HPCL cedes MRPL control to Birlas
Mumbai: Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) has agreed to cede management control to the AV Birla group in MRPL.

HPCL also reserved for itself the option to exit the company at a future date. The terms of HPCL's counter-offer call upon the Birlas agreeing to having a chairman, by rotation, every two years. HPCL also wants proportionate board representation.
Back to News Review index page   Currency converter

CSB posts growth in deposits in Q3
Thrissur: The Catholic Syrian Bank recorded Rs 396.59 crore deposits and advances during the third quarter of the current financial year ended December 2001 against Rs 113.61 crore in the corresponding period previous year.

The total investment of the bank increased to Rs 1427.34 crore as on 31 December last from Rs 1158.00 crore the same day the previous year, an increase of 23.25 per cent.

The operating profit (unaudited) of the bank touched Rs 50.38 crore compared to Rs 27.68 crore for the corresponding period previous year, an increase of 82 per cent.

The net profit (unaudited) of the bank reached Rs 15.70 crore compared to Rs 7.60 crore for the corresponding period previous year, an increase of 106.58 per cent.
Back to News Review index page   Currency converter

SSI arm bags $5.7 mn contract
Chennai: Albion International, a part of SSIT North America, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chennai-based SSI Ltd, has been awarded a contract to build the Wyoming Family Assistance Management Information System.

The three-year development and one-year maintenance contract has an initial value of $5.7 million.

Albion International has previously executed similar projects for government agencies including the Massachusetts department of transitional assistance, New York division of criminal justice and Colorado secretary of state.
Back to News Review index page   Currency converter

Tatas plan open offer for VSNL
Mumbai: The Tata group, which won a controlling 25 per cent stake in VSNL, would announce an open offer to buy a further 20 per cent stake soon.

The Tata group would make an open offer to VSNL shareholders within four days of signing the share purchase agreement with the government.

The open offer would be open within 60 days of the announcement and public shareholders of VSNL would be offered Rs 202 a share, the same as the group's winning bid.

Tata's bid was 18 per cent above the government's reserve price of Rs 1,218 crore and almost 7 per cent higher than rival bidder the Reliance group's Rs 1,347 crore.
Back to News Review index page   Currency converter

Telco vehicle sales up 39% in Jan
New Delhi: Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company Ltds domestic vehicle sales in January jumped 39 per cent from a year earlier to 18,112.
The country's largest truck and bus maker said in a statement its medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales jumped 17 per cent in January to 5,998 -- and increased 13 per cent year-on-year in the April-January period.
But light commercial vehicle sales fell 12.7 per cent to 2,379.

Utility vehicle sales increased 7.5 per cent to 2,370 while sales of its Indica car vaulted 148 per cent to 7,365, it said. Total car sales in the 10 months to January stood at 48,746.

The Indica now has a market share of 22.1 per cent in the eight-model premium hatchback segment, up from 17.4 per cent it held last year.
Back to News Review index page   Currency converter

Microsoft launches mobile portals
London: Microsoft has launched mobile versions of its MSN Internet portal in Europe which are specifically designed for the small colour screens of handheld computers.

Two mobile MSN portals in France and Germany, for Pocket PC computers that have access to the Internet over a wireless LAN went live on 6 February. British and Spanish versions will launch in coming weeks.

The portals will have special web addresses that are different from the URLs that MSN uses for its portals that are viewed on a large personal computer screen.
Back to News Review index page   Currency converter

ABN Amro eyes six pvt banks
Mumbai:  Dutch financial powerhouse ABN Amro Bank has identified Centurion Bank, IndusInd Bank, Global Trust Bank, Federal Bank, South Indian Bank, and Karur Vysya Bank for takeover bid.

ABN Amro Bank is awaiting further clarity on the 49 per cent foreign direct investment cap before driving ahead.

There is a 20 per cent cap on foreign holdings in the banking sector at present.
Back to News Review index page   Currency converter

Berger Paints plans VRS
Kolkata: Berger Paints India Ltd has decided to introduce a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for all categories of employees, from workers to managers.

The 75-year-old paint company, which has 1395 employees, reported a net profit of Rs 28.49 crore on a turnover of Rs 562.2 crore in the year till 31 March 2001. In the third quarter to December 2001, Berger reported sales of Rs 166.2 crore against Rs 150.54 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2000.

The VRS, Bergers third since 1994-95, will be open to employees who have completed 10 years of service or 40 years of age. Such employees will be eligible for either 2-1/2 months of salary for each completed year of service or monthly salary multiplied by the balance months of service left before their scheduled retirement date, whichever is less, subject to a maximum of Rs 5 lakh.

Those who opt for the VRS before March 1, 2002, will also be entitled to another Rs 2000 per month for every completed year of service subject to a maximum of Rs 50,000.
Back to News Review index page   Currency converter

Home Trade launches 2 products
Hyderabad:  Home Trade Ltd, the worlds first fast moving financial goods (FMFG) company, launched two FMFG products in the Hyderabad market endorsed by Sachin Tendulkar, Hrithik Roshan and Sharukh Khan.

The two products launched are: Lets Learn About Money (LLAM) - investing for beginners is an innovative solution for average consumer for learning the basics of investment; and Home Trade ONE (HT ONE) a multi-purpose investment account which will be introduced in two versions.

Home Trade leverages the expertise of leading companies like AT Kearney, PwC, Siebel, Compaq, Wipro, Reuters, Arthur Andersen, etc. The company is planning direct sales to push the niche products and the retail sales channel in 12 cities and is likely to be extended in a phased manner to cover more than 30 cities by September 2002 for the mass FMFG products.
Back to News Review index page   Currency converter

Monto Motors brings Chinese bikes
New Delhi:  Monto Motors, the first Indian company to import Chinese motorcycles, has started selling 100 cc motorcycles after securing a go-ahead from the government.

The company has recently received the certification of compliance to Indian driving conditions from the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), Pune, to sell the 100 cc motorcycle called Cosmo Blaster.

The company has already started selling the 100 cc bike in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. The Delhi launch will happen this month-end. Next is Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra in March after which it will be launched in South and East India.

The 100 cc and 125 cc motorcycles have been priced at Rs 32,000 and Rs 44,000 respectively while the 62 cc model would cost about Rs 22,000.

The Delhi-based firm, best known for its Avanti Garelli moped brand, has tied up with Lifan, a leading Chinese company to import motorcycles in completely knocked down condition and assemble them at its plant in Alwar.
Back to News Review index page   Currency converter

Sterling Group plans ILD
New Delhi: The Sterling group is planning to enter the international long distance telephony business.

Either DishnetDSL Ltd or its parent company Sterling Infotech will now apply for the licence. The ISP was earlier not looking at a separate ILD licence, as its parent company Sterling Infotech Ltd was part of a consortium, along with two US companies, Tycom Ltd and Century Telecom, that was among the three final bidders for the 25 per cent stake and management control in VSNL.

Following the governments decision to open the international telephony business to unlimited competition, a number of ISPs including Satyam Infoway and HCL Infinet have already evinced interest in entering the ILD business.

A company applying for the ILD licence has to pay Rs 25 crore upfront as entry fees and a bank guarantee for an equal amount.
Back to News Review index page   Currency converter

Freemarkets plans $5 million expansion
New Delhi: Freemarkets, the online B2B auction marketplace, will invest another $5 million in India over the next 12-18 months to expand its offices and staff in the country. This is in addition to the $5 million already invested in the country since it began operations here 18 months ago.

"India is a focus area for us. We believe that the total e-sourcing opportunity here is over $30 billion. This is pretty large and comparable with other Asia-Pacific markets," chairman, chief executive and co-founder of the Nasdaq-listed Freemarkets, Glen T Meakem, told reporters.

The company has about 20-odd customers in India of which about half are subsidiaries of multinational companies who are clients of FreeMarkets globally. The client list includes Glaxo SmithKline, Texas Instruments, Sun Microsystems, Tata Engineering and Indo-Rama. These companies have sourced, through FreeMarkets, items ranging from fasteners to synthetic rubber to tyres to capacitors to powder paints.
Back to News Review index page   Currency converter

SafeScrypt issues first digital signature
Mumbai: Safescrypt Ltd presented the maiden digital signature certificate to Union information technology and communications minister Pramod Mahajan at the Nasscom 2002 conference. Mahajan sent a digitally signed message to prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and later to RBI governor Bimal Jalan.

SafeScrypt Ltd has become the first Indian company to get a licence to function as a certifying authority for digital signatures from the Controller of Certifying Authorities attached to the Union ministry of information technology.
Back to News Review index page   Currency converter

Marico targets rural market in Bengal
Kolkata: Marico Industries Ltd has tied up with a Kolkata-based folk theatre group and is also open to sponsoring social causes to capture the rural market for its edible coconut oil brand Parachute Uttam.

Parachute Uttam, which was launched for select markets in West Bengal and Orissa in 1995, is currently ranked second, behind market leader Shalimar.

Parachute, which has a turnover of more than Rs 300 crore, has an overall marketshare of 45 per cent in the pure coconut oil segment in the country today.

Parachute has devised a series of TV spot advertisements to glorify women in Bengal and Orissa.

Marico has tied up with a folk theatre group called Gram and will now travel to the interiors of Bengal. Marico will issue pamphlets during the shows and increase its visibility to the rural folk through this association.
Back to News Review index page   Currency converter

Lazard-SBI Caps to advise on SCI sell-off
New Delhi: The government has appointed Lazard Capital-SBI Caps consortium as global advisor for the sale of its stake in the Shipping Corporation of India.

Lazard Capital-SBI Caps consortium has been awarded the mandate to act as global advisor for disinvestment in SCI. They would now be advising the Government on selecting a suitable strategic partner for SCI.

The proposed strategic buyer will also have management control of SCI by picking up 51 per cent of the government equity in the company.

The Government currently holds 80.12 per cent stake in SCI equivalent to a paid-up equity capital of Rs 282.30 crore. The Government was looking at a price of about Rs 75 per share for SCI to net a total realisation of over Rs 1,000 crore from the sale of its 51-per cent stake in the company.
Back to News Review index page   Currency converter

Chubb group to take over Tesa Entry arm
New Delhi: Chubb Group will take over Tesa Entry Systems Inc's wholly-owned Indian subsidiary engaged in electronic security business.

The move is expected to throw up stiff competition for Godrej, which is the current market leader in the Indian locking systems.

Tesa Entry Systems Inc is the world's largest supplier of electronic locking system.

The company plans to import and market electronic security and locking systems as well as provide specialised after sales services including installation, training, networking, upgradation, maintenance of security systems as well as provide technical consultancy in related areas.
Back to News Review index page   Currency converter

Royal Enfield shifts operations to Chennai
Chennai: Royal Enfield Motors has shifted all its operations to its Chennai plant.

The new plant at Jaipur was kept in readiness so that it could start production as soon as the market picked up.

The Jaipur plant can produce 15,000 vehicles while Chennai can do double that number. The company expects to build a new line for a vehicle scheduled for launch later this year at Jaipur.
Back to News Review index page   Currency converter

BSES signs confidentiality pact on DPC
Mumbai: BSES Ltd has signed the confidentiality agreement for buying out Enron's stake in Dabhol Power Company.

It will begin the due diligence process shortly as per the convenience of both DPC and BSES Ltd.

February 6 is the last date for submitting expression of interests for DPC.

BSES, Tata Power Company and GAIL were the first companies to show interest in buying DPC.

The other three companies in the fray are understood to be TotalFinaElf, Gaz de France, and Royal Dutch Shell.
Back to News Review index page   Currency converter

Hyundai planning IPO
Mumbai: Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) has initiated discussions with merchant bankers for a possible initial public offering (IPO) of its shares. The issue is likely to be put through late this year or early next year.

The IPO is likely to be done through a divestment of existing shares held in the Indian subsidiary by the Korean Chaebol and may be preceded by a private placement of shares in favour of financial institutions.

While HMIL is also in the process of deciding the timing and size of the proposed issue, the total divestment is likely to be in the region of about 24 to 26 per cent of the total equity invested by the Korean parent.
Back to News Review index page   Currency converter

Modi Alkalies declared sick
New Delhi: MODI Alkalies & Chemicals Ltd has been declared a sick company by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR).

Based on the submissions made by the company, the Bench also formed the opinion that MACL would not be able to revive on its own.

Accordingly, it appointed IDBI as the operating agency (OA) to examine the viability of the company and formulate a rehabilitation scheme.
Back to News Review index page   Currency converter