Tatas to float new company for infocom business
MumbaiThe Tata group is floating a new company to lead its foray into the Infocom business. Three Tata companies Tata Power, Tata Industries and Tata Steeel are set to contribute Rs 700 crore to the initial paid-up capital share of the company.

Recently, the Group Executive Office, which is headed by Ratan Tata chairman of Tata Sons, took the decision to bring all consumer interfacing telecom businesses under a single corporate structure with a common brand. This is probably the firs time that the Tatas have entered into a new business led by the Group Executive office.

Company officials at Tata Sons say that Tatas infocom business will become the groups biggest activity by the year 2010.

The as yet unnamed company will house all Tata telecom businesses, which interface with the consumer. This includes services like basic telephony, Internet service provider, national long distance services and international gateways. However, this does not include the Batata-BPL consortium, which will be a separate brand.
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IDBI may take over public/private sector bank
MumbaiIndustrial Development Bank of India says it may take over a public sector commercial bank. This is in line with the two options suggested by the Boston Consulting Group, as part of a restructuring plan. The other option is taking over a smaller private sector bank and then going for a reverse merger with the IDBI-promoted IDBI Bank.
The FI has said that a merger with a government bank with a deposit base of around Rs 50,000 crore would make IDBIs transition into universal banking simpler. Firstly it will be easier for the organisation to fulfil the reserve requirements: most state-run banks hold gilts well in excess of the minimum statutory liquidity ratio; and second, the banks large fund base would give the merged entity flexibility in maintaining the cash reserve ratio.

In addition to this, taking over an unlisted bank will enable a direct transfer of the government holding at book value and thereby avoid the issues related to stock valuation and takeover code.
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Sony India pegs Rs 700-crore sales target for current fiscal
HyderabadSony India Private Ltd, has set a turnover target of over Rs 700 crore turnover for the current financial year. This is against its previous years turnover of Rs 622 crore, which was 10 per cent higher than the previous year, says Mr Teruo Ishii, managing director of the company.

Mr Ishii was here for the inauguration of a new Sony office at Hyderabad and to announce a new product line-up for the financial year 2001. Though the company has grown at a 15 to 20 per cent increase in the turnover since its inception in 1995, for the last 2 years the growth rate was reduced to below 3 per cent.

During the current year, the company plans to focus on colour televisions and Mini Hi-Fi systems, constituting 75 per cent of the total turnover, which are produced indigenously at its plant at Dharuhera, Haryana. Besides this, the company plans to introduce high-end products such as playstation, cellphones, laptops.

Sony is expected to enter a 50:50 joint venture with Ericsson to manufacture cellphones with new generation GSM technology, Mr Ishii said but the cellphones will be introduced once the joint venture with Ericsson is entered into formally.
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Dell to set up production base in India
New DelhiDell Corp is exploring possibilities of making its products in India.
Almost all Dell's major competitors -- Compaq, IBM and HP -- already manufacture or assemble PCs in India. Dell, who sells its products directly to clients, has so far avoided setting up base in India. At present Dell imports systems from A-Pac factories on receiving orders from clients.
The import duty structure in India, however, makes it less competitive in the market because most of the components have very low or nil duties. Besides, the hardware majors in the country have been lobbying hard with the government to push back `zero- duty' regime on PC imports (under a WTO commitment) by a couple of years to 2005. They are also seeking abolition of certain domestic taxes.
According to industry sources, all these developments, coupled with a depreciating rupee, have led Dell top- brass to initiate internal discussions on the possibility of manufacturing here.
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Intel PCs will be cheaper by October
New DelhiPrices of PCs at the high end of the spectrum, such as the Intel P4 processor-based machines, are set to fall between Rs 8,000-15,000 by October.
There are two reasons for this. One, Intel recently announced the price cuts in their Pentium P4 processor range. Second, and a much bigger reason for the slashing of P4-based computer prices, is that
Intel is bringing an additional chipset called 845 for P4-based machines, which at present only support the 850 chipset. The former is much cheaper than the 850 chipset.
Currently, IBMs P4-based machines sell for around Rs 65,000, while P3 sell for Rs 45,000. But by October a Pentium P4-based IBM machine working on SD-RAM technology will be available for around Rs 50,000 a direct slash of Rs 15,000 from the current P4 machine.
HP sources say that prices of Pentium P4-based PCs may fall by as much as Rs 8,000 by October 15 and thus come at a P3-type price point, once Intels technology changes fall in place. Currently, HPs P4-based machines cost Rs 59,990.
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SET will be pay from Sept 1
MumbaiSony Entertainment Televisions (SET) Hindi channel is going pay from September 1. SET has structured its subscription prices in such a way so as to use the popular Sony channel to push the sales of other laggards in its bouquet like AXN and CNBC.
From September 1, Sony, on an a la carte basis will cost Rs 25 per subscriber per month, while the entire bouquet of four channels Sony, the cinema channel SET Max, AXN and business channel CNBC will be available for just Rs 21.90 per sub per month.
In addition, the Sony decoder for the encrypted channel will cost cable operators Rs 20,000 for a minimum of 500 subscribers with no option for payment in instalments.

Sony is actually levying a penalty rate for those who subscribe for the Sony channel alone and will give huge discounts on combined channels as Sony with one other channel is priced at Rs 19.90 while with two others costs Rs 20.90.
Again, each of the non-Sony channels, if subscribed to on their own have been priced high at Rs 9 per sub to provide an incentive to cable operators to opt for the whole bouquet.
The channel meanwhile has been shifted from the satellite Panam Sat-4 to a transponder on Panam Sat-10 and is being aired with a dual analog free-to-air feed as well with an encrypted digital signal.
Cable industry sources say SETs strategy is urban-oriented and skewed towards large towns and cities where cable operators can absorb the new prices by tailoring down the number of subscribers.
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No conclusion to talks between Indian Rayon, Tommy Hilfiger
New DelhiTalks between A V Birla group company, Indian Rayon and US-based apparels company Tommy Hilfiger Corporation have come to no conclusion.
The reason behind the collapse of the proposed alliance was differences over estimated sales volume projections of the US brand.
The US-based company saw a large market in India and consequently higher sales whereas Indian rayon keeping in mind the current market slowdown, refused to commit itself to a sales figure. Sources say there was a 50 per cent difference between the sales figure projected by the two companies. The exact figures were however not available.
Indian Rayon and Tommy Hilfiger were planning to get into a strategic licensing agreement through which Indian Rayon would have had exclusive rights to manufacture and distribute the entire Tommy Hilfiger range of apparel in the country in phases.
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Aaj Tak planning English channel
New Delhi--CMD of TV Today Aroon Purie has said that the group is planning to launch an English channel after its successful debut of Hindi news channel Aaj Tak though he did not specify any time frame for the English channel.
Purie said that there is space for an English channel and it would target high-end advertisers. He also said Aaj Tak is negotiating with Sony, which is working on a distribution platform with a bouquet of channels and would go pay if Aaj Tak gets into the Sony platform.
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BPL scripts strategy for dominance of CTV market
Bangalore-- BPL Ltd has scripted a segmentation strategy for its colour television (CTV) division to maintain its leadership position as well as increase market share.

A top company source says the strategy involves dividing its CTV range into five segments with each addressing a specific price range. The exercise is expected to be completed by October.

The moves will be backed by an extremely aggressive brand campaign, which will see adspend of around Rs 60 crore during the current year.

Another strategy includes streamlining distribution channels and outsourcing requirements to other manufacturing units. For example, BPLs black and white televisions (B&W) sets are being completely outsourced. BPL outsources materials for its colour and B&W televisions sets from six manufacturing units.

In the top-end, BPL is set to launch one of Germany's largest-selling television brands, Loewe, in the price range of around Rs 85,000. Its Pro FX range of audio sets is already gaining popularity.

The next segment will be in the flat screen range where Matrix has been positioned to take on competition in that market. With prices starting from Rs 20,000, the segment will have an entire range of flat-screen CTVs.

The third segment will have its popular Studio Line range, which is priced in the Rs 18,000 and Rs 44,000 range. StudioLine has recorded extremely good growth. Studio Line 21 claims to deliver the most powerful sound available among all range of televisions in the world.

In the fourth segment, BPL will position televisions, which will specifically address the festival season discount and exchange offer market. The price range could vary between Rs 12,000 and Rs 15,000.

The fifth segment is the Prima range positioned as an entry level product priced as low as Rs 10,000, which makes it very competitively priced in its segment.
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Shakeout looms in the tyre industry
New Delhi--A shakeout in the Indian tyre industry looks more and more inevitable with slowdown battering the balance sheet of many companies. The big ones are looking to make the most of the situation through inorganic growth as Industry leader MRF now says its open to acquisitions and buyouts "if the prices are right."
MRF sources, however, refused to talk about the possible targets. But said the company would use acquisition to develop new competencies and improve on some the grey areas in its operations.
Acquisition for MRF would provide it economies of scale and it would be able to service new product segment and markets, where it is either weak or absent.
Sources at JK Tyre also pointed towards the possibility of shakeout in the industry, but refused to name possible targets.
The industry is facing excess capacity with prices falling in both the replacement market and OEM market in last one year. Only consolidation can rescue the industry from this vicious cycle.
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TVS Suzuki launches Victor priced at Rs 40,000-plus
Chennai--TVS-Suzuki Ltd, the Chennai-based two-wheeler manufacturer, has launched its four-stroke indigenous vehicle- Victor in the popular segment of Rs 36,000-46000. The price of Victor ex-showroom Chennai is Rs 41,187.

The company, which has a market share of 13 to 14 per cent in motorcycles, hopes to regain its market share in the segment through Victor. It lost around 11 per cent market share in the past owing to stagnant sales of its two-stroke two-wheelers in the last two years.
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Sterlite, Indo Gulf, SWIL form alliance for copper use promotion
New Delhi--Copper majors Sterlite Industries, Indo Gulf Industries and SWIL Ltd have formed an alliance to promote copper consumption in the country through increased use of the metal in new areas such as motors, house-wiring, electricity transformers and plumbing.

Sources said the three companies have set up the International Copper Promotion Council, India, (ICPCI), which is the Indian arm of International Copper Association, New York.
ICPCI will have a foreign equity component of 70 per cent, amounting to a nominal value of Rs 7 lakh from five investors - International Copper Association, BHP Minerals Asia, Outokumpu (SEA), P T Freeport Indonesia Company and Rio Tinto.

Sterlite, SWIL and Indo-Gulf will share the remaining 30 per cent equity.
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