The DPC Plant: Mothballed, but not for long

It never rains, it pours. on march 20, Enron Mauritius and Enron India Holding, the two holding companies for Dabhol Power Company filed for Chapter 11 in a New York court. The two companies were the vehicles through which Enron invested in DPC.

A day later Indian lenders to the company, including IDBI, IDBI, ICICI, State Bank of India, and IFCI (total exposure: Rs 5,200 crore), filed a petition in the Bombay High Court, seeking the appointment of a court receiver for DPC. Their objective was to ensure that the assets of the bankrupt Enron subsidiaries-that includes DPC-do not become part of any international bankruptcy proceeding. The Bombay High Court did so.

The counsel for the Indian lenders argued that the shares of the investment vehicle in DPC were pledged with the Indian lenders for the project. The counsel arguing for DPC said that the High Court did not have jurisdiction over the project because the agreements involved three other overseas defendants, Enron Mauritius, the Cayman-based Enron India Holdings, and the Netherland based Offshore Production CV.

The Indian lenders now hope to appoint a technical assistant or a power company to operate the mothballed project. Switching the power back on, they reason, could eventually help them see light at the end of the tunnel.

-Roshni Jayakar

B-SCHOOLS
Autumn Sonata
Mumbai's S.P. Jain Institute scraps summer placements and introduces autumn projects.

M.L. Shrikant: New ways

When you have 24 b-schools in Mumbai alone, doling out degrees and diplomas by the thousands, for a dyed-in-the-wool institute there's only one way out: be different from the pack. That's how the 20-year-old S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR), ranked amongst the top 10 in the country by sundry surveys, and the only school in the country to offer a programme targeting scions of family-owned and managed businesses has decided to react. And in pretty radical fashion too.

For its flagship programme, the two-year post-graduate diploma in business management, SPJIMR has decided to do away with the customary summer internships that happen at the end of the first year with autumn placements that take place in the middle of the second year.

''Summer projects are a big hoax, offering little scope for learning. The autumn projects will help bring a greater interaction between industry and candidates, as companies will now get a greater chance to view the candidate in greater depth, and the candidate will get a chance to know the company much better too,'' points out Manesh L. Shrikant, Honorary Dean, SPJIMR.

Indeed, many companies these days look at students who come in for summer training as mere outsourcing options, and little else. Often, the students end up working on market research projects that involve lots of legwork and little application of what they know. The original objective, of exposing students to the world of business, isn't being met any longer. And the student too isn't being equipped with enough learning in the first-year curriculum to take advantage of the summer stint.

The 'autumns', on the other hand, provide an opportunity for students to take on a project with a corporate for eight weeks, and this is a part of the academic curriculum. The institute and the company evaluate the student's report at the end of the project separately. ''It's a great way of increasing interaction between industry and the school,'' adds Shrikant, a DBA from Harvard. Now, will the me-toos follow suit?

-Brian Carvalho

MADURA GARMENTS
Madura Magic
With two Rs 100-crore brands, the company gears up for more.

P. Nedungadi: Premium and popular success

Sluggish demand for soaps and detergents may be one sure-fire indication of the economic slowdown that's under way, but when it comes to shirts and trousers consumers aren't really cutting back. That appears to be the picture when you consider the financial report card of Madura Garments, which was taken over by the A.V. Birla Group in December 1999, and is now a division of Indian Rayon. Madura, which owns such brands as Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly, Peter England, and San Frisco, grew its topline by 14 per cent to Rs 288 crore for the nine months ended December 31, 2002 (in comparison to the previous year's March to December period), and improved its profit margins to 21 per cent from 19 per cent. ''Both premium brands like Louis Philippe and Van Heusen, as well as popular brands like Peter England and Allen Solly have registered significant growth,'' points out Prakash Nedungadi, President, Madura Garments.

One result of that improved showing, point out industry sources, is that Louis Philippe and Peter England have become Rs 100-crore brands in fiscal 2001-2002. That means that the only garments brand ahead of the Madura stable is Raymond's Park Avenue, with sales of roughly Rs 120 crore. Looks like Birla's strategy of paying heavily for the brands (Rs 236 crore) is finally paying off.

-Venkatesha Babu

Ravi Prasad: Back to basics

HIMALAYA DRUG COMPANY
Himalayan Ambitions
After flagging off Ayurvedic Concepts with much fanfare three years ago, Himalaya Drug Company is going back to the name it knows best.

For decades, it was known largely as a one-product wonder. The Rs 250-crore Himalaya Drug Company, had been riding on the growth and equity of Liv 52, which is among India's top 10 pharma brands. Then, three years ago, the company flagged off Ayurvedic Concepts, an umbrella brand under which a host of new offerings were launched. That obviously didn't prove a good idea; today Ayurvedic Concepts, which was flagged off with much fanfare and a Rs 12-crore ad campaign, has gone out the window, and the company has decided to stick with good old Himalaya as the mother brand. ''Since multiple brand identities create dissonance, we decided to bring all our brands under the Himalaya name. We believe this enables us to communicate our offerings more clearly,'' explains Ravi Prasad, 41, President and CEO, Himalaya Drug Company.

Prasad adds that the drive for a unified brand will also help in focusing on global markets. ''Currently, only around 14 per cent of our turnover comes from global sales, although we are present in 56 countries. The global market for herbal healthcare is estimated at $50 billion. We want a piece of the action. A global thrust requires a consolidated brand identity.''

As part of its global push, Himalaya wants to register its products as herbal medicines, and not as dietary or food supplements, in European and American countries. A beginning has been made, with countries like Switzerland having approved Liv 52 as a herbal medicine.

Meanwhile, in the domestic market the company has launched a new range of 12 healthcare products under the ''Himalaya Pure Herbs'' range. Philipe J. Haydon, General Manager (Marketing), points out that herbs like Amla, Brahmi, Karela, Neem and Tulsi have been used for centuries as special foods and additives for the various benefits they confer. ''But what we are offering is the concentrated goodness of herbs in capsule form. They are guaranteed for highest quality and potency.'' These new products are expected to fuel Himalaya's ambitions of doubling turnover to Rs 500 crore by 2005. That surely calls for a Himalayan effort.

-Venkatesha Babu

KSA-TECHNOPAK
The Retail Axis
India's best known retail consultant goes courting.

Arvind Singhal: A step forward

For Arvind Singhal, the chairman of KSA-Technopak, this is but the next logical step. Breaking news: India's best-known retail consultant is hooking up with one of the country's leading it companies. Thus far, KSA Technopak has operated as a 50:50 joint venture between Kurt Salmon Associates, the venerable global retail consulting firm and Technopak, a firm set up by Singhal in 1992. The JV was formed in 1996; now both partners are diluting their stake to induct the tech company, which Singhal refuses to name.

Singhal claims the new partner will help KSA Technopak bag some large it spends in the retail segment that are going abegging (or ending up elsewhere). An executive at a rival consulting firm notes that the move could also help KSA's it outsourcing activities in India. For the record, KSA was one of the earliest companies to be associated with tech-major Infosys, but Singhal neither confirms nor denies that Big I is KSA-T's new partner.

-Seema Shukla