Bharat Forge to set up auto component hub in Nellore.

Leading forging major Bharat Forge recently announced plans to set up an integrated auto component hub in Nellore in Andhra Pradesh and said it will invest Rs. 1,200 crore and create 3,000 jobs. Announcing the plans, Bharat Forge Chairman Baba Kalyani said at the Andhra Partnership Summit that an MoU has been signed with the state government to set up a multi-modal facility in the state. He said "Bharat Forge plans to set up an integrated auto components hub in Nellore". "The investment planned is Rs. 1,200 crore and about 3,000 people would get employment," Kalyani said while adding that land possession would happen soon for the project. Pune-based Bharat Forge is the world's largest forging company with manufacturing facilities spread across India, Germany, Sweden and France. It manufactures a wide range of components for the automotive and non-automotive sectors. It is part of USD 2.5 billion conglomerate Kalyani Group which has about 10,000-strong global work force.

Aurobindo Pharma to build pharmaceutical factory in Saudi Arabia.

Indian pharmaceuticals manufacturer Aurobindo Pharma has become the latest global conglomerate to launch its factory in Saudi Arabia. The company's investment arm has leased a site in Phase one of the King Abdullah Economic City's (KAEC) Industrial Valley to build its first manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia to produce oral tablets and capsules. The deal is part of the joint effort by KAEC and the National Industrial Clusters Development Programme, with pharmaceuticals being one of six major industries targeted by the drive. "This partnership is yet another indicator that KAEC is moving forward with its strategic goals and future vision," said Fahd Al-Rasheed, Managing Director and CEO of KAEC.

GE wins Saudi power plant contract worth nearly $1 billion.

General Electric announced recently that it had won a contract worth nearly $1 billion from the Saudi Electricity Company to build and supply a power plant in northern Saudi Arabia. Under the contract, the US industrial giant will build the Waad Al Shamal combined-cycle power plant and provide four advanced gas turbines, a steam turbine and turbine maintenance services. Waad Al Shamal will serve phosphate mining operations in an area of Saudi Arabia that the government has targeted for industrial development, GE said in a statement. The 1,390-megawatt plant, which also will have solar technology, will be able to provide the equivalent power needed to supply more than 500,000 Saudi homes. GE said one of the gas turbines will be built at a GE plant in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, with the remaining three and a steam turbine to be constructed in the US. "Waad Al Shamal brings significant value to the Kingdom by strengthening the northern grid and through its potential to energise the local industrial sector," said Mohammed Mohaisen, president and chief executive of GE gas power systems for the Middle East and North Africa, in the statement. "We are delivering on our commitment to provide stronger localisation support to our partners."

Essar's Italian venture bags $1.5-b order.

Essar Projects recently said its joint venture with Italy�s Saipem S.p.A won a $1.57 billion order from Kuwait National Petroleum Company for setting up a part of the Al-Zour Refinery Project. This is Essar�s biggest third-party order won in the region. The project at Al Zour is Kuwait's biggest development project with a crude processing capacity of 615,000 barrels per day (bpd). The Kuwaiti company has so far awarded four contracts for the refinery�s construction, worth over $13.2 billion to different International bidders. The project is expected to be completed by 2019. Essar Projects' Managing Director & CEO Shiba Panda said, "The project marks Essar's entry into the Kuwait project market with the biggest EPC contract by an external client." With this order, Essar Project�s order book has reached $2.8 billion, with projects being executed in nine countries.