Daily Excelsior...Business

Punj Lloyd bags Rs 1,163 cr contracts from IOC

MUMBAI, Nov 7: Engineering major Punj Lloyd Ltd today said it has bagged two contracts valued at Rs 1,163 crore from Indian Oil Corporation for ,.........more

Moderate rise in Instanex Skindia DR Index

MUMBAI, Nov 7: The Instanex Skindia DR Index firmed up moderately by 26.59 points or 1.22 per cent to 2,209.46 on November 6 and the Dr Index .........more

Rajesh Exports ranked number one by Dun & Bradstreet

MUMBAI, Nov 7: Gems and jewellery maker, Rajesh Exports today said it has been ranked number one in gems and jewellery sector for the year .........more

Indian Toners to open office in China

MUMBAI, Nov 7: Indian Toners and Developers Ltd (ITDL), manufacturer of compatible black toners for reprographic devices, today said it will be opening a .. .....more

Cadila gets USFDA approval for Simvastatin tabs

MUMBAI, Nov 7: Pharmaceutical firm, Cadila Healthcare Ltd today said it has received tentative approval from USFDA to market cholesterol-.........more

SC dismisses ADAG petition on airport modernisation

NEW DELHI, Nov 7: Putting to an end the dispute over modernisation of the Delhi and Mumbai airports, the Supreme Court today dismissed an appeal by a Anil ..........more

Bajaj hikes Platina, Pulsar prices

NEW DELHI, Nov 7: Bajaj Auto Ltd today said it has hiked the prices of its popular motorcycle models ‘Platina’ and ‘Pulsar’."We have hiked the prices of Platina by Rs 500 at the ex-showroom level .......more

Bosal-Delphi plans expansion to supply exhaust system in India

NEW DELHI, Nov 7: Betting big on the burgeoning Indian automobile sector, Bosal-Delphi Complete Exhaust Systems .............more

Infy wants place in NASDAQ-100, raise brand equity: Murthy...............

Daimler Chrysler to set up Rs 250 cr plant in Pune.............

RDB Ind gets shareholders’ nod for issue of shares, warrants...............

India most secure business destination in South Asia.........

Punj Lloyd bags Rs 1,163 cr contracts from IOC

MUMBAI, Nov 7: Engineering major Punj Lloyd Ltd today said it has bagged two contracts valued at Rs 1,163 crore from Indian Oil Corporation for its Haldia refinery.

Punj Lloyd has bagged a contract on turnkey basis for the hydrocracker unit with a capacity of 1.7 million tonnes per annum. The other contract is for the hydrogen generation unit with a capacity of 70,000 tonnes per annum, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The shares of the company were trading at Rs 880.20, up 4.13 per cent on the BSE.

"This IOC contract will give Punj Lloyd the opportunity to exhibit its expertise as both the projects are complex in nature," Punj Lloyd Chairman Atul Punj said.

The value for the hydrocracker contract is Rs 864 crore, while the contract for hydrogen generation unit is valued at Rs 299 crore.

The project for hydrocracker unit is scheduled to be completed in 33 months, while that for hydrogen generation unit would be completed in 24 months.

With this, the order backlog for the group stands at Rs 12,590 crore. This is the total value of unexecuted orders as of September 30, 2006 and new orders received till date.

The hydrocracker turnkey contact is the largest on EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) basis for a process unit and would make the company the first Indian firm to execute such an order, it said. (PTI)

Moderate rise in Instanex Skindia DR Index

MUMBAI, Nov 7: The Instanex Skindia DR Index firmed up moderately by 26.59 points or 1.22 per cent to 2,209.46 on November 6 and the Dr Index P/E ratio also moved up to 25.92, Instanex Capital release said here today.

Following are the GDR and ADR rates for Nov 6 in US dollars with differences in percentage from the previous level given in brackets.

Bajaj Auto (GDR) 62.75 (+2.87)

Dr Reddy (ADR) 17.65 (+1.38)

HDFC Bank (ADR) 70.34 (+1.54)

Hindalco (GDR) 4.11 (-0.85)

ICICI Bank (ADR) 35.73 (+1.25)

Infosys Tech (ADR) 51.66 (+1.59)

ITC (GDR) 4.10 (UNCH)

L&T (GDR) 30.00 (+1.69)

MTNL (ADR) 6.23 (-0.32)

Ranbaxy Labs (GDR) 8.87 (+0.80)

Reliance (GDR) 57.90 (+2.48)

Satyam Comp (ADR) 21.29 (+0.95)

SBI (GDR) 64.50 (+0.31)

VSNL (ADR) 20.06 (+1.21)

Wipro (ADR) 14.21 (+0.78)

(PTI)

SC dismisses ADAG petition on airport modernisation

NEW DELHI, Nov 7: Putting to an end the dispute over modernisation of the Delhi and Mumbai airports, the Supreme Court today dismissed an appeal by a Anil Ambani Group firm challenging the Delhi High Court verdict upholding the award of contracts to consortia led by GMR and GVK.

"The appeal is sans merit and deserves to be dismissed," a bench comprising justice Arijit Pasayat and justice S H Kapadia said.

Reliance Airport Developers, which was in the race for the two airports, had challenged the April 21 verdict of the high court, which had held that the Government’s action was in no way discriminatory, illogical or illegal.

While questioning the conduct of Reliance company during the process of bidding, the apex court also criticsed the evaluation committee for altering the scoring norms saying it had no business to expand or narrow down the scoring pattern.

The Bench said that experience in property development is different from the experience in the infrastructure development.

In its petition, Reliance has contended that the government and the AAI deliberately amended the tender norms to favour GMR and GVK-led consortia.

They had also questioned the option given to GMR for picking an airport of its choice (Delhi) for modernisation after opening of the financial bid and has alleged that the lowering of the benchmark from 80 to 50 per cent was totally arbitrary.

The company had contended that as the highest financial bidder for the Delhi Airport and as the highest technical bidder for the Mumbai Airport, it should have been awarded at least one of the projects.

GMR, GVK and the Government maintained during the hearing that the entire process was fair and transparent and there was no favouritism in awarding the contract.

While upholding the technical parameters adopted in awarding the contracts, the High Court had said the government and the AAI had "absolute discretion to vary the tender requirements or amend the term of RFP (Request for Proposal)" as per the requirements of the project. (PTI)

Bosal-Delphi plans expansion to supply exhaust system in India

NEW DELHI, Nov 7: Betting big on the burgeoning Indian automobile sector, Bosal-Delphi Complete Exhaust Systems (BDCES) plans to pump in major investments for expansion, including setting up greenfield plants, for supply to major auto manufacturers in the country.

"We are already in advanced talks with some of the major auto manufacturers in India for supply of our complete exhaust system products. By the first quarter of next year we should be able to finalise our India investment plans," Bosal International OE sales Director Manfred Nowak told PTI here.

Asked how much the company is expected to invest in India, he said it was too early to comment at this stage.

"It would depend on to whom we will be supplying. The nature of our product requires us to have facility closer to that of the OEMs. If need be we will have to set up greenfield plants near them," he said.

BDCES, which is an alliance between Belgium-based Bosal Group and US auto component major Delphi, is eyeing the volumes segment of the Indian market, Nowak said.

The company is already manufacturing about half a million catalytic converters from its Gurgaon facility.

Delhpi Sales and Marketing Director (Asia Pacific) Robert L Wilson said BDCES will concentrate only on the Indian market when it expands its product range here.

"The Indian plants will be utilized for supply to the requirements here. Export is not on our agenda," he added.

Bosal and Delphi joined hands last year to supply complete exhaust system with the former providing ‘cold end’ and the latter ‘hot end’. (PTI)

Infy wants place in NASDAQ-100,
raise brand equity: Murthy

BANGALORE, Nov 7: Infosys Chief mentor N R Narayana Murthy today said the sponsored secondary ADR issue is part of the company’s ambition to get into the NASDAQ-100 index, raise brand equity in the US and win more customers there.

Responding to questions at an Extra-ordinary General Meeting (EGM) here, he said: "We want to be the first Indian registered company to get into the NASDAQ index. That particular journey requires that we enhance liquidity in the US. This is part of reaching that goal".

In the lively EGM, where a section of shareholders expressed concern over the ADR issue and wondered whether such exercises are a precurssor to the Bangalore-based company being taken over by ‘foreigners’, Murthy asserted that the aim is to make Infosys bigger.

The special resolution on the ADR issue (not exceeding 30 million shares) was passed with requisite majority; it was not unanimous.

Currently, Foreign Institutional Investors hold 36 per cent stock of Infosys and ADR holders around 14 per cent. As much as 13.95 per cent of the total company stocks are listed and traded outside India.

If the issue-which is the company’s third after the ones in 2003 and 2005 -- is fully subscribed, the figure of 13.95 per cent would go up to 19.35 per cent, Infosys Chief Financial Officer V Balakrishnan said.

An elderly share-holder, making no secret that he is against the ADR issue, questioned Murthy on the need for going in for such exercises and wondered whether the "East India company" days are round the corner.

That comment irked Murthy.

An agitated Murthy said: "Kindly, don’t talk about East India company and all that. Today, if the outsiders (foreigner) take the same view as your thinking, Infosys will be finished... All software companies will be finished", noting that Indian software companies draw more than 90 per cent of their revenues from overseas.

He also said if Infosys wants to get more customers outside India, it has to enhance brand equity.

"If we want to enhance brand equity, CEOs and CFOs of large financial corporations must feel comfortable about that. If they have to be comfortable, they have to see our names on their stock exchanges and then they will say these people (Infosys) are here to stay".

"If we want to become even bigger, it will help if we are part of a global index", he added.

Murthy sought to allay fears of Infosys being taken over by "foreigners".

"If we are working hard, if we are working smart and if we are strong, it’s unlikely that the company will be taken over", he said, adding, otherwise, it’s the financial law and market norm that big companies will gobble up small ones. (PTI)

Daimler Chrysler to set up Rs 250 cr plant in Pune

MUMBAI, Nov 7: Daimler Chrysler, the makers of Mercedes Benz cars, would invest Rs 250 crore in setting up of a greenfield project in Pune, Maharashtra.

"Mercedes would invest Rs 250 crore for setting up a greenfield project in Pune area," Industry secretary V K Jairath said here today.

The company has shortlisted a couple of locations for the plant in the Pune industrial belt and would finalise the site very soon, he added.

The MoU for the same would be signed shortly, he said. (PTI)

RDB Ind gets shareholders’
nod for issue of shares, warrants

MUMBAI, Nov 7: Tobacco products manufacturing company, RDB Industries Ltd today said it has got shareholders approval for issue of 7.50 lakh equity shares and an equal number of share warrants to Teck Consultancy & Services Pvt Ltd on a preferential basis.

The shareholders at the EGM on November 6, approved the issue of 7.50 lakh equity shares of Rs 10 each at a price of Rs 170 per equity share to Teck Consultancy & Services, RDB Industries informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The company also got approval for issue and allotment of 7.50 lakh optional convertible share warrants at an issue price of Rs 170 per share warrant to Teck Consultancy & Services on preferential basis, it added.

The aforesaid equity shares and resultant equity shares on conversion of share warrants shall rank pari-passu in all respects with the existing equity shares of the company.

The shares of the company were trading at Rs 171.75, up 0.20 per cent on the BSE. (PTI)

India most secure business destination in South Asia

NEW DELHI, Nov 7: Contrary to the general perception about high political and security risks, India has emerged as the most secure location for business in South Asia, while 49 per cent of the countries worldwide do not provide a stable environment for trade, a new study shows.

Both political and security risks in India remain low, while concerns over political stability and terrorism in neighbouring countries are much higher, global business risk consultancy Control Risks said in a report published today.

Control Risks’ India representative Jake Stratton said RiskMap 2007 indicates geographically difficult operating environment for business around the world, but companies can successfully tackle formidable country risk issues by developing country-sensitive risk management strategies.

"Indian multinationals are directing a great deal of attention to these issues as they expand their operations into volatile markets like Latin America and Africa," he added.

According to Control Risks’ RiskMap 2007 report, 96 out of 198 countries surveyed (49 per cent) have been ranked as being medium, high or extreme for political risk-indicating, at best, businesses in these countries may face disruption and, at worst, the state is actively hostile to foreign business.

In terms of security risks for businesses worldwide, 78 out of the 198 countries surveyed (40 per cent) have been ranked as being medium, high or extreme for security risk-which means that, at best, there is a reasonable possibility of security problems affecting companies and, at worst, business of any sort may be completely untenable.

The general direction of India’s economic policy would remain positive, although coalition politics could compromise the government’s ability to deliver some of the liberalisation measures demanded by investors, it said.

Notwithstanding the risks posed by terrorist attacks by Kashmir-based groups and spread of this threat to the IT hubs in the southern part of India, the ‘low’ security risk in most part of the country affirms a generally secure platform for business, Control Risks said.

However, the study sees serious risks to business in other parts of the region. Political and sectarian tensions in Pakistan in the run-up to national and presidential elections in late 2007 see the country ranked as medium political risk, while many areas of the country have been assigned a high security risk rating.

It also foresees a gradual slide back to civil war in Sri Lanka with a consequent risk of LTTE bomb attacks in Colombo, and no end to Bangladesh’s violent struggle between the two main political parties may result in a large cost to the companies operating there.

A major concern for many investors is infrastructure issues in key business hubs like Mumbai and Bangalore.

The BPO industry is becoming a victim of its own rapid growth with some of the fundamental country-specific gains being eroded by lacklustre growth in urban infrastructure.

Control Risks said the key issues that could destabilise business in 2007 across the world are more likely to come from actual risks rather than headline threats.

"Terrorism will continue to dominate the headlines but should be treated as a risk like any other, requiring detailed contingency planning. Energy concerns, always an important issue for business, will prove to be critical," it added.

The exponential growth of transnational crime in areas like intellectual property and counterfeiting are now widely recognised as crucial security issues. And the possibility of a worldwide pandemic continues to be a real concern for business across the world, it noted. (PTI)