BSNL to launch low cost handsets
Mumbai: Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) is revving up plans to add more than 20mn mobile subscribers every year. The company will soon launch handsets that cost less than Rs1,000 ($20) in the market.

The handsets will be offered on the GSM platform and BSNL is currently in talks with Taiwanese and Chinese handset manufacturers. According to sources, BSNL is in preliminary talks with Taiwan's Compal and China's TCL Communication Technology (TCT).

The handsets to be sold as 'BSNL phones' will be based on single-chip technology. The SIM card will be non-removable and the mobile will remain on the BSNL network only.

BSNL is not looking at targeting the top-end market and will continue to cater to mass market demand.
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AT&T to offer ISD services
New Delhi: The government has allowed US telecom major AT&T to begin international long distance services in India. The letter of intent is valid for three months.

AT&T will offer these services through a joint venture with the Mahindras, in which the former has a 74 per cent stake. The company had applied for a license in 2006.

The company aims to focus on the enterprise segment and will target large BPOs, MNCs and players in the IT and ITeS space. The company says it will review the retail business when appropriate. DoT has also placed an additional rider in the LoI which states that the majority of the board members and top positions must be resident Indians. AT&T sources said the company had already met this provision in its application. Its four-member board includes chairman Virat Bhatia, MD Sanjiv Bhagat, M Ramadoss, director (all from AT&T) and Ulhas Yargop (Mahindra Group).
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BEML inJV with Brazilian construction co
Mumbai: Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Brazil-based CCC (Compagnie Comercio E Construcoes) for setting up a joint venture company to manufacture and supply rail wagons and construction equipment. BEML would hold 60 per cent share in the joint venture while the Brazilan company would hold 40 per cent share.

For this new venture, BEML would invest Rs100 crore by taking over a factory on the outskirts of Rio-de-Janeiro, Brazil.

Given the growing demand in the Brazilian market and other South American countries in terms of expansion of mines and offtake of wagons, this joint venture would help BEML penetrate into new market overseas.
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Southern Ispat to set up Kerala steel plant for Rs500-cr
Mumbai: Southern Ispat plans to invest Rs500 crore for setting up an integrated steel plant at Kannur in Kerala. The plant would produce 1,000 MT of sponge iron, 800 MT of steel billet, 50 mega watt power by waste heat recovery and one structural and TMT bar rolling mill, the company said. For this the company would enter into a memorandum of understanding with Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) on September 23.

The land for setting up the plant is to be acquired from the Kerala state government through KSIDC and funds required for setting up the plant would be brought by promoters, financial institutions and by way of a public issue.

The project is proposed to start from January 2007 whereas the production would start stage wise from April 2008.
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Wockhardt and MIDC sign MoU for pharma SEZ
Mumbai: Pharmaceuticals company Wockhardt has signed a memorandum of understanding with Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) for establishing a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Aurangabad. The company plans establish a pharmaceutical and bio-pharmaceutical manufacturing and research facility at the SEZ that would provide employment to an estimated 2,000 people.

The SEZ would be spread over 107 hectares of land leased by MIDC at Shendra and will provide the base for a new thrust in international markets that will drive Wockhardt's growth in the coming years said Habil Khorakiwala, chairman of the company.

He added that the SEZ will make Aurangabad a major hub for pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. It would house manufacturing facilities for active pharmaceutical ingredients, biopharmaceuticals, research and development centre, effluent treatment plant, a corporate office, warehouse as well as a residential and recreational complex.
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Suzlon subsidiary ties up with US firm
Mumbai: Suzlon Energy's subsidiary, Suzlon Wind Energy Corporation, has signed an agreement with US-based John Deere Wind Energy for supply of 247 MW wind turbines of the capacity of 247 MW. The delivery of the turbines would take place in phased manner throughout 2007. The US-based Suzlon Wind Energy Corporation is the wholly owned subsidiary of Suzlon's international business arm - Denmark-based Suzlon Energy A/S.

In a filing on the Bombay Stock Exchange Suzlon said following the alliance with the US firm, the company's current consolidated order book position stands at Rs5,777 crore, with Rs4,977 crore in international orders and Rs800 crore in domestic orders.
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Tyre production rises 18 pc in July
New Delhi: The total tyre production increased by 18 per cent at 63,54,444 units, in the country for the month of July 2006 as compared to 53,97,005 in the corresponding period last year.

According to figures released by the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA), passenger car tyre production during the month increased by 16 per cent at 12,88,812 units as compared to 11,09,387 units in the year-ago period.

Motorcycle tyre production during July saw a massive increase of 42 per cent at 22,84,948 units as against 16,07,950 units a year ago, the ATMA said. Exports, however, declined by 12 per cent in July at 3,76,386 units as compared to 4,27,219 units last y ear.
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Videocon to set up SEZ in Aurangabad
Mumbai: The Videocon group has entered into a joint venture with the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) for setting up a multi-product Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Shendra in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra. The SEZ, spread across 3,000 to 5,000 acres, would be set up with an investment of Rs6,600 crore and would generate employment of over 40,000 people. This will be yet another large investment coming into the State that has already been successful in attracting investments from automobile companies like General Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra and two-wheeler giant Bajaj Auto, officials said.
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Infosys and Oracle implement HCM solution at Nissan North America
Mumbai:Infosys and Oracle have announced the successful 'go-live' of PeopleSoft 8.8 implementation at five Nissan North America locations in the US, Canada and Mexico. Nissan North America Inc, a subsidiary of Nissan Motor Co Ltd, had first partnered with Infosys in January 2005 on this multi-lingual, multi-currency HR and Payroll software solution.

The PeopleSoft Enterprise Human Capital Management (HCM) 8.8, deployed by Infosys at Nissan North America, includes PeopleSoft Enterprise Human Resources, Base Benefits, Benefits Administration, ePay, eProfile, eCompensation, eBenefits, eRecruit and eDevelopment.
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Satyam signs agreement with Melbourne varsity
Mumbai: Satyam Computers Services has entered into an agreement with the University of Melbourne for enabling students of the varsity to do software development internship with the company each year. According to the agreement, 10 MU students can undertake a software development internship with Satyam each year.

Satyam would recruit as many as 20 software engineers from the university every year. The participants would undergo a three-month training course in India and China and upon completion of the programme, Satyam would place them on projects in Australia or one of its other 55 global locations. Satyam said the alliance would increase opportunities for both Melbourne Information and Communication Technology students and businesses.
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BSNL-MTNL to set up undersea cable with Rs1800-cr investment
New Delhi: BSNL and MTNL the two state-owned telecom companies plan to jointly invest Rs1,800 crore to lay an undersea cable between India-Singapore. The project has a strict time schedule and the companies have commissioned a consultant for preparing a blue print for it. Millennium Telecom, a subsidiary of MTNL, which is 49 per cent held by BSNL would lay the cable.

BSNL officials said the two companies were also considering a land route between the two countries through Myanmar.
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Welspun-Gujarat gets Rs700-cr of orders
Mumbai: Welspun-Gujarat Stahl Rohren has received orders worth Rs700 crore ($152 million) for the supply LSAW and spiral pipes for oil and gas applications.

The orders have been bagged largely from the US (Rs450 crore) and Iran (Rs200 crore).

The new orders take Welspun's current pending order book position to around Rs1,800 crore, a release from the company said.
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Hetero, Aurobindo to set up SEZ near Hyderabad
Hyderabad: Hetero Drugs and Aurobindo Pharma will be the anchor clients at the drugs and formulations special economic zone (SEZ) planned at the Green Industrial Park at Jedcherla near Hyderabad.

The companies will sign the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) and plan to invest a total of about Rs200 crore initially in developing 240 acres of land.

An area of 960 acres of land has been acquired at Jedcherla, which is about 70-km from Hyderabad for development of a Green Industrial Park.

"The park will focus on green technologies and a formulation SEZ has been proposed in about 300 acres of land. The focus is on attracting industries from non-renewable energy sectors and industries adopting cleaner production methods.
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Benckiser expects over Rs1000-cr revenue from Indian ops
New Delhi: Reckitt Benckiser which has brands like Cherry Blossom shoe polish and Dettol antiseptic, expects revenues in India to cross the Rs1,000 crore mark this fiscal as it anticipates strong demand from the market. The company is expecting a topline of Rs1,100 crore in 2006-07 and is planning to launch various new shoe-care products for the expanding footwear market.The company has a leading position in many of the categories that it is present, is also looking at boosting other products such as aerosols and vapourisers to increase its share.

Reckitt Benckiser India manufactures and markets products like Dettol, Mortein, Cherry Blossom, Lizol, Harpic and Vanish amongst others.
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Hyundai to set up plant in India
Mumbai: Hyundai Motor Co. will set up an engine and transmission plant in India. The plant is likely to have an annual capacity of 150,000-300,000 units and would be set up with investment of about $500 million. Hyundai Motor invested $650 million in a 300,000-units-a-year plant outside Chennai eight years ago.

It is now building a $500-million factory at the same site with the same capacity. The new car plant will start operations in October 2007. Hyundai expects its sales to reach 300,000 units in 2008, for a quarter of the market, up from its current share of about 18 per cent.
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3i Infotech launches IBX
3i Infotech, a global provider of IT solutions and the fourth largest Indian Software Product company, has launched its Premia Insurance Broking eXchange (IBX), a first of it's kind subscription based Internet solution for the Indian insurance industry. Premia IBX will provide a common pay-per-use platform where insurance brokers can interact with insurance companies and customers in order to provide the best possible Insurance Cover to consumers across India.

Premia IBX enables brokers to interact and transact with potential customers across India in real-time.

Through the system, they will have access to information on available products, customer requirements as well as exhaustive comparative tools in order to assess various policies and match them to customer requirements. This will ensure that brokers are able to provide the end customer with insurance solutions uniquely suited to them. Aimed at the larger interest of the Indian insurance industry as well as consumer welfare, Premia IBX will become an all encompassing, integrated system that will provide the industry with a common communication and interaction platform.

The Premia IBX service will be available to the Insurance industry including 200 plus insurance brokers and the 30 insurance companies across India. On subscription-based model, Premia IBX, will be offered with a nominal monthly fee, so as to help brokers to a large IT investments in software and related hardware. Based on a pay-per-use policy, billing to brokers will be dependent on the quantum of usage.

3i Infotech will introduce this service to its customers on September 19, 2006 at the Annual Conference of Insurance Brokers organized by Insurance Brokers' Association of India.
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Ranbaxy to market Ethypharm's drug
Mumbai: Ranbaxy Laboratories plans to market a combination of Fenofibrate, that lowers triglycerides, and Atorvastatin, which lowers cholesterol, and are produced by France's Ethypharm S.A.

The drug will be manufactured by Ethypharm near Mumbai, and would be branded as Storfib, it said.

Ranbaxy said the launch of Storfib would augment its leadership position in the cardio-vascular market.

In May, Ranbaxy entered into a similar agreement to market Ethypharm's painkiller tablet, Tramadol, in India.

Ranbaxy's shares closed 0.85 percent higher at Rs417.55 in a firm Mumbai market.
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Seven Indian cos enter S&P list
Mumbai: Bharat Forge, Siemens India, Chennai Petroleum, UTI Bank, Punjab National Bank, Nicholas Piramal and Oriental Bank of Commerce are amongst the 300 mid-size companies in the world which are expected to emerge as challengers to the world's leading blue chip companies. Standard & Poor's, a leading index provider, has released the global challengers list, which identified these 300 companies from all across the globe as showing the highest growth characteristics, along with dimensions encompassing intrinsic and extrinsic growth.

An S&P press release said the Global Challengers List is based upon a robust methodology that applies consistent standards to multiple countries. The attributes used to identify the companies are share price appreciation, sales growth, earnings growth and employee growth. The 2006 class of S&P Global Challengers has representation from 32 countries and 10 sectors, according to the release.
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