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Saturday,
November 9, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Industrial policy and state of industry
Ethanol blended petrol
to cost less: Naik
HDFC Bank against merger with HDFC
PSEB pays 53 cr to coal firms, Railways |
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Indian IT firms eye Gulf BoB posts 90 cr profit
Vigilance week
SBI cuts housing loan rates
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Industrial policy and state of industry Chandigarh There are threats from the outside too. Cheaper imports are increasingly replacing local high-cost products. The opening up of the economy to competition from companies within and outside the country and the falling duties as a consequence of joining the WTO have further worried the Punjab industry, which already suffers on account of locational disadvantage of being away from the ports and the sources of raw materials. In this backdrop it is but natural for the industry in Punjab to turn to the government for relief and protection. As on March 31, 2001, there were more than two lakh industrial units in Punjab with an investment of Rs 19,700 crore. Future growth and jobs will come mostly from the industrial sector. Punjab’s industrial policy, pending for Cabinet clearance, can reverse the declining growth trend by creating a conducive investment climate through infrastructure building, ending the inspector raj and giving some incentives available in other progressive states. An empty treasury is a major roadblock in giving incentives to the industry, but a way out has been found by Punjab Minister for Industries Ashwani Sekhari. Not enthusiastic about wooing foreign or NRI investment, he firmly believes that Punjab can be rebuilt by the Punjabis living in the state alone. So instead of going abroad to woo FDI, he spends more time with industry people in the state, specially in the border belt. Being an industrialist himself, he understands the industry’s ground realities. Therefore, he suggests that any proposal for incentives has to be linked with additional resource generation. The incentives can be production based and linked with the performance of a unit. This will discourage units from grabbing subsidies without raising production. In a telephonic talk on Friday, Mr Ashwani said the state government can share with the industry a portion of Central Excise Duty which is remitted to the state by the Centre. This will motivate the units to produce more and also pay more taxes to the government. While the state government collects sales tax, octroi or entry tax, stamp duty/land registration charges and central sales tax, the Centre takes home excise duty and income tax. Some 40 per cent of the central excise duty paid by a new unit and returned to the state can be given as a grant to the unit for five years (for 10 years in the border areas). Ask any industrialist about his biggest headache, he will invariably say: the “inspector raj”. For years there has been a talk of ending it, but entrenched interests scuttle any such move. Mr Sekhri says this problem can be solved by introducing a scheme for self-certification in respect of various statutory compliances. Poor infrastructure deters any new industry from coming to the state. The new industrial policy can encourage the private sector participation in developing industrial estates, special economic zones and cluster development with a good air/rail/road connectivity There are some frequently voiced industry demands like (1) 7 per cent interest subsidy for technology upgradation and modernisation of
existing units (2) A BIFR-like board for the rehabilitation of sick units (3) a special cell in the PSIEC to assist the marketing of products of SSIs. The cell can maintain a data bank of enquiries from all over the world and pass on the information to the units concerned. |
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Ethanol blended petrol to cost less: Naik New Delhi, November 8 Ethanol blended petrol is expected to be sold in nine states of Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Goa and the four Union Territories of Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Chandigarh and Pondicherry from January 1, 2003. It will be supplied in the rest of the country from October 1, 2003. “I hope the notification for 75 paise per litre excise duty concession for ethanol blended petrol would be issued by the month end. The reduction in excise duty will be passed on to the consumer”, Mr Naik told newspersons here today. The government is still working out the extent to which the consumers could benefit from the excise duty cut. “ It may be upto 75 paise ( per litre). We have to work that out”, the Minister said. He said that states such as Punjab and Gujarat, which would not have facilities
to produce entire quantity of ethanol to be consumed in their respective states, have assured all kind of assistance including waiving of inter-state import duty on ethanol. |
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HDFC Bank against merger with HDFC New Delhi, November 8 “We are open to acquisitions but there is nothing on the anvil at present. We are always on the look out for acquiring good retail portfolio, retail customers and increasing its geographic reach,” Aditya Puri, Managing Director of HDFC Bank, told PTI after a bill-payment tie-up with BSNL here. HDFC Bank, which is listed in NYSE, had acquired Times Bank in 2000. Asked if the company expected to make an acquisition over the next one-two years, Puri said “only if get it at the right price. Otherwise our organic growth is enough.” On plans of a reverse merger with its parent HDFC, Puri said “merger does not make sense for HDFC and HDFC Bank for a simple reason — if we merge, HDFC’s entire balance sheet would be subjected to SLR and CRR and they will lose the tax benefit. So the negative is very definite.” The issue assumes importance in the wake of the reverse merger of ICICI with ICICI Bank last fiscal to become the country’s second largest commercial bank. “We are not sure that by merging we will increase our growth rate. Consequently, both boards have said a merger does not make sense at this point of time and nothing has changed on that,” he said. “We had said at the beginning of the year that based upon business prospects, we expect to grow compounded annually for the next three years at 25 per cent. We see no reason to change that guidance,” Puri said. HDFC Bank’s income grew to Rs 1,163 crore in the first half of this fiscal from 945 crore in the year ago period while the net profit surged 31 per cent to Rs 172 crore. The bank’s deposits grew by 37 per cent to 19,606 crore till September, 2002, from Rs 14,279 crore in the year ago period, while advances were up by 43.7 per cent to 11,750 crore.
PTI |
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PSEB pays 53 cr to coal firms, Railways Patiala, November 8 While Rs 21 crore was released to the various coal companies, as much as Rs 32 crore has been released to the railways. Giving details of the money released to the coal companies, Board Member, Generation H S Sahai disclosed that Rs 3 crore had been paid to Southern Coalfields Limited, Rs 10 crore to Central Coalfields Limited, Rs 2 crore to Bharat Coking Coalfields Limited, Rs 1.5 crore to South Eastern Coalfields Limited, Rs 2 crore to Western Coalfields Limited and Rs 2.5 crore to Eastern Coalfields Limited. The Member, Generation said the Board now owed the various coal companies dues of only Rs 24 crore. He said the coal situation had also improved dramatically in the last more than one fortnight. He said the Board was presently sometimes getting more than its nine rake daily requirement and that its stock position in all the three thermal plants at Bathinda, Lehra Mohabbat and Ropar had improved to around 14 to 18 days of supply. Mr Sahai said as regards the railways, besides the Rs 32 crore released yesterday, the Board had paid the freight carrier dues of Rs 91 crore in October itself. He said the Board was still behind schedule in paying freight charges to the railways whose monthly bill came to around Rs 120 crore. He said the Board still owed the Railways Rs 212 crore adding steps were being taken to release the payment in installments whenever money was available. He said simultaneously the Board had also moved against the railway decision to impose penalty amounting to a 15 per cent surcharge on the monthly freight bill in case the Board defaulted on payments. He said the Board was not in agreement with the freight carrier on the manner in which it had imposed this surcharge as well as the period for which it had been imposed. He said this matter was under litigation and that the Board would pay the disputed bill only after the court resolved the matter. |
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Indian IT firms eye Gulf Dubai, November 8 Close on the heels of Wipro and Infosys Technologies opening offices to cater to the vast West Asia markets, other players like Zenith Computers and some other hardware vendors are also eyeing the region. According to India's Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC), IT exports to West Asia currently at $170 million accounts for just 2 percent of the country's global exports. It is poised for a significant upswing as a result of a new momentum given to diversifying the country's software export markets. The ESC, which sponsored an Indian IT pavilion at the IT conference Gitex 2002, is looking at expanding its presence in West Asia with strategic tie-ups with leading players in the region. Gitex 2002, the five-day IT show that ended on Thursday, had a large international presence, with over 600 exhibitors from 37 countries representing some 1,500 companies, including top IT vendors. An ESC official said three Indian companies, that were part of the ESC delegation to Gitex, had already confirmed their plan to set up offices in Dubai Internet City (DIC). "After the success in software sector we are now also focusing on hardware. In 2001-02, electronics hardware export from India touched $1.02 billion only and we expect it to cross $10 billion by 2008," said the official. "There is no denying the fact that the IT sector has given a formidable brand equity to India in the global markets." Mr Kamal Vachani, regional representative of the ESC in the West Asia, said the council was making a strong presence at Gitex as part of its aim to foster closer ties with the region's leading technology players. "We are looking forward to take part in Gitex every year to showcase the capabilities of Indian software and tap the West Asia market," he said. According to Vachani, the ESC has stepped up promotional activities in certain identified regions and will continue to step up the momentum to explore newer markets, including some countries in the West Asia . He said the UAE representation in the ESC had been instrumental in promoting export to
the West Asia region since its inception three years back. Wipro Infotech recently said it had bagged a major contract from the Dubai Municipality for providing high-end IT operations management services. The company has also tied up with Riyadh Pharma, the leading pharmaceutical company of Saudi Arabia, to implement the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.
IANS |
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BoB posts 90 cr profit New Delhi, November 8 During the past six months, the 154 branches and three regional offices showed overall improved performance as the cost of deposit came down from 7.32 per cent to 6.67 per cent while yield on advances increased from 10.10 per cent to 10.19 per cent. The bank’s General Manager S. C. Kasliwal told reporters today that BoB had a total business of over Rs 8,900 crore — Rs 5,900 crore of deposit and Rs 3,000 crore of advances. The overall net profit showed a rise of 39.39 per cent during July-September at Rs 137.22 crore from Rs 98.44 crore in the corresponding quarter.
UNI |
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Vigilance week
Chandigarh, November 8 Speaking at a seminar on “Vigilance for Organisational Excellence”, organised by Krishak Bharati Cooperative (Kribhco) as part of its Vigilance Awareness Week observance in New Delhi Mr Shankar said vigilance was a management function meant to raise organisational efficiency.
TNS |
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Corp Bank rates Tata Tea Parryware LMA seminar Nabard Mahindra award |
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