IOC marketing deal: RIL wants two-year extension
New Delhi: In a recent communication to the petroleum ministry, Reliance Industries Ltd, which operates a 27-million tonne refinery in Jamnagar, Gujarat, has sought a two-year extension of its agreement with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to sell its petro-products through the latter's retail network. RIL sells around 13 mt of products to IOC, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd through individual contracts with each of the companies, valid till 1 April 2004. Only in the case of IOC does the contract have a take-or-pay clause for around 7.5 m.t. per annum. In case IOC picks up less than this volume, it will pay RIL Rs 700 per tonne. In the case of HPCL and BPCL, the contracts are on `best effort' basis. IOC has another five-year flexible contract that does not envisage any take-or-pay clause.

RIL's request for extension of contract is being seen by industry watchers as a move to gain time to set up its own retail outlets. Currently, it has none. Interestingly, the demand-supply position for the oil companies is set to change by December 2004. This is when IOC's Kandla-Bhatinda product pipeline will be converted to handle crude for IOC's Panipat refinery. Currently, this pipeline transports around 5 m.t. of RIL's products to the northern markets. Also, around the same time, the Panipat refinery will be expanded from six m.t. to 12 m.t. capacity.
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BHEL commissions gas turbine in Iraq
New Delhi: Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has achieved a major milestone in overseas operations with the synchronisation of a 159-MW highest-rating gas turbine in Iraq. This is of significance as it is the largest contract executed by an Indian PSU under challenging circumstances, in addition to being the first power generation unit to be commissioned in post-war Iraq.

The project has been commissioned for the General Company Electrical Projects (GCEP), Govt. of the Republic of Iraq, at its Baiji power plant, located 250 km north of Baghdad. Prior to this, BHEL had commissioned a similar unit at Baiji before the war broke out, and is at present in the process of installing two more units of similar rating at the same power station
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ONGC, Tata Power gas talks in limbo
Mumbai: Negotiations between ONGC and Tata Power Company on buying gas are in limbo over the price. Analysts said that the deadlock was an "ideal example" of the ongoing tussle between suppliers and buyers on what the feasible price of gas should be. Tata Power has been in talks with ONGC since March for buying 2.5 million cubic metres per day of natural gas from ONGC's marginal fields in the western offshore for its Trombay thermal power-generating unit.
While ONGC has offered a price range of $3.5-3.75 per million metric British thermal units (mmbtu), Tata Power would like a pricing of $3-3.25.

"We said that the $3.5-3.75 price was too high. The ideal pricing should be $2.25. ONGC has supplied this price to customers for years. But considering the trend of rising fuel prices, we would say $3 is an ideal price," a senior Tata Power official said. According to industry observers, every gas purchase deal in India is in sharp focus considering the ambiguity in the market about what the ideal price of gas should be.
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Arch Commerz to reverse-merge with Merven Drug
Hyderabad: Shareholders of Merven Drug Products Ltd (MDPL) can heave a sigh of relief as the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) has sanctioned a rehabilitation package wherein Arch Commerz Pvt Ltd (ACPL), the Mumbai-based profit making pharma company, will be reverse merged into Merven. As per the package, Merven would reduce its paid-up equity from Rs 8.1 crore to Rs 40.5 lakh by writing off accumulated losses to the tune of Rs 7.69 crore. The company informed stock exchanges that reduction in capital would be effected by cancelling the paid-up equity by Rs 9.50 per equity share of Rs 10 each. Subsequently, Merven would to consolidate 20 equity shares of Rs 0.50 fully paid-up into one equity share of Rs 10 each.

In terms of BIFR order, Merven has to implement scheme of reverse merger effective from end of March 31, 2002 and commencing on April 1, 2002, which has been referred to as transfer date. The accumulated losses of Merven as on March 1, 2002 prior to the merger with Arch Commerz would stand reduced at Rs 3.12 crore. In terms of merger, the Arch Commerz shareholders would get three equity shares of Rs 10 each of Merven for every five equity shares of Rs 10 each held by them. Following the share exchange ratio, the capital of Arch Commerz would get written down to Rs 4.82 crore from the existing Rs 8.04 crore. As per the BIFR order, the merged entity would continue to be listed on the stock exchanges and the MDPL shareholders would be adequately compensated.
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Color Chips in pact for French animation film
Hyderabad: Color Chips India Ltd, a Hyderabad-based animation company, has announced it has signed up a co-production deal for a thirteen-episode series with Benj Productions of France.

This co-production agreement is in the form of a cash-cum-revenue sharing deal and is to be completed this fiscal. Titled Mon Chi Chi, this serial, will be distributed by Warner Brothers in Europe and is expected to be telecast by the French TV channel Teletoon. The central character Chichi or Kiki is considered to be extremely popular in both Europe and Japan, according to a statement from Color Chips.

The current 13-episode series Mon Chi Chi is a continuation of the highly popular television series titled Kiki. The first version of the series was distributed by the Universal Video, France, which is the French outfit of the media major Universal Pictures, USA. This series was aired in over 50 countries. Recently, Color Chips was chosen as the first animation company in the country to bag a service contract for a full-scale 3D animation film project. This deal that was struck with Animagnetic AS, a Norwegian 3D Animation studio, is worth $ 1 million.
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Corsa Sail, Optra boost GM's image
Bangalore: Corsa Sail and Chevrolet Optra have turned the fortunes of General Motors in India with a 55 per cent jump in total sales of all models during the first nine months of 2003 compared with a year ago figures. A General Motors official told that while Corsa Sail sold a total of 2,050 units since its launch in May 2003, the high-end Optra sold a total of 2,655 units since its launch in July 2003. Between January and September 2003, the company has sold 10,987 units, compared to 7,081 units in the same period last year. During September 2002, General Motors sold a total of 816 units of all models but during the same period this year, the total sales went up 166 per cent to 2001.

"But for some production constraints, we would have sold more," the official said. He said the company has already started the second shift to meet the growing demand and is expected to break even during the current year itself. It has wiped off previous losses amounting to around Rs 400 crore and should start posting operating profits during the current year itself. The current capacity of the plant is around 25,000 units and till recently it was working at half the capacity. The official said Corsa Sail priced around Rs 4.4 lakh for the base version and Rs 4.75 lakh for the high-end model had boosted the sales by nearly 83 per cent since its launch. It currently constitutes nearly half of total sales of all Corsa models. Between January-September 2002, General Motors sold a total of nearly 6,000 Corsas but during the same period this calendar year, the total sales of Corsa models went up 20 per cent to 7,158 units. During the previous month, a total of 1,187 Corsas were sold, of which 587 were that of Corsa Sail.
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Bilcare proposes 1:2 bonus issue
Mumbai: Prompted by a 55 per cent increase in its net profit in the second quarter of the current fiscal, Bilcare Ltd has proposed to issue bonus shares in the ratio of two equity shares for every one share held, subject to the required approvals. The company has reported a net profit of Rs 4.6 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal, as against Rs 2.96 crore reported during the corresponding period of last fiscal, representing an increase of 55 per cent.

The company, which was formerly known as Bi Ltd, has reported a six-month turnover of Rs 48.23 crore this fiscal, as against Rs 39.46 crore recorded during the corresponding period of last fiscal. According to Mohan Bhandari, managing director, the company is finalising plans to further align its resources to tackle global opportunities in a focussed manner.
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Ranbaxy, US foundation sign pact for anti-AIDS drugs
New Delhi: In an effort to bring down the price of anti-AIDS drugs by more than half, the William Jefferson Clinton Foundation has signed an agreement with three Indian companies, one of them being the Capital-based Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. Announcing the development in a communiqué, Ranbaxy said that the initiative would bring anti-retroviral or anti-AIDS drugs within the access of millions of people in developing countries.

Some 1.5-2 million patients are estimated to benefit from this programme by 2008. The agreement covers countries in Africa and the Caribbean regions such as South Africa, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Haiti, The Bahamas, Dominican Republic, and The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States. Fixed dose combination of triviro-LNS, aviro-LZN, coviro, and efavirenz are covered by the agreement. Though these drugs are already available in several countries, price reductions achieved through this deal are due to consolidation and predictability of demand.
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ITC travel arm eyes China for new business
Kolkata: International Travel House Ltd, the travel arm of ITC Ltd, will be launching operations to and from China within the next few months. The company's top officials, in a bid to reach out to the vast customer base in China, are already scouting the Chinese market, and have nearly finalised plans to tie up with a local agency. Travel House is now prepared to take up the challenge of promoting Chinese inbound traffic into India.

According to an official release by the company, promotional literature in Mandarin has already been prepared. The company had planned a foray into the Chinese market quite sometime ago, but the breakout of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) led to a postponement of the plans. Travel House, an ISO 9001 certified travel and tourism outfit, specialises in inbound and outbound tours and incentives, domestic tours, business travel, coach tours, car rentals, conferences, exhibitions and event management and money changing. The `Travel House Flexiholidays' will now include outbound China market.
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