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Import of Chinese tyres hits industry New Delhi, March 17 The increase in import of cheap Chinese tyres last quarter has resulted in the fall of tyre prices by over 25 per cent in the market. Tyres majors, including MRF and Metro, may oppose the entry of Chinese tyres, but the world’s top tyre makers — Michelin and Bridgestone — have announced to import top-end radial tyres for trucks and buses to supply across the country.
Entertainment sector poised for high growth
Glaxo, Burroughs merge in ratio 14:10
IBP share skids below offer price
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Maruti targeting 2-wheeler owners
New Delhi, March 17 Maruti Udyog (MUL), with its latest offering to the public, has given a final push to its strategy to take complete control of the huge small car segment and is looking at specifically targeting the almost 40 million two-wheeler owners. Reliance floats tender for sourcing LNG for Dadri plant New Delhi, March 17 Reliance Energy Ltd, a member of Ambani-promoted Reliance Group, today floated an international tender for sourcing natural gas/LNG for its 3740 MW gas-fired power project at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh. $2 b Exim Bank loan for African nations New Delhi, March 17 The Exim Bank will shortly extend a $ 2.2 billion Line of Credit to some African countries as part of India’s recent commitment to promote trade with the region. The countries identified for the purpose comprise Egypt, Mauritius, Uganda, Botswana, Tanzania, Senegal and Zambia. HCL drops plan to move HQ New Delhi, March 17 State-owned Hindustan Copper has abandoned plans to shift its headquarters to Delhi following the rejection of its proposal by the Centre. 
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Import of Chinese tyres hits industry Manoj Kumar Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 17 Tyres majors, including MRF and Metro, may oppose the entry of Chinese tyres, but the world’s top tyre makers — Michelin and Bridgestone — have announced to import top-end radial tyres for trucks and buses to supply across the country. According to All-India Tyre Dealers’ Federation (AITDF), "Over 1.5 lakh tyres have been imported from China in the last quarter. The import is likely to increase manifold in the coming months as the annual market is growing at an annual rate of 8-10 per cent. The total size of the Indian market of radial and cross ply tyres is worth over Rs 10,000 crore.” Mr S.P. Singh, Convener, AITDF, said, “With Chinese imports, the tyre prices have come down by 25-30 per cent. The owners of cars and other vehicles will benefit substantially due to import of Chinese tyres. For instance, the average price of radial tyre for car has already come down from Rs 2,400 to Rs 1,800. The prices are further expected to come down in the next few months.” The price of average imported truck tyre is around Rs 5,000 as against Rs 9,000 price of the domestic tyre. Along with state transports, the truck owners in the North will benefit substantially from this development. However, two wheeler tyre imports have not picked up so far, he said. With the inclusion of China into Bangkok Trade Block, along with South Korea, Thailand, Sri Lanka, the Indian customers will be able to import a large number of commodities from them, including automotive tyres, at lower import duty. The import duty on tyres from Bangkok agreement countries is 15 per cent as compared to 20 per cent peak duty rate. In January this year, the government had also announced to cut import duty on tyres by 5 per cent. Experts say, over two-third of the imported tyres from China were reaching the Delhi market— a major supply centre for Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, J&K and Himachal Pradesh. The association,
however, alleged that by importing subsidised Indian rubber, the Chinese
companies were dumping tyres at a lower price in the Indian market. It
will ultimately kill the tyre industry, it added.
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Entertainment sector poised for high growth
New Delhi, March 17 These are the findings of
the latest report of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and
Industry (FICCI) and Ernst and Young titled “The Indian Entertainment
Industry: Emerging Trends and Opportunities.” The study has been carried
out by collecting inputs from top 50 industry leaders and an online
survey of more than 400 respondents. To consolidate the growth of the
entertainment industry, the FICCI-E&Y report has recommended the
rationalisation of the entertainment tax, extension of concessions
offered to multiplexes, a common ticketing platform for film tickets and
a re-look at the current licence fee regime for the FM radio players.
The report also calls for the government to empower a central body that
would issue licences to cable operators. The study observed that the
entertainment industry out-performed the economy in 2003, by growing at
15 per cent to Rs 19,200 crore. “An increase in television viewership
and improved realisations from television subscriptions and film
exhibition were the primary drivers for this growth,” says the
report. The introduction of direct-to-home (DTH) services, the
multiplex boom, the experimentation with digital cinema to expedite film
exhibition in semi-urban and rural markets and FM Radio will spur growth
in the sector. According to the report, a robust GDP target at an annual
8 per cent growth will not only ensure a conducive environment for the
Indian entertainment industry to grow, but also result in an increased
demand for entertainment. The report estimated that during 2003, the
total revenue of the film industry reached Rs 4,500 crore and was
expected to grow at 18 per cent annually to gross Rs 10,100 crore by
2008. The key growth drivers in this segment would be increase in
multiplexes, advent of digital technology and creating films as brands
through corporate tie-ups. With approximately 8.5 crore households
having television, India is the third largest television market in the
world, only behind China and the USA. Of the total television
households, 4.4 crore households receive cable television services.
Revenues from television are expected to grow at a compounded annual
growth rate of 17 per cent over the next five years to gross Rs 28,852
crore by 2008. The study noted that the revenue from FM radio was
expected to grow by 30 per cent annually, and from live entertainment
segment by 60 per cent in the foreseeable future.
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IA to unveil free ticket scheme
New Delhi, March
17 A release issued
by the airlines said the scheme will start from March 19 till May 19
where a winner will be chosen everyday. The scheme will be valid for
all revenue passengers travelling on any domestic or international
sector by Indian Airlines or Alliance Air. A computerised draw will pick
one seat number of any flight and the winner will be awarded the four
free return tickets. The result will be announced every evening and
will be displayed at all airports, booking offices and also on the
website of the airlines- www.indian-airlines.com. To claim the award
the passenger must submit his original boarding pass, photocopy of the
ticket jacket and an application to the reservations manager of the
nearest Indian Airlines office. |
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Glaxo, Burroughs merge in ratio 14:10
Mumbai, March 17 The
boards of both companies have approved merger proposal and the share
ratio, the Managing Director of the two pharmaceutical companies F.S.
Kalyanasundaram told reporters after the board meetings here
Both companies would now seek approval of shareholders and the Bombay
High Court for the merger, he said. The two companies have agreed to a
share swap ratio of 14 GlaxoSmithKline shares for every 10 held by
Burroughs Wellcome shareholders, valuing each Burroughs share at around
Rs 862. The company will now proceed with the procedural requirements
of various statutes including seeking approval of its shareholders and
the High Court at Mumbai. GSK’s nine billion-pound takeover of
Wellcome in 1995 created the world’s largest drug company at that time,
but the Indian merger was held up for all these years by a labour
dispute. GlaxoSmithKline has the biggest market share of 5.6 per cent
in a highly-fragmented Indian pharma market. — PTI, UNI |
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IBP share skids below offer price
New Delhi, March 17 The government had sold its 26 per cent residual
stake in IBP Ltd at the floor price of Rs 620 a share collecting Rs 350
crore from the IPO. The stock market has gone in a correction mode
since the ONGC mega public issue closed last week. Analysts say, unless
the investors get refunds from an IPO which was over-subscribed by 5.88
times, the market would remain in a volatile state. The IBP share was
offered to retail investors at a price of Rs 586 with a discount of five
per cent. At a low of Rs 563, it was quoting much below the level at
which even the small investors were given the share. However, the
recovery in the later part of the day came handy for retail investors
who participated in the IBP public offering. — UNI |
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8 cr cover for Hero Honda Motors
Chandigarh,
March 17 Mr Gurinder Raj Singh, Regional Manager of the company said
today that due to competition from private insurance companies, the
company has started issuing policies to suit the requirements of
customers. The company is also contemplating a plan for public events
like Star Nights at various places within the country and abroad. He
said the company had sought this special cover since the Indian team was
playing these matches in Pakistan and Hero Honda, being the co-sponsor,
was spending Rs 1 crore on each of these matches. The risk of losing
this money was big indeed. The insurance company in turn charged a
premium of Rs 10 lakh for the policy. The policy provides coverage
against an all risk factors, including political risks and natural
calamities on account of which the match is called-off. |
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43 lakh pay package for IIM-A student
Ahmedabad, March 17 Mr Sumidh Jaiswal, who was being offered a whopping starting
salary of $ 96,000 said he was “lucky and happy” to get the deal and
thanked the IIM-A faculty. In the domestic market, the average annual
salary of Rs 7.10 lakh clinched by the class of 2002-04 during campus
placement was 14 per cent higher than Rs 6.2 lakh last year. This is
partly due to a large number of candidates with prior job experience
opting for ‘lateral placement’ for ‘higher management cadres’ this year,
Professor in-charge of placement Dr Rekha Jain said. — UNI |
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Maruti targeting 2-wheeler owners
New Delhi, March 17 Having
launched its latest strategy just earlier this month, MUL has seen a
staggering jump of 800 per cent in its inquiries from the public for the
purchase of its ''people car'', Maruti 800, in just the first two weeks.
It is hoping to convert all these inquiries into sales which will
further push up its overall sales figure for the year to a possible
record high. Apparently working towards short circuiting the possible
new entrants into the small car segment, MUL has worked out an EMI with
the SBI which will help it approach not only the existing two-wheeler
owners in the country but also the new two-wheeler customers. MUL has
put on offer its 800 cc model for a minimum EMI of Rs 2,599 over seven
years which it feels is its unique selling proposition and is making the
finance available to the customers to the maximum limit. It is offering
the customers a chance to put in the initial amount which they were to
put in for the two-wheeler towards the car instead and pay the rest in
the EMI. The amount could be as little as Rs 30,000 for a higher end
model and lower for the base model. |
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Reliance floats tender for sourcing LNG
New Delhi,
March 17 Reliance EGen Ltd, (REGL) a special purpose vehicle floated by
REL for setting up the Rs 11,000 crore power plant, has sought 17-18
million standard cubic meters per day of natural gas or regassified LNG
beginning June 2006, according to the tender floated by the
company. While RIL’s Dhirubhai gas fields in the Bay of Bengal were
initially considered as the fuel supply source for the project, the
company intends to optimise cost of production by sourcing cheapest
gas. “REGL may consider procuring the natural gas from multiple sources
in a cost-effective manner to meets its fuel requirement,” the tender
said. State-owned gas producer Oil and Natural Gas Corp and/or gas
transmission firm GAIL India Ltd may bid to supply additional gas being
produced in the Mumbai offshore region, while Petronet LNG Ltd and Royal
Dutch/Shell are being considered as the potential re-gassified LNG
suppliers. PLL has begun importing LNG at Dahej in Gujarat and Shell’s
Hazira terminal is expected to begin operations by year-end. Both the
terminals are linked with the trunk HBJ pipeline that transports gas to
Delhi. REGL has sought by April 9 initial bids detailing the source of
supply, reserves, expected quantum and duration of gas supplies. —
PTI |
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$2 b Exim Bank loan for African nations
New Delhi, March 17 Joint Secretary in the Ministry
of External Affairs E. Barwa said a comprehensive sector-wise analysis
is being undertaken to identify areas for trade promotion with African
countries under the credit line extension programme. Mr Barwa said a
large proportion of the proposed credit will go to those who seek to
invest in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, agro and horticulture
industries and infrastructure. Chairman and Managing Director of Exim
Bank T. C. Venkat Subramanian said the bank will facilitate Indian
investment in the African region in the form of joint ventures and
wholly owned subsidiaries. The bank will operate programmes for
providing equity finance and, if necessary, directly seek equity
participation in select joint ventures. The Exim Bank will also seek
partnership with institutions such as the African Development Bank, the
World Bank and Afri-Exim Bank among others. India’s exports to Africa
have reached $ 3.1 billion in 2002-03 from a relatively low figure of $
394 million in 1990-91. In percentage terms, Indian exports to Africa
at present stands at around 6 per cent as compared to 2.2 per cent in
1990-91. |
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HCL drops plan to move HQ
New Delhi, March 17 The copper major, which had last year moved the Mines
Ministry for shifting the headquarters from Kolkata, was told recently
that the proposal could not go through, official sources said. The
proposal, mooted by its previous Chairman and Managing Director B.K.
Menon as a means to cut costs, was dismissed by the Centre in a one line
letter to present Chairman R. Som. — PTI |
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