COMPANIES

Arcelor Mittal gets clearance for US steel plant sale
Mumbai: Arcelor Mittal, the world's largest steelmaker, has received clearance from US anti-trust authorities to sell its Sparrows Point steel mill for $1.35 billion.

The transaction is expected to close in October, subject to oversight and approval by the recently appointed court trustee, the company said in a statement.
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SCI to buy 31 vessels for around Rs1,281 crore
Mumbai: The Shipping Corporation Of India (SCI) is planning to place order for 31 vessels valued at around Rs1,280.71 crore in the current fiscal, shipping minister T R Baalu told the Lok Sabha.

He said SCI has so far placed orders for construction of six vessels in this fiscal, which will be delivered between 2010-11 and the 12 vessels ordered in 2005-06 will be delivered between 2008-10.

The shipping giant had floated global tenders for the acquisition of 16 vessels, of which tenders for six vessels have been finalised.

Baalu said nine firms have evinced interest in constructing an international size shipyard in the east coast of the country while three have shown interest for building one in the west coast.
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BSNL-MTNL merger plan put on hold
Mumbai: The government has decided to put the proposal for merger of state-owned telecom firms Bhrat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) on hold for some time, Shakeel Ahmad, minister of state for IT and communication, told the Rajya Sabha.

He said following a few complexities involved in the issue, a consortium of consultants led by ICICI Securities has suggested some options for restructuring of MTNL and BSNL.

"Since the enabling conditions for the suggested options are not appropriate enough to lead to a successful merger and considering the complexity of issues involved, the restructuring of BSNL and MTNL has been put on hold for the time being," he added.
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M&M looking for acquisitions in US, Europe
Mumbai: Mahindra and Mahindra is scouting for acquisitions in overseas markets for forgings, design and engineering software solutions. The company is also looking at establishing its base in emerging markets such as China and Africa, aiming to scale the billion-dollar turnover mark by 2010 in its auto component business.

"We are looking at a billion dollar turnover by 2010, which is currently at $800 million. We are also looking at $1 billion market capitalisation as early as possible as against current market cap of $600 million," Hemant Luthra, president (system and technology sector), M&M, said on the sidelines of ACMA annual convention.

He said the company was looking for acquisitions in forgings, design and engineering software solutions to add value to its offerings. "We have six-seven acquisition opportunities and you may see a couple of them in this fiscal. An acquisition would be in forging," Mr Luthra added.
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GENERAL

India's textile export seen below target at $23 billion in FY08
Mumbai: Textile exports from the country during the current financial year 2007-08 are likely to miss the $25 billion target because of the rupee's appreciation against the dollar, official sources said.

The government has revised the target downward to about $22-23 billion in the current financial year, around 8-12 per cent less than the original target, reports quoting textile commissioner J.N. Singh said.
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Moderation in IT, BPO wages to begin next year: Nasscom
Mumbai: Wages of IT and BPO workers would see a moderation beginning next year with manpower supply improving, industry body Nasscom said.

Wages have gone up by 12-15 per cent annually across major IT and BPO industries in the last 2-3 years. "Clearly, the intent of the industry is to moderate", Nasscom chairman Lakshmi Narayanan said on the sidelines of a quality summit.

He said manpower supply side has been improving thanks to various initiatives taken by companies themselves as well as Nasscom, and proactive academic institutions in coming out with more seats and disciplines, and starting of it finishing schools.

Availability of capacity was increasing, he said. In Tamil Nadu alone, there are 10,000 engineering seats going vacant this year. "As talent and workforce development take roots, you will see moderation in wages. We will see the beginning of this trend (moderation of wages) next year itself. Overall, the demand-supply gap is more or less balanced", Narayanan said.
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Bangalore among world's `best places to do business'
Mumbai: Bangalore has emerged as one of the best places to do business in the world, joining the league of cities like London, Shanghai and Singapore, a latest study says.

Bangalore, known as the world's back office, is among the 12 cities named in the 'Best places to do business in the wired world' list recently compiled by Business 2.0, a magazine published by global media giant CNN-Time Warner Group.

Other cities which find a place on the list are Tokyo , Hong Kong, Barcelona (Spain), Helsinki (Finland), Seoul, Stockholm (Sweden), Tallinn (Estonia) and Tel Aviv (Israel).

"The city is home to Infosys, Google's research and development center, and some of the world's most talented (and inexpensive) software engineers," the report said while describing Bangalore.
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