Azim Premji will launch a billion-dollar endowment trust modeled after Harvard Management Company to fund his philanthropic initiatives, especially education. Esprit plans to open franchise-based outlets to increase its retail turnover in India by Rs. 30 crore by the end of the fiscal year. Indian Oil Corp will launch a Rs. 19,000 crore public offering in January, which would be the largest equity offer in the country, to help the government meet its disinvestment target.

1. TOP WEEKEND NEWS
(18TH OCT. TO 24TH OCT. 2010)
Presented By
Baljit Singh

2. PREMJI TO LAUNCH BILLION-$
ENDOWMENT TRUST
 Wipro’s billionaire founder Azim Premji is all set to launch an
Endowment trust modelled along the lines of the Harvard
Management Company to fund all his Philanthropic initiatives.
 It will largely focus on leading the education initiatives
strongly favoured by Mr. Premji.
 He could use the proceeds from his sale of around 4.52% stake
in Wipro to fund this corpus.
 The trust will led by KR Lakshminarayana the current chief of
Wipro’s strategy and mergers & acquisitions, who declined to
comment on these developments.

3. ESPRIT TO OPEN FRANCHISE-BASED
OUTLETS FOR RETAIL PUSH
 The brand is eyeing to cross the mark of Rs.100 crore in retail
turnover by the end of this fiscal.
 This would be almost Rs.30 crore more than the last year’s
retail turnover.
 Esprit has no plans to hike the prices till December this
month.
 To maintain freshness in its products, Esprit buys a new full-
fledged collection every month.
 Unlike the concept of 4 seasons in India in an year, the brand
celebrates twelve seasons by offering a new wardrobe
solution every month.

4. IOC MAY HIT STREET IN JAN WITH
RS.19,000 CRORE FPO
 State run Indian Oil Corp will start shortlisting merchant
bankers next week for its Public issue that is likely to raise about
Rs.19,000 crore, making it the largest equity offer in the
country.
 The Oil ministry proposing a 10% stake sell by the government
that will help it meet its disinvestment target of Rs.40,000 crore.
 The Rs.19,000 crore public offer which would top Coal India’s
Rs.15,000 crore offering, may hit the market by January.
 There are chances that the IOC issue will enter the market even
before the Rs.8,000 crore issue of Steel Authority of India.
 After the issue of Coal India and Power Grid, the government
would have mopped up about Rs.22,000 crore.

5. RELIANCE INDUSTRIES, ESSAR OIL LIKELY TO BID
FOR NELP-1X
Reliance Industries and Essar Oil, India’s biggest non-state
energy companies, plan to bid in a government auction of
Oil & gas blocks as the country seeks to ramp up domestic
production & cut imports.
Crude imports reached $79.55 billion in the year ended March
31, according to data from the Petroleum Planning &
Analysis Cell, a division of Oil ministry.

6. BRITANNIA ENTERS BAKED SNACKS
MARKET WITH TIME PASS
 Britannia Industries entered the baked snacks category with
its brand, Time Pass.
 While Britannia sells salted biscuits under its youth-centric
Time pass brand, the new offering will directly compete with
Parle’s Monaco smart chips, Frito Lay’s Aliva & Parle Agro’s
Hippo.
 The company will add about two variants every quarter and
intends to roll out the brand nationally in a year.
 The salted snacks category is estimated to be at Rs.6,000
crore.