ING Vysya’s foreign holding to rise to 62.74 percent
New Delhi—In the first instance of its kind, ING Vysya Life, the joint venture between ING Group and Bangalore-based Vysya Bank, would be allowed to hold as much as 62.74 per cent equity (both direct and indirect combine), beyond the 26 per cent limit of foreign equity allowed by the insurance watchdog — Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority.
This development comes in the wake of the Cabinet’s decision to allow increase in the FDI limit for banks from 20 per cent to 49 per cent.
In the case of ING Vysya Life, Vysya Bank holds 49 per cent while ING holds 26 per cent as permitted by the IRDA. But ING also has a holding in Vysya Bank in the form of 20 per cent equity held by Bank Brussels Lambert (one of the banking subsidiaries of ING).
With foreign partners allowed to increase their equity in banks to the level of 49 per cent, the ING group will hold an extra 36.74 per cent in the insurance company in addition to the statutory limit of 26 per cent prescribed by IRDA. This would mean a total of 62.74 per cent for the group.
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Government may park 25 percent IA stake with FIs
New Delhi--The government is considering parking 25 per cent equity in Indian Airlines with financial institutions for the interim period, pending an initial public offer, IPO.
The rationale being that since IA shares are presently rated below par, the government will not tap the primary market till the company turns around.
The parking of 25 per cent stake with FIs would ensure that the government stake in IA falls below the 50 per cent mark, and it would no longer be governed by public sector enterprise (PSE) rules, enabling a "real" transfer of management control to the strategic partner.
The proposal has been endorsed by Videocon International, the frontrunner in the race for the 26 per cent government stake in the national carrier.
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Dabhol lenders mandate company to study pullout cost
Mumbai—Engineering company Stone and Webster, has been mandated by the lenders to the Dabhol Power project to do a costing study on the implications of mothballing the second phase of the project.
The issue is whether to close it now or wait till the civil work on the project is over. Enron has made it clear that it wants to pull out of the second phase unless issues relating to the power purchase agreement are resolved and the government of India makes a firm commitment on the offtake of power.
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Infosys faces US pressures
Bangalore—Infosys says it is facing price pressures in the US market but said that it would compete on price parameters only as a last option.

S Gopalakrishnan, co-founder and member of the board, Infosys Technologies said Infosys was facing competition on three fronts. While competition to a large extent is from Indian and local US-based software firms, the company is also facing competition from the in-house information technology departments of large enterprises, typically the Fortune 500 companies, who are Infosys target customers. He feels that the present slow growth situation will force some companies to seek for lowest possible price deals and Infosys is better equipped to combat price pressure as it provides value addition to customers.
He says Infosys constantly increases the range of services and views its clients as strategic partners, rather then just customers,
During year 2000 Infosys added 122 clients and the fourth quarter of year 2001 alone it gained 37 clients, the highest ever in a quarter.
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Microsoft finds succor in Asia
Kuala Lumpur--US software giant Microsoft after facing a dismal situation in the US seems to have found some relief in its Asian operations.

It says that consumer affluence and increased government spending would see its Asian sales jump by 27 per cent in the financial year ending June 30.
Michael Rawding Michael Rawding, president Asia at Microsoft, said at a press conference, "we are growing about 27 per cent this fiscal year and we also grew in excess of 20 per cent last year."
Microsoft's global revenue for nine months ended March 31 rose to $18.84 billion from $17.15 billion in the same period a year ago.
Speaking at the launch of a new version of the company's Office package of business applications, called Office XP, in the Malaysian capital, Rawding said Asia accounted for 18 per cent of Microsoft's total revenues from commercial business in the last couple of years, mainly because relative to other markets, the Asian market is under-penetrated.
While Japan remained the software giant's largest Asian market, Rawding expected South Korea, China and India to register strong growth during the year.
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Air France; another try at A-I
New Delhi—Air France is having another try at Air India after losing out in the first try.

Air France CEO Jean Cyril Spinetta will be visiting India next week to explore the possibility of having another go at the national carrier in a rebid or a tie-up with the Hinduja brothers.

This comes as the disinvestment programme for Air-India is all set to enter the final lap.
Officially however, that the big boss of Air France will be in town to participate in a reception to bid farewell to Gerald Petit, the general manager of the airline in India.
Air France is looking at a situation where a rebid for Air-India will give the Paris-based company another chance and it may also seek additional bilateral rights to expand its network in India, industry sources said.
Earlier Air France was very keen on taking up equity in Air-India, in partnership with Delta of the US, and had even filed an expression of interest.
However, due to lack of a suitable domestic partner, the bid was not pursued.
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Indica sales
Mumbai—Tata Engineering’s woes seem to be on the upturn. Now the company has reported a 7.5 per cent decline in Indica sales at 4,763 cars in the month of May 2001, against the same period last year.
However the bright side was that sales were higher by 47 per cent against the April 2001 figures, the company said on Thursday.
Although the supply position of the faster moving models was relatively better compared with April, the company ended May with a sizeable order backlog due to the continuing demand surge.
Sales of multi-utility vehicles at 2,398 units showed 12 per cent rise over May 2000 and 77 per cent compared with April 2001, it said.
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Bhel to offer VRS to 1,500 more personnel
New Delhi—Bhel is at it again. After removing 9,100 personnel in a voluntary retirement scheme last year, public sector giant Bhel is again set to offer a golden handshake to over 1,500 people this year for its larger goal of achieving better operational efficiencies and performance.
In order to enhance performance, it has also lined up new areas of growth, including a thrust in IT, port handling and operation and maintenance of power projects, Bhel executive director, planning and development, VP Singh said.
The voluntary retirement scheme in Bhel is targeted at employees who are either surplus because they do not have much work to do because of the engineering major’s decision of getting out of some businesses like small-sized capacitors or because the employees have some medical or promotion related problems.
The details of the VRS is currently being worked out and should be announced soon, he said.
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BSNL wants WLL rentals reviewed
New Delhi-- Bharat Sanchar Nigam has after much deliberation approached the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, TRAI, to reconsider the imposition of floor price of Rs 450 as montly rental for limited mobility.

Communications minister Ram Vilas Paswan had last month clearly stated that BSNL would challenge the floor price.
The corporation says the floor price of Rs 450 was discriminatory since it was not imposed on any other service and might not be affordable to the masses.

Paswan had earlier said although the fixing of telecom tariff was within the jurisdiction of TRAI, this tariff was a major setback to BSNL's plans for increasing the telephone service in rural areas.
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Govt to retain right of divestiture in VSNL after selloff
New Delhi—The government will retain its right to divest further stake to institutional investors after the initial divestment in VSNL. However, the first right of refusal would rest with the strategic partner when further chunks of shares are divested.
This means that in subsequent rounds of divestment in VSNL, a new strategic partner would not be brought in unless the existing partner waives the right to acquiring the stake on offer.
This clause is being incorporated in the share holders agreement to protect the rights of the strategic partner in successive rounds of divestment.
At present the government holds 52.97 per cent equity in the company.
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Precision workstation 530 launched by Dell
New Delhi-- Dell Computers has announced the launch of its precision workstation 530 for professionals targeted at computer-aided engineers and designers, software developers, digital content creators and financial analysts.
The precision workstation would be priced at Rs 1.70 lakh.

The company also announced the launch of Optiplex gx400, a pentium 4-powered desktop, targetted at corporate and institutional users.
David McQuarrie, manager precision workstations, Dell Asia Pacific said, "the Dell precision workstation 530 would offer maximum performance with up to two new Intel Xeon processors. The product employs an innovative `clamshell chassis' designed for easy expansion and accessibility."
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TECs to be made autonomous
New Delhi—Telecom Engineering Centres, an engineering support division of the department of telecommunications, will be converted into autonomous bodies in order to provide technical support to the ICE ministries in deciding policy and licensing issues.
TECs will support Ministry of IT and Information and Broadcasting ministry, besides supporting DoT on technical matters.
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Ramco Industries net up 7.81 percent in year 2001
New Delhi-- Ramco Industries the infotech major has reported a net profit of Rs 17.26 crore for the year 2001 against Rs 16.01 crore reported last fiscal year, according to the company.
The company's net sales were higher at Rs 146.4 crore in fiscal year 2001 compared with Rs 141.12 crore in the previous year.
Other income for the year 2000-01 was at Rs 3.46 crore against Rs 1.78 crore for the previous year.
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Tata Tele net at Rs 13.12-cr
Bangalore-- Tata Telecom, a Tata and Avaya Company, has clocked a net profit of Rs 13.12 crore for the year ending 2001 compared with the previous fiscal year's loss of Rs 5.26 crore.
The company achieved a turnover of Rs 234 crore during 2000-01, up from Rs 182 crore in the previous year, a company release said.
Its main division, the business communications division, recorded a turnover of Rs 200 crore, compared with Rs 150 crore in 1999-00, according to a company release.
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Rs 25-cr loan for Dunlop creates controversies
Kolkata—Dunlop Ltd’s, DIL, request for a Rs 25 crore soft loan from the West Bengal government against hypothecation of company’s property at Mirza Ghalib Street in the city, has become somewhat of a controversy and the cabinet and the CPM brass at Alimuddin Street are sharply divided on the issue.
Recently DIL director, Komal Chhabria Wazir met Nirupam Sen, the state commerce and industries minister at Writers’ Buildings with the loan request which she said would help the company run its Sahagunj factory.
After Mr Sen aired a positive view on the issue the division within the government surfaced as a section of the cabinet ministers, party leaders and Citu leaders aired their opposition to such move.
The opposition from a section of Alimuddin Street and Citu office was mainly on the ground of DIL chairman, M R Chhabria’s track record in running industries in the state.
A Citu spokesman said the government would have to ensure that the company pays up the salary arrears to the employees before entering into any fresh arrangement with the company.
The Buddhadeb Bhattacharya cabinet is in a dilemma over the issue. It is keen on a turnaround for the company, which employs as many as 6,000 workers.
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L&T gets Essar Vadinar project
Mumbai—Larsen & Toubro is the lead construction and procurement contractor in the 10.5 mt Essar refinery project at Vadinar and its ECC division has undertaken to complete the balance work on the beleagured project that has been held up for the past two years. L&T will handle contracts worth roughly Rs 1,000 crore, it is learnt.
ABB Lummus Crest will continue to be the overall EPC contractor for the project and will be responsible for the overall project management.
ABB Lummus is committed to bringing in Rs 395 crore by way of deferred credit and bridge equity and will provide project completion guarantee.
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Qualis production hit by labour strike
Bangalore—In the past three days Toyota-Kirloskar Motor Ltd has been hit by labour unrest which has affected the production of MPV Qualis.

Sources said about 500 workers struck work from Monday when two employees from the assembly line were served termination orders. About 200 employees continue to work and the company has mobilised its supervisory and engineering team to take over the assembly line till the striking workers return.
Officials said the bone of contention, was differences of opinion on the appraisal policy followed by the company.
Talks were on between the senior management and the workers and a solution would be found soon, they added.

The company has an installed capacity of about 100 units of a day, but is presently working at 90 per cent of that.

The strike has resulted in a 40 per cent drop in production in the last three days though sources said that the company will ensure that production does not suffer and customer deliveries are unaffected.
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Taj adopts the Taj
New Delhi-- Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL), owners of the Taj Group of hotels, is all set to adopt the Taj Mahal and has submitted an application to the government to adopt the monument. According to sources, the agreement may be signed on June 15.
IHCL managing director RK Krishna Kumar said the decision was taken after the government told IHCL that some national monuments were available with the National Culture Fund (NCF) and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for promotion and preservation.
The company is said to have made extensive presentations to the ASI and the department of tourism.

Under the activities permitted in projects sponsored under the NCF, the corporates can bring the monument back into the lifestyle and culture of local communities, can develop the environment in and around the monument and can organise concerts, theatre, cultural shows, location shoots for films, lectures and community festivals.

The company can also display cultural notice boards and direction boards besides illuminating the monuments and providing facilities for tourists including cafeterias, parking, landscaping, setting up of information centers, kiosks, cyber and souvenir shops.
Under the same scheme, the Oberoi group has adopted Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi and the Indian Oil Foundation has adopted five monuments, including the Qutab Minar and the Sun temple at Konarak.
About 35 other monuments including Fatehpur Sikri, Agra Fort, Ajanta and Ellora caves and the Red Fort are also available under the NCF.
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M&M gets profitable with transport solutions
Mumbai--The Rs 3,500-crore utility vehicle and tractor major Mahindra & Mahindra is branching out into other businesses. Last year the company got into transport solutions—moving people and goods across urban and rural India and now the M&M division—transport solutions group (TSG)—claims to have notched up sales of Rs 110 crore.
With an impressive client list, which includes heavyweight multinationals like Coca Cola, Nestle, Philips and Procter & Gamble the TSG moves consignments from the factory to warehouses and depots to retailers. Offering a range of solutions, M&M has deployed its utility vehicles along with those of its competitors including Toyota, Tata Engineering and Ashok Leyland.

The move comes at a time when M&M has seen a dip in its mainline auto sales. According to the financial results declared for the year ended March 31, 2001, net sales and income from operation declined from Rs 3,569 crore in the previous fiscal to Rs 3,538 crore.

In the same period, profit after tax more than halved to Rs 120.56 crore from Rs 263.48 crore the previous year.

In this scenario, M&M wants to exploit downstream activities like TSG, which not only enhance the Mahindra brandname but also help build long-term relationships with existing and prospective customers.
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