Mumbai, June 23
The benchmark Sensex today slipped about 74 points to end at nearly three-week low of 25,031.32 as shares of index heavyweight ITC tanked on fear of hike in excise duty on cigarettes, amid caution over rising crude prices on unabated violence in strife-torn Iraq.

Extending losses for the fourth straight session, the barometer also struggled as inflation woes, sluggish monsoon and hike in railway freight weighed in on sentiment.

The BSE 30-share barometer resumed stable and immediately touched a high of 25,197.50. Later, it fell back sharply below 25K-mark at 24,878.66 before recovering some ground to settle at 25,031.32, a net fall of 74.19 points or 0.30%.

The gauge has now lost over 489 points in four sessions. Today's closing value is its lowest since 25,019.51 on June 5.

The 50-issue CNX Nifty of the NSE also eased by 18.10 points, or 0.24%, to end below 7,500-mark at 7,493.35.

Fast Moving Consumer Giant (FMCG) major ITC was the top loser from the Sensex pack with a fall of 6.50% - its biggest daily fall since last September - on reports there is a proposal to hike excise duty on cigarettes of all lengths. ITC alone dragged down Sensex by 135.44 points today.

IT stocks led by Infosys also met with profit-booking ahead of the expiry of June contract on Thursday, say dealers.

Oil prices edged higher in Asia on continued violence in Iraq, but gains were capped. The West Texas Intermediate contract was up 39 cents to $107.22, while Brent crude gained 39 cents to $115.20 in afternoon trade.

Overall, domestic market breadth was positive as second-line stocks attracted good interest from retail investors. As a result, S&P BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices closed with gains, outperforming the Sensex and Nifty.

Sugar stocks clocked gains of up to 11% after government decided to provide additional interest-free loan of up to Rs 4,400 crore to sugar mills and hike import duty.

"It was in the last half an hour session that some recovery was seen, taking the Nifty near 7,500 level. Sensex too managed to close at 25,000 level," said Nidhi Saraswat, senior research analyst, Bonanza Portfolio. — PTI

Ahmedabad, June 23
Global skin care giant Nivea today announced to set up its first-ever manufacturing plant in India at Sanand near here.

Apart from the manufacturing facility, Nivea India, an affiliate of Germany-based Beiersdorf AG, will also set up its R&D centre at the Sanand-based factory, which will focus on innovations for Indian consumers as well as other markets, said managing director of Nivea India, Rakshit Hargave, here today during the ground-breaking ceremony of the factory.

"The GIDC (Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation) alloted us 72,000 sq metres of land at Sanand to set up our first manufacturing unit as well as R&D centre in India. The plant will be operational by March 31, 2015 with the initial production capacity of more than 50 million units of skin and personal care products," said Hargave.

He, however, did not share the quantum of investment for the plant.

Hargave was accompanied by several top executives of Beiersdorf AG, including chairman and supervisory Board of Beiersdorf AG Reinhard Pollath and executive Board member Stefan De Loecker.

On the question why they selected Gujarat for their first plant in India, Loecker said the state provides favourable environment to grow.

The factory will also include a R&D centre which will focus on innovations especially for Indian consumer needs and and other markets, the company said. — PTI

OPPO Mobile, a global technology brand with presence across North America, Europe and Asia, entered the Indian mobile market earlier this year. The company is trying to slowly and steadily build its sales and service network in India to reach out to customers with its range of 3G and 4G-enabled smartphones. Tom Lu, CEO, OPPO Mobile India, talks about the company’s future plans.

Q. How do you look at the Indian smartphone market?

A. As you are aware, India is poised to emerge as the third largest smartphone market in the world by 2017, with a major proportion of the buyers being new users. Our range of smartphones, which includes N1 — our flagship device, R1, Find5 Mini, Neo, Joy, Yoyo and our latest introduction Find 7, are positioned to bring value and experience to our buyers. We are targeting to open 200 service centres this year to ensure better service for our customers. Our products have a far lower repair rate as compared to the industry average.

Q. How many mobile devices are you looking to launch this year?

A. At present, OPPO has six models available in the Indian market since our entry into the market in February. We are targeting a mix of at least 10 products that cover the price range from below Rs 10,000 to around Rs 40,000 this year.

Q. How is your brand different from other Chinese brands?

A. At OPPO, we are committed to designing beautiful technology products with an open attitude. We aim to fuse technology and affection in all our products, and therefore OPPO has been relentless in the pursuit of the latest technology, the highest hardware quality standards and to delivering the element of positive surprise. I believe it’s this attitude that sets us apart.

Other than this, we have a whole control of the complete process from design to R&D, from sourcing the best customised parts to manufacturing, from distribution to marketing them around the world.

Besides, OPPO is never a brand to seek quick profit. We believe it takes time to connect with customers before we could improve their lives with smart technologies and our products. We hope to have our root in India and become a part of Indian citizens’ daily lives. With this in mind, we are able to focus on customer satisfaction and feedback instead of a quick market success.

Q. What is your distribution strategy for the Indian market?

A. As of now, OPPO Mobile currently retails in 12 major cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Kolkata, Pune and Lucknow. We will target a mix of multi-brand retail and channel partners, small format stores and self-branded stores for the network expansion drive. Our target is to have 5,000 sales points within this year in India.

Q. How is N1 doing in the Indian market? Don’t you feel that the phone is slightly over priced?

A. Our flagship device OPPO N1 has got phenomenal reviews not only in India but across the globe. The OPPO N1 sports a stunning 5.9-inch full HD IPS capacitive touchscreen and is configured with its reputable Color OS (the first version has over 2,000 improvements compared with the stock android, for this we collected over 30,000 pieces of advice from over 20,000 customers) for handling software requirements and processing daily routines way more convenient .

The cutting-edge design, like the first 13MP rotating camera and the first well-integrated back touch panel O-Touch in the world, as well as the functional O-Click which creates tonnes of possibilities, speak for themselves. In fact, since its presence in the market, N1 has won numerous awards globally.

Q. You recently launched the premium Find 7 and Find 7 A devices. How are they different from each other?

A. Find 7A is a power packed smartphone but the major difference is in display where Find 7 has a Quad HD 538 ppi and Find 7A has a Full HD 403ppi display. Find 7 is on a slightly higher end of specifications in areas of processor, RAM and battery capacity.

New Delhi, June 23
French power equipment maker Alstom has approved $17 billion offer made by General Electric to acquire its global power business after deliberating on two more such proposals made by Siemens and Mitsubishi.

The Board of Directors of Alstom received, on June 20, an update to the offer from General Electric (GE) to acquire the power and grid businesses of Alstom. It also received a revised proposal from Siemens and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

"Based on the works of the committee and financial and legal advisors, the Board of Directors has unanimously decided to issue a positive recommendation of the offer from GE," Alstom said.

Alstom received a binding offer from GE to acquire its energy activities. The proposed price is a fixed one representing an equity value of euro 12.35 billion or $17 billion.

The scope of the proposed GE transaction includes the thermal power, renewable power and grid sectors, as well as corporate and shared services. Proceeds from the sale will be used mainly to expand Alstom's transport business.

Under the terms of the updated offer, following completion of the Energy Transaction, Alstom and GE would establish joint ventures in Grid and Renewable Power, the company said. — PTI

Tokyo, June 23
Japanese automakers today recalled nearly three million vehicles worldwide over an airbag defect that could pose a fire risk.

Honda said it recalled about 20,33,000 vehicles which were produced between August 2000 and December 2005, including more than one million in North America and 6,68,000 in Japan.

Two other automakers —Mazda and Nissan — also recalled hundreds of thousands of vehicles over the same problem, which was also responsible for earlier recalls by Toyota.

Japan's Takata Corp, which made the airbag, noted its US subsidiary had manufactured the airbag, apologising for the problem and vowing to make its utmost efforts to prevent a recurrence.

Nissan recalled a combined 7,55,000 vehicles, including 1,28,000 in Japan and 6,27,000 overseas.

A Mazda spokeswoman said: "The recall will cover 11,832 vehicles at home and 147,975 units overseas, mainly in Europe and China."

Subject to Honda's recall are a total of 13 types of vehicles in Japan including popular Fit and Accord models. Front passenger airbag inflators could have been assembled with an improperly manufactured propellant component, Japan's third largest automaker said. — AFP

New Delhi, June 23
Vodafone India has doubled its mobile internet rates for 2G and 3G customers across the country, and it is being implemented in a phased manner.

The new rates for pay-as-you-go (PAYG) pre-paid and post paid users are 4 paisa per 10 KB, as compared to 2 paisa per 10 KB charged earlier.

The company had in November last year reduced the rates by up to 80 per cent to 2 paisa per 10 KB, from 10 paisa per 10 KB.

A Vodafone spokesperson said: "Vodafone following its price change in November 2013 has revised its mobile Internet charges for Pay as Go (PAYG) users.

He added that this change is applicable across all circles but is being rolled out in a phased manner. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Tata gets doctorate from York University
Toronto: Former Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata has been conferred with honorary doctor of laws degree by Canada's York University for his achievements in promoting innovations, exemplary leadership and corporate social responsibility. The honour was conferred upon him at the 2014 spring convocation of York University's Schulich School of Business on Friday. — PTI

Airtel likely to be world's 3rd largest telco soon
New Delhi: Airtel on Monday said it is likely to become the world's third largest telecom operator soon, after China Mobile and UK-based Vodafone. "We are very close. It is a matter of one or two million (subscribers). Maybe, by next few weeks or months, we should be there," Bharti Enterprises MD Manoj Kohli said. — PTI

Airtel buys Loop Mobile’s operations in Mumbai
New Delhi: Bharti Airtel has signed a definitive agreement with Loop Mobile to acquire the latter's operations in Mumbai. The company had in February announced that it would buy the business and assets of Loop Mobile in Mumbai under a strategic agreement. — PTI

DoD meets merchant bankers for SAIL stake sale
New Delhi: Kick starting the process of 5% stake sale in SAIL, the Disinvestment Department (DoD) on Monday held meeting with merchant bankers and steel ministry officials to move ahead with it. The sale of 5% stake at the current market price would fetch the exchequer about Rs 1,900 crore. — PTI

Tatas aim to build aircraft for Ruag Aviation
Hyderabad: The Tata Group on Monday said it aims to bring out a fully built aircraft for Ruag Aviation — makers of Dornier 228 new generation aircraft, parts of which are to be made in India by TASL. Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) held ground-breaking ceremony here for manufacturing Dornier 228 fuselage and wings. — PTI