Satyam to increase internet browsing centres
Hyderabad: Internet services provider, Satyam
Infoway , has laid out detailed plans to rollout over 1,000 internet browsing centres,
branded I-way, by end of this year. The company currently has 350 such centres in
Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
These browsing centres have
high speed connectivity, simple one-time registration process, wide range of services,
especially designed web stations, attractive subscription schemes and free roaming
facility.
The company hopes that these centres will become primary catalysts in expanding internet
usage in the country. The market size of the public internet access centres is estimated
to be around 10,000 and is expected to quadruple in the next five years.
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Tata Telecom
plans entry into consultancy
Mumbai: Tata Telecom, a leading provider of call centres, is planning to make an
entry into the consultancy business for IT-enabled services. The company is a joint
venture between the Tata Group and Avaya, a Lucent company.
The company announced that it is open to
tie-ups with other players to offer consultancy services to companies wishing to set up
call and contract centres in the country. The company is targeting a turnover of at least
25 per cent of its total turnover from this activity.
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Microsoft to
finalise India investment in 2 months
New Delhi: According to officials in Microsoft, the worlds largest software
company, it would announce its India investment strategy in the next two months. This
strategy is expected to include the latest initiatives in the internet applications ready
platform -- .NET, C-Sharp language-based programmes.
The company plans to recruit about 6,000 people globally at the beginning of the new
fiscal starting in July.
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LTITL to look
for opportunities in SA, Japan and Europe
Mumbai: L&T Information Technology (LTITL) has decided to look for business
opportunities in South Africa, Japan and Europe in the current fiscal in its bid to expand
its presence beyond the US.
LTITL plans to offer e-business solutions to
the service and construction industry. It has recently been signed as a member of the
Oracle Partner Program, enabling it to offer services on the Oracle e-business suite,
which is a suite of e-business applications run entirely on the Internet.
The company currently has 21 international offices and eight software development centres
across the world, including two offsite centres in the US.
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ING-Vyasa
insurance foray in quandary
New Delhi: In the aftermath of the stock
market crash and the subsequent payment crisis, the fate of the insurance venture
ING-Vyasa looks bleak, with the Damani brothers unable to bring in the promised equity.
The joint venture is looking for a partner in their place.
The Damani brothers, including R S Damani and
G S Damani were to have brought in 25 per cent of the equity, with ING bringing in 26, and
Vyasa Bank 49 per cent. This plan is now upset by the payment crisis, which left the
Damani's with little surplus funds to invest.
At the same time, Vyasa Bank cannot bring in
more than the 49 per cent equity according to RBI rules, and ING as a foreign entity
cannot exceed its 26 per cent. So a third party will have to bring in about Rs 27.5 cores
as its 25 per cent stake in the Rs 125 crore paid up capital. cannot exceed
Meanwhile, while the company has obtained an
in-principle approval from the IRDA, it is yet to get the R 3, which is the final approval
to begin operations. Reportedly, the company has not yet capitalised its accounts, and
hence not been given the licence.
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HLL,
JK to fight over Helene Curtis brand
Mumbai: A piquant situation has arisen
over the Helen Curtis brand following the removal of the quantitative restrictions on
imports, which will see Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) and JK Helene Curtis, controlled by the
Vijaypat Singhania family, slugging it out over the Helene Curtis brand.
The confusion has arisen because
Unilever, the UK-based parent of HLL, owns the trademark globally, including India. But
since the Singhanias bought over Helene Curtis of the US, and have JK Helene Curtis
registered in India, they claim ownership over the brand. JK Helene Curtis Ltd was earlier
a 51:49 joint venture between the Singhanias and the foreign partner, which subsequently
became a fully owned subsidiary of the Singhanias. JK Helene Curtis markets cosmetics and
toiletries under the Park Avenue and Premium range, with a tag, "By JK Helene
Curtis".
Now HLL too has begun importing and selling
products under the Helene Curtis brand in the Indian market.
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Pfizer may
not be barred from toll-manufacture
Mumbai: THE Cabinet decision on Wednesday
to permit 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the pharmaceutical segment is
likely to have overturned a decision by the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers, which
had rejected Pfizer's plan to undertake toll manufacturing through third parties.
Pfizer Inc, which has FIPB approval to
set up a 100 per cent subsidiary, had sought the governments approval to toll
manufacture its products through third parties or its existing venture, Pfizer Ltd (a 40
per cent affiliate),which the ministry had rejected.
It is now believed that this hurdle may not
longer exist, since the same rules would now apply to 100 per cent subsidiaries, as well
as domestic companies, going by the Cabinet decision to allow 100 per cent foreign direct
investment.
There is also a view that the drug policy
amended in 1994, which allowed only 51 per cent foreign investment and required
case-to-case approval for anything more, will have to be further amended in the light of
the decision on 100 per cent FDI.
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Four
point plan at Maruti
New Delhi: Maruti Udyog Ltd has worked out
a four point strategy to maintain its 60 per cent share in over the next three years, that
includes the introduction of new models, increasing local content in each of the models,
increasing the prices of cars, and implementing a performance linked HR policy.
As part of this strategy, it plans to
have a portfolio of 12 models on just three or four platforms, which will give it
commonality of components and thereby lower cost of investment and production, yet a
better range of product offerings. For example, it plans to introduce a new model this
year, code name Every, on the Esteem platform. So also, the Alto LX and the Maruti 800
Deluxe and the Alto VX and the Wagon R have common engines.
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Pfizer,
Shantha Biotech to expand alliance
Mumbai: Pfizer India has begun talks with
Hyderabad-based Shantha Biotech to expand their marketing alliance.
Pfizer has a co-marketing pact with
Shantha Biotech for its hepatitis-B vaccine, Shanvac-B, under the multinational's own
brand name HepaShield in the international markets. It now wants to expand the products
range .
The move is seen as a precursor to Pfizer's
entry into biotechnology.
Pfizer has a first right of refusal pact with
Shantha to co-market its range of products, including a Rs 6 crore pact for the right to
compete with Shantha as the exclusive co-marketer of hepatitis-B vaccine.
Shantha has two new vaccines, oncology
vaccine interferon and human insulin , that are in the final stages of clinical trials,
and on the verge of commercial launch.
Pfizer's experience with HepaShield has been
very encouraging, it emerging as the number two brand the world over, within six months of
its launch.
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Wockhardt-Maharashtra
super speciality hospital
Mumbai: Wockhardt Hospitals has signed up
with the Maharashtra government to set up a 250 bed super speciality hospital in Mumbai at
a cost of Rs 64.85 crore.
The joint venture will have Wockhardt
holding 51 per cent stake, the rest of it by the state government. The state equity stake
of Rs 31.78 crore would be funded by the World Bank (WB) in addition to which Rs 13.22
crore would be provided for modernisation and architectural work of the building.
The hospital will be housed in the building
adjacent to the Gokuldas Tejpal hospital, leased out to the JV for a period of 30 years
for an annual rental of Rs 1 crore, and 8 per cent escalation every five years.
The Maharashtra government proposes to put up
similar ventures all over the state with about Rs 700 crore assistance from the World Bank
for its health systems and development projects.
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Mahindras
to go deeper into defence
Mumbai: The Mahindra & Mahindra group
is extending its role in the defence sector by going beyond making military vehicles, into
the areas of armoured vehicles, IT solutions and components and materials, for which it
has set up a new division, Mahindra Defence Systems.
The military vehicle range will be
extended from its military utility vehicles to ambulances, communication and logistic
support vehicles, weapon carriers, rapid intervention and riot control vehicles. It may
also include a light armoured multi-role vehicle to be manufactured in collaboration with
RAMTA of Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI).
In IT, it will extend from general purpose software to IT solutions in the field of
simulation, surveillance and e-security. It has also established a partnership with ELTA
(IAI) to jointly fabricate a border surveillance vehicle incorporating a mobile radar, all
weather video camera, GPS and associated communications.
Besides expanding its role to meet domestic
defence needs, the new division will also look at becoming a regional defence
manufacturing base for Africa and South America.
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Indian
Oil to have more LPG bottling plants
New Delhi: Indian Oil Corporation will be
setting up ten new LPG bottling plants in the country, at an estimated investment of Rs
285 crores. These would be in addition to 20 already coming up in different parts of the
country.
IOC, which already has invested Rs 1200
crore in putting up 55 LPG bottling units across the country, has a total bottling
capacity of around 2.5 mt per annum.
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HDFC
Bank operations hit by VSNL cable breakdown
Mumbai: A breakdown in one of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd's undersea cable to Dubai
hit banking operations at HDFC bank on Wednesday, particularly cash withdrawal and
deposits where the bank uses the internet to access customer accounts. Cheque deposits did
not get affected since the bank uses a separate system for the purpose.
The crucial undersea SEA-ME-WE 3 cable was
severed late Monday evening, cutting off 62 per cent of VSNLs bandwidth.
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Enron
seeks new partner for data centre
Mumbai: Troubled Enron Corporations
India-based subsidiary, Broadband Solutions, is fighting hard to find a buyer for its
stake in the proposed Internet Data Centre to be set up in Mumbai.
Earlier this year the company was in
talks with Asian Frontiers, which talks apparently broke down since Asian Frontiers wanted
to set up their own data centres.
Broadband Solutions has a 80,000 sq ft server
farm in Mumbai at its lower Parel facility that offers services such as web-hosting,
co-location, mirroring, data management and storage facilities.
The company has partnered with Pugmarks Interweb, a domain-based web hosting services
company for marketing its services through Enrons IDC.
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