ITC to voluntarily pullout from sports sponsorship
Kolkata: ITC Ltd., a cigarette major has announced a voluntary pullout from all sports sponsorships following the government's decision to table a new law banning cigarette smoking and sponsorship. The immediate fallout of the decision would be the India-Australia test cricket series scheduled for February, followed by the Wills Indian Open Golf in March.

The company spent Rs 185 crore in 1999-2000 on marketing and promotions, including sports sponsorship for its various businesses. The company, which reported a net profit of Rs 792.44 crore on a turnover of Rs 8069.37 crore during 1999-2000, said in a statement that it has taken the decision in a "constructive spirit" and to "avoid any ongoing controversy". Company spokesperson has said that ITC will also be scaling down its cigarette advertising.

The company said that it expected its voluntary pullout to create "the right climate" for a "constructive dialogue that will help develop appropriate content, rules and regulations to make the intended legislation equitable and implementable."
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BMS, Pfizer still undecided on Cipla offer
Mumbai: Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer, two US-based pharmaceutical companies have asked Cipla for more time to decide on its offer to sell cheaper versions of their anti-AIDS drugs in exchange for royalty payments.

Cipla had earlier made an offer to the two companies in December last year, seeking a reply by January 25, 2001. Cipla had suggested that it would supply cheaper versions of certain patented retroviral and anti-fungal drugs administered to persons suffering from HIV or AIDS in different parts of the world, where these companies had product patents and where AIDS was rampant.

Currently, these drugs are beyond the reach of most victims as drug companies to recover research costs price them at a huge premium.

The drugs in question are didanosine, stavudine and nevirapine patented to BMS and fluconazole patented to Pfizer.
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Sahara group to foray into insurance on its own
New Delhi: The Sahara group has filed an application with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) to set up a life insurance company. Sahara intends to venture into the insurance sector all by itself, becoming only the second company to do so, after Reliance.

The group is also believed to be filing another application for a non-life venture, shortly. Sahara has a strong presence in the financial sector with a non-banking finance company already in its group portfolio of companies.
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Asta Medica to divest its stake in German Remedies
Mumbai: Asta Medica has officially stated that it is presently evaluating a divestment of its equity stake, months after it raised its stake in the city-based German Remedies (GR). The move follows worldwide restructuring by Asta’s own majority shareholder, Degussa-Huls AG, which has opted out of the pharmaceuticals business putting Asta on the block.

Asta holds a total of 13.86 per cent in German Remedies after it purchased multinational Beecham Pharma GmBH’s 2.3 per cent in the company in August last year. Another German company Heller AG holds an equal 13.86 per cent in the company. The other two German shareholders are Schering AG and Boehringer Ingelheim with 4.62 per cent each. In all, the foreign collaborators hold a total of 36.96 per cent.

Asta Medica’s products are largely in the high-growth respiratory, oncology and cardiovascular therapeutic segments and constitute about 20 per cent of German Remedies’ sales. GR vends Deriphyllin, an anti-asthma drug, which is an important product in GR’s portfolio with sales of about Rs 35 crore. Deriphyllin is under price control and the government fixes margins.
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Apollo Hospitals set to enter health insurance
New Delhi: The Apollo Hospitals Group has said that it was negotiating with insurance companies in a bid to enter the health insurance sector as third-party administrators (TPAs). The group is currently in dialogue with all the nine non-life companies -- including Reliance, Bajaj Allianz and General Insurance Corporation (GIC) subsidiaries.

Mr. Prathap C Reddy, group chairman of Apollo Hospitals has stated that group was also discussing its role as TPA with the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) to boost the domestic insurance sector. The group is asking the IRDA to allow TPAs in health insurance sector so that insurance companies can use its network of 980 hospitals in India. The group's plan is to have a two-way tie-up, to leverage its experience of running a family health plan for the last 10 years.
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Tisco to supply auto-grade steel to car companies
New Delhi: Tata Steel is negotiating with leading automobile manufacturers, both domestic and multinational, for supply of auto-grade steel, which is presently imported. The steel major has already supplied cold-rolled sheet to various auto manufacturers -- including Maruti, Hyundai and Tata Automobile -- on a trial basis and is now looking forward for bulk orders.

Telco has already begun taking bulk supply of auto-grade steel from Tisco's recently commissioned Rs 1,600-crore cold-rolled mill in Jamshedpur. Hyundai Motors is also expected to start buying from Tata steel.

The new mill, which was set up in technical collaboration with Nippon Steel of Japan at an estimated cost of Rs 1,600 crore started commercial production in August 2000 and is slated to achieve 100 per cent capacity of 1.2 million tonnes by May 2001.
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TTK Healthcare seeks buyers for its bulk facility
Hyderabad: TTK Healthcare is reportedly looking out for buyers for its bulk drug and formulations facility in Hyderabad. The bulk drug facility, which used to make semi-synthetic drugs, stopped production three years ago due to unviable prices. The formulation division is at present doing works of Elder Pharma and Orchid apart from manufacturing its own Ossopam, a calcium supplement. This unit has contributed around Rs 20 crore to the company's turnover.

TTK Healthcare, a part of the TTK group, had a negative growth in the last few years and has initiated a restructuring programme in 1999. For the ten months period ended March 2000, TTK Healthcare had a net profit of Rs 2 crore on a turnover of Rs 116 crore. The debt liability is about Rs 50 crore.
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Amtrex-Hitachi increases AC manufacturing capacity
Mumbai: Amtrex-Hitachi Appliances jointly promoted by Lalbhai group and the Japanese consumer electronics company- Hitachi has increased the production capacity of its air-conditioners to 300,000 units. The company has invested around Rs 20 crore for undertaking the expansion capacity.

The existing combined capacity at its manufacturing facilities at Kadi and Silvassa was about 200,000 units. Amtrex-Hitachi registered a turnover of Rs 250 crore for the last fiscal 1999-2000 and plans to achieve a turnover of Rs 450 crore for the current financial year. Hitachi and Lalbhai group is equal shareholders in the joint venture company holding 35.2 per cent each.

The company recently has also started exporting air-conditioners to Saarc and Middle East countries.
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Elder and Stiefel to jointly foray into skin care products
Mumbai: Elder Pharmaceuticals Ltd. and Stiefel Laboratories, a US-based dermatology major have formed a joint venture to manufacture and market the skin care products. Stiefel will hold the majority stake in the 74:26 joint venture, and the new entity will be known as Stiefel India.

The new venture will operate as a separate entity. As per the agreement, Elder have the rights to manufacture and market the entire dermatology product range of Stiefel in India and an initial investment of $1 million is estimated for the venture.

In the first phase of operation, Stiefel India will manufacture around 15 products in different dermatology segments, such as anti-acne and psoriasis. The first batch will hit the market in May this year. The entire products will be manufactured at the facilities of Elder Pharmaceuticals and Elder Healthcare located in Mumbai and New Mumbai. The company also has plans to venture into research and development in a later stage.
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Tetra Pak unit starts commercial production
Mumbai: Tetra Pak India has commenced commercial operations of its Rs 1.4-crore dedicated recycled chipboard-manufacturing plant at Palghar (Maharashtra).

The ecolink board consists of about 70 per cent cellulose fibre, 20 per cent polyethylene and 5 per cent aluminium with a water-resistant recycled foil surface.
The board is a good substitute for wood and can be used for making furniture, interior decoration and wall panels.
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