Reliance gets jet set with Gulfstream acquisition
Mumbai: As time becomes the most critical resource for Indian companies and their busy executives, more and more Indian companies seem to be entering the jet age. Companies are now acquiring faster, longer range aircraft compared to the turboprops they have been flogging for decades.

The latest convert in the series is the Reliance group, which has virtually expanded its flight envelope by acquiring a Gulfstream IV, albeit a second-hand one. The 13-seater aircraft is being purchased by subsidiary company Reliance Tours and Travels on an air-taxi operator’s licence. The new aircraft is expected to enter the Reliance fleet in a month or two. Reliance Industries already owns one helicopter, a Bell 230 and two corporate aircraft. The aircraft will be offered on hire to outside parties, when not being used by company executives.

The group has been evaluating an aircraft purchase for some years and has finally decided on the Gulfstream, aviation sources said. Aircraft under consideration varied from the Boeing 737 to Dassault’s Falcon.

The Gulfstream is a jet with intercontinental range capabilities and a cruise speed of 0.80 Mach (80 per cent the speed of sound). Its range is about 7,850 km. "The aircraft may be used by the Reliance top-brass for international travel," sources said. It can carry between 12 and 17 passengers depending on its configuration. Among its features is a 45-feet cabin with liberal stand-up headroom.

The Gulfstream is one of the world’s best-selling corporate aircraft, about 400 aircraft of its newest version V have already been sold.
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Godrej Agrovet gets Goa government clearance for a palm oil mill
Panaji: The long pending project of Godrej Agrovet (GAL) to set up a palm oil mill in Valpoi in North Goa, has finally got the clearance from the Goa government. The mill would be the first of the four demonstration palm oil units sanctioned and subsidised under central government's Technology Mission for Oils and Pulses (TMOP).

With this, the Rs 4 crore project with a crushing capacity of 2.5 tons per hour, is all set to take off and GAL is now slated to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Goa government to protect the interest of Goan palm oil cultivators on one hand and with the central government's TOMP for the mill technology which was developed by Centre of Scientific and Industrial Research through RRL, Thiruvananthapuram.

The project which was initially mooted to be in joint venture with state government, now it will be entirely in the private sector and will take a year to come on stream. The project will be first such venture in Goa where the palm oil is relatively a new cash crop being promoted and backed by state government with the assistance from Godrej.

For GAL, Goa mill would be its second one with its 6 ton-per-hour-capacity mill in Andhra Pradesh set up last year doing well.
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Namtech group set for expansion
Bangalore: The Bangalore-based Namtech group companies – set up by former bureaucrat, Mr. KPP Nambiar -- comprising of Namtech Electronic Devices, Namtech Systems, Namtech Tai and Bowthorpe Thermometrics India, is set for expansion. The group expects turnover to rise to Rs 150 crore by 2003 as against Rs 40 crore as of 1999-2000 end.

Namtech Electronic Devices, the flagship company and the only listed company in the group, is increasing its GD-tubes (electricity surge arrestors) capacity from 8m tubes to 10m by end of this month and it will further be raised to 15m by end of this fiscal. State electricity boards of Rajasthan, Kerala, Maharashtra and Karnataka and the Indian Railways have placed orders with the company.

Bowthorpe Thermometrics India (BTIPL) is a joint venture with the one billion dollar Bowthorpe Plc of UK having a 74% stake and Namtech group holding 26% stake. This company makes thermistors, thermistor assemblies and semi-conductor temperature sensor for domestic and global markets. The capacity of this company is being trebled by June 2000.

Namtech Systems, a small scale unit, is being revamped and is now being converted into an embedded solutions company. It will get marketing support from Bowthorpe and has entered into strategic alliance with Microchip and National Semiconductor of US for design and development of embedded software solutions.
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Ballarpur identifies 60 "star employees"
New Delhi: Despite the problems the company has been going through, Ballarpur Industries Limited, has appointed London-based consultants, Sarville and Holdsworth, to do a major human resources revamp as part of a leadership development programme. The exercise, which has just been completed, has identified 60 officials in the company as having skills on par with the best in the business worldwide.

The development needs of the officials were drawn from five competencies. The exercise enables the company to find out its HR strength and then prepares the company to face the challenges of the future. The company believes that new skills will be required by the year 2002 and there will also be a greater need for an understanding of the business on a global scale. The focus also needs to change from the product to the consumer. Skills like self-management, team building, customised assessment, sharp business acumen needs to be developed. The company outlined the competencies required to manage a bigger BILT during 1998 itself and it has been a continuous process since then.

BILT assessed 645 of its people and found 60 people as extraordinary. Another 200 to 250 were judged very good, and would be ready to face the challenges of the future within a year. The rest of the company officials would be trained further and would be ready within the next three years.

Preparing for globalisation, BILT has also hired international specialists for its various businesses. These include Richard Enos as head of R&D for phosphates from Albright Wilson and Huge Williamson from Contract Chemicals for heading the R&D division of bromine.
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Infar to invest Rs 70 crore in pharma unit near Calcutta
Calcutta: Infar (India), subsidiary of the Dutch multinational Akzo Nobel group, with interests in pharma, paints and chemicals, is setting up a state-of-the-art pharmaceutical factory near Calcutta at an investment of around Rs 70 crore. The factory, for which construction is to begin soon, should be operational within the next three years. The investment will be done in phases. At the same time, the company is making all efforts to downsize the factory at Gujarat, which primarily caters to the gastro-intestinal segment.

That the group is thinking of making the unit the likely hub for Akzo Nobel’s operations in Asia, can be gauged from the fact that the group's head of international processing organisation, Alan Watkins, has been flown down from the UK for setting up the new factory.

As part of Infar's overall strategy of deriving its strength from the research based products of the group, the company will also be streamlining its business in India to primarily focus on introduction of high-end research based products and diagnostic systems.

Infar is all set to enter niche segments like CNS (central nervous system), HRT (hormone replacement therapy), bladder cancer and diagnostic equipment’s and reagents for conducting blood tests. Presently, the company is awaiting permission from the Indian government for marketing a new generation anti-depressant ‘Remeron', here.
The company is also introducing ‘Gracial' a new contraceptive built on the ‘Bithasic' concept, which operates through actual temporary implants on the male body. Other products launched under the hormone replacement therapy are Orgamed and Sandrena gel.
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Japanese major, Nikko to invest Rs 500cr in 5 hotels in India
Mumbai:Japanese hospitality major, a subsidiary of JAL Hotels, which is owned by Japan Airlines, Nikko Hotels International has said it will put up five hotels in as many years across the country. Nikko is the first Japanese hospitality brand in India. Nikko has 55 properties across Japan, Europe and the US and Asia Pacific region with plans to go up to 100 properties in the near future.

Having opened the doors at its maiden, 175-room, Rs 100 crore hotel property in New Delhi, last month, the chain now wants to expand to the metro cities of Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Calcutta at a total cost of Rs 500 crore.

While Nikko will manage the hotels on management contracts in India, the Delhi-based promoters, Sunair Hotels, will fund the hotel projects. They have entered into an exclusive tie-up to promote Nikko hotels in India.

In keeping with the public perception of Japanese efficiency and innovativeness, the hotel is the first to offer orthopaedic mattresses and seating designs in each room that ensure maximum body support. In addition, we have brand new avenues to put recognised Japanese products in place — entertainment systems, communication systems, security systems and computerisation systems.
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Rs 200-cr Hyderabad metro plan may be launched with Konkan Railway
New Delhi: The Konkan Railway Corporation (KRCL), which completed the most difficult railway route that links the Konkan belt to the rest of the country, is in talks with the Andhra Pradesh government to launch an innovative Rs 200 crore Hyderabad Skybus Metro Project, in which the train will run, not on rails but on electrical wires, quite literally with no ground beneath its feet.

The technology, referred to as "suspended technology", has been developed indigenously by KRCL and will be one of the first of its kind in the world. It is expected to be cheaper and hassle-free as it will eliminate problems involved with land acquisition. The project in which the train will run suspended on electrical wires proposes to connect Kokkatpally to Hyderabad city, a stretch of 16 kms.

KRCL held talks this week with the Andhra Pradesh government to set up a joint venture for the project. The detailed project report is currently under preparation.

The project is part of the KRC’s plan to diversify to augment its revenues. As part of this diversification, the corporation has also undertaken railway constructions of twin tube tunnels on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway on a turnkey basis (cost plus basis) at an estimated cost of Rs 200 crore. The corporation has also taken up lighting and ventilation work on the 2.5-km long Jawahar tunnel at an estimated cost of Rs 9.17 crore and the work will be completed in November 2000.

The corporation will also take up similar work in future in order to utilise the surplus engineers, machinery and equipment, including the expertise available, in tunnelling work to enable the corporation to earn profits.

The corporation will also lease out excess capacity in its optic fibre communication link. The corporation also proposes to float a joint venture along with a US-based NRI company to become an internet service provider for the Konkan region. This is expected to generate 8 to 10 crore per annum in the next two years.
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ICICI Web commences real time quotes to WAP users
Mumbai: ICICI, in partnership with group company, ICICI Infotech Services, is offering real time stock quotes to WAP (wireless application protocol) phone users. As a result of this, customers having a WAP enabled phones can get live stock quotes while on the move and can also monitor the performance of their own equity portfolio online. ICICI Infotech Services has provided for the technology design, software solution and implementation of the project.

Essentially WAP technology allows a user to access web pages written in `wireless mark-up language’ format using mobile devices. The ICICI offering will be available to the customer regardless of whether he has an internet account or whether his telecom server provider has a WAP gateway. ICICI will be launching several other services on its WAP server in the coming weeks. This would include online utility bills information and tracking, travel and ticketing information etc.

As against this, the SMS (short messaging service) technology, currently used for mobile banking/commerce works on an e-mail basis, which involves sending an inquiry by e-mail and receiving a response by return e-mail, thereby involving a time lag.
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Government readying IBP revamp
New Delhi: With a view to maximising its realisation at the time of divestment of Government holding in the company, the ministry of petroleum and natural gas is close to finalising a restructuring plan for IBP Company Ltd. IBP has a paid-up share capital of Rs. 22.50 crore. Currently, the Government has a 59.69 per cent holding; financial institutions (FIs) hold 23.2 per cent; employees 0.7 per cent; and others 16.54 per cent.

In this direction, the Ministry is preparing a Cabinet note for the financial restructuring of the company which aims at reducing its debt liability so as to present a healthier balance sheet to prospective buyers. The proposal seeks to enable IBP Company to make a preferential allotment of up to 17.5 million shares (44 per cent equity stake at current prices) to Oil Industry Development Board (OIDB), which has loaned Rs. 560 crore to it. The proceeds will be used to retire a portion of the loan amount.

Although the Government is planning to seek Cabinet approval for allotment of 17.50 million shares, it is contemplating converting around 13.5 million shares.

In the event of 13.5 million shares being converted at current market prices, both the OIDB and the Government will end up with around 37 per cent holding in the company. In such a case, OIDB will be retiring Rs. 250 crore loan and will be losing around Rs. 20 crore per annum by way of interest loss.

It is being argued that this loss will be more than compensated in the form of expected premium on the shares at the time of sell-off.
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L&T to set up capital market subsidiary
Mumbai: Engineering giant, Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) is to set up a wholly-owned subsidiary – ‘L&T Capital Company Ltd’ -- to focus on business opportunities in the capital market.

The move is in line with the recommendations of the Boston Consulting Group which was hired to advise the company on its restructuring.

L&T Capital will be set up with an equity base of Rs. 5 crore and will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of L&T Finance (which itself is a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of L&T). The new company will seek registration from SEBI for pursuing market related activities.

The new company plans to pursue a wide range of activities as a capital market intermediary. The major thrust areas will be structuring of financial instruments, sourcing capital (both debt and equity) through IPOs, rights offerings, private placements and other forms of financial advisory and syndication services.

L&T Finance will transfer its current structured finance business to the new entity on its incorporation. Currently, the structured finance division of L&T Finance is an active player in the private placement market and caters to the financial requirements of corporates, public sector units and State Government undertakings.
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Toyota not to get into used car market
Bangalore: In keeping with the sentiments expressed by fellow-multi nationals, Toyota today stated that it will not enter the used car market in this country, when imports are opened up. It feels that used car imports would destroy the market for automobile manufacturers in the country.

According to Mr. Sachio Yamazaki, managing director of Toyota Kirloskar Motors (TKM), the company cannot control safety standards of the imported cars. There will be too many cars with too many specifications. There will be Toyota cars from Dubai, and there will be American and Japanese specifications. Toyota sells 25 models in Japan.

In his remarks about the prospects of the automobile industry, Mr. Yamazaki said in the growing scenario of mergers and acquisitions, technology would decide who would emerge as survivors. However, despite several mergers, Toyota as of now plans to go it alone, Mr. Yamazaki said. "Toyota will be independent. In some parts of the world, it has joined hands with General Motors and in some others, with Volkswagen. According to journalists, the automotive industry will soon become five major groups. But we will be single."
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GM India to expand used car business
Chennai: Having introduced its used car business as a pilot project in Hyderabad and Indore, General Motors India Ltd plans to expand its this business to more dealers in the country this year. It hopes to expand it to cover 10 dealers this year.

Under the scheme -- called "5 star OK" -- GM dealers will buy used cars of any make, refurbish them and sell them. The cars will go through a 110-point test before they are bought by the dealers, according to Mr. Rajeev Chaba, vice-president (marketing), General Motors India Ltd.

The dealers would only buy cars, which had run less than 50,000 km, he said, adding that GM would train them to carry out the tests and refurbish the cars. While GM-manufactured Opel cars would get a six-month warranty, cars of other makes would get a three-month warranty. Those who buy the used cars could also return the vehicles within two days if they were not satisfied for a full refund.

Currently, there are 29 dealers and 29 authorised service outlets, which also could sell GM cars. Before the end of the year, the number would go up to 70.
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Telco launches the Indica 2000
Pune: Tata Engineering on Wednesday unveiled the MPFI (multi-point fuel injection) version of the Indica, christened the Indica 2000, saying the Euro II compliant, 75 bhp car would broadbase its product portfolio in the petrol segment. The car is capable of delivering between 11-13 kms/litre as against 10 kms/litre delivered by the company's carburetor petrol version. The company, however, does not intend to discontinue its production of carburetor-based cars.

The company, which has targeted sales of 90,000 units of the Indica for the current financial year, also announced plans to expand its distribution network from the current level of 57 to 75 this year.

The Indica 2000 will be available in two trim levels -- the air-conditioned LEI model and the LXI, which will represent the top end of the MPFI range.

The LEI will be available at an ex-showroom price of Rs. 3.18 lakhs in Delhi and Rs. 3.38 lakhs in Mumbai while the LXI model will be available at Rs. 3.96 in Delhi and Rs. 4.22 lakhs ex-showroom, Mumbai.

The company is, meanwhile, working at launching upgrades of its Sumo and Sierra models which will roll into showrooms in the next two months. It is also planning to make available Euro II compliant versions in the Sumo Deluxe, initially in the National Capital Region (NCR), sources said.
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BPL to roll out new CTV in Maharashtra
Bangalore: Evelux, a European brand recently acquired by BPL with a registered presence in 30 countries, will become BPL's second colour television (CTV) brand to roll out into the domestic market on May 6. The CTV brand will be initially launched in Andhra Pradesh and parts of Maharashtra. A national presence is planned by September end.

The planned launch for May 6 will be a soft launch, according to company officials.

The initial Evelux roll-out will include one model each in the 14, 20, 21 and 29 inch screen size segments. The price point identified for Evelux is higher than BPL CTVs.

According to company officials, Evelux's initial model will be priced higher than the low-end models of BPL TVs in different screen segments, which is likely to be at Rs. 13,500.

BPL is hoping to sell two million CTV sets in the current fiscal. Evelux is expected to chip in with about 2,00,000 units, while the mother brand, BPL, is projected to sell 1.6 million sets in the domestic market and another 2,00,000 sets in the export market.

It may be recalled that BPL sold 11,85,223 CTV sets during 1999-2000, with the compounded rate of growth over the last three years touching 30 per cent. The growth in the last fiscal was `exceptional' due to factors like the Cricket World Cup, pay commission releases and improvement in the farm sector.
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HLL Aim’s high with new toothpaste
Mumbai: Targeted at those users who want to shift from toothpowder to toothpaste, oral care giant, Hindustan Lever Ltd, has launched a brand of toothpaste, Aim. The new paste offers the benefits of calcium and neem.

The toothpaste will be made available in three pack sizes of 20 g (priced at Rs. 3), 50 g (Rs. 8) and 100 g (Rs. 15.50). While the smallest size will be available with a nozzle, the other pack sizes are in tube form like an ordinary toothpaste.

Expecting a volume share of 10 per cent in the next three years, the toothpaste industry has been sluggish last year. HLL hopes to bring in through this new launch some additional growth rate in the industry.

The toothpaste industry is pegged at a growth rate of 5 to 6 per cent per annum.

Mr. Arun Adhikari, Executive Director, Personal Products Division, said, ``We are looking at a new price positioning through this new launch. It would not have made sense if we stretched the equity of our existing toothpaste brands.''

Today, HLL commands an overall market share of 35.5 per cent in the toothpaste market with its two brands, Pepsodent and Close Up. Aim will be its third brand of toothpaste in its portfolio. The leader is still Colgate with a market share of 49.7 per cent.
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Dabur may exit Excelsia to make way for Nestle
New Delhi: After having created a scene with suits being filed against its collaborator, Dabur India is likely to sell its 40 per cent stake in Excelcia Foods to Swiss foods major Nestle SA which holds 60 per cent in the biscuit joint venture.

According to industry sources, both Dabur and Nestle are likely to inform the company law board of their intentions at the next hearing slated for later this month. The sources, however, added the final sale of shareholding may take over a month.

Earlier, Dabur had moved the CLB against Nestle on March 27, alleging mismanagement and oppression of the minority shareholder in the joint venture. It had also moved an application before the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.

The tussle between Dabur and Nestle was over the pricing of the shares which Dabur held which it wanted to dispose of. At one time Dabur had been demanding that it should be paid a price per share (for its current 40 per cent holding in Excelcia) more than what it got per share while divesting 20 per cent in favour of Nestle SA earlier which gave the Swiss company a majority holding in the joint venture.
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Broadcast Worldwide ties up with Australian firm
Mumbai: The Rathikant Basu-promoted Broadcast Worldwide (BW) has tied up with the Australia-based ViN Television to distribute its channels in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, on an exclusive basis.

BW is in the business of broadcasting satellite television channels in regional Indian languages. It has already launched a Bengali channel called Tara. It is planning to launch three other channels in Marathi, Gujarati and Punjabi by June, 2000.

ViN is proposing to launch a bouquet of Indian language television channels on the direct-to-home platform on the OPTUS B3 satellite for viewers in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. All the BWW channels will be a part of this bouquet.

Meanwhile, Broadcast is in talks with RPG Netcom, Calcutta's leading multiple services operator for a strategic alliance. BWW is also scouting for ways to counter the recently launched Bengali channel Eenadu Bangla.

Eenadu has a strong presence in the print media, which it is currently leveraging for its news program. BWW feels that a strategic alliance with RPG Netcom or outsourcing its news program will boost its operations.
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Rethink – Unilever tells Bestfoods executives
London: New Jersey-based, Bestfoods, maker of Hellmann's mayonnaise, Knorr soups and sauces and Skippy peanut butter, which recently rejected a $18.4 billion bid from food and consumer goods giant Unilever plc, has been urged by the Anglo-Dutch group to reconsider the rejection of the bid.

Bestfoods, was an ideal target for Unilever — the world's third largest food group and producer of Lipton tea, Flora margarine and Magnum ice cream. Bestfoods would boost Unilever's US sales and promote global growth, they said. The Anglo-Dutch conglomerate is trying to close the gap on industry leaders Swiss Nestle AG and Philip Morris Cos Kraft Foods Corporation.

A Unilever spokesman said that Unilever was disappointed with Bestfoods' response and their unwillingness to discuss with them any aspect of its proposal. Unilever believes that Bestfoods should reconsider its proposal and remains available for constructive dialogue.

Unilever, traditionally weak in foods in the US, last month bolstered its worldwide leadership in ice-cream, by scooping up Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc and also purchased Florida-based diet milkshakes maker SlimFast Foods.
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