Commercial production of Tata's first electric car to start in Q1 of 2011
12 Nov 2010;business-standard.com:S Kalyana Ramanathan:Birmingham: The most keenly awaited electric car from the Tata Motors stable, the Indica Vista EV, will go into commercial production from the first quarter of 2011, said a senior official with Tata Motors European Research Centre (TMERC). Speaking at the SME conference here organised by the Indian High Commission, Omar Hadded, director of marketing and commercialisation with TMERC said Vista EV will be targeted at international markets like the UK. The electric version of the company’s blockbuster mini truck Ace will go into commercial production from next month. The official said the fuel cell technology in a demonstrable format was being tested now, but the product was far from ready for the market. The fuel cell technology was the most coveted technology among auto makers around the world, he added. The price of Vista EV will benchmarked with industry standards and retailed at around £29,000, while the ACE EV will be priced at around £13,000-14,000. The Vista EV will get a UK government subsidy of £5,000 and would cost the end customer £24,000. The electric version of an established car has been created in record time, considering Indica was first rolled out in 1998, until which Tata Motors had never made passenger vehicles. The TMERC was created only five years back, in part to fulfil the group’s commitment to produce environmentally friendly vehicles. Vista EV will be a four seater with provision for luggage and will have a maximum speed of 70 miles an hour or around 110 kmph. It will meet all intertional safety standards with ABS and Li-ion super polymer batteries and a range of 160 km to run without recharge. Full recharge will be possible in eight hours. The Vista EV had won two awards last weekend among future cars between Brighton (south of UK) and London for being the most economic passenger electric vehicles.
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.
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