Fujifilm camera launched
New Delhi: Jindal Photo Films Ltd (JPFL) has launched a new camera targeted at the amateur segment of the market.

Fujifilm Crystal Big Viewfinder camera, launched by brand ambassador Aishwarya Rai here, will be the first camera marketed by the company, which already enjoys significant market share in other photographic goods.
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Hughes, Tatas begin merger talks
Mumbai: Hughes Network Systems and Tata Industries have restarted negotiations for a possible combination concerning the basic telephony services in relation to the existing licences of Hughes Telecom in the Maharashtra telecom circle and of Tata Teleservices in Andhra Pradesh.

HNS holds 24.85 per cent stake in Hughes Tele.com, while Ispat Industries Ltd has 24.2 per cent. Alltel holds 6.5 per cent and the remaining equity is being held between the public, FIIs, domestic FIs and the public.

Hughes Tele.com has a equity capital of Rs 1,405 crore.

The company has invested over Rs 2,100 crore in Maharashtra. ICICI has offered a line of credit of Rs 850 crore, out of which Rs 200 crore had been disbursed.

Tata Teleservices is being promoted by Tata Industries, with 51 per cent stake and remaining 49 per cent held by Tata Power.
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H-P India sees 8% growth
New Delhi: Hewlett-Packard has projected "flat-to-positive" growth rate of 8-10 per cent for PC sales in 2002 against a negative growth rate of 14 per cent in 2001.

In volume terms, the company shipped 92,000 PCs last calendar.

The demand from government segment is expected to rise due to a lot of anticipated purchases from PSUs and financial institutions while education sector will have same demand growth rate as in 2001.

Household sector is, however, likely to post a fall both in terms of value and volume.

Last calendar, H-P cornered a market share of 5.6 per cent occupying the third slot in the Indian market. HCL Infosys was the market leader with a market share of 8.6 per cent with a shipment of 1,51,104 PCs.Compaq India held the second position.
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Essar to invest Rs 130 cr in Rajasthan, UP, Haryana
New Delhi: Essar group will be investing Rs 130 crore in the expansion of three cellular circles-Rajasthan, UP and Haryana in which the group has 100 per cent stake.

These are the three circles which would be merged with Hutchison in the second phase. By the end of 2002 the subscriber base would be close to two million.
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TCS wants certifying authority licence
New Delhi: The Controller of Certifying Authority (CCA), established under Information Technology (IT) Act, has said that Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has applied for certifying authority licence for digital signature.

The authority is currently studying the Certification Practice Statement (CPS) to see if everything is as per the IT Act rules and regulation.

The application of TCS for CA licence has brought the total number of licence applicants to three. The other entities which had applied for the licence included National Informatics Centre (NIC), and a RBI unit-Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technologies (IDRBT).
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Reliance to go it alone with Hirma power project
New Delhi:  The Reliance group has decided to execute the $5-billion, 3960 mw Hirma mega power project on its own following the exit of its American partner Mirant Power. Originally, the project was to be developed by Reliance and Mirant on a 50:50 joint venture basis.

In a recent letter, Reliance has informed the government that "it will continue with the development of Hirma project and would like to execute a fresh deed of release and assignment with Power Trading Corporation (PTC) after which the development agreement and the memorandum of understanding for the project, signed earlier with Mirant, will then stand transferred in favour of Reliance Power Limited".
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Satyam to divest stake in JV to GE
New Delhi: Satyam Computer Services has firmed up plans to sell its 50 per cent holding in Satyam GE Software Services Pvt Ltd to its foreign partner, GE.

The Satyam group company will sell its entire shareholding to GE for a consideration close to $4 million.

Satyam GE has filed an application with the foreign investment promotion board (FIPB) seeking permission to transfer Satyam Computers 50 per cent shareholding to GE.

GEs investment in the joint venture is routed through a Mauritius investment vehicle, GE Pacific (Mauritius) Ltd.
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Dabur to launch more fruit drinks
New Delhi: Dabur Foods has firmed up plans to launch more fruit-based beverages for the old and new generation.

The beverage for the older generation (above 35 years) would be a blend of juices that would include vital nutrients such as calcium, minerals and vitamins. The product would be positioned as an extension of the Real brand.

While test marketing for both the products would begin by the end of this year, the final products would be launched sometime next year.
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Hind Latex registers highest turnover, profit
Thiruvananthapuram: Hindustan Latex, country's leading manufacturers of contraceptive and health care aids, has recorded the highest turnover of Rs 128.55 crore and profit of Rs 10.55 crore in the year 2001-2002.

HLL CMD G Rajmohan told reporters here that the company proposed to pay a dividend of Rs 1.33 crore to the Centre for the period, which was Rs 55 lakh higher than the dividend paid during the previous period.

He said HLL's turnover for 2000-01 was Rs 105.24 crore and the profit for the fiscal was Rs 8.11 crore.

The highest turnover was made possible due to the increased sales of its products - condoms Rs 96.92 crore, Mala D/N oral contraceptive pills Rs 12.19 crore, blood transfusion bag Rs 5.81 crore and Saheli Rs 1.38 crore, he said.
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TCS to set up 7 new training centres
Mumbai: Tata Consultancy Services will set up seven training centres -- one domestic and six overseas -- to support its growth plans.

TCS will establish a basic training facility at Kolkata on the lines of one in Thiruvanthapuram this year.

TCS, a division of Tata Sons has spent Rs 20 crore on the training centre at Thiruvananthapuram which has facilities to train 2,400 pernonnel annually.

Six overseas centres including one each for regions like Asia-Pacific, North America would be set up in the next three years to update the skills and knowledge of consultants based abroad.

The total outlay for training was pegged at four per cent of annual turnover and TCS has spent Rs 140 crore on this head in 2001-02.
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Xansa in JV for IT park near Chennai
Chennai: Xansa is to partner the Tamil Nadu government in setting up an IT park near Chennai that will provide employment to nearly 6,000 software engineers.

The park would be set up at Siruseri village, on the Chennai-Mahabalipuram Road, Xansa chief executive Saurabh Srivastava said here.

An industrial park exclusively for women entrepreneurs already exists in the village, which lies off the east coast. Xanxa has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Tamil Nadu government for the Siruseri centre, which will become operational by March 2003. The company has been allotted 850,000 sq ft plot of land in the village.
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Omifco to raise $674 m
Mumbai: The Oman India Fertiliser Company has entered the international markets to tie up debt facilities of $674 m that will help fund its $994-m greenfield project near Sur in the Sultanate of Oman.

The syndication of the debt facilities, which is being lead arranged by ANZ Investment Bank, is expected to close in the next few days. The funds raised will be deployed in the construction of a new 1.6m-tonne urea complex and a 0.25m-tonne ammonia complex.

Omifco is a joint venture between Oman Oil (50%), Krishak Bharati (25%) and Indian Farmers Fertilisers Cooperative (25%), with a debt-equity ratio of 2:1. Of the $674-m being raised, $321 m would be in the form of a commercial loan, $28 m would be stand-by debt facilities and $325 m would be an export credit facility from Italian export credit agency, SACE, and the French export credit agency, Coface.
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Corpbank Homes net doubles
Mangalore: Corpbank Homes Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Corporation Bank, has doubled its net profit for the financial year ended 31 March 2002. Net profit after tax increased to Rs 3.38 crore against Rs 1.66 crore for the previous year, registering a growth rate of 103.61 per cent.

Cumulative sanctions stood at Rs 206.58 crore and cumulative disbursements at Rs 188.40 crore. The company also sanctioned a total of Rs 104.58 crore during the fiscal and disbursements during the period stood at Rs 97.1 crore. Sanctions and disbursements were higher by 93.88 per cent and 79.22 per cent respectively.
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Horizon bags Rs 60-cr Mauritius TV project
Hyderabad: Horizon Television Ltd (HTL), the Hyderabad-based multimedia, networking, software solutions and television programming company, has bagged cable television network project in the Republic of Mauritius.

This is the first project in the cable television segment to be cleared by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), Mauritius, following the reforms initiated by the Government in the television broadcasting field. The project is estimated to cost around Rs 60 crore.
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IndusInd Bank to foray into retail biz
Chennai: IndusInd Bank is planning a major foray into the retail business. The banks strategy includes buying out the retail portfolio of other banks besides expanding its network of on-site and off-site ATMs and branch network.

Addressing mediapersons here, Javanta Kumar Basu, the newly appointed executive vice-president (retail operations), IndusInd Bank said the bank is gearing up to tap the burgeoning retail market for deposits and credits in a big way in the current fiscal.

He said the bank currently has 47 branches and 30 off-site ATM centres and is planning to take this network to 200 which includes most off-site ATMs and some branch additions.
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Dalmia picks up 40% stake in Revathi
Mumbai: Abhishek Dalmia is picking up nearly 40 % stake in Coimbatore-based Revathi Equipment Ltd (REL) from its parent Atlas Copco Sweden, in a deal amounting to nearly Rs 30 crore.

Along with the open offer for another 20 % of stake in the target company, the Dalmias stake would go up to about 60 %.

The offer price for the deal has been fixed at Rs 234, which is about 15 per cent above the last traded price of the stock, and 32 per cent above the average price of last six months at about Rs 176. The total cost of the deal, including the open offer works out to Rs 45 crore.
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SITA in talks with AAI
Mumbai: Societe Internationale De Telecommunications Aeronautiques (SITA) is in an advance stage of negotiations with Airport Authority of India (AAI) and Airlines Operating Committee (AOC) for providing an enhanced level of automation via common use terminal equipment at Indira Gandhi International Airport.

SITA is also in discussion with six other international airports in major metros like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Calcutta, Chennai etc. for providing automation.

SITA is the largest information technology and telecommunication solutions provider to the aviation industry.

The organisation provides critical applications like reservations, departure control systems for airlines like Air Sahara, Royal Nepal, Biman Bangladesh etc.
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Orchid Ecotel to expand to New Delhi
Mumbai: The Orchid Ecotel five star hotel is extending its chain to New Delhi. Scheduled to open in September this year, Orchid (New Delhi) will be operated and managed by the Kamat Hotels (India) Group.

Kamat Hotel (India) and its flagship hotel Orchid (Mumbai) are also proposing to diversify their field of operations into carbon trading and organic farming.

Orchid is also planning to branch into organic farming.

With an annual turnover of Rs 45 crore, the group is going to continue its planned diversification and growth.
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Cummins India cuts supplier network to 400
Mumbai:  Cummins India has drastically cut down its supplier base by about half to 400 from about 800. CIL is planning to further prune this down to 300.

The company has also undertaken several initiatives to overcome the slump in diesel engine sales. The company, which has decided to focus on exports, has now become the sole source globally for three engine families for Cummins worldwide.

CIL has also started to export engines and components to customers and the sister plants in China. Exports from have grown from Rs 50 crore to Rs 200 crore.
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TFL, Abbey National to pick up 19% in Tata Homefinance
New Delhi: Tata Finance and Abbey National Plc have decided to jointly pick up the 19 per cent equity held by other Tata group companies in Tata Homefinance.

The foreign equity in Tata Homefinance held by Abbey National will increase to around 37 per cent from the existing 30 per cent. The equity holding of Tata Finance will go up to 63 per cent from the existing 51 per cent.
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