Zensar bags $14-million offshore deals
Mumbai: Pune-based software services firm Zensar Technologies has bagged offshore contracts valued at $14m for projects involving application on Oracle’s software products. The company plans to recruit more than 200 professionals in its Enterprise Applications Group (EAG) for the new projects, which have been signed by companies in the USA, UK and Middle East in the last few months. EAG currently employs 400 people. Sanmina-SCI Corporation, Videojet and Electronic Arts have outsourced development work on Oracle to Zensar. The company already works for Logitech, Fluke, Trimble Navigation, Mashreq Bank, Global Payments and Beckman Coulter.

The new recruits would include pre-sales consultants, subject matter experts (SMEs) and functional consultants in supply chain, logistics and distribution to manage its strategic consulting engagements. The company will also aggressively hire project execution teams, which will comprise project managers, team leads, application database architects and developers, who would all operate from the company’s campus facilities on Nagar Road, Pune.
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Commercial vehicle sales zoom
Mumbai: Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland, India's two largest commercial vehicle manufacturers, have posted remarkable rises in July sales. Tata Motors posted a 59.8 per-cent increase in sales of commercial vehicles in July 2003 over July 2002, while Ashok Leyland clocked a 54.8-per cent rise. Tata Motors sold 11,386 commercial vehicles in the domestic market in July 2003, against 7,122 in July 2002. Ashok Leyland sold 3,269 vehicles in July 2003, against 2,067 in July 2002.

The two companies posted an increase in their cumulative sales for the April-July period as well. Tata Motors clocked a 34.4 per cent rise from 28,344 vehicles in April-July 2002 to 38,107 in April-July 2003. Ashok Leyland’s cumulative sales for the same period were up 19 per cent at 11,808 vehicles. Tata Motors posted an 18.7 per cent rise increase in sales of its passenger vehicles in the domestic market at 12,179 in July 2003 over sales in July 2002.
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Tata Tele offers lowest pulse rates at 15 secs
Mumbai: Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra), the basic service provider that launched CDMA-based Tata Indicom mobile services in Mumbai, is offering lowest pulse rates at 15 seconds. Y V L Pandit, chief operating officer, TTML said: “We will offer the lowest pulse rates at 15 seconds which have been approved by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) and along with call rates which are amongst the lowest in the country."

Trai earlier this year had turned down rival Reliance Infocomm’s package offering CDMA services at 15 second pulse. Reliance did not comment on the issue, a newspaper reported. TTML is offering a 15 second pulse on local calls to landline, to WLL (mobile), intra circle calls to landline or WLL (m), inter circle STD calls to any network type and all ISD calls. Only local calls and intra-circle calls to GSM are charged at 60 second pulse.
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Bottled water sales remain cool
Mumbai: Even after the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) came out with a report on pesticides in packaged drinking water, the industry didn't think appropirate to invest in upgraded processes. Contesting the CSE findings, packaged water producers like Bisleri, Coca-Cola and Pepsi said their facilities met World Health Organisation as well as Codex norms and there was no need to upgrade, reports say. The Bureau of Indian Standards has in the meanwhile surveyed water manufacturing facilities across India. It took action against 30 water bottling units, including those of Pepsi and Bisleri. It also issued a warning to a Coca-Cola water bottling plant.
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Ford India, Union Bank tie up for car financing
Chennai: Ford India Ltd has tied up with Union Bank of India to finance car purchases, its first tie-up with a nationalised bank. The company has similar arrangements with other institutions such as Ford Credit, the vehicle financing arm of Ford Motor Company, and ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank. Through the tie up, Ford India expects to tap the reach of Union Bank of India, especially in the rural areas.

This tie-up will help Ford access a totally different segment of banking public, Mr David E. Friedman, Managing Director and President, Ford India, has been quoted as saying. "The tie-up with Union Bank will help us expand our reach," he said. More importantly, he said, customised finance options would also be available to a larger number of potential Ford customers.
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Apollo Hospitals to list overseas
Chennai: Apollo Hospitals has entrusted Deloitte Haskins & Sells with the task of calibrating its accounts to meet norms for an overseas listing, newspaper reports suggest. At present, Deloitte draws on international practices to help Apollo in areas such as accounting treatment for depreciation. Deloitte's workload is expected to increase in future. "We are thinking of giving a lot of work to Deloitte to prepare for US GAAP," said S K Venkataraman, chief financial officer, Apollo.

Apollo's decision to prepare for an overseas listing comes in the wake of a growing international dimension to its business. The company claims that it is "the third largest private healthcare company in the world". In fiscal 2003, Apollo Hospitals was chosen to manage a multi-specialty hospital in Dubai, the Belhoul-Apollo Hospital. The company has indicated that it hopes to replicate the same in South-East Asia. According to Dr Prathap C Reddy, chairman, "Apollo's quality comes at a fraction of global prices has been instrumental in foreign projects seeking assistance from the company".
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Berger Paints says it is open to acquisitions
Mumbai: Berger Paints, India's third-largest paint manufacturer, has said it was open to acquisitions and was looking to grow both organically and through acquisitions. The company also said it might look at an equity partnership with an international paints company for growth in sub-segments in which it was not very strong.

"In case we go in for acquisitions, we would spend at least Rs 100 crore for the same. Also, we have been talking to a couple of international companies, including our technical partner Nippon Paints, to look at tie-ups for certain categories in which we are at present not in a leading position. This includes auto paints, wood coatings and exterior paints. For instance, we may even look at hiving off the Berger auto paints division as a joint venture company. We are open to all options," Subir Bose, managing director of Berger Paints India Ltd, said.
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Eli Lilly's Oralin to undergo phase 3 clinical trials
Bangalore: Pharma MNC Eli Lilly's inhaler insulin, Oralin, will undergo phase 3 clinical trials next year in India also during a simultaneous global exercise, it is reported. Some six centres where the trials could be held have been recommended to the US parent Eli Lilly & Co and once they are approved, the necessary formalities like application to the regulator for clinical trials and marketing of the drug may begin early next year, says Eli Lilly & Co (India) CMD, Mr Rajiv Gulati.

But Oralin is unlikely to hit the market before 2007 and when it does, it will not be for the mass market because of its higher pricing, he told Business Line. Gulati was in Bangalore to unveil HumaCare Junior kits for diabetic children. Eli Lilly is one of the three global majors chasing a novel insulin delivery system along with Pfizer and Novo Nordisk and is working on an orally sprayable version.
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Infosys slashes directors' pay, ups incentive
Bangalore: Infosys Technologies has announced a revision in the salaries of some of its directors, a newspaper report said. While in case of SD Shibulal, a whole-time director, there has been a downward revision in the remuneration payable, for deputy managing director S Gopalakrishnan, CFO TV Mohandas Pai and whole-time director Srinath Batni, the remuneration will from now include a company performance-linked incentive in their salary structure. These changes in the remuneration package were approved by the board of directors when it met on 10 July 2003.

Infosys says: “As per the original terms of appointment, Shibulal was to be based in the US. Owing to the company’s business requirements, Shibulal will henceforth be spending considerable amount of time in India even though he is permanently posted in the US. Hence the board has decided to reduce salary and consequently the lower base salary payable.”
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Ashok Leyland plans to launch 23 new models
Chennai: Leading commercial vehicles manufacturer, Ashok Leyland said it will launch 23 new models and variants in this fiscal in an effort to achieve a 15-per cent growth in sales. The company also plans to invest about Rs 140 crore to develop modern modular cabins for trucks for launch in 2005 and phase out the existing Iveco range of vehicle engines by this year-end to replace them with engines made with technology from Japan-based Hino Motors, R Seshasayee, managing director, Ashok Leyland said.

"The Hino series of engines will form the basis for our future market growth," he said. At present, 60 per cent of the company's products are powered by Hino engines. The company has also revised its growth outlook for this fiscal to 15 per cent due to good market sentiments. About the proposed product launches, company officials said Ashok Leyland will launch various models in the E-Comet range with 9-15 tonnage capacity, which will be rolled out during October this year.
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Tata Motors posts 38% higher sales in July
Mumbai: Tata Motors (formerly Tata Engineering) has reported a 38 per cent rise in total sales, including exports, at 24,995 units in July 2003 compared to same period previous fiscal. Cumulative sales for April-July increased by 44.9 percent at 85,388 units (58,913 units in same period of last year), the company said in a press release. Indica, the flagship car, registered a sale of 7,043 units in July and cumulative sales of 25,311 units while the company has sold 2,664Indigos. The cumulative sales of the latter stood at 8,419 units.

The passenger car business reported a total sale of 12,179 units in the domestic market, representing a growth of 18.7 per cent. Utility vehicle sales at 2,472 grew by 42 per cent over July 2002. Tata Motors said sales of commercial vehicles showed a 59.8 per cent rise at 11,386 units over 7,122 units sold in last year. Medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales grew by 69.5 per cent at 7,780 units while that of light commercial vehicles stood at 3,606 units, up by 42.4 per cent.
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