It plans to invest approximately $4.5 billion in this sector. The first part of the investment will be for a $3.5 billion liquefaction plant in Iran with the help of state-owned National Iranian Oil Company and Petronas of Malaysia. Iran is the second largest gas reservoir in the world with 15 per cent of total world gas production, second only to Russia, which accounts for 33 per cent of total gas production.

The second part involves a $1 billion LNG terminal and storage facilities at Jamnagar.

According to a report in the Economic Times, Reliance has plans to set up the largest LNG facilities in India with a 7.5-million-tonne-per-annum capacity. This will be bigger than the currently large 5 mtpa facility being created at Dahej by Petronet.

The new LNG mega project by Reliance is expected to take the western market by storm, with a lot of capacities now coming up in the region. Sources also said that Reliance was in talks with Oman LNG, the nearest supplier of liquefied gas.

Reliance is also planning a mega submarine pipeline from Iran for importing gas, details of which are not known.

Reliance primarily aims to market LNG in the western market (including Gujarat and Maharashtra) apart from meeting its captive use of power plant and petro-chemical plants.
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Essar and Hutchison to combine forces
Mumbai: In a move that is likely to pitchfork them as the largest cellular services provider in the country, the Essar group and Hutchison Max are planning to marshal their telecom forces jointly. An agreement to this effect was reached recently between Essar Teleholdings and the Hong Kong based Hutchison Telecommunications.

Under the agreement the Essar group could also get minority stakes in some of the circles that Hutchison buys in the future. Hutchison is in advanced stage of negotiations to buy into the Calcutta, Gujarat & Chennai circles, which would give it a significant presence across the country. Consequently, Hutchison may take minority stakes in the four cellular circles of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh (East), which is operated by Essar group through Aircell Digilink. In all cases, though, it is expected that the Hutchison group will have a management say.

If the deal, which is now on the drawing board, goes through, the Essar-Hutchison combine might have the largest subscriber base in the country at over four lakh.
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Sterlite to buy out Unitech stake in transmission company
New Delhi: Acquisition hungry, Sterlite Industries, is buying the 60 per cent stake of the real estate and construction group, Unitech Ltd., in its transmission line joint venture Unitech Hyundai Ltd. This move will thus herald the entry of Sterlite into the power tranmission sector, which is currently dominated by RPG, Jyoti Structures and Kalpatru. Unitech Hyundai Ltd is the fourth largest player in the business with a turnover of Rs 30 crore.

Unitech has exited from the joint venture as part of its recent restructuring exercise wherein it has decided to focus only on real estate, construction, entertainment and infotech. This divestment has been done in accordance with the advice given to the company by Ernst & Young, who had been appointed for the restructuring exercise.

Unitech Hyundai, which has been operational since 1997-98, has a capacity of 25,000 tonne per year of transmission tower material and its only plant is situated in Nagpur. It provides complete end-to-end services in the transmission sector, which includes, design, manufacturing, erection of transmission towers and complete turnkey jobs.
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Jet seeks nod to lease in five jets
Bangalore: India’s largest private sector airline, Jet Airways, which presently operates about 195 flights daily to 39 destinations, has sought government nod to acquire five more aircraft, two Boeing 737-700 and three ATR-72-500, on dry lease. The airline is also said to be evaluating the Brazilian regional jet, Embraer ERJ145, for its short haul routes.

Jet currently has a 30 aircraft fleet, which comprises of five ATRs on a five year lease, 25 Boeing 737s belonging to 400, 500, 700 and 800 series. While 12 of these planes are owned by Jet the rest are on lease. Five more aircraft this year should push its fleet strength to 35, taking it dangerously close to big brother, Indian Airlines (IA). This situation can easily push Jet into the top slot in the domestic skies, unless IA takes immediate remedial steps.

Meanwhile, Jet is said to be evaluating the 60-70 seater Embraers. Being jet propelled aircraft, they fly as fast as the bigger Boeings. However, it is not clear whether it is being examined as an alternate to the turbo-prop ATRs or for future fleet expansion.
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LG launches new models
Mumbai: South Korean electronics giant, LG Electronics India, launched new category models in various segments of the electronics market, especially new segments like the vacuum cleaners and audios.

Among the products introduced today are vacuum cleaners, a 51 litre refrigerator (Cute N Cool), a new generation fashion television, the Netee TV, two new models of semi-automatic washing machines and microwave ovens and three models of the Flatron TVs and an audio CD recorder.

The company hopes that these products will help the company leapfrog its revenue.
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M&M to bring vendors, clients online
Mumbai: In its bid to consolidate its leadership position in the utility vehicles and tractors segments, auto major, Mahindra & Mahindra, is said to be transforming the company into an effective e-business organisation. The company is planning to bring dealers, vendors and customers online. The company is also in the process of establishing a chain of online kiosks for the workers in the plants.

Despite a slack in demand for its various products, the company is planning to launch several products in the current financial year. These are the Bolero (a newly-styled Armada-based model), Marshal 2000 (upgraded version), Savari (a 12 seater hard top vehicle), MM Isuzu Loadking (new version of the Cabking).

Products such as the Quadro (customised sports utility vehicle), Bijlee (electric 3-wheeler), CNG and Rakshak (bullet proof carrier) were launched during the year.
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Cable & Wireless combines forces with Nokia for internet alliance
London: UK-based telecom giant, Cable & Wireless plc., announced its intention of becoming the leading internet services company, when it signed an agreement with Finnish mobile equipment company, Nokia, for a wireless internet alliance.

Under the agreement, C&W will offer mobile operators, internet service providers and dotcoms the ability to set up wireless internet services without building their own hosting systems.

C&W will also provide wireless internet access for its large corporate customers. It said the deal meant it was well positioned to carry internet traffic for third-generation Universal Mobile Telecommunications System mobile service providers.

In a market that is estimated to grow to $4 billion by 2005, C&W plans to offer a fully managed end-to-end wireless internet service to its business customers, thus allowing them to benefit from the huge growth in this market.
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Telco’s Indica set to sail to south European shores
Mumbai: Despite losing customers to Daewoo and Hyundai in the domestic market, auto major Tata Engineering’s pioneer product, the Indica ,is all set to sail to South European shores. This moves follows encouraging response from test-marketing of the vehicle in the island country of Malta.

Through the test-marketing, which began last year, Telco sold over 500 diesel versions of Indica in Malta, and more orders are expected to flow in this year as well. This year, the company will begin to export Indica to Italy, Spain and Portugal.

The company has launched the Euro-II compliant version of Indica in January and the standardised five-speed gearbox across the Indica range. Telco also proposes to launch two new variants of Indica by next year, one of which will be a three-box sedan.

The company also plans to launch the Safari in the UK and Portugal during 2000-01. The auto maker was also successful in bidding for the supply of 260 Sumos, its multi-utility vehicle, to the United Nations for use in East Timor. The company's sales of commercial vehicles grew by 67 per cent compared with 66 per cent in the previous year.
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Crompton Greaves in talks to sell switchgear unit
Mumbai: After poor performance in the preceding financial years, cash strapped Crompton Greaves Ltd (CGL) is understood to be in talks with a European multinational to sell off its low-tension switchgear division.

The company, which has been contemplating a restructuring recently, is likely to exit from some more of its non-strategic businesses in a bid to streamline operations and improve profitability. The sale of the low-tension switchgear division will be beneficial for the company as it would release cash, which could be used to bring down debt.

The company had earlier announced its decision to put on hold plans to split its business into three companies -- power and industrial systems, consumer products and digital. The move was viewed negatively by the market.

The company manufactures a wide range of transformers, switchgears, control equipment, motors and related products and railway signaling equipment along with consumer products. It diversified into telecommunications and industrial electronics in 1987 and also undertook turnkey engineering projects and information technology services.
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