Nissan, Renault, M&M JV to launch Teana
New Delhi: Japanese auto company Nissan which entered into a three-way joint venture with Renault and Mahindra & Mahindra for setting up a plant in Chennai, plans to launch its premium sedan Teana in India next week.

Though a final decision has not been taken on the issue yet, Nissan and Renault are likely to have a 25 per cent stake each in the JV while the Indian partner Mahindra and Mahindra will have a 50 pc stake.

The joint venture has proposed investment of Rs4,000 crore in Chennai for a greenfield plant with a capacity of 4,00,000 units in the first phase.

As part of its India expansion plans, Nissan will be introducing its premium sedan Teana next week, which will be pitched against the likes of Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, which are in Rs 15 lakh plus range.

The company will be rolling out compact cars for the Indian market from the Chennai plant expected to be commissioned by 2009.
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L&T's shipbuilding yard to come with Rs1,500 crore investment
Mumbai: Engineering firm Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is planning to set up a major state-of-the-art ship building yard at a cost of Rs1,500 crore.

The company has identified three locations in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, of which one would be selected.

L&T already has a yard builds ships at Hazira, Gujarat, but the area there is not adequate for expansion and for making large ships.

The new greenfield Rs1,500-crore ship building yard would come up on a 1,000-acre area and have capability to make all types of ships, including high tech such as CNG, LNG carriers and containers up to 3 lakh dead weight tonnes (DWT).
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iGate Global Q4 net jumps 4 times
Mumbai: Technology solutions firm, iGate Global Solutions on Wednesday announced a four fold jump in net profit at Rs21.42 crore for the quarter ended March 31, as compared to Rs5.25 crore for the same quarter last year.

The total income of the company increased 29.91 per cent to Rs196.05 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31 from Rs150.91 crore a year ago, iGate Global informed the BSE. The company has declared a dividend of Rs2.40 on shares of Rs4 each (60 per cent) for the year ended March 31.

For the year ended March 31, the company posted a net profit of Rs49.05 crore as compared to Rs3.10 crore for the corresponding period a year ago and the total income increased to Rs748.43 crore from Rs563.87 crore for the same period.
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IBM Daksh is top BPO firm in India
New Delhi: IBM Daksh, the BPO arm of global technology company IBM has been ranked as the number one BPO firm in the 'India's Most Respected Companies' survey conducted by Business World Magazine, a company statement said here today.

The rankings are the outcome of an Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB) conducted poll that obtained views from 682 senior managers across industry who rated companies across various parameters.

IBM Daksh has over 20,000 employees across 17 delivery centers spread over India and the Philippines.

IBM acquired Daksh in April 2004 with a view to enhancing its business transformation capabilities in key areas including customer relationship management and financial management services in industries such as banking, insurance, retail, technology, telecommunications and travel and transportation.
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RComm, Sun TV ink pact for mobile content
Chennai: Reliance Communications has signed an "exclusive long-term agreement" with Sun Network to broadcast the company's television content on mobile handsets with GPRS and video viewing capability.

Initially, Reliance will offer content from the Sun TV channel to Reliance subscribers and will broadcast other Sun Network channels later.

Reliance Communications officials said the company could launch all 20 Sun Network channels immediately, but was waiting for viewer feedback to determine future broadcasts.

The companies did not disclose details of investment or revenue sharing involved.

Currently, Sun TV content can be viewed in two formats - video streaming (for ongoing programmes) and clip cast (for viewing 1-2 minute-long pre-recorded video content).

Available throughout India, video streaming is priced at Rs15 per session (about five minutes duration).

Clip cast is available at an introductory price of Rs7 per clip (1-2 minute duration). Additionally, subscribers will have to pay network access charges of 10 paise per 10 KB viewed. The company is also working on making the audio of Sun TV programmes available to those without a video viewing handset.
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Unwise to challenge Patent Act: Govt to Novartis
New Delhi: The Government has advised Swiss pharma company, Novartis to rethink on its legal challenge of the Indian Patent Act. It said that when a company comes into the country, they should consider the Indian climate and condition.

It is unwise for them to get into litigation and challenge the laws of another country," said Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, Union Health Minister, on his way out from the GoM meeting on the Pharma Policy.

The Minister had specified earlier that India had not used compulsory licensing. "We should not be pushed towards that," he said.

Compulsory licensing grants generic manufacturers rights to make copies of a patented drug under certain circumstances.

Organisations, including Medicines Sans Frontieres, Oxfam, Network of Positive People, have argued that millions of patients across the world will be deprived of cheaper generic drugs if Novartis' legal challenge is successful.
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Hiranandani to set up Rs2,000 crore township in Chennai
Mumbai: The Mumbai-based Hiranandani Constructions is planning to set up a Rs2,000-crore township on 110 acres land on Old Mahababalipuram Road, Chennai. Work will commence on April 14 (Tamil New Year's Day) and will be completed in about 3 years.

The fully integrated large-scale community expanse along the IT Corridor will have over 2,000 flats between 1,295 and 2,450 sq ft priced around Rs4,500 per sq ft, besides close to one million sq ft of high-end office space.

The high-rise buildings with 18 to 28 floors, for which the company has got the approval, will dot the skyline along the corridor.

Over 50 per cent of the project area has been reserved for greenery, open spaces and public amenities. The township will house badminton, squash and tennis courts, swimming pools, spa, gymnasium and halls for aerobics and yoga.

The company's retail group is working on the design of the shopping area and will decide on the facilities compatible with the residential populace.

The promoters will set up 100 per cent waste water recycling plants and reverse osmosis facilities; 30 acres have been allocated for an exclusive business park.
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ONGC Board to raise output with Rs67 crore investment
New Delhi: Oil and Natural Gas Corp is planning to invest more than Rs67 billion ($1.56 billion) to raise oil and gas output, and set up its first large power plant the company said.

ONGC will spend Rs18.17 billion on infrastrucure that will enable it to raise gas output from fields in the country's northeast to 4.5 million cubic metres a day from the current 3 mmscmd.

That gas will be used as feedstock for a planned 740 megawatt power plant in Tripura state, in which ONGC will invest Rs5.76 billion for a 50 per cent stake.

The power project, to be set up by ONGC Tripura Power Co. Ltd., with a debt-equity ratio of 70:30, will be commissioned by 2010 at an overall investment of Rs38.44 billion.

ONGC will also invest Rs3.55 billion in the construction of seven pipelines in the Mumbai High (North) oil and gas fields, where a fire destroyed a large platform in July 2005 and cut production.

For the development of its marginal fields in the western ofshore, popularly known as C-Series, the ONGC board has approved an additional investment of 7.95 billion rupees, taking the final spending figure to Rs39.9 billion.
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