Patni Brothers to sell 20 per cent stake in company
Mumbai: Ashok and Gajendra Patni, the two younger Patni brothers who together hold 29 per cent stake in Patni Computers, are selling 20 per cent of their holdings for around Rs1,750 crore.

Eldest brother Narendra Patni who is also the chairman & chief executive officer of the company, will buy part of the stake and a couple of private equity funds will buy the balance, sources said.

The deal values the company at Rs8,750 crore and is likely to take place at Rs630 a share, which is at an more than 12 per cent premium to the stock's closing price of Rs561.30 on the Bombay Stock Exchange today.

Many private equity funds such as Apax Partners and Blackstone are in the race to buy the stake on offer.

Ashok and Gajendra Patni will each retain a 4.5 per cent stake in the company.

Narendra Patni who holds a 14.69 per cent stake in the company, said he would buy a part of his brothers' stakes provided the price was right. Ashok and Gajendra Patni hold 14.87 per cent and 14.42 per cent, respectively, in the company.
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Sugar mills may not have to pay excise for three years
New Delhi: To provide relief to the loss-making sugar industry, the government may allow sugar mills not to pay retain central excise on the commodity for three years from July this year.

The money will be retained by the industry interest-free and will be paid back in monthly instalments in three years from July 2010.

The proposal is scheduled for approval of the Cabinet, which did not hold its weekly meeting today owing to the absence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is attending the G-8 meeting on climate control in Germany.

If passed this will be the second major concession package for the sugar industry in the current year. In March, the government had declared the creation of a 2 million tonne sugar buffer and an export subsidy at a flat rate of Rs1,350 per tonne for sugar mills in coastal areas and Rs1,450 per tonne for factories in northern states.

Sugar mills pay a fixed excise duty of Rs85 per quintal and any concession on this front will improve the cash flow of the industry and allow them to pay the huge sugarcane arrears to farmers and start crushing in the 2007-08 sugar season beginning this October said sugar industry executives.

UP sugar millers have incurred huge losses this season, with realisations on sugar sales being significantly lower than the cost of production.
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NTPC to the rescue of Dabhol power plant
New Delhi: The empowered group of ministers, headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, has asked NTPC to pump in Rs500 crore into Ratnagiri Gas and Power (RGPPL) for completing the work on the Dabhol power plant. The LNG terminal will also not be hived off for the present.

While NTPC would operate the power plant, gas utility Gail (India) would secure 5 millions tonne of LNG for the plant, sources said.

The project requires 2.1 million tonne of LNG, while the remaining can be sold to other companies.

NTPC and Gail had infused Rs500 crore each to take 28.33 percent stake in RGPPL at the time of taking over the Dabhol assets.
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Wipro to merge subsidiaries with itself
Mumbai: IT services and engineering equipment provider Wipro is merging six of its subsidiaries with itself.

Analysts said the merger will not affect the company materially but will streamline administrative procedures and will reduce the management of different legal entities.

The board of directors of Wipro has approved the merger MPACT Technology, mPower Software, CMango, Wipro Infrastructure Engineering, Wipro Healthcare IT Ltd and Quantech Global Services under two schemes. The only surprise element in this move is the decision to merge Wipro Infrastructure Engineering, which is a Rs 1,000 crore business, and was, for long, maintained as a separate division.

Wipro has over one and half years, starting from December 2005, acquired nine companies spending close to $200 million (around Rs 820 crore). Wipro follows a practice of reporting results of acquisitions under a separate head and they will be merged with the parent company, post a period of one year.
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AI to raise $1.5bn to part-fund aircraft acquisitions
Mumbai: Air-India, which recently gave a $9bn order for 68 Boeing aircraft is planning to raise over $1.5 billion to part-fund the acquisition.

Air India is also planning to adopt an innovate borrowing structure including sale and lease back programmes, a popular aircraft financing method for private domestic airlines.

Air India has already floated enquiries calling for bids from banks and financial institutions for the second tranche of aircraft deliveries beyond December 2007 up to March 2009, as pre-delivery payments (PDP) in respect of aircraft and spare engines to be delivered during 2008 and 2009.

The airline will pay 15 per cent of the total amount as advance in the form of PDP and 85 per cent as delivery financing.

Air India has invited financing packages for Exim Bank, US guaranteed facility for $1.06 billion and commercial facility of $181.85 million for 10 aircraft comprising a combination of Boeing family aircraft including B777-200 LRs, B777-300 ERs and B787s."
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RBI's stand on Essar share pledge rejected by government
New Delhi: The finance ministry has held that Essar Communications (India) Ltd (ECIL) cannot be prevented from monetising its stakeholding in Hutchison Essar turning down the Reserve Bank of India's recommendation of May 21 that rejected Essar's application to pledge shares in ECIL, a non-resident company that indirectly holds nearly 16 per cent in mobile service provider Hutchison-Essar, for an overseas loan to fund its expansion plans.

The department of economic affairs (DEA) is also advising the central bank to take action on the basis of its rules without being "extra cautious".

ECIL has drawn on credit facility from Standard Chartered Bank, London, and had sought the RBI's approval to pledge its current and future equity shareholding in another Hutchison-Essar holding company, ETIL, in favour of the bank.

Sources with knowledge of the transaction said it was undertaken in parts, and added that the entire transaction was closed on June 1. Essar is yet to hear from the RBI, they added.
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TV18 floats entertainment, events space division
Mumbai: Media company TV18 group has floated a new division, E18, to enter the entertainment and information events space.

The new unit would be under the group's listed holding firm Network 18 and will conceive and execute large format business and entertainment conferences, conclaves and seminars. According to a press release from TV18 E18 will try and dominate the live entertainment space by leveraging the various media brands owned and managed by TV 18 Group. It will also conceptualise and stage large format events such as concerts by international artistes, Bollywood shows, award nights in India and around the region.

The group has appointed Farhad K Wadia as the CEO for the new operation. Farhad has 24 years of experience in entertainment, events and marketing promotions and has staged over 300 events across the world, it added.
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ONGC makes five gas finds
New Delhi: Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has found gas at five locations in eastern offshore and north-east, the most significant being a gas discovery in the Mahanadi basin block where 3-4 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves have already been established.

"ONGC made second discovery in Mahanadi basin in MN-DWN-98/3 block in east coast of India about 60-km off Paradeep coast (in Orissa),'' a company press release said.

The well MDW-4A at a water depth of 1,087 metres produced gas with a high flow potential from a depth of 1,800 metres.

The state-run firm has 100 per cent interest in the block it won in first round of New Exploration Licensing Policy. The company has so far drilled five wells in Mahanadi Basin and made the first discovery in 2006. It, however, did not say the reserve potential in the new discovery.
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Sterlite Optical obtains fibre patent in the US
Mumbai: Optical fibre provider Sterlite Optical Technologies has been granted a patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for invention of its single mode optical fibre.

The product patent for the Sterlite DOF-LITE (LEA) dispersion optimised fibre was granted in April and would be valid up to 2024, the company added.

Sterlite said the patented product is capable of reducing the fibre non-linear effect like four-wave mixing for better Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) performance in the wavelength region of 1530 nm to 1565 nm (Cband) and 1565 nm to 1625 nm (L-band).

Dispersion-optimised fibre with higher spot area is specially designed for long haul, high data rate and multi wavelength transmission.

The company obtained six patents last year for product and process inventions which helped it to establish its technology leadership in addition to the market leadership it already has.

The company said apart from India, which is a huge market, the growth is also seen coming from China -- where Sterlite enjoys a 12 per cent market share -- the US, Europe and also CIS countries like Russia.
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MRPL records huge sales in May
New Delhi: Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL), a unit of Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), sold a record 1.128 million tonne fuel in May, 8.7 per cent higher than 1.038 million tons a year ago.

While 0.493 million tonne was sold in domestic market, the rest was exported, a company press release said here.

MRPL exports fuels to Singapore, Mauritius and Abu Dhabi and last year (2006-07) the earnings from exports alone were Rs11,636.64 crore.

MRPL, with its 9.69 million tons a year nameplate capacity, achieved highest-ever throughput of 12.51 million tons during 2006-07 with 128 per cent capacity utilisation.

The company had declared net profit of Rs525 crore (41 per cent growth over previous year) and a turnover of Rs32,376.8 crore in 2006-07.
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Mangalam Cement no longer sick company
Mumbai: BK Birla Group company Mangalam Cement has been set free from a sick unit provision by BIFR.

The company has been discharged from the provisions of Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985, and ceases to be a 'sick industrial company Managalam Cement told the BSE.

The Board of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction has also released Aruna Makhan from the post of special director, with effect from May 24. Makhan was appointed on the board of company in February 2005.
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Volkswagen to make 1,10,000 units every year at Pune plant
Mumbai: Volkswagen the European auto giant will begin manufacturing operations at its Chakan plant near Pune and will manufacture up to 1,10,000 vehicles per annum by fiscal year 2009.
The company has invested euro 410 million into the full production plant and a press shop, body shop, paint shop and assembly lines would also be built on the 230-hectare site.

All planned activities for the plant were running on schedule, a company statement said here.

As an important step to build up its relationship, especially with its Indian partners, Volkswagen hosted a suppliers' conference in Mumbai, which was attended by around 250 suppliers from across the country and abroad.

The company will soon begin its sourcing activities to find potential partners for Volkswagen in India with local as well as global perspectives.
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Wadias' approval required for Danone's dairy foray
New Delhi: The government has laid out that Groupe Danone of France cannot enter the dairy business in India without the consent of the Wadia group, its 11-year-old joint venture partner in India. A decision to this effect was taken by the industry department on Wednesday.

In effect this means that Danone has to comply with Press Note 1 (2005) and requires the consent of the Wadias an official of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said.

According to Press Note 1, government approval is necessary if the foreign partner of a joint venture in India wants to make investments in the same field.

The onus to provide proof that the new project would not jeopardise the interests of the existing joint venture lies equally with the foreign investor and the Indian partner.

Groupe Danone is reportedly in the process of introducing its products in India on its own. According to earlier reports, the company has entered into a co-packing agreement with an Indian dairy company and is evaluating a greenfield site to set up a factory soon.

In India, Groupe Danone and the Wadia group have an equal stake in dairy major Britannia Industries through a holding company, Associated Biscuits International Holdings (ABIH), for which an agreement was signed in September 1995. Britannia Industries entered the dairy business in 1997.
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SKF to set up in greenfield project with Rs 270 crore investment
Pune: SKF, which supplies products, solutions and services in rolling bearings, seals, mechatronics, services and lubrications systems, has decided to invest 450 million Swedish crowns (Rs270 crore) to build a greenfield factory in India for manufacturing large size bearings. The factory is expected to start production in 2008 and will, when fully utilised, employ 300 persons.

The location of the plant is yet to be decided and will be in addition to the Uttaranchal plant which is getting ready.

SKF had earlier inaugurated a factory for large size bearings in China and also announced its plans of increasing its capacity for large size bearings in its Swedish factory in Goteborg.
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Reliance to redevelop Kolkata's Park Circus municipal market
New Delhi: The West Bengal government has given Kolkata's Park Circus municipal market to Reliance Retail for re-development.

This contract, which was awarded to Reliance in the last week of May comes soon after CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat's demand that the central government should regulate the entry of big Indian companies in the retail business.

The re-development contract was given to Reliance Retail by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation based on a bid made by the company in response to a global tender notice. According to sources, once the company is done with the redevelopment, it will get space for one hypermarket, a Reliance Fresh store (the food & grocery format) and one Reliance Digital store (the consumer durable format).

This contract will give Reliance Retail a foothold in West Bengal. Reliance Fresh store in Ranchi, in the neighbouring state of Jharkhand, was recently ransacked by an association of local shopkeepers and fruit and vegetable vendors. Between West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar, the company is looking at more than 25 stores by the year end.

Reliance Retail plans to source large quantities of agricultural products from Bihar and West Bengal.

To contain political opposition in these states, the company plans to run a series of awareness building exercises, mainly focused on consumers and farmers.
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Tata Motors slashes car production by 20 per cent
Pune: Tata Motors' has cut production at its Pune plant by 20 per cent, while the launch of the new Indica, scheduled for launch in September, has also been deferred to adjust for a drop in sales.
Since the last couple of days, production of the Indica, Marina and Indigo models at the Pimpri facility has been curtailed from 750 vehicles per day to 600 a day.

As per the sales figures provided by Tata Motors, the company saw a 3 per cent decline in the passenger vehicle business during May 2007, against the corresponding month last year. Indica reported sales of 12,002, a decline of 3 per cent over May 2006, while the Indigo family suffered higher losses with sales of 2,215, showing a sharp decline of 22 per cent over the same month last year.

However, the Sumo and the Safari, which are not part of the aforementioned 750, accounted for sales of 3,363, an increase of 18 per cent over May 2006.
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