NTPC awards hydro project to L&T led venture
Mumbai: Larsen & Toubro in partnership with Alpine Mayreder Bau GmbH of Austria, has received a contract valued at Rs 456 crore from NTPC for the execution of 4 x 130 MW Tapovan Vishnugad hydropower project in Uttaranchal. The package includes construction of a concrete lined head-race tunnel of about 11.3 km long, with 5.6 m finished diameter. The project is located in district Chamoli on the Dhauliganga river, a major tributary of Alaknanda.

This is the second hydropower project L&T will execute in Uttaranchal, a company press release said.
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700 VSNL staff avail of VRS offer
New Delhi: Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) has announced the closure of its third voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) and about 700 employees are understood to have availed themselves of the scheme.
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Alliance Merieux to make Hyderabad global hub
Hyderabad: Alliance Merieux, the French bio-industry major that recently acquired a 60 per cent stake in the Hyderabad-based Shantha Biotechnics, has decided to make its Hyderabad operations its global hub for vaccine development. The Merieux Group from Lyon, France, will leverage the R&D and manufacturing base of Shantha Biotechnics to broadbase its range of vaccines for the Asian markets. The French company will start with investing Rs 50 crore in a new suite that will increase the hepatitis B manufacturing capacity.

The Group has a number of subsidiaries all over the world and Shantha Biotechnics is the fifth in its fold. It has bioMerieux in France; Silliker, in Chicago; Transgene in France and Advanced BioSciences Laboratories (ABL) in Washington.

K.I. Varaprasada Reddy, founder and managing director of Shantha Biotechnics who holds 17 per cent equity in the company and continues to be MD, has joined the Merieux Alliance Board.
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Dr Reddy's signs agreement with Torrent Pharma
Mumbai: Dr Reddy's Laboratories has signed an agreement with Torrent Pharmaceuticals for exclusive commercialisation of two of Torrent's brands sold in Russia. The drugs Listril (Lisinopril) and Listril Plus (Li sinopril HCTZ) are cardiovascular drugs used in the treatment of high blood pressure. This is the second agreement that Dr Reddy's has made with Torrent Pharma for the territory of Russia. The first was related to the licensing for Omez D (Omeprazole 10mg + Domperidone 10 mg, used to treat gastro-intestinal diseases like dyspepsia and epi gastric pain), a product that will be launched in Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
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BRPL board approves merger with IOC
Mumbai: The board of directors of Bongaigaon Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd (BRPL) has approved the merger of the company with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC). The board has also recommended a swap ratio of 4:37 i.e. four equity shares of Rs 10/- each of the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd as fully paid-up for every thirty-seven equity shares of Rs 10/- each of the company.
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Volkswagen to invest Rs2,400 cr in India
New Delhi: German auto major Volkswagen has entered the Indian market with an agreement with the Maharashtra government to invest more than Rs 2,400 crore in the state for manufacturing cars, including the popular premium hatchback 'Polo' that will be pitted against Maruti's 'Swift' and Hyundai's 'Getz'.

Volkswagen will roll out cars from its proposed Chakan plant in Maharashtra by 2009. In the in between period, it will use the Aurangabad facility of group company Skoda for assembling its luxury sedan 'Passat' by mid-2007.

The company said the 'Polo' model that will be rolled out from Chakan will be specifically designed for Indian market and will compete with segment leader Suzuki Swift and Hyundai Getz. The Chakan plant will have a manufacturing capacity of 1, 10, 000 vehicles that will employ 2,500 people. The unit would have a full production line with a press shop, paint shop and assembly lines built on the 230-hectare site.

VW plans to achieve a localisation content of over 50 per cent initially which could be scaled up to 70-80 per cent as it bought more parts from local vendors.
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Praj Ind signs contract with CropEnergies AG subsidiary
Mumbai: Praj Industries, which provides technology and equipment solutions for alcohol and fuel ethanol, has tied up with Biowanze SA to provide technology for its proposed Bio-ethanol complex in Belgium. The order value of the first phase for designing is around Rs 11 crore.

Praj said it would provide licence and engineering services for the core bio-ethanol process plant in areas like liquefaction, fermentation, multi-pressure distillation, dehydration and vinasse evaporation for the bio-ethanol complex at Wanze in Belgium, that is estimated to have a capacity of 300,000 cubic meters per annum.

The proposed facility is expected to go on stream during the second half of 2008.

Biowanze SA is a subsidiary of CropEnergies AG, a leading producer of bio-ethanol in Europe. CropEnergies AG is owned by the Sudzucker Group, having interests in 44 sugar factories spread across Europe.
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BSNL is biggest ISP with 43 pc market share
New Delhi: According to a TRAI study, public sector telecom company, BSNL is the biggest internet service provider in India with a 43 per cent market share as of June 2006, followed by MTNL at a distant 19 per cent.

As of June this year, there were 7.71 million Internet (including broadband) connections in India. Of this about 20 per cent are broadband users but this segment is growing at a faster rate. The annual growth rate of Internet subscribers seen for the last three years is about 25 per cent.

Growth rate of Internet subscribers for the quarter ending June 2006 was 11 per cent, translating into an annual growth rate of about 44 per cent.

In June 2006 62 per cent of the total Internet subscribers was with PSUs as against 56 per cent in March 2006.

Among private internet service providers Sify has an 11.8 3 per cent market share while VSNL has a share of 6 per cent followed by Bharti at 5.73 per cent.

86 per cent of the total subscriber base is held by the five leading ISPs.
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RComm launches stock market game
New Delhi: Telecom service provider Reliance Communication (RComm) has launched a new gaming tool 'Stock Mania' which the company will charge at Rs 3 for each session.

On downloading this application the user is provided with a virtual fund of Rs 10 lakh as part of the registration with which he can start trading in stocks and also monitor his portfolio on a real-time basis, without having any financial investments or implications, a release said.

According to the company, Stock Mania would provide the mobile customers with the opportunity to experience a simulation of real-time trading with shares listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and managing their 'virtual stock portfolio.
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Google begins online sales and operations in Gurgaon
New Delhi: Internet search engine Google has begun its online sales and operations in Gurgaon which will showcase Google Hyderabad in managing advertiser campaigns across the world and provide support on all aspects of Google advertising, according to a company release.

The goal of the company is to find the best people globally and to provide the best search experience for users, partners and advertisers around the world.

The Gurgaon operations of Google would be headed Thomas Arnold.

Google through its advertising programme AdWords enables advertisers and businesses of all sizes to show targeted advertisements to users as they search the Web. AdWords matches text-based ads to users' search queries, providing them with relevant information.
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Hyundai moves MRTPC against Maruti
New Delhi: Hyundai Motors India has filed a complaint against Maruti Udyog in the MRTPC to stop the latter from using a study in posters and pamphlets showing Hyundai in poor light in comparison with MUL. Earlier Hyundai forced the latter to stop using contents of a survey that showed it in poor light for print advertisements, The Commission had in August directed Maurti Udyog Ltd (MUL), India's largest car manufacturer, from using the findings of a disputed TNS/TSC study in newspaper advertisements.

During the proceedings last week, HMIL alleged that Maruti was still using the contents of the TNS/TSC study, but through publicity bills to woo potential Hyundai customers and argued that this practice was unfair.
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TCS gets $65mn deal from Somerfield, UK
Mumbai: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has entered into a seven year agreement to provide a full range of managed IT services to Somerfield, a leading UK-based small-format food retailer.

Under the agreement, TCS will take over Somerfield's entire IT operations, asset management and planning and provide fully managed IT infrastructure and applications services, to meet Somerfield's current and future business demands.

TCS will also manage third party hardware, software and services contracts with an estimated value of over $100 million over the duration of the agreement.
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Metro Cash & Carry to expand operations across country
Hyderabad: German retailer Metro Cash & Carry is currently planning to buy property in more than eight cities in India including Chennai, Delhi, Gurgoan, Pune, Coimbatore and Viskhapatnam for launching its distribution centres.

The company has set its sights on launching operations in 35 Indian cities that have more than one million people. Besides the cost of land, each distribution centre involved an investment of around Rs 65 crore.

The company is about to sign acquisition deals in Delhi, Ghaziabad, Gurgoan and Chennai while its Kolkata and Mumbai distribution centres, currently under construction, would be ready by the second quarter of the next year.

The wholesale company opened its first distribution centre in Andhra Pradesh and third in the country here on today. Spread over an area of seven acres, the Rs 67-crore B2B distribution centre at Hyderabad has a selling space of 1 lakh square feet including a 20,000-sq ft temperature-controlled space to handle perishables like vegetables, fruits, dairy, meat and fish.
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Sun, TataSky fail to come to pricing agreement
New Delhi: South India-based broadcaster Sun Group and DTH operator TataSky have failed to reach an agreement on the price that Tata Sky will pay to the Sun Group for transmitting its channels.

The two parties failed to resolve the dispute through talks as suggested by Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) on November 21.

Sun Group submitted that it has three divisions, Sun, Gemini and Udaya, with 14 channels in all on a-la carte basis at a price of Rs 85 per month.

TataSky has raised objections to the price demanded by Sun group for its free-to-air channels. Sun had demanded Rs12 per channel and around Rs6.25 for free-to-air channels.
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