Wednesday, December 2, 1998
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B U S I N E S S | Wednesday, December 2, 1998 |
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CEO assaulted; 10 workers
suspended Trai
is toothless: investors SBI floats "forfaiting" CHANDIGARH, Dec 1— The State Bank of India today introduced a “forfaiting” facility as an additional product of export finance which will help exporters. |
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Last-minute pullout by NDDB
jolts Agro-Tech Indian
brands to lure MNCs PM:
hike in sugar import duty soon |
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RBI
is looking into problems of PAN Work
on highways to begin this month Change
policy: Bata Telco
issue closes |
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Work
at Sachs India halts PARWANOO, Dec 1 — Production work has come to a halt at Sachs India’s local unit following a management-worker dispute causing a daily loss of Rs 6 lakh. Previously called Sirmour Sudburg Auto Ltd, the shock absorber manufacturing company was taken over by German Multinational Mannesmann Sachs AG last year and renamed as Sachs India Limited. While the workers held a dharna and a gate rally, the management locked up the factory gates yesterday. Ten workers have been suspended. The trouble started on November 7 after the management withheld Rs 275 — given as an incentive in May this year — from the wages of 10 workers because, as the management puts it, “they had failed to show production to the agreed level.” This enraged the workers, who struck work. Mr Supriyo Datta, Chief Executive Officer of the company, alleged that he was assaulted by certain workers in the presence of policemen. An FIR was registered. Leaders of the CITU-affiliated Sirmour Sudburg Karamchari Union, which is spearheading the tool-down agitation, denied the charge. The management suspended two workers on the assault charge and eight more for “causing nuisance, abusing and spoiling machinery.” While denying the workers’ charge that the management had declared a lockout, Mr D. Ray, Executive Director (Operations), said the gates had been locked up to restrain the striking workers from entering the factory. The company, which is a BIFR case and had accumulated losses of Rs 24 crore till June, 1997, when it was taken over, supplies automotive components to Bajaj Auto, LML, Eicher and Punjab Tractors, among others. To end the strike, the union listed four conditions: (a) all suspended workers should be reinstated; (b) the “wage cut” of Rs 275 be restored; (c) if the second condition is unacceptable, a new wage agreement be signed; and (d) women employees be provided with conveyance. The management, on the other hand, declaring the strike as illegal, insisted that the workers should first return to work before any of their demand is considered. Mr Datta alleged that certain “outside forces are misguiding the workers.” The state labour officials
are taking their own time to sort out the issue, while
the workers, the management and Himachal Pradesh continue
to suffer financial losses. |
Five-day
mega show begins today CHANDIGARH, Dec 1 — The CII, has been disappointed at the last-minute withdrawal by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) from Agro Tech’98 starting here tomorrow. Talking to newsmen, Mr Arun Bharat Ram, Chairman, CII, Northern Region, said that no reasons have been given for the withdrawal. Regretting the NDDB decision, he said that its participation in such an important event would have benefited a large section of dairy farmers. “There wouldn’t be any major fallout of this withdrawal,” he said.”We are not promoting private sector, but trying to bring to farmers new technology so that they can have better yields and improve their income. This is our conjecture that the NDDB considers that we are trying to promote private sector through this Expo.” Mr Arun Bharat Ram expressed his unhappiness over the little progress made in developing Chandigarh as a convention city. He said that the initial response of the Administration was positive and encouraging but progress has been little. The CII has taken exception to the allotment of a prime piece of land to the Indian Tourism Development Corporation for building a hotel in Sector 17. Mr Ram said that while on the one hand, the Union Government is going in for privatisation in a big way, on the other hand ITDC is expanding its activities by proposing new hotels. He said little progress has been made in improving the communication network. There are no flights to Chandigarh. The convenience of Shatabdi Express is also not appropriate. There is an urgent need for an evening Shatabdi Express from Chandigarh to Delhi. Mr Arun Bharat Ram said that nobody expected the Administration to convert the city into a convention city overnight but problems like good hotel accommodation, good communication link with the Union Capital are the basic requirements. The city can be venue to various international conferences round the year, he added. A film on corporatisation of the agriculture sector was screened where, besides Mr Ram, other CII functionaries, including Mr Sunil Kant Munjal, Mr Inder Singh Paul and Mr Rakesh Mittal answered questions from newsmen. The Deputy Prime Minister of Israel, who was expected here, has resigned and is not coming. Talking about
participation of farmers, Mr Ram said that 11,000 farmers
from other parts of the country in addition to more than
60,000 farmers from the region are expected to visit the
Agro-Tech this time. |
Foreign investors say Trai is toothless NEW DELHI, Dec 1 (PTI) — Foreign investors today questioned the powers enjoyed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) in dealing with various regulatory issues in telecom. The issue was raised at the ongoing ‘Indian Economic Summit’. Without any amendment to the existing Trai Act 1996, Trai would be a powerless body and without a strong regulator, foreign telecom investors would not be inclined to invest in the Indian market, they said. Trai member B.K. Zutshi, assured the worried investors that the government had taken up the matter of more powers for Trai. He conceded that there was
a conflict of interest between Trai and DoT and the
matter had been under discussion. |
Indian
brands to lure MNCs NEW DELHI, Dec 1 — The consumer goods sector in India is likely to witness more frequent brand acquisition in the years to come. The Managing Director of Godrej Soaps, Mr Adi Godrej, said that most of the new multinational corporations are finding it a comfortable strategy to spread their wings in India by acquiring local brands to promote their own brands. “What we are observing is increasing acquisition of Indian brands and that going to continue”, Mr Godrej said adding that MNCs are increasingly beginning to realise that “ investment in brands makes more sense”. “Building brands in India is going to be tough “, he added. Participating at a session on consumer goods in the India Economic Summit organised jointly by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the CII, Mr Godrej said that while adequate investments were still to take place in fast-moving-consumer-goods (FMCG) in India, there existed a huge growth potential. Chairman of Bata Shoe Foundation, Mr Thomas J. Bata said that the penetration of media is largely responsible for the awareness about the Indian and the global market. The proof was the fact that Indian production lines have considerably multiplied and the Indian middle class has become increasingly market savvy. The catastrophic situation in South East Asia an resultant calamitous drop in business did not deter the Indian industry as there were perceptible forces acting in favour of the market economy here, Mr Bata said. Executive Director of Tata Sons, Mr R. Gopalakrishnan wounded an optimistic note and said that the Indian consumer goods sector could be a beacon to reshape the skills required for maximum gains in the sector. Mobile telephony, automobiles and Internet servicing, were some of the specific sectors that he identified as “emerging” and those which would require powerful skill utilisation in times to come. Chief Executive of
Hindustan Thompsons Associates, Mr M.K. Khanna observed
that the atmosphere of doom and gloom in the Indian
consumer goods sector was actually the result of season
of unrealistic expectations. |
Wockhardt posts 220 crore turnover MUMBAI, Dec 1 (PTI) — Keep pace with the over 30 per cent growth achieved during the last financial year, Wockhardt has recorded a turnover of Rs 220 crore for the five-month period ending November 30, 1998. While group company Merind Laboratories has posted sales of Rs 100 crore during the same period, the international arm, Wallis has contributed $ 18 million Chairman H. F. Khorakiwala said. “The company will
seek global partnership when ready for clinical
development,” he said at a press briefing prior in
the company’s 18th annual general meeting here
today. |
SBI floats
"forfaiting" CHANDIGARH, Dec 1— The State Bank of India today introduced a “forfaiting” facility as an additional product of export finance which will help exporters. Launching the scheme in Chandigarh Circle of the bank, Mr K.K. Narula, Chief General Manager, SBI, said that under the scheme exporters’ credit sales will be converted into cash sales and finance can be availed of up to 100 per cent of the contract value at fixed rate of interest. As a result, the exporter is freed from credit risk. Once he gets money from the forfaiter, the transaction ceases for him. The SBI also launched Euro travelling cheques which will be available from January 1,1999. To avoid delay in the
payment of export bills, the SBI has decided to equip its
forex intensive branches with latest hi-tech system for
instant information on payment of US $ export bills. The
system is already functional at the local head office and
the bank’s industrial finance branch and will
shortly start at more such branches at Panipat, Karnal,
Ludhiana and Jalandhar. |
PM: hike in sugar import duty soon NEW DELHI, Dec 1 (PTI) — The government is likely to hike the import duty on sugar soon to protect the indigenous sector from cheaper imports, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said today. A remunerative procurement price would also be fixed for sugarcane, he told the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting here. Briefing reporters after the meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madan Lal Khurana said Mr Vajpayee had told the BJP MPs that sugar was now being imported from various countries, including Pakistan, to tide over the current shortage. Last week, Food Minister Surjit Singh Barnala said his Ministry would put up a fresh proposal for increasing import duty on sugar before the Cabinet after Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha had shot down a proposal sent in early October. Sinha, while turning down
the proposal, said stocks at beginning of the current
crop year (October 1998-September 1999) were lower than
the last four years and such a move could lead to a rise
in the commodity’s prices, increasing inflation. |
RBI is
looking into problems of PAN NEW DELHI, Dec 1 — The RBI is looking into the problems faced by banks in deposit mobilisation due to mandatory quoting of Permanent Account Number (PAN), Special Secretary in Ministry of Finance, Mr C.M. Vasudev said here today. “The RBI is seized of the matter”, he said while inaugurating a seminar on Relevance of ISO 9000 organised by FICCI here today. Banking representatives present in the meeting complained that their growth in deposits have considerably slowed down since the PAN has been made compulsory for starting banking operations of certain scales. Referring to the NPAs of
banks, Mr Vasudev said that it is in the interest of the
industry that these funds are recycled. |
Work on highways to begin this month NEW DELHI, Dec 1 (PTI) — Construction of the ambitious 7,000 km express highway connecting the northern and southern and eastern and western regions will begin this month itself, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Jaswant Singh said today. The government has identified 30 points from where the construction is to commence, Mr Singh, who is also Chairman of the Task Force on Infrastructure, said here addressing the plenary session of the World Economic Forum meet. Prime Minister Vajpayee will inaugurate the construction activities on December 30, he added. The next meeting of the
Infrastructure Task Force, scheduled for seventh or
eighth of this month, would work out details of financing
the Rs 28,000 crore mega project. |
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NEW DELHI, Dec 1 (PTI) — The government’s small scale industries (SSI) policy that still subjects some of the SSI products to quantity licensing is restraining Bata’s expansion in India, Bata Shoe Foundation Chairman Thomas J. Bata said today. “I hope there will be a change in this policy as is being done in all other sectors. I hope this restriction is abolished,” Bata, told PTI in an interview. The company, which is the
world’s largest footwear manufacturing and marketing
organisation, however, will continue to work with SSIs
irrespective of whether the restrictions were removed or
not. “Bata will continue to invest in India as long
as the Indian public is gaining in purchasing power, we
are reinvesting most of our profits,” he said. |
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MUMBAI, Dec 1 (PTI) — Telco’s 13 per cent secured non-convertible debenture issue has successfully closed within two days of its launch, having garnered commitments for Rs 127 crore against a target amount of Rs 50 crore with an option to retain an additional Rs 25 crore. With the market’s
current penchant for short term investments, the 364 day
issue did well despite call rates hardening at 9 to 9.1
per cent during the issue period and cut off yields on 14
day, and 91 day treasury bills hardening by 52 and 12
basis points, respectively. |
CHANDIGARH, Dec 1 — Four new tractors and a rural vehicle will be launched at Agro Tech 98 to be held here from December 2 to 6. While New Holland, Eicher Tractors, Greaves Ltd and Escorts Ltd are launching new tractors, Hindustan Motors is launching a rural transport vehicle (HM-RTV) which has a seating capacity for 15 persons. According to a Hindustan Motors spokesperson, the RTV has been designed and manufactured in technical collaboration with Oka Motor Company, Australia. The HM-RTV has a four-cylinder 1995 cc, 56 HP diesel engine, which enables it to carry a load of up to 1.5 tonnes. It is equipped with a dual-function, all synchronised gearbox which offers five high and five low gears. Escorts Limited is also launching a new range of tractors known as Escorts Powertrac with four models 430 (30 HP), 435 (35 HP), 440 (40 HP) and 450 (47 HP). Greaves Ltd has also scheduled the launch of a new tractor on December 2. Research estimates indicate that in spite of the overall slowdown of the automobile industry, production of tractors in India is slated to double by the year 2005. Studies project that the higher horsepower (HP) segment has the maximum growth potential. There has already been a marginal rise in the segment and it is expected to take off due to narrowing of price differential between lower and higher HP tractors. Cheaper Uno? NEW DELHI (UNI): Ind Auto Limited plans to roll out a cheaper version of ‘Uno’ to precede the launch of ‘Palio’ in India to avoid the likelihood of both models competing each other. “We have already placed the suggestion of introducing a cheaper version of Uno before Fiat SPA and it is being actively looked into. However, nothing has been finalised as yet.” Mr Vinod L. Doshi, Chairman of Premier Automobiles Limited (PAL), told UNI here. Both Uno and Palio, he said, are placed in the same two-box category. “We, at PAL, feel that is the Uno is not priced lower, we might end up having two models competing each other for space in the Indian market, and, it might end up with Palio killing Uno.” Hero bike CHANDIGARH (TNS): Hero Cycles Limited has launched “Hero Ranger-Swing” designed to fulfil the aspirations of today’s youth. It has swing-arm suspension along with multi-speed gears in 10, 12, 18-speed configuration. The bike comes for the first time in a two-piece Y-shaped design frame. The fork is studded with a double-damping Super Shox suspension system. Hero Ranger-Swing has an
aluminum alloy telescopic body fork. It comes fitted with
index type gear shift system from SRAM, USA. |
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| IFFCO NEW DELHI, Dec 1(TNS) — Mr Virendra Kumar, Marketing Director of IFFCO, has been elected chairman of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) Committee on Agriculture for Asia and Pacific. Established in 1985. ICA is a world federation of cooperatives with a membership in 102 countries and represents 580 million members. Surbhi Food Refinery Forex rates US $ Rs 42.56/57 The RBI reference rate was Rs 42.58. Gold falls Ranbaxy Amway expands |
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