NEWS AT A GLANCE

STMicro eyes rural markets in India

STMicroelectronics is actively looking at virgin rural markets of India for extensive growth. For this, STMicro is developing and marketing its innovative power (silicon) technologies for smart grid, which will revolutionalise the lives in rural India by facilitating access to electricity to thousands of villages that continue to be deprived of power. The company is in discussion with various ministries, nodal and regulatory bodies such as Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) along with other stakeholders for the pilot projects.

Attero’s e-waste unit to come up in Bengaluru

Attero Recycling, India’s first integrated electronic waste (e-waste) recycling company, will be setting up a facility in Bengaluru. The company will operate on a hub and spoke model in order to reduce its freight cost and carbon footprint. It will have a 3000 TPA (tonnes per annum) recycling facility where the e-waste will be dismantled, segregated, sent for recycling or disposed of.

DuPont to supply PV \modules to Wipro

DuPont Apollo Ltd has entered a strategic agreement with Wipro EcoEnergy, the cleantech arm of Wipro Ltd, to supply high performance, silicon based, thin film, tandem photovoltaic (PV) modules for Wipro EcoEnergy’s upcoming grid based solar power projects in India. Under this, DuPont Apollo will provide Wipro EcoEnergy, which builds utility scale, megawatt, solar PV power plants, with thin film PV modules.

Philips to produce automotive lights in India

Philips is exploring possibilities, including acquisitions, to start producing automotive lighting solutions in India as it aims to double its revenues from India to over Rs 3000 million (Rs 300 crore) by 2015. The company is at present evaluating various options such as setting up a greenfield unit, rolling out products from existing factories or acquiring a potential manufacturer of automotive lights.

SOCOMEC seminar on critical power day

SOCOMEC UPS India recently organised a series of seminars on ‘Critical Power Day’ the topic in Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi. The session primarily focused on explaining the key trends and challenges in data centre development, and the need for green and efficient data centres to drive virtualisation. The events were attended by CIOs, CTOs, systems integrators and business partners.

Assembléon sells 15,000th SMT machine

Assembléon has handed over its 999th Assembléon A-series AX-501 pick and place machine to Hefei/Revo. With this symbolic handover, Assembléon now has a worldwide installed base of almost 15,000 placement solutions, capable of placing 100 million components per hour, at the industry’s highest quality standard (<10 DPM).

Nokia crosses production of 500 mn handsets

Nokia’s manufacturing facility at Sriperumbudur in Chennai has crossed the production of 500 million handsets, marking a significant milestone for the company’s manufacturing operations in India and the globe. The handsets manufactured here go to over 100 countries covering six continents.

Applied Materials to acquire Varian

Applied and Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates have signed a definitive agreement, under which Applied will acquire Varian for US$ 63 per share in cash for a total price of approximately US$ 4.9 billion. The acquisition will extend Applied’s efforts in wafer fabrication equipment with the addition of the technology leader in ion implantation.

Freescale’s IPO priced at $18 per share

Freescale Semiconductor announced that the company has priced its initial public offering of 43,500,000 common shares at US$ 18 per share. Freescale has granted the underwriters a 30 day option to purchase up to 6,525,000 additional common shares at the public offering price, less underwriting discounts, to cover over-allotments, if any. The common shares began trading on May 26, 2011, on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ‘FSL’.

Infineon buys Qimonda Dresden’s assets

Real estate and manufacturing facilities owned by Qimonda Dresden GmbH have been sold to Infineon Technologies Dresden GmbH by the insolvency administrator managing Qimonda’s assets. The real estate borders directly on Infineon premises in Dresden, Germany, and the €100.6 million (about US$ 144 million) purchase covers cleanroom and manufacturing facilities as well as 300 mm manufacturing equipment.

TE honours Digi-Key as distributor of the year

Digi-Key Corporation has achieved the honour of being named TE Connectivity’s 2010 global catalogue distributor of the year. This is the second award TE has presented to Digi-Key in recognition of the company’s global distribution of TE products.

NI acquires Phase Matrix

National Instruments (NI) has recently acquired Phase Matrix Inc (PMI). The acquisition will bring key RF talent, technologies and manufacturing capabilities to NI, and will significantly increase the capability of NI products in high frequency RF and microwave applications, extending the frequency range of NI products to 26.5 GHz and beyond.

Lighting Science to foray into Indian LED market

Lighting Science Group, a US based LED manufacturer, has planned to enter the Indian market by September, hoping to grab a 20 per cent market share in three years. The company is in advanced talks with three to four domestic LED manufacturers to float an Indian joint venture. The group expects to earn the majority of its revenues in India by supplying LEDs to local municipal authorities for street lighting. The company also aims to sell its products to industrial units.

Matrix IP-PBX completes interoperability testing

Matrix Comsec has successfully completed interoperability testing with Polycom IP phones. The interoperability testing area included basic call management features, advanced enterprise grade features and complete feature transparency between IP-PBX and IP phones. Matrix IP-PBX with the Polycom IP phone portfolio is an affordable and feature rich solution-mix for SMBs, SMEs and large enterprises.

Cree’s achievement in white LED

Cree recently achieved 231 lumens per watt for a white power LED. It reports that the LED efficacy was measured at 231 lumens per watt using a single die component at a co-related colour temperature of 4500 K. Standard room temperature 350 mA testing was used to achieve the results. Cree believes that higher performance LEDs can enable new LED based applications and drive down the costs of current LED based designs.

ADDA appoints Micro Devices as its distributor

Micro Devices, one of the oldest distributors of electronic components in India, has been appointed as authorised distributor for ADDA Corporation, Taiwan, to promote and sell ADDA’s branded cooling fans across India. Micro Devices has been in the business of electronic semiconductors for over 25 years and has catered to the power, telecom, automotive and test equipment domains.

ADDA, a globally renowned professional fan manufacturer, has been a leader in the electronic thermal management field. Its wide range of products includes DC fans, blower fans, DC chip coolers, water proof and dust proof fans, and AC fans. These are mainly used in segments such as power, automotive, test and measuring, industrial, defence, etc. The latest innovation from ADDA includes low noise fans, micro fans and green fans. Micro Devices Inc will be selling these products in India.

Salora ties up with Sharp

Sharp Business Systems (India), a fully owned subsidiary of Sharp Corporation, Japan, has tied up with Salora International Ltd, a leading player in the Indian consumer electronics industry. Salora will be Sharp’s exclusive retail partner for its microwave ovens, vacuum cleaners and small kitchen appliances across India. Salora will also distribute Sharp’s CRT TVs exclusively in north Indian markets.

Telecom towers to get powered by solar energy

Alta-Xintong Solar Tech, a joint venture between Alta Energy Technologies and the Chinese solar energy solutions provider XinTong, has launched DC solar power systems for telecom towers in India. The company is in the advanced stages of finalising a deal involving 2000 solar power systems for tower companies in India, in what could turn out to be a ‘zero investment plan’ for the telecom companies.

BEL to benefit from Defence Offsets Policy

Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) is expecting to benefit significantly from the government’s Defence Offset Policy, according to Ashwani Kumar Datt, chairman and managing director. Defence offsets will be a key growth area for the state owned BEL, which produces everything from solar powered panels and radars to air-to-surface missiles. BEL is expected to get about 8 per cent of the anticipated total defence offset business of US$ 3-5 billion in the next 3-5 years. BEL’s provisional sales turnover amounted to Rs 55.5 billion (Rs 5,550 crore) in 2010-11.

India faces talent crunch in R&D and IT

India is finding it hard to fill in key positions in research, sales and information technology (IT). The main reason for the supply shortage is lack of training and the required experience for the positions, which are in very high demand within the industry, according to a report from ManpowerGroup, the global human resource, consultancy and staffing firm.

As per the report, 67 per cent of employers in India are experiencing difficulty filling mission-critical positions in research and development (R&D), sales and IT.

Panasonic opens R&D centre in Gurgaon

Panasonic has opened its first R&D subsidiary, the Panasonic Research & Development Centre India (PRDCI), in Gurgaon. The PRDCI will start its activities in line with Panasonic’s plan to make India a hub for the development of products that will contribute to the constantly evolving Indian market and help in realising innovations in green technology for a sustainable society. The PRDCI is Panasonic’s ninth R&D centre in emerging countries.

Philips to double its India revenue

Royal Philips Electronics, an Amsterdam based company, is set to double its Indian revenues by 2015 through aggressive marketing plans backed by increased advertising spends and new product launches. Philips Electronics India, which registered a 20 per cent growth in 2010, is likely to touch Rs 90 billion (Rs 9,000 crore) in sales turnover in the next five years.

Renesas’ Japan semicon plant to resume production

Japanese semiconductor maker Renesas Electronics said it will resume production at its flagship Naka factory from June 1, much earlier than the previously planned June 15. The Naka factory was damaged by the earthquake that hit Japan on March 11 and has since been offline. The plant mainly produces microcontrollers for automobile applications.

Rs 5000 mn cushion for solar power developers

A corpus of about Rs 5000 million (Rs 500 crore) that would work as an additional security for solar power developers seeking loans, is soon to be set up. This fund, to be managed by NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN), is aimed at removing the apprehensions of the lenders regarding the security of their loans. In principle, approvals have already been obtained. Now, a formal approval for the fund is expected shortly.

The fund would be used in case of defaults by Discoms (power distribution companies) in making their payments to NVVN. Under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), NVVN has been designated as the nodal agency for the sale and purchase of power.

Mandatory use of solar heating systems

The government intends to make the use of solar heating systems in all functional buildings mandatory, under the first phase of the proposed National Solar Mission. To be implemented before 2012, the Mission proposes to make it compulsory for all hospitals, guest houses, hotels and nursing homes to install solar water heaters. This will be applicable to residential complexes too that are built on plots of 500 sq m and above. It is estimated that 40-50 million sq m is currently available for the installation of solar energy collectors for various low and medium temperature applications in domestic, industrial and commercial sectors. The target for solar heating applications is 7 million sq m by 2012.

Delhi to get rooftop solar energy scheme soon

Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of Delhi, announced that a policy will soon be launched to encourage people to switch to the renewable energy sources, beginning with rooftop solar energy collectors. According to the policy, solar power units will be set up on rooftops of households in the capital, with the owners of buildings getting incentives and the power generated will be connected to the main grid.

House owners can either lease out their roof to developers, who will then set up the unit, or they can pay 30 per cent of the cost of installation. The remaining 70 per cent will be financed through banks. House owners will get to earn Rs 17 per unit of power produced through the solar panels, which will be directly fed into a grid. They can sell the power for 25 years.

‘Solar City’ project to address power crisis

The Central government has come out with a renewable energy scheme that provides urban local bodies with the capacity to address power shortages in their areas. The entire cost of implementing this project, the ‘Solar City’, would be borne by the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). In Tamil Nadu, the scheme is being implemented through the Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency (TEDA).

EVENTS AT A GLANCE

Event

Awards

DEK wins awards at NEPCON

DEK International was conferred five leading industry awards at NEPCON China 2011 for its outstanding product performance and innovative solutions applicable to electronics assembly.

Telecom awards by Frost & Sullivan

In order to applaud the achievements of the Indian IT and telecom industries, Frost & Sullivan instituted the annual India IT and Telecom Excellence Awards. In its ninth year, the 2011 India IT and Telecom Excellence Awards, held in Delhi (NCR), acknowledged companies and individuals that have pushed the boundaries of excellence and have risen above competition and demonstrated outstanding performance in these sectors.

Nano Ganesh wins IIGP award

Ossian Agro Automation’s Nano Ganesh has been selected as the winner at the India Innovation Growth Programme (IIGP) 2011. This mobile modem device allows farmers to operate their distant, electric irrigation pumps from remote locations.

Huawei wins awards at LTE World Summit 2011

Huawei, a leader in providing next generation telecommunications network solutions for operators, has won two awards for achievements in LTE commercialisation and product solutions at the LTE World Summit 2011, held in Barcelona, Spain.

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Association News

Poornima Shenoy quits ISA

Poornima Shenoy, founder and president of the India Semiconductor Association (ISA), has quit the trade body to launch her own venture. Under her, ISA, founded in 2005 to address needs of semiconductor and systems companies across the country, grew to a 157 member body. Shenoy’s new venture in the education consulting space will focus on skill development and address some of the needs of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).

ESC appoints new chairman

Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) appointed S Radhakrishnan, managing director, Descon Ltd, as its new chairman for a term of two years. The council also elected Arun Khanna and Prasad Garapati as vice chairman (hardware) and vice chairman (software), respectively, for a term of two years.

ELCINA’s Strategic Electronics Summit on June 29

ELCINA Electronic Industries Association of India’s second edition of the Strategic Electronics Summit (SES 2011) for defence and aerospace will be held on June 29, 2011 at HAL Convention Centre, Bengaluru. The Society of Indian Aerospace Technologies and Industries (SIATI) is its partner association. The event will comprise a conference, mini exhibition, one-to-one business meetings and networking sessions.