Blackstone set to acquire HDFC-Barclays JV Intelenet for $200 million
Mumbai: Private equity firm Blackstone is close clinching the deal to acquire a majority stake in business process outsourcing company Intelenet for $200 million.

Intelenet, a 50:50 partnership between HDFC and Barclays Bank, is ranked among top 15 BPOs in the country. The BPO was up for sale with both the partners interested in exiting their holdings for some time now.

Blackstone was in advanced talks and the deal was likely to be concluded next week, sources close to the development said. "A few issues still remain to be ironed out," said another source.

Intelenet has revenues in the region of Rs380 crore with an operating profit of around Rs55 crore while Sparsh, its domestic BPO business that is a listed entity, reported revenues of Rs87.44 crore and a net profit of Rs87.3 lakh for the year ended March 2007.

The company has now filed for an IPO in the US.

Sources said the deal could possibly include a management buyout although they did not confirm this. The current management team that includes CEO Susir Kumar and VP (sales, solutions & transitions) Sandeep Aggarwal, among others has been with the company since its inception as a joint venture between Tata Consultancy Services and HDFC.

The valuation Intelenet gets could set the benchmark for the other BPO deals in the offing.

Other BPOs where a stake sale is expected include Citigroup Global Services, earlier known as e-Serve International and one of the earliest players in the BPO sector. The Citi captive is expected to go the Genpact way. Genpact, a General Electric (GE) captive operation called GE Capital International Services (GECIS), become a third-party captive after GE sold 60 per cent in the firm to General Atlantic Partners and Oak Hill Capital Partners and the new outfit assumed non-GE businesses.

BPO exports from the country totalled over $8 billion in FY07, against $6.3 billion in FY06 and $4.6 billion in FY05, making it one of the fastest growing sectors in the country. Nearly all the top IT firms in the country also have BPO operations, and are bidding for the BPOs on the block.
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BSNL to slash international roaming rates to Rs70 a minute
Mumbai: State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has proposed major reduction in its international roaming rates. Coming as it after a reduction in national roaming rates to as low as Re1, the move is expected to spur a rate war with other private companies.

The new rates are likely to come into effect from July 1, reports quoting BSNL officials said, adding, the company was planning to slash international roaming rates for in-roamers (subscribers coming to India) and out-roamers (those going out of India).

For outgoing ISD calls, which are charged at Rs99 a minute, the new rate will be lower at Rs70, while incoming rates would be revised to Rs50 a minute from the present Rs75.

For in-roamers, the rate for an outgoing local/STD call the rate is proposed to be brought down from Rs49 a minute to Rs30 a minute.

For out-roamers, the proposal is to bring down the existing surcharge of 15 per cent on charges levied by respective foreign operators to 10 per cent.

BSNL officials said that the impact of the revision would be analysed on a monthly basis to assess the impact on revenues. International roaming constitutes only about 2-3 per cent of the overall minutes of usage, but the rate cut by BSNL is sure to be replicated by other private mobile operators since the Indian market is quite price sensitive.

Roaming rates charged by private sector operators are in the range of 18-20 per cent against BSNL's 8-10 per cent.
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GM may hike capacity of Gujarat Halol plant
Mumbai: General Motors India is expanding the capacity of its existing Halol plant in Gujarat from the current 85,000 to about one lakh cars in a couple of years even as it is set to commission a new manufacturing plant at Talegaon, Pune, next year with an initial installed capacity of 1.40 lakh cars per annum.

"The capacity of the Haalol plant near Vadodara, where the company has invested Rs1,400 crore so far, has been increased recently from 60,000 to 85,000 cars per annum. We will be making around 66,000 cars this year but, in view of increased demand, we may increase the capacity to between 90,000 and one lakh cars per annum," reports quoted P. Balendran, director and vice-president (corporate affairs), as saying.

The company, he said, was also in talks with the Gujarat government to develop an automobile ancillary park near Halol. It was in the process of tying up with technical institutions in Gujarat to ascertain the kind of synergy to be created both as a business opportunity and corporate social responsibility (CSR), he added.

The company, which had started making profit from 2004 onwards, expects to increase its market share from the current four per cent to 10 per cent by 2010. These expansion plans are in view of the projected increase in the company's market share, he said.

The company, which introduced five models of cars during the last one year — the Aveo, SRV, Aveo U-Va, Optra Diesel luxury sedan and the Chevrolet Spark mini-car — plans to introduce at least two new models every year till 2010.

The company which launched its Optra Diesel and Spark were launched in Ahmedabad on June 15, said sales target of all seven GM's Chevrolet models across India has increased from 35,000 to 66,000 this year. Of all models, U-Va has proved most popular with a waiting list of two months for customers who want to buy it, he added.
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Cynosure ties up with Chinese company to launch battery-run 3-wheeler, mobike
Mumbai: Cynosure Enterprises Ltd has tied up with a Chinese company, Zhejiling Changton, to launch a battery-operated three-wheeler and a motorbike in the next few months. The company also launched an advanced version of its two-wheeler — Yash Docile Plus - which can run about 60-80 km on charging the battery at a cost of Rs3.15.

Cynosure, a subsidiary of the Mumbai-based Mobile Telecommunications, had launched the battery-operated two-wheeler, Yash Docile, last year. Cynosure's present models, which do not require the Road Transport Authority (RTA) registration, are priced at Rs 29,500.

Zhejiling Changton is the largest manufacturer of ebikes in China , according to A.B. Vedmehta, chairman and managing director of Mobile Telecom.

Hyderabad-based Cynosure has set up an assembly chain to indigenise the battery-operated vehicles (ebikes), which will arrive in a CKD (completely knocked down) form from the Chinese company. The company is planning a manufacturing facility for batteries, the key component of the vehicle, at Hyderabad
The company has set a second assembling unit at Jaipur (Rajasthan) and a third unit is coming up at Nashik (Maharastra). The company will also have nine assembling units across the country by the end of the current fiscal, said the company's managing director Mandali Srinivasa Rao.

The plants, with capacity to assemble 3,000-5,000 vehicles per month, would involve investment of about Rs5-8 crore each. The expansion is proposed to be funded through internal accruals and other sources, Rao said.

Mr Rao said that in the first nine months, the eco-friendly Yash ebike logged sales of 6,000 units. The dealer network had been expanded to eight states and would spread further. The expected demand for electric vehicles in India in 2007-08 was around 1.5 lakh.

Though about 22 companies have so far applied for selling battery-powered vehicles, only a couple of them, including Ecobikes, is currently into electricity- powered bicycles and scooters in the country.
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Volvo India planning to make India an export base
Mumbai: Heavy vehicle manufacturer Volvo is planning to export its products to more countries such as China and Indonesia as is operations in India slowly turns profitable.

The Indian operations of Volvo is regarded as a centre of excellence and the company is now planning to export vehicles to countries such as China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Algeria and Myanmar. It already exports trucks to South Korea and some of neighbouring countries, Volvo India managing director Eric Leblanc said while addressing the India Innovation Summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Volvo also sources components worth $100 million from India for its global operations, Mr Leblanc said. He said even though Volvo's trucks are priced at least three times higher than those sold by competitors in India , the truck maker has been able to sell enough trucks to make it a profitable venture in the country.

He said Volvo trucks consume 50 per cent less fuel and also operators need to buy less number of trucks to manage their operations. Volvo wanted the customers to understand that its trucks were more profitable to run than the others, he said.

Volvo, meanwhile, has put together a fleet management service for the customers to maximise the benefits to them. The company also so far trained 14,000 drivers under an ongoing five-day training programme.

He said the higher cost of its buses are offset by increased revenues because of higher occupancy rates. A survey conducted by the company found out that the passengers were willing to pay higher fares if the buses were more efficient, he pointed out.

Volvo which built its first truck way back in 1928, is the second largest producer of heavy trucks, creating reliable transport solutions for clients all over the world.

Volvo trucks are sold and serviced in more than 130 countries around the world, through over 650 dealerships and 1,450 workshops.

More than 90 per cent of the trucks it builds are in the heavy-weight class, over 16 tonnes, which makes Volvo Truck Corporation the third largest heavy-duty truck manufacturer in the world.

Altogether, Volvo has nine assembly plants around the world, as well as eight factories owned by local partners.
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Midhani to expand melting capacity to 15 tonnes
Mumbai: Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd (Midhani) will increase its melting capacity from the current five tonnes to 15 tonnes in the next 12 months and take a host of measures, including implementation of ERP, to increase efficiency and cut costs.

The Ordinance Factory Board (OFB is providing the funds for adding another furnace at a cost of over Rs20 crore, to increase the melting capacity to 15 tonnes, M Narayana Rao, chairman and managing director, told newspersons at the inaugural session of a customer meet.

"In the last four years, we doubled sales to Rs192 crore. Our current order book stands at Rs600 crore. We target to double our turnover within two years," he said. "Currently, 20 per cent of our revenue comes from commercial sales and we intend to increase it further," he added.

All measures are being taken to prevent delays in delivery and make the pricing more competitive by cutting down costs. "The raw material costs in the international market have gone up by over 600 per cent in the last four years. To remain competitive, we are implementing ERP this year," Mr Rao said.

Midhani is in the process of signing MoUs with many customers to know about their future requirements in advance, Rao said, adding that the company was aiming at improving sales to non-government entities such as L&T.

Midhani was incorporated as a public sector undertaking under the administrative control of department of defence production under the ministry of defence for the manufacture of superalloys, titanium alloys and special purpose steel required for strategic sectors like aeronautics, atomic energy, space, as also soft products like molybdenum, wirres and plates and titanium and stainless steel tubes, alloys for electronic applications like soft magnetic alloys, controlled expansion alloys and resistence alloys.
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ONGC hopes to set up refinery in Kakinada
Rajahmundry: ONGC wants to set up a refinery at Kakinada and is making attempts in that direction according to Mr R.S Sharma, chairman and MD ONGC.

Sharma said earlier a 7.5-million-tonne (mt) refinery had been contemplated as part of the proposed special economic zone, but was found to be commercially unviable. Hence the refinery capacity had to be doubled to achieve viability for the project.

Sharma said discussions were going on with the other partners, such as the Kakinada Seaports Ltd, to explore ways and means to achieve economic viability and make the project a reality. He said there would be a meeting later this month to discuss some of the issues.
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BHP plans India debut
Mumbai: BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company, is entering India through a joint venture with Mumbai-based mineral producer and exporter Ashapura Minechem.

The Australian mining giant is expected to pick up 51 per cent in Ashapura Minechem's Rs 2,500-crore alumina refining project in Orissa. Ashapura will hold the remaining 49 per cent.

The two partners will invest Rs 800 crore towards equity participation and the remaining Rs 1,700 crore will be mobilised through debt.

However, they will take some time to sign on the dotted line since government approval for the project is awaited.

Chetan Shah, managing director, Ashapura Minechem, declined to disclose the identity of his partner for the project. He added that government clearance would take another three months and the project would be commissioned by the end of next year.

BHP, with a presence in 25 countries, has been doing business in India for over 30 years, but does not have an equity interest in any domestic project. The project will cost around Rs 2,500 crore and is expected to come up in the next two years.
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Aluminium makers slash prices
Mumbai: Hindalco Industries and National Aluminium Co, India's biggest producers of the aluminum, have reduced prices for a fifth time this year to match global rates.

Hindalco Industries has cut aluminum prices cut by Rs 3,000 ($73), or 2.4 per cent, to Rs 120,500 a tonne while National Aluminium has cut prices by Rs 4,000 to Rs 119,500 a tonne.

Nalco exports 64 per cent of its 1.6 million tonnes a year alumina production at prices linked to those on the London Metal Exchange.

Hindustan Zinc, the country's largest producer of the metal, raised lead prices by Rs 1,300, or 1.2 per cent, to Rs 106,800 ($2,607) a tonne, the Udaipur-based company said in an e-mailed statement. Zinc prices were kept unchanged at Rs 171,600 a tonne.
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