BS REPORTER

Ahmedabad, 16 June

LG Electronics, whichlaunched two new mobilephones, Cookie Fresh (LG

GS290) and Cookie Plus (LGGS500v), today is aiming to cap-ture 13 per cent market sharefor mobile phones in the statethis year. The company, whichis eyeing 10 per cent marketshare by the end of Decem-ber 2010, is also targeting athree-fold increase in revenuesthis year to Rs 3000 crore fromRs 1000 crore at present.

"Gujarat is a relatively strongmarket for us. We have alreadyattained 6 per cent market shareand expect to exit the year at13 per cent. Out of the 100 ex-clusive mobile handset storethat we plan to launch, five willbe in Gujarat," Sudhin Mathur,Business Head (Mobile Com-munications) LG Electronicssaid. The company enjoys sixper cent market share in top 35per cent cities in the estimatedRs 10 crore GSM segment.

The company is planning tolaunch 44 new models of mo-bile handsets by the end of thisyearm, of which 20 have beenlaunched in various range —from entry level to smart phonesand from touch screen to dual-SIM phones. "The youth cen-tric phones launches are ex-pected to add 20 per cent to thecompany's value turnover,which translates to about Rs600 crore. The current launch-es will contribute about 50 percent to this category. The re-maining phones which we planto launch will mostly be smartphones and dual sim phones,"

Mathur added.The company also plans to

focus on its after-sale servic-es and claims to serve cus-tomers in less than an hour. "Atpresent, we have 620 autho-rised service centres and morethan 300 collection points,where 81 per cent of our cus-tomers get service in less thanan hour," Mathur claimed. Thecompany aims to spend aroundRs 290 crore in marketing ac-tivities including advertising,communications, retail mar-

keting and visibility invest-ments.

The company has astronger presence in the semi

urban markets as compared tothe metros and occupies thethird slot in the Indian hand-sets market after Nokia andSamsung.

"There are 500 brands in In-dia and the top five brands con-stitute 85 per cent of the mar-ket. We are among the top threebrands in India with a strongerpresence in the rural and semi-urban markets as compared tothe metros with a ratio of 65:35per cent," Mathur added. Thecompany manufactures 30 percent of its phones in India at itsPune facility and imports therest.

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AHMEDABAD

BS REPORTER

Ahmedabad, 16 June

JK Lakshmi Cement, thatalready has three ready-mix concrete (RMC)

plants in Surat, Ahmedabadand Vadodara, is going to setup another plant near Ahmed-abad this year to bank on thegrowing demand in the RMCsegment.

Shailendra Chouksey,whole time director and chiefexecutive officer of JK Lak-shmi Cement Ltd told Busi-

ness Standard that "We planto put up one plant near

Ahmedabad and more couldalso come up in the nearby re-gions. The investment perplant is likely to be around Rs10-12 crore".

This is a part of the com-pany's overall plans to setup around eight to 10 RMCplants in Gujarat, Maharash-tra and the northern region."Another plant is planned nearMumbai", Chouksey said. TheRMC plants are expected tobear a capacity of 60 cubic me-tres per hour each, he added.

Studies conducted by JKLakshmi indicate that by us-ing RMC, one can achieve al-most 15.5 per cent savingsin construction costs in termsof factors such as quality andwastage-avoidance. RMC is amixture of the portland ce-ment, water and aggregatescomprising sand and gravel.

J K Lakshmi already has agrinding unit at Kalol and itsnet installed capacity in Gu-jarat is around 5 lakh tonnesper annum(tpa). The com-pany's plan to put up another5 lakh tpa plant near Kalol,however, is yet to take off.

Chouksey said, "We have notprogressed much in that area".

J K Lakshmi reported a 14per cent increase in sales at3.64 lakh tonnes for Mayagainst 3.19 lakh tonnes in thesame month last year.

The production of the com-pany grew by five per centto 3.55 lakh tonnes during themonth compared to 3.37 lakhtonnes in May, 2009. The com-pany has an installed capac-ity of 3.65 million tonnes perannum in the country.

VIMUKT DAVE

Rajkot, 16 June

In a bid consolidate its ther-moforming machine man-ufacturing business in do-

mestic as well as overseas mar-kets, Rajkot-based Rajoo En-gineering Ltd. has acquiredWonderpack Industries for Rs30 crore.

The 100 per cent acquisi-tion of the Nasik-based com-pany will allow Rajoo Engi-neering to increase its presencein countries where the formeris already present. "Wonder-pack has been acquired for Rs30 crore and merged into Ra-joo Engineering to serve ther-moforming products for FM-CG segments in India andabroad. This merger will helpRajoo Engineering to increaseits presence in those countries

where Wonderpack has alreadyreached with its machines," saidSunil Jain, president of, RajooEngineering Ltd., which is look-ing at capacity expansion at itsRajkot unit to cater to the newmarkets.

Post acquisition, Wonder-pack will operate as a separatedivision of Rajoo Engineers atNasik under the leadershipof Amit Shah, the founder andmanaging director of Won-derpack, who has joined theBoard of Rajoo Engineers.

"The industry will benefitimmensely from this collabo-ration. I look forward to tak-ing this combined entity to new-er orbits – both in terms of tech-nology levels and footprint,"said Shah.

While Rajoo Engineering'snet sales rose from last year'sRs 474 crore to Rs 733.80

crore, Wonderpack pegged aturnover of Rs 22 crore. Ra-joo Engineering registered anet profit of Rs 43 crore for thefinancial year 2009-10 asagainst Rs 25.84 crore in 2008-09.

Based in Rajkot, Rajoo En-gineers Limited manufacturesblown film and sheet extrusion

lines, where the company en-joys premium market positionin this segment. With repre-sentations in many countriesof the world and customersin over 40 countries, Rajoo En-gineering's exports have mul-tiplied after its debut in the in-ternational market in 1990, saidJain.

BS REPORTER

Ahmedabad, 16 June

Adani Welspun Explo-ration Limited (AWEL),a 65:35 joint venture be-

tween Adani Enterprises andWelspun Natural ResourcesPvt Ltd, has begun drilling onan exploratory in basis in thePalej block in Gujarat.

This drilling campaign fur-ther strenghtens Adani andWelspun groups commitmentto oil and gas exploration busi-nesses, according to a me-dia statement by Adani groupon Wednesday.

Adani stated that it had al-so been awarded two offshoreexploration blocks in Kutchbasin with 20% and 30% par-ticipating interests (PI). Theproduction sharing contractsfor these blocks, operated op-erated by a consortium ofONGC, GSPC and Indian Oil

Corporation (IOC), are yet tobe signed.

The block CB-ONN-2004/05, which was award-ed to the company underNELP-VI round of bidding isclose to manyproducingfields, it said.The block liesin the Cambaybasin whereindependentIndia's firsthydrocarbondiscovery wasmade at Lunejby Oil andNatural GasCorporaton(ONGC).

Reliance Industries (RIL)recently announced that it hadmade its sixth hydrocarbondiscovery in the 635 sq-kmblock located in the Cambaybasin, about 130 km from

Ahmedabad. AWEL has completed seis-

mic data acquisition, its pro-cessing and interpretationof the the block, the compa-ny said in a press release.

Though the re-serves of CB-ONN-2004/05are not known,more than 90oil & gas fieldshave been dis-covered, ofwhich twonamely, An-kleshwar andGandhar aregiant fields, ac-cording to

AWEL's official website. Es-tablished in-place hydrocar-bons are more than 1,314 mil-lion tonnes, the site states.

AWEL has roped in Dubai'sBlack Pearl Services for car-rying out the drilling opera-

tion in the block, sources privyto the development told Busi-

ness Standard.

The nearby producingfields at Palej includes Dab-ka, Matar, Gajera, Gandhar,Ankleshwar and Padra op-erated by Oil and Natural GasCorporation (ONGC) andPramoda operated by Hin-dustan Oil Exploration Com-pany (HOEC), the release stat-ed. AWEL has 90 per cent par-ticipating interest in Palej andAssam blocks through itsgroup companies, 100 per centinterest in a Mumbai offshoreblock and two blocks in Thai-land.

In addition, AWEL has par-ticipating interest in one off-shore exploration block inEgypt in consortium with Gu-jarat State Petroleum Cor-poration (GSPC) whereinAWEL has 40 per cent non-participating interest.

Rajkot-based Rajoo Enggacquires Wonderpack

Wonderpack has been acquired for Rs 30 croreand merged into Rajoo Engineering to servethermoforming products for FMCG segments

in India and abroad. This merger will helpRajoo Engineering to increase its presence in

those countries where Wonderpack hasalready reached with its machines

SUNIL JAIN

President of, Rajoo Engineering Ltd

Adani-Welspun drills forhydrocarbon at PalejAWEL gets PI in two offshore blocks in Kutch

AWEL has roped inDubai's Black Pearl

Services for carryingout the drillingoperation in the

block

J K Lakshmi to setup fourth RMCplant in Gujarat

BS REPORTER

Ahmedabad, 16 June

With DaNang, the thirdlargest city in Viet-nam, being void of a

public transport facility, a del-egation comprising city offi-cials were on a visit to Ahmed-abad to study the Janmarg -Bus Rapid Transport System(BRTS).

"With a mil-lion plus pop-ulation city anda huge port,DaNang has avibrant fishingand IT industry.As there is nopublic transportfacility, the cityis fully depend-ent on twowheelers. Withthe World Bank support,DaNang is developing publictransport system in the city,"said a communique from theAhmedabad Municipal Cor-poration (AMC).

The World Bank has alsoidentified Ahmedabad as a 'BestPractice City'.

"After knowing about BRTSin Ahmedabad, the DaNangcity officials expressed inter-est in knowing more about

Ahmedabad's successful BRTand other urban developmentexperiences," the communiquefurther stated.

The 11 member delegationconsists of senior officials fromDaNang Municipal Govern-ment and the World Bank ex-perts. The team, which had atwo day workshop organizedby AMC and CEPT, also met

with IP Gautam,municipal com-missioner, AMC.Apart from at-tending a two dayprogramme, theVietnamese teamalso visited BRTScontrol centre,depot, took a rideon BRTS, and al-so visited Sabar-mathi RiverfrontDevelopmnet

Project.Coordinated by Ngan Hang

The Gioi, senior urban spe-cialist, World Bank Team Co-ordinator, the team also com-prised heads of departments,planning and investment, plan-ning and procurement, ex-ternal economic division, eval-uation and quality manage-ment, alongwith Gordon Neil-son, public transport consult-ant, World Bank.

BS REPORTER

Ahmedabad, 16 June

Informing that the econo-my is going in the right di-rection, Pranab Mukher-jee, union finance min-ister, today stated that the

economy would meet the tar-get of 8.5 per cent Gross Do-mestic Product (GDP) in thecurrent financial year if themonsoon is favourable.

"The economy is in right di-rection and with favourablemonsoon, GDP target of 8.5 percent will be met," he told me-dia after meeting with the Gu-jarat Chief Minister Naren-dra Modi and state governmentofficials.

Asked if he was scheduledto meet any officials of DowChemicals, he denied by say-ing that he had no meeting list-ed with officials of Dow Chem-icals, which acquired UnionCarbide, the company respon-sible for Bhopal gas tragedy.

He further said that ad-vanced tax collection and in-dustrial production at 17.6 percent in the month of March arevery positive and encouraging.On goods and service tax, hesaid that he had meeting with

the state chief minister, financeminister and other officials todiscuss the concerns of the state.

"Direct taxes have becomea major resource provider tothe Central government, near-ly trebling from Rs.1,32,771crore in financial year 2004-05to about Rs.3,78,000 crore in fi-nancial year 2009-10 at an av-erage annual rate of 24 percent,and increasing its share from4.1 percent to 6.1 percent of theGross Domestic Product(GDP)," he said.

"Apart from the constitu-tional amendment, there are is-sues and concerns of the statesand others that need to be dis-cussed," he said, adding that hehas received some memoran-dums regarding the issues onthe GST.

"I have developed the habitof meeting the chief ministerand finance minister in the stateI am visiting. Recently, I was onvisit to Bihar where also I metthe CM and others to discussthe GST and other issues," hesaid.

So far as fiscal defecit is con-cerned one need not come tothe conclusion that as I havegot some additional fundsthrough the 3G and BWA auc-

tions. But, it was 5.5 per cent. Iam provided with some elbowroom but let us see that howthings move, Mukherjee saidin a reply to question that hasthe fiscal defecit come downdue to 3G and BWA auctions.

The government has set uptwo Income Tax Overseas Units(ITOUs) within Indian Missionsin Singapore and Mauritius, he

said adding eight more suchunits have been approved inUSA, UK, Netherlands, Japan,Cyprus, Germany, France andUAE. These ITOUs will facili-tate seamless flow of tax relatedinformation from foreign taxjurisdictions and strengthenour fight against menace of taxevasion using cross bordertransactions.

FM SAYS ECONOMY IS INRIGHT DIRECTION‘No meeting listed with Dow officials’

Pranab Mukherjee, union finance minister addressingmediapersons in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. PHOTO: YASIN D

Vietnam officialsvisit Ahmedabadto study BRTS

To come up near A’bad at aninvestment of Rs 10 crore

LG expects 13% market share formobile phones in Gujarat

Sudhin Mathur (left), Business Head (Mobile Communications)LG Electronics and a model display the Cookie Fresh (LGGS290) and Cookie Plus (LG GS500v) mobile handsetslaunched by LG Electronics in Ahmedabad today. PHOTO: YASIN D

With the WorldBank support,

DaNang, the thirdlargest city in

Vietnam isdeveloping publictransport system

BS REPORTER

Chandigarh,16 June

Haryana Power and Renew-able Energy Minister Ma-

hender Partap Singh said thatsolar education kits had beenintroduced inschools to cre-ate awarenessand to educatestudents aboutthe applicationof renewableenergy.

He addedHaryana wasthe first statein the countryto introducesolar educa-tion kits in sen-ior secondary schools of thestate.

Mahender Partap Singh saidthat a solar education kit whichconsisted of a mini fan, LEDlamp, solar radio, solar toy car,door bell, house name plate, traf-fic light signals, road stud, so-lar pump, solar isolation meter,thermometer, solar panel anddisplay of cell current, voltageand ambient temperature in abox was a very informative tool.

The minister said that in the

first phase, 2,000 senior sec-ondary schools from 13 districtsof the state, namely Bhiwani,Sirsa, Panipat, Karnal, Kaithal,Rewari, Rohtak, Jind, Jhajjar,Fatehabad, Gurgaon, Ambalaand Panchkula had been cov-

ered at a cost of Rs 80 lakh.

The cost wasequally borne bythe state andCentre.

Sumita Mis-ra, Director, Re-newable EnergyDepartment saidthe EducationKits would beused in sciencelabs to educatestudents about

solar photovoltaic technologyand its uses.

She added the departmenthad also asked the Centre to re-lease its 50 per cent share of theRs 20 lakh for the second phaseinorder to provide Solar Edu-cation Kits to the remaining 1000senior secondary schools of theseven districts of Hisar, Kuruk-shetra, Palwal, Faridabad, Nar-naul, Sonipat and Yamuna Na-gar which will be covered in thenext three months.

Haryana introduces solar

education kit in schools

The kit includes a minifan, LED lamp, solarradio, solar toy car,

door bell, house nameplate, traffic light

signals, road stud, solarpump, solar isolationmeter, thermometer

and solar panel