IOC acquires 33 % equity in IBP
New Delhi: Indian Oil Corporation acquired 33.58 per cent government equity in petro product retailer IBP Co. Ltd for a consideration of Rs 1153.68 crore.

IOC chairman M A Pathan presented a draft of Rs 1153.68 crore to petrolem minister Ram Naik to take management control of IBP's 1553 retail outlets, 376 kerosene dealerships and 17 LPG dealerships.
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BSES issues Rs 100-crore NCD
Mumbai: BSES Ltd has for the first time issued non-convertible debentures (NCDs) to raise Rs 100 crore.

The coupon was pegged at 8.34 per cent, around 175 basis points higher than the yield of a similar tenor gilt and one of the lowest among corporate papers issued recently.
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ABB to outsource software coding projects
Bangalore: ABB, which has set up a global research and development centre in Bangalore, plans to outsource coding projects from Indian software companies.

A core team will develop intellectual property and tap into available resources in India.
The centre is part of ABB's programme to make its products more intelligent and also central to its strategy for Asia as a long-term growth market.

The centre will initially have around 50 engineers.

ABB spends around $700 million on research and development every year, which works out to around 7 per cent of its total revenues.  
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Neuland to set up 2 plants to develop corticosteroids
Hyderabad: Neuland Laboratories is setting up two pilot plants, one each at Hyderabad and Bangalore for the development of corticosteroids.

The Rs 100-crore project for has been approved for a Rs 1.5 crore funding by the department of science & technology.

The manufacturing process for corticosteroids involves 30 steps starting from the basic raw materials.

Corticosteroids are a group of anti-inflammatory drugs, similar to the corticosteroid hormones produced by the cortex of the adrenal glands, used to treat inflammatory diseases such as asthma, chronic lung disease, rheumatoid arthritis and other connective tissue diseases.

Started in 1986 with the manufacture of salbutamol sulphate, Neuland has built strong quality and regulatory systems apart from manufacturing facilities for various bulk drugs.  
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Govt orders inspection of RPL's accounts
New Delhi: The government has granted sanction to the department of company affairs to examine the books of accounts of Reliance Petroleum for probing the alleged diversion of Rs 945 crore of UTI, LIC and GIC for investment into various Reliance group companies.

The regional director (West) of the department of company affairs will carry out full-fledged inspection of the books of accounts and other records of RPL on top priority and will be completed by 31 March.

The ministry of law has also given sanction to the regional director to verify whether the group companies Reliance Industries, Lavanya Holdings and Trading and Reliance Industries Infrastructure had the technical knowhow and professional expertise to execute the refinery project in Gujarat and the use of the funds provided by RPL.
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SBI lowers rates on personal loans
Mumbai: State Bank of India has slashed interest on personal loans by 150 basis points at 14.5 per cent per annum from 16 per cent.

SBI has also reduced the interest rates on car and two wheelers loans by one per cent at 13 per cent while it has done away with processing fee in case of the former. The rate cut on personal finance products was with effect from this month.

Loans against mortgage of property can now be availed at 14 per cent per annum, cut by two per cent. Rate for loans against RBI Relief Bonds and shares & bonds have also been reduced to 12 per cent and 14.5 per cent respectively from 15 per cent.

Senior citizens have been offered a hefty cut of 225 basis points for loans to pensioners at 14 per cent per annum (16.25 per cent earlier).

Demand loans sanctioned against the security of National Savings Certificates and Kisan Vikas Patras would now be cheaper by three per cent at 12 per cent. Loans against Indira Vikas Patra would now cost 13 per cent interest, which was cut by 200 basis points.

The bank said interest rates on loans against security of surrender value of LIC policy have been reduced to 13 per cent from 15 per cent while loans against life insurance policies of SBI Life, its own subsidiary, would cost 12.5 per cent.

Interest on loans against security of gold ornaments have been cut by 100 basis points at 14 per cent, SBI added.  
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Madura Coats share buyback at Rs 27
Mumbai: The board of directors of Madura Coats has approved a proposal to buy back shares at a price of not more than 27 rupees each.

It said it would buy back up to 14.71 million shares.
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Cadila Pharma plans mktg in Europe
Ahmedabad: The Rs 510 crore Cadila Pharmaceuticals Limited (CPL) is planning to expand its marketing reach to Europe within the near future.

The pharmaceutical major already has a US-based wholly owned subsidiary as well as a presence in Nigeria, Kenya, Russia and Japan.

The company hopes to breach the Rs 1,000 crore mark in terms of turnover by the year 2005. The company has chalked out a plan to invest at least Rs 30 to 35 crore on expansion annually over the next few years.

While CPL has already launched three new drugs this year itself including two in the cardio segment and one anti-histamine, the launch of a prophylactic anti-rabies vaccine is also on the cards next month.  
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ONGC arm seeks nod for stake in overseas fields
New Delhi: ONGC Videsh Ltd (ONGC-VL), the overseas exploration arm of ONGC, has sought the government's approval for acquiring a 50 per cent stake in a discovered oil producing field in Oman and a 25 per cent stake in another discovered oil field in Sudan.

If ONGC-VL succeeds in acquiring stakes in these fields, it will get a share of 3.2 million tonnes of crude per annum.

The proposed acquisition in Sudan will involve an investment of $600-800 million. The Oman field will, however, involve a far lesser investment.  
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Mahindra Defence to launch new products
New Delhi: Mahindra Defence Systems is planning to launch new products and technology solutions.

Mahindra Defence Systems plans to make military vehicles and provide IT solutions in collaboration with group companies. Mahindra British Telecom, could provide networking and other IT solutions to the defence forces while the steel making arm could provide steel for making submarines, battle tanks and aircraft.

MDS has tied up with several Israeli companies, including the Israeli Aircraft Industries, to procure technology. It intends to make defence vehicles on the platform of the existing vehicles such as `Bolero', by making a bullet-proof carrier, and converting a tractor into a bomb loader.  
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Federal Mogul to step up investment
New Delhi: Federal Mogul, the US automotive component maker, intends to step up investment in its fully-owned Indian subsidiary to launch more products here.

Federal Mogul Automotive Products (India) has a manufacturing site at Bhiwadi in Rajasthan. It has a capacity to make about 22 million spark plugs every year and also wiper blades.

The company intends to get into more areas such as automotive lighting, ignition components and universal joints.

Federal Mogul exports 20 per cent of its produce to South Asian countries, China and Indonesia.

The company could consider co-branding and acquisitions as part of its strategy to expand presence in the Indian market.  
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Gail, HPCL tie up for gas supply in AP
Hyderabad: Gas Authority of India Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd will set up a joint venture company for distribution of natural gas, auto-LPG and piped gas in Andhra Pradesh.

The joint venture, tentatively named as Bhagyanagar Gas Ltd, is expected to have an equity base of Rs 100 crore. The project envisages an investment of Rs 700-1000 crore over the next 7 to 8 years.

HPCL and GAIL will hold 22.5 per cent equity each in the joint venture company, while the Andhra Pradesh Government will have an option of subscribing to five per cent of the equity.

The remaining 50 per cent equity would be offered to financial institutions, both domestic and foreign, and the public.

The proposed joint venture company would distribute natural gas for residential, commercial and automotive sectors.  
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DotEx, BgSE join hands for Net trading
Mumbai: DotEx International, a joint venture company promoted by NSE.IT and i-flex Solutions Ltd, and BgSE Financials Ltd, a subsidiary of the Bangalore Stock Exchange will jointly provide Internet trading facility to the members of the exchange.

The Internet trading by investors of BgSE brokers would be routed to National Stock Exchange's trading system using DotEx infrastructure. DotEx also provides Internet trading infrastructure to NSE members.

Internet trading by BgSE Financials will be launched on 20 February.  
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Ayurvedic Concepts targets Rs 40-cr turnover
Hyderabad: Himalaya Drug Company, the maker of ayurvedic and herbal cosmetics, is set to achieve a turnover of Rs 40 crore in the current fiscal.

Ayurvedic Concepts, netted a turnover of Rs 22 crore last year.

The company has 12 sale centres in different parts of the country.  
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Aurobindo Pharma launches Cefactam Hyderabad: Aurobindo Pharma Ltd (APL) has announced the launch of Cefactam, a combination of cefoperazone, a highly potent third generation cephalosporin, with salbactam, a beta-lactamase enzyme.

The combination of cefoperazone and salbactam made the drug efficient to counter life threatening infectious diseases, the company said in a press release.  
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MphasiS eyeing Chinese banking sector Mumbai: MphasiS BFL Software is eyeing Chinese banks and insurance customers as potential customers.

The company, which has at present one customer in China, is looking at striking some partnerships.

Japan is yet another potential market where MphasiS already has two Japanese banks as customers.  
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MosChip to divest 25 pc
Bangalore: MosChip Technologies Ltd, plans to divest up to 25 per cent of its equity stake in favour of financial institutions and corporates by 26 February to raise Rs 16 crore through private placement.

Talks are on with several corporates and overseas investors for this purpose. Currently, financial institutions hold close to 30.16 per cent stake in the company.

The company has raised Rs 10.5 crore so far, which includes the Rs 8 crore investment towards subsidiary, NetMos. MosChip expects to launch six new products by March-end.  
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Syntel gets $30-m order from US
Bangalore: Syntel has won an outsourcing order worth $30 million from HCA, a healthcare company in Nashville, US.

This is the first time that HCA has outsourced operations to India.

What clinched the deal was Syntel's expertise in healthcare and the fact that HCA had wanted a partner with strong on-site centric project management backed by outstanding offshore infrastructure and methodology.

Syntel would deliver a variety of IT services to HCA, including enterprise legacy application maintenance and enhancement support.

The company, which claims to be the first to adopt the global delivery model, has also set up a Nashville Health Care Center of Excellence to focus on the health care vertical.  
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ICICI Infotech launches Orion
Mumbai: ICICI Infotech, a subsidiary of ICICI Ltd, has announced the launch of Orion, a suite of enterprise solutions (ES) targeted primarily at the small and medium enterprises.

The product is designed to address the requirements of verticals such as FMCG, trading, retail, manufacturing, import/export and oil & gas.

Orion is the product acquired by ICICI Infotech through its acquisition of the UAE-based Insyst Technologies last year. The Oracle-based product requires four to five months of implementation time and being modular, can be used on a plug-n-play basis.  
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Subex to launch RevMax
Bangalore: Subex Systems Ltd, a Bangalore-based telecom software company, has announced that it is launching its revenue maximisation suite, RevMax, in the 3GSM World Congress being held at Cannes France from 19-22 February.  
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Godrej to focus on 5 power brands
Mumbai: Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) will focus on its five power brands to sustain growth.

GCPL has identified Cinthol, Godrej No. 1, Fairglow, Godrej Hair Dye and Ezee as its power brands.

The 50-year-old Cinthol brand is expected to propel growth mainly because of its foray into deodorants. GCPL announced its entry into the deodorants category with Cinthol International Perfumed Deodorant. Alongside, GCPL also launched Cinthol SkinFresh soap with orange extracts and relaunched Cinthol Talc.  
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Kodak launches batteries
New Delhi: Imaging and photography company Kodak India Ltd has diversified into alkaline and zinc chloride batteries.

The company has launched the batteries under the Max brand for the alkaline batteries segment and Xtralife for the zinc chloride segment.  
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Global majors join race for SCI
New Delhi: The government has received 12 expressions of interest (EoIs) from potential bidders keen on acquiring a 51 per cent controlling stake in Shipping Corporation of India (SCI). These include Mitsui O.S.K.Lines, CMA-CGM, V-Ship, OOCCL, Aban Loyd, Videocon International, Sterlite Industries Ltd and BPL.

Great Eastern Shipping Company Ltd (GESCO), Essar Shipping Ltd, Malaysia International Shipping Corporation Bhd (a subsidiary of Petronas, Malaysia), Finolex Group and a joint bid submitted by the co-operative fertiliser majors, Iffco-Kribhco are also in the fray to buy a strategic stake in SCI.  
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Gati scouts for acquisitions
Hyderabad: Express cargo company Gati is looking for acquisitions in both the domestic and international markets.

However, the company has not identified any target companies yet.

Gati has gone in for an operational and managerial restructuring.

At the same time the company has reoriented its business from the previous branch orientation to a regional set up with ten regional offices headed by a regional manager looking after all the functions.

Gati has also launched two new products - Gati Logistics Package, a solution to provide customers ready-to-move distribution through a network of storage locations and distribution channels and Gati Integrated Logistics, providing customised solutions tailored to meet specific requirements.  
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Air Sahara introduces service at Pune
Pune: Air Sahara has introduced daily flights to Pune from Mumbai and New Delhi.
 The airline also has plans to connect Pune with other cities soon.
Inclusion of Pune comes close on the heels of the airline starting flights to Hyderabad.
Air Sahara has recently added four Boeings to its existing fleet to enable smoother operation, and plans to double its fleet to 20 aircraft by the year-end.
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Microsoft entering cellphones
San francisco: Microsoft, Intel and Texas Instruments have announced blueprints for new cellphones and handheld computer phones.

The three companies will work to develop reference designs, which, if adopted by enough vendors, could establish these blueprints as standards for much of the industry.

The companies aim to repeat what they have done to the personal computer industry, where Microsoft and Intel have standardised key software and semiconductor hardware, with the Windows operating system software and Pentium processors.

The US companies made their announcements at the 3GSM World Congress here, Europes largest trade show for the wireless industry, which is still dominated by European companies such as Ericsson and Nokia.
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Govt may allow IOC to bid for HPCL, BPCL
New Delhi: The government is likely to reconsider its decision to bar Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) from bidding for government's stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL).

This was indicated here today by petroleum minister Ram Naik while accepting a cheque from IOC for 33.58 per cent government's equity in IBP Company Limited. IOC had protested to the government against the ban on bidding for HPCL and BPCL equity.

IOC's protest note will be forwarded to the cabinet for consideration.  
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Nestle in co-branding pact for milk products
New Delhi: Nestle India has tied up with Bangalore-based supermarkets group Nilgiris to co-brand a whole range of dairy products. The products to be co branded include dahi, paneer, ghee and possibly milk.

The two companies are working on various brand names, including Nestle-Nilgiris, Nilgiris-Nestle or only N&N. Nilgiris already manufactures yoghurt and dahi in pouches for the multinational.

Nestle has been selling tetrapack milk, butter and yogurt under its brand name.  
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Bilt plans Rs 210 crore rights issue
New Delhi: Ballarpur Industries has drawn up plans to come up with a rights issue of around Rs 210 crore.

The rights issue is expected to be priced in the range of Rs 35-42. It will be in the form of fully convertible debentures with shareholders having the option to convert the debentures within 12 months of the issue date.  
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Gail hires Crisil
Hyderabad: The Gas Authority of India Ltd has commissioned Crisil to make an appraisal study on conveying Krishna water from the foreshores of the Nagarjunasagar reservoir to Hyderabad through a 130-km long pipeline.

The project is expected to involve an investment of around Rs 700 crore and if it was found to be techno-economically viable, Gail will set up a joint venture to implement it.  
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Shell to set up subsidiary for e-learning
New Delhi: Shell/Royal Dutch Group of Companies is setting up a wholly owned subsidiary in India for e-learning education services.

The proposed firm, Shell India E-services Pvt. Ltd, will undertake e-learning business involving the creation, marketing and delivery of an Internet based e-learning solution catering to educational institutions, teachers, pupils and parents in India.

Shell has sought the government's nod to bring in the required foreign investment for the project.  
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Leo Burnett gets SAB campaign
New Delhi: Leo Burnett has acquired the account of South African Breweries' (SAB) beer brand Knock Out.

The account moves from the Bangalore-based Graphic Arts advertising agency. Knock Out account will be handled by Leo Burnett's New Delhi office.

Knock Out is a Rs 100 crore brand which at present is available in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and parts of Maharashtra.
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