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PM sets up high-powered panel to bolster trade ties Govt to prepare database of Indians settled abroad
Three Haryana industrial clusters get Centre’s nod
Parleys planned to formulate strategy for next WTO summit
TRAI appoints consultant to carry out billing audit
HLL to divest from Rossell Industries
UTI Bank joins hands with Bajaj Allianz
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Tarapur nuclear plant set to generate power
SBI, Calyon to syndicate HDFC loan of $ 114m
Delay in execution of projects costs
country dear
IT
round-up
Monnet Ispat net soars
337 per cent
Year-on-year
sales increase for Hyundai
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PM sets up high-powered panel to bolster trade ties New Delhi, May 2 The committee, considered to be first ever institutional mechanism of its kind, will also go into other forms of bilateral, regional and multilateral economic and trade ties. To be headed by the Prime Minister, the new 'Trade and Economic Relations Committee' will have eight permanent members, including three Cabinet Ministers and top policy advisers, PM's Media Adviser Sanjaya Baru said. The members are — Finance Minister P Chidambaram, External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Chairman of Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister C Rangarajan. The others are Chairman of the Manufacturing Competitiveness Council V Krishnamurthy, National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and Principal Secretary to Prime Minister T K A Nair. The new committee will act as "strategic think-tank" and ensure coordinated approaches across ministries, Baru said, observing this will help do away with departments working on parallel tracks and sometimes cross purposes. It will also examine proposals for economic coordination between India and other countries. "The focus will be on our major economic partners as well as our immediate neighbours," he said. The PM's Media Adviser said "in cases where Cabinet clearance is required that will be done." The decision to set up the Committee assumes significance with India looking to new avenues to boost economic linkages with the US, China, Japan and the EU besides ASEAN and BIMSTEC. The economic thrust in the discussions held recently with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf as also with other neighbouring countries is expected to get a new momentum with operationalisation of the high-power mechanism. The Prime Minister has also kept in mind his upcoming visit to the US in July at the invitation of President George W Bush as also taking into account the
prospects India becoming a member of the Group of Eight industrialised nations. Dr Singh will attend the G-8 Summit to be held in Scotland in early July.
— PTI
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Govt to prepare database of Indians settled abroad New Delhi, May 2 The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs has informed the Parliament that the database would have complete information about the Indians settled abroad, including their professional qualifications, e-mail ID and their areas of interest. Whatever information is already available with the Indian missions abroad, will be taken and further details would be added. The ministry has also decided to set up an investment promotion unit in the ministry with a partner and to promote state-specific investment campaigns. The ministry will hold road shows in select countries to attract NRIs to invest in their states in collaboration with the state government. In a presentation to the parliamentary standing committee, the ministry has informed that it will soon simplify the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 1976, and the procedures for the overseas Indians. According to the available information, the number of Indian emigrants going abroad has gone up from 2.43 lakh in 2000 to over 4.75 lakh last year. The major flow has been to West Asian countries where over 40 lakh Indian are working. In 2004, about 1.75 lakh persons went to the UAE, 1.23 lakh to Saudi Arabia, 52,000 to Kuwait, 33,000 to Oman and around 31,000 to Malaysia. Among the states, a large number of workers are going to work abroad from Tamil Nadu (1.08 lakh), Andhra Pradesh (72,580), Kerala (63,000), Rajasthan (35,000) and UP (27,000). In fact, the number of emigrants from Punjab has also gone up from 10,025 in 2000 to over 25,000 in 2004. From the north, very few persons went abroad from Haryana (1267), HP (1506), J&K (1944) and Chandigarh (2405) in 2004. In its annual report, Ministry of Indian Overseas Affairs has informed that there has been a steady increase in the remittances from Rs 53,280 crore in 1999-2000 to Rs 86,764 crore by 2003-04. In 2004-05, over Rs 66,861 crore was repatriated by Indians till December 31, 2004. The ministry also appreciated the decision of the Punjab government to set up single window clearance for NRI investments, besides fast track courts to deal with their issues.
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Three Haryana industrial clusters get Centre’s nod
Chandigarh, May 2 According to Haryana’s Director of Industries, Mr D.R Dhingra, central assistance of Rs 13.74 crore has been sanctioned by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion as the first instalment for the Panipat textile cluster. The grant for the other two projects at Faridabad and Gurgaon are in the pipeline. The estimated cost of the Panipat cluster is Rs 5 crore and nearly 3,000 units situated in the cluster will gain from the development of physical infrastructure here. Besides improvement of roads in the area, water recycling facility, sewage and effluent treatment plant would be set up. Under this public-private model of upgradation of infrastructure, the Central Government will fund 75 per cent cost of the project, state agencies like HUDA and PWD (B and R) 15 per cent and the local industries in the cluster remaining 10 per cent. The move will benefit over 6,000 SMEs in Haryana. The scheme will be implemented by local entrepreneurs through a special purpose vehicle (SPV). The estimated cost of the light engineering cluster project of Faridabad will be Rs 73 crore and will cover about 2,800 units. The proposed cost of the Gurgaon cluster is about Rs 65 crore. In the clusters of Faridabad and Gurgaon, hi-tech facilities like vibration testing, shock testing and radiography will be introduced. The Gurgaon cluster project will take off in synergy with the Auto Component Manufacture Association. Earlier, the state government had sought a grant of Rs 150 crore from the Centre (Rs 50 crore for each cluster). Plans are afoot to bring about industrial clusters in Rohtak and Hisar as they have a good market for the export of fasteners and steel, respectively. A scientific instrument industry in Ambala is also in the pipeline.
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Parleys planned to formulate strategy for next WTO summit
New Delhi, May 2 Making a statement in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Commerce EVKS Elangovan said this was a part of 31 recommendations made by the Standing Committee on Commerce, which examined demands for grants for 2004-05. Inter-ministerial consultations will also be held on WTO. Of the 31 recommendations, the government has accepted 30 and action has already been completed in 25. In five others, action was in advance stage of completion, the Minister said. The government has not accepted one recommendation regarding formation of cashew board on the ground that it will not be cost-effective. Moreover, in an era of globalisation and liberalisation, the trend is towards greater autonomy of operations to facilitate trade growth, which should be at best left to the industry and private entrepreneurs, the statement said. The recommendations that have been accepted include timely approval of schemes of Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC), Rubber Plantation Scheme and setting up of export promotion of spices and tea plantation fund. The standing committee also recommended monitoring of agro-export zones, setting up of more export oriented units in the North-East and early clearance of refund of duty drawbacks on deemed exports. A statement from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath will address a special session of the ministerial council meeting of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) scheduled to be held in Paris on May 4. He also take part in a meeting of G-20 Ministers in Paris on May 3.
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TRAI appoints consultant to carry out billing audit
New Delhi, May 2 The objective of the exercise was to help TRAI define the parameters with benchmarks for fair and reliable metering and billing system. “This is to build the confidence of the subscribers in the billing and call charging systems of telecom operators,” the regulator said. TRAI said it was receiving complaints from users ranging from inability to verify the bills, not having clarity about the tariff scheme for being billed and inability to select the tariff most suited for their needs. The regulator undertook a study of practices prevailing worldwide and the possibility of developing software, which could help customers, select a suitable tariff. The authority has looked into problem areas such as synchronisation of clock, charging for SMS, publishing of tariffs, charging for value-added services, premium rate services, short duration calls, credit limit and bill payment period. In order to bring standardisation and transparency in the procedures being followed by various operators, the Authority has also developed a code of practice for billing accuracy in India, which has benchmarks for metering and billing system. — UNI
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HLL to divest from Rossell Industries
Mumbai, May 2 Simultaneously Lipton India Exports Ltd (LIEL), a 100 per cent subsidiary of the Rossel Industries Ltd, also disposed of 61,85,642 equity shares of Rs 10 each held by it in favour of the said company (M/S M K Shah). Unilever Overseas Holdings BV and Lipton India Exports Ltd constituted a little over 97.5 per cent of the issued and subscribed capital of Rossell Industries Ltd and about 2.5 per cent is held by certain local shareholders. With the conclusion of this transaction, MK Shah Exports Ltd will now assume control of Rossell Industries Ltd and Rossell Industries Ltd will cease to be subsidiary of Lipton India Exports Ltd and consequently of the company.
— UNI
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UTI Bank joins hands with Bajaj Allianz
Chandigarh, May 2 Dr P.J Nayak, Chairman and Managing Director, UTI Bank, and Mr Kamlesh Goyal, CEO, Bajaj Allianz, made this announcement at a launch ceremony at the bank’s headquarters in Mumbai today. The tie-up between the two leading private sector companies will enable UTI Bank to leverage its branch network and customer base, to cross-sell a wide range of general insurance products, and open up a new revenue stream. For Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company, this tie-up will provide an opportunity to tap into the bank’s large network and customer base. Apart from the standard insurance products of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company, UTI Bank and Bajaj Allianz have also devised co-branded general insurance products.
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Tarapur nuclear plant set to generate power
Mumbai, May 2 The plant, Tarapur Atomic Power Plant 4 (TAPP-4), will, however, begin commercial production by July/August. Maharashtra, which is facing a severe power crisis, will benefit immediately as and when power flows from the plant. As the power plant undergoes testing, power generated by it will be released into the grid. It will be made available to the state electricity boards at a concessional price of Rs 2.65 per unit. Maharashtra will be the biggest consumer of power from TAPP-4. The state will account for 39 per cent, followed by Gujarat 18 per cent and Madhya Pradesh 17 per cent. While Goa gets a small share, the rest will be fed into the national grid. Sources say power from TAPP-4 would be priced at around Rs 3 per unit. TAPP-4 is said to have cost the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NCPIL) about Rs 6,000 crore and it took five years to attain criticality. TAPP-3 has been plagued by glitches and will go critical in a year’s time, the sources said. The two plants are expected to generate 1,080 MW of power in another year’s time.
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SBI, Calyon to syndicate HDFC loan of $ 114m
Mumbai, May 2 The loan, one of the most tightly priced out of India, for comparable tenor of 1.5 years, was launched for general syndication at an all-in price of 0.41 per cent per annum over Japanese Yen (JPY) London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), SBI said in a press note here today. Looking at existing JPY Libor, the rate works out to 0.47 per cent for refinanced loan as against a rate of 0.80 per cent for original loan, an SBI official said. HDFC is retiring an existing loan of JPY 12 billion, which has residual maturity of 1.5 years carrying a rate of 0.80 per cent. Thus, the housing finance institution would save 0.33 per cent on the interest rate, the official said. Eight banks have joined the syndication, it said. BNP Paribas, DBS Bank Ltd, DZ Bank and Mizuho Financial Group will act as lead arrangers, The Norinchukin Bank will be the arranger, International Commercial Bank of China and National Bank of Dubai are co-arrangers and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd is the lead manager, it added.
— PTI
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Delay in execution of projects costs
country dear
New Delhi, May 2 It states that 333 central sector projects, each costing Rs 100 crore and above, have been delayed, including 178 railway and power projects followed by urban development, petroleum and atomic energy projects In its sector-wise analysis, the report points out that the Railways had 132 projects with original cost of Rs.36,066.48 crore, later revised to Rs.39,346.53 crore. They are now anticipated to cost Rs.52,627.07 crore. Compared with the original, the currently anticipated cost, represents an increase of over 40 per cent and compared with the revised cost estimate, an increase of over 30 per cent. The power sector follows with 46 projects originally costing Rs.68, 107.90 crore. This was later revised to Rs.72,742.52 crore but now anticipated to cost Rs.78,232.01crore. Urban development with one project originally estimated to cost Rs.4,860 crore is now anticipated to cost Rs.10,571 crore, more than double the original amount. Water resources also had one project, which was to cost Rs.542.90 crore, is presently anticipated to cost nearly double the amount i.e. Rs.1069.40 crore.
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