"With RIL commissioning its second refinery last December, the total capacity of the (Jamnagar) complex will go up to 1.24 million barrels a day, exposing it to international vagaries. By surrendering the EOU status of one refinery and maintaining that of the other, the company will be able to hedge its risks," said an industry veteran. EOU status for RIL's second refinery currently ends in March 2010.
It would be complete by 2012 with a total investment of over Rs 11,300 crore, including an estimated Rs 2,300 crore from RIL and Rs 9,000 crore from GAIL. Analysts say refineries -- Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals, Chennai Petroleum Corporation, Essar, Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation -- located in the vicinity of these pipelines would benefit as they would be able to substitute costly fuel oil with cheaper gas.
P M S Prasad has been part of Mukesh Ambani's A-team for the last 25 years. The 55-year-old engineer, now president and CEO (petroleum), Reliance Industries, joined the company in 1984, when it was building a captive power plant at Patalganga, 70 kilometres north of Mumbai.
Projects like City Centre II, Lake Mall, Terminus Mall, Axis Mall and Avani Riverside mall in Howrah, are already running behind schedule. As retail sales are down by 50 per cent, depending on discount or lifestyle retail categories, and consumers' discretionary spends are also down 15-20 per cent, developers are now cautious about new projects.
The company plans to invest close to Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million) by June 2009 in its winery project and another Rs 50 crore in the next few years in building barrels, tanks and vineyards. It has set a target of producing a million bottles in 2009-10 and a million cases in three years.
The chances of organised retail trade crossing the Rs 230,000 crore, as predicted by the Images India Retail Report look remote, says Pradipta Mukherjee.
Many multiplexes are banking on promotional offers and schemes, like a 20 per cent discount on ticket prices, free popcorn, etc, for those booking tickets online. Around 70 per cent of the total revenues of multiplexes come from ticket sales, 20 per cent from food and beverages and the remaining from on- and off-screen advertisements. While footfalls have dropped 20-35 per cent, consumers' discretionary spend has stopped as far as movies are concerned.
This has come at a time when commodity prices have dropped and several companies are seeking to lower prices to boost sales. "While the recent drop in raw material prices have been an enabler, our margins are still under pressure due to several factors like operational expenses as well as production and packaging costs, which have peaked year-on-year," said a company official.
RIL has been using gas from GAIL during the past three months to test-fire the 1,440-km east-west pipeline, India's longest, from Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh to Bharuch in Gujarat. Only 100 km of the pipeline remains to be test-fired. It will transport gas from the world's largest gas discovery at the Krishna-Godavari basin in the Bay of Bengal to Jamnagar in Gujarat, where it has set up the world's largest petroleum refinery.
Despite a troubled job market that could continue for another year or more, many B-schools are looking at expanding the number of seats by up to 50 per cent and launching new programmes. B-schools maintain the demand for good students will remain even in a troubled job market and the student pool and programme portfolio need to be expanded. "Besides, when these students pass out in the next two years, the market will be better," said a director from one of the institutes.
The options include doing away with Day Zero and reducing placement fees. Day Zero is the name given to the day placements begin at the IIMs. Day Zero and Day One are reserved for top companies and placement fees are higher on these days. In good times, most students are placed on these days, leaving the smaller companies to return empty-handed.
Falling crude prices and the global credit crunch have jeopardised India's efforts to attract more investment in oil exploration and production, with several domestic and international companies opting to sell part of their participating interest in E&P projects. Around half-a-dozen companies are currently in talks with exploration and production majors -- mainly state-owned Oil India and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation -- to farm out part of their stakes.
Eight companies are in the fray for rolling out gas networks in six cities, bids for which were invited by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board. The deadline for submission of the bids expired on Tuesday.
The Rs 400,000-increase, applicable from this session, comes a year after the increase in fee by other IIMs. IIM-C is also increasing its need-based scholarship fund and stipend for research scholars.
At a time when the economic slowdown is eating into corporate earnings, the country's economy hotels, including Krizm Hotels and Berggruen Hotels, are going ahead with their expansion plans.
The state received robust investment announcements worth Rs 2,43,489 crore in calendar 2007. In calendar 2008, investments fell 63 per cent, to Rs 90,095 crore (Rs 900.95 billion). The general slowdown in economic growth, however, may also have played a part in Bengal's declining rank, given that many of its major investments were in such sectors as steel, real estate and power, all of which are current casualties of slowing demand.
High crude oil prices in 2008 have left the government richer by a few thousand crore rupees. In 2008-09, the government earned "windfall profits" from the petroleum sector as crude oil prices spiked, touching a high of $147 in July 2008.
Refining margin is the difference in prices of crude oil and finished products. More exposure to diesel behind less fall in Indian refining margins.
Here is another sign that the economy is slowing. The growth rate of diesel and petrol consumption is down sharply, though it is still in the positive territory.Year-on-year growth in diesel consumption in December 2008 was down to a mere 1.5 per cent as against 10.7 per cent growth in December 2007. Consumption of petrol grew 5.5 per cent in the month compared with 9.5 per cent in December 2007.Preliminary data for January showed that diesel consumption grew only 2 per cent.
The programme is a free, student-driven initiative and independent of the admission process but is backed by the administration of these institutes. The programme is managed through either the institute website or a separate purpose-built website that matches the profile of mentors and aspirants based on the background and discipline.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances