In the termination letters, RIL mentioned that the business has been impacted by the slowdown and the company was not in a position to continue with their employment. Employees who would resign will get one month's salary as compensation. When contacted, an RIL spokesperson declined to comment on the development.
Bookings in five-star hotels and inflow of foreign tourists into the country were already running low due to the global economic meltdown. With Wednesday's terror attack, the hotel industry is expected to see a rise in the number of cancellations and also a substantial reduction in tourist numbers since the terrorists have struck at the peak of the tourist season.
Restoration of colonial woodwork could take almost an year.
The attack comes at a time when the hotel industry is already suffering from weak demand. Thanks to the credit crunch, companies have decided to curb overseas travels and move to low-cost alternative accommodation. Even though the terror attacks occurred in south Mumbai-based Trident and Taj hotels, tourists in Delhi's Le Meridean , Shangri La and Taj Mahal were seen cancelling scheduled events.
Leading power players Reliance Infrastructure and GMR Energy believe this will help ensure coal availability for their mega projects in the pipeline. "They have various proposals on their table, which are relatively cheaper when compared to the scene before the beginning of the financial crisis. However, the acquisitions will depend on the ability of the acquirers to raise funds as the banks have stopped lending at cheaper rates," said a source.
The models will carry a price tag of Rs 1.25 crore to Rs 3 crore, the most expensive in the company's line-up, and will be custom ordered and delivered directly from Germany. Delivery time may take two or three months depending on what the customer chooses.
Car companies are hoping to buck the slowdown by launching new models to push sales from January. Industry majors like Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hyundai India have all lined up launches in the next few weeks and months hoping to generate reasonable volumes.
The move comes close on the heels of growth in developed auto markets such as the US and Europe dipping in the red. Analysts say that global auto companies are now focusing on developing new models for emerging markets like India, their with main focus on containing costs. The cost of development in India is considered to be the lowest in the world.
Auto component companies -- especially the mid-size and small ones -- are facing an uphill task to stay afloat as banks have become tight-fisted in giving credit and vehicle makers are cutting orders to combat the slowdown in sales.
The company is evaluating options to launch the Scorpio, Bolero, Xylo and pickup trucks in the Chinese market. However, no firm decision has yet been taken. In China, the company already has a presence in the tractor segment through Mahindra China Tractors, a joint venture company with and Jiangling Motors Company.
The steel plant will be closed down in 25 days unless an investor takes it over, operative executive director of the Bulgarian metallurgic enterprise Plamen Stoyanov told the Bulgarian media. Bulgaria's biggest steel plant has already shut down some of its production facilities, including two of its blast furnaces, and plans to stop operations completely by the end of this month.
The move, which comes in the backdrop of a global slowdown, aims to improve profit margin amid falling demand for polyester products worldwide. "The company has shut down plants for manufacturing polyester filament yarn, polyester staple fibre, paraxylene, purified terephthalic acid and linear alkyl benzene. However, it is yet to close down the second units of PSF and PFY," sources said.
Second-hand car prices have dropped 15 to 25 per cent following the imposition of stringent Supreme Court norms over repossessing and selling cars of owners defaulting on their loans.
The promoter group companies controlled by Anil Ambani are expected to buy R-Infra shares from the open market. "The promoters want to control the majority stake in the company to ward off any hostile attack, when corporate rivalry heightens in the country. As the share price of R-Infra is cheaper around Rs 400, the promoters feel that the purchase of shares from the open market would be profitable, boosting the confidence of the shareholders in turn," said sources.
Mahindra & Mahindra has decided to curtail its capital expenditure of Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) in view of the ongoing slump in demand for cars and sports utility vehicles in the domestic market.
India's biggest utility vehicle player Mahindra & Mahindra will spend close to Rs 300 crore ($60 million) towards brand-building and promotion as it prepares to launch its vehicles in the largest automotive market in the world - the United States.
JLR sees job cut if the situation does not improve.
Most top car makers are offering discounts, targeted specifically at government employees. About 5 million employees are expected to benefit from the government's move to raise its employees' salary by 70 per cent. The revised pay scales will be effective January 2006, which means they will get their pending salaries in bulk. Auto makers are hoping they will use the lumpsum payment to make a down payment for a car.
The company, which is now moving from being a premium brand to a mass market player through two launches in the small car segment in the next four years, hopes to cash in on Brand Honda's strong presence in the rural and semi-urban markets in India. Experts call it a gradual scaling up of the brand in the minds of the Indian consumers -- a strategy followed by the Japanese major in all parts of the globe.
The company already sells medium-to-high powered tractors in the US market. Although the exact date of launching the vehicles in the US was not revealed, company sources said that the launch will take place in January.
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