GAIL to double polymer production
New Delhi: GAIL (India) Ltd is nearly doubling its polymer production capacity from 2.60 lakh tonnes per annum (TPA) to 4.40 lakh TPA at an investment cost of Rs 725 crore. According to a GAIL statement, the first phase of the investment plan has already been implemented through de-bottlenecking of downstream units at a cost of Rs 76 crore. De-bottlenecking of the units is envisaged to result in a cut in production cost and specific energy consumption by about five per cent each.
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Maybach gets confirmed orders
New Delhi: Daimler Chrysler India is planning to commence deliveries of the Rs 5-crore luxury car Maybach by September. According to the company it has already received about 10-15 serious enquiries for the Maybach and it hopes to sell at least 7-8 cars in 2004. The car is being sent for homologation to the Automotive Research Association of India next week. Daimler Chrysler is also conducting a feasibility study to introduce the Jeep brand of vehicles and the Actros range of commercial vehicles in India.
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Graphite to pay Rs 4
Kolkata: The board of directors of Graphite India Ltd (GIL) has recommended a dividend of Rs 4 per equity share of Rs 10 each for the fiscal ended March 31, 2004. During the year under review, the company earned a net profit of Rs 51.32 crore on a total income of Rs 549.30 crore compared to the net profit of Rs 33.39 crore and sales turnover of Rs 410.08 crore last fiscal.

According to a GIL source, the expansion project for enhancing the capacity of Durgapur plant by 20,000 tonnes at a capital cost of Rs 160 crore is progressing as per schedule and will be completed before the end of the current fiscal, thereby raising its total graphite electrode manufacturing capacity to 60,000 tonnes per year.
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Templeton increases stake in Aurobindo Pharma
Hyderabad: Templeton Strategic Emerging Markets LDC has informed the National Stock Exchange that it has acquired 13,05,460 equity shares amounting to 2.9 per cent of the total paid-up capital of Aurobindo Pharma Ltd (APL).

The shareholding of Templeton Strategic Emerging Markets after this acquisition stands at 36,79,596 equity shares amounting to 7.9131 per cent of the total paid-up capital of APL. In addition to Templeton Strategic, other major foreign institutional investors in APL are ABN Amro Funds and Copthall Mauritius Investment Ltd.
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Wipro opts for Intransa solutions
Bangalore: Intransa, a provider of IP-based SAN (storage area network) solutions, has announced that Wipro Spectramind would be implementing its solutions. Intransa's solutions will ensure greater availability of customer data at Wipro's call centres and also help in archiving online data.
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Mobile user base in the country is 35 million
New Delhi: The total number of mobile phone users in the country has touched 34.57 million as of April 2004. The GSM mobile subscriber base has gone up to 27.15 million customers while the CDMA subscriber base reached 7.42 million, according to figures released by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and the Association of Basic Telecom Operators (ABTO).

The two bodies represent the GSM and CDMA operators respectively. While Bharti continues to be the leading player on the GSM platform with 6.76 million subscribers and 25 per cent market share, Reliance has the lion's share in the CDMA section with nearly 6.47 million subscribers. Among CDMA operators, Tata Teleservices occupied the second slot with 1.67 million subscribers.
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Patni offers logistics solutions
Hyderabad: PCS Industries Ltd, part of the Patni group, has announced the launch of their application software designed to meet the requirements of the courier and logistics industry.
The Web-based solution apart from integrating disparate systems helps courier companies track consignments and manage information on a real-time basis.

The solution is being offered as an ASP (application service provider) model for both the Indian courier companies and some overseas operators particularly in West and South-East Asia. It would be gradually extended to cover logistics, cargo and transportation. According to the company it has already signed up with three leading courier companies and is close to partnering with four more, three of them based in Kerala and one in Mumbai.
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Kale sets up Synetairos Technologies
Hyderabad: Kale Consultants Ltd has announced the launch of its subsidiary Synetairos Technologies Ltd, a spin-off of its generic software and professional services business. The new company will focus on generic customised software solutions and professional services. Synetairos will work in conjunction with the other group companies of Kale Consultants and Cognosys Software.

The synergies from the various divisions will be brought together to provide value to the end customer. Kale, which has about 550 professionals, provides software products and outsourced services to the travel and transportation industry having 35 plus customers in 30 countries. Its solutions suite includes products for accounting, reconciliation, cargo operations, online travel booking and fare distribution and decision support systems.
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Tarang gets 3-D Secure certification
Bangalore: The Bangalore-based Tarang Software has announced that it has received 3-D Secure 1.0.2 certification from Visa International for its software product MDSS 3.0 which is used as a plug-in for authentication of credit cards and online payment transactions. 3-D Secure is the latest technology from Visa, which authenticates the cardholder during an online purchase, and protects payment card information as it is transmitted through the Internet.
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HLL-Pepsi alliance to sell Lipton teas
Mumbai: The Hindustan Lever Ltd - Pepsi alliance will sell and distribute Lipton ready-to-drink (RTD) tea and tea-based beverages in India. While HLL brings the Lipton brand as well as its ice tea products, PepsiCo brings its extensive bottling and distribution system. New products are being developed and tested for launch in the Indian market. Iced tea flavours, green tea, herbal teas and diet tea will be available through this distribution channel.
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Reebok signs Irfan, Parthiv and Bhajji
New Delhi: Footwear major Reebok India Company has signed three more celebrity Indian cricketers, Irfan Pathan, Parthiv Patel and Harbhajan Singh, as its brand ambassadors. With their signing up, Reebok India has, in all, six cricketers as its brand ambassadors. Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammed Kaif already endorse Reebok products.
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