Crane to acquire Alfa Laval’ industrial flow division
New Delhi: Crane Company, an UK-based industrial equipment major is acquiring the industrial flow business of Alfa Laval Saunders (India), a group company of Alfa Laval (India). Alfa Laval Saunder (India)’s decision to sell off this business division to Crane Company, follows the latter’s acquisition of Alfa Laval Flow’s industrial flow division worldwide. Alfa Laval (India) holds 26 per cent equity stake in Alfa Laval Saunders (India) and Saunders Valves, UK and Alfa Laval Flow GmbH together hold the remaining 74 per cent stake.

The industrial flow division of Alfa Laval Saunders manufactures and supplies a wide variety of products like pumps, valves, installation material and tank equipment which are mainly used for safe and efficient transportation of liquids. It mainly caters to food, beverage and pharmaceutical companies. The company also offers a number of speciality products for industrial sectors such chemicals, pulp and paper and wastewater management.

The industrial flow business has generated a sales turnover of about Rs 17 crore last year and has been a profitable business for the company.
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Le Royal Meridien gets five-star deluxe status
Chennai: Le Royal Meridien has become the first hotel to get five star deluxe hotel classification at its very first inspection. The Rs 155 crore property has 243 rooms and has become a latest landmark in Chennai, along with Tidel Park and ITPO trade fair complex.

An eight-member hotel classification inspection team, consisting of director general of tourism, representatives of travel agencies and officials of Tamil Nadu tourism department carried out the inspection on February 21and granted the five star deluxe status on the same day.

Dr Palani G Periasamy, chairman of the hotel has said that since it was already a seven star property, it could immediately get five star deluxe status, which is the maximum classification for hotels in India. Taj Coromandel and Park Sheraton are the other two classified as five star deluxe hotels in the city.
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Kotak Mahindra sells Matrix to Friday Corporation
Mumbai: Kotak Mahindra Finance has sold off Matrix Information Services, a content provider promoted by it, to the Delhi-based Friday Corporation. Matrix Information services is a wholly-owned subsidiary of KMFL and will now become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Friday Corporation, a supplier of content to corporate websites, corporate intranets, mobile portals and broadband ISPs.

As a part of the swap deal, KMFL has also acquired a seven per cent stake in Friday Corporation. Both transactions are believed to be in the region of 2.5 crore each.

Matrix Information services set up in March 1996, is one of India's oldest online content providers and its clients include Ranbaxy, Cipla, Cadbury, Citibank, BBC and Johnson and Johnson.
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Reliance hikes polymer and polyester prices
Mumbai: Reliance Industries has revised the prices of polyester and polymers for the current month over that of February. In the polyesters segment, the price of partially-oriented yarn has been increased by Rs 1.45 to Rs 61.50 per kg, polyester staple fibre by Rs 1.50 to Rs 51.50 per kg, while there has be no change in rice of polyethelene terepthalate at Rs 58 per kg.

In the polymers segment, polyethelene remained untouched at Rs 44.30 per kg and that of polypropelene and polyvenylchloride rose by Re 1 each to Rs 40.80 and Rs 39.80 per kg, respectively. The company had not made any changes in the fibre intermediates segment of polytheraptulic acid at Rs 33.25 and monoethelyne glycol at Rs 34.30 per kg.

The price of linear alkine benezene also has not been changed at Rs 53.90 per tonne.
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Hyundai India to now import Sonata
New Delhi: Hyundai Motor India has announced on Thursday that it had changed its earlier plans to make its mid-size Sonata car in India and now plans to import and sell the same with the Union Budget 2001-02 leaving import duties on new cars untouched. Hyundai Motor India is scheduled to launch the Sonata sedan midway through the year and had planned to invest $20 million in manufacturing the car in India.

The government is slated to lift quantitative import restrictions on over 700 hundred items, including passenger cars in April as per World Trade Organisation pact and carmakers will then be free to import and sell cars after paying the appropriate duty.

Mr. B V R Subbu, marketing director, Hyundai Motor India has said that current duty structure does not favour local manufacturing. Mr. Subbu said the cost of the Sonata imported into India with an effective import duty of 85.33 percent, after a countervailing duty and a special duty would still be cheaper than making the car in India.

Indian automobile industry had asked for doubling of basic duties on imported new cars to 70 per cent from 35 per cent to encourage domestic manufacturing. The Budget for 2001-02 has however, raised the customs duties on second-hand car imports to 105 per cent from 35 per cent to protect the domestic auto industry and left duties on new cars unchanged.
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Maruti to launch CNG Omni cab
New Delhi: Maruti Udyog Ltd. is launching its first factory-fitted CNG vehicle on Friday in an effort to promote use of eco-friendly vehicles in the domestic market. The Omni CNG cab would also be subsequently made available for the general public for Rs 2.40 lakh. The Omnis will have a CNG kit and would allow it to be run both CNG and petrol.

With the Supreme Court's decision to take off taxis older than 10 years, about 2,000 taxis are likely to go off the New Delhi’s roads from April 1, 2001. MUL has however, not taken any decision on introducing factory-fitted CNG kits on its other vehicles - including the entry-level Maruti 800.
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Hero Honda slashes two-wheeler prices
New Delhi: Hero Honda Motors, India’s largest motorcycle-manufacturer has effected a Rs 1,740-3,000 price cut, and has forecast its sales to exceed its Rs 3,000-crore turnover target for this fiscal. The price of the 100cc Splendor model has been reduced by Rs 2,340, the 156-cc CBZ model by Rs 3,000, CD-100 by Rs 2,100 and the Street Smart by Rs 1,740. The price cut follows the 8 per cent excise duty relief announced in the Union Budget 2001-02.

Hero Honda reported a 28.7 per cent rise in its February sales at 87,614 motorcycles over 68,043 units in the same month last year. The sales were, however, lower by 3 per cent compared to 90,371 units sold in January 2001. Cumulative sales (April-February 2000-01) have increased by 37.6 per cent to 9.32 lakh units from 6.77 lakh units sold in the year-ago period. The company is hopeful of selling 1.3 million motorcycles in this fiscal against our target of one million units.

The company hopes to achieve an operational income of Rs 3,175 crore in 2000-01 and a profit before tax of Rs 390 crore to Rs 400 crore in this fiscal.
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Indo Rama raises PSF and POY prices
New Delhi: Indo Rama, in its post-budget response has revised upwards the prices of some of its products in line with international prices and domestic demand. The prices of polyester staple fibre (PSF) have been increased from Rs 49.50 to Rs 51. The basic price of 140/34 partially-oriented yarn (POY) has been increased from Rs 57 to Rs 59.50 per kg.

The basic price of 70/72 fully-drawn yarn remains unchanged at Rs 76.50. The gross price of 150 draw texturised yarn has been increased from Rs 79 to Rs 83. The gross price of blended pc carded yarn 30/1 has been increased from Rs 105.26 to Rs 106.44 per kg and the price of 100 per cent polyester yarn 30/1 gross price has also been increased from Rs 91.64 to Rs 93.42 per kg.
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Honda Siel’s sale up by 4.2 per cent in Apr-Feb
New Delhi: Honda Siel Cars India on Thursday said its sales of the City car model in the first eleven months of 2000-01 (April-March) were up 4.2 per cent to 8,740 units from 8,387 units in the same period last year. Honda Siel has sold 653 City cars, its only car model in February.

Honda Siel is a joint venture between Honda Motor of Japan and Siel, entered India's car market in December 1997 with its 1,500-cc City model. The City, targeted at the upscale car segments, sold 9,631 cars in 1998-99 and 9,698 units in 1999-00. The City model is positioned in the same range as Mitsubishi's Lancer, General Motors' Opel Astra and Suzuki's Baleno.
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Rajvilas Oberoi rated as India's best hotel
New York: Rajvilas Oberoi Hotel in Rajasthan has been rated as the best hotel in Indian terms of service, dining, public spaces and facilities by Zagat, an International rating agency. In its survey findings released, the agency gave the hotel 29 out of maximum possible 30 points.

Shiv Niwas Palace and Lake Palace in Rajasthan and Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai,shared the second place with 25 points. Rambagh Palace (Rajasthan), Fort Aguada (Goa), Taj Mahal Hotel, Maurya Sheraton and Oberoi in New Delhi, and Oberoi and Oberoi Towers in Mumbai were scored 24 points. Oberoi and the Taj Group chains find place among the top twenty hotel chains worldwide with 26 and 24 points respectively.
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ITC focuses on budget traveler in new acquisitions
Kolkata: ITC Hotels is planning to focus itself on the budget traveler, with its 4-star budget brand - Fortune Park Hotels (FPH), its wholly owned subsidiary. FPH has been over the past few months has been acquiring several new properties across the country.

The newly acquired properties include, one in Lucknow, with over 100 rooms and a 60-room property in Calingut in Goa. In the South, FPH has acquired four properties, including a new property at Cochin with 175 rooms, one in Chennai with 150 rooms and another in Madurai with 94 rooms. Among other locations identified for the budget segment include Guruvayur in Kerala and Hyderabad.

The group has also acquired properties in the east. It opened Hotel Central in Darjeeling in mid-2000, joined by two other hotels, Kailash Kothi and Mountain Lodge. It also bought Fortune Hotel Centre Point at Jamshedpur. The group is in the process of identifying more properties in places like Jullunder in north, Vapi and Goa in West and Kolkata and Siliguri in East.

To effectively position its product and service offerings, across ITC Welcomgroup chain in different segments, a new branding policy has been introduced in 2000. While the super deluxe properties would carry the prefix ITC, the five-star hotels would be branded WelcomHotels. Heritage properties such as palaces, forts and havelis are positioned as WelcomHeritage and the mid-market 3-4 star hotels are marketed under the banner FPH.
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