By Vipin Agnihotri
This week The India Street brings you exclusive news from telecom giants Airtel and Vodafone Essar, Blue Dart and Ranbaxy.
Telecom giants Airtel and Vodafone Essar seem to be in trouble these days. It is worth mentioning in this regard that the duo is facing charges of adopting unfair trade practices. Few days back, Airtel and Vodafone had resorted to a simultaneous price hike for SMS, local and STD calls.
The move first received objections from Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal. Now, even Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Commission has directed its investigative arm to brace this matter and investigate the manner in which these companies raised their tariffs.
If experts are to be believed, the commission feels that these companies have formed a cartel and are distorting competition in the market. Point to be noted here is that the tariffs were raised without giving any intimation to the end customers, a move that is an unfair trade practice.
Blue Dart on an expansion mode
Indian courier major Blue Dart has unveiled its exorbitant Rs 10 billion expansion blueprint. According to sources, the investment would be utilized to expand company’s air and ground infrastructure. Indications are that the company plans to add one more Boeing 757s, taking the total number of Boeing 757s to three.
Furthermore, Blue Dart is also interested in buying some Boeing 737s. In general, the proposed investment would be generated through internal accruals. The company is gung ho to have a staggering market share of 20 per cent in the ground express segment.
Ranbaxy eyeing Punjab
After finishing plethora of overseas acquisitions last year, it seems as if Ranbaxy, the leading Indian drug maker is in a mood to focus more on Indian soil as of now. According to company sources, Ranbaxy plans to invest about $500- $600 million in health care services in Punjab in next two years.
Initial signs are that the investment would be in the form of public private relationship in number of areas that include R & D, medical education and hospitals for which Ranbaxy has already submitted its proposal to Punjab government.
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