Kinetic objects to Honda plan for scooters
New Delhi: The Kinetic group has recorded its objection to erstwhile partner in its scooter venture, Honda Motor Co of Japan, planning to set up shop on its own in India.

Kinetic has written to the government that the application of Honda Siel Cars India, a joint venture car manufacturing company, to create a scooter unit will adversely affect its operations. Honda Siel Cars has sought permission to enlarge the range of cars to "automobiles" up to 2500-cc engine.

Honda Motor Co and the Kinetic group had an equal stake in Kinetic Honda. The Japanese major sold its stake in the joint venture to the Firodias of Kinetic following differences. It has since been considering setting up a scooter manufacturing unit in India.
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8 Indian companies in Business Week list
Mumbai: Business Week magazine, in its latest market capitalisation rankings, has included eight Indian companies -- Hindustan Lever, ITC, Wipro, Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, Infosys and Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd -- in the group of Top-200 emerging market companies of the world.

Hindustan Lever with a market value of $1.76 billion leads the list of Indian companies. It is placed at No 12 against its 1998 rank of 21. ITC with $6.07 billion market value is at No 37, against the 1998 rank of 69. Wipro and Infosys have been placed at 65 and 150. Both were not in the list in 1998. Reliance Industries, which was at 73 last year, has moved down to 82, SBI from 89 to 116, MTNL down from 77 to 121 and VSNL from 140 to 183.

Topping the list is Telefonos de Mexico, which was at the fourth rank in 1998. It has a market value of $33.30 billion. Back to News Review index page

Siemens bags Karnataka power project
Mumbai: Siemens has bagged India's single largest transmission project from the Karnataka Electricity Board for setting up the 400 KV Neelamangla power substation. Siemens has outbid companies like ABB and Alstom to bag the Rs 65-crore project.

Neelamangla substation will be the hub of power transmission in Karnataka and will play a crucial role in linking private power plants like the Cogentrix project.
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BPL Sanyo plans to sell Palakkad unit
Bangalore: BPL Sanyo Technologies is planning to sell its Palakkad, Kerala, factory, which manufactures low-end compact discs. The company hopes to gain a competitive edge in the pricing of its low and mid-range audio products through outsourcing.

The proceeds from the sale of the facility will be utilised to repay high-cost debts incurred in setting up the unit and partly for working capital. The company has sought shareholders' approval for the sale.
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Jamo, the speaker co, to set up base in India
New Delhi: Jamo, Europe's largest speaker manufacturer, is to set up facilities in India. The Denmark-based Jamo is one of the largest players in the higher end of the worldwide audio market.

Jamo has appointed Decibels as distributors for the north Indian market and is talking to a number of prospective parties for distributorship in other parts of the country.
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Aptech to split units
New Delhi: Aptech will split its education and training businesses. It has formulated a plan to expand its education business in the first three years and says it wants to achieve a 20 per cent share of the world computer education market.

The company's hopes to become a global leader by 2002, Ganesh Natarajan, chief executive officer of Aptech, said. The market for career education by 2002 will be over $1 billion and the company aims to capture 20 per cent of this market.

Aptech will open its subsidiary in Australia and will have a presence in 40 countries by 2002. It will have centres in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Gulf, Africa, Europe and the US.
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Foster's plans expansion
Mumbai: Foster's India, the brewer, is planning to expand capacities at its Aurangabad brewery from 100 hectolitre to 175 hectolitre at a cost of Rs 5 crore.

The company is a subsidiary of Foster's Brewing Group of Australia. It is completing one year of operations in India. Its beer is marketed in select Indian cities.
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Elcot, WorldTel sign pact
Chennai: The Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu and WorldTel signed an agreement to set up a joint venture internet project in Tamil Nadu.

The $100 million community internet project is expected to cover some key areas such as telemedicine and distance learning. Elcot will hold a 26 per cent stake in the venture, and WorldTel will take the rest. The first round of investments will come in over the next one month. The project will  first be implemented in Chennai.

Sam Pitroda, chairman and CEO of WorldTel, said the project will be implemented very quickly. "You will see something on the ground in the next 90-120 days."
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Nirma comes with salt
Ahmedabad: Soap manufacturer Nirma will enter the edible salt market. It is planning to introduce Nirma Salt, competing with established salt makers, such as Tata Chemicals and Marico.

The company is setting up a three-stage vacuum salt plant with an installed capacity of 2.8 lakh tonnes.

Nirma is implementing a Rs 1,000-crore project for manufacturing soda ash at Bhavnagar with an installed capacity of 420,000 tonnes. Salt is used as an input in the making of soda ash.
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BPL-US West records losses
New Delhi: BPL-US West Cellular, the cellular service provider in Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai), Goa, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, has incurred losses of Rs 360 crore for the year ended 31 March 1999. Its sales turnover for the year is Rs 109 crore.

The company had posted a loss of Rs 230.8 crore in the previous year.
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LML puts off motorcycle launch
New Delhi: LML has postponed its entry into the motorcycle segment from end-July to September. The company says it wants to ensure quality by conducting more tests.

Daelim Motor Company of South Korea is providing the technology for the motorcycle venture.

LML, a joint venture between the Singhanias and Piaggio of Italy, is embroiled in a dispute over the Singhanias' move to buy out the Italian company's 23.6 per cent equity stake. But the delay in the launch of the new motorcycle has nothing to do with this dispute, company officials said.
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Taj group to take over Blue Diamond
Calcutta: The Tatas' Indian Hotel Company, better known as the Taj group, is purchasing Hotel Blue Diamond in Pune and Hotel City Inn in Baramati, near Pune, both owned by the Kirloskar group.

The Taj group will classify the five-star Blue Diamond as a Taj Business Hotel. The hotels will be renovated and upgraded in September 1999, Taj sources said.

The Kirloskars are selling off these hotels as part of the group's restructuring plan and to focus on core businesses.
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EID Parry to raise Rs 50 crore
Chennai: EID Parry (India), the Rs 990-crore Murugappa group company, plans to raise Rs 50 crore through private placement of preference shares.

The shares will be redeemable in five years, and will earn a dividend of 14 per cent.
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French government not to oppose TotalFina
Paris: The French government confirmed that it will not exercise its holding in French oil group Elf Aquitaine to prevent the company's takeover by rival TotalFina. TotalFina has announced a multi-billion euro hostile takeover of Elf.

Government spokesmen have said they will not use the government's veto to block the TotalFina offer, a move, which they say, is in France's national interest.
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BOC admits offer from Air Liquide, Air Products
London: British industrial gases firm BOC Group said it has received a new joint approach from France's Air Liquide and US Air Products, two competitors in the industry.

The company said the proposal was unsatisfactory but it will nevertheless look at it.

BOC had earlier said it had rejected a joint takeover offer from two rivals, but did not name the bidders.
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Allied Domecq prefers Whitbread
London: Allied Domecq has recommended Whitbread's offer for its British pubs but said it would give shareholders an equal chance to vote for rival bid by Punch Taverns,

Punch, backed by Bass, ditched its 5 July night deadline for the Allied's board to bless its offer of $4.61 billion for Allied's retail arm and said it was still on the scene talking to Allied's shareholders.

An Allied spokesman said the board had unanimously backed Whitbread's cash and shares offer but would put both bids on the table at a shareholders' meeting on 23 July.
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Honda comes out with fuel-efficient car
Tokyo: Honda Motor Co said its Insight hybrid engine model will be the world's most fuel-efficient mass-produced car. The car features new technology in its engine and aluminium body and achieves 35 km per litre.

The two-door coupe, which will use both a petrol engine and an electric motor, is set to enter the market in the autumn of 1999.
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NTT in satellite venture deal
Tokyo: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone's international long distance arm NTT Communications Corp will take an equity stake in Japan Satellite Systems. This will mean that the telecom giant will have access to the vast Asian market for international satellite communications.

Under the deal, JSAT will issue new shares to NTT Communications for cash, while the long distance carrier will sell JSAT its two communications satellites.
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BAe, Saab get Czech contract
Prague: British Aerospace and Saab, the Swedish aircraft maker, in which BAe has a 35 per cent stake, have signed their first contract with Czech aerospace and defence companies. The deal is part of an industrial offset commitment before Prague issues a tender for supply of fighter aircraft.

BAe and Saab, which jointly market the Gripen jet fighter, are competing with Boeing and Lockheed Martin of the United States and France's Dassault to supply the Czech Republic Hungary and Poland with modern jet fighters.
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