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Aiyar moots duty cut to cushion *Supports joint bidding with China for global resources
HCL Tech scouts for acquisitions
HDFC Bank eyes US, UK markets
Bharti’s $ 125 m deal with Nokia
LG targets Rs 9,000 cr from GSM handsets
Ascendas plans Rs 400 cr IT park in Kolkata
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Bill to revamp KVIC moved
MBD subsidiary focuses on Punjab
Dera Bassi to have biotech incubator
Whirlpool to buy out Maytag
Prototype of 40-tonne HCV rolled out
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Aiyar moots duty cut to cushion petro price hike
New Delhi, August 23 “Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia have used the words which I have been avoiding,” he told reporters here. Mr Chidambaram and Dr Ahluwalia had yesterday stated that fuel price hike was inevitable. Mr Aiyar said a decision on raising fuel prices would be taken in consultation with the allies including Left parties. “The Left has been suggesting cut in duties proportionate to the increase in revenues resulting from crude prices touching historic highs. We have put all these before the Cabinet and I do not know what the Cabinet will decide.” Petroleum Ministry has suggested an increase of Rs 2 to 3 per litre in petrol and diesel prices and a Rs 20 per cylinder hike in LPG prices. The hike suggested in lower than the Rs 7.42 per litre hike in petrol and Rs 5.86 a litre increase in diesel prices warranted due to crude climbing to over $ 66 a barrel. On LPG, the hike suggested is just one-fifth of the required increase while consumers are being completely spared from any of the Rs 11.21 a litre increase warranted in kerosene prices, officials said. It has also suggested excise duty reduction on petrol from 8 per cent plus Rs 13 a litre to 8 per cent plus Rs 12 a litre and that on diesel from 8 per cent plus Rs 3.25 a litre to 8 per cent plus Rs 2.25 per litre, officials said.
Supports joint bidding with China for global resources
A day after China drubbed India in the race for PetroKazakhstan, Mr Aiyar called for joint bidding by Indian and Chinese firms for scarce energy resources. “It underlines the need for China and India to adopt a collaborative approach in bidding for oil and gas assets,” he told reporters after flagging of a biking expedition to Himalayas here. China National Petroleum Corp secured PetroKazakhstan, Kazakhstan’s third largest oil producer, with a revised bid of $ 4.18-billion. Oil and Natural Gas Corp, which bid for PetroKazakhstan jointly with world’s largest steel maker Mittal Group, had made a higher bid at the closing of price bids on August 15 but still lost to CNPC, which was given another opportunity to revise its bid. “I am going to Beijing in November to consolidate relations between the two countries and see wherever possible and when in mutual interest, we mount joint bids,” he said. Mr Aiyar said reports suggested PetroKazakhstan chapter was not closed and ONGC-Mittal Group can make a counter-offer.
— PTI
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HCL Tech scouts for acquisitions
New Delhi, August 23 “Yes, we are (keen on acquisitions). We do not have size limitations because we have fair amount of funds... We are looking for areas where we can deploy our cash. We have mastered the strategy of acquisition and exit,” HCL Technologies Founder, Chairman and CEO Shiv Nadar told a press conference here. About the type of firms that HCL would consider buying, he said: “We will look at capability-related companies for filling gaps and balancing out supply and demand. Secondly, we are looking to grow into the space of output related pricing. And that exists in certain areas.” On geographies, he said: “It does not matter where such a company comes from. It could be in India for all you know.” HCL Technologies has a history of acquiring and exiting firms. It formed a $ 4.5 million joint venture with Perot Systems, known as HCL Perot Systems (HPS), in 1996 and sold its stake in HPS for $ 105 million in December 2003. Meanwhile, HCL Technologies Ltd today posted a 1.08 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs 329.27 crore for the year ended June 30 as compared to Rs 325.72 crore in the previous fiscal. The total income has increased by 20.02 per cent to Rs 1530.03 crore for the year ended June 30, from Rs 1274.74 crore in 2003-04, HCL Technologies said. The Board of Directors has recommended a final divident of 200 per cent that is Rs 4 per share on every share of Rs 2 each for the financial year 2004-05. The group has posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 618.72 crore for the year ended June 30, as compared to Rs 686.23 crore last fiscal, as per
Indian GAAP. — Agencies
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HDFC Bank eyes US, UK markets
New Delhi, August 23 The bank is exploring “strategic tie-ups” with other banks in New York and London, while planning to open branches in Hong Kong and Singapore, its Managing Director Aditya Puri said after launching co-branded cards with Idea Cellular here. The bank has presence in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and some African nations. Subject to the RBI nod, the country’s second largest private bank also plans to open 200 more branches this fiscal across the nation, half of which would be in semi-urban and “under-banked” areas, he said. HDFC Bank now has close to 500 branches and 1,200 ATMs across 219 cities. The bank has also tied up with Central Warehousing Corporation and commodities exchange NCDEX for providing loans to farmers against warehouse receipts. HDFC Bank is not looking at acquiring smaller banks right now, Mr Puri said.
HDFC-Idea
tie-up
Meanwhile, aiming at leveraging each others’ customer base, Idea Cellular and HDFC Bank today announced a marketing tie-up to launch a range of co-branded products offering several benefits. The co-branded products were launched by CEO Idea Cellular Vikram Mehmi and MD HDFC Bank Aditya Puri. The products include HDFC-Idea Cellular co-branded Visa credit card for Idea subscribers and an idea-HDFC Bank postpaid connection for credit card customers of HDFC.— PTI
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Bharti’s $ 125 m deal with Nokia
New Delhi, August 23 In 2004, Nokia had signed a $ 275 million contract with Bharti for supply of equipment for two years and for managed services for three years across five circles — Mumbai, Maharashtra (including Goa), Gujarat, Bihar (including Jharkhand) and Orissa. As per the latest contract, Nokia will provide managed services and expand Bharti’s Airtel networks in these five circles as well as in Kolkata, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. The phased expansion will begin immediately and is likely to be completed by March 2006. “The expansion will double Bharti’s network capacity, providing reduced congestion, seamless coverage and enhanced quality,” Bharti said here. —
UNI
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LG targets Rs 9,000 cr from GSM handsets
Kolkata, August 23 Launching the LG-3G mobile handsets here today, Mr H.S. Bhatia, product group head of LG’s GSM Division, said its plant near Pune would become fully operational within three to four months and production would commence from 2006. He said LG was the first company to start manufacturing GSM handsets in India, with an investment of $ 35 million, both in R&D and manufacturing. Currently, LG’s revenue from GSM sales was Rs 400 crore and the company sold four lakh handsets during 2004.
— PTI
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Ascendas plans Rs 400 cr IT park in Kolkata
Kolkata, August 23 When fully completed, the flagship project will provide 2 million sq ft of fully-infrastructured business space for IT and software development operations, Ascendas North India (Head) Harminder Singh said. The Rs 400-crore park will be located within a 10,000-acre development site in Rajarhat marked out by the state government for a new integrated township, he said. The development of ITPK would be in four phases. The construction of Phase I to create 500,000 sq ft of Grade A space would commence in January, 2006, and would be completed by early 2007. Other technology parks in India were International Tech Park, Bangalore (ITPB) and the International Tech Park, Chennai (ITPC).
— UNI
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Bill to revamp KVIC moved
New Delhi, August 23 The commission was dissolved last year, when the UPA Government after coming to power announced that it was facing certain administrative and financial difficulties in working and the sales and employment were on the decline. Later, an expert committee was constituted to revamp the commission, which submitted its report in April this year. Introducing the Bill in the Lower House today, Minister of State for Small Industries and Agro Industries Mahabir Prasad
said: "the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2005, would make specific provisions for clearer demarcation of functions and power among the Commission, the Chief Executive Office and the Finance Adviser of the commission. The number of members in the commission has been increased from 10 to 12.” The Bill will confer power upon the Central Government the power to re-establish the commission after its dissolution and provide for constitution of zonal
committees. The limit for fixed capital investment has also been raised from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh per artisan for a village industry to avail assistance from the commission. However, the government has not committed any additional financial resources for the commission, hoping that it would be able to meet its requirements from the available resources. To infuse professionalism into the commission, the government has proposed that three non-official members in the KVIC will include experts from science and technology, marketing and rural development and economics. The board will have to meet at least twice in a year. The commission shall constitute, the Bill proposes, zonal committees for each of six geographical zones that will include Chairman of each state Khadi and Village Industries Boards and zonal or Regional Manager of one of the lead banks operating in the area. These committees will provide feedback to the commission on the problems and difficulties envisaged and suggestions made by banks, voluntary agencies and others. They will meet at least once in every three months. In addition, they will monitor the implementation of the schemes of the KVIC. The commission, says the amended Bill, will be a nodal agency to plan, promote, organise and assist in the establishment and development of khadi and village industries in the rural areas in coordination with other agencies.
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MBD subsidiary focuses on Punjab
Ludhiana, August 23 The company has also procured land in Jalandhar and is keen on opening similar ventures in Amritsar and Patiala, resulting in a major capital inflow in the state. “Our group started business operations from Jalandhar in Punjab, which is why after entering the hospitality industry, we wanted to enter the Punjab market,” said Ms Sonica Malhotra, executive director, MBD Neopolis, the retail and entertainment company of the group. The group, which is country’s largest publishing house, marked its entry in the hospitality industry two years ago and is managing the Radisson MBD Hotel in Noida. It recently took over the Airport Ashok Hotel in Kolkata (part of ITDC disinvestment), now named as MBD Airport Hotel. Located on the Ferozepore Road, Ludhiana, MBD Neopolis is expected to come up by October 2007.
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Dera Bassi to have biotech incubator
Chandigarh, August 23 The total cost will be Rs 11 crore. Accordingly, a sum of Rs 3.5 crore has been released as the first instalment. Dera Bassi in Patiala district is a major industrial hub located on the Chandigarh-Delhi highway. A spokesperson of the Punjab government said the BTI would be set up as a public-private partnership model between the Central Government, Government of Punjab and Messers Beckons Industries Limited. Fifteen industries have already given their consent to set up industries in this BTI. The BTI would focus on medicinal and aromatic plants and quality assurance of agri-produce, which have been identified based on demand of the industries of Punjab. The incubator would include common extraction facility for medicinal and aromatic plants.
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Whirlpool to buy out Maytag
Atlanta, August 23 Maytag paid $ 40 million to end its $ 1.1 billion buyout pact with private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings and has been reimbursed for the breakup fee by Whirlpool, the companies said in a statement. The company will be acquired for $ 21 a share, with Whirlpool assuming $ 977 million of its smaller rival’s debt. Whirlpool said the acquisition, subject to shareholder approval and regulatory clearance, could close as soon as early 2006. “We’re very comfortable that the benefits that we see will greatly and more than justify the purchase price that we’re paying,” Whirlpool Chief Executive Jeff Fettig said. The deal caps months of bidding for Maytag — which has been ailing because of high fixed costs and rising competition — that began in May with the Ripplewood offer of $ 14 a share. A Whirlpool acquisition would create an appliance powerhouse with well-known brands and sales of $ 17.9 billion, based on 2004 results. Maytag makes Hoover vacuums and Jenn-Air and Amana appliances, while Whirlpool’s brands include KitchenAid, Roper and Inglis.— Reuters
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Prototype of 40-tonne HCV rolled out
Mumbai, August 23 The company plans to introduce a full range of most modern and hi-tech trucks ranging from 16 tonnes to 50 tonnes, it said in a press note. The diesel technology has been sourced from M/s MAN of Germany which is one of the largest and engine and heavy vehicle manufacturers in the world. The company’s project for development of hi-tech new vehicles at Pithampur has been accorded ‘Mega Project Status’ by the Madhya Pradesh Government.
— PTI
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