There's an estate worth a king's ransom. There's a will, insiders say, but no one has seen it. But, most crucially, there's no clearly identified heir apparent to the Rs 2,000-crore industrial empire that Priyamvada Birla, wife of the late Madhav Prasad Birla, left behind when she passed away last fortnight. The M.P. Birla group has assets worth Rs 5,000 crore in businesses ranging from cement (5 million tonnes of it) to jute to cables.

In terms of bloodline, Yashovardhan Birla, who performed the last rites of Mrs Birla near the Kalighat temple in Kolkata, is the frontrunner: He's the grandson of Madhav Prasad's brother Gajanan. However, Sudarshan Birla, son of late L.N. Birla (a cousin of M.P. Birla), Nandini Nopany and Jyotsna Poddar, both daughters of K.K. Birla (another cousin of M.P. Birla) have also been closely associated with MP and wife. The role of long-time family confidant, R.S. Lodha, Co-chairman of M.P. Birla Group flagship Birla Corp, may also become crucial. As could the educational and philanthropic trusts set up by the M.P. Birla Group, to which Mrs Birla might have transferred a part of her holdings. Whoever runs these trusts could call the shots.

Control of the M.P. Birla Group will also have ramifications for the entire Birla family; it has holdings in Pilani Investments, one-time holding company of the then undivided Birla Group, whose control is shared by various Birla factions. If M.P. Birla's stake in Pilani passes on to one or the other Birla clan, it could change equations within the family.

Insiders say Mrs Birla's last testament will be unveiled only after all religious and social rites are over. Till then, speculation will rule.

-Arnab Mitra

MEASURES
"We Will Introduce BPO Skills In Schools"

Nasscom's Sunil Mehta: Going to school

How Sunil Mehta, VP, Nasscom, hopes to curb churn in the ITES space.

We have begun sharing broad remuneration brackets among the various players, so there is enough information available on the remuneration practices exercised by the industry.

From here to, say, 2008, we plan to introduce BPO skills needed into the educational curriculum so that we have a talent pool in 10 years.

By October-November, a Nasscom certification programme will go live. Employees who clear the test will get paid better.

We are doing a nationwide search along with E&Y to reward champions of the outsourcing industry.

-Sudarshana Banerjee

Sniff, Sniff: There's Value Out There
The stockmarket may be off its peak by a long way, but that's exactly why it looks so attractive.

There are two ways to look at the market at current levels: The pessimist might moan: "Only seven months back, the BSE Sensex was at 6000. It's now crashed by 18-20 per cent." The optimist of course will sense the opportunity for some hardnosed ''value-hunting''. To be sure, the timing might be just right for that. Though the market indices have lost steam, corporate earnings haven't, and in fact continue to surge, thereby making valuations alluring once again. As visible from the chart on this page, the price-earnings multiple (p-e) of the BT 50 index has fallen from its peak of 15.80 and is very close to its average levels now. And this realistic valuation is visible on other benchmarks as well. "The broad market (based on the Sensex p-e) is quite attractive now. This is because the forward p-e (based on the forecast for fiscal 2005) is only around 12 times and is well below the expected earnings growth of 20 per cent (which is sustainable for the next four to five years)," says Shriram Iyer, Head of Research at Edelweiss Capital.

But as most investors are not buying into the broad market (except the ones who buy index funds), they have to be more concerned about the valuations of different sectors and stocks. This is more so because the overall market is yet to reach the grossly undervalued zone (the zone in which every stock will be undervalued). For example, note that the BT 50 p-e is still around 12 compared to its historic bottom of 8.10 reached in April 03. "I feel markets are undervalued (on an overall basis) but many sectors like banking, oil, two-wheelers and capital goods are grossly undervalued compared to other sectors," says Motilal Oswal, Chairman and Managing Director, Motilal Oswal Securities. Still, the outsourcing stories (pharma and it in the main) are maintaining a scorching pace, making them ripe for buying.

-Narendra Nathan

Spinning A Web, Again
The masked hero's back-this time with a number of brands in tow.

If Sony Pictures' Spider-man 2 is raking it in at the us box office- in the first six days, the film grossed a record-breaking $180.1 million, erasing The Matrix Reloaded's $146.9 million-Indian marketers too are bracing themselves for fireworks once the Tobey Maguire starrer is released on July 23. From Sony to Mirinda, from Airtel to Kellogg's, a number of mega-brands are hitching a ride with the masked hero.

Kellogg's Chocos has replaced the regular scoop-shaped cereal with web-shaped ones in special packs. Sony is showcasing its new digi-cam by allowing kids to get themselves photographed at any of the Sony World outlets with their faces morphed onto a Spider-Man poster. The gimmick's going to cost Sony some Rs 50 lakh, but the company's confident of recovering it through sales of not just the camera, but other products as well.

Sony Ericsson has launched a branded Spider-Man phone targeted at adults and the youth, along with embedded Spider-Man content. Airtel too has a variety of Spider-Man games and content on offer. Meantime, SET MAX and Sony too will be promoting the movie through popular shows like Yeh Meri Life Hai. Even Spidey wouldn't have bargained for this.

-Roshni Jayakar