Jagdish Khattar, Ex- CEO of Maruti Suzuki started his multi-brand car servicing business named Carnation Auto with nine centers across the country. Further he is planning to foray into used car business also.

According to the reports, Mr Khattar had raised Rs 108 crore from investors PremjiInvest and IFCI ventures for his new firm. The new firm is planning to invest Rs 300 crore by 2011 to come out with 100 car service outlets. Additionally the firm is optimistic to open up 30 centers and generating revenues of 75 crore in the foremost year.

Commenting on the development, Mr Khattar said "The pilot project is part of the many businesses that Carnation will roll out subsequently but the initial focus will be on car servicing. Our auto solution hubs would meet all the needs of car owners under one roof."

The new owner of Satyam Computer Services Ltd, has renamed the firm as Mahindra Satyam and has disclosed a new business plan giving emphasis on good governance and citizenship. The firm will also take the logo of Mahindra Group and will take the advantage of Mahindra’s business partners.

The new name of the firm came after two-day meeting of Mahindra’s group executives, Tech Mahindra and Satyam at Hyderabad owing to better results posted by Satyam for the December quarter and the initial two months of the fourth quarter.

Speaking on the development, Anand Mahindra, vice-chairman and managing director, Mahindra Group said his rebranding exercise symbolizes an amalgamation of Mahindra Group’s values with Satyam’s fabled expertise, even as it retains that part of Satyam’s identity which signifies commitment, purpose and proficiency of the organization and its people.”

Vijaya Bank is quite optimistic to do a business of over Rs 110,000 crore which will include Rs 65000 crore deposits and Rs 45,000 crore advances in the current fiscal ending March 31, 2010.

The bank has 1,100 branches and is aiming to open up 100 new branches in the country by March 2010. According to the company reports, a net profit of Rs 236.48 was generated in the last fiscal year. Besides these plans, the company further plans to come up with new initiatives like online trading, mobile banking and NRI mission 5000.

The company believes in generating about Rs 5000 crore deposit through its NRI mission 5000 plan by 2010 targeting areas like Punjab, Kerela and Karnataka.

Acer announced the launch of nine models of handheld mobile devices in the country. This announcement marks the entry of Acer into increasingly competitive smartphone market in India. Further the company is planning to stand among top five in smartphones within next three-five years.

Speaking on the occasion, Senior Corporate VP, Acer Inc and President Smart Handheld Business Group Aymar de Lencquesaing said “Our goal is to be in the top five within three to five years. The devices would be available in India through its distribution partner Vision Distribution Private Ltd.”

The company finds Nokia, Samsung, Apple and HTC its key rivals and aiming to harness 6-7 percent share of the global smartphone market within next three-five years. The smartphones will be available at a price between Rs 16,000 and Rs 35,000.

Apollo Hospital Group, India’s largest healthcare service provider has taken its decision back to acquire Wockhardt’s hospital business due to differences in valuation and conflict in geographical presence of the hospitals. According to the reports, Apollo was looking to acquire Wockhardt’s hospitals in Bangalore, Kolkata and Mumbai.

Speaking on the occasion, Apollo Hospitals managing director, Ms Preetha Reddy said “Wockhardt has excellent hospitals and good processes but after the due diligence, we saw that acquiring Wockhardt hospitals may not give the maximum return to our investors.”

Apollo’s pullout from the race means that Fortis Healthcare becomes the strong contender to win the race. Also the terms and conditions will favor Fortis as the company has yet to make any appearance in Kolkata and will look to strengthen its presence in Bangalore and Mumbai.

Speaking further, Mr Reddy said that their main emphasis is to expand through Greenfield projects and not through acquisitions because a Greenfield project will help us to remain focused on quality through architecture and product design.

Witnessing the surge in the stock markets in India, Yes Bank is planning to enter into retail brokerage business which will extend its fee-based income and mobilize low-cost deposits. Further Yes bank is closing its first private equity fund of about $250 million by September.

Speaking on the news, Yes Bank Managing Director and CEO Rana Kapoor said that the company will time it in next few months and will recruit some external manpower to manage the new business vertical.

Commenting upon the contract of private equity fund, he said that this is the first ever clean PE fund called South Asia Clean Energy Fund in association with Global Environment Fund of Washington being done by any private bank.