S&P announces Asia Shariah Index
Mumbai: Standard & Poor's has launched a fully investable S&P Pan Asia Shariah Index, the latest addition to the S&P Global Shariah Index Series. The index includes 11 index heavyweight Indian companies including Bharat Heavy Electricals, Bharti Tele Ventures, Infosys Technologies, and Reliance Industries among others.

The new index draws stocks from nine Asian markets in the S&P Citigroup Global Equity Index and will enable Islamic investors to benchmark their investment on a regional basis.

Apart from the 11 Indian companies, 12 companies are listed from Taiwan, 9 from China, 8 each from Singapore and Korea, 7 each from Hong Kong and Malaysia, 4 each from Indonesia and Thailand and one from the Philippines.

The S&P Pan Asia Shariah Index has been launched with 71 companies with an adjusted market capitalisation of $810.83 billion.

Company Information technology companies represent approximately 35 per cent of the index, followed by telecom services (17 per cent) and energy (15 per cent).

The number of stocks, for Shariah screening purposes, has been limited to the top 15 from each country that have a market capitalisation of at least $1 billion.
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IDC positions IBM as best in domestic IT services
Bangalore: IBM has been positioned as the as the market leader in the Indian domestic IT services market with 9.7 per cent revenue share for the 2006 calendar according to analyst firm IDC.

IBM works closely with over 400 organisations in India across industries, providing them a diverse spectrum of IT services. Recent wins include deals from Idea Cellular, DLF, Financial Information Network and Operations (FINO), Central Board of Direct Taxes and Delhi International Airport.
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Jaiprakash Group buys Malvika Steel for Rs207 cr
Kolkata: The cement, infrastructure construction, power and real estate conglomerate, Jaiprakash Group, has acquired Malvika Steel's assets for Rs207 crore and plans to invest Rs1,200 crore on the "run down" plant, locate d at Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh's Sultanpur district.

The Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) on Tuesday eclared Jaiprakash Associate as the successful bidder. SAIL was the other bidder at the auction sale for the mortgaged property of Malvika, including land, buildings, plant and equipment.

A company official said that the financing for the steel foray would be through a mix of internal resources and borrowings.

The Vinay Rai-controlled Usha group floated Malvika Steel in 1998-99. However, the proposed project ran into trouble and could not be implemented. Over the years, borrowing arrears piled up via-a-vis financial institutions. A consortium of institutions, led by IFCI, had taken over the management control of Malvika Steel in September 2001. DRT recently placed Malvika Steel assets on auction.
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Daimler plans trucks assembly in India
Mumbai: DaimlerChrysler plans to assemble Mercedes-Benz trucks in India, to tap the growing demand to transport freight in Asia's third-largest economy, the company said. The company recently received a no objection certificate from, Tata Motors, in which Daimler owns 6.8 per cent stake. This is required if a foreign company with an equity stake greater than 3 per cent stake in a domestic company wants to start its own operations DaimlerChrysler India, officials said.
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Reliance proposes price of $4.33 for gas
New Delhi: Reliance Industries has proposed a price of $4.33 per million British thermal unit for its gas from KG-D6 block, a rate which the company says will give power generation cost of Rs2.50 a unit and help save Rs6,900 crore in fertilizer subsidy annually. The company says it followed a very transparent process wherein bids were invited from private and public sector power and fertilizer units falling on our gas pipeline route.

Based on the bids, the maximum price of gas (at an exchange rate of $1 to Rs45) came to $4.33 dollar per mBtu. This is lower than the average price of $4.57 per mBtu being charged for 20.4 million standard cubic metres per day of gas sold by other priva te firms' operated fields.

RIL has also estimated the price would result in a power generation cost of Rs2.50 per unit and he lp save Rs6,900 crore in fertiliser subsidy.
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United Phos acquires two DuPont products
Mumbai: Agrochemical company United Phosphorus has acquired two fruit and vegetable pesticides from science-based solutions provider DuPont for an undisclosed amount.

United Phosphorus has acquired DuPont's global Triphenyltin Hydroxide Contact Fungicide (TPTH) and fenbutatin-oxide miticide businesses, marketed primarily as Super Tin and Vendex respectively, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

United Phosphorus and its subsidiaries would sell Super Tin and Vendex and its formulations from October 1. Until then, DuPont would be acting as an agent for the company and its subsidiaries.

Both products would strengthen the company's position in the fruit, nut, vegetable and row crop markets, United Phosphorus said.

Super Tin is the common name for triphenyltin hydroxide, which is a contact fungicide used mainly on potatoes, sugar beets and pecans, while Vendex is the popular name of fenbutatin-oxide, the largest tin acaricide, used on citrus and pome fruits.
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SABMiller to expand production capacity in India
New Delhi: SABMiller plans to invest around Rs500 crore to expand production capacities at its breweries in India. The company has earmarked an investment of Rs100 crore every year for the next five years to expand capacity.

Under the expansion programme, production capacities of the company's breweries in Haryana and Andhra Pradesh would be increased, for which the company has sought permission from the state governments. The company's brewery at Sonepat Haryana has a capacity of one million cases annually, which the company is keen to expand to meet demand from North India.

SABMiller has 10 production facilities in India with production capacity of around 42 million cases per annum. The company plans to increase the capacity by eight million cases by the end of this year.

SABMiller has also sought permission from the Andhra Pradesh government to expand capacity of its Hyderabad-based brewery, Charminar, he added without specifying details.
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Nelcast bags Rs20-cr order from Metro Rail
Mumbai: Nelcast has received an order worth Rs20-crore from Metro Rail Corporation for ribbed plates to be supplied this financial year. The company said the order will enable it to diversify its customer base, which has been till now mainly with commercial vehicle manufacturers.

The company has also received a Letter of Intent for supply of carriers to Meritor, Europe. The value of this order is about Rs15-crore annually for a period of four years.

Nelcast has two plants, one at Gudur in Andhra Pradesh and the other in Ponneri, Tamil
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Nagarjuna gets order worth Rs334 crore
Mumbai: Nagarjuna Construction has bagged a Rs333.77 crore order from the public works department of Karnataka to build various blocks of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Science. The estimated value of the contract awarded to the company is Rs333.77 crore and the project has to be completed within 18 months.
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Jain Irrigation gets Rs84 crore contract from Coca Cola India
Mumbai: Soft drinks maker Coca Cola-India has awarded a Rs84 crore contract to Jain Irrigation Systems for supplying mango pulp for 'Maaza'. The company said in a release to the BSE that compared to last year's order of Rs 33 crore, this was a quantum jump.

The company said with additional export orders in hand, the mango pulp business is expected to exceed a turnover of Rs160 crore this year. The fruit and vegetable processing division is expected to register more than 50 per cent growth in the current financial year. The company is a major supplier to many MNCs and leading global beverage and food brands. It has five plants for fruits in the vegetable processing in India and one in the US.
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Reliance looks at acquiring stake in US refinery
New Delhi: Reliance Industries (RIL) is looking at picking up a stake in a refinery in the US apart from setting up a greenfield refinery in West Asia.

RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani is currently in the US and has held meetings with the top brass of Chevron, ExxonMobil and Texmaco.

Industry experts said RIL is most likely to pick up a stake in one of Chevron's refineries as RIL already has an MoU with the company. However, RIL has also held talks with Exxon and Texmaco.

An RIL spokesperson declined to comment on the issue.

Chevron owns 5 per cent stake in Reliance Petroleum's upcoming 580,000 barrels per day refinery at Jamnagar, Gujarat.

RIL, which is the country's largest private explorer and refiner of crude oil, is also looking at acquiring stake in fuel marketing assets in the US as it looks to export a majority of petrol and diesel from the upcoming refinery to the US.
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Diageo increases focus on India
Bangalore: The world's largest spirits company Diageo is increasing its focus on India. With brands like Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff and Guinness stout beer, Diageo is embarking on a significant expansion plan in India. The company, which sold close to 90 million cases globally, is bringing in more brands and products, and is increasing capacity of contract bottling operations in an effort to cross the 40 per cent growth rate mark it clocked during FY07. Diageo currently has a cumulative capacity of 200,000 cases across three plants and is increasing the number by adding one more plant at Haryaya which will add another 50,000 cases by end of the next quarter.

The company's recently launched Bangalore plant has a capacity to bottle 20,000 cases a month, and has been opened in a tie-up with Chamundi Winery and Distillery. Diageo will be bottling Shark Tooth, Smirnoff, Hague, VAT 69 and Captain Morgan at the plant. The company's two other bottling plants are located in Aurangabad and Madhya Pradesh.

Diageo is also likely to launch two new Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) whiskey labels in the price range of Rs300-500 per 750 ml bottle as part of its 50:50 joint venture with Radico Khaitan. The company recently launched Masterstroke as part of the JV.

In addition to these brands and products, Diagreo India will launch its domestic wines in the next two months.
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