Maruti to cut costs: Maruti Udyog has initiated a vigorous exercise to cut costs, improve vendor efficiency and upgrade its dealer and service network as fresh competition in the passenger car segment is around the corner. The company has formed a committee of directors to negotiate with the 375-and-odd vendors on a regular basis in order to reduce costs and improve productivity, both within and outside the company.

Peugeot ready to square Indianjoint venture dues: Automobiles Peugeot of France is believed to have offered to square accounts of PAL-Peugeot with Standard Chartered Bank as part of an agreement which would see its final exit from the Indian joint venture. The French automaker is also, reportedly ready, to sell its 32 per cent stake in the joint venture, valued at Rs 84 crore in 1994, for one US dollar ($1) to Premier Automobiles. Peugeot has also intimated that it will write off all dues to the parent company from PAL-Peugeot.

HLL, Titan most-admired FMCG firms: HLL and Titan have emerged as the most-admired marketing companies among all fast-moving consumer goods and durables companies in an A&M-ORG-MARG survey. HLL has held on to the top slot consistently since the survey was kicked off in 1992, while Titan has bounced back to the number one position this year after slipping one slot last year. The second most-admired marketing company is Procter and Gamble.

Schering mulls open offer to hike Fulford stake:Schering-Plough is believed to be mulling over the option of making an open offer to hike its stake in Fulford (India) from 40 per cent to 51 per cent. The company may broadly look at an offer price of 20-25 per cent above the current Fulford share price, possibly in the vicinity of Rs 400 per share. An actual offer could be around three to six months away.

Essel Packaging plans unit in Germany: Essel Packaging recently signed a pact for setting up a manufacturing plant at Dresden, Germany, in association with a Munich-based commercial organisation called Argenta International. The total project cost is around Rs 42.5 crore. The new company will have an equity base of Rs 13 crore and the remaining will be raised through loans.

VSNL revamps Internet access network in city: VSNL, along with the department of telecommunications and MTNL, has commissioned a direct Internet connectivity from all the major exchanges in the city to the VSNL Internet hubs at Prabhadevi and Fountain. A VSNL releaseon Tuesday said the scheme involves connecting over 170 streams of 2 Mbps connectivity (each link carrying equivalent of 30 telephone lines) directly routed from local exchanges to VSNL's remote access servers.

Henkel drafts bail-out plan for domestic joint venture: Henkel KGaA, the German consumer products major, has worked out a bail-out plan to revitalise its cash-strapped Indian associate Henkel Spic India, a joint venture with the AC Muthiah group. Under the plan finalised on Tuesday between the two partners, Henkel will infuse around Rs 28 crore which will go towards wiping out the mounting accumulated losses of the beleaguered joint venture firm.

IFCI files suits to recover bad loans: IFCI has overtaken big brothers IDBI and ICICI in accumulation of the maximum amount of bad debts against which suits have been filed. The institution has filed suits against 99 defaulters to recover Rs 302.2 crore worth of sticky loans up to March 31, 1998. In contrast, IDBI has filed suits against 123borrowers to recover loss assets worth Rs 203.904 crore and ICICI has taken to court 76 corporates to recover Rs 190.432 crore stuck in bad loans.

100-basis point hike in bank rate seen: The prospects a 100-basis point hike in the bank rate in the forthcoming credit policy are high, according to Morgan Guaranty Trust Co's outlook. As other benchmark interest rates have risen and given the short-term nature of the bank rate, leaving it unchanged will reduce its significance as a key reference rate and an important signalling device, the report stated.

Fertiliser shortage to affect rabi crop output: The rabi foodgrain output this year is likely to fall short of the targeted 120 million tonnes by a margin of 10 million tonnes, say fertiliser industry experts who feel that the country has missed out on the opportunity provided by a good monsoon. According to industry sources, a likely fall in the projected output of foodgrains during the ongoing rabi season stems from poor availability ofphosphatic fertilisers like diammonium phosphate (DAP) owing to inappropriate government policies.

Ministry slashes Tea Board budget: The union commerce ministry has halved the Tea Board's budget to Rs 145 crore for the Ninth Five-Year Plan, and also reduced the tea cess budget for 1998-99. The Tea Board had proposed a plan outlay of Rs 304.30 crore to the commerce ministry, taking into account the planned expenditure on the plantation development scheme, processing and packaging, tea development scheme for north-eastern states, small growers development scheme and market development and export promotion. The commerce ministry has effected the cut in its sanctions in the second year of the Ninth Plan (1997-2001).

Naidu's plans for Andhra: Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, after putting Hyderabad on the road to becoming the country's information technology (IT) hub, has turned his energies and resources to make the city the financial services capital of the country. Andsurprisingly the financial sector, beginning with GE Captial Services and the ICICI, appears to be buying it with a proposal to set up a financial services park in the city finding ready champions.