Saturday, Sep 07, 2002
Saturday, Sep 07, 2002 |
| Southern States | ||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Southern States
-
Kerala
By Our Special Correspondent
The MoUs have cleared the way for the first foreign direct investment (FDI) into the State from China, according to a press release issued here by the office of the Industries Minister, P.K. Kunhalikutty, who is leading the delegation to China. The preliminary investment in the projects by the Chinese side is estimated at $ 2.9 millions. The FDI would be for implementing a joint venture with the Steel Industries Kerala Ltd. (SILK) for manufacturing turbines for small hydel schemes. It would also be associating with Keltron for setting up a manufacturing facility for control and instrumentation equipment needed for small hydel schemes. The press release, quoting Mr. Kunhalikutty, said the move to strike this tie-up was initiated by the former Industries Minister, the late Suseela Gopalan, when she visited China in 2001. The matter was followed up and got moving during the visit of the Electricity Minister, Kadavoor Sivadasan, to China last month. The INSHP is a world leader in small hydel schemes. The United Nations International Development Organisation, the Chinese Government and other key organisations in the sector established it jointly. The company has so far associated itself in the setting up of more than 48,000 such schemes worldwide, according to the release. The two joint ventures are targeting the small hydel market in Kerala and other States, besides Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. Quoting the Director-General of the INSHP, Tong Jiangdong, the release said China was having nearly 50,000 small hydel stations generating more than 28,000 MW of electricity. These schemes considerably ease the pressure for thermal power generation in China. The Chinese experience was particularly significant in the context of the problems being faced in Kerala due to the compulsion to purchase thermal power at a high cost, the release said. Mr. Jiangdong also told the visiting delegation that the stabilised technology was available with the INSHP for setting up small hydel stations even in places where the gradient was just three metres. He felt that Kerala, which had more than double the rainfall in China and had a natural sloping terrain, had excellent potential for power generation through this technology. The Kerala delegation visited a rubber dam site and a power-generating station at a place called Tong Lu County, near Hangshou, and had discussions with the INSHP authorities and other experts to gather information on the scope of small hydel schemes. The delegation was fully convinced that the technology had immense potential in Kerala. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, the KPCC president, K. Muraleedharan, Aryadam Mohammed, MLA, the Managing Director of Keltron, Ajay Kumar, and the Secretary for Information Technology, Aruna Sundararajan, are among the delegation.
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | Home |
Copyright © 2002, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
