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.