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Ruia group to up stake in Jessop
Kolkata: The Ruia group is slated all set to increase its stake to a little over 93 percent in Jessop &Co from 72 per cent at present recently after the recently concluded Rs 50-crore rights issue. This is on an expanded equity base of Rs59.5 crore.

As the Government did not exercise its rights options, The Government's stake will slip from 27 per cent to just 4.3 per cent. According to a Jessop spokesperson at the board meeting held on November 2 the Board of the company had approved the allocation of shares and the projected change in equity structure.
The public share holding, which was a miniscule one per cent, will continue to be same.

The issue proceeds are expected to bring the company out of the BIFR's purview - which was creating hurdles for growth - by making the net worth positive.
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Upsurge in sales of white goods, CTVs in festive season
New Delhi: There has been an upsurge in the sales of white goods and CTVs in the festive season. Most segments of the industry have grown by more than 25 per cent in the period, with October driving the bulk of sales.

There is good news for the consumer electronics industry as the sales of CTVs and DVD beat that of players and microwave ovens. According to industry data, CTV sales were up by 18 per cent in September. Industry analysts said that initial estimates suggest that total CTV sales topped 1.5 million sets in October.

Growth was driven by higher end products. In CTVs for instance, while sales of flat CTVs jumped by 100 per cent, that of premium CTVs (such as plasma) increased by 360 per cent.

"Even categories such as refrigerators and washing machines have seen exceptional growth. Our refrigerator sales jumped by 94 per cent and washing machines sales increased by 60 per cent in October," a Samsung official said.
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NTPC turns 30
Hyderebad: NTPC, which generat 27 per cent of the country's total power generation, is turning 30 years on November 7 according to a statement from NTPC.

Since 1975, NTPC has achieved an installed capacity of 24,249 MW through 13 coal-based, seven gas-based and three joint venture stations spread across the country. NTPC is aiming to achieve 46,000 MW capacity by 2012 and 66,000 MW by 2017.
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ISRO sees good demand for DTH services
Bangalore: ISRO, the country's sole satellite operator hopes to ride on a good demand for the powerful Ku band. The operator has provided on 4A, the highest capacity so far in this frequency (apart from the regular C band capacity). INSAT-4A, ISRO's upcoming satellite that will catapult the company into the direct-to-home broadcast league, is already fully booked by various companies for their DTH operations.

A chunk of the commercial Ku band of 12 transponders has been taken up by T-Sky, the Tatas-Star Group's DTH joint venture. ISRO however refused to divulge the capacity hired.

Other DTH players such as Sun Direct are said to be waiting for space on the next ones - Insat 4B and 4C - which are set for launches in 2006-07.

ISRO introduced Ku capacity in the late 1990s with its INSAT-2E and the later 3 series, but has allowed only VSAT operators to use this higher bandwidth. Insat-4A is expected to be the spur for an Indian DTH boom.
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HM Ambassador car sales up
Mumbai: Hindustan Motors (HM) registered a minuscule two per cent increase in sales of its Ambassador car in October at 1,003 units, as compared to 980 units in the corresponding period last year.

Ambassador has also improved on its half yearly sales performance as the company sold 7,003 units in the April-October period, as compared to 6,623 units in the corresponding period last year, a six per cent growth.

Ambassador's multi-fuel offering in petrol, diesel, CNG and LPG makes HM the only car manufacturer to offer all fuel options.
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MTNL, BSNL oppose Trai move to open broadband to private cos
New Delhi: MTNL and BSNL are against Trai's recommendation to open up the last mile connectivity for private operators to provide broadband connectivity and say they are offering broadband at very low prices and their services are available on demand in most locations where they have launched their services.

The two companies account for more than 95 percent of the total fixed line connections in the country.

MTNL launched its broadband services commercially in April '05. In seven months, it has got a subscriber base of 1,10,000. It has slashed tariffs for its broadband services to Rs199 per mont
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GE gets engine order from AI
Mumbai: GE Aviation and CFM International — the formers' 50:50 JV with Snecma Moteurs of France — have beaten rival Rolls Royce (RR) to bag the Rs 5,680 crore ($1.26 billion) deal to supply engines for Air-India's proposed acquisition of 68 new Boeing aircraft.

The pre-negotiated price for these engines, is of the order of Rs 5,680 crore ($1.26 billion) the price negotiation committee of A-I is scheduled to meet next week to finalise the price at which A-I will likely bargain procurement of engines from GE Aviation and CFM International.

The $12.5 billion GE Aviation is the aircraft engine making division of General Electric. GE and CFM make nearly 2,000 engines per annum.

The deal intensifies the battle between GE and RR in the fast growing Indian aviation sector. RR recently bagged a $600 million order from IndiGo, a start up airline. Earlier, it also won orders from Air Deccan and Kingfisher Airlines.

The pre-negotiated price of the these 68 aircraft to be acquired by AI stands at Rs35,500 crore.
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IOC to inaugurate facility in Gujarat
New Delhi: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is planning to set up a four-million-barrel storage and crude blending facility at Mundra in Gujarat.

IOC has a refining capacity of 54 million-tonnes and is the biggest refiner in the country but finds itself at a disadvantage compared with Reliance Industry, the next biggest refiner, which can process a wide variety of crude.

IOC executives say the Mundra facility would store 4 million barrels of crude oil and would be commissioned by April next year. The company will blend various varieties of crude there and then transport it to its refineries.

IOC processes about 35-40 varieties of crude oil. It is upgrading its refineries in order to enable them to handle all types of crude, particularly of the heavy and sour varieties. This will help the company take advantage of flexible crude sourcing and higher gross refinery margins accruing thereon.

The price difference between sweet and sour crude has risen to as much as $12 a barrel from a low of few cents some years back leading to a differential averaging between $2.5-6.5 a barrel.
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