BSNL waives connection shifting charges
New Delhi: In a bid to stall the growing number of landline telephone surrenders, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has waived the shifting charges that were being collected from subscribers who relocate to any other State and want to transfer their existing connection. Until now a subscriber was exempted from paying these charges only if the connection is to be shifted anywhere within the same local area. This has been implemented to encourage people to retain their BSNL connection instead of surrendering it once they leave a particular locality.

The subscriber, when he shifts to a new locality is faced with wide variety of choices from private operators such as Bharti, Reliance and Tata Teleservices who have been offering "instant" and "hassle-free" landline connections. There have also been many instances where the subscriber does not go in for a landline and shift to the cellular mobile connection. It is to retain these subscribers that the company has decided to abolish any extra charges from them, the sources noted. They pointed out that shifting of telephone connections are basically of three types.
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Indian Hotels board to look into fund raising proposals
Mumbai: The board of directors of Indian Hotels Company has authorised a committee of directors to examine and evaluate long-term fund raising proposals in the nature of a foreign debt instrument linked, if necessary, to equity/warrants for or up to $75 million, subject to necessary approvals as required.

The funds would be utilised to finance the various capital expenditure programmes of the company. Since the instrument had an equity option, it would minimise the impact on debt-equity structure.
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New-look Zen to be launched this week
New Delhi: The new-look Zen will be unveiled on Thursday and is expected to carry a higher price tag. The advertising campaign for the compact car, which sells about 5,000 units every month, will start in a couple of days with a teaser campaign showing a blonde model being chased by a tiger in Prague. The full advertisement will hit television screens after the formal launch of the car. Maruti unveiled the advertising campaign on Monday but company officials refused to comment on the changes made to the car.

"Zen has witnessed a drop in market share from 20 per cent to about 18 per cent in the last two years. We have been working for the last 18 months on the new car and it has been changed keeping in mind the latest European styling," Maruti's general manager (Marketing), Ravi Bhatia said. Bhatia said the price of the new Zen has been worked out and will be finalised over the next couple of days. Market sources said the car, which has been designed and developed in-house, will be priced slightly higher than the existing 1,000 cc vehicle.
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Sundram Fasteners to buy forge unit in Britain
Chennai: Sundram Fasteners has entered into an MoU with Dana Spicer Europe to purchase Dana's 'precision forge unit' at Cramlington, UK. The MoU was signed on Monday. A senior official of the company said that "lot of work" had still to be done before the deal is signed and sealed. He said that negotiations on some of the terms and conditions have yet to be completed. This is expected to be done by mid-December.

The Dana unit is "like the one we have in Hosur," a manufacturer of cold forged products for automotive application, says a source. This is the second acquisition of Sundram Fasteners. Back in the early 1990s, the company bought the radiator caps unit of General Motors and shipped the plant to Chennai. The `radiator caps' business is today worth about Rs 20 crore - all products of the unit are exported, most of it to General Motors.
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Nestle starts reinforcing hygiene standards
New Delhi: Nestle India chairman and managing director Carlo Donati said the foods major has started the exercise of "reinforcing the guidelines for market hygiene" for its chocolate brands. In other words, the exercise is aimed at ensuring that storage of its chocolate brands at retail outlets meet the adequate hygiene standards. On whether the recent worms controversy involving Cadbury India's chocolate brands had impacted sales of Nestle as well, Donati said, "Any controversy that shakes the consumer's confidence is not good for the category."

The company has projected double-digit growth in the forthcoming months. Donati attributed expectations of increased demand to healthy monsoons this year. "Good monsoons have improved general economic outlook, but the impact on the overall fast moving consumer goods sector remains limited," he said.
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Escorts to buy out US subsidiary
New Delhi: Escorts Ltd has chalked out an aggressive strategy for the North American and European markets in its bid to emerge as a major player in the global arena. The company is planning to buy the stake of its joint venture partner in Long Agribusiness LLC, the Escorts subsidiary in the US, by December this year to gain 100 per cent management control in the subsidiary.

Escorts, which owns 49 per cent in Long Agribusiness, however declined to disclose the sum it would be paying its joint venture partner, Alverez & Marcell Inc, to close the deal. "The name of the American subsidiary would subsequently change to Farmtrac," Rakesh Chopra, business head - Agri Machinery Group, Escorts Ltd, said. Escorts sources tractors from LG in Korea, India and Universal Tractors in Romania for the US market. While its focus is on the hobby tractor segment (35 HP to 75 HP) in the US, Escorts is also sourcing sub-30-HP tractors from LG to address the `garden tractor' segment in the country.
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Indraprastha Gas IPO at Rs 40-48 per share
Mumbai: Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL), the Delhi-based producer, marketer and distributor of compressed natural gas and piped natural gas, said it will offer 28.57 per cent of its equity capital to the public at a price within the band of Rs 40-48 per share of face value Rs 10 each. At that rate, the size of the initial public offer would range in Rs 160 crore to Rs 192 crore.

The IPO, which is essentially sale of shares held by strategic investors AIG Indian Sectoral Equity Trust (stake held by IL&FS Trust Company as trustee), Infrastructure Development Finance Company and UTI (through India Infrastructure Fund Unit Scheme 1999), would open for subscription on 28 November and close on 5 December.
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Havell’s India hopes to boost turnover with new products
Hyderabad: Havell’s India, manufacturers of lighting systems, equipment and switchgears, has set an ambitious target to achieve a Rs 1,000 crore turnover by 2004-05 by foraying into household lighting systems, luminaries and fans, says a report. The company also proposed to set up a new plant for T5 series of compact fluorescent lamps, which are energy efficient lighting system than the existing models in India. Addressing a press conference to announce the launch of new products including luminaries, compact fluroscent lamps and new electrical fittings for indoor and outdoor, Sunil Sikka, vice-president, marketing, Havell’s India, said that the recent acquisitions of ‘Polestar’ brand from GS Lighting of Gurgaon and T-Series Fans plant from T-Series famous Gulshan Kumar in Delhi, were expected to contribute sizeably to achieve the target.

Havell’s wants to be one of the market leaders in both the luminaries and lighting systems. "We hope to achieve a 15 per cent market share in the next two years by expanding our products line, distribution network and marketing activities," Sikka said. In order to meet the demand from government sectors and other industrial players for the more energy efficiency lighting systems, Havell’s has proposed to set up a new plant to manufacture T5 series of CFL lamps in India.
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Amul to open first plant outside Gujarat
New Delhi: The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF, or Amul) is in the process of setting up its first dairy plant outside Gujarat. The Mehsana District Milk Producers' Union, an affiliate of the Rs 2,746-crore turnover cooperative giant, is planning to establish a five lakh litres per day (LLPD) plant in Manesar, near Gurgaon in Haryana.

The union has already completed the formalities for acquiring around nine acres of land from the Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC) in its Industrial Model Township (IMT) at Manesar. The proposed dairy will basically be a pasteurising-cum-packaging facility for sale of liquid milk by GCMMF in Delhi and other northern markets, industry sources said.
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