Ericsson emerges lowest bidder for BSNL cellular tender
New Delhi: Swedish company Ericsson has come out as the lowest bidder for BSNL's mega tender for 45.5 million cellular lines (supporting as many subscribers) by quoting about $107 per line. This is lower than the rate at which BSNL's previous GSM tender was awarded in 2001 at an average price of $150 per line. Nokia emerged as the second lowest bidder with a quote of around $176 per line.

Siemens, which quoted over $400 per line, is out of the race, since the contract will be awarded to the two lowest bidders after BSNL evaluates their technical and financial bids in detail.

Going by the current bids, BSNL will have to fork out nearly $6 billion for the entire 63-million cellular line project, which includes the 18-million line contract already awarded to ITI-Alcatel joint venture as part of the reserved- quota.

Motorola has filed a case in the Delhi High Court on Monday against BSNL, seeking an explanation for its disqualification.(See: Motorola moves Delhi HC over BSNL's GSM tender) The company said that it was surprised and disappointed by BSNL's decision not to invite it for price bid opening. Motorola also questioned the move to allowing Nokia and Siemens to bid separately even though the two companies are being merged. The High Court has directed that the tendering process will be subject to orders of the court. It also asked BSNL to respond to Motorola's appeal at the next hearing.
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Hero Honda launches CBZ variant X-treme
New Delhi: Hero Honda has launched a new variant of its 150-cc CBZ priced from Rs 54,500 (ex-showroom Delhi) onwards. The new variant called `CBZ X-treme' would be followed by the launch by another offering in the premium segment to be launched next fiscal. The two wheeler maker facing extreme heat from Bajaj Auto said it expects to capture the top position in the premium segment with the new bike.

CBZ X-treme is a self-start variant of CBZ and has been priced at Rs 56,500 (ex-showroom Delhi). Both the variants have disc brakes and alloy wheel as standard fitments.

Hero Honda, which sells another 150-cc model `Achiever' in the segment, plans to launch six new bikes this fiscal.
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IHCL plans merger of subsidiaries
Mumbai: Owner of the Taj brand of hotels Indian Hotel Company Ltd (IHCL), is planning a merger of six of its subsidiaries. The board of IHCL is meeting on October 12 to consider the proposal. The subsidiaries which are to be merged with IHCL include Indian Resorts Hotels, Taj Lands End, Asia Pacific Hotels, Kuteeram Resorts, Gateway Hotels and Gateway Resorts.

The impact on the shares of IHCL will depend on the financial position of the subsidiaries.

The company has announced a stock split, which is expected to effect a marginal appreciation. The company's shares traded at Rs 1380.50, up by 21.95 points or 1.62 per cent, on the BSE on Monday.
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Reckitt acquires three healthcare brands
New Delhi: Reckitt Benckiser (India) has acquired three brands in the healthcare segment — Strepsils, Clearasil and Sweetex that were being marketed earlier through a joint venture between Boots Healthcare International and Nicholas Piramal. Reckitt Benckiser will now market the three multi-crore brands with effect from October. (See: Nicholas Piramal acquires Boots Piramal Healthcare)

Last year October Reckitt Benckiser Plc acquired Boots Healthcare International for about 1.9 billion. Boots was the parent company of the three brands, till the company entered into a joint venture with Nicholas Piramal, to market the products in the country.

Reckitt Benckiser India has thereby taken over the marketing rights of the three brands after the expiry of the joint venture between the two companies. These brands are expected to substantially strengthen Reckitt Benckiser's position in both healthcare and personal care.
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Visaka to merge with Shakti Roofings
Hyderabad: The shareholders of Visaka Industries Ltd (VIL) have approved the proposed merger of Shakti Roofings Pvt Ltd with the company at the Court convened general meeting held on Saturday, the company informed the stock exchanges.
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Balco to set up power plant in Chhattisgarh
New Delhi: Bharat Aluminium Company (Balco) has signed an agreement with the Chhattisgarh Government for setting up a 1,200 MW coal-based power project in the State. The project expected to be set up at a cost of Rs 5,000-crore is expected to be completed in 40 months once all the regulatory and statutory approvals are received, a Balco statement said.

According to the MoU, the Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board (CSEB) will purchase a portion of the power generated to cater to the State's requirements. Five per cent of CSEB's total purchase will be at variable cost (7.5 per cent in case of generation using coal from captive coal block). The plant will also supply surplus power to other State distribution entities.
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ONGC, Maruti sign agreement
New Delhi: ONGC and Maruti Udyog (MUL) have signed an agreement for leasing vehicles under end-to-end (N2N) scheme of Maruti.

ONGC has decided to initially lease 29 vehicles through MUL on a pilot basis of which 22 are for its Mumbai region and 7 for Delhi.
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GSM operators achieve record subscriptions in September
New Delhi: The GSM-based cellular operators set a new record by adding 4.4 million subscribers in September, against the 4.2 million subscribers added in the month of August. CDMA operators added 1.6 million new mobile users during September.

Among all circles, Category C circles witnessed the highest rate of growth at 6.4 per cent, followed by Category B circles at 5.6 per cent. Within the Category C circles, the highest growth was recorded by the Assam Circle (8.8 per cent) followed by North East (8.2 per cent).

Within the Category B circles, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana recorded the highest growth at 9.6 per cent and 8.9 per cent respectively. Category A circles also witnessed a healthy growth of 5.25 per cent in September. Andhra Pradesh recorded the highest growth of 6.5 per cent followed by Maharashtra at 5.76 per cent.

The Metro subscribers also grew by 3.35 per cent over the previous month. Kolkata recorded the highest growth at 4.7 per cent followed by Chennai at 4 per cent.
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Tata's $3-billion plans on hold in Bangladesh till polls
Dhaka: Tata's $3-billion investment in neighbouring Bangladesh has been put on hold till the general elections in the country are over.

The investment proposal, the largest ever foreign direct investment, would be considered after a new government comes to power following the January 2007 polls.

Tatas had suspended work on their proposed projects in Bangladesh in July this year citing uncertainties on government approval to its plans to invest in energy, steel and fertiliser sectors.

The group had carried out negotiations with Dhaka for nearly two years and later dropped hints that it would move elsewhere if the government took too long to arrive at a decision.

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who ends her five-year term on October 28, is expected to deliver her goodbye speech Tuesday before travelling to Saudi Arabia on a pilgrimage, sources said.
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Tata Motors hikes CV prices by 2 per cent
Mumbai: Tata Motors has announced 1-2 per cent hike in commercial vehicles prices with effect from October 1 to cover hike in raw material costs.

Company officials said the price hike was on account of the increase in input costs like steel and tyres.
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Naukri.com enters into deal with US job site
New Delhi: Online job site Naukri.com has tied up with US-based online job site CareerBuilder.com, which will provide job seekers in both the countries instant access to new employment opportunities.

CareerBuilder.com has over 23 million unique visitors with about 1.5 million jobs vacancies while naukri.com has a database of more than 6.5 million registered users with job postings from over 20,000 corporations and 180-million page views per month, a company release said here.
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