Estate and Sierra to be phased out
Mumbai: Tata Engineering has decided to discontinue the original stationwagon Estate and take off Sierra from regular production. The company will now focus on its existing passenger car Indica and the variants that would be introduced on the same platform.

The first of the Indica variants, the Indica Sedan, will be unveiled at the forthcoming
Auto Expo and commercial production is expected to commence next fiscal.

However, spare parts and service of the over a lakh existing Sierra and Estate cars would be undertaken by the firm.
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Infosys to focus on consultancy
Bangalore: Infosys Technologies is planning to ramp up its strategic consulting business as a step towards moving up the software services value chain.

The company is setting up two new domain consulting group centres in Chennai and Pune. Infosys at present offers consultancy in six verticals - insurance, banking, securities, utilities, supply chain management and retail. The company is now also looking at two new verticals - transportation and healthcare.
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Tata Group merges two investment firms
Mumbai: The Tata Group has merged two of its investment companies Viplav Investments Ltd and Rujuvalika Investments Ltd. This is in line with Group policy of bringing all investment companies under one umbrella.

The major shareholders of Rujuvalika are Tata Steel subsidiary Kalimati Investment Co Ltd, Tata Investment Corporation Ltd, Virat Investment Ltd, Aftaab Investment Co Ltd, Tinplate company of India Ltd, TRF Ltd, Tata Power Company Ltd, The Andhra Valley Power Supply Co Ltd, The Tata Hydro Electric Power Supply and Viplav Investments Ltd.
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Godrej Sara Lee to launch new products
Chennai: Godrej Sara Lee Ltd is planning to launch a range of air-freshners under the brandname Ambipure by mid-2002, in addition to a slew of products under the Good Knight umbrella for the rural population.

The company plans to come out with sub-brands under the Good Knight brand for all its product range and price them more economically. At present, the penetration of mosquito repellents in the rural areas is only six per cent, while it is 34 per cent in urban India.
Priced at Rs 60 for a 40 ml refill, the electrically plugged perfumed air-freshners will be launched in July 2002. They will have anti-bacterial properties and will last for 300 hours. The company is planning to import the product from Spain in the first year and start manufacturing it in India later.
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HFCL promoters to increase stake to 34 per cent
Kolkata: The promoters of Himachal Futuristics Communications Limited (HFCL) are planning to increase their stake in the company from the present 25.15 per cent to 33.58 per cent by subscribing to warrants convertible into equity shares.

The company will issue one lakh warrants convertible into equity shares to be allotted on preferential basis to the promoters, directors, their associates and relatives.
Each warrants will have the option of subscribing for one equity share of Rs 10 each per warrant at a price of Rs 92.The main objective of the issue apart from increasing the promoters stake was to raise funds for capital expenditure, acquisitions, working capital requirements and general corporate purpose.
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BPCL to invest Rs 200 cr on retail outlets
New Delhi: Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has decided to invest Rs 200 crore to upgrade its existing retail outlets.

The company plans to commission around 250 new retail outlets during 2001-02. The highest number of new outlets were being commissioned in the northern region. It would have 45 new outlets by the end of current fiscal.
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Bombay Store to open 5 new stores
New Delhi: Bombay Store has decided to invest around Rs 18 crore to open stores in all the metropolitan cities during the next two years. The new stores will come up in Delhi, Calcutta and Chennai. At present, the company has retail outlets in Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore. The average size of the stores would be 15,000 sq feet.

Bombay Store sells life style products, including a whole range of furnishing, entertainment, and health products.

At present, the companys 85 per cent holding is with the family while the rest is with the public.
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RPL to buy retail public sector outlets
Mumbai: Reliance Petroleum plans to buy out dealer-owned, dealer-operated retail outlets of public sector oil majors.

RPL is eyeing the high volume outlets located at metros and along the highways. However, once the government allows Reliance to enter retailing of petroleum products in the post APM era, it will also have to set up some of its retailing infrastructure in various remote areas where sales volume are low.

The proposed regulatory authority for petroleum sector is expected to make it mandatory for oil companies to locate a certain percentage of their retail outlets in remote and backward areas.
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DRL to buy Group Pharmaceuticals dental products
Hyderabad: Dr Reddys Laboratories has decided to buy the dental care prescription brands of closely-held healthcare firm Group Pharmaceuticals in an all-cash deal worth Rs 28-30 crore.

The deal is expected give it a strong presence in the dental care products market and brand equity with dentists in the country. The Mumbai-based Group Pharma, promoted by Ravi Attavar and associates, is a leading player in dental care prescription products.

DRL is expected to take over all the brands of the Rs 16-crore dental care division leaving the group with its other products like nutritionals, psychotropic drugs, and cough-cold medicines.
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Galileo, Bajaj Allianz tie up for travel insurance
Mumbai: Galileo India has tied up with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance to bring online travel insurance to customers through Galileo-supported travel agents.

The new product will be sold online through Galileos system. Bajaj Allianz is offering some of the most competitive rates for short as well as long stays and special corporate packages on the Galileo systems.

All that the travel agents are required to do is download the policy from the web, countersign, collect the payment and hand over the policy. This entire process can be completed in less than two minutes.
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Tata Chemicals ropes in Mckinsey for revamp
Mumbai: The Tatas have roped in Mckinsey to restructure the operations of Tata Chemicals.
Tata Chemicals has begun restructuring its Mithapur chemical complex in Gujarat last week. This will be introduced in the company's fertiliser plant in Babrala, Uttar Pradesh once it gets integrated into the operations at Mithapur.

Tata Chemicals has asked Mckinsey to put in place a strategic framework in 6-8 months that will cover the entire gamut of operations from manufacturing to customer service.
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Chemplast Sanmar profits zoom
Chennai: Chemplast Sanmar has reported a three-fold increase in its net profit for the first half of the current year. Net profit increased to Rs 10.94 crore from Rs 2.96 crore in the same period last year.

The good business environment for the companys main product, PVC resins, is said to be responsible for the rise in profits. Soft international prices for feedstock, Ethylene di Chloride (EDC) helped the company bring down the input costs.
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Egana Goldpfiel plans watch unit
Mumbai: Egana Goldpfiel, owners of global lifestyle brands like Espirit and Pierre Cardin, is planning to set up a watch manufacturing facility in India.

Its brands portfolio of watches include Esprit Timewear, Pierre Cardin, and Carrera.

The company has identified Mumbai as the location for the manufacturing unit.

Egana's worldwide factories are based in Germany, Switzerland, Hong Kong, and China.
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Giordano to enter Indian market
Mumbai: Giordano, the multinational lifestyle company, is planning to enter into a strategic alliance with an Indian company for its foray into the local market.

The chain will be operating in India through Giordano Fashions L.L.C, a joint venture between Emirates Trading Agency, Dubai, and Giordano International, Hong Kong.

The group already has a presence in India through Giordano-ETA India, its liasion office in Chennai, which looks after the chain's sourcing requirements.

Giordano has over 1000 stores in 30 countries in Asia, Middle East, Australia and Europe.
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