DaimlerChrysler to consolidate Indian operations
Pune: DaimlerChrysler is planning to expand and consolidate its India operations. The company is planning to set up a new plant in the country and has requested the Maharashtra government for a plot of land to locate its new facility.

The government sources said they had identified a 100-acre plot at Vadgaon on the Mumbai-Pune route and that the Government would hand over the land to the company in a couple of months once it gets the company's go-ahead.

Government sources also said that the company was initially given the option of locating its new facility at Ranjangaon but the German company favoured a location closer to the Mumbai-Pune expressway since it imports completely built up units (CBUs) of M, S, CLS, SL and SLK class cars and soon, the Actros truck.

The company's current facilities are located on a 20-acre plot at Chikhali near Pune where it assembles the S, E and C class cars.
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Dutch court favours Ranbaxy on atorvastatin
New Delhi: Ranbaxy Laboratories said that a three-judge panel of the District Court of The Hague has held that (Pfizer) Warner-Lambert's `European Patent 409 281' - covering the calcium salt of atorvastatin, which had been challenged by Ranbaxy, was invalid in the Netherlands, according to a statement by Ranbaxy.

However, Ranbaxy's atorvastatin product was ruled to infringe the "broadest claims" of (Pfizer) Warner-Lambert's `European Patent 247 633' in the Netherlands.

"Ranbaxy is evaluating this decision and will decide on its course of action shortly," the company statement said.

Pfizer said the ruling of the panel prevents Ranbaxy from launching its drug before Lipitor's basic patent (European Patent 247,633), which expires in November 2011.

In a statement on its Web site, Pfizer said the decisions by the Dutch court do not affect challenges to Lipitor patents pending in other countries, including the US.
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Eicher' brand name worth Rs40 crore
Chennai: Tractors and Farm Equipment (TAFE) paid the Eicher group Rs39.60 crore for using the `Eicher' brand name. The amount was part of the consideration of Rs310 crore that TAFE paid Eicher for its last year's acquisition of three divisions of Eicher Motors Ltd. A sum of Rs14 crore was also included in the payment for `Goodwill.'

TAFE, part of the Chennai-based Amalgamations group, sold close to 20,000 tractors during the year under the Eicher brand, which was 18 per cent more than sales of Eicher tractors in the previous year.

(The three divisions of Eicher Motors - tractors, engines and gears - were taken over by an SPV, TAFE Motors and Tractors Ltd. In 2005-06, the company achieved a turnover of Rs607.04 crore and a net profit of Rs20 crore. It also paid TAFE a dividend of 20 per cent.)
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Amco Batteries turns around
Bangalore: Amco Batteries of Bangalore has turned around. The company's financial statements show an income of Rs14 crore derived by `sale of land' and Rs46 crore as `income from property development'. During the year, the company paid back the entire bank loans of Rs39 crore and wrote-off Rs19.50 crore of deferred revenue expenditure. On a turnover of Rs145 crore (including the income from sale of land and property development), the company achieved a net profit of Rs37 crore, after charging the deferred revenue expenditure to the profit and loss account.
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Tetra Pak looks at growth through packaged milk
Pune: After having established itself in the fruits and beverages segment, Tetra Pak India, the subsidiary of the Sweden-based Tetra Pak, is looking at growth through the growth of packaged milk. The company is now focusing on the dairy industry to promote Tetra Pak packages. India produces about 100 billion litres of milk a year, of which 13 billion litres are sold in packed form - mostly in pouches. Tetra Pak packages account for about a tenth of the portion sold in packaged form.

The company has recently launched a generic ad campaign promoting milk in Tetra Pak packages.

Tetra Pak officials said that if the quantity of milk produced poses an opportunity, the style and consumption patterns in the Indian market were a challenge.

Tetra Pak in India started small in 1998 and has grown to about 150 million packages in 2006. By 2010 it hopes to more than double this quantity.
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Satyam opens SAP academy to groom professionals
Hyderabad: Satyam Computer Services launched a SAP Training Academy to train over 1,500 experts in the next two years as part of an agreement SAP India according to which the latter will provide specially designed training modules for basic and advanced education in SAP solutions. New learning centres have been created and experts in SAP solutions and other domains will qualify for this programme.

Satyam officials said: "With customised training modules, this initiative will enable Satyam to offer customers innovative solutions and allow the organisation to feature consistent availability of SAP solution-based skill sets."

Satyam has over 3,000 associates working on SAP practice for a large customer base. This training initiative reinforces its strategy to bolster its expertise in SAP solutions and aligns with the demand for professionals.
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Dell to set up manufacturing unit in Chennai
Bangalore: Dell is setting up a manufacturing unit in Chennai, which would be the company's third manufacturing unit in Asia, after China and Malaysia.

This is part of Dell's overall push to focus on fast emerging markets. The company recently got FIPB approval to sell its products online, in a way similar to its famous direct to consumer model, which had catapulted the company to its current leading position.

Dell already has extensive sales and marketing operations in India, and customer contact centres in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chandigarh.
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Infosys to enter Nasdaq-100
Mumbai: Infosys Technologies will enter the Nasdaq-100 when the index comes up for review in December, becoming the first Indian company to do so. With a $25 billion market capitalisation of American Depository Receipts (ADRs), the Bangalore-headquartered Infosys is now ranked 98 on the Nasdaq.

The Nasdaq-100 includes 100 of the largest non-financial securities listed on the Nasdaq, based on market capitalisation.

On entering the index Infosys will join Amazon.com, Google, Cisco, Red Hat, Autodesk, eBay, Juniper Networks, Yahoo, Netscapes, Oracle and Apple Corporation and Cognizant Technology.

In terms of the total Infosys stock traded on the Nasdaq as well as the Indian equity market, the infotech major is much bigger than several other companies in the Nasdaq-100.

However, to qualify for Nasdaq-100, the market capitalisation is calculated only on outstanding ADRs. The total outstanding ADRs of Infosys on the Nasdaq stands at 55,36,86,352, valuing the company at $25.46 billion, taking an average of $46 per ADR. The Infosys ADR is currently traded at $44-47 on the Nasdaq.
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VSNL may invest up to $200mn in South Africa venture
Mumbai: Videsh Sanchar Nigam is likely to invest up to $200 million in its South African venture, Neotel, over the next three years and a large part of the money earmarked for investment will be spent this fiscal, company officials said.

Officials also said that VSNL will stop further investments in group company Tata Teleservices and its resources will be directed towards overseas acquisitions, such as Tyco International's under-sea fibre optic cable unit and Teleglobe International Holdings Ltd.

They said the management had decided that Tata Teleservices would have to find alternate sources of funding.

As on March 31, 2006 VSNL's total investment in Tata Teleservice's equity stood at 10.11 billion rupees, with its holding at 14.14 per cent.
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Infosys, Schlumberger sign pact to service energy firms
Bangalore: Infosys Technologies has up with oilfield services firm Schlumberger to target oil and gas companies. The two will offer software services that help improve productivity for energy firms, Infosys said in a statement.

Shares of Infosys closed up 2.15 per cent at Rs1,808 in a firm Mumbai market.
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Reliance rethinking on fuel retail
Mumbai: Reliance Industries is having a rethink regarding its fuel retailing plans due to falling sales according to a senior company official.

Reliance has seen its market share fall to 2 per cent from 16 per cent at the start of the year after it raised prices of petrol and diesel in the past quarter. State-run refiners, which dominate the market, sell fuel at government-controlled prices and are compensated by the government for their losses. Private retailers are not compensated and Reliance is forced to raise its prices.

The company is trying to see how it can come out of this at the right time.
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GAIL looks at joint bids with foreign cos for oil, gas
New Delhi: India's state-run gas firm GAIL (India) is talking to at least six foreign firms to jointly bid for Indian oil and gas blocks that the government plans to auction.

Gail is in advanced talks with Italy's ENI, Oman's Petrogas E&P LLC, U K's Foresight Oil Ltd, Calgary's Silver Bay Resources Ltd and Australia's Tap Oil Ltd.

GAIL, which plans to bid for about 20 blocks, is also looking at partnering Daewoo International of South Korea. The last date for the submission of bids in India's largest ever exploration licensing is Sept 15.
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Ansal API gets approvals for two SEZ projects
New Delhi: Real estate company Ansal API has received approval for setting up a Rs6,533 crore Special Economic Zone in Rajasthan and has also got clearance to set up a similar project at the cost of Rs 800 crore from Haryana government.

The project in Rajasthan would come up within next six years at Neemrana spread over an area of 2,500 acre while the SEZ project in Haryana's Sonepat district would come up at Murthal over 255 acre to be completed in next three years, a company release said here. The company says it chose Rajasthan for its project due to good rail, road and air connectivity, availability of power and skilled labour, besides the developed industrial corridor of Gurgaon, Manesar, Dharuhera, Bhiwadi, Bawal and Neemrana.

The reason behind the selection of Murthal as engineering based industry SEZ is the previous year total exports from Sonepat of Rs1,320 crore, out of which more than half at Rs732 crore came from engineering goods.

Ansal API is also planning to set up IT parks at Lucknow, Chandigarh, Panipat, Meerut, Jaipur, Jodhpur and Patiala.
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