NEWS ANALYSIS

[RAJESH DESAI]

 

INFRASTRUCTURE

 

Gujarat to become India's largest solar power producer

·         Commercially exploiting large tracts of wasteland, Gujarat is set to emerge as India's largest solar power destination. Currently, India's total solar power production is nearly 900 MW, two-thirds of which will be produced by Gujarat alone.

·         Gujrat will launch India's first Solar Power Park with generation capacity of 500 MW in 3,000 acres Charanka village, Randhanpur taluka, in Patan district. Currently, it has an aggregated operational capacity of 214 MW of solar power projects commissioned at a single location.

·         The Gujarat Solar Park is an innovative concept of the State Government to promote solar installations in which it allocated developed land to the project developers with the entire infrastructure including power evacuation, roads and water for commissioning of the power project put on fast track.

Rinfra offers IVRS bill payment facility

·         Over 27 lakh Mumbai customers of Reliance Infrastructure can pay their electricity bill through an interactive voice response system (IVRS). The company said it has tied up with IVRS provider Atom Technology for the service.

·         RInfra said that IVRS payment facilities were available with Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Corporation Bank and Bank of India. RInfra is the largest power distribution company in Mumbai with the licensed distribution area of over 400 sq. km in the suburbs and surrounding areas.

Lanco commissions 56-MW solar PV power plants in Gujarat

 

·         Lanco Solar has announced the commissioning of 56 MW grid-connected solar photovoltaic power plants in Gujarat.

·         This includes three plants of 35 MW owned by Lanco Infratech Ltd and 21 MW built as turnkey EPC for other developers — the Gujarat Power Corporation Ltd (5 MW), GSPC Pipavav Power Company Ltd (5 MW), GHI Energy Pvt Ltd (10 MW) and Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Ltd (1 MW).

·         According to the company, Lanco Solar is currently developing 350 MW solar farms as a developer and an EPC player. Over 90 MW solar PV is currently operational. Lanco is building a fully integrated PV manufacturing facility at a 250-acre SEZ in Chhattisgarh. In phase-I, 75 MW module production capacity has been in operation since May last year. Other facilities for polysilicon, ingot and wafer plants are under construction.

Norges Bank pares holding in IVRCL

·         Norges Bank (Central Bank of Norway) has announced that it has reduced its holding in IVRCL further from 4.47 per cent to 4.38 per cent by sale of shares in the open market. The Central Bank of Norway was among leading investors in the Hyderabad-based infrastructure company IVRCL with close to nine per cent stake. The bank has reduced the stake in the past few weeks. This coincided with the increase of stake by the Essel Group.

CIL rallies trouble seen ahead

·         Shares of Coal India rose over three per cent on Tuesday, a day after its board agreed to sign new fuel supply agreements (FSAs) with power producers, with an average penalty of just 0.01 per cent for supply shortfalls. Coal India shares gained 3.18 per cent, or Rs 10.80, to close at Rs 350 on the Bombay Stock Exchange here on Tuesday.

·         The more pressing issue was how Coal India would meet the government’s condition that 80 per cent supply commitment be provided to power providers. Those long-term supplies, which would be provided at lower prices than what could be fetched in private markets, is at the heart of the tussle between Coal India's directors and The Children's Investment Fund, the biggest minority shareholder in CIL.

·         Implementation of the new FSAs, which would require about 80 million tonnes of incremental coal offtake for the power sector, will lead to a shortfall of about 10-20 million tonnes, likely to be bridged through imports. Signing of these FSAs is likely to see an increased pressure to feed the power sector’s needs at lower realisations and, hence, reduce the pricing flexibility of Coal India.

Singapore’s GIC in talks to buy stake in GVK arm

 

·         Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), a sovereign wealth fund owned by the Singapore government, has begun talks with the GVK Group, an airport developer and power producer in India, to purchase a stake in GVK Coal Developers Singapore, the holding company that owns Australia’s Hancock Coal, two people familiar with the development said.

 

·         The company is valued at $2billion,a rise of roughly$800 million,” said one of the two people familiar with the development. But other coal mine owners say valuation could rise only after they receive all regulatory clearances from the Australian government.

 

·         GVK will sell down its stakes across Alpha, the rail and the port, but will maintain a majority,” said Paul Mulder, chief executive of Hancock Coal, the Australian arm of GVK, to a news agency in March 21, 2012. “The process is underway.”

 

CONSUMER DURABLES

 

Videocon Mobile moves to gain subscribers

·         Even as other telecom operators whose licenses were cancelled hung up their boots, Videocon Mobile plans to stay on. The operator is planning to turn aggressive in adding subscribers.

·         Three operators whose licences were cancelled by the Supreme Court order— Etisalat DB, Loop Telecom and STel—are shutting operations. Videocon, too, lost 21 licences as part of court order after the controversial allocations in 2008.

·         It is company’s monthly target to add 700,000 new customers, and we have already added 300,000 in April..

·         Some retailers of Videocon SIM cards spoken to in Mumbai, said the salesmen of the service had not been regular in replenishing their stock. But recently, some of them were visited by senior staff from Videocon.

 

Regards,

 

Team Microsec Research

 

 

 

Microsec Capital Limited

Tel: 91 33 30512100

Fax: 91 33 30512020

 

--
CA. Rajesh Desai