Business
FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012
Matters of saving and spending
NUMEROLOGY
0.8% is how much Germany’s economy will expand this year after 3 per cent in 2011.
THUS SPAKE... “Providing for a further two billion people by 2050 and improving the living standards for all will challenge our ability to manage and restore those natural assets on which all life depends.” Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report
CASH IN THE ATTIC New York will see glittering echoes of America's Gilded Age this year with the auctions of jewellery and other property belonging to legendary philanthropist Brooke Astor and the reclusive heiress Huguette Clark. Astor died in 2007 at the grand old age of 105. On September 24–25, Sotheby's will auction Astor's art, furniture and jewellery collections, the auction house said Thursday.
GREEK TRAGEDY Standard & Poor's rated Thursday new Greek bonds issued under its bond swap at CCC, or still vulnerable to default, and indicated it would likely assign the same rating for the country. After the swap is completed "we will likely consider Greece's selective default to be cured and assign a forward-looking sovereign credit rating to Greece," the agency said.
Engines to drive industry N SHIVA KUMAR
Osama Salman salman.o@postnoon.com
T
here were six major players in the aviation sector displaying their advanced commercial airline engines at India Aviation 2012 — GE, Rolls Royce, International Aero Engines, Pratt and Whitney, CFL, and Power Jet. And although the aviation sector has slowed down globally, these companies have not been affected by it and are optimistic about India being a key market for them. “Globally, it’s been a fantastic year for the aircraft industry. In 2011, GE provided engines to 200 aircraft, and about 3,000 CFM engines (a joint venture between GE Aviation and SNECMA) to single-aisle aircraft. The volume shows that the aviation sector is growing. Yes, it has slowed, but it will bounce back soon,” said Sohinder Singh, regional marketing director for South-Asia, GE Aviation. Pratt and Whitney, a key player in the market has received an order for 2,500 engines globally. “People will not stop flying. The growth in the middle-class will make aviation cheaper and sustainable. Airlines will buy aircraft and they will need engines,” said Palash Roy Chowdhury, managing director-India, Commercial Engines and Global Services, Pratt and Whitney. International Aero Engines (IAE) too is estimating a 10 per cent growth in their sales at 470 engines as opposed to 420 in 2011 and has 2,000 engines yet to
be delivered. The Indian market looks bright, says Chris Bewley, regional vice-president, Asia and Middle East, IAE. “Indian aviation might be going through a slump, but it still looks bright. We are set to deliver about 40 engines to Indigo airlines,” he said. “The Indian market has been good for us. Pratt and Whitney has sold 450 aircraft engines in India. All the Bombardier 6-series have our engines. India is going to drive the aviation industry,” affirmed Palash. “The passenger traffic in India had increased by 18 per cent last year. Only over the past three months, it has reduced to eight per cent,” said Sohinder. Four out of every six aircraft engines are
either GE or CFM, he claimed. The new technology that aircraft engines use, aims to lower fuel burn. Power Jet’s SaM146 aircraft engine can save 20 per cent fuel, the company claims. “In our engines, the blade and disk are integrated and this reduces fuel burn,” said Bruno Palacious, SaM146 product marketing director, Power Jet. The SaM146 is currently being used in the Sukhoi on display at the exhibition, and is touted by the company to be the most advanced engine running. Pratt and Whitney’s new technology is that of introducing a geared turbofan in the engine. “This will not only lower fuel burn by 15 to 20 per cent, but also
reduce carbon emission by 75 per cent. This results in the airline saving nearly nine per cent, and for Indian airlines that have the highest operational costs, this can be a huge saving,” said Palash. The focus of GE at the exhibition has not been their aircraft engines, but fuel and carbon solutions for airlines. The software on the aircraft takes inputs and gives a solution to saving fuel. Typically, an airline can save up to five per cent on fuel. “Jet Airways has a fuel bill of about $1billion annually. Saving three to five per cent literally translates to $30 million in savings, and last year, they had losses of about the same,” said Sohinder.
Private players set to take bold plunge
WASTE NOT Better known as a dumping ground for used electronic goods from developed countries, Africa is set to outstrip Europe in the volumes of ewaste it generates within five years. "One study suggests Africa will generate more ewaste than Europe by 2017," said Katharina Kummer Peiry, executive secretary of the Basel Convention on hazardous waste.
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Postnoon News
E
xperience has proved to us that airports operated by private players are better maintained. India is soon to get its own first privatised regional airport in Gulbarga by the third-quarter of 2012. Regional Airport Holdings International Limited (RAHI) is setting up two greenfield airports in Karnataka — Gulbarga and Shimoga. With India poised to be the
third largest aviation market by the end of this decade, the aviation revolution has already begun. It is estimated that Indian aviation will see an investment of about $120 billion over the next few years. The greatest ideas are those that make the world smaller and cities bigger, reads a brochure of RAHI, and come June this year, the Gulbarga airport will be the first of its kind in the country. Speaking to Postnoon, Umesh
Kumar Baveja, founder and chairman of RAHI, said, “We aim to encourage the demand for air travel between tier-II and tier-III cities. Development of these cities will result in robust growth of hitherto inaccessible regions.” “The Karnataka government provided us land to develop the airports and will be the first regional airports to be commissioned in India on a PublicPrivate-Partnership (PPP) model. The government does not have
enough funds to build, develop and maintain airports at all regional hubs and this is where this model would boost the sector. We will build the airports at a budget of about `200 crores each,” says a confident Umesh. According to Umesh, Gulbarga is a great location to develop an airport. Two-thirds of India’s lime reserves are located in the nearby areas and will give the city an untapped edge when the business booms. Asked what advantage RAHI would have on developing these airports, Umesh said, “Out of the 692 acres given to us in Gulbarga, 370 acres will be used for building the airport, and out of 653 acres in Shimoga, the airport will constitute 343 acres. The rest of the land will be given to us to develop our ventures.” Whether the development of the regional airports will help boost the economy, only time will tell. Rahi: Hall A; Stall 37