Tata Steel commences CR mill production, targets auto, white goods makers
Jamshedpur: Tata Steel formally launched trial production at its new cold rolling mill at the hands of chairman, Mr. Ratan Tata. Set up at a cost of Rs. 1,200 crore with an annual capacity of 1.2 million tons, the plant was completed in a record twenty-six months, which is a global record. The company has identified automobile companies and white goods manufacturers as major customers for the CR products. Commercial production at the plant is slated to begin shortly and the company expects to reach 100 per cent capacity utilisation in the next thirteen months.

The cost of Rs. 10,500 per tonne of CR products at the plant here, the company claims, will be lower than Rs. 14,000-16,000 per tonne at other CR mills in the country with similar facilities. In dollar terms, Tata Steel's cost per tonne of CR products will be $244 (Rs. 10,500) compared to between $350 and $400 per tonne at tandem mills abroad.

According to Dr. J.J. Irani, Managing Director of Tata Steel, formal launch of production at the CRM marks the culmination of Tata Steel's modernisation program which has entailed a cumulative investment of Rs. 7,000 crore over the last 10 years. The focus now is to offer a product mix that addresses a cross-section of the market for steel products. Steps are being taken to cater to the CR product requirements of automobile-makers, white goods manufacturers and the general engineering and construction industries.
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TV18 board approves stake to Sony Entertainment
Mumbai: In order to provide a further impetus to growth and provide greater opportunities to create synergies and access to each partner's individual strengths, the board of directors of TV18 Limited, today approved the plan to offer a 20 per cent stake in the company to Sony Entertainment Television, which is a unit of Sony Corporation of Japan.

The option for subscribing to this stake can be exercised by Sony any time before 31 March 2001. The price at which the stake is to be offered will be decided mutually at the time the option is exercised.

The company has entered into a marketing and distribution alliance with Sony TV to collect subscription revenues and market the Indian advertising inventory for CNBC India, in which TV18 holds a 49 per cent stake.
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Ford follows suit, enters second-hand car market
Chennai: Following closely on the heels of its competitor, Ford India Limited today announced the launch of Ford Assured, its initiative for trading in second-hand cars in the country. The scheme was launched simultaneously by dealers in Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Ludhiana and Pune, and would be extended throughout the country. Under the Ford Assured scheme, all cars except Ambassadors, Premier Padminis and sports utility vehicles would be dealt in.

Under Ford Assured, the company's dealers will purchase used cars, do them up if necessary and sell them to anyone who might want to buy a used car. Every Ford Assured car will be sold with a 12-month warranty and three free services. Ford Credit, the multinational's finance arm, will be ready to provide credit to the customer.

Ford sees a vibrant used car market developing for two reasons. The company reckons that about 3.5 million two-wheelers are sold every year in India, and most of the two-wheeler buyers want to graduate to cars. According to a study done by the company, while this segment has the aspiration of graduating to a car, the only issues hindering them are access and affordability.

Further, with new cars being introduced every year, the company believes that people want to try out the latest models, in which process they want to sell their old vehicles. Car sales grew by 47 per cent in 1999 over the previous year, while the growth in the first three months of 2000 was 58 per cent compared to the corresponding period in the previous year.

According to Ford, the market for used cars is 1.5 to 2 times the size of the new car market. For this business, Ford has finalised a set of buying and selling standards. Ford's dealers will purchase a used car only after a 116 point check and will make the purchase only if the car brought in for sale scores above 60 per cent on `Ford Assured's vehicle inspection scoring parameters'. The company expects them to sell at least 50-60 cars each a month.

Besides, only cars that have been used for less than 50,000 km will be considered. Also, the cars should not have had more than two owners while those which had met with accidents would not be dealt in. When the cars are sold, the buyer will get a warranty for one year or 15,000 km, whichever is earlier.

Mr. Ravi Mangipudi, General Manager, New Business Development, Ford India, said the primary concentration under Ford Assured would be to facilitate trade-in - those wanting in to sell their car and buy an Ikon.
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Indian Oil to enter LNG marketing
New Delhi: Pursuant to an agreement signed with Petronet LNG Limited, the country's oil major, Indian Oil has entered the liquefied natural gas (LNG) marketing business. The agreement with Petronet provides for 2 million tons LNG being supplied per annum to Indian Oil customers on the Hazira-Bijapur-Jagdishpur (HBJ) pipeline route.

Petronet will be sourcing 5 million tons per annum LNG from Ras Gas of Qatar. Besides IOC, Gas Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) will be marketing LNG from PLL.

IOC is also planning to bid for the LNG shipping contract of PLL in consortium with major Indian and foreign ship builders/owners.
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Hewlett Packard to double server sales in India
New Delhi: Riding on the back of a wave of mushrooming dot coms and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Hewlett-Packard India Ltd. hopes to double its server sales in the country in 2000. The company's sales have been buoyed by the exponential growth in the dot com business in the country. The company sells at least four servers a day to dot com companies.

The company has set a target of 8,000 servers in the current year as against 4,000 units sold in 1999. High-end servers, priced above Rs. 3 lakhs, are expected to account for about half of the total sales this year.

The company has introduced a new marketing strategy aimed at the SMEs, under which HP India would target SMEs using desktop computers as servers. Many of the SMEs in the country today make do with a desktop instead of buying the costlier server by installing additional hard disk and more memory power to the desktop. Although the enterprises save about Rs. 50,000 initially by this, in the long run, they will have to switch to a server as problems such as throughput going down would start cropping up with the desk top.

As part of its marketing strategy, the company is now offering SMEs' accessories such as printers, storage devices and operating systems at a much subsidised rate along with the server. The SME segment accounts for 30 per cent of the total server market in India and grows at about 42 per cent annually.
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Volvo India to launch new luxury bus in January
Bangalore: In keeping with its philosophy of complete travel solutions, Volvo India is set to unveil its first bus for the domestic market in January next year. The B7R model will be a rear engine, air-conditioned, luxury bus targeted at the commercial market for long distance inter-city travels.

The company is currently test-running the prototype of the bus along major commercial routes to get the logistics correct. The trial run involving private commercial bus owners is expected to go on for six months.

The company, which is looking at an annual market of about 1,000 such buses, will finalise the exact features of the bus, including the passenger carrying capacity and price once the prototype completes the trial run and the company gathers feedback from the market.

Volvo India became operational in June 1998 by setting up a manufacturing plant at Hosakote near Bangalore. The Volvo population in India is now pegged at 370 trucks in three basic models _ FH-12, FL-7 and FM-7. The company indicated that it may not launch new truck models here in the immediate future. The focus now is on providing more application solutions for the existing three models.
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Lacoste plans new thrust in distribution, new products and customer loyalty program
New Delhi: The well known apparel brand Lacoste, which has been in India for some years now, has chalked out an aggressive distribution expansion plan.

Sports and Leisure Apparel Limited, the company which markets the Lacoste brand in the country, is planning to tap newer markets, besides strengthening its presence in cities where the brand already exist. Historically, the brand's presence has been more skewed towards the North and West.

Lacoste sells through 35 standalone stores in India and expects to add eight more this financial year. Four of the eight fresh markets that it proposes to tap will be in locations the brand has not penetrated before. These will include markets like Jalandhar, Bhubaneswar and other relatively smaller towns.

The company is also planning to aggressively increase its range in apparel and accessories. Besides unveiling a new range in kidswear, where the company already has a substantial product range, it plans to introduce watches and shoes. It plans to bring in a broader range of home furnishings into the country. The company will introduce its fourth sub-brand of perfumes for women within three months.

As part of its brand building efforts, the company plans to set up a national-level `Lacoste loyalty club' will be set up in an attempt to `recognise and reward loyal consumers'. The benefits to `loyalty club' members will include concessions in hotels, travel agencies, accessibility to art shows, sports events and other lifestyle-related activities. To become a member of the club, consumers would have had to spend roughly Rs. 7,500 in the preceding six months on the Lacoste brand. The benefits offered will depend of the frequency of purchase patterns.
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French cement company to take stake in Zuari Cement
Mumbai: KK Birla controlled, Zuari Industries, is close to finalising a Rs. 400-500 crore deal with French cement major, Ciments Francais, to part sell its cement division, Zuari Cement. The French company is expected to take a 50 per cent stake in this division for this price.

The cement division, with a capacity of 1.7 million tons per annum plant in Andhra Pradesh, is being hived off into a separate company for this purpose. The plant is said to offer significant locational advantages, since it is close to the Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.

The deal, which is being put together by Bank of America, would provide Ciments Francais, an entry point into the country, while its arch rival, the Lafarge group, is actively scouting around for targets to acquire. 
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Goldman Sachs picks up a stake in Zee Telefilms
Mumbai: In deal, said to be valued at Rs. 799 crore, investment banking giant, Goldman Sachs, has exercised its option to convert its 8 million convertible warrants into equity, thus giving it a further 2 per cent stake in Zee Telefilms.

Zee Telefilms is said to be using this money to pay off its liabilities.
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