SkodaAuto Shifts Ops To CKD Form
Mumbai: SkodaAuto India is shifting to the completely knocked down (CKD) form for its operations in India from the existing mode of semi knocked down (SKD) operations. The automaker has decided to shift to this form due to the change in customs regulations as a result of which duties on SKD kits have gone up from 30 per cent to 60 per cent. This would have resulted in an increase of around Rs one lakh in Octavia prices. “The operations will begin in Aurangabad by September or November this year. It will enable Skoda to increase production from 8,000 cars per annum to around 10,000 units,” said SkodaAuto CEO Karl-Gunter Busching.
Back to News Review index page  

O&M is India's most admired
Mumbai: It's official: Ogilvy & Mather is Agency No 1. Not on the basis of size, though O&M's managing director Ranjan Kapur in the past had stated his ambition to top the league tables.But for now, O&M emerges as India's Most Admired Agency, in an exclusive Brand Equity survey. Says Mr Kapur, "It's the result of hard work and creative focus." In second position is J Walter Thompson, followed by Lowe India.
Back to News Review index page  

Rasna to buyRex, Brown&Polson
New Delhi: Ahmedabad-based Rasna is close to acquiring popular household brands Brown & Polson custard and Rex Jelly from Hindustan Lever.The deal, slated to be between Rs 22 crore and Rs 25 crore, is likely to be sealed next month. HLL had put these brands on the block late last year. Rasna, it is learnt, has emerged as the highest bidder for them. Rasna chairman Piruz Khambatta refused to comment on this issue.
Back to News Review index page  

Independent status for Greenfield airports
New Delhi: Greenfield airports under construction at Hyderabad and Bangalore and the one already built in Kochi with majority private participation will have independent status except for air traffic control and security under a legislation cleared by the Union Cabinet on Tuesday.An official spokesman said the cabinet approved introduction of a comprehensive amendment to Airport Authority of India Act 1994 and withdrawal of AAI amendment bill 2000 which is pending in Lok Sabha.
Back to News Review index page  

Sykes to treble staff in India
Bangalore: US-based Sykes Enterprises, which runs call centre services to Fortune 1000 companies, aims to treble its staff in India to nearly 1,200 by the end of this year, as it boosts operations in low-cost countries."Our clients that are looking to save costs, are now using our offshore (locations)," Marlene Avila, call centre director at Sykes' fully-owned Indian unit, told Reuters on the sidelines of an industry conference on Tuesday.
Back to News Review index page  

Grasim FY '03 net up 21.32 per cent
Mumbai: Grasim Industries, the flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, posted a 21.32 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 367.58 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2003 after exceptional items, compared to a net profit of Rs 302.96 crore in 2001-02.
Grasim's board recommended a 100 per cent dividend (at Rs 10 per share) for 2003-04, with a total payout of Rs 103.4 crore, a company release said here on Tuesday. The company's total income for the fiscal rose to Rs 4,742.13 crore, compared to Rs 4,501.26 crore for the previous year, it said.
Back to News Review index page  

Some reel life is welcome in diplomacy: Prasad
New Delhi: Diplomacy through Bollywood. The government is working on these lines to promote the country’s image through films, according to information and broadcasting minister Ravi Shankar Speaking at a session on ‘Bollywood Crossover’ at the CII annual conference here on Tuesday, he said the I&B ministry had sent a proposal to the external affairs ministry recently with Bollywood and diplomacy in mind. The proposal has been accepted by the external affairs ministry, he added.
Back to News Review index page  

Good governance missing, feel most corporate leaders
New Delhi: Describing corporate governance as something that cannot be enforced through a set of rules, Tata Sons director Jamshed J Irani expressed a lack of faith in reports and recommendations published by various committees on the subject at Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) annual conference. He also called upon CII to discourage companies from its membership who are known to have flouted basic principles of good governance. While speaking in favour of a non-executive chairman being different from the managing director or chief executive officer, Dr Irani disagreed with the proposed limit of three terms of three years each as recommended by the Naresh Chandra committee. He said this could be counter-productive as companies could end up losing the services of good directors, like the ones who have served on the boards of Tata companies for as long as 20 years.
Back to News Review index page  

Wockhardt institute emerging learning hub for cardiologists
Bangalore: The Bangalore-based Wockhardt Hospital and Heart Institute is fast becoming a training ground for cardiac surgeons, both from within and outside the country. Currently, three cardiac surgeons from China are at the fag end of their training programme in `Beating Heart Surgery' from Dr Vivek Jawali, Chief Cardiovascular Surgeon, Wockhardt, Bangalore.
Back to News Review index page  

Essar Oil to get Rs 36-cr excise refund
Ahmedabad: Essar Ltd (EOL) has been allowed a refund of Rs 36 crore by the Customs Excise and Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal (CEGAT) towards excess duty paid for goods imported at its refinery in February 1999. The refund has come four years after the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) found fault with the Central Excise office at Jamnagar for the 10 per cent duty that was charged on goods worth Rs 600 crore at pre-budget rates even as the company's cheque was cleared a few days into the new financial year.
Back to News Review index page  

Cos Bill cleared
New Delhi: The Union Cabinet has cleared the Companies (Amendment) Bill 2003, which seeks to define auditor-company relationship and prescribe stiffer penalties for non-compliance. This paves the way for the repeal of the Companies Act, 1956, and the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 1997. The new Bill has incorporated the recommendations of the Naresh Chandra Committee on Corporate Audit and Governance as well as that of the Joint Parliamentary Committee, and is reminiscent of the earlier 1997 Companies Bill. Not only does it highlight the aspects of good corporate governance, but also prescribes stiffer penalty provisions.
Back to News Review index page  

Fapcci invites entries for annual awards
Hyderabad: The Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (Fapcci), a premier chambers with over 2,600 members in the State, has announced the annual awards programme for the year 2002-03. Inviting entries for 19 awards, Mr Omprakash Tibrewala, the President, Fapcci, said that meritorious companies and persons would be presented awards "in recognition of their excellence and contribution to various aspects of trade and industrial activities."
Back to News Review index page  

Cummins declares Rs 4 interim
Pune: Cummins India Ltd has declared an interim dividend of 200 per cent for the year ended March 31, 2003. According to a company statement, the interim of 200 per cent (Rs 4 per share of Rs 2 each) includes 125 per cent as a special one-time dividend. The board is unlikely to recommend any further dividend for the year ended March 2003.
Back to News Review index page  

Bank guarantees: HC restrains UB Engineering
Kolkata: Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose of Calcutta High Court restrained UB Engineering Ltd, a Mallya Group Company, not to invoke two bank guarantees amounting Rs 7 crore and also Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI), which issued the bank guarantees, not to take any step relating to invocation letters issued by WBEL at this stage.The Court passed the order following a suit filed by Development Consultants Pvt Ltd (DCPL).
Back to News Review index page  

NetApp to set up tech centre
Bangalore: Storage solution vendor Network Appliance is setting up a technology centre here to offer engineering, customer support and professional services. The company plans to invest between Rs 50 crore and Rs 75 crore in the new centre, which is expected to be operational by June, said Mr Manish Goel, President - Network Appliance India Technology Operations.
Back to News Review index page  

NTC arm in TN revises bids for surplus land
Coimbatore: The Tamil Nadu subsidiary of National Textile Corporation (NTC), which has come out with a revised bid for sale of surplus lands held under its textile units (both working and defunct units), may go for plotting of lands to facilitate straight sale of land for residential use. The NTC subsidiary is also moving the Coimbatore Municipal Corporation for change of land use for this purpose which will enable converting the classification of land earmarked for sale from that of industrial into residential.
Back to News Review index page  

Skoda India lowers sales target
Mumbai: Skoda Auto India Pvt Ltd, in the process of shifting to CKD (completely knocked down) operations from SKD (semi-knocked down) operations, has lowered its earlier sales target of 8,500 cars during 2003 to 4,500, unchanged from 2002.
The shift in manufacturing style called for a slowdown in production. Losing out in 2003 on account of this, the company has, however, raised its sale target to over 10,000 cars in 2004. It is expected to commence CKD operations from October 2003.
Back to News Review index page  

Focus brands drive up GSK net 52 pc
Mumbai: Pharma major GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd has registered a 52.43 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 35.09 crore in the quarter ended March 31, 2003, against Rs 26.04 crore in the corresponding period last year. S. Kalyanasundaram, managing director, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd told presspersons at the company's annual general meeting that the growth in profit, despite a flat market, is due to strong demand for the focus brands. This resulted in higher sales of the profitable brands, improved product mix and better margins. Procurement and manufacturing efficiencies and control on expenses also helped improve profits for this period. Net sales have declined to Rs 282.86 crore (Rs 285.57 crore).
Back to News Review index page  

Whirlpool to seek nod for waiver of royalty payment
New Delhi: White goods major Whirlpool of India Ltd, which had in 1997 postponed royalty payment to the parent company, Whirlpool Corporation, till 2002, has now decided to further seek Government approval for waiver of royalty payment for another two years — 2003 and 2004. The decision to this effect was taken at the company's board meeting here on Tuesday.
Back to News Review index page  

Xerox Modicorp probe report likely by June
New Delhi: The independent investigator appointed by the Department of Company Affairs (DCA) to probe into the scam involving payoffs by Xerox Modicorp Ltd is likely to submit its report by the end of June this year, almost a year after it was appointed.
"The report should be out in another two months," informed sources. The independent investigator, Surendar K Jain & Co, was appointed had been investigating the case since August last year.
Back to News Review index page  

Tata Chem: Starting with a clean slate
Mumbai: Prudent provisioning appears to have saved Tata Chemicals' financials from considerable damage due to the recent revision in urea retention prices, with retrospective effect. The contingency provision that the company had made to meet this revision (at Rs 197 crore) has been just about adequate to cover the damage to the revenues caused by the revision in retention prices for the period from 1997 to 2003. The downward revision trims 2002-03 revenues by Rs 15 crore and the previous year's revenues by Rs 182.9 crore, totaling up to Rs 198 crore.
Back to News Review index page