MTNL plans investment in cellular companies
New Delhi: The Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), which harbours great ambitions in the cellular phone segment, is said to be finalising plans to take stakes in private cellular phone companies. The company is also planning to introduce its own cellular service based on the GSM technology in New Delhi and Mumbai by August this year.

According to a report appearing in the Business Standard, a private operator with rights for the Madhya Pradesh circle has already approached MTNL for selling a stake in the company.

MTNL plans to expand its cellular services across the country either through its own efforts or through acquisitions or strategic tie-ups with other players in the industry.
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BFL changes name and spins off division
Bangalore: BFL Software, which recently acquired Mphasis, has changed its name to Mphasis-BFL to reflect the new nature of the combined entity.

It has also spun off its products division into a separate subsidiary to be based in Sunnyvale, California and which will be headed by Sridharan Kothandaraman, erstwhile CEO of BFL Software.

Mphasis-BFL will concentrate on being interactive architects for five verticals and developing software solutions.
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BHEL to set up b2b portal
New Delhi: Public sector engineering giant, BHEL, has announced that it would be investing Rs. 50 crore in setting up a business-to-business portal for the electrical engineering and power sectors. This announcement was made, even as it declared lower profits for the financial year ended March 31, 2000.

The company is targetting to earn an extra Rs. 1,000 crore from the dot com venture.

Further, as part of a strategic alliance the company will be finalising a joint venture with GE India Technology Centre for sourcing engineering services for the company's developmental efforts in the area of electronic control systems.
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Deepak group acquires ammonium nitrite business
Pune: The Mehta family controlled, Deepak group has acquired the ammonium nitirite business of Vizag Bottling Company. The group's flagship company, Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation (DFPC), will see its production capacity increased to almost 90,000 tonnes per annum as a result of this acquisition. The acquisition was made through a special purpose vehicle set up for this purpose - Arlem Investment and Finance.

The acquisition of the explosives business of VBC is part of the group's strategy to move away from bulk commodities to customised, high value products.
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Nath Biotech merges with seeds arm
Mumbai: India's leading player in the biotech and hybrid seeds industry, Nath group, is merging its group company Nath Biotechnologies with flagship Nath Seeds.

Nath Seeds is the first company is the Asia-Pacific region to get the ISO 9001 certification and Nath Biotechnologies is engaged in genetic research and micro propagation of plants through tissue culture.

As part of the restructuring program, the company's corporate farming division is being transferred to subsidiary, Nath Agrotech, prior to getting in a global major as a strategic stakeholder.
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HLL pipped to the post in the read-to-eat foods market
Chennai: FMCG major, Hindustan Lever Limited, which has a major presence in the foods industry, saw itself being pipped at the post by the UK-based Patak group to tie up with Kochi-based Amalgam group. The deal will enable the Patak group enter the Indian market with an array of read-to-eat foods.

The British company, which is the largest ethnic Indian food company in the world, will infuse funds in several Amalgam group companies for this purpose. The British group would use Amalgam's facilities in the country to launch its products.
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