BSES to set up transmission firm
Shareholders approve change of company’s name
to Reliance Energy 

Mumbai, June 9
To broaden its operations in the power sector, Reliance Group’s BSES Ltd has decided to set up two new corporate entities in transmission and energy trading areas even as shareholders today approved the change of the company’s name to Reliance Energy Ltd.

“We intend to set up a separate company, Reliance Energy Transmission, which will contribute to enhanced reliability in the power supply to our networks across the country, balancing deficits and surpluses in different regions”, BSES Chairman and Managing Director Anil Ambani said addressing the 74th annual general meeting here.

“In the generation of power, we will examine new growth opportunities in both, conventional and non-conventional energy sectors”, Mr Ambani, whose appointment as Chief Managing Director was approved by shareholders, said.

Reliance’s recent gas find in India provided an opportunity to scale the levels of power generation and increase the level of integration in operations. The company’s KG-D6 block in Krishna-Godavari basin alone had currently estimated in place gas reserves of more than 10 trillion cubic feet, capable of generating up to 15,000 mw.

Mr Ambani said the new Electricity Act gave freedom to trade power both in physical terms and through derivatives and we intended to set up a separate company-Reliance Energy Trading - for this purpose.

“Worldwide trading in power is a multi-billion dollar business and our entry into this field will enable us to optimise the cost of power”, he added.

Referring to the new name, Ambani said this change would reflect the ownership of the Reliance Group, consequent upon the change in control and would provide BSES the opportunity to leverage the brand equity of Reliance name. “Our company’s ability to mobilise financial resources on competitive terms will increase significantly with the adoption of the name, Reliance Energy”, he added.

Reliance has over 58 per cent stake in BSES and the management control was acquired in January 2003.

On shareholders demand for a 75 per cent dividend in the current year as the entity was completing as many years, he said “In Reliance we do not have a huge swing in dividend and the same will be applied here. A life of 75 years comes only once and whatever will be done, it will be a one time move”.

Awaits nod to restart DPC

Reliance Energy today said it was awaiting the nod of the Maharashtra Government to restart phase one of the Enron-promoted Dahbol Power Company (DPC) on a contract basis.

Mr Anil Ambani said the Reliance Group had sent a proposal to the government to restart the 740 mw first phase plant on a contract basis.

Reliance had put a condition in the proposal to supply naphtha on its own as the group produced that fuel, he said.

Mr Ambani said a lot of investment had been made in the power project and it was a valuable asset of the country.

The BSES chief said earlier the company had entered into bidding process of the DPC initiated by the IDBI-led Indian lenders consortium. But the security money had been returned to the company and the bidding process called off, Mr Ambani added. PTI, UNI

Pak businessmen to visit India on June 28
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 9
A 40-member delegation of Pakistani businessmen will visit India on June 28 and 29 on the invitation of Ficci.

“The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has assured Ficci that it will grant visas to Pakistani businessmen”, a statement issued by Ficci said.

The delegation will be led by Senator Ilyas Ahmed Billour, President of the India-Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IPCCI) and Riaz Ahmed Tata, President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

They will hold confabulations with their Indian counterparts in Delhi.

The IPCCI was formed jointly by Ficci and the FPCCI in April, 1999, after the maiden bus ride of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Lahore.

The issues to be discussed at the meetings will range from trade policy issues such as according the MFN status to India by Pakistan, infrastructure bottlenecks, informal trade movement of goods, capital and people between the two countries and low volume of bilateral trade.

New industrial estates for Haryana
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 9
The Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC) has prepared a plan to set up new industrial estates in Badli, Bahadurgarh, Manesar (Phase-II and III), Barhi (Phase-II), Special Economic Zone ,Gurgaon, Ambala-Chandigarh road and Yamunanagar.

While stating this here today, a spokesman of the HSIDC said the process to acquire land measuring about 6,500 acres for these projects had already been initiated.

Maruti Udyog Ltd, Honda Scooters and Motorcycles, Mitsubishi Electricals, Baxter India Ltd and Johnson Matthey (India) Private Ltd would set up their projects.

He said these projects were likely to catalyse domestic and foreign investments of about Rs 6991.40 crore in the state and generate employment for about 2 lakh persons directly and indirectly.

He said the corporation had sanctioned term loans to the extent of Rs.401 crore during this period, of which Rs.225.43 crore had been disbursed. The recovery during this period, including interest was to the tune of Rs.279.16 crore.

Microsoft unveils TV software

Seattle, June 9
Microsoft Corp today unveiled new software to help cable television companies develop digital TV programming and services.

The software, called Microsoft TV Foundation Edition, is a new technological platform designed to run on the digital cable boxes that sit atop many television sets.

The software, installed on both customers’ set-top boxes and on computer servers at cable companies, includes applications for cable operators to create and deliver on-screen TV guides, movies-on-demand, and interactive advertisements for their customers.

“This is a big milestone for Microsoft TV,” said Ed Graczyk, Marketing Director for the Microsoft TV division.

It’s also Microsoft’s most promising foray yet into interactive TV and advanced digital TV services in a 10-year- long history of “ineffectual” efforts, said Josh Bernoff, principal analyst with the Forrester Research.

Microsoft is rolling out the new software at The National Show, the annual convention of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association that starts today in Chicago. AP

1,335 cr Plan outlay for HP

Shimla, June 9
The Planning Commission has approved plan outlay of Himachal Pradesh for 2003-04 at Rs 1,335 crore.

The annual plan was finalised today at New Delhi following the meeting of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission K.C. Pant.

The Chief Minister said the state government had decided to shift committed liabilities to non-plan expenditure under which the main portion of Rs 1,020 crore would be shifted to non-plan expenditure.

He had urged the Planning Commission to give liberal financial assistance to fill up gap in plan expenditure. PTI

Tax on Net transactions

London, June 9
They've survived the bursting of the tech bubble, a global economic downturn and the occasional virus, but now overseas Internet retailers may see their European profit push derailed by one of the oldest drags on business: tax.

On July 1, a new EU directive goes into effect requiring all Internet firms to account for VAT on "digital sales".

The law adds a 15 to 25 per cent levy on select Internet transactions such as software and music downloads, monthly subscriptions to an Internet service provider and on any product purchased through an online auction anywhere in the 15-member bloc of nations. Reuters

Tata Engg sale jumps 68 pc

Kolkata, June 9
Tata Engineering has recorded 67.9 per cent increase in the total sales of vehicles during May, 2003, as compared to the sales achieved during May last year.

The total number of vehicles sold during the month was 21,929, out of which domestic sales stood at 20,715, a company statement said here today.

Sales of commercial vehicles in May was 9,800, an increase of 37.3 per cent over 7,140 vehicles sold during the same period last year, it said.

Cumulative sales of commercial vehicles during the current fiscal increased by 24 per cent to 16,848 as against 13,587 number of vehicles sold during the first two months of the last fiscal. PTI

CORPORATE NEWS

Nirma net soars 25 pc

Ahmedabad, June 9
Nirma Ltd has posted a net profit of Rs 231 crore during 2002-03, up by 25 per cent from Rs 185 crore the previous year, according to a press release here today.

The company registered gross sales of Rs 2,416 crore during the last financial year, up by 6 per cent from Rs 2,276 crore the previous year. The earning per share for the year has gone up to Rs 27.12 as compared to Rs 23.27 the previous year.

The gross profit has come down marginally to Rs 515 crore from Rs 517 crore the previous year, partially due to material costs going up along with the crude oil prices.

The Board of Directors at its meeting recommended a dividend of 40 per cent, subject to approval by members of the company at its annual general meeting, as against 35 per cent in the previous year.

Meanwhile, Nirma proposes to issue redeemable preference shares totalling Rs 2.79 crore to the shareholders, besides servicing the liabilities of the division amounting to Rs 442 crore.

Subex net surges 129 pc

Subex Systems today announced a 19.23 per cent revenue growth at Rs 70.64 crore for the fiscal 2003.

Announcing the results in a release here, company President and CEO Subash Menon said products contributed to about 36.51 per cent of the revenue, as against 30 per cent reported during the last fiscal.

The company recorded a net profit of Rs 9.99 crore, which was 129 per cent more than the previous year’s net profit of Rs 4.19 crore.

JK Tyre to invest 105 cr

JK Tyre said today it would invest Rs 105 crore for capacity expansion at its radial truck tyre plant in Mysore and to increase service and tyre care centres in the next three years.

Of Rs 105 crore, Rs 75 crore would be invested in increasing production capacity while Rs 30 crore would be put in for establishing more service outlets, JK Industries Director (Technical) V.K. Misra said. UNI, PTI

ROUND-UP

Britain not ready to join euro

London, June 9
Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown was set to tell parliament today that the time was not yet right for Britain to join the euro, in a long anticipated evaluation on whether the pound should be abandoned. Mr Brown would, however, make a speech strongly in favour of Britain’s place in the European Union, according to indications from the Treasury.

He would also say that the government was in favour, in principle, of scrapping the pound. DPA

IBM unveils desktop series

New Delhi
IBM today unveiled its ‘Think’ series of desktops and monitors in the country, extending its offerings under the brand.

The company has launched three models of ThinkCentre desktop -S50, M50 and A50p, priced under Rs 50,000 with processor in the range of 2Ghz-3Ghz, Alok Ohrie, Vice-President, personal computing division, IBM India, said.

For each individual model, the company is still working out the costs. The exact price of each of the models will be known when the product hits the market in the next 10 days. PTI

Samsung to invest $ 60 m in India

New Delhi
Samsung Electronics plans to double investment in its research and development hub in India to $ 60 million by 2005 and increase manpower to 600 employees.

In Samsung India Software Operations (SISO), which was set up in 1996, the Korean parent has invested $ 30 million till date and the company at present has 400 employees.

“Given the strength of our existing competency levels and the software capability that exists in India, I expect SISO to play a leading role in contributing to Samsung’s global business,” SISO Managing Director GyuChool Kim said here. PTI

Maruti market share rises to 60 pc

New Delhi
Maruti Udyog increased its market share to an impressive 60 per cent in May this year after a spurt in sales of its entry level ‘Maruti 800’ and premium small car ‘WagonR’.

Sales of the ‘M-800’ grew by a whopping 80 per cent in May, 2003, to 16,907 units over the same month last year while ‘WagonR’ clocked a robust 132 per cent growth to 5,179 units.

The excise duty cut, revamp of Maruti sales and service network and strengthening of its non-manufacturing business areas helped the company to notch up a robust marketshare, an industry analyst said. PTI

OPEC not to shift sales from dollar

Doha
The OPEC oil cartel will not consider switching dollar-denominated oil sales to the euro, despite the fall in the value of the US currency, OPEC’s President said on Sunday.

Abdullah al-Attiyah, who is also oil minister for Qatar, said the dollar’s decline against other leading currencies like the euro and the yen had hurt OPEC revenues and helped oil importing nations. Reuters

Chinese firm to recruit only women

Hong Kong
A software company in China has launched a recruitment policy to hire only women, a news report said today.

Genersoft in Jinan, Shandong province, says women tended to be “more loyal” employees and it will no longer recruit men, the South China Morning Post said. The company’s work force is currently only 30 per cent female. DPA

IN NUTSHELL

Hero Honda Motors will invest Rs 12 crore in this fiscal for upgrading its IT systems and buying new software packages.

Chairman and chief mentor of Infosys Tech N.R. Narayana Murthy has become the first Indian to win the Ernst and young world entrepreneur of the year award.

The Bank of Baroda will open branches in the USA. The bank is also slated to start banking operations in Tanzania shortly.

ICICI Bank and IDBI Bank are now in the fray for bagging a slice of the Rs 4,600 billion government business pie.

Ranbaxy Lab has charted out a 10-year roadmap to emerge as a major research centre and make the company a global player with $ 5 billion turnover by 2012.

Sterlite Industries will be-come the first Indian metal company to have its primary listing in the UK. It will raise around $250 million. 

BIZ BRIEFS

Planman Consult
New Delhi, June 9
Planman Consulting, multi-interest consulting firm, has received the “Value Added Partner of the Year” award from Wipro Spectramind. Planman was founded by management guru Prof Arindam Chaudhuri. TNS

Hitachi plan
Mumbai, June 9
Hitachi will invest a total of $ 1,150 million globally in storage management software research and development, and acquisition and technology co-development in next three years, apart from adding 1,500 employees by 2005. PTI

BHEL wins deal
New Delhi, June 9
BHEL today announced securing the highest ever Rs 772 crore order from Indian Oil Corporation for setting up a 120 MW captive power plant at Panipat refinery. PTI

ICICI Infotech
Mumbai, June 9
ICICI Infotech Veritas Software Solutions and Hitachi Data Systems have forged a strategic alliance to offer integrated Disaster Recovery Solution to clients in India and the Asia-Pacific region. PTI

Khadi exhibition
Fatehabad, June 9
The Khadi Village Industries Board has organised a camp for the exhibition-cum sales of products manufactured by various units under it here. The exhibition, which started on June 1, will continue for another week. OC

HSBC dividend
Mumbai, June 9
HSBC Mutual Fund has declared a maiden 10 per cent dividend (Rs 1 per unit) for its open-ended equity scheme. The NAV of the equity scheme launched in November, 2002, stood at Rs 12.09 per unit as on June 6, 2003, HSBC MF said. PTI