Aurobindo allots 4 lakh shares to promoters
Hyderabad: Aurobindo Pharma has allotted 4 lakh equity shares and equal number of warrants to its promoters at Rs 226 per share/warrant.

The allotment is part of a series of preferential allotments that the company proposes to effect before 15 April. At an extraordinary general meeting, it proposed to issue 55 lakh equity shares/warrants on preferential basis.

Meanwhile, A J Kamath, who stepped down from the company's directorship to provide a room for the appointment of independent external directors under corporate governance code, will soon assume the responsibility as group financial advisor.
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RIL in deal with IOC, BPCL, HPCL
New Delhi: Reliance Petroleum has struck a deal with Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum for marketing of around 13 million tonnes of petroleum products from its Jamnagar refinery for two years beginning April after relenting on take or pay condition.

Consensus was arrived on major issues between the marketing directors of the three PSUs and a director of RPL.

Supply would be commensurate with demand growth.

The proposed agreement envisages offtake from Jamnagar refinery on existing pattern on agreed growth projections till 2004, which would give the private sector refinery time to set up its own retail chain.

Of the 15.5 million tonnes marketable product from Jamnagar refinery, IOC and other oil PSUs presently sell 12-13 million tonnes as against the commitment of 8.55 million tonnes under the administered system.
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Investment proposals of Toyota, Suzuki cleared
New Delhi: Japan's Toyota Motor Corporation and Suzuki Motor Corporation have been allowed to increase their foreign investments in India.

While Toyota Motor Corporation has been allowed to invest Rs 100 crore to increase its equity from 90 to 99 per cent in its local venture, Suzuki has been permitted an investment of Rs 47 crore for making two and three-wheelers.

The industry and commerce ministry approved a total foreign investment of Rs 1,000 crore, including a proposal by Taiwan's Winny Electron Enterprises to invest Rs 356 crore to set up a wholly owned subsidiary.

Netherlands-based DHL Worldwide Express was permitted to invest Rs 91 crore in its local venture.

The government also allowed Asea Brown Boveri of Switzerland to make an investment of Rs 63.5 crore in a domestic venture for manufacturing power cables and accessories.
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Vijaya Bank's NPA comes down
Dhagamandalam: The non performing assets of Vijaya Bank has come down from 6.2 per cent to 5.4 per cent this year.

The bank had been performing well in all spheres, with net profit during the third quarter of this fiscal going up by 173 per cent.
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Compaq shareholders approve H-P merger
Houston: Compaq Computer shareholders have approved Hewlett-Packard's acquisition of the company.

The combined companies would have more than $80 billion in revenues and sell everything from PCs to printers to large computer servers, positioning it to compete with top computer company IBM.

HP and Compaq say they have been working for the past six months on planning the integration of 135,000 employees, devoting 900 employees and 500,000 man-hours to the task. It'll include cutting 15,000 jobs from the new company.
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Goenkas approve Cescon, CESC merger
Kolkata: The Goenkas of the RPG group have approved the merger of Cescon with flagship CESC. Cescon is the power consultancy arm of the RPG group.

In the coming months, CESC will directly pitch for power sector consultancy contracts across India.

Cescon was floated as a CESC subsidiary in 1990 to handle power engineering consultancy contracts.
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Suzuki to re-enter two, three-wheeler mkt
New Delhi: Japanese auto giant Suzuki Motor is re-entering the Indian two and three-wheeler market. The company has secured government nod to set up a wholly-owned subsidiary to manufacture and market two and three-wheelers in the country.

Suzuki will invest Rs 47 crore to set up a 50,000 units manufacturing facility at Gurgaon iin Haryana.

The company plans to assemble, sell, market, repair and service powered two, three wheelers and allied products including motorcycles, scooters and mopeds and their spare parts.
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Govt to check RILs eligibility
New Delhi: Government will examine the eligibility of Reliance Industries Limited for bidding for PSUs like Indian Petrochemicals Corporation in the wake of the CBI filing a chargesheet against the Mumbai-based corporate house and its top officials under the Official Secrets Act.

The CBI had registered a case under the Official Secrets Act after Delhi police recovered four sensitive documents, pertaining to internal decisions of the cabinet, while investigating the Romesh Sharma case.
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Toyota to buy stake in Kirloskar arm
New Delhi: Toyota Motor Corp is planning to buy a majority stake in Kirloskar Systems Ltd. The venture will produce automotive transmission to be fitted on Toyota vehicles around the globe.

Toyota has also sought the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) nod to infuse Rs 400 crore for the venture.

Kirloskars contribution would come by way of plant and machinery.

The new unit will commence supplies in 2004.
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Aventis buys Bilakhias 23% in Bilag
Mumbai: Multinational agrochemical giant Aventis CropScience has acquired a 23 per cent stake held by Bilakhias in the joint venture Bilag Industries for Rs 243 crore.

Aventis stake in the agrochemical company has increased to 74 per cent from 49 per cent, leaving the Bilakhias with a 26 per cent strategic holding.

AventisCrop Science (France) has received the Foreign Investment Promotion Board permission to hike the stake.

Bilakhias are the promoters of Hindustan Inks & Resins, the largest ink company in the country.
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IOC may merge two arms with itself
Mumbai: IOC is examining the option of merging its subsidiaries, Chennai Petroleum and Bongaigaon Refinery and Petrochemicals, with itself.

IOC is evaluating various aspects of the move.

Indian Oil is expanding its inland refinery capacities and the need for transporting petroleum products to north-west India will be minimised.
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StanChart plans corporate advisory services
Mumbai: Standard Chartered Bank plans to offer corporate advisory services for its corporate clientele in India.

The bank already has syndications, fixed income and bullion desks and now wants to offer a whole range of services.

StanChart has about 1,200 clients on the wholesale banking side out of which 200 are top-tier companies.
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Bharti uses Nortel's optical backbone
New Delhi: Bharti Telenet has deployed Nortel Networks' metro optical platform for its fixed-line telecom service network TouchTel in Delhi.

Bharti Telenet launched fixed-line services in Haryana using a Nortel Network optical backbone, in January.

Nortel networks optical backbone will enable Bharti to provide customers with congestion-free as well as high-speed internet access for data transmission, streaming video, video conferencing.
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Calcutta Telephones seeks damages from Reliance
Kolkata: Calcutta Telephones (CT) has sought compensation from Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) for damaging its cables, while asking them to co-ordinate with CT in the matter of laying cables for an optical fibre network through the city.

RIL had been told to inform CT a week ahead of their plans of digging up a particular area which would be done in the presence of a senior official.

A series of meetings between CT and RIL have already been held to thrash things out.
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Kinetic Engg to be Hyosung production base
New Delhi: Kinetic Engineering Ltd will become one of the global manufacturing bases for the GF range motorcycles of South Korea's Hyosung.

A memorandum of understanding to this effect was signed recently between the Pune-based two-wheeler company and Hyosung.

As per the proposal, Kinetic, which recently forayed into the motorcycle segment with technical assistance from Hyosung, will manufacture the 125 cc and 150 cc motorcycles of Hyosung for the export market.

Kinetic has launched two 100-cc motorcycles (Challenger and Boss) and the GF-125 in the Indian market. It intends to launch the 150 cc version of the GF by June.

A 65 cc scooterette will also be launched in June, priced a tad below Rs 23,000.
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Karnataka to levy 4% tax on software
Bangalore: The Karnataka government has decided to introduce a 4 per cent tax on computer software in the state.

However, the tax will not be applicable on software services exports from the state. The tax would be applicable only on software products sold within the state, covering over the counter products as well as transactions on packaged solutions within the state.

The state is likely to mop up around Rs 10 to 12 crore from the proposed measure. The estimated figure of the software products business is around Rs 250 to 300 crore and four per cent of this ranges between Rs 10 to 12 crore.
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Usha Comm tie-up with inCode
Kolkata: Usha Communications Technology has announced the setting up of a working demonstration environment for its advanced wireless billing capabilities in association with the California-based inCode Telecom Group and The Management Network Group.

According to a press release issued here, the demonstration laboratory, located in La Jolla, California, provides neutral, real-world testing ground for next generation wireless services, technologies, support systems and applications.
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Fujisaki to leave India operations
New Delhi: The president and chief executive of Honda Siel Cars India, Teruo Fujisaki, is shifting out of India to head the automobile majors Taiwanese operations.

He is being replaced at Honda Siel Cars by Hajime Yamada, who is currently director, Honda Siel Cars.

Yamada will also replace Fujisaki on the boards of Honda Motorcycle & Scooters India and Honda Siel Power Products.
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Sonata edges out Accord
New Delhi: An independent market survey by Honda Siel Cars India has found that consumers of the D-segment prefer the exterior looks and low pricing of the Hyundai Sonata, which is denting the volumes of Hondas luxury car, the Accord.

The company sold 102 Accords as compared with around 300 Sonatas sold by Hyundai.

This is the first time that Honda has admitted that the Accord has lost volumes to the Sonata because of looks and pricing.
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Mukta to sell film rights
Mumbai: Mukta Arts Ltd is examining the sale of rights of its library of 11 films to augment the company's turnover in year 2002.

The company this year may also see the float of its overseas film distribution arm. At present, US and Canada account for almost 40 per cent of a Bollywood film's collections abroad, followed by the UK and West Asia.

Mukta Arts had ended year 2001 with a net profit at Rs 14.32 crore (Rs 6.01 crore) on a turnover of Rs 50.65 crore (Rs 12.53 crore). The turnover increase was attributed to the income from the release of two films during the year - Yaadein and Rahul.

Films that form a part of Mukta Arts' library include Hero, Karma, Trimurti, Saudagar, Khalnayak, Pardes, Taal, Yaadein and Rahul.

The company is increasing its film production output to three films in 2002 as compared to two in 2001.

The company would like to produce television software, income from it being more stable when compared to films.
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Maruti lines up luxurious Versa
New Delhi: Maruti Udyog will soon introduce a souped-up, made-to-order version of the Versa. The model will be equipped with a refrigerator and television at its rear.

The front part of the vehicle will be totally separated from the rear by a power-glass divider.

To promote Versa, the company will launch a campaign where it would invite consumers to test-drive the car.

Twenty-five lucky winners will be gifted with a Versa each, which will be presented to them by brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan.
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SITA launches new leisure-travel product
Chennai: SITA Holidays of the World has launched Holiday Pass, a leisure-travel product.

The product is targeted mainly at the second and third time travellers who want more from a holiday than what an average package tour can provide.

The Europe-7 Holiday Pass costs $1199 per person and includes one round-trip air ticket to Europe, accommodation at standard central hotel in every city, a welcome city tour, intercity travel within Europe by Eurail, limo transfer from the first city of your arrival and personalised advice and assistance from a Holiday Pass host in every city.

This product is available for the US and Australia. The Holiday Pass will be available through any of the SITA offices or through a network of select agents across the country.
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Dr Morepen lines up Rs 100 cr investment
Chennai: Dr Morepen Ltd has drawn up a Rs 100 crore investment plan to attain a turnover of Rs 200 crore in five years.

The company will see a chunk of the investment being invested by the parent in three years.

The company is in talks to acquire a cough and cold brand with sales of Rs 9 crore and a market share of 8-9 per cent.

The company acquired Burnol, a popular antiseptic brand from Reckitt Piramal for Rs 9 crore and expanded its portfolio in the Rs 210 antiseptic market.

Dr Morepen, which commenced its operations last year, is likely to clock a turnover of Rs 10 crore for the fiscal ended March 2002.
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Proline to roll out a new range
Mumbai: Proline India Ltd is setting up new merchandise of Proline Fila at leading retail store, Shoppers Stop in April this year.

During the same period, the company also plans to unveil spring and summer collection woven around linen, light weight, washed fine cotton twill and soft hand feel denim for shirts, shorts and T-shirts which will cover the spectrum of Prolines casual wear with a focus on comfort and being cool.

To support the new launch, the company is rolling out a new print advertising campaign designed by Leo Burnett Advertising by mid-April this year.

Proline Sportsystem will also introduce a 100 per cent imported range of urban premium Ferrari apparel and footwear in six Proline Fila exclusive outlets in Mumbai by mid-April this year.

Proline Sportsystem is the sole distributor and marketer for Fila shoes and sportwear in India.
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New StanChart card for women
Mumbai: Standard Chartered Bank has launched an international credit card exclusively for women.

A bank release said that the Diva credit card was customised for the Indian woman who seeks to balance home and work, and therefore has several features revolving around the woman, her home and her family.

Services such as entertainment, travel services, errands, home services, gifts and information services are available to the cardholder.
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Exim Bank pact with Iranian bank
MUMBAI: Exim Bank has signed an agreement with Bank Markazi Jomhouri Islami Iran (Bank Markazi - Central Bank of Iran) for extending a line of credit to the latter for $20 million to finance India's exports to Iran.

According to a press release, the facility involves a credit period of one year and will cover 100 per cent value of exports of goods from India to Iran.
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Kinetic to launch new two-wheelers
New Delhi: Kinetic will invest Rs 40 crore in the next fiscal to launch a slew of new vehicles and export over 25,000 units.

Kinetic exports two-wheelers to countries in Latin and South America and Eastern Europe. Last year, the company shipped 15,000 two-wheelers.

The company will launch a 65cc scooterette Zing by July, a 100cc scooter by August, 150cc motorcycle GF150 and a 250cc motorcycle in the next 18 months. Zing would be priced at Rs 22,900 (ex-showroom, Delhi) while the 100cc scooter would sport a price tag of Rs 26,000.
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