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Maruti 800 prices slashed by
Virbhadra woos AP entrepreneurs
Hero Exports sets shop in China
FICCI condemns US quota attitude
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Shipping Corp net up
Bharti introduces seamless roaming
Nokia, Sony Ericsson unveil handsets
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Maruti 800 prices slashed by Rs 16,000
New Delhi, June 13 A press note issued by the company said that the price of the non-AC version of the car had been cut by Rs 16,286 to Rs 1.99 lakh while the air-conditioned version would now cost Rs 2.22 lakh against the earlier price of Rs 2.38 lakh. Maruti, which rode to the market leader position primarily on account of the popularity of its 800 model, has now been seeing a fall in its sales apparently due to other models being rolled out from the company’s stable. However, the company said that it was cutting the price to attract the two-wheeler buyers who could now upgrade to the car. “At Rs. 1.99 lakh, Maruti 800 (Standard) becomes even more affordable for people upgrading from a two-wheeler,” the company said. The company said the car penetration in India still remained abysmally low at about six or seven cars per 1000 persons. “The company has now announced an even more attractive price for Maruti -800 to cater to entry-level customers and to expand the market,” it added. Incidentally, the sale of the entry-level car fell 30 per cent in the financial year ended March 31, 2005, to 1,16,262 units from 1,67,561 units in the previous year. Also, in the first two months of this fiscal, the sale of the model dropped to 13,026 units, going down by 38 per cent.
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Virbhadra woos AP entrepreneurs
Hyderabad, June 13 Himachal Pradesh offered an attractive package of incentives to entrepreneurs under its own industrial policy formulated in 2004, coupled with the special package given by the Centre. Disclosing that there was more scope for investment in sectors like information technology, professional and technical education, healthcare and horticulture, Mr Virbhadra Singh said entrepreneurs from Andhra Pradesh had already invested Rs 1000 crore in the state , mostly in the power sector, he added. The Chief Minister expressed optimism about at least Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 crore investment in the state before the “window” closes on March 31, 2007.
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Hero Exports sets shop in China
Ludhiana, June 13 “We have opened our first trading office in China for exporting bicycles and bicycle components to African countries,” Hero Cycles Ltd Managing Director (International Marketing) Vijay Munjal, who also manages Hero Exports, told PTI here. The company hoped to take advantage of the “low prices of Chinese bicycles and its components,” even as several cheap Chinese goods had started flooding the Indian market. With Chinese bicycle and bicycle components costing as much as 40 per cent cheaper than Indian bicycles and parts, Hero Exports would procure certain material from the Chinese market for export to African countries like Uganda and Nigeria. “The company has a strong brand image in African countries and we wish to maintain it,” Mr Munjal said. Besides, Hero Exports plans to export its range of bicycles to European and US markets, with the aim of taking its total turnover to Rs 270 crore by the end of this fiscal. Besides focusing on bicycle exports, Hero Exports, which is recognised by the Indian Government as a trading house, would also concentrate on export of non-Hero group products like foodgrains, iron ore, auto parts, hospital equipment and steel. The company had identified Europe, the USA, Africa and West Asian countries as potential export markets for these commodities from the exports of which the company hoped to achieve a turnover of Rs 100 crore this fiscal. — PTI
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FICCI condemns US quota attitude
New Delhi, June 13 Criticising the revised offers, FICCI said the US has retained restrictions like quotas, labour conditions, requirement of licensing in each US state and narrow definition of ‘speciality occupation’ for Mode- 4 (movement of natural persons) supply of services. The industrial chamber has lamented that one of the fundamental problems in the US revised offer is that it has continued with a narrow definition of speciality occupation lacking clarity. “As per its commitments in the WTO, the US provides market access under Mode- 4 only to persons engaged in speciality occupation. And under US code it means an occupation that requires theoretical and practical application of a body of a highly specialised knowledge and attainment of a bachelor’s or higher degree in the specific speciality.” FICCI said both the terms that is highly specialised knowledge and higher degree are not clearly specified and leave much room for interpretation. Further, the US has retained a quota limit of 65,000 persons annually on worldwide basis for entry of foreign professionals. India has pressed for removal of numerical limit on the entry of professionals and they should be allowed to provide services as per the prevailing demand conditions in the US market. Otherwise, it pointed out that US needs to give commitment for a higher limit under WTO so that the market access for professionals became more predictable. Currently, the US annually changes its limit or quota for the entry of foreign professionals. FICCI said the US has retained labour market conditions like wage-parity, and displacement.
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Villagers say no to Coke in Kerala
Palakkad (Kerala), June 13 Despite several attempts to reach Coke officials, none was available for comments. Reports indicate the company is now set to return to the court for redressal. Work at the Coca-Cola bottling unit in Plaachimada, which began operations in March, 2000, was stopped on March 9 last year following protests by locals who alleged the company was overdrawing on water resources. Meanwhile Coca-Cola, which since its creation in 1886, has been the world’s biggest and most valuable brand for decades, is now losing its brand value, according to a study conducted by the Forbes magazine. The magazine has said that Coca-Cola is fast losing its ranking to other brands like IPOd creator Apple, search engine Google and Hollywood film studio, Pixar. According to it, competition from healthier substitutes to aerated drinks notwithstanding, Coca-Cola is facing a massive onslaught from a host of Internet, technology and entertainment companies who spend much more on advertising, adding that with changing times, the brand image of Coca-Cola has also got changed. — Agencies
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Shipping Corp net up
Mumbai, June 13 Announcing the results, the company said its total income rose from Rs 849.88 crore in Q4-04 to Rs 958.00 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2005. It has posted a net profit after tax of Rs 1,419.91 crore for the year ended March 31, 2005. The Board of Directors has recommended a final dividend of 30 per cent for the financial year 2004-05.
— UNI
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Bharti introduces seamless roaming
New Delhi, June 13 Over 11.80 million Airtel customers would be able to enjoy seamless mobile service while roaming overseas. They will avail the benefits of Bridge roaming, Bridge prepaid, Bridge enterprise and Bridge concierge services in seven international markets on the alliance members’ network. These services have been launched simultaneously in eight countries and 64 million mobile users in Asia-Pacific will benefit from them, a Bharti press note said here. Bridge Mobile Alliance includes Globe Telecom (Philippines), Maxis (Malaysia), SingTel Mobile (Singapore), SingTel Optus (Australia), Taiwan Mobile (Taiwan), Telkomsel (Indonesia) and CSL (Hong Kong).
— PTI
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Nokia, Sony Ericsson unveil handsets
Helsinki, June 13 Five of the models, in the 6000 series — dubbed “simple pleasures” by the Finnish company because of their easy-to-use qualities — come with estimated price tags of $ 170 to $ 460 at the top of the range. Prices were not given for two, more basic, new models in the Nokia 2000 series. Some of the new handsets, which use 3G, or third-generation technology that enables increasingly faster connections to the Internet, also have video sharing properties, FM radio and digital sound formats like the popular MP3. All seven models will be available globally in the second half of this year, Nokia said. Based in Espoo just outside the Finnish capital, Nokia has sales in 130 countries and about 55,500 employees. In Stockholm Sony Ericsson unveiled four new mobile phones today, from a basic handset with text and calling options to a more advanced phone with third-generation technology allowing downloading of music and games and videoconferencing. The K608 is a lightweight 3G handset with a camera, FM radio and digital music player. The other phones, using the GSM standard, were geared toward younger, fashion-conscious users, including the J210 with basic voice and messaging features. Sony Ericsson is a joint venture between Japan’s Sony Corp. and LM Ericsson of Sweden. — AP
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