Jet-Sahara deal may hit bump over cricket sponsorship
New Delhi: Jet Airways may complete its buyout of Air Sahara by this weekend, if the two sides resolve the issue of the sponsorship of the Indian cricket team. Last month Air Sahara won the right to sponsor the Indian cricket team for the next four years for Rs313.80 crore.

Sources said that the balance sheet of the airline company was submitted during the bidding process and this could turn into a liability for the acquiring company. Sources say that since Jet was not keen on sponsoring cricket, it was unlikely to pick up the cricket tab.

But the sale of the airline would not create problems for the team sponsorship. Officials of the Board of Control for Cricket in India maintain that the logo of any other Sahara group company could be used, and the deal was not restricted to Air Sahara alone.

Another hitch in the buyout negotiations is said to be indications from Government sources that any sale would not mean an automatic transfer of flying rights.
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Bharti to hold 40 pc stake in life insurance venture
New Delhi: Bharti Enterprises would hold the largest chunk of 40 per cent shares in the life insurance joint venture it is forming with global insurance major AXA. The latter would directly own 22.2 per cent stake.

The two joint venture partners have also joined hands to create an SPV that would hold the remaining 37.77 per cent stake in the insurance company. The SPV, which would have 90 per cent shareholding by Bharti and the remaining 10 per cent by AXA, has been incorporated in India under the name First American Securities.

The Indian insurance joint venture has been named Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company (BALICL). AXA has sought permission from FIPB for pumping in approximately Rs130 crore FDI into the venture over the next three to four years.
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Trai says cellular congestion worsening
New Delhi: A Trai report, for November 2005, shows that the cellular congestion levels have further worsened compared to previous months with no sign of any improvement. Also cellular operators are unlikely to be able to meet the deadline set by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to improve the quality of service.

According to the report, the number of cities where the level of congestion is more than the permissible limit has touched 404, and in 201 cities the level of congestion is more than 10 per cent of the permissible limit. The benchmark notified by TRAI for this parameter is less than 0.5 per cent. This means that out of 200 calls between two operators only one call should face congestion problem.

TRAI had earlier issued a directive that all mobile operators should bring the congestion levels across the country to permissible levels by December 31, 2005. Though the official report for December will be released next month, indications are that the cellular operators are nowhere near achieving the set benchmark.

Cellular operators say the lack of proper interconnection with BSNL is the main reason for the high congestion levels. Proper interconnection with BSNL is important since it is the largest telecom operator in the country with more than 60 million subscribers.
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Kamdhenu Cement to hike output
New Delhi: Kamdhenu Cement, a unit of reinforced steel manufacturer Kamadhenu Ispat, is planning to hike its cement production by 25 per cent during the next fiscal.

The company's annual production, which stands at 1.48 lakh tonnes will go up to 1.9lt after the hike. The company is targeting a total production of 2.5 lt by the year 2009.
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Dunlop plans VRS for staff at Sahagunj, Ambattur units
Kolkata: Dunlop India is doling out VRS to roughly 1,700 employees out of a total of 4,000 before reopening the two facilities at Sahagunj in West Bengal and Ambattur in Tamil Nadu. According to sources, the total VRS liability is estimated to be over Rs12 crore.

The average payout per employee is estimated at Rs75,000, payable in six monthly instalments. Dunlop has proposed retaining up to 1,300 employees at Sahagunj out of a total 2,700 and the rest will be given VRS. The situation is comparatively better in Ambattur where the company has proposed retaining close to 1,000 out of a total strength of 1,300.

The labour unions at Sahagunj are resisting the proposal for deferred payment of VRS dues, however, company sources say they are hopeful of resolving the issue soon. State Government sources later said that chief minister Budhadev had assured every support for speedy reopening of the Sahagunj facility. The company was also asked to submit a draft proposal of the labour agreement to the State Government for ensuring faster negotiation.
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Ballarpur plans revamp
New Delhi: Paper major, Ballarpur Industries (BILT) is planning to undertake several structural changes.

These include the acquisition of equity of APR Packaging (Ashti) with the intent of making it a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, sale of equity of Paperbase company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company and a scheme of de-merger for hiving off the assets pertaining to the power division and the real estate of the company.

These proposals would be discussed at the board meeting to be held on January 24. BILT is also planning to offer a voluntary retirement scheme.
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Onus lies with state government on Toyota strike
Bangalore: The Labour Commissioner has sent a report to the Karnataka Government on the issue of the Toyota-Kirloskar strike and government sources say it is now up to the State Government to take a decision on the strike.

Since the strike began, the company Toyota Kirloskar's production has fallen. It has however, been able to produce 200 vehicles so far and expects to scale up the number to around 50 per day from this weekend onwards.

Workers at the factory went on a strike on January 6 after the company refused to keep in abeyance dismissal of three employees. Toyota Kirloskar Motor employees' union spokesperson said that the agitation would be intensified. "The response we are getting is extremely good. Nobody wants to go back to the factory," he said.
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Patel Engg. to enter real estate, hydel power
Kolkata: Civil engineering company, Patel Engineering (PEL), is diversifying into a number of related areas such as real estate and hydro-power generation. According to sources, the company would raise around Rs500 crore to finance the plan, repay certain debts, and boost capital expenditure and working capital.

An enabling resolution for fund-raising will be placed before the shareholders on January 30.

The company has property in Mumbai, which is worth Rs200 crore at current market prices. The company plans to develop them on a commercial basis to kick-start its Real-estate venture. Plans are likely to be given shape in 2006-07.

PEL is also looking at hydro-power generation through installation of a project in the North-East and in discussions with some of the State Governments in the north-eastern region.

The company's order-book position has grown to around Rs4,300 crore from Rs3,171 crore as on March 2005, with an average maturity of four years.
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Hindustan Motors eyes Rs 200-cr revenues from auto components division
Bangalore: Hindustan Motors is looking at Rs200 crore of revenues from its newly formed auto component division in two years.

Ravi Santhanam managing director of the company said the auto component division started at its Kolkata factory has begun supplying its products to tier-1 companies. The company's technology partner Mitsubishi has short-listed eight vendors for supply of auto components to its facilities worldwide.

Some of the components, which will be sourced from Indian vendors include, machine components for engine and gearbox and malleable iron castings. Out of eight short-listed vendors, three each are from South and western India and the rest are based in the North.

Santhanam also said that the company has phased out all the models and variants of Lancer except Lancer LX. He said Lancer LX sells around 200 units every month. Recently the company launched the Cedia with an ex-showroom price of Rs9.87 lakh. The car has a 2-litre engine. Its variant, Cedia Sports, is available in four colours.
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Sitel India plans second centre
Hyderabad: Sitel India, part of the US$1bn third-party contact services provider Sitel, has set up a center in Hyderabad and is planning another centre either in Chennai or Kolkata.

The chief executive officer of Sitel Worldwide, Chris Gates said the company had grown remarkably within a short time in India and expects to double headcount, while exploring opportunities in new areas.

The chief executive officer, Sitel India, Safir Adeni, said while 77 per cent of the company's work was voice-based, both incoming and outbound, this would, with voice and other services level out to about 50:50. He said the company was focusing on areas such as engineering design services and high-end technology support.

He added that the scope of KPO is likely to expand by the end of this year.

The company employs about 2,000 people in India and expects to double this within a year. The Hyderabad centre can seat 1,500.
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Bajaj Auto to acquire 27 percent stake in Maharashtra Scooters
Mumbai: The three-year old standoff between Bajaj Auto and Maharashtra government over the acquisition of Maharashtra government's 27 per cent stake in Maharashtra Scooters (MSL) seems to be over.

Bajaj Auto, which is the state government's joint venture partner in the company, has to buy out its shareholding for Rs151.63 a share, a discount of over 54 per cent on today's close of Rs331.10 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

According to the valuation, Bajaj Auto has to pay Rs46.78 crore to WMDC for acquiring its 27 per cent stake. After the acquisition, Bajaj Auto's shareholding will go up to 51 per cent from the current 24 per cent.

MSL's investment in various Bajaj group companies as well as in other instruments stood at Rs174.27 crore on March 31, 2005.

MSL's investments in the Bajaj group include 3.38 million shares in Bajaj Auto, 1.02 million shares in Bajaj Auto Finance and 1.25 million shares in Bajaj Hindustan. Last year, it posted a net profit of Rs10.67 crore over net sales and had other income amounting to Rs46.85 crore.

MSL, with 700 employees,L does not manufacture the Chetak scooter for Bajaj Auto any more
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