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Enron sells
Mumbai IDC to Reliance Infocom
Mumbai:
Enron India has sold its city-based internet data centre to
Reliance Infocom for an undisclosed amount.
This was Enron's only broadband initiative in the country.
The IDC, located in Mumbai's midtown area of Parel, was owned by
Enron India's wholly-owned subsidiary Broadband Solutions Private
Ltd and was formed to carry out the energy major's relinquished
plans to develop a broadband-based national internet backbone.
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Coke
breaks even for first time in 2001
Kolkata:
Coca-Cola is eyeing double digit growth this year from Indian
operations after it broke even in 2001 and posted net profit.
The breakeven assumes significance since the company is slated to
go public by August this year.
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Tisco
planning to diversify
Kolkata:
Tisco islooking into possibilities of entering into other
businesses to beat the slowdown in the steel industry, according
to managing director B Muthuraman.
"World over the steel industry is unable to return the cost
on capital employed and as such we have to think about other
businesses to create shareholders value, but the evaluation is not
yet complete," he told newsmen here.
He said that Tisco has chalked out a strategy 'Winning in a
Downturn' to create shareholders value by next four years
(2003-06).
The greater part of the strategy evolved around introducing
superior product mix by producing more of HR, CR and Galvanised
Sheet,laying stress on market mix, increasing volume, containing
cost and improving economic value addition.
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HCL
to launch Net phones
New Delhi:
HCL Infosystems is testing the quality of voice over Internet
protocol phones and is expected to market them through its retail
channel. The phones will be imported from Taiwan and branded as
HCL.
The phones will be in the price range of Rs 2,000 - 2,500.
Though telecom equipment vendors like Cisco and Ericsson, among
others, also manufacture VoIP phones, they are priced higher at Rs
12,000-16,000.
For a two-way voice connection to work, a bandwidth of 24 kbps
(kilo bytes per second) is essential. ISPs had to ensure that a
minimum bandwidth of 24 kbps was available to subscribers for
proper voice quality.
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Suzuki
to invest Rs 200 cr in 2-wheeler project
New Delhi: Suzuki
Motor Corporation plans to invest Rs 200 crore in its two-wheeler
project in India.
Suzuki has set up a
wholly-owned subsidiary in India following break-up of its joint
venture with TVS group.
Suzuki has already set up
an office in the capital to do the initial groundwork for a
motorcycle project. It is expected to launch its motorcycles in
the Indian market by 2004.
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Bal
pharma launches new drug
Bangalore: The
Servetus division of Bangalore-based Bal pharma has launched a
cholesterol cure product, Simvofix.
The product, launched in
the four southern states in March 2002, has touched sales of Rs 20
lakh within the first month of its launch itself.
The product will be
launched in the western states shortly.
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Aurobindo
buys Ranit Pharma
Hyderabad:
Aurobindo Pharma Ltd has acquired Ranit Pharma Ltd for a
consideration of Rs 10 crore.
APL board approved a
proposal to acquire 68.97 lakh equity shares of Rs 10 each of RPL,
comprising 79.37 per cent of equity at a cost of Rs 14.5 per
share.
As a result of this
acquisition, RPL would become the subsidiary of Aurobindo with
effect from 4 April.
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Tata
Teleservices to invest Rs 100 cr in Hubli centre
Bangalore:
Tata Teleservices Ltd is setting up a communications centre at
Hubli as part of its roll out of basic telephony services in
Karnataka.
The company plans to
invest about Rs 100 crore in the next three to five years in the
Hubli centre.
The Hubli centre would be
housing the telecom infrastructure equipment and would cater to
the company's operations in North Karnataka..
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Centurion
to place 26% equity
Kolkata:
Centurion Bank is aiming to place 26.23 per cent of its equity in
tranches of 13 per cent each. Each tranche is expected to be
picked up by BankMuscat and the American Insurance Group (AIG).
While AIG is a valued investor, it is more interested in growth of
its investment in Centurion Bank rather than management control.
In contrast, Bank Muscat is keen on expanding its retail
operations in India as well as a controlling stake.
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HSBC
to add 2,700 jobs in India, China
Hong Kong:
HSBC Holdings Plc is hiring 2,700 more people in China and India
in 2002.
HSBC is shifting its back-office operations away from expensive
places such as Hong Kong, where it owns two of the city's leading
banks, to lower-cost economies such as mainland China and India.
In Hong Kong, HSBC laid off 70 staff last December following the
dismissal of 12 people in its investment banking and markets
operation in November.
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RIL
revives EDC project
Ahmedabad:
Reliance Industries is reconsidering its plans to go in for a
local manufacturing facility for ethylene di-chloride.
The EDC project, with an investment of around Rs 500 crore, would
be set up in a joint venture with Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals (GACL).
The project, conceived earlier, was shelved due to wide variations
in EDC prices world-wide.
EDC prices, which were at $180 per tonne almost two months ago has
now touched $320 per tonne in the global market owing to drastic
cut in chlorine and caustic soda production in the global market.
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ABB
shifts to Bangalore
Mumbai:
ABB India has shifted its corporate headquarters to Bangalore from
Delhi.
The shift to Bangalore was expected as all the four major
divisions of the company were already housed there.
In addition, Bangalore also houses ABBs centre for research and
development activity. The total number of people working there are
700.
The companys other major centres include Baroda, Nasik and
Faridabad.
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Aurobindo Pharma
to buy group firm
Mumbai:
Aurobindo Pharma has reached an agreement to acquire a 79.37 per
cent stake in unlisted group firm Ranit Pharma for Rs 10 crore.
Aurobindo, based in Hyderabad, is a large producer of bulk drugs,
or the ingredients that go into ready-to-take medicines.
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Enfield
to manufacture auto parts
New Delhi:
Royal Enfield is looking at auto component manufacturing to keep
its Jaipur factory engaged.
The Jaipur factory, which constituted about 25 per cent of
production in 00-01, is doing insignificant volumes currently.
The factory has a capacity to make 13,000 bikes a year, but the
companys Chennai unit, with a capacity for 30,000 bikes, is
already underutilised.
Royal Enfield has reduced the number of non-permanent workforce at
Jaipur and some of the surplus permanent staff there have been
redeployed to the various businesses of the Eicher group.
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AV
Birla buys into Nalco
Mumbai:
The AV Birla group has acquired close to a 4 per cent stake in the
government-owned Nalco. The group has exercised the transaction
through its different investment companies by acquiring shares
from the open market. The paid-up capital of Nalco is Rs 644 crore.
AV Birla group has acquired two crore shares at an average price
of around Rs 65. While the government owns an 87 per cent stake, 4
per cent is held by public and the remaining is with foreign and
domestic FIs.
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LIC
eyes overseas expansion
Mumbai:
Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) is all set to embark on an
ambitious overseas expansion. During the current fiscal, LIC plans
to enter into developed markets such as Canada, Australia, New
Zealand as well as Egypt and Botswana.
LIC is close to signing
deals with its partners to restructure operations in UK as well as
for launching its operations in USA by opening branches in New
York and California. LIC is also reviving its operation in Sri
Lanka, opening an office in the Sultanate of Oman and opening an
offshore centre in Mauritius.
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Hudco
pots Rs 373-cr profit
New Delhi: Housing
and Urban Development Corporation (Hudco) has sanctioned an amount
of Rs 8140 crore and disbursed an amount of Rs 4652 crore during
2001-02.
As per the unaudited
results announced by the corporation, its gross profit is
estimated to be Rs 373.21 crore. After interest non-recognition
and part provisioning in respect of the government guaranteed
loans, the profit before tax stood at Rs 124.91 crore and profit
after tax is estimated at Rs 86.91 crore.
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HLL
withdraws 2 low-end products
Mumbai:
Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) has withdrawn two low-priced Kwality
Walls products Jaljeera Blast and Max Rose.
The phasing out of the
two water-based ice-candy variants was in the light of the
company's move to introduce new flavour offerings such as Super
Cornetto, Black Currant, Viennetta, Strawberry Riviera and Feast
Gold Bar in the current season.
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I-flex
to set up new centres
New Delhi:
I-flex Solutions Ltd will invest Rs 170.61 crore in establishing
new development centres in Bangalore and Mumbai from the proceeds
of its forthcoming initial public offer.
The company has four
development centres in Bangalore, housing nearly 1,000 people. It
now plans to create a consolidated facility in Bangalore.
A similar consolidated
facility would also come up in Mumbai. I-flex also has development
centres in Chennai and Pune. The company proposes to invest Rs 50
crore to strengthen its marketing activities by beefing up
subsidiaries in the Netherlands, the US and Singapore and setting
up offices in Latin America, Europe, West Asia and the
Asia-Pacific.
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Tata Steel
not to invest in telecom
Kolkata:
Tata Steel has decided not to invest in the groups telecom
venture and is exploring other non-steel avenues for business.
B Muthuraman, managing
director, said, "Tata Steel has decided not to invest in
telecom and we are exploring other business. In fact, it makes
little sense to look for new businesses in which Tata companies
are already operating".
Though, Tata Steel holds
5 per cent of the issued share capital of Panatone Finvest which
acquired 25 per cent in VSNL, the company spokesperson clarified
that this is not for business purpose but, a mere parking of
funds.
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Bausch
& Lomb to enter pharma sector
New Delhi:
Bausch & Lomb Eyecare is planning to enter manufacture of
pharmaceutical preparations, including allopathic preparations.
The company already has a wholly-owned subsidiary for
manufacturing, marketing and sale of soft contact lenses, contact
lens care solutions, deproteinising tablets and other products
related to surgical, medical and advanced technology eyecare
products.
Providing specialist services to doctors, surgeons, hospitals for
selection of high technology imported products is also a
specialised activity for the company.
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ICICI
Info to launch enterprise solutions
Hyderabad:
ICICI Infotech Services Ltd has decided to focus on the growing
enterprise solutions (ES) market, with a special thrust on small
and medium enterprise (SME) segment.
While 791 firms in the
country by the end of 2001 had ES in place, almost 60 per cent of
them belonged to the SME segment.
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Samsung
launches new frost-free refrigerators
New Delhi:
Samsung India Electronics has announced the launch of five new
models in the frost-free refrigerator category and three new
models in the top-loading fully automatic washing machines
segment.
The new frost-free
refrigerators are priced in the range of Rs 37,000 and Rs 93,000.
With the introduction of these new models, Samsung now has a range
of 11 frost-free models in its line-up, priced in the range of Rs
17,500-Rs 1,16,500.
Samsung has also boosted
its presence in the washing machines segment by launching three
new fully automatic machines, with 5.5 kg capacity in the Indian
market.
Priced between Rs 16,500
and Rs 17,500, the new models have been customised to Indian
requirements by being equipped with a new memory back-up feature.
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Aditya
Birla to buy unit in China
Mumbai:
The Aditya Birla Group is in talks to acquire a carbon black unit
in China as part of its plan to expand capacity from 375,000
tonnes to 400,000 tonnes.
The groups Egypt based carbon black joint venture Alexandria
Carbon Black is spearheading the acquisition plan.
Apart from China, the group is also looking at acquiring a unit in
the East Europe.
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Bajaj
plans entry-level bike
Mumbai:
Bajaj Auto has finalised plans to introduce its second
indigenously developed bike targeted at the urban youth.
The new bike, which like the Pulsar, has been developed by the
company on its own, would be positioned at the entry level and
priced at around the same level as the Boxer. The 100 cc bike is
expected to be launched in September.
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