Hyderabad: Aurobindo Pharma Ltd has received final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to manufacture and market Lamivudine and Zidovudine tablets.
The tablets are the generic equivalent of ViiV Healthcare Company’s Combivir tablets and are indicated for the treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infected adults and children.
The product, which was approved out of Unit VII formulations facility of the company here, was ready for launch, Aurobindo Pharma said in a release on Thursday.
Success in my Habit
Friday, May 18, 2012
Angel investors launch first online platform for start-ups
New Delhi: Here's some good news for start-ups. With a goal to connect entrepreneurs with investors, a group of angel investors, including Google India Managing Director Rajan Anandan, has come together to launch an online platform — VentureFund.com — with an initial corpus of $100 million. The founding team members include Lord Alli, co-founder and chairman of www.asos.com, Ashok Kurien, director in the boards of Zee TV, Sun TV and Playwin, and Paul Shoker, a serial investor who has interests in Indian ventures such as thePrivateSales.com and Koovs.com. Shoker would lead the fund as its vice-chairman. Anandan, also a member of the Indian Angel Network, is part of the venture in his personal capacity.
VentureFund.com, a brainchild of Shoker, aims to connect entrepreneurs of early stage companies with qualified investors from around the world. The site will go live later this week.
Shoker, who claims this is the first online platform for entrepreneurs and angel investors, started working on this concept six months back when his younger son wanted to invest in start-ups. “There was no authentic platform from where you could get details about start-ups,” Shoker said. He was quick to spot this problem and wrapped an online solution around it, in the form of the VentureFund platform.(WEB OF INVESTMENTS)
“The response we have had from entrepreneurs and investors clearly demonstrates that we are building upon a need to help the start-up community to get their ideas off the ground and succeed. Within six weeks, we have been able to get $100 million,” said Shoker. “By the end of the year, we expect this to be a $500-million fund.”
Besides, VentureFund.com would also act as an e-commerce platform. It has already tied up with the US-based e-retailer Amazon.com to offer a reading list for its users.
Though the platform would be free for investors, entrepreneurs would have to pay a one-time fee of around $100 (about Rs 5,400) after being contacted by a prospective investor.
“With over 100 million start-ups coming up every year worldwide, this market is very fragmented. But, most of these start-ups look for mentoring and funding. We wanted to create a platform for both entrepreneurs and investors,” said Kurien.
“Qualified deal flow is essential for any investor, and for that to happen we have to educate and mentor the best ideas and start-ups,” he added.
VentureFund.com, a brainchild of Shoker, aims to connect entrepreneurs of early stage companies with qualified investors from around the world. The site will go live later this week.
Shoker, who claims this is the first online platform for entrepreneurs and angel investors, started working on this concept six months back when his younger son wanted to invest in start-ups. “There was no authentic platform from where you could get details about start-ups,” Shoker said. He was quick to spot this problem and wrapped an online solution around it, in the form of the VentureFund platform.(WEB OF INVESTMENTS)
“The response we have had from entrepreneurs and investors clearly demonstrates that we are building upon a need to help the start-up community to get their ideas off the ground and succeed. Within six weeks, we have been able to get $100 million,” said Shoker. “By the end of the year, we expect this to be a $500-million fund.”
Besides, VentureFund.com would also act as an e-commerce platform. It has already tied up with the US-based e-retailer Amazon.com to offer a reading list for its users.
Though the platform would be free for investors, entrepreneurs would have to pay a one-time fee of around $100 (about Rs 5,400) after being contacted by a prospective investor.
“With over 100 million start-ups coming up every year worldwide, this market is very fragmented. But, most of these start-ups look for mentoring and funding. We wanted to create a platform for both entrepreneurs and investors,” said Kurien.
“Qualified deal flow is essential for any investor, and for that to happen we have to educate and mentor the best ideas and start-ups,” he added.
Banks can set up biz correspondent outlets in rural areas
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursaday allowed banks to establish outlets for business correspondents (BC) in rural centres to drive the government’s financial inclusion programme.
“It is advised that for further financial inclusion, banks may establish outlets in rural centres from which BCs may operate. These BC outlets may be in the form of low cost simple brick and mortar structures,” the RBI said in a statement.
Currently, every BC is attached to and is under the oversight of a base branch of a bank. The base branch will now supervise the BC outlets, including periodic visits by officers of the base branch to these outlets.
RBI also said that BCs can operate from ultra-small branches of banks as their association with the branch will increase the “legitimacy and credibility” in the area and give people confidence to use their services. Banks, however, should ensure that such arrangements must not lead to BCs servicing customers at these branches only.
“It is advised that for further financial inclusion, banks may establish outlets in rural centres from which BCs may operate. These BC outlets may be in the form of low cost simple brick and mortar structures,” the RBI said in a statement.
Currently, every BC is attached to and is under the oversight of a base branch of a bank. The base branch will now supervise the BC outlets, including periodic visits by officers of the base branch to these outlets.
RBI also said that BCs can operate from ultra-small branches of banks as their association with the branch will increase the “legitimacy and credibility” in the area and give people confidence to use their services. Banks, however, should ensure that such arrangements must not lead to BCs servicing customers at these branches only.
Shipping ministry to invest Rs 73,793.95 crore for projects in port sector
The Shipping ministry will invest Rs.73,793.95 crore for development of various projects in the port sector as part of the 12th Five Year Plan.
India has a total of 187 minor ports and 13 major ports spread across the nine maritime states and the national maritime agenda is looking at raising the total port traffic to about 2500 million tonnes by 2020 as compared to the current levels of less than 800 million tonnes. In addition, the maritime agenda also estimates that the total capacity at all the ports will rise to 3130 million tonnes as compared to 900 million tonnes now.
The shipping ministry had earlier said that it was looking to award 24 public-private partnership projects in the port sector worth Rs 17,000 crore in 2011-12, but it could not award more than one project. While some of the port projects had been faced with security hurdles and is awaiting the clearance from the defence ministry, the shipping ministry is certain that the target will be achieved.
" We are sure that the target can be achieved. The sector has huge potential and both Indian and foreign companies are keen on developing projects," said Rakesh Shrivastava, Joint Secretary (Ports), Ministry of Shipping had earlier told ET.
The ministry also said that by the end of March, 2012 the existing capacity at Major Ports was 689.83 million tonnes per annum As per 12th Five year plan the capacity of Major Ports will be increased to 1229.24 million tonnes per annum by the end of March, 2017.
India has a total of 187 minor ports and 13 major ports spread across the nine maritime states and the national maritime agenda is looking at raising the total port traffic to about 2500 million tonnes by 2020 as compared to the current levels of less than 800 million tonnes. In addition, the maritime agenda also estimates that the total capacity at all the ports will rise to 3130 million tonnes as compared to 900 million tonnes now.
The shipping ministry had earlier said that it was looking to award 24 public-private partnership projects in the port sector worth Rs 17,000 crore in 2011-12, but it could not award more than one project. While some of the port projects had been faced with security hurdles and is awaiting the clearance from the defence ministry, the shipping ministry is certain that the target will be achieved.
" We are sure that the target can be achieved. The sector has huge potential and both Indian and foreign companies are keen on developing projects," said Rakesh Shrivastava, Joint Secretary (Ports), Ministry of Shipping had earlier told ET.
The ministry also said that by the end of March, 2012 the existing capacity at Major Ports was 689.83 million tonnes per annum As per 12th Five year plan the capacity of Major Ports will be increased to 1229.24 million tonnes per annum by the end of March, 2017.
Capital Goods sector may get Rs 2,360-cr under 12th Plan: Patel
New Delhi: The capital goods sector may be allocated Rs 2,360 crore under the 12th Five Year Plan. This is part of a scheme to provide technical support and to develop manufacturing expertise through modern industrial parks.
This information was provided by the Union Minister for Heavy Industries, Mr Praful Patel in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
“The Planning Commission has formulated a ‘Manufacturing Plan’ for the five year plan under which capital goods is one of the
focus sectors. The scheme includes R&D and technology support, common facility support, skill development and interest subvention,” the Minister said.
A feasibility study for the planned scheme was prepared during the 11th Five Year Plan, but the financial approval was deferred to the 12th Five Year Plan.
The Manufacturing Plan proposes policies and technology support in order to provide a level playing field to domestic manufacturers vis-a-vis foreign companies. The aim is to enhance growth, global competitiveness and reduce import dependence. It also envisages common facility and product development Centres in and around capital goods industrial clusters.
Additionally, the Government has also set up development councils for important sectors like machine tools, textile machines and heavy electrical equipment.
This information was provided by the Union Minister for Heavy Industries, Mr Praful Patel in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
“The Planning Commission has formulated a ‘Manufacturing Plan’ for the five year plan under which capital goods is one of the
focus sectors. The scheme includes R&D and technology support, common facility support, skill development and interest subvention,” the Minister said.
A feasibility study for the planned scheme was prepared during the 11th Five Year Plan, but the financial approval was deferred to the 12th Five Year Plan.
The Manufacturing Plan proposes policies and technology support in order to provide a level playing field to domestic manufacturers vis-a-vis foreign companies. The aim is to enhance growth, global competitiveness and reduce import dependence. It also envisages common facility and product development Centres in and around capital goods industrial clusters.
Additionally, the Government has also set up development councils for important sectors like machine tools, textile machines and heavy electrical equipment.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
TimesDeal registers record 70,000 deals in a day
New Delhi: TimesDeal.com, the group buying portal of The Times of India Group, set a new record with 70,000 mobile recharge deals in a day. The portal outdid its own feat of 50,000 orders in a day established on December 1, 2011.
The portal offered a special mobile recharge deal on May 9 that allowed users to pay just 50 and get a mobile recharge voucher from PayTM worth 100, doubling the value of their money. The portal got 70,000 orders in a single day, a new record in terms of number of online orders in the e-commerce space in India.
Rishi Khiani, CEO of Times Internet, said, "Offering maximum value for money to customers is core to the deals business. Therefore, the primary focus of TimesDeal has always been to offer users such relevant high value-for-money deals. The repeated overwhelming response bears testimony to this."
Paytm.com, a subsidiary of One97 Communications, is the partner in the deal. It's a leading online company for mobile, DTH and data card recharge. The offer generated an overwhelming response for both Paytm and Timesdeal on the day of the offer.
TimesDeal.com deals include tickets to events, places to see, restaurant deals, shopping deals, etc, across nine cities - Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Chandigarh, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.
The portal offered a special mobile recharge deal on May 9 that allowed users to pay just 50 and get a mobile recharge voucher from PayTM worth 100, doubling the value of their money. The portal got 70,000 orders in a single day, a new record in terms of number of online orders in the e-commerce space in India.
Rishi Khiani, CEO of Times Internet, said, "Offering maximum value for money to customers is core to the deals business. Therefore, the primary focus of TimesDeal has always been to offer users such relevant high value-for-money deals. The repeated overwhelming response bears testimony to this."
Paytm.com, a subsidiary of One97 Communications, is the partner in the deal. It's a leading online company for mobile, DTH and data card recharge. The offer generated an overwhelming response for both Paytm and Timesdeal on the day of the offer.
TimesDeal.com deals include tickets to events, places to see, restaurant deals, shopping deals, etc, across nine cities - Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Chandigarh, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.
Piramal Health buys US data firm for $635 mn
Mumbai: The cash-rich Piramal Healthcare has closed its second deal in the past month to strengthen its pharma research and development business. The company has said it would acquire the US-based Decision Resources Group (DRG) for a consideration of nearly $635 million (Rs 3,400 crore).
DRG provides web-enabled research and consulting services to the global health care industry. It has projected a revenue of $160 million for 2012.
At present, the US-based PE major Providence Equity Partners holds a majority stake in DRG. Previously owned by private equity firms Castanea Partners and Boston Ventures Management, DRG was acquired by Providence in 2007.
With this deal, Piramal has entered the $5.7-billion global health care information management business. The transaction was expected to be closed by June 30, 2012, subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions, Piramal Healthcare said in a statement. Piramal Healthcare shares on Wednesday went down 0.95 per cent to close at Rs 427 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Barclays was the advisor on the deal.
Piramal Healthcare Chairman Ajay Piramal said, “The need for specialist information is critical and the demand is growing. DRG's portfolio of products is widely regarded as the gold standard of information.”
He said nearly 300 analysts with a strong track record in their field would be part of the acquisition. “The global health care industry is facing several challenges, including rising research costs, lower drug approval rates, mounting regulatory pressures and increasingly complex reimbursement models,” he said.
Following the completion of the acquisition, Piramal will operate DRG as a stand-alone business. The company will continue to be led by the existing senior management team.
Since the Rs 17,000-crore sale of its domestic formulation business to the US-based Abbott in September 2010, Piramal Healthcare has been expanding its pharma business, with a focus on research and development.
In April, Piramal Healthcare had entered into an agreement to acquire worldwide rights to the molecular imaging research and development portfolio of Bayer Pharma AG. As part of expanding its business into molecular imaging, Piramal Healthcare had set up a subsidiary, Piramal Imaging SA.
Piramal Healthcare invested about Rs 6,400 crore in telecom company Vodafone India to pick up about 11 per cent stake. It had also set up a financial services subsidiary, Piramal Finance, to enter the non-banking financial company space. In 2011, the group floated Piramal Systems and Technologies to foray into the defence security space.
Piramal said to a TV channel on Wednesday he was not worried about the investment made in Vodafone, as he had the option to sell it back or find a third alternative party if need be. Piramal said it would be a short-term investment, for two-three years.
Escorts in technical pact with Italy's Locatelli for large cranes
New Delhi: Just about a week is left for Escorts' merger plan of its subsidiaries to come through. However, the Group is already busy shoring up its engineering capabilities by acquiring new technology from overseas.
In March, it entered into a tie-up with Italian cranemaker Locatelli. With this, it will widen its construction equipment portfolio by locally manufacturing large skew (360 degree rotation) cranes of 60-80 tonnes capacity.
Production of the cranes, which are used in material handling for large infrastructure projects such as power plants, metro and bridges, is likely to begin in a year and half.
“This is the genesis of the merger that we're doing. By combining the group entities, we see a lot of efficiency in the combined research and sourcing. We're look at ourselves as an engineering company in the medium to long-term perspective,” said Mr Nikhil Nanda, Joint Managing Director.
The Faridabad-based Group hopes to get a court approval on April 20 for the merger of Escorts Construction Equipment, Escotrac Finance and Investments and Escorts Finance Investment and Leasing, into Group flagship Escorts Ltd. This move is expected to add over Rs 1,000 crore into its Rs 3,200 crore topline.
With demand from the construction equipment business on a high, the company is now searching for about 35 acres for capacity expansion over the next two years. “With the Ballabhgarh plant operating at 100 per cent, we need to take up more land on a lease basis. This will happen very soon,” Mr Nanda said.
The Locatelli tie-up is just the first of multiple such technical collaborations currently in the works across the construction and farm equipment businesses. For the first vertical, at least 15 new products are planned in the next 18 months for areas such as mine equipment and asphalt handling.
Jumping the R&D ladder by acquiring new technology is not new to the Group though.
Early support for tractors came from Ford, while Yamaha used to be a partner for an erstwhile motorcycle range it produced.
More mainstream products, such as trucks and dumpers, have also been thought about.
“There is a lot of technology coming cheap from the East European corridor. We had done a study, but are not going there right now,” another company official said.
Escorts shares on the BSE were up 1.51 per cent to Rs 67.35 on Tuesday.
In March, it entered into a tie-up with Italian cranemaker Locatelli. With this, it will widen its construction equipment portfolio by locally manufacturing large skew (360 degree rotation) cranes of 60-80 tonnes capacity.
Production of the cranes, which are used in material handling for large infrastructure projects such as power plants, metro and bridges, is likely to begin in a year and half.
“This is the genesis of the merger that we're doing. By combining the group entities, we see a lot of efficiency in the combined research and sourcing. We're look at ourselves as an engineering company in the medium to long-term perspective,” said Mr Nikhil Nanda, Joint Managing Director.
The Faridabad-based Group hopes to get a court approval on April 20 for the merger of Escorts Construction Equipment, Escotrac Finance and Investments and Escorts Finance Investment and Leasing, into Group flagship Escorts Ltd. This move is expected to add over Rs 1,000 crore into its Rs 3,200 crore topline.
With demand from the construction equipment business on a high, the company is now searching for about 35 acres for capacity expansion over the next two years. “With the Ballabhgarh plant operating at 100 per cent, we need to take up more land on a lease basis. This will happen very soon,” Mr Nanda said.
The Locatelli tie-up is just the first of multiple such technical collaborations currently in the works across the construction and farm equipment businesses. For the first vertical, at least 15 new products are planned in the next 18 months for areas such as mine equipment and asphalt handling.
Jumping the R&D ladder by acquiring new technology is not new to the Group though.
Early support for tractors came from Ford, while Yamaha used to be a partner for an erstwhile motorcycle range it produced.
More mainstream products, such as trucks and dumpers, have also been thought about.
“There is a lot of technology coming cheap from the East European corridor. We had done a study, but are not going there right now,” another company official said.
Escorts shares on the BSE were up 1.51 per cent to Rs 67.35 on Tuesday.
CESC acquires two hydropower projects in Arunachal Pradesh
Kolkata: CESC Ltd on Wednesday said it has acquired India Bulls group outfits engaged in developing two separate hydropower projects in Arunachal Pradesh.
In a communication to the stock exchanges, CESC said it entered into agreements to take over the hydroelectric projects with an aggregate capacity of 146 MW in Arunachal. The company spokesman confirmed the acquisition of entire equity shares of Pachi Hydro Power Projects Ltd and Papu Hydro Power Projects Ltd.
Pachi Hydro is a special-purpose vehicle established to undertake the 56 MW Phangchung Hydro Electric Project in East Kameng district of the State.
The 90-MW Papu Hydro Electric Project is also located in East Kameng district.
CESC already has an on-going 90 MW hydel power project in Arunachal's West Sian district. This project will be built across Siom River near village Jarong.
These acquisitions will strengthen CESC's position in the field of hydroelectricity generation. Currently, CESC has a total thermal power generation capacity of 1,225 MW.
At present, CESC is constructing two coal-based power stations of 600 MW each at Chandrapur in Maharashtra and Haldia in West Bengal.
The Chandrapur project is expected to be commissioned next year. CESC also has entered into solar energy generation. Last month it completed its first solar energy project (9 MW) in Gujarat.
In a communication to the stock exchanges, CESC said it entered into agreements to take over the hydroelectric projects with an aggregate capacity of 146 MW in Arunachal. The company spokesman confirmed the acquisition of entire equity shares of Pachi Hydro Power Projects Ltd and Papu Hydro Power Projects Ltd.
Pachi Hydro is a special-purpose vehicle established to undertake the 56 MW Phangchung Hydro Electric Project in East Kameng district of the State.
The 90-MW Papu Hydro Electric Project is also located in East Kameng district.
CESC already has an on-going 90 MW hydel power project in Arunachal's West Sian district. This project will be built across Siom River near village Jarong.
These acquisitions will strengthen CESC's position in the field of hydroelectricity generation. Currently, CESC has a total thermal power generation capacity of 1,225 MW.
At present, CESC is constructing two coal-based power stations of 600 MW each at Chandrapur in Maharashtra and Haldia in West Bengal.
The Chandrapur project is expected to be commissioned next year. CESC also has entered into solar energy generation. Last month it completed its first solar energy project (9 MW) in Gujarat.
Apparel exporters to hold buyers-sellers meet in Israel
Coimbatore: The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) is organising a buyer-seller meet in Tel Aviv, Israel on September 5 and 6.
Urging the exporters to make best use of this opportunity, Mr D.G. Reddy, Senior Director of the Council in Tirupur, said that the meet would help exporters capture not just the Israel apparel market, but the $11-billion apparel market of the West Asian region
“Israel has Free Trade Agreements with both the US and EU. By virtue of the North American Free Trade Area agreement, Israel also enjoys duty-free access to Canada and Mexico and has FTAs with Jordan, Egypt, Turkey and the Palestinian Authority,” Mr Reddy said.
He pointed out that buyers such as Crazyine, Renaur, Lucci, Castro Models, Golf, Fox & Honigman have all confirmed their visit during the buyer-seller meet.
Sharing some details about Israel's readymade garment imports, Mr Reddy said, “the potential is huge.”
Urging the exporters to make best use of this opportunity, Mr D.G. Reddy, Senior Director of the Council in Tirupur, said that the meet would help exporters capture not just the Israel apparel market, but the $11-billion apparel market of the West Asian region
“Israel has Free Trade Agreements with both the US and EU. By virtue of the North American Free Trade Area agreement, Israel also enjoys duty-free access to Canada and Mexico and has FTAs with Jordan, Egypt, Turkey and the Palestinian Authority,” Mr Reddy said.
He pointed out that buyers such as Crazyine, Renaur, Lucci, Castro Models, Golf, Fox & Honigman have all confirmed their visit during the buyer-seller meet.
Sharing some details about Israel's readymade garment imports, Mr Reddy said, “the potential is huge.”
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