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Infosys looks 25 years ahead
Hyderabad: Software giant Infosys is all set to emerge as a 'truly multinational corporate entity' in the next 25 years, its chairman N R Narayana Murthy has said. The company will scale up its operations, products and services drastically towards this end he said.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an analysts' meet organised to mark the silver jubilee celebrations of Infosys in Hyderabad on Friday, Murthy said: "We will be alive to all market possibilities in products and services."

There are many plans in the drawing room. "We have set our road ahead for next 25 years with a strong adherence to our value systems and expanding business models," he added. On product profile, Murthy said banking solution Finacle was being strengthened to meet the requirements of global market.

"We are growing at 30 per cent now. The biggest challenge is to grow while maintaining the profit and other aspects intact. Business models will come and go. But our value system will guide us," Murthy said.

On China, Murthy said, "No company involved in the IT industry can afford to ignore China in view of the large demand and supply dynamics. For Infosys too, China is important."

Infosys Chief Executive Officer Nandan M Nilekani said there would be new offerings on the services front. "Our business model is now being followed by global players, who once showed the path. Now it is our turn to lead," Nilekani said.
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Aramco, BP and Total likely partners for HPCL in Bhatinda refinery
New Delhi: State-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd is in talks with Saudi Aramco and other foreign companies for a stake in a new refinery being built at Bhatinda in northern India, a top official said.

Chairman M.B. Lal told reporters on Friday the new refinery would be built by a joint venture company in which both partners were likely to hold 26 percent equity each and the rest would be offered to the public through an initial public offer by 2007.

Global oil majors British Petroleum and French oil giant Total are the other foreign companies that may be interested in picking up equity in Hindustan Petroleum Corp's Rs8,336 crore Bhatinda refinery in Punjab. The investment would allow the company's to meet the minimum investment criteria that would give them the licence to enter India's retail market.

BP and Total are keen to enter India's oil retailing market and see the Bhatinda refinery as A licence to sell petrol and diesel in India is contingent on a company investing a minimum of Rs2,000 crore in oil infrastructure projects like refineries, pipelines, exploration and production, and terminals.

HPCL, which owns a 6 million tonne refinery at Mumbai and a 7.5 million tonne refinery at Vizag in Andhra Pradesh, besides about 6,800 petrol stations throughout the country, is building the Bhatinda refinery through a subsidiary company Guru Gobind Singh Refineries Ltd.

"We need a strategic partner with strong financials. The partner(s) would be given equity in the GBSR, with HPCL retaining majority stake and management control. Entry of the strategic partner would help us achieve financial closure (tying up funding) for the project," Lal said.

After more than two years of delay, the Punjab government on Friday signed a deed of assurance for providing fiscal incentives for the project. The DOA, signed in the presence of Aiyar and Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, sets the stage for the re-launch of the project.
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A-I plans budget flights to the Gulf
Thiruvanantapuram: Air-India has informed the Kerala government that it would start budget flights to Doha, Bahrain and Kuwait, state finance and excise minister Vakkom Purushothaman told the assembly on Friday.

The government had also brought to the notice of Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, the problems faced by passengers on the Kerala-Gulf sector in A-I's Budget Express flights, he said, replying to a calling attention motion on behalf of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on the need to put pressure on the Centre to take urgent steps to provide more airline services from the Gulf sector to Kerala.

The civil aviation ministry has been asked to increase the number of flights between Kerala and the Gulf sector during festivals and holiday seasons, he said.

Puroshottaman said the government would soon convene a meeting of all airlines operating from the state to the Gulf to find a solution to the excess fare being charged by A-I in this sector.

The government was also going ahead with its plan of starting a flight company with private participation, he said.

The Cochin International Airport Company has been asked to prepare a report in this regard, which was expected to be ready within three months, he added.
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Russia to make heavy duty Ural trucks in India
Kolkota: RusPromAvto, Russian automobile manufacturer, is to begin assembly of heavy-duty cross-country 'Ural' trucks in India from next month.

In a tie-up with Ural India Ltd and West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation, RusPromAvto is to invest US$100mn in the construction of truck assembly plant near Haldia, 110 km from Kolkata.

Assembly of the first trucks would commence in September. The plant would gradually reach full capacity of one thousand trucks annual assembly from the kits supplied from Russia, a release said.
Besides trucks the joint venture would also produce chassis for fire engines and dumper trucks.

Located in the city of Miass in the Urals 'UralAZ' truck plant of RusPromAvto is the former Soviet Union's only manufacturer of three and four axle 6x6 and 8x8 heavy duty cross-country trucks widely used by the military and the oil and natural gas industry in remote Siberian areas and Central Asian oil fields in the Karakum Desert.

Earlier four Ural trucks had undergone rigorous trials in scorching sands of Rajasthan and Himalayan terrain.
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WHO puts seven Ranbaxy AIDS drugs back on list
Mumbai: Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd has said that the World Health Organisation (WHO) had re-included seven of its anti-AIDS generic drugs in its pre-qualification list after the drugs were taken off last year due to discrepancies in tests.

The WHO dropped three of Ranbaxy's generics last August, saying they had not been proved to be equivalent to patented counterparts, and India's top drug maker then withdrew its remaining eight anti-retrovirals from the WHO list in November.

Ranbaxy said in a statement late on Thursday that it had used globally recognised contract research organisations to carry out bio-equivalence studies for its anti-retrovirals. The drugs are manufactured at Ranbaxy's plants, which have been approved by both the WHO and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Ranbaxy said the drugs on the list are two combinations of lamivudine, nevirapine and stavudine, two combinations of lamivudine and stavudine, a combination of lamivudine and zidovudine and tablets of each of those two. The WHO's pre-qualification list aims to make it easier for countries to decide which medicines to buy when they are planning anti-AIDS campaigns.

The WHO estimates that Indian-made products combining two or three medicines in one pill have brought the cost of first-line AIDS therapy in Africa down to $140-$400 per patient per year compared with brand-name drugs which still cost $400-$600.
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Royal Enfield launches new variants
New Delhi: Motorcycle manufacturer Royal Enfield on Friday launched two new variants. The company also announced the entry of R L Ravichandran, former marketing head of Bajaj Auto, into its ranks.

The Eicher group company hopes to clock sales of about 40,000 units this fiscal against the 30,000-odd it had sold last fiscal.
The new bike launches are a part of the company's celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of Royal Enfield in India, Eicher group officials said.

The new models, which the company launched, are 'Bullet Electra 5 S' and a new variant of its cruiser 'Thunderbird'. The new Bullet, with gearshift on the left, comes with gas-filled shock absorbers, glass wool silencer, multi-focal reflector lamps with option of disc brakes and electric start. It would cost Rs69,150 (ex-showroom Delhi).

On the other hand, the new Thunderbird will cost Rs73,970 and would come with electric start and disc brakes. Lal also said that the company was working on a new engine, which would be available on its bikes by the year-end.
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Maruti to recall faulty 500 Zens
New Delhi: Maruti Udyog Ltd will be recalling about 500 units of its popular model 'Zen' after noticing leakage of coolant in a few units.

"We have asked our dealers to recall about 500 Zen cars which may be having the same problem, and replace the component free-of-cost if found faulty," a company spokesman said.

However, he clarified that this was just a 'precautionary measure' and all the cars may not suffer from the defect.
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Passenger car sales down 11 per cent in July
New Delhi: Passenger car sales skidded for the second month in a row this fiscal, according to data released by Society of Indian Auto Manufacturers (SIAM) today.

Car sales declined 10.6% in July to 63,084 units as against 70,606 units sold in July 2004, the release said.

Two-wheeler sales also declined by 2.5% in July to 4,83,090 units (4,95,456 units). "This was primarily due to a 35% fall in sale of scooters even as motorcycle sales moved up 5.7% to 3,99,779 units," the release added.

Car sales had seen a marginal decline of 0.89% in June at 64464 units, the release said.
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Ventura Textiles bags Rs.30 crore US order
New Delhi: Mumbai-based Ventura Textiles Ltd has bagged export orders worth Rs30 crore from the US. The orders have to be executed before December-end this year, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The company is also expecting to get repeat orders worth Rs45 crore for which the talks are on, it said. To enhance the turnover and profitability, the company is also in the process of forward integration, it added.
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Corporate Results: Dabur India
Dabur India pays 150 per cent final dividend
Dabur India Ltd has declared a final dividend of 150 per cent on the equity shares of the company for the financial year 2004-05.

The shareholders approved the final dividend of Rs1.50 per equity share of Re1 each at the AGM held on July 15, 2005, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

It also confirmed the interim dividend at 100 per cent that is, Re 1 per equity share of Re 1 each which has already been paid to the equity shareholders of the company on November 8, 2004.
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