RITES' rehab plan for Bokaro Steel
New Delhi: RITES Ltd, a subsidiary of the Indian Railways, has prepared a Rs231.87-cr railway rehabilitation scheme for Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL), the largest flat products unit of the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).

The highlights of the scheme include modification of existing yards, lines and stations (Rs30.66 crore), rehabilitation of tracks (Rs68.03 crore), railway electrification (Rs4 crore), new locos (Rs78 crore), acquisition of one 140-tonne diesel rail crane (Rs10 crore), additional facilities for loco shop (Rs3.18 crore), new tipplers and pusher cars (Rs15 crore) and signalling and communications (Rs23 crore).
Back to News Review index page  

Giordano plans 100-store chain in 5 years
Chennai: International casual wear brand Giordano plans to set up 100 stores in India in the next five years. After the opening of its first store in India at Chennai a month back the store has inked deals for five more stores in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai, including an additional one at Chennai.

According to Giordano officials these stores would take about two years to come up as the malls housing them are expected to be ready in that time. The brand is also mulling franchising stores for the high street and in existing shopping centres eventually.

Giordano's clothes, all imported, are priced between Rs395 and Rs1,995. Its range includes t-shirts, denims, khakis and linen clothes.

Giordano is a Hong Kong-based brand with a network of 1,800 stores in over 30 countries in Asia and Australia. It also supplies merchandise for some major brands such as Levi's and Disney, which business accounts for 20-30 per cent of the group's activities.
Back to News Review index page  

BSNL opens new front in war with MTNL
New Delhi: BSNL and MTNL have opened a new front in their ongoing spat over the payment of dues, with the former issuing a fresh demand for immediate payment of access deficit charges on limited mobile services `Garuda' since November 2004.

MTNL has not been paying the ADC charges for limited mobile phones on the grounds that it was offering the services under the fixed telephony licence in areas where it was technically not feasible to lay copper cables.

The company also told BSNL that it should await the decision of the Supreme Court in a case filed by Tata Teleservices against the order by the telecom dispute tribunal asking CDMA operators to pay ADC on limited mobile services.

In its letter to MTNL sent on May 30, BSNL said that though the issue was with the Supreme Court, there was no stay on the TDSAT ruling.

"MTNL was neither a party in any of the sub judice cases nor has it paid any pending interconnect usage charges including ADC payments to BSNL regarding its fixed wireless limited mobile services. Therefore, MTNL cannot be treated at par with Tata Teleservices and Reliance, who have already made interim payment to BSNL as per the order of the Supreme Court," BSNL said in its letter to the MTNL chairman.

BSNL had demanded nearly Rs1,000 crore from MTNL for carrying its long-distance calls and other charges. Though MTNL paid Rs312 crore, it severed its ties with BSNL and entered into a fresh agreement with VSNL for carrying its STD calls between Delhi and Mumbai.
Back to News Review index page  

Infosys sitting on cash pile
New Delhi: India's second largest software exporter Infosys Technologies enjoys a strong liquidity position with over Rs6,000 crore in assets, including cash surplus.

The Nasdaq-listed company has said in its annual report: "we continue to be debt-free; and maintain sufficient cash to meet our strategic objectives. Liquidity in the balance sheet needs to balance between earning adequate returns and the need to cover financial and business risks.

"Our growth has been financed largely thorugh cash generated from operations and to a lesser extent, from the proceeds of equity. During 2005-06, our internal cash accruals more adequately covered working capital requirements, capital expenditure and dividend payments leaving a surplus of Rs1,612 crore. As on march 2006, the company had liquid assets including investments in liquid mutual funds of Rs4,463 crore."

These funds have been deposited with banks, highly-rated financial institutions and in liquid mutual funds.
Back to News Review index page