SAIL to raise output by 1 million tonnes in current fiscal
New Delhi: Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), will raise production by one million tonnes in the current fiscal year.

According to chairman VS Jain, SAIL usually took a shutdown in April-May and the realigning of blast furnaces in this period would help it in raising production of hot metal steel by one million tones in the current year.

He said that the steel industry was doing well and the market was comfortable. He added that the prices were market-driven but buoyant.
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Tata Motors to invest Rs350-cr in UP plant
Mumbai: Tata Motors will expand capacity at its Lucknow plant, from the current 30,000 to 1 lakh units by 2008. The company will invest Rs350 crore towards this end. The announcement comes close on the heels of the recent announcement about a new plant in West Bengal.

The Lucknow plant manufactures medium and heavy commercial vehicles. There will also be some backward integration like setting up a paint shop.

The company is also moving towards expanding production capacity at its Pune plant for the production of its light truck ACE, from 30,000 to 60,000 units annually.

The new capacity should be in place by next month.
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Dell to have Indian manufacturing unit operational by year-end
New Delhi: The world's largest computer company, Dell, moving ahead on its decision to set up a manufacturing base in India, said on Thursday that the proposed unit will be operational by the end of this year.

"Currently, we are looking for a location for the plant. It will be operational by end of this year," Paul-Henri Ferrand, vice president and general manager (South Asia) for Dell said. Ferrand did not disclose the investment the company would make in the plant.

errand said the plant in India would be similar to others that the company was operating elsewhere in the world.

The company has seven manufacturing plants and is adding one each in the US, Eastern Europe and in India. The Indian plant is expected

to reduce costs for company's customers substantially and also bring down delivery times. Dell will manufacture desktops and notebook computers at this facility.

The company is currently ranked number four in India with an overall market share of five per cent.
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TCS opens dedicated financial solutions centre at Chennai
Chennai: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) launched its Banking and Financial Services Solutions Centre (BFSSC) at its facility here.

According to Ravi Viswanathan, vice president, TCS, the centre was a part of a series of strategic moves the company was making to focus on specific areas like banking, health, retail and insurance.

He also said the company had bagged a $500 million project from an American financial institution for implementing comprehensive IT solutions.

Viswanathan said the company planned to recruit 8,000 people in the near future of which 1,200 would be exclusive for BFSSC.
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Moody's upgrades IOC rating
London: Global rating agency Moody's on Thursday raised its long-term foreign currency issuer rating on state-run Indian Oil Corporation to 'Baa2/stable' from 'Baa3/ stable'.

Moody's Investor Services said in a statement that it has upgraded 15 corporate ratings in Asia Pacific region on the back of a revised policy on foreign currency ceilings. IOC is the only Indian company affected by the rating change.

Moody's said that it has revised the ratings following an examination of the corporate sector ratings throughout the region in view of the revision of its rating methodology for foreign currency ceilings.

The new policy incorporates into foreign currency ceiling ratings the possibility that a foreign currency government bond default would not automatically result in default of foreign currency debt of companies domiciled in the same country as government defaulting, Moody's said.
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Prajay to invest Rs225-cr in its IT park at Hyderabad
Mumbai: Prajay Engineers Syndicate Ltd will invest Rs225 crore in its information technology park at Hyderabad.
The company said it would commence work on the project from July.

The state-of-the-art IT park SEZ in Nacharam in Hyderabad would have over 1.35 million square feet of built-up IT space and the project was expected to yield Rs415 crore in revenue, and Rs95 crore in profits, over the next 30 months, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The Park would have a large floor plate of almost 45,000 square feet. The company is already in advanced discussions with three multinational corporations towards contracting 60-70 per cent of the total built-up space.
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Self-service check-in facility from KLM-Northwest at Mumbai
New Delhi: KLM-Northwest has announced the launch of a self-service check-in facility for its passengers flying out of Mumbai airport.

The airlines said it had installed three self-service check-in machines in cooperation with the Airports Authority of India at the Mumbai International Airport.

KLM-Northwest currently offers 18 weekly flights from India, including a daily flight to Amsterdam from Delhi and Mumbai and four weekly flights from Hyderabad to Amsterdam.
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ICRA retains A1+ rating on CP issue of Everest Industries
Mumbai: ICRA has retained the `A1+` rating assigned to the Rs. 250 million Commercial Paper Programme of Everest Industries Limited (EIL), the manufacturer and marketer of AC roofing sheets, non-asbestos cement roofing sheets and flat products.

The rating indicates highest credit quality in the short term.

It takes into account the established position of EIL in the domestic fibre cement industry which is bolstered by its strong brand and distribution capabilities, the geographical spread of its plants and its favourable financial risk profile reflected in its low debt levels and strong coverage indicators.

The company`s liquidity, cash position and undrawn bank limits support the short-term rating. Unfavourable factors are the increase in borrowings due to the company`s large capacity expansion plans; the inherent cyclicality, pricing pressures due to a largely price sensitive rural market and resulting price volatility; and the potential risk of substitution by other roofing materials.
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L&T Q4 net up
Mumbai: Larsen & Toubro Ltd on Thursday posted an increase of 40 per cent in net profit after tax (after extraordinary items) at Rs466.85 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2006, as compared to Rs333.68 crore for the same quarter in 2004-05.

The total income (net of excise) increased 8.70 per cent to Rs4744.97 crore for the quarter under review, from Rs4364.95 crore in the corresponding quarter in 2004-05, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The directors recommended a dividend of Rs22.00 on equity share of Rs2 each, it added.

For the year ended March 31, the company posted a net profit after tax (after extraordinary items) of Rs1,012.14 crore as against Rs983.85 crore a year ago.

The total income (net of excise) of the company increased to Rs15198.63 crore for financial year 2005-06 from Rs13748.26 crore in 2004-05.

The income attributable to consolidated group was Rs1317 21 crore for the year ended March 31, as compared to Rs1049.5 crore a year ago and the total income (net of excise) increased to Rs17,018.55 crore for the year ended March 31, from Rs15,037.59 crore in 2004-05.
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IGL's net profit up by 14.5 pc
New Delhi: Indrapastha Gas Limited (IGL) on Thursday reported 14.5 per cent increase in net profit at Rs106.13 crore in 2005-06 as compared to Rs92.68 crore in the previous fiscal.

The company's turnover grew by 15.4 per cent and stood at Rs609.62 crore during this fiscal against Rs528.2 crore in 2004-05, a company release said here.
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Sical ramps up trucking operations
Mumbai: Sical Logistics, a provider of integrated multi-modal logistics for bulk and containerized cargo has announced a major expansion of its road transportation operations for bulk and containerized cargo.

The company will add 80 vehicles, primarily double-axle trucks and tankers, in the immediate term, and 300 vehicles over the fiscal 2006-07. It's existing house-fleet consists of 320 vehicles.

The fleet expansion comes on the heels of a recent increase in business from major customers, namely Caltex, Tamil Nadu Petrochemicals, Pepsi India and Shell India.

Sical expects to spend Rs500 million in FY 2006-07 on the acquisition of trucks and other expenditure related to road transportation.
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SAIL 2005-06 net declines 41.09 pc to Rs.40,610mn
Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has posted 41.09% decrease in net profit after minority interest to Rs40,610.10, where the same was at Rs68,942.20 million for the year ended March 31, 2005.

Total Income (net of excise) has declined by 5.68 pc to Rs2,95,990.80 million for 2005-06 as compared to Rs3,13,828.50 million in 2004-05.

The audited results for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2006:

The company has posted 58.80% decline in net profit to Rs11,032 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2006 where the same was at Rs26,779.90 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2005. Total Income (net of excise) has decreased marginally to Rs93,789.20 million for Q4 FY 05-06 as compared to Rs95,338.80 million in Q4 FY04-05.

The company has posted a net profit of Rs40129.70 million for the year ended 2005-06 where the same was at Rs68169.70 million for the year ended March 31, 2005. Total Income (net of excise) is Rs293119.90 million for 2005-06 where as the same was at Rs2,95,746 million in FY 04-05.

The Indian Iron & Steel Company Ltd (IISCO) an wholly owned subsidiary company, has been amalgamated with the company, with effect from the appointed date i.e. April 01, 2005. The results of the quarter and financial year ended March 31, 2005, being prior to merger of IISCO with the company, are exclusive of financial results of IISCO.

Therefore, the figures for the current year are not comparable with the corresponding period of previous year. However, the consolidated financial results for the year ended March 31, 2005 includes results of IISCO, as subsidiary of the company.

The Board of Directors has recommended a final dividend of 7.5 pc on paid- up equity share capital, in addition to the interim dividend of 12.5 pc already paid, for the financial year 2005-06, thus taking the total dividend to 20 pc on paid-up equity share capital, subject to approval of shareholders.
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