Page 80 - Companies

GM launches LPG run Chevrolet Spark

General Motors India launched the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) version of its popular small car Chevrolet Spark at Mumbai on Tuesday. The version is GM India's first clean-burning liquefied natural gas car in India, built at company's plant at Talegaon in Maharashtra. Apart from the eco-friendly aspects on account of lesser emission, the car also boasts of low running cost while retaining its inherent features of well-equipped small hatchback.

Audi launches its new SUV, Q5 in India

Audi, a German luxury car manufacturer, on Thursday launched its new SUV Audi Q5 in Mumbai, following the success of Audi Q7. The Audi Q5 combines a sports sedan with a Quattro permanent all-wheel drive and has two engine options 2.0 TFSI and 3.0 TDI. The Audi Q5 range starts at 38.29 lakh rupees for the 2.0 TFSI and Rs 44.19 lakh for the 3.0 TDI and will be offered in six colours namely stratos blue, garnet red, ice silver, meteor grey, phantom black and ibis white.

Multiplex row with producers comes to end

Cine lovers can now watch their favourite Hindi movies in multiplexes as the long-standing row between them and Bollywood producers over revenue sharing came to end on Thursday. Both the parties reached a consensus over the rationalisation of revenue sharing for forthcoming films after about four months of negotiations.

Normal operations for GM India

President and Managing Director of General Motors India, Karl Slym, on Tuesday said that it would continue all its normal operations in the country, as it was not included in the court reinvention process of GM's United State's operations. He said that GM India operations are not included in the US filing for Chapter 11, while maintaining that their business is unharmed in the country.

Tata Motors net falls 51%

India's automobile major Tata Motors Ltd reported a smaller-than-expected 50.7 percent drop in the annual profit while sales picked up in the March quarter and raw material prices fell. Addressing the media persons in Mumbai on friday, C Ramakrishnan, Chief Financial Officer of Tata Motors mentioned that exports of the company had dropped by around 38 percent.

Tata launches 'World Truck'

Ratan Tata, the chairman of Tata Motors, India's leading automobile manufacturer, on Friday launched a new line of trucks, named 'World Truck' with an aim to bring international standard top quality trucks in the Indian market. A unique feature about these trucks is that they are air conditioned and a sleeper bed is available behind the driver's seat.

Bollywood welcomes animation industry

The burgeoning animation industry in India has found a potential market in the form of Bollywood as more and more movies have started using visual effects. The industry is cost effective so is attracting moviemakers to go for it .Major Bollywood directors like Mohit Suri opine that animation has provided producers a virtual way to create scenes that are impossible in reality. Suri's production company is using animation for creating flood scenes in one of their forthcoming movie.

Airtel expects to add another 100 mn users

India's top mobile operator, Bharti Airtel Ltd, expects to add another 100 million users to its kitty in the coming years, chairman Sunil Mittal told a news conference in national capital New Delhi on Friday.Notably, 60 percent of the company's subscriber base is in the rural areas, which was once considered unviable. India has second-largest telecom user base in the world with 429.72 million telecom subscribers, both in the wireless and mobile segments.

Maruti launches Ritz

The country's automobile major, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, on Friday launched its premium hatchback, Ritz, as it battles to boost sales in a segment that is set to see greater competition. Maruti, which sells one of every two cars sold in India, expects to get a ""good response" for the new car, Managing Director and CEO Shinzo Nakanishi told reporters, but he declined to give sales forecast.

Obama's bangalore- buffalo remark

Undaunted by US President Barack Obama's Bangalore-Buffalo remark, the domestic IT industry on Wednesday said the comments had nothing to do with India. It is an instance of Obama's views being misinterpreted, said Som Mittal, President of Nasscom, India's apex body for the IT sector

Tata group launches low-cost housing programme

India's Tata Group on Wednesday launched a low-cost housing project near Mumbai, joining a spate of Indian developers that have moved to the affordable housing segment, as demand dries up for more expensive homes. Tata Housing Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Brotin Banerjee said that there is a huge shortage at the bottom end of the housing market.

Maytas in need of fund

Cash-strapped Indian builder Maytas Infra Ltd is negotiating with its 17 lenders, including State Bank of India (SBI). The board was expected to pursue 5 billion rupees in receivables from customers as part of a mandate to revive the company that has seen orders being cancelled and customers worrying over the company's credibility.

India plans to raise output of Swine flu drug

An Indian pharmaceutical company in Hyderabad claims that it can revamp the production of antiviral drugs, which can tackle the swine flu as the World Health Organisation warned of an imminent pandemic. Hyderabad-based Hetero Drugs, the only supplier in India licensed by Swiss-based Roche, could ramp up production to reach monthly capacity of about 80 million doses of 'oseltamivir or Fluvir', used to treat swine flu cases, within weeks.

Bharti sees operating margin sustainable

India's top mobile operator, Bharti Airtel¿s director Akhil Gupta told reporters on Wednesday that Bharti Airtel sees its current operating margin as sustainable. Bharti, which announced its March quarter results earlier, recorded an operating margin of 40.7 percent in the March quarter.

Petronet LNG's growth strategy

Petronet LNG, which accounts for over a quarter of the country¿s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, saw its sales jump over 28 per cent last year (2008-09) to cross the Rs 8,000 crore mark on the back of forex gains. Net profit for the year was up just 9.43 per cent at Rs 518 crore. The company also declared a dividend of Rs 1.75 per share. Petronet expects to double its sales this year as new capacity comes online, P Dasgupta, Petronet¿s managing director and CEO, tells Ajay Modi, dismissing the technical problems being faced in the expansion as ¿hiccups.¿

LG on consumer insight products

Betting big on the demand for products based on consumer insights, Korean cheabol LG hopes to rake in Rs 1000 crore from the products category in 2009. Dubbed as Indian Insight Products by LG, the concept is based on a consumer lifestyle research conducted by LG Electronics, based on which LG India has launched a slew of customised products for the Indian consumer.

Wipro posts encouraging results

Wipro Limited India's major IT outsourcing company, beats all expectations with a four percent rise in profit and consequently boosts its shares, to a six-month high. Announcing the company's periodical results on Wednesday for the fourth quarter ending on March 31, Azim Premji, Chairman of Wipro, did forecast a strong and challenging year in the IT services sector.

Tech Mahindra wins Satyam bid

Indian mid-sized IT outsourcer Tech Mahindra on Monday won an auction to buy Satyam Computer Services Limited, the company at the heart of India's biggest corporate scandal. Chairman of the government appointed board of Satyam Computer Services, Kiran Karnik felt relieved after the auction.

Lara Dutta launches Aircel GSM service

Joining the bandwagon of bollywood biggies endorsing mobile connections, is our Bollywood hottie Lara Dutta. Dutta recently graced the Tajlands End hotel in Mumbai with her presence when she officially launched Aircel¿s GSM service there.

Bollywood call 'cut' on multiplex releases

The standoff between Bollywood producers and multiplex owners continued on Tuesday. Bollywood producers insisting on a greater share of box-office revenues are refusing to release new movies in multiplexes, piling on woes in an industry that is already battling a slowdown. Producers in the world's most prolific movie industry are demanding a 50 percent share in box-office revenues, with multiplex owners favouring a performance-linked model based on a film's budget and star power.