Maruti tops JD Power survey fifth year running
New Delhi: Maruti Udyog has topped the list of J.D. Power ranking for the fifth year in a row in terms of customer satisfaction. J.D. Power, a market research firm, conducts customer satisfaction research and provides consulting services in the automotive, information technology and finance industries.
Maruti, India's biggest carmaker, has scored 813 points on an industry average of 758 points.

C.K. Birla group company, Hindustan Motors, has been ranked second followed by the `Opel' brand of General Motors India, Hyundai Motor India, Ford Motor and Toyota Kirloskar.

The study finds that due to the recent sharp increase in fuel prices, the average cost of operation per km for both diesel and petrol models has gone up by nearly 25 per cent over the last year.

Fuel cost accounts for over 85 per cent of the average cost of vehicle operation, which includes the usage-dependent components of fuel, repair, maintenance and tyres.

The study, now in its eighth year, measures the satisfaction of 3,550 new vehicle buyers with the dealership service experience at 12-18 months of ownership.

Owners representing 11 makes and 27 models were covered in the study that was fielded from June-August 2004.
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Ford India to roll out new Mondeo
New Delhi: Ford India has said that it is on course to achieve operational break-even later this calendar year and would be making "some" profits in the year in view of the high growth seen in the sales of the Ikon.

The company says it expects to sell 27,000 units of the Ikon in the domestic market.

The exports of the Ikon would, however, remain flat at last year's level of 24,000 units. Ford currently exports the Ikon to countries such as South Africa, Mexico and Brazil. The Ikon has sold over 190,000 units since launch in 1999.

Meanwhile, Ford, in addition to the Fusion, also intends to roll out a new look Mondeo in December. The new Mondeo would be brought in through the CBU route. Currently, Ford sells about 10-20 units of the Mondeo per month.

As for its urban activity vehicle, Fusion, the company says that the car would create a new segment in the market, and that it is aiming to sell about 500-1,000 units of the car in the initial months. The Fusion is expected to be priced in the Rs 6,00,000-7,00,00 range. Though the Fusion is available with a 1.6 litre petrol engine, the company is also evaluating diesel options for the car.
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Sify completes five years of listing on NASDAQ
Chennai: Sify Ltd celebrated its fifth anniversary as a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York yesterday.

Sify is the first Indian Internet company to have achieved this milestone on Nasdaq, says a company release.

The Chennai-based Sify has grown at a 46 per cent compounded annual growth rate since its listing in 1999, from revenues of $14 million in 1999-2000 to $61 million in 2003-2004.
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Rs.190 crore Reliance contract for BHEL
New Delhi: Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has won a Rs190 crore contract from Reliance Industries for supply of equipment for its power plants.

BHEL will supply two Frame-6 gas turbine generator sets for RIL's Hazira petrochemical plant and another such set for its Jamnagar refinery, both in Gujarat, the company has said in a release.

With a cumulative rating of around 109 MW, the gas turbines are to be supplied in a tight schedule of 9, 11 and 13 months and will augment the captive power generating capacity of the respective plants.

BHEL had earlier supplied 14 Frame-6 gas turbine generators to RIL's Hazira, Patalganga, Naroda, Goa and Jamnagar units, in addition to several heat recovery steam generators, motors and heat exchangers.

The gas turbine and generators would be manufactured and supplied by BHEL's Hyderabad plant while the state-of-the-art control system will be supplied by its Electronics Division, Bangalore.
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Crisil buys Irevna for Rs.43 crore
Mumbai: Rating agency Crisil Ltd has acquired the Chennai-based research firm Irevna for an initial cash payment of about Rs43 crore.

A Crisil press release has said that it has signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire 100 per cent equity shares in Irevna, an equity research and analytics specialist. Crisil will immediately pay 60 per cent of the consideration in cash and the rest at the end of a year, the release said.

According to Crisil, the acquisition provides a fillip to Crisil's global equity research business aspirations and strengthens its service offerings. This is Crisil's third acquisition in less than a year. The annualised profit of the latest acquisition, Irevna, is expected to be around Rs7.5 crore.
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Bhilwara group in JV with Norway company for hydro project
New Delhi: The LNJ Bhilwara Group has announced a joint venture agreement with Norway-based hydro power major Statkraft Norfund (SN) Power Invest AS for executing hydroelectric projects in India.

As part of the agreement, the LNJ Bhilwara Group will offload 49 per cent equity in Malana Power Company to SN Power for Rs207 crore.

Malana Power Company will have 90 per cent equity in Allain Duhangan Hydro Power Ltd, amounting to Rs282 crore. The Rs900-crore project will be implemented with a debt-equity ratio of 65:35.

Washington-based International Finance Corporation (IFC) will provide the remaining 10 per cent equity, he said, adding that IFC has also sanctioned a loan of Rs 184 crore.

The project which will begin in 2005 is likely to be commissioned in 2008. The project will generate power at a cost of Rs2.75 per unit during the first year of operation with the tariff reducing over time.
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Bharti launches BlackBerry service
New Delhi: Bharti Tele-Ventures, has announced the launch of BlackBerry Wireless Solutions through an exclusive tie-up with Canada-based Research in Motion (RIM).

The initiative will enable Airtel's mobile customers to access a premium range of applications including instant e-mail, corporate data, Internet surfing and a bouquet of personal information management features for a monthly fee ranging from Rs1799 to Rs2799. Users will also have to buy a BlackBerry handset, which costs between Rs18,990 and Rs32,990.

Bharti has made an investment of Rs75 crore specifically to upgrade its network to support BlackBerry services.
Currently, there are over 1.6 million BlackBerry users worldwide.
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Opus Software opens office in Dubai
Mumbai: The Pune-based Opus Software Solutions' expansion into West Asia and East Africa has won it a number of clients among banks and financial institutions in that region. The Dubai office of Opus will spearhead the company's activities in the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the African countries, according to a news release.

Opus will provide mission-critical software products for the financial services industry of the Gulf region. The products will include two of its major winners - TradeNow and Electra Suites - which have already made their marks in the US, Africa, Taiwan and other Far East countries.

With 77 installations of Electra Suite of products across the world, the software also won the Indian national award for best product for 2004, said a news release.
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Kale upgrades tool
Bangalore: Kale Consultants Ltd has upgraded its revenue accounting solution - CSP-AMBER v3.0. CSP-Amber is an end-to-end airline cargo revenue accounting system.

It's fully automated rating adds significantly to the profitability of cargo operations. The new release of CSP-Amber takes complexity away from the cargo revenue accountants by providing greater levels of automation at multiple levels including adjustments, surcharges and exceptions.
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Symphony buys out In-Reality Soft
Bangalore: The US-headquartered Symphony Services Corporation has announced that it has acquired the Pune-based In-Reality Software Pvt Ltd and plans to invest $15 million on its expansion.

Symphony Services said a substantial part of the deal "is balanced in favour of stock and subject to certain closing conditions. We will close the deal during the fourth quarter of 2004."

According to Symphony, the Pune facility will expand to 1,000 people by the end of next year with $15-million being ploughed into ramping up infrastructure and manpower.
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Pepsi launches sports drink `Gatorade'
New Delhi: Pepsico India has launched its sports drink Gatorade.
Formulated by researchers at the University of Florida in 1965 to help their football team prevent dehydration while playing, Gatorade is scientifically formulated and athletically proven to replace fluids, company officials claimed here.

The brand will be endorsed by cricketers Mohammad Kaif and Irfan Pathan and physiotherapist Andrew Lepius in India, he said, adding there will be no television advertising for Gatorade.

Pepsi will launch only one pack size of 500 ml right now and more flavours could follow. Also, depending on the consumer response to this product, Gatorade powder may be launched sometime later.
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