Kochi Trade, Technology, Engineering & Industry

[mohammedirshad06]

Kochi/Cochin is the industrial capital of Kerala, with the state's largest industrial area located in the city. Home to a dozen of Kerala's own heavy and medium industry brands like FACT, HIL, IREL, TCC dozens of large chemical industries like Binani Zinc etc and large production houses like Appollo tyres, HMT etc, along with couple of new ones planning to come up soon....

The city is closely associated with number of electronic components manufacturing, which remains less known due to non-disclosure of details to outsiders, while it is also primary hub for number of boatyards, boat components making, fish processing industries, food processing and spices extracts industries.

Eloor is the state's largest industrial estate, while Kalamassery and Aluva are other important industrial hubs.

In this context, kindly post news related to industries, engineering, technology etc here...

[Malayaali]

Great thread MI

Here's the first update!

Record Turnover for HMT

Hindustan Machine Tools Ltd. (HMT) Kalamassery unit, registered record turnover of Rs 64 Crore in the current financial year. This is the highest turnover of the company in the last decade.

Several joint venture projects on HMT land are under consideration!

Manorama

[Malayaali]

Carborundum forms 51:49 refractory JV with Israel firm

Country’s leading manufacturer of abrasives and industrial ceramics Carborundum Universal, a part of Chennai-based Murugappa Group, has formed a joint venture with Israel-based Cellaris for the refractory business. It would be a 51:49 joint venture, with Carborundum holding 51 per cent and Cellaris picking up the rest.

“We got the approval to set up a joint venture with the Israeli company Cellaris at the Cochin SEZ, owned by CUMI. This JV will produce fibre refractory,” according to K Srinivasan, managing director of Carborundum Universal.

Fibre refractory will be a special grade of refractory, which has in its terms of thermal ability as good a property as a fibre, but in dimensional stability it’s like a fired product. It is first of its kind raw material and the company expects to see this working by the second half of 2012. The end-user segment will be the refractory manufacturers, who will be using the same as input or raw material.

The JV has planned to make an investment of Rs 15 crore initially. The plant in its present form actually was operational and existing in Israel. After the formation of JV, the plant in Israel has been dismantled and will be brought to its Cochin SEZ for re-commissioning.

“We would prefer calling this technology demonstrator plan in the first stage, so it would not be a great turnover, even if you run the plant flat off we will do less than Rs 10 crore. But once we stabilise and run it, we will scale up and go for a larger scale commercial plant,” said Srinivasan.

The refractory business comes under company’s ceramics division, which comprises both industrial ceramics and refractories. This division’s business caters to wide a variety of industries including healthcare, metals, food processing, cement, and electricity transmission, among others.

Source

[Malayaali]

- Kalamassery

[Malayaali]

Udyogamandal Division

FACT commenced operation at Udyogamandal with the commissioning of a 50,000 tonnes per annum Ammonium Sulphate Plant in 1947.

In the decades that followed multi stage expansion programs were undertaken bringing in the latest technologies of the day which were quickly mastered and successfully implemented. Today the division is a mostly mix of 35 year old small capacity plants and 2 year old state of the art technology plants.

The latest addition to this unit is a 900 tonnes per day ammonia complex set up with an investment of RS 642 crores. FACT Udyogamandal division is 14001 certified.

Cochin Division

FACT Cochin Division has set up in the 1970's at Ambalamedu 30 km from Udyogamandal and adjacent to the Cochin Refineries. Phase-I of the division saw the setting up of an integrated Ammonia urea complex utilizing Indian Engineering skills. A large scale complex fertilizer plant of 485,000 TPA was set up as phase-II of Cochin Division and sulphuric acid and phosphoric acid plant of marketing capacity.

Petrochemical Division

FACT diversified into petrochemicals in 1990 with the production of caprolactam. This versatile petrochemical is the raw material in the manufacture of nylone-6, which finds extensive application in textiles, tyre cord and engineering products. Thanks to its high quality the products have been acknowledge as among the best in the world.

The division is located adjacent to the Udyogamandal division. Co-product ammonium sulphate is transferred for processing to the fertilizer plant of udyogamandal division.

FACT Petrochemical Division is ISO 9002 and 14001 certified.

FACT Engineering & Design Organization (FEDO)

FACT Engineering & Design Organization (FEDO) was established in 1965 for utilizing the considerable indigenous plant building expertise accumulated by FACT in its process of nurturing the nascent chemical fertilizer industry.

FEDO is today one of India's premier project engineering organization, catering to a wide spectrum of industries like petrochemicals, refining, pharmaceuticals, hydrometallurgy etc as well as petroleum storage, environmental engineering, offsite facilities etc.

The division undertakes project execution on consultancy and turnkey basis, handling the intricacies of the technology sourcing, design and engineering, hardware procurement and construction with practiced ease.

FEDO is ISO 9001 certified.

FACT Engineering Works (FEW)

Established in 1966, FACT Engineering Works was originally conceived as a unit to fabricate and erect equipment for fertilizer plants. Over the years, it developed capabilities in the manufacture of Class I Pressure Vessels, Heat Exchangers, Columns, Towers etc. required for the fertilizer, petrochemical and petroleum industries. FEW received ISO 9002 Certification in 1998.

[Mel07]

Kalamassery Industrial Estate

A large industrial estate spanning some 5 sq.km area, with lots of small/medium scale industries working, and helping in employing a lot of people from the surrounding areas.

Products from the estate have an amazing range, from chemicals to paints, food products to oleoresins, agricultural implements, containers and packaging materials, web services, plastics and polymers, industrial chemicals etc. The Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC), in its latest publication, Infinity, paints a glorious picture of the strides made by the industrial estate.
http://kdpia.com/index.html

[dhanesh2k]

Locals oppose plywood units

Local residents in Kunnathunadu, Kothamangalam, Muvattupuzha and Aluva taluks, under the Action Council for Environmental Protection, have come up against the plywood manufacturing units functioning from residential areas.

As part of the protest, a march will be held from Perumbavoor to Kuttipadom on Saturday. The council said that nearly 30 plywood manufacturing units were functioning within a 1-km radius at Kuttipadom in Vengola panchayat.

Council chairman Varghese Pulluvazhi said that the council was formed a couple of months ago to demand the relocation of 400-odd plywood units from the residential areas in these four taluks. The council is also seeking to halt the installation of 29 new units. It is learnt that 500 more units are awaiting clearance from the authorities.

Many units are causing heavy chemical pollution in the area. The formaldehyde used in the manufacturing process could lead to respiratory ailments and was a carcinogen, said S. Seetharaman, noted environmentalist and a patron of the council.

The refuse from these units have polluted the waterbodies. Vast areas of paddy fields have also been filled up due to pollution, said John Peruvanthanam, environmentalist and also a patron of the council.

The council has been suggesting the formation of an industrial area for plywood units or a consortium which complies with environmental norms.

The proliferation of smaller units has resulted in the increase in number of migrant labourers in these localities. With no facilities provided for accommodating this floating population, it has become a social issue as well, said Mr. Pulluvazhi

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper...cle2700334.ece

[dhanesh2k]

FACT-Railways clash hits transportation of urea

The shortage of fertilisers may worsen in the coming days as the urea imported by the Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd (FACT) is yet to be transported from Willington Island. FACT officials are blaming the Railway authorities for not allotting them a rake for transporting the urea. “We asked the Railway authorities for a half rake. But they are insisting on hiring a full rake which we do not need right now. The Railways said that they would be able to consider allotting a half rake only after December 12,” a senior official of the distribution department of FACT said.

However, Southern Railway area manager George John said that FACT had not registered an indent for the rake with the Railways. “We, with the clearance from the headquarters, are ready to allot the rake once they register an indent,” he said.

The low rate clearance of imported fertilisers has had an adverse impact on the agricultural sector, at a time when the price of fertiliser is skyrocketing. “If the distribution gets delayed, it will further worsen the situation,” said the official.

Around 24,000 tonnes of urea and 27,000 tonnes of potash reached Kochi in the second week of November. It has piled up at the Kochi port due to a shortage of loading workers.

About 25 percent of India’s urea requirement is met through import. India requires around 28 million tonnes, of which import accounts for 8 million tonnes. FACT imports urea mainly from Gulf countries. Import of potash is 100 percent as there is no indigenous production.

Meanwhile, the clearing of fertilisers is at a snail’s pace, according to the port authorities. Though the unions had expressed their willingness to clear the cargo as early as possible, at a meeting held on Tuesday, only around 800 tonnes is being cleared from the godown a day.

http://expressbuzz.com/cities/kochi/...ea/341911.html

[Malayaali]

- Udyogamandal

The Travancore Cochin Chemicals Limited, Udyogamandal is a State Public Sector Undertaking owned by Government of Kerala. Reflecting the quality policy of commitment and excellence TCC has a good track record of profitable operation and healthy industrial relations. A heavy chemical industry engaged in the manufacture and marketing of Caustic Soda, Chlorine and allied chemicals, TCC is accredited with ISO 9001: 2008 certification.

PRODUCTS

• Caustic Soda Lye

• Caustic Soda Flakes

• Liquid Chlorine

• Hydrochloric Acid

• Sodium Hypochlorite

[Malayaali]

CII to hold conference on industrial corridors

CII is organising a conference on ‘Opportunities in Industrial Corridor Infrastructure in Kerala – Focus Kochi-Coimbatore Industrial Corridor' here at the Hotel Gateway on Wednesday.

The key speakers of the conference include Mr Tom Jose, Managing Director, Kochi Metro Rail and Chairman and Managing Director, KSINC; Mr T. Balakrishnan, Managing Director, INKEL Ltd; Mr Alkesh Kumar Sharma, Secretary – Industries, Government of Kerala and Managing Director, KSIDC; Mr Paul Antony, Chairman, Cochin Port Trust; Mr Rajesh Agarwal, Divisional Railway Manager – Trivandrum Division, Southern Railway; Mr B. Ramaswamy, President and Head – Infra and Facilities Management, Feedback Infrastructure Services Pvt Ltd.

A press statement issued here said Kerala has an ambitious programme to attract crores of investment in its proposed industry corridors spread across the State. This would need a matching development of infrastructure in all sectors.

FDI

One of the key objective would be to attract FDIs. In the present Indian context, major business houses as well as MNCs are no longer enamoured by the traditional investment destinations. They look for stable industry climate, well developed infrastructure, friendly Government policies and good quantity social infrastructure, even if these are provided at non-metro locations. Therefore, it is imperative that the Government and CII as an industry body, examine the above in a holistic manner and work together to reinstate Kerala to its rightful place as the most preferred investment destination in India. To catalyse this lofty objective, the conference on infrastructure projects and investment prospects will be a good platform to engage the stakeholders to meet and talk on the investments, the statement said.

[Malayaali]

Originally Posted by Malayaali

CII to hold conference on industrial corridors

CCIC will create an Industrial Revolution: Conference

Tom Jose, MD Kochi Metro, said that CCIC will fuel Financial and Industrial growth and drive Economic development. The state government has to take strict measures to promote development, particularly Infrastructure projects. He was speaking at the ‘Opportunities in Industrial Corridor Infrastructure in Kerala – Focus Kochi-Coimbatore Industrial Corridor' organized by CII.

The presence of Port, Container Terminal, International Airport, Mobility hub, expert human resource, research institutions like CUSAT, the upcoming Metro rail etc make Kochi a strong investor destination. The land acquisition for development is the major hindrance. Government has a lot to do on this front.

The CCIC conceived within 50 km radius at a length of 200 km along NH, will cover districts of Ernakulam, Kottayam, Thrissur & Palakkad, and requires 15,000 hectares of land to be taken up. The clusters are formed by adding existing industries, where new units will come up.

12 industrial nodes, in 2 zones will form the industrial cluster. Engineering-Electronic Hub, chemical-petrochemical Hub, food park, knowledge park, jem & jewellery hub, emerging engineering hub, agro processing hub will be developed across the 4 districts. Proposed Electronic & Hardware park @ Amballur, KRL's Petrochemical plant, FACT etc will be part of the corridor.

Transport & shipment, Water & Electricity will be provided to all the clusters. Central-State governments and project SPV will run the project. An expected cost of Rs 23,541 crore in the corridor will bring in investment worth Rs 1 lakh crore in 10 years. The project conceives to create direct employment to 2 lakh and another 10 lakh indirectly.

Manorama

I personally believe, it should have been Kochi-Palakkad Industrial Corridor. Why include some other city without aiming its development, will create confusions all around!

[Malayaali]

GAIL Pipeline being laid


cc: update

[mohammedirshad06]

Originally Posted by Malayaali

CCIC will create an Industrial Revolution: Conference


I personally believe, it should have been Kochi-Palakkad Industrial Corridor. Why include some other city without aiming its development, will create confusions all around!

I am sure, with the current mood, it will be only Kochi-Palakkad Industrial corridor... We need a way out to reach to Bangalore for this Industrial Corridor... I believe, Nilambur route is a good option, as it will also connect Mysore to the project and surely Karnataka will have a major interest

[Malayaali]

Nest Electronic City Site Updates

[Malayaali]

Hindalco to be re-opened on Saturday

Hindalco Industries, Kochi, which had been locked up since February, will resume its functioning on Saturday.

An agreement has been signed between the Birla Group which owns the company and representatives of trade unions in the presence of labour minister Shibu Baby John here on Friday. Hindalco, which produces sophisticated aluminium equipment and aluminium sheets, has been shut down for 10 months following labour unrest. Though several rounds of discussion had been held to settle the issue, no compromise formula could be reached.

As per the new agreement, an employee of the company will get an additional salary of around Rs 4,000 per month. It was also decided to confirm the services of 13 casual labourers immediately. Twenty seven employees will be re-employed soon and nine others will be re-inducted in six months.

[Arunz]

The Union Fertilizer Ministry is exploring the possibility of merging the Kochi unit of Hindustan Organic Chemicals Ltd. (HOCL) with Kochi Refinery, a unit of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL).

Link : Source

[Malayaali]

The Union Fertilizer Ministry is exploring the possibility of merging the Kochi unit of Hindustan Organic Chemicals Ltd. (HOCL) with Kochi Refinery, a unit of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL).

Sources said the first step was to find out whether the Petroleum Ministry would be amenable to a merger in view of the new projects lined up for Kochi Refinery and considering the benefits that would accrue to the merged entity.

The capacity of Kochi Refinery is being expanded from the current 9.5 million tonnes to 15.5 million tonnes a year.

BPCL plans to establish a joint venture petrochemicals complex here. Once the petrochemicals complex is a reality, BPCL will emerge as a major challenger to HOCL in the petrochemicals derivatives market, especially in the case of phenol.

Besides, Kochi Refinery is already the key raw material supplier to the Kochi unit of HOCL, which employs more than 400 people. The Kochi unit has an installed capacity 40,000 tonnes of phenol a year.

The raw materials supplied by the refinery include LPG, LSHS and benzene. Merging HOCL unit with BPCL refinery would give the new entity an advantage over its competition, industry sources pointed out.

The Kochi unit of HOCL, commissioned in 1988, recorded a net profit of more than Rs.100 crore last year. It produces carbolic acid (phenol), acetone and hydrogen peroxide. According to sources, the unit will see a substantial dip in profit this year owing to the continuing world-wide economic recession and spiralling raw materials prices.

Sources said merging the two units of HOCL — one in Kochi and the other in Rasayani in Maharashtra — with what was then the stand-alone Kochi Refinery was mooted about a decade ago. However, the proposal was not accepted by the refinery, which was then interested only in considering the possibility of merging the Kochi unit.

Trade unions at HOCL are learnt to have submitted a memorandum to the Petroleum Ministry, seeking a merger of the HOCL unit with that of BPCL refinery.

[Arunz]

Manorama article on the work progress: Manorama Link

[e_arunsid]

Fantastic

[Malayaali]

Haven for exporters

Workers at a production unit in the CSEZ

The Cochin Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) is one of the 15 Government of India-owned duty-free enclaves in Kerala meant to promote multi-product exports. It has excellent infrastructure and facilities for fast-track clearances.

Until 2000, when the concept of special economic zones became popular in India, the enclave was functioning as the Cochin Export Processing Zone. Today it is one of the largest employment destinations in Kerala, and is spread over 41.7 hectares at Kakkanad (about eight kilometres from Ernakulam), on the new seaport-airport highway.

SEZs are meant to provide export processing units an operating environment free from legal hassles governing import and export, a liberal regime in respect of levies, domestic regulations and restrictions in order to boost manufacturing and augment exports, earn foreign exchange and generate employment opportunities.

In other words, they are meant to generate additional economic activity; promote exports of goods and services; encourage investment from domestic and foreign sources; create jobs; and develop infrastructure facilities in order to attract foreign and domestic investments.

As far as trade operations, duties and tariffs are concerned, SEZs are considered “foreign territory”, outside the territory of the Indian Customs department.

There are 98 units now functioning in the CSEZ, in sectors such as electronic hardware and food and agro-products (which together account for the majority of exports), plastic and rubber products, engineering goods, gem and jewellery, textiles and garments, and electronics software. Twenty-three more units are being established.

These units together employ over 11,200 employees and registered exports worth Rs.17,003.53 crore in 2009-10, a growth of 45 per cent over the previous year. In 2010-11, it was the jewellery sector that showed impressive growth, with 93 per cent of share in export, according to initial estimates by the State government.

The CSEZ is strategically located, with the international maritime highway from Europe to the Pacific Rim just 12 nautical miles off Kochi and major international air routes passing over the city. The State government plans to develop a Greater Cochin SEZ by adding on more phases of the SEZ at the Cochin port and Cochin airport, and forming customs-bonded industrial areas along the airport-seaport highway. The inauguration of the Vallarpadam Container Transhipment Terminal SEZ nearby has been a major factor in enhancing the location advantages of the SEZs in Kerala.

Besides operating the CSEZ, the jurisdiction of its Development Commissioner (the designated authority running the enclave) extends to new SEZs being set up in Kerala and Karnataka and also the hundred Export-Oriented Units (EOUs) in Kerala, Karnataka, Lakshadweep and Mahe. Nearly 75 EOUs are in operation in Kerala and 15 more units are being established.

The CSEZ, however, is the only multi-sector SEZ in Kerala, and expansion plans are being mooted in nearby Alappuzha district on 125 acres (1 acre = 0.4 ha) of government land in Cherthala taluk. The policy of the Kerala government allows the development of SEZs on its own, or in the public, private or joint sector.

In addition to eight SEZs notified earlier in Kerala, seven more were notified during 2009-10. Among them were the four SEZs developed by the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Ltd at Kollam, Alappuzha, Pallippuram and Kannur and others by Electronic Technology Park–Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram, Carborandum Universal Ltd at north Thrikkakkara (near Kochi) and TCG Infrastructure Holding Ltd at Thrikkakkara.