M&M to set up design facility near Mumbai
Mumbai: Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has finalized plans to set up a design facility close to Mumbai which will focus on in-house design work and creating concepts based on M&M's existing range of vehicles. The location of the facility has been decided and will be finalised soon. Till now the company has been outsourcing its design work. M&M's decision to set up a design facility was based on the response its concept vehicles received from customers at the recently held Auto Expo.

The company had displayed a slew of concept vehicles such as the Scorpio Passion, Bolero Inspira, Scorpio CEO and Bolero Commando at the Expo. The concepts the company is looking into are "image drivers" as owners of SUVs are keen on making their presence felt in society.

The company has not revealed the investment details for the design facility. M&M has plans to develop an online marketing tool by creating a Web site at a later stage.
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Mother Dairy brand to be strengthened
New Delhi: National Dairy Development Board's subsidiary Mother Dairy India has embarked upon an aggressive brand strengthening and expansion plan for the next two years. Dhara has 10 per cent of the edible oil market and is sold in 1,200 towns. However the key focus area for the company remains the north and some parts of the west and east of the country.

Regarding its products the company is looking at strengthening the brand presence of the Rs 300 crore Dhara brand that was till now available in six variants comprising refined vegetable, sunflower and soya bean oil, filtered groundnut and mustard oil and the recently introduced blended category.

The company's Rs 30-crore processed fruits and vegetable brand, Safal, is also set to undergo expansions. Mother Dairy will also soon begin exporting its mixed vegetables and corn variants under the frozen category to the West Asian market, where its frozen peas has a big presence. It would also strengthen its presence in the domestic market.

Safal's frozen peas has 7-8 per cent of the market and is targeted to acquire 10 per cent market share by 2008.

The company also plans to launch a new variant, French Fries, under its ready-to-eat brand Hot Snax by November.

Mother dairy has different plans for its dairy business, which includes flavoured milk, lassi, curd, butter and cheese besides its toned milks.
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ONGC to launch new exploration strategy
New Delhi: India's largest oil producer, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), is expected to unveil its revamped exploration strategy.

Under the new structure, each acreage of the company would be considered as a discreet virtual company or a strategic business unit.
Elaborating on the concept, sources said the top management of the company felt that grass-root level awareness needs to be strengthened in the new structure and even executives down the line need to be empowered to take decisions. Once the new structure is implemented, each acreage manager will work as a CEO of the E&P block with financial and administrative powers. Each acreage manager will have two to four exploration personnel working with him. The acreage manager and his team would be answerable to a block manager, who would be responsible for monitoring the number of acreages decided by the Director (Exploration) of ONGC.

The block manager would do the data integration and would be reporting to a basin manager, who would be responsible for the entire basin, allocate budget for development work, monitor the acreage, and also coordinate with the corporate head office. The basin manager would be answerable to the director (exploration).

With E&P activities becoming more competitive and and more private sector players entering the sector, the company felt that time-bound compliance of work commitment for exploration activities was necessary and adopted a fresh approach for the segment.
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MTNL bids for telecom services in Kenya
Mumbai: Mahanagar Telephone Nigam has put in an independent bid for a national telecom operator licence in Kenya for fixed line and cellular services.

The Kenyan government had invited bids for second national telecom operator to provide fixed and mobile telephone services. The bids are expected to be opened on October 27.

Kenyan Telecom Commission has shortlisted three bids - from MTNL, Reliance and Dubai-based Vtel. The winner of the licence would be able to offer mobile services, an Internet backbone, international voice gateway as well as national and international fixed line services in the African country.

The license is expected to be awarded by January.
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