M&M sets up specialised vehicle company
Calcutta: Given the serious security considerations being faced by the rich and famous, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has set up a speciality company, Mahindra Auto Speciality Limtied, that will produce custom built special bullet proof vehicles. The company will look beyond just plain security considerations and will also custom design vehicles for users.

The company intends offering its customised service through the internet. It is planning to introduce a vehicle in the bullet-proof category under the brand name 'Rakshak'. This activity is being done by the company in collaboration with Plasan Sasa, an Israeli company that specialises in bullet proofing vehicles.
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LG Information to pick up stake in Escorts Communications
New Delhi: South Korean major, LG Information and Communications, which is planning a major foray in the Indian market, has picked up a substantial equity stake in Escorts Communications, a subsidiary of Escorts Limited. With this, Escorts Communications, which was recently referred to the BIFR, will get a fresh lease of life.

LG plans to set up manufacturing bases in India for the production of WLL and CDMA technology products. It plans to bring in over $300m over a five year period for this purpose.
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Tata Sons plans to hive off engineering division
Mumbai: As part of its restructuring exercise, Tata Sons division and a major player in the engineering consulting business, Tata Consulting Engineers, is being hived off into a separate company. The assets, liabilities and employees pertaining to the division are being transferred to the new company, TCE Consulting Engineers Limited.

The Tata group is also said to be on the look out for an international major to whom it would sell a part of its holding in the new company. Pacific Consulting International, a major international engineering company, is said to be interested in the buyout of the company, in the event that the Tata group wishes to divest.

The hiving off of the division may run into problems from the union of the division, which has moved the industrial court against the decision.
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Hindalco may also be in the race to buy out Alcan
Mumbai: Close on the heels of reports that Alcan, which fought a bitter battle against Sterlite Indutries to retain control over its subsidiary Indal, was planning to sell its stake in Indal to Sterlite, comes the news that Hindalco, a Aditya Birla group company, is planning to bid for the same.

The company is said to be in talks with DSP Merill Lynch to conduct a due diligence on the deal. While company officials refused to comment on the issue, it is believed that if the due diligence report submitted by DSP Merill Lynch is good, it will seriously consider bidding for the Alcan stake in Indal.
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Cyber battle on between two giants
Mumbai: Investmart India Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of IL&FS, which recently a investment site by the name of 'investsmartindia.com' has taken financial giant ICICI to court.

Its contention is that a few days after the launch of its site, ICICI has registered a new site offering similar services with a name that is misleading and fraudulent. The ICICI site, named 'investmartindia.com', without the letter "s", has resulted in great confusion being caused in the minds of the users. Being phonetically similar sounding, several users have in the past few days complained to IL&FS that their site has not been accessible. Only when these complaints were checked did IL&FS realise the existence of the ICICI site.

Investsmart has filed a petition seeking injunction against the operation of ICICI's site, after letters to ICICI CEO, Mr. Kamath, seeking a meeting to resolve the issue went unanswered.
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Air-India to introduce VRS
Mumbai: India's international carrier, Air India, which has the dubious record of having the highest staff-to-aircraft ratio in the industry and is saddled with over 18,000 employees, is planning to introduce a voluntary retirement scheme to shed its flab.

The company, which in 1998 introduced a novel scheme of less-pay-for-three-days-a-week, did not manage to reduce its bloated workforce. Another plan for an across-the-board salary cut never took off.

The VRS, which has been on the anvil for the last two years, is said to factor in the lucrative productivity linked bonus and the other perquisites enjoyed by airline employees. The management is hoping that at least 300 employees will avail of the offer.
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