Shaw Wallace to launch premium Vodka brand
20/06/96
Shaw Wallace is launching a new premium vodka brand, White
Mischief in the domestic market. The product is priced at Rs.140 for a
750 ml bottle. They plan to launch a series of new liquor brands in the
white spirit segment as this has emerged as a potentially high growth product
category in the Indian Made Foreign Liquor industry.
Colgate -Palmolive to enter into oral pharmaceutical products
26/06/96
Colgate-Palmolive (India) is kicking off its foray into oral pharmaceuticals with a range of product launches. Many of the products will be introduced for the first time in Asia. Priced between Rs 60 and Rs 140, the products will be prescriptive in nature and will be sold through chemist outlets. The initial launches will be in the major metros, and the company is hoping to cover the rest of the country by August.
Worldwide, Colgate has a major presence in oral hygiene
products, apart from toothpastes and toothbrushes. New products will supplement
existing product range.
BPL to launch Alkaline and dry cell batteries
03/07/96
BPL will be launching alkaline batteries in December this year and dry cell batteries by October next year.The company's plant has a capacity to produce seven million batteries a month .
For dry cell batteries, the company has tied up with an
Indonesian company, ABC Company Ltd. The company expects the dry cell market
in India to grow to Rs 800 crores in the next few years and hopes to get
at least 15 to 20 per cent share of it.
Amtrex launched AC designed for small rooms
03/07/96
Amtrex , a relatively new player in Indian AC market,
has launched its latest airconditioner Haiku. The compact 0.75 tonne airconditioner
has been designed for small rooms and is equipped with a Hitachi rotary
compressor which enables effective cooling at low energy costs.
Coats Viyella launches "Do it yourself" stitch kits
09/06/96
The handicrafts department of Coats India, the thread division of Rs.876 crore Coats Viyella India Limited has not only been the most profitable division of the group, it has drawn product expansion plans to maintain 30 per cent growth rate this year.
The division is planning to launch frames in kit from the market shortly. With an assembly time of half an hour, these frames will be in all sizes to support the company's do it yourself - Anchor Stitch kits. As a product enhancement measure, a series of fun stitch kits is also being launched to rope in the school going kids.
These smaller kits with four hours of finishing time will be priced at Rs.50.
Even within the existing stitch kits, the company is for
the first time coming out with a two colour series. "Our present range,
including ethnic designs in bright colours was targetted at middle income
group. But with this new series in abstract designs we are hoping to catch
the higher income groups also,"says Ivan Joseph, handicrafts product
manager, Coats Viyella India.
Mahindra Ford to focus on producing deisel version of " Escorts"
20/06/96
Mahindra -Ford had taken a strategic decision to produce more diesel varsions of its passenger car, Escorts, than the petrol-drivens ones. Around 60 per cent of cars which will roll out of its Nashik plant are expected to be the diesel version.
The company has taken a decision to this effect as it anticipates a higher demand for the mid-size diesel passenger car. It plans to produce around 25,000 of Escorts at the Nashik plant of Mahindra & Mahindra.
Mahindra-Ford's preference of the diesel version for the Indian market could be seen from the fact that the first Escorts or the 'Job One' to roll out of the plant in August this year will be a 1800 cc diesel car.
Till now, only Pal-Peugeot has announced plans to launch
a diesel version of its 309 for this segment of the domestic market.
P&G to launches Head &Shoulder by year end
21/06/96
Procter & Gamble (P&G) will make a second splash in the over Rs 200-crore hair-care market by launching its famous international brand, Head & Shoulders, by this year-end. Tentatively scheduled for December, the launch wil be P&G's second in hair care after Pantene which was introduced in November 1995.
Head & Shoulders together with Pantene lords over the global hair-care market with a 18 per cent marketshare. While Pantene is positioned as an over-all health shampoo with protein, Head & Shoulders has carved a niche for itself in anti-dandruff treatment.
HCL-HP to launch 64 bit RISC processor based systems
12/06/96
HCL Hewlett-Packard (HCL-HP) will launch the 64-bit RISC processor-based systems in July this year. The systems will be based on HP's precision architecture (PA). Called HP PA-8000 64-bit RISC chip, the systems will be designed to provide leadership in enterprise-wide solutions for complex applications in manufacturing, banking, power and infrastructure-based programming. Making a presentation today on the 64-bit RISC processor, Larry Inman manager (advanced technology marketing) of Hewlett Packard, "HP has under taken implementation of the RISC procesor in a phased manner keeping the 64-bit RISC implementation for applications and Unix in mind.
The launch of PA-8000 RISC processor is part of HP's strategy to provide a complete 64-bit RISC-based solution. "With its immense speed, the PA-8000 processor has the ability to excute up to four instructions simultaneously".
Maruti to launch Gypsy with 1300 cc engine
13/06/96
Maruti dyog Ltd is launching an upgraded version of Gypsy Fitted with
a 1300 cc engine. At present, Gypsy has a 1000 cc engine. Equipped with a 1.3 -litre petrol engine, the 'off-the-road -vehicale' is being launched to meet the market demand for a more powerful version, especially from the armed forces, according to MUL managing director R C Bhargava. The new model is expected to hit the road this month.
However, the size and design of four-wheel drive vehicle will remain the same and MUL would continue with both the option in the 1000 cc and the 1300 cc version.
Production of Gypsy will be stepped up from 9020 vehicales in 1996-96 to 13,000 vehicales this year. The price of the new vehicale is not known as yet .
The Gypsy is available in the domedtic markets in four options-hard top, soft top, pick-up and the Gypsy Ambulance. The Gypsy has also seen significant exports ever since it was launched. Amongst some of the countries where the vehicle is exported are Australia, Angola, Kenya, South America and Nepal. The company manufactures 2000 such vehicales every month. Other models vying for the same market are the Commander which are priced at Rs.3.17 lakh and Rs.2.92 lakh at ex-showroom prices.
Another vehicale that has gained enormous popularity in the recent few years is the 2000 cc Tata Sumo which is priced at Rs.3.17 lakh. The rough terrain off-the-road vehicle although falls under the LCV category is popular used as a personal vehicale. The new version of the Gypsy is yet another attempt by the country's largest automobile manufacturer, MUL, to constantly improve its models to the changing market demand.
Indian Hospital Corporaion to enter into joint venture with US firm for Health Care venture
15/06/96
The Indian Hospital Corporation (IHC), a part of the Apollo Hospitals group, has shortlisted two US companies United Healthcare and US Healthcare as potential collaborators in its managed health care venture. IHC is negotiationg with both the US health care firms and hopes to finalise a joint venture with either one of them by August. The total investment in the health care project would be around Rs.100 cr and IHC and its foreign collaborator would share their equity in a 51:49 ratio. A portion of the equity would also be offered to the public.
IHC also proposes to launch a Rs.500 crore fund to invest in a chain of day care hospitals, secondary health care centres and pharmacies. Of this amount, it plans to raise Rs.200 crore through the equity route and another Rs.300 crore in the form of debt. IHC has already floated a company called Family Healthcare Limited for the managed health care venture. New ventures of the group are usually financed by IHC. IHC and Apollo Hospitals have cross holdings in their respective companies.
Softek to launch GUI based accounting package
15/06/96
Softek ltd
Softek ltd, a popular software maker, has planned innovative steps to market its accounting package, WinCA. Coming in the form of a fair, to be held across the country, the marketing event is aimed to create an increased level of awareness among consumers for the country's only accounting package available in three different forms, DOS, LAN and WINDOWS.
GUI-based, WinCA is one the lowest priced accounting packages in the omestic market at Rs 9,000 Rs 12,000 and Rs 14,000 for the DOS, MS WINDOWS and LAN version. Financial accounting, stock keeping, voucher making, budget analysis, export and import of data are some important features of the package.
Maharashtra govt. allocates 400 cr. for 12 Hydro Power generation projects
15/06/96
Power News
The Maharashtra state Government has allocated Rs 400 crore on the ongoing 12 hydro power generation projects in the current year. Of the total Rs 400 crore, as high as Rs 290 crore have been alloted for the completion of phase -IV of the Koyana project with a capacity of 1000 MW. The project which is in its final stage is likely to be commissioned early next year.
Morever, the state Government is expecting a final clearance for the
construction of 400 MW hydro power generation project at Chikhaldara in
Amravati district at the cost of Rs 931 crore.
Apple launches colour scanner
17/06/96
Electronics Computer News Fulfilling its commitment to helping users easily incorporation colour images into documents as well as world wide web pages, Apple Computer today announced immediate availability of the Color One Scanner 600/27. The new colour desktop scanner offers a wide range of image and document management capabilities at an affordable price to Macintosh users in eduaction, the home and small businesses.