Date:03/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/03/stories/2008050359701800.htm

Business

RIL, Canadian co. join hands

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Seeking to join the campaign for energy conservation, Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) on Friday joined hands with Canadian plastics major Nova Chemicals for jointly designing and constructing energy-efficient buildings in India.

Letter of intent

According to an official statement here, RIL and Nova have signed a letter of intent for the joint venture, which is expected to be operational by the third quarter of 2008 after finalising the formal agreements.

Initial steps necessary to manufacture components in India are under way. The first activity of the venture will be construction of buildings for Reliance Retail in India, Nova Chemicals said in a statement. The venture will enable Nova to work with RIL to build a large, profitable business based on its proprietary performance styrenics building and construction systems.

“India has a $60 billion construction market that is growing at about 20 per cent annually. The potential for energy-efficient buildings in India is very exciting and these systems are an excellent fit for Reliance Retail’s strategy,” Nova President and Chief Operating Officer, Chris Pappas, said.

These buildings, construction systems and component parts minimise the resource consumption, while cutting down the on-going energy demand by as much as one-third, Nova said, adding that the components of the system included structural and non-structural roof, decking and wall panels.