HLL takes brand wars to countryside
New Delhi: A recent survey 'Emerging Market Trends,' conducted by the Centre for Industrial and Economic Research says top marketer HLL has overtaken both Nirma and Colgate-Palmolive in brand awareness and penetration in rural households. While HLL has topped the survey list with 88 per cent rural market penetration, Nirma was a distant second at 56 per cent while Colgate-Palmolive was next at 33 per cent penetration.

The shift in the consumption patterns of rural households had been the main reason for increasing demand of high-quality personal care products, the report said, adding an average rural household spends anywhere between Rs 333-116 on consumables, besides foodgrain, milk and vegetables. Of the household's total spending, the highest 20 per cent are on toiletries, followed by 13 per cent on washing products, 10 per cent on cosmetics, 4 per cent on over-the-counter products and nine per cent on other consumables, the report found.
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Birla Sun Life gets in-principle nod
Mumbai: Birla Sun Life Insurance Company has received in-principle clearance for registration from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) to enter the life insurance business, according to a company statement. The company is planning to launch its business in January. Birla Sun Life is a joint venture between the AV Birla group and Sun Life Insurance of Canada.
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Exide flags off Hosur plant operations
Chennai: Exide Industries has flagged off its Rs 50-crore state-of-the-art auto batteries plant at its Hosur facility in Tamil Nadu. The plant has a capacity to manufacture one million batteries, which is upgradable up to 1.5 million units per annum.

The setting up of the plant was technically supervised and guided by Exide’s collaborators Shin-Kobe of Japan, right from layout to accessing modern technology and designing the process flow of operations.

The plant will supply to original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customers in South India like Hyundai Motor, Mitsubishi Lancer and Ashok Leyland and Toyota. The plant will also supply replacement batteries for all new cars, which were launched in the last few years.
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Oswal to foray into manufacture of garments
New Delhi: Oswal Cotton Mills, a leading textile company will soon enter the value-added garment manufacturing segment and is targeting an export earning of around Rs 700 crore this fiscal. The foray into garment manufacturing is expected to take off in next six to eight months.

The company has earned about Rs 600 crore from its textile exports during the last financial year and is targeting a 10-15 per cent increase in export earnings, touching around Rs 700 crore, in the current fiscal.

Oswal has been currently supplying fabrics to leading buying houses abroad including Gap and the American Merchandisers Corporation, as well as to garment companies in the Middle East, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The company had recently launched 134 different products under four ranges - Platinum, Diamond, Gold and Silver - targeting the higher end of the retail segment.
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Coca-Cola to sell milk-based beverage to kids
Atlanta: The international software giant, Coca Cola, is set to diversify into marketing milk-based products and a host of other products as part of its world-wide strategy of staying ahead in the multi-billion-dollar soft drink industry.

Though details are not yet forthcoming, the company has announced its plans to test at least five milk drinks early next year. "Project Mother", Coke’s new initiative to expand its product basket, includes various strategic steps to establish itself as a total beverage company.

The software giant is also in the early stages of research and development with juice-based beverages and in-home water purification systems besides setting up Internet-kiosks that would allow customers to use the net and avail personalised packaging.
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Cipla slashes price of anti-AIDS drug
Mumbai: Cipla, a pharma major has once again slashed the price of its anti-AIDS drug Nevimune by 34 per cent to Rs 650 for a strip of ten from existing Rs 985. The critical drug launched in March this year has already seen three successive price cuts from the launch price of Rs 1,350 for a strip of ten to the current price.

According to Mr. Amar Lulla, company director repeated technology improvements have enabled the company to cut costs and pass on the savings to consumers. Lulla said the price cuts would be effective only in the local market and not for exports. In India, Cipla is the lone manufacturer of nevirapine from the basic stage.

The drug is usually administered to AIDS patients, to prevent mother to child transmission of the dreaded HIV virus and is globally patented to Boehringer Ingelheim.

Nevirapine administered as a part of a triple drug regimen with zidovudine and lamivudine — the last two patented to GlaxoWellcome are also locally made by Cipla. Besides bringing down the price of Nevirapine, Cipla has also repeatedly cut the prices of the other two drugs. It has brought down the price of the triple drug regimen from Rs 11,400 per month in March to Rs 6,780 per month.
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