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Saturday,
May 18, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Allow IOC to bid for BPCL, HPCL: panel
India not facing debt-trap: Sinha
Cotton production likely to fall in Punjab |
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Agro-processing units invited to Punjab
A-I to start flights to Chicago, Frankfurt
Birla Sun Life to enter pension fund
UTI Bank plans 15 pc paid-up equity hike
BSNL to launch mobile services GRAPHIC:
SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY PARKS OF INDIA
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Allow IOC to bid for BPCL, HPCL: panel New Delhi, May 17 The decision to debar the IOC will only benefit multinational companies or new entrants and “allowing IOC to bid for both PSUs can not be considered as leading to monopoly”, the Standing Committee on Petroleum and Chemicals said in the 28th report on disinvestment in petroleum and the petrochemicals sector. Reiterating their stand, the panel asked the government not to divest controlling stake in BPCL and HPCL as the move would turn out to be “a severe blow” to the government’s efforts of ensuring availability of petroleum products in remote and the far-flung areas. The panel also recommended that all public sector companies including ONGC, GAIL, IOC and OIL should be allowed rights of acquisition or merger in the interest of consumers. The panel said the existing public sector oil companies should be allowed to consolidate their position through merger/acquisition in the refining and marketing segments to achieve economy of scale and synergy. The panel noted that the government does not debar the new entrants in the marketing sector to secure the products from their manufacturing units in India or bringing them in Indian market through imports in the post deregulated era. Selection of IPCL
bidder likely today The Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment is likely to meet tomorrow to select the bidder who will acquire the government’s 26 per cent stake in IPCL. Reliance, IOC and Nirma, have bid for acquiring the controlling stake in IPCL. The Core Group of Secretaries on Disinvestment (CGD), headed by the Cabinet Secretary, met here today to scrutinise the financial bids for the stake in petrochemical PSU, paving the way for a meeting of the CCD tomorrow, sources said. The CGD, comprising secretaries of Department of Disinvestment and Petrochemicals and Fertilisers, is believed to have evaluated the price bids submitted by IOC, Reliance and Nirma on April 29, and the reserve price fixed by disinvestment advisor Warburg Dhillon. Though the price tag put by the three companies for 26 per cent share holding in IPCL was not immediately known, sources said the government is likely to get between Rs 800-1200 crore from privatisation of the PSU.
UNI, PTI
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India not facing debt-trap: Sinha
New Delhi, May 17 Dismissing fears expressed by several members from treasury and opposition benches, the Finance Minister said, in fact India’s position has improved from third among 15 most indebted countries to ninth. “If we calculate GNP ratio to the debt payment and other related indices, India is second to China as far as its financial health is concerned,” Mr Sinha said. India has already brought down its short-term borrowings by 3 per cent to 4 per cent and increased foreign exchange reserves to $ 54 billion, an all time high. India has already cleared $ 500 million of IMF loan. All this has brought appreciation from the World Bank and other International financial institutions, he said. He explained that India had come out the financial crisis of 1990s by resorting to a prudent external debt management policy which focused on external borrowings from only multilateral and bilateral sources concentrating on concessional and less expensive debt. Mr Sinha said India avoided short-term loans which usually pushed a country into debt-trap. He, however, admitted that the country had to be more strict in controlling the mounting internal debt that defies fiscal deficit management. The government will soon enact a legislation to bring about fiscal dicsipline in the country, Mr Sinha added. The recommendations of the Standing Committee on Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Bill, which have already been introduced in Parliament are under the consideration of the government, he said. Replying to queries of several members, Mr Sinha said India’s total internal and external debt was 85 per cent of the GDP while that of Pakistan was 105 per cent of its GDP. India’s debt-servicing account for 48 per cent to 50 per cent of its total revenue. The minister said there was no option for the states but to resort to financial discipline as their collective revenue deficit had mounted from Rs 32,000 crore in 1997 to Rs 88,000 crore. The Centre as well as the states had to tighten their belts and go in for right-sizing of their bulging establishments and raise revenues and tax collections. The Centre distributes the grants and loans to the states on a set pattern.
UNI
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Cotton production likely to fall in Punjab Bathinda, May 17 Sources added that fall in area under cotton crop were due to two main factors. First, the cost of cultivation had gone up unprecedently high and second was that yield had declined considerably. Both these factors had been pushing the major section of farmers into debt trap and subsequently death trap. The production of cotton during last year from about 6.10 lakh hectares of area was about 8.65 lakh bales and average yield was 241 lint per hectare kg. Though the Punjab Government tried its best to motivate the farmers to indulge in intensive cultivation of cotton by increasing the area under it to a large extent during the current season, a sizeable section of farmers became doubly cursed as first they could not get adequate canal water for sowing the cotton crop and when they sowed the same with the use of underground, water a major portion of newly germinated plants of cotton got brunt due to unprecedented heat spell in the cotton belt where the mercury had been remaining above 40 degrees. The farmers, who had to resow the cotton crop, had suffered a loss ranging between Rs 1400 to Rs 1600 per acre. The agriculture experts of Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) had recommended the optimum period of sowing of cotton from April 15 to May 15. However, most of the farmers could not sow the same due to unavailability of canal water, which became adequate and regular from May 25. The cotton sowing was expected to be completed by May 30. Mr Subash Chander Khurana, Chief Agriculture Officer (CAO), Mansa, pointed out that farmers, who had earlier grown cotton, would shift to paddy where the water was available in adequate quantity while some farmers would keep their fields vacant due to unavailability of water. Mr Bhatti, CAO, Bathinda, pointed out that bollworm attack and very low yield of cotton during last year, had been forcing the farmers to shift to some other crop and it was the main reason that area under paddy cultivation in cotton belt would take a jump. He added that some of the farmers had also shifted to the cultivation of pulses, til and guara. Meanwhile, the ginning and pressing mill owners pointed out that if the cotton production declined this year too, there would be a major crises in the state and few ginning and pressing mills, which ran previous year, would also close down. They also added that spinning and yarn manufacturers would have also to fetch cotton from other states of country and foreign countries. |
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Agro-processing units invited to
Punjab New Delhi, May 17 The Chief Minister was speaking after a presentation on the topic by Ashok Gulati, Director, Markets and Structural Studies division, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) here in the Capital. It was the high time for the farming community of Punjab to switch over from wheat, rice and cotton to the high-value added crops like fruits, oilseeds etc. He urged the agro-processing industry to invest in Punjab as it had congenial industrial climate with abundant labour force and good infrastructure facilities. The Punjab Government was committed to provide integrated marketing facilities to farmers and also encourage farmers’ associations and cooperative institutes to build collective bargaining power and enter in contracts with agro-processors and super markets etc. He stressed the need to provide necessary backup support from the Centre to the farmers especially small and marginal farmers.
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A-I to start flights to Chicago,
Frankfurt New Delhi, May 17 The Air-India is in the final stages of working out the modalities of extending its operations to Chicago and Frankfurt and the start of the flights is expected to help in easing the seat availability on these routes. Addressing a convention on aviation and tourism here today Civil Aviation Minister Syed Shah Nawaz Hussain, said, the government, which is continuing with the ‘open sky’ policy since this April, would be finalising bilateral air traffic agreements with several countries in the next few months. However, he pointed out that over two crore seats, under already signed bilaterals, remained unutilised compared with about 1.5 crore being used by foreign airlines. “While signing the bilaterals, we will definitely keep in mind the interests of our national carriers”, Hussain said. He said that recently he had also had a meeting with the US envoy Robert Blackwill and an assurance was given by him that the issue of the resumption of flights to India by American carriers which had stopped operations in the aftermath of September 11 terror strikes would be pursued with Washington. Referring to the problems being faced by Air-India in getting convenient time slots at the Heathrow airport, he said Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had recently written to his British counterpart Tony Blair to provide suitable slots at the London airport. Hinting at Virgin Airways demand for more rights to fly to India, he said if any of the British carriers wanted to operate more flights here, “we should get suitable slots in UK”.
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Birla Sun Life to enter pension fund
Mumbai, May 17 The company has emerged a strong player in the sector during its one year of existence and has done new business with total sum assured of Rs 1600 crore and average premium of more than Rs 15,000 per policy, said Nani B. Javeri, Chief Executive Officer, Birla Sun Life Insurance. The company has achieved a premium income of Rs 36 crore and sold 20,000 policies covering more than 33,000 lives across individual life and group life business, he added. BSI is the first insurance company in the country to use multi-distribution channel to market its insurance products and has tied up with Citibank and Deutche Bank for bancassurance and is in talk with other regional and private sector banks for possible tie-ups. The company is also planning to sell its policies through call centres and internet, said Mr Javeri.
UNI
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UTI Bank plans 15 pc paid-up equity hike
New Delhi, May 17 The bank, aiming a 30-35 per cent growth in business in this fiscal, would add 20-25 branches more in this fiscal, even as it kept the options open on insurance sector once proper systems were in place, according to its Chairman and Managing Director P.J. Nayak. “We plan to raise the paid-up equity by 10-15 per cent by second half of this fiscal,” Nayak said here inaugurating the 114th branch. With a paid-up capital of Rs 191 crore as of March, 2002, the increase would translate into over Rs 25 crore, apart from the premium, but much would depend on the market conditions, he said. The top-line, including deposits and advances, of the bank, in which the promoter Unit Trust of India has a little over 40 per cent stake, was expected to grow by 30-35 per cent in 2002-03. As part of plans to expand its operations in the retail sector, UTI Bank, with a comfortable 10.65 per cent capital adequacy ratio, plans “reasonable” number of alliances with agencies including Hero Honda and Kinetic Groups, by July for increasing the auto loans, which comprise around 35 per cent of the total loan portfolio. On the branch expansion, Nayak said the bank, which has set a target of Rs 1,000 crore as net worth from the present Rs 614 crore, had already applied to RBI and was awaiting the approval.
PTI
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BSNL to launch mobile services Bathinda, May 17 This was stated by Mr Joginder Mohan, ITS, GM Telephone District Bathinda, while addressing a press conference here today on occasion of World Communication Day. Although he said that no date has been fixed for starting the mobile service, but he said that it could probably be in August. Mr Mohan said that the mobile service of the BSNL would beneficial for the consumers.
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