India

[Due to the increasing size of the archives, each topic page now contains only the prior 365 days of content. Access to older stories is now solely through the Monthly Archive pages or the site search function.]

PetroAlgae to Partner with IndianOil Company on Algae-Based Fuels

November 04, 2009

Florida-based PetroAlgae Inc. (PA) (earlier post) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enter into an agreement to license its proprietary micro-crop technology to IndianOil Corporation Limited (IOCL) for the future commercial-scale production of biodiesel from algae. ICOL is the 18^th largest petroleum company in the world, and is currently India’s largest company by sales.

IOCL and PetroAlgae will initially collaborate on adapting the algal strains and technology developed by PA to suit Indian conditions. Thereafter, IOCL will build a pilot to demonstrate the commercial viability of the technology. A commercial production facility with a capacity of 200,000 TPA of biodiesel would follow, which would also produce a high-value protein that can be used as feedstock for animal feed production as a by-product.

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Ford CEO Unveils New Figo for India Market and Export Sales, New Manufacturing Plant in China with Changan

September 25, 2009

The Ford Figo. Click to enlarge.

Ford Motor Company President and CEO Alan Mulally revealed the new Ford Figo, the anticipated new car to be produced in India and targeted at the India and export market. Ford said that Mulally’s visit for the reveal underscores the strategic importance of India in Ford’s future plans.

The new Ford Figo will be manufactured at Ford’s expanded integrated manufacturing facility near Chennai, which is undergoing a $500 million transformation to become a regional center of excellence for Ford small car production. (Earlier post.) The investment is doubling production capacity to 200,000 units per year.

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General Motors India And REVA Form Partnership To Develop Electric Vehicles for Indian Market

September 24, 2009

The new REVA NXG introduced at IAA, due for production in 2011, features a Li-ion phosphate pack. Click to enlarge.

General Motors India and Reva Electric Car Company (REVA) have entered into a collaboration agreement to develop electric vehicles for the Indian market. The partnership will develop car platforms, electric vehicle technology and advanced control systems.

The agreement was announced jointly by Karl Slym, president and managing director, General Motors India and Chetan Maini, deputy chairman and chief technology officer, REVA. The two companies said that they began studies on the feasibility “sometime back”of GM’s vehicle platforms hosting REVA electric drivetrains and that more details on the vehicles will be coming soon.

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Tata Motors Launches the Nano in India, Details Booking Process

March 23, 2009

The Tata Nano. Click to enlarge.

Tata Motors held the commercial launch of the low-priced Tata Nano—the much-anticipated Rs 1-Lakh (about US$2,000) “People’s Car”. (Earlier post.) The Tata Nano is BS-III compliant and comes with an all-new 2-cylinder aluminium MPFI 624 cc petrol engine mated to a four-speed gear box and will be available in three variants. The cars will be on display across India at Tata Motors Passenger Car dealerships and other select authorized outlets from 1 April.

The Nano is also available in BS-II variants and is BS-IV ready. BS II, BS III and BS IV are the India mandatory norms for NO_x, HC, CO and particulates. These norms are substantially aligned with the European norms Euro II, Euro III and Euro IV; the main difference is that the peak speed in the extra urban driving cycle is 90 km/h in India and 120 km/h in Europe.

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Eden Energy Sells Off HyRadix and Other Assets; Hythane Remains a Core Focus

January 22, 2009

Australia-based Eden Energy has sold all the shares in its two US subsidiary companies: Eden Cryogenics LLC, which has two operating businesses (Eden Cryogenics and Cryogenic Technical Services which manufacture cryogenic equipment and supply cryogenic design services) and Eden Hydrogen Inc which operates the business known as HyRadix which manufactures hydrogen reformers.

Eden acquired US-based HyRadix, a company specializing in on-site autothermal reforming systems for the production of hydrogen from methane or LPG, in 2007. (Earlier post.)

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Maruti Suzuki Becomes First Indian Car Manufacturer to Display Fuel Economy Labels

January 02, 2009

SIAM’s fuel economy label. Click to enlarge.

Maruti Suzuki India Limited, the India subsidiary of Suzuki Motors, is the first Indian automaker to comply with the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers’ (SIAM) Voluntary Labeling Program. The program, announced in September 2008, calls for all member companies to make a voluntary disclosure of fuel economy by end of March 2009.

Maruti Suzuki had its complete range of 12 brands tested at the three government-approved test agencies: ARAI (Automotive Research Association of India) Pune; VRDE (Vehicles Research and Development Establishment) Ahmednagar and ICAT (International Centre of Automotive Technology) Manesar. The test results are:

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