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Govt makes tea, coffee sweeter for growers Finance
Minister P. Chidambaram addresses a press conference after the Cabinet
meeting in New Delhi on Thursday. — Tribune photo by Rajeev Tyagi
TechBooks acquires e-learning company
Petrol, diesel price hike deferred
Sports goods makers diversify
Geneva, May 26 It is not only science and technology that visiting Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is focussing on. He is doing his bit for business as well.
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Pak, India form joint business body
Time ripe to enter China, says PHDCCI
GE arm collaborates for Medicity
OBC net up 11 pc
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Govt makes tea, coffee sweeter for growers
New Delhi, May 26 The scheme involves grant of subsidy for production of orthodox tea at the rate of Rs 3 per kg for leaf grades and Rs 2 per kg for dust grades for existing levels of production with additional incentive of Rs 2 per kg for the incremental volume over the previous year from January 1, 2005 to March 31, 2007. It will also enable to meet the actual deficits of the two research and development institutions viz. Tea Research Association (TRA) at Tocklai (Assam) and United Planters’ Association for Southern India - Tea Research Foundation (UPASI-TRF), Tamil Nadu, for a period of five years with effect from 2004-05. “Implementation of the above schemes will contribute towards the overall modernisation and development of the tea plantation sector,” Finance Minister P Chidambaram said. The CCEA also approved a package of relief measures to revive the coffee sector which would enable equal sharing of the total interest burden on Special Coffee Term Loan (SCTL) during the three year moratorium period of Rs.287.10 crore amongst the banks, the government and the grower loanees to the extent of one third each; The government will release the subsidy only after growers had paid their share in full by the end of June 2005. The scheme will provide an additional budgetary allocation of Rs.95.70 crore to the Department of Commerce during 2005-06 to meet the Government’s share of the interest on SCTL. The funds will routed to the growers’ SCTL accounts in the concerned banks through the Coffee Board. The government will also request the banks to lower the interest rates charged on SCTL from the existing 11 per cent to 9 per cent or rate applicable to agriculture sector whichever is lower, during the remaining repayment period of SCTL loans. “The scenario in the coffee sector over the last few years has been extremely unfavourable for the growers, particularly the small grower segment, with the continuing decline in prices of coffee in the domestic as well as international markets,” an official statement said. The Union Cabinet today gave its approval to the Agreement between the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) of Italy on Cooperation in Space Science, Technology and Applications. The agreement was signed in the presence of the Prime Minister of India and the President of Italy on February 14, 2005. The Cabinet also gave its approval for the signing of Agreement with Croatia in the field of health and medicine for a period of five years. Meanwhile, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today gave its approval for the establishment of transmission line, estimated to cost about Rs 500 crore, to supply power from the Rajasthan Atomic Power Project (RAPP) to the northern states. It will enable the Power Grid to transmit power from the atomic power unit in Rajasthan, to be commissioned by June 2007, to the Northern states including Punjab, Haryana, J&K, Delhi, UP, Uttaranchal and Delhi. The approved transmission lines will include RAPP— Kankroli 400 Kv double circuit (D/C) line for 198 km distance and RAPP-Kota 400Kv single circuit (S/C) transmission line for a distance of 62 km.
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FM projects 7 pc GDP growth rate
Finance Minister P Chidambaram today projected a seven per cent GDP growth rate, assured to keep inflation under control and said that the corporate tax rate would not be hiked.
“Inflation pressures have been contained. The government is determined to keep inflation rates of essential commodities under control”, Mr Chidambaram told newspersons while making a detailed presentation on the state of the economy after one year of the UPA government. He said that while Asian Development Bank (ADB) has projected a seven per cent GDP growth for 2005-06, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected a growth rate of 6.7 per cent. The RBI GDP forecast for this fiscal is seven per cent, the UNESCAP and the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has projected a growth of 7.2 per cent for the year. Assuming normal monsoon, the Finance Minister said that the farm sector would grow by about three per cent and the manufacturing and the services sector would continue to maintain its robust performance. The strategy for achieving a growth rate of seven per cent would depend on sustaining the investment levels, improving infrastructure, reining in fiscal and revenue deficit, keeping the interest rate soft and containing inflation, he said. Elaborating on the rate of inflation, he said that “after reaching 8.7 per cent in August 2004, the point-to-point inflation increased because of hike in global oil prices and some metal like steel”. “Let us not alarm people. The interest rate outlook continues to be benign and inflationary expectations moderate,” the Finance Minister said.
— TNS
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TechBooks acquires e-learning company
Chandigarh, May 26 Ranking fourth in size, next only to Wipro Spectramind, WNS and IBM Daksh, TechBooks, which has its headquarters in Fairfax Virginia, USA, specialises in servicing the publishing outsourcing verticals such as Cambridge University Press, Blackwell, Hall, Pearson and Tata McGraw Hill. Maximize Learning is a leading provider of advanced e-learning solutions, with world-class development and production resources. The company works with a number of Fortune 500 corporations in technology, financial services, consulting, healthcare, and publishing sectors. It also has one of its offices in New Jersey, USA and has a strong client base in the North American and European markets. The acquisition is subject to Indian government approval, which is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2005. Talking to The Tribune on phone after the acquisition, Mr Ranjit Singh, President and CEO, TechBooks said: “We cannot disclose the exact size and financial aspects of the deal. All I can say is that it runs into millions of dollars.” He said more important than the size of the deal was the nature of deal. “It is of strategic importance to us. Besides, presence in publishing technology solutions, we would now be having presence in whole value chain right from author to student,” he said. When asked about the impact of acquisition on employee lay-offs and retrenchment, he said, on the contrary, the company plans to add 1,000 to 1,500 employees, post-acquisition. Currently, the company has nearly 3,000 employees on its rolls. Asked about the company’s proposed plans to set up a base in Chandigarh, he said that it would be this year itself. “Earlier, we had plans to start operations in Chandigarh by first quarter. The acquisition deal, which was clinched today, was holding us. Now, we intend to work on putting our foot on Punjab soil... And it would be pretty soon,” he added. TechBooks, which recently closed on a $2.5 million round of financing from Ticonderoga Capital and Blue Water Capital, is expecting revenues to exceed $ 55 million for the current year.
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Petrol, diesel price hike deferred
New Delhi, May 26 Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar who made a presentation before the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after the Cabinet meeting, urged him to allow an increase of Rs 2.50 per litre in petrol and Rs 1.30 per litre in diesel prices in line with hike in tax rates announced in Budget, while asking the oil firms to bear the impact of surge in global oil prices. “That is a meeting which remained inconclusive and we will resume discussions,” Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters after a one-and-half-hour long meeting, which was also attended by Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Sources said the Finance Minister has agreed to consult Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath to withdraw export incentive duty drawback scheme for oil sector as a measure to reduce hike in petrol and diesel prices. The withdrawal of duty drawback, under which duties paid by exporters are reimbursed, would result in saving of about Rs 2,400 crore in the oil sector. The Left have been demanding to revise the duties as the present structure was benefiting the Reliance Group, which exports 30 per cent of oil products produced from its 33 million tonnes Jamnagar refinery. It is the biggest beneficiary of the duty drawback scheme. Another meeting is scheduled for early next week after Petroleum Ministry reworks the hike in petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene prices needed to avert the cash loss to the oil companies. Mr Aiyar told that public sector oil marketing firms had made net cash loss of Rs 1,424 crore in March and April due to the freeze on petrol, diesel, LPG and Kerosene prices. IndianOil Corp, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum and IBP made cash loss (loss before interest, depreciation and taxes) of Rs 341 crore in March and Rs 1083 crore in April, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was informed
today.
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Sports goods makers diversify
Jalandhar, May 26 After reeling under continuous spell of problems and sticking to manufacture of traditional sports goods items during the past over two decades, the sports goods export units, primarily based at Jalandhar, have finally decided to diversify. With globalisation and liberalisation of Indian economy, the sports goods manufacturing units faced stiff competition from China and have slowly started losing its supremacy in production of traditional sports items. Now, out of sheer compulsion, these units have started producing rugby balls, baseball bats, Australian football, lawn tennis racquet and football accessories. The global business in these items is estimated to be about Rs 1 million crore. While Pakistan has made a mark for itself in football accessories industry, India is yet to begin its journey on this path. The football accessories include gloves, socks, shoes, T-shirts and shorts. “We have started manufacturing Australian footballs, baseball bats and rugby balls during the first phase of diversification recently. The demand for baseball bats is on very high side in United States and Canada, a market yet to be tapped by the Indian sports goods exporters. Even as there is no support on research and development (R&D) front from the state or the central government, we have conceived new techniques to manufacture these items to stay in the fray,” says Mr. Ramesh Kohli, a sports goods manufacturer “The Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, during a recent meeting, has assured us of extending state government’s support in providing R&D facilities for manufacture of new items. But, one thing is for sure, every entrepreneur will have to survive on his own instead of waiting for the government help,” he adds. “After facing acute shortage of mulberry and American willow, we have recently diversified to produce rugby balls and baseball bats. I have personally visited US market and there is a huge market for the Indian made sports goods, which needs to be tapped,” Mr Sunil Malhotra, another exporter said. Experts are of the opinion that another area, where Indian sports industry can make a place for it is gymnasium equipment and machines. “In fact, most of the gym equipment, being used by health conscious people throughout the country, is imported. The sports units here (read cottage industry) should develop state-of-the-art facilities to cater to huge domestic and export market. The state as well as central government should set up R&D facilities in this part of the region to give an extra impetus to already sagging industry,” maintains an expert, adding that there is only one firm in Chandigarh, which has recently started manufacturing gym equipment.
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Kalam interacts with corporate czars
Geneva, May 26 In a meeting on Wednesday with some 25 top Swiss and European corporate honchos, Dr Kalam made a power-point presentation of his Vision 2020 to make India a developed nation and stressed the need for investment in sectors such agriculture and food processing, education, healthcare and infrastructure. Dr Kalam, who is on the second leg of a four-nation, fortnight-long visit to Russia, Switzerland, Iceland and Ukraine, had an animated discussion with the corporate captains after his presentation, focussing on the need to improve the lot of the 260 million Indians who currently live below the poverty line. The meeting, organised in association with World Economic Forum (WEF) chief Klaus Schwab, was attended by representatives of the pharma, re-insurance and banking sectors, apart from the Global Fund for HIV AIDS, TB and Malaria, which has disbursed upwards of $300 million in India. Dr Kalam, the first Indian head of state to visit Switzerland in 35 years, said there were a lot of synergies between Switzerland and India, especially in areas such as pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery, food processing, financial services and information technology. Dr Kalam, who is accompanied by a 50-member delegation that includes Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Jagdish Tytler, will be ceremonially welcomed in Berne on Friday, after which the two nations will hold delegation-level talks.
— IANS
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Pak, India form joint business body
Islamabad, May 26 The India Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry is aimed at bringing the two countries closer and enhancing trade, Mr Onkar Kanwar, President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, told a news conference. Direct bilateral trade between Pakistan and India through official channels is just $ 500 million while trade routed through other countries stands at more than $2 billion. “We need to work together,” Mr Kanwar said. “India offers a huge market with at least 300 million persons in its middle class.” Trade between Pakistan and India has been hostage to half a century of hostility, having fought three wars since winning independence from Britain in 1947. However, Pakistan and India began a peace process at the start of 2004, intent on settling all their differences, including the core dispute over the Himalayan region of Kashmir. The new chamber plans to present the two governments with a study by August on how to remove impediments to trade, said Chaudhry Muhammad Saeed, President of Pakistan’s Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
— Reuters
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Time ripe to enter China, says PHDCCI
New Delhi, May 26 A team of the industrial chamber PHDCCI, which recently visited Myanmar to study trade opportunities, has suggested to the government to tap the economic potential of bilateral trade. PHDCCI has recommended to the government to strategically engage Myanmar so as to make it a bridge between South and South East Asia for India’s products to ASEAN. The business delegation was led by its International Affairs Committee for Asia and Oceania Chairman, L K Malhotra.
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GE arm collaborates for Medicity
New Delhi, May 26 Medicity will be spread over 43 acres and will require an investment of $ 250 million. Once developed, GE Healthcare will provide high-end diagnostic tools, clinical research and development and utility services like power generation and distribution, lighting and water treatment. Speaking to reporters, Jeffery Immelt, Chairman and CEO of GE Worldwide said: “GE is not investing in cash in Medicity. We will provide the world-class technology for high-end diagnostic tools, clinical research and development and eco-friendly solutions.” Mr Immelt, however, added that GE does not rule out equity partnership in Medicity.
— PTI
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Parent co eyes acquisitions
US conglomerate General Electric today said it was looking at acquisitions in financial and industrial side and was also considering India as a manufacturing hub.
Indicating that the company was looking at enhancing its investment in India, CEO and Chairman of GE Worldwide Jeffrey Immelt said, “this is the right time to invest in India and we will be bold on the market here”. “We want to invest back in India and we expect great benefits for GE,” he said.
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OBC net up 11 pc
New Delhi, May 26 Colour Chem Colour Chem Ltd has posted a lower net profit of Rs 15.59 crore for the year ended March 31, 2005 as against Rs 33.57 crore in 2003-04. The board had recommended 60 per cent dividend for 2004-05, the chemical company said in a press note here today. The net sales for FY-05 were marginally lower at Rs 372.99 crore compared to Rs 384.60 crore in the previous fiscal, it said. The net profit and net sales for the fourth quarter ended March 2005 stood at Rs 5.72 crore (Rs 1.63 crore in Q4 of 2003-04) and Rs 88.81 crore (Rs 91.56 crore) respectively, it added.
— PTI
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