Reliance claims dues from BSNL; goes to TDSAT
New Delhi: Telecom major Reliance Communications has filed an appeal before TDSAT in a dispute pertaining to payment of interconnect usage charges.

The dispute pertains to payment of interconnect usage charge (IUC) under an agreement for interconnectivity in different circles reached between BSNL and the private company, then called Reliance Infocomm in January 23, 2003. The company seeks to recover Rs 85 crore from state-run BSNL.

Acting on the appeal, the Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Authority issued notices to BSNL and Department of Telecommunication (DoT).

Reliance has asked the tribunal to direct BSNL to settle bills (worth Rs 85 crore) and waive Rs 6.82 crore fine imposed by BSNL on it. This amount includes a Rs 13.82 crore "excess" payment made by the private company to the telecom PSU.

Reliance Communications has also asked the tribunal to direct BSNL repay Rs 19.38 crores paid by it towards non roaming calls under the agreement.

The tribunal will hear the matter in the first week of July.
Back to News Review index page  

Car sales rise 30 per cent in May
New Delhi: Domestic passenger car sales rose by 29.61 per cent in May at 88,814 units as compared to 68,519 units in the same month last year.

According to data released by the Society of Indian Automobiles (SIAM), total two-wheeler sales in the domestic market also increased by 19.85 per cent at 6,69,407 units as against 5,58,515 units in May last year.

Motorcycles sales also also jumped to 5, 69,005 units during May as against 4, 56,565 units in the same month last year, up by 24.62 per cent.

Commercial vehicles sales rose by 39.89 per cent at 32,948 units compared to 23,552 units in the corresponding month last year.
Back to News Review index page  

Parsvnath Developers wins Chandigarh land deal: outbids DLF
New Delhi: Parsvnath Developers has won a 126-acre land deal in Chandigarh for Rs 821 crore, outbidding real estate giant DLF Universal. The company now plans to make a Rs 821 crore upfront payment to the Chandigarh administration.

The company would have to share 30 per cent revenue with the government from the sale of residential properties. This is estimated to be around Rs 600-700 crore, taking the entire deal in the range of Rs 1400-1500 crore.

Thus deal comes a few weeks after another real estate firm Unitech bagged a 340-acre land deal in Noida for a record Rs 1,583 crore.
Back to News Review index page  

ACC, Tarmac merger approved
Mumbai: The equity shareholders of Associated Cement Companies (ACC) have approved the merger of Tarmac India with the cement company with requisite majority.
Back to News Review index page  

Kirloskar Ferrous announces acquisition of Kirloskar Oil's castings division
Mumbai: Kirloskar Ferrous Industries has announced plans of acquiring the castings division of Kirloskar Oil Engines for Rs 21 crore. The board of directors has approved the proposal to acquire castings division of Kirloskar Oil at Solapur, Kirloskar Ferrous informed the Bombay Stock Exchange. The company said it would acquire all assets and liabilities on such terms and conditions as decided between the company and Kirloskar Oil.

The acquisition of castings division of Kirloskar Oil would be a part of the objects of the forthcoming rights issue. The consideration for the acquisition would be paid out from the proceeds of the rights issue, it said.

The shares of the company were trading at Rs 37.55, up 7.29 per cent at the BSE.
Back to News Review index page  

ONGC reorients exploration strategy
New Delhi: Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) plans to intensify oil and gas hunt in yet-to-produce basins and also focus on deepwater and frontier areas so as to add 1 million tonne of hydrocarbons everyday to its kitty.

In 2005-06, ONGC made 10 new oil and gas finds and accreted in-place reserves of 137 million tonne of oil equivalent of which over 98 million tonne had been realised through exploratory efforts.
Back to News Review index page  

Ranbaxy to acquire 96.7-per cent stake in Romanian co
Ranbaxy Laboratories has obtained approval from the Romanian Competition Council for acquiring 96.7 per cent stake in Terapia a leading generics drugs company in Romania. Ranbaxy last month announced the acquisition of Terapia, a, for $324m. Ranbaxy is acquiring Terapia through its holding company, Ranbaxy Netherlands BV.

According to officials in Ranbaxy, Romania is now the third largest market for the company in terms of revenue. This deal combines the strengths of the two leading generic companies and allows the Ranbaxy to leverage its expanded base in the rapidly growing Romanian pharmaceuticals market across the European Union and the CIS markets.
Back to News Review index page  

L&T Infotech aims to double revenues
Mumbai: Larsen and Toubro's information technology arm LTIL is targeting doubling its revenues to $350-400 mn by 2008, from the present $175-180 mn before it enters the capital markets. The company is planning to enter the capital markets by March 2008. The company aims to become a billion dollar company by end of the decade.

The company, whose software solutions and services divisions have grown at 44 per cent last fiscal, has inaugurated its global headquarter at its Powai campus. L&T is spending around Rs 600 crore this year for development of total six facilities for infotech and engineering services. The four infotech facilities are located in Powai, Navi Mumbai, Chennai and Banglore. The engineering facilities are in Powai and Faridabad.

The company has developed a 1,500 seater facility as Powai and is in the process of constructing a 2,000 seater at Navi Mumbai and 1, 300 seater in Chennai. It is also developing a 1,000 seater site at Banglore besides its present 1,500 seater facility. Besides these places, the company has major presence in Pune and Mysore.

L&T Infotech's currently employs 7,000 people and plans to add 1,500 to 2,000 people this fiscal.
Back to News Review index page  

Khaitan Chemicals net profit up 94 per cent
New Delhi: Khaitan Chemicals and Fertilizers has reported a 94 per cent jump in profit after tax at Rs 8.85 crore for the year ended March 2006, against Rs 4.56 crore the previous fiscal.

The company has declared a dividend of 18 per cent. Topline and other income of the company rose by 33 per cent to Rs 245.6 crore during 2005-06 as compared to Rs 184.86 crore in the previous year.

Operating profit appreciated by 33 per cent to Rs 22.91 crore.
Back to News Review index page  

Volkswagen to set up plant in India
German carmaker Volkswagen is firming up plans to set up a car assembly plant in India with an investment of Rs15 billion. The company's plant will have the capacity produce about 100,000 cars annually each priced in the Rs400,000 to Rs1 million range.

The company is now said to have chosen to set up the plant in Punjab following a much talked about a fraud case that took place in Andhra Pradesh which involved a former company executive.

The plant is expected to create 5,000 jobs directly, in addition to 50,000 jobs involving those who make components. The Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh said an agreement for the plant is expected to be signed soon.
Back to News Review index page  

GAIL, HPCL sign JV for PNG distribution in MP
New Delhi: Gas Authority of India and Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) have floated a joint venture firm, Aavantika Gas (AGL), for setting up city gas distribution projects in Madhya Pradesh.

According to a statement the joint venture company will implement city gas projects for supply of piped natural gas (PNG) to domestic, commercial and industrial consumers and compressed natural gas (CNG) to automobile consumers in the cities of Madhya Pradesh.

Avantika Gas plans to commence the city gas project implementation initially in Indore depending on gas availability. The Jagoti-Pithampur pipeline being laid GAIL shall provide pipeline connectivity to Indore city gas project. Later the project implementation shall be expanded to other cities such as Gwalior and Ujjain on the basis of financial viability and gas availability.

GAIL has formed eight joint venture companies, which are implementing similar gas projects in various cities across the country. GAIL is further planning to form state wise JVCs along with oil marketing companies in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka and West Bengal in the near future.
Back to News Review index page  

HCC net profit falls
Mumbai: Hindustan Construction Company has registered a 3.77 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 43.80 crore for the quarter ended March 31, as against Rs 45.52 crore for the corresponding period in 2004-05. However, total income for the fourth quarter of 2005-06 grew 49.36 per cent to Rs 768.91 crore from Rs 514.79 crore for the same period in the previous fiscal.

The board has declared a dividend of Re 0.70 per share on shares of Re one each for the financial year ended March 31, it said.
Back to News Review index page