The board also approved in principle the merger of Hinduja Finance with Ashok Leyland Information Technology (ALIT), a Bangalore-based IT company with 200 professionals and offices in Europe and USA. ALIT is the largest business partner for BaaN in India for ERP solutions and also has a strategic partnership with IBM.

IN2CABLE.COM will deliver Internet services on cable using the cable network of group company IndusInd Media & Communications' IN Cablenet. The company has a category `A' national ISP licence. Delivery on cable TV has already commenced on a trial basis in a western suburb of Mumbai and paid services are expected to begin in February. Formal trials are due to start in Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad soon, the company said. The new service will also include a portal that takes advantage of the high bandwidth available. Said Hinduja Finance president RC Khanduri: "We are geared to provide this service due to our technology access and we expect to deliver superior cable and dial-up services at competitive prices."

Meanwhile, the Hinduja Finance board has announced a net profit of Rs 9.56 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 1999, compared to a loss of Rs 9.88 crore in the corresponding period last year.

For the half-year ended December 31, 1999, the company posted a net profit of Rs 12.21 crore, against a loss of Rs 9.26 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. Total income in the quarter ended December 31, 1999, was Rs 10.35 crore, against a negative income of Rs 7.53 crore. For the half-year ended December 31, 1999, total income stood at Rs 13.69 crore, compared to a fall in income of Rs 4.33 crore.

Interest outgo has come down significantly. While it stood at Rs 40.30 lakh in the quarter ended December 31, 1999, it was at Rs 1.17 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. The half-year period for 1999 was Rs 65.56 lakh, as against Rs 1.96 crore.