Adlabs to set up FM radio as separate business
Mumbai: The Adlabs Films' board of directors has decided to demerge the company's FM radio business and make it its' wholly owned subsidiary. Shareholders of AFL will get two shares in the subsidiary for every one share held, said a statement from the company. The subsidiary is proposed to be listed on the BSE and NSE. The demerger will not affect the share capital of AFL. The Scheme of Demerger also envisages amalgamation / merger of two subsidiaries of AFL — Entertainment One (India) Ltd and Mukta Adlabs Digital Exhibition Private Ltd — with itself. The Scheme is subject to the necessary approvals.

According to AFL, the demerger of the FM radio business will lead to the following benefits to all stakeholders of the company: Creation of an independent focused organisation to grow the potentially high growth FM radio business; enhanced financial flexibility to independently raise resources for future growth; optimal valuation of the business as an independently and separately listed entity; and ability to attract and retain high quality talent through implementation of ESOPs.
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India Inc to get benefits on implementation of quotas
Companies will get fiscal and other incentives by the government if they accept reservations in private sector jobs. Commerce minister Kamal Nath told the press that the government would come out with a new Industrial Policy in another six weeks that would have fiscal and other incentives.

He said the new industrial policy would give a new direction to industrial growth in the country. He said the policy would be sent to the Cabinet shortly for approval.

The commerce minister refuted allegations that the promulgation of the industrial policy was a throw back to an earlier era of licensing. He also said it would be different in tenor from the Industrial Development (Regulation Act).
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Dharani Sugars to invest Rs.65 crore in expanding cogen facility
Chennai: Dharani Sugars and Chemicals will invest over Rs65 crore in a new cogeneration facility at Tirunelveli and expand its distillery. The company would expand its distillery production to 90 kl a day from the present capacity of 60 kl and it would be setting up a 15-MW cogeneration unit at the Dharani Nagar sugarmill in Tirunelveli.

The mill, which has a capacity to crush 2,500 tonnes sugarcane a day, is being expanded to 4,000 tonnes. The work would be completed by mid-November. A waste heat recovery system and energy efficiency measures are being implemented here to ensure that steam consumption per tonne of cane crushed is among the best in the industry. Dharani Sugars has concluded 2005-06 with a net profit of Rs7.12 crore (Rs1.12 crore last year) on sales of Rs327.43 crore (Rs169.28 crore) for the year ending March 31, 2006.

The company has an export obligation of over 1.59 lakh tonnes over the next three years but plans to meet its entire commitment sooner to take advantage of the prices. The company has exported 11,750 tonnes sugar and is in the process of executing a 9,000 tonne order.
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Natco Pharma in tie up with Akorn Inc
Hyderabad: Natco Pharma (NPL) has entered into an alliance with the US-based Akorn Inc for supplying active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and margin sharing to commercialise two ANDA (abbreviated new drug application) injectable drug products.

In a press release here, the company said the two ANDA drug products would focus on the anti-emetic and cancer related markets. These products have a combined current market size of approximately $875-million.

According to a press release, under the API supply and margin sharing pact, Natco Pharma would be responsible for the supply of APIs for both drug products, while Akorn Inc would be responsible for the manufacturing, regulatory submissions, marketing and distribution in the hospital, clinic, and home healthcare markets in the US and Canada, the release said.
Akorn Inc, which manufactures and markets sterile speciality pharmaceuticals, has production facilities at Decatur, Illinois and Somerset, New Jersey.
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TCS to increase capacity
New Delhi: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is implementing a plan to increase capacity across its various locations. These include addition of 3,000 seats in Delhi, 4,000 seats in Hyderabad, and 5,000 seats each in Mumbai and Chennai during this year, a senior company official said.

Company officials said TCS would be adding 3,000 seats in Delhi over and above the current capacity of 6,000, while Mumbai, which has 14,000 seats would see 5,000 seats being added during the year. The capacity in Hyderabad would be doubled from the current 4,000 seats.

They said the capacity in Bangalore would be scaled up from the existing 6,000 seats to 10,000-11,000 seats, while in Kolkata the addition would be to the extent of 2,000-3,000 seats. The company currently has 4,000-seat capacity in the city. In Pune TCS plans to double its capacity to 4,000 seats during the year while it will also ramp up its presence in Bhubaneshwar, by adding 1,500 seats during the current financial year.

Earlier this week, TCS had announced plans to hire 30,500 people in the year to March 2007.
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Ballarpur Inds plans entry into non-paper stationery
New Delhi: Ballarpur Industries is planning to enter the non-paper stationery segments in the premium category. The company is looking at launching writing instruments, desktop accessories, files and folders, computer consumables, glues, adhesives and tapes. The company would launch its range of files and folders in a month, followed by other launches over the next few months.

The domestic market size of files and folders segment is Rs220 crore annually. The retail business' turnover is expected to touch Rs44-45 crore in the current financial year ending June, and Rs75-80 crore in the next financial year, he said. For all its new launches, Bilt intends to outsource products and focus on branding, distribution and packaging. As Bilt intends to import products, there is unlikely to be any upfront investment in the retail business. The company says it will invest Rs3-4 crore in advertising over 3 to 4 months.

Domestic writing instruments annual market is estimated at Rs1,215 crore, desktop accessories Rs90 crore, glues, adhesives and tapes at Rs260 crore and computer consumables at Rs1,700 crore.
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TCS eyes $200 mn revenues from S. Africa
Johannesburg: Tata group company, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) expects to earn revenues worth $200 million by 2010 from its South African operations against $28 million in 2005-06 and says the banking industry and government-related business would be the main drivers for its growth in the market there.

TCS' revenue in the current financial year may touch $49 million while the company is aiming to take it to $125 million by 2009. TCS' government business contracts bagged this year include department of justice, University of the Witwatersand (Wits), economic affairs (DFEA), Limpopo government and Gauteng department of finance. Other major clients include the South Africa Broadcasting Corporation, Anglo Platinum, Johannesburg Stock Exchange and AIG South Africa. At present, government business accounts for 10 per cent of TCS' total revenue from the region.
In the banking space, TCS's products Quartz and NCS have been implemented by First National Bank, Standard Corporate and Investment Bank and Barclays Africa.

TCS employs over 100 associates in the country and has two offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town in addition to a regional support centre for its banking products.

As part of its expansion plans, TCS is exploring the possibility of setting up a regional development centre (RDC) apart from having more products being supported from its RSC.
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Hexaware plans acquisitions
Pune: Software services company Hexaware Technologies is planning to make acquisitions of software companies abroad to expand its business and get a global footprint.

Hexaware chairman Atul Nishar said that the company was looking at companies in the US and the UK markets which are in the same domain, covering enterprise solutions and applications management, to get a larger chunk of clients." He added Hexaware would look at companies with a size of $10-15 million.

The company expects to close the deal and complete the acquisition in calendar 2006.

Nishar said the company recently struck a deal with General Atlantic Partners (GA) under which the US-based venture capital firm would invest $67 million to acquire 14.9 per cent stake in Hexaware.

"The Indian company is likely to receive the fund soon. GA would be allotted shares equivalent to 7.49 per cent stake in the company soon afterwards. The conversion of the funds to increase their share to 14.9 per cent will happen in eighteen months from the initial allotment," Nishar said.
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MRTPC clears RIL over differential pricing allegations
New Delhi: The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission has dismissed a suit alleging restrictive trade practices by Reliance Industries, overturning the findings of its investigating arm.

RIL, which manufactures 'DPE' and 'PVC' products used by the domestic plastic and fiber industry, was charged with adopting differential price mechanism which restricted competition.
It was alleged that the company followed a differential price strategy, on the basis of the quantity of take off. After receiving complaints, MRTPC had forwarded the issue to its investigating arm -- Director General of Investigation and Registration (DGIR) which supported the allegation in its report saying that the company was charging different prices from the customers of Gujarat and those from outside the state.

However, after hearing all the parties, MRTPC rejected DGIR's report.
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