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Tejari
plans Indian foray
New Delhi: Dubai-based
Tejari.com, a business-to-business portal owned by the crown
prince of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed Al-Maktoam, is planning a joint
venture in India.
Tejari.com is in talks
with three major IT houses with a view to picking up at least 49
per cent equity share in one of them.
Tejari.com has entered
Africa through a similar joint venture route.
Tejari.com, an
e-procurement marketplace, has close to 550 members, including
Mercedes, Nissan, Emirates, IBM, Bridgestone, Firestone and
Compaq.
In India, Tejari is
looking at investing $1 million.
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Pragati
sets up digital studio
Hyderabad:
Pragati Multitech has set up a digital editing and dubbing studio
here for advanced editing and visual effects.
The studio will offer
multimedia solutions and services to the film industry, corporate
bodies, print and electronic media and publishing industry. The
company is also a multi-media training house.
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Sail
seeks Rs 600cr to revive Iisco
Kolkata:
Steel Authority of India Ltd (Sail) has sought around Rs 600 crore
fund infusion from the rupee-rouble escrow account, for revival of
Indian Iron & Steel Company.
Last year, India and Russia had signed a protocol to include Iisco
as a part of the rupee-rouble escrow account which routes revenue
from bilateral trade of commodities to old rouble-denominated
Russian debt.
TyazPromExports of Russia has also proposed infusion of another Rs
450 crore on account of technical support for Iiscos revival.
A team of officials from Sail visited Moscow last week to persuade
the Russian government to release funds through the escrow
account.
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Sun
F&C scheme to invest in global papers
Mumbai:
Sun F&C Mutual has filed an offer document with the Securities
and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for launching an open-ended
income scheme dedicated to investing in fixed income securities.
The scheme is offering an international plan, which will invest in
debt papers across the globe.
The plan will invest in a diversified portfolio, primarily
consisting of high-quality debt securities including government
papers in markets around the world. By investing in rated
securities in foreign countries, the investor will get to
capitalise on cross-border opportunities.
The scheme will have four investment plans, namely short, medium,
long-term and international plan, thereby catering to needs of
investors in fixed-income segment with varying investment
horizons.
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MTNL
to lay off 33% workforce
New Delhi:
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd may reduce its workforce by up to 33
per cent.
The company has appointed ICRA as its HRD consultants for a
detailed manpower evaluation and expects to announce an action
plan in three to four months.
Currently, MTNL has 61,000 employees. Most of them are group C and
D employees. There are more than 10,000 group B, who are middle
level officers. The top management consists of Indian telecom
Service (ITS) officials who come under group A. The group A and B
employees have not yet been absorbed in the company.
They are still employees of the department of telecommunications (DoT)
and are on deputation in MTNL.
MTNL operates basic and cellular services in Delhi and Mumbai and
has more than 45 lakh subscribers.
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Zee,
NDTV tie-up on card
New Delhi:
Zee Telefilms has roped in Prannoy Roys NDTV to produce a
celebrity television series for their entertainment channel.
Zee Telefilms decision to work with NDTV is the beginning of
the speculated long-term relationship with NDTV via AOL-Time
Warner.
NDTV has produced a celebrity television series dubbed Zindagi Ka
Ek Din for Zee TV, which the rival network of Star. Earlier, NDTV
had produced Ji Mantriji, a clone of Yes Minister for Rupert
Murdochs Star Plus.
Stars content agreement with NDTV is set to expire by February
2003. In addition to producing news and current affairs content
for 24-hour news channel Star News, NDTV also produces Tamil
television news for Star Vijay.
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US-64
shifts Rs 680 crore realty to reserve fund
Mumbai:
The Unit Trust of India (UTI) has transferred fixed assets,
including Rs 680 crore of real estate, from US-64 to its
development reserve fund. The trust will soon transfer Rs 182
crore more to the reserve fund.
This is in compliance
with the Securities and Exchange Board of India regulations that
stipulate a mutual fund scheme cannot hold fixed assets in its
portfolio. US-64 has to fulfil this commitment by December 2003.
UTI has shed a large
number of companies from its US-64 portfolio. So far it has
dropped 235-240 firms since July 2001.
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Modis
to float Spice for ILD
New Delhi:
B K Modi group's Spice will set up a separate, wholly-owned
subsidiary called Spice Televentures for foraying into
International Long Distance telephony.
Spice has already applied for the ILD licence and expects to get
the Letter of Intent from the government soon.
The Modis hold about 70 per cent stake in Spice via their
investment company MCorp, while 20 per cent rests with Singapore
Technology Telemedia and the remaining 10 per cent with the
company's employees.
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Pallonji
to build tallest building
Mumbai:
Shapoorji Pallonji is constructing Indias tallest residential
building in Mumbai. The three 60-storied towers are coming up in
south Mumbais MP Mill compound at Tardeo.
Noted architect Hafeez
Contractor is involved with the project.
Mumbai already has the
tallest residential buildings in India. These include Shreepati
Arcade (45 floors) at Nana Chowk, Belvedere Court (40 floors) and
Kalpataru Heights (39 floors) at Agripada.
HDFC is funding part of
the Rs 250 crore to Rs 300 crore project. The towers will have a
parking lot for 1,300 cars, eight parking levels, a club house, a
restaurant, and 48 living floors.
Each tower will have
around 85 flats. The lower floors will have four flats on each
floor, with the number of flats being reduced as one goes up.
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GM
re-starts Gujarat plant
Mumbai:
General Motors India has re-started operations at its
manufacturing plant at Halol near Vadodara after a 4-day shutdown
following the recent communal riots in Gujarat.
The company suffered
losses of over 1.4 crore when a riotous mob set fire to 26 new
Opel Corsas at one of its dealerships in the state.
General Motors, which
currently offers the Opel Astra, Corsa and the Swing in India, has
invested over Rs 600 crore at its facilities in the country.
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Neyveli
posts Rs 950 cr profit
Neyveli:
The Neyveli Lignite Corporation had earned a profit of Rs 950
crore during 2001-2002 fiscal.
This was a jump of Rs 350 crore over the corresponding period last
year.
The corporation is finalising plans to appoint women to 50 per
cent of the posts.
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Escorts
expects Rs 500 cr from selloffs
New Delhi:
Escorts Ltd will raise close to Rs 450-500 crore during the next
7-8 months through divestment of six non-core businesses.
Escorts has been able to
implement its investment schedule, which included consolidating
the cellular telephony, healthcare and tractors businesses, in the
past year.
But the divestment could
not be completed due to the 11 September attacks on the US and the
continuing slowdown in the American and European markets. The
buyers, who are mainly from these countries, have held back their
plans.
The company had planned
to complete the divestment during the financial year 2001-02 as
part of an old debt-retirement schedule. But since the recession
occurred concurrently with the schedule, it had to roll over the
debt and debit the books with more interest than anticipated.
Currently, the company is
focusing on three core lines: agri business, healthcare and
cellular telephony.
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Aksh
to invest Rs 100 cr in new services
New Delhi:
Aksh Optifibre will invest about Rs 100 crore during the current
fiscal in two of its new projects, Gramdoot and fibre-to-the-home.
The Rs 100 crore needed for the investement will be funded via
fresh equity, debt and internal revenue generation.
Aksh may enter the market again to raise funds for these projects
while the company is looking forward to plough back the revenue of
its recently-launched community kiosk project, Gramdoot service,
into the investment.
Aksh Optifibre will commercially launch its fibre-to-home (FTH)
services on a fully optical network in four metros in August this
year.
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ALF
to sell Rs 30-cr property
Chennai:
Ashok Leyland Finance Ltd (ALF) is putting on block Rs 30-crore
worth real estate property in Chennai developed by another group
subsidiary Ashok Leyland Properties Ltd (ALP). ALP is also
planning to develop three commercial properties, two in Chennai
and one in Bangalore.
The company would also
set up one residential property each, in Chennai and Bangalore.
The company has so far
developed 23 residential properties, of which three projects are
in Bangalore.
The company has decided
to sell its real estate property at Santhome in Chennai and would
soon come out with tenders.
Spread over 22,000 sq ft
with a built up area of 74,000 sq ft, the property is valued at Rs
30 crore.
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Eutelsat
to offer ILD services in India
New Delhi:
French satellite communications major Eutelsat has decided to
enter India to offer international long distance (ILD) services.
The company is tying up
with an Indian Internet service provider and has already applied
for a licence.
It is expected to
commence services form 1 April.
Eutelsat is also planning
to offer Internet services through satellite in India. The company
with a fleet of 18 satellites is focusing on South Asian market as
a key growth area.
Eutelsat is also looking
for a joint venture partner in India to offer broadcasting
services on a direct-to-home platform.
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MUL
to set up service outlets
New Delhi: Maruti
Udyog has decided to establish the Maruti Service Masters (MSM)
brand name in the country, by setting up service outlets, which
will serve as a benchmark for its dealerships and company-authorised
centres.
The company is planning
to set up 15 franchisees of Maruti Service Masters in the next
fiscal across various cities.
Maruti Udyog set up the
first Maruti Service Masters outlet in New Delhi two years ago.
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ICICI
buys gilts worth Rs 20,000 crore
Mumbai:
ICICI has bought close to Rs 20,000 crore of government securities
in the run-up to its reverse merger with ICICI Bank.
The merged entity will
need government paper worth around Rs 23,000 crore to meet its
statutory liquidity ratio.
The merger is slated to
take effect on 31 March.
The institution will also
reduce its asset base by another Rs 2,000 crore by the second week
of March.
Meanwhile, UTI Bank is in
the final stages of picking up assets worth Rs 450 crore from
ICICI.
The institution is also
in talks with a UK-based bank and two other new private sector
banks for scaling down its corporate assets.
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Thuraya
offers Satphone
New Delhi: Thuraya,
founded in the United Arab Emirates in 1997 by a consortium of
regional telecom operators and international investment houses, is
planning to launch satellite phone services in India within the
next six months.
The unique selling
proposition of Thuraya is its highly competitive handset and
airtime costs vis-a-vis competitors. The dual band (GMPCS/GSM
Cellular) handset, with built in global positioning system (GPS),
costs $650-700 with airtime rates ranging from $0.50 to $1.20. The
handset from competitor Inmarsat costs about $3,000 while airtime
rate averages $1.5 per minute.
Thuraya is currently
scouting for a partner in India.
Thuraya launched its
services in mid-2001 and has notched up over 32,000 subscribers in
more than 30 countries across Europe, Africa and Asia.
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Coke
to foray into tea,coffee
Hyderabad:
Coca-Cola will make its much-awaited foray into the tea and coffee
business in the fourth quarter of this year.
The company will test launch tea and coffee dispensers in clubs,
airports and restaurants sometime in October-December this year in
the metros.
The company is likely to introduce a separate brand for its tea
and coffee business. Leo Burnett has been awarded the advertising
account of the proposed tea and coffee brands.
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Shell
eyes Bharat Shell's LPG biz
New Delhi: The
Shell group has informed the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB)
that it is interested in acquiring Bharat Shell Ltd.'s LPG
business. It has sought permission for Butagaz International BV to
set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in India for that purpose.
The Netherlands-based
Butagaz International BV is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shell
Petroleum NV, a holding company of the Shell group of companies.
The company said that its
inherent technical and marketing strengths would enable it to
identify new value generating opportunities such as auto gas and
quickly expand the business post-acquisition.
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SBI
plans to set up office in UAE
Abu Dhabi: State
Bank of India is considering opening a representative office in
the UAE to facilitate direct contact with the bank's large NRI
clientele in the Gulf.
SBI had earlier applied
for a licence for opening a branch but no clearance has been
obtained so far, as the UAE authorities had stopped issuing fresh
licences for new foreign banks in the country.
Currently, SBI has a
secondment arrangement with the Emirates India International
Exchange.
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