 |
|
Orascom buys 19 pc stake in Hutchison
GoM positive on 100 pc FDI in mining
Crosslink to set up unit at Baddi
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
UTI bullish on Indian stock market
Use STD booths for banking,
Garment exporter inks private equity deal
MUL stake sale proceeds
Intel plans Rs 10,000 PC
India not day-dreaming on growth potential: FM
Corporate Results
Corporate News MUL stake sale proceeds
not for NIF
Nahar posts profit
|
|
Orascom buys 19 pc stake in Hutchison
Cairo, January 16 “The tie up with Hutchison Telecom presents Orascom Telecom with exposure to markets” like India, Indonesia and Vietnam, Naguib Sawiris, chairman of Cairo-based Orascom, said in an e-mailed statement. Orascom and Hutchison together operate in 15 countries and have a subscriber base of 40 million, as on September 30, 2005, the statement said. Hutchison is a unit of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., owned by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing. Orascom, which bought Wind Telecomunicazioni in August in a bid valuing the company at Euro 12.2 billion ($14.4 billion), is seeking to expand in Asia, Europe and Africa to become one of the top 10 telecommunications companies in the world. Meanwhile, a report from Mumbai said that Hutchison Essar Ltd said it has completed the acquisition of BPL Mobile Cellular Ltd, the holder of cellular mobile telephone licences for Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. “We have completed the acquisition of the three BPL circles and look forward to driving significant growth in these circles,” Hutchison Essar Managing Director Asim Ghosh said in a press note here. Hutchison had acquired BPL Mobile in July in a deal with an enterprise valuation of over Rs 4,400 crore. — Agencies
|
|
GoM positive on 100 pc FDI in mining
Kolkata, January 16 “The recommendations by the GoM will be sent to the Union Cabinet Committee for approval. Presently, 74 per cent of the FDI is allowed for captive mining in the power sector,” Union Minister of State for Coal and Mines Dasari Narayana Rao said here today on the sidelines of the first Asian Mining Congress and International Mining exhibition. The government’s expert committee on the road-map for coal sector reforms has sent an interim report and called for encouraging captive coal production. The government has allocated 35 coal blocks to about 60 private sector companies for captive consumption and another 12 blocks for 10 government companies, he said.
— UNI
|
|
Crosslink to set up unit at Baddi
New Delhi, January 16 “Construction work of the plant in underway and it would be operational by April this year,” Managing Director CIWPL K S Juneja told mediapersons at the Auto Expo here today. The unit, besides manufacturing other security products (four wheelers), would also produce print and smart card immobilisers for four wheelers. “We plan to export our products to India’s neighbouring countries, including Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Pakistan,” Director Wheels Electronic SDN BHD Tan Kit Seng said. Asked about the investments made towards the unit, Mr Juneja said: “We have made an initial investment of Rs 2 crore and would pump in more money as and when required.” NTF to make
car-styling kits
Gurgaon-based NTF (India) Pvt Ltd has said it would invest up to Rs 10 crore to set up a manufacturing division for its foray into car-styling kits. “The plan is to start manufacturing these styling kits by June this year. Our aim is to go for mass manufacturing and we will be investing Rs 5-10 crore for this,” NTF Director Naveen Jain said on the sidelines of Auto Expo here. He said the company would initially appoint distributors in all metros to supply these kits. He said NFT, which is an original equipment supplier to Maruti, is looking to utilise Maruti’s network to supply car styling kits.
XDS mulls unit
in India
US-based Xtreme Defense Security, providers of auto glass security systems, has said it was looking at setting up a manufacturing unit in India. “We are planning to set up a manufacturing unit here but have not finalised anything as yet,” XDS Secuirty Protekt India Private Ltd director Ranjan Majumdar said here today. He said the company had not taken any decision as yet on where the plant would come up in India. XDS displayed its new safety products that keep glass intact even after accidents, natural disasters, explosions or vandalism, besides heat and ultra-violet radiations.
Wrench eyes Malaysia
Bangalore-based Wrench Solutions Private Ltd would foray into the Malaysian market to sell its automotive component software product. “We have tied up with a Malaysian company to sell our product to auto component manufacturers as we see great demand and less competition there,” Wrench Solutions Director K. Varghese Daniel told reporters here at the AutoExpo. The company launched its software product ‘Wrench NPD’, which offers seamless automation and management of all documents, tasks, processes and
activities- right across the enterprise. “So far we have sold the product to three customers,” he said.
— PTI
|
|
UTI bullish on Indian stock market
New Delhi, January 16 “The World Bank, financial institutions and credit-rating agencies have indicated that the Indian economy is going to do well in the coming years. And our research shows that whenever economy does well, the equity market also goes well. So, we will be quite aggressive to raise funds in the coming months,” said Mr U.K. Sinha, Managing Director and CEO, UTI AMC, while launching the UTI Leadership Equity Fund. After the restructuring of the company, said Mr Sinha, “the new management is set to play a leadership role in the mutual fund market. As against Rs 1800 crore net funds raised during last fiscal, the company has so far raised Rs 2,000 crore funds from the market.” “Customers will soon be able to get the daily NAV value at our 340 district offices, along with 67 branch offices and UTI ATMs across the country,” he said.
|
|
Use STD booths for banking, says Pitroda
Mumbai, January 16 Addressing the participants of the Banking Tech Summit, 2006, from the USA through the video-conference route, Mr Pitroda pointed out that “mobile technology offers an unique opportunity to leap-frog into rural banking.” Drawing attention to a scenario where there would be more phones than bank accounts in India, Mr Pitroda said that STD/PCO booths could be used to pay bills and conduct some transactions. “What is needed is to build trust and security. If STD/PCO booths can be put to use for banking purposes, there will be no need for loose cash and printing money. Tremendous savings can be effected on the money-printing front,” he said. While the world cell-phone user-base already stands at two billion and is expected to catapult to three billion in the next five years, the cell-user base presently stands at 70 million in India with another 200 million are expected to be added in another four years. For emerging markets like India, mobile banking made more sense than brick and mortar establishments. Besides, present-day cell-phones possess more computing power than the lap-tops five years ago, he said. Pointing out that experiments are already being conducted on mobile banking in the USA and Japan, Mr Pitroda said that “in another five years, mobile banking will become a household phenomenon globally.” However, there were a number of aspects that needed to be looked into such as security features. Describing the security issue as a challenge, Mr Pitroda said that this aspect needed to be tackled at multiple levels. “No system is leak-proof, but we must ensure that risks are reduced to the minimum.” “As technology advances, the risks will get minimised,” he pointed out.
|
|
Garment exporter inks private equity deal
Mumbai, January 16 “The support we have received from IIML will help us significantly increase capacities and broaden infrastructure. This will help us contribute to the post-quota opportunity available to India — to leap frog over several countries and become the developing world’s second largest participant in the global trade in textile and apparel,” according to Jagadish Hinduja, Chairman, Gokaldas Images. “Gokaldas Images will build on its leadership position within the Indian garment industry. Working with investors who understand our business and are committed to India’s long term economic potential are the reasons for our association with IIML.” Gokaldas Images is expanding its manufacturing capacity in the denim and tailored clothing business. The expansion will be completed during FY 2006. With the ongoing expansion, Gokaldas Images will be the largest tailored apparel export business in the country.
— UNI
|
|
MUL stake sale proceeds not for NIF
New Delhi, January 16 The government thinking is that since Maruti was no longer a public sector entity, the disinvestment proceeds of its minority stake will not be parked in the NIF, official sources said. It implies that the NIF will get money only if the government goes ahead with disinvetment in other PSUs. The money in the fund will be invested in the market, whose earnings will then be used for social sector projects and revival of public sector units. The government sold 8 per cent residual shares it holds in Maruti for Rs 1,567.60 crore to eight financial institutions. — PTI
|
|
Intel plans Rs 10,000 PC
Chandigarh, January 16 Mr Anand Chandrasekhar, Senior Vice-President (Global Sales and Marketing), Intel, informed TNS that they were working on setting up the low-cost PC in collaboration with the Government of India. “It
will be a basic computer but will require a fairly strong system that
can withstand the heat, moisture, dust and frequent power breakdowns,”
he said. Though Intel officials are unwilling to disclose anything further on the low-cost PC, they claim that this will completely change the way of life in ordinary homes.
|
|
India not day-dreaming on growth potential: FM
Manila, January 16 “In the first half of the current year, growth was 8.1 per cent, and all available projections for the current fiscal... point to... eventual growth rate of between 7-7.5 per cent,” Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said, addressing the annual Asian Development Bank Board meeting here. “While some sceptics might be inclined to dismiss these projections as far-fetched, the growing potential of the Indian economy has received recognition from practically all quarters,” he said. The minister quoted the BRICS (Brazl, Russia, India and China) report as identifying India as the only economy that would be capable of maintaining growth rates above 3 per cent till 2050. “In order to maintain the overall growth rate... at its current levels... we have to remain committed to an aggressive agenda for economic reforms. The main objective of the current phase of reforms in to secure high growth,” he said. “The Indian economy has the potential to reach much higher levels. Let me assure you that my expectations are not outcomes of wishful thinking,” Mr Chidambaram said. Such a growth was possible through achieving robust performance levels across sectors, including industry and farm sectors, besides collaboration among countries for “producing welfare-enhancing syenrgies.” “The challenge before the countries of Asia today is to create and maintain a regional and international environment that is conducive to high economic growth,” he said. “India is fully seized of the need for building partnerships and collaborating with our friends for moving towards individual as well as collective gains,” Mr Chidambaram said. “We have always been engaged with Asia, and with the introduction of the “Look East” policy, this engagement has been enlarged with the objective of reaching out to India’s neighbours in the East and South Asia,” he said. — PTI
|
|
Corporate Results
Mumbai, January 16 However, total income increased 10.88 per cent to Rs 352.18 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2005, from Rs 317.60 crore in the year-ago period, the bank informed the Bombay Stock Exchange. Bajaj Auto
profit up
Bajaj Auto has posted a profit of 53 per cent to Rs 278.99 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, as compared to Rs 182.01 crore for the same quarter in 2004. The total income increased from Rs 1,692.55 crore in the December quarter of 2004 to Rs 2,107.32 crore for the same quarter in 2005.
UTI Bank net grows
UTI Bank has posted a net profit of 30 per cent at Rs 131.71 crore for the third quarter ended on December 31 as compared to Rs 101.15 crore during the last Q3 in 2004. The total income increased to Rs 920.12 crore for the quarter ended December 31 as compared to Rs 634.21 crore in the third quarter of the last financial year (2004-05).
Yes Bank in black
Yes Bank today reported a net profit of Rs 14.5 crore for the third quarter ended December, 2005, as compared to a loss of Rs 32 lakh in the same quarter last fiscal. The total income of the Mumbai-based bank grew by over five-fold to Rs 81.74 crore in the September-December period of 2005-06 as against Rs 15.24 crore in the corresponding period in 2004-05, Yes Bank said. The bank’s total business grew by over four-fold to Rs 3,689 crore till December, 2005, from Rs 865 crore in the year-ago period.
— Agencies
|
|
Corporate News
Mumbai, January 16 The company, which began operations in Kerala in 2004, has 550 employees there. In the first phase Rs 50 crore would be invested to set up a campus in Thiruvananthapuram with a capacity for 1,250 persons. Another 2,500 seats would be set up in the next two phases, a press note said. BEML eyes
contract mining
Leading mining equipment manufacturer Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) has entered into a three-way joint venture for diversifying into the area of contract mining, its Chairman and Managing Director VRS Natarajan said. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the International Mining Exhibition here today, Mr Natarajan said that BEML would hold 45 per cent in the venture, while the two partners, one Indian and the other Indonesian, would control the remaining 55 per cent among themselves. Mr Natarajan said that the joint venture company was in the process of being formed and was awaiting approval of the government. Currently, the government holds 61 per cent in BEML.
OpenTV software for Essel
OpenTV Corp, whose software runs in 61 million television set-top boxes, agreed to provide its product to Essel Group’s one million satellite TV customers in India. Essel’s Dish TV satellite service will convert to OpenTV’s software over six months, OpenTV Chief Executive Officer James Chiddix said. OpenTV’s software runs electronic program guides, video-on-demand and digital video recorders, or DVRs. The deal marks OpenTV’s entry into India. San Francisco OpenTV sells its software to cable and satellite operators including Charter Communications, EchoStar Communications Corp., BSkyB and UnitedGlobalCom.
— TNS, Agencies
|
|
|
MUL stake sale proceeds
not for NIF
New Delhi, January 16 The government thinking is that since Maruti was no longer a public sector entity, the disinvestment proceeds of its minority stake will not be parked in the NIF, official sources said. It implies that the NIF will get money only if the government goes ahead with disinvetment in other PSUs. The money in the fund will be invested in the market, whose earnings will then be used for social sector projects and revival of public sector units. The government sold 8 per cent residual shares it holds in Maruti for Rs 1,567.60 crore to eight financial institutions.
— PTI |
|
New Delhi, January 16 The net sales for the quarter ending December 31, 2005, increased by 9.2 per cent at Rs 168.08 crore as against Rs 153.84 crore for the corresponding period last year. While the earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter ended December 31 is Rs 5.97, the company has also reported a four fold increase in its profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 47.58 crore from Rs 12.88 crore for the nine-month period ended December 31. — PTI
|
bb
Godrej & Boyce to market HMT watches ING Groep Dodsal contract Chevrolet Tavera Order for BHEL Everest Kanto Kingfisher service Interim dividend |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
