Shipyard upgradation gets Rs 2,200 crore
The Ministry of Shipping has allocated Rs 2,200 crore for the development of shipyards during the 10th Plan. Of this Rs 800 crore has been budgeted for upgrading shipyards for carriage, pre-outfitting, computer-aided engineering, manufacturing and ship repairs. The ministry is targeting revenue of Rs 15,800 crore from the shipyards. Shipyards plan to focus on the lucrative oil E&P business in anticipation of a turnover of Rs 250 crore from it.

States to get share of petro profits
In a bid to incentivise states into expediting statutory clearances, the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has proposed to share profits obtained from oil properties with the states where oil and gas exploration is undertaken. Earlier, the entire profits were exclusively appropriated to the Union government account. Gujarat and Assam will be the major beneficiaries in case the Centre clears the proposal.

Mangalore-Bangalore pipeline by year-end
The 364-km gas pipeline from Mangalore to Bangalore via Hassan is to be commissioned in December. The Rs 667 crore Petronet project will be connected to the company's tankage. BPCL is setting up a Rs 30 crore LPG plant in Karnataka and talks are underway to acquire 40 acres of land for the project. Meanwhile, IOC's Rs 29 crore LPG plant at Shimoga will come up by October 2003.

Award for Patel Engineering
Patel Engineering Works, a leading ship repairing company, has been awarded an ISO 9001-2000 Compliance Certificate for the repair of ship hulls, machinery, dry dock jobs, sand blasting, electrical works, etc. The company has successfully implemented Quality System certified by the Indian Register Quality Systems, a department of Indian Register of Shipping.

IFC to fund AP Biotech projects
The International Finance Corporation, the private sector funding arm of the World Bank, has agreed to provide assistance of about Rs 100 crore to various biotech projects in AP. The funding of the IFC would be mainly to augment the APIDC Biotech Venture Capital Fund already launched by the state government and for development of infrastructure in the Biotech Park in Hyderabad. Assistance would also be available for projects of biotech and pharma companies setting up their units in the state.