ILD tariffs to tumble as Reliance bags BSNL contract
New Delhi: International long distance (ILD) telephone tariffs are set to tumble with Reliance Infocomm bagging the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd contract for carrying ILD traffic. Reliance has offered 83 paise per minute across five sectors, including the US and Canada.

Reliance edged out the Tata-managed Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd, which until now was carrying BSNL's entire ILD traffic across all the 11 international sectors. Though VSNL has managed to regain six sectors it stands to lose about 20-30 per cent of the revenue accruing from ILD business. It has offered to carry ILD calls to sectors such as West Asia at 93 paise per minute.

The new rates will allow BSNL to re-jig its ILD tariffs. An announcement to this effect is expected on May 17 on the occasion of the World Telecom Day. BSNL had invited bids for 11 ILD sectors from long distance operators.

The bids were opened on April 25 and the amount quoted was almost 50 per cent lower than the offer made by operators last year.

VSNL sources said that the net impact on its revenues would only be to the extent of 20 per cent, while BSNL officials said that about 40 per cent of the ILD traffic will now be routed through other companies.

India's ILD market size is around Rs4,300 crore, of which BSNL's 42 million fixed line subscribers account for a significant share.BSNL, meanwhile, is also in the process of setting up its own ILD network.
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Petronet to set up 5 million tonne storage tank at Kochi
Kochi: Petronet LNG Ltd (PLL), which is setting up a 2.5-million tonne a year LNG terminal at Kochi, will construct a storage tank with a capacity of five million tonnes in order to expand the capacity of the re-gasification plant eventually, depending on demand.

While the expansion of the plant would not take much time, the construction of the storage tank would require a longer period for completion, officials said. They also said that Ras Gas, Qatar would supply the entire requirement of gas for the Kochi terminal.

Already, four EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractors have been pre-qualified. All of these are foreign companies with an Indian member as per rules.

A US company Flour Daniel, which had conducted the total feasibility study for the project had submitted its draft report, which had been approved by Petronet. It had also completed the risk analysis and the final report would be submitted to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests for its clearance, officials said.

Petronet is now looking for another party to prepare the tender documents for the project. Besides, it would be selecting a company for preparing the design. All these process would be over by the end of the year and the work on the project is expected to start early next year.

The advantages of the site are that there is no habitation, populated area is at a distance of around 1.4 km, no forest and agricultural land, infrastructure created by the CPR are available besides there are no archaeologically important structures in the vicinity of the site.
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FALCON gets landing points in Saudi Arabia
Mumbai: Saudi Arabia's Integrated Telecom Company has confirmed investments in communications infrastructure that will provide full landing stations for FLAG Telecom's FALCON cable system at two locations in the kingdom.

Agreements have been signed to this effect providing for landing stations at Jeddah and near Dammam, together with the purchase of capacity on the new regional cable (i.e., FALCON) system, said a news release from Reliance Infocomm, which owns FLAG.The development follows similar agreements with Bahrain, Egypt, India, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar, the release added.

The landing station at Dammam and the capacity purchase will provide the first direct access to international networks from the kingdom's east coast, making available full network diversity to enhance service reliability for Integrated Telecom Company's customers, the release said.
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Ashapura-Sichuan JV win bid for alumina plant in Gujarat
Mumbai: The Ashapura Minechem-Sichuan Aostar Aluminium Corporation combine has won the bid to set up a one million tonne alumina plant at a cost of Rs2,500 crore in the Kutch district of Gujarat. Man Industries Ltd was the other bidder for the project.

Ashapura and Sichuan Aostar had come together to set up a 50:50 joint venture to bid for this project. Sichuan Aostar is a subsidiary of Chinese Sichuan Electric Power Corp.

The project is expected to be executed in two phases with the first phase expected to cost Rs1,190 crore. The project will be set up at Mandvi, 40 km from Mundra Port in Kutch district. It has the provision for a captive jetty. Kutch has 40 million tonnes of bauxite reserves.

The investment for this project will be a combination of equity and debt.Ashapura Minechem and the Gujarat Government will take 50 per cent of the equity and Sichuan will invest the rest. The debt will be a combination of project finance and suppliers' credit from India and China.

The Gujarat Government is likely to take a stake of 5-11 per cent in the joint venture, with Ashapura holding 39-45 per cent and Sichuan holding the rest.Guiyang Aluminium Magnesium Design and Research Institute (GAMI) is the technology partner.This project, according to Mr Chetan Shah, will provide direct employment to 700 persons.
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Porsche launches the Carrera Cabriolet
New Delhi: German car major, Porsche AG, on Thursday launched its sports car 911 Carrera cabriolet in India. It will be imported from Stuttgart and sold in India through the company's partners, Exclusive Motors in Delhi and Shreyans Motors in Mumbai.

With a price tag of Rs75 lakh onwards, the price of this luxury convertible will vary according to customer specifications.This new addition to the Porsche range in India symbolises the growing market for luxury cars here. Officials said that they expect to sell 100 units from the Porsche range, which includes sports cars 911 Carrera and Boxster S, and sports utility vehicle Cayenne, by July this year.Porsche entered the Indian market at the end of 2004.
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MRPL gets Jawaharlal Nehru award
New Delhi: The Centre for High Technology (CHT) has selected Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) for the Jawaharlal Nehru centenary awards for energy performance of refineries for 2003-04.

The award was presented on Thursday by the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mani Shankar Aiyar, to the MRPL Chairman, Subir Raha. The award, instituted by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, monitors and evaluates the annual energy performance of refineries.
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Bajaj Tempo becomes Force Motors
Pune: The Pune-based Bajaj Tempo has now been renamed as Force Motors Ltd. The Registrar of Companies, Maharashtra, has on Thursday issued the certificate for change of name from Bajaj Tempo Ltd to Force Motors Ltd. The new name comes into effect immediately.

The company plans to introduce a new range of medium and heavy commercial vehicles in collaboration with MAN Nutzfahrzeuge, a German manufacturer of diesel engines and heavy trucks.
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AmEx platinum card members to get benefits on Delta Air
New Delhi: American Express has announced that Delta Airlines would join its International Airline Programme that provides American Express Platinum Card members a free companion ticket with every purchase of a full-fare ticket in specified classes and routes.

American Express Platinum Card members already enjoy this privilege with Malaysia Airlines, Air New Zealand and Emirates. The Platinum Card International Airline Programme is available throughout the year with no blackout periods and no limits to the number of times card members can take advantage of a complimentary companion ticket.

Through the programme, the participating airlines offer card members regular flights from major cities in India to their destinations in Europe, the US, Asia and beyond in first, and business classes.
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Ranbaxy files for three ARVs with WHO
New Delhi: Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd has made three fresh filings of its anti-retroviral (ARVs) formulations to the WHO for approval, taking the total number of filings submitted to eight.

The formulations filed most recently include fixed dose combinations (FDCs) and this takes the total number of FDCs filed by the company with the WHO to three.

Earlier, Ranbaxy had also announced filing of four ARVs with the USFDA under the latter's expedited review process.
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Corporate Results: Finolex Cables, Havell's India, Datamatics
Finolex Cables Q4 net up at Rs10.13 crore
Pune: Finolex Cables Ltd has recorded sales of Rs570.76 crore for the year ended March as compared to Rs455.64 crore for the preceding year, an increase of 25.26 per cent. Profit before tax was up by 14.04 per cent at Rs37.13 crore as compared to Rs32.56 crore in 2003-04.

The company has declared a dividend of 45 per cent i.e. Rs4.50 on face value Rs10 per share. Earnings per share (EPS) for the year ended March 31 is Rs10.06 (Rs9.66) and cash earnings per share (CEPS) is Rs18.51 (Rs18.28).

For the quarter ended March 31, the total sales has increased to Rs140.13 crore (Rs135.19 crore). Net profit for the quarter ended March 31, is Rs10.13 crore, up from Rs3.36 crore of the corresponding quarter of previous year.

The electrical cables business witnessed a growth contributing 68 per cent to the business, he said. BSNL, which floated its yearly tender for cables requirements at 120 lakh conductor kilometres (LCKM), is expected to place an order of 12 LCKM.

Havell's India FY05 net up at Rs.31 crore
New Delhi: Havell's India Ltd today reported a jump in its net profit at Rs31 crore and an increased net sales by 59 per cent at Rs665 crore for the year ended March 31, 2005.

The company had recorded net profit of Rs21 crore and sales of Rs419 crore respectively, in the last fiscal 2003-04.

Havell's India has proposed issue of one bonus equity share for every share held, by the existing shareholders of the company. The company also announced a dividend of 50 per cent, that is Rs2.5 on an equity share of the face value of Rs5 per share.

Earning per share of the company stood at Rs26 for the current fiscal as against Rs18 last year.

Datamatics to pay Rs2.5
Mumbai: The Mumbai-based Datamatics Technologies has informed the BSE that its board of directors has recommended a final dividend of 25 per cent for 2004-05.

At a meeting today, the board also appointed Chairman Dr Lalit S. Kanodia as Wholetime Director for five years effective from May 16, 2005. Vidur Bhogilal was appointed as Additional Director for five years effective from the same date.
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