ONGC affirms commitment on picking up stake in Bharat Oman Refinery
The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has reiterated its willingness to pick up a stake in the 6 million tonne Bharat Oman Refinery being jointly promoted by Bharat Petroleum Corporation and the Oman Oil Company. The Rs 7,513 crore facility is scheduled to be commissioned in Bina, Madhya Pradesh by 2001-02. BPCL and the Oman Oil Company will both hold a 26% stake in the project. A decision on ONGC's final stake will be taken by the two promoters shortly.
Gujarat Ambuja registers 70% surge in exports
Even as ACC faced a major reversal on the export front, Gujarat Ambuja clocked a 70% growth in exports year-on-year to emerge as the largest cement exporter during the first nine months of the current fiscal. The company's total cement exports almost doubled during the period with sales doubling to over 2 million tonnes, from 1.16 tonnes last year.
Timken to hike stake in domestic joint venture
The Timken Company of USA is planning to increase its stake in its Indian joint venture company Tata Timken Ltd from the existing 40% to 51%. Talks between Timken and its partners, the Tatas, are reportedly at an advanced stage. Tata Timken is a joint venture between Timken company and Tata Steel with both partners having a 40% stake in the company.
German firm pips SAIL to post for boiler-plates bid
The Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has lost out on orders for boiler quality plates in global tenders floated by public sector corporations Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd and Indian Oil Corporation. SAIL reportedly was unable to meet the needs of the public sector engineering and petroleum giants. The orders have, as a consequence, gone to the German major, Preussag Handel.
IBM expects slower growth in Asia
International Business Machines Corp (IBM) expects Asia's economic crisis to cut the company's growth rate in the region this year. IBM officials claimed that IBM's information technology (IT) group would, however, continue to invest in Asia, focussing on electronic commerce and marketing on the Internet.
Goodyear sees sales at $23 billion in five years
Tyremaker Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co said that new technologies to make manufacturing more efficient and tires more durable will enable it to almost double its size in five years. The company said that the new technologies will cut production cycles by 70%, increase worker productivity by 135%, and reduce labour input by 35%. It said it aimed to generate $20 billion to $23 billion in sales within five years as a result.
