L&T to merge three arms with L&T Finance
Mumbai: Larsen and Toubro (L&T) will merge three of its subsidiary companies with L&T Finance Ltd. The three companies to be merged are L&T Equipment Leasing Construction, LTM Ltd and L&T Trade.com. Company sources were quoted as saying that the move is aimed at making L&T Finance, which is also a subsidiary, a stronger entity. The company undertakes a host of activities for L&T and group entities including construction equipment financing and tractor financing for L&T John Deere.

L&T has a bunch of subsidiaries — 29. A large number of them are special purpose vehicles, incorporated for specific jobs. L&T Equipment Leasing Company caters to the equipment needs of the construction division of L&T. The company's asset base is expected to grow to around Rs 39 crore by the end of 2003-04. It also expects to maximise the utilisation of spare capacity of equipment by hiring out in the market.
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Reliance to lay undersea link between India and West Asia
New Delhi: The Reliance group is working on a project to lay an undersea cable link between India and West Asia. Titled Falcon Project, the project is expected to link Jamnagar in Gujarat, where the company's petrochemical and refinery project is located, to Fujiarah Port in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

While the investment in and the capacity of the project are not known as of now, industry experts say it will not cost more than $100 million for an 8-terabit capacity cable network. A Reliance Infocomm spokesperson declined to comment, according to a news report. Reliance, which wants to become a major player in the international long distance (ILD) telecom business, is acquiring Flag Telecom, the 50,000-km strong undersea cable network across the world, for $207 million.
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Cadbury loss is Voltas's gain
Mumbai: Cadbury's loss is becoming Voltas' gain. After the worms controversy, the Indian arm of British confectionery and chocolate giant Cadbury Schweppes is increasing its indent for visi-coolers (see-through refrigerators) from the Tatas-owned Voltas.

A source close to the development was quoted as saying: "Cadbury India's demand for visi-coolers has climbed." But he did not divulge the number of such coolers bought by the company. The company's expenditure will increase on account of this because visi-coolers are given free to retailers.
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Kinetic banking on exports, Velocity
New Delhi: Kinetic Engineering is putting its hopes on exports and its latest motorbike model, the Velocity, to drive the company back into profits. The company has suffered losses in the last two quarters, which was attributed to capital investment made for enhancing manufacturing capacity and launch of a number of new mobike models that involved huge marketing cost.

Kinetic reported a net loss of Rs 2.25 crore on a turnover of Rs 43.5 crore for the quarter ended June 2003 while the corresponding figures for the next quarter (July-September) were Rs 8.23 crore and Rs 39.9 crore. Kinetic is also looking at increasing revenues from its technical collaboration with Hyosung Motors of Korea. It is also expected to manufacture GF 170 and Laser 170 and Aquila for Hyosung Motors and sales to the Korean auto major are expected to increase from 6000 in the four months to around 18,000 next year. Kinetic is already manufacturing GF 125 for it.
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Godrej group increases stake in Compas, Cbay
Mumbai: The Godrej group has increased its stake in Compas Connections of the UK and the US-based CBay Systems Ltd — companies involved with business process outsourcing (BPO) — to 20 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively. About two years ago, the group had picked up a stake of around 5 per cent in each of these firms.

Adi Godrej, chairman, Godrej group, said the group will like to opt for a further hike in stake in the two companies in the future. "BPO is an area in which we will continue to invest, and Godrej Industries will be the vehicle for pursuing this interest." CBay, which is the leader in supplying Indian medical transcription to the US healthcare industry, is the largest provider of transcription and information services to the Indo-US healthcare services arena. The Godrej group's role is seen as that of a venture capitalist, even as it is playing an active role in these ventures.
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Toyota plans launch at Maruti 800 price
Bangalore: Toyota Kirloskar Motor is planning to launch a small car in the 800-cc-1,600-cc range in another three years. "We could look at an alternative model which is of the same price range as that of the Maruti 800, but with added features. But we are still evaluating the possibilities," Toyota Kirloskar Motor managing director Atsushi Toyoshima said.

Toyoshima said it will take another three years to develop the vehicle for India. He said the company is currently studying the market closely. "The volumes are extremely high in this segment and pricing is an important factor for us." He said Toyota's associate company, Daihatsu, has several small cars in the 800-cc-1,600-cc range and the company might pick one of these for India.
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