Tata to produce Rs 1 lakh car at Dharwad
Financial Express.com
In discussion with TVS, Hero and Kinetic to co-invest in multi-location assembly facilities
RAJEEV DUBEY & RAVI KRISHNAN
Friday, January 13, 2006
NEW DELHI, JAN 12: Tata Motors has shortlisted Dharwad in Karnataka-where the group’s excavators business is located-as one of the 3-4 locations to produce its Rs 1 lakh car, its engines and the powertrain which are being developed in-house. The project is code named Project X3. The choice of Dharwad on the Bangalore-Pune Highway is to make best use of two of India’s largest auto component manufacturing hubs.
For other locations, Tatas are in discussion with the TVS group, Hero group and Kinetic Motor to co-invest in the multi-location assembly facilities for its Rs 1 lakh car, according to senior officials of component suppliers who have participated in discussions with Tata Motors.
When contacted, Tata Motors spokesperson said, “ I cannot commet on the Rs 1 lakh car.”TVS Motor managing director Venu Srinivasan said, “No such proposal has come to me though I can’t say for any other TVS group company.”
Group chairman Ratan Tata has targeted annual sales of 1 million units-nearly equivalent to India’s current size of the passenger vehicle market-for the new vehicle due for launch in 2008. The company has planned multi-location assembly of the car to cater to these volumes.
Tata Motors has also decided to power this car with a Euro IV compliant 700cc petrol engine, rather than a diesel engine. Group chairman Mr Ratan Tata has already declared that it will be a rear-wheel powered car which means that the engine will be at the back of the car. The engine is currently going through validation and the first engine ‘Alpha’ will roll out by June this year, according to sources close to the development.
Sources say Tata Motors has opted for a 700cc petrol engine as it will be a light car and will not be able to withstand the vibrations generated by a diesel engine. Besides, diesel engines are more expensive than petrol engines which would have impacted the pricing of the car. The other reason being that the customer would benchmark the Tata car with the Maruti 800 which delivers 45 bhp at 6,000 rpm. It would require a higher cubic capacity diesel engine to deliver this level of power in the car.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Investors meet at Hubli
Investors meet at Hubli
Business Standard
Our Correspondent / Hubli January 13, 2006
In a bid to showcase the available facilities at Hubli Software Technology Park and attract investment in the ITPO and Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) sector, the department of information technology and biotechnology is organising an investors’ meet at Hubli on January 28.
Dharwad deputy commissioner M S Srikar said the district administration along with Karnatak Chamber of Commerce and Industry and KLE Society’s B V B College of Engineering and Technology were hosting the meet jointly.
He said the main objective was to woo the potential IT investors to north Karnataka in the wake of infrastructure bottlenecks faced by the investors in Bangalore.
The state government is likely to announce an attractive package at the meet to woo investors to Hubli STP managed by Keonics.
At a preparatory meeting held at Hubli last week the stakeholders provided necessary inputs to the district administration to make the meet successful. Hubli is getting a facelift with important arterial roads being relaid. To support small IT players and students the IBM has set up an advanced centre for excellence at BVB College of Engineering and Technology.
Meanwhile, the BIC Society launched by former chief secretary B S Patil too has managed to organise a training programme for the IT aspirants in the region.
The College of Business Administration run by KLE Society in Hubli will conduct a screening test to train the final year degree course students for the BPO industry. This is the first time that such a training programme is organised in north Karnatak. Till now the aspirants were required to go to Pune, Mumbai and Bangalore for such training
Business Standard
Our Correspondent / Hubli January 13, 2006
In a bid to showcase the available facilities at Hubli Software Technology Park and attract investment in the ITPO and Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) sector, the department of information technology and biotechnology is organising an investors’ meet at Hubli on January 28.
Dharwad deputy commissioner M S Srikar said the district administration along with Karnatak Chamber of Commerce and Industry and KLE Society’s B V B College of Engineering and Technology were hosting the meet jointly.
He said the main objective was to woo the potential IT investors to north Karnataka in the wake of infrastructure bottlenecks faced by the investors in Bangalore.
The state government is likely to announce an attractive package at the meet to woo investors to Hubli STP managed by Keonics.
At a preparatory meeting held at Hubli last week the stakeholders provided necessary inputs to the district administration to make the meet successful. Hubli is getting a facelift with important arterial roads being relaid. To support small IT players and students the IBM has set up an advanced centre for excellence at BVB College of Engineering and Technology.
Meanwhile, the BIC Society launched by former chief secretary B S Patil too has managed to organise a training programme for the IT aspirants in the region.
The College of Business Administration run by KLE Society in Hubli will conduct a screening test to train the final year degree course students for the BPO industry. This is the first time that such a training programme is organised in north Karnatak. Till now the aspirants were required to go to Pune, Mumbai and Bangalore for such training
Thursday, January 12, 2006
More cities join IT bandwagon
More cities join IT bandwagon
Deccan Herald
By R Krishnakumar DH News Service Bangalore:
After pegging its Information Technology sector to Bangalore for long, Karnataka is opening up to the potential of other cities in a big way. If plans lined up for Mysore and Mangalore are anything to go by, the State looks well on course to spread the Bangalore feel-good elsewhere. And accordingly, the software export target has been revised — to $US 20 billion, by the year 2010.
According to M K Shankaralinge Gowda, Secretary to the Department of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science and Technology, Government of Karnataka, while Mysore and Mangalore continue to attract more investors, fledgling IT spaces in Hubli and Belgaum are also slowly gaining in prominence.
Mr Gowda says Mysore has already registered Rs 1,200 crore as investment in the IT sector. With a new airport, expressway and doubled railway track on the cards, he sees Mysore as a key in driving the State’s IT growth for the future.
“It is going to be a major training hub for MNCs. Companies like IBM and I-Flex are going to take space in Mysore. Work on Wipro’s 100-acre development centre is also on,” Mr Gowda says.
The 500-acre SEZ in Mangalore — created exclusively for IT — will further tap on the town’s IT potential. “We are working towards raising the exports from Mangalore to Rs 1,000 crore next year, from the present Rs 587 crore,” he says.
Hubli and Gulbarga are also key parts in the State’s scheme of things. “Adding to the 3,00,000-sq ft technology park at Hubli, we are looking at using the presence of engineering colleges in the region to lure more BPO companies,” says Mr Gowda. Gulbarga’s first earth station will also be set up this year, to be used primarily as a relay station for export of software.
“By the end of this financial year, we’ll be touching the $US 8 billion mark in exports. Even with a 25 per cent growth from here, we will touch the earlier target — of $US 10 billion by 2007. The revised target is $US 20 billion by 2010. The challenge is to ensure that Karnataka’s share of export continues to be 1/3rd of the national output,” he says.
Mr Gowda says manpower requirement is going to play a major role in the State’s future as an IT leader. “The onus is on the State to provide the necessary manpower. The universities have to look at the finishing school concept. For every graduate who passes out, the key question should be ‘Is he IT-enabled’? The focus should be on taking as many candidates for IT training and making them equipped to meet the demands of the industry,” he says.
Deccan Herald
By R Krishnakumar DH News Service Bangalore:
After pegging its Information Technology sector to Bangalore for long, Karnataka is opening up to the potential of other cities in a big way. If plans lined up for Mysore and Mangalore are anything to go by, the State looks well on course to spread the Bangalore feel-good elsewhere. And accordingly, the software export target has been revised — to $US 20 billion, by the year 2010.
According to M K Shankaralinge Gowda, Secretary to the Department of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science and Technology, Government of Karnataka, while Mysore and Mangalore continue to attract more investors, fledgling IT spaces in Hubli and Belgaum are also slowly gaining in prominence.
Mr Gowda says Mysore has already registered Rs 1,200 crore as investment in the IT sector. With a new airport, expressway and doubled railway track on the cards, he sees Mysore as a key in driving the State’s IT growth for the future.
“It is going to be a major training hub for MNCs. Companies like IBM and I-Flex are going to take space in Mysore. Work on Wipro’s 100-acre development centre is also on,” Mr Gowda says.
The 500-acre SEZ in Mangalore — created exclusively for IT — will further tap on the town’s IT potential. “We are working towards raising the exports from Mangalore to Rs 1,000 crore next year, from the present Rs 587 crore,” he says.
Hubli and Gulbarga are also key parts in the State’s scheme of things. “Adding to the 3,00,000-sq ft technology park at Hubli, we are looking at using the presence of engineering colleges in the region to lure more BPO companies,” says Mr Gowda. Gulbarga’s first earth station will also be set up this year, to be used primarily as a relay station for export of software.
“By the end of this financial year, we’ll be touching the $US 8 billion mark in exports. Even with a 25 per cent growth from here, we will touch the earlier target — of $US 10 billion by 2007. The revised target is $US 20 billion by 2010. The challenge is to ensure that Karnataka’s share of export continues to be 1/3rd of the national output,” he says.
Mr Gowda says manpower requirement is going to play a major role in the State’s future as an IT leader. “The onus is on the State to provide the necessary manpower. The universities have to look at the finishing school concept. For every graduate who passes out, the key question should be ‘Is he IT-enabled’? The focus should be on taking as many candidates for IT training and making them equipped to meet the demands of the industry,” he says.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Infighting mars Hubli chance to be SEZ
Infighting mars Hubli chance to be SEZ
Business Standard
Our Correspondent / Hubli January 02, 2006
Hubli lost a chance of being declared an export-oriented Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for industrial valves because of the infighting between two groups.
The two groups, one headed by an industrial family of Hubli and another comprising new players vied with each other to get the credit for getting the SEZ status for Hubli and at the end lost out to Hasan.
Hubli is known as centre of production and export of valves. An estimated Rs 100 crore worth of valves with wide-ranging applications in petroleum and chemical industries are exported every year from Hubli.
The Karnatak government had sent a proposal to the Centre to declare some towns in the state as industrial clusters for a particular type of activity.
It had proposed Belgaum as foundry cluster, Bellaryn as garments cluster and Hubli as valves cluster.
While proposals for Belgaum and Bellary were cleared, the Centre rejected the proposal for Hubli and instead declared Hasan as a cluster town for textiles even though the place is not known for export oriented textile units.
Under the SEZ scheme each cluster was to get Rs 50 crore to set up facilities beneficial for selected local industries. What deprived Hubli the chance, according to local industrialists is the difference between the two groups.
While one group had initiated the proposal for getting Hubli the SEZ status the other group hurriedly set up the required special purpose vehicle called the Hubli Walve Cluster Society to deprive the other group the credit for its efforts.
Business Standard
Our Correspondent / Hubli January 02, 2006
Hubli lost a chance of being declared an export-oriented Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for industrial valves because of the infighting between two groups.
The two groups, one headed by an industrial family of Hubli and another comprising new players vied with each other to get the credit for getting the SEZ status for Hubli and at the end lost out to Hasan.
Hubli is known as centre of production and export of valves. An estimated Rs 100 crore worth of valves with wide-ranging applications in petroleum and chemical industries are exported every year from Hubli.
The Karnatak government had sent a proposal to the Centre to declare some towns in the state as industrial clusters for a particular type of activity.
It had proposed Belgaum as foundry cluster, Bellaryn as garments cluster and Hubli as valves cluster.
While proposals for Belgaum and Bellary were cleared, the Centre rejected the proposal for Hubli and instead declared Hasan as a cluster town for textiles even though the place is not known for export oriented textile units.
Under the SEZ scheme each cluster was to get Rs 50 crore to set up facilities beneficial for selected local industries. What deprived Hubli the chance, according to local industrialists is the difference between the two groups.
While one group had initiated the proposal for getting Hubli the SEZ status the other group hurriedly set up the required special purpose vehicle called the Hubli Walve Cluster Society to deprive the other group the credit for its efforts.
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