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Saturday May 25 2013

MRPL Q4 net loss at Rs 61.90 crore 

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

NEW DELHI, MAY 24 :
THE Mangalore Refinery And Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) , subsidiary of state explorer Oil And National Gas Corporation (ONGC), on Friday reported a net loss of Rs 61.90 crore in the March quarter on sharp decline in refining margins.

The company increased its throughput from 3.41 mmt to 4.12 mmt , an increase of 21 per cent in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2012-13 .

The company could achieve higher distillate yield of 76.22 per cent  as against 75.32 per cent , an increase of 1 per cent  in the corresponding period. The Q4, EBIDTA stood at Rs 283 crore as compared to Rs 1,054 crore in the corresponding period.

For the full 2012-13 fiscal, MRPL reported a net loss of Rs 756.91 crore as against a net profit of Rs 908.58 crore in the previous financial year.

The Q4, EBIDTA stood at  Rs 283 crore as compared to Rs1,054 crore in the corresponding period.

The gross revenue in Q4 of FY-13 stood at Rs 19,462 crore up by 17 per cent . The EBT for the period stood at Rs 46 crore as compared to Rs 892 crore The earnings before tax is after considering an amount of Rs  71 crore ( Rs 37 crore ) towards interest, Rs 166 crore ( 125 crore) towards depreciation and Rs 86 crore towards exchange gain ( Rs 226 crore).

In the financial year 2012-13 the throughput with the addition of new 3 ,mmt CDU/VDU unit has gone up from 12.82 mmt in FY-12 to 14.40 mmt in FY-13, recording an increase of 12 per cent.

The company’s gross turnover increased from Rs 57,207 crore to Rs  68,834 crore recording an increase of 20 per cent .

The company’s the Phase III upgradation and expansion project has achieved an overall progress of 98.8 pert cent  as on May 15,.2013.

Mr Sudhir Vasudava-Chairman complemented the Team MRPL for the excellent physical performance and urged for concerted efforts for improving the financial performance. He emphasized that all should endeavor and extend full support and commitment for commissioning the balance units at the earliest which will enable to turnaround the company’s performance.

The company earned $1.98 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel as compared to $7.07 per barrel gross refining margin (GRM) in January-March quarter of 2011-12.

The company had an inventory loss of Rs 26 crore in the quarter. Turnover was up 17 per cent to Rs 19,462 crore with exports rising 40 per cent to Rs 9,676 crore.

For the full fiscal, GRM stood at $2.45 per barrel as compared to $5.60 a year ago. Also, it had an exchange loss of Rs 536 crore and an inventory loss of Rs 232 crore in 2012-13. Turnover was up 20 per cent at Rs 68,834 crore.

The company processed 21 per cent more crude oil at 4.12 million tonnes in fourth quarter of 2012-13 and 12 per cent more at 14.40 million tonnes in the full fiscal.

'GAIL has not stopped supply
of natural gas to HCGDL'

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

NEW DELHI, MAY 23 :
THERE have been recent reports in the media that GAIL (India) has stopped supply of natural gas to Haryana City Gas Distribution Ltd (HCGDL)  as a result of which dispensing of CNG has stopped at all its CNG stations in Gurgaon.

In this regard GAIL has clarified that it has not stopped supply of natural gas to HCGDL and has added that it is even currently supplying 0.025 mmscmd of natural gas (RLNG) to HCGDL.

The company was also being supplied 0.25 mmscmd of natural gas by Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) under Administered Pricing Mechanism (APM) through the pipeline network of GAIL.

However, on May 17, 2013, IGL informed GAIL that it would not be procuring any natural gas under APM to be supplied to HCGDL from 6 AM on  May 18,  2013 till further notice as HCGDL has stopped making payments to it against the gas supplied to it
.
In view of this, the APM gas supply to HCGDL has been stopped from May 20 , 2013. However, GAIL continues to supply 0.025 mmscmd RLNG for which it has a separate contract with HCGDL.

In view of the factual position GAIL once again reiterated that it  has not stopped supply of natural gas to HCGDL but only restricted it to the extent of stopping supply of APM gas as per the requirements of IGL.

Tata Steel Q4 net loss at Rs 65.29 bln; pays Rs 8/per share 

NEW DELHI , MAY 23 :
TATA Steel reported its third straight quarterly loss on Thursday. Its January-March net loss was Rs 65.29 billion as compared with Rs 4.33 billion  profit a year earlier. Net sales rose about 1 percent to 341.8 billion rupees for the fourth quarter.

The company’s India operations recorded robust underlying performance on the back of the ramp-up of its 2.9mtpa expansion, despite weak markets.

The turnover recorded for FY’13 was Rs 8,199 crore compared to Rs 33,933 crore in FY’12, 12.6 per cent  increase year-on-year. Turnover in Q4 FY’13 was Rs 10,771 crore compared to Rs 9,370 crore in Q3 FY’13 and R s 9,479 crore in Q4 FY’12.
·
EBITDA for FY’13 was Rs11,698 crore compared to Rs 11,559 crore in FY’12. Q4 FY’13.  EBITDA was Rs 3,714 crore compared to Rs 2,525 crore in Q3 FY’13 and Rs 2,975 crore in Q4 FY’12. Profit before tax of Rs 7,837 crore in FY’13 compared to  Rs  9,857 crore in FY’12.

The company’s profit before tax for FY’13, before exceptional items, was Rs 8,511 crore, compared to the Rs 9,346 crore of FY’12. The profit before tax in Q4 FY’13, before exceptional items, was Rs 2,859 crore, an increase of Rs 1,240 crore over Q3 FY’13.

 Profit before tax in Q4 FY’13 was Rs 2,174 crore compared to Rs1,619 crore in Q3 FY’13 and Rs 2,371 crore in Q4 FY’12.

FY’13 turnover was Rs 13,829 crore and EBITDA was Rs 483 crore compared to the turnover of Rs 12,710 crore and EBITDA of Rs 213 crore in FY’12, increase of Rs1,119 crore and Rs 270 crore respectively.

The company’s Q4 FY’13 turnover was Rs 3,486 crore compared to the Q3 FY’13 turnover of Rs 3,465 crore  and Rs 3,152 crore in Q4 FY’12.

Group Profit After Tax (after minority interest and share of profit of associates) for FY’13 was a loss of Rs 7,058 crore compared to the profit of Rs 5,390 crore in the previous year (FY’12), primarily due to the non-cash impairment charge of Rs 8,356 crore.

The Group recorded a loss of Rs 6,529 crore in Q4 FY’13 for the same reason. This compares to the loss of Rs 763 crore in Q3 FY’13 and the profit of Rs 433 crore in Q4 FY’12.

The company’s board has recommended a dividend of Rs 8 per equity share for the financial year ended March 2013.

ONGC Videsh net profit up by
44% at Rs 3, 929 crore

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

NEW DELHI, MAY 21 :
ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) earned the net profit of Rs 3,929 crore in the financial year 2012-13 as against Rs 2721 crore in the previous year 2011-12 , an increase of 44.4 per cent.

The company’s net worth increased to Rs 29,184 crore in the fiscal 2012-13 from  Rs 19,941 crore in the previous fiscal year , up by 46.4 per cent  inter alia due to increase in equity share capital from  Rs 1,000 crore to  Rs 5,000 crore to the parent company ONGC in FY’13.
 
The company registered gross revenue of Rs 18, 029 crore in the fiscal 2012-13  as against Rs 22,637 crore, a decline of 20.4 per cent

Meanwhile, the company made an inaugural US$ bonds offering in the international capital market with a duel tranche US$ 800 million notes in April, 2013 to part- finance the ACG and BTC acquisition.

The offering had order book closing at about US$ 3 billion. The 5 year tranche of US$ 300 million was priced at a spread of 190 basis point above the 5 year US treasury at yield of 2.574 per cent  p.a. and the 10 year tranche of US$ 500 million was priced at a spread of 210 basis point above the 10 year US treasury at yield of 3.756 per cent  p.a.

SAIL asked to take corrective
steps to complete projects in time

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau  

NEW DELHI, MAY 21:
THE Union Minister for Steel, Mr Beni Prasad Verma has reviewed the fourth quarter and financial year 2012-13 performance of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) here on Tuesday.

Mr  Verma was not satisfied with the performance of SAIL on the whole and advised the company to take corrective measures immediately. He expressed his concern on the progress of modernisation and expansion and directed the PSU to bring synergy in various activities of expansion so that integrated commissioning of facilities is achieved quickly.

He  said that profitability of the company can improve only if the expansion projects are completed and stabilized within a short period of time. He expressed concern over the performance of Durgapur and Bokaro Steel Plant and advised the plants to prepare an action plan for improving the same.

The company produced 14.27 mt of hot metal in 2012-13 which has grown by 1 per cent  over Corresponding Period Last Year (CPLY). Total sales registered a growth of 2.8 per cent  in Q4 at 3.24 mt as compared to CPLY. SAIL showed improvement in Blast Furnace productivity, energy consumption and coke rate of 5 per cent , 3 per cent and 1 per cent  respectively. Bhilai and Rourkela developed new grades of ASTM 537 plates which find application in pressure vessels for the petrochemicals industry.

Bokaro Steel Plant came out with ultra high strength HR and CR steel especially for automobile industry. For the first time, Durgapur Steel Plant rolled out 31 CrV3 grade billets, a product highly sought after among makers of spanners and hand-tools.

Modernization projects at Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) including the new Sinter Plant and new Coke Oven Battery no. 6 have commenced production. While at IISCO Steel Plants (ISP), a new Coke Oven Battery no. 11 and Sinter Plant have been operationalised and hot trials for the new Wire Rod Mill have also commenced.

Suryalakshmi Cotton Mills Q4 net
profit up 13% at Rs 6.16 crore

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

NEW DELHI, MAY 17 :
INDIA’S denim manufacturer, Suryalakshmi Cotton Mills reported 5.11  per cent   rise in revenue and 7.28 per cent jump in the net profit for the year ended on March 31, 2013.

The company's board has recommended dovidend of 20 per cent
 
For the 4th quarter, while the company saw its net profit touching Rs. 6.16 crore , which is a 12.91 per cent rise over the net profit of Rs. 5.45 crore for the corresponding period last year, its net sales decreased by nearly 9.62 per cent to Rs. 167.42 crore in the reporting quarter from Rs 185.24 crore for the corresponding quarter last fiscal year.
 
The Managing Director, Mr. Paritosh Agarwal, Suryalakshmi Cotton Mills, said, “ The profit for the quarter has been marginal due to finance cost incurred and depreciation charge with the commencement of our 25-mw captive power plant at denim division at Ramtek near Nagpur. But the overall numbers for FY13 has been good and we expect a healthy growth in the coming fiscal as well with the power plant's surplus power being sold out.

ONGC unveils its first green
building in Dehradun  

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

ONGC CMD Sudhir Vasudeva and Director (HR) K S Jamestin post unveiling the Plaque for ONGC 'Green Hills' at Dehradun.

NEW DELHI, MAY 15 : THE first green building of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) which is set to become an iconic building of Uttarakhand , was inaugurated by the Chairman and Managing Director CMD Sudhir Vasudeva.

The building has been named 'Green Hills', to highlight the environment-friendly and energy-efficient features built in its design and fabrication.

ONGC CMD Sudhir Vasudeva and Director (HR) K S Jamestin after unveiling the Plaque for ONGC 'Green Hills' at Dehradun

It has a number of state-of-the-art 'Green' features like conservation of water upto 30 percent through use of onsite sewage plant, rainwater harvesting, energy saving upto 43 per cent energy by use of energy efficient motors and under floor air conditioning. Besides this, solar power generation will meet 7.5 per cent of total electrical load.

It was a dream of the erstwhile CMD of ONGC late Subir Raha that ONGC should take the initiative to create Green Buildings as its prime location offices. Turning his dream into reality, five ONGC green buildings are coming up in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad, apart from the one commissioned in Dehradun.

Some of the main features of Green Hills, ONGC Dehradun are:
• With a total built up area of 14600 sqm, the five storey icon can seat 620 persons.
• Registered with UNFCCC under Clean Development Mechanism it will generate 735 CERs every year
• Landscaped Green Roof and abundant bamboo plantation in the atrium of the building
• Conserving water upto 30% through use of onsite sewage plant and low flow sanitary fittings. Rainwater harvesting is also taken care at the building.
• Up to 43 per cent energy saving by use of energy efficient motors, High COP Chillers for HVAC and under floor air conditioning
• Solar power generation will meet 7.5% of total electrical load. Solar panels over parking spaces to generate energy and reduce heat by reflecting the sun light.
• Intelligent lighting for the building through use of sensors for day light control, LED and CFL lights and abundance of natural light availability

Lafarge raises €200 mln from Baring PE  

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

NEW DELHI, MAY 15 :
LAFARGE SA signed an agreement to raise €200 million through capital increase subscribed by Baring Private Equity Asia, and representing a 14 per cent minority stake in its Indian subsidiary, Lafarge India .

The transaction, which is subject to the approval of local regulatory authorities, will accelerate Lafarge's growth plans in India in all its product lines: cement, aggregates and concrete.

India is an important market for Lafarge which has been present in this fast evolving market for the past 15 years. The Group will continue to grow in India and provide innovative products and solutions to accompany India's urbanization needs, particularly in the housing and infrastructure sectors.

ONGC registers OTPC power unit as CDM project with UNFCCC

The mechanism is seen by many as a trailblazer. It is the first global, environmental investment and credit scheme of its kind, providing a standardized emissions offset instrument, CERs.

  Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

A view of ONGC's OTPC Power Plant in Tripura

NEW DELHI, MAY 14 : MAHARATNA Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has registered the OTPC power project of its ONGC Tripura Power Corporation (OTPC) as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), under the Kyoto Protocol.

The 726.6 mw gas-based power generation unit of ONGC in Tripura is a fuel-substitution project, which would mitigate over 1.6 million tons of Carbon-dioxide emissions per year for the next 10 years. Fetching 1.6 million carbon credits per year, this is one of the biggest CDM projects in the world.

With this registration, ONGC now has 10 registered CDM projects. Such a double digit portfolio of CDM projects by a single organization is the first in India and very rare feat even globally.

OTPC is being developed by ONGC as a joint venture with the Tripura Government. This project is a result of rigorous efforts over the last three and a half years.

Speaking after the registration, a visibly proud ONGC CMD Mr. Sudhir Vasudeva said, “Our Sustainable Development record is commendable. Our commitment to Sustainable Development is organically integrated to our Exploration and Development of energy assets”.

Any proposed CDM project has to use an approved baseline and monitoring methodology to be validated, approved and registered. Baseline methodology will set steps to determine the baseline within certain applicability conditions whilst monitoring methodology will set specific steps to determine monitoring parameters, quality assurance, equipment to be used, in order to obtain data to calculate the emission reductions.

The purpose of the CDM is to promote clean development in developing countries, i.e., the "non-Annex I" countries (countries that aren't listed in Annex I of the Framework Convention).

Ind-Ra announces rating on MF schemes of IDF-Series 1 

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau  

NEW DELHI,MAY 13 :
INDIA Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) has announced its rating on the Mutual Fund (MF) schemes of the Infrastructure Debt Fund (IDF) – Series 1, launched by IL&FS Financial Services (IFIN, ‘IND AAA’/Stable), a 100 per cent   subsidiary of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services  (IL&FS, ‘IND AAA’/Stable) under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) guidelines.

At a function organised in Monday Dr. Arvind Mayaram, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance released the ‘IND AAAidf-mf’ rating assigned by Ind-Ra to the initial three MF schemes of IL&FS IDF aggregating  Rs 15 billion.

On the occasion, Dr. Mayaram also released a special report: ‘Rating Mutual Fund Schemes of Infrastructure Debt Funds’ published by Ind-Ra, explaining its approach to rating MF schemes of IDFs. The event was attended, among others, by senior government officials, Chairmen of banks and senior management of IL&FS, IFIN and Ind-Ra.

Finolex Q4 net profit at Rs 79 .35 crore

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

NEW DELHI, MAY 06 :
FINOLEX Industries Limited [FIL], India’s manufacturer of PVC pipes and fittings, has clocked turnover of  629.59 crore and reported a net profit of  Rs 79.35 crore for the quarter ended March 31 , 2013, as compared to  Rs  593.01 crore and  Rs 56.19 crore respectively in the corresponding quarter of previous year.

The net profit for the year was higher by 81.15 per cent at  Rs 136.14 crore as compared to last year’s  Rs 75.15 crore.

The company’s  board of directors has recommended a dividend of 55 per cent  [ 5.50 per share] for the year ended  March 31, 2013.

The company’s earning per share (EPS) stood at  Rs 6.39 and  Rs 10.97 for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2013 respectively.

Commenting on the financial performance, Mr Saurabh S. Dhanorkar, - Managing Director, Finolex Industries  said, “The company has achieved an all round improvement in performance during the year under review.  Both top-line and bottom-line have shown positive growth.”

Metso expands its production capacity
in Ahmedabad; invests Rs 400 mln
 
Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

The investment will triple the production capacity of high-chrome wears from 1000MT to 3000MT at Metso’s Ahmedabad foundry. 
 
“With the expansion we will improve our capability to supply wear parts to our mining and construction customers close to their operations and further develop our services business. The management decision for the expansion was triggered by a 10-year-long legacy of manufacturing high-quality cast wears in Ahmedabad for local and export markets, our large installed base and skills developed in India”, said João Ney Colagrossi, president, services business line, Mining and Construction, Metso.
 
The expanded foundry was inaugurated by Mr Sudhir Srivastava, Senior Vice President, Mining and Construction, Metso Asia, in the presence of Mr. Pranav Srivastava, General Manager, Foundry, Ahmedabad, Metso India.
 
Expressing his views at the inauguration, Mr Sudhir Srivastava, senior vice president, Mining and Construction, Metso Asia, said, “Metso continues to participate in India's infrastructure and industrial development through world-class manufacturing facilities, technological expertise and strong service support to solve complex challenges across industries. Our customer base in India is expanding at a fast pace and the customers have become more discerning than ever.”

“Their demands for bigger and more efficient solutions are what drive companies like Metso to constantly innovate and develop cutting-edge technology. We believe that the most effective solutions are delivered to customers by being available at the right place at the right time, and that is also what laid the foundation for this expansion,” he added.
 
Mr Kamal Pahuja, vice president, Mining and Construction, Metso India, said, “The expansion of the Ahmedabad foundry is in line with our global strategy of increasing our presence in emerging markets. This move clearly demonstrates that Metso India is a quality source in the manufacturing of crusher wears and pump wears for local and export markets.”

ONGC strikes three 'significant'
new oil and gas discoveries

Clears three investment proposals worth over Rs 2,000 crore

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau  

The state-run explorer made two discoveries in deepwater blocks KG-DWN-2005/1 and KG-DWN-98/2 an the Kutch offshore block, GK-28, according to a company's statement .

The company's board also approved three projects worth Rs 2,000 crore, it added.

The company's board has approved acquisition of new well stimulation vessel for Mumbai Offshore. The estimated total cost of acquiring the latest-technology vessel is Rs 1384 crore ($250 million).

The stimulation vessel would improve well productivity in three ONGC offshore assets and basins. The vessel would have some advanced features like 150 ton capacity knuckle boom heave compensated crane, which is not available in any stimulation vessel in the world.

The company's another project is the development of shallow-water wells in eastern offshore, three wells, GS15-9, GS15-E1 and GS48-1, would be developed through sub-sea mudline trees at a cost of Rs 284.82 crore.

The development would be taken up on a concept- to- commissioning basis. The project, based on a new technology, is expected to be completed by April 30, 2014. The expected gross production is 1,702.290 mmscm.

The third project is access control and surveillance system. A pan-ONGC access control and surveillance system project would be undertaken. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 407.50 crore.

The project would provide access control and video surveillance for all critical assets and infrastructure of ONGC, including the cyber/IT framework and system of ONGC, connecting 72 office locations and 239 operational installations.

The access control and surveillance system follows the 3-tiers security architecture to provide better monitoring and control from the operational point of view and reduce redundancy at different levels.

OVL prices US$800 mln dual-tranche
US$ senior unsecured bond offering 

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

NEW DELHI, APRIL 30 :
ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) , wholly-owned subsidiary of ONGC, said on Tuesday that it has priced an inaugural US$800 million dual-tranche US$ senior unsecured bond offering .

The Reg S Notes priced US$300 million in 5-year tenor and US$500 million in 10-year tenor and were rated Baa2/BBB-(Moody's/S&P). The Notes are unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by ONGC.

The Notes were over-subscribed with an order book aggregating close to US$3billion from high quality investor accounts. The transaction is significant on various accounts:
• Inaugural USD bond issuance for OVL
• Lowest ever coupon achieved by an Indian issuer in the 5-year & 10-year tenor in the USD bond market
• Largest Reg S only transaction by an Indian issuer in the USD bond market
After successfully completing investor roadshows across Singapore, Hong Kong and London, OVL decided to announce a dual-tranche Reg S transaction on Monday, April 29, 2013. Initial guidance of T+200bps area for a 5-year tranche and T+230bps area for a 10-year tranche with both tranches expected to be US$ benchmark in size was released to the market at Asia open on April 29, 2013.

The order book which grew on the back of demand from high quality investors allowed OVL to tighten guidance.

The 10-year tranche priced at the tight end of guidance at 210bps over the 10-year Treasury, equivalent to a price of 99.950 and a yield of 3.756 per cent . The 10-year tranche bears a fixed coupon of 3.750 pert cent per annum, with interest payable semi-annually in arrears.

The 5-year tranche finally priced at a spread of 190 basis points over the 5-year Treasury, equivalent to a price of 99.655 and yield of 2.574 per cent per annum. The 5-year tranche bears a fixed coupon of 2.500 per cent per annum, with interest payable semi-annually in arrears.

OVL will apply the net proceeds to replace bridge financing availed for acquisition of participating interests in upstream and midstream oil and gas assets in Azerbaijan which was completed in March 2013.

For the 10-year tranche, in terms of geographic distribution, Asian investors were allocated 69 per cent of the deal, European investors 27 per cent and US offshore investors 4 per cent . The 5-year tranche saw 72 per cent being allocated to Asia based investors, 18 per cent to Europe and 10 per cent to US offshore investors.

The 10-year tranche saw 54 per cent of the allocations going to Asset Managers, 25 pert cent to Banks, 17 per cent to Insurance and 4 pert cent to Private Banks. The 5-year tranche saw 60 per cent allocated to Asset Managers, 23 per cent to Banks, 9 per cent Insurance, 5 per cent Private Banks and 3 per cent to Sovereign Wealth Funds.

Mr D K Sarraf, Managing Director of OVL, said, "Top global investors have shown strong interest in OVL's inaugural bond issue. While this was the largest RegS issuance from India, the transaction was well executed to achieve the lowest pricing in the 5-year and 10 year tenor in the US$ bond market by an Indian issuer. High participation by real money investor demonstrates the superior quality of the order book and the confidence of global investors in the fundamentals of the company".

Yet another accolade for ONGC

Bags SCOPE Gold Trophy for CSR

ONGC CMD Mr Sudhir Vasudeva receiving Gold Trophy for Corporate Social Responsibility from The President Mr Pranab Mukherjee. Also seen are Mr K S Jamestin, ONGC Director (HR) and Mr Praful Patel , Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.

NEW DELHI, APRIL 29 : OIL and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has been conferred the "Gold Trophy of SCOPE Meritorious Award in the category of Corporate Social Responsibility and Responsiveness for 2011-12".

On the occasion of the Public Sector Day, celebrated on April 26, 2013 in New Delhi, the President of India Mr Pranab Mukherjee gave away the award to ONGC CMD Mr Sudhir Vasudeva, accompanied by Director (HR) Mr K S Jamestin. The Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Mr Praful Patel was also present on the occasion.

The Panel of the Jury, which was chaired by former Chief Justice of India Justice PN Bhagwati, comprised Mr. V S Jain, former Member, PESB, Dr. M B Athreya, Management Consultant, Mr. M A Pathan, former Chairman, Indian Oil Corporation , Mr. CP Jain, former Chairman NTPC and SCOPE and Dr. U D Choubey, DG, SCOPE.

The entire performance evaluation of record entries numbering 131 this year was made by world renowned Consultant, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu..

Some of the major socially-impactful CSR initiatives undertaken by ONGC in 2011-12 are Varishthajana Swasthya Sewa Abhiyan, Setting up of a centralized kitchen for mid-day meals at Surat, Amulya Dharohar, Eastern Swamp Deer Conservation Project and Harit Moksha. In the previous year 2012, ONGC had won the SCOPE Award for Environmental Excellence and Sustainable Development.

President felicitates GAIL as Maharatna

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

Mr B C Tripathi, Chairman and Managing Director, GAIL receiving the Certificate of Recognition for attaining the Maharatna status from Mr Pranab Mukherjee, President of India, in the presence of Mr Praful Patel, Minister for Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises. Mr S L Raina, Director (HR), GAIL (extreme right) was also present on the occasion.

NEW DELHI, APRIL 26 : GAIL (India), India's natural gas major, was presented a Certificate of Recognition on being accorded the Maharatna status. The Certificate of Recognition was presented by Mr Pranab Mukherjee, President of India to Mr B C Tripathi, Chairman and Managing Director, GAIL (India) here on Friday .

The company targets a turnover of over Rs. 50,000 crore for the year 2013-14 and aspires to be a Rs. 130,000 crore company by 2020.

The company plans to bring more than 30 LNG cargoes in the year 2013-14. GAIL has planned a capex of around Rs. 40,000 crore in the next 3-4 years.

The company has identified focus areas of growth over the next 10 years and has laid down its goals and objectives to become an integrated hydrocarbon major with significant upstream and downstream interests businesses like petrochemicals, besides, diversifying into high margin downstream businesses in gas value chain and creating a portfolio of renewable businesses.

The Maharatna status will provide greater flexibility in operations of the company. The Board of a Maharatna company has enhanced powers to accord approvals, to make equity investment to establish financial JVs and wholly owned subsidiaries and undertake mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in India or abroad.

NEC Technologies India starts operations

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau  

NEW DELHI, APRIL 26 :
NEC Technologies India , wholly-owned subsidiary of NEC Corporation , has formally started its operations from Friday .

NEC Technologies India Is developing innovative solutions and support operations aiming to expand the global business of the NEC Group.

The company aims to double its footprint in India Within the next two years.    It will focus on providing solutions for emerging opportunities in the retail, security, smart energy, e-­‐governance and infrastructure fields. “NEC Technologies India will be at the forefront of the NEC Group’s global system integration business,” said Takaaki Shimizu, senior vice preident at NEC Corporation and Chairman of the Board of NEC Technologies India.

The company is taking on a vital role in developing solutions, providing system integration and supporting Global pre and post-­‐sale operations he said.

“India is the cross point of Asia and Western markets and the new company will play a strategic role in business creation and standardization of our solutions For global markets, he added.”

”We see enormous potential in NEC’s global resources and strengths, including advanced technologies, products and solutions. We will customize existing products and solutions for both India and global markets in order to participate in new economic opportunities being created in markets throughout the world,”  said Anil Gupta, CEO and Managing Director of NEC Technologies India.

Product dvelopment    and system integration services for global
and Indian markets will continue to be the company’s core target areas. NTI in addition, is focusing on developing a wide range of solutions for the Indian
And Global Markets around NEC’s advanced solutions for enterprise and public businesses.

The company also plans to expand Its current focus on large eGovernance and infrastructure projects in India while supporting the global subsidiaries
of NEC in their respective markets.

Expo Riva Schuh India grows
4 times , eyes 25% growth 

Thesynergyonline orporate Bureau

NEW DELHI, APRIL 26 :
EXPO Riva Schuh India will showcase footwear and leather accessories at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi from July 4 to 6 , 2013. There will be footwear, bags, gloves, belts and leather accessories on offer from both Indian and international exhibitors. Thie fair is organized by Riva del Garda Fierecongressi & Italian Exposition in collaboration with Council of Leather Exports (CLE), ITPO and CRS Globe.
 
Expo Riva Schuh India is exclusively for finished products in different sectors, from footwear to leather accessories. India’s first fair dedicated to finished products in footwear and leather accessories. Exhibitors represent the entire world’s production, from important Asian districts (China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand) to Italian and European brands
 
According to Mr. Giovanni Laezza the Managing Director of Riva del Garda Fierecongressi, “Last year we got 3,795 international buyers and we are really pleased with the success of the Expo Riva Schuh in India. The Fair in 2012 achieved growth rate of +16.2 per cent  over its first edition of July 2011. We will thrive on the success achieved, and will continue to work, for the third edition of Expo Riva Schuh India, towards reinforcing this partnership, which is fundamental to the success of the event.

The collaboration with CLE has also been established for Expo Riva Schuh, contributing over the years towards making the Riva del Garda event the international showcase . It has been the effective trade fair in Europe for the leather and footwear sector.

"Expo Riva Schuh India gives a valuable opportunity for getting an in-depth and close-up view of the complex reality of the Indian market, combining display of products with services to enable the creation of business on the Indian market." said Carla Costa, Head of Exhibitions of Riva del Garda Fierecongressi .

Nalco pays 15% interim dividend

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau
 

NEW DELHI, APRIL 25 :
NATIONAL Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), the Navratna PSU under the Ministry of Mines, has declared an interim dividend amounting to Rs.193.29 crore for the financial year 2012-13, which includes the Government’s share of Rs.156.68 crore.

The cheque for interim dividend was handed over to  Mr Dinsha J. Patel, Union Minister of Mines, by  Mri Ansuman Das, CMD, NALCO, here , in the presence of Mr R.H. Khwaja, Secretary, Ms. Gauri Kumar, Special Secretary, Mr Arun Kumar, Joint Secretary and other senior officials of the Ministry and NALCO.

After the recent divestment of shares through OFS (Offer for Sale), the Government holds 81.06 per cent shares of NALCO. The remaining shares are held by over 66,000 shareholders including banks, financial institutions and individual shareholders.

Since inception, NALCO has paid Rs.4390.31 crore as dividend, including Rs.3816.30 crore as share of the Government.

Forbes Global 2000: ONGC climbs 16 ranks to position at 155

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

Mr Sudhir Vasudeva, ONGC CMD

NEW DELHI, APRIL 22 :
THE much celebrated and widely awaited "The Forbes Global 2000" list has been made public and as many as 56 Indian companies (all with revenues in excess of $ 1 billion ) featured on that list. And this year, ONGC has made a jump of 16 places from last year's position at 171 to be ranked 155 globally.  
 
ONGC’s climb on the global rankings is a fitting reflection of the company’s strong operating performance and its robust financial fundamentals over the years. Especially 2012, which saw ONGC register a net profit of Rs 25,123 Crore, making it India’s most profitable business entity.

Besides, ONGC, continued to remain comfortably lodged among the top three Indian companies in terms of market capitalization and, in the process, reinforced its position as the country’s largest PSU (M-Cap wise). ONGC’s Market Capitalization as published in the Forbes Global 2000 list is a whopping $ 50.5 billion.

The Forbes Global 2000 are public companies with the top composite scores based on their rankings for sales, profits, assets and market value.

ONGC spreads fire safety
awareness to grassroots

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

A K Banerjee, Director Finance (centre), S N Singh, ED-Chief Security (left), and P K Borthakur, Director Offshore (right) keenly watching the fire safety briefing video at the inauguration of Fire Service Week at ONGC Corporate Office .

NEW DELHI, APRIL 18 : "TODAY , fire poses the biggest threat to our industry and the easiest way to tackle the menace is by spreading information even at the grassroot level, said A K Banerjee, Director Finance, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in his inaugural address at the observance of Fire Service Week at ONGC Corporate Office in New Delhi.  

To sensitize the whole awareness chain with fire safety issues, the exploration and production major ONGC organized an elaborate Fire Services Week in all its operational units.

Taking a leaf out of this year's theme that states 'Fire is Fire... Friend or Foe, we Decide', Mr Banerjee said that fire was one of the inventions that changed mankind forever. But it was also one of the biggest risks. Equating the workplace to an inferno in the making,

Mr Banerjee said that the industry in which we were working was the most prone to fire accidents, hence it was doubly imperative that everyone prepared for dealing with any potential crisis.

ONGC forays into urea fertiliser business; signs MoU with Chambal Fertilisers  

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

NEW DELHI, APRIL 10 :
OIL and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals and with the Government of Tripura for setting up a urea fertiliser project in the State . .

The company  will invest  Rs 5,000 crore on setting up a urea plant.

The company has taken the first giant stride into fertiliser domain as part of its efforts to achieve significant  on non- E & P business growth integrated with its mainstay of E & P business as envisioned in its Perspective Plan for 2030.

 Meanwhile, the company discovered significant gas reserves in Khubal under NELP acreage AA-ONN-2001/1, located in the logistically challenging north-eastern part of the state of Tripura, which otherwise would be stranded due to poor marketing and evacuation avenues.

Therefore, monetization of this gas would be a challenging proposition.

 At the same time, the Government is keen on rapid industrial and agricultural development of the State to address the aspirations of its people. In sequel to setting up of ONGC’s gas based power project at Palatana,

Tripura through a JV with the State Government, joint venture fertilizer project augurs well with the development agenda of the state administration and the business growth plans of ONGC and its strategic partner CFCL. Identification of CFCL as a strategic partner for this venture was through a transparent selection process on the basis of their long-standing experience and expertise in the fertilizer sector.

The State Government of Tripura has also assured necessary support by way of assistance in creation of infrastructure, availability of water and for evacuation of the fertilizer produced from the project.

In addition, the Government of Tripura has shown interest in taking 10 per cent  equity in the joint venture company to be set up for implementation of the proposed project.
 
         
A formal MoU signing ceremony was held at Agartala on Tuesday l 2013. The occasion was graced by Mr Manik Sarkar, Chief Minister of Tripura. Mr  Sudhir Vasudeva, CMD-ONGC, Mr  S. K. Panda, Chief Secretary, Govt. of Tripura, Mr K S Jamestin, Director (HR & BD), ONGC and Mr  Abhay Baijal, Chief Financial Officer, CFCL, dignitaries and other functionaries from the State administration, ONGC and M/s CFCL were also present on the occasion.

ONGC and  Chambal Fertilisers also have plans to take their joint collaboration further ahead through prospective projects in other geographies.

The success of Khubal fertiliser project draws great significance in the growth ambition of both the parties, besides its importance to the state of Tripura.

BHEL turnover crosses Rs.50,000-crore mark; orders inflow surges by 43 %

At the end of the year cumulative orders in hand for execution in 2013-14 and beyond stand at Rs 1,15,180 crore.

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

Mr B P Rao, CMD, BHEL, and P K Bajpai, Director, Finance, at a media conference in New Delhi on Monday to announce its annual results.

NEW DELHI, APRIL 08 :
BHARAT Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) notched up turnover of Rs 50,015 crore in the fiscal 2012-13 , crossing the Rs.50,000- crore mark. This was disclosed by Mr B Prasada Rao, Chairman and Managing Director, BHEL, at a media conference in New Delhi on Monday.

Mr Rao said that in the year net profit (PAT) declined by 8 per cent to Rs.6,485 crore in 2012-13 from Rs 7040 crore in 2011-12 , while profit before tax (PBT) was Rs 9,231 crore.

He cited the decline in last fiscal's profit to burgeoning manpower cost at the back of increased Dearness Allowance (DA) for its 49,000 strong workforce, increased cost of financing and the decline in interest cost as a few customers delayed payments squeezing resources being parked in banks.

Encouragingly , the government's orders for the company continue to account for a bulk of its business.

Mr Rao said that the company is planning to set up total integrated unit starting from poly-silicon to photovoltaic (PV) systems including silicon wafer , solar cell and module at an investment of Rs 2,000 crore .

On coal linkage Mr Rao said that the company has solution for this issue as it plans to switchover to imported coal. The linkage made available for thermal power plants will be much more accessible in the years to come.

Meanwhile, the company is looking at EPC model like engineering, procurement and construction commissioning capability thus enlarging scope of offer in power sector.

The company's turnover and net profit have more than doubled in the last five years. The company paid an interim equity dividend of 106 per cent for 2012-13 , he added.

The company's order inflow surged by around 43 per cent at Rs 31,528 crore in the year. At the end of the year, cumulative orders in hand for execution in 2013-14 and beyond, stand at Rs 1,15,180 crore.

The company's, investment in research and development ( R &D) registered 4.1 per cent growth over the last financial year at Rs.1,248 crore.

The company's turnover from in- house developed products and services touched Rs.9,643 crore, which is around 19.3 per cent of the turnover of the company.

In the year the company commissioned 10,340 mw of power plant equipment inclusive of 9,328 mw utility and 703 ,mw captive/industrial sets in the country and 309 mw in overseas markets. This included 10 nos. 500 mw and 1 no. 600 mw thermal sets.

The company had fresh order flow of Rs 31,528 crore in 2012-13 as compared to Rs 22,096 crore in 2011-12.

Last fiscal's orders of Rs 31,528 crore included private sector's orders of around Rs 6,000 crore in the industry segment (Rs 4,086 crore) and international business segment (Rs 2,004 crore).

He said that the company's outstanding payment dues stand at Rs 40,000 crore . "A half of these dues, around Rs 20,000 crore fall in the non-collectable or deferred debt category.

The company plans to invest around Rs 1,200 crore next financial year.

BHEL signs agreement with Mitsubishi

Thesynergyonline  Power Bureau

NEW DELHI, APRIL 07 :
BHARAT Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has entered into a licence agreement with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries , Japan, for acquiring FGD system technology, finding application in fossil fuel power plants.

The agreement was signed by Mr O P Bhutani, Director (E, R&D), BHEL, and Mr Naohito Hoshino, Senior Vice President and Dy Head of Engineering Headquarters, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries , in the presence of Mr  B Prasada Rao, CMD, BHEL.

ONGC wins Dalal Street award
for 'Most Efficient Company'

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

ONGC CMD Sudhir Vasudeva (second from left) along with ONGC Directors displaying the Dalal Street award for 'The Most Efficient Company'.

NEW DELHI, APRIL 04 : OIL and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has been conferred the award of the 'Most Efficient Company' in the Heavyweight Maharatna - Non-Manufacturing category at the Dalal Street Investment Journal PSU Awards 2012 in New Delhi.

Dalal Street Investment Journal is India’s oldest and one of the most respected financial and investment magazines with a pedigree of over 25 years.  

The award was presented by Mr Ajit Singh Union Minister of Civil Aviation. Dinesh Satija, ONGC Executive Director received the award on behalf of ONGC.

Vijay Joshi is Director (Refinery) of MRPL

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

58 years young Mr Vijay Joshi, brings to the table 36 years of experience in Petroleum Refining Industry.  Before this appointment he was Group General Manager, Projects In-charge of MRPL, directly responsible for all Project related activities.

Known for his leadership skills and inclusive style of management, Mr Joshi, hails from Bijapor District, Karnataka, and is a product of NITK (then KREC) Suratkal, class of 1975. He post-graduated from IIT, Mumbai in Metallurgical Engineering in 1977. Soonafter he joined Indian Oil Corporation Ltd as a Graduate Engineering Trainee in 1977 and opted to join MRPL as Chief Inspector 20 years back.

 Mr Joshi’s strategic and visionary thinking and hands-on style of management saw him set up the Engineering and Documentation Departments in MRPL and subsequently without any Project Management Consultant, Shri Joshi led his team to build and commission   ISOM and Mixed Xylene Units  in the 2004-2006 period.

Having played a key role in Phase I, II (earlier refining units of MRPL) concept to commissioning, Mr Joshi was handpicked to lead the Phase III concept to commissioning team.

Mr Vijay G Joshi, currently also serves on the Board of NMPT as MRPL nominee.

Nippon Steel to expand its presence in India

Thesynergyobnline Corporate Bureau

Nippon Steel Engineering India MD Shunichi Takeda speaking at a media conference in New Delhi on Wednesday.

NEW DELHI , APRIL 03 : NIPPON Steel &  Sumikin Engineering (NSENGI), a 100 per cent subsidiary of the Japan’s steel major  Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation , with an annual sales turnover of US$ 29.28 billion on Wednesday disclosed its plans to enhance its footprint in India .

The company is targeting a full-fledged entry into the Indian market by bringing out its  technology and equipment with a competitive edge .:

Meanwhile, the company expects to maintain its annual revenue from India at last year's level of US$ 60 million in the coming years to come on the back of sustained demand for its steel-making technologies.

"In the last 10 years, the company won US$ 300 million orders including US$ 60 million last year in India. We expect around US$ 60 million revenue in coming years also," said Nippon Steel Engineering India's Managing Director Shunichi Takeda said at a media conference here on Wednesday .

The company has registered clocked US$ 2.8 billion sales revenue in 2012.

 "While other countries in the world are in the grip of sluggishness in steel business , it is very active in Indian market. We will be zeroing in on  technology and equipment for volume increase, quality improvement and environmental technology,"Mr Takeda informed.

In India’s current scenario of economic development and urban development, a lot of investment is being planned in the steel manufacturing related equipments, like expansion of already existing plants and in the new integrated steelworks in order to meet with the increasing demands of steel. The standardization and use of CDQ equipment in cokes furnace is increasing rapidly in countries like Japan and China so that the environment regulations and self supporting power needs can be met, Mr Takeda added.

Finolex starts commercial production of PVC Pipes at Masar,Vadodara
 
Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau
 

NEW DELHI, APRIL 03 :
FINOLEX Industries , manufacturer of PVC pipes in India, has commenced commercial production of PVC pipes at its state of the art manufacturing plant at Masar, near Vadodara in the State of Gujarat.

The company  had entered into a MoU with Government of Gujarat  at Vibrant Gujarat 2011 Summit for setting up this plant at an investment of approximately Rs 100 crore. The plant is set up on an area of around 29 acres and will go into production in two phases.
 
This is the first plant of Finolex Industries outside Maharashtra, where the company has two manufacturing plants. “Friendly industrial environment in the state of Gujarat prompted Finolex Industries to set up a Plant for the first time outside Maharashtra. The plant is strategically located to cater to the dynamic and ever growing agriculture and real estate market of not just Gujarat but also Northern states” said Mr. Prakash Chhabria, Executive Chairman, Finolex Industries .
 
Mr Chhabria said that the first phase of the Masar plant has added to the production capacity of PVC pipes by about 30,000 tons per annum (TPA). When the second phase will get commissioned during FY 2013-2014, the total capacity added by the plant will be 50,000 TPA.

The company’s total aggregate production capacity across its three ultra-modern plants; viz one each at Pune and Ratnagiri in Maharashtra and this third one at Masar in Gujarat will reach over 200,000 TPA when the second phase is commissioned.

N K Verma assumes office of
ONGC's Director (Exploration)

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

N K Verma, Director (Exploration, ONGC

NEW DELHI, APRIL 02 :
NARENDRA Kumar Verma has taken over as new Director (Exploration) of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) . Subsequent to the presidential appointment, he becomes the 11th Director (Exploration) in the world's number 3 Exploration & Production company.
N K Verma takes over the responsibility from S V Rao, who has superannuated on March 31.

As Director-Exploration at OVL, Mr. Verma was responsible for development and implementation of exploration strategy & Business Development and was actively responsible for strategizing and aggressive implementation of the growth strategy of OVL with a couple of high-value acquisitions in the last one year.

The new Director-Exploration at ONGC, with a redoubtable experience of over 30 years in petroleum exploration and development during his tenure at ONGC, has spent most of the latter half of his career at leadership positions at some of the key units and functions. A hard-core technologist, he also has published more than 20 technical papers and 40 technical reports.

OVL buys stake in Azeri, Chirag and Deep Water Portion of Guneshli Fields in Azerbaijan

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

NEW DELHI, APRIL 01 :
ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) , a 100 per cent subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), said that it has completed acquisition of Hess Corporation's 2.7213 per cent participating interest in the Azeri, Chirag and the Deep Water Portion of Guneshli Fields (ACG) in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea and 2.36 per cent interest in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline . Earlier, ONGC Videsh and Hess had entered into the definitive agreements and subsequently all relevant government and regulatory approvals were received.

This is the first acquisition of a producing property made by ONGC Videsh in the Caspian Region and is consistent with its strategic objective of adding high quality international assets to its existing E&P portfolio and also bears significant strategic importance to India.

Coupled with this, ONGC Videsh has also finalised a major multi-billion dollar transaction in the Caspian Region of Kazakhstan, which is under approval of the host Government. ONGC Videsh looks at the Caspian region as an important source of hydrocarbon resources towards the energy security for the country.

In addition, ONGC Videsh believes that hydrocarbons can be procured in India from Caspian region through land route. The company is already in talks with relevant authorities to make this happen.

GAIL books capacity in the Cove Point
LNG liquefaction terminal in the US

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

The contarct signed with Cheniere and Dominion makes GAIL one of the largest Henry Hub LNG Portfolio holders and provides GAIL an opportunity to market 6 million tonnes per annum of LNG from the US.

NEW DELHI, APRIL 01 :
GAIL has signed a terminal service agreement with Dominion through GAIL Global (USA) LNG LLC for booking 2.3 mmtpa liquefaction capacity in the Cove Point LNG liquefaction terminal project located at Lusby in the state of Maryland. Dominion would be setting up the liquefaction facilities in the premises of its existing 11.7 mmtpa regasification terminal.

The construction work is expected to start in 2014 so as to put the liquefaction facilities into service in 2017. Dominion is marketing 4.6 mmtpa and GAIL has booked 50% of such capacity for 20 years.

A major Japanese buyer holds the balance capacity in the terminal. Cove Point will be a premier facility in terms of direct access to the Marcellus and Utica shale plays, two of the most prolific shale gas basins in North America.

At an interactive video session following the signing of the document, Mr. BC Tripathi, Chairman and Managing Director of GAIL said "This is an important occasion for GAIL and we are delighted to have executed this agreement. GAIL has a positive outlook on Henry Hub indexed LNG exports from the US and that has prompted us to sign this terminal service agreement which follows our deal with Cheniere signed in 2011. The contracts signed with Cheniere and Dominion make GAIL one of the largest Henry Hub LNG portfolio holders and provide us an opportunity to market about 6.0 mmtpa of LNG from the US."

Under this agreement, GAIL will procure its own natural gas and deliver it to the Cove Point pipeline for liquefaction at the terminal and loading into ships brought to the facility on the Chesapeake Bay. "This would enhance GAIL's scale of operations in the US where we already have a presence through our participation in a shale gas asset in the Eagle Ford basin. Our upstream acquisition efforts for gas sourcing and hedging would now intensify in US. This deal would also provide GAIL with an opportunity to trade part of the volume in the international market apart from organizing the ships required to transport rest of the volume to India," Mr. Tripathi said.

"Dominion's stature as a premier gas and power infrastructure and utility player in the US is impressive and I am certain that the first supplies from the plant would start as per schedule," Mr. Tripathi said.

He also added that with its extensive pan-India infrastructure in the midstream and downstream segments, GAIL is well positioned to market and distribute this gas to meet the growing domestic demand in India.

Mr Thomas F. Farrell II, Chairman, president and CEO of Dominion said, "Japan and India are important allies and trading partners of the United States that are in need of secure sources of natural gas, and Sumitomo and GAIL are high-quality companies working to meet those needs. We believe the agreements we have signed serve very important economic goals for all three nations."

In concluding this transaction, GAIL was assisted by Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld on legal matters and by Ernst & Young on financial and tax matters while Poten & Partners was the commercial consultant engaged by GAIL.

ONGC signs MoU with MoPNG for 2013-14

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

Petroleum Secretary Vivek Rae (right) and ONGC CMD Sudhir Vasudeva (left) exchanging documents post signing MoU at Shastri Bhawan in New Delhi on Monday.

NEW DELHI, MARCH 26 : MAHARATNA Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoP&NG)  for its performance evaluation parameters and targets for 2013-14. The MoU was signed on Monday by ONGC CMD Mr Sudhir Vasudeva and Petroleum Secretary Mr Vivek Rae at Shastri Bhawan in the presence of ONGC Directors and senior officials of the petroleum ministry.
 
       
               
The MoU 2013-14 has sector-specific targets for production of crude oil, natural gas and reserve accretion. This includes ONGC's share from domestic joint venture fields/acreages and production of value-added products. Apart from the financial parameters, ONGC has committed itself to Human Resources Management, Research & Development (R&D), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability Development, Enterprise Specific parameters such as Energy Audits/savings, Health-Safety-Environment Audits, Finding cost and Production cost.              
              
The MoU exercise is an annual and mandatory feature for all Central PSEs where the performance parameters are fixed between the CPSE and the Administrative ministry, before the financial year.       

GAIL signs MoU with MoPNG

Sets targets for over 84.05 mmscmd gas marketing and 110 mmscmd gas transmission in FY2013-14

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

GAIL-MoPNG MoU signed between Mr Vivek Rae, Secretary, MoPNG and Mr B C Tripathi, CMD, GAIL in the presence of Mr R D Goyal, Director (Projects), Mr S L Raina,Director(HR), Mr Prabhat Singh, Director(Marketing), Mr S Venkatraman, Director(BD) and Mr P K Jain, Director(Finance). Also seen are senior officials from the Government.

NEW DELHI, MARCH 25 :
GAIL (India) has set a target of marketing  84.05 mmscmd and transmitting 110.00 mmscmd of natural gas from domestic sources and through LNG route in FY 2013-14 under the annual memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas for performance targets.

The MoU was signed between Mr Vivek Rae, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Mr. B. C. Tripathi, Chairman and Managing Director, GAIL in the presence of Mr R.D. Goyal, Director (Projects), Mr S.L. Raina,Director(HR), Mr Prabhat Singh, Director(Marketing), Mr S. Venkatraman, Director(BD) and Mr P.K. Jain,  Director(Finance). Senior officials from the Government were also present on the occasion.
.
The MoU also provides for an ‘Excellent’ production target of 430 TMT of Polymers (HDPE & LLDPE) and 1,310 TMT of Liquid Hydrocarbons. The excellent financial targets are pegged at  Rs 49,155 crore gross sales and a gross margin of Rs 6,160 crore.

ONGC underpins culture metamorphosis to achieve Perspective Plan 2030  

CMD Sudhir Vasudeva pitches for a cultural salience at
the oil major's 12th Key Executives Meet in Jaipur.  

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau 

ONGC CMD Mr S Vasudeva speaking at 12th Key Executives Meet at Jaipur

NEW  DELHI, MARCH 25 :
As the soil, however rich it may be, cannot be productive without cultivation, so the mind without culture can never produce good fruit” : Seneca.

So again, according to Norman Vincent Peale, “ The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails."

 And so based on the outlined premise and underpinning efficacious culture change resonate  well with organizations’ structure.

It is here in this context of inflexional point when the theme 'Culture Change: the Priority' came to the fore at a two –day executives’ meet organized by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) at Jaipur where the oil major’s key executives from all over the organisation brainstormed to craft ways to fuel a change of culture to make ONGC future-ready.

The Chairman and Managing Director of ONGC Mr Sudhir Vasudeva chaired this crucial conclave, assisted by the Directors of ONGC and members on the board  of its group companies ONGC Videsh Limited and MRPL. 

The two- day conclave witnessed  exhaustive and wide-ranging discussions on plethora of strategic issues that included  Perspective Plan 2030 and 'Succession Planning' also.

SOM Distilleries 9-month PAT up
37.51% at Rs 165 mln

 Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

MUMBAI, India, MARCH 25 :  
THE profit after tax (PAT) of SOM Distilleries & Breweries Limited (SDBL), for nine-month period of FY2012-13 was up by 37.51  per cent  at Rs.165 million as against Rs.120 million while the earning per share (EPS) has increased by 37.51  per cent  to Rs 6.01 as compared to Rs 4.37.

The company’s income jumped by 9.60 per cent to Rs 1564 million during the period.

Net sales/income from operations has increased by 9.60  per cent  to Rs.1564 million. This is a notable jump from Rs. 1427 million reported in the corresponding nine months of the last financial year. EBIDTA increased by 10.22  per cent  to Rs.244 million in the nine months of the current year as against Rs. 222 million in the corresponding period last year..
 
The company has delivered a 40 per cent  increase in draught beer sales in Madhya Pradesh led by Hunter.

Commenting on the results, Mr. Nakul Sethi (Director- Finance & Strategy), SDBL said, “We continue to witness growth in sales and profits and the numbers speak for themselves. “

Presented by Metso corporate behemoths
join OreTeam Annual Conference 2013

Based on results sifted out of discussions at the mega event of corporate behemoths OreTeam Research would compile articles, analyses and research theses to be provided post conference at the doorstep of delegates. .

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

NEW DELHI, MARCH 24 :
METSO presented OreTeam Annual Conference 2013 from March 21 to  22, 2013 here .

The conference discussed " Indian Steel Demand, Production & Raw Material Scenario to Assess the Future of Indian Iron Ore, Steel Consumption & Production Capabilities  With Emphasis On Iron ore Beneficiation, Pelletization & Need For Exploration

The chief guest at the conference was Ms Nicole Thomas, Counselor (Resources, Energy & Tourism), Australian High Commission and the guest of honour Mr Syedain Abbasi IAS, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Steel , GoI.

The conference hall was packed with  100 per cent delegate participation in the every phase of discussions. OreTeam provided ‘Voting Meters’ to every delegate at the event to express his/ her  viewpoints and opinions on the comments and questions raised / answered by speakers in the discussions.

Delegates were able to speak their mind through  ‘Voting Meters’ and results were analysed and projected instantly.

Based on the for results OreTeam Research would compile articles, analysis and  research thesis which would  be provided to all delegates post-conference.

The inaugural panel of the conference consisted of   Ms Nicole Thomas, Counselor (Resources, Energy & Tourism), Australian High Commission , Mr Syedain Abbasi IAS, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Steel (Govt. Of India) , Mr. A. C. R. Das, Industry Advisor, Ministry of Steel (Govt. Of India) , Mr. V R Sharma, Dy. MD Steel Business, Jindal Steel & Power , Mr. Sudhir Srivastava, Senior Vice President, Asia, Metso Mining & Construction , Mr. S K Das, Director (Commercial), NMDC , Mr. Vinod Nowal, Director & CEO, JSW Steel

In the first session of the conference  therte was a panel discussion on ' Assessing the future of Indian Steel Industry . The points discussed  at the session were India’s projected 200 million tons of steel production and  350 million tons iron ore requirement , hurdles in achieving the projected steel output ,macro economic view  and  demand growth and contributions of JSPL, JSW, SAIL and  Metso in attaining the 200 million tons of target production .

The panelists included  Mr Syedain Abbasi IAS, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Steel (Govt. Of India) , Mr. A. C. R. Das, Industry Advisor, Ministry of Steel (Govt. Of India) ,  Mr. V R Sharma, Dy. MD Steel Business, Jindal Steel & Power , Mr Sushim Banerjee. Director General, INSDAG |  Dr. A. S. Firoz – Economic Research Unit |  Mr. Sharad Mahendra, Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing, JSW Steel  |  Mr. Sudhir Srivastava, Senior Vice President, Asia, Metso Mining & Construction.

The second session at the conference zeroed in on ' Resolving the Iron ore riddle for steel making - Using Low Grade Iron Ore Beneficiation "

Prof. B K Mishra, Director, Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology* discussed '  Role of iron ore beneficiation in future Indian steel production and  Need for iron ore beneficiation and  Mr Sunil Yadav, Vice President, Technical Support, Process & Systems, Metso Mining & Construction focused on '  Enhancing value through ore beneficiation.'

 The third session centred on 'Deriving Value - Raw Material enhancement, Ore Beneficiation & Pelletization (B&P) .'

 Mr Steven Furedy, Product Manager, Iron Ore Pelletizing, Metso Minerals Industries discussed  'Metso’s expertise in pelletization of Indian iron ore', speaker. from JSPL dwelt on JSPL’s pellet experience & Best Practices .  Speaker from Essar Projects (India)  highlighted   EPC Capabilities of EPIL in Pellet & Beneficiation Projects and  Mr Parizat Pandey, Senior Manager, Agglomeration, Outotec India spoke on  '  Pelletizing Plants & Technology from Outotec.

In the fourth session at the conference discussed ' Indian Steel Futures & Role Of BIS In Indian Steel Industry.  Mr. A. C. R. Das, Industry Advisor, Ministry of Steel (Govt. Of India), spoke on '  New BIS Standards for the Indian steel industry - “Aiding production or proving a hindrance” ,  Mr. P K Gambhir, Scientist-G & Chief (Certification), Bureau Of Indian Standards highlighted '  Need for BIS Standards in the India & Overall assessment ,'  Mr. R K Bagchi, Director, National Institute Of Secondary Steel Technology , spoke on            'BIS Standards impacting Indian Secondary Steel Sector & Need For New Technologies,'  Ms. Rashmi Nihalani, Assistant Vice President, PKMT, Multi Commodity Exchange, also spoke on ' Role of steel futures in price risk management & development of the steel industry.'

In the sixth session  of the second day of the conference there was a panel discussion on '  Indian Iron Ore Scenario - Regional Assessment, Production, Imports & Exports.' Points discussed were 'From 225 million tons to 150 million. Way ahead for Indian iron ore production.. Focus on Goa, Karnataka & Orissa , Are declining exports curtailing Indian iron ore production? Creating a balance between ore production & environment protection.. Need of the hour , Need for faster exploration in Indian mining industry & Sustainability of iron ore & scrap imports – cost versus demand factor. and Possible resolutions of the ongoing mining issues - CSR Activities, R&R Plans etc
 
The panelists at the second day of the conference included  Mr G. Srinivas IAS, Revenue Divisional Commissioner , Mr H R Srinivasa IAS, Director, Dept of Mines & Geology, Karnataka ,  Mr. V R Sharma, Dy. MD Steel Business, Jindal Steel & Power ,  Mr. P K Mukherjee, MD, Sesagoa , Mr. N K Nanda, Director Technical, NMDC  , Mr. Deependra Kashiva, ED-SIMA  and  representatives from other states and organizations.

In the sixth session of the conference ' Future trends in Pricing & Demand, 2015-2020' was discussed.

Mr Sanjay Jain, Sr V.P. Research, spoke on '  Outlook of Indian Iron ore & Steel Prices ,  Mr Tushar Pandey, president and Country Head, Strategic Initiatives & Government Advisory, YES BANK dwelt on  ' Yes Bank’s support to Indian iron ore & Steel industry ,  Mr. Arvind Mahajan, Executive Director & Partner & Head of Energy & Natural Resources , on ' Bench marking the steel & ore pricing using leading indices , Mr. Sachin Sehgal, Director, OreTeam Exim  delved deep into  ' Future Trends in Indian & Global Iron ore & Steel Prices,

Mr A K Verma, Director, OreTeam India, delivered the closing address.

ONGC notifies three oil and gas discoveries

To invest Rs 4,050 crore to upgrade Arabian Sea facilities

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau 

NEW DELHI, MARCH 21: 
THE board of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) at its 241st meeting on Wednesday took note of three oil and gas discoveries which have been notified . There are two discoveries in India's east coast and one in Tripura.

The company’s press release said in its pre-licensing round block located in the West Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh, the exploratory well Vanaduru South 1
in West Godavari PML block of KG onland basin was drilled to a depth of 3691 meter. On testing the interval of 3628 – 3634m in Nandigama formation, oil was produced at  the rate of 181 bopd and gas at 51, 772 m3/day through 6 mm bean. The oil is of very high quality with API gravity of 49.20.

The company’s board also took note of more discoveries made in NELP block KG-OSN-2004/1, in Krishna Godavari shallow offshore Basin, 25 km south of Narsapur, was drilled to a depth of 2669.43 m.in the east cost. This block was awarded to ONGC in NELP VI in 2004.

On testing the interval, 2537 – 2543 m, gas flowed at the rate of 4,09,453 m3/day through 3/8” choke. Another interval, 2246.5m - 2250m, also flowed gas at the rate of ,74,722 m3/d and condensate of 51.2° API gravity at 72 bopd through ½” choke.

This high potential discovery augments the hydrocarbon volumes established through two earlier discoveries namely Chandrika South and Alankari in the block and is a significant boost to ONGC’s efforts towards attaining critical hydrocarbon volumes for viability of a possible ‘cluster based development’ for the block.

This discovery results in consolidation of play met in earlier discovery in AD # 30 well and opens western flank of Agartala Dome up to Konaban for further exploration.

In Tripura, the company has struck hydrocarbon in its pre-licensing round block. Conventional testing showed gas at the rate of 1,08,576 cubic metre/day
This discovery results in consolidation of play met in earlier discovery in AD 30 well and opens western flank of Agartala Dome up to Konaban for further exploration.

At the same meeting the company’s board also decided to invest over Rs 4,050 crore to upgrade western offshore facilities (on the Arabian Sea) through two major projects.

First, revamp of Unmanned Platforms Phase – II in Mumbai High and Neelam & Heera Asset. The total revamp job is expected to be completed by pre-monsoon 2016

Second, restructuring of two major process complexes, BPA and BPB in the prolific Bassein & Satellite field in western offshore. While the revamping job of BPB is planned to be completed in 2013-14, the same for BPA is scheduled for completion in 2014-15.

ONGC CMD prepares Generation-Y
for tomorrow's challenges 

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

ONGC CMD Sudhir Vasudeva giving awards on the Annual Day of the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai.

NEW DELHI, MARCH 19 :
THE Chairman and Managing Director of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Mr Sudhir Vasudeva, inspired students of Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, which is the largest and oldest Chemical Engineering institution of India.

A gold-medalist chemical engineer himself, Mr. Vasudeva underlined the need for effective management of energy chain leveraging 'Green' technologies, to adequately gear up to the needs of the future.

Mr Vasudeva said that the onus of India's economic growth lay in the students' hands. He added that for efficient utilization of scarce resources, one needs to adopt innovative and futuristic technologies.

ONGC-led consortium signs MoU
with New Mangalore Port Trust

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

MoU being inked at Mangalore by (seated from left) NMPT Chief Engineer M R Hedaoo, BPCL Director (Marketing) K K Gupta, ONGC Director (HR) and Business Development K S Jamestin and Mitsui GM Haruo Kumo. Seen applauding are Karnataka CM Jagadish Shettar, Petroleum Minister Dr Veerappa Moily, ONGC CMD Sudhir Vasudeva, BPCL CMD R K Singh and Mitsui Chairman M Suzuki .

NEW DELHI, MARCH 19 :
OIL and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) with its consortium partners BPCL and Japanese conglomerate Mitsui, will set up a re-gasification LNG terminal at New Mangalore Port.

The consortium will carry out a feasibility study for a terminal of 2-3 MMTPA capacity, expandable to 5 MMTPA.

To formalize the intent, the ONGC-led consortium signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) on Monday .

The MoU was executed in presence of Karnataka Chief Minister Mr. Jagadish Shettar and the Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas Dr M Veerappa Moily.

Post MoU the feasibility studies on the project will be carried out, including technical, marine and environment dimensions. The studies would throw up concrete action plans; an investment decision is expected by early 2014. The consortium is eyeing a timeline of 2018 for commissioning.

Wins QCI-DL Shah Quality Award

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

Mr B Ram, ED- Chief Technical Services and Mr D K Sharma, GM- Head , ONGC Corporate QAD receiving award from Mr Arun Maira, Chairman, Quality Council of India and Member Planning Commission.

NEW DELHI, MARCH 15 : OIL and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) , Quality Assurance Department, has won "Commendation Award", one of the National Level "QCI-DL Shah Quality" Awards in the field of quality.

The Award has been instituted by Quality Council of India to enhance performance through quality initiatives. The award recognizes successful projects in the form of case studies of an organization that have resulted in continuous improvement in delivery of products and/or services.

Quality Council of India was jointly set up by the Government of India and Premier Industry Associations like ASSOCHAM, CII and FICCI, with mandate to establish and operate national accreditation structure and to promote quality through "National Quality Campaign". The QCI is registered as non- profit society.

Mr Arun Maira, Chairman Quality Council of India and Member Planning Commission presenting the Award to ONGC

The award was received by Mr B Ram ED-Chief Technical Services and Mr. D K Sharma GM-Head Corporate QAD accompanied by Divisional QA Heads of Mumbai and Kolkata.

The award was presented by Mr Arun Maira, Chairman Quality Council of India & Member Planning Commission.

 Mr Mallikarjun Kharge, Union Cabinet Minister for Labour and Employment, Govt of India was the chief guest at the conclave.

ONGC launches special drive for
safety of contract workers

ONGC Safety Chief M L Jain speaking at the 6th National Health Safety and Environment Workshop in New Delhi.

NEW DELHI, MARCH 13 : THE exploration and production (E&P) major Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has launched a campaign for safety assurance of its contractual workers.

Speaking on the occasion of the 6th National Health Safety and Environment Workshop in New

Delhi recently, Chief of ONGC's Safety M L Jain said that in pursuance of ONGC CMD's call for Internal Renewal, ONGC's Safety department has adopted this year 2013 as the 'Year of Transformation of Safety Culture' in ONGC especially for the oil-field contract workers.

Mr. Jain further informed that ONGC is contemplating free training and retraining of contract workers to enhance their awareness on oil-field safety issues.

ONGC Safety Chief M L Jain said that ONGC has adopted 2013 as the year for Transforming oil-field safety culture with focus on contractual workers

The workshop was organized by ONGC and Petrotech Society in collaboration with Oil Industry Safety Directorate. 168 delegates from 15 oil companies participated in the workshop.

NIPM holds meet on 'Changing
Dynamics of Employee Relations' 

Jamestin underlines HR-ER initiatives of ONGC

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

Mr K S Jamestin , Director HR , ONGC (extreme left) delivering the keynote address highlighting the HR-ER initiatives of ONGC at the conference .

NEW DELHI, MARCH 11 :
NATIONAL Institute of Personnel Management (NIPM) , Delhi Chapter, recently organised a 2- day conference on 'Changing Dynamics of Employee Relations' in New Delhi where Mr K S Jamestin, Director (HR), ONGC delivered a keynote address.

Putting the theme into perspective, Mr Jamestin spoke on the ecosystem of employee relations and the impact that unionism has had on organisations, management and society.

Talking about the journey from industrial relations (IR) to employee relations (ER), he spoke on the various phases in the journey from IR to ER in India since Independence.      

  India has 50 : 50 chance of being a breakout nation: MD, Morgan Stanley

Thesynergyonline Economics Bureau

NEW DELHI, MARCH 11 :
INDIA'S being at the right stage of its reform cycle coupled with a healthy investment to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio and with local investors not rushing abroad, India has a 50 :50 chance of being a ‘break-out nation,’ Mr Ruchir Sharma, managing director and head of emerging markets and global macro, Morgan Stanley, said at an ASSOCHAM event held in New Delhi on Monday.

“Lack of trade with neighbours, deteriorating levels of corruption, high current account deficit and inflation woes and same government being in power for about nine years are certain negative factors leading to slow growth of Indian economy,” said Mr Sharma while inaugurating 93rd Foundation Day of The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

“India is a very stable growth story and will continue that way but to grow at 7-8 per cent we need to take really tough decisions over the next couple of years,” said Mr Sharma while delivering the lecture on “Prospects of India as a break-out nation.”

Praising the recent reform momentum initiated by the government, Mr Sharma said that it will help economy to grow further. “There is a large amount of liquidity in the global economy and FIIs would keep a check on the current account deficit but any event on the macro front may put serious strains on the inflows.”

Mr Sharma listed among the negative factors outgoing FDI level here as “too high”, “disproportionate inflation ranking of the country”, inadequate trade within the region and corruption.

According to him emergence of new billionaires and new industries in which this wealth is made was a strong indicator of a nation becoming a break-out level.
Illustrating this connection with examples of Russia and China and comparing performance of billionaire emergence in India over the last few years.

On the positive growth factors and prospects for the future Mr Sharma who heads one of the world’s leading emerging market funds at investment management firm Morgan Stanley Investment Management in New York said governments that come to power tend to push up growth rates as they experiment with new ideas while those long years in power tend to become sloppy.

However, he conceded that in recent days the Central Government here was taking the right steps for economic reform to make the economy more competitive. He said that there would be a fresh government in 2014 was a good sign as whoever would be in power would also bring new ideas.

He also found hopeful prospects in the fact that states that were once considered as backward like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh were doing well raising their state GDP growth 10 per cent and beyond and chief ministers are displaying leadership in this development.

“India’s states with effective chief ministers are emerging bottoms up,” said Mr Sharma.  He commended as a positive sign for the country that more and more chief ministers are considering that their re-election depended on better delivery in development.

Debunking the focus on 20 to year long-term perspective in economic assessment, Mr Sharma said that a two to three year term was what the investors were looking for and governments that have to get fresh mandate every five years would now be judged by short term perspective by the people.

The current deficit of the country was symptom of investment being too low, slide in the growth for a economy with low per capita income, the rupee exchange rate was not competitive and the confidence in the economy was too low as exemplified in the rise in the gold import.

Mr Sharma suggested that India should fix an explicit inflation target of five or four per cent and work out policies to achieve it. He also questioned the high focus on innovation pointing out China had achieved a per capita income of 7,000 USD with right investment in infrastructure rather than great new innovations.

ONGC CMD stresses 360 degree commitment to safety                     

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

ONGC CMD Sudhir Vasudeva (centre) launching the Safety Promotional Video . Also seen are ED-Chief Security S N Singh (left) and Advisor Security R K Shukla (right)

NEW DELHI, MARCH 04 : OUT of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety. ~William Shakespeare

Speaking at  the 42nd National Safety Day on Monday , the technocrat highlighted the need to continuously improve the safety regimen of the operational culture at ONGC.

Vasudeva urged ONGC engineers to make that extra effort to bring in a professional safety culture in the oil major. Incidentally, ONGC has the unique distinction of having all its operational installations, offshore and onshore, certified for globally-recognized safety accreditations.

The launch of the Safety Promotional Video by ONGC CMD Sudhir Vasudeva (centre). Also seen are ED-Chief Security S N Singh (left) and Advisor Security R K Shukla (right)

As part of the proceedings of the inaugural session of National Safety Day, CMD also launched the Health Safety and Environment Management System Document (Greenbook), Safety souvenir, the 'Online HSE Quiz' and a 'Safety' promotional video film.

RKSV Securities crosses Rs 3000-crore exchange turnover at NSE

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

MUMBAI, MARCH 04 :
RKSV Securities, a three year old retail brokerage firm, has  crossed Rs. 3000 crore at the National Stock Exchange and has become leading brokerage firms of India in terms of turnover.

Specialising  in discount brokerage, RKSV Securities leveraged state of the art technology and centralized operations to provide cost effective services in India. It also introduced unique and value for money offers through its innovative, brokerage free pricing plans: the 1947 Freedom Plan, Dream plan and Currency 999 Plan- that gained traction with the trading community.

“When we started operations in India three years back, the nation was in the middle of a recession. We also saw that the technology used by the leading brokerages was elementary and our experience in the US showed that there was sufficient room for technological improvement. By focusing on technology and unbeatable pricing models that provided astronomical discounts on brokerage, we could make deep dents in the market,” disclosed Mr. Raghu Kumar, Co-Founder, RKSV Securities.            

GAIL releases its second
Sustainability Report 

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 28 :
THE Chairman and Managing Director of GAIL (India) Mr B C Tripathi, released its Sustainability Report for the year 2011-12 on the theme "Shaping the Future" in the presence of Mr R D Goyal, Director (Projects), Mr S L. Raina, Director (Human Resources), Mr Prabhat Singh, Director (Marketing), Mr S Venkatraman, Director (Business Development), Mr P K Jain, Director (Finance) and Mr Rajesh Ranjan, CVO and senior officials..

GAIL joins the group of one of the first few corporates, sharing a Sustainability roadmap in form of the Sustainable Development Aspirations 2020 for driving its Sustainability journey.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr  B C Tripathi, Chairman and Managing Director, GAIL said that “through small steps every day and by working together with our employees, suppliers, customers, governments and communities, we plan to create a better tomorrow and help shape the future of millions of people towards achieving shared objectives”.

In line with this thought, this Sustainability Report is a transparent and fair communication of our efforts on fostering sustainable development and how these will help in “Shaping the Future” of our stakeholders.

GAIL has produced a stakeholder-centric report reflecting on strategies and actions towards analyzing impacts and working towards creating a “positive stakeholder value”.  The report has been developed in line with the requirements of Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) latest G3.1 guidelines on Sustainability Reporting and the Oil & Gas Sector Supplement (OGSS).

The externally assured Type II Moderate Level report has been awarded the GRI G3.1+OGSS Application Level Compliant A+ in accordance with AA1000AS (2008) guidelines. The report addresses the nine principles of National Voluntary Guidelines on Social, Environmental and Economic responsibilities of business, published by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India. This helps us to address sustainability issues that are material to the Indian context.

The report also refers to Principles and disclosure requirements under United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and also to the Oil and Gas industry guidance on voluntary sustainability reporting (2010) developed by IPIECA, the global oil and gas industry association for environmental and social issues and the American Petroleum Institute (API)

The report focuses upon GAIL’s endeavour to make a positive impact upon economic growth, ecological balance and social progress through a robust top-to-bottom Governance structure. In this regard GAIL has ingrained Sustainability at all levels through Sustainable Development Board Committee, Sustainable Development Steering Committee, Multidisciplinary Site Committees, and dedicated Sustainability Team.

Petroleum Secretary applauds ONGC

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau  

Petroleum Secretary Vivek Rae (right) with ONGC CMD Sudhir Vasudeva at ONGC Plant at Dahej

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 28 : THE Petroleum Secretary Vivek Rae applauded the significant contribution of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to India's energy sector.

He was taken around the C2-C3 plant there by ONGC CMD Sudhir vasudeva, Director (HR) K S Jamestin and Director (Offshore) P K Borthakur.

HUDCO Design Awards 2012
conferred on winning participants

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

L to R : Mr A.K Misra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, and Mr VP Baligar, CMD , HUDCO at the Award Presentation Ceremony for HUDCO Design Awards 2012 in New Delhi on Friday

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 22 : HOUSING and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), national level techno-financial organization in the housing and urban development sector , honoured winning participants with HUDCO Design Awards at a function here on Friday. The awards were given away by Mr A K Misra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Govt of India. 

The Award has 5 categories and includes Hudco Design Award  trophy and prize money of Rs. 4 lakh  and Rs. 2 lakh each for First and Second Prize winners respectively in each category.  Commendation Prize contains prize money of Rs. 50,000 each .

A three-member jury consisting of eminent architect, planners and landscape specialists, judged the entries.  The Jury chose 17 winning entries in total, which included 1st and 2nd Prize in four categories and in the category  “Cost Effective Rural /Urban Housing including Disaster Resistant Housing” the Jury recommended 4 commendation prizes. Category “Green Buildings” also has two commendation prizes. There is commendation prize one each in rest of the three categories. The HUDCO Design Award 2012 winners are:

Category New & Innovative Design Solutions / Ecocities

First Prize: Design and Planning Counsel Pvt. Ltd. Ahmedabad for the project “Integrated Township at Mangalore, Karnataka”. 

Second prize BUILDKRAFFT, Raipur Development Authority, & Department of Housing & Environment, Govt. of Chhattisgarh for the project “Town Development Scheme 4, Kamal Vihar, Chhattisgarh”. 

Commendation Prize: Ar. Manish Bhutada, Shunya Consultants Akola for the project “Implementation of Integrated Housing & Slum Dev. Programme at Lonar, Maharashtra.”
 
Category: Conservation of Heritage

First Prize: Prof. Utpal Sharma, CEPT University Ahmedabad for the project “Restoration and Revitalization of Bhadra Fort and its Precincts, Ahmedabad”.
 
Second Prize:  Aga Khan Trust for Culture New Delhi for the project “Conservation of Hazrat Nizamuddin Baoli, New Delhi”. 

Commendation Prize: Ar. Anjan Mitra, The Appropriate Alternative Kolkata for the project “Conservation of Typical Residential Typology”. 

Category: Green Buildings

First Prize: Anangpur Building Centre Faridabad for the project “A Bio-climatic Primary School Complex, Vadodara”. 

Second Prize: Harmony Architects and Planners Vadodara for the project “Residence at Vadodara”.  Commendation Prizes:

1.         Ar. P.B. Sajan & Shaileja Nair Thiruvananthapuram for the project “Residence at Powdikonam, Thiruvananthapuram” &
2.         Landmark Design Group Pune for the project “Administrative Building for PCNTDA, Pune”. 

Category: Landscape Planning & Design

First Prize: Mehta & Associates Indore for the project “Conservation of lake Front Development for Piplyapala Lake, Indore”.
 
Second Prize: Dr. Rajiv Khanna New Delhi for the project “Landscape Conservation at Smriti Van, Bio-Diversity Forest, Jaipur”. 

Commendation Prize: Ravi Kumar & Associates Chennai for the project “Tapovan: the silent garden at Pavachur, Chennai”. 

Category: Cost effective Rural / Urban Housing including Disaster Resistant Housing.  Commendation Prizes :

1.         AXIS Ranchi for the project Rehabilitation & Resettlement Colony, Urej Village, Jharkhand,
2.         COSTFORD Thiruvananthapuram for the project Karimadom Colony, Thiruvananthapuram,
3.         Sunil Kumar Chaudhary Patna for the project Construction of Cost Effective Disaster Resistant Rural Houses in Khirhar, Bihar &
4.         AE Studio New Delhi for the project Amroha Greens, Amroha, UP. 

ONGC Director (HR) honoured
at World HRD Congress

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

ONGC Director (HR) K S Jamestin (extreme right) receiving the HR Excellence Award at World HRD Congress from Lyonpo Dorji Wangdi, the Minister for Labour and Human Resources, Govt of Bhutan and Dr Bhaskar Chatterjee, IAS, Director General and CEO-Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs

"By appreciation, we make excellence in others our own property". - Voltaire

The award was presented to the ONGC Director (HR) K S Jamestin by Mr Lyonpo Dorji Wangdi, the Minister for Labour and Human Resources, Govt. of Bhutan and Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, IAS, Director General and CEO-Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs. .

At the same time, ONGC was awarded the coveted award of the "Most Caring HR Organization". ONGC was also presented the Award for having the "Best CSR Practices" by the World CSR Congress on the World CSR Day.

The company’s human resource management practices and policies are crucial to creating and maintaining a positive work culture, one that rewards, supports and expects employees to consistently and thoughtfully focus on the  quality of their work and services.

GAIL commences gas
supply to Bengaluru

Signs gas transmission agreement with KPCLfor Bidadi Power Plant

Thesynergyonline Coprporate Bureau

BENGALURU, , FEBRUARY 18 :
THE gas supply to the city of Bengaluru has commenced. The ‘gas-in’ for Bengaluru city from the Dabhol-Bengaluru pipeline constructed by GAIL was done by Dr. M Veerappa Moily, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas here on Monday.. A gas transmission agreement was also signed between GAIL (India) and Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) in the presence of the  Minister also laid the foundation stone for construction of natural gas pipeline to Chikaballapur.

Mr Moily also commenced the gas supply from GAIL’s Dabhol-Bengaluru pipeline to industries in the state. Gas supplies to Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts for their 6.5 MW power plant have also commenced today.

The gas supply to Bengaluru has been commenced from GAIL’s Dabhol-Bengaluru 1000 km pipeline constructed at an investment of Rs. 4,500 crore with a design capacity of 16 MMSCMD of natural gas.

This initiative of GAIL will bring natural gas to the people of Karnataka for the first time.

The pipeline passes through Belgaum, Dharwad, Gadag, Bellary, Devanagere,  Chitradurga, Tumkur, Ramanagaram, Bengaluru Rural and Bengaluru Urban. It traverses through 18 National Highways, 382 other Road crossings, 20 Railway crossings, 83 Cased crossings and 276 Watr Body crossings including Asia’s largest river crossing in rocky terrain at Ghatprabha.

The project involved laying of 73 km of 18 inch diameter pipeline in the city of Bengaluru. With only 25 km stretch passing through Reserve Forest Area, it goes through 11 major river crossings including Zuari, Shastri, Ghad and Ghatprabha.

The gas transmission agreement between GAIL and KPCL provides for supply of 2.1 MMSCMD of natural gas from GAIL’s Dabhol-Bengaluru pipeline to feed KPCL’s power plant for 700 MW of power generation at Bidadi. The supplies shall begin within the next 30 months.

The Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas also laid the foundation stone to mark the beginning of the construction of gas pipeline to Chikballapur.

Wins 'Golden Peacock National
Quality Award-2012'  

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

Justice M N Venkatachaliah (fourth from left), Chairman Institute of Directors (IOD) Advisory Committee and Former Chief Justice of India presenting the Golden Peacock National Quality Award-2012 to ONGC.

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 18 :
OIL and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has won the 'Golden Peacock National Quality Award-2012' yet another time! The Golden Peacock National Quality Award is an annual award administered by the Golden Peacock Award Secretariat, as a part of the activities of The Institute of Directors, New Delhi.

The award was presented to ONGC by Justice M N Venkatachaliah, Chairman IOD Advisory Committee and Former Chief Justice of India. 

The Royal Mint expands into Indian market with first Indian sovereign 

"It is great to see gold Sovereign coins being introduced back into India for the first time in almost 100 years. This will no doubt be a boost for The Royal Mint as they re-enter the largest gold market in the world." British Prime Minister David Cameron

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau  

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 18:
INDIA’S gold producer MMTC – RAMP will produce the gold sovereign commemorative coins in India for the first time in nearly a century. with a new partnership with The Royal Mint.

The first production run will be for 50,000 pieces and will be available in the market immediately.

The significant development, revealed on Monday in New Delhi, will allow the Indian public to purchase genuine versions of the sovereign,the famous coins and a lasting symbol of beauty and integrity. These commemorative sovereigns, struck in India by MMTC-PAMP using tools and techniques developed by The Royal Mint in South Wales, UK, will be  available to the Indian market and will carry the special mint mark “I” to show that they have been manufactured there.

India is the largest market in the world for gold, and the gold medal market is estimated at c.80 tonnes by GMFS. Gold coins play a key role in Indian wedding ceremonies and festivals throughout the year.

Residents of India have been unable to buy genuine commemorative sovereigns since 1918, when The Royal Mint operated a branch mint in India for a single year during which a staggering 1,300,000 Sovereigns were struck.

This new agreement will seek to re-establish The Royal Mint brand and the iconic sovereign in this major market.  This will allow the Indian public to buy an authentic UK commemorative sovereign specially minted in India for the first time in almost 100 years.

Deputy Master of The Royal Mint, Adam Lawrence said, “The partnership with MMTC-PAMP India will introduce genuine commemorative sovereigns back into the Indian market, satisfying significant demand for the coin, and allow The Royal Mint to develop a new revenue stream”.  

Mr Mehdi Barkhodar, Chairman of MMTC-PAMP and Managing Director of PAMP SA said, “The return of the authentic Royal Mint commemorative sovereign to India has been a much-anticipated event. The Indian consumer deserves nothing but the best, however, until now their only option was to buy replica sovereign coins. The re-emergence of the highly-prized authentic sovereign coins will be warmly welcomed by those wishing to purchase the genuine article for their wedding or special occasion”.

Shane Bissett, The Royal Mint’s Director of Commemorative Coin and Bullion said ,“The sovereign is the oldest traded commemorative coin that is still manufactured today and is also the most precisely specified gold coin. Its quality and specification is protected by the annual Trial of the Pyx; at over 750 years old the oldest quality control process still being used today. The commemorative coins struck in India will go through this quality processin the same way as all UK coins. This opportunity allows The Royal Mint to enter the largest market in the world for gold”

These gold Sovereigns will be available for sale to customers in India, initially at select jewellery outlets in Delhi and subsequently pan-India through MMTC-PAMP India’s distribution network and selected banks.

ONGC creates world record on
drilling deepest water depth well

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

NEW DELHI , FEBRUARY 18 :
OIL and Natural Gas Corporation’s chartered-hired ultradeep water drillship DDKG1 has set a world record for drilling well in deepest water depth by an offshore drilling rig.

The rig DDKG1 has spudded well NA7-1 in exploratory block KG-DWN-2004/1 in east coast India at a water depth of 3165m (10,385 feet) on January  23, 2013.

Thereafter it successfully lowered and latched subsea BOP and riser on wellhead on February  09, 2013 to drill further to TD 5625m. The rig owned by Transocean surpassed Transocean's own prior record of 10,194 feet of water depth, set in 2011 by DDKG2 working for Reliance Industries Ltd., India in east coast.

GAIL (India) Q3 net profit up 18%
year-over-year at Rs 1,285 crore

The profit was on the higher side despite a sharp rise in the company's fuel subsidy outgo at Rs 614 crore from Rs 536.12 crore in 2011-12. 

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 15 :
THE net profit of GAIL (India) increased by 18 per cent year-over- year for the third quarter of the FY 2012-13 (Q3FY13) to Rs 1,285 crore as against Rs 1,091 crore in the second quarter of fiscal 2011-12.

The state-run company registered net profit of Rs 1,284.86 crore in the third quarter (October-December ) as compared to Rs 1,091.42 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2011-12 (Q3FY12), said Chairman and Managing Director of GAIL (India) Mr B C Tripathi at a media conference here on Friday.

The profit was on the higher side despite a sharp increase in the company's fuel subsidy outgo at Rs 614 crore from Rs 536.12 crore in 2011-12.

The company recorded turnover (net of excise duty) of Rs 12,474 crore in the third quarter of FY 2012-13 (Q3FY13) as against Rs.11,260 crore in Q3FY12 , a 11 percent increase over the turnover in the corresponding period in the last financial year.

The gross margin increased by 19 percent to Rs. 2,156 crore in the third quarter of the current financial year against Rs. 1,816 crore in the corresponding period last year. The profit before tax (PBT) increased by 16 percent to Rs. 1,859 crore in the third quarter of the current financial year against Rs. 1,598 crore in the corresponding period last year.

The company registered a turnover (net of excise duty) of Rs. 34,924 crore in the first nine months of FY 2012-13 as against Rs.29,826 Crore, a 17 percent increase over the turnover in the corresponding period last financial year.

The net profit after tax (PAT) for the first nine months of the FY 2012-13 increased by 7 percent to Rs. 3,404 crore against Rs. 3,170 crore in the corresponding period previous year.

The gross margin increased by 10 percent to Rs. 5,765 crore in the first nine months of the current financial year against Rs. 5,250 crore in the corresponding period last year.

The profit before tax (PBT) increased by 7 percent to Rs. 4,917 crore in the nine month of the current financial year against Rs. 4,609 crore in the corresponding period last year.

ONGC bags 'Best Enterprise Award'

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

ONGC Director (HR) Mr K S Jamestin (right) receiveing the Best Enterprise Award from Minister of State, Petroleum and Natural Gas Ms Panabaka Lakshmi (extreme left).

NEW DELHI, FEBRUAEY 13 : OIL and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) bagged the 'Best Enterprise Award' in the Maharatna and Navratna category at Women in Public Sector (WIPS) Award of excellence held in New Delhi. ONGC Director (HR) .K S Jamestin received the award on behalf of ONGC from Minister of State, Petroleum & Natural Gas, Ms Panabaka Lakshmi,

  Mr Jamestin highlighted various initiatives by ONGC to bring gender equity in the oil major. Mr Jamestin emphasized that there were no glass ceilings for women to reach the top and ONGC had policies in place for creating a safe and enabling environment for its women resource. 

IOC Q3 net profit up 33.9% at Rs 3,332 crore

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 13: 
INDIAN Oil Corporation (IOC) registered a net profit of Rs 3,332 crore in the third quarter (October-December) of 2012-13 (Q3FY13) l as against Rs 2,488 crore in the corresponding quarter in the previous year (Q3FY12) , a rise of 33.9 per cent.

The company said that the rise in net profit is because of receiving compensation from upstream companies and the Government for selling fuel below market cost.

“IOC received Rs 13,475 crore from the Government and Rs 8,142 crore from upstream companies in the third quarter of current year,’’ said P.K. Goyal, Director (Finance), IOC.

The company’s turnover increased 12 per cent to Rs 10,7686 crore from Rs 96,006 crore.

The company’s borrowings stood at Rs 94,908 crore as on December 31, 2012 against Rs 75,447 crore as on March 31, 2012, according to  R.S. Butola, Chairman, IOC.

The company paid Rs 5,005 crore as an interest cost on borrowings for the first nine months of the current financial year.

“Higher interest cost is a burden. It is mainly due to delayed compensation. Last year, the total interest cost was Rs 5,600 crore for the complete year,’’ he added..

The public sector refiner and retailer registered a GRM (gross refining margin) of $6.15 a barrel in the third quarter of the current fiscal year against $4.31 in the corresponding period last year.

ONGC Q3 net dips 17.5 % to Rs 5,563 crore on higher subsidy , cess outgoes 

Total total income up 15% at Rs 22,374 crore . The oil major notifies 6 new oil and gas discoveries.

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 11 :
STATE-RUN Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) registered 17.5 per cent decline in net profit to Rs 5,563 crore for the third quarter ended December 31.2012 (Q3FY13) as compared to Rs 6,741 crore for the corresponding quarter of 2011-12 (Q3FY12) .

Higher subsidy outgo and cess impacted the company's profit..

However, total income rose by 15 per cent to Rs 22,374 crore as compared to Rs 19,475 crore in December 2011.

The impact of subsidy on the performance was Rs 7,260 crore in the third quarter ended December 31, 2012 as against Rs 7,172 crore. In the corresponding quarter of 2011.12.

In the third quarter of previous financial year, the oil major received Rs 3,142 crore as extraordinary income for cost-recovery from the Rajasthan asset.

The company shelled out subsidy of Rs 12,433 crore as against Rs 12,536 crore in the third quarter of the fiscal.

The company's cess outgo has increased by 80 per cent.

ONGC's crude oil production was down 3.02 per cent to 6.055 million tonnes (mt) against 6.244 mt in the same quarter last fiscal.

In the third quarter, the oil major also notified six new oil and gas discoveries.
In the third quarter ended December 31, 2012.

SPMCIL urged to focus its marketing activities to source new business areas

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

NEW DELHI , FEBRUARY 11 :
THE Minister of State (MoS) for Finance, Govt. of India Mr Namo Narain Meena, urged Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd.(SPMCIL) to focus its marketing activities to source new business opportunities and diversified into unexplored and newer business areas.

He also stressed that the business areas of non coinage business specially medal, medallion, weight and measures, and forms / documents which are prone to counterfeiting viz. degree certificates, statutory certificates, are potential areas where SPMCIL must focus its marketing activities.

Mr Meena was speaking at the Foundation Day function of SPMCIL at India Security Press, Nashik. Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd.(SPMCIL) is, a wholly- owned Company of the Government of India .

Mr Meena was the chief guest on the occasion. The programme was presided over by Mr M.S. Rana, CMD, SPMCIL.

Mr Meena, recognized the efforts of the SPMCIL for introducing new products and expected that SPMCIL would continue to strengthen its efforts in research and development to introduce better products with innovative features.
He also stressed that SPMCIL must strive to introduce best quality security products with lesser cost so as to be competitive in the International Market.

He also inaugurated state-of-the-art BPS 2000 Machine at CNP Nashik and laid foundation stone for Six Colour Offset Printing Machine at ISP Nashik. Later, Mr Meena felicitated the individual employees for their outstanding performance in 2011-12 He also felicitated the SPMCIL units for their excellent contribution in the year 2011-12.

He felicitated CNP Nashik with CMD Cup for the best performing SPMCIL unit. He also felicitated BNP Dewas and CNP Nashik as winner and runner up team respectively of inter unit cricket tournament held at ISP Nashik.

Mr M.S. Rana, CMD SPMCIL informed that the turnover of the company has increased to Rs.3423 crore and profit after tax (PAT) has increased to Rs.582.46 crore. During 2011-12, PAT per employee has increased to Rs.4.54 lakh.

The company paid the highest ever dividend of Rs.116.49 crore in 2011-12.

Mr Rana further informed that SPMCIL has been able to double the production of coins, increase the Bank Notes production by 60 per cent from the existing resources while manpower has been reduced by about one third. | Dr. Farooq Abdullah launches unique initiative in Kerala to generate 10 MW solar power

Encomium for national energy security

ONGCians 'Energy Soldiers ' of
India , says Laskshmi Panabaka

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

ONGC CMD Sudhir Vasudeva (left) handing over a model offshore platform to the Petroleum Minister of State Ms. Lakshmi Panabaka in the latter's visit to ONGC offshore platform on Arabian Sea.

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 09 :
THE Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas Ms. Lakshmi Panabaka voiced her admiration for the dedication and hard work with which engineers of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) are striving to provide energy security to the nation. Terming ONGCians as 'The 'Energy Soldiers' of India', the Minister complimented ONGC for finding incremental oil in D-1 field, the 3rd largest field in Western Offshore after Mumbai High and Neelam & Heera.

She said this during her visit to ONGC's offshore platform on Arabian Sea earlier this week.

ONGC CMD Sudhir Vasudeva (left) handing over a model offshore platform to the Petroleum Minister of State Ms. Lakshmi Panabaka in the latter's visit to ONGC offshore platform on Arabian Sea. The Minister admired the efforts of ONGC for national energy security.

Hindalco Q3 net profit declines
4% to Rs 434 crore

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

The company had reported net profit of Rs 450.69 crore in the same period last fiscal.

Net sales of the company was up 3 per cent to Rs 6,789.90 crore in the quarter as against Rs 6,590.23 crore of the October-December quarter of FY'12,

Company's revenues from aluminium business were down nearly 1 per cent to Rs 2,215.45 crore, while revenues from copper business were up 5.49 per cent to Rs 4,660.84 crore in the quarter.

In the third quarter of FY12, Hindalco had reported 2,236.19 crore revenues from aluminium and Rs 4,418.15 crore revenues from copper.

Besides, its finance costs also zoomed nearly 113 per cent to Rs 168.98 crore, while other income rose nearly 3.5 times to Rs 318.08 crore.

The company's finance cost rose on greater average borrowings in the quarter... The company drew $100 million finance from Export Development Canada for its Mahan Aluminium project. This is part of the overall financial closure for the project.

The other income, at Rs 318.08 crore, was "stronger given an enhanced average treasury, along with income of non-recurring nature".

Higher volumes have resulted in 11 per cent increase in revenue from operations on a sequential basis. Its EBITDA grew by 13 per cent largely from improved performance over Q2FY13. Other income was stronger, given an enhanced average treasury, along with income of non-recurring nature.

The company's aluminium sales grew by 5 per cent to Rs. 2,215 crore from Rs. 2,105 crore in Q2FY13 led by higher volumes.

The performance of aluminium business improved on the back of ramp-up at both the smelters, after the operational set-backs in Q2FY13. The total metal production stood at 139 Kt compared to 128 Kt in Q2FY13. VAP sales were 59 Kt vs. 62 Kt in Q213 due to poor market conditions.

Alumina production was marginally lower at 326 Kt vs. 328 Kt in Q2FY13, on account of lower production at the Belgaum Refinery, reflecting the constraints in the availability of bauxite for this plant.

The capital employed in the auminium business was Rs. 29,821 crore as on December 31, 2012, which is inclusive of Rs. 20,971 crore pertaining to the new investments, viz., Mahan Aluminium, Hirakud FRP and Aditya Aluminium projects.
Copper

The company's revenue rose by 15 per cent , driven by higher volumes to Rs. 4,661 crore from Rs. 4,066 crore in Q2FY13. The EBIT of the Copper Business grew by 8 per cent to Rs. 225 crore vs. Rs. 209 crore in Q2FY13.

HCC-Samsung joint venture bags
Rs 866- crore contract from DMRC

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 08 :
HINDUSTAN Construction Company (HCC) in joint venture with Samsung C&T has been awarded a contract worth Rs 866 crore by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for design and construction of 4.4 km long tunnel on Janakpuri West–Kalindi Kunj Corridor under Phase III of the metro development.

This is the fifth contract being awarded to HCC by DMRC. HCC and Samsung are 50:50 partners in the joint venture and HCC is the leader of the Joint Venture. The project will be completed in 39 months.

The tunnel will be constructed using  shield tunnel boring machine. The contract also include construction of 3 underground metro stations and related architectural works at Janakpuri West, Dabri Mor and Dashrath Puri and interchange facilities between existing elevated metro station and proposed underground metro station using cut and cover method.

The scope of work also include design and construction of associated structures such as ancillary buildings , utilities galleries, AC plant room, ASS rooms, TVF rooms, system rooms and all other rooms, shafts, pump houses, water tanks, diesel generator set room.

Previously HCC has been involved in construction of three packages namely MC1A, AMEL C1 and AMEL C6. Recently HCC has been awarded the contract for design and construction of package CC30.
•        MC1A package involved 4.142 km long tunnel from Vishwavidyalaya Station to ISBT station. The project was completed eight months ahead of schedule in December 2004.
•        C1 and C6 packages were part of the Airport Express line. C1 included a 2.2 km long twin bored tunnel and a 1.3km cut and cover tunnel through the VIP areas of the national capital while package C6 involved 2.6km long NATM tunnel. The route alignment for this Metro line passed below various heritage structures and buildings of national importance. The tunneling depth below the Rajiv Chowk Metro station at 44m was the deepest ever for the Delhi Metropolitan Region, going below two existing lines. C1 was awarded in Sept 2007 and completed in Jul 2010 whereas C6 was awarded in Dec 2007 and completed in Feb 2011.
•        C30 package of 2.2km twin tunnel between Shalimar Baug and Netaji Subhash Place stations on the Mukundpur- Yamuna Vihar corridor was awarded in October 2012. 

GAIL, EDF Trading sign MoU to acquire oil and gas assets in North America 

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

GAIL CMD Mr B C Tripathi and John Rittenhouse, Chief Executive of EDF Trading exchanging documents post signing MoU in New York on Saturday ( February 2 ) in the presence of Dr M Veerappa Moily, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas.

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 07 : STATE-OWNED gas utility GAIL India said on Thursday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with EDF Trading for jointly acquiring and developing upstream oil and gas assets in North America and to partner in trading and optimization of the US gas/ liquefied natural gas (LNG).  

"The advent of shale gas in the US bodes very well for the global hydrocarbon landscape and this partnership is expected to look for business opportunities in this exciting space in order to enhance the oil and gas sourcing prospects for India", he said.

GAIL( India) has a 20 per cent stake in Carrizo Oil's Eagle Shale gas assets in Texas, US and has also signed to import 3.5 million tons of liquid gas, called LNG, from Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass shale gas project in Louisiana.

The company is also eyeing tieup with more liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US.

GAIL is also eyeing relaxation in LNG export policy of the US before tying up more gas for meeting growing energy demand back home.

Mr, B.C. Tripathi, Chairman and Managing Director of GAIL (India) stated, "This is an important occasion for GAIL and we are happy to enter into this strategic relationship with EDFT, a major player in the US gas market. GAIL has extensive infrastructure in the midstream and downstream gas value chain and we are well positioned to meet the growing domestic demand in India"

"There are significant opportunities in the North American gas markets and we are pleased to be partnering with GAIL, one of the world's leading gas companies, in jointly developing this orward to building a long term relationship with GAIL", he said.

Grooming of younger talent in ONGC figures prominently at XI Conclave 

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

ONGC CMD Sudhir Vasudeva addressing the XI ONGC Conclave at Kollam in Kerala.

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 07 : GROOMING of the younger generation of ONGCians to take up lead positions in next two decades was one of the prime agenda at  the XI ONGC Conclave held at Kollam in Kerala. The institution of ONGC Conclave brings together the past and present leadership of the oil major to share values that have catalysed the growth of the Maharatna.

The two-day Conclave from February  2 to 3, 2013, deliberated on the entire business chain  of ONGC ranging from Human Resources, Business Model, Exploration, R&D, E&P infrastructure, Overseas growth to unconventional energy sources and non-E&P exposure.

In his inaugural address, ONGC  CMD Mr. Sudhir Vasudeva said, “In ONGC, we have always adopted a ‘People First’ policy and in the Perspective Plan 2030 (PP-2030) as well, the cornerstone of success will be our people and the emerging leadership. A generation of our veteran oil men is on the verge of demitting office and we will see a massive crew change in next 2-3 years and a new leadership will emerge with the mandate of implementing PP-2030. It is this band of promising executives that we are now in the process of positioning as our leadership pipeline development initiative.”

ONGC bags India's Pride Award for
Excellence in Oil and Gas sector

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

A warmth of encomium : ONGC CMD Sudhir Vasudeva (left) receiving the India's Pride Award from Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas Dr M Veerappa Moily.

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 04 : EXCELLENCE is the Result of Caring more than others think is Wise, Risking more than others think is Safe, Dreaming more than others think is Practical, and Expecting more than others think is Possible." ― Ronnie Oldham. 

The Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr M Veerappa Moily, gave away the award to the Chairman and Managing Director of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Mr Sudhir Vasudeva in New Delhi.

Mr Vasudeva said it gave him immense pride to be at the helm of an organization that leads India’s pursuit of the cherished goal of 'energy security'.

He informed that ONGC, which currently produced 71 per cent of the country's oil production and 54 per cent of its gas output, was well set to achieve even greater milestones in the next two decades with the adoption of Perspective Plan 2030, which had set an aggressive agenda to steer ONGC's next stage of growth.

A saga of outstanding performance pays off  

Moily felicitates GAIL (India) on
attaining Maharatna status  

A Maharatna ((Maha=Vast and Ratna=Gemstone) firm can take investment decision of up to Rs 5,000 crore without going to the government. For Navratna firms this limit is Rs 1,000 crore.

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 01 :
INDIA’S largest public sector natural gas processing and distribution  major GAIL (India) , under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, on Friday  was accorded the Maharatna status by the Government of India. This was announced by Dr M Veerappa Moily, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas at a  media briefing.

Dr  M Veerappa Moily, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas felicitated the GAIL team on achieving this recognition.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Moily said that GAIL (India) is the third PSU under the Ministry of Petroleum and  Natural Gas which has been accorded the Maharatna status. It is also the youngest public sector undertaking to be accorded this recognition.

He said, “I congratulate GAIL (India) on this achievement. The conferring of Maharatna status is a befitting recognition of GAIL’s effort and performance towards enhancing gas availability and distribution across the entire country. GAIL will continue its efforts for ensuring energy security for the country”.

"The competent authority has approved the grant of Maharatna status for GAIL (India) which will give the public sector unit greater financial autonomy,"according to Secretary in the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) O P Rawat..

A Maharatna ((Maha=Vast and Ratna=Gemstone) firm can take investment decision of up to Rs 5,000 crore without going to the government. For Navratna firms, this limit is Rs 1,000 crore.

The apex committee, headed by Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth, has approved the proposal for awarding the status to the PSU as it meeta  the eligibility criteria to qualify for the status.

This is the latest in the series of recognitions received by GAIL (India). In the recent past, GAIL(India) has been recognized as Asia’s no. 1 Gas Utility and the world’s No. 1 Downstream company apart from consistent excellence awards for MoU performance.

The Chairman and Managing Director, GAIL (India), Mr  B C Tripathi said, “The new Maharatna PSU GAIL would continue to work with renewed dedication and vigour for ensuring energy security of the country and spreading the benefits of wealth creation to the society at large.”

The Maharatna status will provide greater flexibility in day to day operations of the company with enhanced powers to accord approvals, to make equity investment to establish financial JVs and wholly- owned subsidiaries and undertake mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in India or abroad.

MRPL Q3 net loss at Rs 360 crore ;
net revenue up at Rs 18, 760 crore 

Thesynergyobnlibne Corporate Bureau

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 31 :
MANGALORE Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) , a subsidiary company of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), reported third quarter (Q3FY13) net loss at Rs 360 crore as against profit of Rs 110 crore, year-on-year.

Its net revenue was up at Rs 18,760 crore as against Rs 13,650 crore y-o-y . Its GRM stands at US$ 1.89 per barrel versus US$ 7.24 per barrel.

It also regisetred forex loss of Rs 257 crore versus loss of Rs 440 crore, year-on-year.

The company has posted negative EBITA during the quarter in view of inventory and exchange losses, though it has earned an operating margin.

THe company has posted an operating margin of $ 3.27 /bbl before considering the inventory loss of 213 crore. The physical performance in the Q3 of 2012-13 was higher with a crude throughput of 3.81 MMT.

However there is a negative PAT of Rs 360 crore (after considering Rs 155 crore as depreciation, Rs 78 crore as interest cost, net foreign exchange loss of Rs 257 crore) due primarily to exchange and inventory loss as compared to corresponding quarter of 2011-12.

The profit and expenses for the corresponding quarter of 2011-12 are PAT of Rs 110 crore (after considering Rs 117 crore as depreciation, Rs 42 crore as interest cost and foreign exchange loss of Rs 440 crore).

For nine months the company posted an operating margin of US$ 3.15 /bbl as against US$ 3.50 /bbl in the corresponding period. The reduction in margin for the period was due mainly to exchange loss of 622 crore and inventory loss of 229 crore.

The PAT for the nine months of FY 2012-13 is also negative at Rs 695 crore as against profit of Rs 307 crore of the corresponding nine months of FY 2011-12.

The company has achieved a turnover of Rs 49,371 crore (exports Rs 23,664 crore) for the nine months period ended December 31 , 2012 as against Rs 40,561 crore (exports Rs 16,523 crore) in the earlier period, showing an increase of 22 per cent on the total turnover and increase of 43 per cent on the export turnover.

Panegyric on achievement in energy sector  

ONGC CMD an outstanding leader of India's energy Industry: Moily

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

ONGC CMD Sudhir Vasudeva (middle) presenting a memento to the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy (left) and the Union Petroleum & Natural Gas Minister Veerappa Moily (right) applauding.

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 30 :
THE performance of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is no less than the world's best Exploration & Production (E&P) companies, underlined Dr. Veerappa Moily, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, at the Foundation Stone Laying of ONGC Green Building in Hyderabad.

The Minister was firm in the belief that with 'outstanding leaders like Mr. Sudhir Vasudeva, in India's energy sector' the country would scale greater heights by securing much required oil and gas.

Echoing the ONGC Perspective Plan 2030, Dr. Moily exuded confidence that India with energy charioteers like ONGC would achieve self-sufficiency by 2030. Dr. Moily congratulated CMD for conceptualizing the innovative venture of ONGC Green Building and termed that the building would be a 'pace-setter' for green initiatives in India.

ONGC CMD rewards top
performers on Republic Day

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

ONGC CMD Sudhir vasudeva (left) presenting the Subir Raha award to ONGC Executive Director (Hazira Plant ) V.K. Jain.

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 29: MAHARATNA oil major Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) celebrated India's 64th Republic Day, which was marked by awards for the top performers of the corporation.  

ONGC CMD Sudhir Vasudeva presented the annual awards to inspire excellence in professional performance for the cause of the nation.

Mr Vasudeva also interacted with a large number of ONGC veterans, senior executives, employees and their families on the eve of Republic Day at Dehradun.

One of the main awards is the Subir Raha memorial award which was conceived by ONGC around 5 years ago, in memory of ONGC's former CMD Subir Raha, who has recently been ranked as one of the world's top CEOs (13th place from the top) by the Harvard Business Review (HBR).

UN registers two more CDM
projects of ONGC 

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

NEW DELHI , JANUARY 29 :
UNITED Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has registered two Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Projects of ONGC. The projects are Green Building at Mumbai and Green Building at Dehradun.

With these registrations, the total number of registered CDM projects of ONGC has risen upto eight, which is the highest no. Pf CDM Projects registered by a CPSE.

Across the globe, only a few energy efficient buildings have been successfully registered so far for their entire energy efficient features. Only one building has been registered in India till date.

Go green energy initiative  

ONGC among select few global
oil majors in green rankings

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 24 :
"THE system of nature, of which man is a part, tends to be self-balancing, self-adjusting, self-cleansing. Not so with technology, said E.F. Schumacher, Small is Beautiful, 1973 . This quote expresses concern on constantly creating technological novelties in modern industrial economy just to foster invention affecting environment without respect to their human consequences.

This particular accomplishment by India’s energy anchor is highly noticeable in the Indian context as the few Indian companies ranked higher than ONGC are mostly from IT and banking sector, having lesser environmental footprints and impacts due to the inherent nature of their business.

Indiabulls Financial Services Q3
PAT up at Rs 327.16 crore

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 24 :
INDIABULLS Financial Services registered   profit after tax (PAT) of Rs. 327.16 crore, up by 30.84 per cent in the third quarter (April- December ) of financial year 2012-13 (Q3FY13)  from Rs 250.05 crore in the same period last year.  

The company announced its second interim dividend of Rs 5.5 per share of face value Rs 2 amounting to a total dividend of Rs. 13.5 per share for 9 M FY12-13 .

The company registered asset under management (AUM)  at Rs 32,551 crore, y-o-y growth of 30 per cent . The company’s gross and net NPAs are at 0.76 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively Return on equity (RoE) is 24.13 per cent  (annualised)
 
The company’s consolidated total revenues stood at Rs 1,220.59 crore in Q3 FY 2012-2013, up by 25.6 per cent from Rs 971.81 crore in quarter ended on December 31, 2011 .
 
Supported by long term rating of AA+, outstanding long-term bonds at the end of Q3 FY 2012-13, have grown to Rs. 8,614 crore and now forms 29 per cent  of the total borrowings, up from 23 per cent a year ago
 
Mr. Gagan Banga, CEO, Indiabulls Financial Services , stated that “Over the last four weeks, the company has seen a reducing trend in its cost of borrowings which augurs well for the business of the company in the coming quarters”.

5ideas,TIE Pune jontly hold 'Startup Superfuel Pit Stop' in Pune 

To commune startup funding environment in digital space

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

 
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 24 :
STARTUP Superfuel (a 5ideas initiative), the first seed fund cum accelerator in India, has launched a series of city level meetups called “Startup Superfuel Pit Stop” for early stage businesses. For the upcoming session which is going to be held in Pune, 5ideas has joined hands with TIE Pune to conduct a 3-hour session for startup entrepreneurs.

The session is to be conducted on January 28,  2013 at SumantMoolgaonkar Hall, MCCIA, ICC towers, A Wing, Ground floor, SenapatiBapat Road, Pune from 6 pm onwards.
 
The first part of the event from 6 pm to 8 pm will be a group session on "Funding Start ups in the Digital Economy: Bridging the Entrepreneur-VC Gap" in collaboration with TIE Pune.

The second part of the event from 8 pm to 9:00 pm will be the "Startup Superfuel Pit Stop" where 8 selected businesses will have one –one interactions with the Startup Superfuel Partners Gaurav Kachru and Pearl Uppal
 
Speaking about the session Gaurav Kachru Founder 5ideas said, “Over the last few years, there has been a tremendous change in the start up funding environment, particularly in the digital space. With the advent of new players and tremendous growth of the innovation eco-system, new opportunities to grow and fund startups have emerged. Accelerators, Seed Funds, Angel Networks & VC funds have proliferated while the lines between them have blurred. The session aims to de-mystify and give clear thought to entrepreneurs on how to navigate and raise money in this new environment.”
 
The session in partnership with TIE Pune shall try and address some relevant questions. Who are the key participants in the digital funding landscape and how are they different from each other? How do investors view early stage businesses and why do they value them differently? Is there a preferred type of investor to my stage of business (matching businesses to funding partners)? What constitutes a Successful POC? What do Investors look for in a business? In addition, the session will also address some Dos & Don'ts to help get your business funded quickly.
 
 
Speaking about the Startup Superfuel Pit Stops, Pearl Uppal Founder 5ideassaid “ Startup Superfuel, a key initiative of 5ideas, is a seedfund with a difference. We invest an optimum mix of human, social and financial capital to boost early stage businesses.  Startup Superfuel Pit Stops are city level meetupswhere we spend 15 minutes each with selected businesses giving insights and feedback to the founders on their business plan, key metrics to focus on while building their business and how to go about raising funds.”

“Also, we give specific feedback on investment potential for these startups from The Startup Superfuel Fund. We are very excited to host our second Pit Stop at Pune after our first one in Mumbai (earlier this month) which received tremendous response,” he added.

MSTC presents bonus share
certificate to Steel Minister 

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

 NEW DELHI, JANUARY 24 :
THE Union Minister of Steel, Mr  Beni Prasad Verma was presented  a bonus share certificate comprising  59,29,800 equity shares of Rs10 each by Mr  S.K. Tripathi, CMD, MSTC on Thursday.

The company declared bonus share in the ratio of 3:1 (i.e. 3 equity shares against one equity share held) during the year 2012-13. The authorized capital of company is Rs 50 crore and paid-up capital is Rs 8.80 crore.

For the year 2011-12, the company reported profit  before tax  (PAT) of Rs176.15 crore, 18 per cent higher than last year. The volume of business was Rs  21,751 crore which is around 54 per cent  more than last year.

The company’s profit per employee during 2011-12 was Rs. 58 lakh.

ONGC Director-HR honoured
with HR Leadership Award

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

ONGC Director-HR Mr. K S Jamestin

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 22 :
"SUCCESSFUL HR leaders must now have a vision for their companies success , make our decisions based on empirical evidence and accept responsibility for the results of those decision", said J. Randall MacDonald. 

So is inevitable corollary to exemplary HR practices in transformative leadership and HR management practices as ample reflection of the myriad of capabilities and thought leadership of the man who steers the human resource function at the profitable public sector organization Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)

In line with the premise of best HR practices ONGC Diector-HR Mr K S Jamestin, was honoured with the "Top Rankers Excellence HR Leadership" award at the JGBS(Jindal Global Business School) Top Rankers Excellence Awards 2013 held in New Delhi.

Also present at the function were Mr. Ajay Shankar, Member Secretary, National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council,  Padmashri Mr. Pritam Singh, Director-General, IMI as distinguished guests, eminent leaders from the industry in the field of Human Resources and eminent academicians.  

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