In what might prove a stumbling block for the Rothmans proposal, the Commerce Ministry has insisted that the company exports whole cigarettes manufactured by its Indian subsidiary, which can be possible only if the company has its own manufacturing unit in the country. Rothmans has proposed that its brands would be outsourced from contract manufacturers. It has no plans to set up a company-owned manufacturing unit. By insisting on an export obligation, the Commerce Ministry may be forcing the company to revise its strategy.

Telco to expedite Yankee bond buyback

Tata Engineering & Locomotive Co Ltd (Telco) is expediting efforts to buy back part of its $200-million Yankee bond issue. This follows the downward revision of the foreign currency credit rating of three leading Indian corporates, including Telco, by Standard & Poor’s. S&P, which revised India's long term foreign currency sovereign credit rating, followed it up with lowered foreign currency rating for Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Reliance Industries Ltd and Telco.

Anubhav group chief surrenders to Chennai police

Mr. C. Natesan, Chairman, Anubhav group, surrendered at the City Police Commissioner's office today. His group firms had begun defaulting on interest payment and principal repayment to depositors and many of them, on finding the offices of the company closed on October 21, had filed complaints with the city police. Replying to reporters' questions, Mr. Natesan said that there was no need to panic and that the group had assets in excess of its liabilities. He said that he would be able to repay all the deposits in two years time.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW