Enron may sell stake in Dabhol plant
Washington DC: US power major Enron may be forced to sell its stake in the Dabhol power plant at around half a billion dollars instead of the asking price of a billion dollars, according to the New York Times.
Tata Power and BSES, the Indian bidders for Enron's stake in the 2184 MW Dhabol power plant, are reportedly willing to pay only half of the asking price.
If the lenders and prospective buyers adopt a take it or leave it line, Enron may have little choice but to accept their offer.
Back to News Review index page  

BMW keen on production base in India
New Delhi: The worlds renowned luxury car BMW is planning to set up a production base in India.
In the first phase, the German car maker will beef up its existing imported car sales network in India. The company is now importing and selling over 100 cars per annum in India through its two dealers.

BMW had initially planned to introduce its 3 series and 5 series range of luxury cars in India, under a 50-50 joint venture with the Hero group.

However, the proposal was rejected by the Indian government as the German major was not willing to invest the minimum amount of $50 million prescribed by the government in its auto policy.
Back to News Review index page  

Canara Bank net profit jumps 145 per cent
Bangalore: Canara Bank's net profit jumped 145 per cent to touch Rs 306 crore for six months ended September 30, 2001, as compared to Rs 125 crore in the corresponding period of last year.
The banks global business increased to Rs 90,136 crore -- Rs 61,517 crore of deposits and Rs 28,619 crore of advances -- an year-on-year growth of 21 per cent.
Capital adequacy rate improved to 11.04 per cent from 9.84 per cent.
Back to News Review index page  

Citigroup merges two IT operations
Mumbai: Citigroup has combined two of its infotech operations in India to form a new company offering software products and services to the global financial sector.
OrbiTech Solutions was created by combining Citicorp Overseas Software and Citibank India Technologies.
The company currently has 1,200 employees and will be hiring another 150 soon. It has software development centers in Bombay, Madras and Hyderabad.

OrbiTech's growth strategy will include strategic acquisitions and possible investments from financial strategic investors.
Back to News Review index page  

Satyam, CSC in IT pact
Mumbai: Satyam Computer Services has signed a three-year IT services deal with US-based Computer Sciences.
Computer Sciences is the world's third-largest supplier of software services.
Its business includes setting up and running computer systems and data processing operations for companies and government bodies, consulting and systems integration services.
As part of the deal, Satyam will set up software development centres in the southern Indian cities of Madras and Hyderabad to provide services to CSC's global clients.
Satyam will provide software consulting, design and development services in the areas of enterprise resource planning, e-business and maintenance of systems for CSC's customers. It expects to assign over 250 employees to work on projects for CSC.
Back to News Review index page  

Venture Infotek plans IPO
Mumbai: Venture Infotek, in which global venture capital funds have invested more than $38.5 million, plans to make an initial public offer by 2003-2004.
The Mumbai-based company, formed in 1996, has created a nationwide network for electronic payment processing covering nearly 17,000 merchant locations in 187 cities and towns. It controls nearly three-fourth of the card processing industry in India.
Warburg Pincus Equity Partners has invested $27 million in the company, Walden International Investment Group $6 million and Global Internet Ventures $5.5 million.
The company also has small strategic investments from its alliance partners, IBM and Visa International.
Back to News Review index page  

Wipro inks partnership with Qualstar
Bangalore: Wipro e-Peripherals Ltd, a leading storage solutions player in the country, has formed a strategic partnership with Qualstar Corporation, a leader in enterprise-level storage solutions.
Wipro e-Peripherals (WeP) will provide Qualstar's complete line of state-of-the-art robotic tape library products in India.
Back to News Review index page  

ITW raises stake in Indian arm
New Delhi: US-based Illinois Tools Works has increased its stake in ITW Signode India to 91.9 per cent through an open offer.
Illinois Tools Works received 93.5 lakh shares through its public offer to buy the public holding in its Indian subsidiary, ITW Signode India.
The offer was made at Rs 80 per share and closed on October 30, 2001.
Back to News Review index page  

ABN AMRO bank to set up more branches
Bangalore: ABN AMRO Bank plans to open 19 more branches in India over the next four years. The bank plans to open 30 branches in four years covering 12 cities.
The bank would launch its own credit card in March next year. It has already tied up with Mastercard. The bank plans to launch Internet banking and and mobile phone-based banking information services by year-end.
Back to News Review index page  

Indusind Bank plans alliance with Dubai bank
Dubai: Indusind Bank Limited is planning a strategic alliance with a Dubai bank, according to Indusind group founder S P Hinduja.
The Indusind Bank Limited is undertaking a programme to expand its network from the current 35 branches to 100 and raise the number of its ATM outlets to 200 in the next four months.
As part of the global foray, similar strategic alliances are being chalked out with regional financial institutions in other Middle East countries, Europe, South America, North America, Africa and the Pacific Rim.
Back to News Review index page  

Siemens declares 40 per cent dividend
Mumbai: Siemens Ltd has reported 18.19 per cent drop in its net profit to Rs 68.72 crore for the financial year ended 30 September 2001, as against a net profit of Rs 84 crore in the previous fiscal. The company declared a 40 per cent dividend for the year ended 30 September 2001 on a share capital of Rs 33.62 crore.

Turnover for the fiscal increased 4 per cent to Rs 1,157.2 crore as compared to sales of Rs 1,115.71 crore in the previous fiscal. Unexecuted orders for the years stood at Rs 773 crore. Lease and other income for the fiscal stood at Rs 77.84 crore as against Rs 57.19 crore in the previous fiscal.
Back to News Review index page  

LG plans portfolio expansion in India
New Delhi: LG Electronics India is planning to expand its product portfolio in India.

The company is planning to introduce dishwashers, laptops, mobile phones and audio systems by next year. The company will be importing these products from Korea and will be selling here. In mobile phones, LG will introduce handsets which would be GSM (global systems mobile) compatible.

LG Electronics India also plans to make the Indian operations as the hub for exports to various countries.
Back to News Review index page