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Canon
India starts roadshows from Pune
Pune: Canon India kicked off its seven-city roadshow
to showcase its value products such as multi-functional
image-runner devices or the all-in-one products, high-speed
scanners and large format printers from Pune on Thursday.
The documentation devices and imaging solutions company
will take the Canon Technology Planet show to Hyderabad,
Bangalore and the four metros. Canon is positioning these
products as value creators for an organisation. Lakshmi
Narayan Rao, assistant director, marketing office systems
solutions, Canon India, the CTP show was part of the company’s
strategy to cater to the infotech, small and medium size
firms with the smart office concept.” “In June
2002,Canon realigned its business into the value and volume
segment to sharpen customer focus. Canon India’s
2002 turnover was Rs 200 crore which was a 32 per cent
growth over the previous year. We have plans to take this
to Rs 500 crore by 2005, Rao said.
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Gail
keen to acquire stake in Shell’s Hazira terminal
New Delhi: State-run gas firm Gail (India) Ltd
is keen on acquiring stake in Royal/Dutch Shell’s
$500 million LNG import terminal at Hazira in Gujarat.
An offer to this effect was made by Gail chairman and
managing director Proshanto Banerjee during his meeting
with Charles Watson, Director, Shell Gas BV in London
last month. Gail, which has 12.5 per cent stake in public
sector Petronet LNG Ltd’s (PLL) under contruction
Dahej LNG import terminal, also indicated its willingness
to purchase regassified LNG at Hazira and its marketing,
highly placed sources said. Incidentally, Gail is the
principal marketer of Dahej gas and will sell 60 per cent
of the 17 million standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd)
of gas imported from Qatar. It along with other PLL promoters
- IOC, BPCL and ONGC - has till now not signed gas sales
and purchase agreement for offtake of regassified gas
from Dahej terminal as now many credit worthy customers
have come forward to purchase the costly fuel.
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B’lore
to host Express Hotelier & Caterer Show
Mumbai: In the wake of its success in Mumbai, the
Express Hotelier & Caterer Trade Show goes South to
Bangalore between June 14-16, making it the finest gathering
yet of hospitality’s most prestigious companies and
leading professionals from the South. The exhibition will
be held at one of Bangalore’s premier venues —
the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium. Billed as the Full Course
Exhibition, it will be spread over 130 stalls and across
a sprawling 30,000 sqft area, to play host to the best
from the traditional and allied hospitality fields such
as — Food Service and Kitchen Equipment, Food &
Beverage, Bakery and Confectionery, Housekeeping, Environment
Engineering, Information Technology, Leisure and Amusement,
Interiors and Architectural Products, Security Products
and Technology.
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Merrill
Lynch spots 50,000 high net worth Indians
Mumbai: Cap Gemini Ernst & Young and Merrill
Lynch in their ‘world wealth report’ estimates
that there were 50,000 high net worth individuals (HNWI)
in India at the end of 2002, an increase of 5,000 people
from that of previous year. “The rise is in line
with the regional growth in number and wealth of HNWIS,
and also due to the growth in Indian GDP, which grew by
over five per cent during the year,” Merrill Lynch
global private client’s market leader for India Rajan
Sehgal told reporters from Geneva. HNWIS are people with
financial assets of at least $1 million, or Rs 5 crore,
excluding real estate. The HNWIS in India were mainly
sports persons, film and media personalities and other
professionals, he added. Commenting on the total number
of HNWIS in Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, Sehgal said it
rose by 4.9 per cent, or by a net of one lakh people,
to 18 lakh by 2002 end, and added that their combined
wealth rose 10.7 per cent or usd 400 billion.
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Shapoorji
Pallonji online lottery next month, to invest Rs 120 cr
New Delhi: Shapoorji Pallonji and Co (SPC), the
single largest private shareholder in Tata Sons, is launching
its online lottery business in July this year. Branded
‘Dhandhanadhan’ it will be marketing the Arunachal
and Meghalaya state lotteries.
A turnover of over Rs 1,000 crore has been targetted during
the current financial year itself. The 235-year old Forbes
group, owned by SPC, has floated a company Dhandhanadhan
Infotainment Pvt Ltd (DIPL) to manage this business. DIPL
has entered into agreements with the original licence
holders of the two state lotteries. These are NV Marketing
for Arunachal Pradesh and MS Associates for Meghalaya.
DIPL chief executive Rajan Kaicker said, “We have
a 15-year agreement with these two companies and you can
call it a distribution arrangement. We will be giving
a royalty on sales to the two state governments, but there
is also a minimum guaranteed sum to be paid.”
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SE
Asia back in tourist roadmap
Mumbai: After the World Health Organisation (WHO)
lifted health warnings from Hong Kong and Singapore, it
is ‘Destination South East Asia’ once again.
Tour operators and industry watchers are predicting that
things are finally looking up in terms of travel to the
Far East and that bookings and inquiries are slowly trickling
in with regard to both Hong Kong and Singapore as leisure
destinations. Major airlines have also confirmed that
there has been an improvement in passenger loads since
the warnings have been lifted. The Singapore Tourism Board
(STB) has put together a S$200 million global programme
which includes S$60 million seed funding from the STB
and CAAS (including the $10 million for air traffic development).
The Hong Kong government had allocated HK$1 billion (US$128
million) for the travel, exhibition and commerce sectors
to launch a sustained and powerful comeback campaign.
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Nicholas
Piramal India raises $10 million ECB
New Delhi: Nicholas Piramal India (NPIL) has raised
$10 million (Rs 48 crore) through an external commercial
borrowing (ECB) arranged by Rabo India Finance and placed
with Rabobank International, Singapore. According to a
company release, the proceeds of the issue would be used
to replace high cost debt of the company. It mentioned
that on a fully hedged basis, the issue was closed at
below G-Sec rates. NPIL chairman Ajay Piramal said, “The
deal has helped in interest cost saving to the extent
of 300 basis points per annum for the company. The company’s
treasury was quick to spot the extremely short window
period when the forward rates were at their lowest and
Rabo India responded back well in time to enable the company
to take advantage of the market conditions.”
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Britannia
board meets after Alagh's sack
Mumbai: The directors of Britannia Industries held
a marathon board meeting on Wednesday to discuss the financial
performance of the company during the year ended March
31, 2003. At the time of going to press, the directors
were still closeted at Neville House, the headquarters
of the industrial group headed by Nusli Wadia, also chairman
of Britannia. This is the first board meeting after the
directors met on June 4 to "terminate the services"
of the company's managing director, Sunil Alagh. Alagh,
considered one of the most dashing managers of the Indian
corporate world, resigned from his post a couple of days
ago. He is credited with building one the leading biscuit
brands, Tiger, and transforming Britannia into the foremost
biscuit maker in the country with a market share of nearly
40 per cent.
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HC
declines interim order in J&N case
Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court today declined
to grant instalment or pass any interim order on the issue
of payment of provident fund dues by Jenson and Nicholson
(I) Ltd. J&N had not paid PF for last many years—
both contribution of employer and employee. The Commissioner
of PF had summoned J&N to appear before him to explain
the reason of default and to process the future course
of action. On this, J&N moved a writ petition stating
that there were dues amounting to Rs 75 lakh and the amount
could not be paid in view of reasons beyond the control
of the company. Hence, to overcome this situation, J&N
sought 24 instalments for payment.The counsel of PF office
objected to and submitted that the amount stated by J&N
was not correct. The court then directed J&N to appear
in the hearing of the PF Commissioner, who shall decide
on the issue.
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US
Bills to curb outsourcing losing steam: Som Mittal
Bangalore: The spate of bills introduced in the
US to curb outsourcing to India, looks to have run out
of steam. While the New Jersey bill has been considerably
watered down, similar attempts made by other US states
including Maryland, Washington and Connecticut are on
hold and unlikely to be introduced, according to Som Mittal,
president and CEO of Digital GlobalSoft and chairman of
Nasscom At the inaugural session of the two-day Nasscom
ITES-BPO strategy summit in Bangalore on Wednesday, Mittal
said the slew of bills introduced in the US were politically
motivated as a result of depressed economic conditions,
rather than a piece of the recent anti-India backlash.
This sentiment will recede when the economy recovers and
when the benefits of offshoring to India are realised,
he added. The US automobile industry had reaped the advantages
of outsourcing, while its steel industry struggled on
account of its protectionist measures, he stated.
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Madras
HC clears Calac merger with Aurobindo
Hyderabad: Close on the heels of the Andhra Pradesh
High Court approving the merger of Ranit Pharma with the
city-based Rs 1,050-crore pharma major, Aurobindo Pharma
Ltd (APL), the Madras High Court has approved the scheme
of amalgamation of Calac Pvt Ltd with APL. In a communiqué
to stock exchanges, APL said the Madras High Court issued
orders on April 25. Having received the orders recently,
the company has filed them with the Registrar of Companies
(RoC) at both Hyderabad and Chennai on Thursday. Earlier,
the APL shareholders had approved the proposal mooted
by the company to amalgamate two of the group companies
- Ranit Pharma Ltd and Calac Pvt Ltd - with the company.
Both Ranit and Calac were into the business of active
pharmaceutical ingredients. While Ranit has three manufacturing
facilities near Hyderabad, Calac has one facility at Cuddalore
in Tamil Nadu.
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AP
Govt sells its stake in Voltas to Tata Sons
Hderabad: Andhar Pradesh Government kicked off
its divestment plan by selling its 2.66 per cent stake
in Voltas Ltd to Tata Sons Ltd on June 10. A total of
8,78,603 equity shares of Rs 10 each belonging to the
State Government have been sold to Tata Sons at a price
of Rs 60.50 per share. The sale proceeds aggregated to
Rs 5.31 crore while the face value of the shares is Rs
87.86 lakh.
The Implementation Secretariat (IS), an arm of the Public
Enterprises Department set up by the State Government,
had completed the divestment process. The IS chairman,
Deepak Kumar Panwar, told newspersons here on Thursday
that the state government's stake in Voltas was divested
as a special assignment though the company was not among
the eight listed companies that were slated for disinvestment.
This was done as Tata Sons had urged the Government to
sell its stake.
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Bajoria
sells holding in Bombay Dyeing
Kolkata: Arun Bajoria, the jute baron, who had
forced the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
to rewrite the takeover code in 2001 through a creeping
acquisition move on Bombay Dyeing, said on Wednesday that
he and his associates had exited from the Bombay Dyeing
stock during the last one month. ``We got out of the stock
recently when the market price crossed Rs 60. Now I am
left with three lakh shares or so,'' he added. Bajoria,
his family members and companies controlled by him had
picked up more than five per cent in Bombay Dyeing. He
maintained that the holding in Bombay Dyeing was a "long-term
investment''.
According to Bajoria, a price of Rs 60 or so was good
enough for him to exit from the Bombay Dyeing stock.
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L&T
board may spike ICRA plan for cement
unit
Mumbai: The plethora of valuations of Larsen &
Toubro Ltd's cement division may be irrelevant as few
on the board of the company are likely to agree to the
proposals brought to the table by Grasim Industries, strategic
partnership aspirant CDC Capital and company-appointed
valuer ICRA, say analysts. The L&T board, scheduled
to meet on Saturday, may well ponder over five different
valuations of its cement division but is unlikely to settle
for one. The board comprising the Birlas, professional
managers and the institutional representatives are expected
to deliberate extensively on three valuations submitted
by ICRA, which was appointed by the company to estimate
the value of its business. The proposals of Grasim and
CDC had been already hotly contested at previous meetings,
sources said. CDC had put the value of the cement division
at Rs 142 per share.
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Transport
Corpn to pay 18 pc
Hyderabad: The board of directors of Transport
Corporation of India Ltd (TCI), which met here on Thursday,
has recommended a dividend of 18 per cent for the year
ended March 31, 2003. In a release to the stock exchanges,
the company, however, said the proposed dividend on equity
would be subject to the approval of its shareholders at
the ensuring annual general meeting.
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SICA
honour for Lakshmi Mills MD
Coimbatore: The South India Cotton Association
(SICA), which celebrates silver jubilee, will confer the
status of `Emeritus President' on textile industrialist,
G.K. Sundaram, founder-president of the association and
chairman & managing director of Lakshmi Mills Company,
on Friday. The association, which has created an endowment
in the name of Sundaram, will also formally inaugurate
the endowment lecture series during the function. The
former union finance minister, P. Chidambaram, will inaugurate
the lecture series and speak on `Building a strong economy
with ethics' on the occasion.
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National
hardware policy in 8 weeks
Bangalore: The national hardware policy is slated
for release in the next six to eight weeks, according
to Union IT secretary Rajeev Ratna Shah. The union IT
ministry is also looking to evolve a data protection Act,
he said ,on the sidelines of the Nasscom BPO summit. Shah
said the Centre would consult hardware companies as it
finalised the policy. The government had recently appointed
Wipro chairman Azim Premji to head the national hardware
task force.Meanwhile with IT and ITES companies dealing
with substantial amounts of confidential information,
the government had embarked on a plan to evolve a Data
Protection Act. Earlier attempts to frame such a legislation
had met with a mixed response.However, Shah said there
was a renewed interest in framing this law to protect
company assets. A draft on this Act is ready and awaiting
industry approval, he said.
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DoT
dials 3G, moves to frame licence norms
Kolkata: The WLL vs GSM war may be far from over
but that hasn’t stopped the government from exploring
ways to broaden the telecom mosaic. The Department of
Telecommunications (DoT) has silently kicked off the process
of framing 3G (third-generation) licence guidelines. Key
issues involve taking a call on spectrum availability,
freezing specific bands on which 3G services will ride,
look at ways to distribute spectrum and thrash out a roadmap
for existing telecom service providers to migrate to the
3G platform. For starters, the DoT has asked the Telecom
Engineering Centre (TEC) to prepare a spot report on spectrum
availability that can be frozen for a launching premium
telecom services like 3G. Confirming this, sources in
the Telecom Commission said, “The TEC has been asked
to submit a 3G roadmap to DoT after consultations with
key ministries like defence and aviation on the spectrum
availability issue.” But they were quick to stress
that the exercise was in its infancy and the licenser
would need a deeper insight on the country’s 3G market
potential before coming out with the licence guidelines.
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CAS
may change CNBC revenue mix
Mumbai: CNBC India expects its revenue mix to change
to 50 per cent each from advertising and subscription
once the conditional access system (CAS) is fully implemented.
At present, it gets 75 per cent of its revenue from advertising
and 25 per cent from subscription according to Haresh
Chawla, chief executive officer, CNBC India. He told reporters
here on Thursday that the channel's turnover could be
close to Rs 45 crore, and he expected a 20 per cent topline
growth this year. The channel went into the black about
a year ago, he said, without giving figures. CNBC India,
he said, reached out to 12 million homes and close to
40 per cent of its viewing came from offices. Over the
last one-and-a-half years, the channel had gone on audience
expansion drive, and now catered to various segments like
advertising and marketing, communication, lifestyle, fashion
entertainment and executive health. Only 30 per cent of
the programming came from markets. To a question, he said
the pay channels were expected to come out with their
pricing strategy in the next five to six days as a pre-requisite
for the switchover to CAS. Most of the channels would
adopt a penetration pricing strategy.
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