The Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad has awarded Hyderabad-based Sarovar Park Plaza, a subsidiary of Sarovar Hotels, a long-term contract to provide management-backed hospitality services.
Though most people expected Tata Motors to select either Andhra Pradesh or Karnataka for its Nano project, it was clear that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had done the impossible and coming from nowhere bagged the prestigious project.
Gujarat may have missed the IT/ITES bus earlier, but the two upcoming IT/ITES SEZs by K Raheja Corp and DLF are all set to drive the growth of the industry here. As many as 50 companies are likely to set up shops in the two parks coming up in Gandhinagar.
While the exact investment for the project, which is likely to come up in Jamnagar is not known, senior government officials say the company is looking to ink an agreement during the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit, to be held in January next year.
Tata Motors, which suspended work at the Nano plant in West Bengal's Singur in view of continued confrontation at the site early this month, has held talks with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi over relocating the facility to the state.
ONGC Chairman R S Sharma, who was in Kutch in Gujarat recently to inaugurate the group's maiden foray into wind energy, said, "We are in talks with three to four players for our solar energy project." He said that various pilot projects were going on at the Energy Centre, which included geo-thermal energy. The Energy Centre was set up last year for carrying out research in alternate energy sources beyond oil and coal.
In May 1992, ONGC handed over gas pipelines and marketing functions connected with natural gas to GAIL. However, it continues to be the marketing agency in certain isolated pockets.
ONGC currently supplies gas directly in isolated pockets of India, mainly in Gujarat and Assam, which contributes around Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) to ONGC's total marketing revenues. In May 1992, gas pipelines and marketing functions related to natural gas were transferred by ONGC to GAIL. However, there are certain isolated pockets where ONGC continues to be the marketing agency.
US-based foundation to set up Rs 20,000-crore Integrated SolarCity.
ADAG slots Rs 1,200 cr for wind power plants
With oil flowing past $145 a barrel, leading companies in the country have lined up plans to explore opportunities in jatropha cultivation and prospects of biofuel. The companies are flocking to Gujarat, which has earmarked 1,900,000 acres in the Narmada region for the crop cultivation.
As corporate line up CSR activities backed by a huge cash flow, a small group of people lying below the poverty line are treading the road untravelled. As many as 27 marginalised salt pan workers, who earn their living in Kutch by producing salt from the area, are now proud owners of a private limited company called Sabras, formed a year ago.
Cadila Pharmaceuticals has chalked out ambitious plans to set up close to eight units in its upcoming PhaEZ Park near Ahmedabad, which is touted to be the largest in India. The eight units will come up in a phased manner in a span of six to seven years.
Rupee appreciation has hit the pharma industry as exports for the financial year 2007-08 are estimated to rise a moderate 7 per cent against the targetted 30 per cent growth. Besides rupee appreciation, the dent in exports due to pricing pressure in the US, where a lot of products have gone off patent recently, also affected the exports.
The floor seems to be divided between realtors and Gujarat urban development authorities on the implentation of the New Integrated Township Policy. Township projects worth over Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) in and around Ahmedabad have been left in a lurch due to this, according the real estate developers. Many developers who have already earmarked land for the townships feel that the policy is not yet implemented
Adani group has begun the spadework to come up with a mega initial public offering (IPO) aiming to raise about Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) for setting up a power generation capacity of close to 10,000 megawatt in next five years. The company is chalking out investments plans for generating 1,320 mw power in Rajasthan and 2,000 mw at Dahej in Gujarat by 2012.
In line with its plans to set up greenfield projects outside India, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance group is considering setting up a polypropylene unit in Kuwait. The company already has operations in the Gulf states to market polypropylene. If this project fructifies, it will be Reliance's first unit outside India. Reliance Industries (RIL) is also looking to set up a refinery project in Kuwait. It has also signed an MoU with GAIL to explore for petrochemical plants outside India.
The company is, currently, testing its products along with BSNL for commercially rolling them out in India. The company plans to launch its products for one million BSNL lines in Ahmedabad and Bangalore in two months. Renovau has developed a product suite where video images can travel over internet on a bandwidth of as low as 128 kbps. The switch, developed by the company, will offer call routing, call management and billing solutions.
"We require eight million cubic metres for overall expansion which is almost half the gas available at Panna-Mukta-Tapi. At present, for the 655 mw, we are using three million cubic metres a day," said Rajiv Mishra, managing director of CLP Power India, which is a 100 per cent subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based CLP Group. The company had received the required environment clearance from the Gujarat Pollution Control Board in 2007.
A senior RIL executive confirmed this development, but refused to divulge further details. "There has been some research on producing ethanol from jethropa. However, the tests have not been confirmed," said a scientist who has been working with the Gujarat state government for studying crops in Kutch. Another view by the industry experts is that the sugar industry in South Gujarat is not finding enough takers for the ethanol produced.