BSNL to take on Reliance Infocom
New Delhi: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd is trying to steal a march over the Reliance Infocom in Internet-based telephone services also called voice over Internet protocol services (VOIP).
This is all due to the threat of Reliance Infocom's
forthcoming Net-based telephony project scheduled to
rollout in 2002.BSNL therefore is in no hurry to launch its services and says VOIP services will be available by the
year-end.

According to B R Khurana, director, BSNL, "To begin
with, we will launch a pilot project in the next couple of months. Once the technology is tested, we will provide commercial service on the main trunk routes from where the bulk of the revenue comes." BSNL says that although its manpower may lag behind in service orientation against private parties, it can
more than match Reliance in technology. This is indeed good news for consumers. Telephony based on VOIP will be much cheaper. It's also good news for VOIP equipment providers like Cisco, Nortel and Juniper, which can expect to find a good market for their products in India.
Back to News Review index page  

Bharti purchases BT stake in two joint ventures
New Delhi: Telecom major Bharti on Thursday announced
the acquisition of British Telecom's stakes in two of its joint venture companies - Bharti BT Internet and Bharti-BT.
However, British Telecom is still a partner in some of
the Bharti telecom services ventures like cellular services in Delhi.
Rajan Mittal of Bharti said that the group had consolidated its Internet, VSAT and broadband applications companies under one umbrella to project a consolidated entity.He added that as BT was looking to exit from some of its investments in Asia and India, the timing was right and it was considered prudent to merge all broadband operations into a single company.
He said that apart from Singapore Telecom, which already had a stake in the holding company no other strategic investors would enter this business.

British Telecom held 49 per cent stake in the Internet
JV with the group and 50 per cent in Bharti-BT, a joint venture for Vsat services. The companies merged are Bharti BT Internet, Bharti BT Vsat, Bharti Broadband Services and their holding company Bharti Telespatiale. Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Mittal said, "We believe that this merger will create a single entity which will emerge as one of the strongest integrated broadband players in India."
Back to News Review index page  

SAP setting up certification centre
Bangalore: SAP AG is setting up an integration and certification centre, ICC, at SAP Labs premises here. The company's other ICCs are in Germany, USA and Japan.

According to Jochen Hoeffner director ICC, SAP, these centres provide certification and validation services to third party software developers and since 1995, about 700 partners of SAP the world over have received more than 1,000 certification and validations of interface products.

To make use of ICC services the third party software developers have to be SAP software partners. SAP's strategy has been to accelerate the creation and delivery of mySAP.com solutions through partnerships, said Hoeffner. mySAP.Com is SAP's Internet strategy which positions SAP as a provider of comprehensive interenterprise business solutions for the Net economy and a product that brings this strategy to life.
Back to News Review index page  

British Gas to form two firms for IT foray
Ahmedabad: International oil & gas major British Gas
is entering the Infotech business in India for which it has formed two companies here.British Gas India has set aside $9 million for setting up the two new companies, which will act as infrastructure providers - infotech and Internet service provider. Of this, $7 million will be channelled into the subsidiary, which will have a presence in ISP services.

British Gas India has its presence in the gas transportation business in Mumbai, Delhi and South Gujarat and the proposed 5.4 MMTPA LNG terminal at Pipavav.
 
The IP company will provide dark fibre to licensed
Indian telecommunication and other service providers,
while the ISP company will provide highspeed Internet
services to domestic and commercial customers.
In the first phase, first quarter of 2002, British Gas
will provide high-speed ISP services to both domestic
and commercial customers in Surat. The company is in
the process of obtaining a category C ISP licence.
Back to News Review index page  

Intel opens solutions unit in Bangalore
Bangalore: As part of a $100m worldwide e-business
initiative to boost the development of e-business solutions and applications based on Intel architecture technology, Intel Corp announced the opening of its Intel Solution Centre in Bangalore, to help accelerate the deployment of cutting-edge e-business applications on Intel architecture-based servers. The centre aims to provide solution providers and system integrators with a broad range of proven e-business server and networking solutions. This initiative will involve opening 15 solution centres in the US, Europe and Asia Pacific. The first solution centres have already opened in parts of the US and Europe.

The new Intel solution centre will provide hardware, software, laboratory testing equipment and engineering services, that solution providers and system integrators will use to validate and deploy comprehensive e-business and networking solutions in
conjunction with leading industry suppliers.
Back to News Review index page  

Cisco to discontinue optical router
San Francisco: Cisco Systems, the leading maker of gear
that helps to power the Internet, said on Wednesday
that slow sales of an optical router had prompted it
to discontinue making that device.

Cisco, of San Jose, California, said it would stop
making the 15900 Wavelength Router, found at the core
of optical networks, a product that came out of its
acquisition of Monterey Networks, in August '99.
This is because the sales of the product have been low
as the market has not matured as fast as envisaged by
the company.
Back to News Review index page  

Cadila in talks to invest in US research co
Mumbai: The Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila Healthcare is
in talks to pick up a minority stake in an American
research firm called Onconova Therapeutics. However,
no deal has been signed yet.

The latter is a start-up firm by an Indian scientist E
Premkumar Reddy and his collaborators. It Among other
things Onconova is working on commercialising a
category of Cox-2 inhibitors (anti-inflammatory compounds) developed by Reddy and his collaborators.  The Rs 478-crore Cadila Healthcare is cash-rich at the moment, having raised Rs 372 crore from an initial public offering on local bourses last year and has been looking around for strategic acquisitions and
research tie-ups to ensure a steady flow of new
products.

It is said to be especially interested in new compounds as patent laws change in India in 2005 in accordance with WTO norms, after which Indian companies will not be able to reverse-engineer
patented drugs.
Back to News Review index page  

Shell keen on acquiring Bombay High oil field
New Delhi: Royal Dutch Shell has shown its keenness
on acquiring a stake in Mumbai High oil field. This is even as the petroleum ministry is unwilling to divest in proven prime property.

Sources said that a high-level delegation of Shell met senior petroleum ministry officials last week with a request to partner Oil and Natural Gas Corporation in offshore Mumbai High oil and gas fields. Shell's Indian operations include marketing of
lubricants and an under-construction Liquefied Natural
Gas import terminal in Gujarat. Officials at Shell said the company was keen on partnering ONGC in the Rs 7,500 crore redevelopment plan of Mumbai High which would boost recovery rate to about 40 per cent form 26-28 per cent at present.

Mumbai High, produces about 16 million tonnes of crude
oil, including condensate, and over 12 million cubic metres of gas per day. Petroleum ministry, however, declined Shell's offer saying the government has decided not to divest stake
in producing oil and gas fields.
Back to News Review index page  

Shantha, ABL plan medicinal plant JV 
Chenna: Hyderabad-based Shantha Biotech and Chennai-based ABL Biotechnologies are coming together to form a medicinal plants biotech venture-Shantha Botanicals. This is probably the first corporate initiative in the country to tap the burgeoning world
market for plant drugs. The new venture will be launched soon with an equity capital of Rs 8-10 crore.

K O Isaac, MD, ABL Biotech, commenting on Shantha Botanicals said that it was likely to be a 60:40 joint venture with ABL Biotech taking the minority stake. Reportedly the company is in talks with some global players for participation in the venture.
Back to News Review index page  

MRTPC lets off Bisleri
New Delhi: The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission has exonerated Bisleri from charges of unfair trade practices for alleged false and misleading claim of 'pure and safe' mineral water.

Going against a complaint filed by Uma Shankar Singh, the MRTPC acting chairman R K Anand and member of MRTPC, M Mahajan said, "On the basis of the evidence available before us, a prima facie case of unfair trade practices can't be said to made out. It can't be concluded on the basis of the report of the joint director (legal) that the respondent's claim that Bisleri mineral water is 'safe and pure' is false and misleading," the bench said while stating that it did not find any subsance in the complaint.  The complainant in support had produced a 5-litre
standard Bisleri bottle which was inspected by the joint director of MRTPC on February 9, 2001.
Back to News Review index page  

Fiat to launch Palio, to invest $250m
New Delhi: Fiat India is planning to launch the Palio by the third quarter of this year. Fiat is relying heavily on its 'volume car' which will target the 'top end of the B segment'' and has been
manufactured with 72 to 73 per cent local content likely to go up to 85 per cent by 2002.   Fiat India MD M P Bianchi said it plans to sell about 50,000 units of the car in 2002 against a production
capacity of 60,000 cars at its Kurla plant. He said that the investment would be part of the $650 million (about Rs 1,600 crore) it had put in its car operations so far.

"The Palio will be positioned in the top-end of the B segment in terms of technology and will be offered in the 1200cc and 1600cc hatchback petrol engine version and probably come kitted with power steering etc." The company clarified that it has no plans of phasing out its current `B' segment model, the Uno. "Later, we will bring out a diesel model also," Mr Bianchi said,
while declining to give its price-positioning. Fiat sold 13,000 cars in 2000, including 10,000 units of small car Uno and 3,000 units of mid-size car Siena and its station wagon version Siena Weekend.

The B segment includes Maruti Zen, Alto, Wagon-R, Hyundai Santro, Daewoo Matiz and Fiat Uno. It comprised about 50 per cent of the total domestic car market during 2000-01. The company will increase its dealer network to 70 from the present 56 by the time Palio is launched. The company also plans to increase the number of service points from the current 100 to about 150. In the year 2000, Fiat India's overall market share
was 6 per cent, while in the B segment it was 2 per cent. Fiat has so far invested Rs 1,600 crore in investments and an additional $250 million in the Palio project.
Back to News Review index page  

Air-India goes in for capacity expansion 
New Delhi: Air-India is planning to dry lease three more aircraft in an attempt to augment capacity. In addition to the four aircraft and two Boeing 747-300s it recently leased, the national carrier is going for another Airbus 310.

Evaluation is on now, and tenders would be floated after obtaining approval from the airline's board.  The public sector airline is looking at B747-300 Combi aircraft since it is needed for long-haul flights. Besides, this type of aircraft can also carry a nice balance of passengers and cargo, according to Air-India managing director Michael Mascarenhas. Air-India has already leased four A310s to augment its presence and the leased aircraft are supplementing the 23 aircraft owned by the airline. Two A310s, leased from Singapore Airlines, have already joined the Air-India fleet while two more, leased from Gecas, are scheduled to join by next month. AirIndia has deployed these aircraft in
addition to the 23 aircraft owned by it.
Back to News Review index page  
 
Balco staff stir may end soon
Mumbai: There may be good news in the offing for Balco.
Employees of the newly privatised Bharat Aluminium Co
(Balco) have shown interest in joining work at the earliest.
The union leaders in a letter to Sunder Lal Patwa, Union minister of mines, have requested his co-operation in solving the problems of the aggrieved employees saying that, "Our Samiti humbly requests that our problem be solved by arranging a meeting
between he Samiti and a representative of central government in the presence of labour department officials of the Chattisgarh government, to grant us justice to us for which we shall be grateful."  This is apparently after Patwa in one of his letters
to the Samiti, had enquired about the view of the Chattisgarh government and how it wanted to resolve the problem.

In its reply, the Balco Bachao Sanyukta Abhiyan Samiti has clearly stated that the movement is completely non-political and it is totally unaware of the views of the Chattisgarh government and what it wants.  Sources at Balco said, "it appeared that the
employees' unions are tired" of the ongoing imbroglio.

This is probably due to the deteriorating financial position of the employees, as they have to suffer a loss of pay during the strike period.
Back to News Review index page  

UB to consolidate breweries business
Mumbai: The UB group is planning a complete restructuring of its breweries operations, including merging of all the beer companies of the group. The companies likely to be merged with United Breweries include the recently acquired Associated Breweries and Distilleries (ABD), the Gurgaon-based Inertia
Industries, Mangalore Breweries and Millenium Alcobev, the company floated by the group and former Shaw Wallace managing director Ravi Jain.

The group has announced that it would also offer a 26 per cent stake in the beer flagship to a strategic investor. Senior officials in the company said that UB wanted to exit from all its non-breweries operations provided it got the right price.

UB's major investments outside the alcoholic beverage business include a 35 percent stake in both Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers (MCF) and UB Engineering. In the latter it also controls management operations. The company also plans to divest its 10 per cent holdings in Hoechst Marion Roussel and Aventis Crop Science India.

The group has appointed IL&FS and Deloitte Haskins &
Sells as advisors for the revamp exercise.
Back to News Review index page  

United Breweries to launch light beer brands
Mumbai: United Breweries will soon launch niche brands of beer - Light Ice and Kingfisher Sport - in the market to meet the demands of calorie-conscious consumers.

Recently the UB Group president (breweries division) Kalyan Ganguly said, "We are going to unveil two new brands of beer - Light Ice and Kingfisher Sport. Both brands are low in calories and are targeted at consumers in the age group of 20 to 40.
These brands will be priced on par with other beer brands and senior company officials say that this is a mere step to consolidate the company's brand portfolio in the market. As part of brand promotion, the company is sponsoring FC Kochin through beer brand Ice.
Back to News Review index page  

JP Morgan Chase to offer consultancy via wholly owned subsidiary
New Delhi: JP Morgan Chase & Co has proposed setting
up a wholly owned subsidiary in India, which will offer consultancy services to businesses in the country. The proposed new company will undertake financial and management consultancy and provide advise or consultancy services on commercial, financial, investment, management or any non-fund
related business, sources said

The US-based company currently has outfits in Mumbai, which pursue investment banking, and has operations in the debt capital markets. It has also been a primary dealer in government securities to the RBI. The company intends making an initial investment of Rs 2.35 crore in the subsidiary, which will be brought in by JP Morgan Horizon Asia Technology Advisors, LLC, Mauritius, an investment vehicle. JP Morgan has applied to the foreign investment promotion board (FIPB) recently and the board is likely to take up the proposal for consideration at
its next meeting, sources added. JP Morgan is a leading global financial firm that serves business, government, and individual clients through a range of sophisticated advisory, financing,
trading, and investment capabilities. Morgan also commits its own capital and resources to promising enterprises.
Back to News Review index page  

ST exemption on Tata Steel CRM products withdrawn
Jamshedpur: The state sales tax exemption granted to Tata Iron & Steel Company's cold rolling mill (CRM) has been withdrawn by the Jharkhand commissioner of commercial taxes.

On February 22, the commissioner, Mr Amit Khare, stayed the exemption order granted on December 16, 2000; by the joint commissioner of commercial taxes (administration) in Jamshedpur following which Tata Steel challenged the stay order in the Jharkhand High Court. The high court admitted its writ petition and asked the court of the commissioner to conduct hearings and deliver a judgement at an early date. It had also directed the company to seek justice from the court of the commissioner first. After five hearings, the court issued a 37-page judgement Tuesday directing the deputy commissioner of commercial taxes (urban circle), Jamshedpur, to cancel the sales tax exemption
certificate issued to Tata Steel.

A senior Tata Steel spokesperson has said that the company will be pursuing the matter in the high court. In his explanatory judgment, the commissioner of commercial taxes has said that "hot rolled and cold rolled steel products, classified under the same sub-item of Central Sales Tax Act 1956, which are
treated to be the same commodity for the purpose of
levy of tax, cannot be treated to be different commodities for exemption of tax, as the levy of tax and exemption of tax are governed by the same statute."

Referring to a similar Karnataka judgement in Master Strip Pvt Ltd vs deputy commissioner of commercial taxes, commissioner Khare said: "Therefore, the CRM unit of the dealer Tisco cannot qualify for diversification as the nature of the cold and hot rolled steel products being manufactured earlier is essentially the same as far as sales tax is concerned. The dealer company does not qualify for any sales tax exemption."
Back to News Review index page  

Foreign telecom majors may opt out of VSNL race
Mumbai: The disinvestment of VSNL may not be so hotly
contested after all. It is likely that leading foreign telecom players like Concert, the AT&T-British Telecom-promoted venture, MCI WorldCom, Deutsche Telekom, British Telecom and Hutchison Whampoa of Hong Kong will stay away from bidding for the 25 per cent stake in Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL).

Thus, it might be swadeshi all the way with the anticipated 'tough competition' restricted to two of India's largest business houses, the Reliance group and the Tatas, while others like BPL and Bhartis may also be serious bidders. Leading merchant banks in Mumbai vying to get mandates from top international players for the VSNL divestment, say that most of the telecom giants seem
to be disinterested. Their prime fear right now may be the continuous reduction in international voice tariff with some
experts predicting it could even become free in the
long-term.

Besides, with GDR holders having more than 30 per cent
in VSNL, an international bidder cannot hold more than
18 per cent because of the 49 per cent FDI cap in the
telecom sector. As strategic investors will have to use hard currencyfor acquiring the stake in VSNL, many of them are not
keen to bid.

As April 10 is the last date for submitting the expression of interest, the final picture will be known only after a week's time," sources added.
Back to News Review index page