Union Bank launches new scheme with hospitals
Mumbai: Union Bank of India has tied up with city-based Lilavati and Holy Family Hospitals to introduce its Union Life Guard scheme designed to meet unforeseen hospitalisation expenses.

The scheme, currently being test launched through the bank's Hill Road branch in Bandra, ensures cashless hospitalisation in designated hospitals.

The ULG card holders would receive admission into these hospitals at any time of emergency. The scheme was supported by an assured limit up to Rs two lakh.

The bank customers with a gross income of Rs one lakh and above can avail of this scheme.
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TCS in global list of top 20 IT companies
New Delhi: Indias largest software services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has entered the top 20 (rank 19) list of the largest IT consulting companies in the world on the basis of pure consulting revenues in 2001-2002.

According to the Kennedy Information Group, TCS is also set to become the first billion-dollar company in the infotech sector. The company is on its way to notch up Rs 4,800 crore turnover in this fiscal itself. The revenue figure, however, includes turnover of CMC, its recent acquisition.

TCS is also preparing the ground for listing in the bourses partly to fund its own acquisitions and also to fund the VSNL disinvestment.
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Maruti offers price cut on all cars
New Delhi: Maruti Udyog Ltd has decided to cut the on-road price of all its vehicles in the range of Rs 7,000 to Rs 24,000 with immediate effect.

The rebate would be offered in the form of a free first year insurance on all its models purchased between 11 February and 25. In addition, the firm will also offer a free personal accident insurance of Rs 2.5 lakh and an insurance of Rs 10 lakh to cover air accident.
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Kesoram buys back 25 lakh shares
Kolkata: Kesoram Industries has purchased 25,64,980 shares from open market operation through stock exchanges pursuant to its buy back scheme.

All the purchases have been made at an average rate of Rs 25.67 per share excluding brokerage.

The board of directors of the company had approved a proposal to buy-back shares up to a maximum price of Rs 40 per share and the shareholders too had given their nod to the scheme in 2001.
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Greater Bank plans to disburse more housing loan
Mumbai: The Greater Bombay Co-Operative Bank plans to disburse housing loans worth Rs 25 crore in the current fiscal ending March 2002.

The bank has already disbursed housing loans totalling Rs 20 crore and expects to disburse Rs five crore in the remaining two months of the current fiscal.

These loans can be given for up to 85 per cent of the value, which has been recently raised from 75 per cent, and for a maximum period of 15 years.

Greater Bank has applied to the Reserve Bank of India for opening four new branches and two extension counters. The bank currently has 15 branches and an extension counter.
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M&M plans VRS at Kandivli plant
Mumbai: Mahindra & Mahindra plans yet another VRS at its Kandivli plant in Mumbai. The VRS is part of a major reorganisation of production under which the Kandivili plant will focus on M&M's relatively more expensive models.

Initially the VRS is being offered for the 2,300 odd unionised workforce of the farm equipment sector in Kandivili.

Each worker is expected to get an approximate compensation of Rs 7.5 lakh. M&M had executed a VRS in June of last year.

Kandivili has a total workforce of 4509 employees of which 2309 workers work in the tractor plant and 2200 are at the utility vehicle plant.
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Grasim plans development centre
Mumbai: Grasim Industries plans to invest around Rs 26 crore for setting up an application development centre.

The company has formed strategic partnerships with downstream product manufacturers like Madura Garments, Pantaloon, Morarjee Mills, Mudra Fabrics Ltd and Supreme Non Wovens for new applications and product development.

The company is working with some of the spinning mills like Chenab Textiles, Rajasthan Spinning & Weaving Mills, HEG, GSL and Sangam to develop certain new applications.

The application development centre will offer extensive techno-commercial support to help produce new products and applications.
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M&M ties up with Korean company
Mumbai:  Mahindra & Mahindra has signed an agreement with Korean tractor major Tong Yang Moolsan (TYM) for the joint development of transmission for its new range of tractors.

The new range, called Horizon-IV, is currently under development and will be commercially produced in another two years time.

The new range will be in the above 100 HP category and will be part of the companys efforts to graduate to higher categories up to 200 HP.
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Widex set to make India its export hub
Bangalore: Denmark-based Widex Aps, which manufactures high-tech digital hearing aids, plans to make India their export hub to market their products in South Asia.

The company also has plans to provide financial support and technical know-how to audiologists to set up independent hearing aid and diagnostic centres in India.

The company plans to market hearing aids in neighbouring Nepal and Bangladesh in the immediate future. The company has also introduced a new fourth generation hearing aid range called Senso-Diva priced at Rs 75,000.
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TCG Software to set up 2 ODCs
New Delhi:  TCG Software will set up two dedicated offshore development centres in Hyderabad and Delhi for two US companies by April this year.

The company also plans to enhance its staff strength to 800 from the current 400 in the next 12 months. TCG Software currently has four centres Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad.
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Barilla pasta to launch new sauces
Mumbai: Barilla Alimentaire is planning to introduce new flavour in sauces to suit the Indian taste. Current sauces come in flavours from tangy tomato based Basilico to Pesto sauces under the brand name Lee Kum Kee.

Barilla Pasta is made from 100 per cent durum wheat and is known for its quality, taste, texture, appearance and cooking performance. The Italian company markets its pasta in India through a strategic marketing tie-up with RR Oomerbhoy (RRO). RRO also markets edible oil brands like Postiano, Mastman and Tildil, besides the international olive oil brand Bertolli.

Currently, the custom duty for Barilla is pegged at 50 per cent, but is expected to eventually go down in the next few years.
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PFC, Bhel to jointly bid for power projects
New Delhi: Power Finance Corporation and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd are planning to form a consortium to bid for power projects in India and abroad.

PFC would start providing financial backing to projects for which Bhel makes a bid to supply equipment.

The alliance, if materialised, would help the power companies in completing their projects much faster.

While Bhel would compete for equipment supply and turnkey projects within India and abroad, PFC would take care of the finances of these contracts.
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Keltron plans info kiosks
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation (Keltron) has developed a proto- type community information kiosk called `e-sringhala', for reaching out the various services of statte government agencies to the masses.

The e-sringhalas, modelled on the `e-seva' in Andhra Pradesh and `gyan dooth' in Madhya Pradesh, will provide a single window for different services, which will enable common people to interact with the government without having to visit the offices.

The kiosks are designed to provide services such as information on various schemes of departments, downloading of applications for government support, incentives and subsidies, and online submission of applications.
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ChrysCapital buys 5 pc stake in NIIT
Mumbai: ChrysCapital has acquired close to five per cent stake in NIIT Ltd through the secondary market and plans to hike the stake further up to 15 per cent.

The total cost of acquisition of this stake would be around Rs 30-32 crore.

ChrysCapital has sought approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in order to increase its stake up to 15 per cent.

The total paid-up capital of the company is Rs 38.64 crore.
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Red Hat adds more partners
Bangalore: Red Hat India has announced the expansion of its network of technology partners by appointing Neptune Information Solutions, Winfoware Technologies and Dynacons Systems and Solutions.

These companies will provide support and service to Red Hat customers all over India. Through this expansion Red Hat would be able to provide unparalleled support through these technology partners in more cities throughout the country.
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Wipro enters laptop segment
Hyderabad: Wipro Infotech is set to launch its LittleGenius range of laptops and has targeted a 5 per cent market share this calendar year.

The company has come out with two variants in the 13.3 inch category - Celeron-based and the Pentium III processor-based laptops. According to IDC report, the Indian laptop market is projected at about 42,000 to 45,000 units this year.

The company's range of products are assembled at its Pondicherry unit and most products are mainly sourced from Taiwan.
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Murugappa plans tie-up in insurance
Chennai: The Murugappa group, which has promoted a company for the general insurance business, is exploring a technical tie-up for accessing expertise.

The group is the only one in the country to have formed an insurance company without a foreign collaborator.

The only area where expertise is lacking and external help is required is in areas like design and pricing of insurance products.

The group is talking to a couple of overseas companies for technical tie-up.
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Tatas may opt 1:1 debt-equity ratio
Mumbai: The Tatas are likely to go in for a 1:1 debt equity structure while mobilising the Rs 1,439-crore required for the acquisition of VSNL stake. Most of the equity will be brought in by the two Tata companies, Tata Sons and Tata Power, the major stakeholders in the special purpose vehicle, Panatone Finvest. The payment to the government is expected to take place at the end of next week.

Given a 1:1 ratio, the Tata group companies will have to bring in about Rs 719.5 crore as equity while the balance comprising of debt will be arranged by Deutche Bank.

Although a sum of Rs 1,152 crore has been earmarked for the open offer, the actual requirement of money for the open offer is expected to be much less since the offer for 20 per cent of the VSNL equity may not be subscribed in full. The open offer is expected to open on April 10 and close on May 9, 2002.
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HCL Perot scouts for partnerships
Mumbai: The 50:50 joint venture between HCL Technologies and Perot Systems, HCL Perot, is scouting for partnerships with existing players offering third-party services, in an attempt to achieve inorganic growth in this sector.

HCL Perot provides IT outsourcing and software development services in areas of application development, migration re-engineering, application management and enterprise integration services to customers from financial services, healthcare, industrial services, travel and logistics verticals.

The company is exploring the possibility of providing these services either through its existing facilities in Delhi and Bangalore or by forging alliances with Indian players in the space.
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Asahi may go for debt refinancing
New Delhi: Asahi India Safety Glass is planning to go for debt refinancing of loans in Float Glass India, in which it holds close to 80 per cent equity stake. The debt value in the accounts of FGI is Rs 53 crore after Asahi Glass Company(AGC), Japan wrote off the rest when it sold its stake in FGI to AIS. Asahi Japan is also reorganising its Indian business in line with its global restructuring.

The debt value to be refinanced stands at Rs 53 crore after the rest, Rs 227 crore, was written off by AGC. The company has started negotiations with financial institutions for the refinancing.
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Zuari is the lone bidder for Paradeep Phosphates
New Delhi: Zuari-Chambal group has emerged as the sole bidder for the governments 74 per cent stake in Paradeep Phosphates Ltd.

Tata Chemicals did not submit a bid because it was unable to arrive at a reasonable value for the governments stake in Paradeep Phosphates.

The Zuari-Chambal group has put its bid in association with OCP of Morocco. The Zuari-Chambal group flagship, Chambal Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd, has a 50:50 joint venture with OCP in Morocco called Maroc Phosphate.

By buying into Paradeep Phosphates, OCP can secure a market for its rock phosphate. At the same time, the Zuari-Chambal group will get a better grip on the DAP market in the country.
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Spic may sell Jordan JV stake
Chennai: Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation (Spic) is planning to sell its entire 52 per cent stake in the Jordan-based Indo-Jordan Chemicals Company (IJC) and utilise the amount realised to clear its high-cost debt.

IJC, which went commercial in 1997, is a phosphoric acid facility built for $170 million with an equity component of 40 per cent.

Spic officials hoped to realise between Rs 400 crore and Rs 500 crore for the sale of its stake.
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Padmalaya starts promos in US
Mumbai: Padmalaya Telefilms has begun its pre-sales activities in the US for its 200-part animation series Jataka Tales, which is joint venture production with Film Club, US and Anglo American Film Distributors (AAFD).

The company has exhibited the demo at the Cannes Festival and will now be taking to festivals in Europe and United States.

The venture is envisaged as a coming together of Hollywood expertise in packaging and distribution to a global market, with cost-effective Indian production ability.

Through, Film Club, the characters of Jataka tales will be adapted for various cultures. PTL would bring to the table its creativity and AAFD its ability to sell the product to over 70 countries besides tapping other mediums.
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