Venky's setting up poultry feed plant in Vietnam

Venkateshwara Hatcheries (Venky's) has entered into the south east Asian market by setting up a poultry feed manufacturing facility in the Tay Ninh Province of Vietnam with total investment of Rs 150 crore.

The plant is likely to produce around 3,500 tpm of poultry feed to cater to the requirements of poultry farmers of Vietnam. The plant is slated to become operational by end-2010.

IFFCO mops up funds for facility in Jordan

Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) is mulling to develop a potassium chloride plant in Bayovar, Peru at a cost of $200 million (approx Rs 920 crore).

IFFCO has entered into a JV deal with Canada based GrowMax Agro Corp, for potash imports and gas & oil exploration sectors. It is to hold 20 per cent stake in GrowMax, a subsidiary of Americas Petronas, for potash manufacturing and it will hold 10 per cent in Americas Petronas Inc for gas and oil exploration in Argentina.

NALCO to appoint partners for Indonesia project

NALCO is likely to finalise the terms of its JV agreement with two foreign partners for its Rs 18,000-crore smelter and power plant project in Indonesia soon.

The finalisation of the terms of the JV agreement will be followed up with preparation of DPR for the venture. The company had recently invited bids for appointment of consultant for DPR. With the DPR expected to take about eight months to prepare, the work on the project is expected to start within a year from now.

The company plans to team up with PT Antam (Persero) Tbk, Indonesia, and MEC Coal promoted by Ras Al Khaimah Minerals and Metals Investment of UAE for the project.

Though both the foreign partners are keen to have 40 per cent shares each, NALCO, with its role as the lead promoter, will hold at least 50 per cent stake in the project and can only allow them less than 50 per cent shares together.

The Indonesia project involves setting up of a 0.5 million tpa

aluminium smelter and 1,260 MW captive power plant over 6,000 acre in East Kalimantan province of Indonesia. It is likely to have a debt-equity ratio of 70: 30 and NALCO intends to have at least 50 per cent stake in it, thus the equity exposure of the company is estimated at around Rs 2,700 crore.

RIL may acquire second shale gas field in US

Reliance Industries (RIL) is likely to acquire 45 per cent stake in a shale gas field in Texas in the USA. According to sources, RIL is likely to pay $1.35 billion (approx Rs 6,200 crore) to acquire a stake in the Eagle Ford shale gas field in South Texas, controlled by Pioneer Natural Resources.

In April 2010, RIL acquired a 40 per cent stake in Atlas Energy's Marcellus shale acreage position in south-western Pennsylvania. The deal was valued at $1.7 billion (approx Rs 7,820 crore). RIL is keen on shale gas for its low level of geological risk as it is trapped in rock across a wide geographical region, spanning millions of acre.

BHEL commissions power projects in UAE, Oman

BHEL has commissioned two gas based power projects in the UAE and Oman.

BHEL completed the 2x42 MW gas turbine based power project of Al Ghail Power Company in Ras Al Khaimah, near Dubai, and a 26 MW gas turbine generator at Oman refinery and petrochemical plant in Muscat.

The company's contract job under the UAE project included supply of gas turbine generating units with auxiliary equipment and supervision of erection and commissioning.

IOC puts Turkey plans on hold

IOC has pushed its plans to set up a refinery and fuel outlets in Turkey on the backburner due to lack of funds. Instead, the company plans to revive old projects that were put on hold.

IOC along with Turkey based Calik Energy was planning to set up a 15 million tpa integrated refinery-cum-petrochemicals complex at Ceyhan in Turkey with an investment of $6 billion (approx Rs 27,900 crore). As per the proposal, IOC wanted to pick a 51 per cent stake in the refinery project. The refinery was expected to be built by 2012 with an aim to export products to the US and European markets.