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Unveiling an aggressive expansion plan, Bharti Tele-Ventures said today it would invest Rs 2,000 crore during 2004-05 to cover more than 2,300 towns by March next year.
To bid for Delhi, Mumbai airports
Shourie denies bid to prop up PSU stocks
Markfed sets up grain testing lab
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Rise in acrylic price affects garment exports
Ludhiana, March 22 The rise in the prices of raw material, particularly acrylic fibre, has adversely affected the export of readymade garments. Local exporters of readymade garments and other textile goods apprehend fall in their targets this year. Wal-Mart again No 1 on Fortune 500 list New York, March 22 Retailing giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc., with net sales last year of $256.33 billion, was named No. 1 on the Fortune 500 list of America’s largest companies for the third year in a row, the business magazine said on Sunday. OPEC may defer cut in output Doha (Qatar), March 22 The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) may postpone its plan to cut oil supply on April 1 after prices rose to a 13-year closing high in New York last week, Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, Qatar’s oil minister said. 
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Bharti to pump in Rs 2,000 cr
Bangalore, March 22 The new plan includes Bharti rolling out its mobile services in six more circles — Jammu and Kashmir, UP-East, West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and Rajasthan — the company’s President (mobility) Manoj Kohli told reporters here. Airtel services would be extended to 1,000 new towns during 2004-05, out of which 300 would be added in the six new circles. The Rs 2,000 crore investment would be made on scaling up network and call handling capacity, as well as on doubling the cell sites from 5,000 to around 10,000 across the country, among other things, Kohli said. The company said the network capacity would be scaled up to cater to more than 11 million subscribers and network would be made capable of handling 4 billion call minutes per month from the current level of 2 billion. By March next year, mobile connectivity would be provided to 20,000 new villages, taking their total number to 60,000, he said, adding that 18 additional Mobile Switching Centres (MSCs) would be installed taking the total count to 53. As at last month-end, Bharti said it had 6.8 million subscribers — 6.2 million mobile and 6,08,390 fixed line customers. Kohli said plans on the fixed line front for 2004-05 would be announced soon. Bharti would start mobile services in Jammu and Kashmir by August 15. In the first phase, it would cover the entire Jammu region and Srinagar, and in the second, Leh and Kargil. The company would initially set up 100 cell sites in Jammu and Kashmir. The investment earmarked for the state was Rs 50 crore to Rs 60 crore, he said, adding that as per the government policy, it would introduce only post-paid services there. The idea was to tap the flow of tourist and pilgrims into that state, he said. Mr Vinod Sawhny, CEO &
Director-Mobility, who is already responsible for the growth in Punjab,
Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, will spearhead the thrust in J&K and
Rajasthan. Mr Sawhny will lead the Bharti team in all 5 circles. —
PTI, TNS |
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To bid for Delhi, Mumbai airports
New Delhi: Bharti Enterprises has formed a 50:50 joint venture with
Changi Airport Enterprises of Singapore and will bid for the development
and management of Delhi and Mumbai airports.
The Airports Authority of
India has earlier proposed to restructure and modernise the Delhi and
Mumbai airports through private consortiums. “Over the last few months
we have been looking for partners for this major initiative. Bharti will
complement our international approach to airport management and
operations”, Chairman of Changi Airport Enterprise Mr Boon Swan Foo
said. “This consortium will bring Changi’s international expertise to
India”, Chairman and Group Managing Director of Bharti Enterprises Sunil
Bharti Mittal said. — TNS |
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Oil consumers to feel good till poll
New Delhi, March 22 By now, the oil companies could have revised the
oil prices five times as the last fortnightly review of oil prices was
announced on December 31, 2003. At that time, the crude oil price in the
international market was around $29 per barrel, which has now increased
to over $34 per barrel for the Indian companies. The Petroleum
Secretary, Mr B.K.Chaturvedi, could not be contacted. However, sources
in the ministry said despite the sharp increase in prices, no oil
company wanted to play a spoilsport during the election campaign, as it
might ruin the “feel good” factor. A senior official in the Ministry of
Petroleum and Natural Gas said India was importing about 8 million
tonnes of crude oil every month. He pointed out that since the oil
consumption had increased this year, the oil companies were claiming to
have suffered losses running into hundreds of crores of rupees. He said:
“Informally, the oil companies have asked to increase petrol prices by
Rs 4 per litre and diesel prices by Rs 2 per litre. However, despite the
delay in increasing the prices, their net profit is likely to remain the
same as that in the last year.” On the other hand, Mr Ram Naik, Union
Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, said the government had not
debarred the oil companies from reviewing the prices. “They are totally
free to review the prices under the new system,” he said. |
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Shourie denies bid to prop up PSU stocks
New
Delhi, March 22 “We
have not asked anyone to prop up the issues. Is there any substantial
evidence to prove the allegations?” Disinvestment Minister Aurn Shourie
said while addressing newspersons on the sidelines of a seminar
organised by the London School of Economics (LSE) and the Confederation
of Indian Industry (CII). Delivering the keynote address at the
seminar, he said arguments against economic liberalisation did not hold
much ground. “These arguments are no longer heard,” Mr Shourie said,
adding that the important issue was of bringing about “creative
balances.” |
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Markfed sets up grain testing lab
Chandigarh, March 22 With top quality equipment and renowned technicians
in place, farmers will now be able to get the quality of wheat and other
foodgrains analysed in accordance with various parameters required for
international trading. Sources in Markfed said the laboratory, set up
at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore, will be a profit-making venture as
classification of wheat was much sought after in the international
market to fetch better prices. For instance, wheat from Australia and
America fetch more prices as compared to Indian wheat as wheat exported
from India is not tested. Testing at the laboratory will ensure that it
is free of fungus, disease, moisture and other foreign matter. The
sources said the laboratory will cater to the requirements of leading
wheat exporters from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh once it becomes
functional in April. Markfed website will contain information about
results of wheat from different areas, besides details of different
types of wheat grown in different areas for the benefit of exporters.
For the laboratory Rs 1 crore has been given by the state government
under a centrally sponsored scheme for the development of infrastructure
for promotion of export.
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Ind-Swift to dilute equity for Reliance
New Delhi, March 22 ‘’The negotiation is in an
advanced stage so far as dilution of its equity is concerned,’’ sources
told UNI. The Chandigarh-based drugmaker has proposed the move to
raise around Rs 60 crore to meet its future expansion requirements.
Officials from Reliance Mutual Fund have visited Ind-Swift’s
facilities in Chandigarh for assessing the investment potential of the
company. But the asset management company has not yet taken any final
decision about picking up equity in Ind-Swift Labs. At present,
Ind-Swift has a total equity capital of Rs 13.5 crore and its promoters
hold 37.4 per cent of the total paid-up capital. The sources said
ISLL’s US subsidiary, set up recently, is expected to commence
operations by next month. — UNI |
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Infosys to enter East Europe with Finacle
New Delhi, March 22 “Although we are looking at the
entire Europe for selling the banking product — Finacle — our immediate
and more focus is on Eastern Europe while Western Europe is also an area
of focus”, Girish Vaidya, senior vice-president, banking business unit,
Infosys told PTI here. “At present from the product business side, we
are not focussed on the US market. But we are getting the product ready
to enter there”, he said. “We have had the product reviewed on the US
requirements by a US consultant, Tower group, to ensure that Finacle has
all requirements of US banking systems in terms of regulations and
banking parameters”, he said. “In the US, they have automated clearing
houses and for that the product needs to have interfaces so that when
the bank starts using the product, it can participate in the clearing
house and also from the regulatory point of view, the product should be
compliant of the local laws”, Vaidya said. “The banking product
business unit has seen excellent growth in the last five years,
reflected in the fact that as on March 1999, we recorded a revenue of Rs
13.5 crore which had increased to Rs 167 crore by March 2003”, he
said. Finacle is deployed in 25 countries in 90 banks, he said, adding
that “we have a very strong position in the Indian market which includes
a recent deal wit h Bank of India along with HP”. — PTI |
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Rise in acrylic price affects garment exports
Ludhiana, March 22 Inquiries made
by this correspondent show that the prices of raw material have been
rising in the international as well as in the domestic markets. Due to
this, exporters are not accepting fresh orders from the foreign buyers.
Taking advantage of the situation, the Chinese exporters are offering
the readymade garments at cheaper rates. The inquiries reveal that the
American traders are buying goods from China, South Africa and
Bangladesh as they do not have to pay duty on the import of goods from
these countries. They have to pay 18 per cent import duty on the Indian
goods. Mr D.L. Sharma, Executive Director, Vardhman Mills, says the
yarn prices have gone up by 20 to 25 per cent in the Indian markets. Mr
Sanjiv Gupta, president, Ludhiana Apparel Exporters Association, says
the exports of readymade garments will fall by about 25 per cent due to
rise in the prices of raw material as the exporters are not accepting
fresh orders on old rates. This situation has been continuing since
October last. The exporters apprehend that the prices would fall
further next year, when the quota system is over. Sri Lanka, China,
Bangladesh, Philippines, Guatamala, Chile and Brazil are giving a tough
competition to the Indian exporters.
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Wal-Mart again No 1 on Fortune 500 list
New York, March 22 Exxon Mobil Corp. moved to No. 2 from third place, and General
Motors Corp., slipped to No. 3 from the second spot in the closely
watched annual rankings of the top U.S. companies by revenues. The Top
10 was rounded out by Ford Motor Co., in fourth place, followed by
General Electric Co., ChevronTexaco Corp., ConocoPhillips, Citigroup
Inc., International Business Machines Corp. and American International
Group Inc. By year-end, Fortune 500 companies had raked in $7.5
trillion in revenues and $445.6 billion in profits, the magazine said,
aided by interest rates driven down by the Federal Reserve to the lowest
levels in four decades, Bush administration tax cuts and spending
increases. — Reuters |
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OPEC may defer cut in output
Doha (Qatar), March 22 “We will
study the market situation next week, and if the situation warrants a
change in plan, then we can do that,’’ al-Attiyah said in Doha, Qatar.
“OPEC is keen to stabilise the market, and cannot be blamed for the high
prices.’’ OPEC agreed on February 10 to cut output quotas by 1 million
barrels a day, or 4 per cent, starting next month because of concern
that prices may fall in the second quarter after the end of the Northern
Hemisphere winter. Crude oil reached $ 38.18 a barrel on March 17, two
weeks ahead of OPEC’s next meeting. The ten members of the group that
have assigned output quotas last month pumped close to 1.5 million
barrels a day. OPEC will meet in Vienna on March 31 to review its
second-quarter oil production policy. — Bloomberg |
bb
Rupee closes at 44-month
high Allahabad Bank
IA
fares cut
IBM
leads sales
Reliance
game
CSC
appointment
VIA motherboard
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