Adani filled with energy

Gautam Adani hasn8217;t been in the news much and now we know why. It has to do with a variety of things that are demanding his attention. ...

Gautam Adani hasn8217;t been in the news much and now we know why. It has to do with a variety of things that are demanding his attention. One of them is a trip to Indonesia, where the tycoon is trying all he can to acquire a coal mine to strengthen his supply chains and improve his export business. Apart from coal mines, castor and salt processing units are also on his acquisition agenda. He plans to raise 80 million through the issue of FCCBs in the international market and will use the proceeds in his expansion plans.

Meanwhile, the tycoon is making good progress on the first phase of his Mundra Special Economic Zone, which is on the verge of being completed. So exporters and importers in North India will soon have a closer shipping option than Mumbai and will have Adani to thank for it. Though the whole SEZ should be finished in about 30 years time, when it does, it will be the first from the private sector. The tycoon has assured all that it will boast of world class standards ,beating those of China and even Dubai. A little known achievement, which Adani now has to his name, is the laying down of a 57-km railway link between Adipur and Mundra port. This will pave the way for a 313-km long gauge conversion between Gandhidham and Palanpur. It will carry 8 million tonnes of freight per annum once it opens, which the tycoon believes will be next year.

His other achievement is that Adani Energy has become the second private gas company to enter the piped gas distribution business in Gujarat. So armed with the license to distribute CNG and Piped Natural Gas PNG in Ahmedabad and Vadodara,the tycoon has invested approximately Rs 4 billion to set up a gas distribution network in both cities. This is a very well made move by Adani, which few of his opponents have realised, for the two cities are surrounded by industrial units that operate on costly thermal power, and therefore his services will always be in demand!

Firodia8217;s South Korean affair

Thanks to a collaboration with Italy8217;s Italjet, Arun Firodia got for himself the complete production and marketing rights to seven of Italjet8217;s vehicles. The entire production line with tools, moulds, and dyes were all brought to India, where Firodia put in his own engines and will now sell them.

The tycoon is now on the verge of launching Comet 8212; a sports bike from the South Korean major Hyosang Motors. This has come about by a technical collaboration for motorcycles, which also gave him the additional advantage of gaining technical know-how. The collaboration is for Hyosang8217;s GF series 8212; 125 cc and 170 cc 8212; which will be manufactured by Kinetic in India.

The tattle is that Hyosang Motors was so impressed with Firodia8217;s quality and pricing, that they signed an agreement with him for further models.

Meanwhile, the tycoon through the 250 cc Comet will give India what he insists is its first real sports bike, the first 1,000 pieces of which will be totally imported.

Story continues below this ad

Being a new comer in the country8217;s motorcycle business, the tycoon knows he will have to wait to strike gold in the market, as it is presently very competitive. So he8217;s only expecting to double his motorcycle sales to around 1.2 lakh units in the year. Though for his scooter sales he expects 1.4 lakh units by this year. Whether this will lead to more collaborations, you8217;ll have to watch this space to find out.

E-mail: dilipcherianhotmail.com