Thursday, December 10, 1998
today's calendar
|
B U S I N E S S | Thursday, December 10, 1998 |
| weather n
spotlight today's calendar |
|
|
Shell pulls out of UP
refinery project BIFR
needs six more members Dabhol
signs 20-year deal with Oman LNG |
|
Moody’s
to take minority stake in ICRA equity capital Rothmans
to divest 26 per cent in 7 years |
||||||||
  |
|||||||||
Shell pulls out of UP refinery project NEW DELHI, Dec 9 (PTI) — The government today said that the multinational oil major Shell has pulled out of the proposed Rs 10,000 crore joint venture refinery project with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) in Uttar Pradesh. Shell had indicated that it was withdrawing from the project in July last and had since not participated in the preparation of the detailed feasibility report, Minister of State Santosh Kumar Gangwar informed the Rajya Sabha. He said in an answer to Suresh Kalmadi of Congress that in the absence of Shell, BPCL had prepared the feasibility report for the refinery project and submitted to the government. The first stage approval was given to the project in May 1997. The oil economy budget for the current year was estimated to be $ 8418.10 million for import of crude oil and petroleum products. The country had imported Rs 15,897 crore worth crude and Rs 12431 crore worth petrol, oil and lubricants last year, Gangwar told K.K. Birla. Cellular: The Group on Telecommunication (GoT) is meeting on December 15 to discuss cellular service operator’s problems and suggest remedial measures, Lok Sabha was informed today. The meeting would be chaired by Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Jaswant Singh, Communications Minister Jagmohan said in reply to a question of Pramothes Mukherjee (RSP). The minister said the Bureau of Industrial Cost and Prices (BICP) had recommended an increase in monthly rental from Rs 156 to Rs 600, for which DoT may issue necessary guidelines. Currency: The Opposition, supported by a ruling party ally Trinamool Congress, today came out strongly in the Lok Sabha against government’s decision to issue currency notes of Rs 1,000 denomination saying it would accentuate the problem of black money and prove a danger to the country’s economy. Oil: The Parliament today approved a Bill making changes in royalty payments for attracting foreign direct investment in oil exploration with the Rajya Sabha returning the measure with a voice vote. The oil fields (Regulation
and Development) Amendment Bill, 1998, was passed by the
Lok Sabha last week. |
|
NEW DELHI, Dec 9 (UNI) — In order to manage its over 1,000 pending cases, the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) needs six more members, BIFR sources said. “Only two members were appointed recently to clear the backlog of pending cases when the board needs to function at its full sanctioned capacity of eight members and a chairman,” the sources told UNI. The government recently appointed retired Secretary P.P. Chauhan and former Chairman of Andhra Bank G. Narayanan as members for a five year term. “BIFR now has only one working bench with two members which can clear about 100 cases a year. This is woefully short to clear its vast backlog. The board needs six more members to work at its full capacity,” the sources added. As on November 1998, BIFR had as many as 682 cases for inquiry and more than 400 cases to monitor. Apart from the high number of sick companies under BIFR, the stakes in terms of workers and investment involved in these units are high. In the 65 central public sector units and 87 state units with a net worth of about Rs 6,000 crore registered with the board, there are over six lakh workers involved. The accumulated losses account for over Rs 16,000 crore. In the nearly 2000 private companies with a net worth of Rs 7,098 crore and accumulated losses of Rs 14,633 crore registered with BIFR, there are over 6.7 lakh workers, according to the board’s estimates. The sole bench working
till September 25, 1998 after which BIFR was headless,
could clear as many as 128 cases. Each bench is estimated
to manage about 200 cases every year. |
E-commerce
Bill likely NEW DELHI, Dec 9 — A Bill on e-commerce is likely to be introduced in the current session of Parliament. This was stated here today by Secretary, Department of Electronics (DoE), Mr Ravindra Gupta. Participating at an interactive session organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Mr Gupta said RBI guidelines are being sought in the case of venture capital framework to make operation of the fund similar to that of the US. The government is thinking of giving several incentives for reinvesting of profits of these funds. The Finance Ministry is working out the details of such incentives, while the Company Law Ordinance has already introduced such changes. The National Venture Capital Fund,which is a joint venture of DoE, ICICI and SIDBI will also be set up which will create a corpus fund for information technology related activities. Mr Gupta said by 2001, fibre connectivity will be extended to cover all districts and subdistricts.There will also be a massive rationalisation of the tax regime to promote IT. ‘O’ duty on import of inputs for IT industry would be brought before 2005 and the government will be taking appropriate decisions in this regard in due course of time. Mr Gupta also said that by
allowing the private sector to set up software parks, the
government is trying to give a critical push to the IT
industry. Already 56 per cent of the software exports is
taking place from software parks. The one-point service
framework for software exports is also working to the
advantage of the IT industry, he added. |
Dabhol signs 20-year deal with Oman LNG DUBAI, Dec 9 (PTI) — Maharashtra based Indian power utility ‘Dabhol Power Company (DPC) has signed a long term deal with Oman’s Liquefied Natural Gas (Oman LNG) to buy 1.6 million tonnes per annum (MT PA) for a period of 20 years. Though the prices at which the deal was clinched was not known, it is the second biggest after Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG (RASGAS)’s proposal to supply 7.5 MTPA to India’s Petronet Consortium which is likely to be signed this month. The agreement is a shot in
the arm for Oman LNG which has now presold its entire
output of 6.6 MTPA well ahead of the first shipment due
by the year 2000 from its Sur Gas fields east of Muscat
being developed at a cost of $ 2 billion. |
Moody’s to take minority
stake in ICRA equity capital CHANDIGARH, Dec 9 — The US-based international credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) and ICRA Limited (ICRA) have agreed to Moody’s taking up a minority stake in the equity capital of ICRA. Moody’s participation in ICRA will be supported by an agreement under which Moody’s will provide certain technical services to ICRA. The international rating agency’s association with ICRA will bring to India the global expertise and research which Moody’s has developed over decades. The tie-up will entail Moody’s conducting regular training and business seminars for ICRA analysts on various subjects which will help them better understand and manage concepts and issues relating to the development of capital markets in India. The Moody’s will also provide assistance to ICRA by advising on general ratings business and rating product strategy. ICRA and Moody’s will jointly organise investor education and awareness programmes, seminars and conferences on industries, sectors and other contemporary topics with a view to providing a better understanding and appreciation of the developments in credit analysis and research. ICRA, established in 1991, is a leading provider of investment information and credit rating services in India. Promoted by the country’s leading financial institutions, banks and financial services companies, ICRA has, so far, completed nearly 1800 assignments including credit ratings, equity gradings, customised research and need-based advisory assignments. ICRA’s association with Moody’s, dates back to 1996 when ICRA signed a business development and marketing agreement with Financial Proformas Inc. (FPI), a Moody’s company. ICRA’s arrangement
with FPI is aimed at strengthening the development of
India’s credit culture by improving risk management
and decision systems in an increasingly market-oriented
business environment. |
Rothmans to divest 26 per cent in 7 years NEW DELHI, Dec 9 (UNI) — Rothmans of Pall Mall (International) Limited will divest 26 per cent stake in its wholly owned Indian subsidiary to the general public after seven years of operations in the country, top company officials said today. Affirming that the company will not withdraw its proposal like Tata Airlines despite the persistent delays, company’s General Manager South Asia R.N. Wood said the company hopes to breakeven only after seven years. “And that will be the time when we will go public and divest 26 per cent of our stake to the Indian public.’’ “We want to make our Indian operations a success...a viable operation before going public,’’ Mr Wood said. The company, he said, would be investing around $ 150 million in India over seven years to establish a cigarette manufacturing unit. It has also targeted $ 70 million worth of exports in the form of semi-processed tobacco from the country. However, Rothmans is not
keen on exporting made-in-India cigarette sticks to
foreign markets “as the quality of tobacco available
in the country does not match the requirements
abroad.’’ |
MUMBAI, Dec 9 (PTI) — International rating agency, Standard & Poor’s has assigned its ‘BB’ ratings based on publicly available information, to Bank of India, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India and Central Bank of India, implying that these banks are less vulnerable to default compared to speculative issues. The four state-owned Indian banks are supported by their sound market positions and majority government ownership, S&P said adding the asset quality was, however, poor by international standards. “All four banks will be challenged to maintain profitability and asset quality at current levels, given a weaker economic environment and the implementation of more stringent prudential standards”, S&P said in a statement from Melbourne. Published capital ratios appear adequate, although capitalisation was moderated by significant impaired assets and inadequate provisioning, it said. Central Bank has relatively less financial flexibility than other banks in the same category, owing to accumulated losses that have been carried on balance sheet. Rising impaired loans, a weak industrial sector and an economy that was less robust than in the past could be problematic for the industry in the near term, the international agency said. Syndicate Bank PANAJI (PTI): Syndicate Bank has decided to declare the year 1998-99 as the “year of growth with consolidation and image building” for consolidating the gains and achieving all-round growth in business levels. Increasing competition at the market place called for greater dynamism on the part of operating functionaries to convert emerging business opportunities into business proportions, the Chairman and Managing Director of the Bank, K.V. Krishnamurthy said. The time had come for the bank to redefine its objectives for surviving the increasing competition, he said. ANZ new CEO NEW DELHI (PTI): ANZ Investment Bank, investment banking arm of Australia and New Zealand banking group, has announced the appointment of Rajiv Maliwal as head of its investment banking operations in India. The new Chief currently heading the Corporate Finance and Relationship Management Division will continue to hold this position in addition to his new responsibilities, an ANZ Investment Bank statement said. Maliwal has been appointed as the Head of Investment Banking following the retirement of Mehli Mistri. SCB tie-up MUMBAI (PTI): Standrd Chartered Bank (SCB), has entered into a tie-up with Equifax Venture Infotex (EVI) to provide payment services infrastructure for co-branded credit cards to be launched by SCB with Indian banks. SCB also intends to take advantage of this tie-up in expand its area of operations and issue its own credit cards in cities and towns where currently it does not operate, SCB’s card services head Harpal Dugal said. Indian banks with large loyal customer base and branch distribution network with very minimum investments, can take advantage of this tie-up in issuing co-branded credit cards in their customers, he said. Chamber MUMBAI (PTI): The Indian Merchants Chamber has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Maryland’s Office of International Business (MOIB) for building business cooperation and promoting bilateral trade and economic relations between India and the Maryland state in the United States. The chamber also reached an accord with the London Chamber of Commerce to sign formally a similar MoU next year, when the latter is scheduled to send a high-powered business mission to India. These accords were the
only two of the many tangible benefits flowing from the
two-week long visit last month by a 32-member high
powered business delegation, led by IMC President Y.P.
Trivedi. |
Ram Jethmalani to open CII
national conference CHANDIGARH, Dec 9 — Mr Ram Jethmalani, Union Minister for Urban Affairs and Employment, Government of India will be the Chief Guest at the National Conference on Sustainable Urban Housing being organised by CII in association with the All-India Housing Development Association (AIHDA) on December 11 and 12 at Chandigarh. The conference will coincide with Inbuild ‘98 — an exposition on interiors and building material. Eminent personalities who
would address the conference include Mr Adi Godrej
Chairman, CII Urban Infrastructure Committee, Mr V.
Suresh, Chairman and Managing Director, Hudco and
Chairman Inbuild ‘98, Mr Harsh Neotia, MD, Bengal
Ambuja Housing Development Corporation, Mr Kranti Sinha,
Chief Executive, LIC Housing Finance Ltd, Mr T.N. Gupta,
Executive Director, Building Material Technologies
Promotion CounCil (BMTPC) and Prof Arvind Krishan (SPA). |
| H |
|
||
| Tata Tea NEW DELHI, Dec 9 (TNS) — Tata Tea Ltd yesterday launched their new tea brand “Agni” tea which is strong tea, in fact it is “Asli Kadak Chai”. “Agni” will be available to consumers at an unbeatable price. The company markets several popular and leading brands of tea including Tata Tea, Kanan Devan, Gemini Dust and Chakra Gold. Strike Lloyd Cozy Forex rates US $ Rs 42.56 The RBI reference rate was Rs 42.58. Gold falls Expelled |
 |
 |
| Nation
| Punjab | Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu & Kashmir | | Chandigarh | Editorial | Sport | | Mailbag | Spotlight | World | 50 years of Independence | Weather | | Search | Subscribe | Archive | Suggestion | Home | E-mail | |
