November 16: The world's largest car manufacturer, General Motors, is keen on investing in the lucrative telecom sector than the competitive car market, its chairman John F Smith Jr said. The Rs 40,000-crore domestic auto market falls only in the third place in the list of investment priority for the $168-billion company, behind telecom and automotive component sectors, Smith said. "Telecom is definitely the better bet right now than the automobile market. Telecom requires larger investments and we are even prepared to invest a billion dollars by 2000".

BHEL develops new steam turbine: Public sector Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd (BHEL) has successfully developed a new steam turbine for 100 to 150 mega watt (MW) utility steam turbo generator sets in thermal power stations. The turbine, which replaces the existing three-cylinder HMN series design with two-cylinder KN series, reduces erection time by over 20 per cent and commissioning time to 28 months, compared with 36 months. The corporation has already received commercial order of Rs 700 crore for these combined turbines.

Joint venture opportunities with South Africa: Immense untapped potential exists for joint collaboration between India and South Africa in the field of agriculture and auto components, trade mission leader of Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry from South Africa, Gordon Griffiths, said. Since India is importing considerable amount of auto components at present, it needs to take advantage of South Africa's various investment schemes to promote joint venture collaborations for all labour intensive industries.

Air Traffic Controllers to intensify agitation:

The Air Traffic Controllers Guild on Sunday threatened to intensify their nationwide `go-slow' agitation and said they would stop work for four hours every day from November 21. Demanding better perks and working conditions, the guild said the stoppage of work on four slots of one hour each will affect only the flight departures without disrupting the arrivals and over-flying flights.

AI board to meet in Delhi: The Air India board will meet in Delhi on November 19 to review its financial position and raising of Rs 150 crore as working capital and reconsider the sale of an aircraft, which has been turned down by civil aviation minister CM Ibrahim. The airline had recorded a loss of Rs 61 crore in the first six months this year, compared with about Rs 140 crore last year, even as it has taken steps, like cost cutting, raising of fares and a revenue-driven schedule, to improve its yields and cutting down its losses.

AAI places height restriction on Hotel Leelaventure: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has denied permission to Hotel Leelaventure Ltd to expand its hotel project near the Sahar terminal of Mumbai Airport beyond a height of 50 ft as it has decided to impose height restrictions in the airport area. The AAI board, which met in Delhi last week, while approving the hotel project, said the airport "by-laws must be strictly adhered to". The board also shortlisted four foreign firms for opening duty free shops.

Konkan Railway project nears completion: The much-awaited 760-km-long broad-gauge Konkan Railway project is nearing completion and officials are hopeful of opening it for through passenger traffic by January next. Railway board sources said only about 30 metres of the 1,543-km Pernem tunnel in the Goa section remained to be covered and the Konkan Railway would be ready for commissioning by middle of December.

Alembic Chemical in talks with Mexican firm for marketing pact: The Vadodara-based Alembic Chemical Works Co Ltd is in talks with Mexican multinational Bioquimex for a marketing alliance in herbal veterinary products. Bioquimex figures among the world's leading players in the natural pigments market (used in poultry feed) with a market share of about 40 per cent. Industry sources said the alliance with the $2-billion Mexican giant is subject to Alembic getting registration clearances for its herbal products expected to be covered under the arrangement.

Multinational personal computer companies gain strength: Various multinational personal computer (PC) manufacturers have substantially increased their market share in the fiercely competitive PC market at the cost of leading domestic companies, according to the findings of a just-conluded survey.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.