WASHINGTON, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - Luxury group Orient-Express Hotels said Tuesday it had rebuffed an approach by Indian rival Taj, saying it prefers to remain independent.

Orient Express Hotels said it had received a letter from The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), the owner of the Taj luxury brand, but decided not to pursue talks.

'The company has today responded to IHCL stating that it does not wish to pursue the proposals for discussion contained in their letter,' Orient-Express Hotels said in a statement.

NEW DELHI, Aug 24, 2007 (AFP) - Indian automaker Mahindra will not bid for luxury British car brands Jaguar and Land Rover, although India's Tata Motors is still 'strongly committed' to a deal, a report said Friday.

The Economic Times newspaper said the Mahindra Group feared the onset of new tighter European Union emission regulations due in 2012, noting that neither of the two brands had smaller fuel-efficient models in their product lines.

The paper also said Mahindra was also concerned about continued dependence on Ford for key vehicle components.

MUMBAI, Aug 29, 2007 (AFP) - India's largest steelmaker Tata Steel on Wednesday sharply revised higher its first quarter earnings and sales to include the purchase of Anglo-Dutch steel firm Corus.

The company said in a statement said that after completing a 13.7 billion dollar takeover of Corus on April 2, Tata Steel had knocked-up a net profit for the quarter ended June of 63.9 billion rupees (1.6 billion dollars).

This compared with the previously announced figure of 12.2 billion rupees.

NEW DELHI, Aug 26, 2007 (AFP) - India's Tata Steel, the world's sixth largest steelmaker since its purchase of Britain's Corus group, said it aimed to more than double production by 2015 as it celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding on Sunday.

Tata Steel vaulted to sixth from 56th place in the world steel output rankings with its 13.7-billion-dollar acquisition of Corus completed in April, and now has an annual production totalling 25.6 million tonnes.

NEW DELHI, Aug 24, 2007 (AFP) - The head of India's Tata conglomerate confirmed Friday that his group was interested in bidding for luxury British car brands Jaguar and Land Rover, in an interview with an Indian news channel.

Last month, Indian news reports said that two Indian automakers -- Tata Motors and the Mahindra group -- were considering separate bids to buy the British icons from struggling US carmaker Ford Motor Corp.