Landmark group plans retail chain in India
Mumbai: Dubai-based Landmark group, which owns a 120-shop retail chain in the Gulf, will invest over Rs 100 crore to set up a retail store chain in India. The non-resident Indian-owned group, which has brands like Splash, Home Center, Baby Shop and Show Mart, is well known in the Gulf countries. The brand name for the Indian operations will be Lifestyle.

The first such store, a 30,000 sq.ft. retail outlet, was opened in Chennai in May. Two more outlets will be opened in Hyderabad and Bangalore in a year. Later, the group will expand its operations to Mumbai, Delhi and Pune.
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Novell institute in Pune
Mumbai: Onward Novell Software (India) a 50:50 joint venture between Onward Technologies and US-based Novell, inaugurated its Novell Institute for Networking Technologies in Pune. The institute has been set up in association with the government of Maharashtra.

The institute will run various courses in network management and design and development.
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Apollo Tyres to invest Rs 94 crore
Mumbai: Apollo Tyres says it is investing Rs 94 crore to expand its 'bias' truck and rear tractor tyre making capacity at its Limda plant in Gujarat.

The Rs 1,154-crore group will create a 2,000 tyres per day capacity for passenger car radial tyres at the plant.
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DoT backs Hughes restructuring plan
New Delhi: The department of telecommunications has supported the equity restructuring of Hughes Escorts Communications. The restructuring will lead to the US major, Hughes, reducing its holding in the jont venture from 51 per cent to 40 per cent .

DoT sources said the department will give the company formal sanction for operations once the modalities involved in the restructuring are completed.
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Atlas Gears plans new unit
Mumbai: Atlas Gears is in talks with a European company to set up a new gear box unit in the country. The foreign partner is expected to pick up equity, provide technical knowhow and agree to a buyback arrangement for the products, Riad Fyzee, managing director of Atlas Gears, said.

Atlas Gears is jointly promoted by Mr Fyzee and Mahindra & Mahindra. While Mr Fyzee has a 25 per cent holding and the Mahindras 22 per cent, Tanyar International of UK, an investment fund, holds 7 per cent equity in the company. The company manufactures various gears, especially for Mahindra & Mahindra.
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Reliance, Jaipur company plan power project
Mumbai: Reliance group sources have told The Economic Times that the group may not pursue plans for investment in Raj West Power Pvt Ltd, a Rs 5,000-crore power project in Rajasthan. Raj West Power, promoted by the former maharaja of Jaipur,   has also aligned with a Chinese group to form a consortium.

The project will have two lignite-based power plants of a total 1,200 MW capacity.
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Essar offers more to Indianoil in Vadinar refinery
New Delhi: The Ruias' Essar group has offered Indian Oil Corporation a higher stake in the equity of its Vadinar refinery in Gujarat. The group has also offered to entrust the operation and maintenance responsibilities to Indianoil.

The group is also negotiating with Bharat Petroleum Corporation for divestment of its stake in Essar Oil in order to reduce its debt exposure.

Indianoil has signed a memorandum of understanding with Essar Oil for the marketing rights of the proposed company's products, and is said to believe that a majority stake in an additional refinery on the western coast would give it considerable leverage in marketing.
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IA not to lease aircraft
Bangalore: Indian Airlines is understood to have abandoned its plans to lease three Airbus A320 and five Boeing B737 aircraft this year. The Economic Times in a report said the airline expects growth in domestic travel during the current financial year to be not more than 2 per cent over last year's volumes. Hence the decision to shelve the lease plan.

Indian Airlines has pushed up utilisation of its 52 aircraft to optimum levels apart from cutting back capacity on some of the lean routes.
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PowerGrid appoints IVO as consultant
Calcutta: PowerGrid Corporation of India has appointed IVO of Finland to help it with the Rs 1,200-crore diversification into long-distance telephony. The Finnish major has global expertise in both power transmission and telecommunications.

The government has allowed PowerGrid Corporation, Gas Authority of India Ltd and the Railways to augment the national long distance telecom infrastructure of the department of telecommunications.

PowerGrid said IVO has been given the mandate to prepare a strategic blueprint for a six-city long distance telecom backbone linking Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Calcutta, Bangalore and Hyderabad, using PowerGrid's existing transmission infrastructure.
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Seagate to acquire software unit
Los Angeles: Computer disk drive maker Seagate Technology said it will buy the remaining stock of its software unit, giving it control of a stake in a third company, Veritas Software Corporation. Seagate is the world's largest disk drive maker.
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Daewoo affiliates not to receive finance
Seoul: The Daewoo group's major affiliates will not receive trade financing from creditor banks, Korea First Bank, one of the major creditors of the group said.

Among the creditors, investment trust companies have refused to accept a plan to accord Daewoo affiliates with trade financing up to limits that had been set prior to Daewoo seeking debt rollovers for its affiliates in July.
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Independent plans acquisitions in Australia, New Zealand
Dublin: Irish company Independent News & Media is eyeing expansion in Australia and New Zealand .

The companies under consideration both operate in one of the company's core areas of publishing, outdoor advertising and electronic media, The Sunday Tribune said.
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BA restructures operations
London: British Airways has created six new business units in a restructuring that reduces the number of executives reporting directly to chief executive Bob Ayling. The aim is to sharpen company focus, boost internal efficiency and reduce overlap as BA strives to reverse its falling profits, the company said in a statement.

The main innovation is the creation of a new commercial business group, responsible for the airline's marketing and sales. The other management units are finance, strategy, customer service and operations, technical and people.
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