WCA May 2017

India Insight

Sales consideration Shares in the Indian manufacturer Usha Martin gained nearly nine per cent after its board of directors appointed a consultant to evaluate the possibility of the sale of its wire and wire rope business. The company confirmed: “A committee of independent directors will oversee the process, and recommend suitable offers to the board for its consideration,” adding: “[The] actual sale of the business will only be undertaken by the company after due consideration, and by following due process of law, and with appropriate regulatory, shareholders’ and lenders’ consent as applicable.” During 2016 the company recorded increasing net losses. Usha Martin – India KEI Industries rose 2.56 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the company revealed it had signed a technical collaboration agreement with Switzerland’s Brugg Kabel AG. KEI Industries has signed the agreement with Brugg Kabel AG to manufacture extra-high voltage cables, above 220kV and up to 400kV, at its manufacturing facility at Chopanki in Rajasthan. Operation of the new production line began in January. The collaboration agreement will allow KEI complete knowledge transfer, including design, manufacturing, testing, techniques, and training of its manufacturing and design personnel. Manufacture of cables, jointing techniques, and complete EHV cable and system design will also be included. KEI Industries – India Website : www.kei-ind.com Storage first for India Mitsubishi Corporation and AES India, a subsidiary of the AES Corporation, will develop a storage facility for the electric grid operated by Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd. The companies will develop and own the 10MW Advancion system, believed to be India’s first grid-scale energy storage array. The Advancion system will be constructed in Rohini, Delhi, at a site operated by Tata Power-DDL, and is expected to be operational by the end of 2017. “For a rooftop solar programme to be successful, it is important for the distribution network to integrate it with energy storage solutions to take care of power generation spikes and fluctuations, system stability, reactive power compensation and grid emergencies,” said Praveer Sinha, CEO and MD, Tata Power-DDL. There are plans for the installation of 160,000MW of solar and wind generation in India over the next five years, and Website : www.ushamartin.com Knowledge sharing

energy storage will play a critical role in ensuring its integration into the grid, AES added. Mitsubishi Corporation – Japan Website : www.mitsubishi.com AES India – India Website : www.aes-india.com Acquisition in harness Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd (MSSL) is to acquire the Finnish wiring harness maker PKC Group. Helsinki-headquartered PKC is a global tier 1 supplier of wiring harnesses and associated components to OEMs in the heavy and medium duty commercial vehicles and locomotive segments across North America, Europe, Brazil and China. The company has over 22,000 employees. MSSL is a supplier of wiring harnesses for commercial vehicles in the North American and European markets. The proposed acquisition of PKC will support MSSL’s expansion into the global wiring harness market for commercial vehicles. The companies show minimal overlap between their operations, in terms of geographical presence, but synergy in their product segments. Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd – India Website : www.motherson.com Indo-Nepal power sharing In view of the power projects under development, Nepal and India have agreed to lay new cross-border transmission lines. The Indo-Nepal Joint Working Group and Joint India-Nepal Steering Committee on Power Cooperation have discussed new Butwal (Nepal) to Gorakhpur (India) and Lumki (Nepal) to Bareilly (India) transmission lines, and the establishment of new 400kV substations at Dhalkebar, Butwal and Hetauda (all in Nepal). The Power Grid Corporation of India has expressed its readiness to design special training courses to meet the requirements of the Nepali engineers in operational and commercial issues. During discussions Nepal conveyed its appreciation of India’s efforts to supply more electricity to Nepal, making several regions, including Kathmandu, free of load-shedding this winter. The current import of 380MW of power from India has been possible after the installation of an additional transformer at Muzaffarpur, and by by technical improvements at Tanakpur at Nepal’s request. With the commissioning of two new lines, Raxaul to Parwanipur and Kataiya to Kusaha, installed capacity for the export of power to Nepal was expected to increase by up to 120MW by the end of February 2017. Further, with the completion of a 220kV substation at Dhalkebar, installed capacity will increase to almost 700MW by the middle of 2017.

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