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Hind
Zinc plans to hike Rajasthan unit capacity
Mumbai: The country's largest zinc and lead producer,
Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL), now a Sterlite group company,
is planning to increase the capacity of its smelter in
Rajasthan by one lakh tonnes per annum (tpa). The current
installed capacity of the plant at Chanderiya in the State
is 70,000 tonnes per annum, industry sources said. According
to them, HZL has already raised $75 million from overseas
markets and has tied up the rest of the funds from domestic
institutions and banks to finance the expansion project.
The total cost of the expansion could not be ascertained.
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Hind
Sanitaryware sales up 19 pc
New Delhi: Hindustan Sanitaryware & Industries
Ltd (HSIL) has reported an increase of 19.6 per cent in
sales, at Rs 253.29 crore for the year 2002-03. The company
has posted an operating profit of Rs 42.87 crore for 2002-03,
up 10.5 per cent compared to Rs 38.78 crore in 2001-02.
The board of directors has recommended a dividend of 15
per cent on equity shares. A press release has attributed
the performance to the launch of several new products,
aggressive expansion of sales and distribution, and initiatives
on the after-sales service front. The company had also
witnessed strong growth in exports, the release said.
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NMDC
supply of iron ore lumps to RINL plant rises
Kolkata: The supply of iron ore lumps to the Vizag
Steel Plant (VSP) of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd by National
Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) is slowly increasing
and returning to "comfortable levels''. According
to RINL sources, the raw material stocks of VSP are no
longer at the "precariously low levels''. Supplies
from NMDC have gradually increased in the last few days.
About ten days ago, RINL was forced to cut its steel production
due to the shortage of raw material supplies from NMDC.
VSP's existing total capacity is 3 million tonnes and
its total iron ore requirement is about 6.4 m.t., of which
2.2 m.t. is lump ore and 4.2 m.t. is iron ore fines.
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Debenture
holders' stand key to reopening Dunlop unit
Kolkata: An early reopening of Dunlop India Ltd's
Ambattur factory in Tamil Nadu appears possible provided
the company's debenture holders (mainly FIs) take a "compassionate"
stand on the issue of realisation of their money which
will be paid from the sales proceeds of the company's
idle properties. The Asset Sales Committee (ASC), set
up by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction
(BIFR) for monitoring the sale of DIL property, is understood
to have sold the company's property in Chennai, Bangalore,
Pune and Guwahati. The sales proceeds have been kept in
an escrow account. The DIL management feels that there
is no problem of reopening the Ambattur factory if it
is allowed by the Appelate Authority of Industrial and
Financial Reconstruction (AAIFR) to spend at least 50
per cent of the sales proceeds for reopening purposes.
The balance 50 per cent money can be given to the debenture
holders.
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Richmond
Info opens branch in Kolkata
Kolkata: Richmond Infotech Pvt Ltd, a Pune-headquartered
multi-level marketing company, on Monday launched its
foray in the eastern region with the setting up of a branch
office here in Kolkata. The Kolkata office will oversee
the company's operations in the eastern and north-eastern
States. The chairman and managing director of Richmond
Infotech, S.K. Basu, said the company, which has commenced
operations since February this year, has already enrolled
over 80,000 ``associates''. Besides purchasing products
from Richmond, these associates could earn money by introducing
other associates to the company and selling Richmond products
as well.
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Bhel
plans to hike export turnover to 15 per cent by ’06-07
Mumbai: Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel) has
targeted an order inflow of Rs 11,400 crore in the current
financial year, while the turnover is expected to be around
Rs 8,300 crore. Gross margins are estimated to be around
Rs 1,260 crore. The projected financial targets are as
per an MoU signed with the Department of Heavy Industries
and public enterprises by the company. Bhel also plans
to enhance its export turnover to 15 per cent of sales
turnover by 2006-07. According to analysts: “Things
may look up for Bhel in the current fiscal, following
its strong order book position. Bhel currently has orders
worth Rs 16,000 crore. Of these, 70 per cent was received
in the previous financial year. Bhel tied up with the
French equipment major Alstom to bid for the NTPC project.
As no other bid has been received, Bhel is likely to bag
the order and is also expected to win orders from the
Maithon power project, said an analyst.
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Court
warns of action as Ambanis fail to turn up
New Delhi: A Delhi court warned Reliance chairman
Mukesh Ambani and managing director Anil Ambani of coercive
steps to secure their presence if they did not appear
before it on July 7, in connection with a case of alleged
procurement of classified documents by the company officials
in violation of the Official Secrets Act. “It is
made clear that if they do not surrender to the jurisdiction
of the court on the next date of hearing (July 7), coercive
steps will be taken to procure Mukesh Ambani and Anil
Ambani,” chief metropolitan magistrate Sangeeta Dhingra
Sehgal said after the duo who were summoned to court,
failed to appear before it. Appearing for the brothers,
counsel Dinesh Mathur prayed that they be exempted from
personal appearance for the day as they were out of the
country.
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MSEB
in deal with NTPC for power drawal
Mumbai: The Maharashtra State Electricity Board
(MSEB) on Monday inked a power purchase agreement (PPA)
for drawing 100 mw from the National Thermal Power Corporation’s
(NTPC) Kahalgaon project with a capacity of 1,000 mw.
NTPC is expected to supply power at the per unit tariff
of below Rs 2.50 from the Kahalgaon project which would
be put in commercial operation by the end of 10th Plan
(2006-07). NTPC’s newly appointed director (commercial)
RD Gupta said that the expected project cost will be less
than Rs 4.5 crore per megawatt. The Kahalgaon project
has been declared as a mega project by the Centre.
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Dabur
to re-enter skin-care biz
Ghaziabad: Having withdrawn its ‘Samara’
range of skin-care products four years back, Dabur India
says it has idenitified huge untapped potential in this
segment and will once again launch two products under
‘Vatika’ brand name later this year. In 1997,
Dabur India Ltd (DIL) entered the skincare market with
about 15 different products under Samara brand name and
even announced its intention to forge a joint venture
with a Spanish company, Antonio Puig, for the purpose.
But two years later the entire range was withdrawn due
to insufficient advertising and promotional support and
the fact that such products typically take time to make
money. Besides, most of the products introduced then were
need-based and not positioned on the glamour plank.
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Bombay
HC directs Nocil to clear dues of residual staff
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has directed National
Organic Chemical Industries Ltd (Nocil) to clear the dues
to its 500-odd employees by June 2. The order states that
the company should make part-payment to the employees
by the stipulated date.
Nocil has not paid its employees since October 2002. The
company shut down its operations on March 20, 2003 following
permission by the labour commissioner. The plant was earlier
shut down from November 28, 2001 to March 4, 2002 due
to financial problems. The total dues to the employees
since October 2002 amounts to about Rs 7 crore, sources
said. However, the company has cleared the compensation
package to the employees towards the voluntary retirement
scheme (VRS). A source added that the employees accepted
the compensation but under protest
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Novartis
buyback cap at Rs 250
Mumbai: Nonartis India Ltd on Monday said its board
has recommended buyback of its shares at not more than
Rs 250 per share. The company also recommended a dividend
of 150 per cent at Rs 7.50 per share on a face value of
Rs 5 per share. According to market sources, the buyback
reflects the company's desire to delist from the Indian
bourses at a future date. The company's net profit for
the quarter ended March 31, 2003, crashed to Rs 1.32 crore
against Rs 19.20 crore in the corresponding period last
year.
Novartis saw its sales net of excise duty fall by 38 per
cent to Rs 76.76 core in the fourth quarter against Rs
105.77 crore last year. Fourth quarter saw other income
down to Rs 9.37 crore (Rs 22.22 crore).
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Godrej
enters Lankan market
Mumbai: Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Company
Ltd announced on Monday that it has entered the Sri Lankan
market to cater to the home, office and warehouse segments.
The company plans to distribute and market its range of
appliances, security equipment, home and office furniture,
conferencing equipment, storage solutions and material
handling equipment in Sri Lanka.
The company said seven divisions of Godrej & Boyce
specialising in these areas would enter the Sri Lankan
market simultaneously, seeking to become key players in
servicing three large market segments - home office and
warehousing.
``We are looking forward to this venture into Sri Lanka
which is a sophisticated market serviced by many reputed
international companies and brands,'' the company said
in a press release. The company plans to introduce over
50 products in the Sri Lankan market.
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Hyundai
India to invest Rs 850 cr in expansion
Hyderabad: HyundaiI Motor India Ltd (HMIL), the
country's second largest car maker with about 19 plus
per cent market share having recently introduced its new
Sunshine hatchback Zing, has a range of new launches up
its sleeve with the first being a high-end SUV (sports
utility vehicle) 4x4 2.9 CRDI engine Terracan, a reworked
Accent range, and Getz, for which it recently completed
a feasibility study. This would involve an investment
of about Rs 850 crore in the Hyundai plant by early next
year and mean further scaling up its production line from
the current 1.5 lakh units to 2.5 lakh units. This will
be through internal accruals and from term loans, according
to B.V.R. Subbu, president, Hyundai Motor India. According
to the company, last year's other income was higher because
of income from sale of its Goregaon property. Other income
for the quarter includes Rs 3.97 crore towards interest
received from income-tax department, a news release said.
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Magic
to be brought under AirTel umbrella
New Delhi: There will be no more Magic. Bharti's
prepaid cards will be under the AirTel umbrella, along
with its post-paid connections. This is part of Bharti’s
masterbrand strategy of promoting the AirTel brand. The
pre-paid brand Magic will be out of the market in the
next 30 to 60 days. The proposed brand merger is expected
to take its turnover to upwards of Rs 3,000 crore this
year. New brand architecture will also lead to advertising
agency realignment, with Rediff handling the Airtel brand
and other infotel brands — Touchtel, IndiaOne and
Mantra — going to Percept. Launched in 1995, Airtel
has grown to be the largest brand in the cellular market
today, with over three million cellular customers. Even
Airtel Magic is estimated to be the largest pre-paid brand
in India. Bharti plans to invest Rs 100 crore in promoting
the consolidated Airtel brand this year
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Curbs
on asset sale may hit recast plans
New Delhi: Restrictions on asset-stripping proposed
by the Companies Amendment Bill 2003 could come in the
way of genuine restructuring of sick units and sale of
assets of unviable units. A proposed proviso to section
293 of Companies Act, 1956 states that companies cannot
sell more than 20 per cent of the total assets of an undertaking
or 10 per cent of its own asset, whichever is higher,
in a financial year. This could effectively put a spoke
in the plans of companies that intend to implement a restructuring
plan by selling unviable units. The existing provisions
of the Act allows boards of companies to sell, lease or
dispose, in part or whole, provided such disposal is authorised
by the shareholders at a general meeting. Corporate sources
and company law practitioners see the proposed proviso
as a retrograde step that could affect the viability of
existing business enterprises.
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Idea
to buy 75 per cent stake in Escotel, form No. 3 cellco
New Delhi: Idea Cellular, the Birla-Tata-AT&T
cellular services giant, is picking up close to 75 per
cent stake in Escotel Mobile Communications. The combined
entity will be the third largest cellular player in the
country, behind Bharti and BSNL, with over 17 lakh customers.
Idea has cellular operations in Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra,
Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh. Escotel, a 51:49
joint venture between Escorts and Hong Kong-based First
Pacific, provides cellular mobile services in Haryana,
UP (West) and Kerala, and is the number-one player in
each of these circles. Escotel has plans to launch operations
in three new circles — UP (East), Rajasthan and Himachal
Pradesh — over the next eight months. First Pacific,
which holds 49 per cent in Escotel, had announced its
decision to exit India two years ago and has been looking
for a way out since then. It had not participated in the
Escorts group’s subsequent telecom ventures.
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