VZCZCXRO4616
PP RUEHAST RUEHCI RUEHLH RUEHNEH RUEHPW
DE RUEHBI #0539/01 3241140
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 191140Z NOV 08
FM AMCONSUL MUMBAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6739
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 1898
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MUMBAI 000539 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EEB A/S SULLIVAN 
STATE FOR EEB/ESC DHENGEL, SGALLOGLY, MMCMANUS, DHENRY 
STATE FOR OES PDAS RHARNISH, GTHOMPSON 
STATE FOR STEVE MANN, GMANUEL 
DEPT OF ENERGY FOR U/S BUD ALBRIGHT, DSCHWARTZ 
DEPT OF ENERGY IP FOR A/A/S KFREDRIKSEN, RCOOPER 
DEPT OF ENERGY IP FOR TCUTLER, CGILLESPIE, GBISCONTI 
DEPT OF ENERGY FE FOR DAS JMIZROCH, MGINZBERG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG SENV EFIN EIND PGOV IN
SUBJECT: MUMBAI MASALA FROM PUNE: CUMMINS BUILDS A GREEN FACTORY, 
PRAJ INDUSTRIES RESEARCHES NON-EDIBILE CROPS FOR ENERGY, KALYANI OF 
BHARAT FORGE DISCUSSES CEO FORUM AND MNS AGITATION DELAYS PROJECTS 
 
MUMBAI 00000539  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U) Table of Contents: 
 
- Cummins Builds India's first "Green" Factory 
- Praj Industries Researches Non-edible Food Crops as an Energy 
Source 
- Kalyani of Bharat Forge Reviews  U.S.-India CEO Forum 
- MNS Agitation Against Non-Maharashtrians Delays Construction 
Activity in Pune 
 
Cummins Builds India's first "Green" Factory 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) Cummins Generator Technologies India has constructed a 
"green" manufacturing facility to manufacture alternators at 
Ranjangaon in the Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra.   The 
company plans to apply for Leadership in Energy & Environment 
Design (LEED) certification of the facility.  Pradeep Bhargava, 
the Managing Director of Cummins Generator Technologies India, 
argued that the cost savings through reduced energy usage will 
enable the facility to "pay for itself" within six to eight 
months, although he acknowledged that the initial capital 
investment for construction of the facility was high.  For 
example, the wind tower facility which provides natural 
ventilation to the shop floor, and the construction of large 
windows to let in natural light results in a 25-40 percent cut 
in energy consumption.  The facility is built with bricks with a 
high fly ash content which not only utilizes the fly ash waste 
from coal plants but also reduces temperature by 1 degree 
Celsius.  Rainwater harvesting will preclude external sourcing 
of water within 2-3 years.  Over the first 10 years of 
operation, the facility is expected to save over 14 million KW 
of electricity and avoid over 14,000 tons of carbon emissions. 
 
Praj Industries Researches Non-edible Food Crops as an Energy 
Source 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) Praj Industries, a leading local and global supplier of 
ethanol processing technology, is increasingly focusing on 
converting non-edible food crops like switchgrass and algae to 
energy.  Pramod Chaudhari, the Chairman of Praj Industries, 
noted that "there is a groundswell of interest for alternative 
fuels and this presents a huge opportunity for Praj."  The 
company has established a new research facility - the Matrix 
Innovation Center -- at a cost of $20 million.  The company is 
researching ethanol conversion from ligno-cellulosic crops like 
sweet sorghum which requires less water than traditional sources 
of ethanol like sugarcane.  While there has been much hype about 
Jatropha as an alternative fuel source, Praj interlocutors noted 
that the crop has a long gestation period of 3-5 years to 
achieve the necessary scale for conversion to bio-fuels and crop 
output is maximized only with irrigation.  Balu Sarma, President 
& Chief Technology Officer of the research facility, pointed out 
that with irrigation you can get 60-80 Jatropha fruit each month 
as compared to 15-20 fruit without proper care and irrigation. 
The key is to develop high-yielding varieties of Jatropha which 
are drought-resistant, he added.   Praj has also successfully 
tested the energy efficacy of dried distillers grain with 
solubles (DDGS), which is used as a cattle feed, and is looking 
for funding to launch this project on a commercial scale.   The 
company has developed a process to extract oil from DDGS to make 
bio-diesel while retaining the protein so that the remaining 
DDGS can still be used to feed cattle.  The company is also 
conducting genetic engineering to create "designer crops" with a 
higher calorific value to facilitate greater energy extraction. 
 
Kalyani of Bharat Forge Reviews  U.S.-India CEO Forum 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) In a meeting with the Consul General, Baba Kalyani, 
the Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Forge and a member 
of the U.S.-India CEO Forum, evaluated the impact of the 
U.S.-India CEO forum.  According to Kalyani, the forum had 
actively lobbied for the passage of the U.S.-India civil nuclear 
energy co-operation agreement and was now working to improve 
India's access to sensitive technology.  The forum also planned 
 
MUMBAI 00000539  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
to create a USD 5 billion fund to invest in Indian 
infrastructure projects two years ago.  However, this has still 
not materialized, he said. (Note: This infrastructure fund, 
which is being led by Citigroup and the Infrastructure 
Development Finance Corporation in Mumbai, has raised almost 
$900 million in private equity funds and is now working to buy 
and develop infrastructure assets. End Note.)  In contrast, the 
forum has made good progress in the area of educational 
co-operation and collaboration.  He pointed to the number of 
Indian universities who have partnered with or have sister 
universities in the U.S. as a case in point.  The forum has 
recommended that a regulator be appointed in India to oversee 
higher education to ensure transparency and to facilitate good 
governance.  The forum is also trying to address legacy issues 
of U.S. companies like Dow Chemicals. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Kalyani noted that the major challenge for India, 
besides inadequate and overloaded infrastructure, is sustaining 
higher economic growth and creating good political governance. 
He pointed out that India's economic growth was primarily driven 
by the private sector and the high growth rate in GDP was 
achieved "in spite of the government."  He believes that 
governance at the state level presents the major challenge to 
India's growth.  To illustrate, he noted the problems that the 
Tata Goup had recently in Singur, West Bengal caused by Mamta 
Banerjee and what he considered a minor political party. 
 
MNS Agitation Against Non-Maharashtrians Delays Construction 
Activity in Pune 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) In discussions with companies in Pune, ConGenoff 
learnt that the agitation led by Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra 
Navnirman Sena (MNS) against non-Maharashtrian workers has 
affected the construction industry in Pune.  Several business 
owners indicated that this agitation has forced delays in 
several major projects as many construction workers hailing from 
North India left Pune and have not returned.  These workers 
could have been absorbed into infrastructure projects in other 
states in India and therefore did not need to come back to Pune 
for work, they opined.  Local Maharashtrians will not perform 
manual jobs requiring heavy lifting so the shortage of workers 
will never be filled, they said.  Worker shortages affected the 
timely completion of construction projects and disrupted 
business expansion plans.  For example, the construction of 
Cognizant Technology Solution's new campus in the Rajiv Gandhi 
Infotech park was delayed and Cummins Generator Technologies 
green factory was commissioned one and a half to two months 
later than planned. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) GM Rao of Cognizant Technology Solutions noted that 
Shiv Sena's Bal Thackeray used the same "sons of the soil" 
argument as the MNS to gain prominence 20 years ago.  He 
believes that the agitation against non-Maharashtrians is a 
political strategy to gather a large political following 
especially when there are a large number of people who are 
"unemployable."  North Indian workers are "more productive and 
better workers" than Maharashtrians, he continued.  D B 
Chatteerjee of Cognizant Technology Solutions lamented that "the 
economic growth of India is unfortunately in the hands of 
politicians. 
FOLMSBEE