MONEYMAKERS
clean drink: With California Pure, a US-based company, all set to lease 400 mini water purification and treatment plants for the Indian market, the mineral water industry at home is awaiting a revolution. The president of California Pure, Shanti Dewan, stated the plants will be available for lease for a period of seven years upon an investment of Rs 28 lakh. Each unit can fill up to 22,000 one-litre bottles. The system of purification involves forcing water through pores 75,000 times smaller than a human hair.
cheaper power: For companies waiting in vain for large power plants to develop in order to get their plants started, the Bangalore-based Ansaldo Services Pvt Ltd offers an alternative. Their factory assembled kits provide for power at the pre-specified ratings of 50 MW and 100 MW for industrial clients and others ranging from six MW to 20 MW have been designed for bio-mass plants in rural areas. K Krishnan, managing director of Ansaldo said that "These plants will meet the immediate power needs of a whole lot of industrial clients'. Further, these high efficiency gas turbines which are based on the single shaft concept also offer up to 10 per cent lowering of costs than the larger plants on per KW basis.
together for development: Canada's Geopetrol International Ltd and US' Unocal Corporation have entered into a joint venture to develop gas-related projects in Bangladesh. Currently, Bangladesh generates only half its energy needs but has yet to define a policy on private power investment. The US $1.5 billion project will lay a gas transmission line and build power, cement and fertiliser plants. The project would develop the western Shahbazpur gas field to produce 30 million cubic feet a day.
for black gold: UK-based Ispat International has acquired 15 major coal mines in Kazakhstan in a deal worth over US $182 million. Along with the mines, Ispat Karamet, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Ispat International, has acquired a coal enrichment plant, a workshop and an extensive rail transportation system. "With the sale of the mines to Ispat Karamet, the future of the coal industry in the area and its employees has been secured,' said Lakshmi Mittal, a non-resident Indian steel magnate and the chairperson of the Ispat group of companies.
power of wind: A joint venture to provide maintenance, repairs and project management services for all types of wind turbine generators and wind energy projects throughout India has been signed between the Bangalore-based Batliboi Ltd and Foras Energy of Denmark. According to the managing director of Batliboi Ltd, Nirmal Bhogilal, the new venture will be a 50-50 project with an equity capital of Rs 70 lakh. The venture called Batliboi Foras Private Ltd is awaiting the final approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.
going green: Promoted by the Madras-based First Financial Services Ltd, the Rhodanthe Agro Ltd has drafted a plan for planting teak trees in nearly 122 ha of non-forest land in Tamil Nadu. According to P Natarajan, chairperson and managing director of the company, a minimum investment of Rs 1,690 per tree will give the investors a benefit of more than four times in just 12 years and a whopping 50 times in 20 years.