Maharashtra Seamless receives orders worth Rs.327 crore
Mumbai: Maharashtra Seamless has received orders worth Rs327 crore for seamless pipes and Rs102 crore for ERW Pipes. Before this the company had bagged orders worth Rs97 crore for supply of seamless pipes from the government and private oil and gas companies such as GAIL India, Gujarat Gas Company and international firms.

The company also received orders worth Rs24 crore from Gujarat Gas Company, GAIL India for its Jagoti Pithampur pipeline project, the company said. Maharashtra Seamless was also the lowest bidder for Indraprastha Gas, Delhi, for its city gas distribution pipeline project and Green Gas for its city gas distribution pipeline project for Agra and Lucknow.
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Tata Chemicals buys remaining stake in Brunner Mond Group
Mumbai: Tata Chemicals has acquired the remaining 36.5 per cent stake in the UK-based Brunner Mond Group for Rs 290 crore. The company's wholly owned subsidiary made an offer for the balance shares of BMGL to the remaining shareholders, pursuant to the articles of association the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Earlier, the Tata group company had acquired 63.50 per cent of the paid-up capital of the UK company.
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Tata Steel signs $500 million ECB agreement
Mumbai: Tata Steel has signed an external commercial borrowing agreement for $500 million in Singapore. The company's syndicated term loan facility of $400 million was oversubscribed and it exercised a green-shoe option of an additional $100 million the company informed the stock exchanges.

17 banks participated in the loan facility which has a maturity of seven years. The coupon of the loan would be Libor (London inter bank offer rate) plus 45 basis points.
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Natco Pharma launches cancer drug 'Lymfuda'
Mumbai: Natco Pharma has launched cancer drug 'Lymfuda.' The drug available in 10 mg tablets is used in the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Launched for the first time in India, Lymfuda is priced at 60 per cent of the price of the imported drug. The company says Lymfuda is useful for patients who do not respond to traditional treatment.
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Shasun Chem's formulation facility receives approval
Mumbai: Shasun Chemicals and Drugs has received approval from Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), UK for its WHO-CGMP formulation facility which manufactures oral solid dosage forms (tablet and capsules) for the bulk tablets packing.

With this approval, the company's products from its brand new formulation facility could be sold on a commercial basis in the UK and European markets, it said.
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Voltas to hike FII limit to 30 per cent
Mumbai: Air-conditioning and engineering company, Voltas is planning to raise the investment limit of foreign institutional investors (FIIs) in the company from 24 per cent to 30 per cent.

The shareholders of the company have approved raising the maximum limit of investment by FIIs from 24 per cent to 30 per cent of the paid-up capital of the company with requisite majority.
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Godrej to sell foods unit to associate company for Rs.85 crore
Mumbai: Godrej Industries has decided to sell off its foods division to associate company Godrej Tea, for more than Rs85 crore.

The board of directors has approved the sale of foods division (excluding the Wadala factory) to Godrej Tea for Rs70 crore plus a networking capital of over Rs15 crore on the date of transfer. Of this Rs40 crore and excess of net working capital of more than Rs15 crore will be received in cash and the balance Rs30 crore as equity shares in the combined entity, the company said.

The board is convening of an Extraordinary General Meeting on April 19 to seek shareholders' approval for investment in Godrej Tea of up to Rs100 crore in addition to the existing limits, which include facilitating acceptance of Rs30 crore in the form of equity shares towards sale of the foods division and further investment of up to Rs70 crore for expansion or acquisition needs.
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CEAT signs new wage agreement in Sri Lanka
Colombo: Ceat Pvt Ltd, an Indian joint venture company, has entered into a three-year Rs1.75 crore wage deal with its employees to limit work stoppages said a top official of the company.

CEAT has promised a hike in wages of Rs3,275 against the workers' demand of a Rs5000 hike. Trade unions in the island country struck work in January and the week-long trade strike, crippled factory output and left CEAT with a 150-tonne loss of production.

Under the new pact, the wages of the 325 employees include a productivity-linked bonus package based on targets set out by each division, said the firm's managing director Oscar Braganza. The company has entered into a similar wage pact with unions at their Kalutara plant in southern Lanka some months ago, he said.

The company has a 65 per cent of the Sri Lankan market share for cross-ply tyres, used for commercial vehicles like light trucks, buses and lorries.

CEAT plans to ship tyres to India, Dubai, Singapore, Philippines, Africa and countries in the SAARC (South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation) region.
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Hyundai launches new 'Accent' with a sporty look
Geneva: The Korean auto giant, Hyundai has launched a brand new model of its 'Accent,' at the Geneva Motor Show aimed at increasing its market share in major world markets.

The new model has a distinctly sporty look and is aimed at the European market.

The new car may also reach the Indian market in the near future considering that the Accent is already an established brand in India. The three-door Accent, which is the sixth generation in its class, would be selling in the European market from April.
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Mittal wants licence fee removed
New Delhi: Sunil Mittal CEO Bharti Enterprises has sought a complete removal of licence fee from the telecom sector across all the segments such as basic, long-distance and mobile over the next three years.

Mittal said, "We are already paying a high service tax. Licence fees needs to be taken off completely and preferably in three years time," he said on the sidelines of a function. The sector has effective tax rate of 30 per cent across all the segments.

Mittal has been demanding reduction of levies in the telecom sector for sometime now. He said the budget had been a disappointment for telecom sector which had been expecting a reduction in the tax burden on the consumer by way of reduced licence fee. He said this has not happened, despite the service tax having been increased from 10 per cent to 12 per cent.

Bharti yesterday announced cuts in ISD and STD rates, following the reduction in ADC charges as announced by the TRAI.
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Monsanto dissociates itself from pricing of BT cotton
New Delhi: Multinational seeds company Monsanto has sought to dissociate itself from its Indian joint venture Mayhco Monsanto and the ongoing legal wrangle between the Indian subsidiary and the Andhra Pradesh Government over the fixing of high prices of Bt cottonseeds.

Monsanto said, "It has no role in price fixation of the Bollgard technology improved genetically modified cotton seeds." It has asked the Monopolies & Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) to remove its name as a respondent and said it was not trading in India and was not directly involved in the price fixing and trading in India, therefore should not be considered as a party in the case.

Mahyco Monsanto which is involved in a dispute arising out of pricing of BT cotton denied carrying any 'restrictive and unfair trade practices.' It said it was not manipulating the price and control of goods. The company also said it did not set out any price below which the seeds could not be sold. Mahyco Monsanto contended that earning profit is not an offence under law including under MRTP Act.
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MTNL cuts 'free for life' mobile plan fee by 50 per cent for Government employees
New Delhi: MTNL is wooing employees of Central and Delhi Government, PSUs, professionals like doctors and even accredited journalists by cutting the one-time payment of its lifelong post-paid mobile plan by 50 per cent to Rs400 from the existing Rs800.

MTNL will waive off Rs500 activation charge and the Rs1,000 security deposit for STD service on its 'Jeevan Sathi' lifelong post-paid mobile (Dolphin) connection plan for these customers effectively offering giving the customers a benefit of Rs900 in this scheme.

The scheme is open till March 31 and for all other category customers, the entry fee of Rs800 remains for Jeevan Sathi connection. However, the activation charge of Rs500 has been waived off till March 31 for them. The new scheme bars migration from existing post-paid connections to it.

The Jeevan Sathi scheme has a talk value of Rs100 making the effective one time payment for the customer Rs800. The value of the card is Rs900.
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Satyam sets up ODC for INVISTA
Hyderabad: Satyam Computer Services and INVISTA, one of Satyam's key customers in the manufacturing vertical, are setting up an Offshore Development Centre (ODC) in Bangalore.

Housed in Satyam's 5,000 square feet state of the art development centre in Bangalore it provides IT and AMS Services to INVISTA. A large team of Satyam Associates provide these services using Satyam's RightSourcing global delivery model, a release said.
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HP launches new laser jet printers
Hyderabad: Hewlitt-Packard (HP) has launched its office-in-one, an all new range of high performance, network ready laser jet multi-function printers designed to cater to the complete document needs of the small and medium business segment (SMBs).

The new series boasts a host of features including inbuilt networking, standard duplex that enables SMBs to consolidate, automate and simplify their IT solutions. The new portfolio of monochrome laser jet multi-function printers is available in the range of Rs16,000 to Rs47,000. HP enjoys a 53 per cent market share in the country.
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WebEx Communications launches 'WebOffice' solution
Bangalore: Targeting offshoring and outsourcing firms web communications services provider, WebEx Communications Inc has launched on-demand 'WebOffice' solution for the Indian market. The solution enables effective management of projects undertaken by multiple vendors, service providers and partners, according to the San Jose, California-based company.

Company executives said that WebOffice enables multiple parties to collaborate, manage tasks and securely share ongoing project information.

Company officials said Indian businesses are increasingly undertaking more complex projects and the new product is designed to help these businesses successfully manage them.

The company clocked $308 million in revenues for the year 2005 from its first-year revenue of $3 million in 1999.
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LML declares lock-out in Kanpur unit
Mumbai: Two wheeler manufacturer LML has declared a lock-out at its Kanpur unit from today due to an illegal strike by the workers there. The factory employs around 2,000 people and makes close to 500 two-wheelers in a day.

The strike has come at a time when the company is trying to induct strategic partner and has said its production, sales and normal operations may be affected.
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Sunil Hitech Engineers bags new deal
Mumbai: Sunil Hitech Engineers has bagged two contracts worth Rs13.06 crore from Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) for construction, testing and assistance for commissioning of its Bhilai power plant. The contract entails trial operation and handling over of boiler and auxiliary including ESP, rotating machines, ducts and dampers, power cycle piping of 2 x 250 MW Unit — 1 of Bhilai Power plant at Chhattisgarh, the company said.

The contacts have to be executed over a period of 18 months, the company said. Further the company has also bagged another contract worth Rs2.93 crore from Maharashtra State Power Generation Company (MSPGCL) for its New Parli project, which has to be executed over a period of six months.
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VSNL ties-up with GFA India
Mumbai: Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL) has tied up with GFA India, owner of 'Pizza Corner' and 'Coffee World', chain of outlets to provide Tata Indicom Wi-Fi Service at the latter's outlets.

VSNL will provide the Wi-Fi services to all 500 outlets that GFA India plans to roll-out across the country over the next five years.

The company said Tata Indicom Wi-Fi Service ensures that people can spend their time more productively and do their work more efficiently, wherever they may be.
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