Mega investments, bird flu, diamonds in the rain

BIZ GUJARAT 2006

JANUARY

Ahmedabad, first city to be mapped The National Informatics Centre decides to design, develop and implement a computer-aided utility mapping project for six cities beginning with Ahmedabad. The project will then be replicated in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai.

Surat jewellery SEZ gets nod

Touted as the largest of its kind in the world, a Rs 4,300-crore gems and jewellery SEZ at Surat gets nod by the Gujarat government. To be set up at Ichapore, the SEZ would be spread over 10 lakh square metres.

FEBRUARY

Bird flu in Surat

Culling operations resumed in and around Surat district after bird flu was confirmed in some samples from a poultry farm by a Bhopal laboratory. Already around 73,000 birds were culled in the district and 19,000 more were to be culled.

Torrent opens diabetology division

Ahmedabad-based Torrent Pharma announced the launch of AzuCa, its new super-speciality diabetology division. AzuCa will spearhead the company's strategy of sharpening focus on the fastest growing disorders of Diabetes Mellitus.

Explosion at A'bad railway station

An explosion injured 25 people including four railway employees at platform number two and three at the Ahmedabad Railway Station. Twelve victims sustained minor injuries and three were admitted to the hospital. The others were discharged after first-aid.

Hybrid bus soon to rule Indian roads

Ahmedabad based Electrotherm (India) Ltd unleashes the big one from its stable - a hybrid engine bus. The company is developing prototype buses that will run jointly on battery along with diesel or CNG. It would possibly be the country's first hybrid engine bus.

ISRO, Dept of Science plan 24-hr science channel

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have developed a 24-hour science channel that may go on air by next year.

The channel will be transmitted by Doordarshan and will be available in its direct-to-home (DTH) service.

The science channel is jointly funded by DST and ISRO. Currently, it has a slot in Doordarshan which airs science programmes commissioned by DECU.

YObykes roll out

Ahmedabad based Electrotherm India Ltd (EIL), an induction furnace maker, made foray into electric vehicles by launching seven YObykes becoming the first company in the country to do so.

MARCH

Kurien calls it quits, finally

Giving in to mounting pressure, Verghese Kurien, the father of the country?s 'white revolution', has finally quit as chairman of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which owns the Amul brand.

Kurien called a press conference in Anand to announce his resignation in the wake of the decision of the GCMMF board of directors to oust him from his post.

Sur SEZ eyes Rs 5000 cr exports

Even as Sur SEZ, a special economic zone in Surat, got approval from the Board of Approval on doubling its land size from 4.30 lakh sq mt to 8.60 lakh sq mt, it is looking for Rs 5,000 crore exports by next financial year compared with Rs 2,500 crore in 05-06.

Simultaneously, the number of people working in the SEZ is also expected to rise from the current 3,000 to 10,000, according to S N Sharma, CMD, Sur SEZ.

Educational institutes on higher intake spree

Premier educational institutes in the state increase intake to accommodate more students for new courses. Cumulatively, the increase leads to around 250 new students on the campus.

These institutes are National Institute of Design (NID), Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA), Centre for Environment, Planning and Technology University (CEPT), Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) and the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT).

IIM-A Placements 2006

Five hundred and ten offers later, two six-month-old pre-placement offers (PPO) of $1,85,000 by London-based investment bank Barclays occupied the top slot at the placements for Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

APRIL

IIM-A launches PGPx

The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA), launched a one-year post-graduate Programme in Management for Executives (PGPX) in its bid to become a top B-school in the world.

Thermax 2nd plant at Vadodara

Pune -based Thermax, a global solutions provider in energy and environment engineering, decided to set up its second major plant in Vadodara.

According to sources, the company has already initiated the process of setting up the unit. The plant, for which 50 hectare of land has been offered, will be set up at the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation premises in Vaghodia.

As part of finalising the decision Anu Aga, director, Thermax, visited the site recently, sources said. As the company has accepted the land, it has to pay Rs 4 crore to GIDC before April 22 to take legal possession.

GCMMF elects new chairman

The vacated chairman's position of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) was finally filled as the board members of GCMMF, elected Parthi Bhatol, chairman of Banas Dairy, as the chairman of GCMMF. But it has also already set the fire for a new controversy for alleged political hands in the election.

MAY

AMC to pump in Rs 400 crore in city

Keeping pace with the real estate boom, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is pumping around Rs 400 crore, which is about one-third of its total annual budget, in ramping up the city infrastructure especially roads, over-bridges, under-bridges and a five-storey parking building.

JUNE

Kurien to step down

In June, the octogenarian, Verghese Kurien deciding to step down as chairman of the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA). He announced his decision to resign from the chairmanship of IRMA Board of Governors.

Amrita Patel takes over

Amrita Patel, chairperson of National Dairy Development Board, and one-time protege of Verghese Kurien has been appointed as interim chairman of Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) was unanimously accepted after Kurien's resignation as chairman of IRMA.

IIM-A to offer customised programmes

The US-based Duke Corporate Education (Duke CE) has entered into a collaboration with the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) for customised corporate education programmes in India and West Asia. The programmes started in August.

JULY

Dentsu Marcom opens shop

Dentsu Marcom, the Tokyo-based advertising agency, has opened shop in Ahmedabad just to be in closer proximity to brand Rasna, which is its latest client.

Rajkot gets nod for Rs 763 cr revamp

Of the 68 cities being considered by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme, Rajkot is the only city in the western region to have been selected for development.

Vijay Anadkat, Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) Special City Engineer, said they were aiming to spend Rs 763 crore under this project in five years. The plan is extendable to seven years, as JNNURM Scheme is targeted to end by 2011-2012, and the amount could stretch up to Rs 1,200 crore.

AUGUST

Surat floods

With a population of 3.4 million, Surat, Gujarat's industrial hub, bore the brunt of heavy rainfall in the region this year. Over 8,00,000 cusecs water had to be released from the Ukai dam in south Gujarat. The water level in the 341-ft Ukai dam touched 345.6 ft, way above the danger mark of 334 ft.

However, the spokespersons of Essar and Reliance of Hazira belt added that the working conditions were normal and there was not much effect in the Hazira industrial belt due to the flood.

Currency chests under water in Surat

Hundreds of crores of currency notes stashed in currency chests managed by banks in Surat, the country's diamond and textile hub, were feared damaged in the floods across the city.

The State Bank of India's (SBI) attempt to open its three currency chests met with no success. Over Rs 100 crore currency notes were reported to have been stored in the chest.

Currency chests are storage rooms managed by banks on behalf of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Such was the flood fury that almost all of the Bank of Baroda's 24 ATMs and 30 branches were under water.

Diamonds washed away

Diamonds meant for exports worth over half a billion dollars were washed away in the flood. The entire city, which cuts and polishes nearly 90 per cent of the Rs 74,000-crore worth of diamonds that India exports, was under water.

The flood water completely destroyed nearly half the plants and pieces of machinery used for cutting and polishing diamonds. Nearly 55 per cent of the $1 billion worth of monthly diamond exports from Surat had been lost, said Bakul R Mehta, chairman, Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, which monitors the export of the precious stone.

Diamond workers flee

The Rs 4,000-crore diamond industry of Surat also faced severe economic setbacks, with the unprecedented floods forcing closure of nearly 10,000 units and forcing its skilled cutting and processing workers to flee.

ONGC turns off gas tap

Leading companies like Reliance Industries Ltd, Essar Steel, IFFCO, Kribhco, and NTPC Ltd were forced to downscale production after the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation suspended supply of natural gas from its gas processing station at Hazira on account of incessant rains.

ONGC closed its plant at 01.53 am, after it was flooded with 4-5 feet of water released from the Ukai dam. By morning, the boundary wall collapsed, and the water level at the plant rose to 10 feet.

Subsequently, the offshore platforms of ONGC's Bassein field and the joint venture fields of Panna-Mukta and Tapti, which supplied 40 million standard cubic metres of gas per day to the Hazira plant, were closed.

The current gas availability in India stands at 91 mmscmd. As the Hazira plant feeds GAIL (India) Ltd's Hazira-Vijaypur-Jagdishpur pipeline, this impacted a number of industrial units drawing gas from the pipeline.

IIM-A course for armed forces

IIM-A launched a certificate course in Business Administration for officers from the Indian armed forces from the current academic year.

The programme has been specially designed by IIM-A in collaboration with the Directorate General of Resettlement and the ministry of defence. The programme is for officers who are due to retire shortly or have retired recently.

SEPTEMBER

Lalu lectures at IIM-A

Union railway minister Lalu Prasad was invited to deliver a lecture on the railway management and share his experiences in turning around the Indian behemoth.

Accompanied by minister of state for railways Narayan Rathwa, Lalu Prasad chatted with the students and faculty and told them how he pulled back the Indian railways from bankruptcy and put it back on track.

IIM-A accepts 54% expansion

After months of speculation, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), decided to comply with the recommendations of the Veerappa Moily panel on 54 per cent expansion within a period of three years.

Earlier, the institute had said it needed at least four years to implement the expansion plan.

However, at a meeting of the Board of Governors chaired by Infosys Narayan Murthy, a new policy of quota expansion was proposed and accepted unanimously.

Aditya Birla Group to pick up stake in Intas

The Aditya Birla group planned to pick up 49 per cent stake in the biotechnology business of the Ahmedabad-based Intas Pharmaceuticals.

The promoters planned to divest a substantial stake in favour of a strategic investor after hiving off the business into a separate company.

GAEL to set up maize-based ethanol plant

Gujarat Ambuja Exports (GAEL), exporter of cotton yarn and processed products, plans to set up the country's first maize-based ethanol and extra-neutral alcohol (ENA) plant at Nashik.

The Rs 100-crore plant will be operational by September 2007. An additional Rs 225 crore will be pumped into the project after commencement.

Wockhardt Hospitals' debut in Rajkot

Wockhardt Hospitals announced its foray into Rajkot. The healthcare major would provide medical facilities in association with NM Virani General Hospital operated by the Ashok Gondhiya Memorial Trust.

The company plans to spend Rs 35 crore in two phases and will manage and upgrade the super-speciality healthcare facilities at NM Virani Wockhardt Hospital.

Run up to vibrant 2007

The Gujarat government embarked on an ambitious investment drive identifying 12 sectors for fresh investments to the tune of Rs 150,000 crore. The plans are a part of the Vibrant Gujarat 2007 programme.

The sectors which could see more investment are energy, chemicals, petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals, agro and food processing, textiles and apparel, automobile and ceramic engineering, SEZ and port-led development, gems and jewellery, medical tourism, biotechnology, information technology, urban development and tourism.

OCTOBER

Nitish follows Lalu

Inspired by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, visiting Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar who gave a lecture on the turnaround of Bihar said that he was contemplating an IIM or its equivalent for the "country's most backward state of Bihar".

Based in Patna, the national-level management institute will be functional by the next academic year.

A'bad gets its CESTAT

Ahmedabad finally got its permanent bench of Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) where pending cases of respective commissionerates could be tried.

The decision came after repeated appeals and petitions by members of the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

NOVEMBER

Kurien plans IRMA-II

After being shown the door by IRMA in a much publicised dispute with other board members, Verghese Kurien, the man behind India's first rural management school accepted a proposal to set up a similar institute at Bhubaneswar in Orissa.

A proposal on similar lines was also being considered at Bangalore. Bhubaneswar-based Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), in consultation with Kurien and two other former faculty members of IRMA took the lead to set up the country's second rural management school.

Gujarat NRE coke takes over Zelos

Gujarat NRE Coke took over Zelos Resources NL (ZCO) by acquiring 85 per cent stake in the company. ZCO is an Australian company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. The company is now known as Gujarat NRE Resources NL.

DECEMBER

RIL to invest around Rs 5000 cr for lignite

Reliance Industries Ltd. announced plans to invest Rs 4,000 to 5,000 crore in gassification of Lignite in south Gujarat.

The project was tipped to attract an additional investment of Rs. 4,000 to 6,000 crore in the gas consumption industries. The project is a joint venture between RIL and Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation.

Deepak Cement to invest Rs 1397 crore in Kutch

Deepak Cement came out with a proposal to invest Rs 1,397 crore in Koteshwar in Kutch district. The company intended to build a cement plant, a captive jetty and a power plant in Koteshwar

Vajubhai Vala State FM

Vajubhai Vala, the former state president of BJP's Gujarat unit, was sworn in as the state's finance minister as part of the Gujarat government's cabinet expansion. Vala replaced Saurabh Dalal as state finance minister.

ADAG Adlabs Films buys cinema hall in Rajkot

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) venture Adlabs Films Limited (AFL) bought a closed cinema hall "" 'Dharam Cinema' "" of Rajkot for Rs 7 crore for setting up a retail venture on the ground floor of the property and three screen multiplex on its upper floor.

The purchase of the cinema hall was the third such addition to the ADAG-AFL venture in the entertainment space of Saurashtra after the group bought one such multiplex - Mehul Cinemax in Jamnagar, owned by cinema director and producer Mehul Kumar and another multiplex -Madhuban 3 Go of Gandhidham.

Rs 11,067 crore worth MoUs signed for IT in Guj

Narendra Modi's vision to see Gujarat as a major IT hub of the country received a boost as 19 companies signed MoUs to invest Rs 11,067 crore. The MoUs were signed as part of the Gujarat government-organised 'Vibrant Gujarat IT Summit'.

Of the 19 companies, there were nine IT park developers, one telecom service provider and nine ITTeSPO/KPO companies.

Notable investors among them were Nipiam Infotech who planned to set up an IT park in Vadodara at an investment of Rs 2,600 crore, the highest investment among all the companies and Fascel Ltd (Hutch) who pledged an investment of Rs 2,500 crore.

IIM-A decides on European accreditation

Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) decided to get accreditation from the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), a reputed European agency.

The institute decided to apply for the accreditation following the visit of director of EMFD Julio Urgel.

Yechury does a Nitish at IIM-A

As the third politician this year on the IIM-A campus, Sitaram Yechury, CPI(M) leader's lecture evoked plenty of interest in the campus as students sent him their resumes to do an internship at the party's head quarters.