Ceat scouts for technical partner for Radial Tyres
Mumbai: To tap the growing passenger car radial market, RPG group company Ceat Ltd is scouting for partners to provide them with technical expertise for radial tyres. The company is already in talks with several international radial manufacturers for the purpose, and is likely to narrow down its options and finalise an agreement by the end of this fiscal. Once the technical collaboration is firmed up, the company plans to invest around Rs 50 crore to increase its radial capacity to 90,000 units per month by 2005-06.
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MUL plans new interior designing services for customers’ comfort
New Delhi: Market leader Maruti Udyog plans to jazz up car interiors, converting traffic agony to a joy ride. The company-owned Maruti Sales & Service based in the Capital, in association with DuPont, will soon launch an interior designing unit at its workshop which will provide customized interior designing facility to Maruti owners at a nominal cost. “It is found that in a metro like Delhi, where private cars are prime means of commuting, people are spending more and more time inside the vehicle. They find Delhi traffic increasingly monotonous and frustrating. Along with a comfortable interior, with air-conditioning and other electronic gadgets, customers now want soothing interior according to their own taste. Taking a cue from our customers’ feedback we have decided to launch an interior designing service at our workshop,” Maruti Sales & Service (Delhi) assistant general manager Sundar M Murmu said.
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Indian Pharma cos likely to become partner of choice for multinationals
Mumbai: With the 2005 deadline for implementing patents fast approaching, and the research pipeline far from enthusing the revenue charts, Indian pharma companies are likely to position themselves as a ‘preferred partner of choice’ to multinational pharma companies (MNCs). ‘Partner of choice’ could extend from in-licensing MNC products into India as also becoming providers of bulk drugs to pharma companies globally. Accenture partner KK Iyer said, “Indian market at $4 billion is not going to be attractive for foreign MNCs and they would prefer to loan licence their products to Indian companies than coming to India on their own.”
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TQ3 Travel plans expansion in Asia Pacific region, India
Mumbai: TQ3 Travel Solutions, which has system-wide revenues in excess of $9 billion and operates 1,600 locations in over 70 countries, has plans to expand in the Asia Pacific region where it is looking to set up a regional managing office which will be based in Singapore. It also has plans for India on the cards, as it feels that India has a huge potential in terms of corporate travel management. It has recently appointed Bicky Carla as its senior vice president who looks after the Asia Pacific and Middle East region. TQ3 official said, “India is a strategic key market for TQ3 Travel Solutions’ cultural global growth. As a corporate travel market, we believe India will continue to grow in terms of significance and importance and indeed many of our global customers already have a requirement in this market. Also, the technology expertise in India is huge and this is an area that will benefit our customers more and more as the market matures.”
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Cadila Pharma launches ayurvedic preparations for OTC Segment
Ahmedabad: In a market already choc-a-bloc with herbal and ayurvedic preparations, the Ahmedabad-based pharmaceutical major Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd has also made a foray into this lucrative segment. The Rs 550-crore company has ventured into the OTC segment with its range of ayurvedic formulations and will initially be tapping the Gujarat market before expanding into the rest of the country. CPL had set up a full-fledged phytochemistry R&D set-up in the mid-eighties with an investment of Rs 10 crore for R&D in phytochemistry. The set-up has an experienced and dedicated team, consisting of ayurveda consultants, botanists, pharmacognosists, phytochemists, pharmacologists, clinicians and formulation scientists engaged in the development of ayurvedic products.
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Himalaya plans JV for growth in Egypt, Syria
Bangalore: Herbal pharma major Himalaya Drug Company has transferred its technology in producing medicines from indigenous herbs to manufacturing outfits in Egypt and Syria to strengthen its presence in the international market, a top company official said. The company, whose products are available in over 55 countries, will develop a marketing strategy through a joint venture with an international partner to identify and exploit growth opportunities in these two nations, Himalaya Drug CEO Ravi Prasad said.
It will also have its own personnel in these countries to see that Himalaya’s stringent quality measures are adhered to, he said.
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HLL to unveil I-Shakti in AP
Hyderabad: As part of its “Project Shakti” initiative focussed on empowerment of rural women community, Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) is in the process of piloting “I-Skati”, an IT-based rural information service, in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh to provide solutions in areas of agriculture, education, health and hygiene. “We currently have around 1,000 women entrepreneurs in the fold and initially impart IT training to about 12-13 of them and gradually enhance the number,” HLL marketing manager (Rural) Sharat Dhall said. HLL would educate women on various uses of IT and plans are also being drawn up to bring in partners involved in agriculture, health, insurance and education, he added. The company is working on project Shakti with the AP government and assisted by Delhi-based Marketing & Research Team (MART) in the rollout. The self help group (SHG) entrepreneurs sell HLL products to villagers and retailers in their respective area.
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AP in talks with TVS, TTK-Prestige for rural programme
Hyderabad: After the success of ‘Project Shakti’ with Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) for empowerment of rural community in Andhra Pradesh, two Chennai based entities have envinced interest for similar programmes. Chief minister Chandrababu Naidu said TVS and TTK-Prestige are keen to have such a programme and discussions are on with these companies. Stating that there is a need for more public and private sector partnerships to promote economic opportunities for self help group (SHG) members, Naidu told visiting newsmen here that as part of this method, SHG members can be appointed as dealers for sale of products manufactured by various companies as is happening with the HLL partnership.
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Jindal Strips’ Duburi project on course
Bhubaneswar: Jindal Strips Ltd (JSL) has decided to go ahead with its proposed one million tonne per annum capacity integrated stainless steel project at Duburi in Orissa’s Jajpur district, according to JSL president for Orissa project NK Taori. The Rs 4,525-crore project would be set up in two phases, he told a news conference here last night. While the Rs 775 crore first phase would involve setting up of a large ferro-chrome plant of 1,50,000 tonne and a melt shop for producing 5,00,000 tonne stainless steel, facility for producing another 5,00,000 tonne steel through the blast furnace and sponge iron route would be added in the second phase with an investment of Rs 3,750 crore, Taori said.
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Court orders MUL to replace defective Zen car
New Delhi: Close on the heels of General Motors being taken to task over the sale of a “defective” Opel Astra, the apex consumer court has ordered automobile giant Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) to replace a Zen car after it was found to have manufacturing defects. The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission dismissed Maruti’s plea to reverse the orders of District Forum and the State Commission that held India’s largest car maker MUL liable for “manufacturing defects”. Complainant Mahesh P Patel and Ahmedabad-based Consumer Education and Research Society had approached District Forum after the Zen purchased in 1995 started “troubling” him.
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Cell firms may get multiple licences
New Delhi: DoT proposes to alter cellular licence conditions that stand in the way of mergers and acquisitions in the cellular industry. It plans to allow a cellular operator to acquire more than one licence in a circle, paving the way for consolidation in the industry. As per the existing conditions, if an investor or a company has more than 10 per cent stake in one cellular operator in a circle, it is not allowed to acquire more than 10 per cent equity in another cellular company in the same circle The proposed move would bring great relief to two sets of economic agents: smaller players, who would get an exit route; and telecom investors, who would be able to cut their losses and have, in general, more options to redeploy their funds
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Infosys enters out-of-court settlement for $3 mn
Bangalore: The sexual harassment case filed by an ex-Infosys employee Reka Maximovitch, against the company and its former director and head of worldwide sales, Phaneesh Murthy, has been settled out of court for a total of $3 million. But the whole episode has become very messy and may well trigger another round of legal jousting with Infosys saying it might consider action against Phaneesh Murthy and he in turn alleging that the company has withheld a substantial amount of shares owed to him. The relations between Infosys and its former star sales head look to be irreparably damaged.
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APTransco sets record in reducing T&D losses
Hyderabad: After establishing a trend setting record in power sector performance through reforms process, the Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Ltd (APTransco) has claimed another record in reducing the transmission and distribution (T&D) losses by 10.8 per cent in the last four years.
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Cal-On eyeing export markets
Hyderabad: Cal-On, the Hyderabad-based, small and medium enterprise, making electronic weigh machines, is setting up a new unit in Cherlapally on the outskirts of the city, with an eye on tapping the export markets, especially in the West Asian countries.
The company, which qualified for the ISO 9001:2000 certification recently, has taken a major percentage of the Rs 45 lakh needed for the setting up of the second unit from the Andhra Pradesh State Financial Corporation (APSFC), according to Suresh Babu, managing director. The new plant will meet international standards and roll out the first machine next month. APTransco claims to have achieved this record feat with the help of huge investments in the T&D sector and also by way of improving internal efficiency.
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TVS Electronics in revamp mode
New Delhi: TVS Electronic Ltd of the TVS group is now on the threshold of reinventing itself as a provider of IT solutions. According to A. Karunakaran, President- Electronic Manufacturing Services, to fully exploit the emerging business opportunities as well as to serve customers better, TVS Electronics is structuring itself into a consortium of three business groups, each vertically focused, yet inter-dependent. The three areas of focus include TVS eAppliances, TVS eServices and TVS eTech.
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