NEW DELHI: An Indian laborer sorts coal at a roadside shop...
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014 EXCHANGE RATES Bahrain Exchange Company Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd ASIAN COUNTRIES Japanese Yen 2.564 Indian Rupees 4.747 Pakistani Rupees 2.833 Srilankan Rupees 2.221 Nepali Rupees 2.966 Singapore Dollar 226.270 Hongkong Dollar 37.544 Bangladesh Taka 3.756 Philippine Peso 6.483 Thai Baht 8.931 Irani Riyal transfer 1114.230 Irani Riyal cash 135.260 GCC COUNTRIES Saudi Riyal 77.699 Qatari Riyal 80.061 Omani Riyal 756.790 Bahraini Dinar 773.690 UAE Dirham 79.340 ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 41.198 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 40.628 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.359 Tunisian Dinar 160.390 Jordanian Dinar 411.040 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.954 Syrian Lira 2.076 Morocco Dirham 33.460 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 291.100 Euro 365.910 Sterling Pound 466.920 Canadian dollar 257.500 Turkish lira 130.660 Swiss Franc 303.230 Australian Dollar 255.000 US Dollar Buying 289.900 GOLD Tola 1 135.260 Tola 2 265.770 Tola 5 658.460 COUNTRY SELL CASH SELLDRAFT Europe Belgian Franc 0.007578 0.008578 British Pound 0.458611 0.467611 Czech Korune 0.005095 0.017095 Danish Krone 0.044850 0.049850 Euro 0.358697 0.366697 Norwegian Krone 0.038653 0.043853 Romanian Leu 0.082290 0.082290 Slovakia 0.008482 0.018482 Swedish Krona 0.035170 0.040170 Swiss Franc 0.295526 0.305726 Turkish Lira 0.130103 0.137103 Australasia Australian Dollar 0.245374 0.256874 New Zealand Dollar 0.218915 0.228415 America Canadian Dollar 0.250972 0.259472 US Dollars 0.287000 0.291700 US Dollars Mint 0.287500 0.291700 Asia Bangladesh Taka 0.003348 0.003948 Chinese Yuan 0.045990 0.049490 Hong Kong Dollar 0.035453 0.038203 Indian Rupee 0.004506 0.004907 Indonesian Rupiah 0.000020 0.000026 Japanese Yen 0.002579 0.002759 Kenyan Shilling 0.003241 0.003241 Korean Won 0.000259 0.000274 Malaysian Ringgit 0.085354 0.091354 Nepalese Rupee 0.002975 0.003145 Pakistan Rupee 0.002761 0.003041 Philippine Peso 0.006378 0.006658 Sierra Leone 0.000063 0.000069 Singapore Dollar 0.22256 0.228256 South African Rand 0.020288 0.028788 Sri Lankan Rupee 0.001910 0.002490 Taiwan 0.009421 0.009601 Thai Baht 0.008617 0.009167 Arab Bahraini Dinar 0.765690 0.773690 Egyptian Pound 0.038596 0.041695 Iranian Riyal 0.000081 0.000082 Iraqi Dinar 0.000188 0.000248 Jordanian Dinar 0.406497 0.413997 Kuwaiti Dinar 1.000000 1.000000 Lebanese Pound 0.000142 0.000242 Moroccan Dirhams 0.023764 0.047764 Nigerian Naira 0.001153 0.001788 Omani Riyal 0.750080 0.755750 Qatar Riyal 0.079247 0.080460 Saudi Riyal 0.076990 0.077690 Syrian Pound 0.001725 0.001945 Tunisian Dinar 0.157462 0.165462 Turkish Lira 0.130103 0.137103 UAE Dirhams 0.078274 0.079243 Yemeni Riyal 0.001314 0.001394 UAE Exchange Centre WLL COUNTRY SELL DRAFT SELL CASH Australian Dollar 229.62 226.62 Canadian Dollar 260.43 261.43 Swiss Franc 306.65 304.65 Euro 367.39 368.39 US Dollar 291.30 294.30 Sterling Pound 468.34 471.34 Japanese Yen 2.60 2.62 Bangladesh Taka 3.756 4.026 Indian Rupee 4.742 5.042 Sri Lankan Rupee 2.224 2.659 Nepali Rupee 2.967 3.502 Pakistani Rupee 2.834 2.790 UAE Dirhams 78.16 79.63 Bahraini Dinar 773.17 775.24 Egyptian Pound 40.62 41.22 Jordanian Dinar 413.43 419.08 Omani Riyal 755.47 762.77 Qatari Riyal 80.22 80.77 Saudi Riyal 77.60 78.00 Rate for Transfer Selling Rate Rate for Transfer Selling Rate US Dollar 291.150 Canadian Dollar 259.205 Sterling Pound 466.000 Euro 366.615 Swiss Frank 302.465 Bahrain Dinar 774.160 UAE Dirhams 79.165 Qatari Riyals 80.770 Saudi Riyals 77.815 Jordanian Dinar 410.810 Egyptian Pound 40.623 Sri Lankan Rupees 2.222 Indian Rupees 4.740 Pakistani Rupees 2.828 Bangladesh Taka 3.756 Philippines Pesso 6.472 Cyprus pound 714.395 Japanese Yen 3.560 Syrian Pound 2.765 Nepalese Rupees 3.905 Malaysian Ringgit 88.300 Chinese Yuan Renminbi 47.950 Thai Bhat 9.980 Turkish Lira 130.750 Al Mulla Exchange Currency Transfer Rate (Per 1000) Currency Transfer Rate (Per 1000) US Dollar 290.300 Euro 365.900 Pound Sterlng 467.000 Canadian Dollar 257.000 Indian Rupee 4.740 Egyptian Pound 40.615 Sri Lankan Rupee 2.218 Bangladesh Taka 3.750 Philippines Peso 6.465 Pakistan Rupee 2.830 Bahraini Dinar 773.550 UAE Dirham 79.100 Saudi Riyal 77.600 *Rates are subject to change BUSINESS NEW DELHI: An Indian laborer sorts coal at a roadside shop at Trilokpuri in eastern New Delhi yesterday. India has one of the largest reserves of coal world-wide with the country ranked third in global coal production. — AFP MUMBAI: Fed up with constant electricity cuts and gov- ernment-enforced “power holidays”, Indian IT firm ValueLabs has turned to the sun beaming down on its head office for help. In July, it finished building a 13 megawatt solar plant - enough to power 6,000 homes - to keep the lights on and computers humming for more than 3,000 employees at its base in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad. It is even selling surplus electricity back to the grid. “We plan to use the entire quantum of power generated from these plants in the coming years for our existing and upcoming campus,” said Krishna Reddy, a senior ValueLabs executive. Factories and businesses have installed over 30 MW of rooftop solar panels in the last year, data compiled by New Delhi-based consultancy Bridge To India shows. That is a small amount compared with India’s solar capacity of 2,700 MW, but demand may accelerate under Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has made renewable energy a priority. Bridge to India forecasts compound annual growth will hit more than 60 percent in the next five years, as falling panel prices make instal- lations more alluring. In a sign that even big business is warming up to alternative energy sources, India’s sec- ond-largest IT exporter Infosys Ltd is building a 50 MW solar plant in southern Karnataka state to meet 30 per- cent of the company’s power needs. Bridge To India estimates that commercial rooftop and smaller utility plants have the potential to provide up to 83,000 MW of solar energy, more than half of India’s potential solar capacity out to 2024. “With the new government coming in, we see a clear intent to fur- ther increase allocation of solar in the energy mix,” said Sujoy Ghosh, India head of US-based First Solar. Along with SunEdison, First Solar is among foreign panel sup- pliers expecting to profit from rising demand in India. The new Indian government is hoping to ramp up renewable energy, and wean the country off of a dependence on coal and oil and fulfill Modi’s election pledge of bringing power to all. While India’s overall installed capacity has risen 20 percent in the past three years and peak-hour shortfalls have eased, not enough power reaches end-users due to rickety transmission lines, and when it does, supply is often fickle. Many southern states, where ValueLabs and Infosys are based, enforce power cuts to keep a check on demand. Across the country, businesses are forced to buy costly back-up generators in case of outages. States in the arid north and west are building big solar plants at the fastest pace, though smaller commercial projects are cropping up across India, where nearly all states enjoy year-round sunshine, analysts say. Cost hurdles But, as for many in growth economies looking for ways to cut back on oil imports, costs are high on the whole and even early adopters say solar is only part of the answer. ValueLabs spent 1 billion rupees ($16.3 mil- lion), which it expects to make back in eight years. It is keeping its back-up generators. The Kanpur-based Indian Institute of Technology is installing rooftop solar panels. Yet some 70 percent of its energy will still come from conventional sources. Despite Modi’s plans to tar- get up to 100,000 MW of solar generation by 2022, far more than an existing 20,000 MW target, India remains heavily reliant on conventional thermal energy. Today, solar power generation accounts for about 1 percent of installed energy capacity and a fraction of the 26,000 MW China can produce. For now, individual com- panies say it is falling panel prices and government sub- sidies that have made solar more appealing. Infosys says its own solar-generated power will cost it less than the 6.15 rupees per unit it pays for electricity from the grid, even after factoring in depreciation expenses. It did not say how much lower the costs were. “The economics of doing this has improved. If you can get solar at a reason- able efficiency level...then it makes sense to have it as a main power source and have the grid as a backup,” said Kalpana Jain, a senior director at Deloitte India. More broadly, securing stable demand is also not easy - a pitfall illustrated in China’s huge solar market, where insufficient subsidies and poor infrastructure mean demand has not kept pace with supply. India’s electricity distribution companies, which are ordered by politicians to keep prices low, have little incentive to buy renewable energy - roughly 15 percent pricier than thermal - because they cannot pass this on to con- sumers. But for companies, choosing solar is still better than the alternative. “We want to ensure we are free from power disruptions in the future,” said ValueLabs’ Reddy. — Reuters More Indian firms look to sun as outages bite Power-hungry businesses build own solar plants
Transcript of NEW DELHI: An Indian laborer sorts coal at a roadside shop...
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014
EXCHANGE RATES
Bahrain Exchange Company
Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.
Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd
ASIAN COUNTRIESJapanese Yen 2.564Indian Rupees 4.747Pakistani Rupees 2.833Srilankan Rupees 2.221Nepali Rupees 2.966Singapore Dollar 226.270Hongkong Dollar 37.544Bangladesh Taka 3.756Philippine Peso 6.483Thai Baht 8.931Irani Riyal transfer 1114.230Irani Riyal cash 135.260
GCC COUNTRIESSaudi Riyal 77.699Qatari Riyal 80.061Omani Riyal 756.790Bahraini Dinar 773.690UAE Dirham 79.340
ARAB COUNTRIESEgyptian Pound - Cash 41.198Egyptian Pound - Transfer 40.628Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.359Tunisian Dinar 160.390Jordanian Dinar 411.040Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.954Syrian Lira 2.076Morocco Dirham 33.460
EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIESUS Dollar Transfer 291.100Euro 365.910Sterling Pound 466.920Canadian dollar 257.500Turkish lira 130.660Swiss Franc 303.230Australian Dollar 255.000US Dollar Buying 289.900
GOLDTola 1 135.260Tola 2 265.770Tola 5 658.460
COUNTRY SELL CASH SELLDRAFT
EuropeBelgian Franc 0.007578 0.008578British Pound 0.458611 0.467611Czech Korune 0.005095 0.017095Danish Krone 0.044850 0.049850Euro 0.358697 0.366697Norwegian Krone 0.038653 0.043853Romanian Leu 0.082290 0.082290Slovakia 0.008482 0.018482Swedish Krona 0.035170 0.040170Swiss Franc 0.295526 0.305726Turkish Lira 0.130103 0.137103
AustralasiaAustralian Dollar 0.245374 0.256874New Zealand Dollar 0.218915 0.228415AmericaCanadian Dollar 0.250972 0.259472US Dollars 0.287000 0.291700US Dollars Mint 0.287500 0.291700
AsiaBangladesh Taka 0.003348 0.003948Chinese Yuan 0.045990 0.049490Hong Kong Dollar 0.035453 0.038203Indian Rupee 0.004506 0.004907Indonesian Rupiah 0.000020 0.000026Japanese Yen 0.002579 0.002759Kenyan Shilling 0.003241 0.003241Korean Won 0.000259 0.000274Malaysian Ringgit 0.085354 0.091354Nepalese Rupee 0.002975 0.003145Pakistan Rupee 0.002761 0.003041Philippine Peso 0.006378 0.006658
Sierra Leone 0.000063 0.000069Singapore Dollar 0.22256 0.228256South African Rand 0.020288 0.028788Sri Lankan Rupee 0.001910 0.002490Taiwan 0.009421 0.009601Thai Baht 0.008617 0.009167
ArabBahraini Dinar 0.765690 0.773690Egyptian Pound 0.038596 0.041695Iranian Riyal 0.000081 0.000082Iraqi Dinar 0.000188 0.000248Jordanian Dinar 0.406497 0.413997Kuwaiti Dinar 1.000000 1.000000Lebanese Pound 0.000142 0.000242Moroccan Dirhams 0.023764 0.047764Nigerian Naira 0.001153 0.001788Omani Riyal 0.750080 0.755750Qatar Riyal 0.079247 0.080460Saudi Riyal 0.076990 0.077690Syrian Pound 0.001725 0.001945Tunisian Dinar 0.157462 0.165462Turkish Lira 0.130103 0.137103UAE Dirhams 0.078274 0.079243Yemeni Riyal 0.001314 0.001394
UAE Exchange Centre WLL
COUNTRY SELL DRAFT SELL CASH Australian Dollar 229.62 226.62Canadian Dollar 260.43 261.43Swiss Franc 306.65 304.65Euro 367.39 368.39US Dollar 291.30 294.30Sterling Pound 468.34 471.34Japanese Yen 2.60 2.62Bangladesh Taka 3.756 4.026Indian Rupee 4.742 5.042Sri Lankan Rupee 2.224 2.659Nepali Rupee 2.967 3.502Pakistani Rupee 2.834 2.790UAE Dirhams 78.16 79.63Bahraini Dinar 773.17 775.24Egyptian Pound 40.62 41.22Jordanian Dinar 413.43 419.08Omani Riyal 755.47 762.77Qatari Riyal 80.22 80.77Saudi Riyal 77.60 78.00
Rate for Transfer Selling RateRate for Transfer Selling RateUS Dollar 291.150Canadian Dollar 259.205Sterling Pound 466.000Euro 366.615Swiss Frank 302.465Bahrain Dinar 774.160UAE Dirhams 79.165Qatari Riyals 80.770Saudi Riyals 77.815Jordanian Dinar 410.810Egyptian Pound 40.623Sri Lankan Rupees 2.222Indian Rupees 4.740Pakistani Rupees 2.828Bangladesh Taka 3.756Philippines Pesso 6.472Cyprus pound 714.395
Japanese Yen 3.560Syrian Pound 2.765Nepalese Rupees 3.905Malaysian Ringgit 88.300Chinese Yuan Renminbi 47.950Thai Bhat 9.980Turkish Lira 130.750
Al Mulla Exchange
Currency Transfer Rate (Per 1000)Currency Transfer Rate (Per 1000)US Dollar 290.300Euro 365.900Pound Sterlng 467.000Canadian Dollar 257.000Indian Rupee 4.740Egyptian Pound 40.615Sri Lankan Rupee 2.218Bangladesh Taka 3.750Philippines Peso 6.465Pakistan Rupee 2.830Bahraini Dinar 773.550UAE Dirham 79.100Saudi Riyal 77.600*Rates are subject to change
B U S I N E S S
NEW DELHI: An Indian laborer sorts coal at a roadside shop at Trilokpuri in eastern New Delhi yesterday. India hasone of the largest reserves of coal world-wide with the country ranked third in global coal production. — AFP
MUMBAI: Fed up with constant electricity cuts and gov-ernment-enforced “power holidays”, Indian IT firmValueLabs has turned to the sun beaming down on itshead office for help. In July, it finished building a 13megawatt solar plant - enough to power 6,000 homes -to keep the lights on and computers humming for morethan 3,000 employees at its base in the southern Indiancity of Hyderabad. It is even selling surplus electricityback to the grid. “We plan to use the entire quantum ofpower generated from these plants in the coming yearsfor our existing and upcoming campus,” said KrishnaReddy, a senior ValueLabs executive.
Factories and businesses have installed over 30 MWof rooftop solar panels in the last year, data compiled byNew Delhi-based consultancy Bridge To India shows.That is a small amount compared with India’s solarcapacity of 2,700 MW, but demand may accelerateunder Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has maderenewable energy a priority. Bridge to India forecastscompound annual growth will hit more than 60 percentin the next five years, as falling panel prices make instal-lations more alluring. In a sign that even big business iswarming up to alternative energy sources, India’s sec-ond-largest IT exporter Infosys Ltd is building a 50 MWsolar plant in southern Karnataka state to meet 30 per-cent of the company’s power needs.
Bridge To India estimates that commercial rooftopand smaller utility plants have the potential to provideup to 83,000 MW of solar energy, more than half ofIndia’s potential solar capacity out to 2024. “With thenew government coming in, we see a clear intent to fur-ther increase allocation of solar in the energy mix,” saidSujoy Ghosh, India head of US-based First Solar. Alongwith SunEdison, First Solar is among foreign panel sup-pliers expecting to profit from rising demand in India.The new Indian government is hoping to ramp uprenewable energy, and wean the country off of adependence on coal and oil and fulfill Modi’s electionpledge of bringing power to all.
While India’s overall installed capacity has risen 20percent in the past three years and peak-hour shortfallshave eased, not enough power reaches end-users dueto rickety transmission lines, and when it does, supply isoften fickle. Many southern states, where ValueLabs andInfosys are based, enforce power cuts to keep a check
on demand. Across the country, businesses are forcedto buy costly back-up generators in case of outages.States in the arid north and west are building big solarplants at the fastest pace, though smaller commercialprojects are cropping up across India, where nearly allstates enjoy year-round sunshine, analysts say.
Cost hurdlesBut, as for many in growth economies looking for
ways to cut back on oil imports, costs are high on thewhole and even early adopters say solar is only part ofthe answer. ValueLabs spent 1 billion rupees ($16.3 mil-lion), which it expects to make back in eight years. It iskeeping its back-up generators. The Kanpur-basedIndian Institute of Technology is installing rooftop solarpanels. Yet some 70 percent of its energy will still comefrom conventional sources. Despite Modi’s plans to tar-get up to 100,000 MW of solar generation by 2022, farmore than an existing 20,000 MW target, India remainsheavily reliant on conventional thermal energy.
Today, solar power generation accounts for about 1percent of installed energy capacity and a fraction of the26,000 MW China can produce. For now, individual com-panies say it is falling panel prices and government sub-sidies that have made solar more appealing. Infosys saysits own solar-generated power will cost it less than the6.15 rupees per unit it pays for electricity from the grid,even after factoring in depreciation expenses. It did notsay how much lower the costs were. “The economics ofdoing this has improved. If you can get solar at a reason-able efficiency level...then it makes sense to have it as amain power source and have the grid as a backup,” saidKalpana Jain, a senior director at Deloitte India.
More broadly, securing stable demand is also noteasy - a pitfall illustrated in China’s huge solar market,where insufficient subsidies and poor infrastructuremean demand has not kept pace with supply. India’selectricity distribution companies, which are ordered bypoliticians to keep prices low, have little incentive tobuy renewable energy - roughly 15 percent pricier thanthermal - because they cannot pass this on to con-sumers. But for companies, choosing solar is still betterthan the alternative. “We want to ensure we are freefrom power disruptions in the future,” said ValueLabs’Reddy. — Reuters
More Indian firms look to sun as outages bite
Power-hungry businesses build own solar plants
