In line with this objective, the board today approved about Rs. 100 crores for the capital expenditure programme of cement business. Company sources said the idea is to achieve a cement production capacity of 19 million tonnes before any part sell-off of equity. The company is likely to achieve a capacity of 15.5 million tonnes by the end of this fiscal, sources said.
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ICI to go in for new round of job cuts
New Delhi: Chemicals major ICI (India) Ltd. is planning another round of manpower reductions in the next three months most of it concentrated at its rubber and paints facility at Rishra in West Bengal. The Rs 905-crore company last went through a voluntary retirement scheme for which it provided Rs 69 crore in 1999-2000.

The plans comes at a time when the Indian subsidiary is finalising its business plan for the future in light of the decision of its UK paren to quit certain lines of business. While the parent has quit pharmaceuticals, nitrocellulose and rubber, ICI India says it will run these businesses aggressively.

At the same time it is moving slowly but surely on the new, specialty chemical businesses that have come into its fold here as a result of ICI plc’s acquiring them from Unilever worldwide.

According to Mr .Aditya Narayan, managing director, the company will be investing in new units there and shutting down obsolete ones.
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Murdoch to consolidate holding in India
New Delhi: In a bid to consolidate his holding in the Indian subsidiary, News Television (India) Limited, the Australia-based Mr. Rupert Murdoch has stated that his STAR TV companies abroad will buy out the stake held by two Mauritius based companies in News Television and, simultaneously, bring in an additional amount of $2.5 million to subscribe to fresh issue of equity shares.

The company has received the necessary Foreign Investment Promotion Board approval which allows STAR to purchase 2.25 crore shares held by News Television (Mauritius) Ltd and 2.16 crore shares held by International Graphics Holdings Ltd in the Indian company.

News TV recently gained clearance to produce and distribute films, music and audio software, and undertake downstream investment in Indian media and media related companies. It is now is now planning to undertake marketing and collection activities of advertisements on the internet, radio and any other medium "for the time being in vogue" as also provide advisory services to other media and related entities operating in India.

Where the company wishes to co-produce films with foreign film makers for distribution in foreign markets, permission would have to be taken from the ministry as required by foreigners shooting film in India.

STAR TV has already announced plans to spend up to Rs 50 crore over the next six months.
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Reliance may sell naphtha in the West
Mumbai: In a report appearing in the Economic Times, it is stated that India’s leading petrochemical giant, Reliance Industries Limited, is all set to foray into the lucrative western market for selling naphtha.

The 1.25 lakh ton western market is currently controlled by the public sector oil giants HPCL and BPCL. Reliance is believed to be in "informal" talks with Indian Oil – which has recently made inroads into the market – for storage facilities with its subsidiary, Indian Oil Tanking. The report also states that the company officials denied any such move.

Reliance is likely to bring in around 40,000-50,000 metric tonnes of naphtha per month to JN Port from its Jamnagar refinery. It produces 2.3 million tonnes of naphtha a year. Reliance is currently sourcing naphtha for its Patalganga operations from public sector oil giants. The naphtha needed for captive use at the Patalganga refinery is transported by Reliance’s pipeline that connects Mumbai and Patalganga.

Prices of naphtha in the international market have been volatile, and are currently pegged at around $230 per tonne. Sources said the naphtha price is expected to shoot up now following the recent fire in the largest refinery in Kuwait last week.
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Shell enters into strategic tie-up with Gail
New Delhi: In a major move that is likely to give international oil and gas major, Shell, a leg up, it has signed an agreement for a strategic tie-up with domestic major, Gas Authority of India Ltd., to explore opportunities in the Indian gas sector.

According to Ms. Linda Cook, chief executive of Shell Gas and Power, the company plans to explore opportunities in importing LNG, building terminals and distributing it via pipelines to Indian consumers.

The agreement proposes setting up a joint team to identify projects in the upstream sector, which involves gas production, as well as the downstream sector involving terminals and pipelines.

Also envisaged, is a proposal to build transmission and distribution pipelines to market natural gas. Each LNG and pipeline project will be in the form of a separate company with the two partners taking equity stakes.

While the agreement is a non-exclusive one, Shell has stated that it will seek to involve Gail whenever there is an opportunity in the gas sector in India and Gail will reciprocate in the same manner.

The tieup could give Shell a considerable advantage in the Indian market since GAIL currently has a virtual monopoly over transmission and distribution of natural gas in India. Other projects are currently in the planning stage.
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Peenya unit of Bata sees lifting of lockout
Calcutta: A lock out declared on March 8, following a strike by its workers, at the Peenya factory of Bata India Ltd has been lifted.

According to Mr. M.J.Z. Mowla, Senior Vice-President of Bata India, the lockout at the plant was declared after the incumbent employees' union refused to honour an earlier wage agreement that was valid for three-and-a-half years ending on August 2001. The union had called a strike on the issue.

After a series of tripartite negotiations, the management decided to lift the lockout from Monday morning. The factory is now open and the management has stated that those workers not reporting for duty would be treated as "on strike".

The management, however, said that it had decided to lift the lockout as it had to "take a pragmatic view considering the market interests and the interests of other constituents including the workmen who are willing to resume work and maintain peace".
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Reliance does not budge from Rs 255 offer price for BSES
Mumbai: As the last date for revising the offer price lapsed, Reliance Industries Ltd. has not raised the open offer price of Rs. 255 per share for acquiring a further 20 per cent stake in the electricity distribution company, BSES Limited. This acquisition will take its holding to about 35 per cent in BSES Ltd..

This leaves the decision of whether to offload its shares or not, entirely on the financial institutions, which currently hold about 35 per cent of the equity.

The BSES scrip on Tuesday closed at Rs 266.60 compared with the previous day’s close of Rs 261.70 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
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Toyota thinking about Net banking
Tokyo: While concentrating on building on its auto loan and credit card business, Japan’s largest automaker, Toyota Motor Company, said that it may eventually foray into Net banking.

The company recently unleashed a wave of new marketing initiatives including plans to beef up its credit card business, an expansion of its Website into e-commerce and tie-ups with several convenience stores.

Company sources believe that this may lead Toyota to develop its e-commerce services to include online banking with the potential for automatic teller machines to be installed in convenience stores.
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