Wary of the times ahead in the job market, business schools are working on a risk-minimisation strategy and looking at doubling the pool of companies on the campus for the summer placements scheduled in November this year.
State power boards incur fixed cost of Rs 3,500 crore (Rs 35 billion). About 5,000 Mw of gas-based electricity generation capacity, built at a cost of about Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion), is lying idle due to the shortage of gas in the country.
It's time for the famous B-school fests. But the zing is somewhat missing this time.
"The MoU between the (Ambani) brothers is in the private domain and has never been produced in the court. Agreements between the brothers were entered into on the basis of negotiation and decision on the case cannot be taken on this basis," Milind Sathe, senior counsel for Mukesh Ambani's RIL had told a division bench in July this year.
Apart from the increase in the number of players entering the sector -- there were just 25 entities two years ago -- the scale of operations has also increased substantially, with 30 companies planning large-scale operations, experts said. The capacity of biodiesel plants set up by these companies will range between 30 tonnes per day and 300 tonnes per day. Based on the capacity, it will cost between Rs 300 million and Rs 3 billion to set up these plants.
With America's fourth largest investment bank Lehman Brothers filing for bankruptcy protection and Merrill Lynch being bought over by the Bank of America, placements at the Indian Institutes of Management will be affected.
The hotel giant is looking at having an exclusive arrangement with Pune-based Mulshi Springs -- a company that bottles natural spring water. The brand will be called Oberoi Spring Water and a formal announcement is expected soon. The packaged spring water will be available in 200 ml, 500 ml, 1 litre and 1.5 litre pet bottles priced between Rs 50 and Rs 200 respectively. "Water will be sourced from a rain forest near the Sahara Amby Valley," added the official.
Fertiliser, power plants plan expansion in anticipation
Property developers are setting up their own mini-power plants to meet captive requirements of the malls or residential complexes they are building. Electricity generated from these power plants, which will use compressed natural gas (CNG) as fuel, will be 40 per cent cheaper than state electricity board supplies, making it an attractive investment option rather than a perceived additional cost.
HCL's founder and chairman Shiv Nadar is making a second foray into university education having sought 300 acres of land in Noida, near New Delhi, to set up a Rs 300-crore (Rs 3 billion) multi-disciplinary university.
Only one out of every 175 students who take the Common Admission Test will make it to the Indian Institutes of Management this year. The logic, note experts, is simple. Around 300,000 students are slated to appear for CAT this November. Despite such slim chances, industry players believe more students will try to crack CAT as the job situation is not at its best. The increase in the number of students taking the CAT exam this year will be around 20 per cent.
The premier Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) do not appear to be perturbed, but other prominent B-schools anticipate a 25-30 per cent drop in placements this academic year. They are concerned that several regular companies may drop out of the placements and others may recruit fewer numbers than usual.
Global crude oil prices have dropped 14 per cent in less than a fortnight, but the three public sector oil marketing companies could still end up borrowing more in the domestic market and put further pressure on liquidity. With the three OMCs still saddled with under-recoveries, estimated at Rs 820 crore (Rs 8.2 billion) a day, they have no option but to use bank credit lines in the coming days as they have run out of their stock of oil bonds.
Naresh Nayyar, MD & CEO, Essar Oil, tells Business Standard that a windfall profit tax on private oil companies will only worsen the situation.
Ruias-controlled Essar Oil is close to acquiring two oil and gas blocks in Australia. The company has emerged as the preferred bidder for developing the blocks amidst international competition. The ruias will hold 100 per cent equity in the blocks.
Chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani is understood to have expressed interest in footing the salary bills of international faculty at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.
In a yet another bailout that will go down well with the political class, the government has proposed one-time assistance to state government and private universities and colleges that do not get any financial assistance from the University Grants Commission, the country's higher education standards regulator, which also funds institutions.
According to the National Auto Fuel Policy, Bharat Stage-IV, the Indian version of Euro-IV, is to be applicable in the country by April 2010. However, the plant upgradation plans of the oil refiners, who have to sell petrol and diesel with the stringent emission standard from April 1, are facing a delay as suppliers of the equipment are heavily booked.
Banks are reluctant about disbursing loans for aviation studies on fears that a slowdown will hamper the job prospects in the aviation sector. The move, say analysts, may affect the fortunes of aviation training institutes.
The Indian Institutes of Technology for the first time since their inception have begun drafting plans to implement the quota for faculty members from this year onwards, despite protests from the IIT student community and opposition from some professors.
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