HDFC Bank to up foreign investment limit
Mumbai: The board of directors of HDFC Bank, have proposed to raise the limit for foreign fund investments in the company to 49 per cent from 40 per cent. They also recommended a dividend Rs 2.5 per share.

HDFC Bank earlier announced a 37.7 per cent rise in January-March quarter earnings over the year earlier period.
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BHEL, ONGC enter into pact
New Delhi: Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd has signed a wide-ranging deal with ONGC to supply, upgrade and refurbish oil field equipment.

ONGC is India's largest oil explorer and produced 24.71 million tonnes of crude oil and 23.71 billion cubic metres of natural gas in the past year to March.
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Kotak Mahindra enters banking
Mumbai: Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd will convert itself into a bank by the end of 2002.
Kotak Mahindra, which has assets totaling more than 10 billion rupees, will be the first private Indian bank to come into existence in eight years.

As a bank, Kotak Mahindra, which has a tie-up with U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs for its investment banking and broking activities, will be able to tap low-cost, short-term deposits, which it cannot do as a financial services company according to Indian regulations.

Kotak will now have to win final permission from the central bank before starting to operate as a bank.

The company has a capital adequacy ratio of 35 per cent and a net worth of five billion rupees.

The company will have to set aside funds to meet additional reserve requirements applicable to banks, but the amount required would be relatively small.
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UWB Terminates ties with Sicom
Mumbai: United Western Bank has snapped its memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Sicom Ltd. The pact provides sharing of business and line of credit to Sicom up to Rs 125 crore at 1.5 per cent below PLR.

The bank has apprised the RBI of the developments.
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Zuari to invest Rs 103 cr in cement JV
Kolkata:  Zuari Industries Limited (ZIL) will provide Rs 103 crore assistance to Zuari Cement Limited (ZCL), to help it tide over liquidity problems arising out of acquisition of Shri Vishnu Cement Limited in January.

ZCL is a joint venture with French company Ciments Francais.

ZIL will convert Rs 53 crore subordinated debt representing losses incurred by the cement division into equity shares of Rs 10 each fully paid up at par and will also provide Rs 50 crore loan to ZCL.
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Aurobindo Pharma allots 1 million shares to Templeton
Mumbai: The board of Aurobindo Pharma Ltd has alloted one million equity shares and equal number of share warrants to Templetons strategic emerging markets fund.

"Templeton fund has already brought in requisite funds to pick up a stake in the company and this investment will facilitate overseas listing of APL shares," the company said in a release.

Earlier, promoters of the Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company were allotted 5.3 lakh equity shares and equal number of warrants, it said.
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HOCL privatization process starts
New Delhi:  The privatisation of loss-making Hindustan Organic Chemicals Ltd (HOCL) has reached the last lap, with the disinvestment ministry holding the pre-bid conference with the bidders on 16 April.

There are about half a dozen parties interested in the takeover of 32.61 per cent equity in HOCL, the leading bidders being Deepak Chemicals and Atul Chemicals.

HOCL produces petrochemicals and basic organic chemicals. Its manufacturing bases are situated at Rasayani in Maharashtra and Cochin in Kerala.
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ITC hikes prices of 2 cigarette brands
Mumbai: ITC has raised prices of two key cigarette brands.
The company recently raised prices of its Bristol and Gold Flake regular filter brands.

Bristol accounts for an estimated 10 per cent of the company's cigarette sales by volume.
Gold Flake contributes 17 per cent of ITC's sales by volume.

ITC had raised cigarette prices by 10 and 21 per cent last year in response to a 15 per cent increase in excise duty last March.
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HLL net up 26.2%
Mumbai: Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) has announced a 26.2 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 428.54 crore in the first quarter ended 31 March 2002, but due to sluggish demand the companys turnover, net of excise at Rs 2,380.66 crore for the quarter, registered a decline of 9.9 per cent.

HLL reported a net profit of Rs 339.53 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The net profit for the first quarter 2002 includes an exceptional income of Rs 74.72 crore arising from profit on disposal of the companys seeds business.

The total income has declined from Rs 2,744.71 crore for the quarter as compared to Rs 2,476.59 crore last year.
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HDFC net up 37.7%
Mumbai: HDFC Bank reported its January-March net profit rose 37.7 per cent from the same period a year ago.

HDFC Bank posted a fourth-quarter net profit of Rs 902.4 million, up from Rs 655.4 million a year earlier.

Net profit was estimated at Rs 821.46 million.

Total income rose 34.8 percent to Rs 5.66 billion, boosted by strong loan growth and a surge in bond trading income.
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RPL shareholders approve merger
Ahmedabad: Shareholders of Reliance Petroleum Ltd (RPL) have approved a proposal to merge the company with Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to create India's largest private company.

"The resolution was passed with an overwhelming majority representing 99.99 percent in value of members present and voting," a company statement said.

RIL shareholders had approved Reliance Petroleum's merger with last week.

RIL is India's largest petrochemicals maker, while RPL operates the country's largest petroleum refinery of 27.5 million tonnes per annum.
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Marriott to bring Courtyard in India
New Delhi: Global hotel chain Marriott International will soon introduce the Courtyard hotel brand in Bangalore and Hyderabad.

The decision follows a multi-million dollar brand survey in India and China, said Edwin Fuller, president and MD (international lodging) of Marriott International, at a conference. "We hope to cash in on the domestic business in India with Courtyard franchisees," he added.

Courtyard hotels have 80-150 rooms, a restaurant, lounge, meeting place, central courtyard, exercise room and a swimming pool.
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Reliance plans to market Diesel, petrol
New Delhi: Reliance Petroleum Limited (RPL) has sought government approval to market 10 million tonne of high speed Diesel (HSD) and 2.4 mt of petrol from its 27 mt Jamnagar refinery in Gujarat. The company has also sought authorisation to set up 5,849 retail outlets in the country.

RPL also proposes to create a tankage capacity of 1.7 million kilo litres for handling petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene.

RPL has identified 11 coastal locations for creating a tankage capacity of 1.2 million kilo litre and another 29 inland locations for a tankage capacity of .5 million kilo litre.
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Mitsubishi Pajero faces hurdle
New Delhi: The Automobile Research Association of India has decided to withold homologation clearance to Mitsubishi Pajero.

Hindustan Motors has plans to introduce the top-end 3.2 litre diesel Pajero as a CBU product and the vehicle had been sent for homologation to the ARAI.

HM is also considering a CKD version from among the lower-end variants of the Pajero.

The CBU version of the Pajero was expected to debut with a Rs 32-33 lakh price tag.
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Gujarat government cover for Essar Steel
Ahmedabad: Essar Steel has taken refuge under the Gujarat governments protective legislation, the Bombay Relief Undertaking Act.

By seeking a protection as a relief undertaking under the BRU Act, the company would get an immunity against litigation filed against it for a period of one year.

The company claims that this would help it in successfully accomplishing its debt restructuring process, currently underway. The company is reeling under a cumulative debt of around $250 million.
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HC asks DCA to speed up RPL probe
New Delhi: The Delhi high court has directed department of company affairs to expedite the inspection of books of accounts of Reliance Petroleum for alleged diversion of Rs 945 crore of UTI, LIC and GIC funds for investment in various Reliance group companies.

The bench directed the DCA's regional director (West) to carry out limited inspection expeditiously and file the report by 24 May.
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Manipal group to shut down NBFC arms
Bangalore: The Manipal group plans to exit from the non-banking finance business by shutting down its three subsidiaries Maha Rashtra Apex Corporation Ltd (MRAC), Canara Nidhi Ltd (CNL) and Manipal Home Finance Ltd (MHFL).

The group has requested the Karnataka high court to approve its proposed restructuring plans for all the three entities. A creditors' meet has been scheduled on 14 June.

The three companies currently manage public deposits of Rs 313 crore with a depositor base of 1,75,000.
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Elf Gas acquires Mobil Peevees' LPG business
Bangalore: ELF Gas India Ltd (EGIL), the fully owned subsidiary of the French petroleum major TotalFinaElf, has acquired the marketing and bottling activities of the Mobil Peevees Company Ltd's liquefied petroleum gas business. Following the agreement, MPCL's LPG bottling plants and its subsidiary Supa Gas Ltd will come under the fold of EGIL.

EGIL has also expanded its capital by Rs 20 crore to invest in its expansion programme, which consists of an enhanced storage capacity of 7,500 tonnes from 3,000 tonnes.

EGIL has a capital base of Rs 57 crore. EGIL, which has its port handling facility at Mangalore, is one of the largest LPG distributors in the southern region.
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Tata Tele plans expansion
Hyderabad: Tata Teleservices Ltd, the basic telecom services provider and part of the Tata group, has announced plans to cover seven cities in Tamil Nadu, six urban towns in Karnataka and five in Gujarat in the first year of operations.

The company is looking at the possibility of strategic tie-ups with other networks for rapid deployment of services. It has already firmed up with Spectranet and InCable to share local networks.

The company is in the process of finalising its rollout plans in four states and is set to sign up for the Maharashtra circle soon.

In Gujarat, Tata Teleservices plans to cover five cities in the first year Ahmedabad, Surat, Vododdara, Gandhinagar and Anand.
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Wrangler to double retail presence
Bangalore: Arvind Brands Ltd, subsidiary of Arvind Mills, expects Wrangler to mop up Rs 25-crore sales in the current financial year.

Arvind is the licensee in India for the Wrangler brand, which belongs to the $ 6 billion VF Corporation.

The brand is available at over 60 stores across seven cities in the country. Wrangler will double its retail presence in the current year. The brand will also be made available in cities such as Vadodara and Chandigarh.
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Louis Phillipe's Mozart collection
Chennai: Louis Phillipe brand has launched its spring-summer collection. This range of shirts, called the Mozart collection, has reportedly been designed to suit the summer.

The collection is available at all Louis Phillipe showrooms and leading retail outlets. The shirts are priced from Rs 999 onwards. The brand was one of the first international labels to be launched in India by Madura Garments.
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Matrix buys out Medicon for Rs 1.5 crore
Hyderabad: Matrix Laboratories has acquired 100 per cent controlling interest in Medicon Laboratories, a formulation company that produces sterile betalctum products, for a consideration of Rs 1.5 crore.

Medicon was promoted by a group of practising doctors with its unit located on the outskirts of the city.

Medicon, now a 100 per cent subsidiary of Matrix, proposes to improve the capacity utilisation from the existing 40 per cent to 100 per cent under the new management.
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Tata group rejigs holding in VSNL SPV
Mumbai: The Tata Group has altered the shareholding structure of the special purpose vehicle (SPV), Panatone Finvest, set up for the acquisition of Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL) with Tata Steel and Tata Industries reducing their exposure to just a token presence.

Tata Steel and Tata Industries now hold 0.025 per cent stake each, instead of the earlier announced 5 per cent exposure to the SPV following a recapitalisation.

The alteration also follows Tata Steel's decision of staying away from making large investments in the telecom sector.

Tata Sons, the group's main holding company, have hiked its stake in the SPV by almost 10 per cent to 59.95 per cent following the infusion of additional capital.

Tata Power, which is making considerable investments into the groups telecom infrastructure initiative, will continue to hold 40 per cent in Panatone Finvest.
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Essar bags Rs 100 crore order
Mumbai: Essar Steel has bagged an export order for 62,700 tonne of hot rolled coils worth approximately Rs 100 crore from STS, a Spanish company.

The order, which is likely to be enhanced to 84,000 tonne, according to Essar Steel officials, is to be executed over six months, commencing May 2002.

STS will be manufacturing pipes for Ena Gas, a wholly owned subsidiary of Gas Natural, a leading oil producer in Spain.
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Kinetic to shut Ahmednagar unit
Mumbai: Kinetic Engineering will observe a 24-day shutdown starting 15 April at its Ahmednagar plant, which has so long been manufacturing mopeds, to re-lay it with facilities for mass production of motorcycles.

This is being seen as a precursor to the launch of the Boss, an entry level, 100 cc 4-stroke motorcycle by the company.

Kinetic, in a notice to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), said it will observe a "planned maintenance shutdown" from 15 April to 8 May.
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Jindal Strips plans Rs 45 crore expansion
New Delhi: Jindal Strips Ltd has earmarked an investment of Rs 45 crore to expand manufacturing and melting capacity at its plant in Hissar. The funds will be raised from internal accruals.

The companys stainless steel production was estimated at 3,27,000 million tonne, while the installed capacity is 2,50,000 mt, which is a capacity utilisation of 131 per cent.

The company is in talks with a couple of Chinese steel manufacturing companies to provide technical know-how without any investments.
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Dabur, Thailand firm ink mktg pact
New Delhi: Dabur has tied up with the Thailand-based Bioscience for exclusive distribution of oncology formulations of the company in Thailand.

The company plans to spend 25 per cent of its sales revenue from Thailand on clinical trials and promotional activities.

The company, at present, has 29 oncology formulations registered in Thailand and another 14 products are expected to be registered in the next few years.

Intaxel, an oncology brand of Dabur, was registered in Thailand last year.
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GE unveils ITES for hospitals
Kolkata: GE Medical Systems Information Technology, the newest company from the GE stable, has come up with a host of IT-enabled smart services for hospital management in the country.

The company has introduced end-to-end IT solutions for administrative and clinical operations of hospitals that would make healthcare safer and more effective. The company offers package for large chains as well as for stand-alone hospitals.

The company has supplied IT solutions to the entire Apollo chain of 30 hospitals. It has also worked with Wockhardt, which is planning to build 10 hospitals across the country. Moreover, the company is working with the Manipal chain (with 10 hospitals).
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BSNL plans to invest Rs 14,000 crore
New Delhi: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has set an ambitious target of providing 64 lakh new telephone connections, including wireless in local loop (WLL)-based limited mobility phones and cellular services.

This was stated by BSNLs new chairman and managing director Prithipal Singh at heads of circles meetings for the four zones. The company would invest about Rs 14,000 crore in 2002-03.

The meeting reviewed the achievements for 2001-02 and set new directions and targets for the current financial year.

During last financial year, BSNL provided about 53.2 lakh direct exchange lines (DEL) including 1.96 lakh WLL connections mainly in the rural areas, a BSNL release said, adding that the company laid over 99,000 km optical fibre.
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