Maruti launches new Zen at same price
New Delhi: Maruti Udyog on Thursday launched a new-look Zen without changing its price, giving the car a makeover 10 years after it was launched. The new Zen has the same engine that powered the previous versions, but sports a new grille, fenders, bonnet, multi-reflector headlamps and front and rear fog lamps. The hatch door and tail lamps have also been redesigned. Maruti has also spruced up the interiors of the Zen by adding a new gearshift lever, a central console and rear head-rest. The base version, Zen LX, is priced at Rs 3.32 lakh while the Zen LXi carries a price of Rs 3.59 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

The top-end model is priced at Rs 3.90 lakh. The two diesel versions come at Rs 3.58 lakh and Rs 3.82 lakh each. All versions now come with body coloured bumpers. Sales of the Zen, now hovering around 5,000 units per month, will grow by 10 per cent with the launch of the new version, said Jagdish Khattar, managing director, MUL. He said the new Zen is completely designed by Maruti's research and development team and this marked the beginning of Maruti becoming the R&D hub of parent Suzuki Motor Corporation for Asia, except Japan.
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Sundram Fasteners declares 60% interim
Chennai: Sundram Fasteners has declared an interim equity dividend of 60 per cent on shares with a face value of Rs 10 for the current financial year.
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Nandan Agro to launch seven safed musli formulations
Kolkata: Nandan Agro Farms is working on preparing seven formulations from an indigenous medicinal plant — safed musli. C S Jadhav, marketing director of the Hyderabad-based company, said one formulation has been prepared while six others are in an advanced stage. "We expect to file patent applications with the Indian authorities in the third quarter of 2004."

Botanically called chlorophytum borivilianum, also known as divya aushad in Ayurveda, the medicinal plant is rich in herbal steroids and versatile in therapeutic value. Nandan's first product, Bio Rhythm, has been billed as the desi version of Viagra. During the last seven years, the company has set up a commercial farming base for safed musli in various states through contract farming. Jadhav said currently, the medicinal plant is grown on around 600 acres of land and the company is planning to increase the area to about 1,000 acres. The company has set up a model farm in West Bengal, too.
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PSL gets pipes order for Gujarat project
Mumbai: PSL Ltd has bagged an order valued at Rs 143 crore from the Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board to supply spiral-weld pipes for the Gujarat Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation project to be undertaken in the Kutch area. This project is being funded by the Asian Development Bank. The turnkey water pipeline order includes setting up of new water pipeline network through the Kutch area. This project is scheduled for completion within five months.

The scope of the project includes manufacturing and supply of approximately 75,000 metres of pipes in various diameters to be manufactured in its facilities at Kandla. The company has nine pipe mills at `strategic' locations around the country. The company has recently commissioned a pipeline in Kandla, which will commence commercial production in December with the current project.
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S Kumar's witnesses 25-30% higher sales in Reid & Taylor
New Delhi: S Kumar's Nationwide Ltd is expecting its worsted fabric brand Reid & Taylor to close the fiscal 2003-04 with a growth of 25-30 per cent over last fiscal's turnover of Rs 180 crore. The company is also in the process of finalising strategies for the re-launch of its readymade brand Tamarind by mid-2004. According to S Kumar's, the new positioning of Reid & Taylor as a premium yet an affordable brand with endorsement from Amitabh Bachchan since mid-october 2003 is helping the brand's cause.

Reid & Taylor has plans to add 2,000 retail outlets to its network of 6,000 outlets in current fiscal with a special focus on non-metros. Its worsted fabrics are offered in the price range of Rs 450 a metre to Rs 4,000 a metre. "Earlier, Reid & Taylor's association with 'James Bond' kept us away from a wider consumer base as most saw as very premium (expensive), but now with Bachchan we find that the brand's acceptance has greatly increased," said Tarun Joshi, spokesperson, Reid & Taylor.
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Ramco group invests Rs 65 crore in wind power
Chennai: The Ramco group, with interests in cement and textiles, has invested Rs 65 crore this year on wind power. It has put up wind turbines totalling 16.225 MW this year, taking its total installed wind power capacity to 54.96 MW. Two group companies will together add another 2 MW wind power capacity before the end of the year, at an average investment of Rs 4.5 crore a MW, according to group officials.

These wind turbines give the group about 1012.5 lakh units of energy in a year, against a total energy requirement of 3,858 lakh units. Apart from the wind turbines, the group companies also have captive generation sets, which generate about 3,219 lakh units a year. All the wind turbines are in Tirunelveli-Tuticorin area. Suzlon has supplied most of the turbines.
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NHPC to save Rs 250 crore; LIC agrees to debt rejig
New Delhi: LIC has agreed to restructure the Rs 2,600 crore loan of National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) by lowering the rate of interest to eight per cent from the earlier 9.25 per cent. The restructuring will result in a saving of Rs 250 crore to NHPC. According to Yogendra Prasad, chairman and managing director, NHPC, the company had finalised a loan of Rs 2,500 crore for a period of 19 years at 9.25 per cent, in March this year. "After a series of negotiations with LIC, the corporation has managed to bring down the cost of borrowing substantially."

LIC has put a rider while restructuring the loan agreement, company officials said, adding that NHPC was trying to remove that too and discussions were on in this regard. The corporation has withdrawn Rs 100 crore till now. In order to add more than 23,000 mw capacity by 2012, NHPC has pegged the market borrowing requirement at about Rs 60,000 crore, SK Garg, director- finance, NHPC, said, adding that the corporation was also negotiating with LIC for a fresh line of credit of Rs 6,500 crore for a period of 20 years
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