WIND ENERGY and its ECONOMY

Post by: Aravind Patrudu on September 8th, 2008 | File Under Business Talk, Misc, Resources

              Wind energy is renewable & posses no major environmental problems. Wind energy potential for different applications cannot be overlooked in a country like India where considerable amount of wind power is available. There is growing international consensus on the challenges in the energy sector from the high cost of oil & long term energy security, to environmental concerns & commitments like Kyoto protocol. Many countries are trying to adopt policies to encourage investment in wind energy and the development of the industry.

There is no fundamental reason why wind turbines cannot be a major part of any utility grid where there are good wind resources, provided they can complete with more familiar systems on the basis of cost , reliability & public acceptance. In this context , wind energy has found a very conducive environment to build synergies in operations around the world. Although wind energy technology demands careful attention to scientific & engineering detail, it is well within the capabilities of most if not all countries & is becoming economically competitive is many regions around the world. In parallel Indian industry has gone through a resurgence of entrepreneurship & emerged with a will to take on the world.

A country wide wind pump demonstration program is being undertaken in India & over 2000 wind pumps have already been executed. It has been verified that the average capital cost & cost of power generation for 1Mw projects undertaken is India so far , ranging between Rs 1.5 to 1.75 crores/Mw & Rs 1.25 to 1.5 Kwh respectively, depending upon the site. These costs are already comparable to those for thermal power generation & lower than generation of power from thermal units. Exactly capitalizing on this Suzlon energy limited ,just over a decade worked to harness the wind across India & became the world largest wind turbine manufacturer in terms of market capitalization.

However due to the diminishing supplies of conventional fuels , cost for thermal power generation has been considerably increasing which made wind energy to play an increasingly important role in world full of booming economics, to power the world with bright future.

Popularity: 15%

Mysore Paints and Varnish Limited (MPVL) — ONE AND ONLY ONE SINCE 1931 IN INDIA

Post by: Aravind Patrudu on June 16th, 2008 | File Under Business Talk, Entrepreneurship, Resources

mysore paintsmysore paints  

Mysore king Nalmadi Krishna Raj Odeyer initiated a small scale industry for producing wax. This was used as a seal to prevent the letters from being read by others, especially the spies. The required raw materials were obtained from Heggede Devana Kota , NagaralHole, Bandipura, Male Mahadeswara Betta forests in Karnataka. Eventually with the passage of time, it finally became a public organisation in 1947. 

           Later with the interference of Mokshagundam Visweswarayya, several industrial projects, Dam constructions were started. In-order to protect the Machinery used in those projects from climatic conditions they found the need for painting varnish coating. So they started  the painting varnish production. In 1962, a central election committee had sent some proposals to various states in India for Indelible Ink(Voter’s Ink) production in order to identify the voters who used their Franchise(Right to vote) . MPVL reacted well to that proposal and after that, election committee &Higher authorities started to use the ink produced from the company. From that day to till date  ink required for elections is being produced by MPVL. Except for the first two elections, required ink has been produced by this firm to all elections which were conducted after the recognization of constitution by Indian parliament. 

          Within 12 years MPVL extended its roots to abroad also and for the first time in 1978 this indelible ink was exported to Singapore. Thus it improved its fame and now about 30 countries in Asia &Africa are using MPVL’s ink for their elections. MPVL has been supplying this Indelible Ink to various countries like Nepal, Combodia, Turkey, South Africa, Nigeria etc. At present MPVL is one of the profit making and Dividend paying companies in Public Sector Undertaking in Karnataka. In Reaction to this CEO Hara Kumar said that Modernising their firm as per the latest industrial technologies and completing the production and exporting them in time, has made the other countries attentive towards their ink. He is confident that they are capable of supplying the required quantity of ink to any corner of the world within just a week.The ink supplied by MPVL in India in 10ml bottle is sufficient for 700 voters to mark which will  remain for 3 months. 

           In the recent  assembly elections in Gujarat & Himachal pradesh they supplied ink worth 60 lakhs & 12 lakhs respectively. As it is the only company in India for Ink production, it is not having any competitors in India. But in International market it is facing a tough competition from 10 only ink supplying countries. But their will-power made them to succeed, as they are supplying Ink at considerably low rates when compared to other 10 countries.  

Popularity: 17%