Government plans sale of NTPC power plants
New Delhi: The government is planning to sell  National Thermal Power Corporation’s plants to raise funds to bridge its fiscal deficit and meet other funding requirements.

Union power secretary V.K. Pandit told a conference on private participation in Indian infrastructure that the government is proposing sell certain well run power stations of NTPC and some of its transmission lines to private investors to generate funds. ICICI is likely to be given the mandate for managing the sale.

Mr Pandit said the funds could be used either to meet the fiscal deficit targets of the government or could be  ploughed back into public sector companies
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Siemens out of red
Mumbai: Siemens India has come out of the red. In the financial year ended September 1999, the company has recorded a net profit of Rs 35.1 crore against a net loss of Rs 56.02 crore last year. The company had undertaken a host of restructuring measures including better asset management, improvement in cost efficiencies and better productivity. Turnover for the year has also been higher by 5.5 per cent at Rs 1,050.58 crore against Rs 995.93 crore in the previous year.
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Essar plan on FRN redemption
Mumbai: Essar Steel has worked out a scheme to redeem its $250 million floating rate notes. The company has decided to offer a 39 per cent discount on the face value to the bondholders who opt for redemption. This will mean that for each $100 in principal, the company will pay $61.

The Business Standard said in a report that the deal has been worked out between Banc of America Securities, which is acting as advisor to the FRN redemption issue and principal bondholders on 12 November. The company is to make the redemption latest by 31 January 2000.
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Richardson & Cruddas forms alliance
Hyderabad: Richardson and Cruddas, a subsidiary of the public sector Bharat Yantra Nigam, has finalised a strategic alliance with Bailey Corporation and Walter Chiang of the US to focus on water and sewerage treatment projects in India. The alliance has been structured through Tertium International, a venture capital firm of Canada and United States Investments LLC of the US. Tertium International  has an umbrella agreement with Bharat Yantra Nigam.

The alliance is expected to help Richardson and Cruddas to focus on a sector which offers great potential.
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Aditya Aluminium plan being revived
Bhubaneshwar: The almost shelved mega aluminium project sponsored by the Hindalco Industries in Orissa, Aditya Aluminium, may see a revival. Talks are going on to set up a new company. The project was earlier planned as a division of Hindalco. The original Rs 10,000-crore project encompassing an aluminium plant, a bauxite mine, a refinery and a captive power plant is to be revived as a Rs 4,000-crore smelter project with better support from the Orissa government. Plans for the mine, refinery and power plant have, for the time being, been put on the backburner.

A revised project report has been prepared and it is understood to be with Hindalco chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla.
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Mukand sells stake in IAPL to Nalco
Mumbai: Mukand, one of the largest private sector steel producers in India, is selling its 26 per cent stake in International Aluminium Products to National Aluminium Company at a face value of Rs 10 per share. The deal is worth around Rs 30 to Rs 32 crore. Once the sale is accomplished, Nalco will have a 52 per cent stake in the company. Nalco intends to buy out the remaining equity in International Aluminium Products from other shareholders and make it a 100 per cent subsidiary.
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Omega to source items from India
New Delhi: Swiss watchmaker and jeweller Omega is eyeing India as its sourcing base for jewellery and watches. The company, part of the multi-billion dollar Swatch group, is also considering sourcing a host of other items such as cases, leather straps and display material from India. The company has tied with seven vendors in the country, while it is sourcing from India for three stores in Bangladesh and one exclusive outlet each in Sri Lanka and Nepal.

The company is expanding its business in India by increasing the outlets from 35 to 50 in a year’s time.
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Pharmacia & Upjohn ESOP to staff
New Delhi: Marketing and sales staff of Pharmacia & Upjohn India have been granted stock options in the parent company. In all, 170 marketing and sales personnel having direct customer contact and who have joined the Indian subsidiary prior to 20 April 1999, are eligible to receive the stock options. The employees do not have to make any investment upfront. They have to hold the stocks for at least four years before exercising the option. If the share price is higher than the price at which the options are awarded, on the day the employee exercises the option, he will receive the rupee cash equivalent of the price difference.
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Ion Exchange plans merger of arm
Mumbai: The board of IonEexchange (India) has approved in principle to merge Ion Exchange Finance and Hydranautics Membranes India with the company. The amalgamation will not involve issuance of shares to Ion Exchange Finance shareholders as it is a 100 per cent subsidiary of the company. However, shareholders of Hydranautics Membranes India will be issued one Ion Exchange equity share of Rs 10  for every 100 shares.

The company has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange about this.
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Fiat to have a Siena priced at Rs 5 lakh
Mumbai: Fiat India Automobiles is now caught in the car price war. It has decided to introduce a base version of its mid-size luxury car Siena, with a show-room price of around Rs 5 lakh. Fiat has been stung by the prices of Ford’s Ikon and Hyundai’s Accent. The company said the base version will be launched during the Auto Expo in January 2000. The car will be without a music system and air-conditioning.

At present, Siena’s petrol versions, ELX PS and ELX SP PS are priced At Rs 6.10 lakh and Rs 6.78 lakh respectively and the diesel versions, EL PS at Rs 6.55 lakh, ELX PS at Rs 7.08 lakh and ELX SP PS at Rs 7.77 lakh. All prices are ex-Mumbai.
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Hinduja Power work contract for Hyundai
Hyderabad: Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company has bagged the civil works contract for the 1,040 mega watt Hinduja National Power Corporation at Visakhapatnam. Hyundai sources said the contract has been awarded to Hyundai Engineering by Japanese major Hitachi Corporation, the EPC contractors for the project. The company will handle all the civil works at the project site.
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BBDO to hike stake in RK Swamy
Mumbai: BBDO Worldwide is increasing its stake in RK Swamy BBDO from the current 20.1 per cent to a majority 50.1 per cent, under an agreement concluded recently. Allen Rosenshine, chairman and chief executive officer of BBDO Worldwide, says the stake may go up further. BBDO Worldwide is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Omnicom group, amongst the largest communications group in the world.

RK Swamy BBDO’s 100 per cent television programming subsidiary Hansavision is being spun off as a separate company. The Swamys will hold 51 per cent share in this venture while BBDO will pick up the remaining 49 per cent.
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Free net service
Calcutta: Caltiger.com is India’s maiden free Internet service. The service is offered by Patriot Automation Projects, a telecom software company, which intends to take the benefits of the Internet to the masses.
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Seagate is a takeover target
New York: Seagate Technology, the largest independent maker of computer disk drives, may be a takeover target. Business Week said there may be two big companies vying for Seagate. The magazine quoted an investment professional as saying that Fujitsu is interested in the company and it is prepared to buy the shares at $55 a share.
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Daewoo creditors’ meet delayed
Seoul: A meeting of the creditors of Daewoo Capital has been delayed and is not likely to be held this week. A Seoulbank spokesman said the meeting has been delayed due to  inability of the major creditors of the Daewoo group affiliate to reach an agreement on how to handle loans that the company had provided to its sister firms.
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