EID Parry ties up with Cargill to set up sugar refinery in AP
Chennai: Murugappa group company EID Parry (India) and US company Cargill International are planning to set up a port-based sugar refinery in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, with an investment of Rs325 crore. The refinery has been set up mainly for the the export market.

A. Vellayan, vice-chairman, EID Parry, said the refinery would be an independent entity in which EID Parry would hold a 51 per cent stake and Cargill 49 per cent. The facility would be an export-oriented unit and located in a Special Economic Zone, would start operations by December 2007 with an initial capacity of 6,00,000 tonnes a year. Later this would be expanded to a million tonnes. The facility would be the largest of its kind in South Asia, a major market it hopes to tap. It would import raw sugar from markets such as Brazil, South Africa and Thailand.

Parrys Sugars Refineries will be the vehicle for the joint venture, which will receive over Rs72.5 crore as initial equity from EID Parry. Cargill International is a global sugar trader while EID Parry is a leader in sugar milling, converting raw sugar to white sugar and port-based operations.
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iGate acquires 5 per cent stake in Loan Pro
Bangalore: iGate Global Solutions has acquired a five per cent equity stake in Loan Pro, a US-based mortgage origination services firm for an undisclosed sum. iGate expects to enhance the stake further to 60 per cent by July 1, 2006.

Officials said the deal is strategic as it will strengthen iGate's offerings in the mortgage services space. iGate would take over LP's proprietary technology platform and transition it to India. Loan Pro focuses on the mid-market mortgage segment and operates on a shared services model using its platform.
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Volvo considers setting up manufacturing base in India
Bangalore: Volvo India is considering setting up a manufacturing base for some of its construction equipment in India if it can be assured of getting good volumes.

Company officials said Volvo will take a decision on setting up a manufacturing base in India within the next five years. They said to set up a base at least one of the products should sell 150 units per year.

The company registered revenues of around Rs450 crore during 2005 nearly 90 per cent more than 2004.
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Hutch-Orascom deal in rough weather
New Delhi: The deal between Hutch and Egyptian company Orascom according to which the latter was due to pick up a 10 per cent stake in the Indian cellular firm Hutchison Essar, has run into a road block. The Ministry of Company Affairs has taken a view that the Indian promoter in the joint venture should be consulted before the agreement is formalised between the two international companies.

The Ministry has also said that necessary screening of the investor and approvals as per the guidelines of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) will have to be taken.

The Ministry has requested the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion to issue clarification as deemed appropriate.

The equity sale by Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom International Ltd (HTIL) to Egypt's Orascom had got the latter a 10 per cent stake in the Indian mobile operating company Hutchison Essar, in which the Ruias promoted Essar Group is the largest shareholder with 33 per cent stake. Hutchison Whampoa holds 26.5 per cent stake while Analjit Singh and Telecom Investments India (TII) recently acquired 8.3 per cent in the cellular company. The Hinduja Group holds 5.1 per cent and public holding through HTIL accounts for 16.4 per cent.
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Aurobindo receives tentative approval from USFDA
Hyderabad: Aurobindo Pharma (APL) has obtained tentative approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for its Simvastatin tablets 5 mg, 10 mg, 20 mg, 40 mg and 80 mg. The drug is indicated for the treatment of high cholesterol. Zocor, Merck's brand name for Simvastatin, is the second largest brand in the US with over $5-billion annual sales and is one of the fast growing brands.

Simvastatin tablets are going off patent on June 23.

Aurobindo manufactures both active pharmaceutical ingredient and finished formulations for Simvastatin tablets USP 5 mg, 10 mg, 20 mg, 40 mg and 80 mg.
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Ford looks at 50 pc rise in sales
New Delhi: Ford India is targeting a 50 per cent increase in sales this year to 60,000 units on the back of its popular model Fiesta.

The company sold around 40,000 units in 2005, comprised mostly of the Ikon. The company expects to sell around 1,000 units of the Ikon a month in the current fiscal. Ford has phased out the 1.6 litre variant of the Ikon, and the model is now only available in the 1.3 litre variant.
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TCS to expand operations in Hyderabad
Hyderabad: Tata Consultancy Services is expanding its presence in Hyderabad and has announced plans to increase its headcount from about 4,200 to 10,000 by 2010.

The chief executive officer of TCS, S. Ramadorai, at the foundation laying function of its Synergy Park, said this park symbolises the collaboration of TCS and CMC in delivering IT solutions to customers. He said there was no plan to merge CMC with TCS. They would function as separate entities, but synergise strengths when required in new areas of business, he told newspersons. He added that during fiscal 2006-07, TCS planned to recruit about 30,000 people (4,000 abroad). A significant number of them would be in new centres, which could be Indore, Chandigarh, Bhubaneswaretc.
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Wipro begins operations at new tech campus
Hyderabad: Wipro Technologies has begun operations at its new technology campus near Hyderabad and has laid the foundation stone for another facility here. The construction of the project at Gopannapally on a 100-acre site is expected to commence by May 2006 and would be ready in about 18 months. The site will have a capacity to host about 5,000 people and train around 1,200 people. Wipro already employs more than 6,000 people in the city.

Wipro's campus at Manikonda is spread over a 30-acre site and hosts a learning centre, and has the capability to host over 3,000 employees of the overall 6,000 employed in Hyderabad.

Wipro achieved Rs1,200 crore in exports from Hyderabad in 2005-2006.
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Geometric Soft Q4 net up
Pune: Geometric Software Solutions' consolidated total revenues for the year ended March 31, 2006 increased by 33 per cent to Rs230.26 crore against Rs173.30 crore the previous year. The company's consolidated operating revenues grew by 28 per cent to Rs63.91 crore for the quarter ended March 31 (Rs49.90 crore). The consolidated net profit for the quarter rose by 32 per cent to Rs10.67 crore (Rs8.09 crore), the release said.

The company's board has passed a resolution to issue 3.86 million equity shares at Rs117.66 (face value Rs2 each per share) to funds managed by ICICI Venture Funds Management Ltd. With this placement, ICICI Ventures will hold a 6.38per cent in the expanded share capital of the company.

The company says it would utilise the Rs45.5 crore raised to fund its inorganic growth plans through acquisitions.
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TataSky gears up for DTH launch
Mumbai: As the launch date in mid June comes closer the Tata-Star TV direct-to-home (DTH) venture, TataSky, is planning a activities to educate masses about the benefits of DTH, but also to make it a sought-after one. The company is targeting to reach at least a million homes within the first year of launch.

Company officials said though TataSky's pricing would be at a slight premium to that of the cable operators, it would ensure that the subscription pricing would be competitive. "Our service would be mass and not premium. Since this is an evolving industry, our final pricing and content will be decided and announced closer to launch time," they said.

The venture plans to establish an extensive service network across the country, which will directly take the responsibility of installing the hardware at the subscriber's home and servicing it. For this, the company plans to engage a strong field force, which will be complemented by customer service representatives trained to solve all customer problems.
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Force Motors in pact with German firm
Hannover: Pune based Force Motors, earlier known as Bajaj Tempo, has entered into a joint venture with Germany's commercial vehicle company Neoman Bus Group for manufacturing next-generation luxury buses and low-floor city buses. The initial investment in the venture is estimated at Euro 100 million (Rs530 crore), according to Force Motors chairman and managing director Abhay Firodia.

Force Motors will hold 70 per cent in the JV with Neoman owing the rest. The JV, for which a name is yet to be finalised, aims to produce 4,000 buses a year, each costing Rs40 lakh. The deal was signed today by Firodia and MAN Nutzfahrzeuge CEO Anton Weinmann.

Firodia said the JV would export the vehicles to Asian and African countries. The two companies had earlier established a separate joint venture — Man-Force Trucks Ltd — for manufacturing heavy trucks at Pune. That plant will start production next week and aims to churn out 24,000 vehicles a year.
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Dell inaugurates community computer centre
Hyderabad: Dell Corporation has opened a Dell computer centre here as part of its community reach programme.

Inagurated by Romi Malhotra, managing director, Dell International Services, the center was inaugurated at the HOPE Foundation facility here. Funded by the Dell Foundation, the centre is equipped with 30 Dell desktop computers, and will impart computer education to under-served students of the twin cities. Dell, the $56-billion technology major, works on community outreach initiatives under h.u.g that stands for `Helping U Grow.'
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