DD goes media savvy, hires JWT and TBWA
New Delhi: For the first time, the national broadcaster, Doordarshan, has decided to hire professional advertising services, and is entering into a one-year contract with both J Walter Thompson (JWT) and TBWA-Anthem to handle advertising and promotional campaigns, with an annual advertisement budget of Rs 5-6 crore.While the call for bids for the account had attracted 13 applicants, 9 made presentations and two were short-listed. At a recent meeting of the Prasar Bharati Board, it was decided to hire both the agencies which made it to the short-list, namely JWT and TBWA.
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Birlasoft plans 2 local centres, to invest $15 mn
New Delhi: It’s reorganisation and revamp time at Birlasoft, the IT arm of the $1.5bn CK Birla Group and General Electric (which holds about 20 per cent stake). The structurally US-based company is now trying to anchor operations out of India. Indian operations will account for 70 per cent of the workforce and 50 per cent of revenue in two years. The idea is to grow the profit margins to 40 per cent at the same time. “To increase our offshore development capacity, we are adding a new centre in Chennai with a capacity of 600 people. Next we will set up an even bigger centre in or around Delhi. We will invest $15m in the two development centres over the next two years,” says CK Birla, chairman, Birlasoft. With these two new centres, the employee strength at Birlasoft is expected to grow to 3,000 by the year ’04. A significant part of its resources were earlier based in the US.
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IBM-SCO spat may stymie Linux India initiative
New Delhi: The department of information technology is in a spot. Having announced a Linux India Initiative last year and following it up with an IPR-awareness drive this year, it may be caught between a rock and a hard place in the light of $1-billion lawsuit between SCO Group (owner of the Unix operating system) and IBM, a known proponent of Linux. Alleging IP violations — that parts of the Unix source code are copied into Linux — SCO has not only dragged Big Blue to court, but has sent out letters to large corporations using Linux and even threatened to revoke IBM’s Unix licence on June 13. In the context of governments switching over to Linux, unless the authorities ask commercial Linux distributors to indemnify their Linux distributions, it would be difficult for use of Linux to catch on. “This is a setback for the open source movement. Confusion has ensued whether to ship commercial distributions of Linux. With SCO’s letters to users flying all over the place, customers may start demanding indemnities,” says an industry source
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BPCL advisors to be named on May 30
Mumbai: The government will select advisors for the BPCL sell-off on May 30. This decision has given a fillip to the divestment of Bharat Petroleum Corporation. The bankers, who will act as global co-ordinators cum advisors, will make presentations to the government — a ‘beauty parade’ in industry jargon — on May 30. The government proposes to appoint two global co-ordinators, who would advise the government on the proposed ADR and domestic offering. The investment banks would also be required to give appropriate underwriting to the domestic and ADR issues. The global co-ordinators would be required to advise on all aspects of the two issues, complete the due diligence, draft offering documents, red herring prospectus as well as to a conduct pre-market survey, road shows, book building and generate interest from prospective investors.
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Ind-Swift to invest $15 m in R&D
New Delhi: Pharmaceutical company Ind-Swift Labs has said that it would spend over $15 million over the next two years to upgrade its manufacturing and research and development (R&D) facilities in the country. "The company is upgrading its manufacturing facilities to meet global standards. Several patents have been filed to encash global opportunities through our R&D strengths," a company release on Thursday quoted joint managing director, V.K. Mehta, as saying.
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Alembic files four master files to expand biz in US
Mumbai: Baroda-based Alembic Ltd has filed four drug master files (DMFs) with the USFDA (United States Food and Drug Administration) as part of its strategy to expand its bulk drugs business in the US. The company is currently, in talks with several generic companies in the US for marketing and distribution partnerships in the highly regulated market. Alembic plans to file several DMFs with the USFDA in the next two to three years, the company said in a notification to the stock exchanges on Thursday. Apart from the US market, other regulated markets such as the European markets and Latin American will also be targeted, the company said. The Company is also in the process of filing DMFs with the health authorities in various other regulatory markets for many potential drugs that will go off patent in the developed countries during the next four to five years. However, the approvals especially from the US markets are expected after two years and sales realisations will be seen only then, it said.
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PeopleSoft plans Bangalore centre with Hexaware
Mumbai: PeopleSoft on Thursday announced it is partnering with Hexaware Technologies for its new services centre for the development and support of PeopleSoft Enterprise Solutions for customers worldwide. The PeopleSoft India Services Centre is the first of its kind in Asia and will also be the largest remote services centre globally, according to a statement from the company. The centre, to be located in Bangalore, will employ 300 people by the end of the year and will expand later to employ 700 people. The staff would be employed by Hexaware and work under the direct leadership of PeopleSoft; on its part, Hexaware will be responsible for setting up and operating the centre to PeopleSoft's standards.
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India Pistons plans unit for two-wheelers
Chennai: India Pistons Ltd proposes to establish a separate unit for the manufacture of pistons for two-wheelers, on which it will spend about Rs 10 crore. The facility would be ready in a year, N. Venkatramani, managing director, said. He said till recently, the company had almost nil share of the two-wheeler market, but it had now got a break with TVS Motor Company. The company proposes to put up a unit capable of producing 1 million pistons for two-wheelers, (taking the total capacity to 4 million). "We want to put up the unit at Maraimalai Nagar, but if the offtake increases, we might later shift the plant to Hosur," Venkatramani said.
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GMR Tech to call EGM on group cos' merger
Hyderabad: The board of directors of GMR Technologies & Industries Ltd, part of the Hyderabad-based GMR group of companies, has decided to convene an extraordinary general meeting to obtain shareholders' consent for the proposed merger of four of its group companies with itself. GMR Tech was directed by the Andhra Pradesh High Court on April 24 that a meeting of the equity shareholders, preference shareholders and also secured creditors of the company be held on June 11 for approving amalgamation of Eastern Syntex Pvt Ltd, Shulton Commercial Company Pvt Ltd, Varistha Finco Pvt Ltd and Varalakshmi International Ltd with the company. The company recently allotted 2.75 crore preference shares of Rs 2 each at a premium of Rs 8 per share to GMR Investments Pvt Ltd on a private placement basis. The preference shares, which fetch an amount of Rs 27.5 crore to the company, carry a coupon rate of 10 per cent.
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No takeover threat, says Devaki Hospital
Chennai: The management of Chennai-based Devaki Hospital dismissed the threat of a takeover on the heels of a company acquiring three lakh shares (6.13 per cent of paid-up capital) in the Madras Stock Exchange (MSE) earlier in the week. The company, Madras Medical Care & Health Centre, informed MSE that its equity holding in Devaki Hospital currently stands at 10.21 per cent. "I do not think a takeover is possible," said Chitra Chokalingam, chairperson and managing director, Devaki Hospital. She declined to disclose her holding in the hospital, but indicated that the development would not disturb the current management set-up
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CNBC Asia Pacific to invest 26 pc in TV 18
New Delhi: In order to comply with the recently announced norms for news channels uplinking from India, CNBC Asia Pacific on Thursday announced that it would invest up to 26 per cent in the Indian registered Television Eighteen India Ltd (TV 18). The channel will be jointly branded and be known as CNBC-TV 18. Currently, CNBC India, an English business news channel, is a 51:49 joint venture between CNBC Asia and TV 18 Mauritius incorporated in Mauritius. However, according to the guidelines for news channels wishing to uplink from India, the foreign investment has been capped at 26 per cent. Speaking to newspersons, Raghav Bahl, managing director, TV 18 said that CNBC Asia could pick up equity either directly in the listed entity or in a new company. "Whether CNBC Asia will pick up stake in the existing listed company or in a new company has to be finalised," he added
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Maruti declares 30 pc dividend
New Delhi: Maruti Udyog Ltd on Thursday declared a dividend of 30 per cent for the 2002-03 fiscal, a day after it announced that its net profit has increased by 40 per cent. The company had declared a dividend of 30 per cent for 2001-02 as well. The dividend payout will be Rs 42.7 crore, on account of dividend of Rs 1.50 per equity share of five rupees each, a company statement said.

Maruti had posted a net profit of Rs 146.4 crore during the previous fiscal, which the company has attributed to aggressive cost-cutting measures and enhanced productivity. The company is cutting costs to boost profit ahead of the scheduled share sale, in which the Government will reduce its 45.5 per cent stake in Maruti by 25 per cent.
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GM scales down Opel Astra sales target
Bangalore: General Motors has scaled down the sales target of the mid-size car Opel Astra during 2003. The General Motors India vice-president for corporate affairs, P. Balendran,said that the target for Opel Astra had been scaled down. "We expect to sell between 1,000 and 1,500 units of Opel Astra during 2003 while it sold around 2,000 units in 2002," Balendran said. "We will continue to manufacture Opel Astra as long as there is a demand for it," Balendran said thereby ruling out an immediate phase out of the model. But between the mid-sized Opel brands, Corsa and Astra, nearly 85 per cent of the nearly 9,000 cars sold by General Motors India in 2002 were Corsas. The success of Corsa has, in fact, prompted the company to nearly double the sales target of the model to 12,000 for 2003, with the newly-launched Corsa Sail expected to sell between 5,000 units and 7,000 units.
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Jindal Photo eyes Rs 500-cr turnover
Hderabad: Jindal Photo Films Ltd, the flagship company of B.C.Jindal Group, has drawn up plans to expand its operations and reach out its range of Fuji Photo products to the western and the southern markets with Digital Mini Labs. It is targeting a sales turnover of Rs 500 crore this fiscal up from Rs 442 crore in 2002-2003. The managing director of Jindal Photo, Rathi B. Pal, said that the company, to integrate the latest technology changes in photography processing, is setting up Fuji Digital Imaging (FDI) facilities, as an extension of its over 700-strong chain of Fuji Imaging Services centres.
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Taj Group to invest Rs 30 cr to revamp Nepal property
Mumbai: As part of the ongoing revamp exercise for its leisure hotels, Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL), which owns the the Taj Group of Hotels, plans to invest around Rs 30 crore for upgrading its Kathmandu property - Hotel De La Annapurna. According to company sources, “We plan to renovate our Kathmandu property re-emphasising on the Taj brand. We will be shortly negotiating with the partner associated with the property and discuss various issues involved with the revamping exercise. We believe that Annapurna’s unmatchable location makes it the most convenient base for both leisure and business travellers and with slight renovation and value-addition, we can make it the best hotel in Nepal.” Taj Group owns around 33 per cent in the property, while the remaining is held by the royal family of Nepal. Named after Annapurna, the ‘Goddess of Plenty,’ the hotel is located close to the Royal Palace in Nepal. Situated on an expanse of 5.53 acres, Hotel de L’Annapurna has 157 rooms including 4 suites.
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Hyundai launches new-look Santro in five Variants
New Delhi: Hyundai Motor India unveiled a completely new-look Santro range priced between Rs 3.29 lakh to Rs 4.30 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The launch of Santro Xing — in five variants — featuring totally new front and rear design marks the phase out of the existing Santro Zip Plus range. The company also announced fresh investments of Rs 1,000 crore to ramp up manufacturing capacity to 2.5 lakh units over the next 15 months. After Suzuki Motor announced plans to make Maruti Udyog an export hub, Hyundai’s parent has also decided to make its Indian subsidiary a global base for compact cars. The company plans to sell around 10,000 units per month as against around 7,000 units sold at present, which will give it a substantial lead in the B- segment over the Indica, Zen and Wagon R.
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IndeCorp enters India mart
New Delhi: The IndeCorp Corporation, which owns three brand subsidiaries, namely ‘Preferred Hotels and Resorts Worldwide’, ‘Summit Hotels and Resorts’ and ‘Sterling Hotels and Resorts’, has made its entry into the India market through an arrangement with The Imperial Hotel, New Delhi. In addition, IndeCorp has appointed New Delhi-based Outbound Marketing as its representative in India. While The Imperial has entered into a marketing tie-up with IndeCorp for the well respected Preferred brand of hotels, Outbound Marketing will set up a sales and marketing support office and focus on increasing the market share of all IndeCorp brands in India. “IndeCorp does not invest in properties, or go for management contracts, but offers only marketing support to allow properties to maintain their individuality.
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Essar to buy back FRN worth $250 m
New Delhi: In a major boost to its finances, Essar Group has succeeded in clinching a deal for buying back its floating rate notes (FRN) worth $250 million at a massive discount of 76 per cent. Essar Steel, which was among the first Indian companies to have defaulted on repayment of foreign loans due to a major cash crunch following a downturn in the steel industry, will now buy the $1,000 note at a discounted price of $240, which will help the company bring down unsecured liability on this count from $250 million to one fourth of its face value. When contacted, J Mehra, resident director of Essar Group in Delhi said that “a resolution was passed at a meeting of FRN-holders on May 20 in London for buyback at 24 cents to a dollar.”
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Best Western to unveil ‘Premier’ brand in India
Mumbai: US-based Best Western, the world ’s largest budget accommodation operator is soon to bring its new brand, the ‘Best Western Premier’, to India in the near future. According to highly placed sources, the company which has just launched the brand in Europe, will be in India by the end of this year or early next year. The Premier brand will be the first foray of Best Western International, the world’s largest hotel chain, in the luxury segment in India, where it already has 19 properties, all in the mid-market segment.
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