JK Tyres to review prices in Sept
New Delhi: JK Tyres plans to review its tyre prices in September this year as it faces intense pressure on margins due to an increase in input costs.

J K Tyres president, Arun K Bajoria, said the spurt in prices of inputs such as rubber, carbon black and other raw materials had put severe pressure on the operating and profitability margins of the company and the company's net profit margins have dipped below one per cent, while operating margins stand at around seven per cent against the double-digit figures around 2-3 years back he said.

He said the the first priority of the company was to absorb the cost pressures by itself and pass on the least to the consumers. J K Tyre had raised prices by 2.2 per cent in April when it also hinted at a further increase in the coming months.
Back to News Review index page  

Hyundai to give Sonata a diesel push
New Delhi: Hyundai Motor India is launching a diesel variant of its premium segment Sonata model by October this year, while it is readying to introduce a CNG driven small car by early next year.

The company sold about 50 units of the Sonata last fiscal and targets to sell about 2,000 units a year said Lheem managing director Hyundai Motor India.

He said the company has not yet worked out as to how much will be the price difference between the existing Sonata and the diesel variant, but said the company expected to sell about 200 units a month.

He said the company is also planning to introduce CNG powered small cars by early January next year and is also on track to launch the ''twin small car'' by October next ear, he said.
Back to News Review index page  

Emco to raise funds from global, domestic markets
Mumbai: Emco Ltd, a leading manufacturer of transformers plans to raise over Rs232 crore ($50 million) from the international or domestic market through the issue of Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs) or other securities. The board of the company has approved the proposal to raise funds through the issue of FCCBs, GDRs, shares or other securities, the company informed the BSE on Thursday.

The company is also seeking shareholders approval for increasing the borrowing limit to Rs1,000 crore from the present limit of Rs 500 crore.
Back to News Review index page  

Mittal Steel zeroes in on three sites for Jharkhand plant
Mumbai: Mittal Steel has zeroed in on three sites in Jharkhand - Saraikela, Galudi & Torpa, for its proposed steel plant. The company said it will submit application for land acquisition in four weeks.
Back to News Review index page  

California Software makes expansion plans
Mumbai: California Software Co based in Chennai said its US subsidiary — American HealthNet Inc (AHN) — has received an investment of $1 million from Andorra Ventures Corporation (AVC), a venture capital firm, to meet its expansion needs.
After the investment, Hong Kong-based AVC would hold around 18 per cent of the expanded capital of AHN, the company informed the BSE.

Simultaneously, Calsoft Group's stake in AHN has increased to 52.81 per cent through stock buyouts from existing shareholders, it added.

The company expects that the expansion of AHN would add to the company's overall growth and contribute to its consolidated profits before the next fiscal, it said. AHN is a health care software product company and provides enterprise software applications to community health care organisations.
Back to News Review index page  

Post ban Cola sales fall 10 per cent
New Delhi: Cola sales of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have fallen by almost 10 per cent after some state governments banned the drinks. The States have acted after the Center of Science and Environment found pesticide residues in 57 samples of the two firms' products.

Six state governments Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Karnataka have stopped the sale of drinks at or near state-run schools, colleges and hospitals. Kerala state has gone further and issued a blanket ban on the production and distribution of the drinks.

More states are said to be considering bans. The CSE said it found pesticide levels in 11.85 parts per billion in drinks tested in 12 states, 24 times higher than limits agreed, but not yet enforced, by the Bureau of Indian standards.

Coca Cola and Pepsi say their drinks are safe for consumption. The have published newspaper advertisements to say pesticide levels in their products are below permissible levels, and less than those detected in other foods, such as tea, fruits and dairy products.

"Our soft drinks have been regularly tested and evaluated by a world- renowned UK government laboratory — Central Science Laboratories (CSL). All tests show that our soft drinks are below the EU criteria for pesticide residues in bottled water," Coke said for the first time since the controversy over pesticides began.

Meanwhile, the company also supported a move by the government to adopt clear criteria for pesticide residues in soft drinks, which are based on scientifically validated testing methods.
Back to News Review index page  

Google to set up server farm in India
Mumbai: Google is said to be planning to set up a server farm in India. Its earlier plans to do the same were thwarted by infrastructure-related problems. Google went to Taiwan instead.

The server farm envisages a huge investment running into hundreds of crores of rupees. Industry sources said that the centre in India will be the company's second such facility in Asia and seventh globally.

Server farms hosts websites and also act as a store house for all information available on the internet. It will store e-mails, blogs, photos, documents and chat records, and make it available to users when they demand it.

Google's proposal to set up a server farm in India comes on the back of increasing number of internet users in the country. A local server will allow users to access the internet faster and also save on access costs from international locations when volumes increase.

Google's server farm in India will further boost the country as a preferred destination for competing companies like Microsoft and Yahoo.
Back to News Review index page  

Jindal Steel's Bolivia plans get delayed
Mumbai: Jindal Steel and Power's (JSPL) plan to become one of the world's biggest iron ore producers has been delayed. The delay comes as the Bolivian government, demanding higher royalty, has put on hold its approval for the $2.3-bn development of the El Mutun iron ore mines in Bolivia.

JSPL, on June 2, had announced an initial deal with the Bolivian government to develop a 1.7mn tonne steel plant, a 6mn tonne sponge iron unit and a pellet-making plant with a capacity of 10mn tonnes at El Mutun. The mines have iron ore reserves of 40 billion tonnes, one of the largest in the world.

The project's implementation could catapult Naveen Jindal's company into the global league as an iron ore mining major.

Initially, the Bolivian government had wanted 2.5m tonnes per annum of iron ore to be mined and 54 per cent of the net income from the operations. The government subsequently stipulated a royalty of 8-9 per cent for iron ore, 10 per cent for concentrate and a duty of 7 per cent on export of sponge iron and 5 per cent on the export of steel. Royalty is a charge given by the miner to the owner of the land on which the mining is undertaken.

Bolivia's new president Evo Morales recently launched a drive to nationalise natural resources.
Back to News Review index page