Department of legal affairs likely to clear Hutch shareholding
New Delhi: The department of legal affairs has taken the view that the 12.26 per cent stake held in Hutch-Essar by Asim Ghosh and Analjit Singh is in conformity with norms.

Legal opinion has cleared Ghosh and Singh's stake of violating the Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Act, 1988, the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, as well as certain sections of the Companies Act. No anomaly has also been found in the different reporting standards used in announcing the deal with stock exchanges and regulators in Hong Kong, United States and elsewhere.

This may clear the way for the finance ministry to give a green signal to Vodafone's proposed acquisition of a 52 per cent stake in Hutch-Essar for $11.1 bn the sources added.

A crucial meeting of the FIPB is scheduled for Monday. The meeting is expected to focus on the law ministry's examination of Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd's (HTIL's) various arguments, including the rationale for the put and call options on Ghosh and Singh's 12.26 per cent shareholding, as well as the 2.77 per cent held by IDFC Private Equity Ltd and its private equity arm.
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Wipro to introduce products for the BFSI sector
Mumbai: Wipro is looking to increase its presence in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector through "package implementation and integration of solutions and business process".

Company officials said the sector was one of the high-growth areas for the company. Under the package implementation, Wipro would look at providing specialised packages of products and solutions to the companies in the BFSI sector.

This is different from the existing method of setting up enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and solutions for a company. Wipro would look at providing end-to-end services in implementation for its clients who are active in derivatives, settlement, anti-money laundering and card processes among others.

Wipro would also look at integrating solutions and business processes for its clients and offer its services in consulting and technology for the companies. This, Wipro believes, would help in reducing both integration and operational costs for its clients.
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Bharati Shipyard to build bigger ships
Mumbai: Bharati Shipyard proposes to create a facility for building ships upto one lakh tonnes capacity instead of its original plan to make ships upto 60,000 tonne capacity.

The company has raised Rs450 crore through FCCBs for the shipyard. The proposed shipbuilding yard is in an SEZ in which Karnataka government is also a partner. The yard is being built on 90 acres of land.

Bharati would bring in the plants and machinery of UK-based Swan Hunter, which it acquired recently. The company is bringing in the assets of Swan Hunter and the majority of them would go to the Managalore shipbuilding yard of Bharati.
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ITDC enters into joint venture with Aldeasa of Spain
New Delhi: Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) has finalised plans to set up a joint venture company with Spain-based Aldeasa SA for operating setting up duty-free shops at airports and seaports across India.

ITDC has sought permission from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to set up a 50:50 joint venture company with an initial paid-up capital of $7 million in which both the partners would chip in $3.50 million each. Aldeasa operates one of the largest chains of duty-free shops across airports around the world. According to the application filed with the FIPB, at the end of 2006, the company was managing 139 airport shops in Spain alone and another 39 in different countries that include North America, Latin America, Canada, Kuwait and other West Asian countries.

The company proposes to open its first shop in the Delhi airport where it is planning to have a staff strength of around 300 people, the application states. Since the new joint venture would also operate warehouses and procure goods domestically as well as through imports, more employment opportunities are likely to be created, the company has informed the board in its application.
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Future models to have new generation engines: Maruti
New Delhi: Maruti Udyog will begin incorporating new generation engines confirming to Euro IV and Euro V norms in its models beginning with the SX4 sedan slated for launch next month.

The investment in engines is a part of the Rs9,000-crore outlay the company has announced. This is in order to align itself with parent Suzuki Motor Corporation's strategy of complying with stricter emission norms. Suzuki is producing Euro IV and Euro V-compliant engines for Europe. The M-series engine on the SX4 sedan will mark the beginning of the new generation engines in India. At present, the M-series, called the future of Suzuki engines, is being imported from Japan and fitted with a few components at Suzuki Powertrain India's facility at Manesar near Gurgaon for the SX4 sedan. The company is in the process of increasing the localisation levels.

The company would have four platforms for its cars, of which three already exist. The Alto, Zen and Wagon R are based on the first. Swift is based on the second and SX4 would be on the third platform. The fourth platform would be any bigger car that the company may launch in the future.

Maruti is launching its SX 4 sedan targeted at the A4 segment in the first week of May. It would be equipped with 1.6 litre M-Series petrol engine and priced at around Rs7 lakh. SX4 would be competing with cars such as the Honda City, Ford Fiesta and Hyundai Verna. It would also mark Maruti's strategy to position itself as an aggressive player in the premium segment. The Esteem will continue to be the company's entry-level sedan, with price points close to the aggressive pricing of Mahindra-Renault's Logan.
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Tata Group to expand in China
Beijing: Tata Group's major businesses are actively seeking opportunities in China and are looking to tap the country as an export market and manufacturing base.

Alan Rosling, executive director of Tata Sons, said, "We're looking at significant growth in China in terms of revenue and in terms of purchasing," he said at the annual Boao Forum for Asia held over the weekend on the southern Chinese island of Hainan.

Rosling said that the group currently had a list of about 12 potential new investment projects in China.

While he declined to comment on how much investment Tata plans to make, Rosling said that the group was hoping to get into the hotel sector and was looking at providing value-added telecommunications services.

Apart from this three other Tata companies are looking to set up operations in China, Rosling said, but declined to name them.

However the Tatas have no plans to set up auto manufacturing facilities in China partly because of Beijing's restrictive entry requirements for the auto sector.
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