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Xerox to assume complete ownership of Indian arm
New Delhi: Xerox Corporation is planning to seek approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to increase its shareholding in Xerox India to 100 per cent from the current 86 per cent.

"Our intent is to have 100 per cent ownership (of Xerox India)," the Xerox India Managing Director, Andrew Horne, told reporters at a press conference here.

Global document management firm Xerox currently owns 86 per cent, 7 per cent is held by Modi Rubber and the rest is with the public and financial institutions.

"We had earlier made a share offer to buy the remaining stake and some shareholders had accepted the offer. We will extend the offer subject to FIPB regulations and approval," he added. Xerox Corp changed the name of its Indian affiliate from Xerox Modicorp to Xerox India Ltd from April 1.

Xerox has a manufacturing facility at Rampur, where it makes analog copiers, toner and a few components for the domestic as well as the global market.

Horne was optimistic about growth in the Indian market, and said, "this is the year of growth for Xerox India and we are on track to gain market share and deliver strong operational performance". The company has rolled out Xerox Office Services in India to help organisations optimise their document management processes.

Xerox will also roll out 33 new products in India during this year. "Of these, 17 will be for the enterprise segment, 10 for the graphic arts and commercial printing industries and 6 for the SMB market," Horne said.
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GR Cables unveils new range of power cables
Hyderabad: GR Cables Ltd has announced the launch of a special range of power cables for Electricity Boards, which will help in preventing power loss and theft, the company has said. The company said it has got these cables approved by the Electricity Boards.

It expects a business of Rs15-20 crore from this cable segment, the company informed stock exchanges on Tuesday.

According to the company, this was in continuation of its strategy to diversify into broader product range, which would help it grow much faster in the coming quarters.
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SIH inaugurates new PET bottle plant in Pune
Pune: The Switzerland-based SIH group has announced the inauguration of its first production plant in Asia at Mulshi near Pune.

Magplastic Switzerland, a supplier of PET bottle blow-moulding machines in the Indian market, produces PET bottles used by cola companies as also containers for water, juice, liquor, pharma products, and even detergents and personal-care products.

Magplastic Machinery officials said that the new plant at Pune will provide Magplastic with expansion possibilities and would be large enough to supply the fast growing Indian market with efficient PET bottle production machinery. The officials said that the plant will also provide machinery for exports to other countries. The operation is assembling two different types of blow-moulding machines as well as a laminate tube making machine under agreement with its sister company, AISA.

The company has invested Rs10 crore in the facility.
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Apollo Health to focus on non-metros for growth
New Delhi: Apollo Health and Lifestyle Ltd has said that it has decided to focus on non-metro towns for growth. It plans to open 30-35 clinics in non-metro towns in 2005.

The States slated for expansion this year include Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka.
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New pre-paid plan from Spice Tele with no rentals
Bangalore: Spice Telecom has launched its new prepaid plan, which will have no rentals or monthly charges. A press statement from Spice Telecom said it has done away with all fixed charges on its new prepaid plan.

"Uth Non-Stop" plan will have no rentals, monthly and administration charges. Subscribers on this plan can make calls at 50 paise to other Spice subscribers and at Re 1 to other GSM/CDMA/WLL or landline users.

Local SMS is charged Re1, national SMS Rs2 and international SMS at Rs5.
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IBM and TIFR in five year pact
Mumbai: IBM and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a period of five years to develop talent and encourage research in computer sciences and other emerging technology, according to a press release.
The areas of work will include autonomic computing, grid computing, deep computing, databases, web services, life sciences and software engineering.
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Rhythm Watch launches its clocks in India
Chennai: The Japanese clockmaker, Rhythm Watch Co Ltd, has launched its range of clocks in India through Rhywaco (HK) Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Rhythm Watch Co and the Dubai-based ITL Group.

Rhythm Watch Co Ltd officials said that Rhythm clocks are not timekeepers but instead have been repositioned as home decorations and family heirlooms. It was this repositioning that had enabled the company to break into the highly competitive US market.

The company has decided to launch its clocks in Chennai. There will also be regional distributors and the clocks will be available in all the metros.

The company has three factories in China and is in the process of setting up three more there. The clocks will be imported for sale in India. As of now, the company has no plans to manufacture in the country, officials said.

The company has about 500 models of clocks in the price range of Rs1,500 to Rs15,000. Rhythm Watch Co Ltd manufactures 20 million pieces every year.
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Corporate Results: VIP
VIP Q4 net down
Mumbai: VIP Industries Ltd has announced a dip in net profit at Rs4.26 crore, as compared to Rs9.22 crore in the corresponding period, for the fourth quarter ended March 2005.

However, for the year ended March 2005, net profit rose to Rs7.21 crore (Rs6.62 crore). Sales rose to Rs327.85 crore (Rs300 crore), while other income was up at Rs7.05 crore (Rs5.15 crore).

The board has recommended a dividend of Rs2 per share. The decline in profit was due to a change in the accounting of VRS payments, which took place in the fourth quarter of the previous year. This was necessitated due to revision in Accounting Standard issued by the ICAI. Sales for the quarter under review rose to Rs83.11 crore (Rs70.53 crore), while other income rose to Rs3 crore (Rs2.06 crore).

According to a company release, for the full year exports rose 145 per cent to Rs36.54 crore, driven largely by exports of the Carlton brand.
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