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Forbes names 30 Indian companies in Top 2000 list
New York: Forbes magazine has listed 30 Indian companies among its Top 2000 worldwide firms that have performed well.

The list of Forbes Global 2000 "corporate titans", as the magazine calls them, leads with Citigroup and General Electric, with India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation ranking 265th followed by State Bank of India Group (269th) and Indian Oil (279th).

The companies were evaluated according to four criteria - sales, profits, assets and market value. Following are the Indian companies that made it to the list:

Oil & Natural Gas (ranked 265th with sales of US$9.78bn and profits of US$2.16bn)
State Bank of India Group (ranked 269th with sales of US$12.09bn and profits of US$1.28bn)
Indian Oil (ranked 279th with sales of US$26.08bn and profits of US$1.73bn)
Reliance Industries (ranked 309th with sales of US$11.82bn and profits of US$1.19bn)
National Thermal Power Corporation (ranked 486th with sales of US$4.5bn and profits of US$0.92bn)
ICICI Bank (ranked 757th with sales of US$3.18bn and profits of US$0.36bn)
Steel Authority of India (ranked 831st with sales of US$5.14bn and profits of US$0.60bn)
Bharat Petroleum (ranked 914th with sales of US$12.77bn and profits of US$0.47bn)
Hindustan Petroleum (ranked 1,011st with sales of US$12.03bn and profits of US$0.46bn)
Tata Consultancy Services (ranked 1,167th with sales of US$1.64bn and profits of US$0.37bn)
Punjab National Bank (ranked 1,186th with sales of US$2.32bn and profits of US$0.28bn)
GAIL India (ranked 1,250th with sales of US$2.75bn and profits of US$0.43bn)
Infosys Technologies (ranked 1,250th with sales of US$1.12bn and profits of US$0.29bn)
Canara Bank (ranked 1,260th with sales of US$2.15bn and profits of US$0.32bn)
Tata Iron & Steel (ranked 1,302nd with sales of US$2.57bn and profits of US$0.41bn)
ITC (ranked 1,336th with sales of US$1.59bn and profits of US$0.37bn)
Wipro (ranked 1,362nd with sales of US$1.35bn and profits of US$0.24bn)
HDFC (ranked 1,364th with sales of US$0.75bn and profits of US$0.22bn)
Bank of Baroda (ranked 1,370th with sales of US$1.89bn and profits of US$0.24bn)
Bank of India (ranked 1,371st with sales of US$1.74bn and profits of US$0.24bn)
TataMotors (ranked 1,519th with sales of US$3.15bn and profits of US$0.21bn)
Union Bank of India (ranked 1,618th with sales of US.23bn and profits of US.16bn)
Bharti Tele-Ventures (ranked 1,648th with sales of US.15bn and profits of US$0.13bn)
Oriental Bank of Commerce (ranked 1,811st with sales of US$0.93bn and profits of US$0.16bn)
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (ranked 1,835th with sales of US$1.41bn and profits of US$0.27 bn)
Bharat Heavy Electricals (ranked 1,907th with sales of US$1.85bn and profits of US$0.15bn)
Ranbaxy Laboratories (ranked 1,936th with sales of US$0.97bn and profits of US$0.16bn)
Indian Overseas Bank (ranked 1,959th with sales of US$1.04bn and profits of US$0.12bn)
Hindalco Industries (ranked 1,982nd with sales of US$1.89bn and profits of US$0.23billion)
Larsen & Toubro (ranked 1,996th)
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Reliance Life to invest Rs.1,500 crore in new plant
Mumbai: Reliance Life Sciences is planning to set up a manufacturing facility for recombinant proteins and cell therapies in Navi Mumbai, with an estimated investment of Rs1,500 crore spread over a three-year period.

The Reliance Industries' group company aims to set up dedicated centres for high-end research and manufacturing of speciality therapeutic products.

The facility, which is likely to come up near the group's earlier acquired Nocil facility near Ghansoli, is expected to be commissioned by mid-2006.

This facility will also venture into contract manufacturing of bulk drugs and secondary research in biotechnology.

The company would mainly focus on embryonic and haematopoietic stem cells, skin and tissue engineering, plant tissue culture, molecular diagnostics, biofuels and monoclonal antibodies, among others. It would also focus on therapies in the treatment of thalassemia, leukaemia and sickle cell anemia through stem cell research.
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LG to set up Rs.500 crore facility at Ranjangaon
Mumbai: South Korean consumer electronic giant LG is setting up its mobile phone and DVD player manufacturing unit at the Ranjangaon Industrial Estate near Pune at a cost of Rs500 crore. LG officials signed a memorandum of understanding with chief minister Vilasrao Desmukh for the setting up of the plant. The state has agreed to give LG, the status of a mega project.

LG already has a television and washing machine manufacturing facility at Ranjangaon.

The company has been allotted 50 acre of land at the estate, which will be developed by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC). The plant is likely to be operational by March next year.

Any project in the state if given a mega project status, is exempted from paying value-added tax (VAT), stamp duty, electricity duty and octroi.

Also, LG's four South Korean vendors, which include companies such as Starrion, Dongli and Nanco, are also coming to Ranjangaon. They will be investing another Rs 200 crore and have been allotted 20 acre of land at the Ranjangaon MIDC.
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Chowgule & Co. bag overseas vessel orders worth Rs.400 crore
Mumbai: The shipbuilding division of Chowgule and Company has bagged overseas orders to build 12 ocean going cargo vessels of 4,450 dead weight tonne (DWT) each, at a total estimated cost of Rs400 crore.

The division is also undertaking an investment programme of Rs40 crore to upgrade the shipyard facilities.

"Out of total 12 vessel orders worth Rs400 crore, three each from Netherland-based company Navigia and German company Appollo Shipping, four from UK company Union Transport and two from German company Priesse. All vessels are of 4450 DWT capacity which will be delivered in next three years," Chowgule and Company Ltd Executive Director Ashok V Chowgule said.

With the new orders, Chowgule's shipbuilding division is making a change in its profile by building cargo ships, he said. At present, the company is focussing on iron ore barges, passenger vessels, deep sea refrigerated fishing trawlers, grab and cutter suction dredgers, tugs, twin hull catamarans and floating restaurants.

"The shipyard will not be accepting any fresh orders as the capacity is full. It is planning to upgrade its capacity to construct eight vessels against the existing capacity of three vessels per year," he said.

The shipyard, located at Loutulim (Goa), has a good water front, two construction bays, full fledged workshop, outfitting jetty and sufficient skid for pre-fabrication facility.
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India's Hero Honda motorcycles sales up 23 per cent in Oct.
Mumbai: India's biggest motorcycle maker, Hero Honda Motors Ltd. said on Wednesday that it had sold 301,711 bikes in October, up 23 percent from 245,475 bikes sold in the same month last year.

The October sales included exports of 6,357 units, up 14 percent from 5,558 units a year earlier.

India's Munjal family and Japan's Honda Motor Co. each hold a 26 percent stake in New Delhi-based Hero Honda.
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India's Bajaj Auto vehicle sales up 37 pct on year
Mumbai: Bajaj Auto Ltd., India's second-biggest motorcycle maker, said on Tuesday its vehicle sales in October rose 37 percent to 241,808 units from 176,693 a year earlier.

Motorcycle sales surged 43 percent to 205,012 units from 143,491 and sales of all two-wheelers rose 40 percent to 219,927 units from 157,631, it said. Sales of three-wheelers climbed 15 percent to 21,881 units from 19,062 a year earlier.

The company said exports surged 49 percent to 22,713 units from 15,262 units.
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Dutch chemicals group DSM to expand production in India
Amsterdam: Dutch chemicals group said on Tuesday it would expand its production facilities of anti-infectives in India. The expansion will take place in 2006, the company said in a statement.

The expansion will lead to a doubling of production capacity for two penicillin derivatives and is part of a global restructuring of the company's anti-infectives business.

In December 2004 DSM said it was reorganising its anti-infectives operations, hit hard by Chinese competition, to improve profitability. It has said it would close plants in the Netherlands and increase production in China and India.

The anti-infectives unit, which is part of DSM life sciences products, achieved sales of 386 million euros (US$464.7mn) last year.

The company, whose roots go back to Dutch State Mines founded in 1902, is the world's largest producer of penicillin and antibiotic products.
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