Friday, August 14, 1998
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B U S I N E S S | Friday, August 14, 1998 |
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Sahara, JVG told not to dispose
of property Texas
shelves project |
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Steps
to raise textile exports |
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Rs 550 crore Hudco aid for
Punjab ‘Single
window’ in districts |
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Sahara, JVG told not to dispose of property NEW DELHI, Aug 13 (PTI) — The Delhi High Court today restrained Sahara India, Kuber and the JVG group from disposing of their properties and directed the RBI to file a financial status report of these firms by August 21. The court issued notices to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Department of Company Affairs (DCA) and the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission for their alleged failure to monitor the companies. Acting on a petition filed by the Public Action Forum, Justice Anil Dev Singh also issued notices to the Cabinet Secretary, the Finance Secretary, the CBI Director, the Law and Company Affairs Secretary, the Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the Commissioner of Income Tax and State Governments of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The forum contended that these companies were indulging in fraudulent business practices and pleaded that they should be debarred from raising fresh investments or deposits till they were cleared by the RBI, SEBI and the Company Law Board (CLB). Companies to which notices were issued include Sahara India Financial Corporation, Sahara India Airlines, Sahara India Savings and Investments, JVG Finance, JVG Departmental Stores, JVG Consumer Products and the Official Liquidator of the JVG group. The court asked Hoffland Finance, Hoffland Investment, Arihant Credit Capital, Crystal Credits Corporation, Rapti Growth Fund, Krishi Export Commercial Corporation and Kuber Mutual Benefits to file their replies by August 21, the next date for hearing. The petitioner alleged that the RBI, SEBI and the CLB had not taken any action to check what it called the irregular trade practices and violation of law by these companies. They sought court’s direction to the RBI, SEBI and the CLB to locate the funds diverted by promoters of these companies and submit periodical reports to the court. The forum prayed that these companies should be directed not to raise any fresh funds until the RBI completes its investigation and gives them clearance. They said the RBI, SEBI and the CLB should also be directed to complete these investigations within a specific timeframe and progress report should be filed before the court from time to time. They also
demanded investigation against officials of the RBI and
SEBI who handled the case of Kuber, JVG and Sahara group
of companies. |
Texas shelves project NEW DELHI, Aug 13 (PTI) — Global semiconductor giant Texas Instruments (TI) has shelved its plan to set up in India, a microchip assembling unit requiring over $ 1 billion investment. The $ 9.75 billion multinational which has been mulling over the idea of setting up this high-tech facility in India has finally decided to shelve it off, apparently due to the “immaturity of Indian semiconductor industry and the prevailing US sanctions.” TI India Managing Director, Srini Rajam told PTI that “there had been discussions on opening up a water fabrication facility (FAB) in India, and we have put off the idea.” The company would now consider the setting up of FAB once the industry standards improve and the investment climate becomes conducive, he added. FAB, also known as
semiconductor fabrication plant, requires an investment
of $ 1.5 to 2 billion and is the place where all
electronic components of a chip are inter-connected into
a single die of silicon. |
Steps to raise textile exports NEW DELHI, Aug 13 — The government has initiated steps to raise the value of textile exports to $ 14 billion in this current fiscal year. Diversification of product mix and fabric content and speeding up the process of modernisation and technological upgradation of weaving and processing facilities are among the measures proposed to be taken to accelerate India’s textile exports. India’s textile exports in the previous financial year was worth $ 12.39 billion. The Textiles Minister, Mr Kanshiram Rana, told newspersons here today that in the current year till the end of June, exports of textiles touched $ 2.882 billion dollars. Though in dollar terms, the performance in the first quarter was a 1.1 per cent decline over the corresponding period in the previous year, the government was confident of improving the performance. Describing the continued recession and slump in the retailing activities in some of the major importing countries as the main reason for India’s poor export performance, Mr Rana said the government had taken several specific initiatives, including amendments in the export import policy, which would yield results in the coming months. The minister
also announced that an 12-member expert committee set up
under the chairmanship of former Textiles Secretary, Mr
S.R. Sathyam, has started functioning. The committee
would review and evaluate the impact of the existing
policy and identify the changes which are necessary,
particularly in terms of the new imperatives of
international competition. The committee is expected to
submit its report within six months. |
Rs 550 crore Hudco aid for
Punjab CHANDIGARH, Aug 13 — Hudco will extend financial assistance of Rs 550 crore to Punjab during 1998-99 against last year’s Rs 30 crore, according to Mr V. Suresh, Chairman & Managing Director, Hudco. The money will be used for infrastructure development (Rs 250 crore), focal points, construction of district administrative complexes & staff housing and water supply scheme in 20 towns including Faridkot,, Muktsar, Sirhind, Fatehgarh Sahib, Anandpur Sahib, Talwandi Sabo and Baba Bakala (Rs 50 crore each). The assistance will also
cover the construction of houses for police personnel,
police infrastructure (Rs 75 crore) and rural housing. |
‘Single
window’
in districts CHANDIGARH, Aug 13 — The Punjab Government has extended the single window service to the district level.Mr Ramesh Inder Singh, Secretary, Industries, said today that district level committees headed by Deputy Commissioners with representatives from the Pollution Control Board, the PSEB, the Housing & Urban Development Authority and the Factories Department, besides the General Manager, District Industries Centre as convener have been set up in all districts. The state government has
already notified the time schedule for the release of
power connections, environmental clearances and site
approvals. To monitor the system a committee under the
Chief Secretary’s chairmanship has been constituted. |
They are soiled, torn and invariably have an adhesive to hold the pieces together. They should have been out of circulation long ago, but they continue to be used as legal tender because of the shortage of coins of small denomination. I refer to the pathetic state of currency notes of Re 1, Rs 2 and Rs 5 in circulation. Between 1994-95, the government stopped printing currency notes of Re 1, Rs 2 and Rs 5 and said only coins would be introduced. Four years hence, the coins in circulation are not adequate to meet the demand. The shortage has in fact created a peculiar system of trading in goods, not always advantageous to the consumer. Says a consumer: ask a vegetable vendor the price of a particular vegetable and he will quote Rs 17 a kg. Ask him to weigh a kg and he will first ask you whether you can give the exact amount. Obviously, you won’t have it and so he will give you vegetables for Rs 20 instead. If you protest, he will give you a lemon or two in lieu of the change, whether you want it or not. If you go to a provision stores, you get toffees or matchboxes, instead of small change. However, if you try to use the same toffees or matchbox as small change, the shopkeeper refuses to accept it. At petrol stations, a new system of selling motor spirit has evolved. Consumers no longer ask for a specific number of litres. They ask for petrol for Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 200 and so on. Says a petrol dealer: This is convenient for the customer as well as the dealer because neither has the exact change. But unfortunately, you cannot have a similar mutually convenient system if you are travelling by an autorickshaw or a taxi. Here invariably, it is the consumer who has to forego the change. Mr Yashwant Sinha in a reply to MPs stated in June this year that printing of these notes had been stopped (Re 1 from September 1994, Rs 2 from January 1995 and Rs 5 from November 1995) and the lower denomination notes of Re 1, Rs 2, and Rs 5 had been “coinised”. Among the measures taken to overcome the shortage, he mentioned modernisation of Mints at Calcutta, Hyderabad and Mumbai, besides import of 2000 million pieces of coins of a total face value of Rs 260 crores as a one time measure. But his reply did not mention any specific date from which consumers can expect adequate supply of coins to overcome the shortage and get rid of the torn notes. To the query on what action was proposed to be taken by the government to stop circulation of torn soiled currency notes, his only reply was that under the RBI note refund rules, the RBI had delegated full powers to all the public sector banks maintaining currency chests to provide facilities to the public for exchanging mutilated, torn and soiled notes. Well, ask the banks and they will tell you that currency notes of higher denominations they may exchange, but certainly not of lower denominations, for the simple reason that they themselves do not have coins of smaller denominations. Talking of small change, have you seen 10 paise coins recently? Or even 25 paise? But if you look at the price tags on manufactured goods, all of them are expressed in so many rupees and paise. Like Rs 10.85. Most likely, the consumer will pay Rs 11. And the loss to the consumer is quite substantial when you think of the number of people who would have paid 15 paise more. The government is even more unrealistic when it fixes administered prices. In Delhi, the price of a litre of petrol is Rs 23.84. How is one to pay 84 paise? A local telephone call at a public call office costs Rs 1.31! It’s
time we had a more realistic pricing of goods and
services. At the same time, the government must ensure
adequate supply of coins of small denominations. |
PDS kerosene misused NEW DELHI, Aug 13 — The Petroleum Ministry has tightened marketing guidelines for oil companies in a bid to check the distribution of adulterated petroleum products in the retail outlets. The oil companies have been directed to ensure strict compliance with the guidelines, the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr V.K. Ramamurthy, told a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his ministry here. The minister admitted that the kerosene distributed under the public distribution system was diverted or misused in various cases by using them for mixing up with other higher priced petroleum products and said steps were being taken to tackle this problem. Mr Ramamurthy also briefed members of the committee about the New Exploration Licensing Policy and said bids under the policy were expected to be invited soon. Extensive work has been done in the last few months to operationalise the policy and this is expected to give a boost to the efforts to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of petroleum products in the country. Only recently the ministry has signed contracts for 13 more exploration blocks that have been pending for quite some time. Mr Ramamurthy also announced that the Indian combine consisting of IOC, GAIL and IIP have initiated negotiations with a US company Amoco for a possible collaboration on manufacture and marketing of Di Methyl Ether (DME). Recent experiments have shown that DME can be used as fuel in gas turbines for generation of electricity, as an alternate fuel in place of LPG, and also as a fuel in diesel engines. To suggestion from the
members that the prices of petroleum products should not
be raised frequently, the minister said that the prices
of most of the petroleum products were now market
determined and in fact the prices have been reduced twice
since April 1, 1998, in respect of various products. It
is estimated that the consumers would benefit by about Rs
900 crore with the reduction in prices of some of the
products. |
LML case hearing fixed for August 27 KANPUR, Aug 13 (PTI) — The senior judge of Kanpur civil court today fixed August 27 for the next hearing in the dispute between Singhanias and LML’s foreign collaborator Piaggio over the transfer of the latter’s shares to the Indian promoters. Counsel for Piaggio Venkatesh Ghone argued that the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, does not grant any power to the court to grant any interim relief and pleaded for vacating the interm order passed earlier. Indian promoters of LML Ltd — D.K. Singhania, L.K. Singhania, Sanjiv Shriya and others — had taken Piaggio to the Kanpur court last month seeking the 23.6 per cent shares of the Italian company following the death of its owner, Giovanni Agnelli, in December last year. The Singhanias, who also hold 23.6 per cent stake in LML, had cited a clause in its 1994 joint venture agreement (JVA) with Piaggio under which it enjoyed the right to buy out the stake of the other party in the event of the death of the shareholder (Agnelli). The Piaggio representative in India, Mario Emprin, had fiercely contested the move saying this interpretation of the JVA by the Singhanias was “erroneous”. Ghone today argued that
under the provision of arbitration and conciliation
clause of the JVA, disputes of any nature shall be
referred to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC),
Singapore. |
Dabur to quit gum business NEW DELHI, Aug 13 (PTI) — Dabur India Ltd is planning to get out of the joint venture with Spanish firm Agrolimen and sell the group’s finance arm as part of the restructuring plans suggested by McKinsey and Co. Both deals, for which lead managers have already been appointed, will go through this fiscal year, company Chairman and Managing Director G.C. Burman told PTI. Dabur has already begun negotiations with the Spanish partner in its joint venture, General De Confiteria, where the foreign company has 51 per cent stake and the Indian company 49 per cent. “Negotiations have been going on with Agrolimen for some time now. How the sale happens depends on the price we are offered. If the price is not acceptable, then the promoters (Burmans) will buy out Dabur India’s 49 per cent stake,” Burman said. The Rs 100 crore joint venture makes “Boomer” bubble gum and two soft-filled candies “Bonkers” and “Donalds”. “They (McKinsey) had
suggested that we do fewer things but do them better.
Ayurveda and healthcare are our core business and we will
stick to that,” Burman said. |
Shaw Wallace beer
sales up 59 per cent Mesco sell-off in
phases |
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Daewoo Pepsi exports T-Series feud Bank awards Gold falls ISO-9002 Scholarships |
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