Hyundai plans to set up LCV plant at Pune
Mumbai: Hyundai Motor Corporation of Korea is planning to set up a light commercial vehicle (LCV) manufacturing plant in India and is reported to have chosen Chakan in Pune as the location for the new plant.

Sources said the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation will allot about 700 acres to the Korean company for the new plant which would make one-tonne load carriers targeted against the Tata Ace model. The company may also set up a powertrain (engine and gearbox) plant at Chakan, as part of its indigenisation programme.

Though the details are yet to be known, an auto industry analyst said the investment could be over Rs1,000 crore.

This is the second new automobile plant coming up in the Chakan district. German automaker Volkswagen announced in November 2006, its decision to set up an Rs1,500-crore plant on a 500-acre plot in Chakan.
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Consumer group files PIL against HTIL-Essar
New Delhi: A non-governmental consumer organisation has filed a public interest litigation in the Delhi High Court alleging that Hong Kong-based HTIL misrepresented facts on the Foreign Direct Investment levels in the Indian cellular company.

The Delhi-based consumer group, Telecom Watchdog, said in its petition filed on March 1 that the FDI levels in Hutchison Essar was more than the permissible 74 per cent. The Delhi High Court is scheduled to take up the petition on March 7.

Prashant Bhushan, counsel for Telecom Watchdog said that though Hutchison Telecom claims it has 67 per cent stake in Hutchison Essar to its shareholders in Hong Kong, to the Indian government it says it has only 51 per cent stake.

The shares have been held by HTIL through benami route and this violates the FDI norms of the telecom sector which has a cap of 74 per cent.
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BMW plans to cut prices of locally assembled cars
Mumbai: BMW India is reducing the prices of its locally assembled cars in India- including the 3-series and the 5-series - effective from April 1.

The company will slash prices across the range due to the implications of the Budget, such as fall of peak rate of basic Customs duty from 12.5 per cent to 10 per cent, levy of one per cent as education cess with immediate effect and reduction of Central sales tax (CST) from four per cent to three per cent effective from April 1.
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ONGC to approach Petroleum ministry for KG basin blocks
New Delhi: ONGC has decided to approach the Petroleum Ministry to reconsider its decision to re-offer the three deepwater blocks held by the exploration major in future licensing rounds.
The Ministry's viewpoint is that the exploratory licences have expired or are near expiry for these blocks.

Sources said the company wants to be allowed to pursue to the leads in these three blocks that were allotted to it on nomination basis and is looking at a 20-month extension to probe the leads in these blocks.

In other words, it wants to seek compensation for time lost because of a Government decision to rope in private oil majors with technical expertise for the development of these blocks.
In April 2000, ONGC was given NELP terms to enable it to seek strategic alliances to explore and develop six deep-sea blocks, which includes three blocks in KG Basin - KG-OS-DW, KG-OS-DW-Extn and KG-OS-DW-III.
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Godrej to expand AC portfolio
Chennai: Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Company is planning to launch 25 new models by next month. Of Godrej's total AC sales, 60-65 per cent comes from split ACs and 65 pc of its sales come from Tamil Nadu state.

The company had a market share of four per cent (1 lakh units) of the AC market all India in FY06 and is eyeing 10 per cent (over 2 lakh units) share by 2007-08.

The domestic AC segment has been growing at 20 per cent annually. Split AC units currently comprise about 60 per cent of the market base, at an estimated 20 lakh units. The company has 60 per cent distribution base in the high-end split AC segment compared with the industry average of 48 per cent.

Godrej launched 18 new split AC models with the i-TREC (inverter technology for reduced electricity consumption) technology. The proposed launches will focus on ACs which offer i-SENSE. This is a sensor-based technology which controls temperature in their immediate surroundings through constant exchange of data between the AC inlet and the remote control unit. Back to News Review index page  

Tata Motors to use Chinese radial tyres
Chennai: Tata Motors is likely to roll out its buses and multi-axle trucks with Chinese radial tyres and by importing Chinese tyres duty-free under open general licence against export of automotives. Industry sources said Tata Motors has placed orders for close to five lakh truck-bus tyres (including both radial and cross-ply) for original equipment requirement with its Chinese suppliers. The tyres will come into the country over the next 12 months.

Tata Motors will also import a smaller percentage of Chinese cross-ply tyres.

Industry sources said the imports are unlikely to affect the tyre manufacturers as manufacturers sell tyres to original equipment manufacturers at a loss. Chinese tyres are about 10 per cent lower in the replacement market compared with Indian ones they said.
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