Making a mark in the neighbourhood

Making a mark in the neighbourhood

Indian companies remained active in the nascent Asia-Pacific market, with deals being struck from energy to automotive. Here is a brief look at some of the countries and sectors covered in recent weeks. IOC forays into Myanmar

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the country's oil and gas corporation, has entered into a bid for the rights to store, import and distribute petroleum products in Myanmar. The company said: "We have put in a bid to enter fuel marketing and retail business in Myanmar.” Last year, the state owned petroleum products enterprise, Myanmar Petroleum Products Enterprise (MPPE) had invited companies to form a venture for petroleum project through a tender. Also a separate tender for cooking gas and LPG was declared and IOC bid for it. MPPE plans to tie up with foreign companies and will hold 51 per cent of the equity in the company to expand the business and rehabilitate existing facilities. Singaporean firms, Puma Energy Group and BB Energy (Asia), and a consortium of Japan′s Marubeni Corporation and Tokai Holdings has also bid along with IOC. Hero Cycles' new Colombo plant

Hero Cycles, among the world's largest bicycle makers, has formally inaugurated its newly acquired manufacturing facility in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The company said it marks a new beginning in its global expansion plans and it aims to sell 1 million bicycles per annum through the new plant by 2019. The Colombo-based facility will be developed into a manufacturing base for high-end exports to the European market. Pankaj Munjal, chairman and managing director, Hero Cycle, said: "We are very pleased to start a new manufacturing base in Sri Lanka as we work to expand our presence globally. "This has been a major strategic acquisition for us and we are working on increasing the plant manufacturing capacity to a million units per annum by 2019. A bulk of the production of our newly launched premium brand Hero Sprint Pro will also come from this plant." BSH Ventures is Hero′s third major acquisition after UK-based Avocet Sports and FireFox Bikes in India. Bangladesh nod for Reliance plant

India's Reliance Power announced that it has received an in-principal approval from the Bangladesh government to set up a 750 MW liquefied natural gas (LNG) based plant, along with a floating storage and regasification unit (known as FSRU), in Bangladesh at an estimated cost of $1.3 billion. The company said it is proposing to install the world-class equipment procured from internationally reputed equipment suppliers for a combined cycle power project at Samalkot in Andhra Pradesh. This is expected to help set up the project on a fast-track basis. The approval from the Bangladesh government has come for the first phase, which will be commissioned in the financial year beginning April 2018. This marks the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) project for Bangladesh.Anil Ambani led Reliance Power Limited, a part of the Reliance Group, has the largest portfolio of power projects in the private sector, based on coal, gas, hydro and renewable energy, with an operating portfolio of 5,945 MW. India plans seamless Asian travel India is set to ink a strategic trilateral highway agreement with Myanmar and Thailand to create an India-Myanmar-Thailand (IMT) trilateral highway. The highway will open India's doors to Southeast Asian countries and is also expected to give a big boost to trade and economy for the ASEAN countries. Indian Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways (MoRTH) revealed that various rounds of negotiations have been undertaken by India, Myanmar and Thailand on the text of Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA) and protocols. The IMT will open up India's landlocked north east to Southeast Asia, and allow freight and container trucks to move from Imphal to Mandalay. India has already built 160 km of this highway and has invited tender for upgradation of bridges and roads. After trial runs in late 2015, Thailand proposed the Mae sot- Phitsanulok route for plying of vehicles while Myanmar suggested extending the route up to Bangkok. While there are a number transportation corridors linking ASEAN countries, this is expected to form a safer and shorter land route in comparison to the insecure and piracy affected Straits of Malacca.

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