Cannes, May 24 (IANS) Los Angeles-based entrepreneur Dr. M's dream project - a long-in-gestation Buddha biopic - was reborn in Cannes. Shekhar Kapur, who was roped in to helm the film last year, is now out of the picture.

A new pair of Hollywood-based executive producers has stepped on board to revive the production, and the best selling book by the revered Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, "Old Path White Clouds", has been optioned for the project.

The movie rights to the book were purchased through a formal deal signed at the Carlton Intercontinental on the Croisette between Dr. M, who flew in for a day, and the renowned monk, whose "Engaged Buddhism" philosophy has many followers.

The search is now on for scriptwriters and a frontline director.

Dr. M will pump $120 million into the film, making it the costliest Indian production ever, and Hand Picked Films, a company run by Michel Shane and Anthony Romano, will be in charge of the production.

The shoot is expected to start early next year and the Buddha film is likely to be ready for the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.

Says Thich Nhat Hanh: "The Buddha has suffered far too much deification over the centuries. This film might help in making him human again. The idea is to make the Buddha relevant to everybody so that the world can become a better place."

According to Dr. M, the monk has sold the rights to his book on the understanding that part of the proceeds of the film will be used to help "needy children around the world."

"It is a great privilege for us to be able to bring the book to the screen," says the entrepreneur. "We intend to make the Buddha venture a major event film that will be talked about the world over."

http://nowrunning.com

Cannes, May 24 - Los Angeles-based entrepreneur Dr. M's dream project - a long-in-gestation Buddha biopic - was reborn in Cannes. Shekhar Kapur, who was roped in to helm the film last year, is now out of the picture.

A new pair of Hollywood-based executive producers has stepped on board to revive the production, and the best selling book by the revered Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, 'Old Path White Clouds', has been optioned for the project.

The movie rights to the book were purchased through a formal deal signed at the Carlton Intercontinental on the Croisette between Dr. M, who flew in for a day, and the renowned monk, whose 'Engaged Buddhism' philosophy has many followers.

The search is now on for scriptwriters and a frontline director.

Dr. M will pump $120 million into the film, making it the costliest Indian production ever, and Hand Picked Films, a company run by Michel Shane and Anthony Romano, will be in charge of the production.

The shoot is expected to start early next year and the Buddha film is likely to be ready for the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.

Says Thich Nhat Hanh: 'The Buddha has suffered far too much deification over the centuries. This film might help in making him human again. The idea is to make the Buddha relevant to everybody so that the world can become a better place.'

According to Dr. M, the monk has sold the rights to his book on the understanding that part of the proceeds of the film will be used to help 'needy children around the world.'

'It is a great privilege for us to be able to bring the book to the screen,' says the entrepreneur. 'We intend to make the Buddha venture a major event film that will be talked about the world over.'

Read from Newsindia

Wednesday, 24.May 2006 - Indian telecommunications mogul Dr. M will finance an epic feature on the life of Buddha, based on the best-selling book "Old Path White Clouds" by renowned Buddhist Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh says The Hollywood Reporter.

"I, Robot" executive producers Michel Shane and Anthony Romano have signed on to produced the film which is expected to start shooting in November in the U.S., Japan, China and India.

The $120 million English-language film will be one of the most expensive films shot in India. It is Dr. M's first foray into film-making.

Read from Moovies.Com

CANNES: Los Angeles-based entrepreneur Dr. M's dream project - a long-in-gestation Buddha biopic - was reborn in Cannes. Shekhar Kapur, who was roped in to helm the film last year, is now out of the picture. A new pair of Hollywood-based executive producers has stepped on board to revive the production, and the best selling book by the revered Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, "Old Path White Clouds", has been optioned for the project.

The movie rights to the book were purchased through a formal deal signed at the Carlton Intercontinental on the Croisette between Dr. M, who flew in for a day, and the renowned monk, whose "Engaged Buddhism" philosophy has many followers.

The search is now on for scriptwriters and a frontline director.

Dr. M will pump $120 million into the film, making it the costliest Indian production ever, and Hand Picked Films, a company run by Michel Shane and Anthony Romano, will be in charge of the production.

The shoot is expected to start early next year and the Buddha film is likely to be ready for the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.

Says Thich Nhat Hanh: "The Buddha has suffered far too much deification over the centuries. This film might help in making him human again. The idea is to make the Buddha relevant to everybody so that the world can become a better place."

According to Dr. M, the monk has sold the rights to his book on the understanding that part of the proceeds of the film will be used to help "needy children around the world."

"It is a great privilege for us to be able to bring the book to the screen," says the entrepreneur. "We intend to make the Buddha venture a major event film that will be talked about the world over."

http://www.newindpress.com

Cannes, May 24 (IANS) Los Angeles-based entrepreneur Dr. M's dream project - a long-in-gestation Buddha biopic - was reborn in Cannes. Shekhar Kapur, who was roped in to helm the film last year, is now out of the picture.

A new pair of Hollywood-based executive producers has stepped on board to revive the production, and the best selling book by the revered Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, 'Old Path White Clouds', has been optioned for the project.

The movie rights to the book were purchased through a formal deal signed at the Carlton Intercontinental on the Croisette between Dr. M, who flew in for a day, and the renowned monk, whose 'Engaged Buddhism' philosophy has many followers.

The search is now on for scriptwriters and a frontline director.

Dr. M will pump $120 million into the film, making it the costliest Indian production ever, and Hand Picked Films, a company run by Michel Shane and Anthony Romano, will be in charge of the production.

The shoot is expected to start early next year and the Buddha film is likely to be ready for the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.

Says Thich Nhat Hanh: 'The Buddha has suffered far too much deification over the centuries. This film might help in making him human again. The idea is to make the Buddha relevant to everybody so that the world can become a better place.'

According to Dr. M, the monk has sold the rights to his book on the understanding that part of the proceeds of the film will be used to help 'needy children around the world.'

'It is a great privilege for us to be able to bring the book to the screen,' says the entrepreneur. 'We intend to make the Buddha venture a major event film that will be talked about the world over.'

http://in.movies.yahoo.com/060524/43/64hx9.html

Cannes (dpa) - Indian telecommunications mogul Dr. M will finance an epic film on the life of Buddha, the film trade daily Hollywood Reporter said Tuesday.

The English-language movie will cost 120 million dollars (154 million euros) to produce, making it one of the most expensive films ever shot in India, the magazine reported in its special Cannes film festival edition.

The movie is to be based on the best-selling book Old Path White Clouds, by the renowned Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh.

"I've wanted to do this film for several years now," said Dr. M. "I discovered the book two years ago and it changed my life, and I felt it was up to me to share my happiness with the world."

This will be the first film-making venture for Dr. M, who owns an eight-screen multiplex theatre in northern India.

"The life of Buddha is intriguing and an amazing story that needs to be told," said one of the film's producers, Michel Shane, who also co-produced the Will Smith thriller I, Robot. "We are looking at this as an epic film for the ages -- a Lawrence of Arabia meets Gladiator."

Dr. M said he was hoping that the film would be chosen to open the 2008 Cannes film festival, playing the same role as The Da Vinci Code did for this year's festival.

http://www.bangkokpost.net/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=98635

Nearly twelve years after Mira Nair abandoned her Buddha movie project because Italian filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci beat her to it with his Little Buddha starring Keanu Reeves as Siddhartha, there is a serious effort by Indian industrialist Dr. M to light up the screens worldwide with a Buddha biopic.

At $120 million, the project announced at the Cannes film festival and first reported by Hollywood Reporter, would cost $40 million more than the average Hollywood film.

Dr. M, who has been actively working on the project for over a year with his Hollywood partners including Michel Shane -- an executive producer on the 2004 Will Smith hit I, Robot -- would not give out many details on the project. But various names ranging from composer A R Rahman, director Shekhar Kapur and New Age guru Deepak Chopra have been mentioned in connection with the film.

Dr. M, who said he hoped the film would open the year 2008's Cannes film festival -- where Little Buddha received good notices in 1993 -- also added that it would be based on Old Path White Clouds, by the renowned Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. Dr. M believes Buddha's life and his examples could ease the burden of living in our war-torn and terrorism-filled times.

Published three years ago Old Path White Clouds became a sleeper hit, gradually selling over a million copies in North America. It also became an international success having been translated into more than 20 languages.

Drawn from original Pali, Sanskrit and Chinese sources, Old Path White Clouds recreates lucidly the life and times of Buddha over the course of eighty years. The highly cinematic book grippingly tells the stories alternately through the eyes of Svasti, the buffalo boy who provided kusa grass for the Buddha's enlightenment cushion, and the Buddha himself. Admirers of the book describe it as a spiritual page-turner.

Praising the book for making the story of Buddha widely accessible to a new generation, Library Journal wrote: 'This is not a scholarly study but rather a heartfelt interpretation that draws on important sources. The result is a beautiful and contemporary book that can offer an attractive introduction for those new to the subject as well as many bright moments for serious students of Buddhism.'

Hanh, 81, whose admirer Dr Martin Luther King Jr had publicly recommended the monk and peace activist for the Nobel Prize, is also a Gandhian. The monk, who lectured briefly at Columbia University on Buddhism, was one of the first religious leaders in America to oppose America's Vietnam War. He travels across America and many other countries several times a year giving talks on Buddhism and peace initiatives.

'I've wanted to do this film for several years now,' Dr. M told Hollywood Reporter. 'I discovered the book two years ago and it changed my life, and I felt it was up to me to share my happiness with the world.'

The film is going to be a spiritual adventure, said Shane. 'We are looking at this as an epic film for the ages -- a Lawrence of Arabia meets Gladiator,' he declared.

http://in.rediff.com/movies/2006/may/24ajp.htm

Producers Michel Shane and Anthony Romano have boarded Indian billionaire Dr. M's long-gestating biopic about the life of Buddha.

In addition, Dr. M has optioned the rights to Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh's book about Buddhism, Old Path White Clouds, on which the $120m Buddha will be based.

Shane and Romano, who executive produced I Robot and Catch Me If You Can, will executive produce the film through their production company Hand Picked Films. M Films, a subsidiary of Dr. M's $2.4bn company MCorp Global, will produce.

The English-language project, described as "a large-scale commercial biopic for mainstream audiences worldwide", is currently being scripted and Shane and Romano are raising finance and searching for a director and stars. Shekhar Kapur was previously attached to direct the project.

Shane said he expects to finance the film through equity players in the US and Asia and work with a US studio for distribution and marketing. Dr. M is financing development of the film.

The producers expect production to start in the first quarter of next year for worldwide release in 2008. Locations will include the US, Japan, China, Thailand and India.

Cannes, France -- Indian telecommunications mogul Dr. M will finance an epic film on the life of Buddha, the film trade daily Hollywood Reporter said Tuesday.

The English-language movie will cost 120 million dollars (154 million euros) to produce, making it one of the most expensive films ever shot in India, the magazine reported in its special Cannes film festival edition.

The movie is to be based on the best-selling book Old Path White Clouds, by the renowned Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh.

'I've wanted to do this film for several years now,' said Dr. M. 'I discovered the book two years ago and it changed my life, and I felt it was up to me to share my happiness with the world.'

This will be the first film-making venture for Dr. M, who owns an eight-screen multiplex theatre in northern India.

'The life of Buddha is intriguing and an amazing story that needs to be told,' said one of the film's producers, Michel Shane, who also co-produced the Will Smith thriller I, Robot. 'We are looking at this as an epic film for the ages - a Lawrence of Arabia meets Gladiator.'

Dr. M said he was hoping that the film would be chosen to open the 2008 Cannes film festival, playing the same role as The Da Vinci Code did for this year's festival.

Read from Buddhistchannel.Com

Los Angeles-based entrepreneur Dr. M's dream project - a long-in-gestation Buddha biopic - was reborn in Cannes. Shekhar Kapur, who was roped in to helm the film last year, is now out of the picture.

A new pair of Hollywood-based executive producers has stepped on board to revive the production, and the best selling book by the revered Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, "Old Path White Clouds", has been optioned for the project.

The movie rights to the book were purchased through a formal deal signed at the Carlton Intercontinental on the Croisette between Dr. M, who flew in for a day, and the renowned monk, whose "Engaged Buddhism" philosophy has many followers.

The search is now on for story writers and a frontline director.

Dr. M will pump $120 million into the film, making it the costliest Indian production ever, and Hand Picked Films, a company run by Michel Shane and Anthony Romano, will be in charge of the production.

The shoot is expected to start early next year and the Buddha film is likely to be ready for the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.

Says Thich Nhat Hanh: "The Buddha has suffered far too much deification over the centuries. This film might help in making him human again. The idea is to make the Buddha relevant to everybody so that the world can become a better place."

According to Dr. M, the monk has sold the rights to his book on the understanding that part of the proceeds of the film will be used to help "needy children around the world."

"It is a great privilege for us to be able to bring the book to the screen," says the entrepreneur. "We intend to make the Buddha venture a major event film that will be talked about the world over."

Read from Planetguru.Com

Indian telecommunications mogul Dr. M will finance an epic feature on the life of Buddha, based on the best-selling book "Old Path White Clouds" by renowned Buddhist Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh says The Hollywood Reporter.

"I, Robot" executive producers Michel Shane and Anthony Romano have signed on to produced the film which is expected to start shooting in November in the U.S., Japan, China and India.

The $120 million English-language film will be one of the most expensive films shot in India. It is Dr. M's first foray into film-making.

Read from Darkhorizons.Com

Cannes - The Bollywood stars have melted away. Aishwarya Rai, Preity Zinta, Ajay Devgan and Viveik Oberoi have returned to their orbits after doing the rounds of the Croisette. So the Indian television journos covering the 59th Cannes Film Festival are at a bit of a loss.

Without the desi stars and their sound bytes, their job has become a whole lot more difficult. It is Milind Soman who has, for whatever he is worth in the Cannes context, emerged as their saviour.

The hunky model-turned-actor and his girlfriend and French-Chinese actress Lena Jam-Panoi flew into Cannes on Sunday to register their presence on the red carpet.

Soman is one of the stars of Paris-based Indian filmmaker Pan Nalin’s upcoming ‘Valley of Flowers’ and Jam-Panoi happens to be the leading lady of the film.

What else is happening on the Indian front in Cannes? The Goa chief secretary, J.P. Singh, and the director of the International Film Festival of India, Vishvajit Sahay, are here to formally announce the dates of the third edition of the event in Goa.

Industrialist Dr. M of MCorp Global, too, is here. The bowler hat-sporting tycoon is expected to announce the revival of ‘Buddha’, an international venture that is expected to cost several times more than any other film ever made in India.

Clearly, there is still enough up ahead by way of hype for the Indian media contingent currently camping in Cannes.

http://indiaenews.com/2006-05/8818-milind-soman-acts-journos-saviour-cannes.htm

Indian telecommunications mogul and billionaire Dr. M's Buddha Films, a subsidiary of his company Mcorp Global, has optioned the rights of the international best seller "Old Path White Clouds" by author and Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh to be made into a $120 million epic. The book, which recounts Buddha's life and death and is considered to be the leading book on Buddhism, is being adapted into an English language film and will be executive produced by Handpicked Films' producers Michel Shane and Anthony Romano.

To be shot in the US, Japan, China, Thailand and India, the film is set to be the most expensive film ever to be shot in Dr. M's home country. Not only are A-list stars being courted for the lead roles, but the Dalai Lama has given his blessing and will consult on the film. Hanh and Dr. M are both in Cannes to finalize their deal.

http://www.indiewire.com

New Delhi, May 16: Industry chamber Assocham will take two delegations to the Cannes Film Festival and to UK for promoting the Indian entertainment sector and exploring business opportunities in various other sectors.

The 42-member delegation to Cannes includes film directors and representatives of media companies, while the 30-member team to the UK comprises of industrialists from the food processing, pharmaceuticals and infrastructure sectors.

The delegations would aim at forging strategic alliances in entertainment, manufacturing, real estate, civil aviation, transfer of technology, it, biotech and nanotechnology, an Assocham release said.

MCORP Global Entertainment Division president Bhuvan Lall is heading the delegation to Cannes. The group also includes leading film producers like Ketan Mehta, Sudhir Mishra, Ashutosh Gowariker, Star TV CEO Peter Mukherjea, UTV Chairman Ronnie Screwala and noted Director Shekhar Kapoor,

The London delegation consists of MCORP Global Chairman Dr. M, Assocham's Indo-UK Business Forum Chairman Rajpal S Chowdhury, Kwality Processed Food Chairman K L Chugh and Assocham president Anil K Agarwal.

The objective of the Cannes delegation is to promote India as a location for global content creation, export Indian content, globalise local entertainment and media companies, nurture local talents and foster a conducive regulatory environment and culture within India.

In London, the delegation would meet representatives of the London Chamber of Commerce and discuss business opportunities in various sectors, the release said.

http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=295725&ssid=50&sid=BUS

MUMBAI: Spice Telecom may join Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications Ventures (RCoVL) on the bourses.

The telco, which offers mobile services in Punjab and Karnataka, has been valued at $1bn and may go for an initial public offer (IPO) by November '06, sources told ET.

The board of Spice is being reconstituted after Telekom Malaysia acquired 49% stake in the company. "The new board will be in place this week. It will subsequently consider listing of Spice," the sources added. The valuation of Spice, which has around 2m users, has been done by Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley.

It translates into $500 per subscriber and is half of what Vodafone paid for 10% stake in Bharti ($1,000 per subscriber). Bharti offers services in all the 23 telecom circles. If the Spice board decides to go ahead with the IPO, it will be the fourth telco to get listed after MTNL, Bharti and RCoVL.

Hutchison Essar and Idea Cellular are also contemplating similar moves. But no announcements have been made so far. Meanwhile, Telekom Malaysia has completed the acquisition of 49% stake in Spice by paying around $180m to the company.

The new nine-member board will have three representatives each from Telekom Malaysia and Dr. M's MCorp, which owns 51% in Spice. Three others will be independent directors. The new board will have Dr. M as chairman and Spice MD Umang Das and Dilip Modi as members.

Yusof Annuar Yaacob, Prabhakar NK Singam and Shridhir Sariputta Hansa Vijayasurya will represent Telekom Malaysia. The three independent directors include Ernst & Young ex-chairman KN Memani and ITC former chairman KL Chugh, said sources. MCorp will look after day-to-day management in Spice.

The telecom company has also chalked out a Rs 2,000-crore plan for expansion in Karnataka and Punjab over the next two years. "Spice has arranged $50m loan for capex from Development Bank of Singapore (DBS). The rest will be funded through internal accruals," said sources.

Spice had also raised a $215m debt from DBS. It has been used to repay shareholder and vendor loans. "The company has paid all debts as part of its restructuring exercise," sources said.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

New Delhi, May 8 (UNI) Cellebrum.com Pvt Ltd, Asia's leading integrated telecom VAS solutions provider, today launched its 'Pay-4-Me' service here, to provide continuous connectivity to prepaid subscribers, whose outgoing calls facility was barred due to insufficient funds.

Cellebrum Chief Operating Officer Saket Agarwal said, ‘‘ This service is developed by Cellebrum to ease the lives of prepaid subscribers by offering them the edge to place a call, even when they do not have balance in their account.'' He added,''Almost 75 per cent of mobile subscribers in the country use prepaid connections, and over 30 per cent of the prepaid subscribers usually get caught in a situation where they do not have the balance to make calls when it is needed the most. In such cases, Pay-4-Me, will come to their rescue.'' Most of the operators have done a customer lock-in via 'Lifetime Incoming Free' offers. Pay-4-Me is an add-on to that offer, and it requires the called party to agree to pay for the calling party.

This is made possible by opening a number wherein subscribers can call and log their request to get connected to the other party that will pay for him/her.

The service will be available on roaming as well.

On tie-ups with cellular operators, Mr Agarwal said, '' All major operators of the country have shown interest in this product and we are quite confident that prepaid customers will soon be able to use this service.'' Cellebrum has tied up with various GSM and landline operators across the country and is the only company to provide the BGM service, to more than fifteen circles (20 million users).

Products developed by Cellebrum include Voice Mail System, Enterprise SMS Solutions, CRBT Solutions, SMSC, USSD, Voice SMS, Roaming gateways and Lost Call Alerts amongst others.

http://www.deepika.com

Plans to enter film production, retail handset business
Tone loud and clear
Market is buoyant, our stocks are well valued.
Telekom Malaysia-backed loan used for debt revamp.
Court cases have been settled, more investments on the anvil.

Spice Telecom may opt for an IPO this year in a bid to fund its capital expenditure.

"We might go in for a public issue soon," hinted Dr. M, Chairman, MCorp Global, the entity that owns 51 per cent stake in Spice Telecom.

The rest is owned by Telekom Malaysia, which bought the stake from Deutsche Bank and Ashmore fund recently for around $179 million.

"The market is good, and our stocks are well-valued. The board will take a call," he said.

Dr. M is likely to dilute his stake further in the process.

He said: "Every investor looks for an exit." He, however refused to divulge details.

Spice Telecom operates in two circles — Karnataka and Punjab -- with a total subscriber base of around 1.9 million.

TURNAROUND MODE

Spice Telecom is in a turnaround mode. The Telekom Malaysia-backed $265 million loan from Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) was used for debt restructuring.

"Defaults are out. Court cases have been settled," he said. Announcing an investment of Rs 2,000 crore by 2007, he said it would be used for upgrading network infrastructure, training manpower and brand building in two states. "We are looking to regain leading position in Karnataka again," said Dr. M.

BIG PLANS

Spice also announced that pilots for Mobile TV (a service wherein TV channels and video are broadcast to mobile screens) had begun in Delhi.

"We have begun trials and will soon offer it to our subscribers for free," declared Dr. M. The company also plans to enter film production and distribution business.

Plans to enter handset retail business are also on the anvil. "Stores that sell multi-brand handsets will be set up in three months in Bangalore," said Dr. M.

Spice's handset manufacturing plant in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, will begin production in September. Three more models will be launched soon, he informed.

Currently, 50,000 units imported from Taiwan, are being sold in India per month under the Spice brand.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com

Spice Communications Private Limited will be investing Rs 1,000 Crore each in Karnataka and Patiala by 2007 for infrastructure development, Company Chairman Dr. M said today.

Talking to newspersons here, he said the investment would be mainly in the areas of training, building and research and development wings.

Stating that the company would totally revamped, Dr. M said it would focus more on entertainment, communication and software, besides establishing retail stores. It proposed to set up a mobile TV station in New Delhi within the next three months.

He informed that Hollywood movies were likely to be available on Spice mobile from 2007, while Hindi movies would be available from this year.

He said Spice's recently-acquired Telecom Malaysia was soon likely to come out with initial public offering. However, a final decision would be taken at the Board Meeting scheduled for May 13.

http://www.deccanherald.com

Spice Telecom, mobile service provider in Karnataka and Punjab circles, is expected to raise close to $250 million (Rs 1,000 crore) from a DBS (Development Bank of Singapore) led consortium over the next 24 months to fund its expansion plans.

According to senior officials at Spice Telecom, the company is in talks with DBS-led consortium including Barclays and Deutsche Bank to raise funds for its Rs 2,000 crore expansion plan over the next two years.

DBS had earlier arranged a $215 million debt for Telekom Malaysia, which picked up 49% stake in Spice Telecom in early March 2006. The bulk of this is being used to settle debts of Spice Telecom in the recent restructuring exercise announced by the company.

Senior officials at the company also did not rule out the option of Telekom Malaysia increasing its stake upto 76% as per the telecom regulations in India. Telekom Malaysia picked up the 49% stake held by Ashmore Investments and Deutsche Bank in Spice Telecom for around $180 million.

Spice Telecom has close to 2 million subscribers. In addition to its licenses in Karnataka and Punjab, it is also bidding for licenses in Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh East, Uttar Pradesh West, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Announcing the company's expansion plans, Dr. M, chairman, Spice Telecom said: "The entire restructuring of the company is complete. We have to look forward and invest in expanding the business. We intend to invest Rs 1,000 crore each in Karnataka and Punjab circles."

Business is growing and funding will be done through internal accruals and external funding either through debt or equity. Taking the company public is another option we are exploring, Dr. M added.

http://www.business-standard.com