Bharti plans broadband via satellite
New Delhi: Bharti Broadband is launching its satellite-based broadband service called Sky Mantra, which will be initially targeted mainly at the small and medium enterprises. Each Sky Mantra terminal will cost around Rs 1.5 lakh and a recurring monthly charge starting from Rs 3,000.

The company has already sold the service t Sahara, Cadbury and Procter & Gamble. The Sahara order is for 1,420 terminals with the Cabury and P&G constituting another 500 odd terminals.

Bharti Broadband will offer high speed Internet, messaging and shared Web hosting services.

Bharti has tied up with Israel-based satellite equipment vendor Gilat, which will also set up the hub for the company.
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Reliance, L&T in race for Petronet project
Mumbai: The Reliance group, L&T and the Moscow-based Sun group of Khemkas are in the final race for the Petronet's Central India pipeline project contract. They will have to now submit final bids before 8 May.

Petronet India Ltd (PIL) had called for the final bids on 28 February for the 1,760-km Central India pipeline project, which envisages transporting products from Jamnagar to Ratlam through Rajkot and Koyali.

The company had called for global tenders for expression of interest in building the country's longest pipeline last year and had received bids from 13 parties of which only three have pre-qualified for the final price bid.
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Hyundai launches new Santro
New Delhi: Hyundai Motor has launched a more powerful version of Santro to compete with larger-engined hatchbacks.

The new Santro Zip Plus has a 1.1 litre engine and its base model is priced at Rs 335,216 in Delhi, Rs 5,000 higher than the existing 1.0 litre version.

The new car has a 63 horsepower engine compared with 55 in the existing version.

The 1.1-litre product will be launched in Korea next month and in Europe in the next couple of months.
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Electrosteel to invest Rs 22 crore in Lanco
Hyderabad: Electrosteel Castings Ltd plans to infuse Rs 22 crore into the equity of Lanco Industries Ltd, the Tirupati-based ailing pig iron manufacturer.

This will make the Electrosteel-Lanco combine the largest player in the cast iron and ductile iron spun pipes market with captive pig iron plant.

Under the terms of the agreement, Electrosteel would acquire 1.76 crore equity shares of LKCL.
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Surana Telecom mulls JV with Yangtse
Hyderabad: Surana Telecom Ltd., the Hyderabad-based manufacturer of jelly filled and optic fibre cables (OFC) and jointing kits, is in talks with the Chinese major, Yangtse, for establishing a backward integration joint venture project for quartz pre-forms.

The Chinese firm, in which the Denmark-based Draka holds 50 per cent stake, is amongst the top 10 global OFC manufacturers with a capacity for 15 m rkm.

The Chinese firm will be able to offer equipment and technology for the project.

The domestic OFC market has expanded and is expected to grow from the present 3 m rkm to about 6 m rkm in the next two years, according to Yangtse.
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Bharti pays $60mn for Telia stake
New Delhi: Bharti Tele-Ventures has paid about $60 million to Nordic telecoms operator Telia for buying its 26 per cent stake in Bharti Mobile.

This will take Bharti Tele-Ventures' stake in Bharti Mobile to 100 per cent.

The New Delhi-based Bharti group had bought a 74 per cent stake in Bharti Mobile then known as JT Mobile in 1999 from two Thailand-based companies and India's Sanmar group.
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Lakme launches Lip liners
Chennai: Lakme has launched the Lakme Perfect Definition Lip Liners enriched withVitamin E. The liners are hypoallergenic and water-resistant. They are available in a variety of shades such as Irish coffee, walnut, cocoa fudge, black currant and almond crunch.

Priced at Rs 90, Lakme Perfect Definition Lip Liners are available at all the major retail outlets in the country.
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Videocon, Cargill in fray for stake in STC
New Delhi: Videocon, Cargill, and STC employees union have evinced interest in acquiring majority stake in State Trading Corporation, initial bids for which closed on 18 March.

Government last month invited the EoIs for divesting its 65 per cent stake in the company.

As a prelude to the disinvestment exercise, STC has undergone capital restructuring with cancellation of one third of the shares and transferring Rs 40 crore to the government.
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Kissan launches fruit kick spreads
Hyderabad: Kissan, the makers of jams, squashes and ketchups, has launched Kissan Fruit Kick Spreads targeted at people above the age of 15 years. It is stated to be full of crunchy fruits with no added sugar or artificial preservatives. It is available in two combinations dry fruit and mixed fruit.
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IOC best national oil trading firm in Asia-Pacific
New Delhi: Indian Oil Corporation has been ranked first among the 15 national oil companies in petroleum trading in Asia Pacific region.

As per a survey conducted by the Applied Trading Systems, Singapore for the year 2001, IOC has been ranked the Best National Oil Company ahead of Petronas of Malaysia, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation of Kuwait, Sinochem of China and Statoil of Norway, a company statement said here.

A total number of 15 national oil companies were covered in the survey.

The survey covered 72 companies across the entire spectrum of petroleum companies operating in the Asia Pacific region and the perception of over 100 companies had been sought through a ballot to arrive at the ranking of the companies surveyed.
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Jataayu launches WAP browser
Bangalore: Jataayu Software has announced the release of its WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) 2.0 compliant jBrowser (Ver 3.0), for Pocket PC devices.

The software contains executables of WAP 2.0 compatible browser for ARM and SH3 processor-based PocketPC devices, along with user documentation. The evaluation copy of beta version software is available at www.jataayusoft.com for download for a limited period of time.
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RBI sells remaining stake in STCI
New Delhi: Reserve Bank of India has sold its remaining 14.41 per cent stake in Securities Trading Corporation of India (STCI) to Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC).

RBI, which initially had 50.18 per cent stake in STCI, brought its holding down to 14.41 per cent in 1997. Now it has sold the remaining stake to IDFC.

Currently, Bank of India has the largest share of 28.15 per cent in STCI, which is the country's largest primary dealer in government papers.
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Templeton India to fully acquire Pioneer ITI
New Delhi: Franklin Templeton India mutual fund has struck a preliminary deal to buy India's largest private equity asset manager, Pioneer ITI.

The actual purchase is likely to be completed within two-to- three months, Pioneer ITI said in a statement.

The deal, subject to government and regulatory approvals, would vault the combined entity with assets of Rs 8035 crore into second spot in the industry's rankings in terms of assets under management after the Unit Trust of India.

Predominantly a bond markets player, the six-year-old Franklin Templeton mutual fund manages 10 schemes in India and has total assets in India of more than Rs 4000 crore.
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L&T among 7 firms for Oman water plant contract
Muscat: Seven firms have bid for the construction of a $100-million seawater pumping station in an industrial zone in the northern Omani city of Sohar.

The plant will pump seawater to the planned aluminum smelter, fertiliser plant and other projects worth several billion dollars.

Those in the race for the contract are: Belgium's Six Construct, Athens-based Consolidated Contractors International Company, Indian firms Larson & Toubro and Gamon, Geneva-registered Archirodon Construction (Overseas) and Omani firms Bahwan Contracting Company and Oman Water Pumps.
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BoB offers schemes for riot victims
Ahmedabad: Bank of Baroda has announced two special schemes for rehabilitating victims of violence in Gujarat.

These schemes are specially designed by the bank and expected to help the affected people in the state to pursue their normal life and business activities.

Under the special scheme for business community, loans up to Rs 1 lakh will be sanctioned to enterprises like retail trade, small business, professionals and self-employed persons and activities allied to agriculture with no margin.

For small scale units affected in the violence, loans will be sanctioned up to Rs 5 lakh.

No collateral/third party guarantee will be taken for loans up to Rs 1 lakh in case of small businesses and up to Rs 5 lakh for small-scale units with repayment moratorium of six months.

The second scheme was for housing, designed to meet credit needs of repairs and renovation of houses units damaged in the riots.
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Wipro gets ISO 14001 certification
Bangalore: Wipro Infotech's development and manufacturing operations facility at Pondichierry has been certified ISO 14001 compliant.

ISO 14001 certifies compliance with requirements of environment friendly policy and practices through continuous improvements in products and services that are environment friendly and meeting applicable legal requirements.
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Essar offers to market Reliance petro products
Mumbai: Essar Oil has offered to market petroleum products made by Reliance.

As its refinery is way behind completion, Essar Oil has decided to enter marketing at the earliest with others' products.

The company is eligible to market petro products under the post-APM dispensation. The government recently announced the eligibility criteria for companies marketing petro products, under which both Essar and Reliance are qualified.

Focussing on western and northern markets initially for its retail outlets, Essar will also be approaching public sector refineries for products.

Essar has announced plans to set up around 1,700 retail outlets over the next two to three years.
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Reliance inks $1.2-b deal with equipment majors
New Delhi: Reliance Infocom is all set to sign $1.2-billion equipment supply orders with four multinational equipment majors - Motorola, Lucent Technologies, Nortel and Ericsson.

While the order to Nortel will be for supplying transmission equipment, that to Lucent and Motorola will be for supplying of base tower stations. Ericsson has been shortlisted for supply of switches.

Reliance Infocom will be placing an order with the Australia-based Clarity for supply of operating systems for its proposed integrated telecom services operations.

Reliance Infocom has already finalised the negotiations with these companies and the agreements are expected to be signed shortly.

Reliance Infocom will be launching its telecom services from July this year.
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AES plans to hike stake in Orissa Power
New Delhi: The US-based AES Corporation has sought permission from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) for increasing its holding in Orissa Power Generation Company from 32.75 per cent to 49 per cent.

The Orissa government currently owns 51 per cent stake in OPGC while AES OPGC Holding, Mauritius, holds 32.75 per cent stake in the company and the remaining 16.25 per cent stake is held by AES (India) Pvt Ltd, the wholly owned Indian subsidiary of the US power giant.

According to the proposal submitted to the FIPB, the 16.25 per cent stake held by AES (India) will be transferred in favour of AES OPGC Holding, Mauritius.
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Kraft may infuse funds in Tang
Chandigarh: Kraft Foods, which has set up a Rs 23 crore powdered soft drink plant near Hyderabad to manufacture Tang, is contemplating investing further Rs 17 crore to cater to the domestic market.

The product has been launched with three flavours Orange, Lemon and Mango. Kraft Foods has also launched the product in sachets of 25 gram and 100 gram pouches in all major metros and big towns.

Its main competitor in the domestic market is Rasna International.
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HM launches new pick-up
Coimbatore: Hindustan Motors Ltd (HML) has launched a new pick-up vehicle in the two-tonne segment in association with an Australian company, using its rural transport vehicle platform.

The HM RTV pick-up vehicle is powered by a 3.3-litre Simpson engine to carry heavy load with a five-speed synchromesh gear box.

The vehicle has a small turnaround radius of 5.5 metre that enables it to turn around in the space that a Maruti Omni van required. The pick-up also has a high ground clearance, making it an all-terrain vehicle.

HM developed the vehicle in technical collaboration with Oka Motor Company of Australia.

The vehicle is priced at about Rs 3.35 lakh.
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Kvaerner to build Reliance biotech unit
Mumbai: Kvaerner has secured a contract to design and build a life sciences complex in Mumbai for Reliance Life Sciences.

The Reliance Life Science campus will include research laboratories, a pilot plant and a green house. Some R&D laboratories will be completed this year and the complex will be ready in March 2003.
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Haldia to hike polymer prices
Kolkata: Haldia Petrochemicals will increase polymer prices by an average of Rs 1,500 a tonne from 18 March to improve its bottomline.

High interest costs on this debt have been a major source of worry for HPL's promoters -- the government of West Bengal state, the Soros-Chatterjee Group and the Tata business group.
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Nokia cuts prices
Mumbai: Nokia, the countrys largest selling handset maker, has directed its top dealers in the city to drop prices on select models.

Prices of Nokias 3310, 3330, 3350 and 8250 models have been cut by 13 per cent, 11 per cent, 12 per cent and 14 per cent respectively.

Handset makers are also phasing out some of their existing lower-end products, which have been susceptible to under-cutting by the grey market. The Nokia 5110 and 5110i models are no longer available with authorised Nokia dealers and they are available in the grey market for about Rs 4,000 compared to the official price of Rs 7,000.
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Eveready launches `Recharge' torch
Thiruvananthapuram: Eveready Industries India has introduced Recharge, a rechargeable torch with built-in charger.

Recharge is powered by Eveready GP batteries and is fitted with a Krypton bulb for ultra bright light.

This is the first torch in a series of rechargeable torches and lanterns Eveready plans to launch.
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Tata Tea relaunches Kannan Devan
Kochi: Tata Tea has relaunched its most popular South-based brand, Kannan Devan, in an attractive new package.

The company said that it has made significant investment in the production process at its Kerala tea plantations. Leading South-based actor Mohanlal will be acting as the brand ambassador for the relaunch.
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Hyundai to launch Terracan
Bangalore: Hyundai Motor India Ltd plans to launch Terracan, a sports utility vehicle, by the year-end. The company has also earmarked around $90 million to ramp up capacity.

The fresh investment will be raised through internal accruals. The company has already invested around $614 million for setting up its plant near Chennai.

Hyundai will be the first company to enter the sports utility vehicle segment in India by launching Terracan.

Terracan has a capacity of 2 litres and would cost around Rs 20 lakh. It will initially be fully imported as a completely-built-unit.
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Pentasoft to vacate Tidel Park
Chennai: Pentasoft Technologies Ltd is in the process of vacating the space it had bought at the Tidel software park in Chennai. The company had bought 100,000 sq.ft. of space in the software park at a price of about Rs 3,600 per sq.ft.

The company is trying to find either a buyer for the space or let it out on rent.

Pentasoft will move to a facility at Kelambakkam, on the outskirts of Chennai.
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Hyundai likely to float IPO next fiscal
Mumbai: Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) has revived plans to go in for an initial public offering (IPO).

The company is planning an IPO in the next fiscal. The timing will depend on market conditions.

Hyundai had in 2000 decided to put its IPO plan on the backburner due to the poor market conditions.
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Altec launches speakers in India
New Delhi: US-based Altec Lancing Inc, maker of audio systems for personal computers and home entertainment systems, will market its range of products in India.

The range of audio products includes speaker systems for PCs, headsets, headphones and microphones. To begin with, the products would be available in the North, before being launched in other parts of the country by the year-end. The speaker sets are priced between Rs 1,000 and Rs 22,000.
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Tatas plan consolidation of Trent stake
Mumbai: Tata Sons has marginally hiked its stake in Trent to 26.27 per cent on 31 December2001.

The group is further raising its stake in the company that runs the Westside chain of retail stores.

Tata group chairman Ratan Tata has announced that retail will be a focus area for the group.

Trent is working on a plan to set up 100 grocery stores in the west and north India. It is in the process of finalising the model in consultation with the Tata Strategic Management Group.
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VSNL to compensate for asset stripping
Mumbai: The VSNL shareholders, who tender shares to the Tata open offer, will be compensated for assets taken out of the company on eve of its divestment.

These assets mainly property are being taken out and vested in another company. The shareholding pattern of the new company will be a mirror image of pre-disinvestment VSNL.

VSNL shareholders will be issued shares proportionate to their holding in VSNL. The right to these shares will also be available to those shareholders who will respond to the Tatas open offer.

VSNL owns about 1,400 acres of land across seven cities in the country. In Delhi, VSNL owns one acre in Connaught Place, 127 acres in Greater Kailash and 126 acres in Chattarpur.

In Mumbai, VSNL has 0.3 acres in Fort area and 1.8 acres in Prabhadevi. In Pune, the company has 774.5 acres in Digi and 228 acres in Arvi.
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Ikon prices go up by Rs 22,000
Bangalore: Ford India has increased the prices of select Ikon models in the region of Rs 22,000 to Rs 31,000.

The prices of four models are up by about Rs 5000 to Rs 7300 this month. The petrol driven Ikon 1.6 Zxi will sport an ex-showroom price of Rs 6,38,799 in Bangalore as against Rs 6,31,507.

The 1.6 Zxi is said to account for close to 40 per cent of the total Ikon sales, along with the special edition 1.3 Clxi-PIS (power steering model), which also does very high numbers.
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