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Saturday,
July 12, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Industry
records 5.7 pc growth TiE comes
to Chandigarh
Reliance
case for Law Ministry |
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Sale
of IPCL shares to Ambanis opposed IFFCO to
bid for HPCL stake Fresh
tenders for online lottery invited Haryana
to woo gem dealers Maruti
Zen diesel selling on premium Hero
Honda net spurts 13.4 pc PC
sales grow 37pc Tea
export to Pak likely to be revived
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Industry records 5.7 pc growth The quick estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 1993-94 for May, 2003, released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), reveals that the general index stands at 178.8 which is higher by 5.7 per cent as compared to May, 2002. The indices of industrial production for the mining, manufacturing and electricity sectors for May, 2003, stand at 139.1, 184.9, and 171.9, with the corresponding growth of 2.5 per cent, 6.1 per cent and 4.9 per cent as compared to May, 2002. The cumulative growth during April-May, 2003-04, over the corresponding period of 2002-03 in the three sectors have been 4.2 per cent, 5.2 per cent and 3.4 per cent with the overall growth in the general index being 5 per cent. Along with the quick estimates of IIP for May, 2003, the indices for April, 2003, have undergone the first revision and those for February, 2003, the second (final) revision in the light of the updated data received from the source agencies. While there are no significant revisions in the sectoral/general indices for February, 2003, the index for April, 2003, in respect of the mining sector has undergone revision of (-)2.2 per cent. The downward revision in the mining sector’s index has been due to revision in the production data of coal, chromite, iron ore, manganese ore and copper ore. As many as 12 of the 17 two-digit industry groups have shown positive growth during May, 2003, as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year. Beverages, tobacco and related products have shown the highest growth of 28.2 per cent, followed by 24.1 per cent in transport equipment and parts and 21.1 per cent in food products. On the other hand, leather and leather and fur products have shown a negative growth of 5.5 per cent followed by a decline of 5 per cent in wool, silk and man-made fibre textiles and 4.8 per cent in cotton textiles. As per use-based classification, the growth in May, 2003, over May, 2002, is 4 per cent in basic goods, 9.3 per cent in capital goods and nil in intermediate goods. The consumer durables and consumer non-durables have recorded a growth of 6.8 per cent and 13.8 per cent with the overall growth in consumer goods being 12 per cent.
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TiE comes to Chandigarh Chandigarh, July 11 TiE has come a long way since 1992 when it was formed in the US Silicon Valley by a few top IT professionals like Kanwal Rekhi, Safi Qureshi, Kailash Joshi, C.K.Prahlad, Gururaj Deshpande and Rajat Gupta, who after having earned their dollars, floated a forum to share their expertise and encourage young entrepreneurs. Today, with 45 chapters and 6,000 members worldwide, TiE is a no-profit organisation that shuns politics. The TiE members are eyed with envy despite the technology bubble burst and subsequent erosion in wealth. Since 1992 they have created businesses worth $200 billion, according to information from TiE’s official website. But they are not into money making alone. Affirming their faith in the “spirit of sharing”, they talk of creating opportunities for intellectual and professional enhancement and call themselves “net givers”, which means they contribute to the community more than they take. The demand for opening a TiE chapter in Chandigarh was first raised in a seminar at the CII in April, 2001, where Kanwal Rekhi made a spirited speech expressing his disgust at India’s slow growth and potential going waste. The CII hall, never before and never since, had seen so many listeners, who lapped up every word the world famous venture capitalist, revered as a guru by many of his
admirers, uttered. He frankly turned down the demand, saying “you will have to earn its membership” by showing continuous interest and holding regular meetings before the formal launch. A select band of Chandigarh industrialists, a more awakened and intellectually stimulating lot than one usually comes across, responded to Rekhi’s challenge and finally, by their persistent efforts, earned the membership of the elite forum. Mr Chandra Mohan, famous for his PTL success story and now running Twenty First Century Battery Ltd, is the President of TiE’s Chandigarh chapter. Mr I.S. Paul (Drish Shoes) is the Vice-President, Mr Ajay Tewari (Smart Data Enterprises) is the Secretary and Mr Gurmeet Singh Chawla (Master Trust) is the Treasurer. An association with role models and the success stories in business may inspire one to do more, but the ground realities in the USA and here are vastly different. No wonder at the informal get-together where the chapter was announced on Friday, the talk virutally veered round to local “hurdles”. It is a small place, rued one. People are content with petty achievements, petty corruption. “A Punjabi entrepreneur is happy if he can reach Rs 30 crore turnover, said Mr Chandra Mohan. “There has been a gradual decline in entrepreneurship in this region”, said Mr Paul. The business environment is not conducive to growth. He gave the example of Satnam Overseas. In the early eighties, the company with Rs 30 crore turnover moved out of Punjab to a place near Delhi and today it has a turnover of Rs 450 crore. Mr Satish Bagrodia of the Winsome group, on the other hand, found Punjab to be a better place to do business than Chandigarh and Himachal. “Somehow, the notion of Punjab not being a safe place to invest has persisted. Despite incentives, nobody should go to a backward area. There is political interference. Logistics is a real problem. One should do business in or near a coastal area,” he advised.
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Reliance
case for Law Ministry
New Delhi, July 11 “Its not just RIL to whom price paid for LPG and kerosene procured for it was frozen when global oil prices shot up in November-December, 2002. The ONGC and GAIL too were subject to the same yardsticks as the subsidy provided by the government failed to cover the cost. The question of whether the oil companies should pay for what they couldn’t realise will be examined by the Law Ministry,” government sources said here.
Mukesh Ambani has already met Petroleum Minister Ram Naik once to seek unrealised LPG price since November, 2002, and kerosene since January this year. While the oil companies are supposed to pay import parity price for LPG and kerosene they lift from RIL’s Jamnagar refinery for sale through their network, IOC-IBP, BPCL and HPCL paid RIL the October 2002 prices for LPG and December, 2002, prices for kerosene till May. The oil companies on the other hand say the Rs 67.75 per cylinder subsidy on LPG and Rs 2.45 a litre on kerosene was not sufficient to cover the cost and they lost Rs 5,430 crore in 2002-03 as they were not allowed to raise retail prices. The sources said the oil firms wanted the under-recoveries to be equally shared by the producers
(RIL, ONGC and GAIL) and the marketing firs (IOC-IBP, BPCL and HPCL). While Petroleum Secretary
B.K. Chaturvedi is believed to have favoured oil companies paying RIL in full, Naik wanted the issue to be vetted by the Law Ministry, they said.
— PTI |
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Sale of IPCL shares to Ambanis opposed
New Delhi, July 11 “The possible merger may affect consumers interest in view of the fact that Reliance group now have virtually total control in the petro-chemicals market,” highly-placed sources said. According to market analysts, at present, Ambanis controls nearly 80 per cent of the petro-chemicals products market. The fear of merger was expressed in an inter-ministerial cabinet note in which the ministry has said that in the event Ambanis decided to buy 34 per cent the
government holding in IPCL, their equity in the company will rise to more than 80 per cent and it may be possible that the Ambanis may merge IPCL with their parent company Reliance. The Ministry said after the Ambanis took over the company last year, they had introduced a VRS and also raised the product prices, affecting the buyers. The products produced by IPCL are used in manufacturing of textile, plastics and other important mass consumption products. During an hour-long Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment (CCD) meeting yesterday, Petroleum Minister Ram Naik also objected to sale of IPCL shares to Ambanis on the similar ground and told the CCD that it could harm the interests of consumers. However, there was not much resistance to the Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) of other companies as the ministries concerned have welcomed the step. The Petroleum Minister welcomed the proposed sale of the government holding in IBP Co and told the CCD that the government could sell its holding to public at the earliest in view of bullish market conditions.
— UNI
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IFFCO to bid for HPCL stake
New Delhi, July 11 After a successful foray into the insurance sector, the company planned to enter the petroleum sector and will aggressively bid for BPCL shares in the primary market, IFFCO managing director U.S. Awasthi told UNI. The company has already initiated talks with its joint-venture partner in Oman Fertiliser Project, Oman Oil Company (OOC), besides Kuwait Oil and petroleum major Shell to form a consortium to jointly bid for HPCL. The government will offer management control in HPCL to the strategic partner and will offload its stake in BPCL in the primary market. Mr Awasthi said IFFCO is eligible to bid for the two companies as on July 1 the government stake in the cooperative has come down to 41 per cent from 69 per cent. IFFCO paid Rs 115 crore to the government for buying its stake and retained the company’s total equity at the previous level.
— UNI
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Fresh tenders for online lottery invited Chandigarh, July 11 Highly placed sources said that the state government could drop a clause regarding paying in cash 25 per cent of the minimum assured fee (for a year) on a quarterly basis at the beginning of each quarter by the operator to the state government. Instead, the state government is reportedly considering enhancing the bank guarantee to be furnished by the operator to meet any shortfall in the payment of the minimum assured fee. Earlier, the state government had proposed bank guarantee equivalent to 25 per cent of the minimum assured fee which could be encashed every three months (quarterly basis) in case of a shortfall. As soon the guarantee or part of it was
encashed, fresh guarantee was to be arranged by the operator so that it always remained 25 per cent of the yearly assured fee. The Orbit Lotto, which was earlier selected by the state government for awarding license for on-line lottery operations, had allegedly backed out from the deal on the ground that it could not give cash as well as bank guarantee for one and the same purpose. A state government official, however, explained that bank guarantee as well as cash deposit was sought since the state government not only wanted to secure its own share of revenue but it also wanted to safeguard the prize money to be given to the winners of the lottery. They said that the Orbit Lotto’s offer had been cancelled following the expiry of June 30 deadline set for them to sign the agreement with the state government . About Rs 25 lakh deposited by the Orbit Lotto on account of earnest money and other fees had been forfeited, the sources said.
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Haryana
to woo gem dealers Chandigarh, July 11 He said with a view to providing momentum to the state government’s initiative in this direction, Mr Om Prakash Chautala had agreed to attend a gems and jewellery exposition being held in Mumbai from July 18. The CMs of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka were also expected to attend the exposition which was being organised by the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council of India. Mr Harbaksh Singh said besides the GJEPCI, which is affiliated to the Ministry of Commerce, an organisation representing gems and jewellery traders and manufacturers of Mumbai, had also requested Mr Chautala to attend the exposition which would continue till July 22. Adequate security as well as helicopter service for safe transport of jewellery is proposed to be arranged for hassle-free business in the
park.
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Maruti Zen diesel selling on premium Chandigarh, July 11 In fact, some of the dealers have claimed that they have not received even a single Zen diesel model during the past one
month. The dealers in the region have alleged that the company was not supplying adequate number of Maruti Zen diesel models since mid-June. A dealer in the industrial area, on the condition of anonymity claimed that he had booked over 20 vehicles during last fortnight, but the company officials were not ready to disclose when would the vehicles would be delivered. He claimed that the company had stopped the production of Zen diesel models, as it was planning to introduce a new engine for the car. Till recently, the company was outsourcing the Zen diesel engines from the Peugot, a company of France. Due to some problems, the company had stopped the production of these engines. However, Mr H.S. Brar, Regional Manager, MUL, here said, “the company has no plans to introduce new engine in that model. Rather some changes have been made in the present engine, and the production would start from 12th of this month. The customers would start getting vehicles by the end of this month.” Enquires revealed that during the past few months, the demand for Zen models has rather picked up in the northern and southern markets. It has emerged as the most fuel efficient diesel car with an average of 21-25 kmpl. The Indica diesel, Fiat Uno and Palio diesel are its competitor. Another dealer claimed that after the revision of prices in mid May, the Zen Diesel (Rs 3.48 lakh), Zen Diesel metallic (Rs 3.51 lakh), Zen Diesel with power steering (Rs 3.71 lakh) and Zen Diesel with power steering and metalic colour ( Rs 3.75 lakh) had emerged as the most cost effective car in its segment. Mr Navneet Sahni, Deputy Regional Manager, MUL admitted that there was an extra-ordinary rush to purchase Maruti Zen diesel models. He claimed that it was not any cut in production, but an increase in demand that had created the demand-supply
gap.
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Hero Honda net spurts 13.4 pc
New Delhi, July 11 Net sales surged by 5.37 per cent to Rs 1,359.82 crore during the first quarter of this fiscal against Rs 1,290.40 crore during the corresponding period last fiscal. Total sales grew by 8.79 per cent to 4.58 lakh units during the review period over 4.21 lakh units during the first quarter of the previous fiscal. “Hero Honda’s successful entry in two new and contrasting segments in the first quarter demonstrates the technological strength of the company,” Hero Honda Motors Chairman Brijmohan Lall said in a statement. Hero Honda Motors attributed the improved financials to cost rationalisation, better working capital management and increasing manufacturing efficiency which resulted in 15 per cent operating margin. After the launch of 100cc motorcycle ‘CD Dawn’ and 223cc motorcycle ‘Karizma’ during the first three months of this fiscal, the company would roll out two more motorcycles this year to give customers an array of choice, Hero Honda Motors Managing Director Pawan Munjal said. The company has sold close to 2,000 units of ‘Karizma’ since its launch in early-June while its flagship brand, 100cc motorcycle ‘Splendor’, clocked one lakh units sales in a month. Apart from ‘Splendor’, ‘CD Dawn’, and ‘Karizma’, Hero Honda also manufactures motorcycles like ‘CBZ’, ‘Passion’, ‘CD100ss’ and ‘CD100’ at its manufacturing units at Ballabhgarh and Dharuhera in Haryana. Exide Industries
Exide Industries Ltd has posted a net profit of Rs 13.86 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2003 as compared to Rs 7.77 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2002. Total income has increased from Rs 194.77 crore in the 2002 June quarter to Rs 232.88 crore in the quater ended June 30, 2003.
— PTI
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PC sales grow 37pc New Delhi, July 11 The desktop PC market grossed 22.9 lakh units registering a growth of 37 per cent over the previous year. PC sales had clocked a negative growth of 11 per cent in 2001-02 over that of 2000-01. However, the buoyant IT consumption witnessed in the first-half of 2002-03 gained greater momentum in the second half, resulting in the current growth. With robust growth prospects, the IT market is expected to grow at 18 per cent in 2003-04 and PC sales are expected to cross 27 lakh units. The turnaround in PC sales has been largely attributed by MAIT to increased IT consumption by industry verticals and corporate sectors such as telecom, banking and financial services, manufacturing and IT-enabled services. Major e-Governance and digital divide initiatives of the Central and State Governments are also driving IT consumption in the country. In addition, the domestic IT Industry has focused attention on producing and developing low-cost computing solutions and the trend of increased PC purchase in smaller towns and cities, witnessed last year, continued undiminished, MAIT said.
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Tea export to
Pak likely to be revived Amritsar, July 11 Tea merchant Sanjeev Mehra told the reporter that there were 50 factories producing green tea and now only 15 had because the defline in exports from 7 million kg which had now come down to only 2 million. The tea exports were expected to be revived after the opening of the road and rail link between India and Pakistan. The traders dealing in spices, crude drugs, condiments, fresh vegetables etc. also expressed a hope that the trade would once again start. The Amritsar Chamber of Commerce and Exports felt that there was a need to open more lines of communication and open the banking channels to facilitate the payment modes. |
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ATM at village Tata Finance UTI MF Sanyo Satyam J&K Bank |
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New Delhi, July 11
