Cost Pressures Push Car Prices

Rising prices are not only taking a toll on the FMCG manufacturers, a constant increase in non-food commodities is also affecting automobile makers. Higher metal and rubber prices are resulting in increase in raw material cost.

After Maruti raised its prices from August, Hyundai India plans to increase its price from September. Hyundai will increase car prices in India by around 1.2%. While price of its small car is expected to rise by Rs 3,500 , higher end versions like Sonata would become dearer by Rs 10,000, state media reports.

Toyota, is another company that has plans of raising prices, but from October.

Power Sector in India: Statistics

I will keep updating these stats and also will add as many indicators as I can.

Power Sector in India: July 2010 updates

India’s power generation companies added 74% more capacity in July, but still fell short of the Government’s monthly target, according to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).

Coal dispatches to Power Sector stand at 87%

During the past three years, coal dispatches to Power Utilities by Coal India –the largest coal producer in India– have been 101%, 102% and 96% of target in 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10, respectively.

In the current year up to June 2010 , dispatch is 87% of the target which is due to frequent law and order problem affecting dispatches in CCL and constraints of wagon availability in comparison to indents in certain coal fields and less lifting of coal through Private Washery operators engaged by the Power Utilities.

The major steps taken by Coal India Ltd to increase production of coal in its command area, which in turn enhances the supply to power sector, is as under:

Cost pressures lead to rise in FMCG prices

Palm oil is a key ingredient that goes into making soaps. It has moved up 70 per cent in recent months, touching $680 per tonne from $400 per tonne earlier. Besides palm oil prices, cost of packaging is also high. This has either lead to or is expected to lead to a rise in price of soaps. The companies are taking to either price hike or a weight reduction.

Delays in 268 projects cost the government Rs50,000 crore

Minister of State for Statistics & Programme Implementation Mr. Sriprakash Jaiswal admitted to cost overruns to the tune of Rs 50,295 cr in 268 of 578 ongoing projects. The cost overrun of these projects is 16.5% of their original approved costs. Each of these projects entail an investment of over Rs150 crore.

The main reason for cost and time overrun include delay in procurement of equipment, law and order problems, inadequate infrastructure and rise in input cost.

UMPPs in India: Krishnapatnam UMPP update

Krishnapatnam UMPP is likely to be completed ahead of schedule, state reports.

Reliance Power’s 4,000-MW Krishnapatnam UMPP, is likely to be completed eight months ahead of schedule. The CERC has approved the submission made by Reliance Power for change in configuration of units from 5 X 800 MW to 6 X 660 MW. Reliance Power had told the regulator that the configuration would help in advancing the commissioning date from 93 months to 85 months.

The Krishnapatnam UMPP is the largest power project in South India and will supply power at a tariff of Rs 2.33/kWh to Andhra Pradesh (1,600 MW), Maharashtra (800 MW), Tamil Nadu (800 MW), and Karnataka (800 MW).

http://www.reliancepower.co.in/html/pdf/Krishnapattanam_financial_closure.pdf

Airline Passenger growth in India continues

The total domestic passengers carried by Indian scheduled airlines in July 2010 were 40.84 lakh. Growth (YoY) was recorded for the seventh consecutive month. However, the number of passengers flown in July 2010 was 9.3% lower than the June 2010 figure.

In order to boost sales during the lean season (June-September), five airlines reduced their average basic spot fares on the Mumbai-Delhi route during July 2010. SpiceJet and Kingfisher Red undertook steep cuts of over 24% each.

3G Growth in India: Positive forecast by PwC

According to a latest report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The number of 3G subscriber is projected to cross 107 million by 2015, growing at a CAGR of 190% between 2011 and 2015.

The wireless subscriber base has grown to 635.51 million in June 2010, second only to China. The Indian telecom market has been growing at a CAGR of approximately 30% in the past decade. PwC, in its latest report titled ‘Mobile Broadband Outlook 2015’ states:

T&D Losses in India: Aggravating the Power Problem

While India has the world’s fifth largest power generation capacity, its average per capita power consumption is estimated to be 704kwh, a trifle compared to the world average of 2,300kwh. While power generation is the beginning, transmission and distribution (T&D) plays a pivotal role in ensuring availability to end users. Power deficit (requirement minus availability) stood at over 10% in FY10. This is huge, considering India is a growing economy.

While capacity addition and availability of fuel are some of the constraints, T&D losses — power lost during transmission of electricity — is also substantially higher than the global benchmarks, at approximately 30%.