Tata & BSES to bid for DPC
Mumbai: Tata Power and BSES will give their final offer for buying out the Dabhol Power Company within the next two months. The decision was taken at a meeting of the lenders to the company where Tata Power and BSES were also represented. It was also decided that the confidentiality agreement which the two companies need to sign with Enron and other promoters of Dabhol will be signed within one week so that due diligence for putting a value to the company can begin.
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Tata Indica sales soar
Mumbai: The sale of Tata Indica continues to soar with 5,185 units sold in November, recording a rise of 115 per over the sales in the same month last year. Similarly in the first eight months of the fiscal, the car has sold 38043 units, growing 18 per cent from April-November 2000.

The market share of the car has also gone up to 21.6 per cent as against 17.4 per cent last year.
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Govt to sell 26% stake in Modern Foods to HLL
New Delhi: The government is likely to sell off its remaining 26 per cent stake in the Modern Foods to Hindustan Lever. The department of disinvestment is likely to seek the approval of the cabinet committee on disinvestment for the sale.

This is as per a clause in the agreement which says that a year after selling 74 per cent, the government could sell the remaining holding to the strategic partner.
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Kotak Mahindra to focus on bus financing
Chennai: Kotak Mahindra plans to focus more on bus financing especially in Tamil Nadu which has good network of roads connecting all villages and therefore the bus segment has good prospects.

There were around 4250 permits in the hands of private bus operators in the state and with the fares having been revised of late, the bus segment was likely to register a better growth this year. Moreover, the replacement of buses in the state happens every three years, opening up financing avenues in the second hand market.

In the last fiscal, the company's commercial vehicle financing division had achieved a growth of 33 per cent as against an industry fall of 15 per cent in the business. This year till November last the company had achieved a growth of 90 per cent.
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Pepsi Chart Show for India
New Delhi: Pepsi Foods is negotiating with three leading television channels to bring Pepsi Chart Show to India. It is in an advanced stage of negotiations with Star TV, Sony and Zee to bring this popular show to Indian channels.

Pepsi Chart Show is an international property of PepsiCo, running in more than 20 countries across Europe, Asia, Australia, West Asia and Latin America.

The Indian show will have a local content and international flavour as it is done worldwide. Details of the content are being finalised. The show will have two parts - live programmes and normal songs and music. Local content of music will include Bollywood playback numbers and Indi-pop and live shows.
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Indian made Chinese mobiles by Jan
New Delhi: The countrys first home-made cellular handsets will hit the market in January. China Telecommunications Ltd, a venture floated by the Beijing-based TCL Ltd, Asiatic International, US, and Global Vision group of Chennai, are in the process of setting up a manufacturing base for cellular handsets in Bangalore.

The company is also looking at setting up another plant in Manesar, near Delhi, by July 2002. The company plans to produce three range of handset models targeting the entry level at Rs 4,000, medium segment (Rs 7,500) and the high-end segment at Rs 10,000.
The handsets would initially be imported and assembled in India. The company is also planning to locally produce palmtops by the end of 2002.
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Cairn to sell gas to GAIL
Chennai: British oil exploration group Cairn Energy has signed an agreement with Gas Authority of India Ltd for the sale of gas from its eastern Indian offshore gas fields.

The company has signed an exclusive marketing agreement with GAIL for selling gas in Andhra Pradesh.

Cairn plans to supply the gas from three gas discoveries in its wholly-owned eastern offshore block, KG-DWN-98/2 -- Annapurna with estimated gas reserves of 400-800 billion cubic feet (11.32-22.65 billion cu metres), Prospect "P" with 100-200 billion cubic feet and Prospect "N" under evaluation.

In September, Cairn began supplying 30 million cubic feet of gas per day to GAIL from its neighbouring Ravva field.
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UTI sells 3.3% of Herdillia Chem to Schenectady
New Delhi: Unit Trust of India has sold 3.3 per cent equity of Herdillia Chemicals to its acquirer Schenectady (India) Holding for Rs 20 a share amounting to Rs 72.67 lakh.

The fund sold a total 3,63,358 shares amounting to 3.3 per cent of the Duncan-Goenka Group company's total paid-up capital of Herdillia Chemicals, a release from UTI said on Friday.

The sale of equity by UTI comes in the wake of open offer announced by Schenectady India after acquiring majority stake in Herdillia Chemicals.
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HC clears way for Electrolux Kelvinator merger
New Delhi: The Delhi high court on 14 December gave a formal go-ahead to merger of Electrolux India and Intron with Electrolux Kelvinator.

The approval will pave the way for the company to embark on aggressive expansion of operations, beginning with the consolidation of washing machine manufacturing facilities at its Butibori (Maharashtra) plant, the company said in a statement.

Electrolux Kelvinator managing director Ram S Ramasundar said: This merger and restructuring is aimed at consolidating the business operations in India and achieving economies of scale.

After the merger, Electrolux Kelvinator is expected to record a turnover of Rs 450 crore this fiscal year, the company said. It has three refrigerator manufacturing plants located across north, west and south India.
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Infotech Enterprises to go for ESOP
Mumbai: Infotech Enterprises is to issue 5,75,000 new equity shares, of Rs 10 each, to employees of the company and its subsidiaries in India and abroad under the Employee Stock Option Scheme.

The companys board has approved a proposal to issue and allot new shares in one or more tranches according to Securities and Exchange Board of India guidelines, IEL informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.
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Leyland sales dips, exports rise
New Delhi: Ashok Leylands domestic sales have dropped by 16.7 per cent in November to 1,846 vehicles from 2,218 units sold in the same month last year. Exports, however, rose 27.9 per cent to 206 vehicles.

Overall, Leyland sold 2,052 vehicles, a 13.7 per cent dip over 2,379 units in November 2000, a company statement said here. This was also an 8 per cent fall from 2,230 vehicles sold in October.

Cumulative (April-November 2001-02) domestic sales was down 4 per cent at 16,652 vehicles but exports increased 2.4 per cent at 1,341 units.
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FFIs to acquire 26.01% stake in UTI Bank
Mumbai: CDC Financial Services (Mauritius) and South Asia Regional Fund have proposed together to acquire 26.01 per cent stake in UTI Bank at Rs 34 per share on preferential basis.

CDCFS and SARF have proposed to acquire 2.85 crore and 1.78 crore fully paid up equity shares respectively, representing 16.02 per cent and 9.99 per cent of equity stake, the two informed the Bombay Stock Exchange in separate statements.
UTI Bank was expected to allot the shares to CDC and SARF between December 19 and January 2, 2002.

Shareholders of the private sector bank at an extra ordinary general meeting in Ahmedabad on October 23, approved the proposal to raise the bank's equity share capital by way of a preferential issue by making a preferential allotment to SARF and CDC to the extent of 4,63,50,000 shares of Rs 34 per share, including a premium of Rs 24 per share.
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Jindal Strips recieves $55m order from US
New Delhi: Jindal Strips has recieved an export order worth $55 million from US-based North American Stainless to supply 55,000 tonnes steel slabs.

Jindal Strips will supply AISI 304 grade stainless steel slabs in five months starting December.

The company's exports in the current financial year are expected to touch a level of 65,000 tons with this order.
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Maruti launches new Zen
New Delhi: Maruti Udyog has launched the seventh variant of its highest selling premium small car, Zen. The new variant, Zen LXI, would come fitted with electronic power steering at a price tag of Rs 3.69 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

The Zen LXI would feature front power windows and rear wiper and washer. The car would be sold only in Delhi and the national capital region, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai.

Maruti has sold 3.8 lakh 'Zen' cars in the domestic market and exported another 1.7 lakh units.
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Polaris to hire 300 IT professionals
Chennai: Polaris Software Lab Ltd will recruit about 330 software professionals by the end of the fiscal. The firm has already recruited 220 aspirants during the earlier part of the year and had a staff strength of 2,530 professionals on September 30. Polaris has recently restructured its sales process and expects to win a couple of strategic offshore deals.
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Fiat plans to roll out CNG Palio
Mumbai: Fiat India is exploring the possibility of launching a CNG version of its small car Palio. Fiat is also looking at launching other variants of the car. The company has already decided to launch a limited edition Sachin series early next year. The only company which currently has a CNG version in the B-segment is Tata Engineering, which has a CNG version of the Indica.
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Bajaj hires PwC for supply chain mgmt
Mumbai: Bajaj Auto has hired the services of PricewaterhouseCoopers for implementing supply chain management system. Bajaj Autos mandate to PwC is to link up the 3,000-odd dealers, sub-dealers (both for two-wheelers and three-wheelers), vendors, regional offices across 13 regions, three plants and the head office.

The PwC is likely to take 12 to 16 months to execute the job.
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VSNL board proposes Rs 75 special interim
New Delhi: The board of directors of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (VSNL) has recommended a special interim dividend of 750 per cent amounting to over Rs 2,350 crore.

The special dividend could impact the valuation of VSNL slated for disinvestment this fiscal. With a depletion in the cash reserves of the company, the three potential bidders - Reliance, Tatas and a consortium led by Sterling Cellular Ltd. - may rethink their decision to bid for 25-per cent stake in the company.
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Goodyear to hike tubeless tyre production
Mumbai: Goodyear India Ltd will increase its production capacity for tubeless radial tyres by 40 per cent from 2002. In 1999, Goodyear India invested over Rs 300 crore to expand its production volumes. The company's tubeless radial tyres are available for small, mid-size and luxury cars.
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Dabur to launch baby massage oil
New Delhi: Dabur India is set to unveil its branded baby massage oil in the near future. Dabur Baby Olive Oil will be priced at Rs 60 for a 100 ml pack. The brand is being test launched in northern Indian and will be launched in the rest of the country in the next few months. At present, Dabur has a baby oil branded Lal Tail, which is targeted at the rural population.

Lal Tail has a market share of 44 per cent, while Johnson and Johnson's olive oil has about 19 per cent share in the Rs 125-crore baby oil market.

While Lal Tail has groundnut as the main ingredient, Dabur Baby Olive Oil will be enriched with key ingredients such as chandan (sandalwood), badam (almond), tulsi (basil) and neem.
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