Tata Power Company has refinanced the bridge loan taken for the acquisition of 30% equity stakes in major Indonesian thermal coal producers, PT Kaltim Prima Coal and PT Arutmin Indonesia, as well as related trading companies owned by PT Bumi Resources Tbk. The company has successfully refinanced US$ 850 million out of a total of US$ 950 million bridge loan taken at the time of acquisition. The US$ 950 million bridge loan had a tenor of 1 year of which US$ 850 million is being refinanced with long-term loans. The refinancing consists of a non- recourse US$ 580 million facility and a US$ 270 million facility with recourse to the company. The company will evaluate the option of refinancing the balance US$ 100 million of the bridge loan at an appropriate time within the residual bridge loan tenor. The company made this announcement during the trading hours today, 29 April 2008.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Gitanjali Gems - Credit Rating
Gitanjali Gems Ltd has informed that the Credit Analysis & Research Ltd (CARE) has assigned CARE A (single A) rating to the Long Term facilities of the Company. This rating is applicable for facilities having tenure of more than one year. Instruments with this rating are considered to offer adequate safety for timely servicing of debt obligations and carry low credit risk.
Further, CARE has assigned PR 1 (PR One) rating for the Short Term facilities of the Company. This rating is applicable for facilities having tenure up to one year. Instruments with this rating would have strong capacity for timely payment of short-term debt obligations and carry lowest credit risk.
Further, CARE has assigned PR 1 (PR One) rating for the Short Term facilities of the Company. This rating is applicable for facilities having tenure up to one year. Instruments with this rating would have strong capacity for timely payment of short-term debt obligations and carry lowest credit risk.
Hindustan Construction - Award Of New Contract
Hindustan Construction Company Ltd has informed that the Company has received a Letter of Intent from M/s। Lanco Infratech Ltd, Gurgaon, Haryana, for execution of Lot-IV: All Civil works of Power House, Surge Shafts, Pressure Shafts, Switchyard & Tail Race Tunnels including adits IV & V near Subin Khore for Teesta Hydroelectric Project, Stage VI. (4x125 MW) Stage- VI Sikkim.
The value of the contract is Rs 303.03 Crore.
The project is to be completed in 44 (forty four) calendar months from the date of Letter of Intent
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Tata Explores Compact Car Platform
Tata Motors is planning a new platform for a compact car codenamed X4.
The idea is "purely at an exploratory stage" right now but indications are that the company is keen to take it forward quickly.
There are reports doing the rounds that the car could be sandwiched between the Nano and Indica in terms of pricing which could mean a product in the Rs 2.5-3 lakh bracket. It will take a good 36 months before it is out on the roads by which time the Nano could be doing over 600,000 units annually.
It also remains to be seen if the company's ally, Fiat, will be involved in the X4. For the moment, the two are yet to collaborate on a car project though there have been talks of a more concrete proposal emerging for global markets.
A spokesman for Tata Motors said it was not the company's policy to comment on future product launches.
Over the last 2-3 years, Tata Motors has worked aggressively on the new Indica (X1), PhoenixSprint (X2) and, of course, the Nano (X3). The fact that it is planning yet another small car is reflective of the direction it wants to take in the future.
What is even more interesting, sources say, is that the company is also working on a MPV (multipurpose vehicle) version of the X1, given the growing potential of this product segment. This has been evident in the case of the Toyota Innova which has also prompted Mahindra & Mahindra to conceive of the Ingenio MPV due to be launched in the coming months.
It may be recalled that Tata Motors had launched a station-wagon version of the Indigo, the Marina, a little over three years ago. However, the volumes here are not as much as the MPV space, which explains why it makes sense to have one from the X1 platform.
This vehicle could, however, debut only in 2009-10 after the new Indica is launched towards the second half of this fiscal. The car will be fitted with the Fiat 1.3 Multijet diesel engine, which is already part of the Suzuki Swift, DZire and Palio Stile.
It is absolutely clear now that Tata Motors is focusing on being a dominant player in the small car segment. It has already created a world record of sorts with the Nano as far as the pricing quotient is concerned. The top-end petrol version will be barely Rs 1.8 lakh (on-road) unless input costs go out of control as is the case now especially with steel.
The Indica begins with a price tag of Rs 3 lakh plus and this gap could be filled with the X4 though this is purely speculative at this stage. Further, there is really no guarantee if there will be a softening of raw material prices in the future which could even see this project on hold for a while.
Of course, the diesel version of the Nano which is due to be launched during 2009-10 will be priced closer to the Rs 2.5 lakh mark. This will still make it the least expensive diesel-driven small car in the Indian market.
The idea is "purely at an exploratory stage" right now but indications are that the company is keen to take it forward quickly.
There are reports doing the rounds that the car could be sandwiched between the Nano and Indica in terms of pricing which could mean a product in the Rs 2.5-3 lakh bracket. It will take a good 36 months before it is out on the roads by which time the Nano could be doing over 600,000 units annually.
It also remains to be seen if the company's ally, Fiat, will be involved in the X4. For the moment, the two are yet to collaborate on a car project though there have been talks of a more concrete proposal emerging for global markets.
A spokesman for Tata Motors said it was not the company's policy to comment on future product launches.
Over the last 2-3 years, Tata Motors has worked aggressively on the new Indica (X1), PhoenixSprint (X2) and, of course, the Nano (X3). The fact that it is planning yet another small car is reflective of the direction it wants to take in the future.
What is even more interesting, sources say, is that the company is also working on a MPV (multipurpose vehicle) version of the X1, given the growing potential of this product segment. This has been evident in the case of the Toyota Innova which has also prompted Mahindra & Mahindra to conceive of the Ingenio MPV due to be launched in the coming months.
It may be recalled that Tata Motors had launched a station-wagon version of the Indigo, the Marina, a little over three years ago. However, the volumes here are not as much as the MPV space, which explains why it makes sense to have one from the X1 platform.
This vehicle could, however, debut only in 2009-10 after the new Indica is launched towards the second half of this fiscal. The car will be fitted with the Fiat 1.3 Multijet diesel engine, which is already part of the Suzuki Swift, DZire and Palio Stile.
It is absolutely clear now that Tata Motors is focusing on being a dominant player in the small car segment. It has already created a world record of sorts with the Nano as far as the pricing quotient is concerned. The top-end petrol version will be barely Rs 1.8 lakh (on-road) unless input costs go out of control as is the case now especially with steel.
The Indica begins with a price tag of Rs 3 lakh plus and this gap could be filled with the X4 though this is purely speculative at this stage. Further, there is really no guarantee if there will be a softening of raw material prices in the future which could even see this project on hold for a while.
Of course, the diesel version of the Nano which is due to be launched during 2009-10 will be priced closer to the Rs 2.5 lakh mark. This will still make it the least expensive diesel-driven small car in the Indian market.
TVS-E Net Surges On Sale Of Unit
Chennai: Aided by an extraordinary income of Rs 5.73 crore, TVS Electronics’ net profit has increased seven fold to Rs 13.06 crore for the year ended March 2008 against the previous year.
Sale of the company’s contract manufacturing business resulted in the extraordinary income. Revenues from operations, however, have dipped by 22.28 per cent over that of the previous year to Rs 207.64 crore.
A TVS Electronics press release said revenues for fiscal 2008 and fiscal 2007 could not be compared as the company had hived off its contract manufacturing business at Tumkur and spun off the contract customer support business into a separate company.
The board of directors has reviewed the proposal for issue of employee stock options and employee stock purchase plan and has also empowered the compensation committee of the board to discuss and decide the terms and conditions of issue including price.
Sale of the company’s contract manufacturing business resulted in the extraordinary income. Revenues from operations, however, have dipped by 22.28 per cent over that of the previous year to Rs 207.64 crore.
A TVS Electronics press release said revenues for fiscal 2008 and fiscal 2007 could not be compared as the company had hived off its contract manufacturing business at Tumkur and spun off the contract customer support business into a separate company.
The board of directors has reviewed the proposal for issue of employee stock options and employee stock purchase plan and has also empowered the compensation committee of the board to discuss and decide the terms and conditions of issue including price.
Gujarat NRE Coke - Gujarat NRE Group''s Third Mine In Australia Becomes Operational
Gujarat NRE Coke Ltd has announced the following Press Release:
The New South Wales (Australia) Minister for Energy Mr. Ian Macdonald on April 28, 2008 officially opened the Gujarat NRE Groups latest Australian mine, NRE Wongawilli Colliery, south west of Wollongong on Australias south east coast.
Gujarat NREs $50 million acquisition of the West Dapto mine, previously known as Elouera Mine and owned by BHP Billiton, had been operating under care and maintenance since last year.
Gujarat NRE Minerals Ltd., Australia now plans to spend a further $65 million over the next two years to bring the NRE Wongawilli Colliery to full production and hopes to ramp up production to around 2.5 million tonnes per annum by 2011/12.
The parent Company, Gujarat NRE Coke Ltd, is Indias largest independent coke producer and the only listed Company in the domain.
The Chairman of Gujarat NRE Minerals Ltd, Mr. Arun Kumar Jegatramka, said his Company originally planned to re-open the neighboring NRE Avondale Colliery, which it purchased in mid-2005.
However, after our acquisition late last year of Elouera Colliery it was decided to consolidate both the mines as one, which we now know as NRE Wongawilli Colliery, he said.
Ownership of the mine has given the Gujarat NRE group ready infrastructure, in particular mining equipment and railway access to Port Kembla.
The Minister Mr. Macdonald in opening the mine on April 28, 2008 praised the Indian Companys investment in Australia and Spoke of the long term need for coal mining in Australia.
Hard coking coal is experiencing an increase in global demand and the Southern Coalfields is the only NSW source of this variety, so the area is set to reap the social and economic benefits of being home to a booming industry, Mr. Macdonald said.
The export of our States high quality coal is forecast to continue to grow, and the Government is working with industry to ensure global demand can be met.
Mr. Macdonald presented Mr. Jagatramka a Sydney Ambassadors Certificate at the ceremony at the colliery, which was attended by more than 150 business and industry leaders.
Also attending the official opening ceremony were the High Commissioner of India, Her
Excellency Mrs. Sujatha Singh, the Consul General of India, Mr. Sujan Chinoy, and former
NSW Premier, the Hon. Neville Wran.
The Indian Companys Illawarra operations now provide work for more than 350 employees and contractors at NRE Wongawilli and its sister mine, NRE No 1, at Russell Vale, north of Wollongong, which was purchased by the Gujarat NRE Group in December 2004.
The Company has adopted environment friendly technology and has strong employee participation, with the majority of employees owning shares in the Company.
The next shipment through Port Kembla Coal Terminal in early May 2008 will be significant as it will include the first shipment of coal from NRE Wongawilli
The New South Wales (Australia) Minister for Energy Mr. Ian Macdonald on April 28, 2008 officially opened the Gujarat NRE Groups latest Australian mine, NRE Wongawilli Colliery, south west of Wollongong on Australias south east coast.
Gujarat NREs $50 million acquisition of the West Dapto mine, previously known as Elouera Mine and owned by BHP Billiton, had been operating under care and maintenance since last year.
Gujarat NRE Minerals Ltd., Australia now plans to spend a further $65 million over the next two years to bring the NRE Wongawilli Colliery to full production and hopes to ramp up production to around 2.5 million tonnes per annum by 2011/12.
The parent Company, Gujarat NRE Coke Ltd, is Indias largest independent coke producer and the only listed Company in the domain.
The Chairman of Gujarat NRE Minerals Ltd, Mr. Arun Kumar Jegatramka, said his Company originally planned to re-open the neighboring NRE Avondale Colliery, which it purchased in mid-2005.
However, after our acquisition late last year of Elouera Colliery it was decided to consolidate both the mines as one, which we now know as NRE Wongawilli Colliery, he said.
Ownership of the mine has given the Gujarat NRE group ready infrastructure, in particular mining equipment and railway access to Port Kembla.
The Minister Mr. Macdonald in opening the mine on April 28, 2008 praised the Indian Companys investment in Australia and Spoke of the long term need for coal mining in Australia.
Hard coking coal is experiencing an increase in global demand and the Southern Coalfields is the only NSW source of this variety, so the area is set to reap the social and economic benefits of being home to a booming industry, Mr. Macdonald said.
The export of our States high quality coal is forecast to continue to grow, and the Government is working with industry to ensure global demand can be met.
Mr. Macdonald presented Mr. Jagatramka a Sydney Ambassadors Certificate at the ceremony at the colliery, which was attended by more than 150 business and industry leaders.
Also attending the official opening ceremony were the High Commissioner of India, Her
Excellency Mrs. Sujatha Singh, the Consul General of India, Mr. Sujan Chinoy, and former
NSW Premier, the Hon. Neville Wran.
The Indian Companys Illawarra operations now provide work for more than 350 employees and contractors at NRE Wongawilli and its sister mine, NRE No 1, at Russell Vale, north of Wollongong, which was purchased by the Gujarat NRE Group in December 2004.
The Company has adopted environment friendly technology and has strong employee participation, with the majority of employees owning shares in the Company.
The next shipment through Port Kembla Coal Terminal in early May 2008 will be significant as it will include the first shipment of coal from NRE Wongawilli
Monday, April 28, 2008
Fuel Retailing: Essar Oil Eyes Overseas Opportunities
Kolkata: Having announced plans to expand its Vadinar refinery from 10.5 million tonnes to 34 mt by 2010, Essar Oil is scouting for acquisition of retail marketing and distribution assets abroad.
“To find a permanent home for our products, we are aggressively looking for distribution and marketing opportunities abroad,” the Essar Oil Managing Director, Naresh Nayyar, told Business Line in an interview. The company is expecting to firm up deals in this regard in 2008-09.
It may be mentioned that Essar had previously created a retail market place for its products in India. However, the plan did not take off due to the Government’s policies to keep the retail market prices of auto fuels at artificially low levels vis-À-vis crude price volatility.
Essar’s 1,215-strong retail outlet business in India is currently in “maintenance mode” and is incurring a loss of $10 million annually.
According to Nayyar, taking advantage of the demand-supply gap in diesel and LPG in the country, Essar currently sells its entire production to public sector marketing companies. However, most of its petrol and furnace oil production are exported.
He did not disclose the possible overseas markets the company was looking at.“Economics of supply logistics will play a crucial role in our search,” Nayyar said.
Meanwhile, Essar is waiting for the Kenyan Government’s approval – which owns 50 per cent in the refinery and has a first right of refusal – for acquiring the residual 50 per cent stake in Kenya Petroleum Refineries from Shell Petroleum Company, Chevron Global Energy Inc and BP Africa.
“To find a permanent home for our products, we are aggressively looking for distribution and marketing opportunities abroad,” the Essar Oil Managing Director, Naresh Nayyar, told Business Line in an interview. The company is expecting to firm up deals in this regard in 2008-09.
It may be mentioned that Essar had previously created a retail market place for its products in India. However, the plan did not take off due to the Government’s policies to keep the retail market prices of auto fuels at artificially low levels vis-À-vis crude price volatility.
Essar’s 1,215-strong retail outlet business in India is currently in “maintenance mode” and is incurring a loss of $10 million annually.
According to Nayyar, taking advantage of the demand-supply gap in diesel and LPG in the country, Essar currently sells its entire production to public sector marketing companies. However, most of its petrol and furnace oil production are exported.
He did not disclose the possible overseas markets the company was looking at.“Economics of supply logistics will play a crucial role in our search,” Nayyar said.
Meanwhile, Essar is waiting for the Kenyan Government’s approval – which owns 50 per cent in the refinery and has a first right of refusal – for acquiring the residual 50 per cent stake in Kenya Petroleum Refineries from Shell Petroleum Company, Chevron Global Energy Inc and BP Africa.
ICICI Bank Shutters Consumer Loans Unit
ICICI Bank, India's biggest retail bank, is in the process of closing down its retail sales finance division (consumer loans division). The move was initiated last month.
V. Vaidyanathan, executive director, ICICI Bank said consumer loans through credit cards would be both "cost effective and quicker" for the bank, compared with repayment through post-dated cheques.
ICICI is among the many banks that have tightened disbursements of loans for small-ticket loans especially consumer durables, in the second half of 2007-08.
This closure comes after shutters were drawn on consumer durable financing by GE Money and CitiFinancial, two of the most aggressive firms in the business.
Analysts said some banks, which still have the divisions that give out small loans, are there for namesake only.
Vaidyanathan, who is in charge of retail banking, does not think ICICI will lose out on potential borrowers because they don't own a credit card.
"The credit card is fairly common; there are few people who don't own one these days," he said.
ICICI has a Rs 9,000 crore credit card portfolio with 8 million customers.
Banks such as ICICI have a small part of their total loan exposure to consumer durables.
Only 2-3% of ICICI's loans, for example, are given to buy consumer durables, compared with 50% for home loans, 30% to auto loans and 17% for personal loans.
ICICI, meanwhile, is moving its employees from the consumer loans division to credit cards following the decision to move consumer durable loans to credit cards.
Emails were sent out to relationship managers working for the division, around ten days back, confirms a source from the bank. These employees will now be absorbed in the credit card division, they were told.
With no increments and promotions this year, this has led to a lot of heartburn in the credit card division, as next year the existing employees will have to compete with more people, points out the source.
V. Vaidyanathan, executive director, ICICI Bank said consumer loans through credit cards would be both "cost effective and quicker" for the bank, compared with repayment through post-dated cheques.
ICICI is among the many banks that have tightened disbursements of loans for small-ticket loans especially consumer durables, in the second half of 2007-08.
This closure comes after shutters were drawn on consumer durable financing by GE Money and CitiFinancial, two of the most aggressive firms in the business.
Analysts said some banks, which still have the divisions that give out small loans, are there for namesake only.
Vaidyanathan, who is in charge of retail banking, does not think ICICI will lose out on potential borrowers because they don't own a credit card.
"The credit card is fairly common; there are few people who don't own one these days," he said.
ICICI has a Rs 9,000 crore credit card portfolio with 8 million customers.
Banks such as ICICI have a small part of their total loan exposure to consumer durables.
Only 2-3% of ICICI's loans, for example, are given to buy consumer durables, compared with 50% for home loans, 30% to auto loans and 17% for personal loans.
ICICI, meanwhile, is moving its employees from the consumer loans division to credit cards following the decision to move consumer durable loans to credit cards.
Emails were sent out to relationship managers working for the division, around ten days back, confirms a source from the bank. These employees will now be absorbed in the credit card division, they were told.
With no increments and promotions this year, this has led to a lot of heartburn in the credit card division, as next year the existing employees will have to compete with more people, points out the source.
Satyam Upbeat On ‘Value Engg’ Services
Hyderabad: IT solutions provider Satyam Computer is upbeat on the engineering services practice in general and ‘value engineering’ services for aerospace, automotive and consumer electronics verticals.
The company sees its engineering division contributing significantly over the next few years and the company vision is to take its contribution up from 7।5 per cent to double digits.
The company sees its engineering division contributing significantly over the next few years and the company vision is to take its contribution up from 7।5 per cent to double digits.
The Engineering Services Division employs over 4,200 people and has helped its customers co-create and file for over 100 product patents over the last three years, according to Dr. T.S.K. Murthy, Global Head of Integrated Engineering Services, Satyam Computer.
Dr. Muthy told Business Line, “We have partnered with several companies and help them bring about savings. These span even consumer durables such as washing machines, where a steel drum costing about $25 was substituted by a $5 drum,” he said. Recently, the focus on value engineering has grown where companies want to innovate and bring about products that are different from what competitors offer.
Global workshop
The company hosted a Global Value Engineering Workshop in Hyderabad at the Satyam Technology Centre this week, wherein some of its large customers such as TRW have converged.
The focus was to provide a forum for these corporations to see how innovations could help bring about changes in the products and thereby cost savings, Dr. Murthy said.
Reliance Ind Set To Buy Majority Stake In Peru Oil Block
New Delhi: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is set to acquire majority stake in an oil block in Peru। The company is understood to have recently inked an agreement with Pan Andean for acquiring stake in Block 141 in Peru.
Sources told Business Line that an agreement has been signed between RIL and Pan Andean and now necessary approvals from higher authorities in Peru is awaited.
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Pan Andean Resources explores and produces oil and gas in South America and the Gulf of Mexico.
Farm-in concept
Indications are that RIL is likely to acquire 90 per cent stake. Block 141 in the Lake Titicaca area of Peru is a large early stage oil exploration play. RIL has been pursuing contracts for farm-in activities in two oil blocks in Peru. Farm-in concept is a well-accepted practice in the international scenario.
Under this practice, a company does not acquire the property directly, but rather develops the oil and natural gas properties by taking participating interest in the block and also shares the risk involved in the exploration activity with the operator.
Other prospects
Reliance already has 11 overseas oil and gas assets, with the latest being a block in Australia. With the Peru block in its kitty, the number would go up to 12. The company is looking at opportunities in Africa, Latin America and West Asia.
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Reliance was granted an exploration permit for block WO6-05 in the Bonaparte Basin in Western Australia, its first exploration block in the region, last year.
RIL also has two blocks in Iraq, three in Yemen, one in East Timor, and two each in Oman and Columbia
HP: Slim Is In
HP India has launched HP Compaq dc7800 Ultra-slim Desktop PC — “an energy-efficient business desktop PC” and the “industry’s first to feature a solid-state hard drive (SSD), which offers improved reliability.”
Its benefits include a faster system start, better reliability and improved power efficiency, says the company.
The PC is available from May 1, 2008, starting from Rs 40,000.
Its benefits include a faster system start, better reliability and improved power efficiency, says the company.
The PC is available from May 1, 2008, starting from Rs 40,000.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
A First: New Mobile Users Top 10m In April
India is second in the world when it comes to the number of mobile phone subscribers in a country. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Friday announced what was being expected for some months now.
That is, India has beaten the US, and has taken the number two position in terms of wireless user base.
China is on top with an estimated 550 million wireless subscribers, while India is at 261.09 million and the US at 257.89 million as of April-end.
India added a record number, 10.16 million mobile subscribers to be precise, in April. As against that, the average monthly addition in the US is around 2 million and in China 6-7 million, according to industry data.
And look at how the competition between India and the US has been over the years. India had just 75.92 million mobile users in December 2005, while the US had 207.9 million. In December 2000, India had only 3 million mobile users and the US 109.5 million.
The telecom industry in India is aiming much beyond the 10 million monthly-addition in mobile user numbers. Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) director general T.V. Ramachandran told DNA Money, "We predicted the magic figure of 10 million monthly growth. This was anticipated."
According to him, India will witness a growth rate of 11-12 million in mobile subscriber base over the coming months. The rural discount programme started by the mobile telecom industry would be a trigger for that, he said. COAI represents GSM players like Bharti, Vodafone, Idea and Aircel.
The Association of Unified Service Providers of India (AUSPI) also opined that the monthly addition in mobile subscriber numbers would soon cross 10 million, perhaps in the next two months. AUSPI secretary general S.C. Khanna said, "We are expecting to meet the target of 500 million phone connections much before the scheduled date of 2010."
Khanna also pointed out that rural telephony would be the new thrust area, providing more and more subscriber numbers. On whether such high subscriber numbers would be sustainable in the future, Ramachandran admitted that, "there would be some fluctuations". There's invariably a mammoth push in the financial year-end, he said.
Also, during festivals like Diwali, numbers go up. Number of days in a month also determine the monthly subscriber addition.
For instance, March with 31 days would sell more mobile phone connections than April with 30 days or February with 28 or 29 days, according to industry analysts.
But, as for reaching the number one spot in mobile telephony subscriber numbers it may be a long way to go. The total number of telephone connections (fixed and wireless) in India is at 300.51 million, and the teledensity at 26.22%
That is, India has beaten the US, and has taken the number two position in terms of wireless user base.
China is on top with an estimated 550 million wireless subscribers, while India is at 261.09 million and the US at 257.89 million as of April-end.
India added a record number, 10.16 million mobile subscribers to be precise, in April. As against that, the average monthly addition in the US is around 2 million and in China 6-7 million, according to industry data.
And look at how the competition between India and the US has been over the years. India had just 75.92 million mobile users in December 2005, while the US had 207.9 million. In December 2000, India had only 3 million mobile users and the US 109.5 million.
The telecom industry in India is aiming much beyond the 10 million monthly-addition in mobile user numbers. Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) director general T.V. Ramachandran told DNA Money, "We predicted the magic figure of 10 million monthly growth. This was anticipated."
According to him, India will witness a growth rate of 11-12 million in mobile subscriber base over the coming months. The rural discount programme started by the mobile telecom industry would be a trigger for that, he said. COAI represents GSM players like Bharti, Vodafone, Idea and Aircel.
The Association of Unified Service Providers of India (AUSPI) also opined that the monthly addition in mobile subscriber numbers would soon cross 10 million, perhaps in the next two months. AUSPI secretary general S.C. Khanna said, "We are expecting to meet the target of 500 million phone connections much before the scheduled date of 2010."
Khanna also pointed out that rural telephony would be the new thrust area, providing more and more subscriber numbers. On whether such high subscriber numbers would be sustainable in the future, Ramachandran admitted that, "there would be some fluctuations". There's invariably a mammoth push in the financial year-end, he said.
Also, during festivals like Diwali, numbers go up. Number of days in a month also determine the monthly subscriber addition.
For instance, March with 31 days would sell more mobile phone connections than April with 30 days or February with 28 or 29 days, according to industry analysts.
But, as for reaching the number one spot in mobile telephony subscriber numbers it may be a long way to go. The total number of telephone connections (fixed and wireless) in India is at 300.51 million, and the teledensity at 26.22%
IT Firms Set To Stagger Induction Of Freshers
IT companies are at it again. After slowing down hiring plans for 2008-09 by as much as 15%, they are expected to stagger the joining of their freshers and campus recruits, to whom offers were made earlier.
Such a strategy is aimed to counter the heat arising from the US slowdown and the appreciation of the rupee against the dollar, say human resource professionals and industry experts.
Freshers and campus recruits account for as much as 65% of the total number of people recruited in a year by any IT firm.
"Offers to fourth year engineering students were made in 2007. The students join only from June 2008, after the completion of the course. In this period, the rupee has appreciation by as much as 10.2% against the US dollar, compelling companies to ask freshers to join in batches. Freshers could join anywhere from June to November," says Kris Lakshmikanth, founder CEO and managing director of recruitment firm HeadHunters India Pvt Ltd.
HCL Technologies, which made about 5,000 campus offers in 2007 to fourth year engineering students of more than 45 colleges, is expected to take the recruits in batches of 700-1000 from June to November, as per business needs, says Ravi Shankar, head-talent acquisition group at HCL Technologies.
Bangalore based MindTree Consulting is also expected to bring about staggered joining of its freshers. The company has made 1,000 campus offers.
"We create a roadmap through which people can join us through the year as per our business requirements. Freshers would join us in more than two batches from June to say October," says Puneet Jetli, vice president, people function at MindTree Consulting.
Wipro Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Cognizant, each of which make anywhere between 15,000-22,000 campus offers a year, are also expected to go slow on the joining of fresh recruits.
Says Preeti Rajora, general manager- talent acquisition at Wipro Technologies, "Our recruitment is aligned with our business needs in the four quarters. In 2007, we made 18,000 on campus and off campus offers to freshers and their joining will be staggered." This year Wipro has made 15,000 campus offers.
HR experts says this is happening as the companies are increasing capacity utilisation of their 'bench' -employees who aren't yet working on active projects — by as much as 80%.
"This is a method aimed at cost cutting during a slowdown. By increasing utilisation of bench-in other words-involving the bench in active projects, they slow down joining of freshers," says E. Balaji, CEO of staffing firm Ma Foi Consultants Ltd.
Companies are expected to have a buffer, or bench, with respect to employees under contractual agreements with clients.
The heat from the US slowdown is also seen in the comparatively less number of offers made by IT firms to students from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). The decline has been to the tune of around 15% at IITs.
"The top IT firms are no longer the number one choice on the IIT campus as the salaries they quote are as much as 50-60% below students' expectations. I think the rupee appreciation is playing into the low salaries that are being offered," says Kushal Sen, training and placement coordinator at IIT Delhi. Offers by IT companies for IIT students average Rs 4-5 lakh per annum.
The IIMs have also witnessed a decline in offers by IT firms. An IIM Bangalore official says that offers by IT firms this year constitutes only 14% of the 260 offers that were made.
Same is the case with the other members of the IIM family. "This works towards the fact that the slowdown has affected the companies to the extent that they are making less offers and elongating the joining of freshers," states Balaji.
Such a strategy is aimed to counter the heat arising from the US slowdown and the appreciation of the rupee against the dollar, say human resource professionals and industry experts.
Freshers and campus recruits account for as much as 65% of the total number of people recruited in a year by any IT firm.
"Offers to fourth year engineering students were made in 2007. The students join only from June 2008, after the completion of the course. In this period, the rupee has appreciation by as much as 10.2% against the US dollar, compelling companies to ask freshers to join in batches. Freshers could join anywhere from June to November," says Kris Lakshmikanth, founder CEO and managing director of recruitment firm HeadHunters India Pvt Ltd.
HCL Technologies, which made about 5,000 campus offers in 2007 to fourth year engineering students of more than 45 colleges, is expected to take the recruits in batches of 700-1000 from June to November, as per business needs, says Ravi Shankar, head-talent acquisition group at HCL Technologies.
Bangalore based MindTree Consulting is also expected to bring about staggered joining of its freshers. The company has made 1,000 campus offers.
"We create a roadmap through which people can join us through the year as per our business requirements. Freshers would join us in more than two batches from June to say October," says Puneet Jetli, vice president, people function at MindTree Consulting.
Wipro Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Cognizant, each of which make anywhere between 15,000-22,000 campus offers a year, are also expected to go slow on the joining of fresh recruits.
Says Preeti Rajora, general manager- talent acquisition at Wipro Technologies, "Our recruitment is aligned with our business needs in the four quarters. In 2007, we made 18,000 on campus and off campus offers to freshers and their joining will be staggered." This year Wipro has made 15,000 campus offers.
HR experts says this is happening as the companies are increasing capacity utilisation of their 'bench' -employees who aren't yet working on active projects — by as much as 80%.
"This is a method aimed at cost cutting during a slowdown. By increasing utilisation of bench-in other words-involving the bench in active projects, they slow down joining of freshers," says E. Balaji, CEO of staffing firm Ma Foi Consultants Ltd.
Companies are expected to have a buffer, or bench, with respect to employees under contractual agreements with clients.
The heat from the US slowdown is also seen in the comparatively less number of offers made by IT firms to students from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). The decline has been to the tune of around 15% at IITs.
"The top IT firms are no longer the number one choice on the IIT campus as the salaries they quote are as much as 50-60% below students' expectations. I think the rupee appreciation is playing into the low salaries that are being offered," says Kushal Sen, training and placement coordinator at IIT Delhi. Offers by IT companies for IIT students average Rs 4-5 lakh per annum.
The IIMs have also witnessed a decline in offers by IT firms. An IIM Bangalore official says that offers by IT firms this year constitutes only 14% of the 260 offers that were made.
Same is the case with the other members of the IIM family. "This works towards the fact that the slowdown has affected the companies to the extent that they are making less offers and elongating the joining of freshers," states Balaji.
Reliance, Birla, Vedanta In Queue For Private Airports
The government's decision to allow private parties to develop airports for public and private use has opened a Pandora's Box.
Two private airport projects —- in Durgapur (West Bengal) and Bokaro (Jharkhand) —- are in the final stages of getting the go-ahead from the civil aviation ministry and the policy announcement last night is a shot in the arm for both.
They envisage investment by private developers with no role for the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
Till now, all airports in the country have been either solely operated by the AAI or in partnership with private developers, but there was no scope for airports built and operated by only private developers.
Now, all proposals for private airports, airstrips and helipads for private use can be cleared by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) itself and would not require any Cabinet approval.
According to the DGCA website, more than 15 airstrips/airports are currently operational for private use. The approvals to them were given years back when the DGCA was the deciding authority.
An independent airport consultant, who did not wish to be named, pointed out that such a model — private airports for private and public use — is followed in many countries. He said the Sydney airport in Australia and Auckland in New Zealand are privately owned where civilian flights operate.
Raj Shekhar Agrawal, director of Bengal Aeritropolis Project, which is building what is most likely to become the country's first privately owned airport at Durgapur in West Bengal, says the company has already received two-stage clearances from the government.
"Only one final clearance is left. We are executing the project in partnership with Singapore's Changi International Airport. Construction would begin as soon as the final approval is received," Agrawal said.
This project envisages an investment of Rs 10,000 crore and the airport would be spread over 650 acres.
Besides Changi, Townland Consultants Ltd of Hong Kong is also an advisor to this project and Agarwal says with the policy boost this project would now speed up.
Official sources said many private players have already sought permission to set up airports and airstrips for their own use.
"Yes, there are a few proposals with us," said K.Gohain, joint director, DGCA, told DNA Money. He did not elaborate.
Sources said these include the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, the country's largest hospital, and the Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital in Pune.
The Sahara Group's Aamby project near Pune and the Vedanta Aluminium's project in Orissa have also sought to build and operate a private airportairstrip each.
Reliance Industries, which is coming up with a mega special economic zone in Jhajjar, Haryana, has already petitioned the government for permission to set up a cargo airport, which would be used by the company as well as others needing to transport cargo.
A company official said it is still not clear whether the airport would have any state government participation but the Haryana government is already a partner with RIL in the special economic zone project so this possibility cannot be ruled out.
"After the announcement last night, things should move fast on the cargo airport," the official said.
Amit Mittal, general manager, India, for aircraft leasing company Veling, says the liberalisation of airport infrastructure would help connect smaller towns and cities and take the load off large airports in metros such as Delhi and Mumbai.
According a circular issued by the civil aviation ministry on Friday, these private airports would take off load from the existing airports grappling with the congestion problem.
As per the statistics provided by the ministry, the number of private aircraft in the country has shot up by 139% since December 1997 from 96 to 229 aircraft in September 2007.
The use of non-scheduled aircraft has also jumped up 326% from 46 to 196 aircraft in the same period, while government and miscellaneous aircraft use has risen 51% from 247 to 373.
"The increased number of aircraft for privatenon-scheduled use also places additional burden on the existing airports to provide them infrastructure facilities for parking, maintenance etc," the statement said.
But Kapil Kaul, CEO of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, says don't expect things to ease anytime soon.
"Only over the next few years, as more and more private airports are built will the situation at the metro airports improve," he said.
Kaul estimates that the cost of constructing a small airport with a landing facility for 50-seater ATR would be $10-15 million, while a greenfield airport for bigger aircraft would be at least $2-3 billion.
Kaul says the opportunity would be used by large special economic zone operators to set up logistics and passenger terminals. It would also be very useful for retailers to secure supply of cargo.
Two private airport projects —- in Durgapur (West Bengal) and Bokaro (Jharkhand) —- are in the final stages of getting the go-ahead from the civil aviation ministry and the policy announcement last night is a shot in the arm for both.
They envisage investment by private developers with no role for the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
Till now, all airports in the country have been either solely operated by the AAI or in partnership with private developers, but there was no scope for airports built and operated by only private developers.
Now, all proposals for private airports, airstrips and helipads for private use can be cleared by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) itself and would not require any Cabinet approval.
According to the DGCA website, more than 15 airstrips/airports are currently operational for private use. The approvals to them were given years back when the DGCA was the deciding authority.
An independent airport consultant, who did not wish to be named, pointed out that such a model — private airports for private and public use — is followed in many countries. He said the Sydney airport in Australia and Auckland in New Zealand are privately owned where civilian flights operate.
Raj Shekhar Agrawal, director of Bengal Aeritropolis Project, which is building what is most likely to become the country's first privately owned airport at Durgapur in West Bengal, says the company has already received two-stage clearances from the government.
"Only one final clearance is left. We are executing the project in partnership with Singapore's Changi International Airport. Construction would begin as soon as the final approval is received," Agrawal said.
This project envisages an investment of Rs 10,000 crore and the airport would be spread over 650 acres.
Besides Changi, Townland Consultants Ltd of Hong Kong is also an advisor to this project and Agarwal says with the policy boost this project would now speed up.
Official sources said many private players have already sought permission to set up airports and airstrips for their own use.
"Yes, there are a few proposals with us," said K.Gohain, joint director, DGCA, told DNA Money. He did not elaborate.
Sources said these include the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, the country's largest hospital, and the Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital in Pune.
The Sahara Group's Aamby project near Pune and the Vedanta Aluminium's project in Orissa have also sought to build and operate a private airportairstrip each.
Reliance Industries, which is coming up with a mega special economic zone in Jhajjar, Haryana, has already petitioned the government for permission to set up a cargo airport, which would be used by the company as well as others needing to transport cargo.
A company official said it is still not clear whether the airport would have any state government participation but the Haryana government is already a partner with RIL in the special economic zone project so this possibility cannot be ruled out.
"After the announcement last night, things should move fast on the cargo airport," the official said.
Amit Mittal, general manager, India, for aircraft leasing company Veling, says the liberalisation of airport infrastructure would help connect smaller towns and cities and take the load off large airports in metros such as Delhi and Mumbai.
According a circular issued by the civil aviation ministry on Friday, these private airports would take off load from the existing airports grappling with the congestion problem.
As per the statistics provided by the ministry, the number of private aircraft in the country has shot up by 139% since December 1997 from 96 to 229 aircraft in September 2007.
The use of non-scheduled aircraft has also jumped up 326% from 46 to 196 aircraft in the same period, while government and miscellaneous aircraft use has risen 51% from 247 to 373.
"The increased number of aircraft for privatenon-scheduled use also places additional burden on the existing airports to provide them infrastructure facilities for parking, maintenance etc," the statement said.
But Kapil Kaul, CEO of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, says don't expect things to ease anytime soon.
"Only over the next few years, as more and more private airports are built will the situation at the metro airports improve," he said.
Kaul estimates that the cost of constructing a small airport with a landing facility for 50-seater ATR would be $10-15 million, while a greenfield airport for bigger aircraft would be at least $2-3 billion.
Kaul says the opportunity would be used by large special economic zone operators to set up logistics and passenger terminals. It would also be very useful for retailers to secure supply of cargo.
Jindal Steel Gets Exploration Licence From Bolivia
Kolkata: The Bolivian Government has given Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) an exploration licence for the El Mutun iron ore facility.
Mining operations will begin on a small scale by the end of 2008 and steel production in the integrated steel plant will start by 2011, Naveen Jindal, Executive Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of JSPL, said here on Friday.
The project by JSPL along with its subsidiary Jindal Steel Bolivia (JSB), at an investment of $2.1 billion is the largest investment by an Indian company in Latin America and is also the largest foreign investment in a single project in Bolivia so far.
“The Bolivian project is going well. We got the exploration licence yesterday and it will take 6 months for the testing of material to be completed. By the end of the year we will also start moving some iron ore and steel production will start by 2011,” Jindal told reporters on the sidelines of an event organised by Millennium Mams.
Of the total six million tonnes direct reduced iron (DRI) to be got from the El Mutun facility, two million tonnes steel will be produced initially, he added.
Most of the steel produced in the plant will be of long product category, he said. Half of the produce will be sold internally in Bolivia while the rest will be exported, he said.
The project is a culmination of an international bidding process begun by the Bolivian government, which JSPL won in May 2006. El Mutun, situated in east Bolivia, is considered to be the world’s largest iron ore mining area with reserves of 40 billion tonnes. The Bolivian Government has promised to supply the natural gas required for the project.
On the domestic front, JSPL has plans to set up the first phase of a 12 million tonne steel plant at Andul in Orissa and a six million tonne plant in Jharkhand by 2010. It also plans to ramp up production capacity at its Raigarh plant from three million tonnes to six million tonnes, Mr Jindal said. “We have acquired most of the land in Jharkhand and Orissa and have also got hold of a coal mine in Orissa.”
The company has acquired a coal block for a power plant in Jharkhand, he added.
When asked about the steel price crisis, Jindal said, “the prices have peaked and will not go up from here. I see them coming down soon.”
Mining operations will begin on a small scale by the end of 2008 and steel production in the integrated steel plant will start by 2011, Naveen Jindal, Executive Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of JSPL, said here on Friday.
The project by JSPL along with its subsidiary Jindal Steel Bolivia (JSB), at an investment of $2.1 billion is the largest investment by an Indian company in Latin America and is also the largest foreign investment in a single project in Bolivia so far.
“The Bolivian project is going well. We got the exploration licence yesterday and it will take 6 months for the testing of material to be completed. By the end of the year we will also start moving some iron ore and steel production will start by 2011,” Jindal told reporters on the sidelines of an event organised by Millennium Mams.
Of the total six million tonnes direct reduced iron (DRI) to be got from the El Mutun facility, two million tonnes steel will be produced initially, he added.
Most of the steel produced in the plant will be of long product category, he said. Half of the produce will be sold internally in Bolivia while the rest will be exported, he said.
The project is a culmination of an international bidding process begun by the Bolivian government, which JSPL won in May 2006. El Mutun, situated in east Bolivia, is considered to be the world’s largest iron ore mining area with reserves of 40 billion tonnes. The Bolivian Government has promised to supply the natural gas required for the project.
On the domestic front, JSPL has plans to set up the first phase of a 12 million tonne steel plant at Andul in Orissa and a six million tonne plant in Jharkhand by 2010. It also plans to ramp up production capacity at its Raigarh plant from three million tonnes to six million tonnes, Mr Jindal said. “We have acquired most of the land in Jharkhand and Orissa and have also got hold of a coal mine in Orissa.”
The company has acquired a coal block for a power plant in Jharkhand, he added.
When asked about the steel price crisis, Jindal said, “the prices have peaked and will not go up from here. I see them coming down soon.”
Indian Oil To Sell Insurance At Rural Outlets
State-owned fuel retailer Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) plans to sell insurance products through Kisan Seva Kendras (KSKs), it retailing outlets in rural areas.
The company is in talks with Max New York Life to sell the latter's products through the KSKs. IOC is also looking for a tie-up with Dena Bank to open ATMs at the KSKs.
"We are in talks with a couple of companies to sell their products through our rural petrol pumps and are also looking at offering insurance products as well," said a source in the company.
KSKs are low-cost petrol pumps which could be set up at 16% of the cost of an urban pump. "It costs around Rs 8 lakh to set up a KSK against Rs 50 lakh for an urban petrol pump. For KSK, the land is owned by the dealer and the infrastructure cost is borne by the company," he said.
"The main idea behind the KSKs was to meet the fuelling requirements in rural areas, predominantly farmers, right at their doorstep," he said.
He said once the idea took off well with the rural masses, IOC realised it made good business sense to start retailing agri-products such as seeds and fertilisers and products of daily need at these centres. Eventually, tie-ups with several FMCG companies such as Dabur, Emami, HUL and seed and fertiliser companies were forged.
The source said Max New York Life has ambitious plans to penetrate into rural India so a tie-up with IOC will be a good strategic move.
In 2007-08, IOC opened 726 rural outlets taking the total number to 2,000 KSKs across the country. "As the KSKs have been a big hit with the rural masses, we are very aggressive with the concept and plan to add another 800 outlets in the current fiscal," he said.
The company is in talks with Max New York Life to sell the latter's products through the KSKs. IOC is also looking for a tie-up with Dena Bank to open ATMs at the KSKs.
"We are in talks with a couple of companies to sell their products through our rural petrol pumps and are also looking at offering insurance products as well," said a source in the company.
KSKs are low-cost petrol pumps which could be set up at 16% of the cost of an urban pump. "It costs around Rs 8 lakh to set up a KSK against Rs 50 lakh for an urban petrol pump. For KSK, the land is owned by the dealer and the infrastructure cost is borne by the company," he said.
"The main idea behind the KSKs was to meet the fuelling requirements in rural areas, predominantly farmers, right at their doorstep," he said.
He said once the idea took off well with the rural masses, IOC realised it made good business sense to start retailing agri-products such as seeds and fertilisers and products of daily need at these centres. Eventually, tie-ups with several FMCG companies such as Dabur, Emami, HUL and seed and fertiliser companies were forged.
The source said Max New York Life has ambitious plans to penetrate into rural India so a tie-up with IOC will be a good strategic move.
In 2007-08, IOC opened 726 rural outlets taking the total number to 2,000 KSKs across the country. "As the KSKs have been a big hit with the rural masses, we are very aggressive with the concept and plan to add another 800 outlets in the current fiscal," he said.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Essar Group Returns To Oilfield Services
Mumbai: The Essar group's oilfield services business got the traction it wanted when its maiden foray with a semi-submersible rig began doing duty last week for a leading exploration major in the high seas of the KG Basin in the Bay of Bengal.
While Essar officials are not keen to divulge the operator who hired their semi-submersible vessel, it is learnt that it is a exploration major owned by a state government.
For the Ruias of Essar group, it is a triumphant return to a business it exited in 2003, after a financial crunch forced them to exit smaller business in favour of its much larger steel, shipping and refinery businesses.
The return to oilfield services was charted out as soon as a three-year lock-in clause signed with their erstwhile buyer, the Abu Dhabi-based Dalma Energy, expired.
Synergies with other group businesses and past experience encouraged the group to enter the field again.
The group has expertise in both onshore and offshore rigs. It operated land rigs for close to 10 years and had owned a drill ship for more than 10 years.
Moreover, N Ramesh who had to join the Middle-East headquartered firm that acquired Essar's oilfield services business, returned to Essar in 2006 as director and CEO of the Essar Oilfields Services.
Ever since the company has been on an overdrive placing orders for on-shore jack-up rigs and a single semi-submersible vessel.
Luckily, the firm got delivery and has deployed it in the KG basin for their client, that industry circles say is GSPL.
When DNA Money interviewed Ramesh, he declined to reveal the name of the client.
Industry circles estimate that the hiring charges for the semi-submersible would be in the region of 3,00,000 to 3,50,000 dollars, a day.
If everything goes as per plan, the group's payback period is pegged at 4-5 years. But one worry is that operating costs and manpower costs are surging too.
"Value-wise the semi-submersible (offshore) is much higher in terms of cost than the land rigs. Semis would be about $300million, while our entire land rigs business would be half than that at $150-160 million," Ramesh said.
Rentals in the last few years would have gone up. Semis started day rate, $350,000 with taxes, he says. For a semi-submersible, the rates are upward of $400,000 and for 6th generation deep water drill ships it would even be $550,000 a day, Ramesh says.
Essar Oilfield Services operates in an area where Aban Lloyd, Great Offshore and Jindal Drilling already have a sizeable presence in India, but the group has decided to have a global focus and has therefore headquartered the business in Dubai.
Ramesh remains unfazed by competiton. "There is so much opportunity that there is enough for every body. We are positioning ourselves an an international player. When we re-entered the business (in 2006), we set our hub in Dubai, which positions us as an international firm," he said.
Even then, it has diversified. "We have 12 land rigs, 1 semi submersible and has two orders for offshore vessels, the delivery is pegged at 30 and 36 months respectively.
Ramesh also doesn't rule out an acquisition to grow faster. The only problem in this strategy is that merger and acquisitions in this space is getting scarcer as the lease rentals have skyrocketed. "We are looking at some proposals, a 5-6 rig company is on the block with many vying for it. We looking at this European company," he said.
"These kind of deals keep coming from brokers, investment bankers, so since they are looking at our business, they will not only sending it to us, but to everyone, across the world," Ramesh said.
However the group is careful not to plunge in to any M&A activity. As Ramesh explains, "We have to be careful since the markets are high we do not buy at the top of the market. It has to be driven by economics."
While Essar officials are not keen to divulge the operator who hired their semi-submersible vessel, it is learnt that it is a exploration major owned by a state government.
For the Ruias of Essar group, it is a triumphant return to a business it exited in 2003, after a financial crunch forced them to exit smaller business in favour of its much larger steel, shipping and refinery businesses.
The return to oilfield services was charted out as soon as a three-year lock-in clause signed with their erstwhile buyer, the Abu Dhabi-based Dalma Energy, expired.
Synergies with other group businesses and past experience encouraged the group to enter the field again.
The group has expertise in both onshore and offshore rigs. It operated land rigs for close to 10 years and had owned a drill ship for more than 10 years.
Moreover, N Ramesh who had to join the Middle-East headquartered firm that acquired Essar's oilfield services business, returned to Essar in 2006 as director and CEO of the Essar Oilfields Services.
Ever since the company has been on an overdrive placing orders for on-shore jack-up rigs and a single semi-submersible vessel.
Luckily, the firm got delivery and has deployed it in the KG basin for their client, that industry circles say is GSPL.
When DNA Money interviewed Ramesh, he declined to reveal the name of the client.
Industry circles estimate that the hiring charges for the semi-submersible would be in the region of 3,00,000 to 3,50,000 dollars, a day.
If everything goes as per plan, the group's payback period is pegged at 4-5 years. But one worry is that operating costs and manpower costs are surging too.
"Value-wise the semi-submersible (offshore) is much higher in terms of cost than the land rigs. Semis would be about $300million, while our entire land rigs business would be half than that at $150-160 million," Ramesh said.
Rentals in the last few years would have gone up. Semis started day rate, $350,000 with taxes, he says. For a semi-submersible, the rates are upward of $400,000 and for 6th generation deep water drill ships it would even be $550,000 a day, Ramesh says.
Essar Oilfield Services operates in an area where Aban Lloyd, Great Offshore and Jindal Drilling already have a sizeable presence in India, but the group has decided to have a global focus and has therefore headquartered the business in Dubai.
Ramesh remains unfazed by competiton. "There is so much opportunity that there is enough for every body. We are positioning ourselves an an international player. When we re-entered the business (in 2006), we set our hub in Dubai, which positions us as an international firm," he said.
Even then, it has diversified. "We have 12 land rigs, 1 semi submersible and has two orders for offshore vessels, the delivery is pegged at 30 and 36 months respectively.
Ramesh also doesn't rule out an acquisition to grow faster. The only problem in this strategy is that merger and acquisitions in this space is getting scarcer as the lease rentals have skyrocketed. "We are looking at some proposals, a 5-6 rig company is on the block with many vying for it. We looking at this European company," he said.
"These kind of deals keep coming from brokers, investment bankers, so since they are looking at our business, they will not only sending it to us, but to everyone, across the world," Ramesh said.
However the group is careful not to plunge in to any M&A activity. As Ramesh explains, "We have to be careful since the markets are high we do not buy at the top of the market. It has to be driven by economics."
Rcom Takes Over UK-Based Wimax Operator
The Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Communications has purchased 90 per cent stake in a UK-based WiMax operator, ''eWave World''. RCom plans to infuse $500 million in eWave to build and acquire WiMax networks in the emerging markets of Asia, Europe, Latin America and Africa. RCom will also utilize this acquisition as a springboard to extend WiMax services to 50 countries by 2012. eWave World is a telecom operator concentrated on wireless telephony services using the WiMax technology standard, especially in emerging geographies. The company has already won WiMax licences in 18-20 countries.
Tata Power Completes The Signing Of Financial Agreements For 4000 MW Ultra Mega Power Project At Mun
Tata Power Company Ltd has informed that, on April 24, 2008, the Company completed the signing of financial agreements for the 4000 MW Ultra Mega Power Project coming up at Mundra, Gujarat under the Special Purpose Vehicle Coastal Gujarat Power Ltd। The cost of the project is estimated at INR 17000 crores (USD 4.2 billion) with the first of the five units to be commissioned in September 2011. The entire plant is expected to be commissioned by end of 2012.
A Consortium of Banks including leading multilateral agencies and Exim Banks are participating in the financing of this project. The financing comprises of equity of Rs 4250 crores, External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) of upto USD 1.8 billion and Rupee Loans of upto Rs 5550 crores.
In this regards the Company has issued the following Press Release :
The Tata Power Company Ltd, on April 24, 2008 has announced the completion of signing of financial agreements for 4000 MW Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP), coming up at Mundra, Gujarat under the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) Coastal Gujarat Power Ltd (CGPL). The cost of the project is estimated at INR 17000 crores (USD 4.2 billion) with the first of the five units to be commissioned in September 2011. The entire plant is expected to be commissioned by end of 2012.
A Consortium of Banks Including leading multilateral agencies and Exim Banks are participating in the financing of this project. The financing comprises of equity of Rs 4250 crores, External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) of upto USD 1.8 billion and Rupee Loans of upto Rs 5550 crores. The ECBs include The Export-Import Bank of Korea, International Finance Corporation, Korea Export insurance Corporation, Asian Development Bank, BNP Paribas and Rupee lenders Include SBI (Lead bank for rupee lenders), India infrastructure Finance Co Ltd., Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd., Oriental Bank of Commerce, Vijaya Bank, State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Travancore and State Bank of Indore. SBI Caps are the Financial Advisors and Mandated Lead Arranger for Rupee loans.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Prasad N Menon, Managing Director, Tata Power said The signing of the financing agreements for Mundra UMPP is an important milestone. The good response demonstrates the faith of the lenders in our execution capabilities and expertise to complete the project in time. The terms of debt financing provides us long tenure of loans supporting our competetive bid price assumptions.
The 4000 MW Mundra Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) is the first of the UMPP which heralds the entry of super critical boiler technology In India for the first time which is significantly environment friendly than the conventional ones using sub-critical boiler technology. The project site, approx 1000 Hectares is located south of Tunda Wand village in Mundra Taluka, Kutch district of Gujarat. The project consists of 5 units, each of 800 MW which will generate saleable power of 3800 MW to be supplied to five states namely Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab. The super-critical technology and the choice of unit sizes will help the project achieve higher efficiency thus saving fuel and reducing greenhouse gas emissions vis-à-vis conventional technology prevailing in the country.
The Site preparatory works are in progress and orders for all major equipments have been placed. The Company has signed the contract for complete Boiler island scope on EPC basis with Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co Ltd., Korea and contract for supply of Steam Turbine Generators with Toshiba Corporation. The project has been comprehensively covered by a seamless Insurance cover by Oriental Insurance Co Lied.
BSNL Plans Hiving Off Infrastructure Into A New Co
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd is mulling to hive off its telecom infrastructure into a separate company. BSNL has 32,000 base stations for GSM-based mobile services and another 7,000 for its CDMA services. The company seeks to lease out this infrastructure with private operators, especially the new licence holders who are looking for a quick pan-Indian launch. The move from BSNL is a substantial change of its earlier stance, when it had denied to share its national network with other operators on the grounds that the pan-Indian presence was its unique proposition to compete with the private operators
Tata To Beef Up Its Design Capability
Tata Motors is beefing up its future design capability by picking up stake in Pininfarina, which is without a doubt the most well known design house. It is especially famous for its association with Ferrari. Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, Chevrolet Optra, Maserati''s Quattroporte and Volvo''s C70, all are dead gorgeous cars and even though they belong to different brands, the designs came from Italian design house Pininfarina. The deal is likely to have been sparked by Tata''s alliance partner Fiat''s close association with Pininfarina. Tata will now get a major boost on the future design front, which has been a concern as Tata vehicles move into new generation cycles. It has relied on Italian design prowess in the past and now especially with Jaguar and Land Rover in its stable, Tata will need cutting edge design strength. Jaguar has commissioned Pininfarina in the past for some projects.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
ICICI To Joins Hand With Realty Firm Of UK
UK''s real estate firm Dandara is likely to tie-up with ICICI Bank to woo high networth individuals in India for investing in UK''s real estate market.The 200 million pound UK-based company is in talks with the largest private sector bank of India to endorse Dandara''s properties and market them to ICICI customers. The due diligence process is going on and in next 2-3 months we expect the deal to close. As per the agreement we will be able to reach the customers of ICICI Bank, which has a wide network in the country, Dandara Holdings group investment sales director Seamus Nuget said on April 23.
IOC Likely To Consider Liquidating Bonds, Cross-Holdings
Indian Oil Corporation has been financially restrained due to under-recoveries. The borrowing has increased to Rs 36,000 crore for financial year 2007-08. If the situation continues, IOC could consider liquidating its oil bonds and cross-holdings in other companies. IOC''s under-recoveries have been of Rs 43,000 crore for the financial year 2007-08. Total under-recoveries of all public sector oil marketing companies has been to the tune of Rs 77,000 crore. For 2007-08, IOC has sold 58.3 million tonnes of petroleum products, reporting an 8.7 per cent growth in volumes as compared to the previous year. The market share has increased by 1.1 per cent to reach 48.9 per cent and exports during the year touched 3.3 million tonnes at growth of 8.5 per cent.
Oriental Insurance Company Bags The Insurance Of The First Ultra Mega Power Plant Project In India
The Oriental Insurance Company Limited has bagged the comprehensive project insurance of the Tata Power Project at Mundra in Gujarat. It is first of the series of Ultra Mega Power Plants coming up in the country. Oriental Insurance has been able to secure the insurance of this large and prestigious project, with its unique and never before features, in the face of very stiff competition. The Reinsurance support to this project, which has been overwhelming, has surpassed all expectations and has even been oversubscribed. The Reinsurance Brokers involved in the finalizing of the covers are AON Global Insurance Services Pvt. Ltd. The preliminary work on the project has already commenced and the project is expected to be fully commissioned by 2012.
DLF Joins Hand With TIDCO For Chennai Project
DLF Ltd and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) have forayed into an alliance agreement for a Rs 1,500-crore Information technology Special Economic Zone (SEZ) here. The facility coming up at Taramani, on the Old Mahabalipuram Road, will be spread over 26.64 acres will have a total built up area of 4.5 million Sq ft. The project would be implemented in two phases with the first phase of 2.5 million sq ft ready by end of 2009. The project will create over 45,000 jobs directly and 10,000 indirectly.
Reliance Power`S Butibori Project To Start Soon
The 300 mw Group Captive Power Project (GCPP) being established by Vidarbha Industries Power (VIPL), a special purpose vehicle (SPV) formed by Reliance Power, at Butibori near Nagpur in Maharashtra, will soon start the construction phase. The required land has been purchased and the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has given the green signal for starting the project. Reliance Power will soon give the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the Rs 1500 crore project. Power produced from the plant will be mainly supplied to the industrial consumers in Maharashtra at subsidised tariffs. The project will be useful to the consumers and developers alike. Industrial consumers will get discounted tariff upto 25 paise a unit and developers will garner better returns as the tariff will be higher than long-term power purchase agreements (PPA)
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Dot Tightens Norms For M&A Deals
New Delhi: The Government has tightened the mergers and acquisition norms governing telecom service providers.
It has said that the combined market power of the merged entity should not be more than 40 per cent. This is considerably lower than the present definition of dominant.
If this proposal is accepted, then any two large operators such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar may not be able to merge as both have more than 20 per cent market share each in some of the circles such as Delhi. It has also said that a minimum of four operators should be left per circle post any merger. At present, a minimum of only three operators per circle is required. .
While the new guidelines are broadly in line with the recommendations made by the telecom regulator, DoT has not agreed to a proposal to increase the existing cap of 10 per cent on equity that one telecom player can acquire in another operator in the same service area. DoT has retained the clause whereby a single entity cannot own more than 10 per cent stake in two different telecom companies in the same circle.
3-month deadline
DoT has made it mandatory for the merged entity to meet the subscriber linked criteria for spectrum within 3 months of the deal. If the combined spectrum is in excess of the prescribed subscriber-linked criteria, then the operator will have to surrender the excess radio frequency.
The new norms also put a 3-year lock-in period on new operators. Any permission for merger shall be accorded only after the completion of 3 years from the effective date of the licences. However, DoT has not spelt out whether it will allow the new licence holders to sell equity to another company before the 3-year period. This will have a bearing on a number of global players such as AT&T and Sistema who are looking at acquisitions in the Indian telecom space.
Reacting to the policy, T. V. Ramachandran, Director General, Cellular Operators Association said, “At a time when everyone is talking about consolidation in the telecom industry, DoT has tightened the norms. This will discourage consolidation which, in the long term, is not good for the sector.”
It has said that the combined market power of the merged entity should not be more than 40 per cent. This is considerably lower than the present definition of dominant.
If this proposal is accepted, then any two large operators such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar may not be able to merge as both have more than 20 per cent market share each in some of the circles such as Delhi. It has also said that a minimum of four operators should be left per circle post any merger. At present, a minimum of only three operators per circle is required. .
While the new guidelines are broadly in line with the recommendations made by the telecom regulator, DoT has not agreed to a proposal to increase the existing cap of 10 per cent on equity that one telecom player can acquire in another operator in the same service area. DoT has retained the clause whereby a single entity cannot own more than 10 per cent stake in two different telecom companies in the same circle.
3-month deadline
DoT has made it mandatory for the merged entity to meet the subscriber linked criteria for spectrum within 3 months of the deal. If the combined spectrum is in excess of the prescribed subscriber-linked criteria, then the operator will have to surrender the excess radio frequency.
The new norms also put a 3-year lock-in period on new operators. Any permission for merger shall be accorded only after the completion of 3 years from the effective date of the licences. However, DoT has not spelt out whether it will allow the new licence holders to sell equity to another company before the 3-year period. This will have a bearing on a number of global players such as AT&T and Sistema who are looking at acquisitions in the Indian telecom space.
Reacting to the policy, T. V. Ramachandran, Director General, Cellular Operators Association said, “At a time when everyone is talking about consolidation in the telecom industry, DoT has tightened the norms. This will discourage consolidation which, in the long term, is not good for the sector.”
IBM India'll Head Mobile Web Services R & D
Big Blue IBM said its Indian lab will lead research for mobile web services, citing "lucrative growth" opportunity for their businesses in this domain.
The world's largest technology-services company did not divulge financial details. IBM said it is making major investments in mobile software and hardware platforms and opened several solutions labs focused on research and development.
No timeframe for rolling out the services has been finalised. But, IBM said all projects are at the pilot stage..
"In many countries, the mobile phone has become an electronic wallet, the window to the world wide web, an education device. Globally, mobile devices outnumber PCs, credit cards, and TVs," Daniel Dias, director, IBM India Research laboratory said.
The Spoken Web —- voice-enabled mobile commerce, instant translation —- real-time communication, SoulPad-portable device to carry computing application, BuddyComm - social networking on-the-go, and Good Samaritan - mobile healthcare information are the projects on which the IBM labs will work on.
"The Spoken Web service has been most popular out of the five services in the feedback of the pilot projects," IBM spokesman told DNA Money.
The projects will be led out of India, but will also include IBM's eight global labs in six countries. IBM's India research labs are located in New Delhi and Bangalore.
The company said it would bring more features and functions to mobile devices as they continue to rival PCs for Web-based business, education, communication, entertainment and more.
The world's largest technology-services company did not divulge financial details. IBM said it is making major investments in mobile software and hardware platforms and opened several solutions labs focused on research and development.
No timeframe for rolling out the services has been finalised. But, IBM said all projects are at the pilot stage..
"In many countries, the mobile phone has become an electronic wallet, the window to the world wide web, an education device. Globally, mobile devices outnumber PCs, credit cards, and TVs," Daniel Dias, director, IBM India Research laboratory said.
The Spoken Web —- voice-enabled mobile commerce, instant translation —- real-time communication, SoulPad-portable device to carry computing application, BuddyComm - social networking on-the-go, and Good Samaritan - mobile healthcare information are the projects on which the IBM labs will work on.
"The Spoken Web service has been most popular out of the five services in the feedback of the pilot projects," IBM spokesman told DNA Money.
The projects will be led out of India, but will also include IBM's eight global labs in six countries. IBM's India research labs are located in New Delhi and Bangalore.
The company said it would bring more features and functions to mobile devices as they continue to rival PCs for Web-based business, education, communication, entertainment and more.
Yahoo 1Q Profit Rises, But Microsoft Bid Likely To Stand Pat
San Francisco: Yahoo Inc. delivered first-quarter results that eclipsed analysts' modest expectations, but the performance did little to support the Internet pioneer's demands for software maker Microsoft Corp. to raise its takeover bid above $45 billion.
The Sunnyvale-based company said Tuesday that it earned $542.2 million, or 37 cents per share, more than triple its profit of $142.4 million, or 10 cents per share, at the same time last year.
Most of the first-quarter improvement stemmed from a non-cash gain of $401 million recorded to recognize Yahoo's stake in the parent company of Alibaba.com, a leading e-commerce site in China that went public last year.
If not for the Alibaba windfall, Yahoo would have earned 11 cents per share — comparable to its profit at the same time last year, on an apples-to-apples basis.
The earnings were two cents above the average estimate on the same basis among analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.
Perhaps even more importantly, Yahoo provided the same full-year revenue outlook that it made in late January — just two days before Microsoft made its unsolicited bid.
"This doesn't change the picture much at all," Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Marianne Wolk said.
Yahoo's first-quarter revenue climbed 9 per cent to $1.82 billion.
After subtracting commissions Yahoo paid its advertising partners, its revenue totaled $1.35 billion — just $30 million ahead of analysts' average projection.
Investors didn't seem to be impressed as Yahoo shares shed 15 cents in extended trading after dipping a penny to finish the regular session at $28.54.
The first-quarter numbers provided a reminder of the ever-widening gap separating Yahoo from Google, whose profit during the same period climbed 30 per cent to $1.3 billion on revenue that rose 42 per cent to $5.2 billion.
Now it appears more likely the standoff between Yahoo and Microsoft will be resolved in a divisive battle that could drag on into the summer, opening the door for Google to grow even stronger while its two rivals are distracted by their duel.
Microsoft has threatened to oust Yahoo's board if the 10 directors don't accept the current offer Saturday. That risky course of action, known as a proxy contest, probably wouldn't be settled until Yahoo's shareholder meeting, which doesn't have to be held until July.
The cash-and-stock bid — valued at $44.6 billion, or $31 per share, when it was first made — is now worth about $43 billion, or $29.88 per share.
Without specifying a precise price, Yahoo has maintained it's worth more to Microsoft even though its shares had fallen below $20 before the bid.
Yahoo gained a little more credibility to its argument by topping analysts' estimates, said Canaccord Adams analyst Collin Gillis. "They cleared another hurdle," he said. "You can't take a strong stance on your value and then not deliver the earnings."
Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive officer, reiterated the software maker has no plans to sweeten its offer. "We think we can accelerate our strategy by buying Yahoo and will pay what makes sense for our shareholders," Ballmer said in remarks made before Yahoo's first-quarter report came out.
Jerry Yang, Yahoo's co-founder, CEO and a board member, made it clear the company won't sell to Microsoft unless the bid is raised. "Our ability to execute on multiple fronts is clearly improving," he told analysts during a Tuesday conference call.
Yahoo expects its revenue to increase more dramatically in 2009 and 2010 as the benefits from its expanded Internet advertising network start to kick in. "We feel we are on the verge of fundamentally changing the game," Sue Decker, Yahoo's president, said in Tuesday's conference call.
An experimental advertising partnership with Google also could help boost Yahoo's profit.
Yang and Decker to declined to discuss the Google tests, which began two weeks ago. Analysts believe a long-term partnership between Yahoo and Google would be difficult to pull off because of the antitrust concerns that would raised, given the two companies control more than 80 per cent of the U.S. search market.
Yahoo also has been exploring a possible merger with the Internet operations of Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, which has been struggling in recent years.
"We will not enter into any transaction that doesn't recognize the full value of this company," Yang said.
The confident tone of Yahoo's management on Tuesday contrasted with a more glum attitude in late January when Yang warned economic "headwinds" might complicate the company's turnaround efforts.
Given the Microsoft bid, Global Crown Capital analyst Martin Pyykkonen said the company's optimism should be taken with a grain of salt. "You almost have to discount anything positive management has to say because they are just trying to get the (sale) price up," he said.
Microsoft's bid conceivably could rise above its original value without management upping the ante. It might happen if Microsoft's own quarterly earnings report — due out Thursday — pushes its shares above $32.60. Microsoft's stock price finished Tuesday at $30.25, down 17 cents.
Many analysts believe Microsoft will raise its offer to between $32 and $35 per share, or about $46 billion to $50 billion, to prevent its prickly courtship of Yahoo from becoming even more acrimonious.
Microsoft stands a better chance of making the complex deal work if it has Yahoo's cooperation during the daunting process of melding the two companies' disparate cultures and technologies.
Yahoo ended March with 13,800 employees, down from 14,300 workers at the end of 2007. The company jettisoned more than 1,000 workers during the first quarter, but offset some of the purge by hiring about 600 new employees.
The Sunnyvale-based company said Tuesday that it earned $542.2 million, or 37 cents per share, more than triple its profit of $142.4 million, or 10 cents per share, at the same time last year.
Most of the first-quarter improvement stemmed from a non-cash gain of $401 million recorded to recognize Yahoo's stake in the parent company of Alibaba.com, a leading e-commerce site in China that went public last year.
If not for the Alibaba windfall, Yahoo would have earned 11 cents per share — comparable to its profit at the same time last year, on an apples-to-apples basis.
The earnings were two cents above the average estimate on the same basis among analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.
Perhaps even more importantly, Yahoo provided the same full-year revenue outlook that it made in late January — just two days before Microsoft made its unsolicited bid.
"This doesn't change the picture much at all," Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Marianne Wolk said.
Yahoo's first-quarter revenue climbed 9 per cent to $1.82 billion.
After subtracting commissions Yahoo paid its advertising partners, its revenue totaled $1.35 billion — just $30 million ahead of analysts' average projection.
Investors didn't seem to be impressed as Yahoo shares shed 15 cents in extended trading after dipping a penny to finish the regular session at $28.54.
The first-quarter numbers provided a reminder of the ever-widening gap separating Yahoo from Google, whose profit during the same period climbed 30 per cent to $1.3 billion on revenue that rose 42 per cent to $5.2 billion.
Now it appears more likely the standoff between Yahoo and Microsoft will be resolved in a divisive battle that could drag on into the summer, opening the door for Google to grow even stronger while its two rivals are distracted by their duel.
Microsoft has threatened to oust Yahoo's board if the 10 directors don't accept the current offer Saturday. That risky course of action, known as a proxy contest, probably wouldn't be settled until Yahoo's shareholder meeting, which doesn't have to be held until July.
The cash-and-stock bid — valued at $44.6 billion, or $31 per share, when it was first made — is now worth about $43 billion, or $29.88 per share.
Without specifying a precise price, Yahoo has maintained it's worth more to Microsoft even though its shares had fallen below $20 before the bid.
Yahoo gained a little more credibility to its argument by topping analysts' estimates, said Canaccord Adams analyst Collin Gillis. "They cleared another hurdle," he said. "You can't take a strong stance on your value and then not deliver the earnings."
Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive officer, reiterated the software maker has no plans to sweeten its offer. "We think we can accelerate our strategy by buying Yahoo and will pay what makes sense for our shareholders," Ballmer said in remarks made before Yahoo's first-quarter report came out.
Jerry Yang, Yahoo's co-founder, CEO and a board member, made it clear the company won't sell to Microsoft unless the bid is raised. "Our ability to execute on multiple fronts is clearly improving," he told analysts during a Tuesday conference call.
Yahoo expects its revenue to increase more dramatically in 2009 and 2010 as the benefits from its expanded Internet advertising network start to kick in. "We feel we are on the verge of fundamentally changing the game," Sue Decker, Yahoo's president, said in Tuesday's conference call.
An experimental advertising partnership with Google also could help boost Yahoo's profit.
Yang and Decker to declined to discuss the Google tests, which began two weeks ago. Analysts believe a long-term partnership between Yahoo and Google would be difficult to pull off because of the antitrust concerns that would raised, given the two companies control more than 80 per cent of the U.S. search market.
Yahoo also has been exploring a possible merger with the Internet operations of Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, which has been struggling in recent years.
"We will not enter into any transaction that doesn't recognize the full value of this company," Yang said.
The confident tone of Yahoo's management on Tuesday contrasted with a more glum attitude in late January when Yang warned economic "headwinds" might complicate the company's turnaround efforts.
Given the Microsoft bid, Global Crown Capital analyst Martin Pyykkonen said the company's optimism should be taken with a grain of salt. "You almost have to discount anything positive management has to say because they are just trying to get the (sale) price up," he said.
Microsoft's bid conceivably could rise above its original value without management upping the ante. It might happen if Microsoft's own quarterly earnings report — due out Thursday — pushes its shares above $32.60. Microsoft's stock price finished Tuesday at $30.25, down 17 cents.
Many analysts believe Microsoft will raise its offer to between $32 and $35 per share, or about $46 billion to $50 billion, to prevent its prickly courtship of Yahoo from becoming even more acrimonious.
Microsoft stands a better chance of making the complex deal work if it has Yahoo's cooperation during the daunting process of melding the two companies' disparate cultures and technologies.
Yahoo ended March with 13,800 employees, down from 14,300 workers at the end of 2007. The company jettisoned more than 1,000 workers during the first quarter, but offset some of the purge by hiring about 600 new employees.
Shyam Star To Buy Dubai Diamond Firm
Shyam Star Gems, a manufacturer and exporter of high-end diamond studded jewellery, is in an advanced stage of negotiations to acquire Dubai-based Thamina Diamonds.
The acquisition will add $50 million to the Mumbai-based company's turnover. The deal is likely to be sealed in the next two quarters.
The company proposes to raise $5 million through a GDR issue or qualified institutional placement। While part of this will be used to fund the Thamina deal, the rest will be used to for overseas business acquisitions and investments in new joint ventures.
Despite repeated attempts, the company's managing director Savji Patel could not be reached.
Shyam Star's business model stands on three main activities - sourcing of polished diamonds, manufacturing of diamond studded jewellery, and exporting jewellery.
It exports to countries like the UK, Middle East, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia. It has recently set up a process and manufacturing facility in the Surat SEZ.
The acquisition will add $50 million to the Mumbai-based company's turnover. The deal is likely to be sealed in the next two quarters.
The company proposes to raise $5 million through a GDR issue or qualified institutional placement। While part of this will be used to fund the Thamina deal, the rest will be used to for overseas business acquisitions and investments in new joint ventures.
Despite repeated attempts, the company's managing director Savji Patel could not be reached.
Shyam Star's business model stands on three main activities - sourcing of polished diamonds, manufacturing of diamond studded jewellery, and exporting jewellery.
It exports to countries like the UK, Middle East, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia. It has recently set up a process and manufacturing facility in the Surat SEZ.
Dell Expands TN Facility To Produce More Products
Chennai: Computer manufacturer Dell will now produce laptops from its Sriperumbudur facility, near Chennai.
To aid this, the facility currently capable of producing four lakh units a year, will be expanded to produce about 10 lakh units over the next 12 months, according to Rajan Anandan, Vice-President and General Manager - Dell India.
Investment for the expansion was not disclosed but company officials said it was part of the five-year-$30 million investment Dell had planned in India when it had set up its facility last year.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Anandan said all Dell products sold in India would now be made at the Sriperumbudur facility. This includes desktops and laptops including the premium XPS models. Earlier, Dell imported laptops and a bulk of the computer components from its suppliers in China and Malaysia. Components’ import would continue but the assembly would now be done in India, Anandan said.
“We are hoping to attract our suppliers to set up shop here, but India is not a competitive location,” he said stating duty structure and poor infrastructure were deterrents. On an average computer products are subject to 21 per cent duty, he said.
Product launch
The company today launched Dell 500, an entry level laptop completely assembled in India preloaded with Microsoft/ Linux software, targeted at small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and educational institutions. “There are a million SMEs in India that will acquire their first PC this year and we want to be a part of this market,” Paul-Henri Ferrand, President, APAC South, Dell, Asia Pacific, said. The laptop is priced Rs 24,500 upwards.
To improve its reach, the company is tying up with channel partners and retailers, with the Tata-promoted ‘Chroma’ store in Mumbai being the first retail partner. No figures on the targeted number of such partners were shared.
For the year ending December 2007, Dell’s Asia Pacific and Japan revenues were $8.5 billion (about Rs 34,000 crore). Indian revenues were not shared.
To aid this, the facility currently capable of producing four lakh units a year, will be expanded to produce about 10 lakh units over the next 12 months, according to Rajan Anandan, Vice-President and General Manager - Dell India.
Investment for the expansion was not disclosed but company officials said it was part of the five-year-$30 million investment Dell had planned in India when it had set up its facility last year.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Anandan said all Dell products sold in India would now be made at the Sriperumbudur facility. This includes desktops and laptops including the premium XPS models. Earlier, Dell imported laptops and a bulk of the computer components from its suppliers in China and Malaysia. Components’ import would continue but the assembly would now be done in India, Anandan said.
“We are hoping to attract our suppliers to set up shop here, but India is not a competitive location,” he said stating duty structure and poor infrastructure were deterrents. On an average computer products are subject to 21 per cent duty, he said.
Product launch
The company today launched Dell 500, an entry level laptop completely assembled in India preloaded with Microsoft/ Linux software, targeted at small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and educational institutions. “There are a million SMEs in India that will acquire their first PC this year and we want to be a part of this market,” Paul-Henri Ferrand, President, APAC South, Dell, Asia Pacific, said. The laptop is priced Rs 24,500 upwards.
To improve its reach, the company is tying up with channel partners and retailers, with the Tata-promoted ‘Chroma’ store in Mumbai being the first retail partner. No figures on the targeted number of such partners were shared.
For the year ending December 2007, Dell’s Asia Pacific and Japan revenues were $8.5 billion (about Rs 34,000 crore). Indian revenues were not shared.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Motilal Oswal - Stock Options
Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd has informed that 5,16,500 stock options granted by the Remuneration / Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company, in accordance with the provisions of various Employees Stock Options Scheme of the Company, have lapsed.
Paraan - Post Offer Status
Vivro Financial Services Pvt Ltd (Manager to the Offer) on behalf of Mr. Kailash Hardattrai Biyani and Mr. Kishore Mohatta (Acquirers) has issued this Post Offer Public Announcement to the shareholders of Paraan Ltd (Target Company) which is in continuation of and should be read in conjunction with the Pubic Announcement (PA) dated November 23, 2007 & Corrigendum to the PA dated February 06, 2008, in compliance with & pursuant to Regulation 10 and 12 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Substantial Acquisition of Shares & Takeovers) Regulations, 1997 and amendments thereto (Regulations), to acquire 5000 (Five thousnad only) equity shares, representing 20% of the total issued & subscribed equity share capital & the voting equity share capital of Target Company at a price of Rs 180/- (Rupees One Eighty only) per Fully paid up equity share payable in cash.
The terms used but not defined in this announcement shall have the same meaning as given the PA.
Sr. No. Item Proposed in the Offer Document Actuals 1. Offer Price Rs 180/- per fully paid up shares Rs 180/- per fully paid up shares 2. Shareholding of Acquirer (No & %) before Share Purchase Agreement Nil Nil 3. Shares acquired by way of Share Purchase Agreement (No & %) No of Shares % No of Shares % 9365 37.46 9365 37.46 4. Shares acquired in the open offer (No & %) No of Shares % No of Shares % 5000 20 2100 8.40 5. Size of Open Offer (No. of shares multiplied by Offer price per share) Rs 9,00,000/- Rs 3,78,000/- 6. Shares acquired after PA but before 7 working days prior to closure date, if any (No & %)
Nil Nil 7. Post offer Shareholding of the Acquirer (No & %) No of Shares % No of Shares % 14365 57.46 11465 45.86 8. Post offer share holding of Public (No. & %) Pre Offer Post Offer Pre Offer Post Offer No of Shares: 15635 10635 15635 13535 Percentage: 62.54 42.54 62.54 54.14 9. Status of the escrow account whether released or not The amount in the Escrow Account shall be released in due course of time. 10 Payment of interest, if any, to the shareholders along with the details thereof. Not Applicable 11 Status of investors complaints received, if any. Nil
The terms used but not defined in this announcement shall have the same meaning as given the PA.
Sr. No. Item Proposed in the Offer Document Actuals 1. Offer Price Rs 180/- per fully paid up shares Rs 180/- per fully paid up shares 2. Shareholding of Acquirer (No & %) before Share Purchase Agreement Nil Nil 3. Shares acquired by way of Share Purchase Agreement (No & %) No of Shares % No of Shares % 9365 37.46 9365 37.46 4. Shares acquired in the open offer (No & %) No of Shares % No of Shares % 5000 20 2100 8.40 5. Size of Open Offer (No. of shares multiplied by Offer price per share) Rs 9,00,000/- Rs 3,78,000/- 6. Shares acquired after PA but before 7 working days prior to closure date, if any (No & %)
Nil Nil 7. Post offer Shareholding of the Acquirer (No & %) No of Shares % No of Shares % 14365 57.46 11465 45.86 8. Post offer share holding of Public (No. & %) Pre Offer Post Offer Pre Offer Post Offer No of Shares: 15635 10635 15635 13535 Percentage: 62.54 42.54 62.54 54.14 9. Status of the escrow account whether released or not The amount in the Escrow Account shall be released in due course of time. 10 Payment of interest, if any, to the shareholders along with the details thereof. Not Applicable 11 Status of investors complaints received, if any. Nil
Reliance Power - Media Release
Reliance Power Ltd has issued the following Media Release on Postal Ballot result:
Reliance Power Ltd on April 22, 2008 announced that the shareholders of the Company have by an overwhelming majority approved through postal ballot the following proposals.
1. To alter Article 82 of the Articles of Association of the Company incorporating proviso that no allotment of bonus shares will be made if Shri. Anil D Ambani and other Promoters waived their entitlement to such shares.
2. To Issue bonus shares in the ratio of three new equity shares for every five existing equity shares held.
In accordance with the group philosophy of giving the greatest importance to shareholder value creation, the Company had recommended the issue of 13.68 crore bonus shares in the ratio of three new equity shares of Rs 10 each for every five existing equity shares of Rs 10 each held to the shareholders of the Company in the public category (excluding the promoters i.e. AAA Project Ventures Pvt Ltd, an entity fully owned and controlled by Shri. Anil D Ambani and also promoter of Reliance Energy Ltd (REL) and REL who have waived their entitlement to allotment of Bonus shares. These shares will be issued by capitalization of a part of the sum standing to the credit of the Securities Premium Account.
The shareholders have also overwhelmingly approved alteration of Article 82 of the Articles of Association enabling the Company not to allot bonus shares to the Promoters.
The Company will announce separately the Record Date for the purpose of determining the entitlement of shareholders to the Bonus shares to be issued by the Company.
Reliance Power Ltd on April 22, 2008 announced that the shareholders of the Company have by an overwhelming majority approved through postal ballot the following proposals.
1. To alter Article 82 of the Articles of Association of the Company incorporating proviso that no allotment of bonus shares will be made if Shri. Anil D Ambani and other Promoters waived their entitlement to such shares.
2. To Issue bonus shares in the ratio of three new equity shares for every five existing equity shares held.
In accordance with the group philosophy of giving the greatest importance to shareholder value creation, the Company had recommended the issue of 13.68 crore bonus shares in the ratio of three new equity shares of Rs 10 each for every five existing equity shares of Rs 10 each held to the shareholders of the Company in the public category (excluding the promoters i.e. AAA Project Ventures Pvt Ltd, an entity fully owned and controlled by Shri. Anil D Ambani and also promoter of Reliance Energy Ltd (REL) and REL who have waived their entitlement to allotment of Bonus shares. These shares will be issued by capitalization of a part of the sum standing to the credit of the Securities Premium Account.
The shareholders have also overwhelmingly approved alteration of Article 82 of the Articles of Association enabling the Company not to allot bonus shares to the Promoters.
The Company will announce separately the Record Date for the purpose of determining the entitlement of shareholders to the Bonus shares to be issued by the Company.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Indiabulls Financial Enters Into Joint Venture Agreement With Sogecap
Indiabulls Financial Services has entered into a joint venture agreement with Sogecap, the life insurance subsidiary of Societe Generale of France for its upcoming life insurance venture. The company together with its promoters / associates will hold 74% while Sogecap will hold the remaining 26% in the jointventure. The company made this announcement during the trading hours today, 18 April 2008.
Power Grid Plans To Enter Telecom Sector
The Central Transmission Utility (CTU) of the country, Power Grid, which has a huge overhead network of telecom highway across India is looking to tap the potential of its telecom business and consultancy.
According to sources, the electricity towers could be an ideal place to locate the cellular phone transmission towers in the future. Once Power Grid transforms its power towers into telecom towers, it will provide bandwidth to new mobile players including the National Knowledge Commission and to the defence forces.
Power Grid is connected across 110 cities and has MoUs with RailTel and Gail Tel for telecom business. Power Grid has created a huge overhead network of telecom highway connecting 60 cities across the country along its power transmission network.Power Grid has already invested around Rs 1,000 crore for telecom infrastructure and the company''s telecom business has made a profit of about Rs 125 crore.Power Grid is also looking for other growth opportunities like consultancy and it has tied up funds for its core businesses too. Power Grid''s strategy to diversify through related businesses and the link between electric towers and telecom towers seems logical enough but we''ll have to wait and see if the PSU has enough marketing savvy to succeed in the brutally competitive world of Indian telecom.
According to sources, the electricity towers could be an ideal place to locate the cellular phone transmission towers in the future. Once Power Grid transforms its power towers into telecom towers, it will provide bandwidth to new mobile players including the National Knowledge Commission and to the defence forces.
Power Grid is connected across 110 cities and has MoUs with RailTel and Gail Tel for telecom business. Power Grid has created a huge overhead network of telecom highway connecting 60 cities across the country along its power transmission network.Power Grid has already invested around Rs 1,000 crore for telecom infrastructure and the company''s telecom business has made a profit of about Rs 125 crore.Power Grid is also looking for other growth opportunities like consultancy and it has tied up funds for its core businesses too. Power Grid''s strategy to diversify through related businesses and the link between electric towers and telecom towers seems logical enough but we''ll have to wait and see if the PSU has enough marketing savvy to succeed in the brutally competitive world of Indian telecom.
Max India Looks At Health Insurance
Max India Ltd is planning to add health insurance to its company''s portfolio of life insurance, healthcare, speciality packaging products, clinical trials and medical training. It is in talks with a few global players in the segment for a possible tie-up.
The company''s expertise in healthcare and life insurance would help give health insurance the strategic fit, said the source. MNYL is looking to expand its policy holders base from 5.1 million to 9 million in the next three years, he says. For the quarter ended December 31, 2007, the company''s gross premium income stood at Rs 764 crore, growing 69 per cent year-on-year.
The company''s expertise in healthcare and life insurance would help give health insurance the strategic fit, said the source. MNYL is looking to expand its policy holders base from 5.1 million to 9 million in the next three years, he says. For the quarter ended December 31, 2007, the company''s gross premium income stood at Rs 764 crore, growing 69 per cent year-on-year.
ICICI Bank Increases Auto Loan Interest Rates
ICICI Bank, the largest lender of vehicle finance has hiked interest rates on two- and four-wheelers between 50 and 75 basis points with effect from April 15. For instance, ICICI Bank''s rates that were around 13.75-14.25 per cent till last month have now increased to 14.5-15 per cent.
Ansal Properties Inks Agreement With UEM Builders
Ansal Properties and Infrastructure Ltd has inked a shareholder''s agreement for a joint venture with UEM Builders, a subsidiary of Malaysian conglomerate UEM Group. The proposed company ''UEM Builders - Ansal API Contracts'' will be an Indian construction company formed for carrying out building, construction and engineering activity work for Ansal API''s projects, across the country.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
IOC Revamping Ailing Explosives Biz Of IBP
Kolkata: IndianOil is making steady progress in restructuring the ailing explosives manufacturing business of the merged IBP.
Having decided to wind up the cartridge explosive manufacturing facility at Korba in Madhya Pradesh, the downstream energy major has now struck a five-year agreement with Coal India Ltd (CIL) to supply bulk explosives.
The agreement will not ensure a profitable existence of seven out of 11 such manufacturing facilities for the entire tenure of the contract. The fate of the remaining units will depend on the market conditions. IOC has previously brought down the number of units from 14 to 11 due to non-availability of order at a remunerative price.
“CIL has selected IOC on nomination basis for supplying a part of their total requirement for the next five years. The agreement has left adequate elbow room for us to revise our prices on a cost plus basis during the tenure,” V.C. Agarwal, Director (IBP division), IndianOil told Business Line.
“The agreement ensures that seven of our bulk explosives manufacturing facilities will be operating profitably for the next five years. The fate of the residual four units will depend on order position,” he added.
Sources, however, told Business Line that considering the severe competition from smaller players IOC may have to close down the bulk explosive units, which are not covered by the existing supply contract with CIL.
When contacted, CIL source said that beginning 2008, the coal major had adopted the policy of entering into long-term contract for part-procurement of its essential supplies such as explosives, tyre and many others.
The policy was adopted to prevent any negative impact on production due to non-availability of essential materials.
The Rs 141-crore explosive business of IBP slipped in the red in 2006-07. The business was acquired by IOC during the merger of IBP with itself in May 2007.
Having decided to wind up the cartridge explosive manufacturing facility at Korba in Madhya Pradesh, the downstream energy major has now struck a five-year agreement with Coal India Ltd (CIL) to supply bulk explosives.
The agreement will not ensure a profitable existence of seven out of 11 such manufacturing facilities for the entire tenure of the contract. The fate of the remaining units will depend on the market conditions. IOC has previously brought down the number of units from 14 to 11 due to non-availability of order at a remunerative price.
“CIL has selected IOC on nomination basis for supplying a part of their total requirement for the next five years. The agreement has left adequate elbow room for us to revise our prices on a cost plus basis during the tenure,” V.C. Agarwal, Director (IBP division), IndianOil told Business Line.
“The agreement ensures that seven of our bulk explosives manufacturing facilities will be operating profitably for the next five years. The fate of the residual four units will depend on order position,” he added.
Sources, however, told Business Line that considering the severe competition from smaller players IOC may have to close down the bulk explosive units, which are not covered by the existing supply contract with CIL.
When contacted, CIL source said that beginning 2008, the coal major had adopted the policy of entering into long-term contract for part-procurement of its essential supplies such as explosives, tyre and many others.
The policy was adopted to prevent any negative impact on production due to non-availability of essential materials.
The Rs 141-crore explosive business of IBP slipped in the red in 2006-07. The business was acquired by IOC during the merger of IBP with itself in May 2007.
RIL, Marks & Spencer In 49:51 Venture
As expected, Reliance Industries (RIL) and Britain's Marks & Spencer Group plc announced their joint venture on Friday, but what RIL stands to gain from the partnership remains to be seen.
Marks & Spencer is known for high quality clothes, home products and food.
Though RIL is already present in at least two of these three categories, it is not yet perceived as a retailer of premium and luxury goods.
RIL has agreed to be the minority partner in the company, called Marks & Spencer Reliance Retail India, by holding 49% stake.
The joint venture is expected to open at least 50 new stores across the country in the next five years.
Interestingly, Planet Retail, which is the existing franchisee in India for Marks & Spencer, would continue to operate the 14 stores it has.
Planet Retail is the same franchisee company which was earlier trying to get US coffee major Starbucks into India so that its continuation as a franchisee for Marks & Spencer leaves some questions unanswered.
Will the stores run by Planet Retail and those under the joint venture have separate product lines and price points?
There was no clarity from the partners on this.
The value of the initial investment into the joint venture will be up to £29 million or Rs 229 crore (in cash or in kind) between the parties, with both parties agreeing to provide further funding in the future.
The joint venture will have the right to operate Marks & Spencer stores in India selling items such as women's, men's and children's clothing as well as homewares.
The chief executive officer of Marks & Spencer Reliance India will be Mark Ashman while the chief financial officer will be Jatin Luthra.
Marks & Spencer is known for high quality clothes, home products and food.
Though RIL is already present in at least two of these three categories, it is not yet perceived as a retailer of premium and luxury goods.
RIL has agreed to be the minority partner in the company, called Marks & Spencer Reliance Retail India, by holding 49% stake.
The joint venture is expected to open at least 50 new stores across the country in the next five years.
Interestingly, Planet Retail, which is the existing franchisee in India for Marks & Spencer, would continue to operate the 14 stores it has.
Planet Retail is the same franchisee company which was earlier trying to get US coffee major Starbucks into India so that its continuation as a franchisee for Marks & Spencer leaves some questions unanswered.
Will the stores run by Planet Retail and those under the joint venture have separate product lines and price points?
There was no clarity from the partners on this.
The value of the initial investment into the joint venture will be up to £29 million or Rs 229 crore (in cash or in kind) between the parties, with both parties agreeing to provide further funding in the future.
The joint venture will have the right to operate Marks & Spencer stores in India selling items such as women's, men's and children's clothing as well as homewares.
The chief executive officer of Marks & Spencer Reliance India will be Mark Ashman while the chief financial officer will be Jatin Luthra.
Dot Terminates ISP Licences Of 35 Firms
New Delhi: In a bid to weed out non-serious players from the Internet sector, the Department of Telecom has terminated the licences of 35 companies, which had not started their services despite repeated reminders.
As per the ISP licence norms, operators are required to start service within two years of getting the licence.
Those who have got the boot include Discovery Infoways, Q-Net Infosystems, Netconnect (India), Infinity.com and KTV Net Pvt Ltd. Most of these companies had taken the licence when the Government was not charging any entry fee.
The DoT has sent termination notices to other non-functional ISPs as well.
The move is in line with DoT’s objective to bring large players into the Internet sector.
Liberal norms
The Government had initially set highly liberal entry norms for ISPs due to which 770 companies took licences. While only 275 ISPs started services, 397 licence holders quit, after the Government announced an exit policy.
However, there are still more than 100 licence holders who have not started offering services, even after five years of getting the licences.
Therefore, the growth of the Internet user-base has been sluggish, with the Government missing broadband targets for the last two years.
Entry fee
In order to discourage non-serious players from taking a licence, DoT has imposed an entry fee and an annual licence fee on Net service providers.
The DoT has also scrapped district level ISP category to encourage operators at the national and State levels.
The telecom regulator has also suggested taking strong measures to improve the ISP segment.
‘Mere numbers no good’
“A number of other countries have large number of Internet operators. But having just mere numbers is of no use if they don’t start service.
“Most ISPs in India are not contributing to the growth of the Internet segment, and that is the reason the number of Internet users has not grown, as we would have liked even after so many years.
“Our aim is to promote serious players in the sector, who will help us achieve our national goals,” said a DoT official.
Despite the large number of ISPs in the country, more than 90 per cent of the 10 million Internet subscribers are owned by the top 4 operators.
As per the ISP licence norms, operators are required to start service within two years of getting the licence.
Those who have got the boot include Discovery Infoways, Q-Net Infosystems, Netconnect (India), Infinity.com and KTV Net Pvt Ltd. Most of these companies had taken the licence when the Government was not charging any entry fee.
The DoT has sent termination notices to other non-functional ISPs as well.
The move is in line with DoT’s objective to bring large players into the Internet sector.
Liberal norms
The Government had initially set highly liberal entry norms for ISPs due to which 770 companies took licences. While only 275 ISPs started services, 397 licence holders quit, after the Government announced an exit policy.
However, there are still more than 100 licence holders who have not started offering services, even after five years of getting the licences.
Therefore, the growth of the Internet user-base has been sluggish, with the Government missing broadband targets for the last two years.
Entry fee
In order to discourage non-serious players from taking a licence, DoT has imposed an entry fee and an annual licence fee on Net service providers.
The DoT has also scrapped district level ISP category to encourage operators at the national and State levels.
The telecom regulator has also suggested taking strong measures to improve the ISP segment.
‘Mere numbers no good’
“A number of other countries have large number of Internet operators. But having just mere numbers is of no use if they don’t start service.
“Most ISPs in India are not contributing to the growth of the Internet segment, and that is the reason the number of Internet users has not grown, as we would have liked even after so many years.
“Our aim is to promote serious players in the sector, who will help us achieve our national goals,” said a DoT official.
Despite the large number of ISPs in the country, more than 90 per cent of the 10 million Internet subscribers are owned by the top 4 operators.
Godrej Aims To Triple FMCG Revenues By 2012
The Rs 9,500 crore Godrej group on Friday unveiled a new vision: tripling the revenues of its fast moving consumer goods portfolio by 2012. The ambitious target follows the company's brand makeover and new strategies line-up. It is also targeting an aggressive profit growth of 25-30% annually along with greater brand visibility.
Adi Godrej, group chairman, said, "Godrej Sara Lee, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd and Godrej Hershey Foods and Beverages Ltd will together take the current Rs 2,300 crore business to Rs 8,000 crore by 2012."
These three companies will together spearhead the growth for the group under the leadership of A. Mahendran, who currently heads Godrej Sara Lee. The growth would come from new product launches, relaunches of existing products and providing improved consumer experience.
"The international business contribution to the business will increase. We are also looking at inorganic growth, especially in developing countries such as South Africa, China and Nigeria" said Godrej.
Godrej has bought Rapidol, Keyline and Kinky brands overseas in the last couple of years. International business contributes 20% to its total revenues currently.
The group also unveiled its new logo in vibrant colours of blue, green and ruby red. The process of revitalising the Godrej brand into an aspirational lifestyle brand, especially to the younger consumers, has begun.
Like the efforts of Hindustan Unilever and Marico of pushing the brand along with their products, Godrej will bring the master brand into the limelight and start a symbiotic process where the master brand 'Godrej' and sub-brands such as Good Knight and Cinthol will leverage more value from each other.
Tanya Dubash, executive director and president, marketing, Godrej Industries said, "Building a portfolio strategy to maximise brand value and executing a Godrej master brand endorsement across product architecture will be our focus. For this, we will create and invest in creating strong brands via Renew, Expert, Interio and Eon."
The four categories — personal grooming, properties, furniture and appliances— will be called "Hero" categories, requiring disproportionate resources to lead the growth.
For media communications alone, the group has set aside Rs 100 crore a year
Adi Godrej, group chairman, said, "Godrej Sara Lee, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd and Godrej Hershey Foods and Beverages Ltd will together take the current Rs 2,300 crore business to Rs 8,000 crore by 2012."
These three companies will together spearhead the growth for the group under the leadership of A. Mahendran, who currently heads Godrej Sara Lee. The growth would come from new product launches, relaunches of existing products and providing improved consumer experience.
"The international business contribution to the business will increase. We are also looking at inorganic growth, especially in developing countries such as South Africa, China and Nigeria" said Godrej.
Godrej has bought Rapidol, Keyline and Kinky brands overseas in the last couple of years. International business contributes 20% to its total revenues currently.
The group also unveiled its new logo in vibrant colours of blue, green and ruby red. The process of revitalising the Godrej brand into an aspirational lifestyle brand, especially to the younger consumers, has begun.
Like the efforts of Hindustan Unilever and Marico of pushing the brand along with their products, Godrej will bring the master brand into the limelight and start a symbiotic process where the master brand 'Godrej' and sub-brands such as Good Knight and Cinthol will leverage more value from each other.
Tanya Dubash, executive director and president, marketing, Godrej Industries said, "Building a portfolio strategy to maximise brand value and executing a Godrej master brand endorsement across product architecture will be our focus. For this, we will create and invest in creating strong brands via Renew, Expert, Interio and Eon."
The four categories — personal grooming, properties, furniture and appliances— will be called "Hero" categories, requiring disproportionate resources to lead the growth.
For media communications alone, the group has set aside Rs 100 crore a year
Tech Mahindra Plans Expanding Into New Markets
Chennai: Tech Mahindra, a software services provider focused on the telecom domain, plans to expand business into Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region and is eyeing contracts in the application development and maintenance and BPO space.
Telecom uptake in these regions has increased in recent times and the company is looking at offering services such as billing, customer relationship management and network management, said T. S. Krishnakumar, Vice President and Head, Chennai Business Unit, Tech Mahindra. It would target mobile service providers.
The company reported revenues of $648 million (Rs 2,592 crore) last year. Europe contributed about 65 per cent to revenues (with British Telecom being the major client contributing about 60 per cent to revenues) and US about 30 per cent.
WiMax investment
The company is also investing (less than 1 per cent of revenues) in WiMax technology as it believes this will apply in cellular-mobile communication in future. “WiMax trials are happening in India and other countries and we want to be ready when they go commercial,” Krishnakumar told Business Line.
The company plans to pursue large multi-year deals in future and is currently chasing a “couple of large deals,” he said, without sharing any details. Early this year the company bagged a five-year $350 million deal from British Telecom Group (BT) to provide services across the group’s retail, wholesale and global services. This was preceded in 2006 by a $1 billion deal with the same group to provide support and services to BT clients. Additionally, Tech Mahindra will look at transaction-based pricing deals where minimum revenue would be decided upon and services will be billed on per transaction basis and not on labour employed.
Additional centres
Tech Mahindra also plans to expand operations in India and is setting up additional centres in special economic zones in Hyderabad, Kolkata, Noida, Pune and Chennai. It will add 1,000 people to its Chennai facility in the next 18 months.
Telecom uptake in these regions has increased in recent times and the company is looking at offering services such as billing, customer relationship management and network management, said T. S. Krishnakumar, Vice President and Head, Chennai Business Unit, Tech Mahindra. It would target mobile service providers.
The company reported revenues of $648 million (Rs 2,592 crore) last year. Europe contributed about 65 per cent to revenues (with British Telecom being the major client contributing about 60 per cent to revenues) and US about 30 per cent.
WiMax investment
The company is also investing (less than 1 per cent of revenues) in WiMax technology as it believes this will apply in cellular-mobile communication in future. “WiMax trials are happening in India and other countries and we want to be ready when they go commercial,” Krishnakumar told Business Line.
The company plans to pursue large multi-year deals in future and is currently chasing a “couple of large deals,” he said, without sharing any details. Early this year the company bagged a five-year $350 million deal from British Telecom Group (BT) to provide services across the group’s retail, wholesale and global services. This was preceded in 2006 by a $1 billion deal with the same group to provide support and services to BT clients. Additionally, Tech Mahindra will look at transaction-based pricing deals where minimum revenue would be decided upon and services will be billed on per transaction basis and not on labour employed.
Additional centres
Tech Mahindra also plans to expand operations in India and is setting up additional centres in special economic zones in Hyderabad, Kolkata, Noida, Pune and Chennai. It will add 1,000 people to its Chennai facility in the next 18 months.
Tatas Named World's 6th Most Innovative
New York: India's two leading conglomerates, Tatas and Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Group, have made it to the league of the world's 25 most innovative companies, riding on the cheapest commercial car Nano and an aggressive growth path, respectively.
In the list of world's 25 most innovative companies released here Friday, Tata group is ranked at the sixth position, while Reliance Industries is at 19th spot.
The list, published in the April 28 edition of BusinessWeek magazine that hit the newsstands, has been compiled by the US financial publication in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group.
Both Tata and RIL have made it for the first time to the annual list which is topped by Apple Computer, the maker of iPod music players and Mac personal computers.
Apple is followed by Internet search giant Google, Japanese auto major Toyota, industrial conglomerate General Electric (GE) and software behemoth Microsoft in the top five.
About Tata group, BusinessWeek said that "Mumbai-based conglomerate jumps onto our list for the first time, fuelled by its paradigm-busting 2,500 dollar 'Nano' car for the masses".
"The car, from its Tata Motors unit, is the world's cheapest, thanks partly to a distribution model that sells the auto in kits to entrepreneurs who assemble them for buyers."
About RIL, it noted that "the Indian petrochemicals giant made it onto our list this year thanks to fans of its aggressive growth.
"But its ambitious plans to reach into grocery retailing, which is dominated in India by small shopkeepers who have rebelled against corporate entrants, have faltered," it added.
In the list of world's 25 most innovative companies released here Friday, Tata group is ranked at the sixth position, while Reliance Industries is at 19th spot.
The list, published in the April 28 edition of BusinessWeek magazine that hit the newsstands, has been compiled by the US financial publication in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group.
Both Tata and RIL have made it for the first time to the annual list which is topped by Apple Computer, the maker of iPod music players and Mac personal computers.
Apple is followed by Internet search giant Google, Japanese auto major Toyota, industrial conglomerate General Electric (GE) and software behemoth Microsoft in the top five.
About Tata group, BusinessWeek said that "Mumbai-based conglomerate jumps onto our list for the first time, fuelled by its paradigm-busting 2,500 dollar 'Nano' car for the masses".
"The car, from its Tata Motors unit, is the world's cheapest, thanks partly to a distribution model that sells the auto in kits to entrepreneurs who assemble them for buyers."
About RIL, it noted that "the Indian petrochemicals giant made it onto our list this year thanks to fans of its aggressive growth.
"But its ambitious plans to reach into grocery retailing, which is dominated in India by small shopkeepers who have rebelled against corporate entrants, have faltered," it added.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Micro Tech Bets On Tracking Software
Mumbai-based tracking software maker Micro Technologies is set to garner business worth Rs 70 crore over the next couple of months through the sale of its lost notebook tracking system (LNTS) to telecom service providers.
While Micro Technologies announced on Wednesday that it has received an order for deploying the software for MTNL's 20 lakh subscribers in the Mumbai region, it is close to inking more such deals.
"MTNL has placed orders for its 14 lakh subscribers in Delhi. Airtel is also likely to seek the software for its subscriber base in Delhi NCR (about 25 lakh subscribers) and Gujarat. Moreover, BSNL has decided to deploy the software for its customers on a pan India basis," said a source at Micro Technologies. These deals are expected to be closed in the next three months.
It is also learnt that Aircel has closed a deal with Micro Technologies to use the software in Tamil Nadu. In Tamil Nadu Aircel has 50 lakh subscribers. Aircel also plans to use the software for its subscribers in its other two circles, namely North-East and North India.
The LNTS software, when deployed in a mobile handset, reads the change in case a SIM card is replaced and sends an SMS to the company (telecom service provider) server. The server updates the online account of the registered user in the company database. Moreover, it sends an e-mail to the user and an SMS alert to the user's alternate phone number.
The software is compatible with Nokia 60x series, N-series, E-series, and Windows based mobile phones.
Micro Technologies started selling the software in a retail format about a year back, but analysts feel it 'has not taken off in a big way.'
The company clocked 1,25,000 subscriptions in one year while the average monthly subscriber base of mobile phone users stands at 8 million as per data from Cellular Operators Association of India.
Micro Technologies aims at 30% growth in its enterprise business while it wants to maintain a growth rate of 30-40% in its retail business.
While Micro Technologies announced on Wednesday that it has received an order for deploying the software for MTNL's 20 lakh subscribers in the Mumbai region, it is close to inking more such deals.
"MTNL has placed orders for its 14 lakh subscribers in Delhi. Airtel is also likely to seek the software for its subscriber base in Delhi NCR (about 25 lakh subscribers) and Gujarat. Moreover, BSNL has decided to deploy the software for its customers on a pan India basis," said a source at Micro Technologies. These deals are expected to be closed in the next three months.
It is also learnt that Aircel has closed a deal with Micro Technologies to use the software in Tamil Nadu. In Tamil Nadu Aircel has 50 lakh subscribers. Aircel also plans to use the software for its subscribers in its other two circles, namely North-East and North India.
The LNTS software, when deployed in a mobile handset, reads the change in case a SIM card is replaced and sends an SMS to the company (telecom service provider) server. The server updates the online account of the registered user in the company database. Moreover, it sends an e-mail to the user and an SMS alert to the user's alternate phone number.
The software is compatible with Nokia 60x series, N-series, E-series, and Windows based mobile phones.
Micro Technologies started selling the software in a retail format about a year back, but analysts feel it 'has not taken off in a big way.'
The company clocked 1,25,000 subscriptions in one year while the average monthly subscriber base of mobile phone users stands at 8 million as per data from Cellular Operators Association of India.
Micro Technologies aims at 30% growth in its enterprise business while it wants to maintain a growth rate of 30-40% in its retail business.
Idea Cellular Rolls Out Pre-Paid Packages
Idea Cellular Ltd has rolled out two tariff vouchers which lets it pre-paid customers to reduce their calling rates. Customers recharging for Rs 15 will get all Idea to Idea calls in Kerala at 30 p. The second voucher is for Rs 25, where the customer will get all Idea to Idea calls in Kerala at 30 p and calls other mobiles in Kerala at 50 p. The validity of both products is 7 days
Airtel Slashes SMS Rates
Bharti Airtel has cut its local and national SMS rates by 50% for consumers in Kolkata, West Bengal, Sikkim and Andaman. Local SMS will now attract a flat rate of 50 paise per SMS while a national SMS will cost Re 1 per message. While the offer will benefit only Airtel prepaid customers, the company plans to extend it to the postpaid segment as well.
BOB Launches New Health Scheme In Oman
Bank of Baroda (BoB) has joined hands with insurance major New Indian Assurance company to launch a health insurance scheme in Oman. New India Assurance resident manager, J Ratnakumar and chief manager of Bank of Baroda, L Chandrasekaran signed the agreement in Muscat yesterday to float the new deposit scheme, called Baroda Health Deposit.
Wipro - Business Outlook
Wipro Ltd has announced the following Outlook for the Quarter ending June 30, 2008:
Azim Premji, Chairman of Wipro, commenting on the results said 2007-08 was an eventful year for Wipro. Revenues for the combined IT business achieved $4.3 billion. For the quarter, we recorded Revenues of $959.9 million which was ahead of our guidance of $955 million. During the year, we made our largest ever acquisition that further strengthened our position as the leader in Technology Infrastructure Services (TIS). We also made a large acquisition in the Consumer Care business. With industry leading organic growth rates and the acquisition, Consumer care business has reached a Revenue run rate in excess of $100 million per quarter. We won several large, integrated and transformational deals both in Global IT as well as in India, Middle East and Asia Pac geographies. We continue to invest in our Sales footprint, 360 degree engagement model, MEGA/GAMA account strategy and Large Programs team. During FY08, we saw robust growth in all our key Verticals and differentiated Service lines. Both the Global IT and India, Middle East and Asia Pac businesses leveraged on each other in delivering transformational solutions to our customers. India, Middle East and Asia Pac IT business grew its Services business substantially and now accounts for 33% of its business. We believe it is now appropriate to present our IT business on a combined basis. We will report the combined business going forward split into IT Services and IT products.
The global economic outlook has changed significantly since the beginning of this calendar year. It poses challenges and at the same time, opens up newer opportunities. Given the uncertainty in the environment, we remain cautious but resilient. For the quarter ending June 2008, we expect our Combined IT Services Revenue to be approximately $1,060 million. Corresponding base number for Q4 08 and Q1 07 for the Combined IT Services business was $1,031.5 million and $ 779.1 million respectively.
Suresh Senapaty, Chief Financial Officer of Wipro, said During the Quarter ended March 08, Energy & Utilities, Financial Services and Retail grew ahead of Company average. Our differentiated Service lines of TIS, Testing and BPO continue to power our growth. Our investments in Europe have yielded good results with superior growth rates. We are seeing good traction in our Infocrossing business which is reflected in the top line as well as bottom line growth. We gave salary hikes to our Onsite employees which had an impact of 100 basis points on our margins. We improved Utilization, margin expansion in acquisitions and other operating parameters, which significantly offset the adverse impact of Onsite salary increase.
Azim Premji, Chairman of Wipro, commenting on the results said 2007-08 was an eventful year for Wipro. Revenues for the combined IT business achieved $4.3 billion. For the quarter, we recorded Revenues of $959.9 million which was ahead of our guidance of $955 million. During the year, we made our largest ever acquisition that further strengthened our position as the leader in Technology Infrastructure Services (TIS). We also made a large acquisition in the Consumer Care business. With industry leading organic growth rates and the acquisition, Consumer care business has reached a Revenue run rate in excess of $100 million per quarter. We won several large, integrated and transformational deals both in Global IT as well as in India, Middle East and Asia Pac geographies. We continue to invest in our Sales footprint, 360 degree engagement model, MEGA/GAMA account strategy and Large Programs team. During FY08, we saw robust growth in all our key Verticals and differentiated Service lines. Both the Global IT and India, Middle East and Asia Pac businesses leveraged on each other in delivering transformational solutions to our customers. India, Middle East and Asia Pac IT business grew its Services business substantially and now accounts for 33% of its business. We believe it is now appropriate to present our IT business on a combined basis. We will report the combined business going forward split into IT Services and IT products.
The global economic outlook has changed significantly since the beginning of this calendar year. It poses challenges and at the same time, opens up newer opportunities. Given the uncertainty in the environment, we remain cautious but resilient. For the quarter ending June 2008, we expect our Combined IT Services Revenue to be approximately $1,060 million. Corresponding base number for Q4 08 and Q1 07 for the Combined IT Services business was $1,031.5 million and $ 779.1 million respectively.
Suresh Senapaty, Chief Financial Officer of Wipro, said During the Quarter ended March 08, Energy & Utilities, Financial Services and Retail grew ahead of Company average. Our differentiated Service lines of TIS, Testing and BPO continue to power our growth. Our investments in Europe have yielded good results with superior growth rates. We are seeing good traction in our Infocrossing business which is reflected in the top line as well as bottom line growth. We gave salary hikes to our Onsite employees which had an impact of 100 basis points on our margins. We improved Utilization, margin expansion in acquisitions and other operating parameters, which significantly offset the adverse impact of Onsite salary increase.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Parsvnath Developers Signs Agreement With Two Saffron Group Funds
Parsvnath Developers has inked an agreement with two Saffron Group managed funds, Yatra Capital and Saffron India Real Estate Fund I (SIREF I), for the development of BEST bus depot near the Bandra Kurla complex in Mumbai.
The development activities will be undertaken through a special purpose vehicle under the name of Jarul Promoters & Developers, being a subsidiary of the company.
PDL and Jarul have entered into agreements with Yatra Capital and SIREF I, whereby the Investors shall each held a 15% equity stake in Jarul, on a fully diluted basis. For the purpose of acquiring this stake, Investors will make an investment of Rs 186 crore, thereby valuing the project at Rs 620 crore.
The company made this announcement during the trading hours today, 17 April 2008.
Spicejet Launches Ticket Home-Delivery Service
Budget carrier SpiceJet on rolled out SpiceExpress service for delivering tickets at doorsteps. Tickets purchased through the SpiceJet''s call centre would be delivered at a cost of Rs 110 per passenger within 24 hours of buying the ticket.
The airline is launching this service in partnership with ExpressIT, a logistics company.
SpiceJet operates 117 flights daily to 18 cities, including Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Guwahati and Hyderabad among others.
The airline is launching this service in partnership with ExpressIT, a logistics company.
SpiceJet operates 117 flights daily to 18 cities, including Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Guwahati and Hyderabad among others.
Vijaya Bank Signs Pact With CARE
Vijaya Bank has inked a pact with Credit Analysis & Research Ltd (CARE), one of the RBI accredited rating agency, to provide bank loan ratings to its corporate clients at a concessional fee. As per the terms of the MoU, the corporate customers of the bank will be able to have their loan exposures rated by CARE. Vijaya Bank said in a release that the MoU with CARE will encourage its corporate clients to go for credit rating, which will be beneficial to the clients in pricing
Stanchart Plans To Set Up 40 New Branches This Year
Standard Chartered Bank is looking at increasing its presence in India ahead of the banking sector review in 2009. The bank is seeking to open 40 branches in the country during the current financial year. This number is significantly high, considering that the bank opened a mere 3 branches in the last two years. The bank has 83 branches and 231 ATMs across the country. The bank recently pumped $250 million into its Indian operations and this constitutes three-quarters of its profits in Asia. The bank registered a profit growth of 71 per cent to $690 million from its Indian operations in 2007, primarily on account of its wholesale banking business
Bharti Retail Launches Easy Day In Ludhiana
Bharti Retail, owned by Sunil Mittal''s Bharti Enterprises, on April 16 began retail operations in the country with neighbourhood store format, Easy Day, from Ludhiana in Punjab. Bharti has set up three stores in Ludhiana. Neighbourhood stores will be the first phase of its roll-out plans, as the company is opening supermarkets and hypermarkets across the country. Bharti has lined up Rs 10,000 crore investment to set up stores across the country by 2012. The company said that it is looking at a retail space of 10 million square feet and employ 60,000 people.
Bharti has also entered into a joint venture with world''s largest retailer Wal-Mart for supply chain, logistics and cash and carry ventures. The JV is expected to launch the first store by the end of 2008 and aims to open 10 to 15 centres over seven years. With the roll-out of its retail stores, Bharti will compete with Kishore Biyani''s Future Group, Reliance Retail, RPG group''s Spencers, Aditya Birla Group among others in a fast growing organised retail market in the country which is expected to touch Rs 4,00,000 crore in the next five years. Easy Day shops, measuring 2,500 to 4,500 sq ft, will sell stationery, household articles, hosiery items, daily-need groceries including staples, processed foods, bakery and dairy products, meat and poultry and fresh produce among others, the company said in a release. The company has also set up Bharti Academy of Retail to train its staff. The academy based in Ludhiana has trained 1600 people so far. The company has also hired local meat sellers, fruits and vegetable vendors,housewives,retired staff, rural population, physically-challenged in its operations.
Bharti has also entered into a joint venture with world''s largest retailer Wal-Mart for supply chain, logistics and cash and carry ventures. The JV is expected to launch the first store by the end of 2008 and aims to open 10 to 15 centres over seven years. With the roll-out of its retail stores, Bharti will compete with Kishore Biyani''s Future Group, Reliance Retail, RPG group''s Spencers, Aditya Birla Group among others in a fast growing organised retail market in the country which is expected to touch Rs 4,00,000 crore in the next five years. Easy Day shops, measuring 2,500 to 4,500 sq ft, will sell stationery, household articles, hosiery items, daily-need groceries including staples, processed foods, bakery and dairy products, meat and poultry and fresh produce among others, the company said in a release. The company has also set up Bharti Academy of Retail to train its staff. The academy based in Ludhiana has trained 1600 people so far. The company has also hired local meat sellers, fruits and vegetable vendors,housewives,retired staff, rural population, physically-challenged in its operations.
Kesoram Cements Earmarks Rs 850 Cr For Capacity Expansion
Kesoram Cements, an arm of Kesoram industries of the B.K. Birla Group, has decided to put in around Rs 850 crore in adding significant production capacity by 2009.
At present, the company operates three manufacturing plants at Basantnagar (Karimnagar), Andhra Pradesh for Kesoram Cement, Sedan in Karnataka for Vasavadatta Cement and Adityanagar Morak (Kota), Rajasthan for Mangalam Cement. The expansion programme currently underway would be adding an additional 2 mt Kesoram Cement, 1 mt to Vasavadatta and half a million tonne to Mangalam Cement.
At present, the company operates three manufacturing plants at Basantnagar (Karimnagar), Andhra Pradesh for Kesoram Cement, Sedan in Karnataka for Vasavadatta Cement and Adityanagar Morak (Kota), Rajasthan for Mangalam Cement. The expansion programme currently underway would be adding an additional 2 mt Kesoram Cement, 1 mt to Vasavadatta and half a million tonne to Mangalam Cement.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
ICICI Bank Raises Balance For SB Account
ICICI Bank announced that it has doubled the minimum quarterly average balance to be maintained in a savings account to Rs 10,000 from Rs 5,000 now. The change is effective from July 1. According to the existing terms governing your savings account, non-maintenance of quarterly average balance in any quarter attracts a charge of Rs 750 (plus service tax as applicable, currently 12.36 per cent) or such other charges as may be made applicable from time to time. The bank had 1,350 branches and 3,850 ATMs as on March 31,2008.
Corporation Bank Rolls Out Reverse Mortgage Scheme
Corporation Bank unveiled "Corp Shelter", the reverse mortgage loan scheme for senior citizens. Under the scheme, a borrower over 60 years of age can borrow a minimum amount of Rs 1 lakh up to Rs 50 lakh depending on the value of the appraised property.
The borrower should be the owner of a residential property (house or flat) located in India, with a clear title indicating the prospective borrower''s ownership of the property. The residential property shall be free of any encumbrances. The prospective borrowers should use that residential property as permanent primary residence. The loan shall become due and payable only when the last surviving borrower dies or would like to sell the home, or permanently moves out of the home for aged care to an institution or to relatives. The Mortgaged property will also be insured for full value against all risks under Reinstate Value Method.
The borrower should be the owner of a residential property (house or flat) located in India, with a clear title indicating the prospective borrower''s ownership of the property. The residential property shall be free of any encumbrances. The prospective borrowers should use that residential property as permanent primary residence. The loan shall become due and payable only when the last surviving borrower dies or would like to sell the home, or permanently moves out of the home for aged care to an institution or to relatives. The Mortgaged property will also be insured for full value against all risks under Reinstate Value Method.
Ranbaxy, Astrazeneca Settle Nexium Suit
Ranbaxy Laboratories on April 15 said it has settled a patent litigation with Anglo-Swedish firm AstraZeneca over ulcer drug Nexium, which would allow it to launch its generic version in the US by 2014.
Besides settling the patent litigation, Ranbaxy also entered into manufacturing agreement for AstraZeneca''s US supply of Nexium from 2010 and a distribution agreement with the Anglo-Swedish firm for hypertension drug Felodipine and acidity drug remedy Omeprazole. Nexium, the branded product of AstraZeneca, is the second largest selling drug in the US. The agreement settles the patent infringement litigation filed by AstraZeneca following Ranbaxy''s submission to the United States Food & Drug Administration of an Abbreviated New Drug Application for esomeprazole magnesium''s generic version.Under the agreement, Ranbaxy would start selling the generic version from May 27, 2014 under license from AstraZeneca and during the 180 day exclusive marketing period, it will distribute the only generic esomeprazole magnesium product in the US market.
Ranbaxy conceded that all six patents asserted by AstraZeneca in the patent litigation are valid and enforceable.However, Singh declined to comment on the revenues that Ranbaxy would achieve through these agreements.According to industry estimates, these deals would result in a revenue of about 1.5 billion dollars to Ranbaxy over the years.
Besides settling the patent litigation, Ranbaxy also entered into manufacturing agreement for AstraZeneca''s US supply of Nexium from 2010 and a distribution agreement with the Anglo-Swedish firm for hypertension drug Felodipine and acidity drug remedy Omeprazole. Nexium, the branded product of AstraZeneca, is the second largest selling drug in the US. The agreement settles the patent infringement litigation filed by AstraZeneca following Ranbaxy''s submission to the United States Food & Drug Administration of an Abbreviated New Drug Application for esomeprazole magnesium''s generic version.Under the agreement, Ranbaxy would start selling the generic version from May 27, 2014 under license from AstraZeneca and during the 180 day exclusive marketing period, it will distribute the only generic esomeprazole magnesium product in the US market.
Ranbaxy conceded that all six patents asserted by AstraZeneca in the patent litigation are valid and enforceable.However, Singh declined to comment on the revenues that Ranbaxy would achieve through these agreements.According to industry estimates, these deals would result in a revenue of about 1.5 billion dollars to Ranbaxy over the years.
United Bank Rolls Out Home Loans For Urban Poor
United Bank of India has rolled out a housing loan scheme for slum dwellers for facilitating construction or upgradation of dwelling units for the urban poor. The loan will be provided at 4 per cent under the differential rate of interest scheme.
Banking industry sources say this is the first time such a scheme has been launched by a bank in the country. United Bank has a target of disbursing Rs 100-150 crore covering 1,50,000 to 200,000 beneficiaries by 2012. The initiative is in tandem with two social security schemes, Basic Services to Urban Poor (BSUP) and Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme(IHSDP), under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission launched by the Centre in 2005.
Banking industry sources say this is the first time such a scheme has been launched by a bank in the country. United Bank has a target of disbursing Rs 100-150 crore covering 1,50,000 to 200,000 beneficiaries by 2012. The initiative is in tandem with two social security schemes, Basic Services to Urban Poor (BSUP) and Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme(IHSDP), under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission launched by the Centre in 2005.
RINL Increases Steel Price By Rs 6,000/T
Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd hiked prices of all its products by Rs 6,000 a tonne. Along with the existing excise duty of 14 per cent, RINL''s products would now be costlier by Rs 6,840 a tonne. On April 3, RINL had brought down prices of its TMT bars by Rs 1,800 following a meeting with the Steel Ministry. This paves the way for Steel Authority of India Ltd to hike prices that it had held back the past week even as the others announced a price hike of Rs 5,000 a tonne.Primary steel makers such as JSW, Ispat, Essar and Tata Steel had announced an imposition of Rs 5,000 a tonne raw material surcharge on all hot-rolled steel products
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Ambuja Cements - Imposition Of Ban On The Export Of Cement
Ambuja Cements Ltd has informed that the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India has imposed a Ban on the Export of Cements with immediate effect. Arising out of the above developments, the Company would not be able to export cement till such time the ban remain in force.
During the financial year 2007 (twelve months), of the total sales volume of 16.77 million tons, the Company exported 1.32 million tons of Cement having total value of Rs 277.48 crores.
During the financial year 2007 (twelve months), of the total sales volume of 16.77 million tons, the Company exported 1.32 million tons of Cement having total value of Rs 277.48 crores.
BSNL, MTNL Ahead In 3G Spectrum Race
The government is contemplating allocating 3G spectrum to state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) ahead of others, but in the process might displease private players.
This decision is likely to upset the private players as it would give BSNL and MTNL a head-start in rolling out 3G services. Earmarking one block of 2x5 Mhz spectrum in 2.1 Ghz for allowing import of WCDMA equipment is being considered separately based on justification provided by BSNL. The Telecom Commission, in its meeting in June 2007, had agreed that besides BSNL/MTNL, other service providers may be selected through e-auction for allotment of spectrum for 3G services in 2.1 Ghz band. 3G helps in transmission of both voice data (a telephone call) and non-voice data (such as downloading information, exchanging e-mail, and instant messaging). It would offer data-intensive services through wireless communications.
This decision is likely to upset the private players as it would give BSNL and MTNL a head-start in rolling out 3G services. Earmarking one block of 2x5 Mhz spectrum in 2.1 Ghz for allowing import of WCDMA equipment is being considered separately based on justification provided by BSNL. The Telecom Commission, in its meeting in June 2007, had agreed that besides BSNL/MTNL, other service providers may be selected through e-auction for allotment of spectrum for 3G services in 2.1 Ghz band. 3G helps in transmission of both voice data (a telephone call) and non-voice data (such as downloading information, exchanging e-mail, and instant messaging). It would offer data-intensive services through wireless communications.
IOC Losing Rs 320 Cr Per Day On Fuel Sales
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on April 14 said it is losing Rs 320 crore per day on fuel sales and if the situation continues for more than a year, its project may get impacted.
The company isosing Rs 320 crore per day on sale of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene.IOC plans to invest Rs 7,500 crore in refinery and pipeline projects in 2008-09, the source said.
The company isosing Rs 320 crore per day on sale of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene.IOC plans to invest Rs 7,500 crore in refinery and pipeline projects in 2008-09, the source said.
Satyam Computer Services To Set Up New Technology & Learning Center
Satyam Computer Services has announced that it will set up a new campus at the Geelong Technology Precint, Victoria. The new 25-acre campus will accommodate 2,000 employees over the next few years, producing a positive economic impact on the city of Geelong and surrounding areas, whilst highlighting Satyam''s commitment to Australia and nurturing the local ICT talent in Victoria and throughout Australia. The Satyam Campus will house a software development center and facilities for training, research and development etc. The company made this announcement during the trading hours today, 14 April 2008.
Tata Communications Expands VPN Services To Egypt
Tata Communications has announced the expansion of its Global VPN service to Egypt through a partnership agreement with TE Data S.A.E., a subsidiary of Telecom Egypt S,A.E. (LSE: TEEG) and Egypt''s largest P-based data communications carrier. Tata Communications and TE Data have interconnected their respective MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) infrastructures, setting up multiple, redundant network-to-network interconnection (NNI) points between the two companies connecting Tata Communications'' European and Indian network hubs with TE Data''s facilities in Egypt in order to serve enterprise customers'' growing worldwide connectivity needs.
Egypt''s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth over the last five year has averaged at about six per cent mainly on expanding domestic demand. Egypt acts as a major gateway for trade with the Middle East and North Africa due to the tree trade agreement between 20 African countries - COMESA. Following a 25-per cent year-on-year real increase in 2007, investments continue growing at full speed, surging by about 30 per cent year-on-year thus far in 2008(1). According to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), investments from India alone are expected to cross $1.5 billion by 2009.
The NNI agreement allows Tata Communications to seamlessly extend its current end-to-end service capabilities by incorporating the TE Data''s IP MPLS network footprint in Egypt, using more than 800 access points-of-presence. This will enable the Company''s VPN customers to benefit from superior connectivity to and from Egypt while experiencing the same security, redundancy and quality of service offered on the Tata Communications network.
This agreement is the latest in Tata Communications'' plans to continue to develop and expand its global coverage. Tata Communications already offers its MPLS services in almost 40 countries and expects to reach over 50 by the end of 2008. It is also increasing the resiliency and depth of its international network with new dual PoPs in four countries and new PoPs in 8 cities within its existing country footprint. Tata Communications also offers extended reach to over 160 countries through its VNO Services division. The company made this announcement during the trading hours today, 14 April 2008.
Egypt''s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth over the last five year has averaged at about six per cent mainly on expanding domestic demand. Egypt acts as a major gateway for trade with the Middle East and North Africa due to the tree trade agreement between 20 African countries - COMESA. Following a 25-per cent year-on-year real increase in 2007, investments continue growing at full speed, surging by about 30 per cent year-on-year thus far in 2008(1). According to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), investments from India alone are expected to cross $1.5 billion by 2009.
The NNI agreement allows Tata Communications to seamlessly extend its current end-to-end service capabilities by incorporating the TE Data''s IP MPLS network footprint in Egypt, using more than 800 access points-of-presence. This will enable the Company''s VPN customers to benefit from superior connectivity to and from Egypt while experiencing the same security, redundancy and quality of service offered on the Tata Communications network.
This agreement is the latest in Tata Communications'' plans to continue to develop and expand its global coverage. Tata Communications already offers its MPLS services in almost 40 countries and expects to reach over 50 by the end of 2008. It is also increasing the resiliency and depth of its international network with new dual PoPs in four countries and new PoPs in 8 cities within its existing country footprint. Tata Communications also offers extended reach to over 160 countries through its VNO Services division. The company made this announcement during the trading hours today, 14 April 2008.
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