Siemens bags €700-m German order for offshore wind turbines
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Siemens has bagged an order
worth €700 million for the supply and installation of 288 MW of offshore wind
turbines off Germany’s North Sea coast.
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The agreement covers a
long-term maintenance contract for 10 years. The order was placed by wpd group,
Germany.
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The turbines, each of 3.6 MW,
will be erected over a surface area of 42 sq km in waters about 20 metres deep.
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Siemens Financial Services,
Marguerite Fund, Industriens Pension, PKA A/S (22.5 per cent each) and wpd AG
(10 per cent) will contribute the equity portion of the €3.1-billion project.
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All partners have aligned their
resources to secure project finance of 67 per cent senior debt and 33 per cent
equity basis, with a consortium of up to nine banks involving multilateral institutions
such as the European Investment Bank and KfW (the German development bank),
Siemens said.
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“By 2020, we estimate that the
combined installed electrical generating capacity of wind power installations
worldwide will reach 500 gigawatts,” said Felix Ferlemann, CEO, Siemens
Energy’s Wind Power Division.
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Siemens said it is also
bringing a comprehensive service package to the off-shore project, tailored to
ensure maximum long-term exploitation of the wind farm’s potential.
Tata
Coffee kicks off roasting unit to supply beans to Starbucks:
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February 8, 2013
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Starbucks & the
Tata group, which have aligned to bring the iconic coffee brand to India,
deepened their relationship by inaugurating a 375 tonnes a year roasting &
packaging unit at Kushalnagar in Kodagu district of Karnataka.
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This roasting unit,
said John Culver, President, Starbucks Coffee, China & Asia- Pacific, is
already supplying coffee beans to the seven Starbucks stores which have opened
in India - four in Mumbai & three in Delhi.
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India is expected to be
the top 5 markets for Starbucks around the world.
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Currently the top five
markets for the coffee brand are US, Canada, Japan, the U.K and China.
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Hameed Huq, MD, Tata
Coffee, along with Culver said the roaster was a culmination of two tears of
work & the company had been working closely with Starbucks in harvesting
& processing techniques to improve the quality of the bean. Tata Coffee has
been supplying to Starbucks since 2004.
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Huq said this alliance
will also help the cause of the small coffee growers, who comprise 98% of the
coffee growing community.
Café
Practices:
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Starbucks has a farmer
development programme called Café Practices, where it will work with farmers to
harvest & also improve the overall yield at farms. It will roll this out
for local farmers as well.
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The new roasting unit
also has an automatic filling & sealing line with high precision testing
equipment & a pneumatic logic controlled green coffee handling system for
effective control of recipe.
Arvind
lifestyle inks licensing deal to launch Ed Hardy brand in India:
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February 8, 2013
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Arvind lifestyle brands
Ltd. today announced that it has signed a long-term licensing agreement with
Iconix Lifestyle India Pvt. Ltd, a joint venture between Iconix Brand Group,
USA and Reliance Brands Ltd, for Ed Hardy.
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Ed Hardy is an
alternative lifestyle fashion brand that celebrates the classic American tattoo
as an art form across apparel & accessories.
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Arvind Lifestyle Brands
LTD, a subsidiary of Arvind Ltd, one of the largest apparel brands in India
with portfolio of 13 international brands and retail concepts and 12 own
brands, will hold the exclusive ,multi
-year license to manufacture & distribute Ed Hardy apparel &
accessories throughout India. Ed Hardy is projected to launch in India during
Autumn/Winter 2013 with a new global product & pricing strategy.
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J. Suresh, MD &
CEO, Arvind Lifestyle Brands Ltd & Arvind Retail Ltd, said Ed Hardy is a
well-known internationally recognized brand & enjoys the status of
‘cult-classic’. Moreover, Ed- Hardy will also substantially strengthen the
portfolio of youth segment.
After
Wal-Mart, online retail firm Amazon eyes India entry
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February 8, 2013
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The world’s largest
online retail company Amazon.com has decided to send its brass to the country
to lobby for policy changes that would allow it entry.
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The revised FDI policy
in retail announced in September last year blocked foreign investments in
e-commerce while allowing up to 51% FDI in multi-brand retail stores & 100
% FDI in single- brand retail. Misner is scheduled to meet Commerce & Industry
Minister Anand Sharma early next week, a Department of Industrial & Policy
Promotion.
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Paul Misner,
Vice-President, Global Public Policy, Amazon.com, will lead a team of officials
to New Delhi next week to discuss with policy makers the possibility of re-working
with the policy to allow FDI in e-commerce.
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The US-based online
seller of books & electronic items had been eyeing the Indian e-commerce
market, estimated at about $2 billion, for long and was hopeful that FDI policy
relaxation in retail will allow it entry.
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Amazon.com, the world’s
largest on-line retailer, had launched Junglee.com - an online shopping service
- in India last year that enabled buyers to compare various products &
their prices as listed on other e-commerce web sites in India.
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This can be seen as a
strategy applied by the company to make its presence felt amongst online
shoppers in India before it is allowed to enter the country.
US
retailer Brooks Brothers to launch 2nd luxury boutique:
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February 8, 2013
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US retailer Brooks
Brothers is set to unveil its second luxury boutique in the country in Gurgaon
this month, a few weeks after its first store opened in New Delhi
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Brooks Brothers is one
of a clutch of foreign companies entering the $500-billion Indian retail market
after the government opened doors wider to overseas investment.
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In an effort to chase
the aspirational Indian customer, five stores are expected this year. A rapid
burst in North, with a mall-based store in Chandigarh, to be followed by stores
in the South, a mall-based store in Chennai & freestanding locations in
Bangalore & Hyderabad.
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Brooks Brother signed a
joint venture with Reliance Brands for the development of the American brand in
India & was one of the first companies to get FDI approval in October 2012.
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The luxury brand opened
its first 1800 sq-ft store at Ambience Mall in Vasant Kunj, New Delhi on
January 18th this year.
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An official said,
Reliance Brands is a bridge to the luxury segment. The Brooks Brothers store at
Elante mall in Chandigarh is expected to be the largest of the three stores in
the North.
Multiplex
chain operator PVR plans to invest Rs. 150 crore to open another 75 screens
over the next one year in the country:
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February 10, 2013
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The Delhi-based firm,
which acquired rival Cinemax recently, has 213 screens operational in the
country.
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Currently, they have
213 screens + 138 screens of Cinemax taking the total number to 351 in the
country.
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The new screens will be
spread out in Tier - I & Tier - II cities. The new screens would come up at
various places including Kochi & Chandigarh.
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In January, PVR had
completed the acquisition of 69.27 & stake in Cinemax India Ltd from its
erstwhile promoters.
Linc Pens
launches online store
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February 11, 2013
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Writing instruments firm Linc has launched its online store. Consumers
can buy pens and stationery from www.officelinc.com . Earlier available through online platforms such as
William Pens, TSG Fashions, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Indiaplaza, Linc has planned to
start its distribution through the online channel in an aggressive way.
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Rohit Deepak Jalan, Business Development Executive, Linc Pen said, “We
realised that companies/consumers spend time online on researching for gift
products and prefer dealing online. Linc provides this opportunity, through
Office Linc, to shop for not only pens but also stationery through its online
platform.
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The format will be like the Office Linc store, only that the model has
been shifted to a digital platform. The payment can be done online and will
also have the cash on delivery convenience.”
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Office Linc sells products starting from Rs 5 to Rs 65,000. Initially,
this service will be launched in Kolkata where products will be delivered at
the consumer’s door step against a minimum order of Rs 200.
Emami to revisit plan for manufacturing unit in Egypt
February 11, 2013
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Emami Ltd
will revisit its earlier plan of setting up a manufacturing unit in Egypt due
to the prevailing volatile economic and political situation, said N. H.
Bhansali, CEO, Finance, Strategy and Business development.
·
The
company had earlier planned a unit in Egypt for manufacturing its personal and
healthcare products to cater to the African and parts of European market by the
end of this fiscal. The company had invested about Rs 8 crore on the proposed
unit
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The FMCG
major is also set to hike product prices by 4-5 per cent in the current
quarter. This price hike is on the back of nearly six per cent rise in prices
since the beginning of this fiscal.
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According
to N. Krishna Mohan, CEO - Sales and Supply Chain and Human Capital, the hike
would help offset the impact of high input costs and inflationary pressures.
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Raw
materials account for almost 17-18 per cent of Emami’s total expenditure. Price
of menthol, which accounts for a major share of its raw material prices, almost
doubled from Rs 1,600 a kg about 12-18 months back to Rs 3,000 a kg at present,
thereby necessitating price hikes
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The plan
to take a judicious price hike of about 4-5 per cent on some products, mainly
for summer. However, it will be done this month and March so there will be not
much impact on the fourth quarter results
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Emami
expects 18 per cent growth in its top line and bottom line by the end of this
fiscal, on a year-on-year basis. Healthcare, including OTC products, accounts
for about 40 per cent of its total turnover.
MTV Consumer Products to add more offerings for youth
February 12, 2013
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From eye-wear to adventure bikes and debit cards to tablets, MTV
Consumer Products, which is present in 15 categories, plans to expand to 25
categories by the end of the next fiscal. In the next few months, it will step
into several categories that include condoms, women’s inner-wear, relaunch of
its apparel line, wrist-wear and laptops.
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The company is also exploring partnerships with cafes and youth hostels.
MTV products are also expected to be available in shop-in-shop formats in
partnership with retail outlets.
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Most of these brand licensing agreements with partners for the 15
categories are unique to India and are now being replicated in other countries.
“Eight years ago, when the consumer products were launched, it was more of an
out-of-television branding exercise.
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For instance, MTV has collaborated with SWIPE Telecom to launch six-inch
‘fablet’ devices called MTV Volt, which have an app that offers on-the-go
access to MTV. The company was now exploring unlocking synergies with group
companies such as bookmyshow.com to offer cool apps and discounts
to owners of MTV Volt.
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“By the end of this fiscal, MTV and Nickelodeon branded products would
generate about Rs 250 crore in retail sales for our partners, and expect this
to increase to about Rs 400 crore. The company has licensing deals with
partners to launch co-branded products and earns a percentage of the revenues
as brand royalty. Dahiya, however, did not disclose the revenues that Viacom 18
earns from the total retail sales generated.
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Some of MTV’s key licensees include Bwitch, Citibank, Crusoe, Firefox,
Aureole-Inspecs, BILT, PLG, J K Ansell, Mochi, Swipe Telecom and Global
Fragrances.
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The company is focusing on striking long-term deals and ramping up its
creative team as it plans to expand consumer products under its other brands,
such as VH1 and Comedy Central.
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