5CHENNAI EENTERPRISENTERPRISE SUNDAY16 JUNE 2019

BharatBenz opens genuine partsoutlet in Kovai

| NT Bureau |Chennai, June 16:

Daimler India Commercial Ve-hicles (DICV) in association with Prabal Trucking, inaugurated its fi rst ever BharatBenz genuine parts outlet in Coimbatore.

According to a release from DICV, the outlet ensures instant availability of parts and maxi-mum value from BharatBenz Trucks over its lifecycle.

The fi rm also states that cus-tomers are guaranteed best-in-class services and readily availa-ble genuine parts for BharatBenz vehicles.

VP - Customer Service, DICV, Ramesh Rajagopalan, said, ‘Easy availability of BharatBenz genuine parts becomes even more vital as we rapidly grow our vehicle park. This is an ex-tension of the ProServ promise to ensure high vehicle uptime. We will continue to expand this service to other regions.’

CEO of Prabal Trucking, Kan-nan Veeraiyan, said, ‘We are very keen on serving our customers with availability of genuine parts close to their actual operation ar-eas. This will enable us to retain more customers and increase vehicle uptime.’

Coromadel gets GPCB permission F e r t i l i s e r m a n u f a c t u r e r

Coromandel Internat ional has said Gujarat State Pol-lution Control Board (GPCB) has allowed the company to open its facility at Sarigam in Gujarat for three months. The Sarigam facility was closed due to a fire incident at a product godown in the unit in January this year. After the incident, the GPCB had issued a closure notice for the facility.

‘This has reference to our ear-lier letters dated 29 January, and 30 January, informing you about a fire accident that took place at the product godown in one of our manufacturing units at Sarigam, Gujarat, and the closure notice issued by GPCB consequent to the said incident,’ a company state-ment said.

It said, ‘We have received letter from GPCB dated June 14, 2019, revoking its earlier closure notice. The revoca-tion is for a period of three months, and the company would be submitting the action taken report as required by the GPCB within the stipulated three months period to obtain permanent revocation of the closure notice.’ The company is taking necessary steps to resume operations at its Sa-rigam unit shortly, it added.

Sanjay Murdeshwar is Novartis vice chairman & MD

Pharma firm Novartis India has announced the appoint-

ment of Sanjay Murdeshwar as vice chairman and managing director of the company.

‘ . . b a s e d o n r e c o m m e n -dation of the

Nomination and Remuneration Committee of the Board, the Board of Directors of Novartis lndia Ltd at their meeting held today, have approved the appointment of Sanjay Mur-deshwar as vice chairman and managing director of the com-pany effective 15 June, subject to the approval of Sharehold-ers and Central Government,’ a company statement said.

Murdeshwar is country pres-ident, Novartis in India and responsible for the company’s pharmaceuticals business in the country, while also be-ing the managing director of Novartis Healthcare Private Ltd.

He comes with more than 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry which includes varied roles in the pharmaceuticals and consumer health businesses.

‘Vedanta lost USD 200 mnafter Tuticorin plant shutdown’

� Stoppage of production led to copper import: Group chairman Agarwal

‘What happened (in police fi ring) was very

unfortunate and our thoughts and sympathies

are with the victims. But what is now

happening is equally unfortunate’

New Delhi, June 16 (PTI):

Vedanta Ltd has lost about USD 200 million in profi ts ever since its copper smelter plant in Tamilnadu was shut more than a year back after police fi red on protesters and killed 13 people, Group Chairman Anil Agarwal said.

Agarwal added that the stop-page of production at the Tuticorin plant of the fi rm’s unit Sterlite led to the country having to import copper, spending precious foreign exchange. ‘We have lost about USD 200 million in bottomline (profi ts),’ he told PTI in an interview. ‘Forget about bottomline. How can you stop production and start importing? After all, what we did at Tuticorin was import substitution.’

The Tamilnadu government had in May last year ordered permanent shutdown of the copper smelter after bloody protests at the plant in Thoothukudi culminated in police opening fi re on demonstra-tors. Vedanta wants the plant to be reopened, pointing to the economic

pressures from the closure. As many as 20,000 direct and indirect jobs have been lost due to the shut-ting of the smelter and about 98,400 more were affected in the consumer or downstream industries.

‘It is a bread and butter issue for Tuticorin,’ he said. ‘What hap-pened (in police fi ring) was very unfortunate and our thoughts and sympathies are with the victims. But what is now happening is equally unfortunate.’ The Vedanta plant in the Thoothukudi district produced about 40 per cent of In-dia’s copper output. The company had announced a plan to expand capacity, leading to protests on concerns about pollution. Vedanta

denies that the factory has been a polluter. He sought to draw a paral-lel between Tuticorin and Singur in West Bengal which was abandoned by Tata Motors in 2008 after pro-tests over its Nano car factory.

‘Nobody can (afford to) make another Singur,’ he said without elaborating. In 2008, Tata Motors abandoned plans to build a factory to make the world’s cheapest car after protests led by politicians over land acquisition. That pullout was said to have deterred many manufacturers from investing in new plants in the state.

Tamilnadu, one of the most indus-trialised states in India, is home to factories of companies like Hyundai

Motor and Caterpillar. But it has in recent months seen a decline in foreign investment, leading to concerns about job creation. ‘I have been saying and will repeat again - the world does not want us to produce. World wants us to import,’ he said, adding the shutting down of Tuticorin plant has led to India importing copper.

Agarwal hoped that a solution will be found soon. According to Vedanta Ltd’s latest annual report, the Tuticorin copper smelter, oper-ated by its Sterlite Copper business, ranks as one of the largest custom copper smelters in India. With a design capacity of 400,000 tonnes, the business held 33 per cent mar-

ket share of the country’s refi ned copper demand of around 675,000 tonnes in FY2018, it said.

The company challenged the closure order through an appeal before the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which in December 2018 ruled that the Tamilnadu govern-ment’s order was nonsustainable and unjustifi ed. However, in Feb-ruary 2019, the Supreme Court set aside the NGT’s order on the grounds of maintainability and directed Vedanta to fi le a writ peti-tion before the Madras High Court. The company has fi led a petition in the high court and ‘the matter is likely to come up after the summer vacation break,’ Agarwal said.

New Delhi, June 16 (PTI):

Drug major Lupin is recalling over 18,000 bottles of Cefdinir for Oral Suspension, used to treat bacterial infections, from the US market.

Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc, an American subsidiary of the Mum-bai-based company, is recalling the lot due to complaint received of metal piece identifi ed in the product bottle prior to the reconstitution, as per the latest Enforcement Report

of the US Food and Drug Administra-tion (USFDA). The company is recall-ing 18,408 (60 ml) bottles, it added.

The impacted lot has been manu-factured by Lupin’s Mandideep manufacturing facility for Baltimore (Maryland) based Lupin Pharmaceu-ticals Inc. The USFDA has classifi ed it as a Class-II recall, which is initi-ated in a situation in which use of or exposure to a violative product may cause temporary or medically revers-

ible adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious ad-verse health consequences is remote.

In January this year, the company had announced recall of 2,87,784 bottles of Cefdinir for Oral Suspension in the US for CGMP (Current Good Manufactur-ing Practice) deviations. Cefdinir is used to treat a wide variety of bacterial infections. This medication is known as a cephalosporin antibiotic. It works by stopping the growth of bacteria.

New Delhi, June 16 (PTI):

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari Sat-urday assured Kerala, Tamilnadu and Uttarakhand of all cooperation in ex-pediting highway projects. The Chief Ministers of the three States had called on the Road Transport, Highways and MSME Minister to discuss infrastruc-ture and ongoing highways projects in their respective states.

‘The Chief Ministers discussed the ongoing highway and infrastruc-

ture projects in the states. We have assured full cooperation to them,’ Gadkari said after the meetings. The Minister said he had asked states to expedite land acquisition in the States, especially Kerala where ongo-ing projects have been stuck.

Earlier, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and V Muraleed-haran, MSEA called on Gadkari Saturday to discuss the progress of on-going road and infrastructure projects in the state.

New Delhi, June 16 (PTI):

The GST Council is likely to extend till 30 November, 2020 the tenure of the National Anti-profi teering Authority (NAA), which deals with customer complaints regarding not receiving tax cut benefi ts, at its next meeting on 21 June, an offi cial said. The Council at its 35th meeting, the fi rst under new Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, is also likely to consider a proposal to set up one appellate tribunal for north-eastern states, and another one for all Union Ter-ritories. Besides, the Council would discuss a proposal to levy Goods and Services Tax (GST) on extra-neutral alcohol (ENA), which is used for manufacturing alcoholic liquor for human consumption, the offi cial added.

ENA a is derivative of sugarcane molasses (95 per cent high-purity ethyl alcohol) and is not an alcoholic liquor for human consumption but can be used as raw material or input, after processing and substantial dilution, in the production of whisky, gin, country liquor etc. The Finance Ministry is of the view that NAA should be given an exten-sion of one year till November 30, 2020 as the authority continues to receive complaints of profi teering by compa-nies, the offi cial told PTI.

Gadkari’s assurance to TNLupin recalls antibiotic drugs

GST Council maygive extension to

anti-profi teering authority

Aurobindo Pharma to spend $200 mn on Capex in FY20

Hyderabad, June 16 (PTI):

Aurobindo Pharma Limited will invest up to USD 200 million on Capex and over fi ve per cent of sale value on Research and Development (R&D) during the current fi -nancial year, a senior company offi cial has said.

‘Around USD 200 million is what we are targeting (on capex in FY20)...Capex for biosimilar may not be a huge one for FY20. The majority of the CAPEX should be in terms of creating certain both fi nished dosage and API capacities,’ Managing Director of Aurobindo N Govindarajan said in a recently held earnings call. He said this included formulation facility for derma. Also, the company needs to expand API (Ac-tive Pharmaceutical Ingredients) capacity with the growing need, as well as bringing certain APIs needed for the future, he said. ‘So from that perspective it would be a combination of both fi nished dosage and API expansion,’ Govindarajan said.

Jaypee Infra creditorsto meet 20 June

New Delhi, June 16 (PTI):

Jaypee Infratech’s creditors, which include banks and home buyers, will meet on June 20 to assess the progress of the ongo-ing insolvency process and decide future course of action. The meeting has been called days after majority of banks voted against state-owned NBCC’s bid to acquire the debt ridden realty fi rm. A meeting of Committee of Creditors (CoC) will be held on June 20, 2019, Jaypee Infratech’s Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) Anuj Jain said in a regulatory fi ling. He did not disclose the agenda of the meeting.

Sources, however, said that the CoC has been called to discuss the status update of the ongoing insolvency pro-ceedings and the way forward. A majority of lenders voted against NBCC’s bid on June 10 but most home buyers wanted the state-owned company to takeover the debt-laden realty fi rm, sources had said.