Jindal Steel & power signs contract for El Mutun with Bolivian government
Jindal Steel & Power Ltd's Bolivian subsidiary, Jindal Steel Bolivia (JSB), has signed a contract with the Bolivian government to develop its El Mutun iron ore mine, to which Jindal Steel had obtained mining rights for half its iron-ore reserves through global bidding in June 2006.

The El Mutun mine is said to be the world's single largest iron ore mines with proven reserves of 40-billion tonnes of medium- grade quality ore. The Indian company will be allowed to exploit 50 per cent of the El Mutun reserve.

Earlier this year, the company had announced that it would invest $2.1 billion in Bolivia — the single largest investment in Bolivia's history — to set up an integrated steel unit, with a capacity to produce 1.7 million tonnes of long products and six million tonnes of reduced sponge iron. (See: JSPL to invest $2.1-billion to set up steel plants in Bolivia)

The unit will also have a 10 million tonnes per annum pellet plant and a 450 MW power plant.

"The contract has to be formally passed by the Bolivian parliament and in three - four months we expect to start construction," member of Parliament and managing director of the company Navin Jindal disclosed at a press conference in New Delhi. "We will start selling around 10,000 million tonnes per annum of iron ore concentrate from the first year." (Read More)
Back to News Review index page  

Biocon licenses biosynthetic cancer drug to Abraxis BioScience
Integrated global biopharmaceutical company, Abraxis BioScience Inc, has signed an agreement to acquire licensing rights from Biocon to develop its bio similar version of G-CSF (granulocyte-colony stimulating factor) in North America and the European Union, for an undisclosed amount.

Under the terms of the agreement, Biocon will receive an upfront licensing fee and, following approval in the licensed territories, royalties from Abraxis BioScience.

G-CSF is a haematopoietic growth factor that works by encouraging the bone marrow to produce more white blood cells. Therapeutic G-CSF is primarily used for the treatment of neutropenia, the lowering of the white blood cells that fight infections. Biocon holds regulatory approval from the Indian DCGI for the treatment of neutropenia in cancer patients. (Read More)
Back to News Review index page  

United Airlines to start taking pilots' job applications online
Starting Monday 16 July, United Airlines began accepting applications for pilots' posts online, for the first time in six years. This recruitment drive, the company said, would be conducted entirely online.

The Chicago-based carrier had announced last month that it would hire up to 100 pilots. In addition, it will bring back some pilots who have been on furlough, all to accommodate a growing flight schedule and an increase in the number of international destinations.

Pilots selected through the application process would start training at United's Flight Training Centre in Denver as early as October, and would be flying by the end of 2007.
Back to News Review index page  

IndiGo's new flights: Mumbai to Delhi and Bangalore
Private airline IndiGo will add new services between Mumbai and Bangalore, as well as Mumbai and Delhi, from 27 July 2007, using its eleventh brand-new Airbus A320, which will be delivered to the airline on 24 July 2007. These flights will be in addition to the airline's existing services on these routes.

IndiGo now offers a wide array of food and beverages, including freshly made sandwiches, packed juices, aerated drinks, nuts, and cookies. These can be bought on each flight.

The aircraft will operate 78 daily flights to 15 destinations, including Kochi, Agartala, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune and Vadodara. IndiGo will take delivery of four new A320 aircraft this year, taking the fleet size to 15 by the end of 2007. It plans to serve approximately 30 Indian cities by 2010, with a fleet of approximately 40 A320s.
Back to News Review index page  

Wipro eying acquisitions in Canada, Germany
Mumbai: Wipro Ltd, the country's third largest software services firm, is planning acquisitions in Germany and Canada to boost growth in those markets.

"We are looking at inorganic growth (through acquisitions) in Germany as well as in Canada", said Azim Premji, chairman, Wipro Ltd, announcing the company's first quarter results.

Premji said the company was making additional investments in the Middle East, another important growth market. Wipro, he said, wants to drive growth above the industry rates and maintain margins at the top end of the respective segments.

"To achieve this we have been focusing on both organic and inorganic investments and our endeavour is to continue with this strategy," he said.

While the business environment continues to be robust even with the company's existing clients, he said, "We are investing in newer markets and service lines to drive growth and that combined with our focus on driving operational improvements will help us achieve our vision of global leadership."

Wipro's IT services business continued to witness broad-based growth, across verticals, geographies and service lines. (Read More)
Back to News Review index page  

Reliance Communications 5 per cent in towers business to investors
Reliance Communications sells 5 per cent in tower business for Rs1,400 crore
Mumbai: Reliance Communications Ltd, has agreed to sell 5 per cent of the equity share capital of its fully-owned tower business for Rs1,400 crore. Reliance Telecom Infrastructure Ltd (RTIL) to a group of leading institutional investors across the US, Europe and Asia.

The transaction will result in substantial unlocking of the company's value with a cash inflow of Rs1,400 crore ($337.5 million), the benefits of which will go to the company and its over 2 million shareholders, the company said in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

The sale values RTIL at Rs27,000 crore ($6.75 billion) or approximately Rs135 per company's equity share, which is nearly 25 per cent of its current market price of Rs565 per share.

The offering was heavily oversubscribed with a total order book in excess of $2 billion.

Reliance Communications' residual 95 per cent stake in RTIL is valued at $6.40 billion (Rs26,000 crore), and the company says it would pursue opportunities for further unlocking of value through an RTIL, IPO and / or strategic sale at an appropriate time. (Read More)
Back to News Review index page  

HPCL, ONGC sign infrastructure sharing accord
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and ONGC have signed a wide-ranging cooperation agreement in energy and related fields.

The agreement will assure domestic oil supplies to HPCL from ONGC and its subsidiary MRPL, helping it to reduce its imports, in return HPCL will provide infrastructure support and services to the two companies.

They will also agreed their expertise in downstream and upstream sectors respectively, by providing training support to each others' employees.

HPCL and ONGC have also agreed to support each other and jointly evaluate possibilities to collaborate in the fields of oil exploration, refining, marketing, infrastructure development, petrochemicals and other energy and related ventures in India and abroad.
Back to News Review index page  

Glenmark acquires rights to two therapeutic antibodies from Chromos
The wholly owned Swiss subsidiary of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd has completed the purchase of two new biological entities CHR-1103 and CHR-1201 from Chromos Molecular Systems Inc, based in British Columbia, Canada, for an undisclosed sum.

The Two NBE's are humanised monoclonal therapeutic antibodies.

Under the terms of the transaction between Glenmark will own all rights to the two products as well as rights to use Chromos proprietary ACE System technology for cell line development of the two entities and hold the global rights for further development, registration and commercialisation of these products.

Glenamrk plans to initiate Phase I clinical trials on CHR-1103 in 2008, due for completion by March 2009 and for CHR-1201 in March 2009. (Read More)
Back to News Review index page  

Air India Express to operate Malaysia flights from October
Mumbai: Air India Express, the low-cost subsidiary of the national flag carrier, will start Chennai-Kuala Lumpur flights beginning October under a new agreement to liberalise air travel between the two countries, an airline official said.

The airline is finalising details of its Malaysia entry following the signing of the agreement on July 13, reports quoting airline sources said.

The two countries agreed to free up air services between them following two days of hectic talks between aviation authorities from both sides.

Malaysia is the second international destination of Air India Express after Singapore. The carrier plans to expand flights to Trichy in the south as also other destinations in the country subsequently. (Read More)
Back to News Review index page  

After withdrawing form Alitalia bid, Air One now after Jat
Air India's bid to acquire Serb airline Jat will get more complicated. Italy's Air One, whose owner AP Holding SpA was a leading candidate to acquire Alitalia SpA in a privatisation till a day ago, and whose withdrawal from the bid process has led to the collapse of the privatisation, is also interested in acquiring the Serbian carrier, Italian media has reported, citing sources close to the Belgrade government. Details on the sale are likely be decided by the end of July.

The Serb government is considering two options for the privatisation: a strategic alliance with another airline, and the sale of a significant Jat stake. Apart from Air India, which already cooperates with Jat in training pilots, Aeroflot Russian Airlines is seen as a contender for Jat.

Recent studies by the World Bank found that Jat made a 2006 profit of €3.8 million despite running up $54 million in accumulated losses over 2004 and 2005, owing to low productivity and capacity use.
Back to News Review index page