Baggage Limits

Airlines esp.........the international ones are smart enough.......

China Eastern charges Rs. 920 per extra Kg of baggage....and all the international flights have limits of 20 Kg for baggage and 8 Kg for cabin ...

Thats a fair method of earning extra bucks by the airlines.

Maruti to launch CNG vehicle :- Ananlysis of Indian CNG Markets

Maruti is going to launch a CNG variant of the famous ALTO, the people's car..............

On the other hand IGL ( Indraprastha GAs ltd.) had increased the prices of CNG by Rs. 2.10 in New Delhi.....

Obviously, the demand is fuelling increases in the price of LNG. But there's another factor at work as well: the chronic gas shortages and the uncertainties related to international pipeline gas projects- Iran-Pakistan-India and the Myanmar-Bangladesh-India pipelines are still in the air.


ONGC and IOC had planned their Import terminals........At Dabhol, NTPC and Gail, which own the power plant and the attached LNG facilities, are planning to sell the plant to an LNG operator such as Petronet LNG.........this makes economic sense as Petronet has got good contracts for LNG supply abroad ................

In turn, Petronet is considering doubling the plant's capacity from 5 MMTPA to 10 MMTPA and is involving Qatar gas for a stake in turn for supplies.......


One big supurise is Africa (mainly Nigeria, Algeria, Angola and Egypt) could also become a major source of LNG. CEIBS seems to have placed their bets on Ghana rightly by opening a campus there.

Biggest advantage with LNG - its SCM- it can be transported from any where to anywhere........

Indian CNG market is growing by 50-70 % annually a robust growth by any standard.........and is poised to touch 4 times in next 4 years.......

Though power and fertilizers will be having robust growth......the real addition will be from the nascent sectors such as the Automobile fueling and industrial heatings......

KG basin and GSPCL will be the new additions to the Indian Kitty.....and other such additions could make the country a less deficient destination.......

The first demand driving factor for LNG was the replacement of Naptha and other Carbon chains from the Fertilizer manufacturing plants..........I remember Naptha was blackmarketed in remote places like Dhule and Nandurbar in northern Maharastra........

There were so many local heavy weights in that business of Naptha and solvents plants of Nandurbar........and rest is history........

There are lot of global factors which are going to have stains on the Indian Market in terms of the price escalation......

For Example the Drama over the cancellation of the Shell Environment contract in Shakhalin II project in Russia have significant effect over the Futures of the LNG contracts..........


Conclusion :-
1. Indian demand for CNG is here to stay and increase furhter
2. Supply is not showign any major development in near future of 5 years.
3. Sectors other than Fertilizers and Power are going to real growth drivers.

Hence, Marketiers and suppliers should engage in long term contracts.....to get a price advantaage and stable supplies in future.......

CEIBS campus in Ghana

Capitalising on the campaign of the chinese Govt for the Chinese companies to look at Africa as future Market for Growth, CEIBS has opened the Ghana Campus..

Main focus will def be the companies looking forward to expand sourcing and markets in Africa.

Operations Management

Well I'd be thinking about about my current profile of Operations Officer. I thought that this profile may more of relate to the manufacturing process and production related things in the beggining. But, After spending some 8 odd months in this sort of profile, I am convinced about the diversity of the profile -

Overall enterprise process Management

OM can be applied to a varieties of industries such as - retail, materials, supply chain logistics, IT or consulting to make

1. The process efficient.
2. Optimising the costs
3. Aligning the processes with the wider and broader purpose the company ....ie increasing Mkt Share and the Profits along with customer satisfaction.


So, what I intend to learn from my profile are

1. supply chain management and productivity techniques
2. specialized knowledge in process improvement and systems improvement
3. Inventory Management
4. Human Resource Management for smooth operations.

On fringe, I also want to learn the following
1. Use of IT for efficient OM
2. Optimisation Techniques and their real time applications.

LNG Boom in India

IN 2003, NTPC dropped deals at around 4-5 per MBTU

It was summarily turned down as an "overpriced" and "unviable" offer. Less than three years later, potential buyers from India -- including those who passed on the $4.5 offer -- are scrambling to buy LNG even at $7 or $8. It's a steal at that price: countries like Japan and South Korea are buying LNG at $11 and $20.

It's taken just three years to turn the market dynamics of the LNG industry on its head. With demand in India and China growing at 6-7 per cent a year, suddenly LNG is a suppliers' market.

But it's no party for suppliers, either. Between buying gas at respectable prices from producers across the world and India, to selling them to customers like power plants and fertiliser companies at a profit-generating rate, the suppliers have their work cut out.

This isn't a temporary situation. Natural gas is a clean fuel and given the rising costs of emission control equipment, Indian power generators are increasingly switching from coal-fired to gas-fired plants. As are auto makers.

Retailing in India - Entry of Wal Mart

Indian Telecom giant Bharti and World’s retail gaint Wal Mart are eyeing the $400Bn Indian retail sector. Only 5% of the sector is with the organized players. Whopping 95% is still unorganized.

So, they are eyeing a market of 380 billion dollars. They have appointed Technopak Consultancy as their advisors.

But there is a catch here. Already a lot of problem are being faced by the already existing players. The margins have really shrunk for them. Some of them are on the verge of extinction. Subhiksha, a well established player, is in dire financial situation.

Following are the challenges before the new joint venture between the 2 players.

1. Vastness of the Supply sources. – Food grains from Punjab and Spices from south India covering a distance of 3000 kms. Remember just 10 years back India was importing some 20 percent of its wheat requirements not because it produced less but because it found it cheap to import the same from Australia than moving it from Punjab and Haryana.

2. Resistance (Mentally ) to a foreign Player. :- Just remember what happened the KFC in south India when the launched their chain there. There was a lot of ill word and hatred spread against it in both the print and electronic media.

3. ROI- well the biggest question yet to be answered in the big projects are those related to the ROI. How they will be able to justify the ROI among such a tough competition from already established players. Location is very important in this business and its very important to have locations of high footfalls, which are unfortunately already occupied. Also it’s very uneconomical to have crowding of a particular place.
4. Competition from the unorganized sector: - People from unorganized sector is bound to be there. Currently they are operating on very high profit margins. But with increased competition they are bound to reduce their margins and put up a great with new players.


Now what should be their strategy.

India specific strategy.
1. Focus on select few markets and select few products instead of putting up a broad front of products.
2. Dynamic Supply Chain :- India is a dynamic and growing economy and hence rigid supply chains will falter soon. See how fast Pune has grown as a manufacturing hub and gugaon as service hub.
3. Recruitment :- Focus on training more than giving perks.
4. Buy / Produce decision :- Very critical and depends on location to location.

Supply Chain Case - Dhabhol PLant

Supply Chain Case - Dhabhol PLant

Quick facts.......

1. Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt Ltd - RGPPL - Full name
2. Location :- No presence of Breakwater - Docking of Tanker ships in Mansoon Impossible.
3. Fuel - NG
4. Stake Holders - GAIL NTPC and Government + Promoter PEtronet

Enron was the initial promoter and my earstwhile firm Punj Lloyd was a major contractor.......and is currently looking after maintainance of the same......Atul Punj has his mind at it......they got the simmilar project in Indonesia......

Now, what are the options for RGPPL ...............

Should they build up for new Storage terminals..........or should they employe costly docking arrangements...........?????????