Rs358 crore Vedanta order for FFE Minerals
Chennai: FFE Minerals India Pvt Ltd has said that it has bagged a Rs358-crore order from the Vedanta group to supply technology and equipment for its alumina project in Orissa. The project is scheduled to begin production in the first quarter of 2006.

FFE Minerals will be the primary technology supplier for feed preparation, calcination and product handling at the Lanjigarh site in Orissa's Kalahandi district, according to the company.

FFE Minerals India Pvt Ltd is a fully-owned subsidiary of the F.L. Smidth Group of Denmark, which provides technology, equipment and plants to the cement and mineral processing industry.

FFE Minerals India bagged the orders for five packages in a competitive tender process. The five packages are for bauxite crushing and downhill conveying, bauxite stockpiling and reclaiming, a bauxite grinding plant, an alumina calcination plant and alumina storage and rail loading. Vedanta Resources had tendered separately for each of these packages, which form part of its 1.4-million-tonnes-a-year alumina plant.

With an order backlog of about Rs400 crore, FFE Minerals India hopes to end this financial year (ending December 2004) with a turnover of Rs200 crore, up from Rs50 crore last year.
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ASSOCHAM asks for restoration of tax benefit on ECB interest payments
New Delhi: In a bid to help corporates to raise external commercial borrowings (ECBs) in order to go global, the Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (Assocham) has urged the Government to allow them to avail of 100 per cent tax exemptions on interest payment on such borrowings.

In a representation submitted to the Finance Ministry, Assocham has said that tax exemptions in respect of interest paid on ECBs by domestic corporates would help them raise finances to fund their overseas ventures.

The association has pointed out that the ECB route has been considered a cheap source of funds for domestic companies, but the Government's decision to withdraw tax deductions on interest paid on foreign borrowings in the Budget proposals of 2001-02, has raised the cost of borrowings to the extent of tax deducted as the foreign lenders are insisting upon gross interest payment, i.e., without deduction of tax, the Assocham chief added.
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Samsung to double India workforce
New Delhi: Samsung has said that it plans to expand its research and development (R&D) operations in India by doubling the headcount in the existing centres of Bangalore and Noida, over the next three years.

It said that it currently has 700 people in its R&D centre in Bangalore, which focuses on developing software for printers and networking and that it expected to double this in the next three years.

The company's R&D centre at Noida is involved in software format for digital TV, and houses 150 professionals and the company said that this too would be doubled in the next two to three years.

Samsung's existing R&D facilities are located in the US, Tokyo, Russia, Korea and China amongst others destinations. The company said that India was a global R&D hub for the company.
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ACC to invest Rs.370 crore in capacity expansion
Bangalore: Cement major ACC has said that it is investing around Rs370 crore to increase its capacity to 20 million tonnes during the first half of next year.

The company said that it would invest Rs300 crore to expand the capacity of its plant in Jharkhand and Rs70 crore in Himachal Pradesh. It will also set up a 15 MW captive power plant in Jharkhand, it said.

ACC expects its revenues to increase by over seven per cent during the current fiscal. In 2003-04, its revenues were around Rs4,038 crore. The company said that the delay in implementing the golden quadrilateral had hit cement manufacturers.
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Indian Hotels line up projects in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram: Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL), which operates the Taj and indiOne hotel chains, is planning to build a luxury resort at Munnar and is awaiting State Government clearance to launch the project. The investment in this project is expected to be around Rs60 crore.

The main attraction at the hotel, which will have around 50 cottages for guests, will be an 18-hole golf course. This will make Munnar the only hill-town in South India with such a golf course. The company is also preparing for the opening of the Green Cove Resort and Spa at Kovalam.

This hotel, which is owned by Kerala's Muthoot Pappachan group, will be managed by IHCL. The hotel will welcome its first guests by the second week of December, and is expected to be fully operational by the end of January 2005.

Located on 10 acres, the hotel at Kovalam will have 57 rooms and will also have some floating cottages anchored in a lagoon that is part of the property. Besides an ayurveda centre, the hotel will also have a spa that will offer a range of holistic treatments.

IHCL is also looking at setting up several budget hotels in the State, the official said. While the company has already entered into an agreement with the Technopark Thiruvananthapuram to build a budget hotel adjoining the technology park, it is also expected to launch similar projects in Guruvayur and Kochi.
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Zydus Cadila in pact with Italian group Zambon
Mumbai: The Gujarat-based Zydus Cadila has signed a memorandum of understanding with Italy's Zambon group for collaboration in several segments, including R&D.
The agreement spans a range of activities in the pharmaceutical segment including contract manufacturing of fine chemicals, active pharmaceutical ingredients and finished formulations and marketing of pharmaceutical products, a company release said.

The company said that both companies will undertake co-development of niche molecules and new generics, development of key intermediates, and R&D in fine chemicals to capitalise on the first-to-enter advantage. The company will also conduct clinical trials for Phase I and II of new chemical entities of Zambon.

Further, the Zambon group would outsource its requirements of key intermediates and finished dosage forms, and provide technical support for custom synthesis of various advanced intermediates.
This would open up a revenue stream for the Zydus group, the release said.

The alliance also incorporates co-operation in regulatory processes and IPR-related matters, besides covering the marketing of generics and ethical drugs in Europe and India.
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Storage networking summit at Bangalore
Bangalore: The third Storage Networking Summit (SNS) is being held in Bangalore from December 7 to 9.

The CEO and Managing Director of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, S. Ramadorai, will be the chief guest at this year's event.

Kumar Malavalli, Chairman, SNS, Industry Entrepreneur and Architect, Co-founder Brocade Communication; Balint Fleischer, CTO, Sun Microsystems; Mark Lewis, Executive Vice-President of EMC Software; Jose Iglesis, V-P of Product Management, Veritas; Ken Hibbard, V-P, Network Appliance; Eric Benhamou, Chair of 3COM and Industry Entrepreneur; and Riche Lary, Industry Consultant, will be delivering the key note addresses.

New to the programme this year are several workshops and sessions devoted to the specific needs of the design and deployment of storage networks in small to medium enterprises.
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Hyundai Mobile to partner with State Trading Corporation
New Delhi: Hyundai Mobile, a unit of South Korean conglomerate Hyundai Corp, has entered into a strategic partnership with State Trading Corporation for selling mobile phones in India. A memorandum of understanding was signed between the two companies under which the PSU will provide an import funding assistance of Rs200 crore for the first year.

The amount will be utilised by Hyundai India Telecom Limited (HIT Ltd) for its import operations.

Hyundai India Telecom Limited said that it plans to introduce the latest range of technologically advanced GSM, CDMA, PDA & Smart Phone mobiles in the Indian market. Hyundai is also looking at setting up a handset manufacturing unit in the country.

Hyundai has set a target of achieving 5 per cent of the market share in the very first year of its operations. The company will introduce 15 models of mobile handsets at price points ranging from Rs3, 900 to Rupees One lakh.
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Sony unveils VAIO notebooks in India
New Delhi: Sony India Pvt Ltd. has launched its premium product, the VAIO range of personal computers in India.
The Sony VAIO notebook focuses on offering consumers new ways of enjoying computing and personal entertainment through a dynamic transformation that removes boundaries between audio/video and IT products, the company said. VAIO is already available in markets such as Japan, the US, Europe, China and some South Asian countries.

The VAIO range in India will comprise three global models - VGN-T16GP, VGN-B55G and VGN-S26GP - aimed at medium to high-end consumers, with its price tag starting from about Rs83,000.

The goal of VAIO is to connect products, not only through innovative technologies, but also through digital content such as images, sounds, music and data, Sony said. The VGN-T16GP, with one-touch music and movie functons, incorporates Intel Centrino Mobile Technology with Intel Pentium M Processor Ultra Low Voltage 733 and has the ability to deliver up to eight hours of battery back-up.

It also incorporates a 26.92 cm WXGA (1280 x 768) LCD display and a CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive for high quality DVD movie viewing.
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IBM India's new notebook
Bangalore: IBM India has introduced its notebook PC ThinkPad T42 with enhanced biometric capability and embedded security subsystem.

Equipped with a fingerprint reader, the notebook provides easier access to password-protected information, Web sites, documents and e-mail for the user.

IBM says that what was once considered sci-fi technology is now available to all in the notebook of choice for everyday use.
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Talisma tool for ICICI Lombard
Bangalore: Talisma, a provider of customer relationship management solutions, said that ICICI Lombard has deployed its solution, the Talisma v6, which will provide ICICI Lombard's customers enhanced service through quicker and more accurate claims processing.

The implementation of Talisma v6 has allowed ICICI to map its internal claims process, eliminating the need for call centre agents to process and forward each document individually to the company's claims managers, a release said.
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Satyam joins Mainframe Migration Alliance
Hyderabad: Satyam Computer has announced that it has joined the Mainframe Migration Alliance (MMA), created by Microsoft and industry partners, which enables customers using ageing, mainframe systems to move seamlessly to the modern and flexible Windows platform.

Migration to newer and modern architectures is necessitated due to increasing maintenance and enhancement costs of existing platforms, market demanded flexibility and changing business models, diminishing return on investments in the long term, and leveraging the broader technology spectrum.
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Samsung launches new products
New Delhi: Samsung Electronics has announced that it would be establishing 600 technology retail counters along with its partners as part of its IT retail initiative in the country, even as it has announced a slew of new products, including the X-30 Note PC and the SyncMaster 730MP.

As part of its strategy, the company will establish 600 technology retail counters along with its partners focusing on the new digital products, which have been launched on Tuesday - by the first quarter of 2005.

The retail strategy will have three key ingredients - table top displays, shop-in-shop and digital brand shops.

The company also announced the launch of SyncMaster 730 MP, the 17-inch TFT-LCD TV Monitor that comes with the `wise-link' technology where various digital gadgets can be connected directly to the display. The company is positioning the product as a true example of a digital lifestyle - having an integrated FM radio, a digital memory card reader and a full-fledged LDC TV functionality with a remote.

It has also unveiled SCX 4100, the `world's smallest' digital multi-function device, which can scan, print and copy at the same time; and X-30 Note-PC, which is a thin mobile computing device.
The company has also announced new digital audio players, and a new range of personal laser printer platforms and multi-function laser printers.

Samsung India is a provider of high-tech information technology, telecom, consumer electronics and home appliances products.
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ABP-Star to launch Bengali news channel
Kolkata: Ananda Bazar Patrika TV (ABP TV) and the Star Group have announced plans to launch a 24-hour news channel in Bengali.

The roll out will be done through Media Content & Communications Services India Pvt Ltd, a joint venture of ABP TV and Star India Pvt Ltd that was formed in September 2003.

The Bengali news channel would be headquartered in Kolkata. The date of launch would be announced after necessary permissions are received from officials. The name of the channel would be finalised after a feedback from the public. The investment corpus for the proposed news channel is yet to be firmed up.

According to company officials, the news channel would leverage the strengths of the Ananda Bazar Group of Publications and the Star Group. They felt that with several sectors in eastern India - such as retail, IT, manufacturing and services - witnessing resurgence, the launch of a specialised news channel on the lines of the one that has been envisaged was a "natural requirement" for the region.
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