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Tata
Power carves a niche in defence supplies
Mumbai: With the government of India opening up the
defence sector, the Rs3,930-crore Tata
Power company, a Tata group firm, has earned Rs62
crore by supplying multi-rocket launcher systems to the
Indian Army in 2004-05.
The Bangalore-based division is now looking for inorganic
growth and targets a ten-fold increase in its revenue
to Rs620 crore over the next five years by selling rocket
launchers and other related high-tech equipments.
In fiscal 2004-05, Tata Power's strategic electronics
division has developed Pinaka, a multi-barrel rocket launcher
and the Samyukta, an integrated electronics warfare system
supplied for induction by the Indian Army, as per the
information available in its annual report.
The company also received orders for Akash, a self-propelled
launcher system, for the Army and an Air Force version
as well. The systems have high production potential which,
the company says, were won in the face of stiff competition
from both private and public sector companies. The launchers
are now in the final stages of delivery.
With the demand from the Indian army now on the rise,
Tata Power is expecting this division to be a major growth
driver and is planning new business verticals which includes
command, control, communications and computers intelligence
surveillance and reconnaissance equipments code-named
C41SR, tank electronics, artillery upgrades, avionics
and UAV, display systems, embedded systems and simulators.
In fact, Tata Power is not the only company which is making
inroads into the Indian Army. Group firm Tata Motors is
in the process of making armoured vehicles for the Indian
Army.
The defence-related production orders were earlier given
only to public sector units. However, the government decided
to open up the sector for private sector to encourage
more research and development.
Indian companies are now eligible to apply for licence
to set up defence industry for manufacture of all types
of defence equipment with foreign direct investment of
up to 26 per cent of their equity. Since 2001-02, 27 applications
have been received 13 letters of indent have been issued.
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NASSCOM:
BPO industry needs an image makeover
Chennai: Predicting that the Indian IT industry was
likely to add two lakh employees this year, Nasscom
president Kiran Karnik on Tuesday said the association
was working on the image of BPO industry and would create
a database of people in the industry.
"BPO
industry has been painted badly. The industry is not a
disaster area. You cannot say something is bad without
analysing the full details. Nasscom will work towards
projecting the image of the industry, which offers huge
potential for growth," Karnik said addressing the
National HR summit 2005 on 'Capacity Building and Talent
Management' here.
He
said the major concerns of the industry were quality of
graduates and the shortage of faculty in every college.
"Nurturing and growing talent is critical. Quality
of teaching and faculty have to be enhanced," he
added. Another important area for focus would be improvement
in the skills of graduates churned out by educational
institutions.
"We
need to accelerate and we have got to do something radically
in the next 3-5 years. We have to stay ahead of others
and should strengthen the education system. We should
teach not only the skill set but also how to think and
generate new ideas," he added.
On
the Prime Minister's current visit to the US, he said
"our people don't get back the amount they contribute
to social security while working in the US. The amount
is expected to be about half a billion USD. We have already
taken up the matter and hope something will be done on
this."
He
also said Nasscom would be focusing on addressing the
apprehensions on the BPO industry among the parents and
faculty. "The world over, night shifts are common
and it was not a new phenomenon. We are also planning
some kind of interactive and counselling programmes for
the young people on how to manage money, stress etc,"
he added.
He
said there would be bright future for the people who possess
qualifications like M.Tech and Doctorates. "These
people will be in more demand and also those who develop
cutting edge technology, especially for the industry."
Referring
to China, Karnik said that though the country was no immediate
threat, its thrust on education had been phenomenal. "China
might take over India in number of engineering graduates
in a couple of years," he added.
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GE,
Bechtel move SC towards ending DPC row
New Delhi: Power sector majors GE
and Bechtel have moved the Supreme Court with a settlement
plan, which looks at ending their long multi-pronged litigation
over the $3 billion Dabhol
Power Corporation.
With minor issues in the consent terms yet to be decided,
a bench comprising Justice SN Variava and Justice AR Lakshmanan
will record the consent of the parties on Wednesday.
The government had, on July 12, settled all claims of
GE and Bechtel for a total payout of Rs1,330 crore, following
which the two companies have agreed to help in the restart
of the project which is likely to take place in July next
year.
The consent terms, which outlined the settlement reached
between GE, Bechtel, Maharashtra government and the financial
institutions (FIs), who have a stake of up to Rs5,000
crore in DPC, could facilitate early start of the power
project.
Thomson
in strategic agreement with VSNL for media market
Paris/Mumbai: Thomson has entered into a partnership
with India's premier telecom and Internet service company,
VSNL,
part of the USD17 billion Tata
Group. Under the agreement, Thomson and VSNL will
jointly explore opportunities, and intend to combine their
respective expertise to offer high quality services and
new technologies to the Indian media and entertainment
market.
Through the partnership, Thomson gains a foothold in the
Indian market and broaden the Group's Media and Entertainment
client base, notably in Asia.
VSNL, one of the largest international bandwidth providers
in the world, provides international and domestic long
distance, Internet services and end- to-end enterprise
telecommunication solutions. Thomson's expertise in digital
video technologies will offer significant benefits to
VSNL and the companies will explore new opportunities
in managing and delivering content for third parties,
including broadcasters and content providers, aiming to
offer leading edge solutions to VSNL's media and entertainment
customers in India.
Similarly, Thomson believes opportunities will open up
for its Grass Valley broadcast and network activity and
its Technicolor business, which provide services to media
content creators and distributors.
In addition, Thomson and VSNL will explore development
of end-to-end solutions for network operators, such as
optimised satellite transmission as well as content management
and distribution solutions like digital cinema, based
on Thomson's world-leading position in solutions and access
products.
Frank Dangeard, Chairman & CEO of Thomson said, "In
the short-term, we will reap the benefits of working with
VSNL, one of India's leading telecom groups, and our cooperation
should provide a solid basis for future growth in Thomson's
other core media and entertainment activities, such as
services for content creators, from post-production to
digital cinema."
"The Media and Entertainment sector in India has
seen unprecedented growth in the recent past primarily
due to the increasing appetite of the Indian consumer,
the potential for which is growing by the day. It is therefore
a challenging task for service providers like us to provide
state-of-the-art solutions which facilitate opportunities
for growth for our media and entertainment customers from
this sector," said N. Srinath, Director of Operations
for VSNL. "This agreement with Thomson will enable
us to offer an unmatched suite of leading edge solutions
and services on diverse technology platforms to Media
and Entertainment enterprises, resulting in a superior
experience for the end consumer."
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TCS
capex plans for 2005-06 stand at Rs.950 crore
Mumbai:
Tata
Consultancy Services (TCS) has planned a capital expenditure
of Rs950 crore for the financial year 2005-06.
Addressing
the company's first annual general meeting, TCS Chief
Executive Officer and Managing Director S Ramodorai said
out of Rs950 crore planned expenditure, Rs600 crore has
been earmarked on building infrastructure and rest on
technology.
Ramodorai said that with the company recruiting about
13,500 employees for the period in question, there was
a requirement for building infrastructure.
The
company presently has about 40,000 employees and makes
incentive payments to its employees based on the Economic
Value Added (EVA) principle. The company has recognised
additional performance incentive of Rs102 crore by the
end of the financial year 2004-05.
The business volumes of the company for the past year
largely came from America, which contributed about 59.2
per cent of the total consolidated revenue. UK and India
has contributed 16.3 per cent and 12.2 per cent respectively.
Continental Europe and Asia Pacific have contributed the
rest.
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Anil
Ambani: Reliance split to be transparent
Mumbai: Anil Ambani, Chairman of Anil
Dhirubhai Enterprises Ltd, told Reliance
Energy Ltd (REL) shareholders that there would be
transparency and fair play in the ongoing reorganisation
of the Reliance group.
Anil resigned from parent Reliance Industries as Vice
Chairman and Managing Director after a seven-month stand
off that ended in division of assets in the Rs100,000
crore Reliance group between the Ambani brothers.
Ambani said that the GoI had also already given the necessary
environmental clearance for the 7,480 MW Dhirubhai Ambani
Energy City project, which will be commissioned in phases.
Shareholders of REL at the EGM gave approval for preferential
offer of equity shares and equity-related securities to
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Enterprises and long-term institutional
investors, amounting to Rs1,750 crore.
Ambani said he would double the generation capacity of
Reliance Energy's proposed plant at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh
and turn RCL into the third largest financial powerhouse
behind ICICI Bank and HDFC in the financial services sector
in terms of net worth. The original capacity of the Dadri
project, to be commissioned by 2008-09, was 3740 mw, which
would as per Anil's statement would now double to 7,480
mw.
With the preferential issue, the stake of Reliance Industries
Ltd in REL will come down to 45.63 per cent from 52.64
per cent at present. At the same time, ADAE will have
a stake of 11.46 per cent. Anil Ambani's holding company
doesn't own any equity in the company at present.
Responding to shareholder queries, he said RCL would look
at marketing and distributing life insurance products
in the country after obtaining requisite approvals from
the authorities. Over a point of time, the company would
also look at the entire gamut of general insurance products
that will be offered to other customers.Ambani did not
rule out the possibility of entering banking as and when
regulations permit.
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BSNL
floats global tender for setting up ILD network
New Delhi: Bharat
Sanchar Nigam Ltd has decided to end the tie-up with
the Tata-managed Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd for carrying
its international long distance (ILD) calls and has floated
a multi-million-dollar global tender to set up its own
network.
The tender was issued on Monday and is expected to attract
global players.
BSNL with nearly 55-million telephone lines account for
ILD traffic worth Rs4,000 crore every year. Though VSNL's
monopoly ended in 2002 when the Government opened up the
sector to other players, a significant part of BSNL's
ILD traffic was being routed through VSNL's infrastructure
owing to an agreement with the Government at the time
of divesting stake to the Tata Group.
BSNL board has, however, been wanting to break away from
this relationship for quite some time on the grounds that
it could get better commercial terms from other carriers
through competitive bidding. Recently, BSNL gave away
a part of the ILD traffic to other operators - Reliance
Infocomm and Bharti - on a temporary arrangement.
The new tender would put in place a permanent ILD network
for BSNL comprising undersea cable operators and satellite
service providers. BSNL will also directly negotiate the
settlement rates with the international carriers and also
own the switches, gateways and the landing stations required
to operate an ILD network.
The bids will be opened on August 19. This could also
mean reduced ILD tariffs for consumers. "In order
to provide its ILD telecom services independently, BSNL
requires international bandwidth on optical fibre submarine
cable system (OFSCS) and satellite media from eligible
Indian ILD operators, foreign carriers and other international
bandwidth providers. Expression of interest has been invited
to empanel eligible bidders to supply, commission and
maintain international bandwidth in order to enable BSNL
meet the demand for international bandwidth for its ILD
voice, international private leased circuit (IPLC) and
data services," said a senior BSNL official.
The agreement with the successful bidder will be for a
two-year period.
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M&M
bid for Romanian tractor manufacturer
short listed
New Delhi: Mahindra
and Mahindra's bid for Tractorul SA, the largest tractor
manufacturer in Romania, has been shortlisted and the
final decision is expected to be taken by the end of August.
State-owned Tractorul MYO, which is into agricultural
equipment business, was put on auction by the government
as Italy's Landini had decided against buying it after
prolonged negotiations.
The Romanian government would directly negotiate with
bidders for its 80 per cent stake in Tractorul.
The plan to buy Tractorul is part of M&M's strategy
of going global.
Earlier this month, M&M said it had put in a formal
bid with AVAS, the government agency in charge of the
privatisation process in Romania. M&M is not the only
Indian company interested in Tractorul. According to reports
in the Romanian media, the Tata group has also evinced
interests.
Tractorul has a capacity of 18,000 tractors per year in
the 26-100 HP category. Its integrated plant in Brasov
makes 24,000 diesel engines for tractors and has a castings
and forging capacity of 35,000 tonne and 20,000 tonne
respectively.
At present, over 7 lakh Tractorul machines are in use
Turkey, Egypt and Iran.
If the deal sails through, it would give M&M a strong
foothold in the European market. Romania is set to enter
the European Union in 2007.
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Sahara
cuts fares by 25 per cent
New
Delhi:
Triggering a fresh round of fare war in the Indian skies,
private carrier Air
Sahara has slashed fares across the board by over
25 per cent.
This move, according to aviation industry sources, is
a part of the carrier's move to improve its market share,
and marks the beginning of the lean season. Other carriers,
including the low-cost ones, are expected to follow suit.
Indian Airlines recently simplified its low-fare offering,
doing away with advance bookings.
Airlines typically cut fares for the lean months of July,
August and September and launch innovative marketing schemes
to improve the increase passenger load factor and maintain
their market share.
The
new fares are about 67 per cent lower than the normal
full-service fare on any sector and about 25 per cent
lower than the cheapest advance booking fares offered
by the carrier.
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Subhash
Chandra buys out co-promoters stake in Essel Propack
Mumbai: Subhash Chandra, Chairman, Essel Group, has
acquired 21.91 per cent stake in Essel Propack for a total
consideration of Rs226.49 crore.
He acquired 68.63 lakh shares of Essel Propack Ltd for
Rs330 per share from Arfen Hsu Ltd, the company's foreign
collaborator and co-promoter. Arfen Hsu was offered shares
in Essel Propack at the time of the merger of the international
laminate tube making assets of Propack Holdings Ltd into
the then Essel Packaging Ltd.
Arfen's holding has remained unchanged since then.
As this is an intra-promoter transfer of holding the acquisition
is exempt from making a public offer under the SEBI rules.
Chandra had originally promoted Essel Propack in 1984.
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Corporate
Results: REL, Sify, Himatsingka, Flextronics, Virinchi
REL Q1 net up 42.37 per cent
Reliance
Energy has posted a 42.37 per cent rise in net profit
at Rs156.63 crore for the quarter ended June 2005 as compared
to Rs110.01 crore for the corresponding quarter in the
previous fiscal.
Total
income has increased 6.34 per cent to Rs1,084.44 crore
for the quarter ended June 2005 from Rs1,019.70 crore
in the year-ago period. It has approved a quarterly dividend
of 12 per cent.
Sify
Q1 net loss at $2.26mn
Sify
Ltd has reported increased net loss of $2.26 million
on revenue of $23.47 million for the quarter ended June
30, 2005 compared with a net loss of $1.26 million on
revenue of $17.88 million for corresponding quarter last
year.
The net loss for June 2005 quarter was, however, 12 per
cent lower than the net loss for the previous quarter,
says a company press release.
During the quarter, Sify entered into an alliance with
Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL), which has
a network of over 20,000-route km of fibre cable across
the country. Sify will now terminate PGCIL's cable in
many of its network centres.
This will considerably increase bandwidth capacity in
the backbone and enhance capabilities to provide bandwidth
up to the gigabit range, the release says.
Himatsingka Q1 net up 11 pc
For the first quarter ended June 30, silk fabric manufacturer
and exporter, Himatsingka has announced that it has posted
a 11-per cent increase in its net profit at Rs11.27 crore,
compared to Rs10.11 crore in the corresponding period
last year. Sales revenues for the quarter increased 11
per cent to Rs34.17 crore from Rs30.79 crore in the corresponding
previous quarter. The sale of fabrics during the quarter
was up 10 per cent at Rs28.85 crores, against Rs26.25
crore in the corresponding previous quarter.
Himatsingka Seide Ltd plans to invest Rs400 crore in setting
up a bed linen fabrics unit at the Hassan Special Economic
Zone in Karnataka. The company expects to finance this
new unit through internal accruals and a term loan, Himatsingka
said in a press release.
Himatsingka intends to take a term loan under the government's
Technology Upgradation Fund scheme.
The Karnataka Government has allotted 100 acres at Hassan
SEZ for Himatsingka's new unit that will have a capacity
of 20 million meters per annum.
Construction activity at the new project is expected to
start by September and the project is likely to be completed
within 12 months, the company said.
On reaching full capacity, the turnover of this new unit
will be around Rs475 crore, the company said. With this
proposed investment, Himatsingka is targeting a turnover
of Rs700 crore by 2007-08.
Flextronics net falls on Hughes effect
Decline in business from Hughes Network Systems and less-than-expected
performance in the BPO segment took a toll on the first
quarter result of Flextronics Software Systems (FSS).
It reported a 0.4-per cent decline in its consolidated
net profit for the quarter ended June 2005 at Rs24.5 crore,
against Rs24.6 crore in the corresponding previous year
period, even as the drop was as much as 18.3 per cent
compared sequentially.
Net sales during the quarter ended June 2005 stood at
Rs125.4 crore, against Rs109.4 crore in the same period
the previous year. However, Q1 sales were lower than Rs130.1
crore clocked in the quarter ended March 2005.
Former parent Hughes Networks is among the top five customers
of FSS, which was bought last year by Flextronics.
Virinchi June quarter net up
Virinchi Technologies Ltd recorded total income of Rs6.04
crore and net profit of Rs1.95 crore for the quarter ended
June 30, 2005 against total income of Rs2.41 crore and
a net profit of Rs0.80 crore for the corresponding quarter
last year.
The Chief Executive Officer of Virinchi Technologies,
Viswanath Kompella, said: "The company has added
five Fortune clients from the US. During the last quarter,
Virinchi appointed a President and a Vice-President for
enhancing its marketing presence in the North American
markets."
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