Birla-Tata groups head for showdown over Idea
New Delhi: The AV Birla Group and the Tata group, which are India's two top business houses are headed for a showdown over their joint holding in Idea Cellular.

The A V Birla Group has written to the ministry of communications and telecom asking the government to direct Tatas to expeditiously reduce their stake in Ideal Cellular and in fact to "determine the level of the Tata group shareholding in Idea, whether below ten per cent or nil,". The Tata group meanwhile is biding its time to get a 'fair value.'

Kumaramangalam Birla, chairman and managing director, A V Birla Group met telecom minister, Dayanidhi Maran and secretary J S Sarma, last week. The Birla group holds over 50-per cent stake in Idea.

Reacting to the Birla communication, the Tatas have shot off a letter to the telecom ministry terming as "misleading and incorrect" the allegations levelled by the Birlas against them.

When contacted, a Tata Group official said from Mumbai that "Birlas have raised some issues and we have given appropriate and correct answer," but did not elaborate.
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Dunlop talks breakdown on productivity norms
Chennai: The Dunlop Factory Employees Union (DFEU), at the Ambattur plant in Tamil Nadu, wants the management to restart operations before it commits itself to new productivity norms.

The DFEU's president, A. Krishnaswamy, said the union cannot commit itself to enhancing productivity without an initial assessment, as asked for by the management, after restarting the unit. He said the management had targeted to start the maintenance work on March 1.

He said that the union and management arrived at a consensus on production and other issues like laying off employees, closure of some departments not directly linked to production, outsourcing and statutory payments. But in the discussions last week the management had again restarted issues of productivity norms and increasing workload.

Krishnaswamy pointed out that once the factory restarts, the number of workers would be about 800-900 but the production would be maintained at levels when the workforce was over 2,100. He said the management wanted to further increase the productivity and was introducing new conditions, he said.
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Sri Biotech gets AIMA award: plans Rs2-crore facility
Hyderabad: Sri Biotech a city-based bio-pesticides and bio-fertilisers manufacturer, has received the All-India Management Association's (AIMA) Dr J S Juneja Award for Creativity and Innovation for Small Enterprises.

The company also plans to embark on a Rs2 crore expansion programme to more than double its production capacity. The company is engaged in the manufacture of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria and bio-pesticides.

The company plans to set up a facility at Pashamylaram in the city outskirts at an investment of Rs2 crore. The new facility would have a capacity of 3,000 tpa, up from the present 2,000 tpa said Dr K R K Reddy, CEO, Sri Biotech.

Dr Reddy received the AIMA award from President A P J Abdul Kalam, at New Delhi on Tuesday. This is the fourth innovation award in a row for the company.
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Garware Shipping signs contract with Norwegian company
Mumbai: Garware Shipping Corporation has signed a shipbuilding contract with Norway-based Havyard Leirvik AS for constructing a platform supply vessel. The vessel, a Rolls Royce UT 755L design, is scheduled to be delivered to the Norwegian company in April 2007, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.
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Hikal signs agreement with German company
Mumbai: Hikal, manufacturer of pharmaceutical and agrochemical ingredients and intermediates, has entered into a long-term cooperation agreement with Degussa, Germany's third-largest chemical company for supplying pharmaceutical intermediates and active pharma ingredients (APIs ).

Being a leader in niche technologies, Degussa, as per the agreement, is set to offer innovator pharma companies a unique combination of its favourable cost basis, know-how and USFDA approved manufacturing facilities.
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Uttam Galva hikes prices by Rs2,500 per tonne
Mumbai: Uttam Galva Steels, which manufactures galvanised steel, has hiked prices of its products by Rs2,500 per tonne in the domestic market. The increased price came into effect from February 22, the company said in a release here. It attributed the hike in price to rising logistic and input costs.
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Parryware to be among top ten global sanitaryware brands
Chennai: EID Parry's (India), Parryware brands would occupy the tenth slot in the top ten global brands when its one million capacity sanitaryware plant at Perundurai in Erode began production in April 2006 the company's CEO, K E Ranganathan, said. The company now has garnered five per cent share of the Rs 400 crore organised taps and fittings market.

The Erode plant on a 50-acre plot in SIPCOT industrial area with investment of Rs60 crore was on schedule, he said, adding it would add one million pieces to the existing capacity of 3.5 million.

Ranganathan said Parryware has a 42-per cent market share in the organised sector and it would touch 45 per cent next year. Four to five per cent sales were earmarked for promotional activity.

The company has 14 customer-care centres in the country and there would be an addition of six such 24 x 7 care centres by next year.
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Government objects to Gail's changes in marketing margins
New Delhi: The government on Thursday has said that the gas pricing order of 2005 does not allow the state-run Gail India to charge marketing margin on the government regulated gas.

Gail had on February 9 served a notice to terminate gas supplies to Indian Petrochemicals Corp Ltd unless it cleared Rs64.02 lakh outstanding towards marketing margin. IPCL has approached the petroleum ministry against the termination notice served by Gail, saying the state-owned firm was not entitled to charge marketing margin on the Government-controlled gas it sold to industries.

Gail had demanded a marketing margin of Rs222 per thousand cubic meters on the government administered or APM gas which it was supplying to IPCL's plants at Baroda, Gandhar (Gujarat) and Nagathone (Maharashtra).

The government's gas pricing order, which revised APM gas price to Rs3,200 per thousand cubic metres with effect from July 1, 2005, does not provide for any marketing margin over and above the transportation tariff being realised by Gail, an oil ministry official said.
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HCL Infosystems enters laptop market
New Delhi: HCL Infosystems has entered the laptops market. The company is a leader in the desktop computers and is targeting leadership in the mobile computer segment as well.

The notebook computer market in 2004-05 was 4.75 lakh units and in 2005-06 it is expected to grow 50 per cent year-on-year. The notebooks launched by the company would be manufactured at its plant in Pondicherry.

The company has expanded its capacity for computers to 10 lakh from six lakh and has put in two lines for laptops. The company intends to manufacture the laptops in India as it would help it to tailor products to the market needs in time and have efficient logistics and supply chain.

The notebook computer market in India is dominated by multinationals, which import units for sale here.

HCL has branded its laptops as 'Leaptops' and the models are designed as per the requirements of various target groups such as architects, engineers, doctors, insurance advisors, women, executives and shop owners.
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HP to expand storage portfolio
Bangalore: Hewlett Packard has introduced hardware, software and services enhancements to its HP storage works portfolio to enable customers consolidate their storage environments.

The offerings provide customers with simpler, streamlined management solutions for online, backup, e-mail and remote office consolidation, both for HP and multi-vendor IT environments, a company statement said here today.

The new offering is expected to strengthen the company's leadership position in the market.

HP has also advanced its branch office consolidation offering by upgrading its family of HP storage works enterprise files services (EFS) Wan accelerators with new software features and multiple-fall through network interface card options.

In addition, HP has refreshed the HP storage essentials suite of multi-vendor storage resource management.
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Siti channel to revamp image
New Delhi: Zee group's Siti Channel, is going in for a brand repositioning and will sport a new tagline from tomorrow. The channel, which turned satellite last year after starting as a cable channel, has decided to focus on both youth and family audience.

The channel has created specific time bands, focussing on different age groups and has added a new catch-line 'Entertainment ka naya funda. Interesting!'

The channel wants to provide wholesome entertainment to its viewers and break away from cliché of sticking to one particular flavour like humour or newsy content.
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Sony Entertainment introduces new English movie channel
Mumbai: Sony Entertainment Television has launched a new English movie channel PIX which would be on air from April 1, 2006, and would broadcast hit Hollywood movies.

PIX will draw on the Sony Pictures library that includes titles from Columbia and MGM and will definitely excite the Hollywood movie lover. Grammy award winner and Hollywood actor, Will Smith launched the channel at a function here today.

"I am thrilled that SET invited me to make this visit and also launch their new English movie channel PIX," Will Smith said. "I watched my first Bollywood movie recently, which was Sarkar of BIG B, and decided that henceforth I would call myself Big W", Smith added jokingly.
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TVS 'Apache' launched
Chennai: TVS Motors has launched its first batch of 150 cc 'Apache' motorcycles to customers in the city. The bike, with alloy wheels as standard fitment, comes with an electric start and a 240 mm front disc brake. Customers would also have four colour options to choose from, a TVS Motors press release said.

The company said Apache has already won rave reviews from several two-wheeler experts and had won three 'best bike of the year' awards from CNBC TV18, Autocar India, Overdrive and Business Standard Motoring.
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Gillette India writes off Rs90 crore
Mumbai: Gillette India will write-off Rs90 crore against capital reserves of the company as part of the restructuring cost.

According to a release issued by Gillette to the BSE today, the company will shortly file a scheme of arrangement between the company and equity shareholders under Section 391 of the Companies Act, 1956.

"The scheme will be subject to approval of the High Court of Rajasthan," the release added.
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Indian private airline to buy 20 Airbus planes
New Delhi: Jagson Airlines plans to purchase 20 Airbus A321 aircraft at an estimated cost of $1.3 billion. The company plans to buy 20 Airbus A321 aircraft with a firm order of 14 aircraft and an option of six other aircraft, Jagson Airline CEO Uttam Kumar Bose said.

The company is trying to persuade the French Airbus consortium for an early delivery in 2007. The company will begin operations with six leased aircraft and the inaugural flight between Delhi and Bangalore will start in April or May.

The service will cover nine cities by the end of this year, Bose said.
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Reliance-Temasek Fund acquires 20-per cent stake in Su-Kam
New Delhi: The $200 million Reliance Energy India private equity fund, a joint venture between Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and Singapore's state-owned investment company Temasek Holdings (TEMAH.YY), and managed by Reliance Capital Asset Management Company has bought a 20 per cent equity stake in unlisted company Su-Kam Power Systems for Rs450 million ($10.1 million).

The fund aims to invest in local companies operating in the power sector. The fresh investment would help power equipment maker Su-Kam boost its exports to Europe and US

Su-Kam has forecast revenue of Rs2 billion for the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2006.
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