12 Nov 2010;timesofindia.indiatimes.com:Rajesh Chandramouli & Pankaj Doval:CHENNAI/NEW DELHI: When the tiny Tata Nano was launched in March 2009, many trade analysts wrote obituaries to the Indian motorcycle industry. A year and a half later, the industry has quietly crossed the milestone of selling one million motorcycles a month. According to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, home-grown manufacturers sold 10,09,554 bikes both in India and abroad in October. "When the Tata Nano was launched, there was talk that it was the end of the road for motorcycles. I believed the Nano would create a new market for four wheelers and not eat into bike sales. It was the right assumption," said Venu Srinivasan, chairman and managing director, TVS Motor. Of the two-wheelers sold in October, one million were motorcycles, and the rest scooters and mopeds. In the motorcycle segment, sales of bigger bikes (150cc and above)—priced within striking distance of the Nano—is witnessing a growth rate of over 50%, said H S Goindi, head of marketing, TVS. The industry believes bike sales will continue to remain strong in the coming years. "A number of factors work in favour of bikes," said Milind Bade, head of marketing at Bajaj Auto.
11 Nov 2010;business-standard.com:New Delhi: An increased production from Cairn India’s Mangala oilfield in Barmer means increasing royalty burden payment for Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). It’s no wonder the two companies differ on the capital expenditure being incurred on developing and operating the Barmer block. Still, the government-owned company’s representative on the management committee approved the $120-million (Rs 531-crore) expenditure on the field on Tuesday, according to an executive close to the development. “Differences with regard to earlier expenses amounting to $50 million (over Rs 221 crore) during the exploration phase continue,” the executive told Business Standard.
Five oil tankers of goods train derailed in Uttar Pradesh
11 Nov 2010;timesofindia.indiatimes.com:LUCKNOW: Thousands of litres of diesel were spilled and train services on the Sitapur-Delhi route were disrupted after five oil tankers of a goods train derailed in Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur district Thursday, officials said. No casualty was reported. The mishap took place two km from the Roja junction and resulted in a massive spillage from the derailed tankers that contained diesel. "Thousands of litres of the oil have leaked following the derailment. On an average, one tanker has the storage capacity of 75,000 litre," a railway official said. The train was heading to Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor district from Jalpaiguri. "Rail tracks have been badly damaged due to the derailment," Government Railway Police inspector Arvind Singh told reporters in Shahjahanpur, some 150 km from here.
11 Nov 2010;timesofindia.indiatimes.com:NEW DELHI: Essar Oil, promoted by the Ruias, will nearly double the capacity of its refinery at Vadinar in Gujarat to 20 million tonnes by September 2012. The refinery was built with a rated capacity of 10.5 million tonnes per annum but is processing 14 million tonnes of crude, the company said on Wednesday. The company was working to expand the capacity to 18 million tonnes but has now decided to take it to 20 million tonnes instead. "As on October 31, the Phase-I expansion (to 18 million tonnes) was 72% complete and is on track for mechanical completion by March 2011, with the exception of two units that are delayed by a quarter. The company has now decided to further expand the refinery's capacity by two million tonnes more to 20 million tonnes," the company said. The higher capacity would be achieved through optimisation of six units at an estimated cost of Rs 1,700 crore by September 2012. The move follows a project review that identified several opportunities to de-bottleneck the refinery and revamp some units at "competitive capital cost". "There has been a significant growth in Indian demand for petroproducts in the last few years and we see the trend continuing. Augmenting our refining capacity will help us capture this growing demand ," Essar Oil CEO Naresh Nayyar said.
Domestic car sales up by 38 pc, bikes 43 pc in October
10 Nov 2010;economictimes.indiatimes.com:NEW DELHI: Domestic passenger car sales jumped by 37.99 per cent to 1,82,992 units in October compared to 1,32,615 units in the same month last year. According to the figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) today, motorcycle sales in the country during the month grew by 43.31 per cent to 8,76,810 units from 6,11,828 units in the same month last year. Total two-wheeler sales in October increased by 50.38 per cent to 11,27,827 units from 7,49,965 units in October 2009. Sales of commercial vehicles jumped by 18.17 per cent to 50,835 units from 43,018 units in the year-ago period, SIAM said. Total sales of vehicles across categories registered a growth of 45.93 per cent to 14,60,655 units in October as against 10,00,953 units in the same month last year, it added.
Tata to ask customers to bring Nano back to add safety device
10 Nov 2010;timesofindia.indiatimes.com:NEW DELHI: Tata Motors on Wednesday said it would ask Nano customers to bring back their cars to add safety devices free of cost to prevent the vehicles from catching fire, but insisted it was not a "recall." The company, however, said that the addition of safety devices, a lesson learnt from some of its brand new Nanos catching fire, was optional. After these incidents, Tatas had engaged experts to get into the details for the cause of the mishaps, and its internal report had said that there was no manufacturing defect. "We would be informing the customers that these are the additional protection we are willing to provide. "We are quite convinced that Nano is safe, based on our investigations. However, we feel that probably there may be some extraneous circumstances where people may want additional protection," Tata Motors Managing Director ( India Operations) P M Telang said. The safety move, incidentally, made public within days of the world's cheapest car, priced at $2,500, was showcased to the US President Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama. Asked if the cars were being recalled because of the concern about the safety of vehicles, he said: "Just to clarify that this is not a recall...It is just to make the Nano more robust." As part of the safety mechanism, the company would offer a tool to cover the catalytic converter to prevent the car from catching fire. It will also install fuse in electrical components to avoid short circuits. "We are willing to move forward to addition of safety tools like putting those converters or catalytic converters and so on. For this, we will be informing the customers and if they want, this will be done." He said in another three to four weeks time the company would be informing all the Nano customers. As of now, around 70,000 Nanos are on the roads. On Tuesday, Tata Motors Group CEO and Managing Director Carl-Peter Forster had said that the auto maker planned to introduce additional safety features in the small car in the wake of reports of the car catching fire. "The company has taken up several corrective measures and will now offer cover tool on catalytic converter to prevent the car from catching fire. It will also install fuse in electrical components to avoid short circuits," he had said. In August, a sixth incident of a Nano catching fire since the car was commercially launched in March 2009, was reported from the National Capital, three months after a company probe declared the car was "absolutely safe". The five previous incidents were reported from across the country, including Mumbai, Lucknow, Delhi and near Vadodara in Gujarat.
Petrolstop is a division of Car Fuel Info Solutions, LLC Petrolstop.com is a registered trademark owned by Car Fuel info Solutions, LLC Website Design by Onazari Technical Solutions
