Essar Global adds Minnesota Steel to its overseas buys
Chicago, USA: Essar Global Ltd., the owner of India's third-biggest steelmaker Essar Steel, has agreed to buy Minnesota Steel Industries LLC for an undisclosed price. The acquisition will add 1.4 billion tons of iron-ore reserves and a steel mill in North America to Essar's assets.

According to Minnesota Steel officials, Essar Global will invest about $1.65 billion to build the 2.5 million-ton-a-year mill in northern Minnesota.They said that the reserves are enough for about a century's steel production. Talking about the synergies, analysts point out that it takes two tons of iron ore to make one ton of steel, and so, building a steel mill next to an iron mine can result in significant savings in costs.

The acquisition is the second announced by Essar this week. Earlier on April 15, Essar Global, which owns 88 per cent of Mumbai-based Essar Steel, agreed to buy Canada's Algoma Steel Inc. for $1.63 billion to supply U.S. carmakers such as General Motors Corp. Algoma had shipped 2.42 million tons of steel last year.

The price of iron ore, the main material used in steelmaking, has almost tripled in the past five years, which ahs prompted companies, including Arcelor Mittal, to seek greater control over supplies. Indian steelmakers, in particular, are expanding abroad to secure access to raw materials and more profitable steel-production facilities.

Minnesota Steel, based in St. Paul, Minnesota, is building North America's first complex that will include iron-ore mining, processing and steelmaking on a single site, according to the company's Web site. Accordingh to the company, construction of the plant near Nashwauk is expected to start in the third quarter, with production beginning in 2009.

Minnesota Steel said its new mill will use electric arc furnaces to produce semi-finished steel slabs that will be shipped to clients in the US Midwest for finishing. The plant's costs to produce steel may be as much as 20 per cent lower than for competing mini-mill operators, such as Nucor Corp. or Steel Dynamics Inc., the company also said.

Shares of Essar Steel have climbed 15 per cent this year.
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Emaar, MGF Gr acquire Singapore's RSH for Rs630-cr
Mumbai: Dubai-based realty major Emaar Properties, along with the MGF group of India, has announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Singapore-based RSH Limited for Singapore $227 million (about Rs630 crore). The acquisition has been made through their joint venture company, Golden Ace Pte Ltd, a press release issued here said.

The statement said that the voluntary conditional cash offer closed on the afternoon of 18 April. At close, Golden Ace had received acceptances totaling 61.3 per cent.

This was inclusive of the 42.5 per cent of undertakings Golden Ace secured as at the beginning of the offer. Together with the RSH shares already owned or controlled by parties acting in concert with it, Golden Ace now controls 87.3 per cent of RSH.

The Group Director of MGF, Siddharth Gupta, said "Asia and the Middle-East-North African region today is witnessing a retail revolution, and this move marks our entry into the niche segment of fashion and lifestyle, wherein we aim to address the needs of the evolved and discerning customer."

"We will be reviewing RSH's current operations, strategies and future plans, which will take into account the combined strengths of RSH, Emaar Properties and MGF Retail. The results of the review will be disclosed when the details are finalised," he added.
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AT&T projects strong revenue growth for India
New Delhi: US telecom major AT&T Inc expects to see 40 per cent annual revenue growth in its Indian business for the next two years at least, a top regional executive said on Wednesday. The projection comes on the back of the company's announcement that it expected double-digit sales growth annually in Asia-Pacific over the next few years, driven by robust demand in India and China.

AT&T has just launched commercial operations in India.

"If you look at the revenue growth rate, it was about 40 per cent last year and we anticipate that the 40 per cent growth rate will continue for two years at least," VS Gopinath, vice president of AT&T Asia Pacific, said at a news conference.

"We are very optimistic about the market space here and the demand. So we think that kind of growth rate will continue."

Last year AT&T had become the first foreign carrier to secure a licence for long-distance and international services in India under a revised policy that allows foreigners to own up to 74 percent of their Indian units.

AT&T was previously represented in the country through a partnership with Indian firm Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd.
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Dish TV to raise additional Rs500-cr through equity, debt
Mumbai: Zee Group's demerged entity, Dish TV, aims to raise Rs500 crore through a combination of equity and debt in order to fund its expansion plans and brand building exercise. The additional raisings, over and above the Rs500 crore that it has already raised, are required for further investments in over the next two years.

The company said that one strategic partner, or a couple, would make the required investments. Of the previous raisings of Rs500 crore, 85% had come from FIIs and 15% from Indian institutional investors.

According to Arun Kumar Kapoor, CEO, Dish TV, "Our total requirement over two years is about Rs1,000 crore, so we still require Rs500 crore more. We are looking for funds through a combination of debt and equity."

Meanwhile, Dish TV, ended its first day with 10.86% discount over its base price of Rs115 per share on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Before closing the day at Rs102.55, over 1.88 crore Dish TV shares changed hands.

On the National Stock Exchange, shares of Dish TV closed at Rs101.40, over 11% below its base price.
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TCS plans to set up IT park in West Bengal
Kolkata: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) plans to set up an IT park (on 40 acres of land) at New Town in West Bengal.

The state government will provide land at Rs1.5 crore per acre to TCS, state IT Minister Debesh Das told reporters.

The company is likely to employ 20,000 people in the next four years.
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Infosys selects Aptech for Finacle
Mumbai: Aptech Training Solutions, the corporate training arm of Aptech, has been selected by Infosys Technologies to deliver end user training on its core banking solution Finacle. Aptech will deploy expert trainers at the client sites who will train the banking personnel to work on this software, said a release from the company.
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RIL finds gas in Saurashtra
New Delhi: Reliance Industries, the country's largest private sector company, has made a significant gad discovery in an offshore block in Saurashtra and has intimated the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) about the discovery.

Reliance is the operator of the block with a 70 per cent stake, while Oil India Ltd has the remaining 30 per cent stake. The consortium won the block under the New Exploration and Licensing Policy.

Reliance is already a gas-rich company, sitting on an estimated 11.2 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of reserves in the Krishna-Godavari (K-G) basin, discovered in 2002.

Company officials said that though the gas discovery in the Saurashtra block is not as big as the K-G basin one studies have shown it has good potential.

The company has also discovered gas in a coal block in Madhya Pradesh, with estimated reserves of 3.76 tcf.

RIL also holds a 30 per cent stake in the Panna-Mukta-Tapti gas fields in the western offshore region. The field, in which Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) holds a 40 per cent stake and British Gas 30 per cent, currently produces 13 mscmd of gas, besides 29,000 barrels of oil per day.

RIL has a stake in 34 exploration blocks in the country.
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Goldstone Tech to invest $20mn on IPTV
Mumbai: Goldstone Technologies plans to will invest $20 million initially in its venture to launch television services over the Internet.

The company is targeting the Asia Pacific region, particularly New Zealand and Australia, for its services and expects to have 100,000 subscribers by the end of the current fiscal year. The service is being launched under the brand mame TV Origin, and will cater to the non-resident Indian community in that region.
Goldstone recently announced a tie-up with Zee Telefilm's Mauritius subsidiary, Asia Today Ltd., to distribute Zee channels to subscribers in eight countries.

The company plans to raise the funds through foreign currency convertible bonds and internal accruals. Goldstone will set up a network-operating centre in Singapore for delivering the service.
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Hindustan Paper Corp chalks out Rs3979-cr expansion and diversification plan
Kolkata: State-owned Hindustan Paper Corporation (HPC) has earmarked investments of Rs3,979 crore over the next 2-3 years for greenfield and brownfield expansion in paper and newsprint production.

HPC has decided to set up a new paper mill in Uttar Pradesh with an annual production capacity of 300,000 tonne of special quality crème woven paper at an investment of about Rs2,600 crore. The plant will go on stream within 30 months of receiving approval, officials said.

The State owned major also said that it will be modernising and upgrading technology at its Cachar and Nagoan paper mills with a project outlay of Rs660 crore. The Nagaon facility will undergo a 30 per cent capacity expansion, over and above its current capacity of 1 lakh tonne per annum. The expansion is expected to be complete by 2009.

The company will also undertake an expansion-cum-diversification programme at its subsidiary Hindustan Newsprints (HNL) with a project outlay of Rs719 crore. The programme will boost HNL's production capacity to three lakh tonnes per annum by November 2008 and also help it move towards value-added products, such as coated and uncoated papers.

Significantly, HPC has also decided to reopen its Tuli paper mill in Nagaland, which has remained closed for the last 14 years. The revival scheme will see capacity being expanded to 66,000 tonne per annum. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has cleared the project.

For 2007-08, HPC has set a target of 3,33,000 tonnes of production, including 2,18,000 tonne of writing and printing paper and 1,15,000 tonne of newsprint. The company is aiming at a sales turnover of Rs1,200 crore in 2007-08.
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