Court clears Reliance arm in DCL Polyesters deal
Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh high court has dismissed the objections raised by the registrar of companies against the Reliance group in the case of acquisition of DCL Polyesters Ltd by Synergy Synthetics Ltd, a Reliance arm.

Synergy Synthetics, which acquired a significant holding in DCL Poly through negotiated deal with the promoters and through open offer to the public shareholders, prepared a major restructuring programme for turning around the operations of the polyester filament yarn producer.

Having obtained the approvals of the creditors as well as shareholders for the restructuring scheme at a court-convened general meeting, the company submitted the scheme to the high court for its final approval.

Raising objections to the scheme, the RoC submitted to the court that the Reliance group was acquiring DCL Polyesters through the restructuring scheme instead of direct purchase in terms of Section 293 of the Companies Act, 1956 only to avoid stamp duty on transfer of assets.

However, the RoC failed to establish that the Reliance group was taking over DCL Poly and initiated the restructuring scheme to avoid stamp duty.
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IBS forays into oil logistics
Thiruvananthapuram: IBS Software Services, a supplier of software services for the travel, transportation and logistics industry, will provide IT solutions to GulfShare, a consortium of oil companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico, for its transportation and logistics needs.

The implementation of the integrated management solution would lead to a 10 per cent saving in the cost of logistics operation in the Mexican Gulf.
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Ernst & Young to find partner for Vadilal
New Delhi: Vadilal Industries has appointed Ernst & Young to find a strategic partner for its processed foods division.

The company plans to split into two: a processed foods company and an ice-cream company. The strategic partner will then be offered a stake in the processed foods company.

The processed foods division processes and markets a wide variety of fruit, vegetable and ready-to-eat Indian foods. The division exports 75-80 per cent of these products to the European Union, west Asia, the US, New Zealand and Australia. In the domestic market, the company has substantial market share in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
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Mauritius company to buy HLLs seed business
New Delhi: Mauritius-based India Seed Holdings Ltd (ISHL) is all set to buy out Hindustan Lever Ltd's (HLL) seeds business for an estimated Rs 43.20 crore.

HLL recently incorporated a subsidiary company christened PEGS Ltd (PEGSL) to hive off its seeds business.

HLL will be transferring its seeds business to PEGSL shortly, following which ISHL will acquire 100 per cent stake in the company having an issued and paid-up capital of Rs 43.20 crore.
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Call for Tide Water bids soon
Kolkata: The government is likely to invite bids for the transfer of equity and management control in the Kolkata-based lube manufacturer, Tide Water Oil Co Ltd.

Consultancy firm A F Ferguson has been appointed manager for the divestment. The firm is expected to evaluate the reserve price.

The lube firm's paid-up equity is a modest Rs 87 lakh. Of this, 28 per cent is held by Andrew Yule and Co, 14 per cent by financial institutions, 22 per cent by a foreign company, Four Star, 14 per cent by M K Jalan of Keventers and 12 per cent by the public.

Ferguson is doing a valuation of assets, last valued at Rs 10 crore some ten years back. Tide Water has five plants located at Silvassa and Deonar in the west, Howrah in east, Chennai in south and Faridabad in north.
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Binny plans township near Chennai
Chennai: Binny Ltd plans to develop a self-contained township in Perambur, in the northern part of the city.

The proposal is a part of the rehabilitation package of the company sanctioned by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR).

Binny owns 1,260 plots of land at Ashwell Maidan, Joint School compound and B&C gardens, which the company had earlier put up for sale to fund its revival package. However, suitable buyers could not be identified, and the company decided to develop the property.
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Citibank, IFC to offer education loans
Chennai: Citibank India and International Finance Corporation plan to offer personal loans to students in premier management institutes and engineering colleges.

Citibank had got approval from the Centre in January for the scheme for which Rs 400 crore has been earmarked.

Citibank has a 25 per cent market share of the personal loans segment in the country and is hoping to grow at about 23 per cent this year in terms of disbursals.
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Temenos to make Chennai R&D hub
Chennai: The Switzerland-based Temenos Group AG will make its Chennai centre the global hub for its entire research and development and client support service.

The Indian operations for the $140-million Swiss firm are headquartered in Chennai with over 300 professionals.

Chennai will be the global hub for support services and the entire product development. The company plans to recruit 500-600 professionals by the year-end for Chennai.

Till now, the company's R&D was done mainly from Geneva and London

The company's solutions, Temenos Globus, are utilised in various segments including retail and wholesale banking as well as treasury and accounting functions.
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RIL is 2nd fastest growing Asian chemical firm
Mumbai: Reliance Industries (RIL) is among the two fastest growing chemical companies in Asia, according to a survey conducted by the American Chemical Society (ACS). In terms of sales, Reliance ranked 31 this year, up from 37 last year.

Reliance is the only Indian firm to figure in the list. The survey ranks the global top 50 by their chemical sales. It also charts their total sales, chemical operating profits and capital spending.

The company's operating profits are the highest in Asia, following Sabic. The list of global 50 companies comprises 22 from Europe, 18 from the US and Canada and 10 from Asia.

Reliance, with operating profit of $1,237.6 million, was ranked eighth among the world's leading chemical companies. Reliance follows Dupont of the US, BASF of Germany, Dow Chemicals (US), General Electric (US), Bayer (Germany), Sabic and TotalFinaElf (France).
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Faber to expand retail network
New Delhi: Kitchen appliances company, Faber Heatkraft Industries, is planning to expand its retail network across the country. It plans to open 34 Faber Gallerias by December 2002, which will take the tally of its exclusive outlets from 16 to 50.

The company is seeking to increase its presence in small towns by investing Rs 5-6 crore on its retail expansion.

Faber has a wide range of products consisting of over 60 models of kitchen chimneys, cooking range, gas hobs and built-in oven, which will be displayed at the galleria.

With a sales target of Rs 50-55 crore this fiscal, the company hopes to generate Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore of sales per annum from each of these gallerias.
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Decks cleared for HMT privatisation
New Delhi: Decks have been cleared for the privatisation of HMT Ltd and the government hopes to sell the company by November this year.

The government has hived off the divisions manufacturing watches and machine tools. Another division making watches, based in Jammu & Kashmir, has been demerged as HMT Chinar Watches Ltd. HMT Tractors would be holding company for the entire HMT group.

The privatisation process of HMT is being carried out by the administrative ministry of heavy industries & public enterprises and not by the ministry of disinvestment.

The government is selling 74 per cent of its equity in each of the following: the tractor business group of HMT Ltd, Bangalore; HMT (International) Bearings Ltd, Bangalore; HMT Bearings Ltd, Hyderabad; HMT Machine Tools Ltd, Bangalore; HMT Watches, Bangalore; and HMT Chinar Watches, Jammu.
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Base version of Lancer launched
New Delhi: Hindustan Motors has introduced a base version of the Lancer, priced at Rs 7.20 lakh, which is Rs 1.10 lakh cheaper than the previous entry-level model. The company is also cutting spare parts prices by up to 60 per cent.

The company has been selling an average six Lancer cars a day since its launch.

The company has reached an understanding with its partner Mitsubishi Motors to buy parts at a subsidised rate. The benefit has been passed down to the customers.
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Reckitt Benckiser eyes 49% in arm
Mumbai: Reckitt Benckiser Plc has decided to acquire 16.127 million shares in its Indian subsidiary Reckitt Benckiser India Ltd, for a consideration of Rs 403 crore at Rs 250 per share.

The shares constitute 49 per cent of the equity the parent does not own in its Indian subsidiary. The offer price is at a premium of 39 per cent to the company's six-month average share price of Rs 180 on BSE.

The offer is slated to open on 14 May 2002 and will close on 13 June.

Reckitt Benckiser India owns 20 brands in personal hygiene, household and OTC pharmaceutical segments.

Popular brands include Dettol, Dispirin, Mortein, Robin Blue, Cherry Blossom, Harpic, Lizol and Colin.
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IDC rates HCL Infosys as number one PC co
New Delhi: HCL Infosystems has been rated as the number one desktop PC company for the year 2001 by International Data Corporation.

HCL Infosys has gained the position with 8.6 per cent market share. The company shipped 151,104 PCs during the year as compared to 118,902 PC's last year, according to a release by HCL Infosystem.

The company posted a growth rate of 27 per cent over last year, it said.
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Sail records 6.6% growth in Jan
New Delhi: Steel Authority of India Ltd has posted a growth of 6.6 per cent in January this year over the same period last year.

Sail produced 7.067 lakh tonne of finished steel in January against 6.631 lakh tonnes during January 2001.

The Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) during the month produced 2.134 lakh tonne of finished steel as against 1.732 lakh tonne in the same period a year ago -- a growth of 23.3 per cent.

The Rourkela Steel Plant has shown a growth of 7.1 per cent producing 1.263 lakh tonne of finished steel.

The Indian Iron and Steel Company (IISCO) has shown a growth of 14 per cent producing 26,000 tonne of finished steel during the month against 22, 800 tonnes during the same month last year.

However, production at Durgapur Steel Plant and Bokaro Steel Plant has shown slightly negative growth in January.
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UTI move against Duncan
Mumbai: The Unit Trust of India will initiate legal action Duncan Industries Ltd (DIL) following default on payment of dues on the company's debentures subscribed by the fund manager.

Duncan has defaulted on payment of Rs 2.8 crore for redemption of debentures (August 24, 2001) and the interest of Rs 69.60 lakh on 1 July 2001 and 1 January 2002, UTI said in a release.

Despite reminders and follow-up, the company has been continuously defaulting in payments to UTI till date, it said, adding, country's largest fund manager has decided to initiate legal action for recovery of dues.
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BayPackets plans to invest $15 mn in India
New Delhi: BayPackets Inc will invest over $15 million in the next three years to enter the telecom market in India. The company will set up marketing, product development and customer support teams.

BayPackets plans to establish strategic partnerships with local telecom value-added resellers and system integrators, leverage current partnerships with leading telecom equipment vendors and deploy sales and business development team in India.

BayPackets plans to use India as a business and support hub for the Chinese, Korean and Japanese market and also supporting customers in the Europe.

The India development centre will work on enhanced wireless applications for the global market.
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TCS inks deal with InternetSpeech
Mumbai: Tata Consulting Services has inked a deal with InternetSpeech to offer netECHO, the voice Internet technology, to its customers in over 50 countries.

TCS is integrating and deploying netECHO into its diverse business and technology areas, ranging from end-to-end solutions for industries, including telecom, insurance and banking to service practices, such as e-business, application development and maintenance and engineering.
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FIs to sell stake in Modi Rubber
New Delhi: Financial institutions have agreed to sell their stake in Modi Rubber at Rs 90 per share on a deferred payment basis to the promoters.

Modi will have to spend around Rs 100 crore to pick up the 44 per cent stake. The financial institutions have agreed to accept 25 per cent of the payment upfront and the remaining 75 per cent within the next year.

Last year, B K Modi, with elder brother Vinay Kumar Modi, had made an open offer for a 35 per cent stake in Modi Rubber at Rs 90 per share.
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ICICI cuts rate on safety bonds
Mumbai: ICICI has slashed the interest rates on its safety bonds by a quarter percentage point.

ICICI has reduced interest rates across all instruments by 25 basis points. The tax-saving bond, the largest-selling instrument in the safety bond family, would now offer a lower return of 8.75 per cent for three-year maturity. For a six-year maturity, the rate has been pared to 9 per cent from 9.25 per cent.

The institution is offering multiple options under six instruments - tax-saving, encash monthly income, regular income, money multiplier, children growth - to collect an aggregate of Rs 600 crore with a right to retain over-subscription of a like amount.
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ICRA to provide technical assistance to Gulf entities
Abu Dhabi: ICRA Ltd, a provider of credit rating, advisory services and investment information, has entered into initial agreements with local organisations in the UAE, Oman and Kuwait to provide technical assistance and advisory services for setting up credit rating agencies.

ICRA signed a memorandum of understanding with local firms in the three Gulf States. ICRA would provide technical assistance and other support services and help in the development of these rating agencies and also help to train personnel at ICRA offices in India.

ICRA has a host of innovative services on offer in the Indian domestic market, which it could offer to the proposed rating agencies in the Gulf. These include ratings for corporate governance, construction grade for real estate developers and structured financial deals.
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Maruti moots export of used cars
New Delhi: Maruti Udyog Ltd has mooted a proposal for second-hand car exports where auto companies would get tax benefits, including excise exemption and duty entitlement passbook scheme benefits.

In response to the suggestion made by MUL, the government said it was willing to consider the framework and sought more inputs on the subject.

According to MUL, there is a good potential for export of second-hand cars from India to neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Nepal and also some African countries.

Bangladesh imports nearly 54,000 used cars every year. Similarly, between 72 per cent and 80 per cent of the car demand in some African countries was met through import of used cars.
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HLL to reset ice-cream business
New Delhi: Hindustan Lever Ltd is restructuring its ice-cream business to shift focus to the high end of the market in the top six metros of the country.

The company has decided to promote premium products while reducing the ad spend for the low-end Max range of ice-cream.

The idea is to derive revenues from markets which yield higher return on investment rather than expanding markets with low priced products targeted at increasing penetration.

HLL is also rightsizing its production capabilities in Ahmedabad and Nagpur.

Kwality Walls has recently revamped its complete brand portfolio and brand proposition in line with HLLs brand focus exercise.

HLL is launching a host of new innovative products including Viennetta, Cornetto Soft, Black Currant Sundae, Super Cornetto, Feast bar and Vanilla gold under the Kwality Walls brand name.
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Shaw Wallace offers basmati with whisky
Bangalore: Liquor major Shaw Wallace & Company is offering free branded basmati rice to bolster its key whisky brand Director's Special (DSP).

A consumer buying DSP's 750 ml or one litre packs is being offered 500g of branded basmati. The liquor major has sourced superfine basmati from Amira Foods, an ISO 9000 export house.
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Leyland to slash 800 jobs
Chennai: Ashok Leyland Ltd has announced a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) at its Ennore facility, which employs around 6,300 out of the total employee strength of 13000-odd in the company.

The company, through the latest VRS, is hoping to bring down the employee strength in Ennore facility by 800.

The maximum compensation per employee has been capped at Rs 6 lakh.

Ashok Leyland will have to shell out Rs 40 crore on the VRS offered at its Ennore facility.
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Emami launches herbal products
Kolkata: Emami Ltd has launched a new range of herbal products in West Bengal. The products include hair oil, shampoos, skin cream and talcum powder for women.

The products will be marketed under the brand Beauty Secrets by Madhuri. This is reportedly the first time in the country that a cosmetics brand has been named after a celebrity. The low-key launch here would be followed by an advertisement campaign and a brand promotion exercise throughout the country.
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Parle G worlds largest selling biscuit
Mumbai: Parle G has become the largest selling biscuit brand in the world. The more than 50-year-old brand, Parle G, has been rated by the US-based bakery manufacturers association as the largest selling glucose biscuit brand in the whole world in terms of volumes.

According to ORG-MARG reports, Parle G commands 65 per cent share in the domestic biscuit market.

The glucose biscuits category in India is estimated at Rs 1,500 crore.

Parle G contributes more than 50 per cent to the company's total turnover.
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NIIT launches enterprise knowledge solution
New Delhi: NIIT has announced the global launch of its enterprise knowledge solution suite for corporates.

The suite has been completed with technical expertise from Click2learn whose content business NIIT acquired recently and is aimed at maximising employee productivity by cutting down on the time of their training period.

The company is targetting a revenue of $30 million in the next three years from this business.
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Wipro launches Home Gateway software
New Delhi: Wipro Technologies has announced the commercial availability of its Home Gateway Software Suite.

The product would be demonstrated at the embedded systems conference at San Francisco being held from 13 to 15 March.

Home Gateway devices provide the necessary connectivity features to enable customers to exploit the advantages of a networked home. Wipro's Home Gateway Suite of software solutions enables various in-house intelligent devices to be connected to the broadband network.
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Pepsi to launch tangy lemon cola
New Delhi: Pepsi is set to launch its international lemon cola, Pepsi Twist, in the country next month.

Cola with a tinge of lemon is how soft drink analysts describe the beverage.

Pepsi has hired Farhan Akhtar of the Dil Chahta Hai fame to make commercials for a range of Pepsico products which also includes the lemon cola.
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