Small-budget films seem to be raking in the moolah for production houses. Little wonder that filmmakers like Ghai, Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt and Pritish Nandy have over the years stuck to making small-budget films in the range of Rs 10-15 crore (Rs 100-150 million).
What started as a trickle three years ago has now hit big time with music companies putting more and more songs on iTunes. "Three years back, when we started off, Bollywood filmmakers were not very bullish about promoting music content on a global platform. Under iTunes' world category of songs, Bollywood certainly features in the top three," said Neeraj Roy, CEO, Hungama Mobile. The company has been responsible for making Bollywood music available on iTunes.
The hotel giant is looking at having an exclusive arrangement with Pune-based Mulshi Springs -- a company that bottles natural spring water. The brand will be called Oberoi Spring Water and a formal announcement is expected soon. The packaged spring water will be available in 200 ml, 500 ml, 1 litre and 1.5 litre pet bottles priced between Rs 50 and Rs 200 respectively. "Water will be sourced from a rain forest near the Sahara Amby Valley," added the official.
Fertiliser, power plants plan expansion in anticipation
Riding on the success of Indian Idol 3, advertisers are queuing up for the fourth season of the show. Sony Entertainment Television, which will air Indian Idol 4 starting September 19 has sold over 85 per cent of the advertising inventory.
With competition rising in the entertainment channel business due to the advent of new players, broadcasters are ready to cough up huge amounts to celebrities in the hope of wooing a more fragmented audience. As a result, anchor rates have doubled and tripled since Bachchan warmed the hot seat. Naturally, the programming cost has shot through the roof.
Property developers are setting up their own mini-power plants to meet captive requirements of the malls or residential complexes they are building. Electricity generated from these power plants, which will use compressed natural gas (CNG) as fuel, will be 40 per cent cheaper than state electricity board supplies, making it an attractive investment option rather than a perceived additional cost.
You can soon buy your car or house sitting in front a television set. With Network 18 launching India's first home shopping channel Home Shop 18 in April, and Star TV group soon to join the fray, the home shopping channels are expected to be the next big thing for television broadcasters.
HCL's founder and chairman Shiv Nadar is making a second foray into university education having sought 300 acres of land in Noida, near New Delhi, to set up a Rs 300-crore (Rs 3 billion) multi-disciplinary university.
Only one out of every 175 students who take the Common Admission Test will make it to the Indian Institutes of Management this year. The logic, note experts, is simple. Around 300,000 students are slated to appear for CAT this November. Despite such slim chances, industry players believe more students will try to crack CAT as the job situation is not at its best. The increase in the number of students taking the CAT exam this year will be around 20 per cent.
Official telecaster Prasar Bharati has got Life Insurance Corporation, Maruti, Suzuki, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), Indian Oil Corporation, BSNL and Samsung on board as sponsors for telecast of the forthcoming Beijing Olympics. But with the tournament starting on August 8, Prasar Bharati is yet to have a presenting sponsor.
The premier Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) do not appear to be perturbed, but other prominent B-schools anticipate a 25-30 per cent drop in placements this academic year. They are concerned that several regular companies may drop out of the placements and others may recruit fewer numbers than usual.
The deal is expected to be struck at $150 million (about Rs 600 crore). If the deal goes through, it will mark the entry of Indian companies in Hollywood studios.
Global crude oil prices have dropped 14 per cent in less than a fortnight, but the three public sector oil marketing companies could still end up borrowing more in the domestic market and put further pressure on liquidity. With the three OMCs still saddled with under-recoveries, estimated at Rs 820 crore (Rs 8.2 billion) a day, they have no option but to use bank credit lines in the coming days as they have run out of their stock of oil bonds.
Naresh Nayyar, MD & CEO, Essar Oil, tells Business Standard that a windfall profit tax on private oil companies will only worsen the situation.
Ruias-controlled Essar Oil is close to acquiring two oil and gas blocks in Australia. The company has emerged as the preferred bidder for developing the blocks amidst international competition. The ruias will hold 100 per cent equity in the blocks.
In yet another move to strengthen his association with the Sony Group, Spice Chairman B K Modi is in talks to buy stake in Sony BMG, the group's music subsidiary.
Chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani is understood to have expressed interest in footing the salary bills of international faculty at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.
In a yet another bailout that will go down well with the political class, the government has proposed one-time assistance to state government and private universities and colleges that do not get any financial assistance from the University Grants Commission, the country's higher education standards regulator, which also funds institutions.
According to the National Auto Fuel Policy, Bharat Stage-IV, the Indian version of Euro-IV, is to be applicable in the country by April 2010. However, the plant upgradation plans of the oil refiners, who have to sell petrol and diesel with the stringent emission standard from April 1, are facing a delay as suppliers of the equipment are heavily booked.
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