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Wednesday,
August 13, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Industry
grows 5.3 pc AirTel
crosses 5 lakh mark in 17 months Over 36
lakh mobile phones added in first four months IT loses
66,500 cr in market capital |
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Govt
clears 26 FDI proposals J&K
Govt to revise industrial incentive policy Haryana
likely to emerge as hub for gems export UTI MF
still market leader Drinkers
earn more than teetotallers Tea
export declines by 27.95 per cent
Hyundai
starts exports to Europe
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Industry grows 5.3 pc According to Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production, the sector grew by 5.7 per cent during June as against 4.5 per cent during the corresponding period of the previous year. The Index of Industrial Production for the first quarter of 2002-03 stood at 4.3 per cent. The manufacturing sector registered a growth of 5.5 per cent during April-June, 2003, as against 4.1 per cent during the same period of the previous year. While the electricity sector showed a growth of 3.9 per cent during the first quarter of current fiscal as against 3.7 per cent during the same period of last fiscal, the mining sector registered a decline to 5.3 per cent as against 6.8 per cent during April-June, 2002. The Mining sector also showed a decline to 5.9 per cent during June, 2003, as against 9 per cent growth registered during June, 2002.
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AirTel crosses 5 lakh mark in 17 months Chandigarh, August 12 Mr Sunil Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Enterprises, said “AirTel Punjab journey started in February 2002 (17 months back) and the achievement of half-a-million customers in Punjab in this brief period has proved that a company with dreams and passion can make a difference. We feel humbled by faith our customers have shown in us.” According to Mr Vinod Sawhny, CEO, Bharti Mobile, “We have set another benchmark in the country by being the only operator to have crossed 5 lakh figure in 17 months. At the core of this is our strategy that focuses on rapid network expansion, customer endearment by being the first in the country on many instances to introduce new products and services and our continuous endeavour to build a stronger brand through customer centric and solution specific communication. He said AirTel will continue to propel this unprecedented growth by increased focus on rural markets which hold a huge and untapped potential. AirTel has the largest network with the widest coverage in Punjab. AirTel has invested in 252 cell sites in Punjab, which cover more than 150 towns and over 1500 villages. By the year end, AirTel would have 325 cell sites in Punjab.
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Over 36 lakh mobile phones added in first four months New Delhi, August 12 The combined growth of cellular and WLL (M) exceeded 67 lakh as compared to 14 lakh during the same period for the previous year, figures released by today by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said here. During July 2003, 12 lakh WLL (M) phones were added, and 11.5 lakh cellular phones were added, with a combined addition of 23.5
lakhs, a record for growth in any single month. “The unprecedented growth is a result of growth oriented, aggressively consumer friendly and forbearing tariff policies recently adopted by the regulator”, a TRAI release said. The growth in talk-time per subscriber in terms of
minutes of use (MOU), is also showing an upward trend specially for the wireless based services (1.5 times of last year) due to reduction in the cellular realisation, free incoming calls and drastic reduction in STD and ISD charges. “The explosive growth has been possible due to the Indian cellular and WLL (M) realisation falling even below the Chinese
realisation, for the first time this year. Earlier, according to a study, Indian realisation during the last five years were 1.2 to 1.5 times higher than Chinese realisation”, the TRAI statement said. This trend is helping the operators with their revenues and margins. The incremental capital expenditure (capital investment) for addition of marginal subscribers, in wireless based services have now reduced to a level of Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000. According to a study their operations become viable for an ARPU ( Average Revenue per user per month) of Rs 250 to 300 only, for the additional customers — the existing ARPU being of the order of more than Rs 500.
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IT loses 66,500 cr in market capital
New Delhi, August 12 The upward movements in Sensex to 3,884 was mainly due to gain in old economy majors like ONGC with a m-cap of over Rs 75,000 crore and Reliance with over Rs 50,000 crore. In contrast, the IT, Communication and Entertainment (ICE), companies eroded almost 50 per cent of their market capitalisation from Rs 1,35,740 crore when the Sensex was at its previous high in March first week in 2001 to Rs 69,243 crore in the last week when the BSE index touched a new high. Most of the K-10 stocks, which had once been the fancy of tainted broker Ketan Parekh, eroded by 80 per cent in m-cap, CMIE data reveals. ICE meltdown was reflected from the m-caps of Wipro, Infosys, HCL, NIIT, HFCL, Sterlite Optical, Hughes Software, SSI Ltd, Silverline Technologies and Satyam Computers. Wipro’s m-cap came down by Rs 29,234 crore (57 per cent) to end last week with Rs 22,351 crore in the last 28 months, while Infosys lost Rs 10,268 crore (30.4 per cent) of its value to finish with Rs 23,563 crore. M-cap of HCL eroded by 62 per cent to Rs 5,146 crore while that of NIIT was down by 88 per cent to Rs 471 crore. In the telecom sector, HFCL witnessed further erosion in market value by 75 per cent to Rs 780 crore while Sterlite Optical shed 86 per cent to Rs 325 crore after 29 months. Media major Zee Telefilms lost marginally by 11 per cent with a m-cap of Rs 4,752 crore while Soundcraft Industries shed 84 per cent to Rs 127 crore.
— PTI
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Govt clears 26 FDI proposals
New Delhi, August 12 Among the proposals cleared is Rs 6.90 crore investment by Malaysian company Elken Sdn BhD for manufacturing bio purifiers in Bangalore. A Belgian company, Financiere DEA Applications, plans to manufacture electrical outdoor luminations and will invest Rs 1.55 crore as FDI for the purpose at its manufacturing plant in Faridabad. German company Liedherr Verzanteul Nikg GmbH will set up shop in Bangalore for making gear-cutting machines. Among the other proposals cleared today include LG Electronics’ plan to undertake wholesale marketing and cash and carry wholesale trading of GSM handsets besides their after-sales service.
— PTI
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J&K Govt to revise industrial incentive policy Srinagar, August 12 He announced this after a high-level meeting, which was attended among others by Principal Secretary (industry and Commerce) Sahsaraman and other senior officials. Mr Sharma said suitable modifications in the earlier incentive policy would be made to make it more entrepreneur-friendly. “The colossal losses witnessed by the industrial sector during the last 12 years of turmoil demand a comprehensive approach,’’ he asserted and added that a viable and vibrant industrial sector was most desirable to make a headway towards peace and progress. He asked the principal secretary, industries, to formulate a proposal indicating the negative items which should be excluded from the incentive cover. Regarding the revision of power tariff, Mr Sharma directed for making a rational proposal which did not put burden on entrepreneurs. Referring to the disappearance of industrial units during the last one decade, Mr Sharma asked concerned officers “to locate all untraceable units and ascertain the benefits they had taken from the government, incurring huge losses to the state exchequer.’’ “No person, including private firms and NGOs, would be allowed to go scot-free. A close check on NGOs that receive the Centre’s grant on the recommendations of the state government would be made,’’ he said. Mr Sharma said since the implementation of projects allotted to the NGOs were to be supervised by a nodal officer appointed by the state, all NGOs which failed to come up to the expectations would be blacklisted. Stressing the need for accelerating mining activities in the state, Mr Sharma proposed for intensifying geological surveys and said help of experts should also be sought wherever required.
— UNI
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Haryana likely to emerge as hub for gems export Chandigarh, August 12 The state government has decided to attract domestic and international investors in this sector by providing infrastructure and cashing in on its vicinity to Delhi. According to officials in the Department of Industry, Haryana, the export of gems and jewellery from India has reached $ 9.1 billion and this is likely to touch $10 billion this year. According to estimates of the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council of India, the total export of gems and jewellery will cross $16 billion by 2010. After Surat and Jaipur, Gurgaon can emerge as a major attraction for investors. A number of companies like Radico, Himanshu, LM, Transworld, Aay Kay International, Madnik and Aay Kay International have made large-scale investments at Delhi and Noida to export beaded, metal and wooded jewellery, besides gems. The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, is trying to woo investors of Mumbai and Gujarat to invest in gems and jewellery trade. However, it remains to be seen whether the state can emerge as another hub of gems and jewellery exports. |
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UTI MF still market leader New Delhi, August 12 In terms of growth, Standard Chartered Mutual Fund topped the list posting a inflow of Rs 1,056.22 crore outsmarting larger funds like Templeton, Birla Sunlife, DSP Merrill Lynch and Tata Mutual fund, according to the fund net assets review for July. UTI MF retained its dominant position with Rs 16,388.17 crore worth of assets under management capturing 14.47 per cent of the market share. UTI’s market share came down after US-64 and other assured return schemes were separated from the NAV-based schemes, now managed by a company floated by LIC, SBI, PNB and
BoB. Apart from UTI, other PSU mutual funds posted either lower growth or negative growth in sales. While SBI Mutual Fund grew marginally by Rs 64.56 crore, the mutual fund arms of Punjab National Bank and Bank of Baroda witnessed decline in growth. Except UTI, private players dominated the mutual fund industry with ICICI Prudential leading the pack with Rs 13,117 crore worth of assets under management. HDFC MF closely followed with Rs 12,421 crore while Templeton had Rs 12,003 crore and Birla Sunlife had Rs 8,147 crore. Standard Chartered Mutual Fund grew faster than most funds in recent times to acquire the fifth position among private players managing assets worth Rs 7,047.22 crore after its July inflows worth Rs 1,056 crore.
— PTI
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Drinkers earn more than teetotallers
London, August 12 Even heavy drinkers, defined as men who drank more than 50 units of alcohol a week and women who drank more than 35 units, earned 5 per cent more than teetotallers, says a report in The Telegraph. “The survey shows you don’t want to be a teetotaller if you want to get on in your job. People who drink moderately seem to earn more”, said the study’s author, Professor David Bell.
— ANI
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Tea export declines by 27.95 per cent
Kolkata, August 12 The country’s tea export between January and June, 2002 stood at 79.32m kg. Officials said the export in June 2003 was down by about 8 per cent to 12.09m kgs from 13.14m kg in the corresponding month of previous year. Tea exports during the period was down mainly due to practically nil exports to Iraq since the last week of April. Iraq had imported about 43m kg of tea from India in 2002. In addition to Iraq, exports were down also because of less buying from Russia, which was now importing more of orthodox tea from Sri Lanka. Tea production between January and June this year had jumped by 10.35 per cent to 314.08m kg from 284.62m kg in the corresponding period of last year, the official said. Production during the month of June this year was, however, down by 6.56 per cent to 90.66m kg from 97.02m kg last year.
— PTI
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Rail Vikas Yojana Kalyani Sharp Citi Bank Jaya Textiles Infosys Tata Yodogawa Canara bank |
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New Delhi, August 12