Daily Chemical News Recommendation ( Oct. 10 2018)

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 >> CCI penalises 18 sugar mills and two trade bodies for rigging bids for ethanol blending

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a Rs. 38 crore penalty on 18 sugar mills and two trade associations – Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) and Ethanol Manufacturers Association of India (EMAI) – for rigging bids in joint tenders floated by public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs).

The case pertains to the notification issued by the Petroleum Ministry in 2013 mandating 5 per cent blending of ethanol with motor spirit or gasoline. Per the notification, the OMCs – IOC, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) – had invited quotations from alcohol manufacturers for supply of ethanol through a joint tender dated January 2, 2013. The tender was issued by BPCL on behalf of the OMCs as the coordinator of the tender process, according to an official statement. The OMCs invited sealed tenders under the two-bid system – technical bid and price bid – from ethanol suppliers. The supply was to be made available to various depots/terminals of the OMCs across the country for one year with effect from March 1, 2013.[More]

>> Foundation to sell Gharda stake for funding R&D

Dr. R. A. Mashelkar’s Gharda Medical & Advanced Technologies Foundation (GMATF) is reportedly planning to will sell its 57.5% in agrochemicals maker, Gharda Chemicals, and use the proceeds to build a pipeline of innovative products and technologies for the chemical and metal industry.

The not-for-profit organisation, which already has many patents including for extracting titanium from a waste material generated during production of aluminium from bauxite, has appointed US boutique bank Martywolf to scout for a buyer. Going by other similar transactions, bankers said, the debt-free company could rake in a valuation of more than 14 times its operating profit. Gharda Chemicals posted an operating profit of Rs. 683.16-crore on revenue of Rs. 2,608-crore in fiscal 2018. Based on that, the valuation could be more than Rs. 9,500-crore.  [More]