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Construction major Hindustan Construction Company said it has bagged two major contracts worth Rs 1,534 crore in various segments including one in Jammu & Kashmir for construction of a tunnel.

As the deadline to pay penalty is approaching 10 out of 11 cement companies, penalized for forming cartel and fixing prices, have approached the Competition Appellate Tribunal for redressal.  

 

 Larsen and Toubro Ltd secured contracts worth Rs. 1,063 crore in August.

Larsen & Toubro said in a press release that it has secured an offshore order valued at Rs 749 crore from the Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) for complete Engineering Procurement Construction & Installation of four wellhead platforms in Maharashtra.

Valecha Engineering, announced on Monday that it has bagged projects worth Rs 3.63 billion.

The company bagged 3 projects in Surat worth Rs 1.9 billion. It also secured a Rs 1.05 billion highway project in MP on BOT basis from MPRDC.

Infrastructure major Punj Lloyd today said it has bagged an order worth Rs 330 crore from Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in Mangalore. The order is for the process facilities & utilities at an upcoming crude oil storage cavern which is scheduled to be completed within a period of 29 months.

 

GMR Infrastructure Ltd’s losses have widened to Rs 94 crore for first quarter ended this June compared with the corresponding quarter of last year.

 

 Building materials giant CRH has entered negotiations with Jaypee Cement Corporation to pick up an equity stake in Jaypee’s Gujarat cement business.

Jaypee Cement Corporation’s Gujarat operation consists of a 3.6 million tons clinker plant at Kutch in the western Indian state of Gujarat and a grinding plant with the capacity to produce 2.4 million tons a year.

Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 397.51 crore on Shree Cement for indulging in restrictive trade practices. ). "The Commission has also imposed a penalty on Shree Cement Ltd at the rate of 0.5 times of its profits for the years 2009-10 and 2010-11 aggregating to Rs 397.51 crores," CCI said in a statement. The CCI has imposed the penalty on Shree Cement while issuing final order in the case against cement manufacturers and their trade body Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA). The CCI passed its final order in a restrictive trade practice inquiry against cement manufacturers and their trade association CMA. The Commission found eleven cement manufacturers including Shree Cement Limited and CMA in contravention of the provisions of the Competition Act, 2002 which deal with anti-competitive agreements including cartels. As the cement companies (except Shree Cement Limited) were already found to be in cartel in Case No. 29 of 2010 and penalized by the Commission vide its order dated 20.06.2012, the Commission decided not to order remedies including imposition of penalty on such companies again for the same period of contravention. Last month itself, CCI had imposed a whopping Rs 6,307 crore fine on 11 leading cement makers, including ACC, Ambuja Cements, UltraTech, India Cements, Binani Cement, JK Cement, Madras Cement, LaFarge and Jaypee Cement. Industry body CMA was also fined with Rs 73 lakh. However, the cement companies have taken CCI for a ride despite the heavy penalty laid on them. They have further increased prices by Rs 40 per bag (50 Kg) in July after being penalized of Rs 6,307 crore collectively by the CCI in June as The Pioneer reported last week. Shree Ultra is Shree Cement’s flagship brand, contributing to more than half of its sales volume. Its two variants, Shree Ultra OPC and Shree Ultra Jung Rodhak Cement are distinctly positioned in the market. Shree Ultra Jung Rodhak Cement through its unique rust prevention properties, has high acceptance amongst brand influencers and high brand recall value.

In Ludhiana the Police has unearthed a factory manufacturing fake cement. The incident came to light on Sunday when police raided and sealed the factory allegedly manufacturing cement in Gonsgarh village. By the time the police reached the unit, the owners and the manager of the unit had fled the spot. The police have booked Sohan Singh the owner of the unit and Vinod Kumar the manager of the unit for cheating and infringing copyright laws. The police have sent samples of cement being manufactured at this unit for testing. On the tip-off that this factory was manufacturing fake cement and packing it in bags that bore stickers of well-known cement manufacturing units like ACC, the police raided the unit and found a truck loaded with such bags ready to leave the unit. Apart from this the police also found a large number of empty bags that has stickers of these well-known companies. Later an official of ACC cement, verified that the so called cement being manufactured at this unit was fake and that when used in construction of homes, this cement could lead to building collapse. This cement is sub-standard and unsuitable for construction of any type of building.

On July 12, 2009, an under-construction girder on the Central Secretariat-Badarpur Metro line had collapsed killing eight people and injuring 12 workers at the project site. After 3 years of probe into the 2009 metro pillar collapse incident at Zamrudpur, which claimed 8 lives, the Delhi Police filed before a court the chargesheet naming 24 persons, including 11 senior DMRC officials, for negligence. Those chargesheeted, include DMRC's the then Chief Engineer (design) Rajan Kataria and Subodh Kumar Gupta, who was chief project officer of the site, now Chief Engineer (tenders), Rajiv Ahuja, Director (design) of Arch Consultancy and Pradeep Gupta of Gammon India Ltd. In the chargesheet filed before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sanjay Sharma, the Crime Brach of Delhi police has held DMRC, Gammon India Ltd and Arch Consultancy responsible for causing the deaths by approving a "faulty design". The report of IIT Roorkee played an important role in establishing the alleged negligence. In 2009, the Delhi Metro had attributed the accident to a "problem in the design" of the pillar claiming they "were trying to rectify it." Taking cognizance of the charge sheet, the ACMM Sharma has issued summons to all the accused for July 23. The investigating agency has also pointed out that the crack was noticed in advance but load test was not conducted and the officials of DMRC, Gammon and Arch carried out the work in a negligent manner, which ultimately led to the incident. It also said the incident had occurred due to poor usage of construction material. The crime branch has held all the accused equally responsible for the mishap. In the chargesheet, Gammon India has also been blamed for executing work on a faulty design. After the incident, DMRC had blacklisted these two firms in 2009.

Larsen & Toubro Ltd, India's biggest engineering conglomerate, is aiming to sell a minority stake in its infrastructure unit, L&T Infrastructure Development Projects, to raise between $300 million and $500 million for ongoing projects. According to sources, the stake sale, which is being handled by Morgan Stanley, is likely to be completed in the next few weeks. The company has not specified the size of stake Larsen wants to sell in its L&T Infrastructure Development Projects Ltd. unit. The subsidiary is developing the metro rail network for the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, apart from executing several highway-building projects. L&T Infrastructure Development Projects is currently handling projects worth 450 billion rupees ($7.9 billion), including 19 road and three port developments. Its largest contract is a 164 billion-rupee metro rail project in southern Hyderabad city, the newspaper said. Poor infrastructure acts as a bottleneck to India's economic growth that slowed to 5.3 percent in the quarter ended March, the weakest pace in nine years. If Larsen is able to raise funds at an attractive valuation, it would be a boost for the infrastructure sector, which is going through difficult times as slower spending by government and private companies has made banks cautious about lending.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Thursday imposed penalties amounting to over Rs 6,000 crore on 11 cement companies including Ambuja Cements , ACC , Ultratech and India Cements , terming them guilty of forming a cartel and fixing prices. The CCI has asked the 11 cement firms to pay as penalty 50% of their profits recorded in financial year 2009-10 and 2010-11. “The penalty amount so worked out amounts to more than Rs.6,000 crore,” according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. According to Avaantika Kakkar, Khaitan & Co, the commission has strong evidence of parallelism and its case is based on sound research. The Commission has found that the cement companies have not utilised the available capacity so as to reduce supplies and raise prices in times of higher demand. The Commission has also observed that the act of these cement companies in limiting and controlling supplies in the market and determining prices through an anti-competitive agreement is not only detrimental to the cause of the consumers but also to the whole economy since cement is a crucial input in construction and infrastructure industry vital for economic development of the country. They have also been directed to “cease and desist” from indulging in any activity relating to agreement, understanding or arrangement on prices, production and supply of cement in the market. India Cements and Madras Cements have expressed indignation and disappointment over the Competition Commission of India’s order penalising them for manipulating the cement market. Both companies have said they will file an appeal against the order.

Real estate and infrastructure companies may heave a sigh of relief as their input costs come down with the cement prices coming down across the country even before the onset of monsoon. Cement companies in the western region have cut prices by Rs 10-15 per 50 kg bag while in the north and south, prices have corrected by Rs 8-10 per 50 kg bag due to sluggish demand and oversupply situation in the market. However, in the eastern region prices continue to be stable. The demand in April has gone absolutely irrational due to several reasons. While there is a shortage of laborers due to which there could be a slowdown in construction activities. Certain infrastructure projects have also not come to place. A senior official from Ambuja Cement said, “Before the onset of monsoon laborers go back to their native places and construction activity slows down. Due to labor shortage construction activities has slowed down which may be the reason for decline in demand.” A senior official of cement manufacturers' association said that this year cement prices have declined even before the arrival of monsoon due to over-supply situation in the market. Real estate and infrastructure companies have been crying hoarse due to labor shortage mainly because of the NREGA scheme because of which construction activity has been impacted. A study by tariff commission says that 64 percent of demand for cement is driven by housing, 6 percent by industrial, commercial and institutional demand accounts for 13 per cent and infrastructure 17 percent. Vinod Juneja, managing director, Binani Cement, said prices are expected to correct further with the onset of monsoon. Analysts’ View Credit Suisse sees near-term weakness for the cement sector due to a slowdown in rural and urban housing, despite the "attractive long-term rural story. Credit Suisse has re-started the coverage of the Indian cement sector with an underperform rating on ACC Cement and Ultratech Cement and a neutral rating on Ambuja Cement. Credit Suisse says margins will also deteriorate due to an expected 13 percent rise in power and freight costs on the back of higher domestic coal and diesel prices. CLSA India feels that the cement prices have started to drop across India, with dealers expecting more falls ahead, according to its India Reality Research survey. Cement prices have fallen by an average of 2% per bag since 15 April, with dealers citing rising inventories, while demand is being hit by sluggish construction activity.

RAK Ceramics, the world's largest ceramic tiles & bathware manufacturing company, has announced that it has recently introduced Junior Tiles collection in its showrooms across UAE. RAK Ceramics launched Junior Tiles collection tapping niche market segment by offering children’s tiles that can be used in children’s bedroom, bathroom, kindergarten schools, play areas in hotel, hospitals and shopping malls. Junior Tiles collection is exclusively designed for children’s room to create its own distinctive place enhanced with friendly images and colours. The Junior Tiles collection has six distinctive fun-filled designs that are adapted to a modern lifestyle and the playful imaginative surroundings of children’s lives. The range consists of Sweet Apple, Bumpy, Cheeky, Pug Mark, Panda and Baby Ted. Each Junior Tile is available in bright and cheerful colours catering with separate tiles for boys and girls. Abdulla Mahmood, GM- Marketing and Corporate Communications, RAK Ceramics, said: “RAK Ceramics is always looking to tap new market segments by developing new products and technologies to cater to different consumers. Junior Tiles collection has been developed to cater to children’s segment as there has been a lot of demand from our customers across the region for specially designed tiles that can be utilised in children’s room or play areas.” “We have responded with initial six new tile designs that we are confident of appealing to our targeted customers. We hope to build a strong portfolio of creatively designed tiles within Junior Tiles collection.” concluded Mahmood. Junior Tiles collection is an alternative to usual children’s wall paper that can be torn or paints that have a limited shelf life. The Junior Tiles collection has stain-proof features which acts as a relief to parents or guardians. In comparison to paints Junior Tiles are eco friendly as zero harmful chemicals used in it. The wall tiles are complimented with anti skid floor tiles making it safe for children’s room or play area. RAK Ceramics is a USD 1 billion global conglomerate that supplies to over 160 countries and has been officially recognised as the world’s largest ceramic tile manufacturer with a global production output of 117 million square meters. RAK Ceramics offers a comprehensive product portfolio comprising over 8,000 designs in ceramic tiles, Gres Porcellanato, and several models in bath ware. RAK Ceramics has earned distinctions such as the Best Brand of 2010 and CSR Company of 2011 at Middle East Business Leader’s Summit and Awards and recently the CMO Asia’s Best Brand 2011. The company was also honoured by the Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) for complying with good governance and transparency according to best international practices. RAK Ceramics has also maintained its Superbrand status for the third consecutive year and continues to be a global pioneer in the world of ceramics through innovative eco-friendly products such as RAK SLIM, 45x45 Wood Collection, Stone Art Collection and Orion Collection using the latest Nanopix digital printing technology. RAK Ceramics is also the founding member of Emirates Green Building Council, which supports the development of sustainable buildings in the UAE.

GMR Infrastructure is rethinking its move to raise $300 million through the private equity (PE) route to fund the expansion of its highways business, if sources are to be believed. GMR has been in discussions with various global PE players, including Standard Chartered Private Equity and 3i Group, for the past few months. While Standard Chartered is in the lead at the juncture, apparently the 20 percent return on investment expected by the investors has made the company management rethink the fund raise. GMR Infrastructure has been contemplating to raise private equity to stimulate its highways business, which towards the end of last year bagged a contract worth Rs 7,700 crore to upgrade a national highway connecting Gujarat and Rajasthan. It won the contract through competitive bidding, for six-laning of the 555-km Kishangarh–Udaipur–Ahmedabad highway. It’ll implement the project through public-private partnership (PPP) on the design, build, finance, operate and transfer model. The highway section is a part of the Delhi-Mumbai (Golden Quadrilateral) corridor and goes through the newly announced Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, which has high growth prospect for commercial and tourist traffic. GMR has to inject Rs 2,300 crore as equity for this project over three years, while the rest, Rs 5,400 crore, has been tied up from a consortium led by IDBI. “We can manage to infuse Rs 800 crore equity from GMR Infrastructure and we are looking for Rs 1,500 crore from the PE players. We have already injected Rs 200 crore equity and we need another Rs 490 crore as equity during the first year and the rest over the next two years. We are thinking whether we have to shell out 20 per cent returns or manage to infuse that sum from internal resources and defer the external equity fund raise to next year,” a senior company official said. GMR Group is one of the fastest growing infrastructure enterprises in the country with interests in Airports, Energy, Highways and Urban Infrastructure sectors. Employing the Public Private Partnership model, the Group has successfully implemented several iconic infrastructure projects in India. The Group also has a global presence with infrastructure operating assets and projects in several countries including Turkey, South Africa, Indonesia, Singapore and the Maldives.

RAK Ceramics participated in Earth Day by pledging to plant 2,000 trees at its manufacturing facility. Since 2010, RAK Ceramics has planted 5,000 trees and commits to plant more than 7,000 trees by the end of year 2012. Commemorating Earth Day 2012, RAK Ceramics, the world’s largest ceramic tiles & bathware manufacturing company, organised a tree planting ceremony at its manufacturing facility on April 22nd 2012 as part of its commitment to spread awareness on environmental sustainability and pledging to support a greener planet. During the ceremony, Mr. Abdallah Massaad (Deputy CEO, RAK Ceramics) planted the first sapling to commemorate Earth Day 2012 which was further followed by RAK Ceramics employees by planting 500 trees. Additional 1,500 trees will be planted during the course of the year. Since 2010, RAK Ceramics has planted 5,000 trees across its manufacturing vicinity and the company commits to plant more than 7,000 trees by the end of year 2012 Abdallah Massaad, Deputy CEO, RAK Ceramics, said: “Planting trees in celebration of Earth Day represents our commitment to providing a sustainable environment and the trees being planted around our premises will have a positive effect on the surroundings. Our long-term commitment to protect and help conserve the environment is very much part of RAK Ceramics Mission and Vision Statement, which makes it all the more compulsive to participate in such green initiatives. RAK Ceramics will remain proactively involved in all activities and initiatives that promote a more sustainable and responsible approach to achieve social and economic development." RAK Ceramics has proactively embarked on many green initiatives every year like UAE Clean-up Campaign, Can Collection Campaign, Emirates Road Clean-up and others. In addition, RAK Ceramics has already implemented programs within its manufacturing plants to utilize high efficiency burners to reduce energy consumption, conserve water consumption, minimize disposal of waste materials, utilize recycled materials in manufacturing process and reduce carbon emission through CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) projects. RAK Ceramics also offers many environmentally friendly products such as the RAK Slim, Orion Collection, RAK Antimicrobial, RAK Luminos, RAK Porcelain, RAK Bathware, Stone Art Collection and the Wood Art Tiles Collection, to encourage UAE residents to support eco-friendly products and lead sustainable lifestyle. RAK Ceramics is a USD 1 billion global conglomerate that supplies to over 160 countries and has been officially recognised as the world’s largest ceramic tile manufacturer with a global production output of 117 million square meters. RAK Ceramics offers a comprehensive product portfolio comprising over 8,000 designs in ceramic tiles, Gres Porcellanato, and several models in bath ware. RAK Ceramics is also the founding member of Emirates Green Building Council, which supports the development of sustainable buildings in the UAE.

As per a press release from construction contracting firm Leighton Welspun Contractors, Tata Realty and Infrastructure Limited (TRIL) has awarded a Rs 286 crore worth contract for developing five residential towers in Kochi in Kerela. The project is likely to be completed in 2014, the company said in the statement. "The award of this project by TRIL is especially pleasing as it reflects a strong confidence in our capabilities by a reputed multinational organization. We are also very pleased to secure such an iconic project and look forward to delivering further projects with TRIL," Leighton Welspun Managing Director Russell Waugh said. Earlier, the company had affiliated with TRIL for development of the Ramanujan IT Park project in Chennai. TRIL Managing Director Sanjay Ubale said that Leighton would add tremendous value to the quality of construction in making of the Tritvam residential project amongst the finest in Kochi.

Indian engineering and construction firm Punj Lloyd has bagged a contract from Horizon Terminals, an Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) subsidiary, to build a bulk oil terminal at Jebel Ali, Dubai. ENOC is a wholly-owned company of the Government of Dubai. The deal size was not specified. Horizon Terminals, has contracted India's Punj Lloyd to build a bulk oil terminal at Jebel Ali and lay a 60km jet fuel line to Dubai International Airport. The terminal inside the Jebel Ali Free Zone, along with a 60-km jet fuel pipeline to the Dubai International Airport, will have state-of-the-art oil terminal facilities with storage tanks having a capacity of 141,000 cubic metres, ENOC said in a statement. Mr Saeed Abdullah Khoory, Chief Executive Officer of ENOC, said the strategic project aims to further support the economic development of Dubai. ENOC has a storage capacity of 1.2m cubic meter at Jebel Ali. The total storage capacity at the site runs to 3m cubic meter. “The Middle East is a very important market for us. Our strong focus on the region, complemented by our proven track record in the EPC domain has created a niche for Punj Lloyd in the region,” said President and CEO of Punj Lloyd, Middle East, Africa & CIS, Mr Ravindra Kansal.

If analysts are to be believed, cement prices are likely to decline from May. Construction and infrastructure companies that have been crying about rising cement prices may get some relief. The price correction in cement is expected as the demand is not growing as per expectations in the peak season this year. Some analysts expect that a 50 kg bag of cement now costing around Rs 300 may drop to Rs 270 in the next coming months. This year the demand growth are expected to be around 7 to 8 percent as compared to double digit increase in demand last years. President of the Cement Manufacturers Association said, “This year the price correction is little earlier than expected as demand didn’t pick up in line with our expectations.” January to May is peak season for cement companies as construction activities scale up before the arrival of monsoon. Cement majors said demand from infrastructure sector has been revived but real estate sector demand continues to slump.

Leighton Welspun Contractors Pvt Ltd today said in a press release that it had been awarded a contract for civil and concrete works at the Angul integrated steel project from Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL). These initial works are valued at Rs 28 crore. The total committed works under the award is expected to reach around Rs 400 crore over the next 24 months. The plant is designed with a capacity of 12.5 mtpa steel and 2,600 mw of power, and will be constructed in five phases. Work on the project is scheduled to start immediately and the comapny will initially focus on the timely completion of several critical civil structures including raw material handling system and junction house foundation.

Hindustan Prefab Limited, a Government of India Enterprise, was incorporated in 1953. In the 50 years of its existence, HPL has built a wide spectrum of civil engineering structures using both conventional in-situ as well as prefab techniques and has also supplied components for the building industry & the national railways. The company press release said it has bagged a Rs 400-crore order from National Institute of Technology (NIT) for designing and construction of its campus in Nagaland. "Hindustan Prefab has signed an MoU with NIT, Nagaland for designing and construction of a 300 acres state-of-the-art campus at Dimapur. The estimated value of the project is Rs 400 crore," it said in a release. The company manufactures pre-fabricated concrete and steel components like floor, wall and roof panels, columns and beams, which are all required to erect a pre-fabricated building. The MoU was recently signed by V Ramachandran, Director, NIT, Nagaland and Hindustan Prefab's Chairman and Managing Director Jaiveer Srivastavaa. It further said the designing of the project was almost ready and work on it would start in next 10-15 days. The project is expected to be completed within the next three and a half years.

Cement stocks are under pressure as the Competition Commission of India (CCI) report on cement cartelization is likely to be presentaed today or tomorrow. ACC was down over 2% and Ambuja Cements fell 3%. India Cements tanked 4%. Shree Cements, UltraTech Cement and JK Lakshmi Cement were down 1-2%. Earlier, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has asked the CCI to probe charges of cartelisation against cement majors ACC, Gujarat Ambuja and UltraTech Cements. The Ministry had ordered its investigations arm, Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), to probe charges of price manipulation by the three companies between 2008 and 2010 under Section 234 (6) of the Companies Act, 1956. Later SFIO, in its report submitted to the Ministry, held the three manufacturers guilty of price manipulation and recommended action against them. The three companies control almost one-third of the country's total cement manufacturing capacity of 300 million tonnes. Last year, the Builders Association of India had moved to the Competition Commission of India alleging that the Cement Manufacturers Association and 11 of its members had formed a price cartel.

L&T Construction has commissioned India's largest solar photo voltaic based power plant (40 MWp) owned by Reliance Power Limited at Dhursar Village, Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan. L&T Construction executed the solar power plant from concept to commissioning in 129 days. The new plant is the country's largest solar photo voltaic based power plant owned by Reliance Power. The PV power plant, which comprises more than 5,00,000 high output generating thin film technology based solar PV modules and thirteen 3.5 MVA power transmissions to generate 40 MWp, is spread across 350 acres. The thin film Solar PV modules for the project were produced by Reliance; while L&T's scope of work included complete design, engineering, procurement and construction of 40MWp solar power plant, including construction of a 5 km double circuit transmission line. With the commissioning of this plant, the company has installed 114MW of utility scale solar PV power plants over the last fiscal.

Unity Infraprojects Limited (UIL), incorporated in 1979, is headquartered in Mumbai and mainly engaged in construction and allied activities. It operates in four verticals: buildings and housing; transportation; water supply and irrigation. The company has secured two orders worth Rs 840 crore for the development of roads for National Highway Authority of India. The first order, worth Rs 330 crore, is for the development and operation of Suratgarh-Sriganganagar section of NH-15 in Rajasthan through public-private-partnership on BOT basis for a period of 11 years. The second project entails the construction of four-laning of Punjab/Haryana Border-Jind section of NH-71 and it will be executed on design build finance operate and transfer pattern for a period of 27 years.

Growth of output in steel and cement, two core sectors of the economy, fell below the GDP growth in 2011-12, highlighting the lack of investment in the infrastructure sector needed to power sustained economic growth in the medium to long term. Chief executive officer of JSW Steel Vinod Nowal said that “While the steel sector grew 5.2% in April to February, 2011-12, the cement sector grew 6.7% in April to February 2011-12. GDP is estimated to have grown 6.9 % in 2011-12. This year in the first half growth has been slower for steel sector but going forward demand is expected to revive.” Director of Grasim Mr DD Rathi which controls UltraTech Cement said that the demand growth for cement had for the first time dipped below the broader GDP growth highlighting the lack of investment in the infrastructure sector. Although the demand has slowed down, steel and cement producers feel it is a short-term impact due to global economic turmoil. They are bullish about the future and hence forging ahead with their expansion plans. Chairman of Steel Authority of India Mr CS Verma told Financial Chronicle that “During 2011-12 government estimates suggest that we may end up with an annual growth of 6.9 to 7%. For 2012-13 the recent Economic Survey forecast GDP growth of 7.6%. Thus, steel demand growth may be in the range of 7 to 8%.” Growth in construction, infrastructure, power, capital goods and auto sectors shall play an important role in enhancing steel demand. The proposed boost to infrastructure investment and power sector in particular during budget 2012-13 shall imply increase in demand for steel. Mr Verma said that “During the 12th plan period, government of India has a target of doubling of the investment in infrastructure to USD 1 trillion which shall boost steel demand considerably.” As per Joint Plant Committee, the total installed capacity for crude steel in the country was 78 million tonnes during 2010-11 and therefore the incremental capacity required by terminal year of 12th plan is 2016-17 to meet the projected demand is around 60 million tonnes respectively implying an annual average increase in capacity of around 10 to 11 million tonnes. Mr Verma said that “If it is assumed that crude steel capacity will continue to grow at historical rate of 8.4% annually as actually achieved in the post-deregulation period, then crude steel capacity will grow to 133 million tonnes by 2016-17. In that case India will continue to remain a net importer of steel in the 12th Plan period. However, based on planned capacity expansions, there could be a likely capacity of around 140 million tonnes, driven by demand growth of 10.3%, bringing demand and supply in greater balance.” Experts feel that effective capacity expansion shall depend on macro-economic conditions and more importantly on secure tie-up for raw materials such as iron ore and coal. Budget 2012 doubled the infrastructure tax-free bond amount to INR 60,000 crore, 8,800 km highway coverage target, focus on low-cost housing and reaffirming investment of INR 50 lakh crore in infrastructure sector in 12th plan. Mr Bhavesh Chauhan an analyst at Angel Broking said that “Due to slowdown in demand and also due to various regulatory and environmental issues, companies are going slow on their expansion plans.” According to him, expansion plans of SAIL, Bhushan Steel among others are behind schedule. The country’s largest cement manufacturer ACC said that the cement industry added 30 million tonnes of capacity taking the industry’s installed capacity to 290 million tonnes per annum. Subdued demand condition led to average industry capacity utilisation falling below 80 %. © Financial Chronicle Source: http://www.mydigitalfc.com

Cement prices in the Bihar have jumped almost 50% due to fall in production from the biggest suppliers, even as construction activity continues to boom across the state. Bihar, which does not have any large cement producing plant and relies on supplies from plants located in nearby Madhya Pradesh, is grappling with an unprecedented rise in cement prices. The situation is further compounded by the shutdown of a unit of Prism Cements in Satna, which has a significant supply in the Bihar market. A Prism Cement spokesman confirmed that the clinker production at Satna will be temporarily suspended as there has been damage to the blending silo. Cement stockists in Patna, confirmed selling cement at about Rs 365-385 for a 50 kg bag, the price of which used to cost Rs 230-250 two months ago. Another stockiest said that this price rise is unprecedented. "We used to see an increase of Rs 30-40 on a bag around this time every year as construction activity goes up before the monsoons...but this is unusual." Sensing opportunity, ACC and Ultratech, which have units close to Bihar, especially in Satna belt, have shifted focus to Bihar market. Over the past two years, the state's demand for cement has been rising by about 25-30%, double the country’s average. Most of the cement sold in Bihar comes across the border from neighboring states such as Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, which have large players such as UltraTech, ACC, Heidelberg, Prism, Century and Birla Corp. Our estimates indicates that the prices are likely to stay firm as there is slow growth in the capacity additions across the country, which is coinciding with improvement in demand from housing and infra segment.

Larsen & Toubro Ltd, Indian multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Mumbai, plans to raise 2.5 billion rupees ($49 million) by selling bonds next month for the first time in nearly two years, a company spokesman said on Friday. The company will sell 10-year unsecured bonds at a yield of 9.75% at par, Deepak Morada said. The bond sale will likely be launched April 10, 2012. He further said that the money will be used for capital expenditure and investment into group units. According to sources, the company will raise 10% of the total amount next month and the remaining in January 2013. The company has business interests in engineering, construction, manufacturing, information technology and financial services.

Jaiprakash Associates , part of the Jaypee Group is a well diversified infrastructural industrial conglomerate. The company issued a statement, saying the company has bagged two contracts aggregating to Rs.1,000 crore from Mangdechhu Hydroelectric Projects Authority, Bhutan, for construction of the two contract packages pertaining to 720 MW Mangdechhu Hydroelectric Project located in Trongsa District, Bhutan. The first order is for Rs.597 crore for diversion tunnel, dam, spillway and coffer dams. The second one is for Rs.316 crore for surge shaft, pressure shafts, bifurcation pressure shaft and intermediate adits. Jaiprakash Associates shares was trading with a gain on BSE.

UltraTech Cement, the largest cement producer in India, is in talks to buy north-eastern cement producer Adhunik MPS Cement’s Meghalaya plant for over INR7.0 bn., according to reports. It is said that the 1.5Mta cement facility will boost UltraTech Cement’s presence in the fast-growing but largely untapped northeastern market. Adhunik Metaliks is the flagship company of Adhunik Group of Industries. Adhunik Metaliks manufactures varieties of steel products like auto steels, bearing steels, spring steels, carbon steels, cold heading steels, shape steels, free cutting steels and stainless steel. If sources are to be believed, a multinational cement producer is also reported to be interested in the unit. Report says, due diligence for the unit located at the limestone-rich Jaintia Hills has been completed and the fate of the deal hinges on the availability of some statutory no-objection certificates as mining leases and environmental clearances are prerequisites for any large manufacturing transactions in the North-East.

Larsen & Toubro Ltd reported that L&T Construction has secured new orders worth Rs.1,454 crore across various business segments in February and March 2012. Its Water and Effluent Treatment business unit has secured new orders worth Rs.579 crore from the Tamil Nadu Water Supply & Drainage Board for taking up combined water supply scheme in Salem and Vellore districts. The Power Transmission & Distribution IC has secured new orders in from reputed customers. Domestic orders worth Rs.351 crore include construction of an electrical balance of plant works for a 2 x 660 MW super thermal power plant from a leading developer and another order from Gulbarga Electricity Supply Co. Ltd. for various electrical works in Gulbarga and Bidar districts in Karnataka. International orders are valued at Rs.320 crore for construction of a 132/11kV substation in Kuwait.

Established in 1994, Ramky Enviro Engineers Ltd, headquartered at Hyderabad, is planning an IPO. Ramky Enviro is a subsidiary of the diversified Ramky Group. Infrastructure development and management company Ramky Infrastructure Ltd, a part of Ramky Group, got listed in 2010. Recently the Group has gained recognition as specialist in Environment Management and Waste Management. To Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited goes the credit and distinction of establishing some of the first integrated facilities in Common Hazardous Waste Management, Biomedical Waste Management and Integrated Municipal Waste Management facilities in India. If sources are to believed, Ramky intends to launch an initial public offering (IPO) to raise up to $125 million. Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan Chase & Co has been shortlisted by the company for the public offer, and SBI Capital Markets Ltd and IDFC Capital Ltd have also been shortlisted as lead book-runners for the issue. Based on the market conditions, the proposed public offer is likely to hit the market in the second half of the current calendar year.

Emkay Global Financial Services has come out with its report on cement space. Major highlights of report is summarized below: All India prices at Rs279/bag +2% mom. West (Gujarat up 9% mom) and East (Bihar, WB-+7.5% mom) see sharp rise led by logistical bottlenecks. Ex these pockets prices +0.7 % mom. Prices in North decline led by Punjab (down Rs10/bag) & HP (down Rs15/bag) owing to subdued offtake (due to election (Punjab) & Govt pressure (HP)). However select pockets like NCR & Jaipur see price hikes of Rs7/bag. Central region price also decline led by low construction activity due to prolonged elections calendar in UP. South prices hold fort. Dealers suggest East & South cement prices seems to have peaked out leaving little scope for further increases till March. Demand pick up expected post harvesting season. Recent stock run up makes valuations rich (Emkay coverage trading at EV/E of 9.5X & EV/t of USD 142) leaving little upside. Remain negative on ACEM & UTCEM. Prefer ACC. BUY SRCM Northern Region- Prices in North decline led by subdued offtake-However select pockets like NCR & Jaipur see price hikes of Rs7/bag: Prices in North decline led by Punjab & HP owing to subdued offtake. Punjab offtake was affected due to election while price in HP declined due to persistent pressure on manufacturers from the state Govt to reduce prices. Pockets like Bhatinda in Punjab have seen correction of Rs8-10/bag while Himachal Pradesh prices have corrected by Rs15/bag. Availability of sand has affected the cement demand in Haryana (due to continued sand mining ban in Haryana) keeping prices stagnant. However select pockets like NCR & Jaipur see price hikes of Rs7/ bag. The window to increase the prices remains open till holi post which the region would see reduction in construction activities for a short while owing to labor shortage. This slack in demand would however revive only post harvesting season (till April). On an average, prices in the region have declined by 2.1% m-o-m. Central Region- Prices impacted by prolonged election calendar in UP: On an average prices in the region have reduced by Rs3/bag, -1% m-o-m. Cement demand in certain pockets like Meerut has been affected due to lesser availability of sand (mining reduced due to ongoing election process) affecting construction activities. In effect Rs5/bag is reduced in Meerut, Lucknow and Faizabad while Bareilly remains an exception with hike of Rs5/bag (as prices here had corrected last month while it had increased or remained stable for the remaining region). MP cement prices remain at the same levels with announcements of hikes expected in the next 2-3 days. However dealers remain skeptical as there is no major pick up seen in demand to be able to support the price hikes. Eastern region- Logistical bottlenecks push cement prices further upwardsnow at YTD highs: Average cement Prices in the region have increased Rs15/bag led by low supply owing to lesser availability of railway wagons. Demand in Orissa has reduced owing to panchayat elections in the region and is expected to revive by the first week of March when constructions activities resume post-election results. However Chattisgarh and Bihar have witnessed significant pick-up in demand led by increased momentum in government led projects. Average east prices have reached Rs305/bag, up 5% m-o-m. Western region: Prices skyrocket by Rs20-25/bag in Gujarat, up 7% m-o-m: Cement prices sky rocket in this region with hikes of Rs 10/bag in Maharashtra and Rs20-25/bag in Gujarat over the last one month. Average prices in the region have reached Rs279/bag , up 7% m-o-m. Dealers suggest railway wagon availability and production cuts are responsible for this spike. Though the demand in the region has been better than last month, dealers feel that there is no headroom left for any further increase in prices from these levels. Southern Region- demand improves, but Prices remain flat: Prices in the region have remained flat m-o-m despite slight improvement in cement demand over the last month especially in Tamil Nadu and Kerela. However in the coming week construction in Tamil Nadu might be affected due to electricity cuts in Andhra Pradesh affecting the supply of building materials to Tamil Nadu. Though there is improvement in the demand, dealers feel the prices have reached very high levels and would require sustainable demand uptrend or statutory changes (rise in input prices) to push up prices further up from current levels. Outlook: The month of February has witnessed correction in cement prices in the northern and central region due to absence of demand pick up as expected in the month of February. However demand improvement in certain pockets in the eastern (Chattisgarh, Bihar) and western regions (Gujarat, Nagpur, Mumbai) alongwith logistical issues (wagon availability) have fuelled price hikes in the range of Rs15-30/bag. And though improvement in demand was also seen down south (especially in Tamil Nadu and Kerela) prices have remained flat. Q3FY12 witnessed 22% yoy growth in cement realizations with average all India prices ruling at Rs268/bag resulting in average EBITDA/t of Rs900 for companies under our coverage. As of February All India prices have improved by 2.1% from Q3 levels to Rs273/t. However the high sector valuations for companies under our coverage (average EV/EBITDA at 9.5X and EV/tonne of USD 142 for FY12 numbers) would be justified only with EBITDA/t of Rs1000+/bag. Going forward this would be possible only with cost stability and incremental growth in realizations. After prolonged period of subdued growth cement demand has registered growth of 12%+ for last two successive months albeit on lower base. However 12M rolling average growth at 6.2% yoy suggests sluggishness. This remains our major concern as we believe that Western and eastern regions cement prices have peaked out while scope to increase elevated levels of prices in south (which has remained almost stable for past 6 months) looks difficult. The northern and central region would see hikes but the trigger here would also have to be demand growth led which is expected to pick up post harvesting season in March.

Cyan Holdings and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has enter into a Partnership Agreement to provide Indian Utility customers with Advanced Metering Infrastructure products. Cyan Holdings plc, the integrated system design company delivering wireless solutions for lighting control and utility metering has formed a strategic partnership with L&T to collaborate in the development. "L&T is a recognized leader in the Energy and Utilities sector with proven products and a tier 1 reputation" said Bijan Mohandes, Vice President - World Wide Sales and Marketing, Cyan Technology. "We are very pleased to be partnering with L&T. By using Cyan's wireless modules incorporating CyLec, L&T Meters will be capable of interoperable two-way communication and remote collection of metering data and control of the meters." Both parties have identified a number of projects in India where there is a need for 865MHz based interoperable Wireless AMI with a short term requirement for end to end communications enabling remote tamper detection and reporting. Both have entered into this strategic alliance as they believe that this technology is likely to become a major factor in the fast growing Indian electricity metering market. The alliance with L&T is in line with Cyan's strategy of building strategic partnerships with key established players in India.

This morning Bangladeshi media and other sites reported the hacking of our website. They reported that this is some sort of cyber-war; a group identified as BANGLADESH BLACK HAT HACKERS said, it has hacked 56 sites including some important website of Indian government on January 25-2012 and kept complete control over it till January 28-2012. We vehemently deny hacking of our website. This is an attempt to malign our image and credibility. We reassure our users that our site is secure and all user data is completely safe. We will take precautionary measure to safeguard our interest and secure our user data.

Unity Infraprojects, which is the flagship company of the Mumbai based KK Group of Companies, has interests in various businesses such as concrete block manufacturing and quarrying, hotel and retailing industries. Unity Infraprojects Ltd is in talks with private equity (PE) firms to raise Rs 1.75 billion under two special purpose vehicles (SPVs) and expects deals to be closed over the next three months, the Press Trust of India reported, citing Chief Financial Officer Madhav Nadkarni. "We are in talks with a couple of private equity firms for raising Rs 175 crore (Rs 1.75 billion) under two SPVs at the project level. I hope to finalize the deals in 2-3 months," Nadkarni told. Unity Infra has identified a real estate and a transportation project for dilution of stakes to the PE firms, he said. "We have signed the non-disclosure agreement and hence, I will not be able to disclose the identity of the projects and the private equity firms," he said. The current order book of Unity Infraprojects stands at over Rs 44 billion and Nadkarni believes that it is expected to go up to between Rs 45 billion to Rs 50 billion by the end of current quarter. Nadkarni also informed that the firm is also looking at entering Sri Lanka and South Africa to expand its footprints and expects that over the next 2 to 3 years, a good part of the company's revenue would come from the overseas market.

KEC International, a billion dollar global infrastructure EPC major, has secured orders for supply and construction of transmission lines in Gujarat and West Bengal. It has secured two new orders worth Rs371 crore for the construction of terminal lines in India. The first order is estimated at Rs258 crore has been received from Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. The order is for the supply & construction of 400 kV circuit transmission line from Bhachau (Kutch district) to Essar thermal power station in Gujarat. The second order is estimated at Rs113 crore has been received from Haldia Energy Ltd. The order is for supply and construction of 400 kV circuit river crossing transmission line between Haldia thermal power plant and Subhash Gram, crossing the Ganga at Kolkata.

DLF is in talks to sell 18 billion rupees (equivalent $357 million) worth of non-core assets in the fiscal year that begins in April, the Economic Times reported on Thursday, as the company looks to reduce debt. DLF is close to finalize a joint venture agreement with an undisclosed Japanese company for the Indian developer's convention centre project in New Delhi in a deal worth 8 billion rupees, a senior DLF executive was quoted as saying. The executive also said DLF had started negotiations with investors to raise 10 billion rupees through the sale of its wind power business. A DLF spokesman declined to comment on the report when contacted. DLF had a net debt of 225.19 billion rupees at the end of September, and the company has sought to raise as much as $650 million by selling non-core assets to reduce its debt pile.

Dalmia Bharat Enterprises Ltd. that its subsidiary Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd. had approved the acquisition of up to 50 percent stake of Calcom Cement India Ltd. for an aggregate investment amount of Rs.238 crore. Such investment would be made by way of various tranches, through a combination of new issuances and acquisitions, and subject to the various terms and conditions set out in the definitive documentation, the company said. Calcom Cement India is a manufacturer of OPC and PPC cement based out of Assam and is currently expanding its consolidated cement manufacturing capacity to 2.1mt.p.a.

Despite the glut in the cement industry, Shree Cement, the largest cement player in the North, has placed equipment orders of nearly Rs 700 crore for its kiln unit in Rajasthan, even projects amounting to more than Rs 13,000 crore are running behind schedule. In the current financial year only two cement manufacturers have placed kiln orders for increasing capacity. Hari Mohan Bangur, managing director, Shree Cement, said, “We have placed order of close to Rs 700 crore for our 1.5 million tonne per annum plant in Ras, Rajasthan. The construction work has already started on the site and we expect it to complete by next year.” The company has placed the order with Cologne-based KHD Humboldt for a 4500 tonne per day or 1.5 mtpa plant kiln unit. Shree Cement has the largest single-location integrated cement plant in North India located in Rajasthan with an installed capacity of 13 million tonne. While North accounts for 72 per cent of its volumes, the rest is from the central India. Last quarter the company commissioned 150 mega watt (MW), the first phase of its 300 MW merchant power plant. The second phase will be comissioned by December 2012. In April last year, the company had decided to revive its plans to launch a 2 million tonne per annum clinkerisation unit near Raipur in Chattisgarh. The company has not placed any orders yet for this plant but it has started the land acquisition process in the state. This will be the first time Shree Cement will venture outside Rajasthan. According to a report by Fortune Group released in December 28, says, “Slowdown in capacity additions in the North is resulting in a likely deficit situation. The region remains a large supplier to both central and western regions.” The only other order which was placed this year was by Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group's cement arm Reliance Cement of 10, 000 tonne per day, which has issued letters of intent (LoIs) for equipments for its Satna I unit in Madhya Pradesh. The LoI was issued to European engineering majors Polysius, FL Smidth and Loesche.

Pratibha Industries Ltd has won orders worth Rs. 772 Crores in Building and Water Management sections. Company's Building Division secured a contract worth Rs. 153 Crores from Rustomjee Realty Pvt. Ltd. for the Civil and Structural work of Residential Buildings at Upper Juhu, D N Nagar, Andheri (W), Mumbai. The work is scheduled for completion within 26 months. The scope of the work includes construction of total built up area of approximately 14 lakh square feet, an ultra-modern residential complex in Andheri. Company has even secured other project from Tata Housing Development Company Ltd, worth Rs. 136 Crores (not including the cost of cement, steel and shuttering) for its project named 'Tata Amantra'. The work inlcudes construction of 23 buildings at Kalyan, near Mumbai, having a total built up area of around 30 lakhs square feet. This work is expected to complete within 27 months. As far as the water segment of the Company is concerned it has secured two cash contracts : first one from Gujarat Water Infrastructure Ltd. worth Rs 403 Crores, which calls for laying of 63 km of large-diameter cross-country pipelines to supply water from Dhanki to Chuli under the Swarnim Gujarat Kutch Water Grid programme along with intake arrangement, pumping machinery & other electro-mechanical equipment, accessories, instrumentation control etc. This work is expected to complete in 12 months. The Company has secured its second international order and first in Bangladesh from the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority which is worth Rs 80 Crores. This contract was won by the company, in consortium with Jain Irrigation System Ltd & Navana Construction Ltd, which includes rehabilitation of distribution networks which is scheduled to complete in 350 days.

Real estate giant DLF along with its joint venture partner Hubtown has sold DLF Ackruti Info Parks, an IT special economic zone in Pune, to private equity firm Blackstone for Rs. 810 crore ($153 million). Amarchand Mangaldas advised the sellers with a team led by Partner Harry Chawla along with Principal Associate Niti Paul, Senior Associates Medha Srivastava and Vishwanath Pratap Singh. J. Sagar Associates advised Blackstone with a team led by Partners Akshay Chudasama, Ashoo Gupta and Jay Gandhi. According to VCCircle, DLF Ackruti Info Parks is a 25 acre SEZ, with a built-up area of nearly 2.5 million sq. ft. DLF and Hubtown held 67 percent and 33 percent equity shares, respectively, in the company. The transaction is in line with DLF's recent moves to divest non-strategic assets to raise money for cutting its outstanding debt. In a recent transaction, DLF Home Developers has sold its subsidiary Haamid Real Estates to M3M India for Rs. 430 crore ($83.25 million). Haamid Real Estates holds approximately 27 acres of licenced land in Sector 70- A, Gurgaon, to develop a group housing colony. Amarchand advised DLF with a team led by Partner Mrinal Kumar along with Senior Associate Avnish Sharma. Last year, Private equity giant Blackstone had bought 37 percent stake of Manyata Promoters, a company jointly promoted by Bangalore-based real estate firm Embassy Property Developments and Reddy Veeranna, for around $200 million (Rs. 900 crore), valuing the company at around $550 million.

Pratibha Industries Limited is planning to sell its saw pipes manufacturing business in order to reduce cost and improve net profit margin. In Oct 2010, ChrysCapital invested R50Cr ($11.35 Mn) in Pratibha Industries Ltd. It made preferential allotment of equity shares and CCPPS to "Van Dyck" a subsidiary of "ChrysCapital V, LLC" for R92 per equity share and CCPPS of face value up to R92. According to Pratibha Industries group director and head marketing Yogen Lal, the SAW pipe manufacturing plant has machines and equipment worth R50-60 crore and is working on orders worth the equivalent number. Established in 1982 by Ajit B. Kulkarni, Pratibha Industries is engaged in infrastructure construction and executing projects on a turnkey basis in water transmission and distribution projects, water treatment plants, elevated and underground reservoirs, mass housing projects, commercial complexes, pre-cast design and construction, road construction, real estate properties and airports. According to Financial Express, the company had witnessed a reduction in net profit margin to 5.02% in the first half of this fiscal against 5.1% a year ago. The saw pipe manufacturing plant is located at Wada with manufacturing capacity to 92000 pipes tpa.

Nearly 500 people Wednesday blocked the entry points of Century Cement's production unit in Chhattisgarh to protest rising prices of cement, police said. Members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as well as the opposition Congress reached the cement plant in Tilda area of Raipur with over 500 locals and stopped the company staff from going to work. The protesters also did not allow the company officials to transport the cement bags out of the factory. Terming the situation as "alarming", Raipur District Superintendent of Police Dipanshu Kabra said police presence has been beefed up at the protest site. BJP legislator Devjibhai Patel, who is organising the blockade along with Congress leader Vidhan Mishra, told IANS that they would organise the economic blockade one by one at the plants of all the seven leading cement manufactures, including Lafarge India, Ambuja Cement, Grasim and UltraTech Cement. "All the cement manufacturers in India's leading cement producing state of Chhattisgarh will have to face a strong economic blockade because they have formed a cartel and have been consistently raising prices though there is no rise in raw materials and labour cost," Patel said. He said a cement bag, which cost Rs.190 in September, was now priced at Rs.280. He said the blockade would be lifted only after the companies agree in writing to dissolve the cartel and reduce their cement prices. The cement companies have been tightlipped over the issue.

The Bangalore-based GMR group is likely to sign two MoUs with the Andhra Pradesh government during the Partnership Summit, which begins here on Thursday . While one will be for a refinery project proposed in Kakinada, the other will be for the development of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) project. These are expected to be signed during the summit. The size of the investment committed for the refinery project by the company is around Rs 25,000 crore, according to state government officials. However a GMR official, when contacted, refused to comment on these details. The proposal to set up a refinery project by the GMR group first came up four years ago when the company had replaced public sector ONGC by acquiring a majority stake in an 8,000-acre industrial park project (KSEZ) meant for refinery and downstream operations near the port town of Kakinada. The company last year maintained it was scouting for partners for the refinery project. GMR group chairman Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao is likely to sign the MoUs on behalf of the company, according to officials. Coinciding with GMR's revised interest in the refinery sector two more companies -- one from Kuwait and other from Abu Dhabi -- are also expected to sign MoUs with the state government for setting up two refinery projects during the event. “The combined investment for the three refinery projects would be over Rs 60,000 crore,” said a senior industries department official here on Tuesday. The officials have now ticked off another refinery project, which was supposed to be relocated from the US by a Hyderabad-based company, stating there were remote chances for it to materialise. “However, the two overseas companies from West Asia have a sound financial background and we are hopeful that they would take the MoUs to their logical end,” said the official. The state government recently said about 140 proposals with a total investment of over Rs 3.14 lakh crore had been lined up for signing MoUs at the Partnership Summit being co-hosted by the commerce ministry, AP government and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

India’s Aditya Birla group – which owns UltraTech Cement Ltd. – and Shree Cement Ltd. are considering buying Lafarge S.A.’s cement business in South Africa, the Business Standard reported Monday, citing unnamed sources. The enterprise value of Lafarge’s business may be close to $800 million-$900 million, the newspaper reported. Lafarge is restructuring its global operations by selling some of its assets to retire debt, the report said.

IRB Infrastructure Developers plans to claim a compensation of around Rs 60-70 crore from the National Highway Authority of India for terminating its contract for a Goa road project after the latter could not acquire land for it. Road projects have faced delays due to issues relating to land acquisition, environmental clearances and right of way but this is only the second instance in the last two years where a project has been cancelled due to NHAI's inability to acquire land. "We haven't yet received a compensation claim from IRB. But if this happens, it would be the first time where a developer seeks compensation for a project cancelled due to land acquisition problem. We will have to examine our liability in the case," a senior NHAI official told ET. On December 23, IRB said that NHAI has cancelled the Goa road project that it had won in January 2010. Although IRB had written off the project from its order book in the quarter ended September in view of the inordinate delay in the project, the cancellation news had a negative impact on the shares of the company. IRB shares have shed almost 10% on the Bombay Stock Exchange since the announcement as against a 1.4% decline in the benchmark index Sensex in the same period. Analysts said that the news of a compensation would only be a minor relief for the investors. "The contract allows us to claim 150% of the equity investment of Rs 34 crore in the project. We may also claim compensation for the Rs 10-15 crore we spent on the financial closure and other work related to the project," IRB's Chief Financial Officer Anil Yadav said. IRB had formed a special purpose vehicle, IRB Goa Tollway Pvt, to execute the project, which will claim the compensation for the project which entailed four-laning of the Panaji- Goa stretch of Goa -Karnataka Border road. At the time of winning the project, the company had said that it would cost Rs 800 crore, of which Rs 186.30 crore would be the grant from government. Typically, at the time of awarding a project NHAI owns almost 80% of the land required for it while it acquires the balance within six months. According to NHAI, land acquisition has been most difficult in Goa, Kerala and West Bengal.

BPTP is buying back Merrill Lynch's 49% stake in it's Crest IT park project in Gurgaon. Located on Gurgaon's NH- 8 in Udyog Vihar - IV, the park is a 6.5 lakh sqft project Merrill Lych had invested $27 mn (R112Cr) for a 49% stake in the SPV, Vital Construction Pvt. Ltd. in March 2007. BPTP has it's corporate building in the same building. BPTP was talking to Tishman Speyer to sell the entire building for about R425Cr but the deal didnt go through. According to ET, BPTP recently raised R270Cr through lease rent discounting of the 625,000-sq-ft office building in Gurgaon that has tenants such as Deloitte and Fidelity. BPTP is using a part of this money to buy back Merrill Lynch's stake in the project. Last month BPTP raised R170Cr in BPTP's residential Gurgaon township project - Astaire Gardens spread over 102.2 acres through its $265Mn Kotak India Real Estate Fund1 raised three years ago. BPTP was founded in 2003. Since inception, the company has developed 10mn sqft of commercial and residential spaces in Delhi & NCR. Citi Property Investment has invested in BPTP at entity level and it's MD - David Hamilton Schaefer is on the Board of BPTP. According to ET, BPTP recently raised R270Cr through lease rent discounting of the 625,000-sq-ft office building in Gurgaon that has tenants such as Deloitte and Fidelity. BPTP is using a part of this money to buy back Merrill Lynch's stake in the project. Last month BPTP raised R170Cr in BPTP's residential Gurgaon township project - Astaire Gardens spread over 102.2 acres through its $265Mn Kotak India Real Estate Fund1 raised three years ago.

Indian engineering and construction firm Hindustan Construction Company has bagged Rs 289 crore (US$54.47 million) contract from the Gujarat government for construction of bulk water transmission system. "... the company has received an EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contract from Gujarat Water Infrastructure, government of Gujarat, for construction of bulk water transmission system from Dhanki to Maliya," the company said in a filing to the BSE on Tuesday. The contract, the filing said, is to be completed in one year from the date of issue of the order. "The value of the contract is Rs 289 crore. The project is to be completed in 12 months from the date of issue of this order," HCC said. HCC is a business group of global scale, developing and building responsible infrastructure through next practices. HCC has a history that dates to the 1920’s, when pioneering industrialist Seth Walchand Hirachand had constructed the Borghat Railway Tunnel on the Bombay – Poona railway line, a project that changed the perception that Indians had no ability to carry out big projects. Incidentally, the Borghat Tunnel continues to serve this rail route even today. Subsequently, in 1926, Seth Walchand founded the Hindustan Construction Company. Over the years, HCC has built many of modern India's most challenging infrastructure projects: including the Bandra Worli Sea Link; the hill city of Lavasa; the Mumbai - Pune Expressway, India's largest nuclear power plant at Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu and high-altitude hydro power projects in the Himalayas. HCC today has a knowledge asset of more than 3,000 officers, including 1,715 engineers. It employs more than 32,000 workers at its 50 plus project sites across India.

KEC International Ltd has secured new orders valued at INR 1,253 crore. While INR 723 crore worth orders are in the transmission segment, orders for INR 253 crore are for substation works, INR 123 crore for water supply works, INR 105 crore for supply of power and telecom cables and INR 49 crore from Power Grid Corporation for optical cable laying for communication in the eastern region. KEC International, a flagship company of RPG Group, is a diversified global infrastructure Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) major. It has significant presence in the verticals of Power Transmission, Power Systems, Railways, Telecom, Water and Manufacturing of Cables & Towers. In last six decades, the Company has powered infrastructure development on turnkey basis in over 45 countries across South Asia, Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and Americas. It is a billion dollar turnover company with world leadership in Power Transmission EPC business.

Earlier this month, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister P K Dhumal requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to declare cement as controlled item and bring it under the purview of Essential Commodities Act to make the commodity cheaper in the state. Ahead of assembly elections, Himachal Pradesh is witnessing politics being played by Congress and BJP on the cement price issue. While the crucial meeting between chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and representatives of cement companies is being held on Thursday, a war of words has already erupted between leaders of the two parties. As the meetings between industries minister Kishan Kapoor and cement companies in the past failed to bring out any solution, all eyes are now set on Thursday's meeting as government has taken a firm stand this time to ensure a minimum price decrease of Rs 30 per bag. Congress general secretary Kuldeep Rathore said that the state government has failed to reduce cement rates. He said that requesting the Union government to bring cement under controlled items list is nothing but a tactical move to avoid criticism. The state government should fix cement prices on the pattern of Punjab, he said. Cement companies are sponsoring cricket tournaments being organized by HPCA, whose president is chief minister's son Anurag Thakur, which is why the state government is not reducing the cement prices, he alleged. Expressing surprise over statements being made by Congress leaders, including state Congress president Kaul Singh Thakur and CLP leader Vidya Stokes, BJP state president Khimi Ram Sharma said that cement was removed from the list of controlled items in 1989 by none other than Congress. Khimi Ram said the state government is serious about bringing down the cement prices, which reflects from the recent letter written by chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal to Union government. "On Thursday, CM is holding a meeting with cement companies on the issue and we expect some positive outcome," he added.

Hindustan Construction Company Ltd has received a Letter of Acceptance (LOA) for a contract valued Rs 289 crore to construct a bulk water transmission system for Gujarat Water Infrastructure Ltd. It said it has bagged Rs.289 crore contract from the Gujarat government to construct bulk water transmission system. "HCC has received a letter of acceptance (LOA) for a Rs.289 crore contract to construct a bulk water transmission system for Gujarat Water Infrastructure Ltd, a government of Gujarat undertaking," the company said in a regulatory filing. "The work involves construction of a 57-km long water transmission pipeline between Dhanki and Maliya villages under the Swarnim Gujarat Saurastra-Kutch water grid programme," it added. At the Bombay Stock Exchange, the shares of the company closed 7.27 per cent up at Rs.17.70. The project which is to be completed in 12 months also involves commissioning and maintenance for 5 years.

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday imposed a cost of Rs2 lakh on realty major DLF while dismissing its plea against the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) order to probe an allegation that it duped a city-based businessman of Rs34 crore in collusion with its associate firm Sudipti Estates, reports PTI. Justice Vipin Sanghi turned down DLF’s plea against the market regulator's order, saying “I dismiss the writ petition with costs quantified at Rs2 lakh. Cost to be paid within four weeks.” The judge dismissed the DLF plea saying the SEBI order against it was “based on reasons”. “A perusal of the impugned order (of SEBI) shows that it certainly cannot be said that it has been passed arbitrarily or is irrational. The impugned order is clearly based on reasons which are relevant and material,” it said. DLF, in its petition, had sought quashing of SEBI’s order, issued on 20th October, for investigation into the allegations of complainant Kimsuk Krishna Sinha in 2007 against it and Sudipti Estates. The court, in its 61 page judgement, said the SEBI Act has not put any bar on the market regulator to consider any evidence to form its opinion to order an investigation. “There is no bar or impediment cast on the board by the SEBI Act to say that it would not entertain or look into evidence that the complainant may rely upon in support of his complaint made earlier, while considering whether or not to direct an investigation,” it said. The high court said SEBI’s powers should not be restricted as it has been created to look into the issues pertaining to stock exchanges. “There is no reason to put any such fetter on the powers of the board or to read such restrictions into the statute, which are clearly not there. The board is the sole authority created by law to deal with the complex issues which arise in the management and supervision of the securities markets. Any such restrictions, artificially introduced, would denude the Board of its powers and hamper its functioning,” it said. DLF had, in its petition, said SEBI’s order was passed “erroneously and in blatant non-compliance with the principle of natural justice”. The court, however, rejected the plea. The court also rejected the contention of DLF’s alleged associate Sudipti that SEBI has no authority to investigate its role as the firm’s shares have not been traded through the stock exchanges on which the regulator enjoys powers.

Punj Lloyd has received a letter of intent from GMR Projects Private Limited for undertaking design, engineering, procurement and construction of 124 km of six lane of Chittorgarh bypass to Udaipur, in the state of Rajasthan. Worth Rs. 10.50bn, the project is scheduled for commissioning in 36 months and has been awarded to Punj Lloyd on a turnkey fixed EPC price basis. The scope of work for the project includes design and construction. The project forms part of phase V of the National Highways Development Programme of the NHAI for upgrading the existing four lane section to six lane.Punj Lloyd is currently executing another EPC order for GMR Hyderabad Vijayawada Expressways Private Limited for NHAI. The Group has successfully and timely executed many NHAI projects in Rajasthan, the famous Jaipur bypass and four-laning and strengthening of 65 km of NH-76 with rigid/flexible pavement, to name a few. With this contract, the order backlog for the Punj Lloyd Group on a consolidated basis has gone up to Rs. 28,725 crores, reflecting the total value of unexecuted orders as on September 30, 2011 and the orders received after that day.

Larsen and Toubro on Monday has locked the orders worth Rs.2, 056 Cr. As per the recent updates, The water and effluent treatment business of the company has locked two major orders collective of Rs.1,262 crore from Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board and Raipur Vikas Pradhikaran. Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board order is for a combined water supply scheme at various locations in Madurai, Sivaganga and Vellore districts in the state. While, Raipur Vikas Pradhikaran order is for the construction of underground storm-water pipelines, sewerage, water supply and other associated works at Raipur.

Ambuja Cements reported a rise of 7.30% in December 2011 cement production at 1.91 million tons from 1.78 million tons for December 2010. Meanwhile dispatches were at 1.93 million tons compared with 1.82 million tons, registering an increase of 6.04%. For January-December 2011 period, cement production and dispatches were 20.96 million tons and 20.95 million tons respectively, compared with 20.12 million tons and 20.12 million tons respectively in the corresponding period last year.

DLF Ltd. is close to finalizing a deal to sell its hospitality business to China’s HNA Group, the Financial Express newspaper reported Tuesday, citing sources it didn’t name. The real estate company will sell Aman Resorts for around 24 billion rupees ($452 million) in a deal which will be finalized by Jan. 15, the report said. DLF, India’s biggest property developer by sales, has been looking for buyers for Aman Resorts for some time now. However, the sale excludes New Delhi’s Aman Hotel which DLF will retain, the newspaper said, adding that Goldman Sachs and Citigroup have been mandated to advise DLF. The HNA Group has interests in tourism, transportation, financial services, real estate and airports, the report said.

Builders and contractors have always argued and publically expressed that the cement prices are being manipulated by manufacturers. However, many market analysts believe that such manipulation in cement price is mostly done by the cartel of distributors and retailers and not by the manufacturers. Today Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister P K Dhumal requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to declare cement as controlled item and bring it under the purview of Essential Commodities Act to make the commodity cheaper in the state. In a letter to the Prime Minister, Dhumal said it is a matter of concern that cement produced in Himachal is cheaper in Punjab and Haryana than that of its producing state. The Chief Minister said the problem of higher price of cement in the state started after the commodity was decontrolled in 2002 and exempted from the purview of Essential Commodities Act to facilitate market competition. In a free market economy, it was assumed that the market forces would throw up the ideal retail selling price of cement at any given location on account of competition amongst several suppliers but this did not happen, he said. "Such ideal free market conditions did not exist at any locations in Himachal...the three major cement manufacturing companies in the state had been fixing retail prices at various locations in an arbitrary and irrational manner and as a result...cement was cheaper in neighbor states and costly in the producing state," Dhumal said. The inherent question remains who should control the price of a construction commodity such as cement - the market forces, the government or cartel of manufacturers and distributors? Should the cement price across the India be same?

Realty major DLF and its joint venture partner Hubtown have off loaded their entire stake in the Pune IT special economic zone (SEZ). Private equity major Blackstone has bought the 11.83-hectare DLF Ackruti Info Parks for Rs 810 crore. Originally, DLF had a 67 per cent in it, while 33 per cent was with Hubtown. The exit comes in the wake of a September 19 nod by the board of approval (BoA) in the commerce ministry to allow proposals from SEZ developers such as DLF to dilute project equity. It is the first such nod since SEZs came into existence five years ago. Till now, there was no exit route available for SEZ developers, barring getting their projects denotified. SEZs are increasingly becoming unattractive for developers, investors and companies. In fact, the number of fresh proposals udner BoA?s consideration has also seen a decline. A combination of warped tax policies, issues around land acquisition and difficult funding environment have soured the story for SEZs. There are 381 notified SEZs at present. Going aggressive on cutting debt, the country largest developer by market capitalisation finalised two deals this month, where it signed an agreement to divest its entire stake in Galaxy Mercantile. Galaxy will buy the entire DLF stake in the project for Rs 450 crore over the next 12 to 18 months. DLF has already received the first tranche of Rs 200 crore from this deal. The balance payment has been linked to various leasing milestones.

After approving development projects worth Rs 1,766.72 crore in its budget proposal for 2012-13, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's (MCD) works committee on December 27 sanctioned more development schemes amounting to Rs 40 crore. The money will be spent on constructing roads, community halls and school buildings. The MCD works committee had approved the construction of school buildings at Sultanpuri, Pooth Khurd, Bawana, Pushp Vihar, Geeta colony and Shastri Nagar and Rs 18.60 crore would be spent on it. The other projects approved include multi-purpose community hall at Punjabi Colony, Narela and Geeta Colony, which will be used to host functions. Besides, MCD will construct an outfall drain at village Holambikalana and densely carpet road at Prem Nagar and Jalyanvas. A drain at Khurenji and RMC Road on Old Matiala Road will also be constructed. For its own municipal staff, Rs 2.5 crore has been set aside to install water supply in the staff quarters at Usmanpur. Mamgain said the staff quarters received water from tubewells, but with the project, they would get supply from the DJB.

Punj Lloyd has forayed into Kenya market with its first project in road building sector. The company has formed a joint venture with a local infrastructure company, Intex Construction, to build 62 km- Loruk-Barpelo road in Nairobi. The contract value of the project is Rs285 crore and it is expected to be completed in 30 months. SS Raju, CEO. Infrastructure, Punj Lloyd Ltd, said:Highways segment is going to be the group's core business of growth in ensuing years. Our knowledge coupled with the expertise to deliver complex projects on time will complement Kenya?s ambitious plans to spur infrastructure growth and will consolidate the Group?s highways and road construction portfolio across the globe.? The company is looking at developing a portfolio of infrastructure development projects in Africa. In addition to this, Punj Lloyd also won its maiden SEZ project in Gurgaon, worth of Rs81 crore. The project is been awarded by Canton Buildwell and it involves civil and structural work, external development and facade work for construction of building B3 including three level basemen.

While the long term outlook for the Indian Construction sector continues to remain encouraging, companies in the sector could witness near-term challenges on account of sluggishness in new order inflows, execution concerns surrounding their current order-books, elongated working capital cycle and resultant increase in debt levels, says leading credit agency, ICRA Limited. While there has been an improvement in the quantum of new projects announced by the government sector in H1 FY 12, this was countered by a sharp drop in new project announcements by the private sector in the same period, with the steepest decline in Q2 FY 12. Resultant, new order inflow for companies in the sector has been muted over the past two quarters. Despite having healthy unexecuted order books, almost all construction companies are plagued by a number of slow-moving orders due to issues related to land acquisition; securing requisite clearances; labour shortage and other sector specific issues such as payment issues plaguing irrigation projects in Andhra Pradesh and issues faced by power projects. The slowdown in the pace of execution can be gauged by the quantum of stalled projects, which has been steadily increasing since September 2010. As of September 2011, the quantum of stalled projects increased by 42% on a y-o-y basis (15% on q-o-q basis). Consequently, the y-o-y revenue growth of construction companies in Q1/Q2 FY 12 has been the slowest as compared to the past few years. The reduced pace of execution is also evidenced by the significantly lower y-o-y growth of 2.7% (at FY 05 prices) in construction GDP in H1 FY 12 as compared to 7.2% y-o-y growth in H1 FY 11. The Reserve Bank of India\'s (RBI) move to raise benchmark interest rates on multiple occasions since March 2010 has increased the overall cost of borrowing. Companies have also suffered elongated working capital cycles due to delays in realizing payments from clients; piling work-in-progress due to delayed certification by clients and the need to support sub-contractors to ensure continuity in project execution. Labour shortages and government welfare schemes such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme have resulted in higher labour costs. Slower pace of execution and higher input and labour costs affected the operating profits of construction companies while high interest costs associated with higher debt levels dented their net profits. Mr. Rohit Inamdar, Sr. Vice President & Head-Corporate Sector Ratings, ICRA, says, & Companies in the construction sector could face challenges over the short term considering sluggishness in new order inflows, execution-concerns surrounding their existing order-books, elongated working capital cycle and consequent increase in debt levels and rising interest costs. However, long-term opportunities in the sector continue to be strong, considering the large planned investments in infrastructure that are necessary to support the needs of the rising population and high expected growth rates of the Gross Domestic Product. Recent policy initiatives such as creation of Infrastructure Debt Funds and the role of India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited assume importance and could channelise long-term debt funds to the infrastructure sector & Source: Business Standard

Construction Federation of India has sought service tax exemption on construction of metro and mono railways to achieve desired growth in the sector in a pre-Budget memorandum submitted to the Finance Ministry. "CFI has demanded service tax exemption not only for construction of metro and mono railways but also on the toll revenues collected by the SPV Cos and their sub-contractors," the federation said in a statement. The memorandum has pointed out that service tax exemption provided to Indian Railways for construction of railways should include metro and mono railways. "It should not be restricted to only contracts awarded for Indian Railways," it added. On the issue of toll collection by SPVs, CFI said concessionaires or their sub-contractors do not act toll collection agents of NHAI or state authorities, hence their collection of toll revenues should not be liable for service tax. As per the guidelines of NHAI or state authorities, successful bidder is required to form a separate Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for execution of the project during concession period. It also sought exemption from service tax when the service is exported to neighboring countries like Nepal, Bhutan etc. "Since this promotes export of service and cordial relationship with neighboring countries, it should be considered as 'export of services' and payment made by the service receiver in Indian currency should not be taxed," it added.

NTPC may invest in Coal India; plans to add 4300MW capacity by March Countrys largest power producer NTPC may make investment in Coal India to battle massive coal shortage faced by the power industry, said its chairman Arup Roy Chowdhury. The company will add 4300 mega watt capacity by March, and has ambition to double power generation over next six-seven years, Chowdhury added. Recently, the power industry faced a massive coal shortage leading to shutdown of thermal plants and long hours of power cuts. Many power stations were left with stock for just four to five days, ringing the alarm bells in the corridors of power. Power generation has been flat in the second quarter of fiscal year 2011-12 on the back of non-availability of coal. Logistics issue in Kahalgaon gave added to the woes, he explained.

State-owned National Highway Authority of India's (NHAI) and PFC will raise over Rs14,000 crore by way of infrastructure bond issues by December 15, according to sources in the finance ministry. NHAI will raise Rs10,000 crore and PFC will raise Rs4,100 crore, respectively. The infra bond issues are likely by December 15. According to sources, the Railway Finance Corporation has also got clearance to raise Rs10,000 crore through infra bonds, but it will come out with the issue after assessing demand for the NHAI papers. With a view to attracting long-term investments for the infrastructure sector, the government has allowed NHAI, Railway Finance Corporation, HUDCO and ports to raise Rs30,000 crore through tax-free bonds in the current fiscal. Railway Finance Corporation will take final decision on issuing infra bond after seeing response of NHAI and PFC. The next meeting on infra bond will be held on December 25. Earlier, Railway Finance Corporation had said they had received finance ministry clearance to issue tax-free bonds to raise around Rs10,000 crore to tide over the funds crunch. While the NHAI�s bond would be tax free, subscribers of the one issued by Power Finance Company (PFC) would get tax exemptions on investments up to Rs20,000. To channelise savings for development of infrastructure sector, the government in 2010-11 introduced the concept of long-term tax savings bond. It provides tax exemption on investments up to Rs 20,000 in long-term infrastructure bonds. This is over and above the existing tax saving limit of Rs 1 lakh. Infrastructure bonds should be of 10 years with a minimum lock-in of 5 years. After the expiry of five years, the investors would have the option to either sell it in secondary market or seek redemption. The government proposes to double investment in infrastructure to USD 1 trillion during the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17). A host of companies like IFCI, REC and IDFC had raised about Rs 8,000 crore through issue of tax-savings infra bonds in the last fiscal.