Starbucks to tie up with RPG
Mumbai: The $6.4-billion Starbucks Corp, which is the world's largest chain of coffee shops, has chosen the RPG group which owns Spencer hypermarkets and Music World, to be its Indian partner and master franchisee in India.

Starbucks is likely to take 51 pc stake (the maximum allowed in a retail venture so far) with RPG retaining 49 pc in a joint venture. RPG will appoint a chairman to the JV and the CEO will be chosen by Starbucks.

RPG vice-chairman Sanjiv Goenka, who handles the group's retail business, is expected to be the chairman.

The company may begin opening coffee stores by mid 2007 with the number of stores going up to 200 in two years and 500 in five years.
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BIG 92.7 FM launched
New Delhi: Big 92.7 FM has launched its nation-wide operations. The chief operating officer, Tarun Katial, said the station would be spending close to $1 million to promote the new channel in Delhi alone. He said Big 92.7 FM would offer different programming in each and every city where it is present. He said the station would have a presence in all the six metros by the middle of October this year.
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Qualcomm grants manufacturing license to Himachal Futuristic
New Delhi: Himachal Futuristic Communications is the first Indian company to get a licence from Qualcomm to develop, manufacture and sell CDMA mobile handsets and other devices.

This is likely to make CDMA handsets cheaper in India.

HFCL said it planned to roll out the first product for trials by January 2007 and start full-scale manufacturing by April 2007.

HFCL will use its existing facility in Solan and the Hindustan Teleprinter Ltd's factory (bought out by HFCL from the Government) in Chennai for manufacturing four million devices (a combination of mobile handsets and fixed wireless devices) in the first year. HFCL will invest Rs 25-30 crore in the first year. About 30 per cent of the production will be earmarked for exports. The company will manufacture devices for CDMA 2000 technology, which is being used by most of the Indian operators. At present Indian operators import CDMA devices from global companies.
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Sonalika in talks for car tie-up
New Delhi: The Sonalika Group is said to be in discussions with Malaysian automotive firm Proton and other overseas automobile majors to bring in a strategic partner for its proposed entry into the passenger car market. The Indian tractor major is currently in talks with two European companies and a Chinese firm. Sources said that Sonalika would offload upwards of 10 per cent stake in International Cars and Motors Ltd (ICML) to the strategic investor. Currently, private equity firms hold about 30 per cent stake in ICML.

ICML earlier had a technical tie-up with Rover UK and introduced its first vehicle, the MUV Rhino, utilising Rover technology. The company said Rhino has been successful in Punjab and Haryana where it has been launched. It will soon be rolled out in all the other northern States this quarter.

Proton has been eyeing an entry into the Indian market and was earlier said to be in talks with Hindustan Motors.

Sonalika also wants to sell 10 per cent stake in International Tractors Ltd (ITL), manufacturer of the Sonalika brand of tractors, to a private equity firm. The tractor firm already has strategic investments by three firms, including two private equity firms, which collectively hold 32 per cent in ITL. This includes a 10 per cent stake each by Citigroup and 3i, while Japanese tractor maker Yanmar has about 12 per cent stake in the company.
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Hyundai launches Verna sedan
New Delhi: Hyundai Motor India has announced the launch of the midsize car Verna, which will compete against the segment leader Honda City and the Ford Fiesta.

"Verna is important for Hyundai's India plans as the midsize segment has been seeing exciting times in the last few years," said H.S. Lheem, managing director, Hyundai Motor India.

He said the new model, together with the Accent would make the company a dominant player in the midsize sedan market and already over 1,000 units of Verna have been dispatched to dealers. The company is offering the car at an introductory price of Rs 6.21 lakh to Rs 6.93 lakh for the petrol variant and at Rs7.35 lakh for the diesel variant.

While the three petrol variants will be powered by a 1.6 litre engine, the diesel Verna will have a 1.5 litre engine.

Lheem said the company planned to sell about 3,00,000 units this year, up from 2,52,851 units sold last year.
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HCC gets contracts from NHPC
Mumbai: Hindustan Construction Co (HCC) has received two contracts from National Hydroelectric Power Corporation worth Rs 794 crore in Jammu and Kashmir. While one is the Chutak hydroelectric project for Rs410.54 crore, the other is the Nimo Bazgo hydel project for R 383.90 crore.

The 44 MW Chutak project is located in Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir on River Suru, a tributary of Indus. The project, which is scheduled for completion in 50 months, involves a 47.5 km long barrage with two intake tunnels and an underground powerhouse. The other project is located near Leh and is scheduled for completion within 45 months. With these orders, HCC has bagged six hydro-electric projects within 12 months, including those in Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal.

The company's order book currently stands at Rs10,000 crore, out of which 45 per cent is from the power sector, 40 per cent from the transportation sector and 12 per cent from water and environment projects.
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HM suspends production of Cosmos
Mumbai: Hindustan Motors has put on hold the production of its RTV Cosmos vehicle (wide-body) variant as ARAI (Automotive Research Association of India), the testing agency in the country, has withdrawn the vehicle's roadworthiness certificate temporarily.

However, the company spokesperson said the necessary application has been given to the testing agency and is likely to get the certificate soon.

Company sources said the cause for the withdrawal was a technical flaw with the brake system of the vehicle. According to officials, the testing agency had asked the company to rectify the problem within a stipulated period given for the necessary modification, however, the company was not able to comply with the period allotted.

The company has two RTV variants (Cosmo and Mini-Cosmo) in the segment. The Cosmo variant is a 15-seater vehicle that has a wide body frame and permits an extension of another 5 seats thus making it a 20-seater vehicle after the necessary R.T.O. (Road Transport Office) approvals.

The other variant, Mini Cosmo is a 15-seater variant that's seating capacity cannot be enhanced further due to limited body frame.
Together, they notch up sales of 150-200 units per month said officials. The company manufacturers the variants at its Pithampur plant in Indore.
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Biocon sees future in oral insulins, antibodies
Hyderabad: Biocon is foreseeing a bright future in the evolving opportunities in the space of oral insulins and monoclonal antibodies. The company recently launched the country's first indigenously developed drug to combat head and neck cancer.

The chairman and managing director, Biocon, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, said the potential market for oral insulin was estimated at around $1-3 billion, while the market size of monoclonal antibodies was expected to triple to $30.3 billion in six years period from $10.3 billion in 2004.

According to her non-invasive insulins are emerging as potential growth drivers of the insulin segment. She said oral insulin has potential to enhance patient acceptance, patient compliance and thereby improved diabetes management. It is not only targeted at ensuring patient convenience but also enhanced therapeutic benefit.

According to her Biocon has lined up several molecules in the cardio-diabetes research space. The oral insulin molecule (IN-105) is currently in phase-I clinical trials and expected to enter phase-II trials sometime next year. She said if everything goes well in phase-II and III, the oral insulin should be launched at least in India by early 2009.

According to her, the company found major opportunities emerging in the area of diabetes drug market, which is estimated to double to $35-billion by 2012 from $17-billion in 2005, as per a report by Morgan Stanley.

Within the oncology segment, Biocon is upbeat on the opportunities for biotech-enabled cancer therapies. Citing the Morgan Stanley report, Ms Shaw said, "The market for biotech-enabled cancer therapies is estimated to nearly double to $29-billion by 2008 from $15-billion in 2003. Antibodies are going to be one of the next big businesses of Biocon," she said.
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Duncan Macneill ties up with Italian co
Kolkata: Assam Company's wholly owned subsidiary Duncan Macneill Natural Resources Ltd, UK (DMNRL) has entered into an agreement with Torno Investments Ltd of Italy to float a new company, Duncan Macneill Torno Infrastructure (DMTIL).The equity shareholding pattern of the new company is not clear.

DMTIL will be engaged in infrastructure projects in India, such as dams, power plants, highways, roads, railways and buildings. The new company may also explore opportunities in EPC contracts for infrastructure projects or services related to infrastructure projects.

DMTIL may also explore opportunities overseas if agreed by both Duncan Macneill Natural Resources and Torno Investments.

Torno Investments is a group company of Torno Intenazionale Spa and is one of the leading Italian Civil Engineering Company. Initially Torno specialised in the construction of large dams and hydroelectric power plants. Currently, the activities of the company covers areas of civil engineering such as metro, underground, roads, railways, harbours, airports, water supply sewerage system, civil buildings including construction of traditional electric and nuclear power plants.
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RINL expects Rs8,482-cr turnover in 2006
Visakhapatnam: Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (Visakhapatnam Steel Plant) expects to achieve a record sales turnover of Rs8,482 crore and net profit of Rs1,252.37 crore during 2005-2006 according to Y. Sivasagara Rao, chairman and managing director of the company. RINL has been conferred the Mini Ratna status during the year. In May this year the company started an expansion project at a cost of Rs8,600 crore to double the capacity from three million tonnes to 6.3 million tonnes. He said the funding for the expansion would be largely from internal accruals. Efforts were being made to acquire the state-of-the-art technology in undertaking the expansion. Efforts were also on to acquire captive mines for assured raw material supply.
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Toyota Kirloskar launches global service initiative in India
Bangalore: Toyota Kirloskar has launched its global service initiative `express maintenance service' (EMS) in India. This enables servicing of all Toyota vehicles within 60 minutes. According to the company while it usually takes about 14 hours to service the vehicles, the new initiative reduces the time to one hour. Toyota initiated a pilot project for nearly a year before launching the service formally at its dealership in Bangalore.

The EMS service eliminates the stagnation time of in-between processes and reduces process time. The entire initiative utilises the Toyota Production System and Kaizen methodologies. The new system has been set up by redesigning the layout of the maintenance bays along specifically designed tool kits that helps in faster completion of the job resulting in significant time savings. The system requires three people instead of one earlier at the maintenance bays who work in synchronised manner with specific tools and equipment.
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Bombay HC rejects RIL plea against NTPC
Mumbai: Reliance Industries (RIL) has received a setback of sorts at the Bombay High Court. The Court today allowed power PSU NTPC to amend its petition seeking implementation of a gas supply agreement, overruling RIL's objections that the contract was not concluded.

RIL had objected to the NTPC amendment, saying the contract for supply of gas was never finalised and so there was no question of "performance" of the contract.

NTPC however contended that it had awarded a contract to supply 12 million standard cubic metres per day of gas to RIL at a delivered price of $2.97 per mBtu.

While NTPC cites the signing of letter of intent (LoI) by RIL as acceptance of the contract, RIL had stated that the terms and conditions were under discussion when NTPC went to court.

Reliance had objected to unlimited liability clause in case of default in the contract and had said signing of the LoI did not mean conclusion of the contract.
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Caparo Group starts new auto equipment plant in India
Haryana: Steel major, Caparo Group has started a fastener plant in Haryana to cater to India's fast-growing automobile sector. The group has already invested Rs40 crore for this facility and has lined up an additional investment of over Rs100 crore for it.
The plant will be Caparo group's promoter Lord Swraj Paul's seventh unit in India and there are five more are said to be in the pipeline.

The plant has started operating with a capacity of 6,000 tonne which will be ramped up to 26,000 tonne in the next 12-18 months.

The Indian operations, which currently contribute 6-7 per cent of the group's global revenues, are expected to "rise to 10 per cent next year and to 20 per cent by 2010.

The Indian operations of the company posted a revenue of Rs200 crore last year, which is likely to further rise to Rs350 crore by the end of this year.
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