FIPB shoots down Merwanjee stake sale

FIPB has rejected Udayan Bose's proposal to sell 51 per cent stake in Merwanjee Forex Pvt Ltd to the Dutch company UN Holdings BV. The decision could deepen Bose's financial problems, sources said. Bose had struck a deal with UN Holdings to divest his 51 per cent equity in Merwanjee Forex at a price of Rs 15 per share.

Mico-Bosch plans fuel injunction unit: The $33-billion Mico-Bosch of Germany has proposed to set up a Rs 250-crore project at Sitapura here for the manufacture of fuel injection pumps. These pumps could be used with both petrol and diesel. Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation sources said that the pumps would meet the new emission norms.

Sick firms post Rs 23,000-cr loss: Industrial sickness in the country has resulted in an accumulated loss of over Rs 23,000 crore during 1987-1996, apart from keeping the fate of about 12 lakh workers in uncertainity, according to the performance review, 1996 of the BIFR. Cumulative losses of the 1,447 sick companies registered with it added up to Rs 23,793 crore against the total net worth of Rs 8,981 crore up to December, 1996.

Sony may break even by 2000: Sony India, subsidiary of consumer electronics giant Sony Corporation, will bring new products through the year and hopes to break even in three years, managing director Yoshio Kubo said. The strategy will be to try and indigenise costly components and penetrate into the middle and lower middle class segments.

VISL to focus on high-quality alloy steel:The SAIL-owned Visveswaraya Iron and Steel, Bhadravathi, would give top priority to production of high-quality alloy steel and to quickly process customer's orders with satsifactory service, general manager GK Sinha said. VISL was giving priority to the production of 130-mm-size stainless steel, which fetched more revenue.

K Dhandapani pays 20per cent: K Dhandapani & Co Ltd has achieved a turnover of Rs 40.04 crore for 1996-97, marginally up by 8 per cent against previous year. After charging interest of Rs 139 lakh, depreciation Rs 51 lakh and making a provision of Rs 29 lakh for tax, the net profit of the company stood at Rs 139 lakh. The board has recommended a dividend at 20 per cent.

TVSE to hive off marketing unit : The Chennai-based TVS Electronics has decided to spin off its manufacturing and service departments into two separate group companies structured along product lines. TVSE's product range will now be marketed by Sundram Infosel and Indmark Infocom.

JT Mobile package for Bangalore: JT Mobile, the cellular service provider for Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, will offer more value-added packages to its customers in Bangalore. The company has started providing fax and data services which are at present available in the metros only. Other facilities will be voice mail and short messages facility, which will be launched in August.

Foreign players head for Sipcot park: Several foreign companies from UK, US, Korea, France and Japan have approached the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu for allotment of land at Irrungattukottai industrial park area where the Korean auto major Hyundai is putting up its car project. Sipcot has acquired around 1,115 acres of land at Irungattukottai and allotted 540 acres of land for the Hyundai car project.

Tiktok Industrial, UK firm sign pact: Tiktok Industrial Consultants has signed an MoU with UK-based Global Consulting. The consultant firm is a part of the Tiktok group, involved in marketing Tiktok and other brands of tissue papers, said managing director Harshad Bhayani. He said the MoU was signed by Uday Kumar Dholakia of Global Consulting.

Prime Minister urged to take initiative on Iisco: Union steel ministry has requested prime minister IK Gujral to take up with his Russian counterpart the allowing of Russian steel giant `Tyazpromexport' to use rupee-rouble fund for investing in Iisco's modernisation.

Anti-Sterlite stir in Tuticorin: Tuticorin town on Thursday observed a bandh in response to the call given by the Anti-Sterlite Movement demanding permanent closure of the Sterlite plant here.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.