Textile major Bombay Dyeing said Thursday the company will renovate its existing retail shops to increase footfalls and also make its presence in malls and high street centres.

The renovated show rooms will have international appeal and extended product range in the bed and bath category, said a Bombay Dyeing statement issued to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The company has also decided to restructure its manufacturing base by setting up processing and stitching facility at an alternate location in Maharashtra, added the statement.

Bombay Dyeing is also planning to develop the land at Spring Mills, Dadar and Textile Mill, Worli in Mumbai in phases setting a new standard for township developments within the island city of over 15 million people.

The Spring Mills development involving setting up of residential, commercial and school segments was delayed due to a public interest litigation filed in February this year.

The matter eventually went to the Supreme Court and based on this order, Bombay Dyeing is hopeful of commencing construction and residential sales at the Spring Mills in the near future.

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Freescale appoints sales manager for India
 
Freescale Semiconductor, a global leader in automotive, network and wireless semiconductor markets, Thursday announced the appointment of Sanjeev Keskar as country sales manager for India.
 
Keskar will be responsible for driving Freescale's business in the India market by targeting customers in the automotive and growing network and wireless sectors, said a company statement issued here.

Prior to joining Freescale Semiconductor, Keskar headed sales operations for AMD and was credited with expanding the company's operations to cover 17 major Indian cities through effective distribution.

"Keskar is widely respected and well known in India's semiconductor industry as being a results-driven leader," said Guruswamy Ganesh, country general manager (India) of Freescale Semiconductor.

US-based Freescale Semiconductor is one of the world's largest semiconductor companies with 2004 sales of $5.7 billion.

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F5 brings application networking to India

US-based F5 Networks, the pioneer and global leader in application traffic management, Thursday announced the company's entry into the Indian market.

F5 will bring its entire portfolio of advanced products and solutions to India. The company caters to over 60 percent of Global 1,000 companies with over 800 customers throughout Asia Pacific and over 9,000 worldwide.

Headquartered in Seattle and with offices globally, F5 has over 700 employees worldwide, said a company statement issued here.

The company has seen 67 percent year-on-year revenue growth in the fiscal year 2004 over the previous year. Full year global revenues exceeded $200 million, added the statement.

"This is an exciting time to be in India. The economy is growing rapidly and outsourcing and off shoring have made India an important IT hub," said Dan Matte, global senior vice president (marketing) of F5.

"There is immense demand for secure and accelerated application delivery and we have the solutions to meet that demand," he added.

F5 also announced the appointment of Shailendra Sahasrabudhe as the general manager for India.

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Aban Loyd enters into pct with US firm

Aban Loyd Chiles Offshore Ltd., an oil field services provider, said Thursday that the company has entered into an agreement with US-based Rowandrill Inc for the purchase of an offshore jack-up drilling.

Aban Loyd's purchase of the drilling rig named Rowan Texas is subject to relevant approvals from statutory authorities, said a company statement issued to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Aban Loyd Chiles Offshore, an Indo-US joint venture, provides oil field services for offshore exploration and production of hydrocarbons, to the oil industry.

The company is India's largest offshore drilling entity in the private sector, with its own floating production and storage facilities, the statement said.

It offers world-class technical services, specialists drilling and other services for offshore oil exploration and development.