Gas price hike fruitful if discoms buy costlier power: NTPC

NTPC is focusing on installing Rooftop Solar PV systems at available roof areas in power stations to meet the energy requirements of its various offices.

With the government announcing increase in the price of domestically produced gas, state-run NTPC  said the move will prove beneficial only if the power distribution companies buy the electricity produced from the plants consuming the costlier fuel.

"I hope with this the gas producers will increase production but ultimately it will work when schedule is given by discoms for this (costlier) power," NTPC Chairman Arup Roy Choudhury told reporters here.

He said there will be no impact of gas price increase on NTPC's gas-based plants as they have long term PPAs or power purchase agreements in place.

"No plant is there that is affected other than Ratnagiri," Choudhury said. The company's Ratnagiri plant gets gas from Reliance Industries ' KG-D6 oil fields.

On the coal block auction, he said, "We have no problem with the auction and whatever increase is there in price due to the auction, it will be passed on to the consumer, the mines that I have are likely to produce 1.25 million tonnes of fuel."

NTPC today installed 110 kWp (kilowatt power) Rooftop Solar Photo Voltaic plant at its office here. Choudhury said the company is focusing on installing Rooftop Solar PV systems at available roof areas in power stations to meet the energy requirements of its various offices.

The plant is expected to generate 1,70,000 units of power annually.

NTPC stock price

On October 20, 2014, NTPC closed at Rs 143.60, up Rs 2.55, or 1.81 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 168.80 and the 52-week low was Rs 110.90.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 12.91 per share as per the quarter ended June 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 11.12. The latest book value of the company is Rs 104.08 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 1.38.

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Accelerate India: Technology for growth

A brand new series on CNBC-TV18 puts the spotlight on the transformative role of technology in enabling business and accelerating growth. Through the series we will be looking at different sectors and themes where information technology is helping the growth of modern India.

A brand new series on CNBC-TV18 puts the spotlight on the transformative role of technology in enabling business and accelerating growth. Through the series we will be looking at different sectors and themes where information technology is helping the growth of modern India.

On the curtain raiser, Shereen Bhan is in conversation with Microsoft India's Bhaskar Pramanik and Karan Bajwa about technology's role in making India excel.

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AI to get Rs 6000cr capital infusion from govt this fiscal

State-owned Air India will get around Rs 3,000 crore more in the later part of this fiscal from the government towards capital infusion and the ailing carrier is expected to make perational profits from the next financial year, a top official of the Ministry of Civil Aviation said.

"Air India has a turnaround plan, under which a little over Rs 6,000 crore has to be infused this year. I think more than half of that has been given already. Another around Rs 3,000 crore will be infused by the end of the financial year," Somasundaram told PTI during his recent visit to Visakhapatnam.

National carrier Air India, which is sitting on a huge debt pile, is surviving on the Rs 30,000-crore government bailout package announced by the Government earlier.

"The problem was they (Air India) had lot of uneconomical routes and lot of loss-making operations. So during the last two to two-and-half years these have been reduced. They have been successful in bringing down the loss substantially. And by 2015, it is expecting to be profitable, that is next financial year," the official said replying to query on the operational profits of the airline.

Air India recently became part of the global airlines' grouping, Star Alliance, which would enable seamless travel to over 1,300 destinations for the national carrier's passengers.

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju had earlier told reporters that Air India's revenues may increase by 4-5 percent by joining the Alliance. 

On reports that the government is mulling setting up a new airport at Visakhapatnam, Somasundaram said there were no such plans as of now.

He said setting up a Greenfield airport depends on the passenger traffic and revenues and at present Visakhapatnam did not fit the bill. 

A senior official of Visakhapatnam airport, which handles 20 flights a day, said it witnessed nearly one million passengers last year. 

The Airport was damaged due to cyclone 'Hudhud' and had to suspend operations for four days before partially resuming functions for commercial aircraft.

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HSCL sitting on highest-ever order book at over Rs 6,000 cr

The Kolkata-based company said it received fresh orders worth Rs 2,649 crore during the last fiscal, which is a growth of staggering 96.5 percent over the previous fiscal.

State-owned Hindustan Steelworks Construction (HSCL) today said it has highest-ever order-book at over Rs 6,000 crore now, placing it in a good position for the next level of growth.

"With more than Rs 6,000 crore worth of order-book in steel as well as in a wide range of infrastructure sectors, spread all over the country... HSCL is destined for the next\\ level of excellence in the coming years," the company said in a release.

The orders are from diverse areas, including opencast mining and port operations, etc. where HSCL diversified in the recent past.

The Kolkata-based company said it received fresh orders worth Rs 2,649 crore during the last fiscal, which is a growth of staggering 96.5 percent over the previous fiscal.

HSCL had clocked Rs 1,410.21 crore revenue, up 10.33 percent over 2012-13. Its operating profit was Rs 92.27 crore during last fiscal.

"The company has been in a growth trend clocking CAGR of 19.02 percent in turnover, 25.51 percent in order booking and 14.62 percent in operating profit since 2005-06 till
2013-14," it said in the release.

HSCL was established in 1964 as a construction firm under the Ministry of Steel. A financial restructuring package of the company is under consideration of the government.

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CavinKare to foray into organised retail

Cavin's Parlours would offer products across the Group's presence in dairy, beverage, snacks and food segments and also serve as stockist for neighbouring retail stores, a company statement said.

As part of move to take its products close to customers and foray into organised retail sector, FMCG major CavinKare plans to set up 'Cavin's Parlours' in the country.

Cavin's Parlours would offer products across the Group's presence in dairy, beverage, snacks and food segments and also serve as stockist for neighbouring retail stores, a company statement said.

While the parlours would be set up with a combination of company-owned and franchise-led outlets, it said the company "is in the process of developing several new products for these categories which will be rolled out in a phased manner".

Noting that the company has for a while been working on the concept of entering retail segment, CavinKare chairman and MD C K Ranganathan said: "I am happy to roll
out the launch plan now. It has a holistic approach and designed in such a way that every one associated with it will get benefited".

"The major objective is to take our dairy and food products close to consumers and strengthen our leadership in these categories. The outlet will also stock the products for neighbouring retail outlets", he said.

The company plans to open 50 more outlets across the state by December 2014 and then expand to other markets in a phased manner, he said.

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Storyboard: Journey of LK Saatchi Saatchi

It's been nearly 9 months since Publicis owned Saatchi & Saatchi acquired a majority stake in Law & Kenneth, rebranding the agency as L&K Saatchi & Saatchi. How has the journey been so far? Storyboard editor, Anant Rangaswami, caught up with Saatchi & Saatchi's Worldwide CEO, Kevin Roberts for answer.

It has been nearly nine months since Publicis owned Saatchi & Saatchi acquired a majority stake in Law & Kenneth, rebranding the agency as L&K Saatchi & Saatchi. So how has the journey been so far? How has becoming part of a holding company helped the Indian agency and how will it be integrated with Saatchi & Saatchi's international offices? Storyboard editor, Anant Rangaswami, caught up with Saatchi & Saatchi's Worldwide CEO, Kevin Roberts for those answers.

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Govt delays decision on iron ore licence to POSCO plant

The Mines Ministry last week wrote to Odisha seeking clarity on how much of the mining land sought by POSCO was notified as an iron ore bearing area where commercial mining was allowed. Mining in non-notified areas needs more approvals than in notified areas.

The government has again delayed a decision on permitting POSCO to mine iron ore, seeking more clarifications from Odisha where the South Korean company has waited nine years to set up a USD 12 billion steel plant.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in January that POSCO's request for a mining licence - the final regulatory hurdle for the project which would be the biggest foreign direct investment in India - was at an "advanced stage of processing".

But nine months on, little progress has been made on the ground. The company has yet to start work on the planned 12-million-tonnes-a-year plant due to stiff opposition to land acquisition and delays in securing permission to mine iron ore, a raw material for steel.

The Mines Ministry last week wrote to Odisha seeking clarity on how much of the mining land sought by POSCO was notified as an iron ore bearing area where commercial mining was allowed. Mining in non-notified areas needs more approvals than in notified areas.

On Saturday, the Mine Ministry's website showed the status of POSCO's request to explore iron ore over an area of 6828.54 hectares as "rejected/returned" as of October 10.

"They have not completely rejected. Our proposal was for both notified and non-notified area together," Odisha's Mines Director Deepak Kumar Mohanty said late on Friday. "So they have again asked if you are willing to separate out because notified area consideration parameters are different."

POSCO's India-based spokesman IG Lee could not immediately be reached for comment. POSCO officials have said it was unlikely to build the plant without assured supply of iron ore.

In his push to revive manufacturing in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited domestic and international companies to "Make in India". But one of his senior colleagues, Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram who hails from Odisha, has said he would continue his long-standing opposition to POSCO's plant.

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Hero to launch two new scooter models in next one year

Seeking to cash in on the fast growing scooter segment in the domestic market, the country's largest two-wheeler maker  Hero Motocorp plans to launch two new models in next one year.

The company is also considering to scale up its monthly scooter production to 1 lakh units by January 2015 and 1.5 lakh units in the mid-term.

"In the next one year there will be two new scooter models in the market," Hero Motocorp Senior Vice President & CFO Ravi Sud told analysts in a conference call. While he did not elaborate on the segmentation of the new scooters, Sud said it would add to the company's existing models - Pleasure and Maestro - to accelerate growth in the scooter segment.

Scooter sales in India grew by 32.11 per cent in the April-September period at 21,90,351 units this fiscal as against 16,57,920 units in the year-ago period.

In the first half of the ongoing fiscal, Hero Motocorp had posted a growth of 5.52 per cent in scooter sales at 3,52,330 units as against 3,33,889 units in the same period last fiscal.

Sud said the company's domestic scooter sales didn't reflect the actual growth as Hero Motocorp had committed capacity to execute a one-time export order of 45,000 units by November beginning.

Seeing further growth in the scooter segment, the company would be enhancing its scooter production capacity. "Currently we have a capacity to produce 80,000 units per month, which we are scaling up to one lakh units by January 2015. The consideration is to take it to 1.35-1.5 lakh units in the mid-term," Sud said.

He said the one lakh scooters capacity would come from the existing plants of the company.

"When we increase it to 1.5 lakh units a month, it could also include the scooter capacity from the upcoming plant in Gujarat," Sud said.

Currently, Hero Motocorp produces its scooters from Gurgaon and Dharuhera plants.

He said the scooter penetration in India is expected to increase to around 32-33 percent from the current 27 per cent. The scooter sales growth has been urban-led where the penetration is 40 per cent, that can go up to 45 per cent.

The company has a total two-wheeler production capacity of 7.65 million units annually from its plants at Gurgaon, and Dharuhera in Haryana, Haridwar in Uttarakhand and Neemrana in Rajasthan. By next year, it would add another 1.8 million units annually when its fifth plant at Halol in Gujarat becomes operational.

The company is planning to set up its sixth plant in Andhra Pradesh.

Hero Motocorp stock price

On October 17, 2014, Hero Motocorp closed at Rs 2877.10, up Rs 85.25, or 3.05 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 3080.00 and the 52-week low was Rs 1907.00.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 106.33 per share as per the quarter ended September 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 27.06. The latest book value of the company is Rs 280.43 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 10.26.

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Canara Bank says to raise up to Rs 850mn through share sale

State-run Canara Bank said on Saturday that it will raise up to Rs 850 million rupees (USD 13.85 million) through selling shares to institutional investors or a preferential issue.

State-run  Canara Bank said on Saturday that it will raise up to Rs 850 million rupees (USD 13.85 million) through selling shares to institutional investors or a preferential issue.

The bank got approval from the government to raise up to 800 million rupees with an option to raise an additional 50 million rupees.

The bank will raise the capital in the current financial year, and will be used to fund its general business needs, Canara Bank said in a statement.

This month, the bank said it would raise 15 billion rupees through a tier-I perpetual bond issue.

(1 US dollar = 61.3500 rupee)

Canara Bank stock price

On October 17, 2014, Canara Bank closed at Rs 383.55, up Rs 13.10, or 3.54 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 498.00 and the 52-week low was Rs 209.00.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 53.18 per share as per the quarter ended June 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 7.21. The latest book value of the company is Rs 642.16 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 0.60.

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Govt to buy IFCI preferential shares to up stake to 50%

The public issue has a green shoe option under which the company can retain subscriptions up to Rs 2,000 crore.

State-run dedicated infra lender  IFCI today said the government is in the process of buying preferential shares from existing shareholders to increase its stake in the paid-up capital to above 50 percent. "If you take equity and preference shares, the Government holding comes slightly below 50 percent. The Government is trying to increase its stake. And it is in the process of acquiring some of the preference shares so that its stake increases," IFCI Chief Executive and Managing Director Malay Mukherjee said.

Also Read: IFCI postpones 2.5% stake sale in NSE

Currently, the Governments stake in IFCI going by the paid-up capital, including both the equity capital and preference shares, is around 48 percent which will go above 50 perent with this exercise, he said. Mukherjee was speaking after launching a Rs 2,500- crore non-convertible debentures (NCD) issue of the infra lender. The public issue has a green shoe option under which the company can retain subscriptions up to Rs 2,000 crore.

Under the offering, IFCI will be issuing secured redeemable non-convertible debentures of face value of Rs 1,000 each. The NCDs have a tenure of up to 10 years and carry a coupon rate of up to 9.90 per cent per annum. The first tranche of the issue opens for subscription on October 20 and closes on November 21, it said.

IFCI stock price

On October 17, 2014, IFCI closed at Rs 33.15, up Rs 0.75, or 2.31 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 44.90 and the 52-week low was Rs 21.80.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 3.29 per share as per the quarter ended June 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 10.08. The latest book value of the company is Rs 40.42 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 0.82.

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