The Hindu Business Line : Friday, January 18, 2002

`MERC cannot solve Dabhol dispute'
MEMBERS of the Maharashtra State Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) are not competent to solve the dispute between the Enron-promoted Dabhol Power Company and the Maharashtra State Electricity Board, according to Mr P. Chidambaram, DPC ... More

NEW PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Leyland unveils new LCV
IN what is an indication of its future plans for the light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment, Ashok Leyland Ltd has exhibited a new concept LCV at the 6th Auto Expo here. Labelled Logix 509V, the vehicle marks a possible foray by Leyland into ... More

SAIL unveils corrosion-resistant steel
MUMBAI: Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has announced the launch of its newly developed high corrosion- resistant structural steel. According to Mr. A.K. Singh, Director (Commercial), SAIL, it was imperative to develop a kind of ... More

RESTRUCTURING

Tanning Tech to cut jobs
THE Hyderabad-based Tanning Technologies India is being downsized, with job cuts as part of the global restructuring of its parent corporation — the $ 56-million, Nasdaq-listed Tanning Technologies Inc. In a worldwide announcement ... More

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

BG deal for Enron Indian assets
BG sealed a revised contract early this month with Enron to acquire the latter's offshore interests in the country following the expiry of an earlier deal in the last week of December last year. The earlier deal struck in October last involved ... More

Banks, FIs to up stake in Balaji Distilleries
BANKS and financial institutions are slated to acquire a significant holding in the Nellore-based Balaji Distilleries Ltd (BDL) and emerge as second largest equity-holders in the company, close to the promoters' stake. According to BDL ... More

NEW PROJECTS

Avestha Gen seeks funding to expand R&D activities -- Plans foray into overseas markets
AVESTHA Gengraine Technologies, the biotech and bioinformatics company, is looking to mop up more funds to expand the scope of its research and development (R&D) activities and subsequently translate them into commercial ventures in the country ... More

Cummins forays into auto services
CUMMINS India today announced its entry into the automotive services business through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Cummins Auto Services Ltd (CASL). The company plans to offer vehicle maintenance and service facilities on major national ... More

Hutti Gold Mines to upgrade milling plant
THE state-owned Hutti Gold Mines has posted some glittering profits this year and is embarking on modernisation and expansion of its milling plant. Global tenders are being floated for installing a new plant with a milling capacity of 2,100 ... More

Chemetall-Rai starts Pune operations
CHEMETALL-RAI India Ltd (CRIL) has launched its Pune operations with the inauguration of a new facility at Koregaon-Bhima. This facility would introduce a new range of products catering to electroplating for general metal finishing and ... More

Sony Ericsson office in Delhi
SONY Ericsson Mobile Communications, the 50:50 joint venture between Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson and Sony Corporation has announced the start of its India operations, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications International A B Branch Office Delhi, ... More

ALLIANCES & JOINT VENTURES

NIS Sparta ties up with MART for rural training
CONSULTANCY and training organisation NIS Sparta Ltd has entered into an alliance with Marketing & Research Team (MART) to provide a rural marketing and micro enterprise solutions package to NGOs, development organisations and corporates. The ... More

IOC, RPL zeroing in on marketing deal
INDIAN Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC) and Reliance Petroleum Ltd (RPL) are close to finalising an agreement on marketing of the private refiner's petro products in the post-Administered Pricing Mechanism (APM) era, scheduled for April 1, according to ... More

SICK UNITS

BIFR rejects reference by Unicorp
THE Board for Industrial & Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) has rejected the reference filed by Unicorp Industries Ltd (UIL) as non-maintainable. The board rejected the reference stating that the promoters had approached BIFR with the sole ... More

Unions want Trayons wind-up postponed
TRADE Unions at the ailing Travancore Rayons Ltd (Trayons) at nearby Perumbavoor have requested the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) to postpone the winding-up proceedings, scheduled to be held on January 22, by another ... More

OUTLOOK

Madura brands may touch Rs 100 cr
TWO leading brands from apparels major Madura Garments — Louis Philippe and Peter England — may touch Rs 100-crore billings in the current financial year, placing it among the top three menswear labels in the country. (Raymond ... More

Royalty termination to boost TVS bottomline
TVS Motor Company's termination of the royalty agreement with Suzuki Motor Corporation from May 1 is projected to add significantly to its bottomline. "The termination of the royalty agreement from May 1, 2002 will add 1 per cent of the sales ... More

Care Technologies upbeat on prospects
THREE years ago, medical transcription (MT) was considered one of the right prescriptions for budding entrepreneurs in the IT-enabled services sector. And expectedly, a rush of enterprises mushroomed, all in the hope of raking in quick ... More

Financial Tech eyes US market
FINANCIAL Technologies (India) Ltd, an e-trading and financial software solutions provider, is eying the US market as part of its global expansion plans. The company is currently studying the market and exploring possibilities of establishing a ... More

CPCL looking at direct crude from VLCCs
CHENNAI Petroleum Corporation Ltd (CPCL) is studying some options for putting up facilities to receive crude directly from very large crude carriers (VLCCs). These options include creating a single buoy mooring (SBM) facility near the Chennai ... More

Sun Pharma buoyed by spurt in Caraco sales
THE substantial increase in sales of its US-based group company Caraco Pharmaceuticals is expected to give a boost to Sun Pharmaceuticals' endeavour to enter the US market. Mr Narendra N. Borkar, Chief Executive Officer, Caraco Pharmaceutical ... More

PERFORMANCE

Domino's Pizza finds itself in the `frying' pan
THERE'S obviously no pizzazz in the pizza, at least in the case of the Vam Organic Group-promoted Domino's Pizza India Ltd. Faced with rigid consumers and battling the allegation of overpricing even after six years since stepping into India, ... More

SAIL slips on output target
STEEL Authority of India (SAIL) has missed its production target for the first nine months by approximately 4.53 per cent, according to the figures released here. Production during April-December 2001 was also 2.24 per cent less compared to ... More

Haldia Petro is No 2 in polymer sales
HALDIA Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL) has emerged as the number two player in the polymer market, grabbing 21 per cent of the market share in the first three quarters of 2001-02. HPL sources said that Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd (IPCL), ... More

Bengal Govt threatens action against CESC
THE West Bengal Government on Thursday asked the RPG-controlled power utility, CESC Ltd, to surrender its licence if it is unable to service areas under its command in the city and industrial suburbs. The `threat' was issued by Mr Kalyan Bagchi, ... More

PEOPLE

K M Birla quits Global Fin board

ANNOUNCEMENTS

SHCIL turnover of bonds at Rs 2,000 cr
STOCK Holding Corporation of India Ltd (SHCIL) has touched a turnover of Rs 2,000 crore in the 8.5 per cent (tax-free) relief bonds issued by the Government of India. According to a press release issued here, SHCIL is the second largest ... More

Indo Rama to source tech from Zimmer AG
INDO Rama Synthetics (India) Ltd (IRSL) has announced that it has identified Zimmer AG of Germany as the technology supplier for the Rs 600-crore expansion project on polyester staple fibre (PSF) that is proposed to be undertaken at the company's ... More

Kanika Infotech board okays name change
THE board of directors of Kanika Infotech Ltd, at a meeting held here, approved a proposal seeking to change the name of the company to Kanika Infocom Ltd. The move follows the company's diversification into the development of telecom software ... More

GM to launch new model in CBU form
GENERAL Motors (GM) India plans to launch a vehicle in the CBU (completely built unit) form this year. Mr Aditya Vij, President and Managing Director, General Motors India, said: "We are looking to launch at least one Opel product in the CBU ... More

Infinite Computer achieves Level III

PRIVATE PLACEMENT

Broadcast Worldwide to raise Rs 25 cr thru pvt placement
BROADCAST Worldwide, which owns regional channels called TARA, is raising Rs 25 crore as part of its third round of funding. For that, it is in talks with domestic strategic investors. Speaking to Business Line, Mr Ratikant Basu, ... More

OPEN OFFERS

SEBI may okay revised open offer pricing norms
THE Securities and Exchange Board of India's board is expected to approve shortly a proposal to revise the open offer pricing norms in order to factor in cases of special dividend also. The proposed amendments to the open offer pricing norm of ... More

Tata SSL final offer begins
TATA Steel and Kalimati Investment Company Ltd are to make a final open offer to acquire the remaining shareholding in Tata SSL. In October 2001, the two companies had made an open offer to the public shareholders of Tata SSL to acquire the ... More

Scoreboard
SE Diary

Comments & Letters to the Editor to: bleditor@thehindu.co.in

Nabard moots bank loans against godown receipts -- Guidelines awaiting Government nod

IRDA nod for licences to 7 third party administrators

US-64 outperforms Sensex with NAV

State Govt cos can undertake coal mining

Role for foreign airlines in management -- FDI in aviation may be hiked to 49 pc

Kutch revisited -- With rubble & uncertainty for company

Indian Bank operating profit up

In Depth
Inside Kashmir

Guide to derivatives

US-64

Looking back
Jan. 6-Jan. 12
Nilekani crowned Infosys CEO -- Narayana Murthy is `Chief Mentor'