Bajaj Allianz  offers new plan
Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company on Monday launched a new investment plan called UnitGain Plus ‘Gold’ that provides protection and flexibility, said the company. Besides saving tax, it provides the option to invest in its ‘Asset Allocation Fund’, which  invests in different asset classes, provides diversification and flexibility to the fund manager to capitalise on the changing financial markets and economic conditions. Key features of this plan are high allocation up to 85 per cent, guaranteed life cover, accidental death benefits and accidental disability benefits.

Brand recall on Tata Indicom
Tata Teleservices announced on Tuesday that according to a survey conducted by global market research agency Synovate, Tata Indicom, the retail brand of Tata Teleservices Ltd, has been positioned as number one by television viewers in major Indian metropolitan cities. In the survey, Tata Indicom rates highest in all three categories of brand recall (90 points), brand awareness (94 points) and ad reach (85 points). The advertisement campaign puts Tata Tele ahead of other brand campaigns by companies like Airtel, Asian Paints, Pepsi and Lays, said a release from the company.

Auto comp cos are competitive
Indian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the auto component industry have shown improvement in productivity and become globally competitive, a Pricewaterhouse Coopers study said on Tuesday. Improvement in operational performance and cost cutting has helped SMEs acquire new customers besides getting additional orders from the existing customers.

Gremach’s stake in African coal co 
Gremach Infrastructure Equipments & Projects Ltd, on Tuesday in Mumbai announced that it has taken 75 per cent controlling stake in 11 coal mine licenses in Mozambique having an aggregate 13,520 hectare in prime region of Moatize. These licenses have been purchased from a Mozambique Company, Osho Mozambique Coal Mining Limitada. 

The company is planning to start prospecting of the area next month  and will be completed by mid 2008. Expected reserves in the above mines are more than 200 million, the company said.

Essar‘s new plan for funding
Essar Group , the Indian partner for Vodafone Group Plc in India’s third-largest mobile-phone operator, is seeking a $3.59 billion loan against its stake in the venture. Essar Communications India Ltd hired Standard Chartered, Commerzbank AG, BNP Paribas SA and Citigroup to arrange the loan, which will be payable Dec. 8, 2011, according an e-mailed statement from BNP Paribas.

The loan will be used to lower borrowing costs and to fund investment for Essar Group companies.

SBI bags award from Nabard
State Bank of India (SBI) received the first prize for credit linking highest number of Self Help Groups (SHGs) during 2006-07 in the commercial banks category. The prize instituted by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Karnataka Regional Office was awarded to SBI on Tuesday in Bangalore. Station Bazaar, Gulbarga Branch of SBI has also bagged the ‘First Prize’ for credit linking highest number of SHGs under branches of commercial banks category.

PFC bags Golden Peacock Award
The state-run Power Finance Corporation has bagged the Golden Peacock Award 2007 for excellence in corporate governance. Company CMD V K Garg received the award at a function attended by business leaders, corporate governance experts and policy makers from 34 countries in London on September 20, an official statement said on Tuesday in New Delhi. Golden Peacock Awards are the highest accolades of corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, innovation, training, environment management, technological leadership and business leadership.