ONGC strikes gas in KG basin
New Delhi: Oil and Natural Gas Corp has struck large gas reserves in the Krishna Godavari basin off the Andhra Pradesh coast.

Drillship Discoverer Seven struck gas reserves at well G1-12. Senior company officials said that they had struck gas reserves at one of the pre-NELP blocks in the Krishna Godavari basin. The well is under testing and they expect results in a week's time. Preliminary estimates put the ultimate reserves at 4 trillion cubic feet.

The G1-12 was drilled in 552 metres depth and reached its targeted depth of 2400 metres last month. The G1-12 lies 15-km south of the discovered G1 field and has "excellent" channel bodies.

ONGC's own Sagar Vijay drillship had in December last year found gas reserves a block in the vicinity of G1-12 well. Sagar Vijay's third well struck seven to eight zones in its third well (G-4-3). During testing, the well flowed 400,000 cubic metres per day of gas.
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Maran: Report on MTNL-BSNL merger under consideration
New Delhi: The Government has said that ICICI Securities has submitted the initial report on synergising operations of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, and the Department of Telecom (DoT) was looking into it.

The Minister of Communications and IT, Dayanidhi Maran, said that on the options for merging the two PSUs as suggested by the advisor a "decision will be taken soon."

The two PSUs may become wholly owned subsidiaries of the proposed holding company by proportionately swapping MTNL's shares with that of the holding company.
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Bureau fax rates on BSNL service slashed
New Delhi: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has slashed bureau fax charges by 17-68 per cent for various countries.

After the revision, a fax to the American continent will cost Rs110 per page, while it will be Rs95 per page to any of the countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania and Rs60 per page for other parts of the globe.

The rates are applicable for using fax service from any of BNSL's Bureau Fax Centres across the country. There is no change in tariffs for using the service on privately owned fax machines.
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Infosys to set up new campus in Bangalore
Bangalore: Software major Infosys Technologies is planning to set up a new campus in Bangalore and has sought about 350 acres of land from the Karnataka Government. The proposed campus would be located north of the city.

"Nearly 45 per cent of our over 35,000 people are in Bangalore and we are growing here," said N.R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman and Chief Mentor, Infosys, adding that the company needed some more space to expand its operations. Infosys added 10,000 people to its staff in nine months up to December 2004.

The Karnataka Chief Minister, Dharam Singh, who visited Infosys Campus at Electronic City on Wednesday said that his Government would provide all support to the company. "Infosys has requested the government for 300 acres of land and we will consider it," he added.
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TCS to open new centre at Kochi
Thiruvananthapuram: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is opening its new software development centre at the Infopark in Kochi. The company operates a world-class training centre from the Technopark here.

The new facility will be spread over 72,500 sq ft and will be fully functional by April. It hopes to expand the Kochi centre to about 600 software professionals in the ensuing months.

The facility will serve as a base for software development and IT services to meet the requirements of domestic and overseas customers. It will also help tap the large pool of highly skilled IT professionals available in this region.

The Kerala government will soon hand over the 50 acres of land required by TCS to expand its Technopark training facility.
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Hyundai sales for Feb. '05 down 17 per cent
New Delhi: Hyundai Motor India Ltd has reported a 17.84 per cent dip in its domestic car sales for February. The company, however, said its overall sales increased by two per cent in February 2005 on the back of a surge in exports.

The car major also said it would soon reduce the price of its high import intensity models 'Elantra' and 'Sonata' in the wake of customs duty cuts announced in the budget.

Hyundai sold a total of 9,522 units in February 2005 as against sales of 11,590 units in the domestic market during the same period of the previous year, registering a drop of 17.84 per cent. Of the total domestic sales, compact car Santro accounted for 5,881 units, Getz sold 1,166 units, Accent 2,235 units, Elantra 183 units and Sonata 53 units, HMIL said in a release.
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Hero Honda launches 125 cc Super Splendor
Mumbai: The two-wheeler major Hero Honda Motors Ltd has launched 125 cc bike Super Splendor in the country. The company said that for the first time it was introducing the next generation core engine developed by Honda.

The model, available in four variants, is manufactured at the company's state-of-the art plant in Gurgaon, Haryana.

The average price of the new model is Rs42,500. The model, with a three-year warranty, would help the company consolidate its position in the expanding deluxe segment.
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AI Express to pay royalty to AI on Gulf routes
New Delhi: Air India Express, the low-cost subsidiary of Air India, would pay an annual royalty to the parent company after it starts operations to the Gulf next month end. The royalty would be paid by way of using of Air India's bilateral rights for the Gulf sector, official sources said.

The no-frills carrier would also be asked at a later stage to take over some domestic operations of Air India from Indian Airlines besides carrying out its global operations.

Beginning April end, AI Express will fly a total of 37 flights a week primarily to Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. Three of these flights will operate from Mumbai and Delhi each, while 31 services will operate from Kerala.

Synergising the operations of the two public sector carriers are under consideration and some of them were in the process of finalisation. These areas include operations, engineering and commercial operations.
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Escorts bags $8.5 mn tractor order from Ghana
New Delhi: Escorts Ltd Agri Machinery Group (AMG), a leading tractor manufacturer, has announced that it has won a major export order from the Government of Ghana worth $8.5 million.

This order is for the supply Escorts's Farmtrac range of tractors and other farm mechanisation implements. Currently, Escorts commands 80 per cent market share in Ghana.

Mr Rakesh Chopra, Business Head, Escorts AMG, said: "With the vision of becoming a truly global player, Escorts has invested Rs 60 crore towards strengthening new product development programmes and enhancement of R&D capabilities. Additionally, Rs400 crore has been invested in modernisation of Escorts' manufacturing facilities so as to bring them on par with international standards."

The Ministry of Food & Agriculture of Ghana had placed an initial order for 200 units of Farmtrac in 2003.
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Skoda cuts prices on various models
New Delhi: Skoda Auto India has announced that it has decided to pass on the price benefit on its cars post-Budget.

The benefit will be up to Rs50,000, on various cars of Skoda and will come into effect from Thursday.
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Indo-Rama secures loan from German bank
Mumbai: Indo-Rama Synthetics (I) Ltd (IRSL) has announced that it has signed a long-term loan of Euro 54 million (Rs307 crore). The loan was sanctioned by IKB Industriebank Aktiengesellschaft, Düsseldorf, Germany, through offshore financing.

According to the release, IRSL also recently signed a loan agreement for Euro 20 million (Rs114.46 crore) from DEG of Germany.

The funds will be utilised to expand IRSL's capacities at Butibori near Nagpur in Maharashtra. The work, which involves setting up of a new plant and will double the company's polyester staple fibre (PSF) and partially oriented yarn (POY) capacity from 3 lakh tonnes per annum to 6 lakh tpa, has already commenced.

The company's expansion move will enable it to strengthen its position in the global market.
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Indian Express picks up ten per cent stake in Mid-Day
Mumbai: The Indian Express has acquired ten per cent equity stake in Mid-Day Multimedia Ltd for Rs25.54 crore at Rs60 per share. The Goenka-owned newspaper group bought the stake from the promoters of Mid-Day Multimedia, the Ansari family.

The promoters, who held 63.79 per cent stake, sold 42,56,628 shares of the company. Following this deal, their stake will come down to 53.6 per cent, a Mid-day release said.

Outside the promoter family group, the other big stakeholders are Banhem Financial and Investment Consultants Ltd, which holds 7.44 per cent stake, and Mr Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, who holds 5.29 per cent.

Mid-day Multimedia, which publishes the Mumbai's leading afternoon newspaper, Mid-day, is also present in outdoor advertising, television and radio.
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Hind Sanitary expands capacity
Hyderabad: Hindustan Sanitaryware & Industries Ltd (HSIL) has embarked upon an Rs20-crore expansion at its Hyderabad unit. The expansion project would be completed by September-end.

Following the expansion, the company's sanitaryware products capacity would increase to 19,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) from the existing 13,000 tpa.

According to the company it had to expand capacities in order to meet the growing demand in view of the increasing construction activity across the country.

Against the industry average of 10-12 per cent growth, the company expects to post a growth of 15-16 per cent and a total turnover of Rs340 crore for the current fiscal compared to Rs310 crore in the previous fiscal.

According to the company, of the Rs1,200 crore domestic sanitaryware market, the organised sector accounts for around Rs600 crore and HSIL enjoys a market share of 34 per cent.

Having around 700 direct dealers, 70 exclusive showrooms and boutiques, the company has also embarked upon an expansion of its network.
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