Tata Infotech eyes schools, colleges
Kolkata: To grab a larger market share for its education services as well as increase its revenues from this sector, the Rs 525 crore Tata Infotech has chalked out a two-fold strategy.

Firstly, the company has started looking beyond Indian shores for offering IT education. Trying to beat the slump in the domestic student enrolment scenario, the company is now in advanced stages of negotiation with the governments of Columbia, Vietnam and South Africa to offer IT training courses in colleges and universities of these countries, in partnership with government bodies.

Secondly, the company is incorporating English language courses in its curriculum and intends to contract out this part to some other company, which has expertise in such jobs. A company source said English has been added to the curriculum because foreign students face difficulties in the international job market as they often have a poor knowledge of English, he added.

Following a similar model on the domestic front, Tata Infotech has already signed up with the governments of Haryana and West Bengal to offer IT training in schools and colleges.

Talks are also on with the government of Gujarat.
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Bharti Tele considers deferring IPO
New Delhi: Following the recent terrorist attacks in the US, Bharti Televentures, the holding company for the Bharti group's cellular operations, is considering deferring its Rs 950 crore initial public offering (IPO) due to uncertain primary market conditions in India and the abroad.

Merchant banking sources said Bharti Televentures maiden offering may be delayed by a few months, and documents with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) may not be filed this month as expected.

When contacted, Akhil Gupta, joint managing director of Bharti Televentures said: Earlier, we had said we would approach the market regulator in September. Since it is only the middle of the month, we have a lot of time.

The company, which operates in eight cellular circles and has licences for eight more, had been planning to raise funds during the current financial year but without the presence of funds from the US and other major countries, a domestic float may not get enough subscribers.

The promoters have around 53 per cent equity stake in Bharti Televentures, Singapore Telecom and UBS Warburg have 20 per cent each, while New York Life, IFC and Asia Infrastructure Fund collectively hold the rest seven per cent. The company is said to be valued at Rs 9,400 crore.

Bharti has already mandated DSP Merril Lynch and JM Morgan Stanley to raise funds by offloading around 10 per cent stake.
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LG, Samsung top players in microwave mkt
Mumbai: South Korean majors LG and Samsung are now the top players in the Indian microwave market. LG and Samsung hold the number one and two slots in the market respectively and have successfully ousted Indian consumer durables major BPL from the top slot.

LG is the No. 1 player with a marketshare of 22 per cent while Samsung has moved into the No. 2 position with a marketshare of 20 per cent.

Kenstar, marketed by Kitchen Appliances, a Videocon Group company, occupies the third slot with a marketshare of 18 per cent.
The South Korean majors have launched several models in the Rs 8,000-Rs 12,000 bracket, as against the minimum price of Rs 25,000 at which microwaves were sold about three years ago, before the South Korean majors entered the Indian market.
This low price strategy has enabled the Korean companies grab a good market share as for instance Samsung launched a microwave in the Rs 6,900 bracket in August.

Company officials at Samsung say, that Samsung intends to achieve a 25 per cent marketshare in the market this year on the back of capacity enhancements 50,000 units of ovens to 100,000 units this year. The company is setting up call centres in nine cities throughout the country wherein a customer can call and get all queries answered regarding Samsung microwave ovens.

Volumes growth in the market has been flat with the growth rates in the major metros being virtually stagnant. The semi-urban markets are growing at around 5-10 per cent.
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India Cements to go north
Mumbai- India Cements, the Chennai-based top player in south India with an 8-million-tonne capacity, plans to set up cement units in north India.

A senior India Cements executive confirming the developments said, the company is in the process of acquiring some mining leases in northern India. A plant may be put up in Rajasthan, though the final decision on the exact location and capacity has not yet been taken.

The company plans to fund the expansion through internal accruals and has upgraded all its capacities.

India Cements, which has a debt of around Rs 1,808 crore, paid interest of Rs 190 crore last year. It has reserves of around Rs 642 crore.

A 2-million-tonne greenfield cement plant, an optimum capacity under present market situation, would cost at least Rs 600 crore, analysts added. The northern market is now being almost entirely dominated by the ACC-Gujarat Ambuja combine.

In the south, on the other hand, prices have slumped following large-scale capacity addition. Gujarat Ambuja has recently put on hold a 2 million greenfield unit in Andhra Pradesh.
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Coke; watery plans in south
Mumbai: Coca-Cola India is planning to enter into strategic alliances with south India-based companies for its Kinley brand of bottled water.

Coca Cola is negotiating with a couple of companies in Chennai to acquire their water business for the Kinley brand. Cokes focus will be in the 20-litre bulk pack segment, which has seen tremendous growth. Chennai accounts for 60 per cent of the total water business in India. Also, the quality of water available is rapidly deteriorating.

Bulk packs are the fastest growing category and to strengthen its presence in this segment Coca-Cola acquired the water business of Thermax Culligan this year.

The latter had so far been catering to corporates and institutional customers in the western part of the country with its Good Water bulk packs.

Coca-Cola India then moved to Delhi, where it took over the institutional business of Nuchem Weir, which manufactures the Kristal brand. In Kolkata, it has a tie-up with one of its franchisee bottlers for the 20-litre pack.

Together, the 20-litre packs corner 40 per cent of the Rs 600-crore bottled water market.
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Intel arm to take 17 percent in India Life
New Delhi: Intels funding arm, Intel Capital Corporation and US-based venture capital firm, Templeton Direct Advisors Inc, have acquired a 17 per cent stake in Mumbai-based NBFC India Life Asset Management Ltd for $3.52 million.

With this the foreign equity holding in India Life goes up to 66 per cent and according to sources India Lifes total foreign investment now stands at $5.8 million.

India Life uses IT as a means of outsourcing Pension and Payroll systems and started its India operations in March 1999.
India Life also offers in-vestment and management services to institutional funds, gilts, debt funds and other mutual funds.
The company has over its life in India serviced clients such as IBM India, Oracle In-dia, Texas Instruments, SAP India and BPL.
During the first round of funding of India Life, only one foreign investor, View India Enterprises, US picked up 49 per cent stake in the company, pumping in $2.3 million.

But the company is now planning to expand its present portfolio of offering pension and payroll out-sourcing to even overseas companies and hence needs additional funds to expand its operations.
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Bajaj increases dealer margins by 50 per cent
New Delhi: Soon most dealers will be pushing Bajaj Motor cycles or scooters for Bajaj Auto is increasing dealer margins by 50 per cent. The move, the company feels, would help it in increasing the sales of motorcycles from an average of 35,000-40,000 a month to around 55,000 a month.

At present, the company gives a margin of 5 per cent on a motorcycle, which is being increased to to 7.5 per cent on the condition that dealers would achieve 30 per cent to 40 per cent higher sales than their existing targets.

Bajaj points out that considering the fact that the company has around 20 per cent market share there is need to incentives dealers if they have to sell more.
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Rockwell Automation looks at 25 per cent revenue growth
New Delhi: Rockwell Automation India expects a 20-25 per cent jump in revenues from contracts for maintenance, designing and consultancy services from manufacturing companies during the current financial year.

It expects the contribution to grow further with more and more of its multinational clients who are starting manufacturing operations in India implementing their overseas strategies to outsource non-core activities by way of contracts.

Rockwell is one of the world's largest players in automation and controls, Rockwell expects to grow by around 12 per cent during the year, against the industry's organic growth of 4-5 per cent.
Though its industrial clients are hit by the economic recession, Rockwell is still getting orders -- primarily from those manufacturing firms which, faced with severe recession, are now focusing on improving efficiencies at the manufacturing operations to cut costs.
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Fiat uses price-cutting for growth
Mumbai: Fiat India has slashed the prices of its spare parts by 30 per cent to make the Siena and the Uno more affordable.
This is the third time in as many years the company has reduced the spare parts prices. In 1999, the spare parts prices were reduced by 20 per cent, in 2000 by 30 per cent and this year by a further 30 per cent.

The company has dropped the prices of fast moving parts like oil filters, air cleaners, fuel filters, timing belts, spark plugs, wiper blades, brake pads, head lamps and tail lamps. Prices of accident-prone parts like doors, fenders, bonnets, windshield, bumpers, electrical parts and alternator components have also been reduced.

Uno has achieved 72 per cent localisation and Siena 75 per cent. The Palio will be launched with 80 per cent localisation.
The Uno petrol ELX will now cost Rs 3.7 lakh all over India. The Trend, basic version of the Uno is available at Rs 3.18 lakh (ex-showroom, Mumbai).
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South African Breweries eyes Mysore Breweries
Bangalore: South African Breweries (India) (SABI) has sought government nod to make an investment of Rs 120 crore in Mysore Breweries Ltd (MBL) by acquiring about 16 lakh shares.

"The company has proposed to invest in MBL through the acquisition of 16,37,570 equity shares of Rs 10 each for $23 million dollars (Rs 120 crore)," SABI said in an application to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).

SABI has also stated that since the proposal involved only equity investment, MBL would continue to exist and operate as an independent entity.

The company, in its application, is also seeking approval to charge royalty on the manufacture of SAB brands -- 5 per cent on domestic sales and 8 per cent on export sales (net of taxes).
The royalties would be paid to SABI's parent, South African Breweries Plc, owners of the brand name 'Sabmark.'

SABI is seeking the governments approval to undertake technology transfer for upgradation and modernisation of MBL and its subsidiaries through Bevman Services AG for a lumpsum fee of $50,000.

MBL is a public limited brewery company engaged in the manufacture of beer. The company also has licence for storing and selling of beer. It has two breweries -- one in Mysore and the other in Aurangabad.
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MPV from Maruti to be called Versa
Mumbai :The new multipurpose vehicle from Maruti will be called Versa.

Company sources said that the new name connotes "versatility and agility" of the 1,300 cc vehicle, being positioned to take on mid-size passenger cars like the Ford Ikon and the Hyundai Accent.

The model, which is known as Suzuki Every in the international markets, is likely to hit the roads by end-October and will be postioned in the mid-size segment with a price tag of Rs 6-7 lakh. The 1,300 cc engine, that will power the car, will be the same as that used in Maruti's Esteem.
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BPCL: LPG market expansion via rural areas
Kolkata : Bharat Petroleum Corporation is working on a strategy to improve penetration of LPG market into rural areas.

With the urban market becoming saturated this market presents huge opportunities for growth. The urban market constitutes 40 percent of BPCLs market.

Company officials said the company will have to concentrate more on rural areas. For this, it is planning to increase the number of vehicles for on the spot refills from four at present to at least 24 by March, 2002, they said.
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CIL appoints ICICI to find JV partner
Kolkata: Coal India has appointed ICICI to identify partners for the upcoming joint ventures in new mining blocks to meet its 10th plan target of achieving an annual production of 350 million tonnes.

"We require a huge capital investment to the tune of Rs 18,000 crore for capacity addition and replacement of equipment to meet our 10th Plan target," chairman of Coal India L N K Sharma said.

Coal India, which has been in the red for last two years, plans to generate some amount from internal accruals, while the rest of the capital would be raised in the form of bank loans and through joint ventures.
Coal India hopes to raise Rs 5,000-6,000 crore through the proposed JVs.
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Zee News, CNN news alliance in the offing
New Delhi-- Zee News is close to signing a mega deal with CNN for sharing content which would give the Indian channel access to almost all the global stories on CNN, including news breaks, for airing on Zee News. As part of the agreement, CNN too will have access to Zee News stories and will also be extended off-air help by Zee News.

The alliance, which would initially be for a period of one year and is extendible to three years, is likely to be announced over the next few days, according to cable and satellite TV industry sources.

Media sources said that CNN already has about 800 affiliates across the world, including Doordarshan and Eenadu TV in India.

The content sharing agreement is expected to spruce up international news content on Zee News, especially in the event of a major breaking news like the recent attacks on World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the US and would give it a major advantage over arch rival Aaj Tak, media analysts said. Globally, CNN has tie-ups with regional broadcasters, which are known as its affiliates, but the relationship with Zee is a step away from this.
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Coke to achieve double saving through pollution control
New Delhi: Coca Cola India has invested Rs 47 crore in installing pollution control equipment which may result in huge savings to the tune of about Rs four crore from its water and energy saving programmes, up from Rs 2.5 crore last year.
The company has implemented a voluntary and total freeze on the purchase of CFC (chloro-fluoro-carbon) containing equipment since 1994, and has been placing equipment which use non-CFC refrigerants; it has over 2.72 lakh coolers and refrigerators in the Indian market which contain only non-CFC refrigerants as a result of this initiative.
Thus Coca-Cola India not only uses ozone friendly equipment in the market but all its new manufacturing plants also incorporate eco-friendly features such as use of non-asbestos roofing.
Coca-Cola claims to be the largest soft drink manufacturer with its products selling across eight lakh outlets across the country.
The company also said it has invested over Rs 100 crore within the last three years to achieve world class efficiency standards in recource management.
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MTNL launches competitive pre-paid cell cards in Mumbai
Mumbai: Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) is launching its pre-paid cellular cards at competitive rates within the next two-three weeks in Mumbai.

The basic-and-cellular operator has already initiated talks with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to finalise the prepaid tariff.

The tariff is expected to be cheaper than those offered by the private cellular operators. In fact, MTNL has become a trendsetter for almost all major cellular tariff initiatives. Hutchison Max Telecom and BPL Mobile, the cellular operators in this metro offer cellular services to pre-paid card users at Rs 2.25 a minute.

MTNL, which markets its post-paid cellular service under the Dolphin brand, is also close to identifying a brand for its pre-paid cellular card. Earlier, the pre-paid card was to be launched in April, two months after the Dolphin brand rolled out. The company is also believed to have revised its budget for advertisement of cellular services.

The pre-paid card, which is emerging as a major driver of business, currently accounts for around more than 55 per cent of the cellular services market.
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Much is in a name: BPL
Bangalore: BPL has chalked out a marketing, distribution and retail strategy for its home appliances business. All future launches in the home appliances market will be through the companys joint venture with Sanyo.
Consequently, new models of refrigerators, microwaves, washing machines and other appliances will be launched either under the BPL-Sanyo brandname or only under the Sanyo brandname.
While BPL may manufacture some of the models in the low- and mass-end categories, those in the premium segment will be imported from Sanyo and marketed under its brandname.
Following the entry of foreign majors in the Indian consumer electronics market, BPLs marketshare has taken a beating in major categories like colour televisions and home appliances like refrigerators and microwaves.
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Tata Steel plans to pick up group stakes in Tata Teleservices
Mumbai: Tata Steel is examining the feasibility of acquiring the stakes of other group companies in Tata Teleservices, as part of its strategy to strengthen its foothold in the telecom business.

Currently, Tata Steel has substantial investments in two of the telecom companies of the Tata group - Tata Teleservices and Tata Cellular. Top Tata group officials, when contacted, said that Tata Steel is keeping all options open for supporting the groups efforts in telephony. However, this issue has not been discussed at the board level and nothing is on the cards as of now, the official added.
Analysts say that in order to reduce its dependence on the cyclical steel business, Tata Steel is considering investing in other sectors as well which include call centres and possibly even the retailing business.

The Tata group is also reportedly planning to float a new company for its infocom business with initial paid-up capital of Rs 700 crore from Tata Power, Tata Industries and Tata Steel. The new company will bring all the consumer interfacing telecom businesses like basic telephony, internet service provider, national long distance services and international gateways under one corporate structure with a common brand.

Tata Steel has, in order to revamp its operations, also started working on a feasibility study to chalk out the future role of its subsidiaries including taking a view on whether some of these subsidiaries need to be hived off or put on the block.
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UB sees big market in UP
Bangalore: The UB Group is planning to set up a greenfield brewery in Uttar Pradesh. UB Group president (breweries division), Kalyan Ganguly said the company had applied for a licence to set up the brewery in the state.
According to Mr Ganguly the capacity is likely to be around 2-3 lakh dozen cases per month and would entail an investment of around Rs 40-50 crore. The brewery is expected to begin operations in 12 to 18 months after the date of commencement of construction work.
The state governments decision to de-link beer from hard liquor has resulted in a spectacular rise in the consumption of beer and the company is facing difficulties in meeting the demand in the state.
At present, UB has a brewery each in Punjab and Haryana.
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