Page 84 - Companies

Mercedes Benz enters India

German auto major Mercedes Benz recently entered the bus segment in India with the launch of its Mercedes-Benz intercity luxury coach. The company will in time introduce more products in this segment and hopes to have a good presence in the segment. The Company has tied up with Jalandhar based Sutlej Motors for building the bus bodies, while assembly would be done at its Pimpri plant. But by January its production will move to the new facility at Chakan.

Ratan Tata's assurance

Tata Motor¿s chairman Ratan Tata on Thursday assured people of the timely arrival of Tata¿s super cheap car Nano. He said that Tata Motors Limited will do everything it can to roll out Nano as close to the planned October launch as possible, even as work at its factory at Singur in the state has been stopped. The controversy over the factory has hurt West Bengal's image as an investment destination.

GM to invest $200 mn in engine facility

Auto major General Motors will invest $200 million in a new engine facility to be set up in Talegaon in Maharashtra, said the company today. The company already has a vehicle manufacturing facility there in which it has invested $300 million. The engine plant will have an annual capacity of 1.6 lakh engines which could be expanded to 3 lakh engines per annum, the company said.

Safari-Sumo crossover to be born

After unveiling the next generation Indica, Tata Motors is planning to roll out the next generation variant of Indigo and a new crossover vehicle between the Safari and Sumo. Senior officials at Tata Motors have said that they would be unveiling the crossover Safari and Sumo, which was displayed at the Auto Expo two years back. This will be followed by the next generation Indigo, probably on the same platform as the Indica.

Idea launches operations in Mumbai

Aditya Birla group mobile telephone operator Idea Cellular today launched operations in Mumbai circle, making its foray into the most lucrative telecom circle in the country. The GSM service provider intends to invest around Rs 800 crore during the current financial year for its operations.

Tata ropes Tesco for retail venture

After negotiations with many Indian corporate Houses, Tesco, the UK¿s largest retailer is entering India with a wholesale cash-and-carry business. At the same time, Tesco is also partnering with giant Indian conglomerate Tata Group for retail business in India. Its new wholesale business will supply merchandise to Tata's retail arm, Trent, for its Star Bazaar hypermarkets.

Consolidation in the real estate industry

Consolidation in Real Industry: Sharavan Gupta, MD, Emmar MGF

M&M enters two-wheeler Ind

Auto major, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), is set to foray into the two wheeler-business with the company today announcing the acquisition of well-known two-wheeler brand, Kinetic Motors. M&M will form a new company--Mahindra Kinetic Scooters & Motorcycles Ltd--which would execute the acquistion of Kinetic by purchasing 'all operating assets of the company', M&M's Chief Financial Officer, Bharat Doshi, told reporters here.

Honda launches Civic Hybrid

Now it's the turn of car makers to join the eco-friends BandwagonAnd Honda is leading the way in India. Honda Siel Cars India launched India's first hybrid car, the Civic Hybrid in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Daiichi buys Ranbaxy

The Indian promoters of Ranbaxy, the Singh family, have agreed to sell their stake to Daiichi Sankyo Company Ltd of Japan in one of the largest deals in the Indian pharmaceutical space. The all-cash deal is valued at $4.6 bn (Rs 19,780 crore) which will see Daiichi acquiring 51% in Ranbaxy, India's largest domestic drug company, at Rs 737 a share, a 53.5 per cent premium to the average daily closing price on the National Stock Exchange for three months ending June 10, 2008, and 31.4 per cent to the June 10 closing price.

Q&A: Mike Glover, Lafarge

A day after French cement major Lafarge pipped the worlds largest cement maker Holcim to clinch the L&T Concrete deal for Rs 1,480 crore, Mike Glover, managing director and country head of Lafarge Aggregates & Concrete India, spoke to Chandan Kishore Kant on the future prospects of the company in the country.

Honda launches Accord

Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI) President and CEO Masahiro Takedagawa, in an interview with Swaraj Baggonkar, shares the companys India strategy, including the launch of hybrid technology (a first on Indian roads), small cars and outlook on diesel technology, an area where the company is losing ground to other auto majors. The company launched its 8th generation Accord today in Mumbai.

Marriott plans 32 hotels

JW Marriott International is planning to set up 32 hotels in India by 2011. Ed Fuller, president, Marriott International, said the plans is to open 10 Courtyards in the country by that time.

Reliance Globalcom launched

Reliance Communications (RCom) is bringing all its international telecom operations under an umbrella brand Reliance Globalcom. The company is planning to invest over $2 billion by the financial year 2009 in Reliance Globalcom.

NYSE Group takes stake in MCX

NYSE Euronext, the world's leading and most diverse financial market group, has signed a binding term sheet to acquire a 5% equity position in Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX).Closing of the transaction is expected to take place during the first half of 2008, subject to all relevant regulatory approvals.

Reliance Power lists on BSE

Reliance Power, subsidairy of Reliance Energy, today listed at Rs 548 - a premium of 27.4% to its issue price of Rs 450 - on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

ArcelorMittal arm in metal JV

ArcelorMittal Stainless and Nickel Alloys, Auerhammer Metallwerk Gmbh and Shivalik Bimetals today joined hands to set up a joint venture company, which would set up a metal cladding unit at an estimated cost of Rs 50 crore.

Piaggio chief on biz cycles

Roberto Colaninno, chairman and CEO, Piaggio Group, announced plans to expand operations in India and Asia-Pacific.

Dow Jones Dharma Indexes

After Shari'ah-based indices, which tracks stocks that comply with Islamic investment norms, here come indexes for Hindu and Buddhist investors. Global index provider Dow Jones Indexes and Dharma Investments, a private investment firm, on Tuesday announced the launch of the Dow Jones Dharma Indexes measuring the performance of companies selected according to the value systems and principles of dharmic religions, especially Hinduism and Buddhism.

Grameen Cap India launched

Grameen Capital India (GCI), a first-of-its-kind company, was launched in Mumbai today. Grameen Capital is a collaboration between US-based Grameen Foundation, IFMR Trust and Citicorp Finance India.