HCL to put Rs 1,000 cr into health care

New Delhi: The HCL group on Thursday announced that it would foray into the health care segment, the first diversification outside its core business of information technology. Through the next five years, the group plans to invest Rs 1,000 crore in the venture, to operate through a countrywide network of out-patient multi-speciality clinics called HCL Avitas.

HCL Healthcare, the group’s health care arm, is in talks with hospital chains to partner it in tertiary care.

Funded through HCL Corporation, the holding company of HCL Technologies and HCL Infosystems Ltd, the venture has started operations by acquiring two Bharat Family Clinic branches in the National Capital Region.

HCL Avitas clinics will offer value-added services such as personalised relationship managers and electronic medical records to patients. They will also provide in-house services such as diagnostics, pharmacies and radiology. The venture is primarily targeted at the urban middle-class population of corporate employees, small and medium enterprises and small businessmen.

HCL Healthcare Vice-Chairman Shikhar Malhotra told Business Standard collaboration with Johns Hopkins Medicine International in the US would help in implementing the concept in India. “Here, a patient beyond doctor’s care will be handled by a team of specialists, which will include a health care coordinator, essentially a relationship manager. This is a unique patient-centric approach.”

The company would initially focus on expanding these clinics, but in the long run, might also foray into secondary and tertiary care and build its own hospitals.

Initially, the group plans to expand its health care division in northern India. So far, the venture has 125 people on board, clinical and non-clinical staff. “We intend to provide a continuum of care to our patients. Right now, we will partner some of the best hospital networks in India. There is a referral mechanism going into these hospitals. Discussions are on around this,” Malhotra said.

While HCL founder-chairman Shiv Nadar is on the board of the health care company, his daughter, Roshni Nadar Malhotra, will not be involved with the new venture.

The company’s promoters are also involved in the education sector, through Shiv Nadar University and Shiv Nadar School. These are not-for-profit institutions run by the Shiv Nadar Foundation.

Of late, health care has attracted many corporate groups, including B K Modi’s Spice Global, who view this segment as a de-risking strategy. According to industry estimates, the domestic health care sector is poised to touch $100 billion by 2015 and $275.6 billion by 2020. In 2010, the sector was estimated at $40 billion.

In November 2013, Nadar had committed Rs 3,000 crore through the next five years to expand the Shiv Nadar Foundation’s education ventures, which are oversee

India Cements gets Centre’s nod for capacity expansion

The company is setting up a 40 MW power plant at one of its facility in Tamil Nadu at a cost of Rs 810 cr
Chennai: An expert appraisal committee under the ministry of environment has given its nod to India Cements to double its capacity and set up a 40-Mw power plant at one of its facilities in Tamil Nadu. The proposed expansion project will come up at Dalavoi in Ariyalur district. According to a senior official of the company, the capacity addition would cater to Tamil Nadu and Kerala markets. "It will be a significant expansion in the two markets, where not much of the capacity additions expected in the future,” said the official.

It is expected to take about two years to complete the work. Current capacity for clinker production in this facility is 1.24 million tonnes per annum and the company plans to add 1.53 million tonnes taking total clinker production capacity to 2.77 million tonnes per annum. Cement (OPC/PPC) production capacity is 2.16 million tonnes and the company plans to add 2.55 million tonnes taking the total cement production capacity to 4.71 million tonnes.

The proposed expansion will be carried out in an area of 25.09 hectares. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 810 crore, including Rs 39.6 crore and Rs 5.71 crore earmarked for the capital cost and recurring cost per annum towards the environmental pollution control measures. India Cements, country's one of the largest cement manufacturers, currently has a total capacity of 15.5 million tonnes. It has seven plants in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and one in Rajasthan. The company is also planning to add 2X20 Mw power plant in the facility.

The captive power plant will use coal/pet coke as fuel. The power requirement for the facility would be 41.4 Mw, which will be met from the captive power plant and the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, according to the company's disclosure to the ministry.

D Purandeswari inaugurates India Show in Panama

New Delhi: The Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Dr. D Purandeswari today inaugurated the India Show in Panama. Speaking during the inauguration, the Indian Minister emphasised on enhanced cooperation and engagements between India and Panama. She exhorted the business leaders of both the sides to increase the trade and investments to next level.

She also emphasised that the visa regime between two countries should be liberalised besides a general Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for trade and economic cooperation between both the countries may be signed.

Mr. Ricardo Antonio Quijano Jimenez, Commerce and Industry Minister of Panama, Mr. Irvin A. Halman, President of Panama Chambers of Commerce, and Indian Ambassador to Panama Mr. Yogeshwar Varma, were also present during the inauguration of India Show.

Before the India Show, Dr. D Purandeswari also participated in the Expocomer Fair 2013 of Panama. Expocomer fair was inaugurated by Mr. Ricardo Martinelli, President of Panama. Others present included Governor of Pueto Rico, various ministers of government of Panama and representatives of Panama Chambers of Commerce and CII.

Dr. D Purandeswari also expressed that Panama should conduct a road show in India shortly and exchange of business delegations between both the countries should also take place.

Yamaha opens fifth global R&D centre in India

New Delhi: Japanese two-wheeler major Yamaha Motor Company (YMC), which on Tuesday announced the establishment of Yamaha Motor Research & Development India (YMRI) at its Greater Noida facility, is looking at leveraging India as a procurement hub to source components for its two-wheeler operations globally. India would be the fourth regional procurement hub for Yamaha worldwide after China, Japan and the Asean.

Yuh Motoyama, senior general manager, engineering section (motorcycle business operations), said, “The research and development (R&D) unit is an integrated development centre, the second such for Yamaha globally. The vendor base in India is strong and cost-competitive and the potential to source parts from here for our operations globally is very promising.” YMC had inaugurated its first integrated development centre in Asean in Thailand last year.

Besides purchasing, YMRI would work closely with engineers at the Yamaha headquarters in Japan to develop low-cost models.

“YMRI is the fifth foreign R&D facility for Yamaha. Every centre has a mandate. While the unit in Taiwan concentrates on developing products in the 150-cc category, the centre in Italy focuses on developing two-wheelers for the European market. While platforms would continue to be made in Japan, YMRI will modify them to create low-cost products for the domestic market”, added Motoyama. The ‘root model’ can then be altered for exports to markets in Africa and Latin America.

Toshikazu Kobayashi, managing director, YMRI, said, “Our aim is to develop the lowest-cost model and parts in the world. Our aim is to develop a low-cost bike at around $ 500 for both the domestic as well as exports markets.”

He, however, declined to specify a timeline for launching the product in the Indian market. Yamaha’s move is a part of its strategy to expand its footprint in the mass commuter segment in the country.

Yamaha, at present, has marginal share in the low-cost commuter segment with the YBR110 and Crux which together sells around 4300 odd units every month. The segment accounts for over 65 per cent of motorcycle sales in India.

Additionally, to enhance its presence in the domestic two-wheeler industry India Yamaha Motor (IYM) will launch a new scooter every year till 2016. Hiroyuki Suzuki, chief executive officer and managing director, IYM said, “We intend to sell one million units by 2016 and grab 10 per cent of the domestic two-wheeler industry. In the scooter segment, we will launch one new product every year to attain market share of 20 per cent in the same period.”

In the current financial year the company is eyeing sales of 710,000 units, which is an increase of around 45 per cent over the 490,000 units sold last fiscal. While 500,000 units will be sold in the domestic market, the remaining numbers would come in from exports.

TCS to acquire French firm Alti for Rs 533 cr

New Delhi: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest IT services provider, today said it would acquire France-based Alti SA for euro 75 million (around Rs 533 crore) in an all-cash deal.

The impact of the announcement was evident on the company’s stock, which rose two per cent intra-day on BSE to Rs 1,512 a share, before closing at Rs 1,497 — up 1.1 per cent.

The acquisition, one of the largest for TCS in continental Europe and one of the first by a large Indian IT player in France, signifies how the firm wants to increase its presence in the region beyond the UK.

BNP Paribas was TCS’ sole advisor for the deal.

Alti SA is a privately-held company, owned by its management and two private equity funds — CM-CIC LBO Partners and IDI — which supported its growth from a revenue base of euro 64 million (around Rs 455 crore) in 2007 to euro 126 million (around Rs 895 crore) in 2012. The firm is considered among the five top system integrators of enterprise solutions in France. Its key customers include several top French corporations in banking, financial services, manufacturing, utilities and luxury sectors.

“This acquisition underlines our long-term, strategic commitment to France, which is the third-largest IT services market in Europe. The acquisition would help us serve our clients in France and across Europe more comprehensively, with an expanded set of services and solutions, bringing the best of TCS to French corporations,” said TCS CEO & MD N Chandrasekaran.

TCS has managed to acquire Alti for a discount to its revenue, reflecting the valuation pressure several European companies are facing. “Valuations of European firms, especially in France and Germany, are very attractive. And, the IT firms sitting on cash piles would make use of this opportunity. If you look at comparable multiples of these firms today, those are very low,” said an investment banker on the condition of anonymity.

The acquisition would give TCS a large presence in Europe — France, Belgium Switzerland and Algeria — with an employee base of 1,200.

India Inc's average IT budget to cross $12 mn

Mumbai: India is one of the fastest-growing IT services markets in the world, with three-quarters of large Indian enterprises planning to increase IT spending in 2013, with an average IT budget of $12.2 million, according to a survey by Gartner.

According to Gartner, Indian service providers have an opportunity to capitalise on planned increases in IT spending among Indian enterprises in 2013.

Between June and September of 2012, Gartner surveyed 1,523 large enterprises (those with more than 1,000 employees) to determine their IT spending plans. Within the survey, 153 respondents were in India.

“Indian companies' IT priorities in 2013 are the cloud (particularly infrastructure as a service [IaaS]), virtualisation, data center consolidation and IT modernisation,” said Arup Roy, research director at Gartner.

He further said: “Approximately 10% of spending in 2012 was allocated to external services; and 14% of this was on cloud related initiatives. Similar ratios are expected in 2013. There is a greater inclination towards private cloud contracts, more than in any other market this year.”

About 30% of large Indian companies said that control of IT budgets is shifting toward business units, including marketing, the CFO office and lines of business. As budget control shifts occur, when all budgets become IT budgets, service providers must take a multipronged approach and not target only CIOs.

In line with the trend observed in other countries, the biggest IT spending in India was in the communications industry, followed by banks and securities. As banks embark on their next phase of transformation into more competitive, customer-friendly institutions, key opportunities are likely to come up in the areas of core banking systems and upgrades/ integration with other peripheral systems. Near-term opportunities in the banking sector will be in the areas of collections, contact center services, business intelligence (BI), mobility and IT outsourcing (ITO).

Relatively poor spending in the vertical industries of insurance, government and utilities set India apart from other countries. Nevertheless, these markets are likely to offer strong opportunities for service providers. Some of the largest IT deals are starting to come from central and state government. Specifically, opportunities are emerging in state and central government bodies that relate mainly to efficiency, transparency and e-enabling projects for citizen-facing services, as well as workflow-related projects.

“In most organizations the IT department controls the budget, which is centralised, but some control is shifting. This is more or less in line with other emerging and mature markets“ said Roy.

TVS Motor, BMW tie up to tap technology, market access

Chennai: TVS Motor and BMW AG's motorcycle division announced a deal on Monday to jointly develop bikes that would give the Indian automaker access to BMW technology as it looks to stem its falling market share.

The long-awaited deal should help TVS revamp a dated product pipeline at the company, which has struggled to compete with a recent ramp-up in activity from Honda Motor and Yamaha Motor and could also help BMW gain a foothold in the world's second-largest bike market.

TVS Motor and BMW will develop a series of motorcycles for the 250-500 cc segment. This would mark the entry of India’s fourth-largest two-wheeler company into the above-250-cc two-wheeler space.

For the German premium two-wheeler maker, the agreement is part of its global realigning strategy, which includes a foray into the sub-500-cc segment.

The agreement involves both companies offering individual vehicle derivatives, which would be sold through their own distribution channels across the globe, said Venu Srinivasan, TVS Motor chairman and managing director.

As part of the agreement, TVS Motor would invest ^20 million in India, said Srinivasan. Initially, TVS would develop two products in India---one product for TVS and the other for BMW to sell in global markets. The first product is expected to be launched in 2015.

Srinivasan said while BMW brought technology and products to the venture, TVS would leverage its supply chain expertise and its ability to develop small products in bulk.

Yaresh Kothari, research analyst (automobile), Angel Broking, said in the long term, the tie-up would be positive for TVS Motor. About 95 per cent of India’s motorcylce market is accounted for by the 150-cc segment or segments with engine capacities lower than 150 cc. While the margins in the above-150-cc segment are high, volumes are low — in the near term, there would be no impact of the tie-up on TVS Motor’s ranking, Kothari said.

Stephan Schaller, president, BMW Motorrad, said globally, the company was realigning the two-wheeler business. The company planned to enter the sub-500-cc segment and foray into emerging markets with smaller capacity products and core offerings, he said., adding, “This is an important step towards more profitability and sustainability.”

The tie-up comes at a time when TVS has been losing market share to Honda Motor and Yamaha. For 2012-13, TVS reported a fall of six per cent in sales, compared with a four per cent rise recorded by the overall industry. Experts say it would be difficult for TVS to regain the market share lost to Honda. The Chennai-based company’s two-wheeler sales fell from 1,80,274 units in March 2012 to 1,62,507 units in March 2013.

German software firm enters CAD market

Mumbai: German software company Graebert is entering the Indian market for computer aided design (CAD). According to a press statement, the company has established a wholly-owned subsidiary, Graebert India Software (Noida), to market the ‘ARES’ software. According to a 2011 report from research firm Technavio, the CAD software market in India is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 26 per cent till 2014. Graebert is keen to collaborate with Indian software companies and channel partners to introduce cost-effective products for CAD users in India, said Mr Wilfred Graebert, the company’s Chief Executive Officer.

The company has an installed base of over four million users in 180 countries, the statement said.

India, location of choice for MNCs' information technology units: Zinnov

Bangalore: Multinational captive centres in India are increasing their capacity, according to consulting firm Zinnov.

In a white paper, Zinnov estimates that 50 per cent of the Fortune 500 companies will have their captive centres in India in the next few years, working on tasks related to business processes, technology, HR and others for their parent companies.

Zinnov attributes this trend to the fact that in the last two years, 10 IT and IT-enabled services (ITeS) centres of Fortune 500 companies set up operations in India. It said India is home to about 200 wholly-owned IT and ITeS centres of multinational companies, thus making it the most preferred offshore destination as compared to 120 other offshoring locations across the globe.

IT modernisation
“Reasons like IT modernisation and rethinking ways in which legacy technologies (like Mainframe computing) can be used are driving this,” said Sundararaman Viswanathan, Manager – Consulting, Zinnov. He added that other reasons such as cost advantages and presence in an emerging market are influencing these MNCs to set up centres in India.

The report added that banking and financial services companies leverage India the most for their IT and ITeS operations and there are close to about 45 such MNC centres last year. Retailers such as Walmart, Tesco and financial institutions such as Northern Trust have added to their India headcount in the recent past.

Further, healthcare and life sciences is emerging as a large category amongst the MNC centres.

Companies such as Royal DSM and Sigma Aldrich recently opened their service centres and existing players such as Novartis and Cerner have grown their India centres in the last few years. Currently India is the IT / ITeS hub for about 125 of the Fortune 500 companies.

Losing momentum?
However, industry watchers feel that despite a large share of MNC captives, the country is losing momentum.

Companies have shifted out of India due to mediocre management talent and an inability to be at the forefront of innovation, said an analyst from a multinational consulting advisory firm who did not wish to be named.

Govt eases norms to attract foreign investors

New Delhi: The government on Saturday announced simplification of removal of norms for foreign institutional investors (FIIs) to invest in government and corporate bonds, in its latest attempt to woo overseas investors to finance the widening current account deficit.

The move, which will be applicable from April 1, was among the major demands made by FIIs during their recent interaction with finance minister P Chidambaram and his team. From next month, the government, Sebi and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have decided to remove sub-limits for FIIs within the overall cap for bonds.

From now on, there will only be two ceilings — a $25-billion limit for investment in government securities that has been formed by merging g-secs (old) and g-secs (long term). In addition, there will be a $51-billion sub-limit for corporate bonds that will include the existing one for FIIs ($25 billion), qualified foreign investors ($1 billion) and $25 billion for FIIs in long term infrastructure bonds.

Chidambaram told the National Editors' Conference here that Sebi's current mechanism for allocating debt limits for corporate bonds will be replaced by the 'on tap system' that is used for infrastructure bonds. To make the regime more predictable, the government said that the corporate bond ceiling when 80% of the limit was exhausted.

In case of g-secs, however, the government appeared more cautious and decided to limit the annual enhancement within 5% of Centre's gross borrowings during a fiscal. The government has budgeted for borrowings of Rs 5.79 lakh crore, which means that the government can at best enhance the ceiling for the current fiscal by around $5 billion.

"The current account deficit (CAD) can be financed only through foreign inflows and that is why I am happy to announce a major rationalization of foreign investment in government securities and corporate bonds," the minister said. FII flows and foreign direct investment are crucial for India to fund its current account deficit that is expected to hit 4.5% of GDP during the current financial year. Large inflows would check against a steep depreciation of the rupee and ensure that there are sufficient foreign exchange reserves to cover for imports.

H and R Johnson invests Rs 400 crore for expansion of tiles manufacturing facility

Chennai: H & R Johnson, a division of Prism Cement is investing Rs 400 crore for the expansion of its industrial tiles manufacturing facility at Dewas, Madhya Pradesh.

With this, the company's capacity will go up to 54 million square meters per annum.

The company is investing in the expansion to cater to demand from small and medium firms across the country, said Ravi Aravamuthan, General manage, H&R Johnson India.

"The small and medium enterprises segment has the potential to provide greater acceleration to the industrial business. H&R Johnson sees the potential to engage with the small and midsize enterprises in India to deliver best industrial flooring solutions at competitive economics. Apart from our wide range of industrial solutions portfolio catering to over 20 industry types, we have basket of products to combine aesthetics and industrial functionality to suit unique requirement of various SME units," he said.

The Industrial flooring category accounts for about 7% of the overall Indian ceramic tile industry. Johnson Endura enjoys market leadership in this segment with over 50% market share, according to the company.

Genpact signs deal with Diageo to offer FandA services

Bengaluru: Genpact, the business process outsourcing services provider has bagged a contract from Diageo, the world’s biggest distiller. This is to provide the company financial and accounting processing services, by establishing a near-shore shared services centre.

The company did not disclose the financial details of the contract. As part of the deal, Genpact has set up a shared services centre in Bogota, the capital of Colombia, where the employees of both the companies will work alongside.

The centre will initially house 65 employees and then gradually be ramped up to 200 by the end of 2013. According to Diageo Commercial Director Gregorio Gutierrez, by developing the shared services centre model in partnership with Genpact, the company will be able to consolidate and improve its F&A functions in Latin America. This will enable the company to focus on its core business.

The shared services centre is located in the Bogota Free Trade Zone, in the Zona Franca business park.

“Genpact and Diageo are partnering to optimise Diageo’s comprehensive F&A operations and consolidating these operations into the new centre in Bogotá, which to date have been managed across multiple Latin American countries,” a joint statement from both the companies said.

Six Indian energy firms in Platts’ top 50 global rankings

New Delhi: Indian firms have pride of place at the 2012 Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company RankingsTM.

Of the 12 Indian companies represented in the 250, six are have also made to the list of top 50 fastest growing companies.

All eyes were on China, India and the wider Asia-Pacific region when it came to rapid financial growth and fast rising energy companies. A statement said that 70 companies from the region were in the spotlight when the 2012 Platts 250 Global Energy Companies Rankings were released in Singapore on Tuesday.

According to Platts, Cairn India took the top slot as the fastest-growing company not just in Asia but the world. With a 119.8 per cent three-year compounded growth rate (CGR), Cairn India was far ahead in the field.

The 2012 rankings reflect fiscal 2011 financial performance in four key areas: asset worth, revenues, profits and return on invested capital (ROIC).

Indian companies surged ahead in both the independent power producers (IPP) and gas utility categories, with NTPC Ltd and GAIL (India) topping their respective regional segments, Platts ranking showed.

A surprise entry at number two in ROIC rankings was Coal India Ltd with 35.3 per cent, it said. A new entrant to the rankings in 2010, when the company listed, Coal India has posted strong returns on invested capital in both years, an achievement given the challenges it faces, Platts said

China continues to grow in the energy business with 23 Chinese companies on the 2012 roster, giving it more companies in the Top 250 than any other country, except the US.

PetroChina Company Ltd took over the 9th position and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp acquired the 12th position in the global Top 250 list.

However, in an East-West comparison, Western majors still reign the rankings. Western companies took all top 10 spots on the 2012 list, except for one – ninth place – which went to PetroChina Co Ltd.

ExxonMobil retained the number one spot of the Top 250 roster for the eighth consecutive year. Anglo-Dutch major Royal Dutch Shell moved up from sixth position to second, displacing US major Chevron to third. ConocoPhillips dropped one place from seventh to eighth.

Of all the Indian companies in the top 250, Power Grid Corp improved its overall ranking, rising from 232 {+n} {+d} in 2010 to 172 {+n} {+d} in 2011. Other significant moves include a rise of 21 places for power producer NHPC Ltd to 195 {+t} {+h} {+.}

Among electric utilities, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd gained 17 places to 215 {+t} {+h}.

“India’s enormous growth in energy demand has led to its rise as the emerging energy leader on the global front,” said Vandana Hari, Asia Editorial Director, Platts. “Although these represent the bright spots for financial performance in 2011, 2012 may prove more challenging for India’s power generators,” she added. richa.mishra

India seeks Israeli expertise in renewable energy sector

Mumbai: Almost 12 per cent of the energy generated in India is through renewable sources, comprising small hydro, bio-mass, wind and solar power. Now, the Government is keen that electricity produced from large hydro should be included in this category so that the share of renewables in the overall energy mix rises to about 31 per cent, stressed Gireesh Pradhan, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

He was addressing officials from about 50 Israeli renewable energy companies and members of the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce in Tel Aviv, on his maiden visit to the country.

At the meet, with representatives from both the Indian and Israeli Governments, India has sought Israel’s expertise in the renewable energy sector to meet its ambitious target of 30,000 MW of power over the next five years.

Stating that 40 per cent of the Indian population does not have access to energy, Pradhan spoke about India’s ambitious plans to generate another 30,000 MW of grid-connected projects by 2017, which would take the country to 55,000 MW from renewable sources of energy.

Karnataka Bank signs MoU with management consultant KPMG

Mangalore: The Karnataka Bank Ltd has engaged management consultant KPMG for its business process re-engineering initiative. The initiative named as Project Tejas will be rolled out across its 510 branches and is aimed at high quality growth across its assets, liabilities, products and services. The bank aims at doubling its business turnover in the next three years.

KPMG will provide hand holding support with its dedicated team positioned at the bank's headquarters here. High growth and superior quality is the mandate given to KPMG as the bank is aiming to clock an annual growth rate of 25% to 30%.

P Jayarama Bhat, managing director and CEO of the bank and Narayanan Ramaswamy, partner of KPMG Advisory Services Pvt Ltd, Chennai signed a memorandum of understanding to this effect. Under the project, the bank will comprehensively reengineer and reposition its marketing efforts, sector prioritization, delivery channels, employee reskilling, brand building with optimum utilization of all resources at its disposal.

Blackstone invests $100 mn in International Tractors Ltd

Mumbai: The Blackstone Group today announced that its affiliate Blackstone Capital Partners (Singapore) has signed an agreement to acquire 12.5% of International Tractors Limited (ITL) in a structured transaction for up to USD 100 million (Rs 520 crores). The flagship company of the Sonalika Group, ITL is a leading manufacturer of tractors under the brand name 'Sonalika'.

Incorporated in 1995, ITL has grown to have an annual turnover of USD 500 million. It currently has 10% share of the domestic tractor market. In addition, ITL exports tractors to over 70 countries worldwide. The company aims to grow its position in India as well as expand its presence in the global markets.

Mr. L. D. Mittal, chairman, ITL, said: "Blackstone in India has an exceptional track record in partnering with companies during their growth phase. We have already witnessed the value-addition that they bring to us. Their strategic inputs will further enable us to achieve our ambitious growth plans.

In addition to helping us scale up our operations, this deal will provide us access to Blackstone's global best practices." "ITL is intrinsic to India's efforts in enhancing agricultural productivity and enriching its farmers.

Favourable macro-economic trends such as rising minimum support prices and rising labour costs are leading to increased adoption of mechanization by farmers. ITL's cost-effective manufacturing facilities with deep value engineering and strong product development capabilities provide it with a competitive advantage to capture this market.

Customers identify with the Sonalika brand for its product strength and commitment to the consumer. Further, ITL's tractors are in great demand in international markets as well," said Akhil Gupta, Senior Managing Director and Chairman of Blackstone India. Delhi-based SSV Fincorp Services led by its CEO, Amit Tandon, was the exclusive advisor for this transaction.

Mahindra Insurance Brokers ties up with LeapFrog

Mahindra Insurance Brokers (MIBL), a subsidiary of Mahindra Finance, on Thursday signed a strategic partnership with LeapFrog Investments, one of the world’s largest investors in insurance to under-served consumers. Under the agreement, LeapFrog’s subsidiary, Inclusion Resources Singa-pore, would invest Rs 80.41 crore for a 15 per cent stake in MIBL.

Bharat Doshi, executive director & group chief financial officer of Mahindra & Mahindra and chairman of Mahindra Finance, said despite substantial growth in rural areas, markets in rural India were still under-served. “Considering our large network and LeapFrog Investments’ experience in regions like Africa and Asia, we believe we would be able to have a different approach to serve that market,” he said.

“The goal of the new partnership would be to introduce new suites of products for people who don’t have any access to insurance services. The first product in the offing would be health insurance. A pilot study has already been initiated by the two parties for health insurance,” said Andrew Kuper, president and founder of LeapFrog.

Through this initiative, MIBL aims to be India’s leading insurance broker by 2015. Doshi said the partnership was a step towards MIBL’s expansion in the insurance sector. Ramesh G Iyer, managing director, Mahindra Fina-nce, said as a non-banking financial company, MIBL already knew the cash flow of its customers. Now, it would focus on increasing its presence using customer insights.
“Now, our focus, through MIBL, would be on offering additional rural and livelihood products at affordable prices. The key is to make people understand insurance is a security product, not an investment product,” Iyer said.

This is LeapFrog’s second investment in the Indian market in a year. In September 2011, it had invested Rs 67 crore in Shriram Credit. As an impact investment fund, LeapFrog targets both robust financial returns and significant social impact. Currently, about eight million people across six countries in Africa and Asia have access to LeapFrog products.

Italy's Maschio Gaspardo Group enters India

Italy based agricultural machinery manufacturing company Maschio Gaspardo Group has entered in India and set up a new facility at Ranjangaon near Pune.

The company has invested Rs 200 crore in this facility and will invest additional Rs 100 crore in the next five years.

At the beginning the Pune plant will manufacture at the beginning rotary tillers, mulchers and seeders for the domestic market.
The annual capacity of this plant is 20,000 units. Initially, it will manufacture over 500 machines per month. Maschio Gaspardo group specializes in the production of agricultural machinery for tillage, sowing, seeding, landscaping, forage-making, sprayers and crop care. It has also set up an R & D centre in India. Over 60 per cent localization has been achieved in this plant and remaining will be imported from Italy and China. The Pune plant will currently employ 120 people and will be increased to 250.

To start with, the new plant will manufacture products for Mahindra & Mahindra and New Holland India. Plans are also underway to serve the needs of Maschio Gaspardo Group's other global customers, by providing local supply to their India and Asia Pacific facilities. It has already sold over 17 thousand units to Mahindra and Mahindra since 2010. Gaspardo had a partnership with M & M for its OEMs.

Commenting on this, Alessio Riulini, director, Maschio Gaspardo India, said, “The growing importance of Indian agricultural market gives this country a central position in Maschio Gaspardo Group’s global strategy. Pune is an ideal location for our new plant because the city provides a strong infrastructure and a rich talent pool of skilled workforce in the manufacturing sector. Our new plant represents a key milestone in Maschio Gaspardo Group’s long-term vision of investing in fast growing markets and aligning our manufacturing footprint with the needs of our global customer base.”

He added, “Indian market requirements are very limited as compare to USA or Europe as field sizes, conditions of soil, power of tractors are lesser than other markets. The new plant will aid Maschio Gaspardo Group to achieve its aim for 2012; to exceed 280 million USD turn over.”

Dr Reddy’s launches Amoxicillin tablets, capsules in US market

Hyderabad: Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories has launched Amoxicillin tablets, capsules, and oral suspension in the US market.

The product is a bio-equivalent generic version of Amoxil (Amoxicillin) tablets, capsules, and oral suspension.

Officially launched on September 17 in the US, Amoxicillin tablets (500 mg and 875 mg), capsules (250 mg and 500 mg), and oral suspension (125 mg/5 ml, 200 mg/5 ml, 250 mg/5 ml, and 400 mg/5 ml) are approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA).

In a press release, the Hyderabad-based pharma major said the Amoxil brand and generic tablets (875 mg) has US sales of approximately $22.2 million, capsules ($67.2 m), and oral suspension ($89.5 m), for the 12 months ended June 30, 2012 quoting IMS Health.

Dr. Reddy’s Amoxicillin tablets will be available in bottle counts of 20 and 100; Amoxicillin capsules in bottle counts of 100 and 500 and oral suspension in 200 mg/5 ml and 400 mg/5 ml, in three counts of 50 ml, 75 ml, and 100 ml.

Amoxicillin oral suspension in 125 mg/5 ml and 250 mg/5 ml will be available in bottle sizes of 80 ml, 100 ml, and 150 ml.

9 road projects of Rs 11,600 cr get nod

New Delhi: Government on Thursday approved nine road projects, which are estimated to cost around Rs 11,600 crore and to be executed by state governments on public private partnership (PPP) mode. These projects, which add up to 1,226 km, are at an advance stage of bidding in Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

The finance ministry provides 20% of the total project cost, and another 20% assistance comes from the highways ministry to make these ventures financially viable in the form of viability gap funding (VGF), which was devised by the Centre in 2005. The finance ministry has approved Rs 2,295 crore under VGF and Rs 500 crore will be disbursed this fiscal.

The approval was granted by the Empowered Committee headed by economic affairs secretary Arvind Mayaram. Sources said raising concern on poor bidding of highway projects, Planning Commission's deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has recently written to the highways ministry to hold talks with the contractors. Government has set an ambitious task of awarding 9,500 km highway during this fiscal. Construction is on track, but awarding has left a lot to be desired.