ITC Bhadrachalam to merge with ITC
Kolkata: ITC Chairman Y C Deveshwar said on Friday that the merger of ITC Bhadrachalam Paper Boards Limited with the company was expected to have far reaching impact on the performance of both the companies in future.

"Not only the Earning Per Share (EPS) of ITC is expected to increase significantly, but the parent company will also get loss benefit that ITC Bhadrachalam had incurred in the past," Deveshwar told the shareholders at the Extraordinary General Meeting for the approval of the merger. He said the merger will help Bhadrachalam compete with international players.

Deveshwar said after three years, ITC Bhadrachalam had managed a net profit of Rs 35 crore in 2000-2001 and lots of money was spent on modernisation of facilities and now the board of both the companies felt it appropriate to reap the benefits.
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BIFR favours winding up of Fertiliser Corporation
New Delhi: The Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) is of the view that the ailing Fertiliser Corporation (FCI) should be wound up, but a decision is pending the opinion of a group of ministers.

In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, minister of state for chemicals and fertilisers S B Mookherjee said "BIFR, in its meeting held on 2 November, has confirmed its prima facie opinion to wind up FCI. FCI has filed an appeal along with an application for interim ex-parte stay with the AAIFR against the order of BIFR".

He clarified that no winding up order has been served on Hindustan Fertiliser Corporation Ltd (HFCL) by BIFR.
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GAIL authorised to bid for Dabhol terminal
Kolkata: The Centre has given the green signal to state-owned Gas Authority of India Limited to bid for the LNG terminal of troubled Dabhol Power Corporation located in Maharashtra.

The chairman of GAIL, Prashanto Banerjee, said that the energy PSU would immensely benefit if it could acquire the LNG import terminal of DPC located on the western side of the Indian coastline.

If GAIL was able to buy out the terminal, then it would be able to supply two million units to the industries in Maharashtra and the balance three million units to the rest of the country, Banerjee said.
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Wipro to scale-up Gurgaon facility
New Delhi: Wipro Technologies is gearing up to scale-up its software development facility at Gurgaon to a 900-seater from present level of 30.

Wipro has earmarked Rs 50 crore in the first phase of the project. Wipro's other software development facilities are at Bangalore (6,000 seats), Hyderabad (1,000), Pune (300) and Chennai (300).

Kolkata is the other city where Wipro is looking to make a mark. It has already acquired land in the eastern metropolis.

Wipro Technologies has over 9,400 employees on its rolls.
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Amul to launch new products
Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF), India's largest milk products manufacturer, will launch a slew of new products to transform itself into a processed foods major.

GCMMF, which owns the popular Amul brand, will introduce processed pizzas, packaged soups and toffee in the next two months and plans to gradually foray into packaged coffee and tea, according to managing director B.M. Vyas.

GCMMF's current product portfolio includes butter, cheese, ice cream, chocolates, baby food and packaged milk.
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Parle Agro lines up more dairy products
Mumbai: Parle Agro Ltd is planning to launch a new range of dairy products with natural ingredients under the N-joi brand within a month. The new range will include, N-joi yoghurts, breadspreads, chocolates, and biscuits among others.

Parle Agro has roped in Quadrant Communications to handle the advertising business of Parles N-joi.

The company is also planning to launch two new variants under Frooti in orange and pineapple flavours in the Indian market.
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Excel Industries demerges agri-business
Mumbai: Excel Industries has spun off its agri-business into a separate company. Under the scheme of demerger, the company is also working on the possibility of introducing a strategic partner.

According to Excel Industries managing director AC Shroff, "Though the industry is in a bad shape due to reasons like Chinese dumping, local recession, etc, we, being a modest player could manage to perform well."

"We believe that it is advantageous to have a strategic partnership with an overseas company where synergies will help to achieve enhanced business results and add value to our business."
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Tata Fin seeks time to set house in order
Mumbai: Tata Finance has sought 13 months from the Reserve Bank of India to put its house in order. In a communication to the regulator three days ago, the non-banking finance company has given an undertaking that there will be a Rs 300-crore equity infusion in three tranches by March 2003.

The capital, a substantial part of which is expected to come from other Tata companies, will help TFL achieve the 12 per cent capital adequacy ratio stipulated by RBI.

The company told RBI that the Tatas will infuse Rs 100 crore into TFL by the end of this month, Rs 100 crore by March 2002 and Rs 100 crore by December 2002. The equity will be infused either entirely by the Tata Group or with a strategic partner.
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Himachal Futuristic plans overseas issue
New Delhi: Himachal Futuristic Communications is planning for an international securities issue up to $100 million, it said in a notice to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The firm said it would also include another enabling resolution for the next annual shareholders meeting for a private placement of up to 30 million shares or warrants in the domestic market.

Himachal said the choice between the domestic and international offering and other details of price and timing will be decided by its board after obtaining shareholders approval.
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ITC Hotels plans new tourist facilities
New Delhi: WelcomJawan, the initiative of the ITC Hotels Ltd to help former servicemen, is looking to establish two varieties of tourist facilities - Welcomstop and Welcomspot - along the national road network through out the country.

The proposal envisages having Welcomspot to provide short duration facilities like a room to freshen up, hygienic eating places and the chance to get the vehicle looked into at petrol stations along the highway. Welcomstop would offer similar facilities with the added advantage of having well made-up rooms for the traveller to rest.
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