French car major Renault is set to launch five new cars in India before 2012.
On its radar are Alberto-Culver and the personal care and laundry portfolios of Sara Lee, both recent acquisitions of Unilever.
The Renault Nissan Alliance has said that its Oragadam greenfield facility near Chennai - its first in the world - will be a template for its upcoming Morocco facility, with a few changes only in the back-end engineering. The company is training 30 senior employees drawn from various verticals at its Oragadam plant.
Anti-government protests in Egypt are making Prashant Goenka, director, international business, Emami Ltd, nervous
Companies are predictably working overtime to cash in on the boom. LG, Samsung, Panasonic, Videocon have all lined up new models of both HDTV-ready and full-HDTV sets for the world cup this year.
The cola wars will no longer be restricted to Coke and Pepsi, with their Latin American competitor Ajegroup setting up shop in India.
"Instead of plastic faces, which appear artificial, why not use real people?" asks K V Sridhar, national creative director at ad agency Leo Burnett India. "They are compelling brand ambassadors, who can lend an air of authenticity to the communication exercise."
"Both domestic and international business grew well this quarter. Growth in net sales of the domestic business was close to 50 per cent, while the international business saw nearly a three-fold growth during the same period. Our international acquisitions have played a role in helping us register good numbers this quarter."
The Rs 1,500-crore (Rs 15 billion) ladies handbag market will see some major action this year, with luggage makers V.I.P and Samsonite contemplating entry soon.
Market research based on interviews or questionnaires to understand the consumer mind will soon become pass.
"Kraft's acquisition of Cadbury is a global acquisition, where some value is attributable to India. This is different from Vodafone, where the transfer of a single share of the offshore company by Hutch resulted in the Indian business getting transferred to Vodafone," said Pranay Bhatia, associate partner at legal firm Economic Laws Practice.
India is also the third largest borrower of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the World Bank), with a total portfolio of $21.9 billion (Rs 98,590 crore).
Consumer durable companies are stepping up investments in production and distribution to cash in on the demand the industry is witnessing. According to a recent report by research agency Crisil, the Rs 25,000-crore consumer durable industry is slated to grow at a rate of 17-18 per cent over the next five years, to touch Rs 60,000 crore.
The index began tracking jobs in the sector from July 2008 and there was a sudden dip of 29 per cent in the month of December 2008, said V Suresh, executive vice president and national head of sales for the portal.
Dabur is in advanced negotiations with the US company, and is likely to close the deal shortly. The deal size is in the region of Rs 500 crore.
This festive season is expected to be a happy one for consumer durables companies, with most expecting to clock a sales growth of 40 per cent - double the amount achieved last year.
On Friday, Endhiran, the big-budget, multi-lingual Rajinikanth starrer, with an 'official' budget of Rs 162 crore and 'unofficial' budget based on market rumour of Rs 250-300 crore, opened to packed houses, with tickets sold out days in advance.
Ramesh Vangal and foreign investors backing him have decided to exit the Nadar community-controlled Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB).
According to industry experts, chlorine is one of the most commonly used chemicals to purify water though not necessarily the best method to do so on account of its ability to produce disinfection byproducts, which are harmful chemical compounds.
At 10 per cent of the overall Rs 2,000-crore (Rs 20-billion) chocolate market, the premium segment is small. Yet, it is growing at a steady 30-40 per cent per annum, according to industry estimates.