Need to Know | GM plans to raise India capacity, opens new unit
Need to Know | GM plans to raise India capacity, opens new unit
New Delhi: The world’s largest auto maker, General Motors Corp. (GM), plans to raise the capacity of factories in India to produce 300,000 cars a year as rising disposable incomes in the world’s second most populous nation boosts demand for vehicles.
GM said it was making a “clear commitment to India" as it opened a second plant on Tuesday, increasing its annual output in the country to 225,000 vehicles a year. The company was earlier producing 140,000 vehicles in India, Karl Slym, president of the India unit, said in Talegaon near Pune. He didn’t give a time frame. India’s car sales, which have doubled in the past five years, may triple to 3 million by 2015, according to government forecasts. That has attracted a combined $6 billion (Rs26,580 crore) of investments .
— Bloomberg / AFP
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Suzlon plans to spend $1 bn on research
Mumbai: India’s biggest wind-turbine maker, Suzlon Energy Ltd., plans to spend $1 billion (Rs4,430 crore) on research to develop bigger and more efficient turbines as it battles customer concerns about quality.
“We are investing the amount in products, components and innovations over the next five years," chairman Tulsi Tanti said over phone from Pune.
Ahmedabad-based Suzlon has been dogged by concern that some of its equipment is faulty, which led to a 42% decline in its shares this year. The company’s V2 blades cracked under certain wind conditions, after which a unit of Southern California’s Edison International cancelled an order for 150 turbines in June.
— Bloomberg
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NTPC-Bhel venture plans to invest $1.4 bn
Mumbai: A venture owned by NTPC Ltd., India’s biggest power producer, and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (Bhel), the country’s largest electricity equipment maker, plans to invest $1.4 billion (Rs6,000 crore) to make turbines and generators. NTPC Bhel Power Projects Pvt. Ltd plans to make equipment to generate 5,000MW every year by 2015, the company said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. The venture may sell a 50% stake to private companies, it said.
C.P. Singh has been named chairman and managing director of the joint venture (JV), the statement said.
The joint venture was formed in December to win power-plant construction contracts. NTPC and Bhel each own half of the JV, NTPC said in a stock exchange filing in September.
— Bloomberg / PTI
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Temasek’s Lotus India plans to triple assets
Singapore: Lotus India Asset Management, part owned by Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings Pte, plans to triple its assets to $6 billion (Rs26,580) in two years, outpacing growth in the industry, said chief executive officer Ajay Bagga.
Lotus India will offer new funds including those investing in real estate to tap rising incomes in the world’s second fastest growing major economy. Only 8% of the Rs7.35 trillion in Indian household savings were invested in mutual funds, according to the Reserve Bank of India.
“We’re talking huge amounts of money being available," Bagga, 40, said in an interview in Singapore. “The underlying macro-economy is very strong."
— Bloomberg
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Jagran 18 defers launch of Hindi business paper
New Delhi: Broadcaster Television Eighteen India Ltd and publisher Jagran Prakashan Ltd (JPL) on Monday separately informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that Jagran 18 Publications Ltd, an equal stakes joint venture between them, was deferring the launch of a Hindi business paper, which was originally slated for a 18 August launch.
In a letter marked to both firms, R.K. Agarwal, a director on the board of Jagran 18 Publications, wrote: “…the company’s board has reviewed the launch of business paper in regional languages and given the prevailing market conditions, the board has decided that it is prudent to defer the project." Bharat Kapadia, CEO, Jagran18 Publications, said the firm is awaiting clarity from its board on how long has the project been deferred.
— Staff Writer
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