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Tuesday,
December 17, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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CORPORATE NEWS
FDI not
permitted in retail trade: Shourie Tata
unveils Indigo Cheaper
SBI loans for court staff |
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BPCL
Templeton’s hot-favourite scrip How is
Punjab industry different? Bridgestone
proposal cleared Polaris
chief detained Shalimar
Paints turns 100 ROUND-UP New
competition policy on cards Nokia model pulled from UK shops UK visa office for Chandigarh HSIDC to set up industrial estates Govt borrowing crosses 1,26,000 cr Be competitive, farm industry told LIC sells Indal shares to Hindalco
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CORPORATE NEWS
Kolkata, December 16 “We will be adding about 100 centres in the next six to nine months taking the total to about 2,550 and most of them will be abroad,” Aptech CEO and Managing Director Pramod Khera said today. “Our first centre in that part of the world will be set up in Brazil. We already have Spanish translation of our syllabus and are in the process of translating it into Portuguese. Once that is done, we will launch our Brazil centre,” he said. The Brazil centre will be launched under a franchisee agreement. NIIT recruitment centres
To tap the huge reservoir of job seekers, mainly those situated in the remote areas of the country, NIIT will set up 200 e-recruitment locations in India over the next few months. ‘’Next week we will have in place 10 locations in northern India alone,’’ NIIT Chairman Rajendra S. Pawar said today.
Balaji, Indonesian firm ink pact
The Balalaji Telefilms has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with an Indonesian company for the
assignment of company’s library of Hindi serials. The company has informed the BSE today that the MoU consisting of 1,000 episodes for Rs 15 million. The assignment of rights will be restricted to one-time telecast plus one natural repeat on satellite/terrestrial channel(s) beaming in Indonesia only. Subsequently, the rights will revert back to the company.
Chambal’s proposal rejected
Chambal Fertiliser’s proposal to set up a holding company in Singapore with Zuari Investments appears to have hit a roadblock with the Department of Economic Affairs re-examining whether this amounts to externalisation of Indian equity and “round tripping” of funds. The DEA had recommended the rejection of Chambal Fertiliser’s proposal saying it amounts to externalisation of Indian equity and Indian funds while also raising the issue of overvaluation of Chambal’s existing JV partner Technico of Australia. Besides, the proposal amounts to “round-tripping” of funds, which the DEA said is not permissible.
Wockhardt plans diabetes drug
Wockhardt plans to introduce two new products — recombinant human insulin and Interferon alpha 2b — in the domestic market next year. “We have developed recombinant human insulin for treating diabetes and the product is undergoing clinical trials. We are expecting it to be in the market in the first half of 2003. “Interferon alpha 2b used for the treatment of individuals with chronic Hepatitis C, also undergoing clinical testing, is planned for launch in the country later,’’ said Wockhardt Chairman Habil Khorakiwala. He said in a short span of four years of launching the company’s new drug discovery programme, Wockhardt has completed pre-clinical work of a life-saving MRSA responsive anti-infective (WCK-771), which has shown superior results compared to existing drugs such as Vancomycin and Linezolid.
Subex gets order
Subex Systems, today announced that it has won a contract for the wireline network of the Senegalese carrier, Sonatel, to deploy its Fraud Management Software (FMS), Ranger.
Agencies
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FDI not permitted in retail trade: Shourie New Delhi, December 16 “The present policy, which has been followed since 1997, is that the government is not going to permit FDI in the retail trade”, Mr Shourie said during the Zero Hour today while
responding to Congress Chief Whip P R Dasmunsi’s statement that differences have cropped up within the government on the issue of allowing FDI in the retail trade in India. Mr Dasmunsi said that if FDI in the retail trade was allowed it would create displacement of labour and adversely hit the business prospects of the domestic industry. Mr Shourie denied that the issue had not come up for discussion before a Group of Ministers (GoM) on FDI and assured the House that he will get the matter examined. The government’s decision to open up the sector to FDI will give a major boost to the Indian print industry, the minister said.
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Tata unveils Indigo
Pune, December 16 The car will be launched in Mumbai on December 18, when the price, which is likely to be between Rs 4 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, will be announced. The Indigo is to be positioned as a premium feature sedan in the midsize (C) segment, Dr V Sumantran, Executive Director of the Car Business Unit and Engineering Research Centre of Tata Engineering, told a press conference during the preview of the car at the Pimpri plant today. Developed on the highly successful Indica car platform, the Indigo will be available in three petrol and two diesel models in six colours. The Indigo petrol comes with an 85 BHP engine, while the diesel version is the only vehicle in this class with a turbo-charged engine. The Indigo will be pitted against other mid-size or C segment cars like Accent, Ford Ikon, General Motors Corsa and Fiat Siena. Asked whether Tata Engineering will be interested in acquiring Daewoo Motors India, which is up for sale, Sumantran said: “We have no such plan. We may only be interested in some of Daewoo’s equipment.
PTI
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Cheaper SBI loans for court staff Chandigarh, December 16 He said the scheme has been launched throughout the country at all computerised and authorised branches with immediate effect. Under the scheme, all permanent employees of the courts, except lawyers practising in these courts and Panchayat secretaries, will be able to avail personal loans. He said: ‘‘The SBI will offer housing loans to the court employees at a 9 per cent rate of interest. For above 5 years and less than 10 years, the rate of interest will be 9.50 per cent, again 0.25 per cent lower than offered to others. Similarly, for 10 years and above, the bank will offer the loans at 10 per cent.’’ As per the festival offer on housing loans valid till March 31, 2003, the bank has already waived off processing fee worth 0.5 per cent of the loan from all borrowers. In case of personal loans, the court employees will be offered loans at 13.50 per cent rate of interest against 13.60 per cent rate of interest for other borrowers. The SBI will also offer a discount 0.25 cent in processing fee on personal loans. In view of the lower credit risk in this segment, in comparison to agriculture and business community, he said the bank will demand just 10 per cent margin money from court employees on car loans, as compared to 15-20 per cent margin money demanded from other category of borrowers. While for two-wheeler loans, they will be charged a 11.75 per cent interest rate. They can also take festival loans at 13.50 per cent, again .25 basis points lower than other categories. The SBI has clarified that in case of a decrease in the rate of interest, they will also get the benefits of the rate cut.
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BPCL Templeton’s hot-favourite scrip
New Delhi, December 16 The scheme had the highest exposure of 7.72 per cent in BPCL investing Rs 28.52 crore, followed by HPCL with 7.47 per cent at Rs 27.61 crore, the fund said in its latest report. The scheme, investing primarily in well-established large companies, had added Satyam and ACC, taking into account the renewed interests in the global and domestic markets respectively, but the exposure in pharmaceutical sector was brought down. “We increased our exposure in technology stocks by adding Satyam Computers and pared down exposure in pharma stocks based on the relative valuation,” Templeton said, adding that “ACC was added to the portfolio as we believe that infrastructure spending by the government and the cyclical turnaround in the economy should help bolster cement demand.” The fund had substantial exposure of around 18 per cent in the banking sector with investment of Rs 66.8 crore in three banks — ICICI Bank, SBI and HDFC Bank. Among the banking scrips, ICICI Bank’s shares comprised 7.29 per cent of the portfolio with an investment of Rs 26.93 crore, followed by SBI at 6.40 per cent with Rs 23.64 crore and HDFC Bank at 4.23 per cent with Rs 15.61 crore. Buoyed by the rally of technology stocks the worldover, the fund’s exposure to Infosys stood at 7.40 per cent with a total investment of Rs 27.34 crore, it said. Templeton had invested Rs 26.78 crore in HCL Tech, which formed 7.25 per cent in the total portfolio. The Rs 23.04-crore investment in the Reliance Industries formed only 6.23 per cent in the bluechip scheme. Considering the fracas surrounding Larsen and Toubro in the Grasim issue, the fund had only an investment of Rs 6.15 crore, which a was mere 1.67 per cent of the portfolio. However, Grasim Industries had a higher exposure at 3.88 per cent with an investment of Rs 14.34 crore. Newly added ACC had 1.55 per cent exposure with an investment of Rs 5.71 crore in the fund. Pharma scrips of Cipla, Dr Reddy’s and Ranbaxy together accounted for 6.55 per cent exposure with investments of Rs 24.32 crore. The fund had invested Rs 21.87 crore in the tobacco major ITC and Rs 18.53 crore in private sector steel giant Tisco, while Rs 12.7 crore was invested in another Tata group company of Telco. Two-wheeler giants Bajaj Auto and Hero Honda found place in the bluechip fund with an exposure of 3.99 per cent at Rs 14.72 crore. Of the Rs 369.49 crore investments, other current assets comprised Rs 4.61 crore.
PTI
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How is Punjab industry different? The Punjab Government is evolving all types of methods to garner revenue, which ultimately is to be misspent. Entry tax, infrastructure tax, tinkering with sales tax procedures, including the proposed introduction of one pernicious Exim Form. Ever-rising power tariff, thanks to the wrong policies of the state government, is affecting industrial growth. How is Punjab industry different from that in other states? Punjab industry has to depend entirely on distant places for inputs. All finished products go outside the state as local consumption is almost negligible. Freight, Central Sales Tax and incidental taxes like octroi roughly put an additional burden. Under these circumstances, analysts have concluded that Punjab’s industrial units which manufacturers products selling at Rs 40 kg will banish within 10 years. The period is likely to be reduced seeing the way state government is treating the industry. The Central Government is directing state governments to desists from levying entry tax. The tax has become a major cost-plus factor for business. Moreover, this tax is not vat-able and with the introduction of VAT from April 2003, it will be a clear case of multiple taxation. The centre is allowing states to levy additional excise duties (AED) on sugar, textiles and tobacco, which they can retain. Conceptually, entry tax was started to have equal an incidence of tax on items sold within the state and imported from outside it. This was levied mainly in the case of motor vehicles when the rate in the consumer state was higher. Entry tax was thus the difference between the local tax and the tax paid in the state exporting the commodity. With uniform sales tax rates, the purpose of entry tax goes. The freight-equalisation principle has become more relevant now. The Punjab Chief Minister has to take up the matter with Centre. Punjab’s industry has some problems with Central Government, particularly the Central Excise and Customs Department. He should set up a special task force headed by the Principal Secretary, Industry. All problems relating to the Centre should be taken up through this committee. Which has an easy access to the Central Government departments.
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Bridgestone proposal cleared
New Delhi, December 16 Bridgestone Corporation of Japan proposes to increase its equity in Bridgestone ACC India from 90 per cent to 100 per cent. The company will induct equity capital for the manufacture of new pneumatic rubber tyres at its facility in Madhya Pradesh. The proposals are cleared by Commerce and Industry Minister Arun Shourie on the recommendations of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), an official release said here today. Indonesia-based Adijaya Guna will be setting up a fully-owned subsidiary in India involving an equity investment of Rs 15 crore. The company plans to engage in the cash and carry wholesale trading of agricultural commodities and products. The proposals cleared by the government relate to sectors like power plant, software development, consultancy and services.
UNI
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Polaris chief detained
Mumbai, December 16 In a communication to the BSE, Polaris said that Jain had travelled to Jakarta with his team executives in charge of a software development project for the bank to resolve commercial issues. It had signed agreements with the bank in June and August covering Disaster Recovery and Branch Server related work and the contract was supposed to be completed by July 2003.
UNI
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Shalimar
Paints turns 100 Chandigarh, December 16 Mr Rajesh Sharma, manager of the Chandigarh branch, said the branch is growing at the cumulative annual growth rate of 18 per cent and is set to cross 20 per cent mark this fiscal. It’s annual turnover, at present, is Rs 8 crore and likely to cross Rs 10
crore. |
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