Nokia opens first handset manufacturing plant in India
Sriperumbudu: Leading handset maker Nokia of Finland has opened its first Indian handset factory in India. Nokia plans to invest about $150 million in the plant, which will support the growing demand for handsets and network infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region.

Nokia chief executive Jorma Ollila said, "We anticipate that there will be a long-term sustainable demand for mobile telephony in the fast-growing Indian market,' at the launch of the plant in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai.

'He said the company's manufacturing facility in Chennai would enable it to reduce its time to market.

The Indian mobile market is surging ahead and the mobile segment already has 8.5 crore subscribers with more than 4 million subscribers getting added each month.

India is expected to be the world's third largest mobile market by the end of this year, behind China and the United States.

Nokia's main competitors in India include Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Motorola. Nokia plans to make a few million handsets a month and expects to be profitable in the first year of operations said Raimo Puntala, senior vice president for operations and logistics at Nokia.

The new plant located in the Nokia Telecom Industry Park, has already produced more than 1 million handsets since it began production in January. The factory has 1,100 workers and is expected to generate employment for 10,000 people in the park.
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Reliance Info to merge with RCoVL
Mumbai: Anil Ambani is planning to merge Reliance Infocomm with RCoVL. The name of the new company is unlikely to be Reliance Infocomm as the latter was created by his brother, Mukesh, in 2002 and later went to Anil after the split of the Reliance empire last June.
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No problems with Jet-Sahara deal
New Delhi: According to the monopolies and restrictive trade commission (MRTPC) there is nothing wrong with Jet Airways deal to buy out rival Air Sahara for $500 million.

B K Rathi, chairman of the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission said "Nothing has really been found prima facie to show there has been a violation by Jet Airways in the deal as far as monopolistic practice is concerned," he said
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Motorola to sell through Kisaan Bazaar
Haryana: Cellular phone manufacturer Motorola has tied-up with DCM Shriram's chain of rural and semi-urban utility marts for sales and distribution of its medium and low-end handsets.

Motorola Inc corporate vice president Allen Burnes said, "The alliance will offer consumers over-the-counter and direct access to a wide range of handsets across categories and price bands from the mass-market C11x series, to premium SLVR L7 and RAZR V3 models," he said.

The DCM Shriram Consolidated retail chain, currently, has 25 operational centres in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana and plans to scale-up presence in other states in West and East India in the next few years.
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MRTPC says Eicher guilty of discrimination
New Delhi: Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) says heavy vehicle manufacturer Eicher Motors is guilty of discriminating between its small and big dealers in awarding incentives based on sales targets.

Eicher Motors, which manufactures and markets trucks, tractors and heavy machines, launched a 'sales promotion scheme' in 1998 under which it started paying incentives/discounts to dealers achieving sales target fixed by it. According to the scheme, a dealer meeting the targets were eligible for 1.5 per cent credit from the company. In addition to this, Eicher also paid credits for bulk supply.

This scheme was opposed by smaller dealers who said it ignored their interests.
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Infosys says it will cross $2 billion. mark in 2006
New Delhi: Infosys says it is confident of crossing the two billion dollar mark within two years of reaching the one billion mark.

Infosys CEO, MD and president Nandan Nilekani said, "We said we will cross more than two billion dollar (revenue) this year... we hope to accomplish that", he said. The outlook for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2006 for Infosys puts consolidated revenues at $2.14 billion, a year-on-year growth of 34.6 per cent.

In 2003-04, the company achieved the milestone revenue of Rs4850.95 crore ($1.06 billion) while in 2004-05, its revenue was Rs7129.65 crore.

Last year, Infosys and TCS bagged the biggest ever IT outsourcing deal from global banking major ABN Amro valued at Euro 1.8 billion (USD 2.22 billion) along with other vendors like IBM, Patni Computers and Accenture.
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NEC to set up subsidiary in India
New Delhi: NEC Corporation of Japan is setting up a subsidiary in India to expand its IT and network business. The new company would be known as NEC India Private Limited, and will commence operations in April.

The company aims to provide solutions for construction of communication infrastructure and corporate IT and network infrastructure which has accompanied the rapid rise in IT-related public investment and increased communication demand.

Senior company officials said the subsidiary would be set up with an initial capital investment of $1 million in addition to a similar investment for advertising and marketing.

The company will start by employing 50 people but will increase its employee strength to 300 over the next three years. There are also plans to open three more branches in Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore.

The company expects to generate business of about $10-20 million in the first year of operations. NECSAP would hold a 60 per cent share in the company and NEC the balance.
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Hyundai to sell used cars
Panaji: Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) will start selling used cars by the end of this year through a subsidiary that will also offer customers an option to upgrade their models.

According to sources the company is yet to name this new arm, which will be set up in association with the Hyundai dealers across the country. Hyundai is targeting a 23 per cent share of the used-car market and will adopt customer-friendly strategy. The company is also aiming at middle-class customers by launching special non-AC Santro car. The company through its ongoing road show is displaying whole range of Hyundai vehicles.

Hyundai has shipped in its two yet-to-be-launched vehicles -- ultra-luxury sedan 'Azera' and the sports car 'Coupe' -- from Korea for the road shows, he added.
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Tata Indicom to launch international roaming
New Delhi: CDMA cellular service provider Tata Indicom, plans to launch an international roaming service across 186 countries. The company says its scheme called, "One World One Number," would be the first one with a T-SIM (twin purpose sim card) product for international roaming. The service is available for 186 countries, 291 GSM roaming partners and 5 CDMA partners.

The company said customers will be able to enjoy both CDMA and GSM services without having to change their number by switching between the two networks freely with only one dual mode T-SIM, the company said in a statement. It said international roaming was not being offered to CDMA subscribers.

Darryl Green, CEO of Tata Teleservices, said: "We are confident and optimistic that this service will get a tremendous response. The One World One Number service offers the customers a unique service which will connect them across the globe."
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China's Lifan announces plans to enter India
New Delhi: Chinese conglomerate, Chongqing Lifan has made plans to enter the Indian market. Among the largest motorcycle makers in the world, the diversified company is planning to set up three joint ventures in India for making two wheelers, refrigerators/air conditioners and engines. According to sources, the company plans to assemble these products in India and each of the joint ventures will be with a different local partner. Lifan has already received permission from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to set up a facility in India.

The company is said to be signing an agreement with a leading North India based industrial house for its two wheeler joint venture.

The assembly unit for the two wheelers and engines will come up in Haryana. The company is expected to start by assembling 125 cc and 150 cc bikes. Further, Lifan is in talks with several local players to supply engines from its proposed unit.

Sources say that the Chinese company has been evaluating entry into India for two years now as it sees India as a potential volume spinner in the coming years.
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