BSNL to float $3.5 bn tender

NEW DELHI: State-owned telecom company, BSNL, plans to float a $3.5-billion tender, a third of which will be reserved for public sector telecom equipment company ITI, an executive aware of the development told. The telco wants to procure equipment for 40 million GSM lines. BSNL is yet to decide if it wants to go in for a single contract or split it into two tenders for 20 million GSM lines over a two-year period, this executive added. This contract will provide the company with sufficient capacity till 2013.

"To take care of the long-term expansion requirements, BSNL has planned to expand its mobile network by a capacity of 20 million lines each in 2011-12 and 2012-13 ," the telco said in its status report sent to the telecoms department earlier this month.

This will be in addition to the 5.5 million GSM lines tender the telco floated recently. BSNL had initially banned Chinese firms from bidding for this 5.5-million line contract to expand its mobile network for its north and eastern zones, but changed the rules later to accommodate firms such as Huawei and ZTE after the Centre allowed participation from Chinese companies.

The $500-million contract for 5.5 million lines was the first tender the PSU floated after it cancelled its 93 million lines contract, the world's largest for telecom equipment, earlier this year. Following the junking of the mega equipment contract, which had run into several controversies including court cases and a probe by the Central Vigilance Commission, BSNL had decided to abolish its tender-based equipment procurement process and adopt the 'managed capacity model' followed by private telcos. But BSNL's plans to move to a managed capacity model have found no takers in the government, forcing the company to opt for the tender model again.

Over the last two years, BSNL has not sourced 30% of its equipment from ITI, despite the policies mandating it to do so. Under pressure from MTNL and BSNL, department of telecom too did not enforce this clause as ITI had not met the delivery schedules for the previous contracts. But earlier this month, the union Cabinet approved the continuation of the 'offset policy', under which 30% of all telecom contracts (for hardware and equipment) awarded by BSNL and MTNL should be sourced and manufactured by ITI.

Android makes Motorola profitable after 4 years

NEW YORK: US mobile phone maker Motorola reported its first revenue growth in nearly four years and better-than-expected sales of Android smartphones.

Motorola reported a net profit of $109 million in the third quarter compared with $12 million a year ago.

Revenue grew 6 per cent to $5.8 billion as the Illinois-based company notched its first quarter of growth since the fourth quarter of 2006.

Mobile phone division revenue increased 20 per cent to $2 billion and the division had an operating loss of $43 millions compared with an operating loss of $216 million a year ago.

Excluding extraordinary items, Motorola's mobile phone division, which is to be spun off from the rest of the company next year, posted an operating profit of $3 million.

Motorola said it shipped 9.1 million handsets during the July to September period including 3.8 million smartphones powered by Google's Android operating system, more than expected by analysts.

"In the third quarter, Motorola Mobility showed positive momentum across the business, with Mobile Devices reaching profitability for the first time in over three years," Motorola co-chief executive Sanjay Jha said.

" Droid X continues to sell extremely well," Jha said. "And we have had several other successful smartphone launches globally, including the Droid 2, the Ming series in China, as well as a well-received introduction of our enterprise-ready Droid Pro," he said.

Motorola plans to split its businesses in the first quarter of next year, separating products for consumers from its professional equipment division. The mobile and home entertainment devices division will operate as Motorola Mobility.

The other company, Motorola Solutions, will consist of its enterprise mobility solutions, which include two-way radios, mobile computers, secure public safety systems and scanners.

Motorola enjoyed success with its popular Razr phone launched in 2005 but has been losing ground since to Apple, Canada's Research in Motion, maker of the Blackberry, and other major cell phone manufacturers.

Jha has been counting on smartphones running Android to help turn around the company's flagging fortunes and Motorola has launched 22 Android-based devices this year.

Read more: Android makes Motorola profitable after 4 years - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Tech-News-Telecom/Android-makes-Motorola-profitable-after-4-years/articleshow/6833580.cms#ixzz13kLbGxEs

Intel opens biggest chip plant

HANOI: US-based chip maker Intel opened a billion-dollar assembly and test facility in Vietnam, the company's biggest in the world, saying it would help the country's development.

Intel president and chief executive Paul Otellini and Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai officially opened the plant, the size of five-and-a-half football fields, at an industrial park in Ho Chi Minh City.

Hai said the opening "supports our goal of accelerating economic transformation led by technology-intensive industries."

Intel said in a statement, "Production commenced in the middle of this year, starting with production of chipsets for laptops and mobile devices for Intel customers worldwide. Once fully operational, the facility is expected to create several thousand skilled jobs in high-tech manufacturing and generate significant export revenue for the country."

Otellini said at the ceremony that Intel had signed pacts with government agencies to advance e-government, education, personal computer and broadband penetration and digital literacy in Vietnam.

The facility is one of seven operated by Intel worldwide. Intel announced the project four years ago, proclaiming it the largest investment in Vietnam by an American company.

The opening of Vietnam's first semiconductor factory comes despite warnings by analysts that the communist nation risks losing out both to poorer, lower-wage nations and richer ones that are more innovative and have a higher-quality labour force.

The World Bank and Vietnam's Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) said in a joint report in August that the nation depends too much on exploitation of natural resources while its industry, much of it dominated by large state-owned groups, lacks dynamism.

The country is the world's second-largest exporter of rice and coffee, while seafood, footwear and apparel are other key earners. However Vietnam's science and technology standards are low compared with regional rivals, VASS president Do Hoai Nam has said.

He added the country's economic infrastructure is not well-developed, there is a lack of specialisation and competitiveness and a shortage of skilled workers.

But the Intel facility is a sign that Vietnam is "moving up the food chain toward increasingly sophisticated manufacturing," said Adam Sitkoff, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce Vietnam.

The facility would provide "higher-quality jobs" for Vietnamese people and attract other high-tech firms to the country, Sitkoff said. "Usually when Intel goes somewhere, that's a sign to other technology companies that they can go there also," he said.

Leon Perera, group managing director of Spire Research and Consulting in Singapore, said, "Intel's investment in Vietnam is undoubtedly a vote of confidence" in the country.

Vietnam, he added, was benefiting from multinational companies' need to diversify beyond China. Perera said that Vietnam, with its labour-cost advantage over China, closeness to the Chinese market, and participation in regional free trade pacts, "may be well suited for assembly of IT products."

However, one obstacle could be Vietnam's relatively underdeveloped logistics industry, Perera said. "Another obstacle would be the relative scarcity of English speakers as compared to Malaysia, or even Thailand and China."

TCS Q2 beats estimates, net up 32% at Rs 2,169.21 cr

MUMBAI: Country's largest software firm Tata Consultancy Services today reported 32% jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,169.21 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2010, driven by rising order wins from its mainstay financial clients.

As per Indian accounting norms, the company had a net profit of Rs 1,642.21 crore in the July-September 2009 quarter, TCS said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

"It has been a quarter of superior performance across the board, driven by volume growth of over 11 per cent. In uncertain economic conditions, our results are a milestone on the path to strong demand recovery," TCS CEO and MD N Chandrasekaran said.

TCS, part of the Tata Group that spans commodities, autos and services, added 19,293 people during the quarter, the highest ever for the company, taking the total headcount to 1,74,417 at the end of September quarter.

Income from operations rose to Rs 9,286.39 crore in Q2, up from Rs 7,435.23 crore in the year-ago period. It added 30 new clients during the quarter.

Under US accounting standards its net profit rose to Rs 2,106 crore ($475 million) from Rs 1,624 croe reported last year.

TCS said that the macro environment is uncertain and the scenario will continue like this for sometime. The company also said that attrition is of some concern but is manegable.

"It has been a quarter of strong revenue and margin performance all around," TCS CFO S Manhalingam said.

The board has proposed an interim dividend of Rs two per equity share on a face value of Re one each.

Last week, rival Infosys Technologies Ltd beat estimates and raised its annual sales forecast, but warned currency volatility could crimp growth for India's $60 billion outsourcing sector.

A strong rupee is a cause for concern for the sector, which draws more than half its revenue in dollars and has significant rupee expenses, which could squeeze margins.

"With our major operating currencies continuing to be volatile, we remain vigilant on this front," Mahalingam said.

Shares in TCS, valued at about $43.5 billion, have risen over 31 percent percent this year, outpacing a near 17 percent percent gain in the sector index and a 16 percent rise in the broader market.

Bridgestone to set up Rs 2,600 cr new plant in Pune

CHENNAI: Bridgestone India, a leading tyre manufacturer, on Monday said it planned to set up a new production facility at Chakan in Pune at an investment of about Rs 2,600 crore.

The new plant would help the company to produce 10,000 units of passenger vehicle tyres per day and 3,000 units of commercial vehicle tyres per day by 2020, Bridgestone India Managing Director Hiromi Tanigawa said on Monday.

"By 2013 we will launch new production facility at Chakan near Pune at investments of almost USD 26 billion rupees (Rs 2,600 crore)...," he said.

The new plant would come up on 7.60 lakh square meters, nearby treble the size of its Indore plant (2.60 lakh sq m).

The company, which entered India in 1996, commenced production at its Khedhar plant in 1998 for manufacturing of tyres for passenger and sports utility vehicles in India.

The company would also invest around Rs 300 crore at its Khedar plant for increasing its capacity from 14,000 units to 15,000 units, he said.

Asked about plans for overseas operations, he said the company would focus on the domestic market as the demand was increasing.

The tyres manufactured at the proposed plant would have 40 per cent localisation, resulting in savings on import duty incurred on shipments from Japan , he said.

With the setting up new plant the company would also double its headcount in India. "We are having 1,700 employees in India and we will add another 1,800 (for the new facilities)," he said.

He said the company, with 1800 dealers and 200 exclusive 'Bridgestone Select' dealership points, currently enjoyed 26 per cent market share in the replacement market and 20 per cent in the commercial vehicle category.

Mahindra two wheelers sales up 451% in Sept

MUMBAI: Mahindra Two Wheelers reported its best monthly sales of 16,569 scooters in September, a whopping 451% increase year-on-year.

The $76.1-billion Mahindra & Mahindra group-owned company sold 1.5 lakh units in the last 12 months, riding on the back of its ‘powerscooter strategy’ targeting youth with its peppy looks and 125cc power engine. The company now looks to consolidate its position in the two-wheeler segment with its newly- launched motorcycles, said Anoop Mathur, president of the two-wheeler segment and member of group executive board of M&M.

The Mumbai-based auto major recently made its debut in the motorcycle segment with two models, Stallio and Mojo, and roped in film star Aamir Khan as its brand ambassador.

The 300cc Mojo is a lifestyle bike which the company calls the ultimate machine for motorcycle enthusiasts. Having an aspirational high-performance bike with latest global technology is expected to help M&M to make an impact in the highly competitive bike market.

“Mojo is in a sense a showcase of what we are capable of doing,” group vice-chairman and managing director Anand Mahindra told ET NOW in an interview. “It is the fastest Indian bike and it was designed with that goal in mind,” he said.

The 110cc Stallio is more of a volume winner, being competitively priced, fuel efficient and offering some new features. M&M has kick-started an online campaign to create a buzz around its motorcycles. The company has offered to hire 20 bikers to ride its bikes from Ladakh to Nagpur. After the journey, the bikers get to keep the bikes.

M&M entered the two-wheeler space with gearless scooters after acquiring Pune-based Kinetic in July last year. M&M acquired 80% controlling stake for Rs 110 crore.

GM India to come out with electric car next year

JAIPUR: General Motors (GM) India today said that it is strengthening its foothold in the state and will showcase an electric car next year.

It would be an environment-friendly small car, President and Managing Director Karl Slym said, adding that it would be a battery operated car.

He said GM India is rapidly expanding its network in the wake of increasing popularity of Chevrolet in India, which recently completed seven years in the country.

In a joint collaboration with China's SAC (Shanghai Auto Car), GM will bring three "value-package" cars, he said.

It would soon be commissioning the power train facility in Talegaon, making the first flexi-engine plant for GM globally wherein both petrol and diesel engines are going to be manufactured together, he said.

Recently, the company inaugurated a LNG facility at its factory premises at Halol for supplying gas to its car manufacturing plant, and has also ramped up production at its Halol and Talegaon plants, he said.

When asked whether GM is planning any industrial investment in Rajasthan, Slym said its two units are already producing 2,25,000 cars per annum, and this would go up to 4 lakh in next couple of years.

Speaking on the occasion, Vice-President (Sales-marketing-aftersales) Sumit Sawhney said GM has invested over USD 1 billion (Rs 4,500 crore) in India till date, and is deeply committed to this market.

In last six months, GM India grew 79 per cent against the 36 per cent industry growth, Sawhney said, adding that the company's share in the car industry is, however, 4 per cent.

Steel Strips Wheels bags export order worth Rs 15 lakh

NEW DELHI: Auto-component manufacturer Steel Strips Wheels Monday said it has bagged an export order worth Rs15 lakh to supply 400 truck trailer wheel rims to a customer in the Middle East.

"This export order is for the supply of 400 truck wheels rims. The business will generate nearly Rs 15 lakh," the company said in a statement.

The order will be supplied from its new Jamshedpur plant which was inaugurated in July this year.

"SSWL is confident of getting more business in coming months from European and Middle East customers for this particular truck trailer wheel rim and negotiations with them are at an advance stage," the statement said.

Currently, the company has three manufacturing facilities in Dappar (Punjab), Chennai and Jamshedpur with an installed capacity of 11 million wheels per annum and has plans to increase the capacity to 21.5 million wheels by 2012-13.

The company offers a range of wheel rims for passenger cars, multi utility vehicles (MUV), tractors, trucks, off the road (OTR) vehicles as well as two and three wheeleRs

ITC: Leading Multi-business conglomerate turns 100

KOLKATA: Happy 100th birthday, ITC! India’s one of the largest multi-business conglomerates completes a century of existence on Tuesday, August 24, 2010.

To mark the day, company chairman Y C Deveshwar will address its close to 29,000 employees across the country through a webcast from ITC Sonar, Kolkata.

ITC also plans to unveil a special anthem on the occasion, company officials said.

“We are celebrating the inspiring journey of 100 years and renewing our pledge to take the company to even higher orbits of growth in the future, never losing the inspiration to put country before corporation always,” says Nazeeb Arif, vice-president —corporate communications, ITC.

Also, as part of the centenary celebrations, ITC, which has a market capitalisation of nearly Rs 1,14,000 crore, is giving away one free bonus share for each of its shares held.

That’s a long, long way for a company registered as the Imperial Tobacco Company of India on August 24, 1910, with an authorised capital of Rs 1,000 in ten shares of Rs 100 each.

That was not the start of the ITC story in India though. It started four years earlier, when two English gentlemen -- Jellicoe and Page – travelled from London to Calcutta, looking for an agent for Scissors and other W.D & H.O Wills' cigarette brands in India.

They combed the business district of Kolkata, but it was hard to find anybody interested in cigarette at a time when the cult of blends, pipes, pouches with Turkish and Virginia cigarettes was in vogue.

Finally, a small-time agent with little money, Buksh Ellahie, stepped in with borrowed money from a courtesan whom he married later.

And Ellahie, as the first agent of Wills, started the journey of ITC.

A lot has changed since then. The company was run by Britishers till well after the country’s Independence in 1947.

It got its first Indian manager in 1934 in Abdur Sardar Hussain, while its first Indian chairman was Ajit Narain Haskar in 1969.

It was Haskar who took the lead in Indianising the company as well as the management, says Champaka Basu, corporate historian and author of ‘Challenge and Change: The ITC Story 1910-1985’.

“He not only explained the complexities of the Indian social, economic and political environment to the parent company BAT, but also suggested steps ITC should take to ensure its profit and growth,” says Ms Basu.

In fact, ITC started looking beyond tobacco under his leadership, when it entered the hotel business in 1975.

Today, ITC has interests in hotels, apparel, rural retailing, finance, packaged food, personal care, stationery, paperboard, packaging and printing, safety matches and even information technology.

Berger Paints to invest Rs 150 cr in Andhra plant

NEW DELHI: India’s second-largest paint maker Berger Paints India plans to invest Rs 150 crore to set up a new plant in Andhra Pradesh by 2012, top company executive said. “We have identified a 50-acre plot in Hindupur and are waiting for clearances,” said Subir Bose, MD at Berger Paints India.

The proposed unit will have an installed capacity of 1.5 lakh tonne annually and will push up overall capacity around 50%. Berger is also spending Rs 60 crore to expand existing capacity of 2.5 lakh tonne by adding 50,000 tonne for the year ending March 2011.

Berger has seven plants in India besides four facilities overseas, at present.

The company on Thursday introduced Breathe Easy , an eco-friendly decorative paint, and said it is eyeing 20% growth in revenues this year. The domestic paint industry is growing annually at 15-16%.

Jaipan forays into mobile handset business

MUMBAI: Home appliances major Jaipan Industries on Sunday disclosed its plans to foray into the mobile handsets business where it is eyeing up to five per cent market share in a year's time.

"We are coming out with 12 mobile handset models, of which three hi-tech models will be launched by December. We are targeting a sale of 50,000 pieces per month," Jaipan Industries' Director Atin Agarwal told media here.

The handsets would range from Rs 1,099-Rs 4,000 a piece, he said, adding the company was eyeing a four to five per cent marketshare in a year's time. "Once we sustain in the market, the profitability will go up to 14-15 per cent," he said.

The total mobile handset market in India is around 75 lakh handsets per month, of which Nokia leads with more than 30 lakh handsets, followed by Samsung with 15-18 lakh pieces per month, he said. The company aims to be among the top 10 players and is eyeing the 6th-7th spot initially, he said.

Jaipan has spent around Rs seven crore in building-up inventory, he said.

Initially, the company will assemble the handsets in China. "After two-years, we plan to start manufacturing them from our existing home appliance manufacturing facilities," he said.

ADAG plans to invest Rs 70,000 crore in MP over five years

KHAJURAHO: Unveiling mega investment plans for Madhya Pradesh which almost compete with the state's plan outlay, ADAG chairman, Anil Ambani , today said the group would invest Rs 70,000 crore over the next five years in various sectors making it the largest investor in the state.

Speaking at a Global Investors' Summit here, he said that his group would invest in sectors like power, mining, cement, Coal Bed Methane (CBM) and telecommunication.

The state's plan outlay over the next five years would be Rs 1,00,000 crore whereas RADAG's investment in the same period would be over Rs 70,000 crore, he pointed out.

Giving details about the slew of projects the group has chalked up, The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group chairman said it would set up 12,000 MW power plant using ultra super-critical technology.

In case of coal, he said the group would develop the country's largest private sector mine in the state with a production capacity of 25 million tonnes of coal per annum.

As regards cement, he said that the group would set up 10 MTPA of cement capacity in the state which would be enhanced to 20 MTPA.

Anil said that his group was committed to education and plans to build Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology (DAIICT), a world class institute in Bhopal.

UltraTech readies Rs 5,000-cr capacity expansion plan

MUMBAI: Ultratech Cement , India’s largest cement maker, has kick-started the next round of its capacity expansion which is likely to cost `5,000 crore, immediately after execution of its earlier plan of adding nearly 20 million tonne over the past four years.

The Aditya Birla Group company has placed orders for two 3.3-million tonne kilns on KHD Humboldt Wedag of Germany as part of its plan to add 9.4-million tonne capacity by 2012-13, said a company official who did not wish to be named. The Aditya Birla group spokesperson declined to comment as the company was in the silent period ahead of the September quarter earnings announcement.

These orders are for expansion at its Rawan plant in Chhattisgarh and Rajashree unit in Karnataka, Alchemy Share & Stock Brokers said in a note to its clients.

The 52-million tonne company has already stated its plan to add 25 million tonne capacity over the next five years to maintain its market share. The Birla company has a 19% share of the `1,00,000 crore market, world’s second largest market after China.

UltraTech has emerged as the single largest cement company in India with an annual cement capacity of 48.8 million tonne, thanks to the merger of the cement division of Grasim Industries with itself. It also has captive power of 504 MW. It recently bought the 3-million tonne ETA Star in Dubai.

UltraTech’s closest rival Holcim Group’s ACC and Ambuja Cement with 30.6 million tonne and over 25 million tonne capacity, respectively, are yet to finalise and announce any further expansion plan. ACC has expanded its manufacturing capacity by nearly 10 million tonne in over 3 years, while Ambuja will be a 27-million tonne company by December-end against 18 million tonne in 2007.

Polaris to set up school of financial technology in Hyderabad

CHENNAI: City-based banking software company Polaris Software Lab on Friday announced it has acquired a 50-acre facility in Hyderabad to house its School of Financial Technology from Catalytic Software Ltd.

Though listed in the Indian stock exchange, Polaris declined to reveal the deal size.

An company official said that the major shareholder of the seller is an American company and hence the terms of deal is not being shared with the company's Indian shareholders.

According to Polaris, the school aims at generating over 1,000 highly skilled "techno-bankers" a year for the company's growing needs to service its clients.

The school will offer certificate full syllabus courses at both the "primer" and "practitioner" levels, executive fast-track modules in retail banking, core banking, investment banking and corporate banking as well as customised enterprise training workshops.

The courses are offered to Polaris associates and will be extended to the company's key accounts.

Indian ad industry likely to grow 10-15%, says Mudra chief

MUMBAI: With the domestic economy back on the growth track, the Indian advertising industry is poised to grow in double-digits and growth is likely to hover around the 10-15 per cent mark, an industry official said.

"The industry (advertising) is expected to grow in double-digits in the current year. It may clock a 10-15 per cent growth," advertising major, Mudra Group's Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Madhukar Kamath, told reporters here today.

However, the growth will not be comensurate with the industry's potential, which is gennerally four times of the gross domestic product (GDP), Kamath said.

Mudra is eying a good share of this growh, he said adding, "we are targetting a revenue of Rs 2,500-crore in the fiscal with an anticipated growth of 15-20 per cent in the business."

The Group has has four agency networks--Mudra India (Branding & Communication ), DDB Mudra (Influence & Behavioural change), Mudra MAX (Integrated Engagement & Experience) and Ignite Mudra (Partnerships for Entrepreneurs).

Earlier, Kamath inaugurated the Group's integrated bulding, Mudra House in the western suburb of Santa Cruz with a LEED Gold certification.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the US Green Building Council's certification system for the design, construction, and operation of green building.

Spread over an area of one-lakh sq feet, the eight- storey structure with two basement parking space for 120-cars, will house all the Mudra Group employees based in Mumbai, which numbers over 460.

Rajinikanth overseas market doubles from Sivaji’s

When a dubbed version of the Rajinikanth starrer Muthu (1995) became a surprise hit in Japan, it was little more than a quirky footnote in the career of the South Indian star. The performance of his latest film Endhiran is another matter entirely. Fans across the globe have been lining up at theatres, voting with their wallets several times over.

K Karunamoorthy, CEO, Ayngaran International, (a subsidiary of Eros International that specialises in taking Tamil and Telugu films overseas) believes, “The combination of Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai raised the expectation beyond imagination. The curiosity factor saw a lot of people come to the theatres.” This includes a surprisingly huge non-Tamil audience which opted to go for the Tamil Endhiran, because they were drawn in by the English subtitling. It has justified Endhiran’s ambitious global distribution strategy.

Singapore, a market with a sizable Tamil speaking population, saw the film hit 22 screens with 16 prints; a record for an Indian production. “Not even My Name Is Khan had such a wide release,” says Krishnamoorthy.

The film has already collected S$2.5 million. Figures from Eros International put the overseas collections at Rs 61 crore so far.

According to S Ramanathan, head of the Tamil Nadu Theatre Owner’s Association and a distributor on Sivaji, “Endhiran is doing as expected. It opened in as many theatres as possible to avoid piracy — when you can easily get a ticket, why go in for a pirated CD? That idea worked very well.” While Sivaji started off on 18 screens across Chennai, Endhiran began on 32. The almost 24-hour screening schedules lasted only through the first week.

However, the 8:30 early morning show continued to be a draw at both Ramanathan’s Abirami theatre complex and at the Sathyam multiplex chain in Chennai. The market was rife with rumours about theatres cranking up their prices to cash in on the craze for the film, but Ramanathan disagrees: “I don’t think any theatre raised ticket rates. Many charitable organisation bought tickets and gave it as a return for donations. It went to a good end somewhere.”

Previously, a film hitting a silver jubilee or managing to be on screens for over 100 days was a definitive measure of its success. But according to Ramanathan, “That’s no longer a view the filmmaker has. It’s more about the money that can be raised out of the film and not how long it runs. Has it made or crossed a box office collections record? That’s what’s important.”

However, he adds, “It will complete 100 days but in one or two theatres.” What’s worked for Endhiran is the fact that it is an unusual film in the Rajinikanth canon. ‘Rajini’ Dilli, the head of a rasigar mandram (or fan club) in Chennai has already seen the film 10 times.

He observes, “It’s not just the hardcore fans driving the success of this film. It’s a huge hit with the family audiences as well.” The record to beat though is Rajinikanth’s previous blockbuster, Sivaji which earned an estimated Rs 128 crore worldwide.

According to Karunamoorthy’s estimates Endhiran has made 2.5 times as much as Sivaji and is the highest grosser in Ayngaran’s 13-year history, through the course of which it has distributed approximately 600 Tamil and Telugu films in the overseas market.

Kavveri Telecom in pact with Canada's Valcom Manufacturing

MUMBAI: Kavveri Telecom Products Ltd said on Friday it has tied up with Valcom Manufacturing group of Canada to provide high-technology products to the defence industry .

Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed in the statement to stock exchanges. Kavveri Telecom produces radio frequency products and antennas, while Valcom Manufacturing makes defence products for the wireless industry.

Hutch deal: I-T Dept asks Vodafone to pay Rs 11,218 cr as tax

NEW DELHI: Indian tax authorities on Friday asked Vodafone to pay Rs 11,218 crore ($2.53 billion) tax on its 2007 purchase of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd's mobile business in the country.

"The tax demand is to be paid within 30 days of the receipt of the notice of demand," the tax office said in a statement.

Supreme Court had asked the tax department to determine by Oct. 25 the potential tax liability over the deal. The Supreme Court will set a date on October 25 for hearing Vodafone's appeal challenging a lower court ruling that Indian tax authorities had jurisdiction over tax bills in cross-border deals.

An earlier High Court judgement had identified two parts of the transaction, the transfer of shares between Vodafone and Hutch and an additional transfer of the 15% interest held by Analjit Singh and Ashim Ghosh.

Vodafone argues that only the 15% is subject to tax, according to its reading the judgement. The IT department disagrees with this analysis of HC ruling.

But, if the company is viewed as an acting agent to pay tax on behalf of Hutch, its liability and the method for calculating outstanding tax will be different.

For now, the Bombay High Court has given a stay order for any action against Vodafone. The case will be heard on October 27 after the Supreme Court hearing on October 25.

Vodafone, whose joint venture with India's Essar group is one of India's largest mobile operators, maintains that it does not owe tax on the $11 billion transaction because it took place between two foreign entities.

"Vodafone strongly disagrees with the tax calculation," the company said in a statement Friday. "The tax authority is attempting to interpret Indian law as it has never been interpreted for the past 50 years, and this interpretation also goes against internationally recognized tax norms."

Telcos to feel profit squeeze this quarter

NEW DELHI: Telecom operators Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and Idea Cellular are expected to report a fall in profits and a squeeze on margins in the July-September quarter, say analysts.

The quarter is seasonally weak with no major festivals or harvest season. Companies are also expected to face stiff interest charges on borrowings. So far, telecom companies have been capitalising — or accumulating on the balance sheet without providing funds in the cash flow — the cost of debt they raised to buy third-generation radio waves from the government.

With 3G launches impending, some may start debiting factoring the cost of this debt on profit-and-loss accounts from this debt in the September quarter. The monthly average revenue per user — a key indicator of profitability — is also expected to drop between 3% and 5% for the operators, despite a stable pricing environment, analysts said.

The softening of competition will continue to moderate declines in average revenue per minute (ARPM) for the incumbents, Religare said in a note on October 4. “However, Q2 is seasonally soft for traffic growth resulting in modest 2QFY11,” the note prepared by analysts Rumit Dugar, Manoj Singh and Udit Garg said.

An analyst, who asked not to be named, said, “The main aspect to watch out for in the quarter is usage on the network. That’s the only indicator of future consumption remaining after most companies pulled out free usage plans last quarter.”

In August, Reliance Communications had said its minutes of usage fell because some schemes in which it offered free minutes of calling had ended. Usage rose for the other two major listed players.

Bharti Airtel: Analysts expect the company to post a 50% rise in revenues compared with the same quarter a year ago, boosted by revenue from its acquisition in Africa. Bharti’s last year figures did not include numbers from its Africa operations. However, comparable revenue is expected to be almost flat, as per an average of five brokerages.

Since Zain, the company Bharti acquired in Africa, is still making loss, profit for the July-September quarter is expected to drop almost 20% from a year ago. Compared with the earlier quarter, however, profit is expected to rise 21%, as per average estimates.

The telco had recorded a profit of Rs 1,662 crore for the first quarter ended June on sales of Rs 12,231 crore. The African company functioned for only 23 days in June under Bharti’s ownership.

“Growth figures are not on a like-to-like basis, as 2QFY11 numbers would show full consolidation of Zain financials. On the domestic business front, revenue, EBITDA margin and PAT changes y-o-y would be 7.5%, -442 bps and -8.3%, respectively,” research and securities firm IIFL said in a note.

Credit Suisse said it expects the telco’s average revenue per user to fall 4.5% to Rs 306 in the September period, while brokerage Alchemy said its revenue per minute, another key indicator of profitability, is likely to decline 4% sequentially to Rs 0.43.

Bharti’s greatest challenge would be to turn around its loss-making African unit and also expand its footprint across the 15 geographies in that continent where the average telecom penetration is only 32% against 56% for India , analysts said.

Reliance Communications: The country’s second-largest wireless operator will see a profit drop of over 50%, as per consensus estimates from analysts and brokerage firms. For the period ended June, RCOM had a profit of Rs 250 crore against sales of Rs 5,109 crore. On a sequential basis, its profit is expected to witness a 75% increase from its June quarter earnings when it reported its worst-ever profit fall.

Brokerages Karvy and Nomura said that the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group-owned telco lags its peers in operating performance. The company already has amongst the lowest ARPU in the industry, yet it is likely to slip further 5% to Rs 128 as well as a 3% decline on the average number of minutes used per subscriber, brokerage ICICI direct said in a note.

Reliance Communications is also expected to gain from the rise in the rupee against the dollar. The company has foreign debt that is restated at current dollar price and adjusted in profits every quarter. This is a notional profit, not one the company actually gains till the loans are repaid.

In the earlier quarter, depreciation in the rupee hurt company profits.

Idea Cellular: Analysts say that Idea’s net profit is expected to decline by a little over 12% (y-o-y) as its bottomline will be impacted by higher interest costs and depreciation, while its revenues are slated to jump 26%. The reduced severity of tariff wars will enable revenue resilience, research analyst Harit Shah of Karvy said in a note. The contribution of Indus Towers will grow at a strong pace. Margins will remain flat, but higher interest and depreciation will reduce bottomline, the note said.

“Idea’s revenues (is) likely to be up 2% q-o-q. Idea has outperformed Bharti in terms of traffic growth in the last four quarters, while RCOM has consistently lagged behind and we expect this trend to continue. We build in traffic growth of 6.5% q-o-q for Idea and 3% q-o-q for RCOM. Revenue per minute in the quarter could be down 3% q-o-q for RCOM and 2.3% QoQ for Idea as a result of erosions in tariffs,” the IIFL note said

Solar energy to become must for telecom towers

NEW DELHI: The government will make it mandatory for mobile phone towers to be powered by solar energy, hoping to cut pollution and tamp down a key driver of diesel consumption in the country. But this would raise construction costs by up to 50% for cellphone operators such as Bharti, Vodafone and Reliance Communications .

“We are working on a new scheme that will support adoption of greener practices by telecos while rolling out their services for customers,” secretary with the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE), Deepak Gupta, told ET.
Over 200 crore litres of diesel are used every year by up to 3,50,000 cell towers across the country, and their numbers are increasing by the day.

The solar power initiative for cell towers will help cut the use of noisy, smoke-spewing diesel gensets in tower operations and prevent flow of government subsidy on diesel for unintended activities.
“A test project on adoption of solar power panels is being carried out in 600 towers. This will be completed by second half of the next year. Based on the inputs we get from it, the initiative will be rolled out nationally and a new funding scheme may be worked out,” he said.

The new scheme is being spearheaded under the recently launched Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) that aims to increase solar power capacity in the country by 20,000 mw by 2022.

The MNRE has already started discussing the proposal with various stakeholders and may seek Cabinet approval for the scheme. The ministry wants to initially ask only the new cell towers to use solar power, but all existing towers would also be covered under the scheme in phases.

The country currently has about 3,50,000 cell towers. Each tower costs about Rs 40 lakh, and the additional cost of installing a 10-kw solar power panel would be Rs 16 lakh, officials say. “The government’s proposed move may almost double the cost of laying towers. This could significantly impact the margins for companies already under pressure due to rising spectrum costs,” said an official of a major private sector telecom company, who did not want to be identified.

While the proposed government scheme will limit direct capital support to telecom companies to a basic minimum for laying solar power panels, it may offer soft loans to companies under refinancing schemes of Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA). “Diesel-based electricity is both expensive — costs as high as Rs 15 per unit — and polluting. It is in this situation the solar imperative is both urgent and feasible,” said another government official involved in JNNSM. “Companies could recover their full investment in a span of 10 years,” he added.

Cochin Shipyard bags Rs.1,500 cr Coast Guard order

KOCHI: Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) has received an order of Rs.1,500 crore to build 20 fast patrol vessels (FPV) for the Coast Guard, the company said here on Thursday.

According to the shipyard, this is the single biggest contract executed by Coast Guard and would go a long way to beef up the coastal security of the country.

"This order has been secured under very severe competition from defence and private yards and has taken the present order book position of the company to 36 ships valued at Rs.6,000 crore," said the release.

The order book consists of 15 offshore support ships for various international owners and the Coast Guard order for 20 FPVs.

Besides, the yard is executing the indigenous aircraft carrier project for the Indian Navy .

Cochin Shipyard is one of the leading ship building and repair firms in the country. The FPVs have a speed of 35 knots and length of 50 metres. These are used for patrolling coastal areas.

Under the contract, the first ship is to be delivered within 20 months and one every three months thereafter.

R-Infra raises Rs 7k cr for Mumbai Metro project

MUMBAI: Reliance Infrastructure said on Thursday that it has tied up debt totalling Rs7,000 crore for developing the second Metro rail project in Mumbai, connecting the suburbs of Charkop, Bandra and Mankhurd. The total project cost is Rs11,500 crore.

Mumbai Metro Transport Private , the special purpose vehicle implementing the Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd corridor, tied up the debt with seven financiers led by Axis Bank , the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group company said in a statement.

The SPV is owned by the Reliance Infrastructure-led consortium, which includes Reliance Communications and SNC Lavalin of Canada.

“We have tied up the entire Rs7,000 crore of debt funding and are ready to achieve financial closure for the project within the stipulated nine months period in the concession agreement. The average rate of interest on the debt is 10.5-11.0%,” Lalit Jalan, chief executive officer of Reliance Infra told ET.

The project, which is being set up under the public-private partnership model, would receive a viability gap funding of Rs2,298 crore from the Maharashtra government, while the balance amount would be infused by Reliance Infrastructure through equity contribution.

Reliance Infrastructure is executing the project on a build-operate-transfer basis, for a concession period of 35 years with an extension clause of another 10 years.

The project entails setting up a 32 km metro rail line connecting Charkop in northern Mumbai to Bandra in the west and then to Mankhurd in the eastern part of Mumbai. The route will have 27 stations. “We hope to start construction on the second metro line by December. As per our agreement, the project would be completed in five years from the beginning of construction,” Mr Jalan said.

Reliance Infrastructure is also executing the first Metro rail project in Mumbai on the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar route. That project would be completed ahead of schedule in 2011, the company said. After the transfer of its power generation units, except the 500 MW plant at Dahanu in Maharahstra, and upcoming power projects to group company Reliance Power , infrastructure projects have become the key growth area for Reliance Infrastructure. On Thursday, Reliance Infrastructure’s scrip ended at Rs1,074.70 on BSE, down 2.02%.

Chennai 2020 ( A Global City )

Chennai is well on the way to become a leading global city and to meet the demands of the fastest growing city by 2020

Chennai is well on the way to become a leading global city and to meet the demands of the fastest growing city by 2020, the State government will take steps to provide international infrastructural facilities in the coming years, said Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin here on Tuesday.

Delivering his special address at a seminar on ‘Chennai 2020,' organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, he said the State government had embarked upon several initiatives such as construction of circular high-speed corridors, a greenfield airport, implementation of Metro Rail project and construction of 11 more flyovers and overbridges; Financial City, Sports City, Media City and strengthening the water supply infrastructure among other things.

Mr. Stalin released a CD on ‘Chennai 2020' and said the Airports Authority of India was in the process of executing a project that included construction of a domestic terminal, cargo complex and multi-level car parking facilities; extension of international terminal and secondary runway through a bridge over the Adyar river.

“The State government is giving importance to environmental management. The Marina beach and many city parks have been upgraded. The Adyar estuary is being improved as Adyar eco-park. The Pallikaranai marsh has been declared a protected area and we have plans to restore the marsh area,” he said.

Mayor M. Subramanian gave an overall view and said Metro Rail covering 45 km would start functioning from 2015.

He urged the CII and Industry bodies to cooperate with the State government for early implementation of ongoing projects.

He said a portion of the Adyar estuary would be thrown open to public by January 2011 and the entire project completed in five to six years.

L. Mansingh, chairperson, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board, said Tamil Nadu would start getting natural gas produced from the Krishna-Godavari basin from 2012. The bidding process for Chennai City Gas distribution would begin in the next six to eight months.

Iceland offers tech tie-up to Gujarat cos

Ahmedabad: Iceland has offered technological tie-up to Gujarat-based companies engaged in geothermal energy sector.

Mr Gudmundur Eiriksson, Ambassador of Iceland to India, made this offer at a meeting of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) Regional Office in Ahmedabad, according to a release here today.

He said that the cost of geothermal energy generation is one-third compared with the cost of solar energy production. Iceland is already exporting geothermal technology to Abu Dhabi, Kenya and Sudan under the Development Assistance Project. He offered similar facilities for technological tie-up to Gujarat also.

oil exploration

Mr Eriksson also called upon oil exploration companies to consider the possibility of oil exploration in Iceland and said his country is prepared to offer blocks for the purpose.

He said the universities in Iceland offered special courses in geothermal, clean and green and renewable energy. Iceland and India could share similar technological tie–ups as both were in sensitive seismological zones, for which Iceland had excellent technology.

In view of typical climatic conditions of Iceland causing skin diseases, India's healthcare and pharmaceutical companies could export services and medicines there. Also, Gujarat-based seafood industry could benefit from Iceland's high technology in fisheries as well.

DuPont Sustainable Solutions to strengthen presence in India

Delaware: DuPont Sustainable Solutions (DSS) is on a growth curve in India. It is doubling its Group strength in the country in the next couple of years and setting up a Knowledge Management Centre (DKMC).

Its major presence now is in Chennai with the Coastal Training Technologies Centre, a e-Learning back office content developer, which has about 150 professionals. The DSS consists of DuPont clean technologies and Coastal Training Technologies at present.

The DSS, with focus on safety and renewable resources, is the most recent diversification by the $26-billion, science-driven company. The establishing of the DKMC in Hyderabad, to supplement the existing Services Centre at the DLF developed SEZ in the city, will be a significant step.

“Our plan is to shore up our consulting and training business in India and we feel we have many ways of connecting with customers. Clean technologies, environment, safety resources, training solutions are some which are promising in future,” said Mr James R. Weigand, President of DSS.

Ties with Indian majors

DuPont works closely with the Tatas, Reliance Group, the Aditya Birla Group on safety aspects as well as sustainable technologies. As for Tatas, starting from Tata Steel, Tata Chemicals, the engagement is growing now with Tata Power in their UMPP (Ultra Mega Power Project) in the area of safety, he told a group of visiting Indian Journalists at the company headquarters in Wilmington recently.

The company has also provided safety solutions to Hindustan Unilever. With the Reliance Group a close association in process management safety is on. Here also it started with safety issues.

“Our focus now in India is to offer safety and sustainable solutions to SMEs as well as large companies in the fields of oil and gas, transportation, chemicals, refining as well as in service industry, healthcare,” Mr Weigand explained.

Though companies are still not ready to spend big money on safety following the recession, things will improve with the economic turnaround. At present companies are focusing on investing in training, where we are quite strong and offer solutions, he explained.

“We do not compete with the likes of Deloitte or Mckenzie, but draw expertise from the inherent strengths of DuPont in many areas built over the years to provide management and consultancy services,” he said.

While refraining to project a definite number to the potential business turnover the DSS could bring into DuPont, Mr Weigand said, “Personally, I believe that it should contribute about 10 per cent ($26 billion present turnover) of the company's turnover in 10 years.”

Petroleum Ministry chalks out road map for shale gas exploration

New Delhi: Shale gas is the next buzz word in the Indian hydrocarbon scene. To facilitate fast track exploration of Shale gas, the Ministry for Petroleum and Natural Gas expects that the process of carving out suitable blocks will be completed by April 2011. This would allow floating of the first round of auctions of shale gas blocks in August next year.

“The Government has worked out a road map based on which, by May 2011, we hope to have a policy framework in place exclusively for shale gas, so that the blocks can be put on offer by August,” the Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr Jitin Prasada, told Business Line.

“The framework will be formulated after studying the international fiscal and contractual regimes for shale gas development,” he said adding that “Resource assessment and identification of Shale gas prospective areas is expected to be completed by March 2011.”

The Directorate-General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) is working on the policy framework, which would also need to define the role of the State Governments in the development of shale gas.

The floating of blocks will also mean that domestic companies such as Reliance Industries Ltd that have been acquiring shale gas assets overseas can look for opportunities in the country.

Shale gas is an unconventional source of energy which is found in non-porous rock. It has become an important source of natural gas in the US and interest in it has spread in Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia. In India, shale gas deposits are found in the basins of Gondwana (Central India), Assam-Arakan (North-East), Cambay (Gujarat), Rajasthan, Krishna Godavari (East Coast) and Cauvery.

Hydrocarbon exploration and production companies such as ONGC (in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Cambay Basin), Cairn India (Rajasthan), and Joshi Technologies International (JTI), a multi-national hydrocarbon producer (in Cambay Basin), are working on shale gas prospects in the country.

Currently, gas consumption in the country is 168 mscmd, of this about 130 mscmd is produced domestically. By 2015, the demand for gas in the country is estimated to be approximately 300 mscmd.

Technology support

To get better technology support, which would help in bringing down the cost of production of Shale gas, an accord is also expected to be signed on shale gas technology during the US President Barack Obama's visit next month. The US has successfully exploited its shale gas reserves, which currently account for 20 per cent of its gas production.

With different types of gas sources – natural gas, R-LNG, coal bed methane, and shale gas – the pricing of the fuel will also play an important role. Cost to develop shale gas has come down over the years. Four years ago, according to studies, a shale gas project was viable at a gas price of $ 6/mbtu and now it is viable at $3/mBtu.

Centre targets 100,000 MW in 12th Plan

Mumbai: The Centre has targeted capacity addition of 100,000 MW each in the 12 th Plan (2012-17) and 13 th Plan (2017-22), said the Union Power Minister, Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde.

Addressing the India Nuclear Energy Summit 2010 here on Friday, he said about 65,000 MW was slated to go online in the 12 th Plan. Of this, nearly 50 per cent of thermal plants would be subcritical while the balance would have supercritical technology.

In the 13 th Plan, the Centre would ensure that only supercritical technology came up as it was about two per cent more efficient than subcritical and consumed less coal, besides having a lower carbon footprint.

Hydel power

Over 1.48 lakh MW of hydel power capacity had been identified and despite doubts of environmental clearances, he was confident the projects would be set up. The Ministry was concentrating on modernisation, renovation and life extension of old power stations.

Like all emerging economies, India offered exciting growth opportunities, especially in the energy sector.

“Many of these opportunities will come from the energy sector where we have several schemes in operation. The New Electricity Policy is committed to providing electricity to all households by 2012 and plans to rapidly increase power generation. Nuclear energy plays a vital role in this as it is clean, fast and sustainable,” he said.

Later, while speaking to reporters, Mr Shinde conceded that environment issues remained and these were being coordinated with the Environment Ministry.

Dr Srikumar Banerjee, Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission, and Dr R.K. Sinha, Director, BARC, spoke on the roadmap ahead and the addition of 40,000 MW by way of light water reactors.

While the progress of indigenous technology would continue to supplement capacity augmentation, the more important task was to evolve a closed fuel cycle so that resources were conserved for the longer term.

CDEL to take Educomp products to China

New Delhi: Educomp Solutions on Tuesday announced an agreement with China Distance Education Holdings Ltd (CDEL), a provider of online education in China, granting the latter exclusive rights to licence and distribute Educomp's products in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan). “As part of the agreement, CDEL will provide students and schools in China with access to Smart Class, Edulearn and Wizlearn via its online platform,” Educomp said in a notice to BSE.

Ashok Minda Group completes Aksys buy

New Delhi: Auto component maker Ashok Minda Group said on Tuesday that it has completed the acquisition of specialist composite moulding manufacturer Aksys Koengen of Germany.

After the acquisition, Aksys will now been renamed Minda Schenk Plastic Solutions GmbH, Plant Koengen. The plant is a major supplier of components to Daimler, VW Group, Renault, PSA and GM.

This is the fourth major acquisition by the Group in Germany and the sixth acquisition in Europe. Over the last few years, it had acquired German auto component company KTSN, followed by Schenk & ALU Automotive in Germany, a subsidiary of Schenk in the Czech Republic and Tectro in Poland. Mr Ashok Minda, Chairman of the Ashok Minda Group said, “Aksys's technical leadership and Minda's management competence and presence in both Europe and India will offer tremendous advantage to our existing and new global customers. We are looking for various strategic opportunities in other parts of the world.”

The company further added that it is targeting a turnover of Rs 6,000 crore by the end 2013-14. In 2010-11, it expects revenues of Rs 2,500 crore. “The ratio of international business is also expected to grow phenomenally in the coming years. The international business from its present level of 40 per cent is expected to grow to about 50 per cent by 2013-14,” it said.

Uzbekistan plant

“Minda Group has also recently set up an auto component plant in Uzbekistan. This unit will primarily cater to the customers in the CIS region & Russia. Our presence in Germany through KTSN and Schenk, now including Aksys, plant Koengen, will provide us access to the European market.

“We will leverage on these acquisitions and new projects to become a major supplier of interiors of the cars, which is going to be one of the focus area for Ashok Minda Group,” said Mr Ashok Minda.

Aksys Koengen has special technologies for composites. The company has many patented technologies, which enables the production at a lower cost. It has an employee strength of about 200 and turnover of €40 million (Rs 240 crore).

The Ashok Minda Group is engaged in the manufacturing of safety, security and restraint systems, driver information and telematics system and interiors. It caters to two- and four-wheeler vehicle manufacturers in India and overseas, including Europe, North America, the CIS and ASEAN countries. The Group has 25 plants in India, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Vietnam and Uzbekistan.

Apollo signs MoU with BMJ group

Chennai: Apollo Hospitals Group on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the BMJ group, a medical publishing company and media arm of British Medical Association.

Under the agreement, Apollo will have access to all the BMJ knowledge base, including journals and website, and provide it to Indian doctors through mobile and electronic devices, including computerised web access and patient leaflets.

Micheal Chamberlain, chairman, BMJ group, said, “The MoU will help doctors in updating with the latest innovations and public health information.”

“The content will be Indianised through our expert panel,” Sangeetha Reddy, executive director of the group, said.

India to overtake Japan as largest small car hub

Mumbai: India aims to become the small car hub of the world by dethroning Japan, the biggest maker of compact cars, a majority of which is consumed domestically.

Last year, it had pipped Brazil to become the second-largest producer of such cars.

While Japan produced 3.4 million small cars between January and December in 2009, India manufactured 1.48 million units in the same period.

According to a top official from Tata Motors, the country’s biggest vehicle maker, India would certainly become the biggest manufacturer of compact, fuel-efficient cars, as there is a growing demand for such versatile cars worldwide.

Top manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor India and Tata Motors collectively sold 720,000 units of compact cars during the first six months of the year, reporting 32 per cent growth compared to the same period in the previous year.

The industry also collectively exported 191,000 compact vehicles during the first half of the current financial year. This was lower than the previous year by 2.6 per cent when the industry reported exports of 197,000 vehicles, primarily because of lower penetration levels, coupled with a stagnant demand in the European market.

“India will become the production centre of the world for compact cars, whose share could be as high as 80 per cent. The country will become the biggest manufacturer of small cars,” Tata Motors Managing Director and Chief Executive Carl-Peter Forster said.

Forster, who was brought on board by Chairman Ratan Tata earlier this year to steer the company’s global ambitions and to propel the businesses of Jaguar and Land Rover, was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of Aria, a crossover vehicle. Tata Motors plans to launch another small car in the coming months, which could be slotted between the Nano and Indica Vista.

“There are multiple segments within the small car segment, which could be explored and one of the segments is below the Indica Vista but above the Nano,” Forster added.

The company has been working on such a car for the past 3-4 years. Maruti Suzuki is presently the biggest manufacturer of compact cars in India, with a share of 53 per cent. Korean car maker Hyundai was till recently exporting half of its produce in India to overseas markets such as Europe.

Durables majors confident of 30% growth in 2010

Chennai: The consumer electronics and durables industry is expected to post at least 20-25 per cent growth this calendar year. Industry majors, LG and Samsung, are confident of outperforming the industry with at least 30 per cent growth in 2010 over 2009.

According to Mr Pradeep Kumar, spokesperson of the Consumer electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA), aided by increasing household income and expanding distribution networks, newer technology and price erosion in certain categories, the durables industry has seen better growth in 2010.

For example, in Q2 (April-June) 2010, 1.32 million air-conditioners were sold against 1.2 million in the comparable previous year period. Refrigerators registered a 30 per cent growth with total sales of 1.7 million units in Q2, 2010 (1.3 million).

In the audio-video segment too, the same kind of growth has been witnessed. LCD TVs, backed by sporting events and festive season demand, gained major sales during the period.

The major players such as Samsung and LG are focusing on structural revamping, launching new technologically superior products and increasing after-sales service network. They are replacing and upgrading their products – particularly air-conditioners, washing machines and refrigerators to drive the market demand in metros and tier II cities, say industry watchers and major retailers.

Says Mr Ajai Bajaj, Business Head (Air-conditioners), LG India, so far this year, LG has introduced 36 new models across split and window air-conditioners in the market.

“We have seen a growth of a little over 30 per cent in the first nine months of this year over that of last year,” he said. LG, which posted a turnover of Rs 13,000 crore in 2009, expects to register 30 per cent growth “comfortably” this year. LG commands 28 per cent share of the country's air-conditioner market.

According to Mr Rajiv Jain, Business Head (Washing machine and Refrigerator) LG India, the company has completely revamped its entire range of top-end front-loading washing machines with 13 new models during the year.

“Besides, we introduced a range of direct drive models too.”

In the refrigerator segment, LG launched over seven side-by-side models (which are part of the top-end collection).

“We expect these product categories to post at least 35 per cent growth in 2010. In fact, our fully automatic washing machine category has so far registered a growth of 50 per cent,” says Mr Jain.

Samsung too introduced a lot of new models in these categories. It has launched nine new models in its top loading washing machines category with 6.2kg-7.5kg capacity.

“The new product range is differentiated on account of its superior performance and water saving features,” said Mr Ravinder Zutshi, Deputy Managing Director, Samsung India.

The company has also signed up Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra as its new Brand Ambassador for its Home Appliance products. The company's turnover crossed $2 billion in 2009.

“We hope to post over 35 per cent growth during 2010,” says Mr Zutshi.

Steel sales zoom in second quarter

New Delhi: Steel majors Tata Steel and Steel Authority of India Ltd on Thursday reported a high growth in steel sales for the second quarter ended September 2010.

The July-September 2010 quarter sales reported by SAIL are the highest ever recorded in Q2. The company registered sales of 3.17 million tonnes in the period under review and in comparison to sales in the previous quarter, SAIL achieved a growth of 30.8 per cent. The company's previous best Q2 sales of 3.08 mt were achieved in 2009-10.

SAIL attributed the sales growth to the higher intake by the construction and manufacturing sectors. This was reflected in higher sales of products such as wire, rounds and bars, structurals, cold roll sheets/coils and galvanised items.

Record Production

Meanwhile, Tata Steel's crude steel and hot metal production figures for the second quarter are the highest ever registered by the company for a single quarter.

The company's hot metal production for the July-September quarter stood at 1.89 mt which is around six per cent higher than the corresponding quarter last year.

The pervious best was in Q3 of the 2009-10 fiscal. Crude steel production stood at 1.72 mt which is around five per cent higher than the corresponding quarter last year.

Tata Steel's total sales for the quarter stood at 1.66 mt which is around 14 per cent higher than the corresponding quarter last year. This includes the highest ever long products sales for a quarter which stood at 0.77 mt.

JSW are yet to compute the production and sales figure for the month of September.

However, the company produced 0.52 mt of crude steel in July 2010, nearly four per cent higher than the corresponding month last year while in August 2010 produced 0.53 mt of crude steel which is around three per cent higher than the corresponding month last year.

GSM operators add 12.4 mn users in Sept

New Delhi: GSM-based mobile operators added 12.4 million subscribers in September to take their total tally to 494 million.

BSNL was the top operator in terms of subscriber addition with 2.3 million users. This is the first time in the last five years that BSNL has emerged the top operator. BSNL now has 72.7 million subscribers and is ranked fourth among GSM operators.

Among the private players, newcomer Uninor ramped up its user base by 2.17 million beating incumbent operators such as Airtel and Vodafone. This is the second consecutive month where Uninor crossed the two-million new subscriber mark. Market leader Bharti Airtel got just over two million new subscribers to take its total user base to 143 million. Vodafone added 1.7 million users in September against 2.3 million in August.

Industry watchers, however, said that the numbers being reported by some of the operators should be discounted by 30-40 per cent since there is no standard reporting norm.

Eros International Media in Rs 640 mn pact with Zee Entertainment

MUMBAI: Eros International Media, a unit of Eros International, said on Friday it has signed a licensing deal worth Rs 640 million with Zee Entertainment Enterprises for exclusive broadcast of some of Eros' films on the latter's television network.

The deal takes Eros International Media's pre-sales revenue visibility for music and television rights in FY11 and FY12 to Rs 2.4 billion, Eros said in a statement.

At 9:11 a.m., the stock was trading at Rs 177.6, up 0.45 in a weak Mumbai market.

Sumitomo to buy Suzlon Energy's Belgian unit

MUMBAI: Belgium-based Hansen Transmissions, in which Indian wind turbine major Suzlon Energy holds a 26% stake, will sell its industrial gearbox-making unit to Japan’s Sumitomo Heavy Industries in an all-cash transaction.

“The proposed transaction values Hansen Industrial Transmissions NV at e75 million (Rs 463 crore) on a cash and debt-free basis, before costs that will be incurred and borne by Hansen Transmissions in connection with the restructuring of HIT prior to completion of the proposed transaction,” Hansen said in a statement.

Proceeds from the deal would be used by Hansen to repay debt. Hansen said the sale of the industrial gearbox unit, called Industrial Transmissions NV, which accounts for almost 16% of the company’s revenues, is aimed at streamlining operations in order to focus more on its core business of manufacturing wind gearbox.

Hansen also plans to reduce its wind turbine gearbox manufacturing capacity by 1,100 mw, from 8,700 mw as on September 30, 2010, by discontinuing operations at its Edegem plant.

“This reduction in capacity will help reduce the level of overcapacity in Hansen Transmissions’ remaining facilities and is reflective of the continued volatility and uncertainty in the global wind energy market,” it said in the statement.

Hansen’s performance has been plagued by poor sales amid low demand from the wind energy market, even as debt on its book remained high.

High debt, poor sales spur move

Hansen’s revenues in the year ended March declined 12.6% to e532.4 million (Rs 3290 crore). The company’s net financial debt stood at e128.8 million (Rs 796 crore) as on March 31, 4% higher than a year ago.

Suzlon Energy’s subsidiary, AE-Rotor Holding, sold a 35.22% stake in the Belgium-based gearbox maker through secondary market deals for $370 million (Rs 1,632 crore) in November. Suzlon has stated that it plans to sell the balance stake to exit its holding in Hansen completely.

“Suzlon is clearly keen to exit Hansen, but they are waiting for the right valuations. The exit from the industrial gearbox business by Hansen may help command better valuation for the company,” said Krishnakant Thakur, a Mumbai-based analyst with Quant Broking.

Suzlon Energy had acquired Hansen Transmissions in 2006, with the aim of backward integration at a time when component supply fell short of demand. High debt and poor sales have forced Suzlon Energy to put its holding in Hansen on the block.

Havells bets on Sylvania to light up brand image

LONDON: Electrical equipment major Havells India plans to bring brands from its international subsidiary Havells Sylvania to India early next year, with five swish new showrooms in major cities and a big advertising blitz, at a market entry cost of e20 million.

“Sylvania will become the face of the Havells group for lighting products in India. The brand existed through a licensing agreement many years ago, and there’s still consumer recall,” says Anil Gupta , joint managing director of Havells, sitting with group patriarch Qimat Rai Gupta in the company’s brand new EMEA headquarters in the City of London.

In India, Sylvania will focus on retail oriented brand play, and promote its other brands, Concord and Lumiance, with the architectural segment. In Europe, Sylvania’s portfolio of brands, especially Concord, has provided high-end lighting solutions to places like the Louvre in Paris, Tate Modern and Barbican Centre in London. Havells own lighting products will continue to be sold under its current brand.

The India launch is part of a new-found focus on emerging markets at the $1-billion-plus Havells group. It has set up operations in Malaysia, and will soon hit Indonesia, Chile and Peru. Currently, East Euro PE contributes 10% to Sylvania’s sales, and the plan is to grow this to 25% in three years. Next year, the focus is on Africa, mainly Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania. The company has also opened an office in China, but Mr Gupta says that for organic growth in China, he will need a local acquisition opportunity.

Behind all this flurry of expansion is a bitter lesson that many Indian corporates have had to learn — going global isn’t just about making a fancy acquisition and leaving it alone. The Guptas wanted to go global in 2006 and bought Sylvania from a consortium of PE companies.

Operating in Europe and Latin America, Sylvania went into a tailspin post-recession in 2008, mainly in Europe. “When we bought the company, we insisted on retaining the top management based in New York, as bankers and investors were not very confident we could manage it. There was no integration till the crisis. That was a big mistake,” says Mr Gupta, admitting that the group’s lack of prior international experience was a factor.

Sales in the European and Latin American markets dropped by almost 20%, and in FY10, the group reported a combined loss of `240 crore. Although the Indian operation reported a net profit of `230 crore, Sylvania closed the year with a net loss of `470 crore. “We took a knock in the markets after 2008 as investors thought Sylvania would be a drag on the parent, and weren’t sure that an Indian company could achieve a turnaround,” says Mr Gupta.

In 2008, the Guptas decided to manage the business hands on, sack the New York-based top management, and infuse its European white elephant with large doses of desi-style speed and hustle.

Two years later, after pumping in e40 million, shutting three plants in the UK, Costa Rica and Brazil, cutting 1,400 jobs, revamping operations, and scrapping things like annual budgets and business plans, Mr Gupta says sales are on an upswing, and Sylvania will break even in 2011.

The finishing touch to the restructuring is the move to London as a European HQ, from a somewhat small village outside Frankfurt , to be closer to a financial and talent centre. “We had very good managers in Sylvania, but they were not thinking like entrepreneurs. That’s changed, I think,” says Mr Gupta. Sylvania employees say that this is the first time in years they’ve got an owner committed to growth, instead of being owned by PE funds.

Havells Sylvania contributes almost 50% to the company’s sales and going forward Mr Gupta hopes that it will contribute up to 30% to profits. Most of the growth is expected to come from emerging markets, and leveraging the strengths of both Havells and Sylvania.

Infosys net profit rises 13% in Q2; scrip falls 3.39%

Infosys Technologies (INFOSYS.BO : 3076.15 -108.1), India's second-largest software exporter, overshot market expectations on Friday, posting a 13% rise in net profit year-on-year and 16.7% growth on a sequential basis, reflecting robust demand. It increased its annual revenue forecast to $5.95-6 billion, up 26-27%.

The board has proposed an interim dividend of Rs 10 per share on the face value of Rs 5 each and a 30th year special dividend of Rs 30 per equity share. After the results, Infosys hit an all-time high of Rs 3,249 on the BSE (^BSESN : 20125.05 -372.59), before closing at Rs 3,076. The scrip shed 3.39% during the day.

After several quarters of single-digit growth, Q2 revenues grew 12.1% from the previous quarter. However, the management, known for its conservative approach, cautioned that double-digit growth would be tough to achieve in the quarters ahead.

Almost all verticals, including telecommunications, retail, manufacturing and BFSI, exhibited strong growth. Europe, as a geography, grew 18.1%, indicating its growing importance to India's software fortunes.

Utilisation rates rose to a high of 81.7% thanks to growth in business volumes. Attrition has risen to 17.1%, though officials maintained that it was not something to be alarmed about.

Nokia Siemens, Ericsson bag Vodafone 3G order

The country's second largest GSM operator Vodafone Essar has roped in Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) and Ericsson as partners for its 3G network across India. The company didn't disclose the financial details of the deal. While Ericsson bagged the contract for three metros, NSN was awarded the contract for the remaining six circles.

Vodafone Essar had won the 3G spectrum for nine of the 22 circles across the country for Rs 11,618 crore, the second highest payment made by a private telecom operator for the spectrum. Marten Pieters, managing director, Vodafone Essar, said, "Globally, Vodafone provides enhanced 3G experiences to a large base of customers. India is now ready for 3G, and we are committed to offer similar high-quality 3G services to our Indian customers. Ericsson and Nokia Siemens are specialists in this area and we view this as a very strategic alliance, in order to deliver and maintain a high quality network which customers will expect from Vodafone."

While Ericsson has been selected to provide exclusive 3G services in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata, NSN will implement and manage its 3G network in the rest six circles of Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, UP(East), rest of Bengal and Haryana. Vodafone will utilise this latest HSPA technology to deliver services like video telephony, mobile broadband, mobile TV and others.

Urs Pennanen, India head, Nokia Siemens commented, "We are committed to implement a smart 3G network for Vodafone Essar, based on our global experience and local expertise and resources in India. We are fully geared for a speedy implementation of the 3G network, utilising existing GSM investments for reduced total cost of ownership to the operator. The subscribers will enjoy exciting new mobile broadband services and a seamless interoperability between 2G and 3G."

AI passenger revenue up 24% in Apr-Aug

Air India on Wednesday claimed 24% increase in passenger revenue during April-August as compared to same period last year---a performance expected to help it secure government fund.

"The passenger revenue grew by Rs 830 crore in the first five months of the fiscal on the back of surge in traffic," official sources said.

A ministerial panel to oversee the performance of the airline has linked any further monetary help to the carrier with its ability to cut cost and increase revenue.

The civil aviation ministry is expected to approach the Union Cabinet for further equity infusion into Air India soon to tide over the financial crisis. The airline is estimated to have an accumulated loss of over Rs 12,000 crore as on March 2010.

Almost all the domestic carriers have witnessed a sharp increase in passenger numbers resulting into significant improvement in their yield. The three full-service carriers Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines- have seen improvement in yield on international sectors also. Air India's international yields increased by 13.6% during April-August with domestic yield registering 14.9% growth.

SCL plans Rs 40-cr greenfield facility

Chennai: Sundaram Clayton Limited (SCL), part of the TVS group and the holding company of TVS Motor, is planning to invest around Rs 100 crore in several projects including a greenfield facility at Oragadam with an outlay of Rs 40 crore. The investment would be spread over for the next two years, said Venu Srinivasan, chairman, SCL.

The new facility would manufacture heavy truck parts and other automotive components including pipes, brackets and aluminum die-casting. The company order book this year included new customers such as Daimler (India and EU) and Nokia Siemens as well as from existing customers like Cummins, Volvo, TVS Motor, WABCO-TVS, Hyundai, Honda and Ford.

“These orders are expected to carry a cumulative potential of Rs 375 crore in the next five years,” Srinivasan said.

To cater to the demand, the company’s planned facility at Oragadam would manufacture heavy truck parts and other automotive components including pipes, brackets and aluminum die-casting.

Srinivasan said the company had set a business target of Rs 725 crore for the current fiscal and Rs 1,000 crore turnover in the next two years. The company’s sales remained stagnant at Rs 492.67 crore in 2009-10 as against Rs 492.36 crore a year ago.

On the exports front, Srinivasan said the demand for commercial vehicles in US and Europe continued to be depressed. North American class-8 trucks market shrunk 42 per cent, while that of class 5-7 trucks dropped by 38 per cent. European medium and heavy trucks also reported 60 per cent drop. “This had resulted the company reporting a 12 per cent drop in the fiscal to Rs 172.72 crore,” he said.

For the current fiscal, the company has set an export target of Rs 200 crore. Srinivasan said, “Key export markets of the company — the US and Europe — are expected to grow moderately during 2010.”

Punj Lloyd arm partners French nuke engg firm

New Delhi: Punj Lloyd-group firm PL Engineering Ltd and the Indian unit of French nuclear engineering firm, Nuvia, signed an agreement on Wednesday to form a venture for nuclear engineering and support services.

The proposed venture, which is slated to have a 50:50 equity structure, is being formed to capitalise on an expected surge in demand for nuclear energy-related services in India.

The agreement will lead to the creation of a new joint venture company to deliver quality nuclear engineering and operational support services to the global market, a joint statement from the companies said.

The joint venture will focus initially on providing services to the growing Indian nuclear sector and will later look at the global market.

Mr Atul Punj, Chairman, Punj Lloyd, said, “It's not just India that has very aggressive plans but globally countries are now talking more and more aggressively about ramping up into the nuclear sector, which is arguably considered the greenest energy that exists today… The venture will focus on providing services to the Indian nuclear energy sector and may expand its offerings to the global market.”

Punj Lloyd and Nuvia will hold equal stake in the new venture, the Nuvia Group Chairman, Mr Jerome Stubler, said at a press conference.

Nuvia, part of French construction and concession company Vinci SA, offers engineering and support services to nuclear power producers, power plant operators and turnkey contractors.

The companies are working on the broad size of investments and the process will be completed in 120 days, Mr Punj told reporters.