The Loot, a multi-brand discount chain promoted by Loot India Pvt Ltd, is planning to have 100 stores by 2009-end.

A week ago, the company opened three stores — one each in Manipur, Itanagar and Bhagalpur. At present, there are 94 The Loot stores across the country.

R P Chhabra, CEO, The Loot, said, "We are growing at 100% year-on-year and intend to maintain the same pace this year, too. Many tier II and tier III cities have a lot of potential and we will open many more stores in the coming years."

To strengthen its presence in the Indian market, Airtel along with Research In Motion (RIM) rolled out a new service plan for Airtel customers.

The new service plan, named BlackBerry® Personal Mail allows Airtel customers to enjoy unlimited email and instant messaging (IM) on BlackBerry® smartphone at a monthly charge of just Rs 499.

It is the first service plan, which is priced below Rs 500 to offer unlimited email and IM to Indian BlackBerry smartphone customers.

The three-way battle to control Orissa Sponge Iron and Steel Ltd has taken a new turn with Bhushan Energy Ltd's decision to offer 330 rupees per share for 20 percent stake in OSLS against Monnet Ispat's offer of Rs 310.

Other players including BNS Steel Trading Pvt. Ltd, BBN Transportation Pvt. Ltd, BNR Infotech Pvt. Ltd and BNR Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd are also in the race to acquire stake in the firm.

The Bhubaneshwar-based Orissa Sponge holds captive iron ore and coal mines. The company is witnessing battle between Bhushan Power, Monnet Ispat and Bhushan Steel in the past one week. The final winner would be declared on May 13 for the offer opening on April 24, according to information available from Bombay Stock Exchange.

Mahindra and Mahindra, part of the $6.7-billion Mahindra group, has
recorded a 21.6% year-on-year increase in its three-wheeler and utility
vehicle sales in February 2009.

The Indian auto major sold 18,135 units during the last month, as against 14,909 units in the same period last year (Feb 2008).

The company recorded a 17% sales growth its utility vehicle segment,
which includes M&M’s Bolero, Scorpio and Xylo range of vehicles.

Under this section, M&M sold 14,720 units in Feb 2009 as compared to 12,562 during last February (2008).

Menon and Menon Ltd gets the Laxmanrao Kirloskar Best Foundry of the Year Award

Menon and Menon Ltd, a city-based company, has won the Laxmanrao Kirloskar Best Foundry of the Year Award from the Institute of Indian Foundrymen for 2008.

Company general manager (foundry) Ramesh Sabnis received the award at a function in Kolkata on February 13.

The company had won the award in 1998 also. Various criteria were considered for the award including the best practices and excellence in production, productivity, energy saving, quality systems, HRD promotion, export promotion and innovative techniques used on the shop floor.

Yahoo! India R&D will continue to be a critical element in Yahoo! Inc.’s global plans and will grow in the coming days, Pranesh Anthapur, vice president and chief operating officer sought to stress on Tuesday. In fact the research unit of the Web technologies giant will soon add a new 1200 seat facility in the city, he added.

Yahoo India R&D has 120 vacancies, a significant number of them at senior levels, which it is seeking to fill up in due course, he said responding to a report in these columns on Monday on the impact of a global restructuring by Yahoo last week.