BHEL hits Rs 3,000-crore order jackpot

Power equipment PSU Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd has secured an order valued at Rs 3,000 crore for the supply of 2x800 MW steam generators (boilers) with supercritical parameters for a power project in Odisha.

The order was given by NTPC Ltd for its power project coming up at Darlipali in Odisha, BHEL said in a communication to the stock exchanges.The company said that that the latest order has put the total orders that BHEL had received for supercritical boilers of 660 MW, 700 MW and 800 MW ratings to 32 sets, establishing its premier position in supercritical technology.

The contract involves design, engineering, supply and commissioning of the steam generators and associated auxiliaries. The key equipment would be produced at BHEL’s Tiruchi, Ranipet, Bhopal, Hyderabad and Bangalore plants and its Power Sector - Southern Region would be responsible for civil works and erection / commissioning of the plant.BHEL said that with a view to meeting the demand growth it has hiked its manufacturing capacity to 20,000 MW per year.

The shares of BHEL (face valure Rs 2) were trading at Rs 188, a gain of Rs 1.05, on the BSE.

Rupee surges to 60.65 against dollar

The Indian rupee surged to 60.65 against the American currency on stronger capital flows into the domestic equity markets and tracking gains in Asian currencies.

The domestic unit gained 45 paise on Friday, posting its biggest daily gain in two weeks, to close at 60.92 against the dollar.

At 12.18 pm, the unit was trading at 60.71 per dollar.

It opened flat against its Friday’s close of 60.92 amid stronger capital flows and dollar gaining strength in the overseas market.A higher opening in the domestic equity market and strengthening of the euro against the dollar overseas supported the rupee, dealers said.Rupee sentiments are boosted as foreign investors continue to invest dollars in the emerging markets, especially India.Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has gained over 1.5 per cent.

Call rates, bond yields fall

The inter-bank call money rate, interest rate at which banks borrow money from each other to overcome short-term liquidity mismatches, was trading weaker at 8.80 per cent from a close of 9.0 per cent on Friday.

The 8.83 per cent 10-year benchmark bond, maturing in 2023, rose to Rs 100.33 from Friday’s close of Rs 100.20, while the yield softened to 8.77 per cent from 8.79 per cent.

RIL changes contracts, gas price to rise 10% over new rate of $ 8.3

Reliance industries has made drastic changes in gas supply contracts that will jack up its KG-D6 gas price by 10 per cent over and above the new rate of USD 8.3 coming into effect from next month. 

RIL has circulated to urea manufacturing fertiliser units a new Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement (GSPA) for supply of natural gas from its eastern offshore KG-D6 fields from April 1 upon expiry of current 5-year supply contract at month end. The heat produced from natural gas is measured in calorific value. The heat rate is measured in gross (GCV) or net (NCV) basis. One GCV equals to 0.9 NCV and so on a like to like basis billing urea plants the new price of USD 8.3 per mmBtu on GCV would mean an actual rate of USD 9.13 on NCV basis. 

As per preliminary calculations made by the oil ministry, the new rate in April will be USD 8.3 per mmBtu. But the ministry is unhappy with the rate and has asked for reworking of some of the numbers.

Gas accounts for nearly 80 per cent of the production cost of urea. An increase of USD 1 per mmBtu in gas price translates into an enhanced cost of production of about Rs 1,369 per ton. For 18 million tons of urea produced from gas, USD 1 per mmBtu price increase translates into an increase in cost of almost Rs 2,465.1 crore.A USD 4 per mmBtu increase in rate would mean Rs 9860.4 crore increase in cost of production and using GCV method would mean a further Rs 2,046 crore increase in cost.

Next government to implement GST: Ahluwalia

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia stressing on the need to bring in Goods and Services Tax (GST), has exuded confidence that whoever  forms the next government would be in a position to implement key reforms, including the GST.

GST, the proposed new indirect tax regime and one of the biggest taxation reforms in India will replace existing state and federal levies such as excise duty, service tax and value-added tax (VAT) and will integrate State economies and boost overall growth. Under GST, the taxation burden will be divided equitably between manufacturing and services, through a lower tax rate by increasing the tax base and minimizing exemptions.

The GST rollout has missed several deadlines on account of differences over the contentious issues of central sales tax compensation and the design of the GST structure between the states and the Centre. Initially it was scheduled to be launched in April 2010, but since then there was no political consensus.Recently, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had said that his party was in favour of bringing in the GST but claimed it was the Central government that had not done the preparation required for its implementation.