Enron
sets $1-b floor price for DPC
New DelhiEnron has pegged the price of its stake in the
Dabhol power project at a minimum of $1 billion. This is the price
pegged for the 2,184-mw plant by the US energy major.
Enron India managing director K Wade Cline said that the buyer
would have to meet the additional cost of completing the project.
Having clarified that it was willing to sell out at "cost
price" Cline said this did not include the cost overrun for
its delayed completion.
He added that the company had no intention of putting any more
funds into the project or complete the project before putting it
on the block. He said, "We already run $1-billion risk, and
we dont want to increase it."
Enron was, however, willing, he said, to give technical and vendor
support assistance to the buyer to complete the project. "We
want to get out of the project but if the government accepts our
offer of sale we are willing to complete the project before we
hand it over," Cline said.
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Govt
asks Dabhol to offer power at Rs 3 per unit
New Delhi--Even as Enron indicated a final tariff of Rs
3.59 per unit after various fiscal concessions are offered to it,
the centre wants the Dabhol Power Company (DPC) to cut its power
cost to Rs 3 per unit.
Senior official sources in the power ministry said financial
institutions, including IDBI and ICICI, told the nodal ministry
that the Dabhol power cost can be brought down to less than Rs 3 a
unit if Enron can re-negotiate its LNG and shipping contracts.
"Even though Enron maintains that the cost of power cannot be
brought down below Rs 3.59 per unit, FIs feel that this can be
achieved if LNG suppliers can take a hit of 5-10 per cent. If
Enron can re-negotiate its shipping as well as LNG contracts, the
tariff can be brought down to less than Rs 3 a unit," the
sources said.
FIs are in the process of working out a package for saving the
controversy-ridden $2.9 billion Dabhol power project. This move
comes close on heels of Enrons decision to pull out of Indias
power sector.
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Hutch
moving towards taking significant stake in Aircel
MumbaiAfter the fourth cellular licenses have been
awarded, Hutchison, the Hong Kong-based conglomerate, is moving
towards picking up a stake in Essar Group owned cellular operator
Aircel Digilink.
Reliable sources said that the two sides were in advanced
discussions on the issue though no final figure has been agreed
upon.
Aircel Digilink operates cellular services in Rajasthan, Haryana
and Uttar Pradesh (East) and also claims to have the rights to
operate Punjab, though it is locked in a dispute with the
Department of Telecommunications in the state.
Highly-placed sources said even though Hutchison was serious only
about the Punjab circle, it had agreed to pump money into the
other three circles as well owing to its "long-term
relationship" with the Essar Group which has been its partner
in the Delhi circle as also in the recently acquired circles of
Chennai, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Also Hutchison is keen to have an all-India presence. It has
already made strong inroads into the south, has a significant
presence in western India and has all the four metros under its
belt.
Aircel Digilink is trailing its rival in all the three circles by
a very large margin. For example, it has 12,000 subscribers in
Haryana as against 54,000 of Escotel. In UP (East) it has 38,710
subscribers as against 99,000 with Koshika and in Rajasthan,
Aircel Digilink has 16,000 subscribers as against 56,000 by rival
Hexacom. While Escotel has got the fourth operator licence for
Rajasthan and UP (East) for Rs 32.25 crore and Rs 45.25 crore
respectively, the Haryana circle has gone to Bharti for Rs 21.5
crore.
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GM
wants to acquire Daewoos business in India
New Delhi--General
Motors (GM) is keen to acquire the Indian operations of Daewoo
Motors.
GM, earlier this week, made a proposal to acquire Daewoo Motors
two plants in Korea Kunsan and Changwanand one plant each in
India (Surajpur), Vietnam and Egypt out of the Korean carmakers
15 units worldwide.
Daewoo has only one plant at Surajpur in India, which has an
annual production capacity of 72,000 cars. It employs 1,951
workers, of whom 1,526 are unionised.
Daewoo has so far invested around Rs 4,000 crore in the
manufacturing subsidiary, which rolls out the small car Matiz and
the bigger passenger cars Cielo and Nexia.
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Govt
stakes valued in IA at Rs 73 crore, AI, Rs 241 crore
Mumbai--The
department of disinvestment (DoD) has valued the stake being
divested by the government in about 13 PSUs at just Rs 3,915 crore.
The valuation, proposed in an internal DoD document of May 2001,
is based on the net worth of the companies on March 31, 2000.
For instance DoD has valued the 51 per cent stake to be sold by
the government in Indian Airlines at Rs 73 crore and it is
expecting Rs 241.18 crore from selling the governments 40 per
cent stake in Air-India.
The net worth of Air-India was estimated at Rs 401.97 crore for
the year ended March 2000, while that of Indian Airlines was Rs
142.53 crore. At present, the government holds 100 per cent of the
equity in both airlines. The governments 53 per cent stake in
Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) and wants to offload 26 percent
has been valued at Rs 1,543.56 crore on the basis of the companys
net worth of Rs 6,174.22 crore.
The government holds 59.95 per cent in IPCL and is diluting its
stake by another 25 per cent, which has been valued at Rs 740.26
crore.
The divestment in all the four companiesIndian Airlines,
Air-India, IPCL and VSNL was initially scheduled for the
current fiscal.
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Hindujas
unwilling to abandon race for Air-India
New DelhiThe Hinduja brothers, three of whom face trial
on charges of receiving illegal payments for government arms
sales, tried to stay in the bidding for India's State-run
airlines, rejecting all such charges made against them.
Said R J Shahaney, chairman of Chennai-based bus- and truck-maker
Ashok Leyland, which is collaborating with the Hindujas on the
bid,
"It is the Hinduja brothers who face charges in the Bofors
trial, not the entire Hinduja group," he said.
The Hinduja brothers, whose interests span media, banking and oil,
have been accused of receiving illegal payments from Sweden's
Bofors in a $1.2-billion arms sale to the Indian Army in 1986.
The government has now to decide whether to accept the Hindujas
reply.
A consortium led by Ashok Leyland, the Hindujas' flagship company
in India, has put in bids for the two airlines on the block. The
consortium comprises Ashok Leyland, Hinduja Finance Corporation
and an overseas corporate entity, Machen Development Corporation.
Singapore Airlines, bidding in tandem with India's Tata Group, has
submitted the only other bid for Air-India.
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Jindal
mulls selling 49 percent stake in IT co to US investor
New DelhiThe O P Jindal Group is planning to sell off 49
per cent stake in its IT company, Cross Border IT (India), to a
group of US-based investors.
The Jindal Group completely owns Cross Border IT (India), set up
as a wholly owned subsidiary of Jindal Strips.
According to sources, Jindal Strips has already transferred its
equity to a newly-incorporated group company in the US - Cross
Border IT -- which, in turn, will offload the minority stake in
favour of a group of high-profile investors there.
Sources said though the final holding structure of the new company
was still under finalisation, the Jindals are planning to sell off
up to 49 per cent stake in their IT company to the US investors.
Sources said Cross Border IT would be mainly looking in the
telecom, media, and entertainment sectors, besides the e-enabled
services for project development projects and the company is
mainly targetting to US market to generate a major part of its new
businesses.
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Electrolux
wants to increase Kelvinator stake to 78 percent
New Delhi--AB
Electrolux, the Swedish appliances major, wants to have a
shareholding between 76-78 per cent in Electrolux Kelvinator Ltd (EKL)
after its two other subsidiaries -- Electrolux India Ltd and
Intron Ltd -- are merged into EKL. It has thus filed an
application with the secretariat of industrial assistance (SIA) in
the commerce and industry ministry seeking for the governmental
nod for increasing its holding in EKL to 78 per cent, following
requisite clearances from the High Court and other regulatory
bodies. Electrolux currently holds a 56 per cent stake in EKL.
Till now Electrpluxs shareholding has never crossed the 56 per
cent mark.
Electrolux
India has filed the required application with the foreign
investment promotion board (FIPB).
The FIPB is expected to consider the proposal at its meeting on
Thursday, government sources said. The administrative ministry has
already given the green signal to the scheme, it was learnt.
While AB Electrolux has around 56 per cent shareholding in EKL,
Harish Kumar of Maharaja Appliances holds 26 per cent and the
remaining is widely held. EKL is listed on the Bombay Stock
Exchange. The joint venture manufactures refrigerators under the
Electrolux, Kelvinator and Allwyn brandnames at its Shahjahanpur
facility.
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Bayer
pulls out cholestrol drug globally
Mumbai--German multinational, Bayer, has decided to
withdraw all dosages of its cholesterol-lowering drug, branded
Baycol (Lipobay in India), throughout the world, except Japan,
with immediate effect.
Bayer has, in an official statement, said that this voluntary
action was prompted by "increasing reports of side-effects
involving muscular weakness (rhabdomyolysis), especially in
patients who have been treated concurrently with the active
substance gemfibrozil, despite contraindication and warnings
contained in the product information." Japan is unaffected by
this move because gemfibrozil is not available there.
Bayer had launched Lipobay (cerivastatin) in India around nine
months ago, though the launch was restricted to around 10 cities.
Analysts peg Lipobay sales (March to June 2001) at around Rs 15
lakh, while sales of competitor Torrents brand, Seriva, are
also in the same region.
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DoD
wants 3rd valuation of IPCL plant
New Delhi--The
department of disinvestment (DoD) has asked the Cabinet
secretariat to come up with a third valuation of the Vadodara
plant of Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Limited (IPCL).
The secretariat has been asked to discuss with IPCL and Indian Oil
Corporation (IOC) their valuations of the plant along with the
assumptions on which they are based and then come up with an
independent estimate of the plants value.
If IOC refuses to buy the plant at the price fixed by the Cabinet
secretariat, the government can go in for an international
competitive bidding for all the three plants of the company.
The dispute over the valuation of the plant has held up IPCL
disinvestment for quite some time now. Negotiations between the
two companies started in November last year when the Cabinet
Committee on Disinvestment allowed IOC to buy the Vadodara plant.
However, there was a very wide difference in the plant valuations
arrived at by the two companies.
The problem is arising as IPCL is including the annual Rs 260
crore sales tax benefit which is likely to accrue to IOC after the
sale, as also the increase in production which will result from
restarting the polypropylene plant after the sale in its valuation
of the plant.
But IOC
feels that since it has to scrap the plant and build a new naphtha
cracker, the valuation should not be very high. IOC has fixed the
plants value in the region of Rs 300 crore.
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Birla
Corp abandons readymix concrete plan
Kolkata-- The Rs
1,021-crore diversified Madhav Prasad Birla group flagship, Birla
Corporation, has forsaken its plan to produce ready-mix concrete
after its joint venture partner lost interest in the manufacturing
project.
The company had floated a joint stock firm - Birla Redland
Readymix- in association with Redland Plc, UK, on January 21,
1997. However, the project did not make much progress as the
promoters of the joint venture decided to keep the ready-mix
concrete project in abeyance and in 1999-2000, the company
commissioned a feasibility study.
Now Birla Corporation has decided not to pursue the project
because according to it "the foreign partner was unwilling to
carry on further.
In the company's annual report for 2000-01 it added: "Redland
Plc, UK, the joint venture partner, is not optimistic about the
prospects of ready-mix concrete in India and hence have intimated
their unwillingness to go ahead with the project."
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Ranbaxy
receives $17-m from Eli Lilly
MumbaiRanbaxy Laboratories, claims to have received
about $17 million from US drug giant Eli Lilly in return for
selling its 50 per cent stake in a joint venture and the former
said in a statement it would continue to manufacture some of Eli
Lilly's products at its facilities.
The Indian firm announced in January it would sell its stake in
the joint venture -- Eli Lilly Ranbaxy -- to the US drugmaker
which owns the other half of the firm and said it preferred to
invest in its own operations.
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More
fast food brands head for India
Mumbai--Two more large Yankee fast food companies, Long
John Silver and A&W restaurants are getting ready to launch
operations in India next year.
The two brands belong to the $1.2b Yorkshire Global Restaurants,
which has a presence in 22 countries across the globe.
Long John Silver, specialises in seafood and is likely to be Indias
first quick service seafood chain. While A&W specialities are
Coney hot-dogs, burgers, chili cheese fries and a variety of
vegetarian products with draft root beer and root beer floats.
The food served will be a part of the original menu creation but
will be modified to suit Indian taste and culture.
The first outlet will be launched either in Mumbai or New Delhi
and will open by June 2002.
YGR plans to expand in India later through its regional master
franchisee, CLA restaurants.
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