The Hindu Business Line : Thursday, December 18, 2003

Hindustan Zinc raises prices
HINDUSTAN Zinc Limited (HZL) has revised its prices upward by Rs 3.30 and Rs 3 per kg for zinc and lead products respectively from December 16, 2003, trade sources said. The revision was announced for the second half of the current month on the ... More

Natco Pharma unveils two more anti-cancer drugs
NATCO Pharma Ltd (NPL), a city-based pharmaceutical company, has announced the launch of two more anti-cancer drugs - Natfost (amifostine injection) and Hyurea (hydroxyurea capsules). In a release on Tuesday, NPL said that Natfost ... More

Indian Hotels board okays proposal for long-term funds
THE board of directors of Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) on Wednesday approved a proposal to raise long-term funds up to $ 150 million. The company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that the form and terms of the loans would be decided by ... More

Thermax invests $2 m in Brazil subsidiary
THERMAX Ltd on Wednesday informed the BSE and the NSE that the company had incorporated and invested $2 million in a wholly-owned overseas subsidiary in Brazil. Talking to Business Line, Mr Amitabh Mukhopadhyay, Chief Financial ... More

Roche to launch new clinical trials for lung cancer in India
BUOYED by the encouraging reports of its ongoing clinical trials in India for treatment of a rare breast cancer (HER 2 and ER/PR positive), Swiss pharma major, Roche, plans to set up new clinical trial sites in India as part of its global trials ... More

Coke to form council on environment
THE Indian Advisory Board of Coca-Cola India has decided at its first meeting here on Tuesday to form an India Environment Council. Mr Justice B.N. Kirpal, former Chief Justice of India, will lead the Council as its Chairman. The India ... More

BHEL bags Rs 2,700-cr NTPC contracts
BHARAT Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has secured major contracts cumulatively worth over Rs 2,700 crore from National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) for setting up three projects with a combined power generating capacity of 1710 MW. The three ... More

European nod for Orchid Chem drug
CHENNAI: Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals on Wednesday announced that the European drug regulator has approved the manufacturing facility for one of its bulk drugs, Cefixime. The approval allows Orchid to export the drug to Europe. ... More

AUTOMOBILES

NID plans to set up auto design centre in Pune
REFLECTING the growing importance being given to automobile designing in India, the National Institute of Design (NID) plans to have a tripartite sector specific facility at Pune. NID, which already has a similar designing facility for the ... More

COURTS/LEGAL ISSUES

Mardia hearing rescheduled to January 7 & 8
THE Supreme Court has rescheduled the hearing of the Mardia Chemicals case to January 7 and 8 on the request of the Solicitor General of India. The landmark case's final ruling is expected to have a bearing on the entire Indian banking industry ... More

CREDIT RATING

S&P raises outlook on 7 cos to stable
STANDARD & Poor's today revised to stable, the outlook on seven Indian corporates — six of which are energy companies. The international rating agency has revised to `BB' the outlook on Indian Oil Corporation, Indian Railway Finance ... More

RESTRUCTURING

SEBI moots minimum disclosure norms for restructuring of cos
THE Securities and Exchange Board of India has prescribed a set of minimum disclosures that companies undergoing restructuring need to make to their shareholders. The disclosure would include information such as the basis of valuation, nature ... More

Futura Poly board nod for chemical unit transfer to arm
FUTURA Polyesters Ltd has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that its board, at a meeting on Tuesday, had decided to transfer with effect from January 1, 2004, its chemicals division to its subsidiary, Innovasynth Technologies India Ltd (ITIL) on ... More

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Crisil acquires London-based gas advisory firm
THE recent round of overseas acquisitions by Indian companies is not confined to the manufacturing sector; leading rating agency, Crisil on Wednesday announced its first major international foray with the acquisition of a London-based gas ... More

Gabriel group buys bonsai producer
AN American start-up private equity company has announced the acquisition of a local company producing bonsai plants, as part of its plans to set apart $20 million to take equity in small and medium companies in the old economy ... More

NEW PROJECTS

US biotech firm to set up unit at Genome Valley
GENOME Valley, the country's first modern biotech cluster situated in the outskirts of Hyderabad, has succeeded in attracting one of the US-based global biotech majors. Genome Valley, which provides world-class infrastructure, has already ... More

Welspun to double terry towel capacity
WELSPUN India Ltd is looking to double its terry towel capacity to 20,000 tonnes and is scouting around for a location in Vapi, Gujarat, to set up facilities. According to Mr Swapan Nath, Director, Welspun India Ltd and Glofame Cotspin ... More

Kochi Refineries to hike capacity to 10 mt by 2005
KOCHI Refineries Ltd (KRL) has embarked upon a refinery modernisation and expansion programme, which will eventually increase the refining capacity to 10 million tonnes per annum and ensure that its fuel products conform to the BS II norms by ... More

REGULATORY BODIES & RULINGS

DCA clarifies on compliance certificate status for companies
COMPANIES employing a full-time company secretary would not be required to obtain a compliance certificate from a practicing company secretary even if their paid-up capital is below the Rs 2-crore level. A clarification to this effect from the ... More

SEBI panel moots curbs on stock split
THE Secondary Market Advisory Committee of the Securities and Exchange Board of India has suggested that no listed company whose average market price in the previous six months is less than Rs 500 per share be allowed to split the value of its ... More

TRADE & LABOUR UNIONS

Unrest over ban on manual workers for loading, unloading in CCL mines
LAW and order problem is reported to have surfaced in certain coal mining areas of Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL) with the implementation of a ban on using manual workers for loading and unloading work. The ban was imposed by the Union Ministry ... More

ALLIANCES & JOINT VENTURES

L&T John Deere ties up with SBH for tractor financing
L&T John Deere Pvt Ltd, a joint venture between L&T and the US-based agricultural farm equipment maker, John Deere & Company, has entered into an alliance with State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) on an exclusive basis for tractor financing. Speaking ... More

Hind Sanitaryware to market Finnish co products
HINDUSTAN Sanitaryware has entered into a strategic alliance with the $1.5-billion Sanitec Group of Finland. Under the agreement, Hindustan Sanitaryware would exclusively market premium product of Sanitec's Keramag brand. The product range of ... More

INTERVIEW

Vizag Steel in talks with 2 States to buy ore mines
VISAKHAPATNAM Steel Plant (Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd), which has turned around and is going all out to make profit of Rs 1,000 crore this fiscal, is making attempts to acquire captive mines of iron ore for assured supply of raw material and to ... More

SICK UNITS

J&N files reference for revival under SICA
JENSON & Nicholson (I) Ltd (J&N) proffered a reference for revival under Section 15(A) of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provision) Act, 1985 with the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR). BIFR has registered the ... More

OUTLOOK

Reid & Taylor sales expected to rise by 40 pc
THE premium suiting brand of S. Kumars, Reid & Taylor, expects to post 35-40 per cent turnover growth and gross the company over Rs 220 crore in domestic sales for 2003-04, according to Mr Tarun Joshi, Communication Custodian, Reid & ... More

PERFORMANCE

SAIL reports 15 pc increase in domestic sales for Oct-Nov
STEEL Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has reported a 15 per cent increase in domestic steel sales at 1.68 million tonnes during October and November 2003 in comparison to 1.46 million tonnes sold in the same period previous year. With this, ... More

TRENDS

Borregaard offloads entire stake in Suven Life
BORREGAARD Industries Ltd has offloaded its entire equity holding in Suven Life Sciences Ltd in apparent moves to take advantage of the bull run in the capital market and book significant profits before the year-end. As a technical and ... More

(Cost) advantage Chennai
PEOPLE who study far but play safe, and a city with little activity are descriptions often used to parody Chennai. The caricatures have had an unlikely spin off: companies providing support for overseas consulting, equity research and finance ... More

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