Power-packed plans

Power is a critical building block for the development of any economy and this is a fact all Delhi residents are aware of, and so is Anil Am...

Power is a critical building block for the development of any economy and this is a fact all Delhi residents are aware of, and so is Anil Ambani. That is why his company holds a major stake in BSES, now renamed Reliance Energy, which is one of the top 20 private sector power companies of India, in terms of net profits. It is also engaged in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, which is approximately 4,000 MW and holds the exclusive license for the distribution of power in areas like Mumbai, Orissa and New Delhi.

While Delhi with its constant power cuts has to import 70 per cent of its requirement which has not been successful, as far as the reliability or quality of power is concerned, now thanks to the new Electricity Act 2003, where private players have been permitted to set up power units, there seems to be some glimmer of hope. While Ratan Tata has announced plans to set up a 1,000 MW power plant in Bawana, Ambani is not one to be left behind, he has jumped at the chance, and divided BSES into two subsidiaries8212; Reliance Energy Transmission and Reliance Energy Trading8212;through which he plans to fulfil his previous proposal to set up a 2,400 MW gas-based power plant in Delhi. Ambani will play the superhero and meet the growing demands of power in the capital, while checking the demand and supply imbalances.

However, residents of the capital, who have already witnessed a shelving of a similar kind of project in 1997, are not pinning too many hopes on this one. But, considering it is going to be election time soon, and all parties are doing all they can to make themselves look reliable and worthy of precious votes, the Congress-led government is bound to do all it can to get this project rolling. If all goes well, Delhi may well be on its way to an impossible dream of uninterrupted power supply while Ambani will be on his way to super success, as his newly-discovered reserves, which happens to be India8217;s largest in three decades, will be well utilised in the generation of quality power for the benefit of all. Well, considering this is about a man known to dream big, and a company whose expectations and motivations are always so high, we can easily predict that good times are in store.

The Drug Queen

After SARS, diabetes has been forecast to reach epidemic proportions in the next 20 years, with 20 per cent of diabetics in the world being Indians. Due to this, the competition for marketing medicines that began with Eli Lilly slashing its human insulin prices, was closely followed by Biocon and Workhardt8217;s launch of human insulin. Now, the latest to hit the markets is Kiran Mazumdar Shaw8217;s immuno-suppressive life-saving drug, popularly called Cell Cept. The drug has been invented in Biocon Labs using a new fermentation technique which has just received the green signal from the Drug Controller General of India DCGI and the Ethics Committee. The drug, if successful will be a boon for diabetics in India who suffer from diabetic nephropathy, a state where renal malfunctioning occurs. It would also be used for organ transplantation and will be available at affordable prices.

Trials for the testing of the drug have already begun in Bangalore as Shaw wishes to bring out the drug as soon as possible before anyone else grabs the idea. This is the first time such tests are being conducted, and they will be followed if successful by other advanced tests on which Shaw plans to spend Rs 500 crore, coming from the Indian fermentation queen8217;s labs, this is not surprising.

Dilip Cherian runs a public relations firm Perfect Relations. He is an economy watcher and tycoon tracker. The people he writes about are not his clients. Send your insider dope to dilipcherianhotmail.com