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Hyderabad April 10 Gati Ltd, which has set a target of Rs 1,000 crore turnover by 2009, is developing a Central Distribution Centre at Nagpur that is fast emerging as a logistics hub.

“We are planning to make it operational in one year,” Mr Mahendra Agarwal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, told reporters.

The company hopes to cash in on the central location of Nagpur. The upcoming multimodal international passenger and cargo hub airport there also shows the growing importance of Nagpur as a hub-and-spoke logistics centre.

Gati is likely to forge an alliance with Indian Airlines to start courier business. “We will jointly promote the courier business. This is part of our plan to give this segment a big push,” Mr Agarwal said. The two companies were in the process of finalising the modalities, including revenue sharing.

Mr Agarwal said the company plans to increase the turnover to Rs 1,000 crore by June 2009 from Rs 450 crore registered last year.

“This year (ending June 2007) we hope to cross the Rs 600-crore mark. Of this, Rs 100 crore is from the fuel stations business, which the company has hived off,” he said.

Of the Rs 1,000-crore, Gati expected Rs 200 crore from international business and Rs 100 crore from coast-to-coast business. The Express distribution and supply chain operations are expected to contribute Rs 700 crore.

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Students at the National Fire Service College in Nagpur are guaranteed a job one year before they receive their degrees. Its 30 fire-engineering graduates are picked up by private and public sector giants such as Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and Oil and Natural Gas Corp.

Meanwhile, in Ahmedabad, the privately owned College of Fire Technology offers a less rigorous degree—a three-year Bachelor’s in fire science—but similar statistics. Its batch of 120 students have just been placed across India and abroad.

As Indian companies open factories and oil refineries, and cities sprout malls, multiplexes and high-rise apartments, people to fill jobs fighting and preventing fires are in demand. However, colleges offering degrees in this specialized field remain few and far between.

At present, only three Indian colleges offer fire engineering degrees, in Nagpur, Kochi and Indore, unlike the college in Ahmedabad, which offers a fire-science degree. Together, they offer less than 100 seats. Experts say the colleges need to be better equipped and staffed.

“Demand for our graduates is up not 100%, but 200%. We are not able to increase supply,” said Shamim (who uses just one name), director of the National Fire Service College in Nagpur.

The college, run by the home ministry, offers a seven-semester fire engineering degree programme and is planning to expand from 30 to 120 seats at a new campus with an investment of Rs103 crore.

However, fire experts point out that the Nagpur college expansion has been talked about for a long time, but is yet to happen.

They also say that fire engineering—a vital part of fire prevention and not just firefighting—needs a big boost to match industrial and urban growth.

Fire engineers work closely with architects, factory and plant supervisors to make sure that buildings are designed to prevent fires and that all regulations are followed.

“The Nagpur college is ill-equipped right now and needs funds. Its expansion has been talked of for the last 10 years,” said Jagmohan Jain, chief fire officer for the Bhilai steel plant of the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL).

Jain himself is part of the first batch of fire engineers who graduated from the Nagpur college in 1982.

“Fire engineers are a scarce commodity as a number of them head for the Middle East after graduation,” said Varadendra Koti, vice-president of fire services for RIL, which goes in for on-campus recruitments. “But industry also hires candidates who are certificate and diploma holders.”

The sectors that have the most demand for fire engineers are oil refineries, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and fertilizers.

One effect of the shortfall in fire professionals has been on salaries. Fresh engineering graduates start with a monthly salary of Rs20,000-25,000. Oil sector multinational firms pay Rs60,000-1 lakh a month to fresh graduates for postings in West Asia.

“When I first entered college, I used to wonder about my future,” said 23-year-old Praharsh Nandi, who earned a Bachelor’s degree in fire science from Ahmedabad two years ago. Nandi now has a master’s degree and turned down a job offer in Qatar.

He has decided to stay in the country and joined John Energy Ltd, an oil exploration services provider, at an annual salary of Rs2.5 lakh.

In the crunch for talent, female candidates are also seeing an opportunity. The Nagpur institute graduated two women in the 2006 batch. One of them went to work for SAIL, which currently employs 30 fire engineers.

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TCS plans facility in Nagpur

Our Bureau

Mumbai, Aug. 14 Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) intends to set up a 5,000-seater facility in Nagpur. Construction work on the site will start by 2007-end and operations from the premises will begin within the next two years, Mr S. Ramadorai, CEO and MD, told reporters on the sidelines of a news conference to inaugurate TCS House, the new corporate headquarters for TCS.

It will initially start operations in Nagpur with a workforce comprising 2,000 people, said a company spokesperson.

However, Mr Ramadorai also hinted at the chances of the company initiating operations from a leased premise in Nagpur, before the centre is officially ready.

Analysts believe that Nagpur is the next most favoured IT destination in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune due to factors favourable to the IT industry such as the city’s location, good infrastructure and the availability of skilled labour.

Industry peers Satyam and IBM have also established their presence in Nagpur.

TCS is currently in the process of developing its biggest campus at Hinjewadi in Pune.

The campus will house a 5,000-7,000 seater facility once completed, said Mr Ramadorai.

TCS House was inaugurated by the Maharashtra Chief Minister, Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, in the presence of Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Group.

Tata Projects will start off by making towers that will be used in its engineering business where it sets up transmission networks

Tata Projects Ltd, which currently sources transmission towers from other companies while completing engineering contracts for power projects, plans to start making the towers itself in an effort to benefit from growing demand for such towers and avoid delays arising from overflowing order books at most tower makers.
“The move to manufacture transmission towers would not only help the company improve its profit margins, but also enable it ensure the quality and also maintain delivery schedules. We expect savings of roughly Rs4.5 crore per year by having our own transmission towers facility,” said A. Venkateshwar, vice-president, Tata Projects.
The company’s manufacturing efforts will focus on high voltage (HV) and extra high voltage (EHV) towers that are being installed, largely by the Power Grid Corp. of India Ltd, the public sector power transmission firm that hopes to install 60,000km of lines in the next five years. Private sector power projects (14 of them), coming up over the next five years, will also increase demand for the towers the company plans to make—together, these projects will add 24,000km of transmission lines.
Part of the Tata group, Tata Projects ended 2006-07 with Rs938 crore in revenues. Other large companies in the transmission towers business include Larsen & Toubro Ltd, KEC Ltd, Jyoti Structures Ltd and Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd. The transmission towers business also has several small and medium-sized regional players. The order books of most third-party suppliers are full and this has affected their delivery schedules.
Tata Projects will start off by making towers that will be used in its engineering business where it sets up transmission networks. That’s a substantial amount of business, said Venkateshwar.
“While the Power Grid’s plans need around Rs55,000 crore of investments, the private sector investments are estimated at around Rs22,000 crore, taking the total to Rs77,000 crore,” he said.
Of this, the investments for HV and EHV transmission towers account for around 40% or Rs30,800 crore, he said. “Rs6,000 crore investments are expected each year in the Plan period (next five years). This is the market that we are setting our eyes on,” Venkateshwar added.
Tata Projects’ facility to manufacture transmission towers is coming up near Nagpur in Maharashtra at an investment of Rs20 crore in the first stage. The initial installed capacity of this facility will be 24,000 tonnes per annum.
The company, which is currently executing orders worth Rs1,450 crore, estimates to grow its revenues by more than 70% in 2007-08, to around Rs1,600 crore from Rs938 crore in 2006-07

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Investments in the project may be led by Bangalore-based entrepreneur Rajeev Chandrasekhar and a yet-to-be-identified operations partner

Mumbai: The ministry of civil aviation is considering a plan to combine two aircraft maintenance facilities planned separately by Air India Ltd and Indian Airlines Ltd, the state-run carriers that are being merged into a single entity. Investments in the project may be led by Bangalore-based entrepreneur Rajeev Chandrasekhar and a yet-to-be-identified operations partner.
The maintenance, repair and overhaul or MRO project is expected to cost Rs700 crore.
Air India had earlier plan-ned an MRO unit in Nagpur with US aircraft maker Boeing & Co. at an investment of $100 million (under Rs400 crore), while Indian Airlines had agreed to set up such a facility either in Hyderabad or New Delhi with Jupiter Aviation & Logistics Ltd, a company controlled by Chandrasekhar.
The businessman, a former Intel design engineer who is now a member of Parliament, made his millions in mobile phone services after he sold his company BPL Cellular Holdings Ltd to Hutchison Essar Ltd (now Vodafone Essar Ltd), India’s fourth largest wireless service provider.
A significant minority stake in the MRO venture will be with National Aviation Company of India Ltd, or Nacil, the company into which the carriers are being merged. Boeing and Airbus SAS will remain minority investors until an operations partner is identified.
Details could not be immediately ascertained. “Management consultant Accenture, which is advising on the merger process, is expected to submit its recommendations and modality on the proposed combined MRO by mid-October,” said a senior Air India executive on the condition of anonymity as he is not authorized to speak to the media.
The MRO business may now be set up in two locations, New Delhi and Nagpur. The facility in the capital will maintain and repair narrow-bodied aircraft such as Airbus A320s or Boeing B737s, while the one at Nagpur would take care of bigger planes: B777s or A330s. “The logic behind this move to cash in on the synergies of location and operational efficiency. For instance, Air India’s low-fare wing would be situated in Delhi. Naturally, all Boeing B737s (smaller planes) would be maintained at Delhi apart from smaller A320s,” a person close to the situation said, seeking anonymity.
S. Ravi Narayanan, CEO and managing director of Jupiter Aviation, declined details. “We will act upon the instructions of the ministry of civil aviation,” he said. Nacil chairman and managing director V. Thulasidas said he would comment only after receiving the Accenture report.
A senior ministry official, who asked not to be named, said the government favours a maintenance facility partner who can service different planes instead of specializing in a single make.

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BHEL may take equity in Koradi power plant

2007-10-01 09:41:55 Source : Moneycontrol.com

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Mumbai, Sept 30

Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) could consider taking equity in the brownfield expansion of the Koradi Thermal Power Station near Nagpur. The Rs 8,000-crore expansion would be based on super-critical technology and will add 1,600 mw to the State grid.

Maharashtra State Power Generation Co Ltd (Maha Genco), the operator of the plant, will undertake the expansion.

Industry sources familiar with the development said BHEL has also been talking to various State electricity boards and generation companies for equity participation. The equity could also come in the form of important equipment. In a power plant, 50 per cent of the project cost comprises critical equipment like boiler, turbines and generators.

The project will have 80:20 debt-equity ratio, and Maha Genco would soon approach the Maharashtra government for Rs 1,600 crore as equity participation. Mr Ajoy Mehta, Managing Director of Maha Genco, said that if there is a gap in the equity funding from the State Government then additional equity would be sought from other companies. Mr Mehta said there could be difficulties in installing equipment at the site as the equipments are extremely heavy and the approach roads are narrow. Therefore, there are suggestions for setting up two units of 800 MW capacity each or three units of 500 MW, he said.

source : Moneycontrol

Sical Logistics signs agreement for MIHAN Road Terminal
2007-08-28 18:14:30 Source : Moneycontrol.com
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Sical Logistics Ltd, India’s leading provider of integrated multi-modal logistics solutions for bulk and containerized cargo and offshore logistics, signed the shareholders agreement on 22 Aug ’07 with the Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) and Gupta Coal for developing the Road Terminal at the Multimodal International Hub Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN).

A special purpose vehicle (SPV), Nagpur Sical Gupta Road Terminal Ltd (NSGRTL), was formed in April 2007 to build and operate the MIHAN Road Terminal. Sical will have 51% stake in the project and MADC and Gupta Coal will have 26% and 23% stakes respectively .The memorandum of understanding (MOU) between MADC and Sical was signed at Singapore in November 2006.

NSGRTL, the SPV company also signed the lease agreement with MADC for the land, for 66 years. The Road Terminal, which will be spread over a 60 hectare plot, will be developed at a project of cost of Rs 119 crores.

Sical Managing Director and Group CEO Sudhir S. Rangnekar said, “The Sical Road and Rail Terminals in MIHAN will be the largest logistics hubs in the country with world class infrastructure and state of the art facilities. We are delighted at the signing of the agreements with MADC and expect to commence work in Sep ‘07.The Road Terminal will have parking facilities for 1150 vehicles including multi-axle vehicles, warehousing space of 0.5million sqft, 15 hectares of open plots and 45000 sqft of cold storage facility.”

The MADC Vice Chairman Mr. R C Sinha said, “The MIHAN project is critical for the economic development of Vidharba. The ambitious project will create 1,20,000 direct jobs and 2,40,000 jobs in the allied sector. We are pleased to have Sical as our partner in growth. We are confident that the terminals will be world class, keeping in mind the rich experience and repute of Sical.”

Source: http://machinist.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=217&Itemid=2

Written by Arjun
Sunday, 05 August 2007
MUMBAI: Tata Group seems to be planning a foray into manufacture of aircraft components for exports, according to reports published by the Economic Times.

The group is is understood to be acquiring land at the Nagpur Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for setting up the component manufacturing plant. The Maharashtra Airport Development Company is in charge of putting up the Nagpur SEZ project. R C Sinha, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Maharashtra Airport Development Company, said that a Tata company is taking up the land for aircraft component business. He said that the infrastructure work on the Nagpur SEZ was progressing satisactorily and major work would be completed by December next year.

Meanwhile, Boeing is setting up a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility at the Nagpur SEZ.

Praveen Kadle, Executive Director (Finance) – Tata Motors, has told PTI that the company has plans for the aerospace sector though nothing had been finalised as yet.

Tata Airlines, India’s first airline, started in 1932 by the Tata Group was taken over by the government and turned into Air India.

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Source: TOI, Nagpur

City No 2 among emerging growth centres

Nagpur: Orange City has achieved the second spot on the emerging growth centres in India, while the numero uno position went to Chandigarh, said a recent study conducted by a UK-based Global Property Consultancy firm.

Goa and Kochi share the third spot, a press release said. Fifteen cities were surveyed by Knight Frank for determining the emerging growth centres in India. Chandigarh has been ranked as the highest in terms of real estate, infrastructure and business environment parameters and outshone 14 of its competitors, the release said.

Ludhiana and Guwahati shared the lowest ranks as the investment scenario is still to pick up in these cities, the release said. In terms of physical infrastructure, Chandigarh and Nagpur are well-equipped in areas of telecom, power, roads and air connectivity. The cities are closely followed by Jaipur, Goa and Vishakapatnam. However, Chandigarh has been ranked low on the social infrastructure parameter due to the paucity of star graded hotels and entertainment avenues.
The other cities included in the survey were Ludhiana, Lucknow, Guwahati, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Surat, Nagpur, Indore, Goa, Vishakapatnam, Mysore, Coimbatore and Kochi.

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I am attaching ONLY the Nagpur report from Knight Frank reserach….
Here it is… knight-frank-nagpur.pdf

Source: TOI, Nagpur

MADC to allot land to Boeing on June 26

Nagpur: Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) is expected to complete formalities on allotting land to aircraft major Boeing on June 26. This is scheduled to take place during chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh’s visit to the US, during which he would also visit Boeing headquarters at Seattle to hand over the signed document from MADC’s side. The papers would be exchange in his presence at Seattle itself. Although this hinges on the finalisation of several finer aspects of the contract, which have already been apprised by MADC to Boeing.

MADC has asked the aircraft major to send a draft lease agreement, which will be first examined. If needed, some of MADC’s conditions and specifications will also be incorporated in the deed, said MADC’s vice-chairman and managing director R C Sinha. Such conditions include payment for maintenance of the area, using electricity exclusively from the captive power plant set to come up at the special economic zone (SEZ). Moreover, if Boeing’s operations lead to water pollution, it will have to set up its own effluent treatment plant too. MADC has already informed MADC abut these conditions, he mentioned.

The company has already identified 75 acres of land in the SEZ to be allotted to Boeing. The land is situated in the SEZ boundary towards the airport towards which the company wants an opening, said Sinha. Boeing plans to set up a maintenance repair and overhaul depot in the city, with a capital investment of close to $ 100 million.
Boeing will be provided land free of cost considering the huge amount of investment entailed in the project. However, the company will have to pay charges to the tune of Rs 25-30 lakh towards infrastructure facilities such as sewage lines, water supply, power. In fact, providing land without any charges, is one of the reasons for asking Boeing to send its own draft lease deed.

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