Burden off their backs

Unnoticed by most people, the debt-burdened Essar brothers, Sashi and Ravi Ruia, have been getting rid of some loads off their backs. Buoyed...

Unnoticed by most people, the debt-burdened Essar brothers, Sashi and Ravi Ruia, have been getting rid of some loads off their backs. Buoyed by happy days for steel industry, good times for shipping and surging growth in telecom, these tycoons are confident that things are turning around. Essar team seems to have cracked their overseas lenders resolve and hammered out a foreign debt buyback arrangement that looks viable. If all this does come together, then this may well prove to be the quintessential turn-around story. Given that we don8217;t have too many instances of big boys being able to salvage empires in trouble, this may become a role model for others. But before they pop the bubbly, there are many little details to be ironed out. Then good times could roll.

Soaring Ambitions

Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, plans to get busy with his SEZ Special Economic Zone near the Mundra Port. This project at the deepest port on the West coast is a joint venture with the Government of Gujarat. The tycoon8217;s proposal has been slept over by his partners. Now, they have suddenly woken up and Narendra Modi is keen to forward it to the Centre, where if it is approved work will begin. Our tycoon insists that all back up plans are ready and operational. Only the green signal from the Centre is awaited. Adani is confident of the success of his plan and why shouldn8217;t he be. His last big investment at Mundra was a prerequisite for the setting up of his SEZ. Mundra handled 4.2 million metric tonne of cargo last year creating a record, yet the tycoon knows it can target 6.2 million metric tonne this year. He coolly handed over 100 per cent stake in Mundra to P038;O Ports for an equally cool 60 million almost 300 crore. P038;O has promised to bring in foreign funds, as well as develop and operate Mundra as a world-class terminal, by the second quarter of the current year. If they stick by their words, Mundra will become a major hub port on the west coast of the country. Adani is willing to spend approximately Rs 400 crore a year for 5 years and quite willing to beg, borrow or steal in order to get it. Considering the 60 million that just feel into his lap this man, may yet make this SEZ happen.

Tough Sales Call

RPG Group chief Harshvardhan Goenka is keen on getting rid of his life sciences stuff. But that won8217;t happened before dividing it into three bite-sized units, generics, pharmaceuticals and fermentation. Among the buyers for his company is Shreya Life Sciences. Though comparatively new in the pharmaceutical business, these owners of Plethico, and Rallis, may be looking at picking up some bits because of its lack of expertise in manufacturing and R038;D. That8217;s their main reason for wanting to acquire RPG8217;s interests. And one would have expected more buyers for its company. Apart from Piramal, Zydus Cadila, Workhardt and Aventis Pharma no one else was interested in making any offers. The reason being that Harsh8217;s company had a very poor financial year. Goenka persists because he knows only too well the value of this sale, and needs it to lift the spirits of his company.

Dilip Cherian, runs a public affairs firm Perfect Relations. He is an economy watcher and tycoon tracker. None of the people he writes about are his clients. Your insider tales are welcome at dilipcheriannow-india.net.in