Category Archives: Business & Economy

TAFE plans Rs 100 cr new facility

Business & Economy

World’s third largest tractor manufacturer Tractor and Farm Equipment Ltd (TAFE) plans to set up a greenfield facility in Tamil Nadu to manufacture tractors. The plan comes against the backdrop of the high demand and all the company’s plants operating at full capacity.

TAFE’s Chairman and CEO Mallika Srinivasan said, we will invest around Rs 100 crore on a new plant with an annual capacity of 60,000 units in Madurai. All our plants are operating at full capacity and we expect demand for our products to outpace industry growth.

The company will also set up an agricultural implements plant for an outlay of Rs 30 crore and a similar amount will be spent on carrying out value addition at our Turkish plant, added R C Banka, president, TAFE. Presently, the company has a capacity of around 180,000 units per annum (600 units per day) and the new plant at Madurai is needed to meet the projected increase in demand. Post expansion, TAFE’s annual capacity will be 250,000 units.

Last fiscal, TAFE sold 148,112 units, including TAFE’s Massey Fergusson (MF) and Eicher brands of tractors. It included export of 20,396 units.

Presently, the company exports to 73 countries and its export revenues are around Rs 1,200 crore.

On the company’s performance, she said, in the first half of the year the industry grew around 19 per cent, while TAFE grew at 26.9 per cent. From November onwards, the industry showed a downward trend while TAFE continued see growth. “Nearly 68 per cent of our sales come from products launched during the last three years. We expanded the Eicher range of tractors. It was known as a small horse power (hp) player and now it has tractors up to 50 hp,” she added.

The company is planning to launch a new 55 hp model this month. “We are cautiously optimistic about the tractor industry’s growth. The short term outlook is caution while the medium To long term outlook is optimistic. As far as TAFE is concerned, we are bullish about our prospects,” she said

Going forward, the company will enter soil preparation, harvesting and post harvesting agricultural implements segment, added Banka. To a question on harmonisation of components between its three brands — TAFE, Massey Ferguson and Eicher — to cut costs, Srinivasan said each model has its own USP and that cannot be compromised to achieve advantages of common components.

TAFE is also participating in the development of the Centurion family of tractors (50-125 hp) along with the AGCO Corporation.

“We will make the tractors in India and ship them out during the second calendar quarter of 2013,” she said.

TAFE reported a 30.4 per cent growth in consolidated revenues from Rs 6,149 crore in 2010-11 to Rs 8,020 crore during year-ended March 31, 2012.

Overall, tractor sales increased 26.6 per cent at 148,112 tractors as against an estimated industry sale of 607,213 tractors.

source: http://www.Business-Standard.com / Home> Companies & Industry / BS Reporter / Chennai, April 04th, 2012

Pollachi sends summer coolers

Business & Economy, Uncategorized

For 48-year-old Mahendran, March to May is a busy season as the demand for tender coconuts peaks with rising mercury levels. Mahendran has been selling them for nearly three decades in Egmore and now owns two shops and seven push carts. “I buy around 4,000 coconuts every three days,” he says.

As the mercury rises in Chennai , people turn to tender coconuts to beat the heat. The town that supplies Chennai with its daily dose of coconuts is Pollachi, about 40km south of Coimbatore.

According to Hemachandra, deputy director of the Coconut Development Board, Chennai gets around 30 truckloads of coconuts from Pollachi and 15 from Puducherry and Cuddalore between March and May. Each truck has 4,500 coconuts.

The Tender Coconut Producer Association, which consists of Pollachi-based farmers, meets every week to decide the price of coconuts. An SMS is sent to the members and representatives of nearly 200 villages and traders, informing them about the price. Traders then bargain based on the quality of the coconuts.

A E Srinivasan, a farmer and secretary of the association, says Pollachi coconuts are the best as they have more butter. “Earlier, we were not aware of the price in other cities and used to sell coconuts for as low as Rs 4. Now, we sell the hybrid quality for Rs 12 to Rs 14, dwarf variety for around Rs 15 and tall quality for up to Rs 9. The prices will go up in May,” says Srinivasan, who has coconut plantations. Traders come to his farm once a month to take the harvest.

Kamaraj (41), who has been selling coconuts for past 15 years in Egmore, says he buys about 500 coconuts depending on the sales. “I pay Rs 20 for a piece. I sell around 60-70 coconuts daily and the price varies from Rs 25 to Rs 30,” he says.

Till last year, Puducherry, Cuddalore and other coastal districts supplied coconuts. However, Cyclone Thane destroyed most of the plantations, thereby increasing the prices. “I used to buy coconuts for Rs 12, but now I have to pay Rs 20,” says Mahendran.

Despite getting a better price for their produce, things are not all bright for the Pollachi farmers. “There is labour shortage as younger generation doesn’t want to take up this job and only a trained person can climb the tree,” says Srinivasan.

T A Krishnaswamy Gounder, president of United Coconut Growers Association of South India, says youngsters prefer to work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act schemes than climb coconut trees for a living.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Chennai / by Nanya Srivastava / TNN / March 31st, 2012

Get ready for the Exotic Car Show

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Sports, Uncategorized

A exotic car show to coincide with the first program of the newly formed Madras Exotic Car Club(MECC) will be held on 1st April 2012. 30 Exotic Cars like  Ferraris’,Lamborghinis, Rolls Royces, Bentleys, Porches, BMWs, Audis and the likes will be making a statement, with the owners seen racing  on the Irrungatukotai race track  from 11 am to 1 pm. The show, sponsored by Golden Homes, is open to public to enjoy and experience the thrill of all the exotic  cars present in one place. The entry is free.

Talking to the media about the show and the club Mr. Manoj Lulla, Chairman, says,” The number of Exotic  cars is increasing in the South, so there is a need to form a club, where owners can come and share their experiences, problems faced and take help form the club authorities.  Madras Exotic Car Club will reach out to all those owners who are passionate about their expensive  cars. The club will organise events on the track, get drivers from Europe to train the drivers on optimal use of sports /super cars and also give advice on which car to buy next while providing technical expertise on performance upgrades. The club will also facilitate visits to important factories and  tie up with other clubs.”

He further added that plans are afoot to tie up with leading automotive brands to offer special experiences and prices to this elite club, which will be free to members initially.”We plan to do three of four events in this year and then increase as we see better participation “.

Mr. Bal Singh George, MD, Golden Homes, an avid car enthusiast himself, said, “There are hundreds of super car clubs in Europe and other cities spread across the world. Surprisingly, even though South is supposed to be conservative, there has been a silent craze for super cars especially in the 3 C’s – Chennai, Coimbatore and Cochin”.

When asked about what is the standard definition of a super car, Mr. Bal Singh  George  said that it varies from country to country and for me a super or exotic  car is one which is capable of touching 300 kms an hour with at least 8 cylinders and a minimum of 4000 cc engine. Recent advances have made powerful luxury cars perform better but focus is still on comfort, luxury and exclusivity.

source: http://www.chennaionline.com / Friday, March 27th, 2012

Ex-chief secretary Malathi loses last stand against cancer

Business & Economy, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features

Chennai:

Former Tamil Nadu chief secretary S Malathi died in a private hospital on Sunday morning after a prolonged battle with cancer. She was 57.

An IAS officer from the 1977 batch, Malathi opted for voluntary retirement in August 2011. She was known as an honest and forthright government servant who expected the best from those who worked with her.

“Her work ethic was inspiring. She was meticulous, organised and straightforward. Every government order, every bit of information was at her fingertips,” said additional chief secretary Sheela Chunkath, who knew Malathi since 1980 when they were posted together in Trichy.

Malathi started her career as a sub-collector in Trichy in 1979 and held various positions including collector of North Arcot district (1987-89) and secretary of the municipal administration and water supply department (1996-2001).

“She was someone who young officers could look up to. She guided us, was supportive, planned her work and meetings carefully, and never wasted her time or ours,” said J Radhakrishnan, who worked under her for close to four years. Malathi was diagnosed with breast cancer in July 2003 when she headed the statistics department. She underwent treatment while continuing to work, and in seven months her condition improved. She continued to rise in the ranks and became home secretary in 2006. A scarf to cover hair thinned by chemotherapy and a swollen left hand due to lymphedema were the only signs of her illness.

In May 2010, as home secretary, she was diagnosed with recurrent breast cancer in the liver. Malathi was expected to take over from K S Sripathi as chief secretary but she was moved to the vigilance department to give her time to recuperate.

In August 2010, Malathi wrote a series of moving pieces on her experience for The Times of India. “I want people to understand that you can fight cancer. Taken with the right mindset, coming to terms with this illness is not that difficult. The trick is to be positive but prepared for the worst,” she told TOI during a meeting to edit the pieces.

She wrote: “After seven years you do get a feeling of having been cured… [so hearing the diagnosis] was truly shattering… From the totally despondent thought that I would die in a few days to the dread of therapy to how it will affect my daughter to how expensive the treatment will be, my mind was travelling in several directions but getting nowhere… The immediate desire was to sit in a corner and cry, but then the need to look dignified gets the better of you and stone-faced I left the hospital.”

Malathi became chief secretary in September 2010 in the DMK regime, only the second woman to hold the top bureaucrat’s post. In May 2011 when the AIADMK took over, she was transferred to the statistics department. Though she had three more years of service, she resigned in August.

At her farewell party when colleagues wished her health and happiness, Malathi told them that she didn’t have much time left. “It was hard to hear that from someone who was always a fighter,” said Chunkath. “But she said it with such strength and grace,” she said.

Malathi wrote for TOI: “I am not sure what the future holds for me: Will I get over this instalment of cancer and if so, for how long? In the time I have left, I shall live every day to the full, and be a good human being, treasuring relationships. Cancer has reinforced my effort to realize myself. If you are unfortunate enough to be diagnosed with cancer, things are not that bleak, there is hope. But cancer or no cancer, eat healthy, do not abuse the body and learn to treasure every day.”

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Chennai> Collections / by Shalini Umachandran / TNN / March 26th, 2012

At B-schools, students opt for internships with political parties

Business & Economy, Education

Mumbai:

Last February, about 50 students from the Bharathidasan Institute of Management (BIM), Trichy, along with some 70 corporate executives sat through a conference in New Delhi on management challenges faced by political parties. Union minister Salman Khurshid, CPI National Secretary D Raja and BJP National Secretary Bhupendra Yadav discussed the deep, internal processes of their respective parties in the session titled ‘Left, Right & Centre’.

This summer, Sandeep Pavan Kumar and Sujoy Biswas, two first-year BIM students signed up for internships with BJP. Sandeep and Sujoy’s choice for internship mirrors the curiosity and enthusiasm among B-school students to explore politics as a classroom to learn management skills. This is hardly a mainstream trend yet, but for a fair sprinkling of students from IIMs in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, and Calcutta, political parties are the new cool internship destination.

Many professors are encouraging the choice. “This is a promising possibility. It is in mutual interest. Parties will get an honest feedback from young students, who on the other hand can understand the political system better,” says Anil Gupta, professor, IIM-A.

 

Adds A Nagarajan, director, BIM-Trichy: “Political internship will help students in learning to speak in a language that will have a greater connect with the common man.”

Politicians also seem to fancy the idea. “This will change the traditional culture of Indian politics and streamline and civilise the political culture with involvement of professionals and managers,” says Mukesh Shukla, secretary, New Delhi district, BJP. “Also, it will help students get in touch with ground realities and assist them in future analysis and decision making.”

Sandeep and Sujoy will explore the saffron party’s organisational structure, campaign strategy, parliamentary affairs and party activities, in their 6-8 week internship.

Recognising politics as a source of learning management concepts and processes, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, the country’s top-ranking B-school, had four years ago placed one student for political internship with the CPM. It followed this up with six students in the next batch. They worked with a few members of parliament to look at constituency management.

This year again, a doctoral student conducted a case study on the work of an MP elected seven times from the same constituency in Ahmedabad. Two students of IIM-Calcutta had taken part in the 2011 assembly election campaign of  Trinamool Congress in West Bengal and a few had earlier worked with BJP as interns.

“Winning an election is like competing in a market place and students can apply this learning to their future role as managers,” says Anindya Sen, dean-academic, IIM-C. Professors, students, parties and even companies see this as a winwin partnership.

“Managerial training is about decision making. By interning in political organisations, students learn about society, consensus building, decision making and various other dynamics of organisation management,” says Pankaj Chandra, director, IIM-B. Students from the institute regularly intern with political parties. “As execution ability becomes critical to the functioning of political parties, a market-driven pull will be created leading to more management professionals contributing to politics,” says Abhishek Kumar, assistant professor at BIM-Trichy.

And companies too see value in this. A study conducted by BIM shows that companies encourage students to do their internship in political parties. “Students can learn about various leadership styles, team building, decision making and communication styles from political parties,” says Sasi Kumar, vice-president-HR, Ashok Leyland John Deere Construction Equipment.

“I won’t call it (political internships) a trend. It depends on interest of students and the kind of project they look out for,” says Gupta of IIM-A. “Students interested in public policy are keen on political internship.” Some public-policy students at the institute have been exploring the LAMP Fellowship. The programme places one legislative assistant to work with one MP for a period of 11 months and exposes fellows to the Parliament and legislative process.

“Working in public policy or with MPs is not just about gaining policy-making experience before working in corporations; this (political parties) is a perfectly good career path in its own right,” argues Mathur Navdeep, assistant professor, public systems group, IIM-A. That’s a fair argument, but neither Sandeep nor Sujoy are buying it just yet. A political career is not what they have in mind. They just want to use the learning from the internship with BJP to become better managers.

source: http://www.TimesofIndia.Indiatimes.com / Home> Business> India Business / by Rica Bhattacharyya, ET Bureau /  March 23rd, 2012

SunEdison’s 100-kW unit rises on StanChart rooftop

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Science & Technologies

Chennai, MARCH 19:

SunEdision has put up a 100-kW solar plant on roof of building of Scope International in Chennai. Scope is Standard Chartered Bank’s captive BPO and its headquarters is in Chennai.

Spread over 20,000 sq ft of roof space, the plant uses 875 solar panels and will generate 3 million units of electricity over the next 20 years, enough to power 40 average Indian homes annually.

This is the first commercial rooftop solar project, SunEdison India’s Managing Director, Mr Pasupathy Gopalan, said on Monday, meaning that the Scope building will consume the energy produced on its rooftop, paying a price for it. SunEdison has not disclosed the price, but said it was the first commercial PPA rooftop in the country.

The entire project was completed in three months. SunEdison is in talks with other prospects for similar rooftop projects.

mramesh@thehindu.co.in

source: http://www.TheHinduBusinessLine.com / Companies / by M. Ramesh / March 19th, 2012

City gets first designer car showroom

Business & Economy

Chennai auto scene has a new address to flaunt about a designer car showroom in Egmore.

A joint venture between Dilip Chhabria Design Pvt.Ltd and Lalitha Motors Pvt.Ltd (part of Lalitha Jewellery group), saw the opening up of a DC Design outlet in Chennai on March 11, 2012.

This is not just a collaboration aimed at profits but a result of my passion for vehicles. Lalitha Group’s customer-centric approach alongwith a rich experience in retail and DC Design’s superior designs skills will indeed be a formidable combination” said Mr.Kiran Kumar of Lalitha Jewellery.

“The Indian market for high end automobiles is on a steep uphill curve as witnessed year-on-year and our focus is at the top end of this rarified niche.

The design is completely our very own as is the engineering and also the production process. Type approval and on-road tests would follow soon and we intend to simultaneously set up an all new facility at Talegaon near Pune to build this vehicle,” said Mr Dilip Chhabria, India’s leading automobile designer and owner of DC Design DC Design was founded in 1993 with the dual aim of redesigning and modifying mass market cars to create one-of-a-kind automotive beauties for automotive connoisseurs as well as offering design and prototyping services to the OEM automotive sector. Recently, the firm unveiled DC Avanti, the country’s first ever sports car and its flagship product.

The sleekly styled DC Avanti is intended not only to be a sports cars but also to be on Sale in limited production to the general public.

“Every country which has written its name in the pantheon of automobile manufacturing has invariably distinguished itself with sports cars by its own nationals and I thought that India rightly needs to be in this exclusive club,” said Mr Chhabria commenting about the venture.

“We intend to produce 300 units of the Avanti in 2013-2014 and if all goes well we could ramp up production to go into four figures per annum,” he added.

DCD has already put in place a unique and dedicated self-owned and managed sales and service network in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad and this would only be honed to a fine pitch by the time the Avanti production commences. Four additional outlets will be opened in the course of 2012.

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> Channels> Cities> Chennai / DC, Chennai / Sunday, March 18th, 2012

Rail budget: Tamil Nadu gets new trains; bio-diesel, windmill plants

Business & Economy

New Delhi:

 New express and passenger trains, increase in the frequency of some long-distance and suburban trains, setting up of windmills and completion of the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) in Chennai are some of the steps Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi announced for Tamil Nadu Wednesday.

Presenting the 2012-13 budgetary proposals for the Indian Railways in the Lok Sabha, Trivedi said the MRTS extension service, the elevated rail system in the state capital, would be completed in 2012-13 and conversion of a near defunct 156-year-old South India’s first railway station at Royapuram into a terminal would be studied.

The MRTS currently connects Chennai Beach and Velachery. With Tamil Nadu leading in wind power generation, Indian Railways too plans to cash in on that potential by setting up some windmills in the state as well as a bio-diesel plant at Tondiarpet in Chennai.

Trivedi said the railways will set up Rail Neer (bottled water) plant at Palur. To ease the congestion in suburban services, Trivedi announced 18 additional services on Chennai Beach-Tambaram, Chennai Beach-Chengalpattu, Chennai Beach-Avadi, Chennai Beach-Tiruttani, Chennai Beach-Gummidipundi/Sullurupetta and Chennai Beach-Velachery sections.

In respect of new train services, Trivedi announced nine express and two passenger trains for Tamil Nadu apart from increasing the frequency of some trains and extending some services.

He said four new lines (Walajah Road-Ranipet, Namakkal-Mohanur, Needamangalam-Manargudi and Mohanur-Karur) would be completed this fiscal.

Trivedi said a new line linking Avadi-Guduvancheri via Sriperumbudur and Orgadam had been sent for the Planning Commission’s approval.

Surveys for new lines (Chennai to Sriperumbudur via Guindy, Poonamallee, Kanchipuram-Thiruvannamalai-Katpadi, Kumbakonam-Andimadam-Jayankandam-Vridhachalam, Thanjavur to Pudukottai via Fandarvakottai, Attipattu-Ennore Sea Port and Dindigul-Kumuli via Bodinayakkanur) would be taken up in 2012-13.

Similarly, the Railways have sent new line doubling projects (Jollarpettai-Katpadi-Arakkonam, Renigunta-Arakkonam 3rd line) to the Planning Commission’s approval.

Sanction has been given for new surveys for line doubling projects linking Madurai-Triunelveli-Kanyakumari alongwith electrification and Trivandrum and Kanniyakumari and the electrification of Coimbatore-Mettupalayam route.

Trivedi also announced new express trains for Tamil Nadu (Coimbatore-Bikaner AC Express (Weekly) via,Roha,Vasai Road,Ahmedabad,Jodhpur; Chennai-Bangalore AC Double-decker Express (Daily); Tiruchchirappalli-Tirunelveli Intercity Express (Daily) via Madurai,Virudunagar; Visakhapatnam-Chennai Express (Weekly);Kacheguda-Madurai Express (Weekly) via Dharmavaram,Pakala,Jolarpettai; Shalimar-Chennai Express (Weekly); Mannargudi – Tirupati Express (Tri-Weekly) via Thiruvarur,Villupuram,Katpadi; Chennai-Puri Express (Weekly) and Asansol-Chennai Express (Weekly) via Purulia, Sambalpur, Vizianagaram.)

The two new passenger trains announced are Villupuram-Katpadi Passenger (Daily) and Villupuram-Mayiladuthurai Passenger (Daily).

The trains that are extended are Madurai-Tirupati Express to Rameswaram; Palakkad-Mangalore Express to Coimbatore and Dadar-Yesvantpur Express to Puducherry (three days) via Jolarpettai-Katpadi-Villupuram and to Tirunelveli (three days) via Dharmapuri-Erode.

The frequency of the Madurai-Tirupati Express two to three days, Chennai-Mangalore Express six to seven days and Nizamuddin Kanniyakumari Express one to two days have been increased. (IANS)

source: http://www.PunjabNewsline.com / Punjab Newsline Network / Wednesday, March 14th, 2012

EdServ details Rs 40 cr investment plan

Business & Economy, Education

Chennai-based Education Services Company (EdServ) has launched the EdServ Training Institute (EDI), an Instructor-Led-Training (ILT) centre. The company is planning to invest Rs 40 crore in the initiative.

The company plans to use the franchisee network route to offer academic support and vocational training courses, including tuition, coaching, test prep and job-oriented training apart from placement support, according to company’s release.

EdServ already has a range of e-content along with onl-ine test prep engine as part of its flagship Lampsglow.com that shall power these brick-and-mortar learning services in EDI.

EdServ has tied up with A-Team Edutech Ltd, an education management company, for the supply of tablet PCs to the EdServ Training Institute which in turn will offer a tablet PC free with specific preloaded course content.

The instructor-led training courses will comprise of coaching for CA, IITJEE, AIEEE, AIPMT, CAT and all other competitive exams in the national and international arena, including TOEFL and GRE, academic support tuition from KG, right up to PG that include both CBSE and state board subjects as well as engineering semester exam support, Job skills and life skills training such as spoken English, soft-skills and IT skills all under one roof in a brick-mnd-Mortar training centre with tablet PC-based extended learning support to every student.

S Giridharan, chairman and CEO, EdServ, commented that while on the one hand we have ound that a large number of students in tier II and tier owns are still not able to utilise technology gadgets to gain access to online and Internet-based education, on the other, there is no national brand offering a combined brick and mortar, and online academic support services.

“Given our strong presence in the online segment, we believe the present scenario presents EdServ with a great opportunity to tap the brick and mortar model of academic support services as well.”

EdServ is aiming to go pan-India and plans to open 200 franchisee-led EdServ Training Institutes across the country, including about 80 centres in South India within the next six months.

EdServ already has 1000s of distributors, dealers and master franchisees for Lampsglow apart from its skill development centres (MODES) and the company plans to upgrade many of them into partners for the brick and mortar model as well.

The company will initially invest close to Rs 40 crore for the expansion and is targeting revenues of over Rs 20 crore from the EdServ Training Institutes on the first year of operation.

source: http://www.Business-Standard.com / Home> Economy & Policy / by BS Reporter / Chennai, March 13th, 2012

Ponni Sugars to commission 19 MW plant soon

Business & Economy, Science & Technologies

Chennai, MARCH 10:

Ponni Sugars (Erode) Ltd is set to commission its 19-MW co-generation plant by the month end.

This will be a significant development for the company in terms of revenue generation and potential growth to the top line.

Mr N. Ramanathan, Managing Director, Ponni Sugars, told Business Line that the project is being completed on schedule and well within the estimated project cost of Rs 102 crore.

The costs have been contained despite increase in the base rate, he said.

Initially, the cogeneration plant will operate at 15 MW which will help generate a surplus of about 11 MW that will be supplied to the State grid.

At full capacity, the surplus supplied to the grid will increase to about 14 MW. This will mean an additional revenue of about Rs 45 crore a year for the company at the current tariff level of Rs 4.47 a unit.

Ponni Sugars has tied up for a bank loan of Rs 65 crore and a loan under the Sugar Development Fund for about Rs 25 crore. The balance is through internal accruals.

The current sugar season has been a good year for Ponni Sugars, with sugarcane arrivals set to grow significantly over that of last year and sugar recoveries also increasing.

During 2010-11, the company crushed about 6.3 lakh tonnes (lt) of sugar and in the current year this is expected to increase by about one lt. This, along with the 50-basis-point increase in sugar recovery observed so far in the current season, augurs well for the company, he said.

rbalaji@thehindu.co.in

source: http://www.TheHinduBusinessLine.com / Companies / by R Balaji / March 10th, 2012