Reliance to invest Rs.4,000-cr in in Punjab, Haryana farm business
Mumbai: Reliance Industries plans to invest nearly Rs4,000 crore in Punjab and Haryana for its foray in agri-business. The company is chalking out big plans for the retail sector and has tied up with the Punjab and Haryana governments for a few projects.

Sources said Reliance had tied up more than 900 acres of land in Punjab and was recently allotted 28 acres of land in Haryana for setting up two projects at an investment of Rs93 crore.

Reliance would build an airstrip and buy cargo aircraft to transport farm and dairy products out of Punjab and Haryana and fruits from Himachal Pradesh, and might enter into contract farming agreements with local farmers in these states. Reliance is talking with other states, particularly West Bengal, for similar arrangements. Its agri-business would be part of the retail business and involve building warehouses, cold storages, processing plants, retail and distribution outlets across the country.

The company has announced an investment of Rs3,375 crore for its retail business. It would set up a subsidiary to run hypermarkets, convenience stores and supermarkets across 800 towns and cities. The number of these stores will be 775 in next five years.
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Government says Tata Motors embezzled Govt. money
New Delhi: The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) has charged Tata Motors for over booking and 'embezzling' Government money. The commission said the company did not pay its taxes at the time of mega-launch of its first car Indica in 1999. The company opened bookings from January 17-23, during which it received 1.13 lakh orders and collected Rs3,216 crore. The amount included excise duty, sales tax and transportation charges, which the company did not submit to the Government exchequer immediately. The MRTPC said, "The respondent has earned unlawful gains by realising this amount from the customers and not transferring the same to the Government immediately."

The bench said later Tata motors returned the booking amount to 32,886 customers with 11 per cent interest after cancellation of their orders. However, three applicants whose orders were cancelled, filed a complaint in the Commission accusing Tata Motors of unlawfully charging the entire price along with taxes before commencing production.
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Zydus France enters into agreement with Evolupharm
Mumbai: Zydus Cadila's French subsidiary Zydus France SAS has entered into an agreement with France-based Evolupharm for expanding its distribution network.
The agreement gives Zydus France access to 2,250 more pharmacists and supplements its marketing strength, the company informed the Stock Exchanges.

The French generics market is valued at €1.5 billion and is growing at a rate of 24 per cent per year. Zydus has also accepted a €7 million offer from French company Aerocid for 29 products, a combination of mature prescription and OTC products, in the branded business of Zydus France SAS. The company's share was trading at Rs687.20 up 0.94 per cent at the Bombay Stock Exchange.
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Avtec revenues up 12 per cent at Rs.500-cr
New Delhi: GP-CK Birla Group Company, which manufactures Avtec engines, transmissions and power train components, has reported a 12 per cent growth in revenue at Rs500 crore.

The company posted annualised revenues of approximately Rs500 crore in its first year of formation after being hived off from Hindustan Motors.

C K Birla chairman, Avtec, said that the company was looking to develop new customers apart from the existing base of Ashok Leyland, Bharat Earth Movers, Caterpillar, Eicher, Ford, General Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors among others.

He said the company was strengthening its internal operations to position itself for growth both in India and export markets, with revenue expected to increase by more than 25 per cent in the current fiscal.
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HMT posts 9 per cent consolidated yearly sales growth
Chandigarh: HMT has reported a consolidated sales growth of 9 per cent at Rs541 crore for the year ended March 31. Production during the year grew by 18 per cent at Rs528 crore according to a company spokesperson. He said that the company's tractor business achieved a net profit of Rs12.74 crore with production and sales achieving a combined growth of 26 per cent.

Production in HMT Machine Tool, another subsidiary of the company, grew by 10 per cent at Rs227 crore as against Rs73.80 crore during the last fiscal, he said.

HMT Watches has cut down losses to Rs74.71 crore from Rs134.52 crore and posted a 51 per cent jump in production to Rs29.22 crore. HMT (International) continued to post profit and has achieved a profit of Rs23 lakh as against Rs7 lakh during the previous year.
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Indoco Remedies' Baddi unit starts production
Mumbai: Indoco Remedies' Rs30 crore manufacturing facility in Himachal Pradesh has started production. The facility would support the growing formulation requirements for domestic as well as international business of Indoco. The unit situated at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh belongs to Indoco Healthcare, which is a 100 per cent subsidiary of the company. The company's newly set up Rs20 crore modern research and development centre at Navi Mumbai has also commenced operations.
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KM Sugar Mills to expand operations
Mumbai: KM Sugar Mills plans to invest Rs200 crore in capital expansion and will acquire or set up new sugar units. The company's board of directors has approved the investment and setting up of new sugar units of 5000 TCD along with 15 MW co-generation power project in Bihar or possibilities of acquisition of existing sugar units, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange. The board has also approved part raising funds through foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCB), global depository receipts (GDR) in one or more tranches and by issue of preference shares or debentures.

The company would increase its borrowing limits from the existing Rs100 crore to Rs500 crore and enhance the authorized share capital up to Rs50 crore, it added. KM Sugar Mills share closed at Rs83 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
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Taj signs contract with ETA Star
Mumbai: ETA Star, a leading UAE property developer has entered into a management contract with Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces and for its $330 million Taj Exotica Resort and Spa and The Grandeur Residence Project located at The Palm Jumeirah Crescent, Dubai.

"While ETA Star will be the owners and developers of the properties, Taj will manage it for them," said Raymond N Bickson, managing director and CEO, The Indian Hotels Company (managing the Taj brand of hotels). The renewable contract is for a ten-year duration, he said.

Bickson said that the Taj Exotica Resort and Spa would be operational by 2009 and target the business and leisure traveller.

The Indian Hotels Company expects revenue from its international operations to be one third of total revenue in the next five years and plans to expand in east Asia eyeing the huge potential in the region. The company is looking at expansion in East Asian region through contract management or picking up equities.
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L&T obtains Rs.550-cr order from NHAI
Mumbai: Larsen and Toubro has bagged a Rs550 crore road project from the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). The project involves construction of four lanes for the 76 km Palanpur and Swaroopganj stretch located on the East-West corridor on NH-14 which links Gujarat and Rajasthan, the company said.

As the project is annuity-based, NHAI is scheduled to pay the annuity as equated half-yearly instalments for a period of 15 years and will be executed by L&T's Engineering Construction & Contracts (ECC) division in 30 months, it said.

This is the 10th build-operate-transfer project secured by L&T, of which five are located on the Golden Quadrilateral, three on North-South, one on the East-West corridor and one on the State Highway. The cumulative value of these projects exceeds Rs37 00 crore, said L&T construction executive director and head K V Rangaswami.
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Bhagyanagar Metals to build township in AP
Mumbai: Bhagyanagar Metals will build a 52-acre township on land allotted by the Andhra Pradesh Housing Board (APHB) at an estimated cost of Rs384 crore. The company is partnering with Bangalore-based Salarpuria group for this project, situated at Vepagunta in Visakapatnam.

The company has already made a foray in the realty sector and is also exploring options for development of underutilised industrial land.

The company's share was trading at Rs35.50 up 18.14 per cent on the BSE.
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Havells factory fire wipes out property worth Rs.1 crore
Haridwar: A fire at the factory of electrical products company Havells India in the industrial estate here late last night destroyed property worth around Rs1 crore, police sources said.

Seven fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the fire that started from a store in the factory premises and soon turned into a major blaze. No injury or loss of life was reported.
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LG launches CDMA colour phones
New Delhi: Handset manufacturer, LG has launched 'LG RD 3330', a CDMA colour phone branded as 'LG CDMA Rangeela' which is priced at Rs2,999 with a free talk time of Rs1,000 from Reliance, the company said in a release. The new phone is available in silver and black colours.
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Infotech expands Bangalore operations
Mumbai: Infotech Enterprises has expanded its Bangalore operations with the opening of its new 50,000 sq ft development facility. The new facility, inaugurated by Pratt & Whitney Canada vice president (operations) Danny Dl Perna, would engage in aero engine support, market commercial and engineering services and provide support to Canada-based Pratt & Whitney's service centres.

The company would recruit 120-150 aerospace engineers and supply chain specialists to support the operations group of Pratt Canada in material planning and procurement. The new facility situated at Bommanahalli would house the US and Canada teams of Prat t & Whitney and the Avionics development team.
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Patni Computers in IT services support pact with Mercer
Mumbai: Patni Computer Systems has signed an agreement with Mercer HR Services, a unit of U.S.-based Mercer Human Resource Consulting, for setting up a human resource outsourcing centre in India. Mercer plans to spend $50 million over the next three years on its India centre, said Patni in a statement. Patni shares were up 2.50 per cent at Rs453.95 on the NSE.
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Wipro signs agreement with Zafin Labs
Bangalore: Wipro Technologies, a division of Wipro, has entered into a strategic partnership with Zafin Labs to provide solutions for the financial services sector. The partnership will help jointly deliver solutions, using the Zafin labs 'miRevenue' suite to help financial service providers accelerate the roll out of strategies for product and pricing innovation, customer retention, acquisition and plugging revenue leakage.

According to a company statement, "The key is to have a non-invasive solution that can work with existing applications and offer a platform for the financial institution to effectively deliver customer-led product pricing and bundling strategies aimed at intelligently informed and individually crafted approach for achieving cost effective revenue growth," it said.
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