Demerger of telecom licences notified
New Delhi: DoT has finally issued notification on the demerger of different licences for telecom services by the same operator. Cabinet had approved the decision on March 25. A notification to this effect has been issued by DoT and sent to all the telecom operators. This means a company having a licence for cellular services in four different circles or states can now form four separate entities and sell them, a flexibility which was not permitted earlier. The government has also amended the clause relating to time period of five years for sale of equity. Till now no company was allowed to sell stake before the expiry of five years of licence, DoT sources said adding this clause has now been withdrawn. Besides this, the government has said that all unfulfilled obligations like rollout would get transferred to the new licencee. Paving the way for consolidation in telecom industry through merger, de-merger and acquisition, the government has amended cellular and basic service licences clause while putting in place the necessary competitive safeguards.
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iGate of US to buy clinical research firm DiagnoSearch
Mumbai: In a first of its kind deal involving an Indian firm, American IT services company iGate Corporation plans to acquire Mumbai-based DiagnoSearch, a clinical research organisation (CRO). DiagnoSearch conducts human trials of experimental new drugs for pharmaceutical companies. The two recently signed a binding agreement though its execution is subject to government approvals. The $300-m, Pittsburgh-based, iGate, promoted by India-born entrepreneurs Sunil Wadhwani and Ashok Trivedi, currently has a global IT solutions business including development centres in Bangalore and is now expanding into offshore clinical research outsourcing. Clinical research is the process of conducting trials of completely new drugs on a sample population to determine their safety and efficacy. According to one estimate, drugmakers invest over $30bn in clinical research and development, of which 40 per cent is outsourced to CROs. These CROs manage the trials process, which includes identifying hospitals and doctors, who will conduct these trials, monitoring the process to make sure it meets legal and ethical guidelines, and managing the data that is generated.
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Orchid plans to file 12 ANDAs in US
New Delhi: The Chennai-based Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals is looking at filing 12 abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this year. It also expects its top-line to grow 40 per cent this year on the back of higher exports with the launch of six new products in overseas markets. Orchid deputy managing director Dr CB Rao said, “The names of the products to be launched are still under wraps. But these would be in the anti-biotics segment as well as a few cephalosporins. These would all be launched in the overseas markets only which get us a better price realisation. These are niche products with a negligible domestic market.” The company also expects its oral and sterile cephalosporin formulations plant at Irrungattukottai near Chennai to be commissioned within two months. “Once this facility is operational, we can start filing applications with FDA. We are looking at a total of 12 ANDAs and data master file (DMF) applications this year,” added Dr Rao.
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Tata Steel to float 100 per cent subsidiary for non-core activities
Jamshedpur: Tata Steel has decided to float a fully-owned subsidiary which would gradually take over its non-core activities in a phased manner. Christened Jamshedpur Utility & Services Ltd (Jusco), the company, with a nominal share capital, is expected to offer its quality services more economically. “All services-related activities will be put in the new company,” Tata Steel managing director B Muthuraman told newspersons here on Thursday evening. He said “the new company would be formed in the next two to three months”. Initially services like gardening, cleaning, etc, are to be put under Jusco, which will gradually take over “lots of other services which form non-core activities of Tisco today”.
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Malladi to conduct enzyme trials to dissolve blood clots
Chennai: The Chennai-based Malladi Drugs & Pharmaceuticals is in the process of seeking permission for clinical trials in the country for an enzyme that dissolves blood clots. "We intend to do full-fledged clinical trials in India, but are simultaneously open to out-licensing," said V.N. Gopalakrishnan, executive director (Technical), Malladi. Generally, Indian companies out-license new drugs discovered to overseas entities for clinical trials (conducted on humans in controlled conditions) because the associated cost could run to a few hundred million dollars. In this context, M. Prashant, mananging director & CEO, indicated that domestic clinical trials were also aimed at strengthening the company's negotiating position for out-licensing. The enzyme, a thrombolytic agent, is the first new drug developed by Malladi. Company officials said that the enzyme was first discovered by the Central Government's Vector Control Research Centre (VCRC), Pondicherry, during a research project on bio-pesticides. VCRC filed successfully for a patent in the US in 1993.
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IOC declares 1:2 bonus
New Delhi: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has declared a 1:2 bonus to its shareholders. The board of IOC, which met on Friday, recommended to give one share as bonus to holders of two equity share. A final nod will be given by the shareholders at the company’s extraordinary general meeting (EGM) scheduled fror June 14. IOC had earlier, during January 2003, also declared an interim dividend of 50 per cent. The government holds 82.03 per cent stake in IOC while the public float is limited to 3.70 per cent. Post bonus, the company’s equity capital will expand to Rs 1,168 crore from the present Rs 778.67 crore, thereby improving the debt-equity ratio and giving the country’s largest refiner more room to borrow funds. State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) holds 9.11 per cent stake in IOC, while mutual funds and UTI hold 4.42 per cent.
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Nicholas Piramal to pump in Rs 4 crore to expand CRO
Mumbai: Nicholas Piramal India (NPIL) is expanding the capacity of its contract research organisation (CRO), WellQuest, with a capital investment of Rs 4-5 crore during the current fiscal. The expansion will double its present capacity to 60 beds and the capital investment to be made in the CRO will be in the area of high technology equipment, NPIL director (strategic alliances & communications) Dr Swati Piramal said.“The committment to highest quality standards and excellence in clinical services has seen Wellquest grow from a startup to a fully functional CRO,” Dr Piramal said. The number of scientists too are growing from the current strength of 30 to 45 in the next fiscal year and will be further increased as the Centre takes on more studies, Dr Piramal added.

WellQuest had performed around 45 studies with Indian and international clients and has reported revenues of roughly Rs 5 crore in the just concluded year. It has also achieved its breakeven. CROs being a service segment, revenues are billed on man-hour consumption basis, sources said.According to analysts, revenues from CRO are picking up in India. However, the laws in India do not create a comfort level for multinational companies to allot their clinical trials assignment to Indian companies.
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GM India rolls out Chevrolet Optra
New Delhi: General Motors rolled out its new car - - the Chevrolet Optra - - at its plant in Halol on Friday. The Optra sedan is being positioned in the upper-C segment, alongside cars such as the Toyota Corolla and Skoda Octavia. The car is being imported in completely-knocked-down (CKD) units format from GM-DAT, based in Korea. Though not disclosing the pricing of the car, Vinay Dixit, vice-president - marketing, sales & aftersales, said it would be priced competitively in the segment. The Optra, which had an engine capacity of 1.8 litre, would be rolled out in the domestic market towards the end of the current month.
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SABMiller files caveats in Mumbai High Court
Bangalore: Barely a fortnight after acquiring the management control of Shaw Wallace Breweries, SABMiller has moved the Mumbai High Court with caveats to block any ex-parte ruling in case of a legal action against the deal by Bhavika Godhwani, estranged scion of the Manu Chhabria estate, and the Vijay Mallya-managed UB group companies. Confirming the development, Richard Rushton, managing director of SABMiller India Ltd, said it was intended "to protect the company's interests". SABMiller's subsidiary Mysore Breweries filed the caveats through solicitors, Amarchand Mangaldas. The caveat served on the UB group covers companies such as United Breweries Ltd, McDowell & Co Ltd, Herbertsons Ltd and Millennium Alcobev Ltd. This comes in the midst of apprehension that there could be a legal spat against the deal made between SABMiller India and Shaw Wallace & Co (SWC) from either Bhavika Godhwani or the UB group.
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Toonz films bag top honours at US animation festival
Thiruvanathapuram: Toonz Animation India has made a clean sweep of the top honours in the student-directed category at the prestigious second Kalamazoo Animation Festival International (KAFI) held from May 16-18 at Kalamazoo in the US. Cute Bunny, written and directed by Manasa Rao and currently making waves in the animation world won the gold at the fete. 123 Math Toon, written and directed by Akhilesh Anandh bagged the silver and The Flame Who Loved To Dance written and directed by Ujwal Nair picked up the bronze. Penguins to the Zoo written and directed by Arun V. walked away with the Honour's Award. Toonz had entered six films at the festival in the Student-Director category. All the films were the outcome of the Children's Animation Workshop 2002, organised by Toonz during the summer vacation of 2002.
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MRPL issues 21.96 lakh shares to IDBI
Mumbai: Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) on Friday informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that its board of directors had allotted 21.96 lakh equity shares of Rs 10 each on preferential basis to Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI), as part of the company's debt restructuring package. The decision was taken at the board meeting held on June 3, the company said. The share allotment is a part of the debt restructuring commitment made by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation after it bought 37.38 per cent stake in MRPL from the AV Birla Group, last year. MRPL became a subsidiary of ONGC after it took over management control in the company. ONGC had already loaned Rs 450 crore to MRPL as working capital loan on March 31, 2003 to help MRPL clear its dues to the financial institutions, banks, IOC and HPCL. ONGC also subscribed 60 crore equity shares of Rs 10 each on March 30, 2003 and thereby increased its share holding to around 52 per cent.
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Tube Investments Noida plant begins operation
Chennai: Tube Investments of India Ltd's new cycles plant at Noida "commenced operations on Wednesday," M.A. Alagappan, chairman of the company, said. The plant can produce nine lakh cycles a year, and the total capacity with the company increases to 45 lakh cycles a year. The Noida plant was set up with an investment of about Rs 20 crore. The idea was to keep a manufacturing base close to the markets, so that logistics costs could be avoided. Also, the components for the plant come from nearby Ludhiana. With this plant, TI has three units, at Chennai, Nashik and Noida. From current year, the company expects to start exports of cycles, initially to the SAARC countries. TI had been exporting to Europe a few years ago, but with the countries bringing in some non-tariff barriers, the markets dried up. But that was also the time when TI was restructuring its manufacturing set up — putting up production centres closer to the market and vendors
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L&T bags $103-m Lafarge order
Mumbai: The French multinational Lafarge S.A has chosen Larsen and Toubro, its competitor in the cement business in India, as its EPC contractor for building a 1.2 million tonnes per annum cement plant in Bangladesh. For L&T, the order valued at $103 million ( Rs 484 crore), is one of the largest overseas contracts it has received in the recent past. The Indian company has been selected through global bidding process, said an L&T official. The cement plant in Bangladesh is being built for Lafarge Surma Cement, a 50:50 joint venture between Lafarge and Cemnetos Molins of Spain. The plant is scheduled to be completed within 30 months.

This is the second order L&T has received from the Lafarge group. Earlier, the company had received a contract valued at $23 million (over Rs 100 crore) from Lafarge Surma Cement for the construction of a 17-km-long cross-national belt conveyor
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Natco Pharma launches anti-cancer drug
Hyderabad: Natco Pharma Ltd (NPL), the Hyderabad-based company, has launched an anti-cancer drug, zoledronic acid, in the injection form, under the brand name Zoldonat. In a press release here, the company said that it had become the second in the world to launch zoledronic acid, after Novartis, the patent holder. This is also the second anti-cancer drug from the Natco stable, the first one being Veenat, used in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia, launched during January this year. According to the company, which is in the process of wiping out accumulated losses, zoledronic acid is used in the treatment of bone metastases. It has potent anti-tumour activity. It can also be used for patients with advanced cancer of myeloma, breast, prostate, thyroid, bladder, lung, renal and melanoma.
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Visa Industries to set up seven greenfield projects
Kolkata: The city-based Visa Industries Ltd proposes to invest a little over Rs 1,000 crore in Chhattisgarh, specifically in seven greenfield projects. A memorandum of understanding in this regard has been signed between the company and Chhattisgarh State Industrial Development Corporation (CSIDC). Of the seven identified projects, five will be set up at Raigarh to create manufacturing facilities for coal based sponge iron, steel, ferro chrome with captive power plant. A captive coal mine with washery will be developed to meet the requirement of coal. The remaining two projects — coal washery and a thermal power plant — will be taken up at Korba.
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Lalbhais to take Mauritius route for apparel exports — Arvind Mills setting up jt venture co
New Delhi: The Lalbhais have decided to take the Mauritius route for undertaking export and import of readymade apparels. The group flagship — Arvind Mills Ltd — is in the process of setting up a joint venture company with the Mauritius-based Ganesha Ltd, an overseas corporate body (OCB), for this purpose in which both the partners will hold a 50 per cent stake. According to Government sources, Arvind Mills has chalked out a plan for the joint venture. The joint venture will undertake manufacturing and toll manufacturing of all types of textile garments and clothing accessories and have committed an annual export turnover of $5 million to the Government while seeking permission from it to adopt the Mauritius route for the new joint venture company.
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