Airlines suffering losses
New Delhi: The airline industry is suffering losses estimated to be around Rs2,200 crore for the current year and the government fears that civil aviation industry growing at around 30 per cent to 50 per cent in the last two years may go bust due to overcapacity and mindless competition.

Civil aviation minister Praful Patel has convened a meeting of all airline chiefs amidst growing concern over huge losses. The government may also intervene and put on hold fresh approvals for airline companies till the proposed civil aviation policy is formulated.

Established airlines may be asked to go-slow on capacity addition which may result in higher air fares. Some airlines feel growth should not be at the cost of bottomline as this would force carriers to collapse like a pack of cards.

All major players, including Jet Airways, Air Deccan and SpiceJet which are listed companies, are in the red while Kingfisher and GoAir have not turned out any profits so far. Since most players in the industry are planning large expansion which could lead to further bleeding. The failed Jet-Sahara deal, valued at Rs2,300 crore, has also led to concerns about the need for a better business climate.
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TRAI's 3G ruling favours CDMA: COAI
New Delhi: GSM and CDMA operators are at loggerheads over the recommendations of telecom regulator (TRAI) on third generation services.

The Cellular Operator's Association of India has Trai's recommendations as favourable towards CDMA operators. The CDMA operators led by the Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India are expected to respond on Friday.

COAI said that the auction route and high reserve price would hamper efforts to reach 3G benefits to consumers in an affordable manner. The cellular operators said they were disappointed that 3G was being viewed as a standalone service. They said 3G should be viewed as a continuum or extension of 2G. This is supported by experience in current 3G countries, where the bulk of the revenues from 3G licences continues to be derived from voice and SMS.

COAI has also said that the spectrum allocation proposal was grossly unfair and incorrect. It said that 800 MHz spectrum is more valuable than 2.1 GHz because of its far higher propagation characteristics. There is no rationale for giving CDMA an economic advantage by asking them to match only the 2nd highest bid, it said.
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Ranbaxy launches atorvastatin in Malaysia
New Delhi: Ranbaxy Laboratories' (RLL) -owned subsidiary, Ranbaxy Malaysia Sdn Bhd. (RMSB), has launched the first generic atorvastatin and oseltamivir in Malaysia. Atorvastin will be marketed under the brand name, `Storvas', in Malaysia.

The product will be available through all major general practitioners, pharmacies and hospitals in Malaysia. Storvas will be sold in dosage forms of 10 mg, 20 mg and 40 mg.
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Nalco net up at Rs1,562-cr
Bhubaneswar: State owned Nalco has achieved a record net profit of Rs1,562.20 crore for 2005-06 as against a net profit of Rs1,234.84 crore in the previous year. The shareholders of the Orissa-based National Aluminium Company (Nalco) have approved a dividend of 50 per cent for 2005-06 against 40 per cent in 2004-05. The dividend amounted to Rs322.16 crore.

The chairman-cum-managing director, C.R. Pradhan, said that during 2005-06 the company achieved the highest-ever production and profitability since inception. The bauxite mines achieved record production of 48.54 lakh tonnes against 48.51 lakh tonnes in 2004-05. Alumina refinery also produced a record quantity of 15.90 lakh tonnes of alumina, against 15.75 lakh tonnes. Similarly, aluminium metal production at 3,58,954 tonnes was also an all-time high, against 338,483 tonnes in 2004-05.
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Nagarjuna Construction gets orders worth Rs200-cr
Hyderabad: Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC) has secured new orders worth Rs200 crore from various clients. The company said these included an order from Central Public Works Department, New Delhi, for construction of Cabinet Secretariat Building at Delhi valuing Rs86 crore and another order from Karnataka Road Development Corporation for construction of roads in Karnataka valuing Rs56 crore and the balance orders from Water Supply and Drainage Work Boards.
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ICI Paints looks at acquisitions
Hyderabad: ICI Paints plans to create a corpus of Rs1,500 crore for acquisitions in the Indian domestic market and rapidly increase its market share said company officials. The company plans to acquire a few small local players and one big company and is already in talks with three to four companies.

ICI India has launched `Inspira', which is claimed to be India's first four wall super premium emulsion paint. Inspira, is targeted at the high-end customer segments like hotels, big residential houses, IT sector, etc. The product would be available in 20 shades. For ICI Paints, a leading international company, India has been the first launch for this product.

The paint business of ICI India Ltd hopes to end the calendar year 2006 at a level of Rs800 crore turnover. Of this, decorative paints contribute Rs550 crore.
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M&M to acquire majority stake in German co
Mumbai: Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) plans to acquire a 67.9 per cent stake in Jeco Holding AG, a German forging company, for around Rs 830 crore.

Jeco Holding would be acquired through the Mauritius subsidiary of M&M and subsequently will be integrated with Mahindra Automotive Steels (MASL).

Jeco Holding AG is focused on the truck, bus and trailer market. The company has a capacity to produce around 1,00,000 tonnes forgings per annum.

Jeco's customers include DaimlerChrysler Group, Volvo, Linde, Renault, Agco and Kessler. Scholz AG holds around 90 per cent stake in Jeco Holding AG with the rest held by the management.

"Jeco Holding is amongst the top five profitable companies in Germany. We have not opted for a 100 per cent acquisition because Scholz AG wants to see their residual stake go up. For us, it is partnering with a well-managed group that will help us to stamp our mark in the US, Germany and India," said Hemant Luthra, president, Mahindra Systems and Technologies Sector (Systech).

This is the largest outbound acquisition in the Indian auto component sector.

M&M is not planning any immediate infusion of capital into Jeco.
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BHEL may pick up equity in power projects
New Delhi: Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) may pick up equity stake in upcoming power projects, especially those incorporating new technology. BHEL will bid jointly with NTPC for the proposed 4,000-MW Sasan ultra-mega power project and may also pick up a minority stake in the project, if required.

The company would not come in as a lead partner in a power project and would restrict its equity participation to minority stake only.

The Sasan project in Madhya Pradesh is proposed to be built using 800-MW supercritical sets for the first time in the country. BHEL has already tied up to acquire new technology to produce thermal power equipment with supercritical parameters for the next higher rating 800-MW sets and above.

The NTPC-BHEL alliance gains significance in the wake of the Government's ambitious Ultra Mega project scheme, which envisages the setting up of around six 4,000-MW coal-based power projects across the country over the next few years.
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Shell offers business model on profit-sharing to ONGC
New Delhi: Royal/Dutch Shell has offered ONGC a business model of profit sharing for enhancement in productivity in order to overcome bottlenecks on their joint co-operation in exploration and production (E&P) activities.

ONGC is considering Shell's proposal based on a framework outlined by the latter. The two companies have been holding high-level discussions on the issue.

The steering committee, set up by Shell and ONGC to manage co-operation between the two companies, following a memorandum of understanding signed between them, is looking into these aspects. Earlier this year ONGC and Shell Exploration Company B.V. had signed an understanding to examine significant opportunities for future co-operation both in India and other countries.

The MoU covered wide areas of cooperation across the full range of upstream and downstream activities, including exploration and production, coal gasification, natural gas, oil products, refining and petrochemicals. The areas of cooperation in the upstream sector included investigation of increasing and enhancing production from existing producing fields in the country, joint bidding in exploration acreage rounds in India.
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Pepsico India to start seaweed cultivation in coastal Gujarat
Ahmedabad: Pepsico India Holdings plans to start cultivating seaweed along the coastal areas of Gujarat and set up a plant next year to extract its by-products like jelly and some organic growth nutrients to increase the growth of crops in rain-fed farms in India.

The company is setting up the seaweed-based plant with the technological assistance from the Bhavnagar-based Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) — part of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Pepsi plans to invest Rs7 crore in the Tamil Nadu project for the purpose.

The CSMCRI has recently obtained a global patent for the technology, which accelerates metabolic system in plants.

Company officials said once the seaweed cultivation begins to yield about 4,000 to 5,000 tonnes of raw material, the plant would be set up, which may take six to eight months from now.
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Infosys Q2 results on Oct 11
Bangalore: Infosys Technologies' board of directors would meet on October 11 to consider the financial results of the company for the second quarter and half year ended September 30. The baord will also consider payment of interim dividend, if any, the company said in a notice to the stock exchanges. The company has fixed October 20 as record date for the purpose of payment of interim dividend, if any.
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Wipro subsidiary to acquire Swedish firm
Bangalore: Wipro Infrastructure Engineering, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wipro, is acquiring Sweden-based Hydrauto Group AB for $31 million in an all-cash deal. The acquisition is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2006-07.

Hydrauto, a $112 million firm, provides hydraulic components and solutions in Europe. Hydrauto is a Tier 1 supplier to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of material handling, forestry, construction and earth-moving equipment. According to Wipro, Hydrauto is a profitable entity with positive operating cash flow with five manufacturing locations, four in Sweden and one in Finland.

This is Wipro's seventh acquisition in the last 10 months and the first in this sector.

Wipro Infrastructure Engineering closed 2005-06 with a topline of $57 million and provides precision engineered hydraulic components and solutions in India.
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Carrefour to enter India as cash-carry
New Delhi: Carrefour the Euro 75 billion multinational retailer plans to come into India via the cash-and-carry route and would initially invest $100 million and will start from the national capital region.

This will be the second instance of a global retail giant's cash-and-carry operations here after Germany's Metro AG. The bulk of

Metro's business comes from hotels, caterers, retailers and traders.

Cash-and-carry implies wholesale selling (business to business) and not direct sales to retail consumers, which is prohibited at the moment. According to the existing guidelines on foreign investment, 100 per cent foreign investment is allowed in the cash-and-carry format while 51 per cent is permitted in the retail format and that too only in single-brand retail.

Globally, Carrefour has 120 cash-and-carry outlets. It already has a sourcing office in Gurgaon.

Carrefour has begun scouting for land and has appointed Jones Lang LaSalle as its real estate consultant.

Organised retail in India is estimated at $6 billion and is projected to grow at 20-25 per cent per annum. Carrefour has a strong presence in China, among other countries.
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RIL to slash fuel prices from Oct 1
Delhi: Reliance Industries is set to cut retail prices of petrol and diesel and bring them "nearly at par" with the rates of petrol and diesel at outlets of pumps from October 1, 2006.

In May and June this year, the company had hiked the prices of petrol and diesel to keep up with galloping global oil prices. After the hike RIL's marketshare in petrol retailing sharply slid to 1 pc from 15 pc before the price hike was effected at its 1,280 outlets, of which about 450 are company-owned while the rest are franchisees.

RIL's diesel and petrol currently cost Rs2.52 and Rs2.92 more than what the public sector oil companies are selling.

Reliance does not get concessions available to government owned oil companies which enables them to buffer the consumer from price hikes.
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Posco's SEZ gets clearance
New Delhi: The Board of Approvals (BoA) for SEZs has cleared a Rs53,000-crore project by South Korean giant Posco.

Since clubbing SEZs with real estate projects would increase the cost of these projects, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention has been sought to resolve the issue.

The current bunch of clearances, which include projects by Essar and Zydus, take the total number of SEZ approvals to 181. The Posco project, to be located in Orissa, was among the major proposals waiting for clearance.
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