Japan’s Nikko Hotels keen ITDC deal
New Delhi: Japan’s Nikko International Hotels has expressed its interest in securing a management contract for the hotel chain of ITDC on privatisation.

Nikko Hotels, a subsidiary of Japan Airlines, has stated that, rather than go in for any outright purchase of the ITDC properties, it would go in for tie-ups with strategic investors for management contracts. The Japanese hotel chain major also has a worldwide tie-up with Le Meridian.

Nikko Hotels recently came up with their first hotel at a cost of Rs 100 crore in Delhi through a technical, operating services agreement with Sunair Hotels as part of the first Indo-Japanese joint venture in the hospitality sector.
Back to News Review index page  

Sony considering shifting South Asian hub to Bangalore
New Delhi: Global consumer electronics major Sony Corporation of Japan has announced that it is seriously considering shifting its hub for south Asian operations from Singapore to Bangalore in India.

The company is understood to be evaluating issues like management, language and cultural factors before taking the final decision. One major hinderance to the shift may be the lack of knowledge and skills in the hardware sector, since the designing of hardware microchips requires knowledge and use of embedded software programs.

According to a senior official of Sony, Indians are brilliant at abstract conceptual manipulation and software programming involved in the designing of microchips, but their sheer lack of knowledge of hardware aspects is a major concern.
Back to News Review index page  

LG Construction wins highway order in India
Seoul: South Korea’s construction giant, LG Constructions, recently secured a $37-million order to build part of a highway in western India. The project, launched by the launched by the National Highways Authority of India, is a part of an 175.6 km (110 mile) road linking Surat and Manor.

Supported by the Asian Development Bank the project is expected to be completed by May 2003.

LG Constructions has set up a joint ventures with the Patel group from India to execute this contract. LG will hold 75 per cent of this joint venture and the Patel group the balance.
Back to News Review index page  

SBI set to extend IMD's closing date
New Delhi: With religious holidays coming in between, the State Bank of India is likely to extend the closing date of its India Millennium Deposits. The program, earlier scheduled to close on October 21, will now close on November 5 or 6.

State Bank of India has managed to collect about $1.5 billion as of Sunday evening. The merchant bankers to the issue are said to have received requests from investors in the Gulf to extend the time-period of the issue.

The bank is keen to accede to this request since subscriptions from the Gulf are very important. The bank is expecting about 50 per cent of IMD collections from this region.

The money collected through the IMDs will be used for financing the infrastructure sector. The IMDs are denominated in dollars, pounds and euros, and the investment is free from income and wealth tax in India.
Back to News Review index page  

FIs follow global trend to probe defaulting companies
New Delhi: Leading financial institutions such as Industrial Development Bank of India, ICICI, Unit Trust of India and IFCI, have begun following global trends. They have started hiring independent consultants of international standing to investigate into charges of financial stripping by promoters of companies where they have large exposures and which have defaulted in repayment of their loans.

The international practice is to appoint independent consultancy firms are to look into financial misappropriations, including diversion of funds, which may have played an important role in causing a financial crisis in a company.

KPMG and Ernst & Young are among international consultancy firms that have gained expertise in this area.

Although a large number of Indian firms, several of which belong to well-known business houses, have been accused of diverting funds, these were never formally charged due to the lack of concrete evidence for establishing criminal misconduct.
Back to News Review index page