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Tuesday,
September 16, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Businessmen
from India, Pak agree to boost trade
Insurance
players asked to meet rural obligations Patients
paying more for common drugs Industry
pats Jaitley for firm stand at WTO Auto
sales continue to grow |
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Vijaya
Bank IPO in October at Rs 14 premium
Mico
unveils spark plugs for CNG vehicles
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Businessmen from India, Pak agree to boost trade
New Delhi, September 15 Businessmen from the two countries decided to focus on five sectors, in the initial phase, for mutual cooperation, said a statement issued after the first meeting of the India-Pakistan CEO’s Business Forum. The forum, a joint initiative of the CII, and the Young President’s Organisation (YPO), an international network of business leaders with chapters in 75 countries, was launched on Sunday. “We have decided to take up sugar, textiles, automobile, chemicals and pharmaceutical industries immediately for mutual cooperation,’’ said Amin Hashwani, co-chairman of the India-Pakistan CEO’s Business Forum. “These are the sectors where India and Pakistan have great complimentary skills and resources,’’ Hashwani, who is also the managing director of the Karachi-based Hashwani group of Companies, told a press conference here. He said there were exceptional technical skills in both countries that complemented each other but they were not being leveraged to their full potential, restricting the trade volume between India and Pakistan. Hashwani, however, admitted there were many hurdles in the way of enhancing trade ties between India and Pakistan. “The air, road and rail links are very vital for conducting business. The absence of these links does create hurdles, and these are ground realities. But we are hopeful things will improve as we move forward,’’ he said. On the prospects of increasing trade in the absence of a positive political environment, Hashwani said: “Businessmen in both countries can actually act as catalyst and compliment the political dialogue process. “But progress at the government level will certainly give a big boost to our endeavour. Whatever progress we make through this increased business-to-business contact will be long-term and sustainable.’’ Agreed Anand Mahindra, President of the CII. “At the very best, we can begin to think differently. We are not here to create hype. We are basically at a base camp. “But the fact that the thought leaders in the two countries are coming together and discussing ways and means to boost trade is a big achievement in itself. We need to continue with the dialogue process.’’ Mahindra said the members of India-Pakistan CEO’s Business Forum had agreed on setting up a “sustained and committed’’ process and target substantial increase in trade in coming years. The forum will continue discussion on four key initiatives —trade and investment, manufacturing, services (health, education and entertainment) and communication for building positive perceptions — in its future meetings. The next meeting of the forum will take place in Pakistan within six months, said
Mahindra. — IANS
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Insurance players asked to meet rural obligations New Delhi, September 15 “We have a minimum prescribed limit for rural obligation and this has to be achieved. If there is any major deviation, then we will intervene,” IRDA Chairman C.S. Rao said on the sidelines of a meeting organised by SEWA here today. Under the norms stipulated by the IRDA, insurers are required to sell a minimum of 3 per cent of their products in the rural areas in the first year of their operation. The proportion goes up to 5 per cent in the second year, 7 per cent in the third year and 10 per cent in the fourth year. Not many private life insurance players have been able to meet these stipulations and the insurance sector watchdog has brought this to the notice of the insurance service providers. Expressing hope that the private players will be able to meet these obligations in the subsequent years, Mr Rao said: “We have brought to their notice the shortfalls and they are coming up with schemes to cover more of the rural population.” “Many of them have started less than two years ago. They are learning by experience,” he said. Earlier speaking at the seminar the IRDA Chairman said that the regulator underlined the importance of micro-insurance for covering the rural poor. “Insurance to the poor is a difficult task but the micro-finance institutions can collaborate with insurers for delivery and servicing mechanism to come up with such schemes,” Mr Rao said. Certain specifications such as a minimum capital requirement of Rs 100 crore, reserves with a solvency margin of 150 per cent and investment norms etc could be reasons why insurance companies are not creating separate micro-insurance companies to address rural markets. Banking Secretary Mr N.S. Sisodia said that insurance was as much desirable for the rich as it was for the poor. “Despite the efforts of LIC and others, the insurance cover for rural population is still inadequate. We need a micro-insurance scheme,” Mr Sisodia said.
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Patients paying more for common drugs Chandigarh, September 15 Says P.S. Chhatwal, Managing Director, Torque Pharmaceutical, a company near Dera Bassi, “We are helpless to sell drugs at a lower price than what is being set by the industry leader due to fear of being branded as manufacturers of spurious drugs. Since we want to remain in business, we are forced to sell the drugs at a higher price.’’ Enquiries reveal that a tablet of nimesulide costs just 15 or 20 paise, but it is sold at Rs 2.50 per tablet in the market. A tablet of paracetamol, an anti-pyretic drug, costing not more than 25 paise, is sold at Rs 1.25 per tablet by different brands. Doctors admit that there is no major difference between Glaimer and Euglim drugs, used to treat diabetic patients. While the Nicolus is charging Rs 53 for a strip of 10 tablets, Cadila’s Euglim costs just Rs 9.50 for the same strip to the patients. A senior doctor at the PGIMER here revealed that companies were offering Honda City cars and free trips to Singapore and other destinations for recommending specified drugs. Dr G.S. Sandhu, Medical Officer at Govt Hospital, Sector 16, here admitted that patients had to pay heavy price for drugs due to a nexus of chemists, medical practitioners and a section of doctors. Insiders in the trade reveal that though the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has fixed a limit of 16 per cent to be paid as a commission to wholesalers and retailers, companies are paying 10 to 70 per cent commission to retailers alone, besides attractive incentives. Mr Chattwal points out most of big firms like Ranbaxy and Cadila are now outsourcing production of bulk drugs from small units, that are exempted from central excise and sales tax. For instance, Fruitobin, Ferimon and Calzac, common protein and calcium syrups sold by Ranbaxy are manufactured by Ransan and Medicamen Biotech Ltd in Navi Mumbai and
Bhiwadi.
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Industry pats Jaitley for firm stand at WTO New Delhi, September 15 “A new chapter is being written in WTO history where Jaitley managed to keep together the developing countries together till the end”, President of CII, Mr Anand Mahindra said. Similar views were echoed by Secretary General of FICCI Dr Amit Mitra who said that it was indeed important that India remained actively “engaged” throughout the negotiations and did not concede in any area. “This process of inclusion, engagement and commitment on part of developing countries cutting across continents and levels of developments marks the real achievement of the Cancun Conference even though it has not been able to produce the customary Ministerial Declaration,” Dr Mitra said. Expressing regret on the collapse of the conference, CII observed that unfortunately ministerial draft text took an extreme position which led to a universally negative reaction and said the developing countries were now a force to reckon with and India led by Mr Jaitley was a major force in bringing together many countries on a common platform.
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Auto sales continue to grow
New Delhi, September 15 According to figures released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) today the first five months of this financial year have been very good for the automobile industry and prospects remain good for the coming months which would also include the festive season. According to the figures combined car sales in the period between April-August 2003 jumped by as much as 26.3 per cent at 2,62,678 units against 2,07,938 units sold in the corresponding period last year. In comparison passenger car sales rose by a modest 6.7 per cent in August at 53,177 units (against 49,828 units in the same period last year). Car sales have been on a surge due to lower prices this year following an 8 per cent tax cut in the budget as well as launch of new models. However, there was just one company where the sales figures went down. The MUL’s sales fell 4.2 per cent in August due to lower production. The company sold 32,127 vehicles during the month against 33,537 units in August last year. Terming the slowdown as “temporary” due to a prolonged strike at a major supplier of a vital engine component to Maruti, market analysts projected a continued increase in car sales where Hyundai and Tata Motors are performing above the industry average. Sale of trucks and buses jumped by 39.3 per cent to 19,967 units in August while cumulative sales surged by 28.7 per cent to 86,182 units. Sale of two-wheelers grew by 7.1 per cent to 4,17,479 units as motor cycles and scooters recorded higher sales even as mopeds continued to ride downhill. Cumulative sales in this segment grew by 5.3 per cent to 20,63,139 units. Sale of utility-vehicles surged by 32.2 per cent to 11,197 units but multi-purpose vehicles slipped by 8.6 per cent to 4,021 units. Three-wheelers clocked an 18.2 per cent rise at 24,065 units during the review month. Sale of two-wheelers grew by 7.1 per cent in August to 4,17,479 units as motor cycles and scooters witnessed higher demand while mopeds continued their downward trend. Cumulative sales in this segment grew by 5.3 per cent to 20,63,139 lakh units. Scooters and scooterettes, which are witnessing renewed customer interest, recorded a marginal 2.6 per cent growth at 72,852 units. Motor cycles and step-thrus posted a 9.8 per cent rise at 3,17,453 units but sale of mopeds fell by 8.6 per cent to 27,174 units. Sale of utility vehicles surged by 32.2 per cent to 11,197 units but multi-purpose vehicles slipped by 8.6 per cent to 4,021 units. Three-wheelers also recorded a 18.2 per cent rise at 24,065 units during the review month. Sales of Maruti Udyog fell by 3.1 per cent to 25,054 units in August as a prolonged strike at one of its major suppliers of an important engine component affected car production. Hyundai Motor India, clocked a 20 per cent growth at 11,050 units while that of Tata Motors jumped by 26.6 per cent at 9,382 units. Cashing in on the demand for its aggressively priced mid-size car “Chevrolet Optra”, General Motors India posted a 112.2 per cent rise in sales at 1,698 units. Its native rival, Ford India, recorded a 45 per cent jump at 1,651 cars. Sales of Honda Siel cars grew by 19.4 per cent to 1,441 units during the review month. The latest entrant in the car market, Toyota Kirloskar, sold 885 cars while luxury carmaker DaimlerChrysler recorded a 68.6 per cent growth at 113 units. However, sales of Fiat and Hindustan Motors declined by 73 and 24.5 per cent to 681 and 1,222 units. In the MUV segment, sales of Mahindra and Mahindra surged by 47.1 per cent to 5,238 units while that of Toyota Kirloskar and Tata Motors went down by 12.2 and 12.1 per cent to 2,607 and 2,293 units respectively. Sales of Bajaj Tempo and Maruti Udyog grew by 84.7 and 59.5 per cent to 508 and 126 units. In the MPV and van type vehicle segment, Maruti’s sales fell by 8.6 per cent to 4,010 units.
— PTI
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Vijaya Bank IPO in October at Rs 14 premium
Bangalore, September 15 The offer would open for subscription in the first week of October, Vijaya Bank Chairman and Managing Director M. S. Kapur told a press conference here. After the issue, the holding of the Government of India would come down from 70.02 per cent to 53.87 per cent and increase the equity capital to Rs 433.52 crore from Rs 333.52 crore at the end of March 31, 2003. “The pick-up in the economy has seen strong growth in lending to the infrastructure and retail sectors. The equity float will ensure that we do not fall short on capital adequacy at any time in the future,’’ Mr Kapur said. At current levels of business, the capital adequacy ratio of the bank was 12.66 per cent and would go up to 15 per cent, he said. During 2002-03, the bank earned a net profit of Rs 196.56 crore on a total income of Rs 2,016.82 crore. Net non-performing assets declined to 2.61 per cent from 6.02 per cent.
— UNI
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