ITC buys paperboard unit of Bilt for Rs s233 cr
New Delhi: ITC Ltd has announced that it would acquire the paperboard division of Bilt Industrial Packaging Company Ltd (BIPCO) for Rs 233 crore. The two companies have entered into an agreement that would enable ITC to acquire BIPCO's paperboard division, including a 65,000-tonne manufacturing unit at Thekkampatty in Coimbatore. The payment is to be made over the next five years, the two companies said in separate press statements here on Friday.

The sale would be subject to all statutory permissions and the transaction is expected to be completed over the next 45 days, the two companies said. "ITC's existing paperboards facility is already operating at full capacity. This acquisition will enable ITC to service the growing demand for high quality paperboards in the domestic market, as well as to widen its product footprint in the export markets," the company said.

BIPCO is owned by Bilt Paper Holding Ltd, the holding company of the Lalit Mohan Thapar group. The company, called Servall Engineering earlier, was taken over by the Thapar group in the year 2000. Subsequently, Ballarpur Industries Ltd (Bilt), the Thapars' flagship company, took over Sinar Mas India, which gave it additional capacity to manufacture industrial paper.
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BSNL slashes rates for South-East Asia - `Festive tariffs' for UK, US, Canada extended
New Delhi: Encouraaged by the positive response from subscribers to the recent rate cuts in ISD calls to America and European countries, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has slashed call charges to five South-East Asian countries by close to 43 per cent. Starting November 14, subscribers will have to shell out Rs 12 per minute instead of the present Rs 21 per minute for calls made to Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand.

Announcing these new tariffs, Prithipal Singh, chairman and managing director, BSNL, noted that the "festive rates" of Rs 7.20 per minute for calls to UK and Rs 9.60 per minute to the US, Canada and other European countries, which were initially applicable up to November 21, have now been extended till January 15, 2004.

"The Diwali ISD rates that we had announced last month has given us very encouraging results with ISD traffic picking up substantially. We have, therefore, decided to extend the validity till mid January next year and have also slashed rates for calls to certain other countries which has a substantial ISD traffic. While we are confident that the increase in traffic will offset the potential decline in revenue as a result of these rate cuts, the call charges will be reviewed in January," he said

He noted that the local shifting of landline connections, which is now Rs 600 is also made free from November 14. "Moreover, to increase Internet connectivity, we are introducing two new plans for exiting landline subscribers for a second telephone connection at a flat monthly rental of Rs 399 and Rs 499 to enjoy dial-up Internet for unlimited time without paying call charges," he said.
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Elgi Equipments bags GMDC order worth Rs 3.9 cr
Coimbatore: Elgi Equipments Ltd, the Coimbatore based air compressor manufacturer, has won an order for supply of oil-free screw compressors from Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) for its thermal power plant.

It has also inked a deal to supply compressors to a US-based locomotive manufacturer which it believes will open up a huge business opportunity in that country as it has achieved the quality systems specified by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).. Dr Jay Varadaraj, managing director, said that the GMDC order, to be executed during the current fiscal, was worth Rs 3.90 crore. The company entered the production of oil-free compressor only a couple of years ago; last year, the product contributed only about Rs 1 crore to the turnover.

According to him, there was substantial business potential for the oil-free compressor since it has applications in diverse industries - textile, power, pharma, steel, automotive and food products. He estimated the annual demand for it in the region of about Rs 35 crore in the country. After executing the GMDC order, the product is expected to generate about Rs 7-8 crore income to the company in the next fiscal.

On the agreement with the US company, Dr Varadaraj estimated that it would bring an annual income of about $2 million in 2004-05, which would progressively go up to $5 million a year within three years.
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Bhansali Engg buys Greaves polymer plant
Mumbai: Bhansali Engineering Polymers Ltd has acquired a 20,000-tonne polymer unit of Greaves Ltd. BEPL plans to plough in further investments to increase its total capacity to 90,000 tonnes per year. The Rs 100-crore company plans to invest Rs 75 crore in upgrading the ABS resin plant which was purchased for Rs 12.5 crore. Another Rs 61 crore will be invested in upgrading capacity of the unit which was acquired on an `as-is-where-is' basis.

ABS resins are used in manufacturing plastic parts for automobiles, telephones and in making home appliances and luggage. "With the acquisition we will reach world-class capacity levels in ABS resin production," A.R. Mundra, president, BEPL, said. The company has funded the acquisition through internal accruals. "We had recently raised Rs 36 crore through private placements. This will be invested in the expansion," Mundra said.

He said the company is considering another private placement if necessary to meet any expansion expenses. The plant, which uses Sumitomo technology, will lead to cost savings for the company, bringing down the current costs of roughly Rs 12.5 per kg to Rs 5 per kg.
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TV18 promoters sell 1 m shares
New Delhi: Television Eighteen India Ltd (TV18) on Friday said its promoters sold their one million shares and raised over Rs 15 crore. The promoters will infuse the entire amount thus mobilised into the company through a preferential issue, the company said in a notice to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

"The net effect of the above transactions would be to infuse over Rs 15 crore into the company at a premium value of around Rs 145 per share (as per SEBI pricing Guidelines), while the promoter's stake in the company shall remain intact," TV18 said, adding that the money would be used to expand the company's broadcast operations.
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Samsung's new refrigerator plant inaugurated
New Delhi: Samsung India Electronics Ltd's (SIEL) new high-tech and advanced refrigerator facility at Noida, was inaugurated on Friday by Ashok Pradhan, minister of state for communications and information technology, and Jong Yong Yun, vice-chairman & CEO, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

Set up with an investment of $ 25 million, this refrigerator plant is Samsung's fifth refrigerator manufacturing facility in the world, the other four facilities being located at Korea, China, Thailand and Mexico. Samsung India has commenced domestic production at the Noida facility with 180 litre and 195 litre Direct Cool (DC) models and 230 litre, 260 litre, 310 litre and 340 litre Frost Free (FF) refrigerator models. All the refrigerators manufactured in India will be 100 per cent CFC (chlorofluoro carbon) free products, the company said. Further, this facility has the flexibility to manufacture both DC as well as FF refrigerators on the same production line. Also stringent quality norms have been enforced at this facility.
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Dr Reddy's floats arm in South Africa
Hyderabad: Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd announced here on Friday that it had floated a subsidiary in South Africa. In a press release, Dr Reddy's said the subsidiary - Dr Reddy's Laboratories Pvt Ltd, South Africa (Dr Reddy's SA) - was started with Venturepharm Pvt Ltd, a member of the J&J group of companies.

In the South African subsidiary, Dr Reddy's holds 60 per cent and Venturepharm holds 40 per cent. The company aims to use South Africa as the gateway towards penetrating and establishing a presence in SADEC regions and sub-Saharan African territories, at the same time developing a significant presence in the South African market place. Dr Reddy's SA would act as the applicant for local registration purposes and would be responsible for distribution, marketing, sales and business development of Dr Reddy's pipeline and other selected licenced products, the release said.
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GMMCO may double its investment in rental business
Hyderabad: GMMCO Ltd, a CK Birla group company associated with Caterpillar Inc of the US, is likely to double its investment in rental business in the coming year. The Rs 600-crore company is aggressively pursuing rental business and has so far invested Rs 22 crore in earth moving machines and gensets catering to the short-term needs of the industry, according to K. P. Shanbhag, GMMCO's executive director.

Addressing a press conference on the occasion of the launch of Caterpillar's 424 series Backhoe Loader here on Friday, Shanbhag said that GMMCO, a dealer of Caterpillar range of products since 1986 in the country, was taking up maintenance contracts enabling the contractors to concentrate on their construction activity.
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Rashtriya Ispat sales cross Rs 3,000 cr
Visakhapatnam: The sales of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd have crossed the Rs 3,000-crore mark for the first time since its inception during April-October, according to a company press release.
The release says that the RINL, which has become a zero-debt company, is continuing its upward trend on all fronts this year production, marketing, financials and industrial relations.

During the period, the plant produced 2.38 million tonnes of hot metal, 2.01 million tonnes of liquid steel and 1.79 million tonnes of saleable steel, achieving growth rates of five per cent, four per cent and five per cent respectively over last year's figures. The sales turnover amounted to Rs 452 crore in October. The labour productivity of 257.43 tonnes/man-year during the period was way above that of the other steel plants in the country, the release said.
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IBP, Nagarjuna Oil in talks to sell petroleum products
Kolkata: IBP Co Ltd and Nagarjuna Oil Company have initiated talks to enter into an arrangement whereby the former's retail infrastructure would be used to market petroleum products manufactured by the latter.

Talking to presspersons here on Friday, Arun Jyoti, managing director of IBP Co Ltd, said Nagarjuna Oil Company has firmed up plans to buy a six-million-tonne capacity refinery from Germany in knocked down condition. The refinery would then be shipped and set up in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu. Petroleum products manufactured by Nagarjuna Oil would be marketed by IBP Co through its retail infrastructure.

Jyoti said that arrangements in this regard were yet to be firmed up. The process may was likely to take two months and it would take at least two years before IBP actually commences marketing of the petroleum products produced by Nagarjuna Oil. According to Jyoti, IBP Co has embarked upon several initiatives that are aimed at increasing its marketshare in petroleum products, explosives and cyrogenics. During the period April-September 2003, sales of petrol, diesel and lubricants grew at 8.06 per cent, 9.84 per cent and 3.2 per cent, compared with sales during the corresponding period of last year.

During the six months ended September 30, 2003, IBP Co registered a total income of Rs 4,857.84 crore against Rs 4,635.18 crore during the corresponding period of last fiscal. The net profit during the first six months of 2003-04 stood at Rs 81.87 crore against Rs 48.48 crore in April-September 2002. The company is hopeful of earning a total income of Rs 10,000 crore during the year ending March 31, 2004. Jyoti said the company's retail chain was being strengthened even as tie-ups have been forged with the tourism departments of some States whereby facilities to promote tourism would be provided at IBP outlets that are located at places of tourist attractions. IBP Co has exported its products to Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya and Malaysia. Soon, export of lubricants would commence to Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.
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Kamdhenu Ispat plans pacts for national presence
New Delhi: Iron rod manufacturer, Kamdhenu Ispat Ltd, on Friday announced that it would enter into strategic tie-ups with several units to expand its business across the country. As part of the effort to increase its presence across the country, Kamdhenu, which claims to have a 25 per cent marketshare in the north Indian market, the company has entered into strategic tie-ups with four units in Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh.

Kamdhenu will provide technological and marketing support to these producers and sell their output under its brand name, according to Satish Agarwal, chairman. The company logged a turnover of Rs 137 crore in 2002-03. This year, it is aiming to close at a turnover close to Rs 200 crore and grow to Rs 500 crore in the next two years. In terms of production, the company aims to make three lakh million tonnes of iron rods by the time its expansion plans fructify in 2005.

Kamdhenu's current production stood at about 1.5 lakh m.t. The company is also planning to access funds from the market with an IPO, the details of which are being worked out, Agarwal said.
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