One for the road: Whisky waste to help develop biofuel for cars
Thursday, 19 August 2010
19 August 2010;dailypioneer.com:London:Whisky lovers have another excuse to enjoy a dram — scientists in Scotland have unveiled a biofuel to help power cars developed from the by-products of the distillation process. Researchers at Edinburgh Napier University have developed the biofuel and filed a patent for the product, which they said could be used to fuel ordinary cars without any special adaptations. The biofuel, which has been developed during a two-year research project, uses the two main by-products from the whisky production process. These are “pot ale”, the liquid from the copper stills, and the spent grains called “draff”, as the base to produce butanol which can then be used as fuel. “The new biofuel is made from biological material which has been already generated,” Martin Tangney, who is leading the research said on Tuesday. “Theoretically it could be used entirely on its own but you would have to find a company to distribute it.” He added the most likely way the biofuel would be used was by blending five or 10 per cent of the product with petrol or diesel. “Five or 10 per cent means less oil which would make a big, big difference,” he said. The biofuel “potentially offers new revenue on the back of one of Scotland’s biggest industries,” added Tangney. Richard Dixon, the Scotland director of environmental campaign group WWF, praised the new product, saying unlike other biofuels it could be made without causing “massive environmental damage to forests and wildlife. “Whisky-powered cars could help Scotland avoid having to use those forest-trashing biofuels.”
GM takes big step in shedding government ownership
Thursday, 19 August 2010
19 August 2010;timesofindia.indiatimes.com:DETROIT: General Motors Co. on Wednesday filed the first batch of paperwork required to sell stock to the public, a significant step toward shedding government ownership. The 700-page filing with regulators begins a process that will lead to an initial public offering of GM's stock. The paperwork laid out reasons why GM would be attractive to investors, as well as the risks the company faces. GM didn't say how many shares would be sold or when, although experts say the IPO could come as early as October. It also didn't say how many shares GM's majority owner, the US government, plans to sell. Those sales would eventually lead to the government shrinking its big stake in the automaker, something GM is eager to see. The company's outgoing CEO, Ed Whitacre, has said government ownership has hurt GM's public image and sales. Under the plan filed on Thursday, GM said its stakeholders initially will sell common stock, while GM will sell preferred shares, which are like bonds and include dividend payments. GM said it will use proceeds from the preferred stock sale for general corporate purposes. It offered few other details. GM would have to bring in $70 billion just to pay back all of the automaker's stakeholders. That could come in several sales over months. The US government now owns about 61 percent of GM, which it got in exchange for giving the company $50 billion in survival aid last year. GM has repaid $6.7 billion, and the remaining $43.3 billion was converted to the ownership stake. Other stakeholders include a United Auto Workers health-care trust and the Canadian government. Demand for GM's new shares isn't known. In the coming weeks, the company will pitch itself to big investors such pension, mutual and hedge funds. Many of the shares will go to those larger investors, but small players will also get a chance to buy in. With so much taxpayer money at stake, there's interest in seeing GM's stock price rise. There are risks. The IPO market is weak. And GM, which lost about $100 billion in the five years leading up to last year's bankruptcy, is hardly a sure bet. Still, a quick run through bankruptcy court cleansed GM of burdensome debt. It closed 12 factories and its labor costs were cut dramatically through deals with the United Auto Workers union. Helped by those cost cuts, GM earned a healthy $2.2 billion in the first half of this year despite depressed US auto sales. It's set up to do better if sales rebound, especially in fast-growing countries like Brazil and China, where GM plans to launch nearly 20 vehicles in the next two years. The company gave investors a lengthy list of risks on Wednesday, including restructuring costs and concerns about the competitiveness of its vehicles. For example, the Chevrolet Volt, its highly anticipated electric car due for release this year, requires battery technology "that has not yet proven to be commercially viable. There can be no assurances that these advances will occur in a timely or feasible way." Even new executives were listed as risk factors. GM acknowledged that incoming CEO Daniel Akerson and Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell have "no outside automotive industry experience" and said it was important for the management team to "quickly adapt and excel" in their new roles. Both, however, have extensive experience with successful companies. Akerson held top posts for telecommunications firms and Liddell served as CFO of Microsoft Corp. GM said the company was dependent upon global car and truck sales and said "there is no assurance that the global automobile market will recover in the near future or that it will not suffer a significant further downturn." The company said it had no plans to pay dividends on its common stock and future dividends would be determined by its board of directors. The company said it will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "GM," the symbol under which it traded before it entered bankruptcy. Shares will also trade in Canada on the Toronto Stock Exchange, but the ticker symbol hasn't been determined. Francis Gaskins, president of IPOdesktop.com, said GM's decision to sell preferred shares rather than common stock is a sign that it is having trouble attracting interest from investors and felt the need to sweeten the offering with the preferred dividends. "Only a company that's not strong would do that," he said. "It's a tip-off that the investment community needs something special." The new preferred shares will be converted to an unknown number of common stock sometime in 2013, the filing said. GM also said in the filing that said outgoing CEO Ed Whitacre, who leaves September 1, will get a compensation package worth around $9 million. He gets a $1.7 million annual salary and the rest in stock.
ONGC, Oil India incur Rs 4,745 cr loss on sale of APM: Govt
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
17 August 2010;deccanherald.com:New Delhi: State-owned oil firms incurred Rs 4,745 crore annual losses on pre-revised rates, prompting the government to more than double the price of state administered natural gas to USD 4.2 per mmBtu, the Rajya Sahba was informed today. The cost of production of natural gas for national oil companies has risen since the last increase in 2005, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Jitin Prasada said during Question Hour. "ONGC and Oil India incurred Rs 4,745 crore of loss on sale of APM (administered priced) gas," he said. The price was raised from just under USD 2 per million British thermal unit to USD 4.2 per mmBtu to bridge the difference in cost of production and sale price and also to provide level playing field with Reliance Industries, who sell natural gas from its eastern offshore KG-D6 field at USD 4.2 per mmBtu, he said. The hike had necessitated an increase in CNG and piped natural gas price in Delhi and Mumbai. "Following the APM price increase, Indraprastha Gas Ltd, which supplies CNG in and around Delhi, increased its CNG price in Delhi from Rs 21.90 per kg to Rs 27.50 per kg and Mahanagar Gas Ltd, which supplies CNG in and around Mumbai, increased its CNG price from Rs 24.65 per kg to Rs 31.47 per kg," he said. VAT on gas varies from 5 per cent in Delhi to 12.5 per cent in Gujarat to 21 per cent Uttar Pradesh, he said. Prasada said urea manufacturing units have been given top most priority in allocation of natural gas from KG-D6 fields of Reliance. Fertilizer units have been allocated 15.77 million standard cubic meters per day, power plants 32.677 mmscmd and LPG extraction units 3 mmscmd. "Demand for gas is greater than supplies," he said.
Used car biz to contribute up to 20% to sales: Merc
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
18 August 2010;dailypioneer.com:Rakesh Bihari jha:New Delhi: German luxury car maker Mercedes Benz is aggressively concentrating on its used car business as it hopes the segment to contribute 15-20 per cent to the company’s overall sales by 2011. The company doesn’t face any competition in the used luxury car segment currently as its arch rival BMW is still planning to enter the segment. “With our Proven Exclusivity used car programme, the dream of owning a Mercedes-Benz has become even more achievable and I am confident that this segment would contribute 15-20 per cent to our company’s overall sales by 2011,” said Mercedes Benz India MD and CEO Wilfried Aulbur, adding, “as of now used cars are being sold through six authorized dealerships in the four cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh and Ahmedabad and we have already sold 300 cars.” Mercedes Benz also hopes to sustain double digit growth not only in the rest of 2010, but also expects the same in the next 5 to 10 years as India is growing comparatively very fast. “We had said in the begining of the year that 2010 will be an exciting year for India. Mercedes has already launched 17 models and a few more are still left. As India is growing comparatively fast we hope that we will have strong double digit growth not only in the rest of the year but also in the next five to ten years,” said Aulbur. The company on Tuesday launched a new version of its E-Class priced at Rs 64.5 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The new car E-Class Cabriolet - a four-seater convertible with soft top is the seventh offering within the E-Class range in the country. “In the January-July period this year, we have had 80 per cent growth in sales. We are well poised to continue to grow in double digits,” Aulbur said, adding, “the company is looking to leverage on the booming market in India.” E-Class Cabriolet is aimed at strengthening the company’s position in India aimed at niche segment of buyers. As per SIAM data, Mercedes Benz has beaten arch rival BMW for the top spot in the Indian luxury car segment with a massive 79.31 per cent jump in sales to a total of 2,921 units in the January-July period as against a total of 2,718 units from BMW.
18 August 2010;dailypioneer.com:New Delhi:Skoda on Tuesday said it will introduce a small car in the Indian market in early 2012, which will be priced at Rs 3-5 lakh. The company, a part of the Volkswagen Group, will also introduce its sports utility vehicle, Yeti, and a stripped- down version of its premium hatchback, Fabia, in India by the end of this year. In addition, it will launch a sedan with a Rs 6-10 lakh price tag in 2011. “We had announced to roll out one new model every year. As part of this strategy, we will enter the volume segment and will launch a small car in early 2012,” SkodaAuto India Board Member and Director (Sales and Marketing) Thomas Kuehl told reporters. The development of the car is underway and the company will launch the model in both petrol and diesel versions. When asked about the possible price range of the vehicle, he said: “It will be below the Fabia... Our aim is to price in the Rs 3-5 lakh category.”
As regulatory hurdles loom, Cairn chief lands in Delhi
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
17 August 2010;hindustantimes.com:Anupama Airy:The $9.6 billion (R45,000 crore) Cairn Energy-Vedanta Resources deal may face regulatory and legal hurdles even as the authorities ruled out the possibility of the deal getting de-railed. "The deal is under the scrutiny of the petroleum ministry and a legal view may be taken from the law ministry," a senior petroleum ministry official told the Hindustan Times. Alongside, the visiting chief executive of Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy Plc, Bill Gammell, is understood to have got a cold shoulder from both the government and ONGC. Bill was in the capital on Tuesday to explain the rationale behind the deal with Vedanta Resources. Bill met Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and Petroleum Secretary S. Sundareshan in the afternoon as also ONGC Chairman and Managing Director R.S. Sharma on Tuesday evening. While the exact details of Bill’s discussions with Deora and Sundareshan were not revealed, petroleum ministry sources said, "Under the production sharing contract (PSC) for the Rajasthan oil block, Cairn is required to inform the government and take regulatory approvals before going ahead." "They (Cairn) have informed the government about this deal after it was publicly announced. We are studying all legal options on the modus operandi followed by Cairn Energy to sell a substantial stake in Cairn India." Both Sundareshan and Deora later said that the "government was evaluating the deal to see that the interests of ONGC are not compromised in any way." On his part, Vedanta Resources head Anil Agarwal, which is buying up to 60 per cent in Cairn India (40-51 per cent from Cairn Energy and rest through a public offer), told HT that he is neither changing the name nor the team that runs the company (Cairn India). "There is nothing to worry. We don’t change the names of the companies we acquire. Whether it was Balco, Hindustan Zinc or Sesa Goa that we acquired, all have retained their names and so will Cairn India". Bill, too, sources said, emphasised before Deora and ONGC that it is only the corporate structure of Cairn India that is undergoing a change. "There will be no change in the running of Cairn India," a source close to Bill Gammell said. The source also said that Cairn Energy did not seek a buyer, but it was Agarwal who in early July called Gammell directly seeking a meeting.
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