Indian American-owned firms' merger cleared
Two Indian American-owned companies i2 Technologies Inc and Aspect Development Inc have announced that major barriers to completing the proposed acquisition of the latter by i2 have been removed. Sanjiv Sidhu is founder and CEO of i2 and Romesh Wadhwani heads Aspect Development. The Federal Trade Commission has granted early termination of the waiting period, effectively lending its approval to the acquisition.Ministry spikes Deshmukh's US tour
The ministry of external affairs has spiked Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh's 14-day tour to the UK and US. Deshmukh was to address a series of meetings of investors and non-resident Indians in both the countries besides visiting the Standford University.
FII stake ceiling
The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday allowed raising the aggregate limit of foreign institutional investors ceiling in domestic companies from 30 per cent to 40 per cent. The Government had announced enhancing the ceiling in the Budget. The RBI said approval of the board of directors and passing a special resolution by the general body of the company will be needed for increasing the FII stake.
Fiat cuts Siena price
In a bid to prop up volumes in a competitive market, Fiat India said on Thursday that it has slashed the mid-size Siena's prices by Rs 20,000-30,000 per vehicle. Analysts say the move became imperative, as the company failed to push up sales despite a bouquet of seven models of the 1.2-litre Siena.
MTNL's cellular service by June
The state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd hopes to have its cellular phone service network in place before June this year, its chairman and managing director S Rajagopal said. Rajagopal said he hoped to make his first call through an MTNL-enabled cell phone network before he retired in another two months' time.
HFCL net vaults 138% to Rs 85 cr
The net profit of Himachal Futuristic Communications has risen by 138 per cent to Rs 85.61 crore for the year ended March 2000, from the previous year's Rs 35.85 crore. The company's turnover has also increased by nearly 45 per cent to Rs 586.55 crore.
VSNL eyes Rs 1,800cr profit
The state-owned VSNL is eyeing a bottomline of Rs 1,700-1,800 crore during the current fiscal. The company is expecting a minimum income of Rs 70 crore from its strategic alliance with indiainfo.com during 2000-01.
Ford, Tickford work for LPG fuel cars
Ford India is working jointly with Australian firm Tickford to introduce LPG/CNG-fuelled cars for the domestic market. An LPG prototype has been developed jointly by converting an 1.6-litre Ikon, and will be made available for commercial use once the infrastructure is in place.
-- Compiled by S Hariharan
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.