Tata Steel up against Mittals for stake in Highveld Steel
Mumbai: Tata Steel has come up against Mittal Steel in the race to acquire 79 per cent stake in Highveld Steel of South Africa owned by an Anglo American group.

Laxmi Niwas Mittal — Mittal Steel of South Africa has registered its interest in acquiring Highveld Steel. The 79 per cent stake is believed to be worth almost $1 billion.

Mittal Steel South Africa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mittal Steel, is the biggest steel manufacturer in the country with a capacity of 7.1 million tonnes per annum. It had entered the country by taking majority control of a local player, Iscor, two years ago.

Meanwhile Tata Steel has started the due diligence for Highveld. Other bidders include Metalloinvest, owned by Russian tycoon Alisher Usmanov, a local arm of the UK-based Kermas Group and South African Xstrata.

Highveld is the second largest steel firm in South Africa. It is the largest producer of vanadium in the world that is used for making steel. Highveld also produces steel, vanadium products, ferroalloys, carbonaceous products and metal containers. Highveld exports half of its products from its South Africa-based processing plants.
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TCS close to signing outsourcing deal with Citigroup
Mumbai: Tata Consultancy Services will soon finalise an outsourcing deal of around $500-900 million (Rs2,000-4,000 crore) with financial services giant Citigroup Inc. Sources said it would be an application, maintenance and development contract. TCS will employ 2,200 people for the assignment in the first year and may hire more people later, depending on the contract.

The contract is based on a "take-or-pay-order" system under which the information technology provider is to be paid a fixed sum of money for completing the work within a stipulated period of time. This is against the present method of "time and material contract", where Indian vendors charge fees by the hour.
IT majors like i-flex and Satyam Computers are also part of the negotiations, and are expected to get a minor share of the total outsourcing deal.

If the deal is signed, TCS is expected to execute it from its global delivery centres across the world, including from the one set up recently in London.

As part of the contract TCS would provide manpower, quality and processes to Citigroup.
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HLL launches new tea brand under Brooke Bond
Chennai: Hindustan Lever has announced the launch of the 'Brooke Bond 3 Roses Natural Care' tea in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

According to the company the product seeks to create a new segment within the beverages market, targeted at families seeking well being in their daily lives.
The company says the tea market in India is second only to the carbonated soft drinks segment, with a share of almost Rs6,400 crore.

Loose tea accounts for almost 40 per cent of the total market share.
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Essar group to enter telecom infrastructure
Mumbai: The Essar group, which holds around 33 per cent stake in mobile operator Hutchison — Essar through Essar Teleholdings, has made an entry into telecom infrastructure industry and has created a separate company Telecom Tower and Infrastructure for constructing telecom towers that will be leased out to private operators.

Company officials said the company will construct everything, the tower, the shelter, the diesel generation sets, the rectifiers and other components. Telecom operators only have to get their vendors (such as Ericsson, Motorola) to put up the actual telecom equipment and microwave facility.

The company has already built more than 200 such sites in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and has orders for another 545 sites.

Many of them are for the circles of Hutch that were bought out from the BPL mobile group. Telecom Tower is also constructing sites for mobile operator IDEA Cellular.
However, these sites can be shared by several operators.
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Siemens receives orders worth Rs.68 crore
Mumbai: Siemens has bagged three orders from the cement industry, valued at Rs68 crore. These contracts, including two export projects, are from National Cement Company, Yemen; Ashaka Cement Plant (Lafarge), Nigeria; and Vasavadatta Cement, Karnataka. The largest of the three orders is from NCC for the greenfield turnkey contract at Al Anad, Yemen. The other two orders are for upgradation from 1,200 tonnes per day to 1,500 tonnes per day of the Ashaka cement plant in Nigeria and expansion of one million tonnes plant of Vasavadatta Cement.
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Aurobindo drug gets US FDA approval
Hyderabad: Aurobindo Pharma has received the first approval for its new drug application (NDA) from the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) for Lamivudine 150 mg/ Zidovudine 300 mg fixed-dose tablets co-packed with Efavirenz 600 mg tablets.

The company said this is another tentative approval through US FDA's expedited review process under President Bush's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) initiative. Apart from several ANDA (abbreviated new drug application) approvals, the company could take advantage of the R&D skills by way of getting its first NDA.

This NDA provides Lamivudine 150 mg/ Zidovudine 300 mg fixed-dose tablets co-packed with Efavirenz 600 mg tablets for the treatment of HIV-1 infection.

This is the company's eleventh approval in the ARV (anti-retroviral) segment and the company expects the fresh NDA to help it retain its position as a strong player in the ARV segment. The company's Lamivudine/ Zidovudine fixed dose combination tablet are a version of Combivir tablets manufactured by GlaxoSmithkline, and the Efavirenz tablets are a version of Sustiva tablets manufactured by Bristol Myers-Squibb.
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Jet Airways to delay FCCB, GDR issues
New Delhi: Jet Airways has decided to delay its $850-million foreign currency convertible bond (FCCB) and global depository receipts (GDR) issues as it was not getting the right price. The airline had earlier expected to complete the FCCB and GDR issues by the end of March this year.

Company officials said the FCCB is expected in May this year while the GDR issue would be announced later in the year. Jet Airways recently raised funds to the tune of $400 mn locally from ICICI Bank and IDFC to make the pre-delivery payments for aircraft it is acquiring. The airline has ordered 30 aircraft at a total cost of $2.5 billion.
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Rajesh Exports acquires OyzterBay chain
Bangalore: Rajesh Exports, among the world's largest jewellery makers, entering the retail sector, has brought out the entire retail network of OyzterBay.

"We have acquired all the 36 outlets of OyzterBay across the country," said Rajesh Mehta, chairman Rajesh Exports. The promoters of OyzterBay, led by Mr Vasant Nangia and five other persons and ICF Ventures, will get Rs11 crore in cash and a 20 per cent stake in a new subsidiary floated by Rajesh Exports.

The new subsidiary will retail branded diamond and gold jewellery.

ICF Ventures, which has a 57 per cent stake in OyzterBay, is expected to exit from the new company at a later date, sources close to the deal said.

The retail venture in which Rajesh Exports will invest Rs100 crore will begin operations from May 15. It will have a new logo as well as a new name. It will be positioned as a brand for the youth and for the mid-range of jewelleries. Rajesh Exports itself will float a chain of retail stores across the country under the brand name, Shubh. It will acquire small and medium range of jewellery shops across the country to kickstart its venture.
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Lifeline group to manage Karur hospital
Chennai: The Lifeline group, which runs two hospitals and a clinic in Chennai, has taken over the management of S&V Loga Hospital of Karur on a 15-year lease. The group has also acquired 15 clinics in 13 towns near Karur from the Jansons group, for an undisclosed amount.

Lifeline intends to integrate the 120-bed S&V Loga and its 15 clinics in a hub-and-spoke structure and tele-link Loga with the Lifeline Multi Speciality Hospital in Perungudi, Chennai.

This model will be replicated in most of the districts in Tamil Nadu over the next two years, Dr J S Rajkumar, chairman, Lifeline group, told the press.

Lifeline's clinics are equipped with facilities like, pharmacy, laboratory, x-ray and ECG machines and consulting rooms. Cases that need greater medical attention would be referred to Karur and if further necessary, to Chennai.
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Suzlon Energy announces $60 million investment in China
Mumbai: Wind energy major, Suzlon Energy (SEL), plans to invest $60 million in China for setting up an integrated wind turbine generator (WTG) manufacturing facility that would produce 600 MW annually. The facility is being set up at Tianjin, the company said in a press release.

The investments would be made through SEL's Chinese subsidiary, Suzlon Energy (Tianjin).

Suzlon's new facility will come up at Tianjin's Hi-Tech Industrial Park and will manufacture WTG and integrate major WTG components, like rotor blades, generators, nacelles and control panels.

China's Renewable Energy Law, which came into effect from January 1, 2006, is one of the largest state-sponsored commitments toward renewable energy in the world.
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Chevrolet Aveo launched with starting price at Rs.5.55 lakh
Mumbai: General Motors India (GMI) has launched the Chevrolet Aveo in India priced in the Rs5.55-Rs 6.85 lakh (ex-showroom, Thane) range. The base model, the 1.4E, will be available from July. Deliveries of the rest will commence shortly.

The 1.4L, the 1.4LS, and the 1.6LT versions are priced at Rs5.74 lakh, Rs6.14 lakh, and Rs6.85 lakh respectively. The car has a local content of less than 50 per cent.

Rajeev Chaba, president & managing director, said the company was aiming to touch 50 per cent localisation in a few months. The Aveo does not come in a diesel version in India and the company said it is working on one.

The company is also planning to launch the Aveo Yuva, a hatchback, that would compete in the market with the Suzuki Swift and the Hyundai Getz.

The production capacity at GMI's Halol plant would touch 85,000 units on a two-shift basis by third quarter this year. Total annual production is pegged at 50,000 units.

In 2005, GMI sold 30,387 cars, up 18 per cent from 2004.
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