Reliance wins contract for Hyderabad airport fuel farm operations
Hyderabad: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has won the contract for the fuel farm operations, outbidding players like IOC, Sky Tanking, Swissport, BPCL and ONGC and would maintain and operate the first open access fuel storage and service facility in India at the upcoming GMR Hyderabad International Airport (GHIAL) at Shamshabad near here.

The fuel farm would have three storage tanks with a total capacity of 13,500 kilo litres of ATF (aviation turbine fuel). The open access model would allow any ATF supplier to supply fuel to airlines according to their own agreements.

GHIAL has signed up Red Mallee, an Australian-based consultant, and Hong Kong Airport Services (Hong Kong) that pioneered the model.

RIL is said to be planning to set up 20-25 aviation fuel stations across the country by the end of the financial year. The company had earmarked Rs100 crore for this.
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ABB to set up robot manufacturing centre in India
Bangalore: ABB one of the top three global manufacturers of robots is considering setting up a robot manufacturing centre in the country.

India supplies peripherals for making ABB robots apart from doing application engineering for them. ABB has a plant in China to produce robots to cater to the auto sector there. It has so far sold around 1,000 robots in China. Worldwide, ABB has sold 1.2 lakh robots. ABB had doubled its employees' strength in India and had set up demonstration centres in Pune, Bangalore and Chennai and service centres in about eight cities. Customers in India include, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Samtel.

In the last seven years ABB has sold 300 robots in India and expects a double-digit growth from now on because of the rapid expansion of automobile companies.

Revenues from the robotics' division contribute six per cent to the total revenues of ABB, which is around $26 billion.
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Cipla expands to Dubai
Mumbai: Cipla has set up a wholly-owned subsidiary, Cipla FZE, at Jebel Ali Free Zone in Dubai, United Arab Emirates that would help the company logistically, as Dubai was a convenient location to export to international markets. Cipla shares closed marginally down at Rs255.95 on the BSE.
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Ranbaxy enters into agreement with Canadian co
New Delhi: Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc, the Canadian subsidiary of Ranbaxy Laboratories has signed a second licensing and supply agreement with Canada-based pharma company Janssen-Ortho Inc. Ranbaxy's subsidiary will market and sell the generic Fentanyl patch, under the label RAN Fentanyl Transdermal System prescribed for moderate to severe chronic pain management. The Canadian market is the eighth largest in the world for the drug. The company expects the market for a generic Fentanyl patch to reach CAD 50 Million.

Ranbaxy, which started operations in Canada in September 2005, licensed the first generic in the country in July. That time too it partnered with Janssen-Ortho Inc psychotic disorder drug Risperidone that sells under the Ranbaxy label.
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P&G's Himachal Pradesh units to commence production this quarter
Mumbai: Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care's two new units in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, are expected to commence production this quarter Bharat V. Patel, chairman, Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care said the the company's annual general meeting on Friday. The plants, set up with an investment of Rs 60 crore, will manufacture healthcare products. The feminine hygiene products will continue to be made at its Goa facility.
Procter & Gamble sells Vicks cough and cold remedies and the Whisper range of feminine hygiene products.

The company's shares fell 1.29 per cent to close at Rs878.70 on BSE.
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JSW Steel's pellet production rises by 7 pc
Mumbai: JSW Steel, a leading producer of flat steel in India and the largest exporter of galvanised steel in India, has registered a 7 per cent increase in pellet production at 1.014 million tonnes in the second quarter of financial year 2006-07 as compared to the second quarter for 2005-06 at 0.942 million tonnes, a company release said.

Crude steel at 0.649 million tonnes was 17 per cent higher as against 0.553 million tonnes in the second quarter for 2005-06.

The production of HR coils at 0.601 million tonnes was 9 per cent higher as compared to the corresponding quarter in the previous year. JSW as part of its 1.3 mtpa expansion project, has commissioned its coke oven, sinter plant and blast furnace. The BOF (blast oxygen furnace) shops and the slab caster, is expected to be commissioned in October 2006, which will take up the slab capacity from current 2.5 mtpa to 3.8 mtpa.

There was a marginal drop of 2 per cent in the production of galvanised products at 0.199 million tonnes as compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year at 0.203 million tonnes.

JSW Steel, a part of the $4-billion O.P Jindal group, is one of the low cost steel producers in the world with diversified interest in mining, carbon steel, power, industrial gases and port facilities. It is primarily engaged in carbon steel and focuses on the manufacturing of flat products like H.R. Coils, C.R. Coils, galvanised products and auto grade/white goods grade CRCA Steel.
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BSNL offers closed user group facility to all subscribers
Madurai: Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) has extended the closed user group (CUG) facility to all its post-paid mobile subscribers using Plan 225 and above. The New Friends and Family scheme has also been extended to subscribers of Excel Anand (lifetime pre-paid).

The scheme allows subscribers to call any two BSNL landline phones or one BSNL landline and BSNL one mobile subscribers at 50 paise per minute. One BSNL landline number is, however, made mandatory.

Besides, the new Excel Anand subscribers would get additional free talk time worth Rs100, he added.

It has also slashed the monthly rent for the Sulab Plan, a landline phone plan, to Rs 99 (in exchanges with less than 3,000 lines), Rs120 (in exchanges up to one lakh lines) and Rs160 for other exchanges.

No free outgoing call will be allowed and every call charged at Rs1.20.
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Nortel launches products for the SMB segment
New Delhi: Telecom equipment manufacturer Nortel has launched a number of new products including switches, routers and access points specifically for the SMB segment. The specially designed offering is aimed at providing customers simple, scalable and easy to use products at a very affordable price.

India is the first country in Asia where Nortel is rolling out the SMB initiative. This initiative will be one of Nortel's biggest product rollouts in India, with multi-city road shows across the country.
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Google offers Gmail on mobile
Hyderabad: Internet search engine Google has announced the availability of Gmail Mobile that enables Gmail users the advantage of easy access to their e-mail account from their mobile devices. Gmail Mobile is now available for free in India.

With this facility, Gmail users will no longer have to worry about missing an important e-mail. According to a statement from Google, to access Gmail Mobile, users need to simply visit http://m.gmail.com through the Web browser on their mobile phone and sign in to their Gmail account as they would on the Web.

Because every mobile device is different, Gmail Mobile automatically optimises the interface based on the phone.

Users can also view attached photos and documents from their phone, and reply-by-call to people whose phone number is stored in their Gmail account. Gmail messages are automatically synchronised, regardless of whether Gmail is accessed from Gmail Mobile or the Web.
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Torrent Pharma sets up three new specialty divisions
Ahmedabad: Ahmedabad-based pharma major, Torrent Pharma has set up 3 new specialty divisions - Omega, Sensa and Alfa which will exclusively cater to the fast growing niche therapeutic areas of Cardio-Diabeta, Central Nervous System (CNS) and Gastro segments respectively.

Omega, the new cardio-diabeta (C&D) division, will exclusively focus on cardio-metabolic diseases, with special focus on diabetes and nephrology. Torrent, with sales of Rs180 crore has a 4.8 pc share in the Rs3750 crore C&D market.

The new CNS division, Sensa, will focus exclusively on ailments afflicting the geriatric population. This includes Parkinsons, Alzheimers and depression. The CNS market in India is estimated to be around Rs1200 crore of which Torrent has a 5.5 pc share.

Alfa is in the mass products segment and will focus on Gastro, Ortho, and Anti-Infectives segments. The gastro-intestinal market is worth around Rs3000 crore and is growing at 19 pc.
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Telecom operators estimated to spend $6bn on 3G services
New Delhi: It is estimated that the Indian mobile operators will spend up to $6 billion to offer third-generation (3G) mobile services to users and are planning to set up 75-80 million 3G-enabled connections. This does not include the spectrum fee (at least Rs1,050 crore each for a national rollout).

Bharat Sanchar Nigam is setting up 30 million lines, while the other operators will add another 45-50 million lines over the next 2-3 years.

With the total subscriber base expected to double from the existing 100 million, the operators' investment can be assumed at an average $80 per subscriber for enabling high-speed web surfing and streaming video services.

Users will need to buy handsets separately, which will be around Rs5,000-7,000 for the average entry level device.

The average cost would be much higher at $135 per user, and 3G users would be confined to the "creamy layer", said Cellular Operators' Association of India Director-General TV Ramachandran.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has recommended a minimum spectrum fee of Rs1,050 crore for a pan-India 3G spread.

Operators need to erect an overlaying network — one parallel to their existing networks — to start 3G services. Investment for GSM operators is expected to be much lower than for CDMA operators who would need to upgrade substantial portions of their network.
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