COMPANIES

BenQ administrator in Germany sues parent company for $36 million
Mumbai: The insolvency administrator for BenQ Mobile Germany is suing parent company BenQ for a further 26 million euros ($36 million) over and above the 80 million euros it is already claiming.

The 26 million euros were partly for bonus payments promised to Germany-based BenQ Mobile employees by BenQ, which were in fact paid by the subsidiary, BenQ Mobile, insolvency administrator Martin Prager said in a statement.

The former BenQ Mobile staff may have to pay back the bonuses if BenQ did not pay up, the statement said. About 3,000 workers were made redundant through the bankruptcy.

BenQ Mobile was formerly Siemens mobile, the loss-making handsets business of German industrial group Siemens. The takeover of the business propelled BenQ, whose mobile phones business was previously tiny, into the global top ten.

BenQ Mobile filed for insolvency in Germany at the start of this year after failing to turn the business around despite pouring in hundreds of millions of dollars.
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LIC premium collections up 36 per cent since 1999
Mumbai: The premium collected by life insurance companies in the country during 2006-07 was Rs75,400 crore compared to Rs6,560 crore during 1999-2000, the year prior to the opening up of the sector for private participation.

LIC made big contribution to the growth of the sector and increased its business by 36 per cent in the post-reform period against only 16 per cent prior to reforms. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority chairman C S Rao said.

He said private companies have managed a market share of 26 per cent but it was not at the expense of LIC but out of enlarged insurance market.

In case of general insurance market, however, Rao said the collection of premium had grown from Rs9450 crore in 1999-2000 to Rs25,000 crore in 2006-07.

He observed the growth in the general insurance was muted as there was no rise in tariff during the period.

Private sector companies have acquired a market share of 35 per cent as of 2006-07 and a major portion has come at the expense of public sector companies, he said.
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ONGC-Mittal wins gas block in Trinidad and Tobago
Mumbai: ONGC-Mittal Energy Ltd (OMEL), billionaire Lakshmi Mittal's joint venture with ONGC Videsh Ltd, has won a gas block in Trinidad and Tobago that is estimated to have reserves of two trillion cubic feet.

OMEL won the offshore block NCMA-2 beating Britain's Centrica PLC in Trinidad and Tobago's latest bidding round, industry sources said.

OMEL and Centrica were tied for NCMA-2 when bids came in April this year OMEL edged out Centrica in revised bids.

Trinidad and Tobago's ministry of energy and energy industries invited the two to submit new proposals. The NCMA-2 block is gas bearing and is estimated to hold at least two trillion cubic feet of gas reserves.

Trinidad and Tobago had in January 2006 offered eight onshore and three shallow marine blocks for bidding.

This is OMEL's second biggest success after Nigeria where it had acquired two exploration blocks.
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GENERAL

French Railway to conduct feasibility study for high-speed rail corridor
Mumbai: A French Railway team is coming to India for carrying out technical feasibility study of the high-speed rail corridor this month-end.

The high-speed corridor, also known as bullet train proposal, comprises four routes and is estimated to cost about Rs25,000 crore for each route.

The proposed routes cover the Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar, Mumbai-Baroda-Ahmedabad, Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore and the Howrah-Asansol-Patna sections. The corridor aims at reducing the travel time drastically.

Besides carrying out the feasibility study by the French team, the railways would also form a high-speed commission to expedite the project on a public-private participation basis.

The team arriving on August 26 would visit some of the proposed sites for the high-speed corridors to prepare a detailed study report suggesting possible measures for going ahead with the project.

If everything goes well, the team is likely to sign a MOU with the government to assist the Indian Railway in the project, a senior railway ministry official said.
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DoT rules out BSNL-MTNL merger on listing status of MTNL
Mumbai: The Department of Telecom has ruled out the merger of the two PSUs -- BSNL and MTNL -- on the grounds of the listed entity status of MTNL, telecom Minister A Raja said.

He ruled out the possibility of merging the two as MTNL has private stakeholders who may not favour a merger with BSNL.

While BSNL is 100 per cent owned by the government, MTNL has 56.25 per cent government stake. MTNL is listed in the domestic market as well as on the New York Stock exchanges.

MTNL has minority shareholders/ADR holders whose approval for the merger decision is crucial.

After I-Sec submitted its report, the government was exploring the financial pros and cons of a reverse merger of BSNL with MTNL to take care of the private shareholders' interests.
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PEOPLE

Rajiv reappointed director of Bajaj Auto Finance
Mumbai: Rajiv Bajaj has been reappointed as director of Bajaj Auto Finance Ltd. Shareholders of the company at the company's 20th annual general meeting approved the proposal to appoint reappoint Bajaj and D.S. Mehta as directors, the company said in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

The company also declared a dividend of Rs3 per share (30 per cent) for the financial year ended March 31, 2007. Nanoo Pamnani, who was earlier a director in casual vacancy, have also been appointed as a regular director, it said. The shareholders of the company also approved the adoption of the audited balance sheet as on March 31, and the profit and loss account for the year ended March 31, 2007.
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