Va Tech Wabag bags 300 MLD desalination project in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia
This Project encompasses the scope of design, engineering, supply, construction, and commissioning of a 300 MLD Mega Desalination Plant, to be developed on a greenfield site located along the west coast of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
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Indian Express
19 minutes ago
- Indian Express
To ensure-year-round ethanol production: Natural Sugar and Allied Industries Limited first mill in state to opt for dual feed
Dharashiv based Natural Sugar and Allied Industries Limited has become the first sugar mill in the state to opt for a dual feed mechanism to ensure year-round production of ethanol. Bhairavnath B Thombare, CMD of the company which runs sugar mills in Dharashiv and Yavatmal, said the decision for maize-based feed stock will mills as well as farmers in the area. Thombare said they will start to commission their dual feed system from November this year. 'Sugarcane juice will be used as feedstock to produce ethanol during the crushing season. Once the crushing season is over, maize will be used as the feedstock to produce ethanol. Thus, our ethanol production unit will stay in operation year-round,' he said. Ethanol is produced by treating carbohydrate-rich liquid obtained from either crushing cane or other sources like maize or broken rice. The central government has been pushing sugar mills to opt for ethanol production since 2018. As part of the push, price brackets were fixed for ethanol produced using sugarcane juice or sugar syrup as the feedstock, while the lowest price was fixed for ethanol from C molasses. Stress has now been laid on using food grains as feed stock, which will help the government avoid any fluctuation of sugar production in the event that drought causes can production to dip in that year. Maize has emerged as the best available alternative for year-round production of cane, given the crop's lower water requirement. In addition, mills enter into agreements with local farmers to buy maize at a fixed price, which works in favour of both parties. In areas like Dharashiv located in Marathwada area, maize can be an alternative to cane in this area in times of drought. While Thombare has decided to opt for dual feed, many other mills expressed their inability to do the same. Mills, especially in water-surplus Kolhapur and Sangli, will find it difficult to opt for the dual feed technique in want of other feed options. Another factor which mills face is the cost of investment in dual feed mechanisms. Rough calculations show it will require around Rs 45-50 crore extra to retro-fit existing capacities to ensure they become dual-feed. 'In case of Maharashtra, most mills have not been able to service their existing loans for construction of the original capacities so they will find it difficult to go for further loans,' said a cooperative miller from Kolhapur. It is estimated that investment worth Rs 40,000 crore has been put into ethanol capacity construction in the country. With the government now pushing for grain-based ethanol, most mills are apprehensive of investing more. 'It is seen that 60 per cent of the ethanol procured for the fuel-blending programme is from grain-based production. This has put sugr mills' investments at risk,' said the miller.
Mint
22 minutes ago
- Mint
Ford to invest nearly $2 billion in Kentucky EV-assembly plant, aims to outcompete rivals
Louisville(US), Aug 11 (AP) Ford Motor Co. will invest nearly USD 2 billion retooling a Kentucky factory to produce electric vehicles that it says will be more affordable, more profitable to build, and will outcompete rival models. The automaker's top executive unveiled the new EV strategy Monday at Ford's Louisville Assembly Plant which, after producing gas-powered vehicles for 70 years, will be converted to manufacture electric vehicles. 'We took a radical approach to solve a very hard challenge: Create affordable vehicles that are breakthrough in every way that matters - design, technology, performance, space and cost of ownership - and do it with American workers,' Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a release. The Big Detroit automakers have continued to transition from internal combustion engines to EV technology even as President Donald Trump's administration unwinds incentives for automakers to go electric. Trump's massive tax and spending law targets EV incentives, including the imminent removal of a credit that saves buyers up to USD 7,500 on a new electric car. Yet Farley and other top executives in the auto industry say that electric vehicles are the future and there is no going back. The first EV to roll off the revamped Louisville assembly line will be a midsize, four-door electric pickup truck in 2027 for domestic and international markets, the company said Monday. The new electric trucks will be powered by lower-cost batteries made at a Ford factory in Michigan. The Detroit automaker previously announced a USD3 billion investment to build the battery factory. The automaker sees this as a 'Model T moment' for its EV business - a reference to the mass-produced vehicle that launched the venerable automaker more than a century ago. But Ford says it's also a nod to the future and the vastly different way Ford says it will build electric vehicles. The company said it will use a universal platform and production system for its EVs, essentially the underpinning of a vehicle that can be applied across a wide range of models, from sedans to SUV, and include both electric internal combustion vehicles. The Louisville factory - one of two Ford assembly plants in Kentucky's largest city - will be revamped to cut production costs and make assembly time faster as it's prepared to churn out electric vehicles. The result will be 'an affordable electric vehicle that we expect to be profitable,' Farley said in an interview with The Associated Press ahead of the announcement. 'This is an example of us rejuvenating our US plants with the most modern manufacturing techniques.' The new platform enables a lineup of affordable vehicles to be produced at scale, Ford said. It will reduce parts by 20 per cent versus a typical vehicle, with 25 per cent fewer fasteners, 40 per cent fewer workstations dock-to-dock in the plant and a 15 per cent faster assembly time, Ford said. The traditional assembly line will be transformed into an 'assembly tree' at the Louisville plant, it said. Instead of one long conveyor, three sub-assembly lines will operate simultaneously and then join together, it said. 'Nobody wants to see another good college try by a Detroit automaker to make an affordable vehicle that ends up with idled plants, layoffs and uncertainty,' Farley said in the release. 'So, this has to be a good business. From Day 1, we knew there was no incremental path to success. ... We reinvented the moving assembly line.' Other specifications for the midsize electric truck - including its reveal date, starting price, EPA-estimated battery range, battery sizes and charge times - will be announced later, the company said. Ford revealed in its release that the truck will have a targeted starting price of about USD 30,000. Ford said its investment in the Louisville plant will secure 2,200 hourly jobs. Kentucky Gov Andy Beshear said Monday that the automaker's plans for the Louisville plant will strengthen a more than century-old partnership between Ford and the Bluegrass State. 'This announcement not only represents one of the largest investments on record in our state, it also boosts Kentucky's position at the centre of EV-related innovation and solidifies Louisville Assembly Plant as an important part of Ford's future,' Beshear said. Ford said its combined investment of about USD 5 billion at the Kentucky assembly plant and Michigan battery plant is expected to create or secure nearly 4,000 direct jobs between the two plants while strengthening the domestic supply chain with dozens of new US-based suppliers. Ford previously forecast weaker earnings growth for this year and further losses in its electric vehicles business as it works to control costs. Model e, Ford's electric vehicle business, posted a full-year loss of USD 5.08 billion for 2024 as revenue fell 35 per cent to USD 3.9 billion. Ford's new EV strategy comes as Chinese automakers are quickly expanding across the globe, offering relatively affordable electric vehicles. 'We're not in a race to build the most electric cars,' Farley told the AP when asked about competition from China. 'We're in a race to have a sustainable electric business that's profitable, that customers love. 'And this new vehicle built in Louisville, Kentucky, is going to be a much better solution to anything that anyone can buy from China,' he added. (AP)
The Hindu
22 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Affordable housing lenders stare at defaults as MSME workers set to take the biggest hit of Trump's tariffs
Housing finance companies (HFCs) lending for affordable homes are expected to see headwinds and defaults as a large segment of borrowers working in SMEs and MSMEs, as a collateral damage, are likely to take the sharpest blow from the tariff imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on India's imports. According to Central Government estimates MSMEs alone contribute nearly 30% to the country's GDP and over 45% of exports. Over 260 million people formally and informally employed in labour-intensive textiles, engineering, auto components, gems and jewellery, food processing industries which will take the biggest hit from the trade war, feel analysts. 'India's affordable housing segment is mainly driven by demand coming from the country's MSMEs and SMEs which, despite their relatively modest scale, are deeply integrated into India's export ecosystem. Their workforces are the primary clientele for affordable housing,' said Prashant Thakur, Executive Director - Research & Advisory, Anarock Group. 'Housing finance institutions that cater to this segment's home loans will look at a growing risk – of defaults at worst, and dampened disbursements on account of lower demand at best,' he said. He said post-pandemic, the demand for affordable homes, which cater to about 17.76% of India's population, declined, clearly reflecting in a drop in supply of affordable housing. Its share of the total launches plummeted from 40% in 2019 to just 12% in H1 2025, he said. Now, with affordable housing sales in crosshairs, the HFCs catering to this buyer segment may see more loan defaults, he added. 'This category of homes priced Rs 45 lakh or less was already gravely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and is still struggling to find any semblance of firm ground. Trump's mercenary tariffs will snuff out even the dimmest ray of hope for this segment,' Dr. Thakur cautioned. According to Anarock data, as of H1 2025, the sales share of affordable housing has dropped to a mere 18%, or about 34,565 units of a total of 1.90 lakh units sold in the top 7 key cities. 'The fact that affordable housing had an overall sales share of more than 38% in 2019 shows how badly its momentum has faltered,' he said. He said when the SME/MSME workers would find the going tough and will be in not position to contribute to the growth of affordable housing, this segment may collapse. 'So far, the global economy presented a major opportunity to Indian MSMEs to seize new export markets, build global supply chains, and diversify revenue streams. The new tariff imposition, if it takes hold, puts a roadblock on what should be a no-limits speedway – and a chakka jam on the affordable housing vehicle that drives the homeownership dreams of the largest lower quadrant of the Indian population,' Dr. Thakur said. 'Because of the disruption in this large workforce's future income thanks to the tariffs, affordable housing demand may very possibly derail and further impact sales in this highly income-sensitive segment,' he cautioned. 'Concurrently, such a drop in demand will curtail launches by developers, who will have to contend with tighter working capital due to lower sales. As it is, they have been grappling with serious input cost inflation since the pandemic,' he added. In short, the fate of India's affordable housing segment hangs in the balance. How the government addresses the issue through coordinated policy, fiscal safeguards, and buyer-focused support measures would be pivotal, Dr. Thakur concluded.
