Dabhol sale starts next week
Mumbai: The bidding process for the Dabhol power project begins next week with the placement of newspaper notices on the sale.

Six companies -- three foreign and three domestic -- have expressed interest in bidding for the 2,184 MW plant.

The three foreign companies are Royal Dutch/Shell, the world's second largest oil company, European oil major TotalFinaElf and French state-owned Gaz de France.
The potential Indian bidders are BSES and Tata Power Company, and Gas Authority of India.

Enron owns 65 per cent of the project. General Electric and construction firm Bechtel each own 10 per cent. The Maharashtra State Electricity Board owns the remaining 15 per cent.
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Ashok Leyland net dips 30%
New Delhi: Ashok Leylands third quarter net profit slipped 30.2 per cent to Rs 13.51 crore. A deferred tax provision of Rs 5.6 crore has been cited as one of the reasons for the dip.

Gross profit was higher by 7.5 per cent at Rs 45.4 crore as against Rs 42.2 crore. The prolonged recession saw its net sales turnover decline by 12.7 per cent to Rs 528.6 crore during the quarter. However, for the nine months ended December 2001, the firm posted a 54.8 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 22.6 crore.
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L & T Q3 net up 64%
Mumbai: Larsen & Toubros October-December net profit rose 63.7 per cent from a year earlier.
The companys third-quarter net profit was Rs 54.51 crore compared with Rs 33.29 crore a year ago.
Net sales were Rs 1,923 crore, slightly lower than Rs 1,941 crore a year earlier.

L&T had other income of Rs 34.84 crore, up 59 per cent from last year, including Rs 9.98 crore from retiring some debt.

Net profit was also helped by lower interest charges, which dropped 33 per cent to Rs 80.81 crore during the quarter.

It estimated net sales at Rs 1,998 crore up almost three per cent on year and up 12.5 per cent from the previous quarter.
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ACC Q3 net up 15.6%
Mumbai: Associated Cement Companys October-December net profit rose 15.6 per cent from a year earlier.

The companys net profit rose to Rs 16.93 crore in the third quarter, compared to Rs 14.64 crore a year ago.
Net sales were at Rs 814 crore, up 11.2 per cent from Rs 732 crore a year earlier.
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Intel to slash Pentium 4 prices
Francisco: Intel is expected to cut prices on its highest-performance Pentium 4 processors and other chips over the weekend.

Intels going to try and price things to move people to Pentium 4 chip in which some of the dimensions are as small as 0.13 microns. A human hair is about 50 microns wide.

By moving to smaller line widths, Intel is able to put 55 million transistors on a single chip, and it has said it gets about twice as many chips per wafer on the 0.13 micron manufacturing process than with the 0.18 micron process.

The fastest Pentium 4 chip now runs at 2.2 billion cycles per second, or 2.2 gigahertz, costing $562 in lots of 1,000.
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SAP to infuse Rs 117 crore in India
New Delhi: SAP is investing Rs 117 crore in expanding R&D facility in India.

The software majors development facility in Bangalore, called SAP Labs, was currently engaged in doing development work for both India and other Asia-Pacific countries.

The Rs 117 crore that SAP proposes to pump into SAP Labs India would be most likely used for expanding the existing facility in Bangalore.

SAP Labs Indias software export to its parent amounts to more than Rs 100 crore.
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Telcos credit rating lowered
Mumbai: Standard & Poor has lowered the corporate credit rating on Tata Engineering & Locomotive to BB- and removed it from credit watch.

The rating outlook is negative, the agency said in a release.

Telcos rating reflects the extremely weak operational profitablility arising from the persistent weak demand in the Indian commercial vehicle market, release said.
S&P expects that Telco will maintain its dominant market position in the commercial vehicles market and that market acceptance for the Indica (its small car) will continue, the release said.
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Spic divests entire 49% in Caltex venture
Chennai: Spic has divested its entire 49 per cent stake in Caltex-Spic India in favour of MNC partner, Caltex oil corporation.

In a statement, Spic said: "Taking into account the losses so far incurred and foreseeing the delay in government policies on LPG subsidies, Spic felt it would be appropriate to exit from the business. The proposed transaction of disinvestment has not resulted in substantial loss to Spic except that the initial gains made in 1997-98 had not appreciated".

Spic was one of the early entrants in the parallel LPG marketing.
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Ariana to launch services to India
New Delhi: Ariana Afghan Airline is planning to start three weekly services between Afghanistan and India.
The Afghan airline plans to operate two flights a week on the Kabul-New Delhi sector and another connecting Kandhar to Amritsar. These services are likely to be launched after a month.

With just one aircraft in its possession now, the airline is not in a position to launch its scheduled services immediately. However, officials of Ariana hope to get possession of a Boeing 737-400 aircraft which was bought for the airline during the Taliban regime.
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Novartis India Q3 up 100.8%
Mumbai: Novartis India has reported a 100.80 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 17.53 crore for the third quarter ended December 2001 compared to Rs 8.73 crore in the same period last fiscal.

Net sales for the period under review rose marginally at Rs 125.48 crore as against Rs 122.97 crore for the third quarter of the previous fiscal.

The net profit and sales for the nine months ended December 2001 stood at Rs 46.10 crore (Rs 30.79 crore in April-Dec 2000) and Rs 360.94 crore (Rs 343.34 crore) respectively.
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NPIL acquires ICI India's pharma business
Mumbai: Nicholas Piramal has acquired the pharmaceutical business of ICI India for Rs 70 crore.

ICI's pharma business has a leading domestic market position in the cardiovascular and anaesthesia segments in addition to a good export portfolio. The company has emerged as the number one player in cardiovascular drug segment.
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United Phosporous Q3 net up at Rs 1.6cr
Mumbai: United Phosphorus posted a net profit of Rs 1.58 crore for the third quarter ended December 2001 compared to Rs 57 lakh for same period last fiscal.
Total income for the period under review was up 11.40 per cent at Rs 138.37 crore as against Rs 124.21 crore in the second quarter.
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IOC to spend Rs 1,000 cr on retail ops
Chennai: Indian Oil Corporation plans to invest Rs 1,000 crore in the next two years on expanding and upgrading its retail stations across the country.
The company had, till last year, invested around Rs 900 crore for upgrading its retail outlets. IOC has the largest retail network in the country with 7,700 petrol stations and meets over 53 per cent of the country's petroleum product requirements.
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Finolex Cables Q3 net up 14%
Mumbai: Finolex Cables posted a 13.97 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 27.09 crore for the third quarter ended December 2001, compared to Rs 23.79 crore for the same period last fiscal year.

Net sales for the period under review grew 54.85 per cent to Rs 238.21 crore against Rs 153.88 crore in the third quarter last fiscal.

Other income for the reporting quarter jumped to Rs 6.47 crore (Rs 1.77 crore in the third quarter of 2000-01).
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M&M plans restructuring
New Delhi: Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is planning to amalgamate with itself some of its subsidiaries and also restructure its reserves.

The M&M board will meet on 29 January to consider the amalgamation proposal. The board will review the entire list of M&Ms subsidiaries and finalise the ones that have to be merged with the parent company.
In the initial phase, M&M would be looking at amalgamating only the automotive subsidiaries.

The company has four separate automotive subsidiariesMahindra Auto Specialities Ltd, Automart India, Mahindra Alternative Technologies Ltd (MATL) and Mahindra Eco Mobiles Ltd.
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Sirpur Paper plans buyback
Hyderabad: The Hyderabad-based Sirpur Paper Mills Ltd has announced a share buy-back at a maximum price of Rs 40 per share through open market purchases. The company's shares are at present traded at Rs 29 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The decision to buy back the shares was taken keeping in mind the undervaluation of its stock on the stock exchanges and to provide better shareholder value. The company has a paid-up capital of Rs 8.35 crore.
For the nine-month period ended December 2001, Sirpur Paper Mills reported a net profit of Rs 10.48 crore on a turnover of Rs 118 crore.
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First India mulls mutual fund buyouts
Mumbai: First India Mutual Fund is looking at acquisitions of existing funds in the country as a way of consolidating itself in the segment.

The fund is making its debut in the Indian market with three open-ended schemes -- an income scheme, a liquid scheme and a gilt scheme. The three schemes will open for subscription on 8 February 8 and close on 14 February.

A large number of mutual funds are up for sale and are looking to either forge a strategic alliance with a partner or an outright sale. Poor market conditions, coupled with poorer returns and low margins, are forcing a shakeout and a consolidation in the sector.

First India Mutual Fund is jointly promoted by A C Muthiah, who holds a 51 per cent stake in the asset management company, MetLife of the US with 34 per cent and another company, Investec, which holds the rest.
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IOC-Sundaram Fin venture launches Powerplus
Chennai: Indian Oil Corporation and Sundaram Finance Ltd have announced the launch of their co-branded, value-added, fleet card- Powerplus. The card will be available in two options-debit and credit card.

Initially, the marketing alliance will be rolled out in select trunk routes in southern states and in 26 select Indian Oil outlets. In about 8 to 12 months time, Powerplus fleet card will be available nationally.

While the debit card will carry negligible operating expenses, the credit card will carry an interest charge of 16 per cent, the lowest among electronic card payment plans on offer.
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Reliance Cap picks 75% of insurance ventures
Mumbai: Reliance Capital Ltd has bought the controlling interest in the group's insurance ventures, Reliance General Insurance Company and Reliance Life Insurance Company, from group flagship Reliance Industries, for around Rs 78 crore.

RCL has picked up only 75 per cent of the paid-up equity capital in these two ventures. Reliance Industries will continue to hold the remaining 25 per cent stake.
The Reliance group had made a foray into the insurance sector with these two separate companies, each having an initial authorised capital of Rs 200 crore.

Reliance recently received a licence to conduct general insurance business in India from the IRDA under Reliance General Insurance Company. Reliance Life Insurance Company has received IRDA's in principle approval to conduct business.
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Ansals plan new project at Gurgaon
New Delhi: The Rs 150-crore Ansal Housing and Construction has planned a new housing project, Golf Residency, in Gurgaon an estimated Rs 250 crore.
Golf Residency will have a pollution-free living environment. It is just a 15-minute drive from the IGI Airport.

The whole project will be built on 24 acres of lush green land, of which only 25 per cent will be utilised to build housing units and the rest will be for landscaping.
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Batra acquires Centaur Airport
New Delhi: The Rs 200-crore AL Batra group has bought The Centaur Airport Mumbai for Rs 83 crore. Centaur is part of Air India-owned Hotel Corporation Ltd.

The Batra group has a major stake in Delhi Radisson hotel. Besides, it has interest in manufacturing engineering equipment, health industry, agro chemicals products, marketing of petroleum products and transport business. In the next round of bidding, the group hopes to buy the Delhi Centaur hotel also.
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