Voices

``Honeywell's core of business -- avionics, automatic controls, performance materials and its new microturbine technology are a perfect complement to four of GE's major businesses.'' -- Jack Welch, Chairman and CEO of General Electric, on the $45 billion acquisition of Honeywell.

``Retail business is a definite part of the new economy and has great potential. We see Madura Garments as a knowledge-based business and not a capital-intensive one. Investment is in the nature of design technology, supply chain management and brand building.'' -- Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Vikram Birla group.

``Maruti is the first market leader, in any market surveyed worldwide, that ranks first in a Customer Satisfaction Index. This is a remarkable feat for any manufacturer with a large customer base.'' -- Mr Chris Bonsi, Director, J. D. Power, Asia-Pacific.

``Service and customisation will be the defining characteristic of our new venture. We stand committed to serving the Indian customer with a portfolio of insurance products best suited to their interests.'' -- Mr G. K. Raman, Chairman, Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance.

``We are very happy to get the certificate of registration for HDFC Standard Life Insurance. We plan to have a soft launch in December in Mumbai, and subsequently extend our business to other cities.'' -- Mr Deepak Parekh, Chairman, HDFC.

``The real estate market in the metros and mini-metros is definitely driven by the information technology boom.'' -- Mr Akshaya Kumar, CEO, Colliers Jardine.

``Infosys plans to become a one-stop shop for all technology services to help clients deal better with the fast-moving sector. The repositioning has begun and will take two-three years to be complete.'' -- Mr S. Gopalakrishnan, co-founder and Executive Director, Infosys Technologies.

``The very poor demand for gold has to do with the strength of the dollar. I personally believe we are seeing a bubble in the dollar and I believe it is approaching a level that is too high and unsustainable.'' -- Mr Paul Lee, Director, Precious Metals, Dresdner Kleinwort Benson.

``Ashok Leyland has been reducing assets in the last couple of years. We do not anticipate any major investments in the next two years. So shareholders would get earnings spread over a lower number of shares through the buyback.'' -- Mr R. Seshasayee, Managing Director, Ashok Leyland.