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Zee Tele's Siticable to be hived-off
Mumbai: Zee Telefilms (ZTL) is hiving off its cable service division, SitiCable, into a separate company. However, ZTL's direct-to-home (DTH) arm Dish TV will remain a ZTL division under vice-chairman Jawahar Goel.

Jagjit Singh Kohli, currently CEO ETC Network, of another Zee-owned company, has been appointed as CEO of SitiCable. He has been put in charge of modernisation and digitalisation at the cable delivery network.

SitiCable claims to be among the largest cable networks in the country, with a subscriber base of around 5 million.

Kohli is also a director on the board of ETC Networks, but will now effectively give priority to SitiCable.
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NTC leases out 30 mills to pvt sector
New Delhi: National Textile Corporation (NTC) has been authorised to lease as many as 30 mills to private sector companies so that the mills maybe modernised.

NTC has 52 running mills after it closed down as about 65 mills as part of its turnaround strategy.

The government had put in place a Rs3,937-crore turnaround strategy comprised of Rs1,465.78 crore for modernisation,
Rs1,663.35 crore for voluntary retirement scheme, Rs210.42 crore for statutory dues and Rs598 crore for settling dues.

While the value of assets vested with the mills worked out to
Rs3,830 crore, the government sought to give Rs687.22 crore by way of wage support and another Rs180 crore by way of NTC loan for VRS as grant.
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Berger revamps premium products range
Mumbai: Berger Paints India is refurbishing its existing range of premium products. The range would now be sold under the 'Lewis Berger' brand in the Indian market.

"The company has decided to change the entire look of its 1,000 'gold and silver' category retail outlets and will be spending Rs15 crore for the transformation and promotion exercises," Bose informed.

The company recorded a Rs948 crore turnover in 2004-05, and the premium category contributes to around 20 per cent of the company sales.

The company feels that the premium paints market is growing at a significant rate and the company is aimed at strengthening it's position in the category.

Paint companies are expected to increase paint prices by 3 or 4 per cent rise after the festive season owing to increasing oil prices.
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GHCL hikes soda ash price by Rs400 per tonne
New Delhi: GHCL has hiked the price of soda ash, Soda ash, which is used in the manufacture of glass and detergents, by
Rs400 per tonne, from Rs9,200 to Rs9,600 per tonne.

According to the company it has hiked prices of soda ash due to increase in petroleum prices and increased cost of power. The increase in petroleum prices has resulted in increase in transportation costs, which is one main reason for price hike. Another reason is the hike in electricity charges affected in the last budget.

Industry experts say the price hike is in line with the prevailing trend in the global soda ash market.

The other two big soda ash makers, namely, Tata Chemicals and Nirma are expected to follow suit.

Tata Chemicals is the dominant player in the soda ash market with close to 40 per cent market share. GHCL and Nirma enjoy around 20-25 per cent of the domestic market share each.
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Maruti sales up 12.1 per cent in September
New Delhi: Maruti Udyog has reported a 12.1-per cent rise in sales in September this year at 49,278 units against 43,949 units in the same month last year.

Sales of M800 model however, were down 23.7 per cent to 7,423 units from 9,730 units in September 2004.

Domestic sales grew by a strong 15 per cent to 46,393 units in September this year from 40,322 units in the same month last year.
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Zydus Cadila obtains US FDA's provisional approval for anti-infective drug
Mumbai: Cadila Healthcare has received tentative approval from US FDA for its Ribavirin tablets, 200 mg.

The anti-infective drug is an anti-viral therapy and will go off patent in December 2005, the company informed the BSE.

The company has already received 7 Abbreviated New Drug Application approvals earlier.

Zydus recently launched 'Atenolol' in the US market through its subsidiary Zydus Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.

Zydus Cadila's share price is Rs532, up 0.38 per cent today.
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Welspun-Gujarat receives Rs500-crore order from Indonesia
Mumbai: Welspun-Gujarat Stahl Rohren, manufacturer of metal pipes, has received an order worth Rs500 crore state owned PGN of Indonesia for supply of coated line pipes to the South Sumatra-West Java Gas pipeline.

Welspun has to deliver the piped between February-July 2006. The company had earlier bagged another order from Amerada-Hess in Indonesia for the supply of 42km of sour service pipes.

The company enjoys an outstanding order book position of over Rs1,800 crore. At the moment it is executing an order for the supply of pipes to one of the deepest offshore line pipe project in the world located in the Gulf of Mexico.
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Radico Khaitan to buy Brihan's IMFL brands
Mumbai: Radico Khaitan, has signed an agreement with Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate (Brihan) for acquiring its 'Indian Made Foreign Liquor' (IMFL) brands.

Under the agreement Radico would acquire Brihan's Napoleon Brandy, Premium Whisky, Grape Brandy, Tropicana White Rum, Calcutta Dry Gin and Lord Nelson Rum' among other IMFL brands.

With this acquisition the company hoped to consolidate its position in the territory of Tamil Nadu into which it has recently entered and the canteen stores department (Defence) market.
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GAIL's assets increase 20 per cent after Dabhol assets transfer
Mumbai: Gas Authority of India has said that its asset base has increased by 20 per cent to Rs17,500 crore after assets of the erstwhile Dabhol Power Company were transferred to Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt Ltd, on the orders of the Bombay High Court. Ratnagiri Power and Gas is the joint venture company promoted by GAIL and NTPC.

With this transfer, the asset base of GAIL has increased by 20 per cent from Rs14,700 crore to Rs17,500 crore.

As a promoter of RGPPL, GAIL's primary role is to source the LNG required to run the power plant and in this regard the company is engaged in discussions with prospective suppliers in various countries.

GAIL is also facilitating completion of the balance erection works of LNG terminal and would, thereafter, operate the terminal.
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Reliance Infocomm adds 106 customer care centres
Kolkata: Reliance Infocomm has added another 106 customer service centers in the eastern region beside its 24-hour call centre.

The company plans to depute dedicated personnel to handle customer related problems and complaints at the interface points- Reliance WebWorld, Reliance WebWorld Express across West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand.

Reliance Info has 80 such units in West Bengal and 13 each in Jharkhand and Bihar.
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SC notice to BSNL on Tata Teleservices' appeal
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has issued a notice to BSNL on an appeal Tata Teleservices for a stay on an estimated Rs250 crore demand on account of Access Deficit Charge.

The court said there would be no encashment of bank guarantee given by Tata and asked the company (Tata Teleservices Ltd and Tata Teleservices Maharashtra) to deposit Rs10 crore each.
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GEM India acquires stake in Sula Vineyards
Mumbai: Private equity fund GEM India Advisors (GIA) has picked up a minority stake in Sula Vineyards for Rs15 crore ($3.5 million) through a preferential allotment of optionally convertible participating preference shares.

The Samant family will continue to retain majority control. Gem India will appoint two directors, Sama and Deepak Shahdadpuri, on the board of Sula.

Sula Vineyards has emerged in recent years as India's leading premium wine brand and is targeting to sell over a million bottles of wine this year, making it the second largest wine company in India, with a 20 per cent share of the market.

The company sells the premium Sula Vineyards label and the popular Madera range of table wines. It imports and distributes leading wine brands from around the world, including Hardys, Ruffino and Two Oceans.
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SAIL to scale up investments in seven years
New Delhi: Public sector steel giant Steel Authority of India said that it would maintain its leadership position in India while scaling up its investment to Rs35,000 crore in the next seven years.

Sail which earlier planned to spend Rs25,000 crore by 2012, now plans to pump in additional Rs10,000 crore for value added products and expansion of Indian Iron and Steel Company (IISCO).
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Paradip Phosphate to begin production in Nov
Kalol: The Paradip Phosphate plant, which was acquired by the Indian Farmers' Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) for Rs2,180 crore, will go on stream from next month. This would enhance the fertiliser production in the country.

The production capacity of the Paradip plant stands at 1,92 million tonnes per annum, and IFFCO says it would enhance output productivity to achieve full capacity utilisation, which it has also achieved at its Kalol plant near Ahmedabad.
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CB Richard Ellis expands Indian operations
New Delhi: The real estate services company CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) has opened offices in Pune and Hyderabad and has effectively increased its presence across 16 cities in India including 10 project offices.

According to the company the demand in the office sector for these cities was coming from IT, ITeS and BPO sector. Also the government's announcement of relaxing the foreign direct investments (FDI) in the real estate sector is expected to open doors for much needed investments in the realty sector across the country.

Demand momentum maintained by IT and ITeS firms along with the upcoming retail malls and residential developments were the key demand drivers for real estate in Pune.
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Simplex gets Rs260-crore project from NHAI
New Delhi: Simplex Concrete Piles (I) has received a Rs 260-crore contract from the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) for building the Lucknow-Muzaffarpur National Highway.

The project involves turning the 40-km Gorakhpur-Gopalganj section of the National Highway No 28 into a four-lane one.

The NHAI contract envisages the project to be completed within 36 months.

Currently, the company's order book stands at Rs3, 600 crore and is likely to swell with many projects in the negotiation stages.

Simplex Concrete, the largest infrastructure solutions providers, clocked up a turnover of Rs1,000 crore in 2004-05, an increase of 53 per cent over the last year's figure.

Simplex Concrete, one of the top few construction companies in India, has been registered for engineering works with over 60 government departments and 48 public and private sector organisations in various areas.
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Phillips Carbon Black looks at options of raising funds for power plant
Kolkata: RPG group company Phillips Carbon Black, is looking at several options for raising Rs 35-40 crore for its proposed 30mw-power plant contiguous to its factory at Durgapur in West Bengal.

The company is contemplating either a preferential allotment or a private placement.

The second option is a foreign currency convertible bond (FCCB). If the fund is raised in foreign currency it is likely to be approximately around $8-10 million.

The total cost of the Durgapur power project has been pegged at Rs110 crore. Of this, Rs 35-40 crore will be equity and the rest debt.

The company has not yet finalised a merchant banker.
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Glenmark to sign deals for diabetic drugs with global firms
Mumbai: Glenmark Pharmaceuticals is currently in the final stages of discussions for an outlicensing deal with a multinational drug company, with a significant presence in the US and European markets.

The licensing deal would involve further clinical development, registration and marketing of the molecule, for treatment of type two diabetes currently undergoing phase I clinical trials in the UK, in regulated markets.

The world market for the drug in this diabetes segment is learnt to be around $3.5 billion.

Glenmark Pharma is also likely to finalise another deal with a
UK-based pharma company to license out Glenmark's anti-asthma molecule 3886, for the European market.

The global anti-diabetes market size is estimated to be $12 billion and the main markets are the US, Europe and Japan.

An industry analyst said if the licensing deal comes through by December this year, milestone payments to be received by the company this financial year would be in the range of Rs150 to Rs200 crore.
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Car sales buoyant in September
New Delhi: Passenger car manufacturers have reported double-digit sales growth for the second consecutive month.

Maruti Udyog sold 46,393 units in the domestic market in September 2005, a 15-per cent increase over volumes sold in September 2004.

Hyundai Motor India sold 23,768 units including exports and a 22.6 per cent growth in domestic sales in September. Its total was a growth rate of 18.6 per cent over last year.

Tata Motors reported total sales of 40,095 vehicles (including exports) for September 2005, a growth of 13.24 per cent over 35,406 vehicles sold in September last year. Indica saw 9,669 units being sold. The Indigo family registered sales of 3,354 units. The Sumo and Safari accounted for sales of 3,055 numbers.

Sales of commercial vehicles during the month in the domestic market stood at 19,087 units, an increase of 11.1 per cent over 17,179 vehicles sold in September last year.

Medium and heavy commercial vehicles sales stood at 11,331, while light commercial vehicles (LCV) sales were 7,756 numbers.

The passenger vehicle business reported a total sale of 16,078 vehicles in the domestic market in September 05, an increase of 1 per cent over September 04.

Utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra reported a 6 per cent growth in sales in the domestic market in September to 10,410 units against 9,800 units in the same month last year.

The company sold 3,164 units of the Scorpio, a growth rate of 37 per cent and the highest-ever sales for the model since inception.

Total passenger vehicle sales, including light commercial vehicles and three-wheelers, stood at 13,300 units in the domestic market, growing by 4 per cent.

Three-wheeler sales, however, declined 7 per cent to 2,157 units.

General Motors India, however, reported near-flat sales in September with total volume at 3220 units against a sales of 3207 units in September 2004.

Skoda Auto India reported a 31-per cent jump in September sales at 909 units against 693 units sold in the same month last year. These included 15 units of the Skoda Superb luxury model.

Skoda would be launching a diesel version of the Superb later this month. The company said that it is expanding production capacity to facilitate launch of new products.
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US air tickets likely to see a cut
Mumbai: Domestic airlines may cut fares to destinations in the US by 15 per cent during the coming winter months. This is due to a capacity build-up in the sector and slack lean-season demand.

Air-India has already introduced special promotional fares for its flights to New York, Newark, Chicago and Los Angeles this month. The cost of a return economy ticket has dropped to
Rs37,990 (exclusive of taxes) from the current air fare of
Rs47,000.

Other players in the US sector, including Virgin Atlantic, Delta Air and North West Airlines, will be forced to cut fares to the US. Also once Jet Airways starts its service to the US fares will undergo further changes as it is likely to offer promotional fares to woo travellers.

Air-India, British Airways and Jet Airways are at present offering a return ticket for as low as Rs19,000 to UK. More airlines like BMI (British Midlands) are expected to follow suit in the lean season.
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Same Deutz to invest $10 million
Chennai: Italy's Same Deutz-Fahr is planning to convert its facilities in India in to a manufacturing hub of tractors for its south-east Asian, African and South Asian sales.

The company also plans to source engines and transmissions from India for its European operations.

The Italian company, which sells agricultural machinery, has already invested Rs130 crore over the last few years in its engines and tractors plants at Ranipet, near Chennai. Now the company plans to invest an additional $10 million (about Rs44 crore) in India over the next three to four years.

The Ranipet plants are the $1.13 billion Same's only manufacturing presence in Asia.

Same Deutz-Fahr India will make tractors of about 60 HP-70 HP with 4-wheel drives for the East Asian market and 50 HP tractors with two-wheel drives for Africa, said Kamal Bali, the company's managing director.

The engine plant at Ranipet will send about 10,000 engines for 100 HP tractors to Italy, he added.
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