Moser Baer, maker of computer compact discs, on Monday said it will invest $250 million over the next three years to set up a thin film solar fabrication facility.

The company has entered into a technology partnership with US-based Applied Materials to build the unit in its existing special economic zone at Greater Noida, Moser Baer chairman and managing director Deepak Puri said.

The project will help generate 200 MW of solar energy by 2009, he added. "According to market figures, the thin film based solar modules market is expected to reach a size of $5 billion globally by 2010 with a demand of 2 GW," Puri said.

The unit for making thin films would be commercially operational by March 2008 and the construction will begin next week, he said. "The company will start with a capacity of 40 MW, which will be increased to 200 MW by 2009. With this initial capacity, we are expecting a turnover of $100 million annually," company’s chief financial officer Y. B. Mathur said. We would focus on global markets initially to sell our product, he added. Moser Baer is also expecting government incentives under the recently announced semiconductor policy. Applied Materials chief technological officer Mark Pinto said, "India holds tremendous potential both as a worldwide hub for solar panel production and as an end market for photovoltaic electric power."

Applied Materials, the world’s largest maker of semiconductor related equipment, posted a turnover of $9 billion last year and employs about 13,000 people worldwide, including 800 in India.

Courtesy : Asianage.com

Major steel producers, including SAIL and Tata Steel, on Monday agreed to cut prices of TMT bars, galvanised steel and HR coils after the government asked them to contain prices to keep inflation under check.

Steel utilities including SAIL, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd, Tata, Essar, Ispat and JSW Steel agreed to reduce prices they had hiked on March 1 after meetings with Steel Secretary R. S. Pandey.

Steel manufacturers said the hike was a routine activity on first of every month and was based on domestic and international fluctuations.

"However, considering the concerns of the government on inflationary trends in the economy, steel producers agreed to roll back the increase announced on March 1," Mr Pandey said.

The prices of HR coils have been reduced to Rs 27,000 per tonne from 27,500 per tonne. The increase in prices of TMT bars and galvanised steel would be rolled back entirely or about 100 per cent. Mr Pandey said the profitability of steel companies would not be affected by the reduction. He also ruled out the appointment of a regulator to check steel prices in the domestic market. Mr Pandey stated that as and when concern is expressed on any issue, the matter is taken up with the relevant authorities.

Courtesy : Asianage.com.

Pharma major Novartis in reply to the submissions of the Centre and other generic companies defending section 3 (d) of the Indian Patents Act, contended before the Madras High Court on Monday that allowing the section would make a "total nonsense of the Patent Act".

It argued that it was not only against TRIPS agreement but also provided an unguided power to patent controllers to reject applications for patents on the ground that they were not inventions.

Senior counsel Soli Sorabjee making his submissions before the division bench, comprising Justice R. Balasubramanian and Justice Prabha Sridevan, reiterated that section 3(d) was totally against the essence of the agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and would lead to the erosion of India’s credibility. He maintained while the objective of the original ordinance was to fulfill the obligation, the subsequent amendment was arbitrary and had to be struck down.

Courtesy : Asianage.com