MoUs worth $2.83 bn signed at Intechmart-98: MoUs worth $2.83 billion were signed between Gujarat-based companies and various foreign firms at the three-day `Intechmart-98 Gujarat' in Ahmedabad. Additional chief secretary of Gujarat government CK Koshy told newsmen after the conclusion of the meet on Sunday that nearly 71 MoUs were signed. Of the MoUs, 13 were signed with US companies, four with Canadian companies and 18 with European countries.

IPCL gets US patent: IPCL has been granted US patent for aparticular process for the production of para-diethylbenzene. The central part of the process is a novel zeolite-based proprietary catalyst, an IPCL release said on Saturday. The catalyst and the process have been developed after a research at IPCL's research centre, the release added.

ADB to give $250m for Madhya Pradesh plan: ADB, currently constrained by the US sanctions in providing loans and other technical assistance to Indian industrial and development projects, has lined up a whopping $250 million loan for the Madhya Pradesh government, for what it calls the "Madhya Pradesh Public Resource Management Programme".

Metal Box revival plan opposed: Representatives of SBI and IDBI have opposed the updated revival scheme submitted by the management of Metal Box India Ltd to ICICI, according to banking sources. At a meeting held between ICICI, the company's operating agency as Metal Box is a sick company, and other lenders, which included Standard Chartered Bank, IFCI, IIBI, Syndicate Bank,and ANZ Grindlays, SBI and IDBI representatives have said that reliefs and concessions sought by the management were much beyond the original scheme, and hence not acceptable.

Maruti to shut down subsidiary: Maruti Udyog has decided to close down its now defunct subsidiary -- Maruti Sales and Service India Ltd -- which was formed as a service unit and sales outlet for authorised spare parts and components. All the functions of this venture have already been transferred to JJ Impex, a company which was taken over by Maruti about a year ago, company sources told UNI in New Delhi.

Rama Petro declares lockout at unit: The management of Mumbai-based Rama Petrochemicals has issued a lockout notice at its methanol division at PatalGanga in Raigad district of Maharashtra, citing unviability of business due to dumping. The lockout will be effective from December 12. The dumping of petrochemical goods at lower costs by foreign manufacturers has driven domestic manufacturers to penury, resulting inmany of them waiting to close shop to stem rising losses. The latest to join the bandwagon is Rama Petrochemicals.

Personal computers may become expensive: Personal computers may get costlier worldwide as hard disk drive manufacturers are expected to raise prices to make up for their per unit production losses, top official of a leading HDD company said in New Delhi. At present, hard disk manufacturers are selling at below cost prices worldwide but they are unlikely to continue on this path for much longer, Western Digital vice-president for East Europe, middle-east Africa and Indian subcontinent Ken Larsen said.

Escorts buy chopper to aid marketing plan: Even as Indian corporates reel under recessionary trends, the Escorts group has purchased a helicopter to assist the marketing efforts of the group. This is the first chopper to be owned by the Delhi-based group, which is promoted by the high-profile Nanda family. Escorts paid $1.2 million for the 7-seater 407 model from BellHelicopters.

Inflation rate falls to 8.13%: The annual rate of inflation fell sharply for the second successive week and stood at 8.13 per cent for the week ended November 21 as the growth rate in the prices of food articles continued to ease. After touching a 163-week high of 8.85 per cent in the first week of November, the inflation, based on WPI slid 0.31 points to 8.54 (provisional) in the previous week and fell another 0.41 in the present week.

Realty consultants focus on extra services: At a time when the realty market is looking anywhere but up, multinational property consultants are keeping their bottomlines from sliding with a number of value-added services. These services may not be bust-time specials, but they are gaining importance as the property prices dip. The consultants are providing all kinds of services right from loan syndications, maintaining interiors, gardens to furniture maintainence, waterproofing and even maintaining a health club.

DoT relaxes connectivitynorms for bank DPs: DoT has relented on allowing the network of a bank to connect with that of the National Securities Depository Ltd at a nominal cost. DoT has relaxed its inter-connectivity norms only for bank depository participants. The move has come as a shot in the arm for the depository as a lack of inter-connectivity had proved to be a stumbling block in its growth. NSDL will now call for a meeting with all the bank depository participants asking them to study DoT's relaxed proposal and implement it if found to be feasible.

Downgrades reaffirm industrial slowdown: The industrial downturn is here to stay. If the ongoing spate of downgrades by credit rating agencies is anything to go by, the light at the end of the tunnel could be far from sight for corporate India, at least for another whole year. Contrary to popular perception, cement, steel and the non-banking financial industry are not the only sectors that have fallen prey to "recession" and the regulatory clampdown.