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| Friday,
March 2, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Matiz, Santro prices slashed
Sinha firm on privatisation Tax on perks to hit corporate
staff
‘Teach Punjabis micro-electronics’ New tech for cheaper yarn developed |
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| VSNL cuts tariff New Delhi, March 1 Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) today announced upto 53 per cent reduction in tariffs applicable for Internet-leased lines for non-cable head stations in the country bringing down the rates to Rs 10.1 lakh for 1024K speed lines from Rs 21.50 lakh. VSNL has also announced a steep reduction and rationalisation of co-location and web-hosting facilities. Boeing, Microsoft hit by
earthquake HDFC Bank to open 25 ATMs Markfed gets wheat, potato export
orders
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New Delhi, March 1 Hindustan Motors today announced a price cut ranging from Rs 13,000 to Rs 50,000 for its vehicles. The prices of Ambassador cars have been brought down by Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 while that of Lancer by Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000, Contessa by Rs 30,000 and Trekker by Rs 13,000. Daewoo Motors India, announced a price cut of Rs 16,500 to Rs 23,000 for its Matiz variants and said all those who bought this car from February 5 to 28 could get a refund of the excess amount paid. This is part of their “Suraksha and Samadhan” scheme. DMIL Managing Director and CEO Y.C. Kim said they were passing on the entire reduction of 8 per cent in excise to the customers. Hyundai Motor India Ltd has also announced a substantial reduction in the prices of their models of cars in the wake of 8 per cent cut in the excise duty of passenger cars in the central Budget. The revised prices of HMI’s popular models of Santro and Accent will be effective from March 3, according to a company release in Chennai. Passing on the entire excise relief to the customers, the company has reduced the ex-showroom price of its base model Santro LE in Chennai by Rs 18,234 while the Santro LS will cost Rs 20,510 less. The price of top-end Santro GS has been reduced by Rs 21879. Accordingly the ex-showroom price of Santro LE, Santro LS and Santro GS will be now Rs 3,11,742, Rs 3,51,030 and Rs 3,73,613 respectively in Chennai. Similarly the ex-showroom Chennai prices of various Accent models have been reduced with the Accent GLS now costing Rs 5,82,408 instead of Rs 6,16,441 and top end Accent GLX model costing Rs 6,38 instead of Rs 6,75,766. Ford Ikon
The prices of Ford Ikon cars have been reduced by Rs 20,000 to Rs 40,000 across all models with immediate effect. Chairman of Hindustan Motors Limited, Mr C.K. Birla said that the economy should get a boost, especially in the automobile industry, where cars had a negative growth upto January 2001. Increase in the customs duty on second hand cars is also a step in the right direction but will have to be followed by non-tariff measyres, Mr Birla said. Managing Director of Ashok Leyland, Mr R. Seshasayee said that for the automobile industry as a whole it has been a perfect answer to the wish list. For the commercial vehicle industry there are now disappointments. The government has not used the legitimate instrument of weighted deductions on R&D expenditure by Indian industry. Chairman and Managing Director of Bajaj Tempo Limited, Mr Abhay Firodia said that the higher depreciation rates on commercial vehicle, the lowering of excise on select categories of automobile products, reducing excise duties on taxis are welcome and essential steps. However, the multi-utility vehicle category, appears to have been singled out for denying support. Also, whether the 16 per cent duty rate is only applicable to taxis or also to ambulances is vague.
Hero Honda cuts prices
Hero Honda Motors today effected a Rs 1,740 to Rs 3,000 price cut and predicted that it would exceed its Rs 3,000 crore turnover target for this fiscal. “We have reduced the price of the 100cc ‘Splendor’ motor cycle model by Rs 2,340, the 156cc ‘cbz’ model by Rs 3,000, ‘cd-100’ by Rs 2,100 and the ‘Street Smart’ by Rs 1,740,” Vice-President (Finance), Ravi Sud, told
PTI here. The price cut follows the 8 per cent excise duty relief announced in the Union Budget 2001-02.
TNS,
Agencies
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Sinha firm on privatisation New Delhi, March 1 “ We are determined to go ahead with privatisation”, the Finance Minister told at a meeting with industrialists organised by FICCI. Coming down heavily on the votaries against privatisation of profit-making companies, Mr Sinha said for the government the issue of profitability of public sector undertakings (PSUs) was irrelevant. The current criticism against the privatisation of the PSUs is based on “ill-informed and mis-informed” knowledge, he observed. “Time has come to forthrightly address the privatisation issue and meet the challenges of ill-informed criticism”, he said. Maintaining that the disinvestment target of Rs 12,000 was credible and achievable, he said the figure has been arrived at after much deliberation within the government.
PF cut justified
Clarifying the reduction in interest of small savings and provident funds, Mr Sinha said the idea was to minimise the elements of subsidy that had crept into administered interest rates. “It does not make economic sense for the government to subsidise administered interest rates”, he said adding that a committee has been constituted to suggest ways and means to link interest rates to the rate of inflation.
VAT for service sector
Yashwant Sinha said the government proposed a Value Added Tax system to widen the service tax net in the country. The uniform rate of Central Value Added Tax (CENVAT) is the first step towards achieving a full-fledged Value Added Taxation (VAT) regime in the country, Sinha said here today. “The intention is to move to a uniform rates of Cenvat of 16 per cent”, he said. Currently, there are only four items with 8 per cent rate of Cenvat. “Kerosene, LPG, cotton yarn and diesel pumpsets up to 10HP have been kept at the 4 per cent level after being considering the larger interests of the country”, he said, adding that: “I would like excise to be entirely value-added based”.
Reforms on slope
Stating the second generation reforms were on a “slippery slope”, Mr Sinha said “if growth is the central theme, then negotiating these slopes are unavoidable”. Urging the industry to be more magnanimous in its approach, he said the trade and industry should be more constructive, especially in terms of labour reforms and dereservation of items in the small scale sector. Reiterating that the government is committed to protecting the interests of the worker, the Minister said it was precisely for these reasons that the Budget has proposed compensatory period of 45 days instead of 15 days while retrenching workers. “In a country, where there is not much scope for lateral employment opportunities, the interests of the workers has to be protected”, Mr Sinha said. In the case of profit-making public sector companies the compensatory period was of 60 days, while in loss-making units it was of 45 days.
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Tax on
perks to hit corporate staff New Delhi, March 1 In recent times, it had become the practice rather than exception for the corporate houses to negotiate pay packets of employees in terms of “cost to the company” and then split the salary in a manner where the tax liability was minimum. In other words only a portion of the salary was shown in the salary slip and the majority payment was made against vouchers, which could be for entertainment, purchase of books, furnishings, gardener allowance, diet allowance, attire allowance, birthday allowance and other fancy heads. In majority cases, fake vouchers and bills were produced and the payments were made against them. Summing up the trend, the Union Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, in his Budget speech said “with economic liberalisation, the pay package of salaried class is undergoing many changes. It is being divided into various components and the forms of perquisites and benefits or amenities provided by the employer are assuming new dimensions”. To align the tax system with the present structure of pay packages, he proposed that the value of perquisites, benefits or amenities would be determined on the basis of their cost to the employer, except in respect of houses, cars and telephones, where different criteria would be adopted. The Finance Bill specifically points out that under the existing provision of section 16, certain deductions from salaries are allowed. A deduction to the extent of the entertainment allowance or one-fifth of salary or Rs 7500, whichever is the least is available to the assessee. The Bill proposes to omit the provision relating to deduction of entertainment allowance. It also proposes to revise the limit of taxing perquisites in the case of employees where the monetary payment of salary is in excess of Rs 50,000. To avoid ambiguity, the Bill proposes that details of perquisites should be fixed in the manner prescribed in the Income-tax rules. It also proposes that profits in lieu of salary
include amounts received in lumpsum or otherwise prior to employment or after cessation of employment for the purpose of taxation. An obligation has been cast on the person responsible for paying income under the ‘salaries’ to file details of perquisite and profits in lieu of salary. The proposed amendment would come into effect from April 1, 2002. Realising that tax incentives given by way of exemptions to certain categories of income was being used to reduce also the tax payable on the non-exempt income by debiting the expenses incurred to earn the exempt income against taxable income, it has been proposed that “no deduction shall be made in respect of any expenditure incurred by the assessee in relation to income which does not form part of the total income under the IT Act”. A senior official in the Finance Ministry said the companies would now have to disclose what it costs them to keep an employee. The implementation of the proposals is being left to the employer and at the moment the Income Tax department would take their assessment in good faith. There would be no scrutiny, the official added.
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‘Teach Punjabis micro-electronics’ Chandigarh, March 1 Last year the entire country produced only 130 micro-electronic engineers, while that number should have been 2000-3000, he said. “My submission is for educational and training, institutes in the region to build up faculty and courses to develop talent in this area”. Punjabis teaching micro electronics overseas can be persuaded to take a sabbatical and help to set up training infrastructure here. Such an investment would definitely yield returns, he said. Even if the country at present did not have the capacity to utilise all the talent developed, “we could market this talent overseas, where there was a high demand for hardware and micro-electronics engineers.” He outlined three factors necessary to develop IT into a viable industry as people and training, building up businesses, and marketing the region. “Good marketing people are very necessary to market Punjab as an IT destination. Finally, marketing is the name of the game”. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is thinking of going public, said Mr Kohli, also Vice-Chairman of TCS. “Though we are not sure when it would happen, but it is important and will help TCS”. Mr Kohli, who also met industrialists and bureaucrats, said TCS recorded a turnover of Rs 3,100 core this year (an increase of Rs 1,000 crore in a year) and profits of more than Rs 800 crore. Mr Kohli, who is visiting the city for general talks concerning software and hardware, with local industry and educational institutions, is on the boards of Tata Infotech Ltd, Tata Electric Co, Tata Honeywell, Tata Technologies, Singapore, Triveni Engineering and Industries and Abacus Distribution Systems, to name a few.
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New tech for cheaper yarn developed Ludhiana, March 1 He claims to have developed a polymer which can be used for the preparation of yarn having the qualities of lycra such as high break elongation, low modulus and high recovery from large deformation and flex fatigue properties. While speaking in the seminar Scope of spandex yarn,’ Mr Chris L.T. Cheung, Business Director of the BF Goodrich disclosed that the use of this yarn will substantially cut the price of raw material. He said,‘‘the costs of lycra are presently hovering around Rs 1300 per kg because of the monopoly of a single company in the market. The price of spandex will be around Rs 900 per kg after its production in the local market.’’ The seminar was organised by the Knitwear Club in association with the UNDP under its cluster development programme. The company has already filed for the patent of the technology and expects to launch it formally in May. Mr Vinod Kumar, President, Knitwear Club, said, ‘‘there is a wide scope for such kind of garments in the domestic market. The cut in the costs due to the introduction of the spandex yarn would benefit thousands of knitwear units and make enable them to compete with the Chinese firms in the domestic and international market.’’ Mr Cheung claimed that it will cost about Rs 5 crore here to set up a plant of 50 MT capacity per year. The process is simple and the plant may be installed by the entrepreneurs having captive consumption or by those who are interested in diversification. Around 100 industrialists from Punjab attended the seminar. |
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VSNL cuts tariff New Delhi, March 1 Under the tariff slash for non-cable head station to be effective from March 1, 2001, the rates for 64K speed lines would come down to Rs 2.4 lakh per annum from Rs 4.25 lakh earlier, a VSNL statement said here. “The reduction in tariffs followed by feedback from customers located in satellite towns for which higher tariff was applicable earlier,” it said adding that the corporation would now provide routing and multiplexing equipment at its own cost to effectively provide lower prices to end consumers.
PTI |
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Boeing, Microsoft hit by earthquake Seattle, March 1 The aviation giant is also gathering reports from the sites of both its manufacturing plants which are located in the Seattle area. “At the present time each site is deciding what to do” he said. “We have set up teams and an emergency operations centre.” CNBC television reported that Microsoft headquarters in nearby Redmond suffered gas leaks, power outages, and other damage. But it cited a Microsoft Executive as saying the damage is not expected to have a material effect on the company. Separately CNN television showed Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates giving an address in Seattle when various objects
appeared to fall from the ceiling, people began to leave the room and Gates walked off stage. Spokesman at Microsoft could not be reached for comment.
AFP
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HDFC Bank to open 25 ATMs Chandigarh, March 1 This was stated by Mr. Aditya Puri, Managing Director, of the bank while addressing a press conference here today. Mr. Puri was on a three-day visit to Punjab and Chandigarh. He will inaugurate a branch at Amritsar tomorrow. The bank will provide all facilities to its customers in the region. "The idea is to provide all financial services to the customers under one roof where all their needs of loans, advice on funds management, portfolios, equity, deposits , mutual funds, etc. will be met", he stated. The bank is already providing 24-hour banking on the ATM, telephone, PC and mobile phones. The bank will provide services like depository products, mutual funds, insurance, housing, bill payment facility, advice on mutual funds, FX, money markets, etc. "An NRI can open a savings account or a Demat account with us. He can get an international debit card— if he has convertible rupees here. We give him a debit card that is jointly with Visa which he can use anywhere in the world against his rupees here and we are also paying the highest interest rate", he said. "We will also start selling mutual funds— a Jardine Mutual Fund and a Merril Lynch Fund", he said. HDFC was declared as the "Best Bank in India" by Euromoney, "Best Domestic Commercial Bank" for two consecutive years (1999 & 2000) by Finance Asia and "Best Indian Bank" by Business India. The bank is also a clearing bank for the NSE. At least 70 per cent of the brokers have their accounts with us and 60 per cent of the stock settlement in the country done through us, claims Mr. Puri. "Today we are the third largest in terms of NRI customers and have a total of about 1.6 million customers", he said.
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Markfed gets wheat, potato export
orders Chandigarh, March 1 Emirates companies importing Punjab wheat are interested in the procurement of 3 lakh MTs wheat this year from Markfed. Earlier imports by these companies from India led to quality problems. Now they are desirous of selecting the stocks from Markfed godowns. Mr Bains said Markfed is in the process of being declared as a canalising agency for the export of wheat just like STC. Sometime ago the Punjab Chief Minister wrote to the Prime Minister requesting that Markfed be empanelled as a canalising agency as it has already been given the status of an export house. An official team which included Mr Birinder Singh of Markfed and Dr Satayender Yadav, an agricultural scientist, carried samples of potatoes to the Dubai market. Currently the market is fed by Saudi Arabia, Oman, Australia and Holland. Samples of Markfed potatoes have been well received and a trial order of one container has been booked. Markfed has already sent 50 tonnes to Sri Lanka. The cargo left Bombay on February 27 and is expected to reach Colombo on March 4. To meet the UAE demand for frozen vegetables like beans, peas, broccoli, sweat corn, baby corn, okra, carrots and cauliflower, Markfed has got indicative prices for each commodity and is considering the possibility of leasing in a unit for supplying of trial orders. In case the commodities are accepted, Markfed is considering putting up its own facilities in a joint venture for processing frozen vegetables for export. Some UAE companies have evinced interest in putting up a joint venture with Markfed for installing such a unit. The MD said some UAE firms have expressed the desire to import ‘leachies’ in cans, pear halves, papaya balls and mango pulp. Markfed would work out details for such exports. There is also demand for mutton from Punjab and this is also being examined. Buyers in the UAE have also shown interest in purchasing eggs and flowers from Punjab. Markfed organised a tasting session “for ethnic food, especially, allu warian, saag paneer, karhi pakora and dal panjratni. Most of the products were well received and a plan has been drawn up to do aggressive marketing of these products. Markfed will tap the Saudi Arabia and Kuwait markets for increasing exports of Basmati rice. The Markfed team observed that the rice market is crowded by Pakistani Basmati rice which is inferior to what Markfed can offer. |
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E-book publishers face high costs Malaysia working on use of palm oil Turkey seeks to fill economic posts eBay monitors copyright site |
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Mitsubishi computer Birla Sun Life Rediff.com LML ‘Prithvi’ Tata Internet RIL hikes prices Centre at Mohali |
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