could be pulled out. Even then, it is a respectable figure, and hence the ‘Centre for Delivery’, which, incidentally, is based in Chennai as most of the HTHPs are in the South. ONGC plans to drill five wells in the near future - two in the Cauvery basin and three in the K-G basin. 2015-16 is expected to be a landmark year for the first monetization of HTHP reservoirs.
Tata Global Beverages (TGBL) is looking to cash in on the growing awareness on health and wellness to reinforce its dominance in the green tea segment in the country by launching new products and tapping small towns. TGBL has been selling green tea through its Tetley brand for the past seven years, but consumption has been mostly confined to major cities. Tetley green tea bags and packets have about 30% share of the green tea market in the country. With its new offering Acti Green, the company is planning to move to smaller towns. While Tetley has five flavours, Acti Green has started with tulsi and cardamom flavours while the company hopes to add more flavours later.
Tech Mahindra has launched an internal social networking site, to aid communication and collaboration with its nearly 1 lakh employees, and is looking to pitch the platform to customers in the next few months. Enterprise social networking has boomed over the last few years, as companies look to gain the benefits of internal collaboration without the danger of proprietary information being leaked onto public social networking platforms. Tech Mahindra’s move mirrors that of Tata Consultancy Services, which built its internal social networking platform called ‘Knome’, and is also marketing it to clients.
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