Kelvinator breaks even in January
New Delhi: Electrolux Kelvinator Ltd (EKL) has finally broken even. In January this year the company recorded a revenue of more than Rs35 crore and net profit of Rs4.2 crore, according to Aniruddh Dhoot, managing director of the company.

The company has set itself a revenue target of Rs700 crore, with a net profit of
Rs85 crore for the calendar year 2006.

Last year the company posted sales of Rs400 crore with net loss for the
July-December period at Rs15 crore.

Company sources said that its merger with Videocon Industries was likely within 3-4 months as EKL had turned profitable though Dhoot did not comment on the issue. Dhoot attributed breaking even to factors such as broadening of the company's focus from only refrigerators to other product categories such as air-conditioners and washing machines, resizing workforce, production restructuring and retail expansion.
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KPIT to buy BPO firm for Rs45 crore
Mumbai: KPIT Cummins the infotech global technology solutions provider is close to acquiring the BPO operations of a Delhi-based company, with operations in healthcare, finance and accounts and human resources services, for Rs45 crore.

The acquisition will help the company acquire certain key customers and emerge as a leading player in the BPO segment.

KPIT Cummins is likely to announce the deal next week.

KPIT Cummins Infotech is present in manufacturing, advanced technology solutions in automotive, industrial automation, semi-conductor solutions and diversified financial services verticals.
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Dr Reddy's looks at more acquisitions
New Delhi: Dr Reddy's Laboratories, headquartered in Hyderabad, says it is looking at more acquisitions.

The company recently announced the biggest acquisition in the Indian pharmaceuticals history of buying German generics major Betapharm for ¤480 million, While the company, governed by disclosure norms of stock exchanges, cannot reveal the details, its managing director Satish Reddy said the focus markets of the company the US, Italy, Spain, France and India.

Though the company is gearing up to raise capital through issuing foreign currency convertible bonds, it says all future acquisitions will be funded through target-specific debt funding. It is following this model for buying Betapharm-70 per cent of the financing is specific to the purchase.

Any future acquisition, said Reddy, would be driven by the value on offer.

"Acquisitions are part of our strategy. There are parts in Europe like France, Spain and Italy that need to be covered, where we have no presence," said Reddy. Dr Reddy's currently has a market share of less than 3 per cent and is at number seven in the Indian pharmaceuticals market.
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Kingfisher not allowed to fly abroad
New Delhi: Kingfisher Airlines cannot fly abroad due to current government policies.
Vijay Mallya the promoter of the airline however is busy wooing international travellers planning a trip to India and has set a target of selling around 15 per cent of the airline's seats inventory to foreign guests visiting India over the next one year.

At present just around 3-4 per cent of all air tickets in Kingfisher Airlines are sold internationally. As part of the strategy to make the airline's inventory more easily accessible for travel agents, both in India and globally, Kingfisher is hopping on to Galileo's global distribution platform and is appointing over 200 passenger sales agents in UK, US, and Gulf.

The airline recently signed an interline agreement with Sharjah-based low-cost carrier Air Arabia which gives Kingfisher access to international passengers. It is planning to enter into a dozen of such agreements with other international airlines flying into India this year.
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ONGC announces Rs8,000 crore capex plan for MRPL
New Delhi: Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has approved a capital expenditure of Rs8,000 crore for raising refining capacity of its subsidiary Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemcials to 15 million tonnes per annum from the current 9.7 million tonnes.

Expected to be completed in three-and-a half years, the integrated refinery upgradation project will make MRPL one of the largest psu refinery investments at a single location in the country.
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ADAG to invest Rs12,000 crore in hiking power output
New Delhi: Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) has drawn up an expansive plan to ramp up its generation capacities to 15,000 MW from the present 1,000 MW in just five years.

The proposed increase in generation capacities would entail an equity investment of about Rs12,000 crore in the power sector alone by the ADAG.

The Group proposes to set up capacities totalling almost 7,000 MW based on gas as a fuel and another 5,000 MW on coal. On the hydel front, ADAG has already got four hydel power plants totalling 2,000 MW which should be on stream by '11. The Group has also put in place a hi-powered nuclear team to take up nuclear power plants, as soon as the government allows private investments in this space.

It also proposes to add around 500 MW as wind power as its dabbles into the non-conventional energy space. The expansive generation plants also indicate the trend of things to come for Reliance Energy which appears to be zeroing in on generation as its core business area in the power sector.

The total investment in these projects is expected to be an estimated Rs36,000 crore which would be funded on a 70:30 debt-equity ratio.
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Shipping Corp gets Cabinet approval on JV
New Delhi: The government has approved Shipping Corporation of India (SCI)'s plan to invest $20.88 million for a 33.77 per cent stake in a joint venture company in Panama.

The joint venture will be formed for the expansion of Petronet LNG Ltd (PLL)'s terminal at Dahej, said Union information and broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi said after a cabinet meeting.

Other partners in the joint venture are Mitsui OSK lines of Japan with a stake of 33.77, Nippon Yusem Kabushiki Kaisha with a share of 21.64 per cent and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha 10.82 per cent stakes respectively.

The share of SCI in the JV may go down to 26 per cent if PLL or its nominee exercises the option to take up 23 per cent share in above JV, the minister added.
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Zen may be phased out
New Delhi: Maruti Udyog (MUL) may have decided to phase out its small car Zen, effectively from March 31. Maruti is said to have asked its dealers to clear stocks of Zen from showrooms.

However, MUL marketing director Kinji Saito said, this was a temporary halt in production and happens all the time. We have a fixed production capacity and have to meet increased demand for other models. He however, declined to comment on when the company intended to resume production but maintained that the Zen brand would continue to remain in the market.

The Zen was introduced in 1993 and was the company's second largest selling car before the arrival of Alto, WagonR and Swift. The industry had expected Maruti 800 to be phased out earlier. But with Tata Motors moving its plan for the Rs1- lakh car in high gear, MUL is being forced to keep the 800 in its portfolio.

Maruti has a production capacity of 3.5-lakh units per year and output for this financial year has already crossed 5 lakh units.
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Emmar to enter healthcare business in India and other regions
Bangalore: Emmar Properties, which are leading property developers globally, plan to invest over $5 billion in India, Middle East, North America and South Asia over the next ten years in building hospitals, clinics and medical centres and in managing their operations.

Emmar chairman Mohammed Ali Alabbar said the company's detailed business plans for the healthcare business were aimed at meeting the fast growing demand for healthcare infrastructure and services in the targetted markets,

He said the company's healthcare sector plan also included development and management of around 100 hospitals each with 200 bed capacities and super medical specialities added in key centers. He added that the company's plan also envisaged formation of strategic partnerships with established healthcare institutions and providers.
The partnership would ensure the presence of internationally qualified doctors, staff and specialists to set the best practice standards in the regional healthcare industry.
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Private telecom players say BSNL using coercive tactics
New Delhi: Private telecom operators are accusing Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) of using coercive tactics by jacking up tariffs for distances within a 50 km radius. As a result the OneIndia plan that enables phone calls to anywhere anytime within the country for Re one a minute has run into problems.

''BSNL has actually jacked up costs, the carriage charges have gone up from 20 paise to 30 paise. Also 70 per cent of calls are made within the 50 km radius,'' said Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) Director General T V R Ramachandran.
The operators have lodged their protest with BSNL and DOT officials and DOT has asked TRAI to intervene he said.

The Re1 a minute STD rate, Ramachandran said was announced on the assumption that the relief given by TRAI, in the revised ADC regime, would be implemented by BSNL. The revised regime had brought down the total collection from ADC to

Rs3,300 crore, which meant that BSNL would be getting Rs1,800 crore less than last year.

Ramachandran said operators have been asked to pay the Access Deficit Charge (ADC) on a per minute basis even as the telecom regulator had introduced the new system of ADC to be calculated on a revenue share basis effective from March one.
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