Naturol to export 10,000 tonnes of biodiesel

Hyderabad-based Naturol Bioenergy Ltd. will soon be exporting biodiesel to Europe. The company, which produces biodiesel at its facility in Kakinada, in Andhra Pradesh, will export up to 10,000 tonnes of biodiesel to Europe – the first and the biggest shipment of biodiesel from India.

Naturol grows jatropha and other oilseeds on its 5,000 hectares of land in Andhra Pradesh. The company’s 100% EOU plant at Kakinada, which cost US$31 million to set up, was commissioned in April this year. It is the country’s first fully integrated oleochemical complex and has a capacity of 30 million gallons of biodiesel per day.

Hyundai i10 exports cross 100,000 mark

Hyundai i10 exports have crossed the one lakh units mark in just seven months!

Hyundai has announced that it exported one lakh units of the i10 hatchback, within just seven months of the first shipment. Since the time the Hyundai i10 made its European debut in Bologna, Italy, in December 2007, total export orders have reached 106,749 units, from as many as 98 countries.

‘We are delighted as we reach the fastest one lakh unit export mark for the i10. We always believed that the i10 is a world class car and can compete with all other global compact cars on even footing,’ said H S Lheem, MD, HMIL.

Demand for the i10 continues to be strong in India, with more than 65,000 units already sold in the domestic market. As reported earlier, Hyundai plans to launch a new version of the i10 in the next two months, which will be powered by a 1.2-litre all-aluminium engine that will replace the existing 1.1-litre unit.

Tata Nano may go to Cuba

Tata’s Rs one lakh wonder car, the Nano really does seem to be going places. Various countries have expressed interest in the car, and the latest to join the queue is Cuba.

Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade, Eduardo Escandell Amador is leading a 19-member delegation to India, and is scheduled to meet Tata officials in Mumbai next week. The meeting would be with a view to exploring possible business tie-ups between India and Cuba.

‘Next week we will meet Tata Motors executives to explore business opportunities. Indian cars like the Nano have a potential market in Cuba,’ said Miguel Angel Ramirez Ramos, Cuban Ambassador to India. He added that apart from the Nano, there may also be huge potential in the Cuban market, for Tata buses and trucks.

Over the next three years, Cuba wants to increase its trade with India to US$300 million, in key sectors like auto, power, oil and gas. In fact, Indo-Cuban trade during the 1980s was over US$300 million, but went down to US$50 million due to the Indian government refusing to give credit to Cuba.

Today, China is the largest provider of locomotives, light vehicles and buses in Cuba, with trade between the two countries reaching US$3 billion.

Gujarat: The new export hub for Indian auto companies?

The State of Gujarat is, it seems, on its way to becoming an important auto export hub in the country, with many auto manufacturers coming in to invest in its ports, to set up automobile handling terminals.

The Mundra port in Gujarat, which was developed by the Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone (MPSEZ), will have a car export terminal operational in the first quarter of 2009. Meant exclusively for Maruti cars, the terminal is being set up at a cost of about Rs 100 crore.

India's first dedicated car export terminal at the Mundra port will be able to handle 250,000 units of Maruti cars per annum, which would be raised to 400,000 units by the year 2010. Maruti Suzuki already exports 40,000 cars per annum, and wants to increase this figure to 200,000 units by 2010.

Mitsubishi Motors is also said to be looking for port facilities in Gujarat – the company is considering locations like the Vansi Borsi port and the Maroli port, where it can set up a car-handling terminal. Mitsubishi is also looking at options for setting up exclusive terminals at existing ports like Mundra, Pipavav, Okha or Kandla.

Currently, Mumbai and Chennai are the two major ports that handle auto exports. Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Ashok Leyland and Eicher Motors depend on the Mumbai port, while Hyundai and Ford export cars through the Chennai port.