Radico''s new grain-based distillery goes on stream

Radico Khaitan Ltd, the second largest spirits maker, has commissioned its second grain-based distillery, set up in Aurangabad, Maharashtra with an investment of Rs 136 crore. The new facility has been associated to reduce transportation and logistics costs.

The company, which posted Rs 1,600-crore turnover last year, said it expects to close the current fiscal with 15-18 per cent growth.

The company will hold a 36% stake in the new company to be called Radico NV Distilleries Maharashtra, with the remaining 64% divided between the other two partners Riddhi Siddhi and NV Distillers. The company also owns Asia’s largest distillery in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh.

According to Mr Raju Vaziraney, Chief operating Officer, Domestic Business Radico Khaitan, the Aurangabad distillery will have an annual capacity of 36 million litres and will produce extra neutral alcohol, ethanol and Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL). It will also have a bottling facility.

Unprecedented Contraction of Automobile Market

The Automobile market reported a cumulative production data for April - November 2008 that shows production growth of 6.56 percent over April - November 2007. However, in November 2008, the overall production fell by 6.11% as compared to the same month last year.

Domestic Sales:

During April - November 2008, the passenger vehicles segment reported a marginal growth of 1.10 percent over the period between April - November 2007. During the same period, the Passenger Cars grew by 0.48 percent, Utility Vehicles fell by -0.21 percent and Multi Purpose Vehicles grew by 12.00 percent in this period. However, the sales in November 2008 for passenger vehicles fell by 23.71% over November 2007 - with all sub-segments registering negative growth.

The cumulative sales of Commercial Vehicles Segment registered de-growth. During April - November 2008, the segment grew at (-) 9.35 percent as compared to the same period last year. While Medium & Heavy Commercial Vehicles registered significant de-growth at (-) 16.88 percent, Light Commercial Vehicles also recorded de-growth of -0.26 percent. In November 2008, the commercial vehicles sales fell by 49.51%. M&HCV fell by 63% and LCV fell by over 33%. Also, buses (M&HCV) fell by 32% and even the smaller buses also fell by 26%. In fact the decline in buses has been since April 2008 with an exception in June.

Exports:

In terms of export, the automobile exports registered a growth of 33.03 percent during the period from April - November 2008 with all segments except commercial vehicles, registering positive growth. On the other hand, the passenger Vehicles and two Wheelers segment grew by 66.39 and 30.98 percent respectively.

Railway earnings up 14.49 per cent during April-November 2008

Indian Railways total approximate earnings of on originating basis during 1st April - 30th November 2008 were Rs. 50931.98 crore as against Rs. 44484.60 crore reported during the same period last year.

During the period, total goods earnings have climbed to Rs. 34393.78 crore from Rs. 29733.82 crore during 1st April-30th November, 2007, registering a growth of 15.67 per cent.

The total passenger revenue earnings stood at Rs. 14440.93 crore as compared to Rs. 12869.41 crore, registering a growth of 12.21 per cent. On the other hand, the revenue earnings from other coaching amounted to Rs. 1297.71 crore as against Rs. 1215.99 crore during the same period last year, representing a growth of 6.72 per cent.

The total sundry earnings have gone up to Rs. 799.56 crore from Rs.665.38 crore, showing an increase of 20.17 percent.

The total approximate number of passengers booked during April-November 2008 was 4717.37 million as against 4430.75 million during the same period last year, showing a growth of 6.47 per cent. In the suburban and non-suburban sectors, the number of passengers booked during the period was 2510.40 million and 2206.97 million as compared to 2428.48 million and 2002.27 million, an increase of 3.37 per cent and 10.22 per cent respectively.

Indian Railways to invest approximately Rs 37,500 crore

During the current financial year, Indian Railways have drawn up plans for the increased upgradation of rail infrastructure and procurement of new assets of rolling stock with an estimated expenditure of Rs. 37,500 Crore to shore up the infrastructural development and upkeep. This move will give a boost to the Indian Economy as well as provide strengthened rail infrastructure for carrying yet higher loads.

The strategy includes massive track and sleeper renewal activity leading to increased steel consumption, along with this production of more steel bridge girders, more production of passenger EMU & MEMU Coaches. In line with this, more production of diesel and electrical locos, more production of wheels & axles, development of model stations and world class stations, installation of modern and upgraded signaling system, increased route electrification and improvement in telecommunication work. Apart from this, the Indian Railways is also undertaking the construction of dedicated freight corridor, which is the biggest infrastructural development activity of Indian Railways since independence, towards which an amount of Rs. 400 crore is being spent in 2008-09 and Rs. 3000 crore have been earmarked for 2009-10.

Some of the projects under execution are as follows:

o Indian Railways have set a high target of rail renewal over 2941kms which will require 3,39,288 MT of rail steel. The target of sleeper renewal over 2382 kms will require 38.59 lakhs pre-stressed concrete sleepers (approx.).

o A target of renewal of 44.5 lakhs of PSC sleepers has been fixed for open line works.

o Indian Railways to manufacture 3000 coaches this year which is an increase of 12.5 % over the previous year.

o It is planned to acquire 2873 EMUs, 1091 MEMUs, 216 Kolkatta Metro Coaches and 3 - phase propulsion system for 200 motor coaches with an expected outlay of about Rs. 9200 Crore .

o Railway has planned to acquire sufficient number of wagons to meet the requirements of growing freight.

o The production of diesel locomotives and high horse power EMD Design Locomotives would be enhanced at the Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi.

o Indian Railways are setting up a 1000 MW thermal power plant through a joint venture with NTPC at Nabi Nagar, Bihar with a total cost of Rs. 5352 Crore.

o Indian Railways are also seeking an allocation of a coal block of 300 MT, which is proposed to be utilized for setting up a 2000 MW power plant.

o About Rs.300 Crore will be spent during the next three months for commissioning modern electronic signaling systems at about 400 stations, intermediate block signaling in about 200 block sections and 400 route kms of automatic block signaling. Rs.1800 Crore will be spent during the next year (2009-10) for the modernization/ upgradation of signaling systems.

o Railway electrification target for the XIth Plan has been enhanced to 3500 Kms. Similarly, the electrification target for the current year has been increased from 700 Kms to 1000 Kms.

o Acquisition of electric locomotives has been enhanced from to 220 in 2008-09. Process is underway for acquiring 200 electric locomotives from BHEL at an approximate cost of Rs. 5.5 crore each.

o A factory is to be set up at Madhepura for manufacturing 100 electric locomotives per year through JV route. Bid process is presently underway.

o Indian Railways is seeking an outlay of Rs. 2800 crore towards undertaking telecommunication works till 2011-12. The scope of works include replacement of more than 10,000 route Kms. of overhead alignment in the optical fiber communication and Quad Cable network, provision of a very high capacity DWDM network, modernize the switching and networking structure and Mobile Train Radio Communication.

India has lifted a ban on cement exports

According to trade ministry, India has lifted a ban on cement exports, as price pressures eased and domestic demand is depressed due to a slowdown in construction activity. The Director General of Foreign Trade under the Commerce Ministry has informed that he has allowed cement export with immediate effect.

In order to increase local supplies and check rising prices, government had banned cement exports in May. Construction activity has slowed down In the past few months as high interest rates trimmed demand for new homes while companies deferred expansion plans due to a credit crisis.

In November, India''s cement output was 14.34 million tonnes, which was than 14.76 million tonnes produced in October, according to the Cement Manufacturers'' Association.

BHEL bags order to set up 500MW plant at MP

Bharat Heavy Electricals LTD (BHEL), state-run power equipment maker said on December 22, it has bagged contract of worth a Rs 1,175-crore for setting up a 500 MW thermal power plant at Bina in Madhya Pradesh. The order has been placed by Bina Power Company Ltd, a Jaypee Group company. The company would install two units of 250 MW each for the project which is scheduled for synchronization during the 11th-Plan Period (2007-12). The company''s scope of work includes design, engineering, manufacturing, supply, erection, testing and commissioning of boilers, turbines and associated auxiliaries. The company plans to invest Rs 4,200 crore to enhance its capacity from 10,000 MW to 15,000 MW in two years. It also plans to invest about Rs 10,000 crore for new ventures in the coming years. For achieving this target, its production units at Tiruchirappaly, Bhopal, Haridwar, Jhansi and Hyderabad are in the process of modernization and expansion.

Revision on Benchmark Prime Lending Rates (BPLR) & Deposit Rates

State Bank of India (SBI) has informed that the Bank has revised the Benchmark Prime Lending Rate (referred to as SBAR) & Deposit Rates as under:
State Bank of India has revised the Benchmark Prime Lending Rate by 75 bps from 13.00% p.a. to 12.25% p.a. effective from January 01, 2009 and the Deposit rates downwards by 25 bps to 100 bps across the various maturities effective from January 01, 2009.