Motorola manufacturing unit to be operational in Q12007
New Delhi: Motorola, the world's second largest mobile phone company, expects its manufacturing unit located at Sriperumbudur, Chennai, to commence production by the first quarter of 2007.

"We will start manufacturing at our unit at Sriperumbudur near Chennai in the first quarter of 2007," Lloyd Mathias, director, marketing, Motorola India, said on the sidelines of a mobile phone exhibition 'Mobileasia'.

Mathias said that the manufacturing unit would turn out all categories of phones and cater to the domestic and export markets in Asia. The company is investing $100 million in the unit which has a capacity of producing one million phone s per month.

Apart from the manufacturing unit, Motorola has a development centre in India that employs 3,500 people.
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Cambridge University Press acquires Foundation Books
Kolkata: UK-based Cambridge University Press (CUP) has acquired a majority stake in Delhi-based publishing company Foundation Books Private Limited.

CUP, the oldest printing and publishing house in the world, has acquired a 51 per cent equity stake in Foundation Books with an investment of £2.5 million. The entity has been renamed Cambridge University Press India Private Limited, according to chief executive of CUP and president of the new entity Stephen Bourne.

CUP expects to produce about 500 titles a year through the Indian arm, which would be over and above the 2,500 titles being published by CUP in the current year. "CUP India Private Limited will become a base for publishing quality educational materials for many countries in Asia and elsewhere," Bourne said after announcing the opening of a new office and a showroom of CUP India at Kolkata.

According to Manas Saikia, managing director of the Indian arm, Foundation Books had done business of Rs25 crore last year and expected a 25 to 30 per cent annual growth with the formation of the new entity.
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DLF picks up 19 per cent stake in consulting firm Feedback Ventures
New Delhi: Real estate major DLF, which is currently reviving its plans to raise about Rs10,500 crore through an IPO, has acquired a 19 per cent stake in infrastructure development advisory firm Feedback Ventures for about Rs16.15 crore. According to DLF officials the deal values the company at about Rs85 crore.

Officials said that Feedback had good technical consulting manpower for advisory services in infrastructure projects and special economic zones, and that the acquisition would help DLF in its various projects in the infrastructure sector, besides SEZs and townships.

DLF has received final approval for five SEZs and in-principal approval for another eight. Of these, three are proposed to be multi-product zones, involving an investment of about Rs30,000 crore.

Feedback Ventures, promoted by Vinayak Chatterjee, provides advisory services for projects from conceptualisation to commissioning in sectors such as highways, aviation, ports, SEZs, IT Parks, townships, retail and hospitality.

IDFC has a 21.8 per cent stake in the company, while the promoters own 31.3 per cent stake. The Thapar group has 13.3 per cent and HDFC 12 per cent, according to sources at Feedback Ventures. The company employs about 480 professionals, of which 285 are engineers.
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Ruias to resolve Haldia land issue in next three months
Kolkata: The Kolkata-based Ruia group expects to resolve the land issue for its Rs1,200 crore shipbuilding project near the industrial town Haldia with the State government in the next three months.

The group had sought 2,000 acres of land at Haldia, some 180 km from Kolkata, in East Midnapore district. The company now appears to have scaled down its requirements to 1,000 acres by shelving other associated projects, but said that it required at least 1,000 acres to get its shipyard project in motion.

Ruia group chairman, Pawan Kumar Ruia said, "We hope to resolve the land issue of quantum of land with the state government and Haldia Development Authority within three months."

According to the company, an SPV will be created for the project where Jessop will be one of the partners. It also hopes to engage foreign technical partners such as Ukranian company Takhom and Singapore's Antarakoh soon for the project.
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Suzlon's international business arm bags first order in S America
Mumbai: Suzlon Energy Ltd has said that its wholly owned subsidiary and international business arm, Denmark-based Suzlon Energy A/S, has bagged its first order in South America from SIIF Energies do Brasil Ltda (SIIF) for the supply of wind turbines.

According to the company, the Denmark based subsidiary has finalised an agreement with SIIF Energies do Brasil Ltda (SIIF) to supply 225 MW of wind turbines.

The company further said that delivery of the wind turbines would commence in the first quarter of the year 2007 and installation and commissioning would take place over a period of 18 months.
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NHPC secures LoCs worth Rs9,000-cr from LIC
Mumbai: The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Limited (NHPC) has said that it has secured two letters of credit (LoCs) from the Life Insurance Corporation of India aggregating Rs9,000 crore to part finance its Rs50,000 crore capital expenditure plan in the 11th Plan period.

"We have secured two LoCs from LIC aggregating Rs 9,000 crore which will be used to part finance our proposed investment plan," S K Garg, chairman and managing director, NHPC, said here.

NHPC had earlier announced that it would invest Rs50,000 crore under the 11th Plan, ending 2012, in order to increase generation capacity to 10,000 MW from the current level of 3,755 MW, which it generates through 10 plants.

According to Garg, 30 per cent of the proposed investment would be received from the Government by way of budgetary support. Garg also said that NHPC is in discussion with Coface of France, which offers credit insurance and credit management services worldwide, for securing a loan of $100 million. NHPC would also invest Rs4,800 crore from internal accruals towards the proposed investment.

According to Garg, NHPC would set up one plant with a capacity of 330 MW in Jammu and Kashmir in the current Plan period and would also set up another 14 plants during the 11th Plan period with a total capacity of 5,857 MW.
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Singapore Tourism signs pact with Zak Trade Fairs
Chennai: The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has signed a MoU with Zak Trade Fairs and Exhibitions Trade Fairs Pvt Ltd here for organising trade fairs in Singapore. According to Syed Zakir Ahmed, chairman and managing director, Zak, 'Salaam India', a trade fair promoted by the company, will be held in Singapore next year as part of this initiative.

Ms Catherine McNabb, director, Strategic Cluster I, Singapore Tourism Board, said the country was looking at an aggressive plan to promote exhibitions in Singapore. McNabb also said that 5.8 lakh Indians visited the country last year and that the island nation was expecting an inflow of about 6.5 lakh in the current year.
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Air Deccan signs $100 million deal with European banks
Bangalore: Air Deccan, the country's second largest airline, has announced a $100 million (Rs450 crore) deal with two European banks which is expected to ensure the company's financial stability and help it tide over volatility in the domestic aviation sector.

India's pioneering low cost airline, which has reported a loss of Rs340 crore for the 15-month period ended June 30, has already received the first tranche under the deal with Investec Bank, UK, and HSH Nord Bank AG of Germany, according to Deccan Aviation managing director, Capt Gopinath.

Under the deal, Rs450 crore, including an upfront payment, would be payable in four tranches over 15 months to Air Deccan subject to compliance of certain financial covenants. In turn, Air Deccan has assigned its future aircraft supply contract in favour of a special purpose company, funded by the two international banks, which would carry out the transaction. Gopinath termed the deal as 'innovative.'

The first two larger tranches would be received in the first half of this fiscal and the remaining in the next financial year. Air Deccan, with a 21.2 per cent market share of the domestic aviation market, had reported revenues of Rs1,352 crore from April 2005 to June 2006, with a loss of Rs340 crore.
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Crest Animation to divest stake to Mauritius based investment company
Mumbai: Crest Animation Studios Ltd has said that it would divest almost 15 per cent stake to DE Shaw Composite Investments (Mauritius) Ltd for Rs40.63 crore.

In a filing on the Bombay Stock Exchange, the company said it will allot 33.85 lakh equity shares of Rs10 each, constituting 14.99 per cent of its paid up capital, to D E Shaw Composite Investments. It would allot the shares on a preferential basis at Rs120 per share.

Crest Animation also said that it would dilute its stake in RichCrest Holdings Inc (RCH), by selling up to 26 per cent of its stake to global investment firm D E Shaw Group through allotment of securities, and offer 11 per cent stake to employees.

Following the dilution of its investment in RichCrest Holdings, shareholding of the company in RCH through its Mauritius-based subsidiary Crest Communications Holdings Ltd, would now be reduced to 54.80 per cent, as against the earlier 86.98 per cent.
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