Tatas to invest $7.5bn in Telecom
New Delhi: Aiming to capture the "leadership position" in all spheres of telecom services by the next fiscal, corporate giant Tatas, have decided to pump in an additional Rs10,000 crore in the next 12-16 months.Group Chairman Ratan Tata, will play a central role in coordinating and strategizing growth of various companies in the sector.

Tata officials have said that Group Chairman Ratan Tata would be directly involved and spend significant time in coordinating the telecom strategies of various group telecom companies, which are rapidly growing in domestic and international markets.

Asserting that telecom services would play a pivotal role in the growth strategy of the group, which has the highest market capitalisation of Rs100,000 crores among the private sector, officials said, that they will raise their investment to over Rs30,000 crore (7.5 billion dollars) in the next 12-16 months from the present level of Rs20,000 crore till March 31, 2005.
Back to News Review index page  

Tata's to remain committed to UK market
Mumbai: Tata Motors, India's largest vehicle manufacturer, has said that it "remains committed to the UK market" despite its ill-fated partnership with MG Rover, the British volume car producer that went into receivership last week.

It said the "temporary disruption" triggered by MG Rover's move to call in administrators after the collapse of a proposed alliance with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp, would have minimal impact on the group "given the volumes of [our] domestic and growing international business".
Back to News Review index page  

Voltas targets Rs1,000 crore in revenue by 2008
New Delhi: With contracts for several global projects in hand, Tata Group company Voltas Ltd is expecting its international business division to have a turnover of Rs1000 crore by 2008. The air conditioning and engineering services provider has said that it expects the figure may even cross the Rs1000-crore mark, as the company has orders worth about Rs1200 crore in hand.

The company's current revenues from international projects are currently around Rs400 crore, Voltas officials have said.

Though global projects is not a new area for Voltas, the company has managed to bag a string of big ticket projects during the past couple of years, including Queen Mary II luxury liner (Rs135 crore), the Hong Kong international airport, Al Udeid Air Base Project in Qatar (Rs225 crore), the Conference Palace Hotel Complex (Rs 480 crore) and a shopping mall in Abu Dhabi, and more recently the Hong Kong metro rail among others.

Further, the company has recently signed up for an Rs 400-crore water treatment project in Singapore. Even as the bulk of the revenues are presently coming from the Gulf countries and South East Asian regions, the company is looking to expand to other geographies as well, having recently opened an office in China.

The company is expecting significant revenues to accrue from Macau.

Voltas carries out electro-mechanical projects, specialising in heating, ventilation/air conditioning, building management systems, and water management.
Back to News Review index page  

TCS to focus on the financial sector in China
Bangalore: Tata Consultancy Services will focus on the fast growing banking, insurance and financial sectors in the Chinese market and would use its subsidiary in China to cater to global and regional clients as also to cater to the domestic Chinese market, CEO and MD, S. Ramadorai has said during the visit of the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabo to the company's facilities here on Sunday.

TCS has a wholly owned subsidiary in Shanghai, a global development centre in Hangzhou with about 200 people and a liaison office in Beijing. TCS also trained local professionals in software project management, delivering software and engineering solutions as well as collaborating with various Chinese universities for joint applied research and development, Ramadorai said.

"As the market evolves, we will play a role in it," he said, adding that TCS, like other Nasscom companies, hoped for open access to bid on projects in the country. The company has invested $2 million in its Chinese operations so far.

"We will invest in technology and software competence and in developing language skills," Ramadorai said.
Back to News Review index page  

Data sharing: BSNL rejects cell operators plea
New Delhi: BSNL has rejected the plea of cellular operators to share financial data of various service segments, on the grounds that such data is not to be shared with competitors.

Cellular operators want the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to share details such as segment-wise reporting of financials, traffic data and the amount of access deficit charge (ADC) collected by BSNL, as it will help them provide "meaningful inputs" to the TRAI's latest consultation paper on reviewing existing interconnection user charges (IUC).

They also feel that this will help "arrive at an ADC amount that meets the social objectives of the telecom players without over-burdening the existing users".

At present, TRAI relies on approximations from sample data made available by BSNL for the purpose of arriving at the quantum of ADC.

Recently, it had also accepted BSNL's explanation about its inability to file its minutes of usage, and has allowed the service provider to continue submitting its sample data.
Back to News Review index page  

MTNL heading for Rs350 crore in revenue losses
Mumbai: Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) is likely to take a Rs350 crore hit in revenues in the current fiscal on account of the withdrawal of the levy paid by private operators from February this year.

According to a performance MoU signed by MTNL with the Government for 2005-06, the PSU's gross sales is pegged at Rs5,551 crore. The net profit target set by the PSU for 2005-06 stands at Rs392.06 crore.

The cumulative net profit of MTNL as on December 2004 stands at Rs633.36 crore as per its financial results while the Q4 results are awaited.
Back to News Review index page  

Maruti to launch new-look Omni
New Delhi: Maruti Udyog has announced the launch of a new-look Omni with an upgraded engine to meet the Euro III norms.
The Omni comes with a new front grille, clear lens headlamps, graphics on the side body and a new rear view mirror. Changes have also been made in the interiors with a re-designed dashboard and an instrument cluster. The Omni will be priced at Rs2.29 lakh (ex-show room Delhi).
Back to News Review index page