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Japan offers Rs 5,600-cr loan for eight Indian projects
Police station gets ISO certification
Pepsico to invest $ 500 m in India
High oil prices to hurt economy: PC S. Arabia offers
to up oil exports
to India |
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Labour laws in select industries on anvil
Sensex crashes as foreign funds take flight
Review PACL’s selloff, urge staff
Big gas-based power stations ruled out
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Japan offers Rs 5,600-cr loan for eight Indian projects
New Delhi, March 29 Talking to the newsmen, Japan’s Economic Affairs Minister Hidenao Yanagi said: “This marks an increase of 7.57 per cent over the last year’s assistance of Rs 5,270 crore and is between 15 to 20 per cent of Japan’s annual global loan package of seven billion yen.” “India continues to be the largest recipient of Japanese assistance. The main objective of the soft loan is to support India in establishing physical infrastructure to support and sustain economic growth,” he said. The concessional loans will be made available through the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) at the rate of interest of 0.75 per cent per annum for power and environmental projects and at 1.3 per cent per annum for other infrastructure projects. The loans will be for the Delhi Metro Project, Jharkhand’s North Karanpura Super Thermal Power Project, Ganga Action Plan, Bangalore Water Supply Project, Buddhist Circuit Development Project, Rajasthan Minor Irrigation Improvement Project, Tamil Nadu Afforestation Project (II) and Karnataka Sustainable Forest Management and Biodiversity Conservation Project. For environmental projects, the repayment period is 40 years while for infrastructure projects, it is 30 years, including 10 years’ grace period in both cases. The Ganga Action Plan Project in Varanasi to improve the quality of water and overall public health environment has received Rs 466 crore loan. Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Project that intends to develop water supply and sewerage facilities in the metropolitan area by has got a loan assistance of Rs 1,750 crore. A sum of Rs 394 crore has been sanctioned for the Uttar Pradesh Buddhist Circuit Development Project to improve the tourism-related infrastructure along the Buddhist Circuit. Rajasthan Minor Irrigation Improvement Project that aims to increase agriculture output by rehabilitating existing minor irrigation facilities and disseminating farming technology in the rain-deficient areas of the state has received Rs 481 crore loan assistance. Japan has already given an assistance of around Rs 5,700 crore through the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) for the Delhi Metro Project, he said. The fresh assistance will be utilised for the ongoing first phase of the Delhi MRTS project, which will comprise a network of 11 km to underground metro corridor along with 44.30 km of surface rail corridors. “The main objective of the soft loan is to support India in establishing physical infrastructure to support and sustain economic growth,” Mr Yanagi said. The Metro project is being financed by way of equity contributions from the Government, soft loan from Japan, property development revenue and some taxes on the city dwellers.
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Police station gets ISO certification
Hyderabad, March 29 The computerised police station, covering a population of over three lakh, adopted new technologies to enhance efficiency and put in place a transparent set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) covering various areas including crime detection, investigation, addressing public complaints and follow-up of court cases. “The ISO certification is a recognition for our efforts during the last two years to create a responsive and people-friendly police organisation,” the Cyberabad Police Commissioner M. Mahender Reddy, under whose jurisdiction the police station falls, said. As a part of the efforts to make the police force more people-friendly, the policemen were given special training in communication skills, team building and attitudinal changes, besides being provided with a library with a collection of wide range of books. In all, 37 SOPs were formulated covering various functions including documentation of criminals, pending trial cases, records and constabulary empowerment. The Jeedimetla police station, having jurisdiction over 40 sq km area, has one inspector, three sub-inspectors, eight head constables and 45 constables. The Cyberabad Commissionerate is trying to get ISO certification for other police stations under its jurisdiction, the Commissioner revealed. The ISO inspection authorities will conduct surveillance audit every six months to check the quality of services and if they are not satisfied, they can withdraw the certification.
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Pepsico to invest $ 500 m in India
New Delhi, March 29 “We have invested over Rs 3,000 crore directly and Rs 900 crore through our partners so far and we are going to invest $ 300 to $ 500 million more over the next three to five years,” Indra Nooyi, President and Chief Financial Officer, Pepsico, told reporters here. Ranking India at number five worldwide in terms of revenues, Nooyi said Pepsico’s business has grown four fold in the last five years and the company has put in place a strategy to expand further. Pepsico, which pioneered the concept of contract farming in the country, has recently entered into a partnership with the Punjab government for cultivation of citrus fruits to expand juices business here. Asked about the company’s financial performance in India, Nooyi said: “We are making cash profits from our Indian business. I am bullish on India and looking at the market as a long term bet.” Of the announced investment of up to $ 500 million, Nooyi said about 60 per cent is targeted for the beverages segment while the rest would be for snacks. With the huge success of Kurkure brand, the company is likely to take it to other markets like the US, UK, South Africa, Middle-East and Australia. Asked whether Pepsico would manufacture Kurkure here and then export, Nooyi said “the product would be manufactured in the local markets to avoid transportation cost and make it a local product.” In the juices segment, the company is likely to launch new products in the near future. Perturbed by the pesticide controversy in its colas, she also claimed “all their products are the safest and confirm to global standards.”
— PTI
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High oil prices to hurt economy: PC
Singapore, March 29 Gross domestic product grew 8.5 per cent in the 2003/04 fiscal year that ended last March, as robust farm output fuelled the fastest expansion in nearly 15 years, but the government has forecast growth will slow to 6.9 per cent this fiscal year. Mr Chidambaram said a rise in world oil prices was “completely unjustified” and would hurt businesses in India, which imports 70 per cent of its crude needs and about half the gas it consumes. “We will be hurt in terms of growth,” Mr Chidambaram told reporters on a visit to Singapore. “We think it hurts growth by about 0.5 per cent a year,” he said, without elaborating. Mr Chidambaram said he had not heard a convincing argument to explain why crude should be priced at $57 a barrel. Benchmark U.S. light crude prices hit a record high of $57.60 a barrel on March 17, but had pulled back to around $53.70 on Tuesday. Asked about deficit targets, Mr Chidambaram said India would resume a path of “fiscal correction” in the year beginning April 1, 2006. In a budget delivered last month, he effectively suspended attempts to drive down the deficit in line with a fiscal discipline law passed in 2004 in order to boost growth and help the rural poor. “In the year beginning April 1 we will not be able to reduce the revenue deficit. We will remain on the pause mode,” he said, referring to a target to limit the revenue deficit to 2.7 per cent of GDP next fiscal year, the same estimated for this year. India would limit its fiscal deficit in the 2005/06 fiscal year starting April 1 to 4.3 per cent of GDP, compared with an estimated outcome this year of 4.5 per cent. Mr Chidambaram said he expected domestic interest rates to remain stable over the medium term. “Indian banks are flush with money. There is huge liquidity in the system. In the medium term, I think interest rates will remain stable.” — Reuters
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S. Arabia
offers to up oil exports
to India
Dubai, March 29 Petroleum
Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar met his Saudi counterpart Ali Al-Naimi in
Riyadh and the two sides reviewed aspects of cooperation in the field
of oil, gas and minerals, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
“The kingdom is ready to increase its oil exports to India,” Al-Naimi
said after the meeting, adding that he reviewed with Aiyar issues
pertaining to joint investments in the fields of petroleum and mining.
“The kingdom is keen on investing in India through implementing
joint projects of petroleum refineries and distribution of petroleum
products,” he said. Aiyar, accompanied by Talmiz Ahmed, Additional
Foreign Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs and a former
Ambassador to the Kingdom, is in Riyadh along with a high-level
delegation comprising heads of oil companies - IOC, ONGC and Gail. —
PTI
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Labour laws in select industries on anvil
New Delhi, March 29 The Cabinet today cleared amendment in the Factories Act, 1948, enabling women employees to work in late night shifts, with necessary safeguards. Speaking at meeting here today, Union Labour and Employment Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao said, “ there is an urgent need to revisit our labour policies and other labour related issues in order to make India competitive and a giant in the global
economy." The meeting was called as part of government’s efforts to evolve consensus on the labour reforms. The Labour Minister said that one of the important constraints in reforming labour laws had been the absence of an adequate safety net for the work force. He said labour reforms did not necessarily mean changing the laws though that was also one of its aspects. He said, “labour reforms, to my mind, encompass changes in labour policies and programmes for the welfare of labour, practices with respect to enforcement of labour laws and making of modifications in various rules and regulations made under the existing statutory enactments”. He said that labour was a very important factor of production and the more we look after it and its welfare the more productive it can become. Mr Rao said Employees State Insurance Corporation
(ESIC) had finalised the Rajiv Gandhi Shramik Kalyan Yojana for providing unemployment allowance to workers during involuntary unemployment.
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Sensex crashes as foreign funds take flight
Mumbai, March 29 In the broader markets, Nifty slipped below the 2,000 level for the first time since January 27 to close at 1,983. All major indices including tech,
FMCG, oil PSUs, infrastructure, pharma, power, shipping and steel stocks all plunged southwards. The heavyweights fell hardest with the likes of Tisco and SBI losing four per cent of their values. Other major losers included Dr Reddy’s Labs,
HLL, HPCL, ONGC, Reliance Industries, Hero Honda and ITC. Banking scrips fell sharply with Bank of India, Bank of Punjab, and Karnataka Bank falling over six per cent. Only Indian Overseas Bank and Dena Bank were the silver linings today. Fears of a tough interest rate regime dampened sentiments close on the heels of the Federal Reserve hiked US interest rates by a quarter percentage point to 2.75 per cent. Infrastructure stocks like Hindustan Construction, IVRCL Infrastructure and Gammon India shed over five per cent. The biggies like Infosys and TCS lost over a per cent each. Analysts expect the markets to fall even further before moving upwards in the coming financial year. The FIIs are believed to be pulling out funds on the back of firming interest rates in the US market and further decline in the bourses are expected till domestic mutual funds begin a bailout sometime in the coming weeks.
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Review
PACL’s selloff, urge staff Chandigarh, March 29 The Managing Director of
PACL, Mr S.P Singh, told TNS that the net monthly profit of the company has been nearly Rs 4 crore since January this year. The capacity utilisation of the plant at Naya Nangal has also gone up to about 81 per cent as against the average of 70 per cent. Keeping in view the sudden turnaround in the company’ net turnover, the employees’ union of PACL stands opposed to its disinvestment. They are of the view that in 2002, when the then SAD-BJP government had proposed PACL’s disinvestment, the company was incurring heavy losses, but now the position is totally different as during this financial year as the company has made a net profit of Rs 22 crore after paying for its liabilities. As per the Congress manifesto also, only the loss-making PSUs were to be disinvested. Moreover, the PACL has already paid to the Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation
(PSIDC) more than its share in the company in the form of dividends in the past. It has nearly 530 on its rolls about 534 employees. The decision to disinvest loss-making PACL was taken by the Cabinet Committee of Disinvestment, headed by the Chief Minister in January 2004. According to sources in the company, due to worldwide slowdown in the production of caustic soda, coupled with the huge debt of the company, the income of the company had come down substantially. While Director, Disinvestment Commission, Ms Kalpana Mittal
Baruah, was not available for comments, a decision to review the ongoing process of disinvestment may be taken in view of the profits recorded by the company during the past few months.
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Bandh against Vat begins today
New Delhi, March 29 “Traders in every state are geared for a successful bandh,” said Cait chairman Vijay Goel. Rallies, fasts, sit-ins and demonstrations will be organised, he added. Cait will submit a memorandum to President APJ Abdul Kalam while trade leaders will submit their charter of demands to the state finance ministers, he said. “The piecemeal introduction of Vat will be detrimental to trade and economy,” said Cait secretary-general Praveen Khandelwal. The Congress-ruled states have decided to implement Vat from April 1 while the states having BJP governments and others like Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh have decided against it.
— UNI
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Big gas-based power stations ruled out
New Delhi, March 29 He said he did not foresee any market in the sector in the next five years and clarified that the power sector would not go for large-scale gas-based power stations as it would not be in the interest of consumers. “It would also not be in the interest of power project developers, as the gas prices if not maintained around $3 per MMBTU, the gas projects may go the IPP way of the nineties,” he said while delivering the inaugural address at a seminar on “Energy Value Chain: Moving Towards Cohesion and Regulation”, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
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