Samsung aims high for Indian market
New Delhi: In reaction to the response received by its product offerings, Korean electronics giant, Samsung Electronics, has warmed up to India in a big way and targeted a turnover of nearly $ 1 billion by the year 2003. The Indian operations would contribute around 3.5 per cent of the company’s global turnover by the year 2003.

The company plans to achieve this target through its two subsidiaries, in the consumer electronics and IT fields. The company is already planning to increase its reach through trade partners and is in the process of increasing its dealer and distribution network.

The company, which offers colour televisions, microwave ovens, refrigerators and other consumer products, is planning to offer digital products and flat TVs shortly. It also has plans to produce air-conditioners in the country in the near future.

In the IT segment, the company is targeting to be the number one player in the colour monitors segment and is gunning for high marketshare in hard disk drives and optical disk drives.
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Maruti to start technical courses with Ignou
New Delhi: Taking cue for US giant, General Motors, India’s leading passenger car company, Maruti Udyog, has tied up with the Indra Gandhi Open University for launching distance learning programmes and specialised automobile certification courses for technical personnel in the automobile industry.

The company also plans to equip its dealer network with the necessary infrastructure that will allow them to take advantage of such courses. The project, named Vidyavahini, would offer its courses and programmes for three segments for personnel affiliated to Maruti through their authorised dealer and service networks, technicians not within the MUL family, and users of vehicles.

Under the certification scheme, those willing to upgrade their skills on automobiles would be offered courses and a MUL-Ignou certification on completion of these courses. The idea here, say MUL officials, is to create a minimum level of expertise and industry standard that would be neccessary for people before they can be employed.
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McDowell enters bottled water segment
Bangalore: Liquor major, McDowell & Co, of the UB group, has entered the mineral water segment with the launch of its "No. 1 McDowell's Pure and Clear water". The company hopes to capture a 12 to 15 per cent market share in by end of the year.

Priced at Rs. 12 per litre, the Pure and Clear Water brand, will be initially available in 400 towns and cities across the country. It also has plans to launch Pure and Clear Water in 20-litre cans for the institutional segment. The company will be doing business through franchises and will collect royalty from them.
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Arthur Andersen to advise Apollo Hospitals on growth strategy
Hyderabad: The Rs 500-crore Apollo Hospitals has appointed well know consulting firm, Arthur Andersen, to help it chalk out plans to aggressively expand by opening a chain of test clinics and franchisee centres around the country and abroad. The company plans to establish 50 such test-centres in India and abroad.

In the first phase, test clinics would be initially set up in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan at an outlay of Rs 55 lakh per clinic. The clinics would have consultancy rooms and X-ray machines. In the second phase, specialists would be hired and sophisticated machines like CT-scans installed, at an outlay of Rs 2 crore each. In the third phase, the company plans to set up full-fledged diagnostic centres, at an outlay of Rs 12 crore per centre.

Apollo Hospitals will also be setting up "managed hospitals" in Goa, Siliguri, Ranchi, Pune, Ludhiana and Cuttack.
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Unilever sells bakery business
London: Anglo-Dutch FMCG major, Unilever, which is hiving off brands of lesser strategic importance, has sold off its European bakery business to Amsterdam-based food products and ingredients company CSM NV, for an estimated $666 million. This divestment is said to be in line with the Unilever chairman, Mr. Neill Fitzgerald’s new strategy called "Path to Growth".

The company’s sweeping reorganisation, outlined in the new strategy, aims to push up sales growth and margins while focusing on the top 400 brands and shedding marginal ones.

The bakery business, which employs around 3,900 people, has sales of around 860 million euros and operating profit of 60 million. In Amsterdam, CSM said it expected synergies of 20 million euros in the next two to three years from the acquisition, which it expected to be completed within the next couple of months.
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