Indian companies on Forbes ' Best under a billion' list
New York: Along with twenty four others, leading IT companies i-flex Software and Satyam Computers have made their way to Forbes Global's list of 100 `best under a billion' companies in Asia Pacific.

Besides these, Mphasis BFL, Zee Telefilms and pharma companies, Sun Pharma, Cipla, Aurobindo, Nicholas Piramal, IPCA Labs, J B Chemicals and Jubilant Organosys are among the twenty four companies which have found a place in the list.
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Maran: MTNL and BSNL to merge by next year
Mumbai: The Union Government plans to complete the merger of public sector telecom companies MTNL and BSNL by mid next year, according to Dayanidhi Maran, Union Minister of Communication and Information Technology.

Post merger the combined entity will have a turnover of Rs35,000 crore compared to its largest private sector rival Bharti Tele-Ventures, which has a turnover of Rs5,000 crore. BSNL and MTNL together command over 95 per cent of the fixed line market share.

Earlier, the Minister told delegates at the International Conference of Telecom that the Indian telecom sector would need estimated additional investments worth roughly Rs1,60,000 crore to meet the target of 200 million telephones by 2007.

He said so far the Indian telecom industry has attracted foreign direct investments worth only $ 2.5 billion.
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Kochi Refineries to merge with BPCL
Mumbai: Kochi Refineries Ltd has said its board of directors has approved merging itself with parent Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. and it has accordingly informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

BPCL holds a 54.81 per cent stake in KRL, which operates a stand-alone refinery that processes 7.5 million tonne per annum (mmtpa) compared with BPCL's own refining capacities of 12 mmtpa in Mumbai. Kochi Refineries earned refining margins of $5.60 for each barrel of oil it turned into fuels in the second quarter ended September 30, 2004, up from $2.50 a barrel a year.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation, which holds 54.81 per cent stake in KRL will gain an advantage of high refining profit margins, after the companies are merged.
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Porsche unveils models for the Indian market
New Delhi: German auto-maker Porsche has announced its entry into the Indian market and has unveiled its model line-up. These include the sports utility vehicle Cayenne and sport cars Boxter and Carrera, which have been priced upward of Rs47 lakh.

The SUV comes in three versions - `S,' `V6' and `Turbo' - which have been priced at about Rs61 lakh, Rs47 lakh and Rs86 lakh respectively. The sports car Boxter S will cost Rs47 lakh while the Carrera is priced at Rs63 lakh. The Carrera variant `S' will come with a price tag of Rs71 lakh.

The vehicles will be imported from Porsche's plant in Germany. According to the company it plans to sell 100 units till July next year. The Porsche cars will be imported through Delhi-based Exclusive Motors and Sheryan Motors of Mumbai and both importers plan to open `Porsche Centres' by the end of this year in the two cities.
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Nalco pays out Rs.224.60 crore dividend
Bhubaneswar: Nalco has paid Rs224.60 crore to the Union Government as its share of dividend for 2003-04, according to a company release.

During the year, the company posted a record turnover of Rs3,338.87 crore and net profit of Rs737.37 crore. It earned foreign exchange of Rs1,717 crore.

With the implementation of the first phase of the expansion project, Nalco's mining capacity has risen to 4.8 million tonnes per annum, refinery capacity to 1.575 million tonnes, metal capacity to 3.45 lakh tonnes and captive power generation to 960 MW.

The Union Government has given the go-ahead for the second phase of expansion at an outlay of Rs4,091 crore, which will make Nalco a global player with the sixth largest alumina refinery in the world.
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Dr Reddy's Q2 net dips
Mumbai: Dr. Reddy's Laboratories has posted a lower net profit of Rs46.91 crore on a consolidated basis in second quarter ended September 30, 2004, compared to Rs88.85 crore recorded during the same period of the previous fiscal.

The pharmaceutical major's total income fell to Rs538.13 crore, compared to Rs546.09 crore posted during the second quarter a year ago.

Total income fell to Rs453.51 crore during the quarter from Rs472.18 crore posted in 2003.
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VSNL Q2 net rises 81 percent
Mumbai: Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) has reported an 80.9 per cent increase in net profit for the second quarter of the current fiscal.

Net profit amounted to Rs88.1 crore (Rs48.7 crore) while total income amounted to Rs807.9 crore (Rs 821.8 crore).

The jump in net profit is largely on account of an expenditure of Rs56.8 crore towards voluntary retirement schemes during the corresponding quarter of the previous year which considerably reduced the net profit for that quarter. Partly, the growth in net profit is also due to containment of expenses, especially network costs.

Total expenditure during the quarter was Rs607.2 crore, down from Rs658.2 crore during the year-ago second quarter. Network costs stood reduced to Rs490.6 crore, from Rs564 crore. Depreciation amounted to Rs56.8 crore (Rs40.6 crore).

Revenues from services other than international telephony and related services continued to increase; they grew 79 per cent, to Rs194 crore, up from Rs93.5 crore. For the half year ended September 30, VSNL has reported a net profit of Rs214.9 crore, 87.6 per cent higher than that of the previous first half, at Rs114.5 crore. Revenues during this period fell 6.9 per cent, to Rs1,572 crore, from Rs1,612 crore.
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Cognizant into $76 million expansion plan
Chennai: The US-based Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation, provider of information technology services, will further expand its India-based techno-complex capacity in Chennai, Pune, Kolkata and Bangalore and will also construct a new training academy in Chennai.

Cognizant expects to spend approximately $76 million on the expanded construction programme and land purchases, an increase of approximately $34 million compared to the expansion programme announced in December 2003, says a company press release.

The new facilities will add approximately 830,000 square feet of space to house approximately 9,000 employees, as well as around 100,000 square feet of educational space for use by Cognizant's training academy.

Cognizant has reported a net income of $26.1 million on revenues of $155.42 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2004, against a net income of $16 million on revenues of $98 million for the corresponding period last year.
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TRAI asks Bharti and Idea to refund migration fee
New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has ordered Bharti Cellular and Idea Cellular to refund the migration fee collected from subscribers for moving from one plan to another. The telecom regulator has said that a one-time fee being collected by the two operators is in violation of the tariff order.

While Bharti levied Rs50 and Rs200 from its existing pre-paid and post paid subscribers respectively, Idea Cellular collected Rs249 for subscribers migrating from one plan to another in Gujarat. TRAI has asked the two operators to immediately stop levying the fee.

TRAI has sought compliance of the order within 15 days.
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O&M launches B2B practice
Bangalore: Advertising major Ogilvy & Mather India has announced the launch of its B2B practice-Ogilvy Business Markets.

The company views the Indian IT, ITES, BPO and biotechnology segments as potential areas of business wherein brand management and brand consulting services are required.

On a country-by-country basis, India is expected to show the highest compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 83.7 per cent in e-commerce revenue from 2003 to 2008, thus marginally exceeding the expected CAGR of 81 per cent in China, according to IDC forecast on the Asia Pacific Internet market.

Consequently B2B e-commerce is estimated to grow rapidly at a CAGR of 59.1 per cent. Ogilvy's business market practice is getting geared up to meet these demands with plans to hire more people and invest.

Having bagged clients such as 24/7, SAP and some firms in Chennai, O&M's B2B practice expects to win more customers.
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