15 March 2011;timesofindia.indiatimes.com:NEW DELHI: State-owned oil firms on Tuesday hiked jet fuel prices by a massive 6 per cent, the 11th rate increase in six months. Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) rates in Delhi have been hiked by Rs 3,377.09 per kilolitre (kl), or 6.14 per cent, to Rs 58,310.45 per kl with effect from midnight tonight, an official of Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest fuel retailer, said. The hike comes on the back of three consecutive massive hikes effected since February this year, when crude oil spiked to over USD 100 per barrel. Wednesday's hike is the 11th straight increase in jet fuel prices since October, 2010, when international crude oil prices started soaring. The ATF price in Delhi on October 1, 2010 was Rs 40,728.52 per kl. The rates have been increased by Rs 17,581.93 per kl, or 43.16 per cent, in 11 tranches since then. Jet fuel will cost Rs 59 031.39 per kl in Mumbai, home to the nation's busiest airport, from tomorrow, as against Rs 55,500.06 per kl currently. No comment could be immediately obtained from airline companies on the impact of the latest price hike on passenger fares. Fuel cost accounts for 40 per cent of the airlines' operating cost. Indian Oil Corp and sister public sector retailers Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum revise jet fuel prices on the 1st and 16th of every month, based on the average international price in the preceding fortnight.
15 March 2011;business-standard.com:New Delhi: International car makers, Honda, Hyundai and Volkswagen, have come under the scanner of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for allegedly abusing dominant market position by selling parts to customers at high prices. The CCI has asked its director general (DG), investigations, to probe a consumer’s complaint against the car makers. The charge is of making available spare parts only through their authorised dealers, who in turn sell these at high rates. “This practice by the international car makers does not give the consumer a fair price advantage, as he has no choice but to buy the spare parts from authorised dealers. Prima facie, it makes a case and the DG has been ordered to probe further,” an official said. The DG has been asked to give his report within 45 days. While Hyundai Motors denied having received any communication from CCI, emails to Volkswagen and Honda remained unanswered. Normally, auto spare parts from Indian car makers are available with any retailer, not necessarily authorised. It is not so with international car makers. Consumers are stuck after having bought a car from these companies, according to the complainant, who filed the case under Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2002.
Chennai Petro may shut crude units for maintenance: source
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
15 March 2011;business-standard.com:New Delhi: State-run Chennai Petroleum Corp plans to shut two of the three crude units at its 210,000 barrels per day (bpd) Manali plant in southern Tamil Nadu state by September for maintenance, two sources said on Tuesday. Chennai Petro, a unit of India's biggest refiner, Indian Oil Corp, planned to shut a 56,000-bpd crude unit for 21 days in May-June and a 74,000-bpd crude unit for 23 days in August-September for maintenance, sources with knowledge of the plan said. They said the plans were tentative and final shutdown dates would depend on the country's demand and supply scenario. Chennai Petroleum Managing Director K Balachandran declined to comment on the shutdown plan. The sources also said Chennai Petroleum had no plans to shut any of its secondary units for maintenance in the next fiscal year, which begins in April. "Secondary units will continue to function, depending on the availability of feedstock," said one source.
14 March 2011;deccanherald.com:New Delhi: Carmaker Honda Siel Cars India on Monday said it will hike the prices of all its products, except luxury sedan Accord, by 2-3 per cent with effect from April 1, on account of rising input costs. "Commodity prices are rising very strongly in recent months. We will raise the prices of all our cars by 2-3 per cent from next month to minimise the impact of strengthening raw material rates," a Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI) spokesperson told PTI. The company, however, will not increase the price of its luxury sedan Accord, the official said. The models of the company include flagship sedan City, hatchback Jazz, premium sedan Civic and sports utility vehicle CR-V. The company today announced to postpone the preview of its forthcoming small car 'Brio' in India scheduled for March 17 due to the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
15 March 2011;dailypioneer.com:New Delhi; Market regulator Sebi has cleared the acquisition of Cairn India by NRI billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Resources, removing a major hurdle for the $9.6 billion dollar deal announced about seven months ago. The deal was announced in August 2010 and has since then been awaiting approvals from Sebi and the Government. The Government is yet to approve the deal, wherein British energy giant Cairn Energy agreed to sell its majority stake in Cairn India to Vedanta group. After seeking numerous clarifications on the deal from acquirer over the past seven months, Sebi has issued its final observations on the mandatory open offer to be made to the public shareholders as part of the deal. Any deal involving acquisition of 15 per cent or more stake in a listed company requires the acquirer to make an open offer for 20 per cent stake purchase from public shareholders and this offer needs to be approved by Sebi. Soon after announcing the deal to acquire up to 51 per cent stake in Cairn India, Vedanta group had sought Sebi's approval for the mandatory open offer to be made to the public shareholders of the target company. In the public offer announced on August 17, Vedanta group had offered to acquire up to 20 per cent stake from public shareholders for a price of Rs 355 per share. The Rs 13,631 crore open offer was first scheduled to open on October 11 and close on October 30, but got affected due to delay in Sebi approval for the same. The company will now have to announce a fresh schedule for the open offer, where it may have to incorporate various clarifications sought by Sebi during the course of its due diligence on the proposed transaction. Cairn India shares on Monday closed 1.5 per cent higher at Rs 346.20 at the BSE. The deal is currently awaiting an approval from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). The Oil Ministry last month circulated a draft note for the CCEA approval, but comments on the same have not been received from all the ministries. OilMinistry will move Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) once comments from ministries of finance, law, home, environment and corporate affairs are received. In all probability, the CCEA is likely to give an in- principal nod to the deal where London-based mining group Vedanta, which has no prior experience in oil sector, is buying up to 51 per cent stake of UK's Cairn Energy Plc.
As Japan horror unfolds, safety fears cloud up nuclear sunrise
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
15 March 2011;timesofindia.indiatimes.com:Subodh Varma: A new nervousness about nuclear energy has gripped the globe even as Fukushima nuclear power plant's reactor No 3 had an explosion on Monday and reactor No 2 was going into a meltdown of the dangerous uranium-plutonium fuel. Governments of nuclear powers across the world went into damage control mode as thousands took to streets in Europe in protest against nuclear power plants. Following its civilian nuclear deal with the US, India plans to set up 22 new reactors. Currently, there are 20 operational reactors with another 6 under construction. Government has indicated that in the coming decades up to 18 more reactors could be built. In Jaitapur in Maharashtra the local people are opposing a plant on safety and displacement fears. Workldwide, there are 443 nuclear reactors supplying electricity to 30 countries. In recent years, there has been a nuclear renaissance of sorts with an additional 17 countries wanting to join the nuclear energy bandwagon. In all, 62 new reactors are under construction, 158 have been ordered and as many as 342 more are proposed. This would push up nuclear energy production by an additional 545 gigawatts in the coming decades. But the grim story from Japan has put paid to these breathless calculations. Japan has 55 nuclear reactors supplying almost 30% of the island nation's energy needs. Most were built in the '70s. All of them are on the coast, and had been built to very stringent quake proof standards as Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone places on the earth. Yet two reactors have failed and several others are spluttering. Details coming out now show that Fukushima was built to withstand 7.9 magnitude earthquakes and 6.5 meter high tidal waves. The monster quake on March 11 has now been officially upgraded to 9 magnitude and the tidal wave was over 7 meters by the time it reached Fukushima's reactors. Even more worrying are reports that Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) that runs this facility was caught forging repair and maintenance reports on 29 counts in 2002, and again in 2006, it was found to be using falsified reports from 1985 in inspections till 2005. The Japanese government too is under pressure because Ishibashi Katsuhiko, a well known seismologist, had said in 2007 that Fukushima was highly vulnerable. Nuclear power had gained traction because of another fear haunting humanity — global warming. It was suggested that nuclear power could replace massive carbon-emitting thermal plants. But as huge demonstrations in Germany and France show, people are equally worried about the nuclear option. US Senator Joe Lieberman, chairman of the homeland security and government affairs committee, has called for putting the brakes on building new nuclear plants in the US for the present. The US has 104 reactors, the most in any country, but it has only recently started thinking about new reactors after a 30-year gap. President Obama has pitched for nuclear energy as a clean option. The biggest expansion plans are China's with 27 new reactors already under construction and 50 more on the anvil. China's vice minister for environment Zhang Lijuin said after the Japanese temblor that it would not affect China's plans. Xu Mi, a fast reactor expert at China National Nuclear Corporation and China Institute of Atomic Energy, told Xinhua that China would go ahead after drawing proper lessons and improving emergency safety plans. Meanwhile, the world continued to watch in horror as Japanese engineers pumped a hastily put together muck of seawater and boric acid into the Fukushima reactors. Joseph Cirincione, nuclear material expert and peace exponent told media that Fukushima is already in the worst three nuclear accidents category after Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. But with the meltdown yet to be controlled, fear is stalking the world, especially those committed to a nuclear sunrise.
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