Hutchison will hold the stake in the proposed JV through two of its Mauritius-based investment arms, Al Amers Investments and Hutchison International Holding.
In the telecom sector, the maximum foreign equity is capped at 49 per cent.
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Jet plans private placement of equity
Mumbai-- Jet Airways, is planning a private placement of its equity, followed by an initial public offer.
At present, Jet Airways is completely owned by Tailwinds, a company owned and promoted by Naresh Goyal.

Company sources in Jet said about 10 to 15 per cent of the equity would be placed with international institutions in order to improve its debt-equity ratio and negotiations with various international banks and institutions are reported to be at an advanced stage.

Kotak Mahindra-Goldman Sachs have been chosen as the merchant bankers to the deal, though others may be brought in later.
The current equity base of Jet Airways is Rs 72 crore which has come in through the NRI/OCB route. The airline declared a turnover of about Rs 2,000 crore in ’99-00.
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Grasim invites bid for Vikram Ispat sell-off
New Delhi—Grasim Industries has put up Vikram Ispat, its sponge iron division, for sale and is inviting bids from interested parties.

The company has appointed DSP Merrill Lynch as its advisor in connection with the sale of this unit. Grasim has also sent out an information memorandum to potential bidders.
The move to sell Vikram Ispat is a fallout of Kumarmangalam Birla’s decision to concentrate on core sectors: cement, viscose staple fibre and textiles businesses.
Sources say that the decision to put Vikram Ispat on the block could also have been prompted by the lower margins in gas-based sponge iron market.

According to sources, the marketshare of Vikram Ispat zoomed to 40 per cent in 1999-2000 from 26 per cent in 1998-99. However, despite the buoyant demand situation, its average realisation moved up only marginally due to a cautious pricing approach.
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Percept slaps suit on SET
New Delhi—Percept D’ Mark, the event managers of the Left versus Right International Cricket Series, has slapped a Rs 25-crore suit on Sony Entertainment Television, SET, for pulling out from the Rs 4-crore series. SET apparently called off the deal at the last minute and the series scheduled to be telecast live on Sony Entertainment Television on May 3, 5 and 6, was cancelled.
Percept said the amount of Rs 25 crore comprised of the losses incurred by the agency in organizing the series added to the loss of prestige it suffered in the cricketing fraternity.
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Star will only for a star performance
New Delhi—Star is intent on keeping its numero uno position on the television network in the country.
From July 1 Star is relaunching its movie channels
Star Movies and Star Gold which entails major initiatives on the content, marketing, distribution and enhanced trade relations at the ground distribution level according to sources at the channel.

After this it would restructure its other channels, which include Star World and Channel V. The relaunch strategy would include a massive drive to improve the ratings of the two channels via events, extensive trade relations, hefty incentives at the trade distribution levels, exclusive movie packages and premiering of newly acquired film titles.
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Iffco wants to sell insurance for third party insurers
New Delhi-- Iffco says it wants to sell insurance products for third party insurers on a fee basis.
The move is significant considering the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority’s compulsory stipulation for insurers — both life and non-life — to sell two per cent of their policies in rural areas and insure a certain minimum of social sector lives.
US Awasthi, Iffco managing director U S Awasthi said, he had not been approached by any of the insurance companies for this, and added, "the selling will be a multi-fold use of our existent distribution channel in the rural areas."

Iffco has more than 35,000 co-operative societies as its members out of a total of four lakh co-operative societies existing in India, which at gives it added strength to get into the rural market at the least cost.
The decision also comes in the wake of the IRDA’s decision to relax corporate agents guidelines by including co-operatives and panchayats in the category of corporate agents.
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DPC goes to HC on MERC jurisdiction
Mumbai—The Dabhol Power Company, DPC, has asked for the intervention of the Bombay High Court to decide on the jurisdiction of the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission, MERC.
This comes in the wake of MERC restraining DPC from operating the escrow account for phase 2 and initiating international arbitration proceedings against the Maharashtra State Electricity Board.
Advocate-general Goolam Vahanvati, on behalf of the state, said MERC would hear DPC's argument on June 14 whether it had the jurisdiction to restrain the company from initiating arbitration proceedings.
The matter, as it remained inconclusive, will be heard on Tuesday.
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DaimlerChrysler; largest firm in Europe
Frankfurt-- DaimlerChrysler has been placed at the top of the list of Europe's 500-largest companies for the second consecutive year according to a list published jointly by the Wall Street Journal and German business daily Handelsblatt.
DaimlerChrysler knocked out British oil firm BP for the No 1 spot with 162.4 billion euros ($138 billion) in sales for 2000, compared with BP's 155.8 billion euros ($132 billion).
Of the top ten European firms six are German and the other five are, automaker Volkswagen, insurance firm Allianz, electronics giant Siemens, utility conglomerate E.On, and Deutsche Bank.
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GlaxoSmithKline to offer discounted HIV, malaria drugs in more countries
London-- GlaxoSmithKline has decided expanded the list of countries where it offers lower prices of HIV/AIDS and anti-malarial drugs to 63 developing countries, including all of sub-Saharan Africa.
The preferential pricing policy has been widened to include additional AIDS-fighting drugs and the malaria medications malarone and halfan.

GlaxoSmithKline recently unveiled a glossy report titled `Facing the Challenge" that summarizes its own developing-world initiatives, including the new pricing strategy.
Multinational pharmaceutical companies have come under increasing pressure to relax patents on lifesaving medicines in the developing world so local companies can produce them at a fraction of their usual cost.
Jean-Pierre Garnier, GlaxoSmithKline chief executive officer, called the initiative "an effort to secure greater access for patients to treatment that is both appropriate and sustainable."
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As Essar Oil defaults banks are forced to service loan guarantees
Mumbai—Three banks, Punjab National Bank, ICICI and ABN-Amro, which furnished loan guarantees worth $150 million, on behalf of Essar Oil, have to now service the loans amounts.
Essar Oil borrowed about $174 million from Nisho-Iwai of Japan, of which about $24 million was uncovered.
ICICI and ABN-Amro have converted the non-funded cover into rupee loans to avoid an immediate hit on the books, while the Dutch bank entered into a separate arrangement with the company.
Nisho, which was facing a financial crisis and later sold its assets to a Japanese bank, pressed for repayment a few months ago.
Essar was already in default and found it difficult to service the yen-denominated loan on which Nisho was charging a higher interest. Consequently, the guarantees devolved on the lenders a little over a month ago.
According to banking circles, ABN-Amro has emerged from the mess virtually unscathed. Curiously, the company is understood to have borrowed from American Express Bank to make good the losses suffered by the Dutch bank.
Sources said, this could be explained by the bank’s relationship with ABB Lumus, which is playing key role in the financial closure of Essar Oil’s Vadinar refinery project.
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Motorola in talks with host of companies for telecom projects
Berlin—Motorola, the US telecom major, is holding talks with Reliance, Bharti and Tatas for setting up the infrastructure for their CDMA networks as well as with Hutchison for rolling out the GPRS services in Mumbai and Delhi.
Motorola’s new big push, GPRS which is set to bring in applications into mobiles earlier than 3G, is also set for a rollout with BPL planning to launch it in Mumbai in the next two months.
According to Pramod Saxena, country head, Motorola, all the basic operators and ones wanting to provide fixed mobility are setting up 1X networks under CDMA to provide data transmission capabilities and is the equivalent of GPRS in GSM technology.
Saxena said a GPRS network rollout with BPL in Mumbai will happen in the next two months. GPRS will take off the way SMS has taken off, he said.
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Dhiraagu to extend India coverage
Male—Dhiraagu, the Maldivian national telecom operator, plans to extend its India coverage by adding more roaming partners in India, say Dhiraagu officials.
Senior sources in Dhiraagu said that the company planned to tie up with roaming partners in Mumbai and Delhi.

Dhiraagu is a 55:45 joint venture between the Maldivian government and the United Kingdom's Cable & Wireless and is a monopoly-player in Maldives.

It already has BPL Mobile as its roaming partner in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and Skycell in Chennai and is scouting for more.
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TCS to provide high end telecom solutions to Ericsson worldwide
Mumbai—Tata Consultancy Services will provide high-end telecom solutions to Ericsson worldwide through its global development centre in Hyderabad.
Currently, TCS works with Ericsson in Sweden and Australia to develop core-switching products and high-end processor systems, the company said.
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Wipro to partner Concord Communications
Bangalore—Wipro Infotech has announced its partnership with Concord Communications, a market leader in solutions that maximise performance and availability of e-business infrastructure.

Wipro said the tie-up was to provide performance management, analysis and reporting solutions, which will help enterprises and service providers manage and analyse the performance of their systems, networks and applications for telecommunication companies and service providers.

Wipro infotech is one of the two flagship it divisions of the $660-million Wipro.
The partnership leverages on concord's market leading e-health suite and the high-end systems integration and project manage capabilities of Wipro Infotech, it said. (PTI)
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Sony creates stir in Japan with complete online bank
Tokyo—Sony, always one to create a stir and offer purely innovative products, now aims to lure Japanese depositors with the launch of new online banking services.
Sony high profile entry into the nation’s troubled banking sector began today by offering cut-rate financial services

Clients will have access to it Net-based MONEYKit service, which offers a variety of tools for financial planning based on a programme developed by partner JP Morgan Chase.
It is Japan’s first full-service online bank set up by a non-financial firm, with no branch networks, the bank takes deposits, sells mutual funds, and makes card loans. It will take non-yen deposits in September and offer housing and other loans in 2002.
Online shoppers will be able to pay bills through Sony Bank, via the Internet or the 7,600 ATMs available via partner Sumitomo Mitsui Banking.
Sony also aims to link up with a State-run postal saving networks early next year, giving it a nationwide reach through its 25,000 ATMs.
Under the slogan ‘Do It Your Style,’ Sony Bank aims to break away from the traditional role that banks have had in Japan and offer one-to-one financial advice on the Internet.
Analysts see Sony Bank’s target -— one trillion yen in deposit and 600,000 customers after five years of operation — as achievable.
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Four more Taj hotels to come up in Gulf
Dubai—The Indian Hotels Company which runs the Taj group of hotels, is opening its first five-star hotel in Dubai this month and plans to set up four more five-star properties in the Gulf region soon.
Said Nicki Page Taj Palace director-sales & marketing
the first Taj property will be inaugurated in Dubai on June 20 and another five-star hotel will be opened in Dubai soon.

Taj group’s decision to inaugurate its first hotel in Dubai comes close on the heels of Indian Airlines’s decision to operate three direct flights between Hyderabad and Dubai.
She said that as part of its global expansion programme, Taj group has also planned to open five-star hotels in Egypt, Bahrain and Lebanon in the next couple of years. The group is already present in Muscat and Yemen.
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RBI, MoF permit L&T to float AMC in Mauritius
Mumbai--Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has received permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the ministry of finance (MoF) to float an asset management company, AMC, in Mauritius. This is in line with the company strategy to focus on project exports and overseas investments in infrastructure.
The AMC will act as a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for L&T to attract investments from foreign and multinational investors, Indian investors, venture capital funds to act as co-investors in infrastructure projects floated by it abroad.
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Videocon group to offload stake in Samsung India
New Delhi--VN Dhoot, chairman Videocon International said his company might offload the 26 per cent stake held by a group company in electronics major Samsung India Electronics Ltd (SIEL) but at the ‘right’ price.

He added that the time for selling will depend on market conditions and the price being offered. And while he declined to comment what this right price could be, industry sources said Dhoots value their stake in Samsung at Rs 500 crore.

Videocon’s investment arm Reasonable Computer Solutions Pvt Ltd holds 26 per cent stake in SIEL, while the remaining 74 per cent rests with the Korean parent Samsung Electonics Co Ltd (SECL).
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Tatas to target Rs 500 cr from leather business
New Delhi-- Tata International Ltd, said that it was targeting a turnover of Rs 500 crore from its leather business and proposed a major thrust on building a brand name for its ‘Stryde’ range of products.
Said senior officials in the company, that it is part of the company strategy to build an international brand name for the ’Stryde’ range of products for which it has chalked out a two-pronged strategy. The strategy would first focus on the domestic market before moving to the international market.
On the anvil are plans to set up 50-60 dedicated leather boutiques mostly in the metropolitan cities in the eastern and southern parts for marketing our leather products under the ’Stryde’ brand he said.
Leather business accounted for a turnover of Rs 400 crore last year.
Tatas have already established ten boutiques mostly in the northern region since the launch of the brand in December, 2000.
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BEST to invest Rs 672 crore for improving distribution network
Mumbai—The BrihanMumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) will invest up to Rs 672 crore for the period of 2001-06 to strengthen its distribution network in Mumbai city.

Thus BEST proposes to improve reliability and security of power supply, reduce distribution losses from the existing 10 per cent, maintain voltage profile, avoid power thefts.

It will lay emphasis on construction of new distribution substation at 11 kv/415 volt level, new receiving substations at 110 kv/33kv/22 kv level, laying of high voltage/low voltage cables, communication network, electronic metres and test benches.

For 2001-02, BEST has identified schemes in this regard worth Rs 120 crore and for next four years, it will be Rs 151 crore (2002-03) Rs 123.48 crore (2003-04) 136.75 crore (2004-05), Rs 141.20 (2005-06).
Tenders have been finalised for this system and an expenditure of Rs 3.69 crore is envisaged for the system software.
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DaimlerChrysler, China Motor in JV
Taipei—According to reports on Monday DaimlerChrysler and Taiwan's China Motor struck an agreement on a joint venture in Mainland China..
China’s motor unit South-East Motor Corp. and DaimlerChrysler will invest more than $50 million establishing a plant in Fuzhou, a city in the south-eastern Chinese province of Fujian. The plant will produce Mercedes-Benz Vito vans.
Reportedly a China motor official said the company was in talks with DaimlerChrysler, but said it was too early to give details.
South-east motor, a 50-50 joint venture between China Motor and the Fujian provincial government, was launched in 1996, making China Motor the only Taiwanese carmaker allowed by Chinese authorities to operate on the mainland.
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Citibank amalgamates IFSL operations with bank
New Delhi: Citibank India has announced its integration of associates India Financial Services Ltd (IFSL) with the bank.

This would augment its consumer finance business to small and medium-sized entrepreneurs.
This follows Citigroup’s global acquisition of associates First Capital Corporation in November 2000

"The associates’ business is strongly complementary to our Citigroup businesses in India. We expect to leverage our existing strong franchise to enable the associates to significantly enhance its impressive growth," Citibank chief executive officer Nanoo Pamnani said in a statement here.

Associates IFSL is engaged in financing cars, two-wheelers, consumer durables, loans against homes and personal loans through 20 locations in the country.
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