Dabur plans acquisitions in personal, health, skincare segments
New Delhi: Dabur India as part of its Vision 2010 plan is planning to acquire brands of particular companies that fit into its product portfolio, instead of acquiring entire companies, such as with Balsara.

Sunil Duggal, chief executive officer, Dabur India said, "The idea is to fill in the gaps in our product portfolio by acquiring brands that fit in."

The company has divided the entire expansion process according to geographical sections of focus, potential and opportunistic markets. The focus markets for Dabur include the West Asian countries, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, USA and Nigeria. The company will use the strategy to set up manufacturing facilities in these markets as they have huge growth possibilities.

In potential markets such as Sri Lanka, the idea is to build up size by identifying the ability to create a niche for the company. Dabur has also identified the southern market of India as an immense potential for growth. Consequently, the company has launched specific products with certain modifications to suit the south Indian palate.

The company also plans to package and market its products in a way that is specifically suited to the south, as it aims to achieve 15 per cent of its total turnover from the region.
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Need to address wage inflation in sector: TCS
Hyderabad: The average wage inflation of 15 per cent per annum in the technology sector is causing concern to companies like Tata Consultancy Services.

S. Padmanabhan, executive vice president Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) said the issue needed to be addressed collectively.
The growth scenario in China is 7-8 per cent, Brazil (6-7 per cent) and Eastern Europe (4-5 per cent). Considering India's starting point, which is still low, one has to see the sustainability of this high wage inflation. The situation is mainly because there is shortage of talent, according to him.

Padmanabhan said TCS was set to recruit 30,000 people during the year, and there was a need to to check such inflationary growth.

TCS expects to grow the number of employees drawn from different countries to about 8.5 per cent this year from 6.5 per cent. Of the planned addition of 30,000 people, 4,000 will be from countries such as China, Hungary, Poland and Latin America.
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Bentley to launch convertibles in India
Bentley, which makes some of the most expensive cars in the world, plans to launch its convertible in India soon.
An official with the company said that the six-lt convertible will cost around Rs2.25 crore.

The model currently being sold in India, the Continental Flying Spur costs Rs1.8 crore and is said to be the fastest car in the world with a top speed of 312 kmph. The official also said that the company expects to sell between 25 and 30 Continental Flying Spurs in the country.

In another year, around 50 Bentleys are expected to be sold in India.

The domestic market for super luxury cars - priced above Rs1 crore - is recording a growth rate of 30 per cent. In India, the cars in this category include the Maybach, the Rolls Royce and the Bentley.
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Reliance files three appeals against BSNL, MTNL
New Delhi: Reliance Communications promoted by Anil Ambani has filed three petitions against BSNL and MTNL in the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) against rentals charged for points of interconnection and recovery suits.

TDSAT chairman, Justice Arun Kumar, has issued notices to MTNL and BSNL and directed them to file reply within five weeks. The first petition filed against BSNL is related to the rental charge taken by it from Reliance for providing points of interconnect (POIs).

In its petition, Reliance alleged that despite TDSAT's earlier direction, BSNL levied the charges with retrospective effect and acted arbitrarily by taking unilateral decisions.

BSNL was providing interconnection with its network to telecom operators on copper cable and later demanded higher rental charges after it shifted to Optical Fibre Cable.

The other two petitions against MTNL and BSNL are in the nature of recovery suits, in which Reliance has sought a refund of the extra amount it had paid to them as interconnection charges.
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Hetero Drugs plans SEZ
Hyderabad: Hyderabad-based Hetero Drugs Ltd (HDL) will soon begin to develop a 250 acre special economic zone (SEZ) it is setting up in Nakkapally, about 110 km from Vishakhapatnam.

It is also set to begin the construction of a manufacturing plant in the SEZ.

He added that the development of the SEZ would take place following the final approval for the project.

Company officials said the company will be setting up operations in the SEZ, which would attract investments to the tune of Rs250 crore. HDL itself would be setting up about five manufacturing units in the zone.

With its five units, the company's export earnings would go up to Rs450 crore from the current Rs300 crore. The company's turnover in last financial year was around Rs1,000 crore.

Last year, the company had signed up with Roche for the Oseltamivir generic, Tamiflu, and it is now exporting the bird flu drug to various countries.
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Birla Nuvo to invest Rs100-cr to expand retail presence
Bangalore: Aditya Birla Nuvo, which owns the Bangalore-based Madura Garments, is planning to make investments to the tune of Rs100 crore in increasing its retail presence.

The additional investments are in line with achieving a turnover of Rs1,000 crore from retail sales of branded apparel by the end of the current fiscal.

The investment will go towards exclusive outlets for the five apparel brands and Planet Fashion Stores, where all brands are available.

The company said it is planning 40 Planet Fashion stores in the coming years.

In the previous financial year, the company reported an income of Rs535 crore from retail sales.

As part of its plans to expand its product portfolio, the firm launched 'Van Heusen Woman' and 'V dot' range of apparel brands here on Thursday.

At present, sells 1.50 million garments a year of the Van Heusen brand registering a Rs225 crore business.

After the Aditya Birla group acquired Madura Garments six years back, the company became the owner of well known ready to wear apparel brands like Louis Philippe, Allen Solly and Van Heusen. It also retails the Esprit brand apparel and accessories.
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