BPCL to merge with Kochi Refineries
Bharat Petroleum Corporation has drawn up a strategy after its proposed public issue which will involve a merger with Kochi Refineries and ceding majority control in the three-milliom tonne Numaligarh Refinery to Oil India.

The Central Government had earlier sold its 55 per cent stake in Kochi Refineries to BPCL for around Rs 800 crore as part of a restructuring exercise in the downstream sector. This holding company-subsidiary concept will eventually be substituted with a single entity of a BPCL-Kochi Refineries combine.
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Usha Beltron plans to revert to old name
USHABeltron Ltd is planning to change its name back to Usha Martin within this fiscal. .Dr P. Bhattacharya, Joint Managing Director of the company told reporters in Kolkata yesterday that the company had changed its name from Usha Martin to Usha Beltron a few years back when it set up a telecom cable facility at Jamshedpur.

"However, with steel becoming our preferred area of business now, we have decided to change the name back to the original name."
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Indo Rama Nagpur plant to avail Zimmer AG technology
Indo Rama Synthetics (I) Ltd yesterday announced that Zimmer AG of Germany would provide the technology support, know how and equipment for the company's Rs 490-crore expansion project at its existing facility at Butibori in Nagpur.

An agreement to this effect was signed between the two companies on Tuesday.

The project entails the setting up of a 500-tonne per day (1,75,000 tonnes per annum) polycondensation plant for production of polyester staple fibre (PSF) and textile- grade chips.
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Delhi HC Stays Daewoo bid for more promoter directors
On a joint plea by ICICI, IDBI and Exim Bank, the Delhi High Court has stayed the operation of four circular resolutions passed by Daewoo Motors India board on June 11, 2002 seeking to increase the number of promoter directors from seven to 11.
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NTC arm to implement Rs 390-crore rehabilition plan
NTC (APKKM), one of nine subsidiaries of the National Textile Corporation, plans to increase production of yarn and cloth by 12-15 per cent in 2002-03 apart from implementing the `sanctioned rehabilitation plan' suggested by BIFR.
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Gujarat Lyka out of BIFR net
Gujarat Lyka Organics Ltd (GLOL) which has merged with Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (SPIL), has been discharged from the purview of the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR).
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Philips hopes to save Rs 7 crores through mergers
Philips India Ltd (PIL) hopes to achieve cost savings of around Rs 7 crore per annum after wholly-owned subsidiary Electric Lamp Manufacturers (I) Ltd (ELMI) and sister companies like Punjab Anand Lamp Industries Ltd (PALI) and Philips Glass India Ltd (PGIL) are amalgamated with it.

At a meeting in Kolkata on Wednesday, shareholders of PIL approved a resolution seeking their approval of a scheme of amalgamation of ELMI, PALI and PGIL with PIL. The scheme shall be operative from April 1, 2002. The swap ratio for PALI shareholders has been fixed at 11 equity shares of the face value of Rs 10 each in PIL for every 10 equity shares of the face value of Rs 10 each held by them in PALI.
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Telco, BPCL In Deal To Sell Co-branded Lubricants 
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Tata Engineering (Telco) have signed a five-year agreement to market co-branded lubricants.

The agreement was signed between the two companies in Delhi last week, according to a press statement issued by BPCL. The lubricants would be introduced in the market soon and the marketing would be carried out by both the companies. The lubricants would be available at BPCLs retail outlets and with Tata Engineerings dealers, distributors and service network.
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Bisleri s Delhi plant to shut down temporarily
BisleriS plant in Delhi will remain shut from today till technical experts from the Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) certify the water quality of the Bisleri plant.

BIS had cancelled Chauhans license to bottle water from the Delhi plant on May 16 on issues of safety and health. However, the plant continued operations as Chauhan felt that the "cancellation order was bad in law.
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Aventis Pharma posts impressive growth
Aventis Pharma has posted a 16.5 per cent growth in the first five months of the current fiscal to Rs 261 crore. Exports constituted Rs 60 crore in the turnover registering an increase of 56 per cent over the corresponding period last year.
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RPL to increaseJamnagar plant capacity
Reliance Petroleum is likely to increase capacity of its 27 million tonnes Jamnagar refinery to about 30 million tonnes by 2004-05.The company plans to rake up Jamnagar capacity to 590,000 barrels per day in the next 2-3 years through debottling the present capacity of 540,000 barrels per day.
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Pharmacia Aims To Double Japanese Sales
US drug giant Pharmacia Corp said on Wednesday, it was aiming to double its sales in Japan to 200 billion yen ($1.61 billion) by 2005 by introducing new products that have proven successful elsewhere.

Sales of Pharmacia KK, the Japanese subsidiary of the US drugmaker, rose 7.5 per cent in 2001 from a year earlier to 106.9 billion yen, driven by solid sales of glaucoma medicine Xalatan.
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Birlas, HPCL talk again on MRPL stake sale
The AV BIRLA group has started fresh negotiations with HPCL on selling its stake in Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals (MRPL) to the latter.

Alternatively, the Birla brass, who met top HPCL officials last week, sought a no objection certificate (NoC) from the PSU major, if the latter is not inclined to acquire its stake in MRPL. The Birla group and HPCL hold 37.5 % stake each in MRPL. The Birlas latest move follows a change at HPCLs helm, where Mahesh B Lal has taken over as chairman-cum-managing director early this month.
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SCI's FY-02 net down
Shipping Corporation of India has posted a 36.86 per cent drop in its net profit at Rs 241.56 crore for the year ended March 31, 2002 against Rs 382.56 crore in the previous year.

Net sales for the period under review were down 8.01 per cent at Rs 2,818.23 crore as compared to Rs 3,063.65 crore for 2000-01, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.
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Goodrich to buy TRW's aeronautical wing
Goodrich said it has agreed to buy the Aeronautical Systems business of take over target TRW for $1.5bn in a move to strengthen its hand in commercial and military aerospace.

TRW, whose business spans defence and car parts, is splitting itself apart and is being eyed by US rival Northrop Grumman and Britains BAE Systems as they seek to profit from rising US defence spending.
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UB may sell 8% Aventis stake
The United Breweries Group may participate in the open offer by German major BayerCropScience AG to acquire the public's 32.92 per cent stake in Aventis CropScience India.

The UB group, which has stated its intention to focus on the core liquor business, holds close to 8per cent in AventisCropScience.
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Timken India to increase production
The Timken Company, US, has decided to give its Indian arm a bigger share of its global production of E-class AP cartridge tapered roller bearings which are mostly used by the railways.

This is part of a restructuring programme that the parent company has undertaken at its units across the globe in order to optimise their productivity and profitability. The company has also decided to close down two unviable units, one in the UK and another in the US.
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Dynegy plans asset sale, job cuts
Dnergy marketing and trading company Dynegy plans to cut about 7 per cent of its work force and is weighing selling assets for some $1bn in an effort to boost its finances, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Citing people close to the situation, the report said assets which Dynegy could sell include some of its natural-gas pipelines, as well as production and storage facilities.
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Sara Lee TTK To Become Sourcing Centre For Parent Firm
Sara Lee TTK Limited, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Sara Lee Corp, is going to become the global sourcing centre for its parent company. The company expects a 100 per cent growth in its exports in the fiscal ending June 2003.

"We expect our exports to double in the coming year, especially if we are given the Russian market", said Sara Lee TTK chief executive officer VS Pradeep Kumar.
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KPMG to advise IOC on setting up oil trading desk
Indian Oil has appointed KPMG Consulting to advise it on setting up an international oil trading desk that will help the countrys biggest refiner manage its crude purchases in a volatile global market.

Indian Oil has a strong international trade division, which has been acquiring crude and petroleum products on behalf of all oil companies in the country.
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Stanrose Mafatlal to sell property to pay for retrenchment
Stanrose Mafatlal group is selling its 10-acre prime land in central Mumbai, once the hub of its textile business, to pay costs of employee retrenchment, in yet another example of how textile companies are selling real estate to meet normal operating expenses.

The group has approached the citys major real estate developers including Shapoorji Pallonji group to sell the property which has been lying vacant since the cotton textile unit of Standard Industries was shut.
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