FM's request for price cut turned down by cement companies
New Delhi: Finance Minister P Chidambaram's request to cement manufacturers to come out with proposals to cut prices has been firmly rejected by the companies. Chidambaram had asked the companies to co-operate with the government to fight inflation, which touched 6.46 pc for the week ended March 3 with cement prices increasing at the rate of 4.4 pc

Official sources said the cement makers have told the Government nothing can be done on reducing prices. The companies also told the Government that they have started doing well only since the later part of 2005 whereas in the previous 15 years they were struggling.

The Finance Minister had called cement manufacturers for the second time after the Budget, which imposed dual excise duty structure on cement to rein in prices. The budget hiked excise duty to Rs600 a tonne from Rs400 if cement is sold higher than Rs 190 per bag of 50 kg and reduced it to Rs350 per tonne if sold up to Rs190. The move, however, failed as cement makers hiked prices by up to Rs12 per 50 kg bag.

Chidambaram said both the government and the industry know how much prices have increased since December 2005.
Back to News Review index page  

Advanta India looks for acquisitions
Bangalore: Agronomic seed firm Advanta India, the subsidiary of United Phosphorous Ltd, is looking to acquire companies that would strengthen its technical expertise and product offerings. Company officials said the company is looking at opportunities to acquire companies and assets that could broaden its product offerings and sales and distribution networks, establish new or strengthen existing customer relationships or enable it to acquire new technical expertise.

The company said it would continue to seek to acquire, invest in or form joint ventures or strategic alliances with companies that provide proprietary and innovative products or other advantages to its business.

Advanta, which has principal operations in India, Australia, Thailand and Argentina, said it plans to pursue growth in sales of hybrid rice in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh through aggressive field and sales promotion activities and production of specific products for the 'Boro' (post-winter) season in the eastern and northeastern markets.
Back to News Review index page  

RIL signs agreement with Rohm & Haas for chemical plant
Mumbai: Reliance Industries has entered into an agreement with US-based Rohm & Haas Co, the world's biggest producer of acrylic-paint ingredients, to jointly construct a world-scale acrylic-monomer complex in Jamnagar in Gujarat.

The two firms will explore the possibility of setting up a plant to make 200,000 tons a year of acrylic acid in Jamnagar. The key objective of the companies is to serve domestic markets the complex could also export acrylic acid and derivatives.

Reliance is consolidating and expanding its chemical operations after prices of the ingredient for packaging, detergents and adhesives rose 27 per cent last year. Chemicals make up about 45 per cent of the company's earnings.

Materials from the facility are intended to serve as building blocks for products for textile, paints and coatings, packaging adhesives, detergents and construction materials.
Back to News Review index page  

Pfizer India's Q1 net rises to Rs28.27 crore
Mumbai: Pfizer India has posted a 14 per cent increase in first-quarter profit. Net income rose to Rs28.27 crore ($6.5 million) in the three months ended February 28, from 24.77 crore a year earlier, the Mumbai-based company said on Thursday in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Revenue rose 6 per cent to Rs167 crore from Rs158 crore.
Back to News Review index page  

BT may offer low-powered GSM in India
New Delhi: UK based British Telecom (BT) may launch a low-powered global system for mobile communications (GSM) service in India which can bring down call costs on calls made by mobile phones inside offices.

In India the government does not issue separate licences for such services.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had some time ago suggested the possibility of such networks in the country.
In countries like the UK, the regulator has issued a number of low-power GSM licences that can be operated by independent operators on a spectrum different from that given to GSM operators.

UK telecom regulator Ofcom issued several licences in early-2006 to BT and Colt Telecom among others.

Low-powered GSM is a technology in which small low-powered GSM cell sites are located within a building, on which runs a small localised mobile network.
Back to News Review index page  

JD Power says Rs1 lakh car, a global case study
New Delhi: The much hyped one lakh car from Tata Motors has become a global case study, global consultancy firm J D Power said.

The Consulting organization said if the Tatas are able to get quality and customer satisfaction parameters right, the People's Car could shift buyers from a top-end two-wheeler on account of its safety and convenience factors.

However how far reaching the dent is will depend on the product's performance, after-sales service and overall customer satisfaction JD Power said.

JD Power said the car was being monitored by automobile industries across the world for possible replication in different markets and if the car is successful, it could spark demand in a new segment.

The firm, however, cautioned that Tatas would need to get the product right at the first shot as the dynamics of the Indian automobile market have changed over the years.
Back to News Review index page  

Mastek goes on hiring drive
Mumbai: Mastek plans to hire 5,000 professionals for a new campus at Mahindra Industrial Park in Chennai. In the first phase the company would recruit 1,100 professionals, the company said in a release today.

The company also said it is building a centre of excellence at the recently launched Chennai facility to acquire competencies in mainframe technology, mainly in the insurance vertical. The recruitments for this unit are under process, it added.
Back to News Review index page  

Mega-land sale for VSNL proposed
New Delhi: The government is likely to ask Tata-owned Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL) to sell the surplus land bank of 773 acres in the open market.

The move follows a request from the revenue department to auction the land and use the proceeds to partially bridge the estimated revenue deficit of Rs71,478 crore for 2007-08.

The government will get 51.12 per cent of the net sale proceeds, equivalent to its ownership of the surplus land bank.

The current market price of the land bank will be determined by the "civil wing" of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam, the government-owned telecom service provider. The land was last valued in 2003 at an extremely conservative Rs151.22 crore by the same agency.

Based on current market rates in various cities over which the land bank is spread, the sale could raise up to Rs10,000 crore.
Back to News Review index page