$151 mm world bank loan for karnataka
bangalore: world bank has agreed to extend a $151.6 million funding to karnataka for rural water supply and sanitation projects in the state.

the world bank board on 18 december approved the project, which has a total outlay of $193.44 million, of which $151.6 million would be funded mainly by the bank.

the world bank has agreed in principle to extend funding to the state's programme of reconstructing and rejuvenating 3,000 tanks in the state over a three-year period.

$200 m insurance compensation claimed for dpc
washington: enron, general electric and bechtel have sought more than $200 million in compensation from overseas private investment corp. for losses they incurred in dabhol power company for which the us agency had provided insurance cover.

the companies filed claims for expropriation compensation for the $2.9 billion dpc.

dpc was enrons biggest investment outside us as the now bankrupt company sought to expand overseas. enron put the plant on sale before it declared bankruptcy earlier this month.

icici, prudential to invest in insurance jv
mumbai: icici and prudential of uk will together infuse fresh capital of rs 80 crore into icici prudential life insurance company in the next six months to support growth plans.

icici and prudential will bring in rs 60 crore and rs 20 crore respectively in two tranches. with this capital infusion equity base will grow to rs 230 crore.

the company has issued 48,000 policies and needs extra capital to support business expansion plans for 2002-03.

the jv has earned rs 65 crore through insurance premium and these resources plus capital are being used for growth plans.

tata investment sells 8.04% stake in forbes
mumbai: tata investment corporation has sold an 8.04 per cent stake in forbes gokak to sterling investment corporation for rs 90.15 million. the deal was struck at rs 90 per share.

sterling is part of shapoorji pallonji construction group, which made an open offer in october for 20 per cent stake in gokak at rs 80 per share.

ttk-lig buys out npil stake in scholl piramal
bangalore: ttk-lig limited has acquired the entire 49 per cent stake held by nicholas piramal in scholl piramal india ltd. according to ttk-lig managing director j srinivasan, the stake has been bought for a sum of around rs 1.96 crore in an all cash deal.

the new joint venture with the uk-based company, ssl international plc has been renamed ssl-ttk. the company will bring consumer healthcare products of international quality and affordable prices including dr scholls foot-care products initially and other otc set on healthcare products later. the products would be sold only in major cities, mainly through medical stores.

ssl internationally owns various popular brands like resolve (hangover remedy), meltus (cough and cold remedy), remegel (an antacid) and full marks (head lice treatment).

qualcomm to pick up 3% reliance info stake
mumbai: qualcomm of the us is likely to invest in excess of $360 million for a 3 per cent stake in reliance infocom. san diego-based qualcomm is the pioneer of cdma (code division multiple access) wireless technology.

a high-level team led by reliance group president manoj modi was in the us in november to hold discussions with qualcomm.

at present, reliance industries is the lead investor in reliance infocom with 45 per cent stake. the balance 55 per cent is collectively held among four reliance group investment companies.

lenders to infuse $20 million in dabhol
mumbai: indian and foreign lenders are to release more than $20 million to the dabhol power company (dpc) in an attempt to save the company.

the decision was taken at the recent meeting in singapore of the industrial development bank of india led institutions, foreign lenders, dpc, potential buyers tata power company and bses ltd.

hdfc bank to fund heavy vehicles
chennai: hdfc bank is entering into heavy- and light-commercial vehicle financing.

the bank is aiming to become one of the top three hcv, lcv financiers in the next two years.

the bank will face competition from well-entrenched players such as icici and kotak mahindra, apart from regional leaders such as sundaram finance and cholamandalam finance.

acc to buy etex stake in eternit everest
mumbai: acc plans to increase its stake in the building products company eternit everest.

acc proposes to increase its stake to 76 per cent by buying out the 50 per cent stake held by etex. eternit everest is a joint venture between acc and belgium based etex.

pallonji group buys 9% more in forbes
mumbai: the shapoorji pallonji group has raised its stake in forbes gokak by another 9.01 per cent by purchasing 11.22 lakh shares at rs 90 a share.

the pallonji group had mopped up around 7.29 lakh shares of forbes gokak on november 21, taking its total stake to 23.4 per cent. the forbes gokak scrip closed at rs 103.65 at the bse on tuesday.

the issue of management control of the forbes gokak will now depend on the financial institutions.

living media to offload 15% in thomson press
new delhi: living media plans to offload 15 per cent stake in its printing arm, thomson press, to mauritius-based new york life international india fund for a consideration of rs 30 crore.

the deal is awaiting the approval of the foreign investment promotion board .

company sources said the two partners have already reached an agreement and that the funds thus raised could be used by living media for expansion of its media activities.

living media owns publications like india today and india today plus magazines, besides the 24-hour news channel tv today network.

icici sells assets worth rs 4,000 cr
mumbai: icici ltd has sold corporate and project assets worth around rs 4,000 crore. the group proposes to dispose of additional assets and raise another rs 4,000 crore in the current fiscal.

besides, the fi has raised around rs 8,000 crore to meet its statutory liquidity ratio requirements in the last two months. another rs 1,000 crore would be added shortly.the group has to raise around rs 18,000 crore to meet its slr requirements.

bifr okays sale of 3 binny properties
new delhi: the board for industrial and financial reconstruction (bifr) has approved the sale of old machinery and other properties of binny ltd and binny lorze ltd.

binny ltd had sought permission of the bench to sell: the binny lorze plant for rs 13.40 crore to investkonsult, sweden, and remit the sale proceeds to indian bank;

the old machinery to shre maruthi textiles for rs 9.77 crore and remit the sale proceeds to idbi; and the property at commissariat road at bangalore for a consideration of rs 3.65 crore to m.m. bhatia.

17 dec 2001

fipb clears western union financial
new delhi: foreign investment promotion board of india has cleared the proposal of western union financial services to set up a 100 per cent subsidiary to undertake domestic money-transfer services with rs 2.35 crore capital.

the proposed subsidiary would establish infrastructure network to provide services for transfer of money within india. but the fipb nod comes with a rider that domestic money transfer activities would be treated as a fund-based activity under nbfcs and that the company would have to comply with the minimum capitalisation norms.

singer india board approves rights issue
mumbai: the board of directors of singer india has approved a 1:1 rights issue at a par value of rs 10 per share. as a result, the equity base of the company will double from rs 7.82 crore to rs 15.64 crore. it will convene an egm to seek formal approval from its shareholders.

the funds raised from the issue will be utilised for financing the companys expansion plans and to improve its financial structure.

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