Coke mulls new vanilla drink
London: Coca-Cola Co is secretly working on plans to launch a new vanilla-flavoured Coke drink, a Financial Times report said.

The Financial Times cited an article in industry newsletter Beverage Digest, which said numerous people within the company expected a U.S. launch of a vanilla-flavored Coke within the next few months.
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IOC, ONGC oil deal soon
New Delhi: Indian Oil Corporation is likely to finalise a deal with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Oil India for procuring about 11 million tonnes of domestic crude, IOC chairman M S Ramachandran said.

"We hope to reach an agreement by tomorrow... we have more or less resolved the issue of pricing," Ramachandran, who took charge of IOC this morning, said.

The Corporation would get existing volumes of about eleven million tonnes of crude, including three million tonnes in Northeast, for the next two years.
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Maruti offers 4-year warranty
Mumbai: Maruti Udyog has begun offering customers the option of buying an additional third or fourth year of warranty coverage.

All new vehicles made by Maruti come with a two-year, 40,000-km warranty.

The 'extended warranty' for the third and fourth year will be available for a nominal charge, the company said in a statement.

Under one option, customers can extend the warranty for an additional year or 20,000 km from the point the basic warranty expires. Under the other option, the warranty can be extended for two years or 40,000 km.

The cost of the third-year option for its top-selling model, the Maruti 800, is fixed at Rs 1,495, and at Rs 2,995 for the additional two-year coverage.
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BSNL's cellular service to be launched by Aug
New Delhi: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam is likely to launch its cellular service by August this year, according to new BSNL chairman and managing director of BSNL Prithipal Singh.

Singh said, "We are already at a stage of getting equipment at sites and the infrastructure is getting ready. We are hoping to start services at some sites in three to four months."
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TV 18 to retain its 49% stake in CNBC India
Mumbai: Television Eighteen India will retain its 49 per cent stake in CNBC India instead of divesting 20 per cent equity in favour of Sony Entertainment Television.

TV 18 had earlier given SET the option to purchase 20 per cent equity in CNBC India but as per the revised arrangement it decided not to proceed with the move, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

TV 18 also has a distribution alliance with SET for CNBC India effective until March 2003, which would continue in its present form, it said.

Both TV 18 and SET would continue to work closely and the new arrangement would help maximise synergies between CNBC India channel and SET channel bouquet, it added.
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Hero Honda March sales up 40%
New Delhi: Hero Honda Motors sold 1,35,464 motorcyles in March, up 40.04 per cent from 96,729 a year ago.

During the year to March, Hero Hondas sales grew 38.45 per cent to 1,425,302 motorcyles against 1,029,510 in the previous year, making it the single largest two-wheeler company in the world.
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IOC, BPCL, HPCL sign interim agreement
New Delhi: Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum have signed an agreement for 30 days for exchange of products in the deregulated oil scenario with the three oil PSUs deciding to iron out differences in the interim period.

The oil PSUs signed an interim agreement for product exchange for a month from 1 April, IOC chairman M S Ramachandran said.

Stating that some of the issues were yet to be resolved between the national oil companies, which are stipulated to have two-year hospitality and product exchange agreement in the wake of deregulation of oil sector from 1 April, he said "we will continue discussions and resolve the issues during this month-long period."
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Vivek Burman lifts stake in LKB to 6.6%
New Delhi: Vivek Burman, chairman of the Dabur group, has decided to increase his stake in Kerala-based Lord Krishna Bank. The Burmans currently hold one per cent in LKB. Following the acquisition of more shares, Vivek Burmans stake will go up to 6.63 per cent in the bank.

The Puri group holds the controlling stake in the bank. The bank has received the RBI nod allowing Vivek Burman to increase his stake in the bank.
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ABB hiking stake in Universal to 90.60%
Ahmedabad: Asea Brown Boveri is hiking its stake in Universal ABB Power Cables Limited, from 74 per cent to 90.60 per cent at an estimated cost of Rs 60 crore.

Universal ABB Power Cables is a joint venture between Universal Cables Limited and ABB. It manufactures extra high voltage insulated power cables and cable accesories. For increasing its stake by 16 per cent, ABB Zurich is taking over 63.5 million shares of the company of a face value of Rs 10 each.
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Ranbaxy-Core get FDA nod for arthritis pill
New Delhi: Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals and Ohm Laboratories in a collaborative and exclusive venture with Core Pharma LLC of the US announced receiving the FDA approval for Acetaminophen extended-release tablets (650mg).

According to a company release, under this co-development and participative arrangement, Core Pharma LLC of Middlesex, New Jersey, will retain ownership for the abbreviated new drug application and will manufacture the product, while Ohm Laborato-ries will have the exclusive commercial rights to market this OTC product.

Ohm Lab plans to launch this product in May 2002.
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UB gets shareholder nod for revamp
Bangalore: Shareholders of United Breweries have given the go ahead for a restructuring of the company which will acquire two more breweries soon.

The comprehensive revamping of brewery operations set in motion last year includes merging of all the beer companies of the group under one umbrella -- UB Beer.

Vijay Mallya, chairman of UB group, said his firm would also approach the government soon to allow top British brewer Scottish and Newcastle to acquire a 26 per cent in UB Beer.
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TVS sales rise 30.5% in March
New Delhi: Two-wheeler maker TVS Motors sales have jumped up by 30.5 per cent during March 2002 on account of a good performance by motorcycles.

The company sold 87,523 two-wheelers during the month as against 67,049 units a year ago.

The March sales were an increase of 12 per cent compared to 78,080 units sold in February this year.

Motorcycle sales went up by 68.6 per cent to 54,765 units (32,427 units in March 2001) while scooters slipped by 8.1 per cent to 8,575 units (9,331 units), a company statement said.

Sale of mopeds was also lower by four per cent to 24,259 units (25,291 units).

TVS attributed the drop in scooter sales to less offtake from the key market of Gujarat during March.
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Fiat, GM, Honda sales up
Mumbai: Fiat Indias Palio car along with Sienna and Uno models posted record sales in the month of March. It would ramp up production at its Kurla plant to 200 units a day.

Sales in March 2002 were 4,003 units as compared to 631 units in March 2001, registering a 534 per cent increase, a company press release said here.

Palio accounted for 3,577 units, Sienna for 305 and the rest for Uno, it said.

General Motors India too reported a 29.5 per cent growth in March sales at 1,367 cars over 1,055 cars in the year-ago month.

It comprised 940 units of the mid-size car Opel Corsa, 152 units of stationwagon Swing and 275 units of the premium mid-size car Opel Astra, a GMI spokesman said.

The March sales were also up by 70 per cent against 810 cars sold in the previous month.

Sales during April-March 2001-02 grew marginally by 3.1 per cent to 8,512 cars from 8,254 cars in the previous fiscal.

The Indian unit of Honda Motor reported its car sales grew 9.08 per cent to 10,920 vehicles in the year to March 2002.

Honda Siel Cars said sales for the month of March rose 24.4 per cent to 1,581 cars, its record high for a single month, from 1,271 units in March 2001.
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Hero Honda to set up new plant
New Delhi: Hero Honda Motors is setting up its third plant within the next 18 months by investing about Rs 250 crore.

An ongoing feasibility study regarding the site, production capacity and investment on the new plant would be completed within the next three months.

Hero Honda at present has two plants at Dharuhera and Gurgaon (both in Haryana). The plants have an existing capacity of 1.5 million units which can be increased to two million units.
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IFCI sells shares of Indo Rama
Mumbai: IFCI Ltd has executed a negotiated deal with Yield Securities & Credits Pvt Ltd for sale of 16,46,579 equity shares of Indo Rama Synthetics India Ltd (IRSL) and with Virgin Securities & Credits Pvt Ltd for the sale of 16,46,580 equity shares of Indo Rama Synthetics India Ltd.

The company has informed that the deal is in terms of the share purchase agreement dated 26 March 2001 between IFCI and O.P. Lohia, promoter of IRSL.
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Highest safety reaffirmed for Maruti issues
New Delhi: Credit rating agency ICRA Ltd has reiterated the highest safety ratings of `A1+' and `LAAA' to the commercial paper and non-convertible debenture (NCD) programmes of Maruti Udyog Ltd.

The commercial paper is a Rs 100-crore programme, while the NCD is a Rs 200-crore programme.

"The reaffirmation of ratings takes into account Maruti's continuing dominance of the Indian passenger car industry, improvement in its contribution margins in 2001-02, high bargaining power with its vendors, new business initiatives and high financial flexibility as reflected in its low gearing,"' ICRA said in a statement.

The expected cash inflow into Maruti, an equal joint venture between the Indian Government and Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp. following the Government's proposed divestment of stake to Suzuki has also been considered while reaffirming the rating.

This cash inflow would reduce Maruti's financial risks further, the statement added.
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RPG Cellular cuts SMS rates
Chennai: RPG Cellular has slashed its SMS rates to Re 1 per message from the prevailing Rs 1.50 with effect from 2 April, according to a press release.

The press release said the company has launched a scheme called Xpress under which SMS addicts can send up to 300 messages free every month for a rent of Rs 100. The company now has over 90 base stations across Chennai and claims to offer the widest coverage.
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Chandamama goes glossy
Chennai: The English edition of the children's magazine, Chandamama, is all set for a major facelift. Beginning May, the magazine will turn glossy and larger and will be filled with stories, puzzles, activity charts and an eight-page supplement, called Young Chandamama, for kids in the age group of five to eight years.

The revamped English edition of Chandamama is targeted at urban kids.

The focus of the magazine will continue to be on Indian history, culture and mythology, but there would be sections on contemporary issues such as environment and ecology. Well-known writers for children such as Ruskin Bond and Manoj Das are already writing for the magazine.
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Zeenat to endorse Robertet products
Chennai: Robertet of France, a major in flavours and fragrances, has appointed Zeenat Aman the brand ambassador for the company as she embodies the image of feminity around fragrances and has been many people's dreams.

The company, established in 1850, has identified India and China to augment the group's position in Asia.
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Niranjan Mills' new lycra collection
Chennai: Niranjan Mills, a division of Piramal Spinning & Weaving Mills, has launched its winter collection of lycra-based fabrics such as cotton lycra, cotton-polyester lycra and viscose lycra, according to a press release. The company is claimed to be a pioneer in lycra and is now developing 60/60 finer count in lycra fabrics. It has a manufacturing unit in Surat, the press release added.
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Royal Enfield shifts production to Chennai
New Delhi: Royal Enfield has shifted primary production to its plant in Chennai.

For the Jaipur factory, which constituted about 25 per cent of production in 2000-01 and is doing insignificant volumes currently, Enfield is looking at various alternatives including auto component manufacturing.

With a capacity of approximately 13,000 bikes at Jaipur and 30,000 units in Chennai, the company went for cost rationalisation which included shift in production to Chennai in April-June 2001.
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Cadila to buy Banyan Chemicals
Mumbai: Zydus Cadila Healthcare will invest Rs 20.5 crore to buy 100 per cent in Vadodara-based Banyan Chemicals. Banyan, with sales of about Rs 20 crore, exports bulk drugs- the key ingredient that lends the drug its potency- to the US.

Cadila informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that its board of directors had approved the transaction. Banyan is promoted by a group of non-resident Indians based in the US.

The five year-old Banyan was earlier a group company of the US-based Invamed, which was acquired by Novartis in 1999. Banyan was not part of that deal.

Banyan currently exports a range of cardiovascular and oncology bulk drugs like warfarin sodium, hydroxychlorquine sulphate and anagrelide. It also has a pipeline of products awating approvals in the US.
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Genom Bio to up NRI investment to 95%
Ahmedabad: Genom Biotech, a pharma company which has been given approval to set up a manufacturing unit at Nasik in Maharashtra, proposes to increase the NRI investment from the existing 74 per cent to 95 per cent. The company manufactures Metrozol Coldflu, Sigan and Butazol Cream.

The FIPB has given the go ahead for the proposal.
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AV Birla group looks at overseas mkt
Mumbai: The Aditya Birla group is drawing up a blueprint for a major overseas expansion that includes forays into East Europe, China and South Africa, among others.

Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla has already created a new portfolio on the board of the Birla Management Centre, the groups central think-tank, namely, director, international expansion.

Of the groups Rs 27,000-crore turnover, almost 30 per cent comes from its overseas businesses, most of which is spread around Southeast Asia. It also has a presence in Egypt and Canada.

The group is among the largest in the world in viscose filament yarn and carbon black, and is Indias leading player in aluminium, cement, copper, insulators, fertilisers and financial services.
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GM mulls Isuzu Panther export base in India
New Delhi: General Motors and Isuzu Motor are considering developing India as an export base of the sports utility vehicle, Isuzu Panther, catering to right hand drive markets in the region.

The Panther, developed by Isuzu, the Japanese company in which GM has a stake, will be launched in India by General Motors Indian subsidiary GM India early next year through a technical collaboration with Isuzu.

General Motors recently decided to pump in Rs 600 crore into GM India, most of which will be invested in the Panther project.
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