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EPFO appoints Mercer for investment suggestions
Iran to relax visa norms for traders
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Indo-Pak talks today
A-I plans expansion of US operations
Gail stake in China Gas
Voice-recorder wireless launched
Rising losses in PSUs make govt edgy
MP wants Bhiwani to be industrial hub
Sri Lankan Airlines’ offer
Pharma
sector
SEZ sought at Ajnala
HM to invite Actis for pact
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EPFO appoints Mercer for investment suggestions
New Delhi, February 21 “We have appointed Mercer Human Resource Consulting to suggest improvement in the pattern of investment,” Union Labour Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao told reporters, even as major trade unions, except the Congress-backed Intuc, opposed the decision of the board. Citu leader W R Waradha Rajan said it should have been left to the Finance Ministry, which approves the EPF’s investments, to take decision. At present, about 80 per cent of the EPF corpus is invested in the SDS of the Finance Ministry, the balance is invested in public sector/financial institutions, central government loans, state government loans and government guaranteed loans. The SDS interest rate is 8 per cent and the Finance Ministry has ruled out any subsidy to sustain the proposed EPF interest rate of 9.5 per cent. The total corpus of the EPF is around Rs 1.28 lakh crore, which includes Rs 71,000 crore of the EPF, Rs 52,000 crore of the Employees’ Pension Fund (EPF) and Rs 4,000 crore of the Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme. Asked about the steps being taken to bridge the Rs 927 crore shortfall due to hike in the EPF rate to 9.5 per cent for this fiscal, the Union Minister said: “The government will manage to pay the money. It is better people stop worrying about it.” He said the nitty-gritty of mobilising additional resources to bridge the shortfall would be taken up at the next CBT meeting in March in view of the Model Code of Conduct in force because of the ongoing assembly elections in three states. Mr Rao said Mercer would submit a report on the basis of which the board would decide on the restructuring of investment patterns, including parking funds in equities, postal deposits and NSCs. Sources said the firm would have to submit the report within four months of appointment and would get Rs 34 lakh as one-time consultancy fee. According to the terms of reference given to Mercer, the consultancy firm will suggest ways for optimising performance by fine-tuning the existent investment pattern in consultation with the Finance Ministry. It will also suggest methods to minimise the idle funds and examine the legal issues involved in investment of provident funds in modern investment instruments such as equities. The firm is also expected to design and develop an institutional and legal framework to facilitate investment of social security funds such as PFs in multilaterally guaranteed international investment instruments. The global firm should also suggest radical changes in the investment patterns for the next 10 to 15 years. It has also been asked to suggest methods of identifying investment risks, besides recommending international best practices of management and governance structure for portfolio investment. Mercer bagged the order in a tender process, also participated by Deloitte Touche Tohmatu and Watson Wyatt.
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Iran to relax visa norms for traders
New Delhi, February 21 Addressing the India-Iran Joint Business Council meeting under the aegis of Ficci, Iranian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr Kamal Kharrazi, said the decision to liberalise the visa and stay permit regime comes in the wake of the huge potential for raising the level of bilateral economic and business ties. The Iranian Foreign Minister said the Indian government’s approval of Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline had created an encouraging atmosphere for pushing ahead the project, which would have a positive impact on regional convergence. “Laying the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline would be the best and most desirable step towards enhancing cooperation between Iran and India...,” Dr Kharrazi said. Dr Kharrazi dismissed as unfounded concerns over the repeated outbursts by the US against Iran, saying “despite sanctions, the flow of foreign investments into Iran and business collaborations have remained unaffected in small, medium and mega industrial projects. India and Iran also resolved to shortly sign between them accords on protection of bilateral investments and avoidance of double taxation, foreign office spokesman said. The LNG and oil deals between the two countries provided a solid base for India’s energy security and its economic and industrial growth. The minister also said the initiative taken by Iran, Russia and India to create a North-South transport corridor and an East corridor extending up to Uzbekistan would considerably reduce costs and time of movement of merchandise between the two countries and open new horizons for regional cooperation.
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Indo-Pak talks today
New Delhi, February 21 Commerce Minister Kamal Nath will be inaugurating the meeting. The two-day meeting will be co-chaired by the Commerce Secretaries of India and Pakistan. The decision to set up a JSG on economic cooperation was taken at the fourth meeting of the Commerce Secretaries of Saarc countries in November 2004.
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A-I plans expansion of US operations
Seattle (USA), February 21 The airline is planning to connect Chicago and Los Angeles with a daily frequency from March 28 as against six and five services, respectively, at present. Delhi is to be connected thrice weekly with Los Angeles via Frankfurt while four flights would be operated out of Mumbai, Air-India Public Relations Director Jitender Bhargava told Indian media here on the eve of the delivery of the first of three leased Boeing 737-800 aircraft for the budget carrier, A-I Express, which is scheduled to be launched from April connecting Kerala to the Gulf region. Mr Bhargava said with the US accounting for a 20 per cent growth in revenues last year (Rs 900 crore) after the India region, which was around Rs 1,100 crore, the airline was planning to link Mumbai-Delhi with San Francisco, Houston and Washington in the next 12 months by taking more aircraft on lease, pending the fleet expansion proposal. By March end, A-I will have 28 services a week daily to all four destinations in the US {New York, Newark, Chicago and Los Angeles). — PTI
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Gail stake in China Gas
Hong Kong: India’s largest gas transporter, Gail (India) Ltd, will pay up to $ 30.2 million for a roughly 10 per cent stake in China Gas Holdings Ltd, a source familiar with the situation said on Monday.
The investment is the latest in China Gas by a foreign firm eager for a piece of the nascent market for distributing gas in mainland cities, which boasts up to 70 per cent margins on connection fees and over 30 percent margins on gas sales. Shares in China Gas were suspended from trading on Monday morning pending an announcement related to the subscription of new shares of the firm. Gail will pay between 230 million yuan and 250 million yuan ($ 27.8-$ 30.2 million) for 10 per cent of China Gas, the source said, implying a purchase price that is at a discount to the firm’s market value.
— Reuters
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Voice-recorder wireless launched
Chandigarh, February 21 Its voice recorder unit allows to record and store up to 120 seconds of incoming receiver audio, ideal for keeping an audible record of an important message. Talking about the features of VX-424, Mr Ajay Vir Sehgal, CEO, Surya Telecom Ltd, said: “This is for the first time in Indian telecommunication market that a company has launched the set with this kind of feature like voice recording.” The major attraction of VX-424 is its ultra-compact size and weight, which makes the radio more comfortable to anyone to handle it,” he added. The compact walkie-talkie housed in an ultra-rugged compact case and weighing less than a pound. The built-in encryption circuit, which provides security for important public safety and private security communications and the chance of voice hacking becomes lesser. Surya Telecom is a major supplier of wireless products to various police and para-military organisations, defence forces and various government departments since 1997.
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Rising losses in PSUs make govt edgy
New Delhi, February 21 The previous NDA government had announced to privatise various public sector units, including HMT Engineering India Ltd and Engineers India Ltd, but the UPA government decided to stop the process, after assuming power. The Leftist parties and a section in the Congress party have vehemently opposed the closure of public sector units and any attempt to sell its stake. Incidentally, the financial losses have increased from Rs 1,695 crore in 2002-03 to Rs 1,925 crore during 2003-04 in 36 public sector engineering and manufacturing units. The badly-bleeding firms that have reported rise in losses include Hindustan Photo Films Ltd (Rs 147 crore), Hindustan Cables Ltd (Rs 302 crore), Bharat Heavy Plates and Vessels Ltd (Rs 159 crore), HMT Machine Tools Ltd (Rs 114 crore), HMT Watches Ltd (Rs 115 crore) and Bharat Ophthalmic Glass Ltd (Rs 40 crore). Recently, the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has also supported the proposal of industrial chambers that government may partially sell its stake in the loss making units or totally sell them to the private players. He had said that the finances generated could be utilised for the revival of those units, which have potential, or for retraining of the workers to adjust them in other firms. The government has already indicated that it may offload its stake in the profit-making National Thermal Power Corporation and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, Scooters India Ltd and Hindustan Paper Corporation. Though the execution of the decision has been deferred for the time being, yet in the Budget session of Parliament, the government may announce its policy regarding manufacturing units. Power reforms undertaken by the Power Ministry leading to rise in demand for power plant machinery has helped the public sector major Bhel to register net profit of Rs 979 crore in 2003-04, showing an increase of 22 per cent over the previous year. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh is also worried that some of the profit-making units has little chance of surviving in the long- term in the face of stiff competition from the private sector. Incidentally, eight public sector units, even though on the profit list, had a single digit bottomline ranging from Rs 11 lakh to Rs 9 crore. According to a survey of the Assocham, over Rs 621 crore worth employees' dues remained unpaid in 59 central public sector undertakings (CPSUs) as on July 2004.
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MP wants Bhiwani to be industrial hub
New Delhi, February 21 Brimming with confidence that the Congress is regaining power in the home state with a comfortable majority, he criticised the INLD government of Om Prakash Chautala of virtually bringing industrial growth to a standstill. He had no doubt that several aspects in Haryana had to be accorded priority encompassing employment generation, education, medicare, agriculture and infrastructure development. On turning Bhiwani into an industrial hub, he felt the government of the day could provide a tax holiday and other concessions for creating directly needed employment opportunities for the youth.
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New Delhi: Sri Lankan Airlines today announced 50 per cent discount on its tickets for Indian tourists and travellers bound for Colombo and nine major cities in Europe and Asia. The 'incredible offer' is available for travel to the cities of London, Paris, Zurich, Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur and Male, in addition to Colombo. The offer is valid only when passenger purchases ticket before February 28 and fly out of India by March 31 this year. The sources said that the 50 per cent discount on the existing individual fare is offered from any of the seven Indian cities of New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kozhikode, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram to Colombo and via Colombo to the nine cities in Europe and Asia. — UNI
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Pharma sector
Zurich, February 21 Torrent pharma
The Ahmedabad-based major, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, today announced that it has signed a research collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca, one of the world’s leading pharma companies, aimed at discovering a novel drug candidate for the treatment of hypertension. Under the agreement, the Rs 513 crore Torrent Pharma and AstraZeneca will fund the research project jointly in equal proportion. The agreement envisages success-based R&D milestone payments to Torrent, and also royalties based on the commercialisation of the drug candidate.
Zydus Cadila
Ahmedabad-based pharma major Zydus Cadila today announced the launch of novel statin, Pitavastatin, the latest molecule added to the family of statins, for the first time in India, under the brand name, Pitava. The launch is expected to strengthen the group’s number one position in cardiac care portfolio, enjoying about seven per cent domestic market share, says a company press note issued here. It is the third new molecule launch in the cardiovascular segment by Zydus Cadila over the last two years, the others being Zyntanus, a diuretic, and Aggramed, a drug for acute coronary syndrome Both the drugs were also launched for the first time in India.
— Agencies
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SEZ sought at Ajnala
Amritsar, February 21 The president of the association, Col Jagjit Singh Bal (retd), a former Chief Engineer in Army, urged for the SEZ location at Ajnala due to its proximity to Rajasansi International Airport, Wagah and Attari borders, Railway Container unit at Chehharta and Khasa, railway line at Fatehgarh Churian and Dera Baba Nanak. The association buttressed its demand stating that numerous roads lead to Ajnala for movement of raw materials and finished products. Besides this, there is availability of land and manpower there. An independent power supply could be set up and become an added asset, they contended. The association further stated that with the Central Government promising Rs 650 crore for SEZ, it was likely to attract investment of about Rs 1,200 crore from Non Resident Indians.
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Mumbai, February 21 As a part of the terms and conditions, the promoter group has agreed to acquire 21 per cent stake in Avtec at the same valuation as Actis. The company would eventually own 49 per cent of Avtec. With this transaction, Avtec would become India's largest independent engines and transmissions (powertrain) manufacturer supplying critical auto components to global companies, including GM, Ford, Caterpillar and for Mitsubishi cars in India. This transaction will likely result in an enhancement of net worth of HM by a considerable amount — more than Rs 140 crore as estimated currently. — UNI
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