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Govt.: BSNL not a navratna
New Delhi: PSU telcom Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) cannot be considered a navratna as it has failed to qualify in the eligibility criteria of Government guidelines for Navratna companies, the Govt. has said in a written response to the Lok Sabha.

For a company to be considered a navratna the company should have obtained 'Excellent' or 'Very Good' MoU rating in three of the last five years. BSNL was formerly part of Department of Telecom and was corporatised in 2000 to focus on services while DoT was entrusted with policy matters.

A navratna company enjoys automony on finanacial matters and its boards are empowered to take quick decisions.
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Microsoft to expand retail network
New Delhi: To reach out to a greater number of consumers across the country, Microsoft India is planning to set up 500 retail points in eight cities across India. The eight cities would include Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune and Ahmedabad.

The company will make investments in the infrastructure required for to showcase its products and will also provide its retail partners with marketing support.

Apart from the 500 retail centres, Microsoft has drawn up plans to reach home users in 32 more cities. Microsoft will roll out products that are relevant to the needs of the Indian market, improve access to its products and technologies and focus on making its offerings more affordable.

To make it products more affordable, Microsoft said it would partner with personal computer manufacturers, banks and government bodies to create financing schemes.
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Air Deccan wins award
Bangalore: Air Deccan has received an award for the best "Aircraft leasing deal of the year-Asia 2005" at Sixth Janes Annual Transport Finance Gala Awards at the Merchant Taylors Hall in London. According to Air Deccan, the award was given for innovative structuring and financing for the lease of two Airbus A-320s.

Standard Chartered Bank and Bank Mauritius financed the said deal.
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Jumbo group to sell Dunlop, Falcon Tyres
Kolkata: The Jumbo group, promoted by the deceased Manu Chhabria, which controls the now closed Dunlop India and Falcon Tyres, is talking to Ruia Cotex for selling the two companies outright. There are other bidders for the companies as well.

A Jumbo group spokesman said the company would take a final decision when it receives the right price. A Ruia spokesperson said a decision would be taken within 10 to 15 days.

Other companies interested in acquiring the loss-making BIFR company Dunlop, and the profitable Falcon are Metro Tyres, MRF, and Hero Honda.
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Siemens Q4 net up at Rs.104.45 crore
Mumbai: Siemens has reported a higher net profit of Rs104.45 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2005 as against Rs57.23 crore in the corresponding period a year-ago. Total income stood at Rs1, 000.76 crore for the fourth quarter, up from Rs594.68 crore in the previous fiscal, the company informed the BSE.

The board has recommended a 100 per cent final dividend (including 55 per cent special dividend) on equity shares which together with the interim dividend of 45 per cent paid in May 2005, makes a total dividend of 145 per cent for the yea r 2004-05.

The figures for Siemens also include the financial results of DDIT. Profit after tax of DDIT for he year ended September 30, 2005 stood at Rs3.15 crore.

For the full year ending September 30, 2005 Siemens posted a net profit of Rs254.75 crore whereas the same was at Rs151.37 crore for the previous fiscal. Total income stood at Rs2,884.65 crore for the year against Rs1,877.49 crore in FY-04.
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FM clears 25 FDI proposals
New Delhi: FM P Chaidambaram has cleared 25 FDI proposals totalling Rs773.52 crore. This includes Coca-Cola's Rs549 crore proposed investment in its Indian arm and Vodafone's proposal to pick up 49 per cent stake in Bharti for Rs32.90 crore.

Gujarat State Petronet will also see an inflow of Rs138 crore from FIIs, NRIs and other foreign investors who have subscribed to its initial public offer.

Rabobank's proposal to pick up 20 per cent stake in Yes Bank for Rs8.37 crore was also approved. The Government has also given a green signal to UK-based Mothercare for setting up a wholly-owned subsidiary in India at an investment of Rs32.25 crore.
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Hitachi looks for Indian partners for distribution
New Delhi: Japanese consumer electronics giant Hitachi's subsidiary in India, Hitachi Home and Electronics Asia, is looking for tie-ups with Indian companies for distributing its products.

The company is upbeat about the prospects of plasma television market and is looking to expand its distribution network in India.
Tarun Jain, country head, Hitachi Home and Electronics Asia said, "By the end of 2006 we are aiming to have 300 outlets from the present 60. Also we will increase our exclusive Hitachi galleries to 12 from the present two," he said.

Jain said the demand for flat panel television in India is expected to multiply and touch 42,000 sets in 2006 and will double to 84,000 sets by 2007. The company has about 12 per cent market share in the plasma television market, and expects to increase 15-20 per cent in the foreseeable future.

The company has recently introduced its new range of ALiS range television priced between Rs1.8 lakh to Rs4.5 lakh.
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GAIL profits likely to improve on tariff structure review
Mumbai: Gail India has said that a reviewed tariff structure of its two major pipeline projects is expected to improve its 'profitability'.

The company told the BSE that media reports about the review of tariffs for Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur (HVJ) and the Dahej-Vijaipur Pipe Line (DVPL) systems of the company by the Tariff Commission were 'misleading'.

The Tariff Commission has recently submitted its recommendations to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
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General Motors slashes prices of spare parts
New Delhi: General Motors India has slashed prices of critical spare parts of two of its best selling models Chevrolet Optra and Tavera by as much as 26 to 52 per cent.

GMI president and managing director, Rajeev Chaba said the reduction in price was made possible by passing on the benefit of localisation of these to the consumers to ensure lower operating costs. The spare parts whose prices have been cut include, front strut shock absorber, front disc brakes, clutch and pressure plates, oil filter and fuel filter.
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Nicholas Piramal receives order for health care products
Mumbai: Nicholas Piramal India has entered into a ten-year agreement with a large global hospital products company for manufacturing and supplying select hospital care products. The agreement is for an initial term of ten years and would be followed by yearly renewals.

The products would be manufactured at the company's USFDA approved facilities at Digwal in Andhra Pradesh. The revenue from the initial set of products is expected to range between US$12-15mn per year.

Nicholas Piramal did not disclose the name of the client with whom it has signed the agreement.
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Oracle Global picks up 43.09 per cent stake in i-Flex
Mumbai: Mauritius-based Oracle Global has acquired 43.09 per cent stake in i-Flex.

Oracle Global has acquired 32.23 crore equity shares aggregating 42.41 per cent share from OrbiTech Ltd. It has acquired another 51.73 lakh equity shares equivalent to 0.68 per cent stake through an open offer it said.
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Tata Chemicals acquires majority stake in Brunner Mond Group
Mumbai: Tata Chemicals has said that it has entered into two separate agreements for acquiring a majority stake in a U.K. based chemical Company, Brunner Mond Group Ltd.

Tata Chemicals plans to make the investment in Brunner Mond Group Ltd. directly or through a subsidiary/associate of the company.
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Total to acquire up to 26 per cent in HPCL's Vizag refinery
Mumbai: French oil major Total is acquiring up to 26 per cent equity stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation's 15mmtpa Vizag refinery.

This would allow Total to enter petroleum retailing in India, since it would have invested more than the mandatory Rs2,000 crore minimum investment required to secure a licence to retail petroleum products in the country.

HPCL's chairman and managing director MB Lal said, "We are in advanced discussions with Total to partner in our Vizag refinery. This would be an export-oriented refinery and would cost about Rs16,000 crore. We are also planning a petrochemicals complex near the refinery. We are already working with them to set up a Rs333 crore liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cavern project at Visakhapatnam."
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