RCom to hive off BPO operations: plans Rs20,000cr investment in FY08
Mumbai: Anil Ambani led Reliance Communications has announced investments of Rs 20,000 crore for the next one year. The investment is aimed at catapulting the company to one of the top five global telecom companies.

The proposed investment will be for network expansion through 23,000 new mobile towers as well as for the launch of direct-to-home and Wi-max services. In this initiative, Reliance Communications plans to cover 23,000 towns or every single habitation in the country with a population of 1,000 or more.

The company also plans to hive off its business process outsourcing (BPO) division into a separate company and will set up an 18-acre special economic zone (SEZ) at the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge Centre on the outskirts of Mumbai.

The BPO division of Reliance Communications employs 7,800 people across various locations, providing multi-lingual support to verticals like telecom, banking financial services and insurance, utilities and entertainment.

The proposed SEZ at the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City, for which the company had earlier received the government's approvals, will focus on IT and IT-enabled services.
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Tata Tea consolidated Q1 net profit plunges
Mumbai: Tata Tea has reported a 43 per cent fall in consolidated net profit for the first quarter of the fiscal ended June 30 to Rs45.68 crore from Rs80.07 crore in the corresponding previous period.

The company said increased advertising and marketing expenditure for new product launches affected profits.

The company's net profit fell 3.5 per cent to Rs43 crore (Rs44.56 crore).

The company said profit was impacted mainly by the interest outgo of Rs10.89 crore on bridge loans taken for buying 25 per cent stake in Energy Brands Inc, which was later sold to Coca-Cola.

However, income from operations grew by 14 per cent to Rs290.01 crore (Rs254.35 crore), driven by 18 per cent growth in sales volume.

Operating profit rose by 13 per cent to 54.58 crore (Rs48.18 crore).

On Tuesday, Tata Tea shares lost 4.01 per cent to close at Rs821.20 on the BSE.
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Reliance Industries announces Cauvery gas find
Mumbai: Reliance Industries has announced the discovery of oil and gas in its very first well, which it drilled in the Cauvery deep-water basin off the coast of Puducherry on the East coast.

The company found the oil and gas in the well at the depths of 4,081 metres. The well is a part of block having an area of 14,325 sq km and was awarded to Reliance under the NELP III round. The total deep-water acreage of the basin is about 1,00,000 sq km where Reliance has four blocks spread over 41,000 sq km. The company said the new discovery opens a significant vista for the entire basin and completes the company's success story on the East Coast.

Reliance already has a giant gas field in the Krishna Godavari basin of Andhra Pradesh coast, which will start production in 2008. The field will double the natural gas availability in the country. The company has pumped in Rs9,000 crore in the exploration of the KG basin, which exceeded the work production contract by over Rs6,000 crore.
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Satyam gets outsourcing contracts worth $75 mn
Hyderabad: Satyam Computer Services has bagged four outsourcing contracts amounting to $70-75 million in Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Australia. The company says apart from the deals it is excited about its increasing presence in Singapore and West Asian markets. The deals are also in line with its strategy to reduce dependence on the US market by increasing business in Europe and other parts of the world, including West Asia.

The contracts are renewable after six years. The company was also in the process of negotiating a few deals in the Rest of the World (ROW) region consisting of all geographies other than Europe and Americas. The size of these deals is expected to go up to $2 to $8 million.
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ITC Foods enters organic foods retailing
Bangalore: ITC Foods is going the organic way. The company has entered organic foods retailing with the launch of Aashirvaad Select organic spices.

Aashirvaad Select will initially offer chilli, turmeric and coriander powders. The company is sourcing raw material from farmers practising organic farming (an agricultural practice without the use of synthetic fertilisers) in tribal belts of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. ITC has also obtained the India Organic Certification for its spices. It claims the packaging of the spices is made from elemental chlorine free board that is environmental friendly.

The company aid organic farming seeks to provide consumers with food that is 100 per cent natural and prepared in a manner that is beneficial to the environment. Consumers are knowledgeable about the health benefits of organic food products and the demand for organic food is on the rise.

The company is looking at extending its portfolio of products to see if it can ensure sustainability and get the necessary volume and demand. The possibilities include atta, vegetables and products under the 'Kitchens of India' range. The company is also looking at introducing more organic spices such as pepper and jeera. ITC Foods has a total installed capacity to process 300-400 tonnes of spices a month.
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VRCL gets contracts worth Rs202-cr
Hyderabad: IVRCL Infrastructures and Projects will develop irrigation works of an aggregate value of Rs202.70 crore in Karnataka. The contracts include modernisation of Bhadra right bank main canal (0-60 km) including lining works and rehabilitation of structure, modernisation of Malebennur branch canal, among others, according to a release.
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Saudi group to set up $25-mn manufacturing plant in India
Kochi: Al Batterjee Group, a Saudi Arabia-based business conglomerate with an annual turnover of $200 million, is planning to set up a manufacturing plant for its Nunu range of baby care products in India.

Sohail Fayyad, managing director Al Batterjee did not specify the location for the proposed facility.

The group is hoping for a billing of Rs20 crore from baby care products during the first year of operations at the all-India level, he added.

Al Batterjee Group has diverse business interests and has entered into a strategic tie-up with Kerala-based Valy Group for marketing Nunu brand of baby care products. Nunu, meaning newborn in Arabic, is now sold over 37 countries, he said.
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Orchid Chem to launch three new products in the US
Chennai: Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals plans to launch three drugs in the US market this year. The three drugs are: Cefepime and Cefdinir in the Cephalosporin range and Tazobactum-Piperaillin in the penicillin range. The company expects these drugs to fuel its growth in 2007-08. The addressable market for these three products in US is $1.5 billion (Rs6,000 crore).

In 2008-09, Orchid plans to launch antibiotic drugs in the 'carbopenam range. In addition, the company would begin marketing all the cephalosporin-based antibiotics in the European markets. The company has about a dozen products in that range. Further, it would launch a cephalosporin-based veterinary injectible in the US.

The year 2009-10 would see "another step function jump" because of launch of another clutch of carbopenams and a range of non-antibiotic products in the US. This is significant because under a 'first to file' law, Orchid would get a six-month market exclusivity for several of these products.

In 2009-10, Orchid would enter the lucrative Japanese market. This is even though drug prices in Japan are fixed by the government they are comfortably high. The company expects a 25 per cent jump in its revenues for the current year. Last year, the company's turnover stood at Rs934 crore.
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Volvo bus sales hit by budget air fares
Bangalore: Budget airlines and certain issues over body parts has hurt the sales of Volvo buses in India and private operators slashed orders for the hi-tech buses last year.
Compared with 2005, sales fell 31 per cent to 203 units in 2006, though the company expects to come out of the trough soon.

Sales during the first six months of the current fiscal have been normal but the company expects them to increase once the new plant starts operations later this year.

The company expects to sell about 300 bus units during the calendar year.

Volvo, which launched its buses in India in 2001, has entered into a joint venture with Jaico Automobiles to manufacture buses near its truck manufacturing plant at Hoskote, near Bangalore.

Volvo holds 70 per cent stake in the joint venture. The total cost of investment is around $12 million. It will manufacture 1,000 buses during the first 12 months, of which 500 will be exported.
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RPG earmarks Rs12, 450 cr investment in power, carbon black
Mumbai: The RPG group has earmarked an investment of Rs12,000 crore for power and Rs450 crore for carbon black as two of its thrust business focus areas over the next 2-3 year.

The company is looking at West Bengal, Jharkhand and Orissa for its carbon black business and its decision will be based on availability of coal.

The group is also expanding capacity at its CESC plant whose efficiency is said to have reached new highs since the group took it over.

The company said it has reduced transmission and distribution losses from 22 per cent to 13 per cent and enhanced capacity. Its plant load factor (PLF) is very high and the work-force highly-motivated.
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Ford India plans small car launch
New Delhi: Ford Motor India is planning to launch a small car in the Indian small car market. The company, however, didn't specify a price tag and a time frame for its entry into the market.

Scott McCormack, VP (marketing & sales), at Ford India said, "We are now present in the mid-size car segment in India and we need to be present in more segments, including small car. We are currently studying opportunities of launching a small car in India. We are working on a few more models and launch at an appropriate time." Small cars and hatchbacks constitute around 75 per cent of the Indian passenger car market.

Both the officials were speaking op the sidelines of the launch of the new Ford Fusion diesel variant.

With Fiesta, Ikon, Endeavour and Fusion Petrol, Ford presently has around 20 per cent share of the mid-size passenger car segment and about 3.7 per cent of the overall passenger car market.
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