MTNL slashes ISD rates
New Delhi: Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) has announced a 25-per cent cut in ISD rates starting April 10. The STD rates have ben left untouched.
While call rates to the US, UK, Canada and any other country with access code of 001have been brought down marginally by 40 to 60 paise, calls to South-East Asia, comprising Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Thailand, will be charged 25 per cent less. Callers to the Gulf region and African countries will also pay 25 per cent less.

MTNL has also announced that calls on mobile phone to the US, UK, Canada, South-East Asia and any other country with an access code of 001 will be charged at a 20-per cent lower tariff at Rs 12 a minute against Rs 15 earlier. Those calling to the Gulf region and African countries will pay 25 per cent less at Rs 15 per minute against Rs 20. Callers to the rest of the world will pay the same amount at Rs 15 a minute.
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TCS and BHEL launch PowerPac-G
Hyderabad: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) have announced the release of PowerPac-G, a software product that addresses decision support and integrated asset management needs of power generation plants.
PowerPac-G will be jointly marketed by TCS and BHEL in the Indian and global markets. The product is an outcome of a Memorandum of Understanding signed by TCS and BHEL in January 2003 that sought to jointly develop IT solutions for the power sector.
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Rs. 261 crore tax notice slapped on Wipro
Bangalore: The Income Tax department has served a Rs 261.4 crore demand notice to Wipro, with regard to the company's software profits from its Bangalore-based STP units.Wipro has said that the Income Tax department's demand was not consistent with Supreme Court orders and other judicial precedents, and that it intended to appeal.
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Glenmark acquires Klinger for $5.2 million
Mumbai: Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd has acquired the Brazil-based Laboratorios Klinger for $ 5.2 million (about Rs 22.7 crore), through its wholly-owned subsidiary Glenmark Farmaceutica Ltda (GFL). Glenmark's acquisition will be funded through a mix of debt and internal accruals. Klinger expects to close the calendar year 2004 with sales of $7 million and a profit of about $1 million.
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Hyundai to launch Elantra
New Delhi: Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) has said that it will introduce its sedan, Elantra, by the end of this month and its big volume model, the Getz, in September. Hyundai also intends to raise the prices of its cars, starting with the Accent, in order to neutralise a three per cent cost increase in components, mostly steel based. The quantum of the price hike is expected to be in this region.

The Elantra would be introduced in both petrol and diesel versions, and is expected to be priced between the mid-sized Accent and the larger Sonata family sedan. The company says that it will achieve a localisation content of 50 per cent by the end of the year.
Hyundai is currently in the process of ramping up its annual capacity to 250,000 vehicles from 150,000 by September this year. The company has crossed the Rs 1,000-crore export mark and has achieved a turnover of Rs 5,000 crore in the fiscal gone by.
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From source base to Euro bike: Hero Motors on a roll
Pune: Hero Motors, part of the Rs 7,800-crore Hero group, will be the sourcing base of parts for a $22 billion Fortune 50 company based in America. The company said that an announcement to this effect would be made in three weeks. The company also said that work is now on for the development of a world bike for its Italian partner, Aprillia. The bike will mark the entry of a made-in-India two-wheeler into the premium end of the motorcycle market in Europe where it will sell for 1,800 euro as against other bikes that sell for 1,500 euro.

The company has also bagged Rs 600 crore worth of contracts for the supply of engines, engine parts, electricals and vehicles to Aprillia over a three-year time frame.Meanwhile, the company plans to tap the huge population of cycle owners in the country as the target audience for its new step-thru bike, Sting, which will be priced at just under Rs 24,000.
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IVRCL brings in foreign strategic partners
Hyderabad: Citicorp International Finance Corporation (CIFC), a unit of Citigroup Global Investments of USA and ChrysCapital II, LLC of Mauritius, have invested Rs 78 crore in IVRCL Infrastructures & Projects Ltd.The additional funding would be used by IVRCL to de-leverage its balance sheet and also prop up its net worth, which would be around Rs 200 crore.

These investors would also act as strategic partners to drive the company through new growth paths with their global contacts and contracts.The company has plans to enter new technical areas and was hopeful of achieving a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore in the current fiscal. Currently, IVRCL is involved in urban infrastructure projects worth around Rs 1,700 crore, spread across 12 States in the country. These projects pertained to water, roads, townships and power.
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Liners India to set up EOU
Hyderabad: Liners India Ltd, engaged in the manufacture of cylinder liners, is setting up a 100 per cent export oriented unit in Chennai, for the export of its products to the US. The company is also expanding the existing capacity of its unit at Vijayawada from 2 million pieces to 2.3 million pieces per annum at a cost of Rs 4 crore. The Chennai project involves an investment of Rs 10 crore.
The new plant will be funded through internal accruals and external borrowings. The company also plans to set up a joint venture in Thailand.
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Oberoi Towers is Hilton Towers now
New Delhi: EIH Ltd and Hilton International have launched a strategic alliance as a result of which seven Trident hotels will now be renamed as Trident Hilton. The Oberoi Towers in Mumbai will now be called the Hilton Towers.The present tie-up will include the Trident hotels at Gurgaon, Agra, Jaipur, Udaipur, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai and Kochi, all of which will now be known as Trident Hilton hotels.

The strategic alliance, will see EIH continue to manage all hotels and undertake domestic marketing promotions and reservations in India while Hilton International will be responsible for international marketing, promotion and reservations through its global network.
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Cobra ties up with Mount Shivalik
Bangalore: Cobra Beer, one of the UK's fastest growing beer brands, has announced a technical collaboration with the Mount Shivalik Group, under which Mount Shivalik will brew Cobra under licence at its facility in Rajasthan, for the domestic Indian market. Mount Shivalik is the largest independent brewing company in India. Trial brewing is expected to commence in mid-April, with the first batch of locally brewed Cobra anticipated for September 2004.
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HLL tries out new Pepsodent through CESC
Kolkata: Hindustan Lever Ltd has tied up with the private sector power utility, CESC Ltd, for the sampling of Pepsodent toothpaste. CESC would be sending out 14.1 lakh covers carrying the Pepsodent label and a small 15 gm tube of toothpaste with a new flavour, along with its bills.

This is CESC's initiative to utilise its bill face to augment revenues. The project, which was launched three years ago, during CESC's loss-making phase, is being continued even after the company's resurgence as it has become popular with the media buying agents.
CESC has been used as a media, for sampling purposes, by companies such as Nestle and Godrej previously.
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BHEL net up 38 per cent
New Delhi: Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has recorded a net profit of Rs 615 crore on a turnover of Rs 8,610 crore during fiscal 2003-04, registering a 38 per cent rise in net profits and a 15 per cent rise in turnover over the previous year's figures.

As part of its diversification strategy, BHEL is bidding for renovation and modernisation of oil rigs besides water management projects, coal and ash handling projects.It also has plans to enter into the non-conventional energy business for which it has already set up a marketing group.
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Export growth targets will be met: Nasscom
New Delhi: Nasscom has stated that the software export growth target of 26-28 per cent for the fiscal gone by will be achieved. The projected figures for 2003-04 were unlikely to be affected because most of the rupee appreciation happened in the tail end of the year.

According to Nasscom's projections for 2003-04, Indian software and services exports are likely to touch $12 billion in revenues.
NASSCOM, however, says that an appreciating rupee was a matter of concern for the industry, as such an appreciation of the rupee would be difficult for any export industry to absorb.
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MphasiS BFL picks up Kshema Tech
Bangalore: The MphasiS BFL group said it was acquiring Kshema Technologies, a Bangalore-based software services firm, for $21 million in a stock-and-cash deal. The cash component of the deal is around $6.8 million.The acquisition is expected to provide a fillip to MphasiS BFL's offerings in the embedded solutions and industrial automation space. The acquisition would also help MphasiS become a full service, broad spectrum IT services and BPO firm.

Kshema, provides solutions for industrial automation, embedded technologies, healthcare and life sciences and enterprise applications and has an active client base of some 35 companies including Symbian and Invensys.While venture capital firm Global Technology Ventures holds 46 per cent stake in the company, Singapore Computer Systems owns 30 per cent, with the rest being held by promoters and employees.
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V.I.P. acquires the Carlton brand
Mumbai: V.I.P. Industries Ltd has acquired both the brand and the manufacturing equipment of the UK's leading luggage maker, Carlton International plc. Carlton International recently went into receivership. The acquisition covers Carlton's entire range of award winning designs and other intellectual property rights as well as the equipment to make Carlton's 22 ranges of hard and soft-sided luggage.V.I.P. Industries has established a wholly owned subsidiary in London, Carlton Travel Goods Ltd. for the purpose.

The UK subsidiary will distribute both the Carlton and V.I.P. brands, becoming a major platform for V.I.P. to develop a significant presence in Europe. V.I.P. products such as Strolly, Compacta, Elanza (which boasts of two world patents and a original design) as well as more recent introductions such as Skate, have propelled the company into the global marketplace. V.I.P. products are currently exported to several countries including the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, West Asia, Hong Kong, and Africa.
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