Bajaj Auto sales decline 9 pc in March
Mumbai: Two wheeler maker Bajaj Auto's vehicle sales declined 9 per cent in March this year from a year earlier.

Sales of 3-wheelers fell 0.6 per cent to 24,576 units while sales of 2-wheelers fell 10 per cent to 168,986 units. Motorcycle sales also fell 10 per cent to 165,524 units.

For fiscal 2006-07, the company recorded a 19 per cent rise in vehicle sales to 2,721,178 units, it said and said it expected turnover to exceed Rs 100 billion.

For the fiscal year 2007/08, the company has targeted 10 per cent growth to 3 million units, it said.
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ITC cigarette volumes drop
Kolkata: ITC expects sales of cigarettes to drop due to the added imposition of 12.5 per cent VAT on the product, though sources said the extent of the drop in sales would be ascertained later.

ITC sources said total taxes on cigarettes had risen 33 per cent. They said that though the cigarettes business of the company was stable, the growth of the hotels, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and paperboards divisions had been faster.

The company has also drawn up plans to invest Rs 300 crore in the cigarette business at Kidderpore in Kolkata for which clearance for land, which belongs to Kolkata Port Trust, was still awaited.

The company is in the process of identifying land for spearheading its retail initiative in West Bengal. ITC has identified land near Barasat for purposes of setting up a demonstration farm and a nursery for growing fruits and vegetables.
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Tata Power, Reliance Energy may save Mumbai from power cuts
Mumbai: Tata Power Company (TPC) and Reliance Energy (REL) have promised the Maharashtra state government's energy ministry that they would source around 150 Mw of power in the next two days to save the state from extensive power cuts.

MSEB has said that TPC, which supplies power in bulk to both the power distribution utilities in Mumbai, BEST and REL, is overdrawing around 200 Mw to ensure that city gets uninterrupted power supply.

MSEB expressed its unwillingness to allow Tata Power Company to overdraw from the state's grid as the state is facing a power shortage of around 5,000 Mw and rural areas in the state are reeling under 12-14 hours of power cut.

TPC and REL supply 1,770 Mw and 500 Mw of power to the city respectively. However the demand for power has risen by 400 Mw and Tata Power Company managed to source around 200 Mw from various sources which include 60 Mw from its power plant in Jharkhand, 100 Mw from the hydro plant in Sikkim and 100 Mw from the Hyderabad-based Lanco.

Even then Tata Power Company was finding it difficult to source another 200 Mw to meet the city's power needs. Hence, it was over drawing from the state's grid, sources pointed out.

If power cuts do affect the city, the suburbs would be hit first where REL supplies power. Due to differences between the companies there has been no power purchase agreement in place between Tata Power Company and REL.
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Gmail offers free print service
Mumbai: Google's email service Gmail has announced a new print service on its website, according to which e-mail users can receive by post, free print outs of their e-mails. Users only need to select the e-mails they wish to see on paper and the company promises to send them printed copies of the same within four working days by post.

While office based users may not be delighted, students and users who do not have access to printers at home are sure to cheer the move. The company plans to recover the cost of print and postage by targeted advertisements which will be placed on the back of the printed papers. At the moment the company is also allowing prints of photographs and attachments.

Photographs will be printed on high quality glossy photo paper. Also, users are allowed to take as many prints as they want. On one hand while this will be seen as a helpful service by its users, it will also get Gmail another step closer to its users. By dishing out this service Gmail will have concrete profiles of all users who avail of its service, helping it leverage better advertising rates.
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US chocolate giant Hershey to enter Indian market
Mumbai: Chocolate and confectionery maker, The Hershey Company is said to be entering the Indian market by acquiring a stake in Godrej Beverages and Foods (GBFL).

Sources said Hershey's had acquired a 51 per cent stakes in GBFL, by buying the 40 per cent stakes held by IL&FS. The remaining stake is expected to be acquired from Godrej Industries and A Mahendran, managing director, GBFL who holds a stake in the company. After the acquisition, Mahendran and Godrej Industries' stake in GBFL will together come down to 49 per cent.

GBFL with a turnover of about Rs 400 crore is present in categories like juices, soya foods, tomato puree and bakery fats with brands such as Sofit, Xs and Jumpin. GBFL acquisition of confectionery brand Nutrine has a significant presence in the confectionery category in India. Post acquisition, Hersheys is likely to tap this distribution network to introduce its own brands in India.

The US accounts for almost all of Hershey's sales which have been slowing down in the past couple of years. Some of Hershey's best known brands are Hershey's, Reese's, Hershey's Kisses and Ice Breakers. Apart from this, it also has a presence in categories such as chocolate drink mixes, baking ingredients, dessert toppings and beverages.
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Sugar cos offer 1,061 million litres of ethanol to oil firms
Mumbai: Fifty-two sugar making companies across nine States have offered 1,061.04 million litres supply of ethanol to the oil marketing companies (OMC) to blend with petrol. Earlier the oil marketing companies had floated tenders and received offers from companies in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, Jharkhand, Goa, Maharashtra (partial), Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh (partial) and Karnataka. The ethanol would be delivered at the oil marketing companies' depots-terminals for three years with an option for a two-year extension on mutual consent.

The biggest suppliers are: Shree Renuka Sugars with 217 million litres (20.84 per cent), Bajaj Hindustan group 99 million litres (10 per cent) and Balrampur Chini Group 44 million litres (4.5 per cent).

The ethanol would be priced at Rs 21.50 per litre ex-factory with State taxes being borne by the oil marketing companies. The oil marketing companies require 565 million litres annually or about 1,700 million litres during the tender period of three years. The response meets about 70 per cent of the required quantity.

In 2005, the public sector oil marketing companies, led by Indian Oil Corporation, had signed an MoU with Indian Sugar Mills Association for supply of ethanol to implement the ethanol blended petrol programme.
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