India Inc seems to have decided to market its products to shareholders aggressively. More companies are looking at increasing their market shares by selling products to their shareholders at discounts.
After Reliance Industries, which introduced the Khazana Club -- an offer of free airtime worth Rs 200 to Reliance group shareholders who opted for Reliance India Mobile -- the Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion) Tata group is following suit.
"We are planning to introduce a discount finance scheme for Tata Engineering shareholders and this scheme will be announced within a month. We are also thinking about extending similar benefits to other Tata products, which will be introduced in due course," Tata group Chairman Ratan Tata said at the annual general meeting of Tata Engineering.
The company is also exploring the option of introducing alternative fuel based vehicles like the electric car.
Tata Engineering is all set to sport a new name. It will be renamed Tata Motors Ltd. The change is a reflection of the company's strategy of achieving a global presence in the automobile business.
"The name is in line with the names of most global automobile players like General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company, Hyundai Motors, Mitsubishi Motors, Mazda Motors and Toyota Motors," Tata said.
Meanwhile, Tata Engineering has reported a profit after tax for the quarter ended June 30, 2003, of Rs 100.31 crore (Rs 1.003 billion), up from Rs 28.3 crore (Rs 283 million) in the same quarter last year.
Total revenues for the quarter were Rs 2,923 crore (Rs 29.23 billion), reflecting robust sales.
Speaking about the people's car project, Tata said, "It will take four to five years to develop the car and it will be built from scratch." The company is setting up a small group that will look into Tata's pet project.
The company is raising $100 million, preferably through foreign currency convertible bonds, in order to retire costly debt and for expansion.
The company would also be taking a $65 million, 8-year loan from the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank's private lending arm, Tata said at the meeting.
On the export front, the company is looking at consolidating its presence in markets like the European Union and China.
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