United Phosphorus plans to merge its loss-making subsidiary Search Chem Industries with itself. This is aimed at reducing overhead costs. Chairman and managing director R D Shroff said that the company may merge Search Chem with United Phosphorus, as the merger would lead to substantial cost-cutting on sales tax, excise and labour.

LG to take on Lever, P&G: South Korea's $75-billion LG group is set to provide Hindustan Lever, Colgate Palmolive and P&G hot competition in the household and healthcare segments. The group's flagship LG Chemicals has lined up a range of products like toothpastes, detergents, baby and adult diapers and fabric softners for launch over the next few months. The company is also looking at opportunities for a joint venture to launch its range of cosmetics in the country.

Experian in talks for credit bureau: Experian, a UK-based global-information services company is talking to leading banks and finance companies inIndia about the possibilities of setting up a Consumer Credit Bureau in the country. The company has held talks with Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank, ANZ Grindlays Bank and Bank of India. The bureau will initially provide information on individuals' credit history, the repayment record regarding loans availed, address verification and credit applications made to various lenders.

Metal Box's revised package soon: Metal Box India will submit an updated revival package to financial institutions, chairman and managing director Vinod Krishna has said. Under the revised scheme, the company proposes to start its four factories located at Mumbai, Chennai, Calcutta and Faridabad. As part of the package, the promoters would infuse about Rs 25 crore.

Petronet gets cracking on Vadinar-Kandla plan: Petronet India, the joint-venture pipelines company, is preparing itself for its first project from Vadinar to Kandla. The operating company, Petronet-VK Ltd, co-promoted by Petronet and Indian OilCorporation, held its first board meeting in the capital on Thursday. The initial directors are AM Upplenchwar, L Chhabra, KK Sinha and SK Garg. Chhabra is the managing director of Petronet India.

Stallion Airlines buys 5 US aircraft: Stallion Airlines, a non-scheduled private air carrier, has purchased five 19-seater aircraft from the US-based company Fairchild Dornier. The Fairchild Metro-23 aircraft, priced at $3.85 million each, will be used to launch the airline's operations. The airline will be based in Ahmedabad and will operate short-haul feeder routes.

Iisco's Burnpur plant needs renovation: The Burnpur plant of the ailing Indian Iron & Steel Co is an accident waiting to happen. A number of its basic instruments were installed way back in the thirties, when the late Biren Mukherjee was the company's chairman. Iisco officers say of the seven open hearth furnaces working in this plant, the oldest one was commissioned in 1939, and the latest in 1959. All of them are in desperate needof some renovation.

Andrew Yule set to post profits: Andrew Yule is set to jump back into the black with a net profit of around Rs 3 crore for the year to March 31, 1998, from a Rs 20-crore loss the previous year. Its interest burden is estimated to have come down to around Rs 10 crore, from over Rs 20 crore in 1996-97. An infusion of nearly Rs 39 crore by the government helped Andrew Yule square up most of its principal loans from LIC, IDBI and Peerless General Finance & Investment Co.

Inflation rises to 6.86%: The annual inflation rate inched towards the 7 per cent-mark, shooting up to 6.86 per cent for the week ended June 20 on sustained rise in prices of primary articles. The rate, based on the wholesale price index, shot up by 0.21 percentage points to 6.86 (provisional) from 6.65 per cent (p) the previous week. This is the seventh consecutive week inflation, calculated on a point-to-point basis, has ruled above 6 per cent.

Power Finance Corp seeks Rs 250cr loan: TheState-owned funding agency Power Finance Corporation has sought a Rs 250- crore loan from public sector State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and Oriental Bank. Director, finance, Tantra Narayan Thakur, said that the corporation had sought Rs 100 crore as a fresh line of credit from SBI.

Registrars told to give reasons for rejecting demat requests: Markets regulator the Securities & Exchange Board of India has directed registrars to refrain from arbitrarily rejecting dematerialisation requests, and instead, provide detailed documentation outlining the reasons for the rejection. Sebi was requested to issue instructions to this effect by custodians who were miffed by the rejection of requests for dematerialisation by registrars without giving any reasons.

10 foreign militants killed in valley: At least 10 foreign militants were killed by security forces during a fierce encounter in the frontier district of Kupwara on Saturday evening. A spokesman said the forces, on a tip-off, cordoned offBungus forest in the frontier district of Kupwara on Saturday afternoon. When the forces were sealing the forest areas, militants fired upon them with automatic weapons. Security forces returned the fire, and in the clash, the militants were killed.

Shell, Texaco plan petrol deal: Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell and US rival Texaco are discussing a merger of their downstream interests and petrol-station chains in Europe, the Sunday Telegraph reported. The report said that negotiations between the two companies had been going on for several months and that Shell had hired surveyors to determine a fair value for Texaco's assets, which it said could be worth up to 1 billion pounds.

Peugeot plans to expand Iran car output: French car-maker Peugeot has agreed to expand its presence in Iran, introducing production of its compact 205 model and renewing an existing partnership agreement for production of a bigger Sedan. Chairman of PSA Peugeot Citroen Jean-Martin Folz said the two deals were signedin a series of meetings with officials from Iran Khodro, Iran's leading car-maker and Peugeot's local partner.