ABB represents to World Bank on NTPC project
New Delhi: ABB group company, Combustion Engineering, which has been denied the boiler contract, despite being the lowest bidder,  for the 2,000 MW Talcher power project of the National Thermal Power Corporation, has made a representation to the World Bank.

NTPC had awarded the contract for the work to Bharat Heavy Electricals after ABB's bid was declared unresponsive on grounds that it had restructured the bid by bringing down the import content. Besides, it does not make and supply boilers of a particular capacity.

The World Bank is one of the largest donors for NTPC's various power projects -- almost 50 per cent of the debt of NTPC's power projects are funded by the bank.

Earlier, the workers' union of ABB in India had taken up the matter and the company has since begun a high-profile campaign representing the issue to the US government officials in India. The Central Vigilance Commission has also ordered an inquiry into the matter.
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Nicholas Piramal to buy Hoechst unit, brand
Mumbai: Nicholas Piramal India is negotiating with Hoechst Marion Roussel (India) for buying a Hoechst production unit in Mumbai and a parenteral nutrition brand Haemaccel,  produced there.

The Economic Times said in a report said Nicholas Piramal is interested in acquiring the unit, as it is located close to its research centre, Quest Institute of Life Science, which it had earlier acquired from Hoechst.
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Godrej Foods to sell stake in Pillsbury unit
Mumbai: Godrej Foods is selling its stake in Godrej Pillsbury to group company Godrej & Boyce Mfg Co for Rs 31.3 crore. The sale is on the basis of a valuation advisory report, which has suggested the sale. The sale,  as well as a rights issue at 3:4 at a premium of around Rs 5 to Rs 8 per share,  will help reduce the company's debt and widen its equity base. Pillsbury holds 51 per cent stake in Godrej Pillsbury.
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WebSpective sold to Inktomi
Mumbai: WebSpective, a leading provider of content distribution and tracking software in the US, promoted by an Indian, Swapnil Shah, has been sold to Inktomi at a consideration of $106 million in a stock swap deal.

Mr Shah, who launched the start-up in 1997, thus joins an exclusive list of Indian technocrats who have made it big in the US.

California-based Inktomi develops and markets scalable software designed for large internet infrastructure and media companies.

WebSpective's software is said to aid surfers to gain faster access and better net experience.
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Indian Oil still keen on IPCL stake
New Delhi: Indian Oil Corporation has made it clear that it is ready to collaborate with the existing bidders for a stake in Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Limited. The government is proposing to divest 25 per cent of its stake in IPCL.

"The collaboration could be either with one of the earlier bidders like Amoco or with any of the existing bidders like Dow Chem," Indian Oil sources said. The company has also not ruled out teaming up with Reliance Industries, one of the four bidders shortlisted by the government. Besides Reliance and Dow Chem, the Soros group and Mitsubishi Chemicals are in the field.

The government had earlier rejected Indian Oil's bid for the stake on technical grounds.
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Pfizer proposal to be reviewed
New Delhi: The industry ministry is likely to review Pfizer's proposal to set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in India. Retail investors in Pfizer's present Indian venture, Pfizer India, had represented to the ministry, expressing concern over the government's decision to approve the proposal.

The shareholders had raised several policy and corporate issues and had expressed concern of the future of the existing venture if the parent company is allowed to set up a wholly-owned venture.

Pfizer has 40 per cent stake in Pfizer India, while 60 per centof teh company's equity  is held by financial institutions and the  public.

Industries minister Sikander Bakht had approved the proposal after the Foreign Investments Promotion Board had recommended it.

The Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industries in India has also decided to represent to Mr Bakht to revoke the approval.
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Indian Oil to market branded gasoline
New Delhi: India Oil Corporation is planning to launch its Servo brand of premium gasoline and diesel in India by October 2002. As a prelude, the company has signed a memorandum of understanding with French petroleum major  Elf Anta for marketing diesel additives.

Internationally gasoline and diesel products are branded and sold at premium prices on the basis of additional features they offer.

Elf Anta, which is poised to join hands with Total Fina, will supply the additives to Indian Oil, which will then be packed and marketed. At a later date, the company plans to set up a manufacturing base at Taloja near Mumbai in technical collaboration with Elf to make speciality products.
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eCode.com plans listing
New Delhi: eCode.com, a start-up venture by an Indian, Rohit Chandra, is looking at listing on the Nasdaq and the Bombay Stock Exchange. eCode.com is a website that "allows a user to create his personality on the web", according to Mr Chandra.

The website has some one lakh registered users. Mr Chandra is in India to participate in the "India Internet World" being organised in New Delhi.
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Bina Power to raise Rs 700 crore
New Delhi: Bina Power, the joint venture between PowerGen and the Aditya Vikram Birla group, will raise Rs 700 crore through offshore funds to pay Siemens and Bharat Heavy Electricals for supplying equipment.

The company is planning a combination of equity deposits in offshore accounts and foreign currency loans that could be raised against equity held outside the country.

Other options include rupee equity or rupee loans or foreign currency loans. The Foreign Investments Promotion Board has approved the company's proposal.
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SAIL loss at Rs 1,618 crore
New Delhi: Steel Authority of India has recorded a loss of Rs 1,618 crore in 1998-99 compared to a profit of Rs 149 crore in 1997-98, according to the audited accounts of the company.

The company has attributed the loss as follows: Rs 458 crore due to higher input cost, Rs 298 crore due to higher depreciation, Rs 440 crore due to increase in interest and Rs 397 crore due to lower volumes of production and low sales realisation of Rs 772 crore.

The accounts will be submitted at the annual general meeting of the company on 22 September.
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Reliance Petroleum for direct marketing
New Delhi: Reliance Petroleum is planning to market its products directly. The company will make a proposal to this effect to the next government.

Reliance Petroleum had recently commissioned its refinery in Jamnagar in Gujarat. As per rules, refining companies have to invest about Rs 2,000 crore in downstream companies to acquire marketing rights. With the commissioning of the refinery, Reliance Petroleum has met this stipulation. Earlier the company had preferred to have a marketing tie-up with the state-run companies.
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Gujarat Ambuja to set up new cement plant
Mumbai: Gujarat Ambuja Cements is setting up a 2 million tonne per annum greenfield cement plant at Chandrapur in Maharashtra.

The company says the construction work at the site has already begun. The project involves an investment of about Rs 500 crore and will be operational within two years.

The Chandrapur plant will take the Rs 1,250-crore company's cement capacity to 12 million tonnes per annum by the end of 2001 from the present 6.5 million tonnes.
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Satyam takes stake in In Touch
Mumbai: Satyam Computer Services is taking a 9.06 per cent stake in US-based In Touch Technologies, makers of software for telecommunications.

Satyam is investing $2.50 million in the US company for the acquisition.
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Taj opens Quilon in London
Mumbai: The Taj group of hotels has opened a new restaurant in London, named Quilon. The restaurant is located behind the Buckingham Palace and adjacent to St James Court hotel.

Quilon will be a sister concern of London's award winning Bombay Brasserie.
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Jindal steel coils off to Canada
Panaji: Jindal Vijayanagar Steel has flagged off its first consignment of 9,000 tonnes of hot rolled coils to Canada from Mormugao port on 21 September.

The company said it will export 2.4 lakh tonnes of structured steel in the next one year.

The galvanised steel coils exported to Canada have been manufactured at the company's Vasind plant near Mumbai.
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Dr Reddy's diabetes drug pre-clinical trials over
Hyderabad: The pre-clinical trials of the anti-diabetes drug developed by Dr Reddy's Laboratories are over and the drug will soon go for its first phase of clinical trials. Dr Reddy's has licensed the drug, DRF 2725, to Denmark's Novo Nordisk.

Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk will begin the second phase of clinical trials for another anti-diabetes drug developed by Dr Reddy's in a few weeks, Anji Reddy, chairman of Dr Reddy's, said. Novo Nordisk will make milestone payments for these drugs soon.

Mr Reddy said the company has sought permission from the Indian Drug Controller to begin trials of a derivative of the anti-cancer drug camptothecin. The company has announced plans to launch two process-engineered cancer molecules, topotecan and irinotecan and has started marketing an anti-cancer drug, Docetere, in Indian market.
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Mahindra Ugine plans JV
New Delhi: The Mahindras are about to finalise a deal with Spanish company Sidenor for partnership in alloy steel business of Mahindra Ugine.

The deal has been under negotiation for almost a year. It provides for alloy steel business of Mahindra Ugine to be hived off into a separate joint venture with Sidenor. The liabilities of the company, estimated at around Rs 100 crore will be transferred to the joint venture, making Mahindra Ugine a relatively debt-free company. Besides alloy steel Mahindra Ugine is a maker of auto components.
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Bell-Vodafone merger announced
London: Bell Atlantic and Vodafone Airtouch say they will merge their US wireless businesses into a joint venture worth over $70 billion. The merged entity will be the biggest mobile phone network in the US.

Bell Atlantic will own 55 per cent of the new company, which is expected to serve 20 million customers. Vodafone the world's biggest cellphone operator, will own the rest. Vodafone has inherited a network that covers most of the western states after it took over Airtouch in January 1999. Bell has a reach of most of the eastern states.
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Airtours-First Choice merger may be blocked
Brussels: The European Commission is set to block the proposed merger of Airtours, the British tour operator, and rival First Choice on grounds that it may cause harm to British holidaymakers. Commission sources only said there will be an important merger ruling on 22 September.
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Gateway not to use AMD chips
Palo Alto: Gateway, the No 2 direct seller of personal computers in the US, has decided to stop using microprocessors from Advanced Micro Devices. Instead, the company will use Intel's chips.

Analysts say there is a lack of supply from AMD and Intel has basically  stepped up its soft dollar campaign.
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BNP-Dresdner merger a possibility
Paris: Banque Nationale de Paris, France's biggest bank after its acquisition of Paribas, says it is planning cooperation with Germany's Dresdner Bank, possibly leading to a merger.

Michael Pebereau, BNP chairman, said a merger is one possibility among others. "The new size of BNP-Paribas allows us to consider new possibilities for cooperation with Dresdner," he said. Mr Pebereau had two weeks earlier denied of any merger proposal between the two banks.
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Oman dairy firm to set shop in India
Dubai: Oman National Dairy Products is planning to enter the Indian market with its Zain brand of juices, long-life milk, yoghurts and ice creams. The company will set up marketing outlets in Mumbai first, to be followed by New Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram.
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GE tops Fortune's list once again
New York: General Electric has emerged as the most admired company in Fortune's ranking for the second consecutive year. Microsoft came in at No 2, followed by Coca-Cola, Intel and Berkshire Hathaway.

Cisco at No 8, Wal Mart at No 7, Lucent Technologies at No11 and Home Depot at No 20 are among the top 25 companies covering 24 industries in the world. Notable exits are Gillette and British Airways. Time Warner, publisher of Fortune, is the most admired entertainment company, replacing Disney.
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