RIL wants EOU status for Jamnagar refinery
New Delhi: Reliance Industries wants the status of an export oriented unit (EOU) from the government for its existing 33 million tonne per annum refinery in Jamnagar. This is on the basis of the fact that the company does not get any relief on its retail operations while state-run IOC, BPCL and HPCL get government subsidies on selling fuel below cost, industry sources said.

If RIL gets EOU status it would not have to pay duty on crude imports. This will help the company reduce losses on selling petrol, diesel and other petroleum products at a lower price while keeping refining margins high.

Commerce Ministry officials said the approval is likely to come in the next couple of weeks.
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Biocon to focus on research services business
Bangalore: India's largest biotechnology firm, Biocon, is targeting to grab a larger share of the research outsourcing market as global drug makers look to ways of cutting costs of new molecules.. The company plans to increase the share of research services business to 25 pc of its total revenue in the next 5 years from about 15 per cent now according to chairman and managing director Kiran Mazumdar Shaw. Recently Biocon's research services unit began working with US drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb to set up a facility in Bangalore to aid discovery and early drug development.

Shaw said pharmaceutical research activities could be carried out in India at about one-fourth of the cost in the United States mainly due to the availability of a large pool of cheaper talent pool.
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Irish co to invest Rs10,000 crore in 2000MW unit in Tamil Nadu
Chennai: Ireland-based McNamara International has signed an MoU with the Tamil Nadu Maritime Board and for setting up 2000 MW merchant power plant at Nagapattinam district, a Tsunami affected and backward district in Tamil Nadu, at an investment of Rs10,000 crore.

The plant is at a site between Karapidagai and Kilapidagai in the Nagapattinam district, according to a release.

An offshore port has also been proposed in the district on an investment of Rs750 crore for importing coal for the power plant.

The captive port, which is expected to handle 20-40 million tonnes of coal per annum, will have elevated conveyor system to serve coal directly to the power plant. This system will be less-polluting and will be environment-friendly for the coastal habitation. The company proposes to complete the project in three years.

The project is expected to generate job opportunities directly for 2000 people and indirectly for 5000 people.
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Idea Cellular signs 10-yr deal with IBM
Mumbai: Idea Cellular has signed a 10-year agreement with International Business Machines Corp for outsourcing a part of its IT operations. The deal will be worth between $600 million and $800 million (Rs2,700 crore - Rs3,600 crore), depending on Idea's business revenues and circle expansion. The contract covers all of Idea's existing operations and potential new ones.

IBM will integrate the mobile service provider's business processes, IT and IT infrastructure to help it reduce operational costs and minimise technology risks.

As per the contract, Idea and IBM will share a percentage ("of rewards and risks" ) of Idea's total revenue on a quarterly basis over the contract term.
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AstraZeneca opens R&D center in Bangalore
Bangalore: AstraZeneca Astra Zeneca has opened a new $15-million (around Rs67 crore) process R&D centre at its existing 66-acre Bangalore campus. The company has invested more than $100 million (around Rs450 crore) in India till 2006 and would continue to invest in the country in the future depending on the growth of business here said David Brennan CEO of Astra Zeneca.

Brennan said the company, which is downsizing globally will not cut any jobs in India. The pharma MNC, which employs 1,200 people in India across sales, manufacturing and research functions announced last month plans of shedding 3,000 global manufacturing jobs over three years, or up to 2010 in order to tone up efficiency levels, tangible as saving of $500 million.

The job cutting will mainly affect the UK (700 jobs); Sweden (850); and the US (around 450). The wholly owned discovery subsidiary, AstraZeneca India Ltd, has 100 research and administrative staff; its new PR&D centre has around 40 scientists; the publicly-traded manufacturing and marketing entity AstraZeneca Pharma India Ltd (AZPIL) has around 250 people, while the rest is the sales and marketing pool. Globally, AZ has 66,000 people, 58 per cent in Europe, 28 per cent in the Americas and just 14 per cent in the rest of the world. About 12,000 of them are in research.
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Wockhardt painkiller drug gets US FDA approval
Mumbai: Wockhardt has received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administrator to sell its painkiller tablets that combine Dextropropoxyphene napsylate and Acetaminophen (DPN + APAP) in the US. The approval is Wockhardt's 16th Abbreviated New Drug Application that has got regulatory clearance in the US. The US market for the Dextropropoxyphene combination is over $100 million and is sold under the brand name Darvocet-N, a note from the company said.

Wockhardt USA Inc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Mumbai-based drug company, will market the painkiller in the US.

The painkiller will be made at the US FDA-certified formulation plant at Aurangabad, Maharashtra and the active ingredient in the medicine will be manufactured at its bulk drug plant at Ankleshwar, Gujarat.
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SAIL to get into cement manufacturing
New Delhi: Steel Authority of India (SAIL) will begin manufacturing cement having signed a shareholder agreement with Jaiprakash Associates (JAL) to set up a joint venture cement manufacturing plant in Bhilai.

Earlier, in June 2006, the company had announced that it would form a joint venture with JAL to set up a cement plant with an annual capacity of two million tonnes. The new joint venture would be using the slag generated at the blast furnace in Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) and also the idle assets of Satna limestone mines.

SAIL will hold 26 per cent stake in the joint venture, while JAL will be the majority shareholder with 74 per cent shareholding. SAIL will offer one million tonnes of granulated slag annually and provide land at Bhilai and Satna on lease to the new company, and JAL will organise debt and ensure project execution within defined scope, cost and time. JAL will also be responsible for project and operations of the joint venture company, according to a press release issued by SAIL.

The approximate cost of the project would be around Rs600 crore and is expected to be complete in 37 months, the release added.
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