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Tuesday,
June 3, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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SAIL looks
at China Orchid
joins hands with US firm Cheaper
housing loans for farmers Bharti
plans US listing J&K
Bank net grows 30 pc G-8
grapples with $ drop
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Maruti
sales rev up 46 pc Haryana
lifts tax on poultry feed Hero
Honda, LML, TVS sales up
Traders’
no to local area tax
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SAIL looks at China
New Delhi, June 2 After a gap of five years, SAIL has nearly turned the corner with a Rs 192 billion turnover during 2002-03. The company ended 2002-03 with a net loss of Rs 3.04 billion as against Rs17.07 billion in 2001-02, registering a reduction of about 82 per cent. Improved global market conditions enabled SAIL to boost its exports in 2002-03 fiscal by 53 per cent to reach 850,000 tonnes, thereby improving export earnings by over 100 per cent to net Rs10 billion. SAIL Chairman V.S. Jain is banking on the growing demand for steel in China - where preparations for 2008 Olympics are in full swing - to boost exports to one million tonnes. SAIL is in race for exporting more steel to China in the next few months, for which tenders have already been invited. China is expected to spend heavily in developing its highways, ports and airports over the next few years. The country’s demand is estimated to be around 200 million tonnes, of which around 30 million tonnes is imported. And India is hopeful of meeting that 25-30 million tonnes demand. “Already, during April-May, our exports have crossed 200,000 tonnes, with 40 per cent to China. We are currently exporting to more than 10 countries, including the Philippines, Italy and Nepal,” said Mr Jain at a press conference here. He added: “We also see Iraq as a potential market depending on the companies selected to do reconstruction work”. “The total steel industry scenario is very good. Last year, the global market recorded around 35 per cent growth,” he said. Through restructuring, trimming excess staff and expenditure, and modernisation, SAIL had enhanced quality and lowered production cost in the last year. For the first time, SAIL’s four integrated production units had sold 10 million tonnes of steel.
IANS
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Orchid joins hands with US firm
Chennai, June 2 Informing this, Orchid Managing Director K.Raghavendra Rao told a press conference here today that according to the agreement, Orchid would concentrate on development, manufacturing and supply of sterile drugs, while Apotex would handle sales and marketing, besides providing regulatory support to the venture. Apotex, a group company of Apotex Inc- the largest Canadian pharmaceutical manufacturing and marketing company with a product line of more than 200 drugs and a turnover of more than $ 1 billion- has an extensive marketing network that would help Orchid reach the US markets with confidence, Mr Rao said. It would be the first time Apotex would market cephalosporins. The arrangement extended over eight different cephalosporins. The commencement of production would begin soon but the real revenues would start coming in from the financial year, 2005, only due to mandated certification requirement, Mr Rao said.
UNI
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Cheaper housing loans for farmers Chandigarh, June 2 It has introduced a scheme for farmers to advance loans for construction, renovation and addition of their houses, who were so far deprived of the loans by the commercial banks. Says Mr K.S. Palne, Managing Director,‘‘Despite tremendous potential in the rural housing sector, commercial banks are focusing on the income tax paying class and in the urban area only. We have decided to enter that segment to utilise surplus funds.’’ The bank has already disbursed over Rs 11 crore to about 600 farmers during the past three months under the scheme. The bank with 834 branches in the state was focusing on the non-traditional areas to increase credit offtake. As part of that strategy, farmers will be given loans for housing at 10.5 per cent rate of interest up to Rs 2 lakh and at 11 per cent for loan amount above Rs 2 lakh. Maximum loan limit will be Rs 5 lakh that will have to be repaid between 5-15 years. Mr Palne has disclosed that unlike commercial banks, borrowers will not be asked to submit certified map of the house. They will have to submit estimates of the expenses with signature and stamp of the village sarpanch. The loan will be granted within a week by the nearest branch. The farmers will have to repay loans through half-yearly installments and interest rate will be charged quarterly against the monthly installments charged by other banks. He has claimed that the total deposits of the bank have reached Rs 4,644.01 crore in 2002-03 against Rs 4,318.26 crore in 2001-02. The total short-term crop loans also increased from Rs 2,289 crore to Rs 2,580 crore during the same period, excluding over Rs 1,800 crore sanctioned for non-farming operations in the rural sector. The rate of interest has been reduced recently by 1 to 1.5 per cent on all loans. For instance, if a farmer takes Rs 1 lakh housing loan to be repaid in 10 year, the farmers will have to pay Rs 1,344 equated monthly installment that will be lower than charged by private banks.
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Bharti plans US listing
New Delhi, June 2 “We are hopeful of an overseas float in the next financial year, and we will be going for a US listing,” Mittal told reporters here, adding that the company had already started the process internally. On the size of the proposed offering, Mittal said “the last offering was of $ 185 million and this one will be more than the last one.” The company was also aggressively looking at acquisitions for expanding its network and customer base in the current financial year. Asked how much funds had been kept aside by the company for the purpose of acquisitions, Mittal said “funds will never be the limiting factor for acquisitions. We always have Rs 400-500 crore liquid cash with us, moreover banks and FIs are always keen to fund us.” He said since the company was looking at intra-circle (same circle) acquisitions, government policy needed to be complementary in this regard. It will install another 35 cell sites in the next three months taking the total number of such sites to 450. The company is planning to double the SMS exchanging capacity in the circle.
TNS & PTI
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J&K Bank net grows 30 pc
New Delhi, June 2 The payment for the dividend would be subject to the approval of the RBI, a statement from the bank said. Total income of the bank rose by over 6 per cent to Rs 1714.56 crore in 2002-03 as compared to Rs 1610.86 crore in the previous year. Aggregate deposits grew by almost 14 per cent to Rs 14,674.9 crore as on March 31, 2003, as against Rs 12,911.11 crore in 2001-02. The bank’s capital adequacy ratio stood at 16.48 per cent in 2002-03, much higher than the RBI mandated 9 per cent and the capital and reserves grew by around 33 per cent to Rs 1,242 crore in the last fiscal compared to Rs 937 crore in 2001-02. With focus on recovery, the bank was able to contain the net non-performing assets to 1.58 per cent of net advances and is
aiming at less than 1 per cent in this fiscal.
PTI
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G-8 grapples with $ drop
Evian, France, June 2 Dollar weakness versus the euro and yen, while good for US exports and jobs as presidential elections loom there next year, has raised fears in Europe and Japan that what may help in the USA may choke recovery prospects in the European and Japanese economies. Delegates at the G8 meeting said the request for the currency debate came from the European side, despite noises from countries like Germany that leaders would not touch on the issue.
Reuters
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Maruti sales rev up 46 pc
New Delhi, June 2 Sale of the M-800 model jumped by a whopping 80 per cent to 16,907 units over the same month last year, a company statement said. Even the Omni van overcame a sluggish trend and grew 13 per cent in May 2003, it said. Maruti’s sales during April-May, 2003, was 39 per cent higher than the same period last year. Following the strong demand, the company has started production at its third plant from last month. Sale of the premium small cars WagonR and Alto surged by 132 and 57 per cent to 5,179 and 3,317 units.
PTI
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Haryana lifts tax on poultry feed Chandigarh, June 2 While stating this, an official release said the decision would facilitate a single department interaction for
passengers and goods carrying vehicles. The Cabinet also decided to reduce the tax on tyres and tubes from 10 per cent to 8 per cent. The release said tax on selling oil products to another oil company has been cut to 4 per cent. The rate of tax on sale to CSD canteen was reduced and made uniformly applicable at 4 per cent . Also, bio-fertilisers and gypsum were brought in the category of chemical fertilisers for taxation purposes. Poultry feed and cattle feed supplements were made tax free (from 10 per cent tax), while bio-gas burners and hot plates, whether sold separately or along with bio gas plant, were also made tax free. Moreover, to facilitate smooth adjustment of tax paid in excess by anyone, the refund adjustment order itself was made tax free. The rate of tax was reduced to 4 per cent from 10 per cent for certain materials used as raw material in PVC-based items and electrical goods. The rate of tax on pre-owned cars was reduced from the existing 12 per cent to a lump-sum rate of Rs 3,000 for cars with capacity up to 1000 cc and Rs 5,000 for those with higher capacity.
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Hero Honda, LML, TVS sales up
New Delhi, June 2 The company sold 1,63,582 motor cycles against 1,45,727 units in the same month last year, a company spokesperson told PTI. The May sales were also higher by 21.8 per cent as compared to 1,34,318 units sold in April this year, he said. Hero Honda achieved its highest-ever sales of 1,02,050 units of the 100cc Splendor model during the month, the spokesperson added. LML said today its motor cycle sales had surged by over eight times in May due to good demand of the 110cc model Freedom. The company sold 19,853 units over 2,290 units in the same month last year, a LML spokesperson told PTI. Sale of scooters, however, declined by 50.2 per cent year-on-year to 3,423 units from 6,883 units. The company also sold 26 units of the Trendy scooterette during the review month. TVS Motor Company said today its two-wheeler sales rose by 5 per cent in May, 2003, to 96,203 units following an increased demand of motor cycles and scooters. Motor cycle sales went up by 8 per cent to 63,973 units while scooters (sub-100cc category) clocked a 16 per cent growth at 14,334 units during the month, a company statement said. Sale of mopeds, however, fell by 9 per cent to 17,896 units although the company continued to maintain its leadership in this segment. TVS Motor also achieved its highest-ever exports of 1,526 two-wheelers during May. This fiscal, the firm said it planned to raise its motor cycle sales with the newly-launched Fiero F2 and the improved version of its flagship brand Victor, the TVS Victor GL.
PTI
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HCL has upstaged Hewlett Packard. In the January-March, 2003, quarter HCL market share has reached 8.9 per cent while Hewlett Packard has 7.6 per cent market share. Infosys $400 million-sponsored ADR programme has been delayed at least till July. The ADR was earlier expected to hit the market by June. A crucial hearing on a patent lawsuit filed by Pfizer against Dr Reddy's Lab will start in a US court on July 9. Dr Reddy's Lab has reported a 28 per cent decline in the net profit for the fiscal 2002-03. Shalimar Paints has acquired assets of American Paints. American Paints has a technical tie-up with Sherwin Williams, the world's largest architectural coating firm. ONGC and Reliance Industries have found a pride of place among the world's 500 largest companies this year. ONGC is ranked at 326th while Reliance at 442nd place. Larsen & Toubro with the Aditya Birla group is scouting for cement companies in northern Rajasthan, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. Tata Steel is likely to hold 51 per
cent stake in the joint venture with Vivendi Water, the global
leader in water and waste-water management services.
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