25 Dec 2011;timesofindia.indiatimes.com:NEW DELHI: Petrol price may be hiked by about a rupee per litre from next month as the Indian currency has weakened against the US dollar making imports costlier. The rate change may, however, need a political clearance as assembly elections in five crucial states, including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, have been announced. "While international price of gasoline (against which domestic petrol prices are benchmarked) are more or less at the same level (as at the time of last revision), the rupee has depreciated to about Rs 52.70 to a US dollar," a top official said. The domestic rates, which were last revised on November 30, are pegged at Rs 51.50 to a US dollar exchange rate. The average exchange rate in first fortnight of December was Rs 51.98 to a US dollar, which has further deteriorated. State-owned oil companies like Indian Oil Corp (IOC) use fortnightly average of benchmark oil price and exchange rate to revise retail rates on 1st and 16th of every month. The next review is due on December 31 and if the oil companies decide to pass on the exchange rate fluctuations to consumers, the new rates would be effective from January 1. "There is an under-recovery of about 85 paise (Rs 0.85) per litre currently. After adding local sales tax, the desired increase in retail prices would be Rs 1.02 per litre," the official said. Oil firms had, at the last review on December 15/16, decided not to burden the consumers with Rs 0.65-0.70 per litre hike in petrol price needed at that time, as they felt Reserve Bank's intervention may help arrest fall in rupee's value. Petrol at IOC pumps in Delhi is currently priced at Rs 65.64 per litre and the rates vary by a couple of paise at the pumps of Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum. The oil firms had in November cut petrol prices twice on drop in international oil rates. The companies reduced petrol prices by Rs 2.22 per litre, or 3.2 per cent, from November 16, followed by a Rs 0.78 per litre cut from December 1. However, it remains to be seen if the oil firms will get a political nod to increase the prices in view of assembly elections. Petrol price was freed from government control in June last year but public sector companies continue to informally consult their parent Oil Ministry before taking a decision. The government continues to control rates of diesel, domestic LPG and kersoene which were sold way below cost to keep inflation under check. The oil firms lose Rs 12.95 per litre on diesel, Rs 29.99 a litre on kerosene and Rs 287 per 14.2-kg LPG cylinder.
23 Dec 2011;hindustantimes.com:The world’s largest carmaker, Toyota Motor Corporation, on Thursday started a special service to replace fuel tank filler pipes in 41,000 units of its two India-specific cars — the Etios sedan and Liva hatchback. Toyota said only two cars had been detected with cracks in the filler pipes that could cause fuel leakage and a possible fire, adding that the campaign was a precautionary measure. It, however, stopped short of calling the exercise a recall. The two models are produced and sold only in India and are the cheapest produced by Toyota globally. The Etios was launched in December last year and the Liva in June this year. “We haven't come across any complaints from customers but cracks were noticed in the fuel pipe supplied by a third party vendor in a few cases,” said Sandeep Singh, deputy managing director (marketing) of Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd. “It will be incorrect to call this a recall as there is no urgency to get the parts checked or replaced. Customers can visit their nearest Toyota showrooms at leisure. The part would be replaced free of cost and the whole exercise would not take more than 45 minutes,” said Singh.
RIL buys stake in US nuclear reactor design company
22 Dec 2011;business-standard.com:Mumbai: The Reliance Industries said on Thursday it has bought a minority stake in Terra Power, a US-based nuclear-technology design and engineering company, through one of its subsidiaries. "This is one of our series of investments in the broader energy sector," a company spokesman told Reuters. Chairman Mukesh Ambani will join the company's board, which includes Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Silicon Valley venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, a financial daily had reported earlier in the day. Reliance, India's most valuable company, controlled by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, has outlined plans to spend $4 billion to $4.5 billion by 2014 on three US shale gas joint ventures it entered into last year. Last week, a company official told Reuters that it is scouting for oil investments in the Americas as it looks to increase the stake of crude production it owns to feed its refinery, the world's largest.
One lakh visitors-a-day limit set for Auto Expo 2012
22 Dec 2011;economictimes.indiatimes.com:NEW DELHI: Organisers of the upcoming Auto Expo have decided to restrict entry at India's largest automotive show to 100,000 visitors a day to prevent a repeat of the chaos seen during the earlier exhibitions. The Auto Expo 2012 will be a week-long affair, beginning January 5 in Delhi's Pragati Maidan, making it a smaller show than the previous edition when 1.2 million visitors turned up over 10 days. The exhibition area will be reduced to 1.15 lakh square metres with 16 permanent halls from the 1.25 lakh sq metre spread in 2010. This makes the Indian Auto Expo the second largest automotive exhibition after the Shanghai Motor Show. "There is a limit to the infrastructure that can accommodate the exhibitors and visitors," the Auto Expo 2012 Steering Committee Chairman Rajive Kaul said, "So we have decided to restrict the number to manage the show effectively." Attendance of the general visitors will be restricted to 70,000 a day, reserving the rest of the slots for the 1,500 participants from 24 countries and other officials. Nearly 60 new cars, bikes, buses and trucks will be launched at the upcoming show, however, doubling the launches from the previous edition. The highlights include 24 new cars to be unveiled by domestic companies and eight by global players, besides eight two-wheelers by Indian manufacturers such as Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto. The all-new BMW Mini, Maruti Ertiga MPV, Ford Ecosport, Hyundai Sonata and Volkswagen UP! are among the bigticket launches that the industry is awaiting. The exhibition comes at a time when the Indian market has slowed considerably from its 30% annual growth until last year. "While the sentiment in the Indian auto market has been impacted by a series of interest rate and fuel price hike, the mood is upbeat among all automakers," said Vishnu Mathur, director general of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers . The biennial exhibition is organised jointly by industry lobby groups SIAM, the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India and the Confederation of Indian Industry.
Force Motors to launch hybrid version of 'Traveller'
22 Dec 2011;business-standard.com:New Delhi: Force Motors today said it will launch a hybrid variant of its commercial vehicle 'Traveller' by the end of 2012 after unveiling to the public at the upcoming Auto Expo next month. The company will also launch a nine-seater multi-purpose vehicle, being developed under a license from German auto giant Daimler, by 2013 with price ranging around of Rs 12 lakh-15 lakh. "We are showcasing a hybrid concept of the Traveller at the Delhi Auto Expo in January. It will be a parallel hybrid that utilises solar energy as well as has regenerative exhaust systems," Force Motors Managing Director Prasan Firodia told reporters here. The company is developing the technology in association with a firm from the UK, he added. "We will commercially launch the vehicle within a year from now. This will be manufactured at our Pithampur plant in Madhya Pradesh," Firodia said. Beside, the company will also showcase a CNG version of the Traveller during the auto show at the National Capital from January 5-11. Talking about its association with Daimler, Firodia said: "We have tied up with the German firm to produce a nine-seater van under a licence agreement. We will launch the vehicle in Indian market in 2013." In July this year, the domestic firm had tied up with Daimler for comprehensive supply of product technology for the proposed multi-purpose vehicle (MPV). Asked about the price of the new vehicle, he said: "This will be a completely new category. Although we have decided yet, it will be in the range of Rs 12 lakh-Rs 15 lakh." Force Motors currently uses a 2.2 litre common rail engine, the OM 611, in Traveller range of vehicles. Variants of this engine will be adapted for installation in the MPV, the company had earlier said. The company is setting up a new facility at Pithampur for this MPV with a capacity of 24,000 units per annum, to be attained in two equal phases. Elaborating on the agreement, Firodia said: "We have bought a complete vehicle under licence. Though we cannot export it to Europe, but we can still sell it in neighbouring nations like Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh."
ONGC to spend $5.9 bn on capital expenditure in FY13
21 Dec 2011;economictimes.indiatimes.com:NEW DELHI: State-run explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation expects to spend 310 billion rupees ($5.9 billion) as capital expenditure in the financial year starting April 2012, its chairman and managing director said on Wednesday. The expenditure will be funded through internal accruals, Sudhir Vasudeva told reporters.
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