Promoter equity in Bharti down to 26 pc
New Delhi: Indian promoters now hold 26 percent stake in Bharti Airtel down from 46 per cent earlier. The foreign equity in the telecom company is now at 73.83 per cent with the Singapore telecom major SingTel and the British cellular company Vodafone being the key foreign investors in the company. Bharti officials were not available for comment.

Sunil Mittal, chairman and managing director, Bharti Group, Rajan Mittal, joint managing director and Rakesh Mittal, managing director, Bharti Group, are the Indian promoters of the company. The Indian shareholding was at 46.4 per cent before the FDI cap was relaxed by the Government to allow 74 per cent foreign direct investment in November 2005.

According to the new FDI law, the management of the company will continue to be with the Mittals despite Sing Tel having nearly 30 per cent share.

The company had also taken the approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board to increase the FDI to 74 per cent as an enabling provision. Bharti is among the three Indian cellular companies which has increased its FDI beyond 49 per cent since the FDI cap in telecom sector was increased.

Among telecom players Essar Hutchison, Bharti Airtel and Aircel have more than 49 per cent FDI, while Hutchison Whampoa has increased its stake in Essar-Hutchison to 68 per cent, Malaysian company Maxis Berhard has taken 74 per cent stake in Aircel. The other Indian telecom operators which have got FDI inflows include Tata Teleservices (24.4 per cent), MTNL (22.4 per cent) and VSNL (13.3 per cent).
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Punjab Tractors files petition in CLB on Sumitomo issue
New Delhi: Punjab Tractors has filed a petition in the Company Law Board alleging that its Japanese partner Sumitomo Corporation has breached the joint venture agreement pertaining to Swaraj Mazda. Punjab Tractors has alleged that there were professional breaches of contract in the 22-year-old agreement between the company and Sumitomo. These include mismanagement and suppression of facts in the joint venture.

The company contends that it is within its rights to nominate the chairman of Swaraj Mazda and wants that Yash Mahajan, vice-chairman and managing director of Swaraj Mazda, and S.K.

Tuteja, a director in Swaraj Mazda, be restrained from functioning as managing director and director and to withdraw them from the board. Punjab Tractors also wants that Swaraj Mazda and Sumitomo should be restrained from appointing any new director on the board of Swaraj Mazda without its consent and the company be restrained from taking any such decision relating to operation and affairs without its approval.

Swaraj Mazda earlier informed the BSE P.K. Nanda and Pankaj Bajaj had been appointed as additional directors of the company. Punjab Tractors had nominated R.C. Bhargava and its chief operating officer, P. Sivaram, as its representatives on the Swaraj Mazda board, which have not been accepted by majority shareholders of Sumitomo.
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GM to invest Rs1350-crore in new unit
Mumbai: General Motors has decided to invest Rs1,350 crore in a new manufacturing facility at Talegaon, Maharashtra which is spread over 300 acres and will have an annual production capacity of 1,40,000 units.

The company has taken the land on a 95 year lease from MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation).

GM's new small car Chevrolet Spark is likely to be manufactured at the new plant. The car will be launched in the third quarter of 2007. Over 1,000 jobs are being generated due to the new development.

The company shall start building the plant from August-end and take 20 months (3rd quarter - 2008) to build the facility. Initially, the car will be manufactured at GM India's Halol (Gujarat) manufacturing facility. In order to meet demands for new product line, the company will expand its annual manufacturing capacity from 60,000 units to 85,000 units.
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Chevrolet Spark to have new engine, new features
New Delhi: The Chevrolet Spark, a new avtar of the Daewoo Matiz to be launched by General Motors will a new engine and a host of refinements. Against the earlier three-cylinder, 0.8-litre model, the Spark will have a more powerful four-cylinder, 1.0 litre (1000 cc) L S-TEC engine in a completely redesigned body. Pitted against Zen, Getz and Santo, the new car will roll out from the Halol (Gujarat) plant in early 2007.

The Spark launch will be followed by the sportier Avio UV-A, which will hit roads in another two-three months.
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Ranbaxy gets USFDA approval for Risperidone
New Delhi: Ranbaxy Laboratories has received tentative approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to manufacture and market Risperidone oral solution (1 mg/mL). The drug is indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia.

The total annual market sales for risperidone oral solution stands at about $66 million.
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Patel Engg to foray into hydel power generation
Kolkata: After constructing hydel power plants for nearly fifty years Mumbai-based Patel Engineering is planning to become an independent power producer (IPP) in the hydel sector.

The company plans to set up big projects with capacity of 100 MW, and expects to produce around 500 MW of power in the next three to four years, in Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal and in North East India. It has already sent bids for several projects in these states.

Of the total national hydel power capacity of 32,000 MW, Patel Engineering built over 7,000 MW, he said. At present, the company is building hydel plants in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Sikkim at a cost of Rs350 crore, Rs290 crore and Rs270 crore respectively.

However, the company has decided to restrict its operations to production only and has no plans to enter the transmission and distribution sector.

Patel Engineering is currently implementing Rs1,500 crore worth of projects and its order book position (projects to be implemented in the next four years) is around Rs4,500 crore. Of these, 40 per cent is in hydel power plants and 37 per cent in irrigation and water supply projects. In the first quarter of 2006-07, the company reported a 70 per cent jump in net profit at Rs20.10 crore as against Rs11.17 crore in the same quarter of 2005-06. Total income from operations increased to Rs311.08 crore (Rs238.92 crore), marking a growth of 30 per cent.
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Ruchi Soya to manufacture soaps
New Delhi: Ruchi Soya Industries (RSIL) has announced a foray into the soap segment, with its new brand `Ruchi No1'. The soap brand is being made available in two sizes, the 75 gm pack for Rs8 and the 100 gm pack for Rs10, in three different fragrances, rose, jasmine and lime.
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Star to begin broadcasting on rival Dish TV
New Delhi: Star TV India has has made available its entire bouquet of 14 channels to rival Zee's Dish TV platform. Tata Sky, the 80:20 direct-to-home (DTH) joint venture between Tata Group and Star India will also begin beaming in less than a week. The move by Star TV is seen by industry observers as a step to pre-empt Zee from denying the Zee bouquet of 23 channels to Tata Sky when it launches on August 8.

So far, Star has denied its two bouquets of 14 channels to India's first private DTH service Dish TV since its launch in December 2004. Dish TV has over 1.2 million subscribers as against DD Direct's 5 million which is a free-to-air DTH service.

Dish TV had earlier gone to appellate body, Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), petitioning them to direct Star to provide its channels on the Dish platform.

Last month, TDSAT had passed an order directing Star to give all its 14 channels at Rs27 to Dish TV. "We have honoured the TDSAT order by providing Dish TV with all the decoders.
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Ansals to invest Rs30, 000-cr in township development
New Delhi: Real estate firm Ansal Properties and Infrastructure (APIL) will spend Rs30,000 crore in developing 16 townships in north India during next 3-4 years.

APIL plans to develop four townships each in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, three in Haryana and five in Punjab in an area ranging from 250-2,000 acre, he said, adding that Lucknow township would be the largest covering 2,500 acre.

The company posted a 169% increase in its net profit at Rs28.22 crore for the quarter ended June 30 against Rs10.48 lakh in the year ago period, while its total income rose 87 per cent to Rs161.20 crore compared to Rs86.14 crore during the period under review.

The company would fund the projects through internal accruals and debts, and has tied up loans with HDFC Bank.
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