Category Archives: Business & Economy

Tata Coffee – Change in Directorate

Business & Economy, Coffee News, Coffee, Kodagu (Coorg)

Tata Coffee Ltd has informed BSE about the following changes have been made to the Company”s Board:

1. Mr. R. K. Krishna Kumar, Chairman and Director of the Company has relinquished office as a Director on his attaining the age for superannuation.

2. Mr. Harish Bhat, Director has been appointed by the Board of Directors as Chairman of the Board with effect from July 26, 2013.

3. Mr. T. Radhakrishnan has been appointed as Executive Director- Instant Coffee Operations with effect from July 26, 2013.

source: http://www.moneycontrol.com / Home> Moneycontrol> Markets> Announcements> Plantations> Tea & Coffee / Source: BSE / July 26th, 2013

Mahindra Holidays looks beyond Tier-I cities

Business & Economy

MahindraKF15jul2013
The expansion is in line with the company’s strategy of owning around two-thirds of the total inventory

Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Ltd, part of the Mahindra Group, is planning to add 500 units (rooms) over next few years. The expansion will be through both old and new projects. Some of the projects are currently undertaken in Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Shimla, Coorg and Lonavala.

According to the company’s 2012-13 annual report, it added 560 units to its inventory during 2012-13 across 13 resorts — two of which are at international locations — taking total room inventory to 2,480 units.

The first phase of the new project in Virajpet (Coorg) was completed during the year. A smaller expansion also came into effect at the existing property in Varca, Goa. The company also acquired properties in Kandaghat (Shimla), Jaisalmer (Rajasthan), Bangkok (Thailand) and Dubai (United Arab Emirates). It also added inventory by way of long leases in different parts of the country. These include resorts in Cherai-Kochi (Kerala), Poovar (Kerala), Udaipur (Rajasthan) and additional rooms in Yercaud (Tamil Nadu).

The expansions were in line with the company’s strategy of owning around two-thirds of the total inventory. Besides, most of the leased properties are under long-term agreements where Mahindra Holidays manages the resort.

According to the company, it got a strong pipeline of new projects, acquisition and leases, as well as expansion at its existing properties that will become operational during the next few years. A significant expansion of its existing properties in Munnar is under implementation.

The company is currently undertaking five projects: Assanora (Goa), Kanha (Madhya Pradesh), Naldhera (Shimla), second phase at Virajpet (Coorg) and Tungi (Lonavala). These will add over 500 units to the inventory in the next few years.

The firm added it got land bank at 10 destinations and efforts are also on to expand this further. Other than this, some of the company’s existing resorts also have additional land that can be used for further expansion of these properties.

The pace of inventory growth and development of new destinations will continue in future, said the company. In 2012-13, it added 17,489 members to its vacation ownership business, taking the total membership base to 160,747.

Meanwhile, the company has discontinued fresh sales of its shorter duration product ‘Zest’, which had an immediate impact on membership growth.

For its future growth, the company is looking at moving sales and marketing beyond the top metropolitan and

tier-I cities by strengthening its sales and distribution network, which comprises own sales network, on-site office at resort locations and third-party distribution agents.

In 2012-13, the distribution network for the business was expanded from 80 locations to over 100 locations. Most of this expansion was in tier-II cities through third party distribution agents.


ROOMS WITH A VIEW

– Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India is undertaking five projects — Assanora (Goa), Kanha (Madhya Pradesh), Naldhera (Shimla), second phase at Virajpet (Coorg) and Tungi (Lonavala) — that will add over 500 units to the inventory

– For future growth, the company is looking at moving sales and marketing beyond the top metropolitan and Tier-I cities by strengthening sales and distribution network

– In 2012-13, the distribution network for the business was expanded from around 80 locations to over 100 locations, mostly in Tier-II cities through third-party distribution agents.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> Companies> News / by T E Narashimhn / Chennai – July 06th, 2013

MRC former Chairman M.W. Chinnappa no more

Agriculture, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Coffee News, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Leaders

Thithimathi (Kodagu) :

ChinnappaKF15jul2013Maneyapanda W. Chinnappa (89), former Chairman of Mysore Race Club (MRC) and a coffee planter in Devarapura Hebbale village near here, passed away last evening.

He is survived by his wife, two sons, a daughter, grandchildren and a large number of relatives.

Last rites were performed at Devarapura village today.

He was the MRC Chairman during 1985-87. He was also the member of Sports Club and JWGC.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / July 05th, 2013

‘Anna Bhagya’ to benefit 68,773 persons in Kodagu

Business & Economy, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All

The scheme will be launched by Dist-in-Charge Minister Dr H C Mahadevappa on July 10

About 68,773 BPL card holders will benefit from the ambitious programme of the Congress-led State government —Anna Bhagya scheme which will be launched on July 10, in Kodagu district. The programme will be inaugurated by the District-in-Charge Minister Dr H C Mahadevappa.

Accordingly, the BPL card holders will get rice at Re 1/kg. If there is one member, then he will get 10 kg rice, two persons will get 20 kg and more than three members in a family will get 30 kg rice.

There are 15,359 BPL card holders in Madikeri taluk, 28,002 in Somwarpet taluk and 25,372 in Virajpet taluk, said Department of Food and Civil Supplies Deputy Director Dr S E Mahadevappa.

Out of 68,733 BPL families, about 2,596 ration cards have single members, 7,977 cards have two members in the family. About 19,299.10 quintal rice would be required for supply.

Madikeri taluk has 572 BPL cards with single members, 1,653 cards with two members and 13,133 cards with more than two members. Somwarpet taluk has 798 cards with single members, 2,767 cards with two members and 24,436 cards with more than two members. Similarly, Virajpet taluk has 1,226 cards with single members, 3,557 with two members and 20,578 cards with more than two members.

There are 9,679 families in Anthyodaya Anna yojana in the district. This includes Madikeri taluk—1,693, Somwarpet—3,463 and Virajpet—4,523. Anthyodaya families will get 29 kg rice, and six kg wheat in a month.

There is no unit system for Anthyodaya anna yojana.

Four litre of kerosene will be supplied to those who do not possess LPG in rural areas and six litre of kerosene is supplied among those in urban areas.

All those card holders who have not yet given their thumb impression and photographs can provide their information at gram panchayats and franchises in cities.

Online applications can be submitted for availing new ration cards.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> District / Madikeri – DHNS , July 06th, 2013

Rainfall abates in Kodagu district, except Madikeri

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature

Rainfall abated further in all other places in Kodagu district except Madikeri on Sunday and the rivers that were in spate receded. The average rainfall in Kodagu district from 8 a.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. on Sunday was 39.41 mm.

Madikeri city received 123 mm rainfall in the period between 8 a.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. on Sunday.

Sampaje hobli in Madikeri taluk continued to receive heavy rainfall in the district with 140.8 mm. Bhagamandala hobli recorded 76 mm rainfall followed by Shantalli hobli receiving 51.2 mm rainfall.

HARANGI FULL

The inflow into the Harangi reservoir was at the rate of 11,600 cusecs on Sunday and the outflow was at the rate of 8,050 cusecs.

The water-level in the Harangi reservoir stood at 2,855.40 ft as against the maximum reservoir level of 2,859 ft. The water-level during the corresponding period last year was 2,820.06 ft.

AVERAGE RAINFALL

The average rainfall in Kodagu district from January 2013 till July 7 at 8 a.m. is 1,312.76 mm as against 643.47 mm rainfall during the same period last year.

Madikeri taluk received an average rainfall of 1,951.10 mm from January till July 7 at 8 a.m. It was 894.22 mm in the corresponding period last year.

Madikeri taluk recorded an average rainfall of 91.10 mm in the period between 8 a.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. on Sunday.

Virajpet taluk recorded an average rainfall of 968.90 mm from January till July 7 as against 551.03 mm in the same period last year. Somwarpet taluk recorded an average rainfall of 1,017.07 mm from January till July 7 as against 485.16 mm rainfall in the corresponding period last year, according to meteorological department sources.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Mysore – July 08th, 2013

Deputy commissioner surveys encroached canal

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Records, All

Madikeri :

The high court has recently directed the Kodagu administration to conduct a survey to find out about the encroachment of a canal and to send a report to the high court for further action. PuggeraRevathiChengappa of T Shettigeri village in South Kodagu had filed a petition requesting the authorities to evict the encroachers.

In response to the court direction, deputy commissioner N V Prasad, along with assistant commissioner G Prabhu, Virajpet taluk tahasildar Arogya Meri, visited the spot. They have identified the encroached area with the help of surveyors.

The canal was formed 60 years back. Recently some persons have encroached on the canal, adding it to their land. They have closed the canal which was formed to use by farmers for farming activities. The encroachers have built a commercial complex, houses and also have formed sites for business purpose. All these issues were mentioned in the petition.

The officers said that a detailed survey report along with the identification sketches will be submitted to the high court.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Mysore / TNN / July 06th, 2013

Growers to now sell coffee online

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Coffee, Kodagu (Coorg)

CoffeeKF07jul2013
The Coffee Board of India, an autonomous body under the commerce ministry, has signed an agreement with the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) to launch a warehouse receipt-based electronic spot market for coffee beans. This is a first-of-its-kind initiative by the Board to provide an opportunity for better price realisation and educate growers about quality assessment. Currently, Rs 2,000 crore worth of is traded in physical form at the farm gate. Agents of exporters collect the beans at estates and transport it for curing (drying and de-husking of coffee beans). Earlier, ABN Amro and ITC had tried to provide online trading platforms for coffee, which did not work well, said growers.

According to the agreement, NSEL will conduct online trading beans for both raw and cleaned coffee. It has tied up with companies for curing after the online transaction. NSEL has set up two warehouses at Kushalnagar in Kodagu district and Chikmagalur in Chikmagalur district for storing coffee on behalf of the growers.

“The aim of this partnership is to ensure that small and medium coffee growers get an opportunity to sell their coffee online. We will provide them quality assessment and grading facilities at their farm gate with the help of the Coffee Board. The growers are free to fix their own prices. There will be no fee for the growers for online trading. We will charge the buyers a small commission,” said an NSEL official.

The partnership between the Board and NSEL is also aimed at providing market linkages and relevant back-end infrastructure, education, training and technical advice to growers. The Coffee Board will carry a mobile laboratory to conduct the grading of coffee beans at the farm gate. The price will be discovered based on transparent electronic bidding. After the online trading is carried out, NSEL will deliver the beans at the doorstep of buyers or curing works through its transport network, the official added. The NSEL is also in the process of providing finance. Federal Bank, Standard Chartered and ICICI Bank, among others, have approached NSEL for providing finance on the warehouse receipts.

Ramesh Rajah, president of Coffee Exporters’ Association of India, said: “It is an excellent idea. The seller will know how much price he will get for his coffee. However, there are many glitches involved in online trading.” He said issues such as Rule 7B, VAT and transaction costs will have to be sorted. As the sale of cured coffee attracts taxation, growers will not come forward to sell through online platform. NSEL and the Board will have to sort out these issues, said Rajah.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> Markets> Commodities> Food & Edible Oils / by BS Reporter / Bangalore – June 28th, 2013

Harangi reservoir reaches brim, almost

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Records, All

HarangiKF03jul2013
The Harangi reservoir in the taluk is just two feet away from reaching its maximum level. On Monday, the level stood at 2,857.14 feet, against a maximum level of 2,859 feet.

A total of 400 cusecs of water is being released from the dam since morning. The inflow into the reservoir stood at 3,600 cusecs at 8.30 am. The present storage in the reservoir is 7.65 tmc feet against the total capacity of eight tmc feet.

The reservoir had reached its brim in August last year. But this time, the rainy season has begun a month early, facilitating good inflow into the dam. Engineers manning the dam said that the irrigation consultative committee would meet on July 15, after which water would be released to the canals for irrigation. Releasing water to the canals would irrigate 1.37 lakh acres of land.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State / DHNS – Kushalnagar (Kodagu Dist.) / July 01st, 2013

Coffee Board ties up with NSEL for electronic spot market for coffee beans

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Coffee News, Coffee, Kodagu (Coorg)

CoffeeKF02jul2013
This is the first initiative taken by the Board to provide an opportunity for better price realisation

Coffee Board of India, an autonomous body under the ministry of commerce, has signed a memorandum of understanding with National Spot Exchange (NSEL) to launch a warehouse receipt based electronic spot market for coffee beans. This is the first of its kind initiative taken by the Board to provide an opportunity for better price realization and educate them about quality assessment.

Currently, over Rs 2,000 crore worth of coffee is traded in physical form at the farm gate level. Agents of exporters collect the beans at the estates and transport it for curing. Earlier, ABN AMRO and ITC had tried to provide online trading platforms for coffee, which did not work well, the coffee growers said.

As per the MoU, the NSEL will conduct online trading of coffee beans for both raw and cleaned coffee. It has tied up with coffee curing companies for curing of coffee post the online transaction. NSEL has set up two warehouses at Kushalnagar in Kodagu district and Chikmagalur in Chikmagalur district for storing coffee on behalf of the growers.

“The aim of this partnership is to ensure that small and medium coffee growers get an opportunity to sell their coffee online. We will provide them quality assessment and grading facilities at their farm gate with the help of Coffee Board. The growers are free to fix their own prices. There will be no fee to the growers for online trading. We will charge the buyers a small commission,” an official of NSEL said.

The partnership between Coffee Board and NSEL is also aimed at providing market linkages and relevant back-end infrastructure, education, training and technical advice to growers. The Coffee Board will carry a mobile laboratory to conduct the grading of coffee beans at the farm gate. The price will be discovered based on transparent electronic bidding. After the online trading is carried out, NSEL will deliver the beans at the doorstep of buyers or curing works through its transport network, he said.

The NSEL is also in the process of providing finance. Federal Bank, Standard Chartered and ICICI Bank among others have approached NSEL for providing finance on the warehouse receipts.

Ramesh Rajah, president, Coffee Exporters’ Association of India said, “It is an excellent idea. The seller will know how much price he will get for his coffee. However, there are many glitches involved in online trading.”

He said issues like Rule 7B, VAT and transaction costs would have to be sorted out properly. As the sale of cured coffee attracts taxation, the growers will not come forward to sell through online platform. The NSEL and Coffee Board will have to sort out these issues, he said.

NSEL has till now added 54 commodities on its online spot-trading platform.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> Companies> News / by Mahesh Kulkarni / Bangalore – June 28th, 2013

South west monsoon active once again

About Kodagu / Coorg, Agriculture, Business & Economy, Nature

Mysore :

Sudden depression in bay of Bengal coupled with intensified south west monsoon has brought cheers on the farmers and water resource officials as the region failed to receive much rain last week. On Monday suddenly the skies opened up and rain started pouring .

Meanwhile, Kodagu district administration has declared holiday for the schools and colleges on Tuesday in the wake of heavy rain being witnessed by the region. Even Mysore district received rain on Monday.

Along with the farmers , the engineers of the water resource department who were worried about the dwindled inflow into the dams are a relived lot with the inflow into all the four dams in the Cauvery delta increasing considerably.

Especially the inflow into KRS dam which slumped down to less than 3500 cusecs after a week of inflow ranging between 10000 and 15000 . This is expected to increase by tomorrow morning following heavy rain in Kodagu district , the core area of the Cauvery catchment . An engineer of the water resource department said the inflow into KRS dam was 3223 cusecs on Monday evening against an outflow of 1195 with the dam’s level standing at 79.96 ft against the maximum height 124.80 ft.

However inflow is anticipated to rise considerably by tomorrow afternoon with the rain lashing the Cauvery catchment area , the engineer added.. According to director state meteorology department Puttanna though the Kodagu is yet to record heavy rainfall, district is expected to receive more rain in the coming days. “Today, the rain is more due to low pressure in bay of Bengal and from tomorrow onwards the monsoon rain will continue to occur” he added .

Last year average rainfall in Kodagu in June was 375.6 mm, but this year it has recorded 498.4 mm rainfall and this has raised hopes of region receiving good rain this year . Even inflow into Kabini dam increased suddenly on Monday evening with inflow reaching 11968 cusecs with the water crossing 2275.50 ft mark against the dam’s maximum height of 2284. A dam engineer told TOI that the inflow may increase and cross 16000 cusecs by Tuesday morning due to reports of Kerala’s Waynad district receiving heavy rain in the last 12 hours. Even the water level in the Harangi dam is slowly inching towards it’s maximum height of 2859 ft with the level on Monday evening standing at 2831 .45 ft . with an inflow of 1095 cusecs . ” Water level in Kabini dam may reach it’s maximum level in next four five days if the inflow continues to remain at 16000 cusecs” the engineer added.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Mysore / by MB Maramkal, TNN / June 24th, 2013