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TN sugar mills and oil companies agree on price for supply of ethanol
Chennai: Oil companies have given an in-principle approval to sugar mills' in Tamil Nadu to start supplying ethanol-laced petrol at an agreed price. The supply is expected to start in December.

However, no agreement has been reached between the mills and oil companies in Andhra Pradesh over the price.

Bharat Petroleum has given `letters of intent' in Tamil Nadu, accepting the price of Rs18.75 a litre of anhydrous ethanol quoted by the sugar mills.

The sugar mills contracted to supply anhydrous ethanol under this programme will supply a total of 1.85 crore litres to three depots in Tuticorin, Irugur and Tirunelveli.

To supply the entire State with 5 per cent ethanol-doped petrol, the mills will have to supply oil companies with more than 4 crore litres.
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KPIT Cummins in expansion mode
Hyderabad: Technology provider KPIT Cummins is expanding operations and expects to declare revenues of around US$100mn in the next fiscal. The company is close to announcing two strategic acquisitions and is also planning overseas expansion in China and East Europe.

The new acquisitions will mark the company's foray into new areas in the manufacturing and VLSI (very large scale integration) design space, apart from providing access to new geographies and clients.

The company employs about 1,800 people spread across two locations in India and other centres. Organically, the company expects to grow about 30 per cent this year.

Earlier, Lehman Brothers invested about US$8.5mn in KPIT, picking up an 8 per cent stake and the company received US$11mn debt from IFC.
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DoT moots three revenue-sharing ADC models
New Delhi: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has proposed three models for switching to the revenue share-based access deficit charge (ADC), including a higher revenue share on international calls.

The three models which are recommended include a plain model with higher percentage of revenue share on all calls — local, STD and ILD; fixing a certain amount of revenue share on calls; and giving ILD operators the option of negotiating settlement rates with their global partner carriers for call termination.

The ADC component on incoming ISD calls accounts for nearly Rs2,000 crore of the total Rs5,000 crore. This move might further reduce call tariffs and serve as a major incentive to telecom operators.
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Swaraj Mazda to expand capacity--to invest Rs.250 cr
Chennai: Commercial vehicle manufacturer Swaraj Mazda is investing Rs250 crore to treble its manufacturing facility in India to 36,000 vehicles a year. The company also plans to set up an in-house bus manufacturing facility with a capacity to build 9,000 buses a year.

The expansion and the new bus manufacturing facility are to meet the anticipated growth in demand in this segment. The company feels that with a boom in tourism, state transport corporations, which have not expanded their fleet for years, are likely to be among the growth areas.

One of the products to be introduced will be a 41-seater, which will not be on the Mazda platform. It will be the product of the tie-up with a Malaysian company.
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UK's National Health Service shortlists Apollo Hospitals
Mumbai: Britain's NHS (National Health Service) has shortlisted the Apollo Hospitals Group to bid for four geographical areas in the UK where it could provide diagnostic services.

Apollo's bid for diagnostic services is part of the first wave of bids, with the company set to participate in the second wave of bids for treatment of surgeries, as well. Winning the bids would mean that Apollo would run additional facilities "on site" in the UK, thereby keeping at bay any rancour regarding the loss of local jobs to outsourcing.

Healthcare companies wanting to participate in the NHS' outsourcing initiative will have to set up their own facilities to supplement the existing work and cover the back-log. No other Indian healthcare provider is in the running.

The Apollo Group is also participating in bids to carry out treatment surgeries, which is expected to happen around January/February.
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Citadel Research develops Car-Scope
Hyderabad: Citadel Research and Solutions, a Hyderabad-based logistics solutions company, has developed Car-Scope, a Windows-based car PC, offering multimedia, GPS navigation and Internet access. The solution offers car users information regarding parking areas, shorter routes and other such info.

The company has already prepared InforMAPtion, GIS map, for Bangalore and Hyderabad. A map for Chennai is underway.

The product, likely to be marketed within a month will be priced in the range of Rs55,000-Rs 60,000.

At present the product is being tested on six private vehicles in Hyderabad.
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InfoStep sets up offshore centre in Hyderabad
Hyderabad: Infotsep, a technology solutions provider for enterprises, is setting up its Indian offshore development centre in Hyderabad. The company will invest up to US$5mn in the center in the next two years.

The company's Business Performance Management (BPM) Centre of Excellence will provide a key growth element for their global expansion plans. The company is partnering with business intelligence solutions provider Business Objects, and plans to help enterprises better manage their data and help them take informed decisions.
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Siemens Medical plans to expand R&D operations
Mumbai: Siemens Medical Solutions, the medical solutions subsidiary of Siemens AG, is expanding its research and development operations in India. The R&D and software development centre of the company is located at Bangalore. The expansion will entail an increase in the strength of the company's R&D team by 10 per cent in the current year.

Currently, the Bangalore R&D centre has 1,100 scientists.

Siemens Medical is also planning capacity expansion at its manufacturing plant located at Goa and plans to add new product lines comprising new generation and regional specific diagnostic machines, including X-rays and CT scans.

The company declined to divulge the size of fresh investments that it would be making for these proposed expansions in India.
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