Vodafone starts due diligence of Hutch
Mumbai: Vodafone has begun due diligence work at Hutch-Essar and would take a week to 10 days to complete the process.

RCom is said to have not been allowed access to Hutch-Essar's books.

Essar has also indicated its interest buying out Hutch's 67-per cent stake in the joint venture.

There were also no clear indications of whether the Malaysia-based Maxis Communications is still in the race for Hutch-Essar or not. Another contender for Hutch-Essar is the Hinduja Group, which made public its interest last week.
Back to News Review index page  

Nagarjuna Construction gets two new orders
Hyderabad: Nagarjuna Construction Company has announced that it has secured two new orders amounting to Rs260 crore.

The first order is from Maharashtra Airport Development Company, Mumbai, for designing, providing and constructing water supply and underground sewerage system at Nagpur valued at Rs202 crore.

The second order was from GESCOM, Gulbarga District of Karnataka for rural electrification works on turnkey basis under the Rajeev Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana scheme valued at Rs58 crore, a company release said.
Back to News Review index page  

BHEL gets Rs 380-crore contract
New Delhi: Bharat Heavy Electricals has secured a turnkey contract worth nearly Rs380 crore from Punjab State Electricity Board. The contract authorises BHEL to renovate, modernise and upgrade two thermal generation units of Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant, situated in Bhatinda, a BHEL release said.

The thermal units are 110 MW each and BHEL would be upgrading them to 120 MW capacity which will lead to increased availability and generation, besides life extension of the units by over 15 years. The company hopes to finish work on the two units in the next two years and six months.
Back to News Review index page  

United Spirits not to raise offer price for Whyte & Mackay
Bangalore: United Spirits does not plan raise its offer price for acquiring Scottish company Whyte & Mackay. Officials from both the companies are scheduled to meet to finalise the deal soon.

United Spirits, part of the UB group, had given an unsolicited offer of around $475 million for Whyte & Mackay though the asking price was around $600 million said market sources. Top executives from both the companies are expected to meet on January 15 to finalise the deal.

The deal is for 100-per cent buyout of the company and all its brands, including Isle of Jura and Dalmore single malt whiskies, Vladivar Vodka and Glayva liqueur. Whyte & Mackay has nine per cent share of the global whisky market and sells more than 50 per cent of the volumes as private label Scotch.
Back to News Review index page  

Jindal Steel's Bolivian plan may be delayed
New Delhi: Jindal Steel & Power's plans to acquire the El Mutun iron ore mines in Bolivia, are stuck because the company has not been able to finalise the details of the contract with the Bolivian government till now.

In June the company had announced that the contract was expected to be signed in July. The company had also announced that it would be going in for foreign currency bonds and floating a subsidiary in the South American country to carry out the operations there.

The El Mutun mine is said to be the world's single largest iron ore mine containing probable reserves of 40-billion tonnes. Jindal Steel had obtained mining rights for half of it through global bidding.

The company's plans had faced several uncertainties due to the policy changes as the Bolivian government nationalised the petrol and gas sector.

Jindal Steel's Bolivian plans include setting up a 1.7 million tonnes integrated steel plant for long products. It will also set up a six million tonnes per annum sponge iron plant and a pellet plant with 10 million tonnes annual capacity. It also intends to set up supporting infrastructure, including a 400 MW power plant.
Back to News Review index page  

OVL may enter into JV with Venezuelan company
New Delhi: ONGC Videsh, the overseas investment arm of ONGC engaged in exploration and production (E&P) of oil and gas outside India, is optimistic of signing a joint venture agreement with PDVSA, the national oil company of Venezuela, soon.

Subsequently, a joint working group will be formed to examine possible business opportunities. An OVL team is already in Venezuela, working out the details of the joint venture. A steering committee meeting of the two entities is expected to take place in India next week.

There are also indications that OVL may join hands with other international oil and gas companies to tap exploration opportunities in Venezuela.

OVL has been offered 30 per cent participating interest in San Cristobal oil block in Venezuela. The oil field is expected to produce 100,000 barrels of oil per day.
Back to News Review index page  

GM to launch SRV variants
Mumbai: General Motors (GM) India plans to offer Chevrolet SRV variants. The sports luxury model will soon be available in a two-litre TCDi diesel engine variant a special limited edition model of the current 1.6-litre petrol SRV variant.

Introduction of the diesel model would be on the lines of the recent global launch of the model (known as the Daewoo Lacetti 5-door TCDi in UK) at the Bologna Motor Show 2006.

It would be the company's (Chevrolet) first-ever diesel engine car for the UK market and will be launched simultaneously with the Optra (Daewoo Lacetti station wagon in the UK) station wagon model having the same diesel engine.

GM India also plans to introduce the Optra (Daewoo Lacetti sedan) diesel variant this year.

They all share the same two-litre TCDi diesel engine.

In addition to the diesel model, the company is set to launch a special limited edition of the SRV in March 2007.

GM India would introduce 150 units of this model, said senior officials.

Designers were asked to come up with their editions of the SRV. Some of the entries at the Lakme Fashion Show held November last year included James Ferriera, Nandita Mahtani, Sabyasachi and Wendel Rodrigues.
Back to News Review index page  

Essar may set up $2-billion refinery in Iran
New Delhi: The Essar Group is in discussions state-run National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) to set up a 300,000 barrels per day refinery at Bandar Abbas the oil-rich country's southern region.

Iran has begun an $18 billion expansion of oil refining capacity to meet its rapidly growing domestic fuel requirement.

Essar, which plans to process Iran's heavy crude at the proposed refinery, wants a minimum 51 pc stake in the project, and discussions currently are focused on the shareholding.
Back to News Review index page  

Honda plans Rs2,000-crore second plant in Rajasthan
New Delhi: Japanese automaker Honda, along with its ancillaries, will invest about Rs2,000 crore in Rajasthan for a second car plant in India, according to an official source. The source said an official announcement of Honda's investment plans in Rajasthan could be made over the next few days. Honda, which primarily manufactures mid-sized cars in India through a joint venture Honda Siel Car India (HSCI), currently has a plant at Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh.

The company has already indicated it will go for compact cars from the new plant.
Back to News Review index page  

Ranbaxy to bid for $2.3-billion Merck arm
New Delhi: Indian biggest pharma company Ranbaxy Laboratories is eyeing German multinational Merck KGaA's $2.3-billion generic drug business and a deal will make the company the third largest generic drug manufacturer in the world, with combined sales of $4 billion.

Ranbaxy is open to partnering private equity investors for raising the required money.

The German company announced last week that it was considering the sale of its generics division (Merck Generics) to raise resources for the acquisition of Swiss drug-maker Serono. With Merck insisting that it had not begun concrete talks with any potential bidder, Ranbaxy may enter the race at an early stage.

Merck Generics has sales in more than 90 countries and accounts for the third largest generics business in the world.
Back to News Review index page