Airline cuts costs

New Delhi, Oct. 5: As part of its cost-cutting steps, Air India has decided not to entertain requests for upgrading passengers to first class or allowing excess baggage for free. The decisions were taken at a recent meeting to ensure financial discipline in the company, airline sources said. From now, top executives will be allowed to travel only on business class, while the first class will be meant for those travelling on paid tickets.

Telecom fee

New Delhi, Oct. 5: The government has reduced the licence fee for telecom service providers who have completed over 95 per cent network roll-out in a service area, except metros. The move is aimed at encouraging operators to increase tele-density.

Subhiksha

Mumbai, Oct. 5: Subhiksha plans to extend its presence in the eastern parts of the country. It plans to set up a store in Calcutta by December. The company has around 1,580 supermarkets and plans to enhance this network to around 2,200 stores by the end of this fiscal.

Cambridge

London, Oct. 5: Xchanging Plc has agreed to acquire a 75 per cent stake in IT services firm Cambridge Solutions for about Rs 686.84 crore. Xchanging will pay Rs 371.2 crore in cash and issue 1.52 crore shares of the firm to Cambridge.

FMCG move

Mumbai, Oct. 5: FMCG companies facing cost escalation because of rising input costs have started changing their raw material mix to cut costs. “The constant initiation to curtail the price of the products despite the fact the raw material price are increasing on a daily basis shows our efficiency,” N.B. Godrej, MD of Godrej Industries, said.