 |
Wednesday,
June 13, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
|
Industrial output up 2.7 pc in April
Punjab fails to give Rs 500 cr incentive
Reliance Petro share
outperforms Sensex
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Build consensus before WTO meet IOC clears Panipat
refinery expansion
Milkfed launches new products Hyundai hints at hike in Santro prices Canon launches digital cameras
|
|
Industrial output up 2.7 pc in April New Delhi, June 12 Quick estimates of the IIP released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) showed that the overall IIP went up by 2.7 per cent — from 160.8 points in April as against 156.5 a year ago during the month of April. The
cumulative general IIP increased by 5 per cent to 162.7 point last fiscal as compared to 154.9 points during 1999-2000. While the index from mining grew by 5.4 per cent, that of the manufacturing sector registered a 2.7 per cent increase to reach a level of 166.2
points. The index for electricity stood at 152.8 during the month of April, a growth of 1.1 per cent. Jute and other vegetable fibre textile group clocked the highest growth of 41.3 per cent followed by other manufacturing industries ( 18.8 per cent), and wool, silk and man-made fibre (15.1 per cent) during April. The index for metal products and parts ( except machinery and equipment) was the worst performer with the index declining by 17.6 per cent followed by wood and wood products, furniture and fixtures (- 4.0 per cent) and Textile products (-2.9 per cent). Consumer durables’ IIP index posted a robust 7.7 per cent growth while consumer non-durables index was up slightly by 1.3 per cent. The IIP for intermediate goods was up by 4.4 per cent while it was 2.4 per cent for basic goods and negative 1.8 per cent for capital goods. The revised cumulative growth for petroleum sector was 3.6 per cent, natural gas (5.3 per cent) and bauxite, gold and iron-ore (4.0 per cent). |
|
Punjab fails to give Rs 500 cr incentive Ludhiana, June 12 The state government had promised to pay up to 30 per cent capital subsidy to the industrial units set up in the industrially backward regions and border areas and 20 per cent capital subsidy to the units set up in other industrial areas of the state. The maximum limit for the individual unit was fixed at Rs 50 lakh for the first category and Rs 30 lakh for the second category. Industrial associations here have claimed that the government has not paid about Rs 500 crore capital subsidy to thousands of units set up in the state. Mr Avtar Singh, General Secretary, the Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings, says,‘‘ Under the Industrial Policy, the government has promised subsidy to the units on bank interest rate, and capital investment in land, building and machinery up to Rs 50 lakh. But the government never made adequate provisions in the succeeding budgets.” Hundreds of units had come up in the industrial area- A, B, focal points and the rural focal points in Ludhiana district. The government had also announced sales tax exemptions to the industrial units set up after June, 1996, for the next 10 years in A category and 7 years exemption for the B category units. But last year the state government had withdrawn the sales tax exemptions for the new units set up after April 20, 2000. But the units set up before that date continue to enjoy the exemptions. While criticising the state government for the delay in payments, Mr Joginder Kumar, President, Ludhiana Electroplaters Association , said,‘‘The industrialists have been waiting for the disbursement of incentives for the past many years. Mr Parkash Singh Badal at a meeting held in May, 2000, here had assured to pay the subsidy during the financial year 2001-02, but nothing has been done till date.’’ Mr D.S. Guru, Director, Department of Industries, said,‘‘ The government has made provisions of about Rs 185 crore in the current budget. The money will be released to the industries in phases.’’ |
|
Reliance Petro share outperforms Sensex Jamnagar, June 12 Addressing the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) here, he said the investors who participated in RPL’s initial public issue of the Triple Option Convertible Debentures (TOCDS) in 1993 and the subsequent option offer in 1998 have earned a compounded return of 35 per cent per year. The Sensex has delivered returns of only 9 per cent per year during the same period, reflecting RPL’s superior performance, he added. RPL was the first Indian company to offer an opportunity to all shareholders for participating in an international offering of its shares, Mr Ambani pointed out. RPL had already announced that it will be sponsoring international offering of GDRs, against the existing equity shares held by the flagship Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), and all other categories of shareholders. It has also become the first company in India to participate in an international offering of its shares. RPL will benefit from improved profile of the international listing, widening of its international investor base, and the increased access of global capital markets,
Mr Ambani added. Retail marketing Announcing RPL’s strategy for entering retail marketing of controlled products in India, Mr Ambani said the company was currently evaluating a multi-pronged strategy, encompassing potential joint ventures and alliances, acquisitions of marketing and distribution assets and/or development of its own distribution and marketing infrastructure. RPL’s MoU with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) for formation of a joint venture for marketing, and the company’s participation in the process for disinvestment of Indo-Burma Petroleum (IBP), reflects this strategy. RPL intends to leverage its all-round operational flexibility to deliver international quality of products, and its overall global competitiveness, to overcome freight cost differentials, and access attractive export markets around the world. Outlining growth strategy, the Reliance Chairman said it will focus on leveraging its competitive strengths to secure a leadership position in the business of refining and marketing of petroleum products, and enhance long-term shareholder value. Mr Ambani also announced plans to debottleneck refining capacity at marginal cost and said the company proposed to increasing production from existing refining assets.
UNI |
|
Govt favours IATA billing plan New Delhi, June 12 Civil Aviation Minister Mr Sharad Yadav took a positive note of the IATA’s suggestion. We are optimistic that the plan will be introduced along with electronic ticketing in the country soon,” Mr Tom Murphy, Managing Director of IATA, told newspersons here today. The plan simplifies the selling, reporting and remitting procedures of IATA approved passenger sales agents. The key feature of the systems is the neutral standard traffic document, which is used by agents on behalf of all plan participating airlines. Mr Murphy said the system enables airlines and agents alike to save on administrative overheads and traffic document inventory costs, whilst streamlining their services to the consumer. It provides more time for selling activities since administrative burden on management is greatly reduced by the simplification of the selling, controlling, reporting of sales and settling of monies dues. A senior IATA official said the minister was also optimistic to their suggestion for the opening of cargo operation in the country to IATA. Low operational cost and high skilled labour act in favour of India for not only introducing the learning centre for the region. |
|
Build consensus before WTO meet New Delhi, June 12 “The government aims to participate in the forthcoming conference with the backing of a national consensus”, Mr Maran said adding that during the last international trade negotiations in Seattle, a similar consensus was built. Mr Maran was
chairing the reconstituted Advisory Committee on international trade here. The Minister said that the India was prepared to discuss the “few new items being taken up for discussion in the next round provided the implementation issues arising out of the Uruguay Round were also resolved satisfactorily”. Underlining that any fresh negotiations could be held only if there was a convergence of membership among the members of the WTO, the Minister said that implementation related issues themselves expansive enough. Mr Maran felt that there was no need to overweigh the agenda by including fresh issues which could make the WTO unsustainable. “A convergence can be reached only if the implementation related concerns of the developing countries were redressed upfront so as to restore the confidence of the WTO”, he said. Senior Parliamentarian and Chief of Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra said that agreements related to agriculture under the WTO needs to be renegotiated. Mr Tohra, who is a member of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Agriculture, said in a note that the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) and related agreements such as Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, have a serious bearing on the governance of the state and interests of the farming community. These agreements tend to provoke competition between farmers in developing and developed countries even though the productivity levels between the two were quite big. |
|
IOC clears Panipat refinery expansion New Delhi, June 12 IOC’s Investment Review Committee, which went into feasibility of the project has given the go-ahead to the project which would take 36 months to complete, company sources said. The Navratana board of the country’s only Fortune 500 company is likely to examine the investment proposal for the Panipat refinery expansion at its board meeting on June 14. The expansion would involve constructing an identical set of unit that already exists. Besides putting up a Fluidised Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCCU), the expansion also involves setting up a coaking unit, sources said. IOC is taking up the expansion to meet the deficit in north and north-west region of the country. The June 14 board meeting, besides finalising the accounts for 2000-01 fiscal, is also likely to take up investment proposal to make value added products from refinery residue and expansion plans for its Gujarat Refinery, involving an investment of Rs 4,392 crore, sources said. IOC has currently undertaken construction of facilities for production of Paraxylene/PTA at Panipat refinery at an investment of Rs 4,228 crore. Malaysian oil major Petronas and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) have
evinced interest in picking up stake in the Panipat refinery expansion project. IOC has offered 26 per cent equity stake to Petronas, a decision of which would be finalised by end of 2001, sources said adding Petroliam National Berhad or Petronas for short is already partnering IOC in its Panipat Petrochemical Project. Panipat refinery expansion project has received the first stage clearance from the Public Investment Board (PIB).
PTI |
|
Milkfed launches new products Chandigarh, June 12 Milkfed launched frozen dessert, spiced cheese spread and flavoured fruit yoghurt in mango, strawberry and pineapple flavours. New products, said officials, have been introduced to increase the market share amidst competition. The prices of these products are also lower than the existing prices of similar products offered by other companies in the market. Mr Brahmpura said Milkfed is not threatened by competition due to the increased duties on imports and infact, a substantial increase in the exports is expected. "The revenue from the exports was around Rs 6 crore last year whereas we have already reached around Rs 3 crore in the first two months of the year. Exports are expected to cross Rs 15 crore by the end of the year",said he. Mr Brij M. Mahajan, Managing Director, Milkfed said they are receiving an overwhelming response from Saudi Arabia, Daman, Qatar, Egypt, Russia and China for Verka milk products. "For the first time export order of 125 mt of SMP to Pakistan has been materialised. We are also receiving queries from the USA",said he. Regarding the plans to increase sales and distribution network, he said a scheme to provide employment to the youth by selling the Milkfed products to milkbars will be shortly launched . "It would make Verka products easily available to people", said he. Mr Jagdeep Singh Nakai, Chairman, Milkfed, said six of the 10 plants in Punjab, Chandigarh, Mohali, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Gurdaspur and Patiala have got the combined ISO-9002 and ISO 15000 certification. Mr Brahmpura emphasised improvement of the milk quality by providing a good diet to the milch cattle. He said innovative products like diet milk should be introduced to emerge as winners
in the global competition. |
|
Hyundai hints at hike in Santro prices Chandigarh, June 12 Talking to reporters in Chennai this morning, Mr B.V.R. Subbu, Director (Marketing), said this price hike has been necessitated due to hike in the basic raw material prices. The announcement was made while HMIL today crossed a major milestone in the Indian automobile industry by rolling out the 200,000th car from its plant here. The special car happened to be a 1500cc price beige Accent. A bright silver Santro followed the ‘Accent’ as the auspicious 200,001st car. HMIL reached this landmark volume in less than 32 months since the start of commercial production at the Irrungattukottai plant near Chennai in October, 1998. The first 100,000th car was manufactured in 19 months while the second 100,000th car has been produced in only 13 months. Driving the historic car out of the Assembly Line, HMIL Managing Director Y.S. Kim said: “Our continuous and straight focus on technology, quality and consumers has helped us reach the current landmark of 200,000th car production. We have arrived here owning to the fast expanding market for HMIL. To commemorate the 200,000th car production in a short span of 32 months, HMIL has planned to launch a series of new products. First off the block is a new ‘Accent GVS’, which is a premium car. With the price tag of 5,65,000 ex-showroom Delhi, the special edition ‘Accent GVS’ is fitted with a 1495cc 12 valve 4 cylinder engine. Next month, HMIL will launch its super premium sedan ‘Sonata’ in the domestic market. The car will be positioned in the “D” segment of the Indian car market. The company has gone into the export market since may, 2000, and has exported close to 6,000 cars to Indonesia, Algeria, Morocco, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. |
|
Canon launches digital cameras New Delhi, June 12 The regional marketing manager, Ms June Ang, said the digital camera market is expected to grow three times this year globally. Though the digital revolution has not caught up India, it too would not lag behind, she told newspersons here, launching Powershot A10, A20, Digital IXUS 300 and CP 10 printer. Mr Ajay Mehta, director operations of Mahatta Camera Corporation said these cameras are tagetted at the business clientele like insurance and property sector at present. |
ty
Wockhardt shareholders okay ESOP L&T targets 2,000 cr business from IT J&K Bank to pay 40 pc |
bb
Alternatives 2001 Yamaha FICCI team CFO awards |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 121 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
