IFFCO partners to build $1.22 b Canada nitrogen-based fertilizer plant

By Deepak Arora

NEW DELHI, Oct 10: Indian Farmers Fertiliser Co-operative (IFFCO) plans to build a US $1.22 billion urea production nitrogen plant in Eastern Canada with a Canadian partner, La Coop fédérée, to cash in on strong North American demand.

The $1.2-billion investment will allow production and marketing of urea fertiliser in the form of nitrogen fertilizers in Bécancour in the province of Quebec. The investment will generate major regional spinoffs, including the creation of around 500 construction jobs and over 200 post completion local jobs in the community. The plant’s construction is targeted to begin in 2014, once the various permits have been approved and the urea marketing should is targeted to begin in 2017, once the various approvals are obtained.

The project is the latest in a series of announced plans for additional nitrogen capacity in North America, as high crop prices support demand and with new technology unlocking the key ingredient natural gas from shale rock.

IFFCO operates five fertilizer production plants in India and holds interests in plants in Oman, Jordan and Senegal. After visiting about 50 locations in North America, IFFCO chose the Bécancour industrial park site due to its strategic location for its access to a port, railway and pipeline for natural gas, which is a key input in nitrogen production, according to IFFCO.

The plant would produce up to 1.2 million tonnes annually of urea, to be split evenly between IFFCO and La Coop. IFFCO will hold about one-quarter of the equity, with La Co-op holding 12 percent and the Quebec government investing 18 percent, Lafleur said. The remaining 45 per cent equity has yet to be raised, he said.

This announcement assumes significance in the context of the International Summit of Cooperatives, which is being held in Québec City, bringing together more than 2,000 decision-makers from the cooperative and mutual movement around the world.

The possibility of a partnership with La Coop Federee, an agriculture cooperative society, interest of North American agricultural producers in urea farmers and the proactive role played by the Gouvernment du of Québec were also decisive factors.

“This investment allows two large agricultural leaders and, even better, two cooperatives (La Coop Federee and IFFCO), from two large agricultural economies, to play a central vital role in a rapidly-changing agricultural industry,” explained Dr. U.S. Awasthi, Managing Director, IFFCO.

“For our government, this industry, and all the regions where it is progressing, represents a major source of collective wealth. We must rely on prosperous regions offering quality jobs. This is why the Gouvernment du Québec is proud to support this industry, which ultimately will allow the creation of more than 500 quality jobs in Bécancour. The materialization of the IFFCO project, in partnership with La Coop fédérée, also illustrates the importance that our government attaches to the meeting of economic development players and the creation of a hospitable environment for sustainable development in every region of Québec,” mentioned the Minister for Industrial Policy and the Banque de développement économique du Québec, Élaine Zakaïb.

IFFCO is a first-rate world player in the fertilizer industry. “It has the necessary expertise and know how for this type of project and we are convinced of its success. This is major news, which will have repercussions not only for Ville de Bécancour and the Centre-du-Québec region, but for Québec as a whole,” affirmed the Minister responsible for the Mauricie region, Yves-François Blanchet.

La Coop fédérée will act as co-investor in this transaction and will distribute the product in its vast network of more than 175 stores of several regions of Canada.

“We are very proud that IFFCO has chosen to call on La Coop fédérée’s recognized expertise. Together, we will be able to extend, even more spectacularly, the principles of shared benefits that drive the cooperative movement. When the product is launched, all Québec and Canadian agricultural producers will benefit. This project will allow Québec and Canada to consolidate even further their role as leaders in agriculture and foodstuff production,” added Denis Richard, President of La Coop fédérée.

Investissement Québec (IQ), which has the mission of contributing to Québec’s economic development, played a leading role in this transaction’s success. “All our expertise and our networks were involved in guiding the enterprise in its approaches and putting forward Québec’s advantages as a welcoming environment for its project. Investissement Québec organized orientation programs for IFFCO’s representatives. We established contact with different sites that combined the advantages and attributes sought by the enterprise. The choice was Bécancour. I wish to congratulate and thank the people responsible for Société du Parc Industriel et Portuaire de Bécancour for the positive reception they gave to this project,” maintained Jacques Daoust, President and Chief Executive Officer of Investissement Québec.

With over 50 million members, Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) is one of the biggest agricultural fertilizer cooperatives in the world with a turn over in excess of US $ 5 billion. It supplies quality fertilizers and provides services to agricultural producersfarmers. The cooperative operates five fertilizer production plants in India and holds participating interest in plants in the Sultanate of Oman, Jordan and Senegal, in addition to investing in Australia, Peru and Argentina. Through its foundation, IFFCO is recognized for its involvement in local communities in India, whether in the fields of agriculture, education, health or drinking water supply.

Founded 1922, La Coop fédérée is the biggest agri-food enterprise in Québec and ranks among the 100 biggest cooperatives and mutuals in the world, all sectors combined. It is owned by more than 90,000 members grouped in 103 cooperatives spread through several provinces of Canada. La Coop fédérée is present throughout the agri-food chain and, as a wholesaler, provides agricultural producers with the goods and services necessary to operate their farm businesses. Its network includes five banners: Elite and La Coop (livestock and plant production and grain marketing), Unimat (hardware and farm machinery), Sonic (energy) and Olymel (meat processing). La Coop fédérée and its network employ over 16,000 people and have a cumulative turnover of $8.5 billion.

Investissement Québec's mission is to foster the growth of investment in Québec, thereby contributing to economic development and job creation in every region. The Corporation offers businesses a full range of financial solutions, including loans, loan guarantees and equity investments, to support them at all stages of their development. It is also responsible for administering tax measures and prospecting for foreign investment.

Canara Bank launches Consumer durables loan scheme

By Deepak Arora

NEW DELHI, Oct 9: Canara Bank has introduced a new Retail Loan Scheme which provides for purchase of Consumer Durables like LED Flat Screen TV, the smart Micro wave Oven, the Sofa Set and many other articles which a Customer aspires for.

Loan scheme for purchase of Consumer durables will be available to both Salaried and Non-Salaried individuals for loans upto Rs. 1 Lakh with repayment upto 36 months. The bank has allowed hypothecation of durables purchased as security with an attractive rate of interest (presently 14.50%). There will be no processing charges till January 31, 2013.

Loans will be available at more than 3600 branches across the Country. The longer repayment period for Consumer Loan ensures lower EMIs and enables you to opt for a bigger and better Consumer Durables.

There will also be no Prepayment charges and no hidden charges. There is also provision for Second Loan under this scheme, even before closure of the
first loan.

State of Art Internet Banking facility would provide the Loan liability details on any given day, during the tenure of the loan. There will be simple documentation and quick sanction / disbursement, said the bank in a statement.

BUSY Launches new Accounting Software - BUSY 12

By Deepak Arora

NEW DELHI, Oct 5: BUSY, one of the most popular Accounting & Inventory Management software for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in India, with over half-a-million users in over 20 countries, announced the launch of BUSY 12, with host of new features and enhanced functionalities including sale and purchase quotation, customizable reports, data access through SMS, e-mail, auto back-up of data, and provision for voucher audit.

In BUSY 12, the user can customize the reports to suit his needs. He can add new columns or rows in existing reports, hide existing columns from reports, apply formulae between report columns, create multiple formats for each report, tag users with report formats, and link report columns to database using SQL queries.

BUSY 12 comes with an automatic data back-up facility using which the user won’t have to spend time on taking back-up of his critical business data. This feature comes with an automatic data scheduler which lets the user take the back-up of all companies in one go, separate the folders date wise, take back-up of the data for any number of days. The user will get auto generated email alerts for any operation related to data back-up.

Moving a step forward in allowing anytime anywhere accounting, BUSY 12 lets its users access their data through SMS or E-mail. The user can now access his business information like account balance, outstanding bills and stock balance on his mobile phone through SMS and ledger, outstanding bills, and daily Sale Purchase receipts on his e-mail. Not only that, the user can now let his Customers or Vendors know their account balance, outstanding details on their own.

With BUSY 12, the user can now prepare Sales and Purchase Quotation. The user can customize the quotation format to suit his requirements. He can also link the quotation with corresponding Order, Challan, and Invoices. BUSY 12 also offers a feature that would help the user in securing their data against theft or misuse thus maintaining a better control mechanism. Using this feature user can bind his company data with selective computers so that the data is accessible only from those computers eliminating the risk of theft. In addition to this, users of a company in BUSY data can also be bound with selective computers. BUSY 12 comes in three editions with each edition addressing needs specific to various growth stages of MSMEs– Basic Edition for traders & distributors requiring basic features, Standard Edition for traders, retailers & manufacturers requiring power features & Enterprise Edition for small & medium enterprises.

Canara Bank bags Niryat Bandhu award

By Deepak Arora

NEW DELHI, Oct 5: Canara Bank, a leading nationalised Bank, has bagged prestigeous "Niryat Bandhu Award" Gold Trophy for 2009-10.

The Award has been, instituted by Federation of Indian Export Organisations, New Delhi (set up by Ministry of Commerce, Government of India).

It is given to Banks in recognition of excellent support services rendered for the promotion of exports. Canara Bank was awarded Gold Trophy under this category.

At a glittering function held at Vigyan Bhavan here on Friday, Mr A K Gupta, the Executive Director of Canara Bank, received the Award from the President of India, Mr Pranab Mukherjee.

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