Kanoria Chemecials to hike formaldehyde output
Mumbai: Kanoria Chemicals & Industries Ltd (KCI), has emerged as a low-cost manufacturer of chlor-alkalies and alcohol-based intermediates in the country. "Our strategy is to focus on technological innovations in the manufacturing processes. Focus on reducing costs and market share consolidation in product category is beginning to reflect on our performance,'' R.V. Kanoria, chairman and managing director, said in a release.

The company will expand its formaldehyde production capacity to 75,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) from 50,000 tpa at the Ankleshwar unit. This will be commissioned by the end of next quarter. A new unit with 3,285 tpa capacity will be added to the existing 6,875 tpa installed capacity for aluminium chloride at the Renukoot unit by December, taking the total installed capacity to 10,160 tonnes per annum.

A duel fuel engine for natural and biogas will be installed by the mid of Q3 resulting in a return through cost savings of around Rs 1.5 crore per year. During the second quarter (July-September) of the FY 2003-2004, total revenues increased by 13.2 per cent to Rs 93.99 crore from Rs 83.01 crore recorded in the same period last year. Net Profit increased by 168.2 per cent to Rs 6.25 crore from Rs 2.33 crore. EPS on basic and diluted earnings is Rs. 3.53 against Rs. 1.16.
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L&T fabricates 8,000-tonne platform for ONGC
Hazira: A 1400-tonne structure, part of the 8,000-tonne mega process platform for Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, has already been loaded on a floating deck on the Tapti shore of Larsen & Toubro's Hazira facility, the finishing touches being given to it. "This is the largest process platform that has ever been constructed in India," says V.N. Desai, senior deputy general manager of the Modular Fabrication Yard of L&T, who is part of the project team for the platform. The entire facility will be handed over to ONGC by January 31, 2004.

The other sections of the mega platform are also almost ready. The 1665-tonne East deck, which will complement the 1400-tonne west deck which has been already loaded, is also ready for transfer to the floating deck. This will be done by means of hydraulic cranes and ramps, a moving event indeed for the project team and the workers who had worked on the platforms for over a year now. Both the decks will then be towed down the river Tapti and out its mouth into the Arabian sea and taken to the ONGC site for installation.

There are the other sections too - the 1200-tonne living quarter deck, topped by a helideck, which will accommodate 50 persons who would be working on the offshore well nearly 200 km off the coast, the 1500-t turbo generator module which will generate 30 MW of electricity and a 1100-tonne process gas compressor module. Then there are desalination units as well.

All these will be installed on an 8-legged support structure - the jacket - which sits on the seabed, with the modules installed one after the other using a derrick barge with a lifting capacity of 2,400 tonnes. L&T has outsourced this work to J Ray McDermott Eastern Hemisphere Ltd.
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GFCL becomes subsidiary of Coromandel Fertilisers
Hyderabad: Following the acquisition of 54.48 per cent equity holding by the Murugappa-group controlled Coromandel Fertilisers Ltd (CFL) recently, Godavari Fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd (GFCL) has become the subsidiary of the former.

In a communication to stock exchanges, CFL said it has acquired 45,90,449 shares amounting to 14.34 per cent of the total paid-up capital of GFCL. The mode of acquisition was purchase from the equity shareholders of GFCL under the open offer in terms of SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares & Takeover) Regulation, 1997. Stating that the date of acquisition was November 1, 2003, CFL said its total shareholding in GFCL after the acquisition stood at 1,74,33,552 shares, amounting to 54.48 per cent of the total paid-up capital of the company.
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ITI expects bond sale to raise Rs 244 crore
Bangalore: ITI Ltd plans to raise close to Rs 244 crore in the current financial year in bonds. The company plans to raise Rs 150 crore by December and float another issue to raise Rs 94 crore in January, according to C.S. Verma, director (finance). The issues will be backed by Government guarantees. The bonds would be privately placed and the money raised is likely to part-fund voluntary retirement scheme.The coupon rates would be 6.5-7 per cent, in line with the prevailing market rate.

The company, which reported a net loss of Rs 140.36 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal on a total income of Rs 279.05 crore, aims to narrow its losses to Rs 100 crore , significantly lower than the Rs 350-crore loss reported a year ago. ITI plans to offer voluntary retirement to 3,500-4,000 of its 19,000 employees in the current fiscal. It also expects to raise its turnover to Rs 2,500 crore to shrink its operational losses. The company's order book size is "significant", topping Rs 1,500 crore, and is likely to swell further in the coming months.
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Third round of Maruti VRS to start next week
New Delhi: MarutiI Udyog Ltd (MUL) is likely to throw open the second phase of its second voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) next week, this time targeting employees at the shop floor.
Supervisors, assistant supervisors, technicians and other workers at Maruti's manufacturing facility at Gurgaon (Haryana) near here are eligible to opt for this round of VRS, which the company is implementing as part of its initiatives to drive down costs..

Company sources say that Maruti is targeting to reduce 400-500 workers through this round of VRS. In the first phase, according to the MUL managing director, Jagdish Khattar, 267 employees at the managerial level accepted the VRS offer. At the end of last fiscal, Maruti had around 4,590 employees.

Maruti announced last week that it had spent Rs 29.4 crore on the first phase of the second VRS. Through the first VRS, implemented in October 2001, the company had reduced the strength of its workforce by 1,050 employees at a cost of Rs 65 crore. Maruti Udyog, which went public in June this year through a hugely successful initial public offering (IPO), is offering VRS to its employees under a three-year strategy called `Challenge 50'. Through this initiative, Maruti seeks to achieve global standards by reducing the cost of production of a vehicle by 30 per cent.
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Lupin promoters divest 4% stake
Mumbai: The promoters of the pharmaceutical company Lupin Ltd, Dr Desh Bandhu Gupta and associates, have sold nearly 4 per cent of Lupin's total equity in the market for a total consideration of about Rs 90 crore. The promoters have offloaded 15 lakh shares at a price of Rs 555 per share.

A company press release said as part of the restructuring exercise of their holdings, the promoter group entered into a share purchase agreement with CVC International, a Citigroup Global Investment Unit, to sell 12.55 per cent stake in Lupin for about Rs 125.9 crore. The promoters' shareholding in the company, consequent upon these divestments would stand at about 50 per cent
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Garden Reach declares 35% dividend
New Delhi: Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd, a ministry of defence undertaking, has declared a dividend of 35 per cent for 2002-03. A draft of Rs 7.49 crore as dividend was presented to the defence minister, George Fernandes, here on Tuesday.The company has achieved production level of over Rs 500 crore in value terms for the first time, an official release said here.
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Tentative US approval for Ranbaxy's anti-diabetic drug
New Delhi: Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd has said it had received tentative approval from the US regulatory authorities for anti-diabetes drug Metformin Hydrochoride in the extended release tablet form. Bristol Myers Squibb is the original patent holder for the drug and it is sold under the trademark Glucophage XR. In a statement, Ranbaxy said it had been given tentative clearance to manufacture and market the generic version or the chemical equivalent of Glucophage XR, in a 500 mg dosage.

But while Bristol's Glucophage XR is indicated for patients aged over 10, Ranbaxy's extended-release version is for patients aged over 17. According to sources, total sales for the anti-diabetic drug in all its forms were an estimated $1.6 billion, with $452.4 million for the Metformin extended-release formulation. The Metformin Hydrochloride tablets for patients with type 2 diabetes.
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Tata Tea brand poised to go strong
Mumbai: Tata Tea Ltd (TTL) would continue to invest in Tata Tea brand in the backdrop of competition from regional and local brands and unbranded tea. The company would also employ innovation based on consumer insight to modernise category and enable profitable growth, Percy Siganporia, deputy managing director, TTL, said at the company's analysts' meet.

"The company will resort to selective strengthening of sales and distribution to drive top and bottom ends of the market and provide a geographic brand thrust,'' he said.
During the second quarter, Tata Tea brand's market share grew while those of Kanan Devan, Chakra Gold and Gemini moved down. However, in September 2003, volumes and value shares of these three brands increased in comparison to the previous month.
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