BSNL cuts ISD rates by 50% within Asia
Bangalore: International calls to Asian countries will be 50 per cent less expensive till mid-January next year. Reduced ISD rates to the US, Canada and Europe, announced earlier, will also be valid till 15 January 2004, according to BSNL officials. ISD rates to Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand are down to Rs 12 per minute from an earlier rate of Rs 24 per minute, while the new rates for the UK are Rs 7.20 per minute and for the USA, Canada and the whole of Europe Rs 9.60 per minute.

BSNL officials also announced other sops for customers. These include waiving the Rs 600 charged for shifting landline telephones within the city or country. The fee earlier charged for transferring connections has been eliminated and the lock-in period of one year for general and third-party transfers of phone connections has also been removed.
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Essar Oil finalises Rs 1,300-crore bond issue
New Delhi: Essar Oil Ltd has finalised plans to raise Rs 1,300-crore (about $ 271 million) offshore debts for completing its refinery project. The company has filed an application with the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) seeking permission to issue foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) worth Rs 1,300 crore to ABB Lummus Global BV as well as promoters of the company and their associates and nominees.

According to the application filed by the company, these bonds will be convertible into equity shares or global depository receipts or American depository receipts. The timeframe for such conversion would be on or after 45 days from the closing date and up to 30 days prior to the maturity date. It also states that repayment will not be earlier than December 2010.
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GM to raise Corsa, Optra prices
New Delhi: General Motors India has announced a 2-3 per cent increase in the prices of its Opel Corsa and Chevrolet car models from 1 January 2003.

P Balendran, vice-president, said while the prices of the Opel Corsa models will go up by Rs 8,000-Rs 10,000, the Chevrolet Optra cars will be up by Rs 15,000.
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Orchid to export Cefazolin to US
Chennai: Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals will soon export an injectable antibiotic, Cefazolin, to the US. This follows the formal approval granted by the US Food and Drugs Administration to its sterile active pharmaceutical ingredient product, Cefazolin, which is used in the treatment of several infections.

The Chennai-based pharmaceutical company is hopeful of taking more products and facilities through these approval processes during the next calendar year.
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Nestle India declares second interim dividend
New Delhi: Nestle India on Friday declared its second interim dividend, of Rs 10 per share, for the year 2003. With this interim dividend, shareholders will receive for the year Rs 20 per share, amounting to a payout of Rs 193 crore.

Nestle India chairman and managing director Carlo M Donati says: "Nestlé India's good performance reflects the operational efficiency of the company and the strength of its brands. The company is committed to creating value that can be sustained over the long term for consumers, shareholders, employees and business partners and I am happy that the board has approved this second interim dividend of Rs 10 per share."
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Parry Confectionery ready to launch sugar-free products
Chennai: Parry Confectionery, a part of the Murugappa group, is ready to launch sugar-free sweets as soon as the government allows it, according to M V Subbiah, the company's chairman. The company can enter this segment anytime but as of now the government does not permit Indian companies to manufacture sugar-free products, though some multinationals such as Coke and Pepsi have been permitted to sell their diet cola versions, he said.

Subbiah, at the company's annual general meeting, said the sugar-boiled confectionery industry association has been lobbying with the government to allow the manufacture of sugar-free sweets.
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Tisco trims debt by Rs 475 crore
Mumbai: Tata Iron and Steel Company Ltd (Tisco) has reduced its total debts by Rs 475 crore as on 31 October 2003, resulting in lower interest cost. This is in line with the company's decision to prepay its high-cost debts. It is also in talks with lenders to settle more debt.

The total debt of the company as on 31 March 2003 stood at Rs 4,225.61 crore as against Rs 4,705.48 crore in the previous fiscal. The interest burden for the first six months of 2003-04 stood at Rs 133.48 crore as against Rs 166.61 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal, representing a 20-per cent reduction.
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Tata Motors November sales up 56.5%
Mumbai: India's biggest truck and bus maker, Tata Motors has said that its total vehicle sales, including exports, in November rose 56.5 per cent from a year earlier to 25,265 units. In a statement issued after close of trade, it said sales of trucks and buses jumped about 58 per cent to 12,626 units in the same period while it sold 41.6 per cent more passenger vehicles at 10,735.

This includes 6,000 Indica cars, taking the total sales in April-November to 53,103 units, up 10.7 per cent from a year ago period. It sold 1,904 vehicles in the overseas market, compared with 567 units in the same period a year ago.
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Bharti plans acquisition, to invest Rs 60 crore
New Delhi: Bharti Tele-Ventures, the leading mobile services provider, has said that it will announce an acquisition by March and it will invest about Rs 60 crore in states where it has applied for new licenses.

"Lots of bankers have spoken to us and by March you will see some action on acquisitions," Bharti Tele-Ventures chairman Sunil Mittal said. He said Bharti will exceed its target of 6 million cellular customers by March 2004.
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