Enron follows its other partners, exits Pipavav power project
New Delhi: The 2,000 MW Pipavav power project, in Gujarat, received another jolt when yet another of the project’s developers walked out. Enron, one of the major partners in the project, followed in the footsteps of the other partners in the project -- National Power, PowerGen, Alstom and Siemens -- and pulled out of the project, in view of the absence of structured payment guarantees for the power produced as the main reason for pulling out of the project.

The issue of guaranteed payments for the power generated and tying up of the revenue stream by companies is a major issue, that is dogging most power projects in the country. In the case of the smaller projects, energy payments are sought to be guaranteed through an escrow account. In the case of mega projects it is sought to be secured through mandatory LCs and a right on the devolution fund of the states if the SEBs fail to pay up.

The mega power policy sought to give power developers a complete waiver of Customs duty for equipment imports, a 10-year tax holiday and a securitisation package. The government is hoping to get tariffs comparable to the global standards as a result of the negotiations under the mega project policy. The global standard for power tariff is in the range of about five to six cents per kwh.
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Zee Telefilms acquires 26 per cent in Aplab
Calcutta: In its continued thrust towards consolidating its strengths in convergence business, Zee Telefilms today acquired a 26 per cent equity stake in Mumbai-based Aplab, at an aggregate cost of Rs. 11.7 crore. It is believed that Aplab's software and hardware technology may lend a synergic edge to Zee's multiple system operator (MSO) arm, SitiCable.

This is expected to happen with the MSO enhancing the distribution of broadcasting media through its cable networks while increasing application of Aplab's Smartcard and set-top boxes. Aplab's product range will add to the emerging convergence business in which Siticable is aiming to position itself as a leading player at the national level.

Aplab, a listed company, has hardware products at the core of its business operations and uses software technologies like ATMs, test and measuring equipment, petrol dispensers and the like.
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Bell to exit India; to sell entire stake in Skycell
Mumbai: The US-based Bell South International, which has a 24.5 per cent stake in SkyCell, the cellular service operator in Chennai, has decided to exit from India by selling its entire stake to a domestic player.

It is said that the company has already initiated discussions with the domestic telecom major Bharti Telecom for the sale. Bell South will be the third global telecom player to exit from India after SwissCom exited from Essar-Sterling joint venture-AirTel in Delhi and Bell Canada exited from Tata Cellular and basic services in Andhra Pradesh.

Bharti currently holds a controlling 40.5 per cent stake in SkyCell, which it acquired from Crompton Greaves last year at around Rs 120 crore. The acquisition of the Bell stake will increase Bharti group's stake in the company to 65 per cent.

SkyCell has a subscriber base of over 20,000 and its license area covers 2,250 sq km in Chennai and its suburbs, while Bharti is present in Delhi, Chennai, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, where it operates basic services.
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Novartis gets board nod to hive-off of agri-business Mumbai: The board of directors of Novartis, at a meeting held recently, approved the spin off of the agribusiness of Novartis India as a separate independent entity in line with the global demerger. As a result, the agribusiness company is expected to be merged with that of AstraZeneca.

The board also cleared the appointment of former Larsen & Toubro chief executive officer S D Kulkarni and International Labour Organisation member Rajen Mehrotra as directors on the board.

A company statement said improved profitability during the year was attributable to strong performance of both pharma and crop protection.
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Cummins launches new range of gensets
Pune: Cummins India Ltd (CIL), which has seen a turnaround recently under its new chief executive officer, Mr. Ravi Venkatesan, has launched a new range of gensets under the brand name `S series'. The engine is a collaborative effort between Telco and Cummins.

The new gensets which have a four cylinder, 3.8-litre capacity compact diesel engine in the 30-62.5 KVA range, marks the entry of the company into a new market segment. These gensets would be marketed through Cummins' exclusive Original Equipment Manufactures (OEM) network, and CIL's wholly-owned company, Cummins Diesel Sales and Service (India) Ltd (CDS&S), would offer total aftermarket support through its 216 dealer network and offices across the country.

The S series with Stamford alternators would be manufactured at Power Systems India Ltd, one of Cummins plants located at Daman, with an installed capacity of the plant is 10,000 gensets per annum.

Cummins has identified small- and medium-sized establishments such as commercial and residential establishments, hotels, the IT sector, satellite and mobile towers among others as the market. While the company would initially focus the products on the domestic market, it has already begun talks with Cummins offices in China, Brazil and Australia for export of these gensets.
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Telco to focus on cost cutting
Mumbai: India’s leading truck and passenger car manufacturer, Tata Engineering & Locomotive Company Ltd (Telco), which reported a 27 per cent decline in its profit after tax at Rs. 71.20 crores for the year ended March 31, 2000, will be focussing on restructuring and cost reduction measures during the current fiscal.

At a meeting of analysts addressed by Mr. Ratan Tata, the company acknowledged the fact that the current fiscal will continue to be difficult, although there has been a recovery. Cost reduction measures which include material cost cuts and reduction in labour have been necessitated by the exigencies of the market.

The company is planning to achieve a break-even for Indica at 90,000 units during the current fiscal. The main thrust for the company would be to push its passenger car sales and is in the process of expanding dealership. It is expected that the company will be in a better position in the passenger car market, having put in place a Euro II compliant petrol version of Indica. The company also said that it is working to achieve Euro II compliance for all its commercial vehicles.

During the year, Tata Engineering has been able to bring down its inventory level to 42 days from earlier 50 days and receivables from 60 days to 29 days.
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Reliance said to be on the hunt again, pitches for IBP
Mumbai/New Delhi: India’s largest petrochemicals company, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), which has made a splash recently with open offers to take over companies, is said to have made a pitch to take over the stand-alone oil-marketing public-sector unit (PSU) IBP Company Ltd.

In a report appearing in the Financial Express, Reliance, which set up the country's largest grassroot refinery at Jamnagar last year, is said to have communicated its interest in IBP to the petroleum ministry. Despite the government claiming that it has not received any formal or written proposal from Reliance, senior government officials have said that Reliance has held informal discussions with the ministry on acquiring a controlling stake in the company.

IBP's acquisition will fit strategically with RIL's plans to emerge as a leading player in the petroleum industry, by providing Reliance Petroleum access to an established network of 1,500 retail outlets for its petroleum products country-wide. This network alongwith the 375 kerosene dealerships, and six liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) distributors, will help Reliance Petro as soon as the administered price mechanism (APM) is dismantled and retailing of all oil products deregulated.

Reliance currently sells controlled products, such as high-speed diesel, gasoline, and LPG manufactured at its Jamnagar refinery, to the three national oil companies-Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL),and HPCL. The company has an agreements with the three oil companies for the offtake of its output of controlled products on a take or pay basis.
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ICICI Infotech to join hands with Emirates Financial
Mumbai: The IT arm of India’s leading financial institution, ICICI Infotech Limited, recently formed a joint venture with the Gulf-based Emirates Financial Services for setting up an IT and e-commerce services. The joint venture firm – called Tricolour Infotech International Inc. (T3i) – will provide software development, consulting and IT enabled services for the Middle East. The joint venture company, to be incorporated in Mauritius, will open its operational office in Dubai, subsequently expanding business to other parts of the Middle East.

Under the agreement signed by Mr. K.V. Kamath, managing director and chief executive of ICICI and Mr. Anis Al Jallaf, chief executive officer of Emirates Bank group, the company will have an initial paid-up capital of $ 2 million, with the authorised capital at $5 million. Both ICICI Infotech and Emirates will hold an equity holding of 40 per cent each in the company, with the balance 20 per cent to be offloaded in favour of strategic investors. The Emirates Bank Group will nominate the chairman, while ICICI Infotech deciding on the managing director and CEO of the company.
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Satyam Infoway to sell VeriSign products in India
Chennai: While the passing of the new IT bill by the Parliament has taken India closer to conducting business and transactions electronically by providing the legal framework, websites that offer such commerce services can only do well if there is a secured digital certification process in place in the country.

In an attempt to create that climate in the country, Satyam Infoway, a private internet service provider and an e-commerce solutions provider, has signed a partnership agreement with the California-based VeriSign. The US company is the leading provider of internet trust services worldwide, and holds a dominant market share of about 99 per cent across the globe.

Under this agreement, as the principal affiliate of VeriSign in India, Satyam Infoway will provide "digital certificate-based authentication services on an exclusive basis.’’ The agreement also enables Satyam Infoway to become a member of VeriSign's Global Affiliate Network – the world’s largest network of globally compatible digital certificates. It comprises a group of prominent international service providers, which utilise common technology, operating practices and infrastructure to deliver impregnable trust services over the net.

Satyam Infoway is planning to launch the services through a separate company, where it plans to hold 51 per cent stake. The rest 49 per cent would be offered to channel partners, corporates and other ISPs, who are keen to become "certificate authority’’ as affiliates.

The company also plans to establish a high-security `VeriSign Certification Centre' at Tidel Park in Chennai, where it has bought 89,000 sq ft for putting up a technology centre.

Digital certificates are electronic credentials that identify parties online, enabling encrypted communications and legally binding, valid digital signatures for online transactions in e-commerce, financial service and supply chain management amongst others.
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Swedish Match to buy out Jatias in Wimco
New Delhi: The Swedish Match Company is finally acquiring full control of the country’s leading match manufacturer, Wimco, which has brands like Ship and Homelite. The holding of the Swedish company will go up from its current 52 per cent to 74 per cent, as a result of the original promoters, the Jatias, selling off their entire stake to them. The Jatias decided to dispose of their shareholding for strategic business reasons in favour of the foreign collaborator.

Wimco is the largest matches manufacturer in the world and has popular brands like Ship and Homelite. Swedish Match is restructuring Wimco's operations, which have now become a part of its global matches portfolio. It has already launched a global restructuring exercise in markets including India where there are low volumes and low capacity utilisation. Further, in India, large losses have resulted in the writing down of the company’s assets in 1999.

Wimco's problems emerge from low sales and depressed market conditions. It is looking at strengthening its marketing network and boosting volumes by leveraging its strong brand name. After acquiring full control, Swedish Match may also launch some of its global tobacco product brands like Red Man in India. They are a part of its global portfolio and are likely to shore up Wimco's fortunes.
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Air India divestment, foreign airlines deny any moves
Dubai/Zurich: The Indian government had earlier announced that it planned to offer 40 per cent of the state-owned international airline, Air India, to strategic partners, which could be restricted to 26 per cent in the event that these partners were foreign airlines.

Soon after the announcement there were several reports of various foreign airlines that were supposedly in the queue for acquiring the stake. Media reports had said Emirates, Swissair, Air France and Singapore Airlines were among the front-runners to pick up 26 per cent in Air India.

However, Swissair chief executive Mr. Jeffrey Katz said on Tuesday his airline was unlikely to take an equity stake in Air India. He said that his airline was currently concentrating on Europe and did not wish to add on more on to its plate at this point.

Also denying any interest in the acquisition of the Air India stake was the Dubai-based Emirates Airlines, which has consistently won accolades for its service.

The vice president for public affairs in Singapore Airlines, Mr. Rick Clements, said that the airline did not want to comment on the issue at this point in time.

The other airlines mentioned in the media reports have not yet come out with any statements.
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France Telecom succeeds in its bid for Orange at $37bn
London: The deal is finally through! France Telecom, on Tuesday, clinched the deal to buy Orange, Britain's third-largest mobile phone group, in a cash, stock and debt transaction worth around 31 billion ($37 billion). Orange was put on the block by its owners, Vodafone, which had to sell it to win regulatory approval for its purchase of Germany's Mannesmann.

The French company will also, apart from the debt of the acquired company, assume liability for the 4.1 billion bid by Orange in a recent auction for its British new generation UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) mobile licence. The deal has created a new European cellphone group that could be worth up to $141 billion.

France Telecom inetnds to list the new company and plans to use the proceeds from the listing to repurchase up to 8.4 billion of the France Telecom shares held by Vodafone, which is not allowed to dispose of any stock for six months after issue.

Orange's ambitious chief executive officer, Mr. Hans Snook, will run the company and will be assisted by his right hand man, Orange's deputy chief executive officer and finance director Mr. Graham Howe.

The Orange brand operates in seven countries around the world, including Hong Kong and Israel, and Snook already has his eye on expansion into the US.
It is said that the move by France Telecom will not affect the status of the Orange brand in India, since the marketing and ownership for the brand in Asia still rests with Hutchinson Telecom..
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Nokia launches first high speed circuit data service in Hong Kong
Hong Kong: In a move that will ensure that mobile data service customers enjoy high-speed data transmission, Finnish telecom equipment maker, Nokia, launched the first high-speed circuit-switched data service in Hong Kong along with Cable and Wireless HKT Services. This will provide service at a speed of 43.2 kilobits per second.

Nokia is also said to have completed all third generation trials with C&W HKT, and that the operator was thus well-positioned to quickly provide 3G services in Hong Kong. Third generation mobile phone systems will support higher data transmission rates and allow for video and other multimedia applications.
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