Garden Silk goes for new Rolls-Royce engines
New Delhi: Rolls-Royce has won its first order for the `Bergen B' gas engine in India, from domestic textile company Garden Silk Mills. The engine will be used for electrical power generation. Designed and manufactured at the Rolls-Royce facility in Bergen, Norway, the engine is touted to be the world's most powerful spark-ignited gas engine, a company release said today. The engine was recently launched in India. The selection of the Bergen B engine follows the operational success of the two Rolls-Royce `Bergen K' engines ordered in 2000 by Garden Silk Mills, the release said.
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IOC seeks fast track clearance for buy-outs
Bangalore: Indian Oil Corporation which has plans to buy a "mid-sized" exploration and production company and has set aside a fund of $2 billion for the purpose, has sought fast-track clearance from the Government. With such an approval the company would then mandate investment bankers and financial planners to seek buy-out targets.

The company has signed a pact with Iran on the Farsi project to import liquefied natural gas (LNG), even as it has formed a consortium for exploration block with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Gail (India). The company has also obtained a development contract of a refinery at 60,000 barrels per day. IOC and ONGC Videsh have 40 per cent interest each in that block.
IOC has also been invited to take up equity in Bandar Assalnyeh olefin project 12. The equity stake was offered in return for the prospect of importing finished petroleum from Iran.

The company is also in the process of bidding with British firm BP and Occidental for acquiring Northern Kuwait oil fields. It has also bid for developing an existing crude oil refinery to increase capacity to 9,000 barrels per day from the current level of 6,000 barrels per day. IOC has managed to hike its refinery margin to $6 per barrel from $2 a barrel two years ago, despite hardening crude price. The company imports 64 per cent of its crude on a term basis and buys the remaining 36 per cent in the spot market.
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Wipro approves increase in share capital
Bangalore: Shareholders of Wipro Ltd approved the company's plans to increase the authorised share capital of the company from Rs 100 crore to Rs 175 crore at the annual general meeting on Friday, Wipro has informed in a notice sent to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The increase in authorised share capital was primarily to take care of the issue of bonus shares, which was also approved by the members of the company at the same meeting. Wirpo is issuing bonus shares in the ratio of 2:1. The record date for the bonus issue is fixed as June 28. Wipro, is 84 per cent owned by the Chairman, Azim Premji.
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TeleTech Services to increase headcount
Bangalore: Teletech Services (India) Pvt Ltd, the BPO joint venture between TeleTech Holdings and Bharti TeleTech Ltd, plans to add between 2,000-3,000 people to its operations over the next 12-16 months. The company, which currently has a little less than 500 people, expects its 1,000 seat-centre in Delhi to be operational in the next quarter. The company said that it has so far invested $20 million in setting up the Indian operations. TeleTech India offers a wide gamut of customer management solutions and BPO services It is already handling the call centre operations for Bharti's circles in North India.
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CompuCredit and Allsec deepen ties
Chennai: The US-based CompuCredit Corporation and Allsec Technologies Ltd have decided to jointly manage consumer loan portfolios. Allsec would continue to provide contact centre services to Compucredit, and this is expected to bring in minimum revenue of $30 million (about Rs 130 crore) to Allsec in the next three years. In addition, both firms would jointly offer various financial services to third party firms in the US and the UK to manage loan portfolios.

CompuCredit also has an option to take a 20 per cent stake in Allsec provided the business from the extended relationship is about $60 million (about Rs 270 crore) in the next three years, according to company officials. The Nasdaq-listed CompuCredit is an IT-driven provider and direct marketer of branded credit cards. It has total assets - both performing and non-performing - of about $6 billion. The Chennai-based Allsec is a contact centre and business process outsourcing service provider. Allsec has been providing its services to CompuCredit for the last three years.
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Analog launches convergence platform
Hyderabad: Analog Devices Inc, a semiconductor signal processing applications solutions provider, has announced its new Blackfin Fusiv platform that helps deliver secure, high speed data, voice and video convergence in a single solution. The new convergence platform would enable high quality video, voice and data services for applications such as data and media gateways, integrated access devices both for enterprise and consumer markets. The company said that from about $100 million in sales from this product business this year, it expects to grow this to about $300 million by next year.
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Tanishq introduces new range
Chennai: Tanishq has come out with its new 'Tanishq Lightweight Colors' - a collection of gold jewellery. Embellished with colourful beads, enamel and stones, the collection will be available at all Tanishq boutiques across the country. According to the company, internationally colours were becoming a fashion statement and this trend had come to India. The designs in the collection, would allow customers to match their attire with jewellery. The jewellery is made from pure certified 22 k gold.
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Chinese major Haier launches range of appliances
Chennai: Haier Appliances India Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Chinese white goods major, the Haier Group, has announced long-term plans to establish itself in the Indian market. The company said that it planned to set up a research and development wing as well as a design centre in India. The company plans to establish production facilities and use India as a sourcing base for exports to South Asia, West Asia and Africa, he said.

Strategic partners who have excess capacity will manufacture most of the products marketed in India locally, while the premium products will be imported from China. The products include a range of refrigerators, colour televisions, washing machines, air-conditioners, microwave ovens, dishwashers and DVDs. The company intends to market a range of mobile phones too.
Haier Appliances is targeting a turnover of Rs 300 crore; it expects to spend 15 per cent of its turnover on advertising and promotion in this fiscal. The Haier Group was set up in 1984 in Qingdao, China, and has emerged as a one of the leading multinational companies in home appliances.
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