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Bangladesh invites Tatas for 'conclusive negotiations'
Dhaka: Bangladesh has issued an invitation to India's Tata Group for initiating "conclusive negotiations" from July 2 on a $2.5 billion investment deal to set up steel, power and fertiliser units.

According to officials, the government would finalise its terms and conditions for negotiations on the proposed deal under which Tata will set up two 5,000-mw gas-fired power plants, one fertiliser plant and a steel mill. Government officials said that the Board of Investment had sent the invitation on Tuesday.

The talks - the second round after the Tata Group formally submitted the investment proposal in April - were scheduled for June 19. The date has now been deferred to July 2 because of the preoccupation of Finance Secretary Zakir Ahmed Khan, who heads the committee for negotiating with the Tata team, with the national budget.

After an agreement is signed, Dhaka will hold talks with New Delhi while the Tata Group will negotiate with multilateral lending agencies for funding the projects.

Bangladesh will also talk with the lending agencies for financing infrastructure projects required for the three Tata plants.
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Tata Metaliks to double pig iron capacity
Kolkata: Tata Metaliks will double its pig iron capacity to around 700,000 tonnes in a couple of year's time. According to officials, the company could adopt organic or inorganic strategies for growth. The company had been scouting for acquisitions and was looking for a foothold in the western and southern parts of the country.

The company's current capacity for pig iron was 320,000 tonne and was expecting to boost it to 350,000 tonnes this year.

Tata Metaliks was also weighing the option of diversifying into the production of steel billets. The company had appointed M N Dastur & Co for the feasibility study, which was expected to be completed in around two months. Initially the entire billet production would be consumed by Tata Steel, which held 46.66 per cent in the company, while subsequently Tata Metaliks would cater to other customers.

The company was currently operating out of a 200 acre plot in Kharagpur and had sought an additional 500 acres from the state government. Tata Metaliks posted a turnover of Rs288 crore in 2004-05 and was eyeing around Rs550 crore, at the end of the financial year.
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HM to supply components to Volkswagen
Kolkota: Hindustan Motors has launched a new version of its Ambassador and has said that it is going to supply most of the components to Volkswagen's plant scheduled to come up near Vishakhapatnam.

Volkswagen's entry will help Hindustan Motors revive its underused plant in West Bengal's Uttarpara and expand the company's component outsourcing business.

HM already has a successful contract for power trains, crankshafts and other components with GM, Ford and even Tata Motors. Last year, about 20 per cent of HM's revenues came from this component business and the company expects that share to rise.

Hindustan Motors won't of course give up the business of making cars and will be introducing new models from the Mitsubishi portfolio later this year.
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Philips India set to be named Philips Electronics India
Hyderabad: The Rs3,000-crore Philips India Ltd will complete the legal merger of all its business divisions in the country by the end of July and will rename itself as Philips Electronics India.
The High Courts in Kolkata, Mumbai and Karnataka have cleared the merger of Philips Software division, Bangalore and Philips Medical Systems, Mumbai with the parent.

The 75-year-old company in the country, part of the Netherlands-headquartered global company, had earlier completed the legal merger of four other divisions in the country.

Philips India is a debt-free, cash surplus company. Once the merger is complete, Philips India wants to move away from the consumer electronics-lighting image it has to being a healthcare, lifestyle and technology company, officials said.

Philips India has major divisions in lighting, consumer electronics, healthcare, semi-conductor R&D and domestic appliances. It is investing up to $50 million in its new R&D facility in Bangalore, where it intends to move by the end of the year.

The company has been growing at 18-22 per cent annually, which is higher than the industry averages. Its target is to reach Rs5,000-crore turnover by 2007.
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Skoda to roll out four new models - plans exports
New Delhi: After achieving sales of 20,000 units in three-and-a-half years, Skoda Auto India will be rolling out over four new products in the next 12 months, and also establishing India as an export hub for the region.

Skoda India officials said that they are targeting a presence in nearly all segments of the Indian car market in the coming three years, including an offering in the premium compact car segment. The company was studying options from Skoda's global portfolio.

Skoda at present sells 10 premium car models in India, which include the top end Skoda L&K, Skoda Superb and the Skoda RS.

For the current year, Skoda has plans to roll out variants on the D5 platform as well as the Combi, a station wagon variant. This would be followed by an Octavia on the bigger A5 platform in January and the Fabia in the latter half of 2006.

Meanwhile, the company plans to embark on an export programme this year, dispatching its first batch of exports by June-end to neighbouring countries. The company plans to begin exports to markets in South-East Asia as well. To meet demand from both the domestic and export markets, Skoda is in the process of doubling capacity to 30,000 units at its Aurangabad facility.

It expects to complete this expansion programme by end-November.
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Business Briefs: Tata Investment, Reliance Info, LG, Virinchi's, Coffee Day Xpress
Tata Investment bonus issue
The Tata Investment Corporation Ltd has informed the BSE that its board of directors has approved an issue of bonus shares in the ratio of one share for every two held.

The board has also recommended a dividend of Rs 12 per share.

Reliance Info launches services in Andamans
Reliance Infocomm has announced the launch of its voice and data services in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, via satellite link.

The satellite links the archipelago of 572 islands with the mainland. A 31-km optical fibre cable network has been laid in Port Blair to connect seven sites at Abardeen Bazaar, Shadiput, Lambaline, Caracharna, Delanipur, Huddo and Mini Bay.

The project is part of the company's pan-India network expansion plan, which aims to connect 5,700 towns and 4 lakh villages by December, says a company release.

LG starts production line for desktop PC cabinets
LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd (LGEIL) has commenced a production line for desktop PC cabinets, claiming to be the first to do so in India. These PC cabinets would be manufactured at the Greater Noida factory to cater to the domestic and export markets.

Around Rs 1.5 crore has been invested in the production line for these cabinets. An R&D team has been appointed to help in customising the moulds keeping in mind the choice of the Indian customers smooth supply."

Spectrum picks Virinchi's 'Casetrail'
Virinchi Technologies, an e-business solutions provider has announced that Spectrum Investigations, a Texas-based investigation firm, has selected Virinchi's product `Casetrail' to automate its case tracking business processes.

Casetrail, a Web-based application, allows bi-directional tracing of every case registered with it and helps the client to monitor and suggest comments on a timely basis to the investigator.

Coffee Day Xpress aims at 1,000 outlets by 2008
Food and beverage retail chain Coffee Day Xpress, a division of the Rs250-crore Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company, has crossed the 300-kiosks mark in 13 cities in just over two years and is now aiming at the 500-kiosks mark by the end of the current fiscal. Officials said that by 2008 they want to have 1,000 outlets in place.

The company is in the process of rolling out its retail outlets across a range of second-tier cities and the towns in their vicinity. The company is planning to roll out its kiosks in at least eight major cities including Mysore, Coimbatore, Indore, Jaipur, Ludhiana this fiscal and plans to take the concept to the East next year.
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