Mumbai, Jan, 25 (EPC News): Ramky Infrastructure Ltd has bagged several infrastructural projects valuing Rs1051.83 crore major towns of Delhi, Karnataka, Bihar, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra in roads, Industrial, water & waste water, power and irrigation sectors.

In Delhi, the company has been awarded a project from Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corp Ltd for the construction of low cost housing for urban poor/slum rehabilitation at Bawana - III (Pooth Khurd) Delhi comprising of 6480 Economic Weaker Section (EWS) houses in (G+4) Phase I for a value of Rs253.22 crore.

In Karnataka, the company has been awarded a project from Karnataka State Highways improvement project for upgradation of the road from Soundatti to Kamatagi (130 km) of SH - 34 and SH – 14 for a value of Rs225.50 crore.

In Bihar, the company has been awarded a project from Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corp Ltd for designing, providing, laying, testing & commissioning sewerage system and 10 MLD Sewage Treatment Plant for Bodhgaya town for a value of Rs92.75 crore.

In Punjab, the company has been awarded a project from PWD Amritsar for construction of Plaza at main entrance of Shri Harmandir Sahib at Amritsar for a value of Rs78.09 crore.

In Madhya Pradesh, the company has been awarded a project from M P Paschim Kshetra Vidyut Vitaran Co Ltd for construction of new 33/11 kV augmentation of capacity of power transformer & providing additional power transformer in existing 33/11 kV with extension of 33 kV & 11 kV bay along with vaccum circuit breaker (VCB) for a value of Rs58.55 crore.

In Maharashtra, the company has been awarded a project from Adani Power Maharashtra Ltd for execution of township consisting of 216 units of 2 BHK and 72 units of 3 BHK houses G+2 structures for 3300 MW power plant at Tiroda for a value of Rs52.88 crore.

EPC News Bureau

Mumbai, Jan, 25 (EPC News): PSL Ltd, a leading manufacturer of steel pipes, has secured several orders aggregating a total of approximately Rs924 crore within the past quarter for the provision of pipes and ancillary coating services.

Ashok Punj, Managing Director PSL Ltd stated, “All of these order were booked in the third quarter of the current financial year, which has been better than the previous two quarters. The fourth quarter is likely to continue along the same lines, reflecting an improved economic environment for the business.”The orders have been secured from leading engineering and construction companies which includes Nagarjuna Construction, Megha Engineering and Infrastructure, Pratibha Industries and SPML.

The order comprises the supply of steel pipes & coating services across the water, power, oil & gas and offshore sectors. The company is set to commence the work immediately and plans to commission some of its projects within the coming financial year. The company will engage 1.775 million tonne capacity of its plant located in Kandla in Gujarat for the production of this steel pipes.

EPC World News

Mumbai, Nov, 30 (EPC News): Wärtsilä is a global leader in complete lifecycle power solutions for the marine service, introduces conversion of 46 Dual Fuel (DF) engines to 50DF engines with mechanical propulsion and new LNG pac system.

Wartsila’s conversion of 46DF engines to 50DF engines with mechanical propulsion is the first marine installation in the world. Wartsila signed a turnkey project with Swedish, Tarbit Shipping for its implementation of this noval techniques. ‘Bit Viking’, the product tanker of Tarbit Shipping was the first vessel to undergo a conversion by Wartsila from heavy fuel oil to LNG operation.

The conversion enables the 'Bit Viking' to qualify for lower nitrogen oxide (NOX) emission taxes under the Norwegian NOX fund scheme, which means lower carbon oxide emissions, and virtually no sulphur oxide or particle emissions. The new LNG storage system enables safer and convenient onboard storage of LNG.

"Wärtsilä's unique expertise and experience with dual fuel technology, as well as with fuel conversion projects, were the main reasons for us choosing them. We appreciate the technological efficiency of the Wärtsilä solutions and the expert way in which this conversion project has been handled. We are proud that the 'Bit Viking' is now one of the world's most environmentally sustainable tankers in operation," says Anders Hermansson, Technical Manager, Tarbit Shipping. 

The engines are connected directly to the propeller shafts through a reduction gearbox, thus avoiding the electrical losses that are an unavoidable feature of diesel-electric configurations. This enables a significant improvement in propulsion efficiency, reduced fuel consumption, and corresponding reductions in emissions. 

"This is a major step for Wärtsilä in consolidating its market leading position in LNG solutions for the shipping industry. The successful sea trials with this vessel provide yet further validation of the viability of LNG as the marine fuel of the future. We anticipate that this development will rapidly accelerate during the coming few years," says Sören Karlsson, General Manager, Gas Applications, Ship Power Technology.”

EPC News Bureau

Bangalore, Nov, 23 (EPC News): In line with its globalization plans, China based Zoomlion announced its plans to establish a strategic alliance with India`s largest industrial crane manufacturer ElectroMech, to manufacture and sell tower cranes in India. This announcement was made today at EXCON, the largest construction equipment and technology exhibition of South Asia. This latest alliance comes soon after its acquisition of CIFA, Italy and the topless tower crane technology of JOST, Germany. 

``Chinese enterprises must accomplish localization first in order to go global, the more localized we are, the more globalized we become,`` Zhan Chunxin, Chairman and CEO of Zoomlion said.

The aim of this strategic alliance is for Zoomlion and ElectroMech to work together in order to effectively and successfully address the opportunities presented by the Indian market. This strategic alliance aims to combine the advanced technology and manufacturing expertise of Zoomlion with ElectroMech’s strong base in India and its strengths in sales and service to provide top class Zoomlion tower cranes to the Indian market.

Commenting on the cooperation with Zoomlion, Tushar Mehendale, Managing Director, ElectroMech said, ``We are extremely excited to partner with a global leader like Zoomlion. With this collaboration, we look at strengthening our market position by extending our product portfolio to offer total solutions to our customers.``

``Over the past few years, India has consistently ranked amongst the world`s fastest-growing economies having an average annual GDP growth rate in excess of 8%. India is on the cusp of increased infrastructural spending and the recent 5 year plan envisages spend in excess of US $1 trillion. The strategic alliance between Zoomlion and ElectroMech aims to tap this infrastructural boom,`` Mehendale added.

Bangalore, Nov, 23 (EPC News): Infrastructure and construction equipment finance major, Srei BNP Paribas is eyeing whopping Rs600 crore revenue at EXCON 2011, the largest construction equipment exhibition in the country. The company has also introduced unique solution `Tension Mat Lo!` at the exhibition.

Commenting on the occasion, D K Vyas, Chief Executive Officer, Srei BNP Paribas, said, ``As the principal sponsor, we are proud to be associated with yet another edition of Excon. Innovation has been our hallmark and a key growth driver and at Excon, we are launching ‘Tension Mat Lo!’ Keeping in mind, the problems a customer faces while trying to get finance, through Tension Mat Lo! Srei BNP Paribas assures its customers to leave their tensions behind and enjoy the hassle free world of Srei.``

The 8,500 sq feet outdoor pavilion has been designed to represent an Infrastructure Mart, wherein the customers are assured of a world of ‘tension free financing’ solutions as and when they require it in the infrastructure space. The five day expo will witness company`s innovative offerings like Asset Power, Money Power, Don’t Worry Finance and Khel Interest Ka. A customer would be entitled to enjoy a pre-approved credit limit and may get 100% financing of the equipment at attractive terms.

``To ensure that our customers across India can get a feel of Excon, we are organizing customer engagement programmes at all our 82 offices across India with live webcasts and streaming where we hope to do substantial business. We have already disbursed over Rs6,611 crore in the first half of this fiscal and are expecting a target disbursement of Rs14,000 crore for FY12.``

Mumbai, Oct, 29 (EPC News): JSW Steel, India’s third largest producer of steel in India has considered going for bidding with Australian coal producer, ‘New Hope’. This proposed coal bid is supposed to be valued A$5 billion ($5.2 billion).

Buying New Hope, which operates the Acland coal mine in Queensland, based in Ipswich, would give JSW thermal-coal mines and an export terminal.

JSW needs coking coal for its steel operations and thermal coal to run its energy unit's operational and upcoming power plants in India, said the people. Manish Kalghatgi, spokesman at JSW Steel, said there was no proposal at this stage.

JSW, which imports almost all the coal it needs to fire its 2,330 megawatts plants, faced a doubling of raw-material costs in the year ended March as floods in Australia pushed up coal prices and fuel consumption increased with the addition of generation capacity. It plans to import 7 million to 8 million tonnes of coal this year, Lalit Kumar Gupta, chief executive officer of the energy unit, said in an interview.

"The New Hope asset is very big and will help the energy unit of JSW to secure raw material. It will be a huge task for someone like JSW to raise money for such an asset," said Abhisar Jain, an analyst at Centrum Broking in Mumbai.

Globally, coal deals have reached $32.1 billion this year against $21.8 billion in the same period last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

JSW shares rose 1% to Rs586.25 at the close in Mumbai. The stock has plunged 50% this year, compared with a 17% drop in the benchmark BSE. New Hope closed up 1.7% in Sydney trading, valuing the company at A$5 billion.

EPC News Bureau

Mumbai, Oct, 22 (EPC News):The rising speculation in steel prices, have built great concern for the steel manufacturer and suppliers in the market.  Amid various proactive steps, companies fail to have control on the price rise, which hampered the demand for steel in the market. Several factors have contributed in streaming to this rise in price of steel.

Steel makers around the world are facing severe cost push with iron ore and coking coal prices remaining sky high, while the finished steel prices are subdued comparatively. With unrest in Middle East North Africa region, severe tightening in China, grim outlook in US and debt issues in European Union, the prospects for demand recovery look bleak great.

India remained a net importer of steel during April to March 2011. While finished steel exports stood at 3.461 million tonnes up by 6.5% YoY, steel imports stood at 6.798 million tonnes down by 7.9% Year on Year. While steel imports from China surged by 77% YoY to 1.827 million tonnes accounting for 26% of total steel imports, Japan and Russia/ Ukraine accounted for 12%, South Korea 11% and all balance countries at 39%, said the Steel Market Meet report.

Focusing on the cause, Shiv Kumar Singhal, VP (Commercial), Maharashtra Seamless Ltd mentioned, “Due to rise in the price of raw materials, iron ore and coking coal, manufacturers arrive at high cost for steel production. Major steel plants have gone for liquidation as demand for steel in the market is noted to be sluggish. Fall in rupee value against dollar have brought sizeable rise in import cost. We are yet to hear from the Government on this issue.”  

 Singhal also assured that this scenario will not prevail longer; we can see a favourable condition taking over shortly.

Under this changing scenario, the whole supply chain starting from a steel mill, international trading house, agents, importers, logistic players are looking to find direction as well as new partners to enhance the prospects of global trade as international steel trade is driven primarily by relations.

Reflecting on the hike in steel price, Seshagiri Rao, Joint MD and group CFO, JSW Steel mentioned, “Steel consumption is driven by infrastructure, construction and real estate spending. Even though flat steel consumption is expected to remain quite robust in India, these three sectors will be the major drivers of growth.”

“The government needs to look at policy support to increase spending in the three segments. Logistical constraints in terms of rail-lines or roads for the shipment of ore and steel are among the bottlenecks the government also needs to address,” added Seshagiri.

Mining scam in Karnataka during July, led to a glum situation to JSW Steel. JSW’s supplier, NMDC had to annul the entire long term contracts with major companies including a contract with JSW for the supply of iron ore for a fourth of its total requirement.

EPC News Bureau

Mumbai, Oct, 13 (EPC News): Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), India’s biggest shipping company, nearly halves its vessel orders for the current fiscal. To SCI the present market seems more volatile and unsecure to go ahead with its purchase plans. The company says it would proceed with only those acquisitions where it is confident of gains.

In the 11th Five Year Plan, the company was scheduled to place an order for 62 vessels. But till the last fiscal, the company has placed the order for 36 vessels while it was to place orders for 26 vessels in the current fiscal. But SCI would now place order only for 10 out of 26 vessels.

The Shipping Ministry, expressing their concern over SCI’s growth plan, averred that the company was financially sound. Various reports are prepared within the ministry. The report in question was one among them, but was leaked before it could be discussed at the ministry level.

In an interview with EPC World earlier, S Hajara, CMD of SCI said, “SCI would like to have a presence in the upper segment of offshore market. We are definitely interested to diversify in shipbuilding, terminal management and logistics sector but diversification does suffer when the core business is not performing well.”

“The order has not been restructured, it is just we are now sure orders for the entire number (26 vessels) will not be placed this year,” he added.

EPC News Bureau