Vijay Mallya's United Breweries has held a vice-like grip over the Indian beer market with the Kingfisher, Kalyani and Sandpiper brands. With 137 million cases (12 bottles each), it has a 45 per cent market share. But now multinationals are closing in on UB.
Firms use imported pulp as Indian oranges have lower juice content. The Indian orange is yet to catch the fancy of beverage companies, foreign as well as Indian. Dabur, the leader in orange-based packaged juices with a 54 per cent market share, sources orange concentrate from North and South America for its 'Real' brand.
Real estate firm Parsvnath Developers' quest for a mobile licence seems to have hit a roadblock at the Department of Telecom (DoT). Parsvnath, which is one of the seven realty firms in the fray for mobile licences, hasn't mentioned the business of "telecommunications" in its memorandum of association (MoA).
Leading TV channels will see a blackout of spot advertising from midnight tonight after Hindustan Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Airtel, Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Reliance Communications, among others, directed their media-buying agencies not to book such advertisements on 16 news and entertainment channels, including NDTV, Network 18, Zee News, Star News, starting October 16.
An assorted bunch of farmers, small traders and non-government organisations (NGOs) have trained their guns on a legislation that allows private companies to directly procure produce from farmers. Termed the Model Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act, the legislation was drawn up by the central government a few years back.
AT&T has also applied for a universal access service licence (UASL), which allows operators to offer services in both GSM and CDMA technology, with the Mahindra & Mahindra group, for 22 circles. The US company, however, has stipulated that it wants a majority equity stake in the mobile venture.
The project will entail an investment of over Rs 60,000 crore (Rs 600 billion) and will be developed in a 50:50 joint venture with the Dubai-headquartered Limitless Holdings, a sister company of Nakheel and a part of the diversified Dubai World group
About 50,000 to 100,000 people - representing associations of farmers, traders, hawkers, and even chemists from all over India - will converge on Mumbai's Azad Maidan to demand that big corporations quit the retail business.
The company sacked nearly 900 employees and shelved its investment plans in the state, which included nearly 200 Reliance Fresh stores over three years and a back-end logistics chain.
LVMH, which has brands like Christian Dior, Fendi, TAG Heuer and Dom Perignon in its stable, is planning to float a 1 billion private equity fund for emerging markets in Asia, of which 40-50 per cent will be dedicated to India.
Having completed the country's largest initial public offering of $2 billion (about Rs 8,200 crore), DLF Chairman K P Singh is getting ready to raise a similar amount in Singapore.
So what does the future hold for small grocers? The ones Business Standard spoke to said they would also love to revolt, as smaller retailers did in Lucknow.
The ban, although described as temporary, is being seen as a knee-jerk reaction by the state government following the attacks on Reliance Fresh and Spencer's stores and has raised several questions over its farm policy.
15-acre complex to come up in Gurgaon in tie-up with US mega-realtor
Still drinks, nectars and packaged water sales are maturing quickly to grab a major share of the Indian beverages market, according to "The 2007 India Soft Drinks Report" by Canadean, the global beverages research company.
Dire warnings that the future wars will be fought over water may come true sooner than anticipated, albeit with a flavour. At least four behemoths, three of them multinationals, will soon mount an assault on the flavoured water market.
Having failed to receive even a lukewarm response to the open tender for marketing India as a tourist destination overseas, the ministry of tourism has decided to extend the deadline by over a fortnight to mid-August.
Sources close to the development said this could happen at a meeting of the company's board of directors on Thursday.
Given the spectrum crunch, it is not clear when the company will get a licence. India is the world's second-fastest growing telecom market and several companies, including Himachal Futuristic, have applied for mobile licences.
Recently, a fund manager with an exposure of $500 million in India, was busy entertaining representatives of a Danish pension fund and a Japanese delegation that were keen to invest in India.
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