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49 pc of Spice goes to Telekom Malaysia for $178.85 million
Budget proposals to ensure 8 pc growth, says FM
CFL makers to cut price, give 15-month guarantee
ONGC keen on foreign acquisitions
OVL loses bid on Nigerian oilfield
RasGas LNG by December to restart Dabhol
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Lakshmi Mittal richest Indian, Gates tops Forbes list
Bajaj Auto to drive into Uttaranchal
DCM rural mart ties up with Motorola
Setback to M&M in Russia
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49 pc of Spice goes to Telekom Malaysia
New Delhi/Chandigarh, March 10 The acquisition, made through TM’s international investment holding company TM International Sdn Bhd (TMI), involves the purchase of the stake held by Deutsche Bank AG and Ashmore Investment Management Limited consortium (DBA). The remaining 51 per cent stake continues to remain with the existing shareholders, the MCorp Global Ltd and its associates. Completion of the transaction is expected within a month, subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Lazard India was the sole financial advisors to TM and TMI on this transaction, a statement issued here said. TM Chairman Tan Sri Mohd Radzi Mansor said with the proposed investment the company can participate in the growth opportunities in the Indian cellular market. TM has re-strategised its international investments to focus on regional markets closer to Malaysia. “India is the missing piece in our regional footprint. Now with Spice as part of the TM family, it strengthens our regional presence and complements our existing presence in Sri Lanka where we are number one and Bangladesh where we are the number two mobile operator. We are excited about sharing our experience and learn more about the Indian market from Spice. “The company already provides cellular services in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Cambodia, besides Malaysia, and broadband service in Pakistan,” Mr Mansor said. With Punjab being the most prosperous state in the country and Karnataka dubbed as the “Silicon Valley” of India, there is a tremendous potential for mobile telephony in these markets. We are optimistic that Spice will contribute positively to the overall performance of TM in the near future” he added. “Spice customers today join TM’s global mobile subscriber base of over 20 million,” he added. Mcorp Global Chairman Dr B.K. Modi said the two companies together could become a powerful force to take Asian companies to an entirely new globally-competitive level. Taking to TNS from Kuala Lumpur, where the deal was executed today, Dr B.K. Modi, Chairman of Mcorp Global, said that they have found strategic investors in TM, which would help in the expansion plans of Spice. “The company is in the process of obtaining six new circles — Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal — as well as national long distance and international long distance licences. This alliance will help us move forward, especially in the broadband sector, where TM has been very successful,” he said. Dr Modi described Spice as the pioneering brand of mobile telephony in India, committed to becoming the most preferred choice for energetic young minds through synchronised performance in ICE products and services. Spice has a presence in two of the high potential markets of Punjab and Karnataka. The Punjab and Karnataka circles, in which Spice operates, account for 12.9 per cent of India’s cellular market share. Spice has a market share of 28.9 per cent in Punjab and 6.5 per cent in Karnataka and is the second largest telecom player in Punjab in terms of market share. Outside of the metro circles, the two states have the highest mobile density. India is one of the fastest growing telecom markets in the world and is among the top10 countries in the world in terms of the size of its telecommunications network and ranks second to China in Asia. Overall teledensity grew from 2.86 per cent in 2000 to around 9.11 per cent in March 2005, a growth of Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of around 26 per cent.
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Budget proposals to ensure 8 pc growth, says FM
New Delhi, March 10 Such an unprecedented move has been decided in view of the forthcoming elections in four states and one UT and the extension of the first half of the Budget session by a week till March 22. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said the government would make India a global manufacturing hub in other sectors like textiles, leather, petroleum, food processing and handicrafts. “We will become a global manufacturing hub for small cars within the next three to five years,” he said, adding: “We would emulate this success story in other sectors to become top global three manufacturing centres”. He asserted that his Budget proposals for 2006-07 would ensure 8 per cent growth of the economy, give a boost to agriculture and sustain improvement in manufacturing and service sectors. Noting that development is sine qua non to growth, Mr Chidambaram said the states, which had a surplus of Rs 40,000 crore in cash, should step up their spending on health, education and the like that were basically state subjects.
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CFL makers to cut price, give 15-month guarantee
New Delhi, March 10 “We had a meeting of all major CFL manufacturers to discuss ways to make energy- efficient items more popular. It was decided to reduce the price of CFLs by 8-10 per cent,” Indo- Asian Fusegear Ltd Chairman V.P. Mahendru, who was among those present in the meeting, said here. Mr Mahendru said all manufacturers also agreed to print the date of manufacturing on the product and give a guarantee of 15 months. This, along with the price cut of Rs 10-15, would help encourage consumers buy these CFLs.
— PTI
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ONGC keen on foreign acquisitions worth $15 b
New Delhi, March 10 Mr Raha said the ONGC, its subsidiary ONGC Videsh Ltd and ONGC’s joint venture company with steel barron Lakshmi Mittal, ONGC-Mittal Energy Ltd, were in talks for several acquisitions spanning across the globe. OVL, the ONGC’s foreign arm, has committed over $4.5 billion (about Rs 19,800 crore) in 14 countries, including Australia, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Libya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Sudan, Syria and Vietnam. Industry sources said the company was in talks to acquire oil assets in Kazakhstan, Cuba, Myanmar, Venezuela, Brazil, Bangladesh, Kuwait, Sierra Leone, Uzbekistan and Yemen. The ONGC was in talks to acquire Exxon’s 30 per cent interest in BC-10 field in Brazil and was in dialogue to take a block in the gigantic South Pars gas field in Iran. It plans to participate in bidding rounds in Yemen and Egypt, sources said ,adding that OVL was in talks to acquire the Makhambet and Satpayev blocks in Kazakhstan, Block 34 in Cuba, RSF-6 and RSF-9 onland blocks in Myanmar, San Cristobal field in Venezuela and exploration blocks in Bangladesh. Mr Raha said the ONGC had the financial muscle to conclude the deals and might even consider borrowing from
the market if the size of the acquisition was very large.
— PTI
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OVL loses bid on Nigerian oilfield
ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), has lost out a bid on a Nigerian oil field to a South Korean firm.
Korean National Oil Corp will get 60 per cent in Block 321 and 323, where OVL was originally the highest bidder but a pre-emption right with the Korean firm allowed it to plough back into the blocks matching the Indian firm’s bid price.
OVL, which had sought a 90 per cent stake, turned down an offer of a 30 per cent stake in the venture. Equator Exploration Ltd, based in Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, got 30 per cent stake and a local Nigerian partner won 10 per cent, industry sources said. First the Cabinet on February 1 deferred a decision on allowing OVL to plough back into the two exploration blocks in Nigeria and later Petroleum Ministry turned down the offer of a smaller stake. Sources said the Indian firm got the opportunity to get back the blocks after Korean National Oil Corp delayed submission of bank guarantees for payment of signature bonus (fee paid to the government on signing the contracts).
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RasGas LNG by December to restart Dabhol
New Delhi, March 10 “Negotiations with RasGas have been good and I can confirm Qatar LNG will be available by December-end for the Dabhol power project,” Petroleum Secretary M.S. Srinivasan, who spearheaded the negotiations for sourcing LNG, told reporters. RasGas would supply 2.5 million tonnes per annum of LNG to Dabhol for two- and-a -half years, a time during which the new promoters of the 2,184 MW project would tie-up long- term supplies. “We are tying loose ends... all I can say is that power generated (using LNG from Qatar) will be competitive,” he said ,declining to give the LNG price. LNG from Qatar will be re-gassified at Petronet LNG Ltd’s Dahej plant in Gujarat (the plant has a surplus capacity to process close to 2 million tonnes of additional volumes over and above the current imports of 5 million tonnes). “We are in talks with Shell for using their Hazira terminal,” he said. The 2.5 million tonnes of LNG for Dabhol would be in addition to Petronet Ltd’s contract for additional 2.5 million tonnes (over and above the current supplies of 5 million tonnes) that would begin flowing from 2009. India plans to restart the 740 MW Phase-I, shut since 2001 following a payment dispute with the MSEB, by September, 2006, using naphtha as LNG receipt facilities at the Dabhol site would not be ready before the end of the year.
— PTI
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Lakshmi Mittal richest Indian, Gates tops Forbes list
New York, March 10 According to the Forbes magazine annual survey, Gates fortune increased 7.5 per cent from $46.6 billion last year. Gates is followed by 75-year- old investor Warren Buffett of the USA with a net worth of $42 billion and Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim Helu with $30 billion and Ingvar Kamprad of Sweden, founder of Ikea, the world’s biggest home furnishing retailer, with $28 billion. NRI steel tycoon Mittal finds the fifth place among the world’s richest with a net worth of more than $20 billion. He dropped two places to fifth with $23.5 billion, down $1.5 billion. Azim Premji, who owns 82 per cent of the New York-listed information technology giant Wipro is the second richest Indian with an estimated net worth of $11 billion. Mukesh Ambani with a net worth of $7 billion, army officer- turned property baron Kushal Pal Singh ($5billion), Sunil Mittal, who built his Bharti Group into India’s largest mobile phone operator with 14 million customers ($4.9 billion) and Kumar Birla ($4.4 billion) are among those who find place among the top 10 richest persons in India. Others include Tulsi Tanti, who has built Asia’s largest wind energy farm, Pallonji Mistry ($3.3 billion), biggest shareholder in Tata Sons, and Anurag Dishkit ($3.1 billion), who owns 30.4 per cent of the Internet Casino company which went public in London in June last. The Forbes list of 40 richest Indians shows that a person had to have a net worth of $590 million, up from $305 million in the previous year, to make the grade. It has 27 billionaires, more than the double the count the previous year. Notable newcomers include Tulsi Tanti, Vijay Mallya, the liquor tycoon behind Kingfisher beer, Kushal Pal Singh, India’s biggest real estate developer, and Anurag Dikshit, another online gaming mogul, who made his fortune when he and two Americans made their PartyGaming poker company public in London last June. Seven newcomers join the ranks, including four who made their companies public in 2005. They include former airline agent Naresh Goyal, who runs Jet Airways, the country’s leading domestic airline, and Vikrant Bhargava, an executives at Internet casino outfit Party Gaming.
— PTI
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Bajaj Auto to drive into Uttaranchal
Mumbai, March 10 According to the company, it would raise its vehicle capacity to 5.1 million units from 3.6 million by 2009. It plans to foray into light cargo four-wheelers and a greenfield motor cycle plant in Uttranchal, with an investment of Rs 1,500 crore spread over three years. The company’s Board approved the various proposals and said that the expansion would be funded by internal accruals, Executive Director Sanjiv Bajaj said. As per the plans, Bajaj Auto will set up a greenfield project at Chakan in Maharashtra to manufacture the “new generation” of 3-wheelers and light cargo four-wheelers. The company’s new bike plant will come up at Pantnagar with a capacity of one million motor cycles, Mr Bajaj said, adding it will commence operations in 2007. In its first phase, motor cycle capacity will be expanded to 3.5 million units by 2007, the company said.
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DCM rural mart ties up with Motorola
Pehowa (Kaithal), March 10
Since the telecom revolution has drastically changed the farming sector, Motorola will now offer four models of lost- cost quality mobiles (Rs 2,999) to farmers, who have so far been using products from the grey market or refurbished units. Taking to TNS on the sidelines of the launch, Mr Rajesh Gupta, Business Head, Hariyali Kisaan Bazar, said after the launch of Motorola mobile phones, they were planning to have tie-ups with tractor manufacturing companies, and tractors would also be available in their retail stores. As of now, 800 products, including agriculture-related products and general merchandise are available in the 24 HKBs (11 in Uttar Pradesh, three in Rajasthan, seven in Punjab, two in Haryana and one in Uttaranchal). He said that they proposed to set up two new HKBs at Malout and Shahabad Markanda in the next two months. “We are looking at the Tier II and Tier III cities — Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Fazilka, Abohar, Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh — for setting up HKBs. Besides, the Yamaha motor cycles, which were earlier available only the HKBs in Uttar Pradesh, will now be available in the nine stores in Punjab and Haryana now,” he added.
Motorola brand
shop
Mr Allen Burnes, Corporate Vice-President, Motorola, informed TNS that the company was now all set to launch exclusive Motorola brand shops in the country. “The first brand shop will be inaugurated in Chennai soon. Besides shop in shops, in malls where footfalls are high, will be set up,” he said. Talking about the new initiative of launching low- cost mobile phones through HKBs, he said that telephony was definitely going rural, and Motorola was now looking at “the next billion” in the rural sector.
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Setback to M&M in Russia
Moscow, March 10 M&M Vice-Chairman Anand Mahindra has said in Delhi that his company is working on three acquisitions, including for a forgings company based abroad. On the US market, he said the company was scouting for a location for its third
plant. — PTI
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New Delhi, March 10
New Delhi, March 10
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