Salem Steel to get Rs.1,200-cr facelift
New Delhi: Salem Steel Plant, under the Steel Authority of India is getting a revamp with an investment of Rs1,200-crore, even as the government has decided to double its capacity.

The decision was taken at a meeting between Ram Vilas Paswan, minister of steel and chemicals, the minister for telecommunication, Dayanidhi Maran, and the minister for environment and forest, A.

Raja. Paswan said, "We have agreed to have a second cold rolling mill at Salem Steel Plant. It will also have a steel melting shop. This will take the total cold rolling capacity from the present 70,000 tonnes per annum to 1.5 lakh tonnes per annum."

The Government has also agreed to a proposal to set up a steel-melting shop and a cold rolling mill (CRM) at the plant.

The minister also said that the Government has also agreed "in-principle" on the merger into SAIL of the Maharashtra Elektrosmelt Ltd and Manganese Ore (India) Ltd, but formalisation would require certain steps.
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Pfizer proposes new launches in India
New Delhi: Pfizer Ltd will launch new drugs in India from the parent company's portfolio and also through product acquisitions.

Kewal Handa, managing director, Pfizer, said: "The launch of Viagra is a step in that direction. In future, we hope to bring in many more new products from our global portfolio, besides a patented product by 2007."

He said the company has set up separate divisions for various therapeutic segments such as drugs for the central nervous system, cardiovascular diseases, oncology, neurology and so. Each division would work like a separate business unit (SBU) and have separate profit and loss accounts. There will be a separate division for mature products as well.

Pfizer is also confident that its top grosser brands such as Becosule and Corex, which had a turnover of Rs70 crore and about Rs90 crore respectively during 2005, would continue to grow.

For the global markets, Pfizer is developing a drug for female sexual dysfunction, after successfully selling 1.87 billion Viagra pills worldwide.
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Innova, Corolla prices to go up
Bangalore: Toyota Kirloskar Motor has announced that it would hike prices of the Toyota Innova and Corolla in January.

According to the company the price of steel has risen consistently in the first half of 2005 followed by a sharp escalation in the cost of other inputs such as fuel, power and raw materials, forcing the company to go in for a price hike. The steady weakening in the value of the rupee has further impacted the procurement price, the statement said.

"We are also facing a very stiff increase in logistics cost. Even as we have stepped up our efforts to contain cost increase impact by suitable measures, we have a substantial portion unabsorbed, thereby forcing us to consider a price revision," T Ino, director, marketing for Toyota Kirloskar Motor said.

The company did not reveal the extent of the hike.
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Bose Corp to pursue retail strategy
Kolkata: Bose Corporation India, subsidiary of leading audio systems manufacturer Bose Corporation of US, plans to put up its own outlets in India instead of going through the shop in shop route.

The company has 12 outlets all of which are in the big metros at present. The company plans to double the number in the next 18 to 24 months.

Besides the metros, the company would also open up stores in Tier 2 cities like Ahmedabad and Pune as well. Christened as `Bose Experience Outlet', the company would offer products for the home segment, which according to the company is the key growth driver for Bose Corporation in India.

Bose Corporation, which has operations in 18 countries, has a global turnover of US$1.7bn.
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GS Auto expands to South Africa
Ludhiana: Auto parts manufacturer GS Auto International is planning to invest Rs100 crore for setting up its first ever auto component facility in South Africa in the next couple of years.

The company hopes to cater to several big auto manufacturers in South Africa with the setting up its suspension component facility at a cost of Rs100 crore, said the company's chairman Jasbir Singh.

The company said a high-level delegation, comprising the premier of Kwazulu Natal province in South Africa, which visited the company yesterday, has invited it to set up its facility there. Singh said, "The delegation has also promised us to offer incentives such as subsidised land for setting up the manufacturing facility in South Africa."

South Africa is a big market for auto components as several auto manufacturers such as Toyota, Volvo and BMW have production facilities there, Singh added.

GS Auto Group is an established supplier of auto parts for commercial vehicles and passenger cars to companies like Tata, Ashok Leyland, Maruti, Swaraj Mazda, Hindustan Motors, VOLVO and Mahindra & Mahindra. It also exports its components to countries like Germany, Holland, Kenya, Singapore, the UK and US.
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Osian LPG to set up LPG Stations
Mumbai: Osian LPG Bottling plans to set up Auto LPG Dispensing Stations (ALDS) across Gujarat in order to make LPG the most accessible and useable alternative to petrol and diesel.

Arrangements with suppliers of Auto LPG and equipment are at an advanced stage of finalisation, Osian LPG informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.
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Acer launches PCs for healthcare sector
Bangalore: Acer India has launched of a tablet PC, featuring convertibility and biometric security for the healthcare sector.

TravelMate C202 is Acer's fifth generation tablet PC.
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Radiant to invest US$10mn in India
Hyderabad: Radiant Infosystems, a fully-owned subsidiary of US-based Radiant Systems Inc, plans to invest US$10mn in India into people and infrastructure according to its president and chief executive officer, Venu Myneni.

Radiant is also planning to add another 1,800 to its current headcount of 300 in Bangalore and Hyderabad.

The company will raise the funds internally and is also looking at the option of going for public issue.

Currently the Indian operations of the company, with two centres in Bangalore and Hyderabad, account for 10-15 per cent of Radiant's global operations.
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Leelaventure to set up new hotels in Chennai, Hyderabad
Mumbai: Hotel Leelaventure has said that it has acquired land in Chennai and Hyderabad for setting up new hotels.

The hotel to be set up in Chennai would house a huge commercial complex or IT park in its premises, the company informed the BSE.

The company owns and operates five star deluxe hotels in the country and presently operates three hotels -- The Leela Kempinski Mumbai, The Leela Goa and The Leela Palace Kempinski Bangalore.
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L&T may get into deep water engineering and construction
Mumbai: After acquiring a major contract worth Rs1,300 crore from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Larsen and Toubro is gearing up to explore deep water engineering and construction opportunities.

The company at present is gearing up for deep water opportunities in Kakinada and the Krishna-Godavari basin, and also plans to invest in these projects in the next one-and-half-years.

L&T recently bagged a Rs1,300 crore contract from ONGC for the execution of a BCP-B2 booster compressor platform in the Bassein gas field, approximately 80 km north-west of Mumbai.
L&T also said that it is looking at doubling its revenues from the Middle East region in the next five years.
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NTPC files suit over RIL gas supply infringement
Mumbai: The National Thermal Power Corp., India's largest power producer, has filed a suit in a Mumbai court to make Reliance Industries honour a gas sale commitment.

"The company has also sought interim relief requesting the court to direct RIL not to sell or commit gas to any other customer without meeting its obligation to the company," NTPC said in a filing with the stock exchange.

RIL had committed in its bidding to supply gas to NTPC's two power projects, each with a capacity to produce 1,300 megawatts, but later wanted changes made to the deal, NTPC said.

RIL has yet to sign the gas sale and purchase agreement with NTPC.
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GM to increase Tavera prices
New Delhi: General Motors India is planning to hike the prices of its multi-utility vehicle Chevrolet Tavera. The price hike would range from Rs4,800 to Rs8,700 across all variants from December 24.

According to company vice president corporate affairs, P Balendran, the increase was due to "increase in input costs." After the hike, the different variants of Tavera would be available at a price range between Rs5,99,990 and Rs8,87,850.
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KRL to consider merger with BPCL
Mumbai: State-owned Kochi Refineries (KRL) is considering a merger of the company with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) on January 21 next.

The company has convened an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on January 21 to take up the scheme of amalgamation, the Kerala-based oil refiner informed the stock exchanges on Wednesday.
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Thomas Cook AG sells stake in Indian subsidiary
Mumbai: Thomas Cook AG has entered into an agreement to sell 100 per cent of the equity share capital of TCIM, UK to Dubai Financial, a subsidiary of Dubai Investment Group (LLC).

TCIM holds 60 per cent of the equity share capital of the company.

According to press release from the company, "Dubai Financial has undertaken to make a public offer in accordance with the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 1997."
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3i Info signs multi-million dollar deal with Malaysian bank
Mumbai: 3i Infotech has entered into a multi-million dollar deal with Malaysia-based Hong Leong Bank (HLB) to licence its Triton loan origination software.

HLB will use Triton for the bank's lending business across both conventional and Islamic banking businesses.

"The recent wins for Triton in Malaysia, including this win from HLB, establishes the software as one of the best selling loan origination and management suites," Debneel Mukherjee, president (Asia Pacific) of 3i Infotech, said.
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