Bajaj to launch another indigenous mobike
Pune: Bajaj Auto will launch its second all-indigenous motorcycle: the K-60. It will be on a 100-per cent new platform and is a scratch-to-end project that is expected to create a big future business opportunity for the company, Bajaj Auto sources were quoted as saying.

The project, which is targeting the 125-135cc range, is still in the development stage and has not been validated yet. The new model will roll out of Bajaj Auto's Chakan factory sometime next fiscal. Chakan is a new facility in Pune that currently produces the Pulsar, the Spirit and the Sapphire.
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Balmer Lawrie closes Navi Mumbai unit
Kolkata: Balmer Lawrie and Company (BLC) has shut an industrial packaging unit located in Navi Mumbai, while offering a voluntary separation scheme (VSS) to all the workers there. The company, which is up for disinvestment, plans to relocate the machinery to other locations and sell the land.

Speaking to newspersons after the 86th annual general meeting of the company, P K Bishnoi, managing director, said the move was aimed at improving productivity and increasing efficiency. The plant at Turbhe used to manufacture steel drums. "We are not bringing down the capacity. The company will step up the production at other two manufacturing units in the western region at Sewri and Silvassa," Bishnoi said.
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Ispat eyes backward integration
Kolkata: Ispat Industries is planning to embark on backward integration that includes taking iron ore mines on lease as well as own some mines. Pramod Mittal, chairman and managing director, said the company is exploring the possibility of taking mines on long leases and owning some mines, as a long-term strategy with a view to ensure uninterrupted supply of input feed mix.

The company has appointed consultants to conduct a feasibility and seismic study of the project.
Mittal, however, refused to comment on the volume of business expected and location. He said strategically Goa and Karnataka will be suitable for the company.
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GAIL may buy 15% stake in Shell's Egypt field
New Delhi: GAIL (India) Ltd is considering an offer from the Royal Dutch/Shell group of companies for picking up a 15-per cent stake in an offshore medium-sized gas field it owns in Egypt. If it materialises, this will be GAIL's largest overseas investment so far.

"Shell has offered us a financial stake in an exploration block in Egypt. We are evaluating the proposal. A decision will be taken shortly," Gail chairman and managing director Proshanto Banerjee said after delivering a lecture on Emerging Gas Markets organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries. The public sector gas major is also likely to bid for a few gas blocks in the Philippines, where again it could participate with Shell, Banerjee said.
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AV Birla forms JVs for Aussie copper
Mumbai: The Aditya Vikram Birla group, which has acquired a 20-million-tonne copper mine in Australia, has formed two separate joint ventures with local partners to develop unexplored blocks. The Birlas will have 60 per cent equity interest in the two ventures.

Hindalco's managing director-designate Debu Bhattacharya said: "The mines come with several tenements that have proven resources but have not been commercially exploited. Hence, there are significant upsides to this acquisition." The Mount Gordon copper block will be the group's second copper mine in Australia, which will raise its captive copper concentrate resources to almost of its requirement.
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DCA likely to take up fresh probe into Daewoo affairs
New Delhi: The Department of Company Affairs is in the process of initiating fresh investigations to probe into the affairs of Daewoo India. Informed sources were quoted as saying: "The department had received complaint from lead bankers. The amount involved is close to Rs 3,000 crore."

The department will take up investigations under Section 235 of the Companies Act, 1956. The section empowers the Union Government in cases where a complaint has been made to appoint one or more competent persons as inspectors to investigate the affairs of the company. Whether the department will be outsourcing investigators, sources said that there has been a session at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) when 18 people made presentations, the sources said.
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