L&T to set up five new companies
Mumbai: India's largest engineering conglomerate, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), is planning to set up at least five new companies to "ensure better corporate governance and attract talent to the company,' said company officials.

Each of these companies will have a CEO, a board, and finance and human resource management teams. L&T has also launched a global hunt for CEOs.

These CEOs will be a part of the group corporate management committee but would not be placed on the L&T board. The companies will operate in L&T's new business areas of power projects, boilers, turbines, water and shipbuilding. The company has undertaken an exercise to identify other areas. The new structure will also open up opportunities for L&T insiders to move up the ladder.

The officials said the reason behind setting up new companies was that L&T has a complex structure having 62 different areas of operation. The move to create operating companies within the overall L&T umbrella is aimed at simplifying the structure.

No one chairman or CEO can manage the complexities as existing businesses are growing fast and there is a need to get into new ones.
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JSW crude steel production grows 26 per cent in Apr-June qtr
Mumbai: JSW Steel has registered a growth of 26 per cent in crude steel production in the Apr-Jun quarter. The company has recorded healthy growth in all products.

Hot-rolled coils production grew by 158 per cent growth to 6.42 lakh tonnes while production of hot-rolled plates recorded 15 per cent fall at 0.36 lakh tonnes. Volumes of hot-rolled plates were lower due to the plate mill shutdown for 25 days for modernisation in May.

However, the volume growth remained flat sequentially due to shutdown of hot metal furnaces from April to June. The first hot metal furnace commenced operation from April 12. The second hot metal furnace, currently shutdown, is expected to commence operations in third week of July.

Galvanised steel manufacturing witnessed 40 per cent growth to 1.85 lakh tonnes in the first quarter of 2007-08 and volumes of pre-painted GI sheets were 367 per cent higher at 0.22 lakh tonnes.
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Patel Engineering bags order from Algeria for $153mn
Mumbai: Patel Engineering has bagged its first order worth $153 million from Algerian company Agence Nationale Des Barrage Et Transferts.

Patel Engineering in a notice to the BSE said the project is a joint venture with Turkey-based Aska Insaat Construction Company.
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Ashok Leyland forms joint venture with Finnish co
Chennai: Ashok Leyland has signed a joint venture agreement with the Alteams Group of Finland to manufacture high pressure die casting (HPDC) aluminium products for automotive and telecommunications applications.

The equal joint venture would invest Rs175 crore in the first phase and would initially operate from leased premises. The company is looking for around 30 acres of near Chennai and has identified a few locations. The venture would achieve a turnover of Rs280 crore in 2008-09.
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Aurobindo drug gets FDA nod
Hyderabad: Aurobindo Pharma has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for terbinafine hydrochloride tablets 250 mg. This approval has been received on the first day after the expiry of the relevant patent, according to a notice to the stock exchanges from the company. Terbinafine hydrochloride tablets 250 mg are the generic equivalent of Novartis anti-fungal Lamisil Tablets. The brand product has annual sales of approximately $6 54 million in the US.
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Temasek picks up 5 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel
Mumbai: Temasek Holdings, the Singapore government's investment arm, is acquiring 4.99 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel.

Singapore Telecom is already a large shareholder in the domestic telecom giant.

Bharti Enterprises has a controlling interest of over 45 per cent in Bharti Airtel through its subsidiary Bharti Telecom.
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Bombay Rayon acquires Leela's garments biz
Mumbai: Bombay Rayon Fashions has bought a controlling stake in Leela Scottish Lace for Rs155 crore.

Leela Scottish Lace belongs to the hospitality major the Leela Group, and has 18 manufacturing facilities at Chennai, Bangalore, Kochi and Thiruvanthapuram.

Bombay Rayon will pay 25 per cent of the amount at the time of signing and the balance within the next 45 days.

The business of Leela Scottish Lace will be transferred to a wholly-owned subsidiary of BRFL called Bombay Rayon Apparel.

Nearly 16,000 employees of Leela Scottish and the business will be transferred to the new subsidiary, and all customers of Leela Lace will be integrated, company officials said. The Leela Group company has clients like Wal-Mart, Ann Taylor, Banana Republic and Gap.
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Sun Pharma to raise Rs3,500 crore
Mumbai: Sun Pharmaceutical Industries is looking at more acquisitions overseas and plans to raise up to Rs3,500 crore. The enabling resolution will seek shareholder approval at an Extra Ordinary General Meeting that will be held by the company. It is yet to be decided whether the money will be raised locally or overseas.

In May this year, Sun Pharmaceuticals had signed an agreement to acquire Israel's generic manufacturer Taro Pharma for $454 million (approximately Rs1,837 crore), in what was the second largest overseas acquisition by an Indian drug company.
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