Jain Granites gets Rs.9.65- cr worth of orders
Chennai: Chennai-based granites and marbles trading company Jain Granites and Projects India is expected to register a turnover of Rs20 crore in the coming fiscal against Rs3.93 crore it registered in 2005-06, according to R. Sunil Bafna, executive director, Jain Granites. The company has received orders worth Rs9.65 crore in the first 45 days of business in the current financial year, and its export order book currently stands at Rs6.65 crore. These orders include an order of Rs3 crore for the Delhi Airport modernisation project, and business worth Rs6 crore from the second phase of the project in the coming months.

The company is planning to expand the number of showrooms throughout Tamil Nadu to about 25 in the next 12 to 15 months.
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Pitti Laminations plans pref offer
Hyderabad: Pitti Laminations (PLL) has proposed to issue on preferential basis 15-lakh equity shares at Rs120 per share (including premium of Rs110 per share) to non-promoters and one-lakh equity shares to promoters at the same price. Further, the board proposes to issue 4-lakh share warrants to promoters at Rs120 per share warrant on preferential basis. However, the company said the issue is subject to shareholders' approval at the annual general meeting scheduled for June 16.
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Tatas chooses to locate Rs.1-lakh car plant in W Bengal
Kolkata: Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Sons has announced that his company would set up the plant for producing the Rs1-lakh car in West Bengal. The project cost has been pegged at Rs1,000 crore and would be located at Singur in Hooghly district. The state has agreed to provide a total of 1,000 acres of land, of which 700 acres would be for the main production unit, while vendors and suppliers would use the remaining 300 acres. West Bengal chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said that his Government has started land acquisition for the proposed Tata Motors project and that it would be handed over to the Group within a few months.

The unit would be commissioned in 2008 and would provide employment to a total of 10,000 people, including vendors, suppliers, and service providers. The plant will directly employ 2,000 people.

Tata Earth Moving Equipment Co, popularly known as Telcon (a subsidiary of Tata Motors) has also announced an investment of Rs250 crore in the state. The company is expanding its capacity at its unit in Kharagpur.
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ONGC approves Rs.950-cr investment in CBM blocks
New Delhi: ONGC plans to start the commercial production of coal bed methane (CBM) from June 2007, the company said. The company has proposed an expenditure of Rs557 crore for the development of early CBM production in central Parbatpur area of Jharia block. Another Rs392 crore will be spent on drilling, completion and testing of 22 pilot wells in Jharia, Bokaro and North Karanpura CBM blocks. The Jharia nomination block is jointly owned by ONGC, with 74 per cent holding and Coal India, which owns the remaining 26 per cent.

An estimated peak production of 7.84 lakh cubic metres of gas per day is being targeted from the proposed development wells.

The Jharia CBM block is located within the Jharia coalfield, around 25 kilometers east of Bokaro Steel City. The total area of Jharia block is 84.5 square kilometers, out of which the Parbatpur area comprises 18 square kilometers and the area under the present production scheme is 6 square kilometers. ONGC would deploy advanced drilling technology, after its proven success by CBM operators in Australia and USA.
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Bajaj Auto Finance plans rights offer
Mumbai: Bajaj Auto Finance has proposed a rights offer to shareholders. The rights offer is in two parts — equity shares in the ratio of 6:10 and non-convertible debentures in the ratio of 1:4 with detachable warrants optionally convertible into equity shares.

The company would issue 1.26 crore equity shares in the ratio of 6:10 and 52.48 lakh non-convertible debentures in the ratio of 1:4. The company has recommended a dividend of Rs 4 per share for the year ended March 2006.
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Jindal Steel to restructure foreign loan portfolio
New Delhi: Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) is revamping its foreign loan portfolio by refinancing its external commercial borrowings (ECB) of $75 million. The company is at present paying an effective 7.1 per cent annual interest on this 5-year borrowing that would get reduced to 6.2 per cent annually post refinancing leading to a savings of Rs3 crore annually in interest outgo.

The refinance issue opened last week and is likely to be completed by month-end. The company says it has received overwhelming response and has received offers worth more than $100 million.

JSPL raised its first overseas loan in 2004 and went in for another round of ECBs in 2005 by borrowing another $75 million. The first ECB is being refinanced roughly after one and a half years though the maturity period was five years, officials said.

The arrangers of the issue are ICICI Bank (Singapore) and ING Vysya.
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Govt approves merger of MEL with SAIL
New Delhi: The government has decided to merge Maharashtra Elektrosmelt (MEL) with the Steel Authority of India. The Union Minister for Steel, Ram Vilas Paswan said "After due deliberations with the management of SAIL and MEL, we have decided to give in-principle approval to the merger of MEL with SAIL," he said.
The SAIL Chairman, V.S. Jain, said that a formal clearance of the merger would be sought at the next meeting of the SAIL board on May 25.

Paswan said SAIL was gradually expanding as a global company. The merger of MEL with SAIL will further broaden its base. Referring to the merger of IISCO with SAIL earlier this year and the impending merger of the Bharat Refractories with it, he said that all sides stand to gain from the move. The Minister said companies under the Steel Ministry are taking steps to reduce production costs despite the price rise. Productions are rising all round and there has been a marked growth in profit earning. The country is expected to produce 65 million tonnes of steel by 2011-12, he said.
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HIL operationalises asbestos plant in UP
New Delhi: Hyderabad Industries' (HIL) new asbestos manufacturing plant in Satharia in Uttar Pradesh has begun operations. The company has set up the plant at a cost of Rs30 crore, which would incorporate the company's production technology and computer-controlled manufacturing to ensure consistent quality of the products, a company release said.

The plant is HIL's first in Uttar Pradesh and aims to cater to the Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Nepal markets.
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Ranbaxy signs pact with European drug company
New Delhi: Ranbaxy Laboratories has entered into an in-licensing agreement with Netherlands-based Eurodrug Laboratories for launching the asthma product `Doxophylline' in India. The drug has been developed in collaboration with many European medical centers and will be introduced for the first time in India under the brand name "Synasma", the company said in a statement.

The drug is indicated for chronic-bronchitis, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and is claimed to be superior to available Xanthine analogues, like Theophylline and Aminophylline. Eurodurg has been successfully marketing this medicine in Europe, Latin America and few Asian markets like
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Elder Pharma signs agreement with Swedish co
Mumbai: Elder Pharmaceuticals has signed an in-licensing agreement with Sterisol AB of Sweden, part of the GePe group, to make and market its disinfectant products in India. Sterisol manufactures products that control infection and personal hygiene at workplaces and public places. Earlier this year, Elder had entered into a similar tie-up with Medichem International of UK. Subsequently it launched Trigene, a spray used as a precaution against the bird-flu virus.
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Honda Siel to expand capacity
New Delhi: Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI) plans to double its production capacity from the current 50,000 units to 100,000 units a year by the end of 2007, ahead of the original target of 2010.

The Honda Motor Company president and CEO, Takeo Fukui, told the press in Tokyo that the production capacity of HSCI's plant (at Greater Noida) would be increased to 100,000 units three years ahead of the original schedule and the company will also consider further expansion to accommodate future growth in customer demand, he said. The success of City ZX, launched in November last year, and the planned launch of the Civic this year has necessitated this second expansion exercise. HSCI had increased its production capacity from 30,000 units to 50,000 units in December last year.
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IA projects profit of over Rs.100-cr
New Delhi: Indian Airlines has projected a net profit of over Rs100 crore for 2006-07, said IA's chairman and managing director, Vishwapati Trivedi.

He cited a number of cost-cutting measures and a steady improvement in the number of passengers as the reasons for the projections. He said that despite the fuel bill increasing by more than Rs350 crore in the recent past, the airline should be in a position to report a net profit of more than Rs100 crore.

Currently, the airline is actively working on a number of new programmes, including leasing some wide body aircraft, inducting more expatriate pilots to operate the 50-seater ATR aircraft, and installing audio and video television systems in the aircraft.

IA plans to dry-lease 6-8 wide body aircraft that it hopes to induct into its fleet by February next year. IA is also examining the possibility of installing the Doordarshan DTH system on a trial basis on one of its aircraft shortly so as to offer audio and video programmes during flights.
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TV18 plans to start shopping chain
Mumbai: Television Eighteen India (TV18) is planning to launch an integrated home shopping network (HSN) in the Indian market with initial funding from SB Asia Infrastructure Fund (SAIF), of about Rs4 crore.

The TV18 HSN will use its TV 18 Network's channels - CNBC-TV18, CNN-IBN, Awaaz, Channel 7 and SAW; and six web portals- moneycontrol.com, ibnlive.com, poweryourtrade.com, commoditiescontrol.com, yatra.in and Jobstreetindia.com - to reach out to a loyal audience.

Ravi Adusumalli of SAIF Partners, said, "Given TV18's capacity to reach out to millions of people, we have a tremendous competitive advantage over a pure start-up. Although we typically do not invest in early-stage companies, TV18 provides the company with the ability to quickly become a dominant force in the shopping space," he said.

Haresh Chawla, CEO, TV18 said, "The time is ripe for a shopping enabler that integrates our media offering with a fulfilment capability. With an existing franchise of over 70 million adults that TV18's media properties reach out to, and the potential universe of affluent middle-class Indians, it is only a matter of time before TV18 attains a dominant position in this space," he said.
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Micro Tech to launch auto safety software
New Delhi: Micro technologies has launched a GIS -based vehicle tracking software system that enables real time vehicle monitoring and disallows misuse of individual vehicle by the drivers.

The software would help the vehicle customers in locating the vehicle through two way process, that is emergency messaging instruction detection and vehicle immobilization.

Dr P Sekhar, chairman and managing director of Micro Technologies said, "We have made total investment of about Rs one crore on the research and development of this software" he revealed.

This new product is compatible with every model of the car and also help the companies in tracking the employees' movements, ensuring better safety and maintaining an exact record of the employees' whereabouts with the use of latest technology, he added.

Looking at the demand and the growth in this sector, the company expects to have an order book of 50000 pieces in the next 18 months for the product which will help it attain a leadership position in this industry, said Sekhar.

For the initial stage of six months, two lakh pieces have been kept for the northern market.
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Surraaj Hotels plans to invest Rs.300-cr in luxury hotels
Mumbai: Surraaj Hotels and Resorts (SHR), promoted by Mumbai-based hotelier Kamal Galani, plans to invest around Rs300 crore for setting up four luxury hotels across the country. The group plans to come up with a five-star hotel each in Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Jaipur.

The company is close to acquiring land in Pune and is in talks for acquiring land in Bangalore, Jaipur and Hyderabad for setting up five-star hotels.

All the hotels would have a 100-room capacity. The group is also increasing its presence in Ahmedabad and is setting up a new 112-room hotel in the city with an investment of Rs50 crore. The group has acquired land of 3,500 sq mt near Panchwati and is in talks with three leading international players, who have presence in India, for this hotel.

The company has recently acquired the 72-room Hotel Akash in the city jointly with Bhagwati Group, a growing hotel chain. At present, SHR is present in Ahmedabad through the 96-room Hotel Fortune Landmark, managed by ITC's Welcome Group. It is jointly owned by Galani and Ahmedabad-based builder Sudhir Khurana.
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Videocon group plans BPO outfit
Kolkata: Videocon group, with core interest in manufacturing home appliances, is planning to set up a BPO unit at Salt Lake, employing 25,000 people. The group is also seeking to acquire 100 acres at Rajarhat for putting up a colour TV component manufacturing unit.

Videocon had earlier taken over the manufacturing unit of Philips at Salt Lake where it was now producing kitchen appliances. The group had last year bought the lamp manufacturing unit of Philips at Taratala.
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Starwood to double presence in China, India
Singapore: The second-largest US hotel company, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, plans to double its presence in China and India within the next two years, the company's Asia-Pacific president Miguel Ko said. At present Starwood has 25 hotels in China and 20 in India,

China and India are witnessing surging tourist demand and in India tourism revenue is expected to rise 8.6 percent a year until 2015.
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LGB to receive $20 mn from IFC
New Delhi: L G Balakrishnan and Bros (LGB) one of India's leading manufacturers of transmission chains for two-wheelers and for other automotive and industrial applications, will receive a $20 million financial package from the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank, for developing a greenfield hot forging facility in Coimbatore.

The investment would include an equity of $5 million and a loan of $15 million, to be used for improving the company's existing facilities and also to develop a greenfield hot forging facility near Coimbatore.

The company is in the process of implementing a $44.5 million expansion that will help it strengthen its asset base and sales in transmission chains, fine-blanked parts, and forgings and will retain and enhance its market share.

According to FCI, "The upgrades and expansion are expected to help improve the economies and employment situation in small an midsize towns where LGB's facilities are located."
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