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SBI to acquire Kenyan bank
RBI to penalise Mumbai coop bank directors
Cement firms may jack up prices
ONGC gets PM’s support on Mangalore project
HC restrains DDA in Escorts Hospital case
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Gazprom signs MoU with Pak
GSM cellphones record high growth
GM keen on mini-car
Air Deccan to get aircraft on lease from GECAS
BIS conducts raids in region
US envoy’s statement draws flak
Microsoft to invest in e-learning project
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SBI to acquire Kenyan bank
Mumbai, October 7 The country’s largest bank will acquire 76 per cent stake in Giro Commercial Bank, along with management control, subject to regulatory approvals. The SBI has entered into a share purchase agreement and a shareholders agreement with the main stakeholders of the Kenyan bank. “With the proposed acquisition, SBI will increase its footfall in Africa where we are already present in four other countries,” SBI Chairman A.K. Purwar said in a statement. “I expect that this step would benefit not only Indian resident community but also facilitate trade and investment, besides providing a platform for us to participate in the growth and prosperity of a friendly country,” he added. The SBI did not disclose the amount that it has to pay for acquiring majority stake in Giro Commercial Bank. Giro Commercial Bank, which was formed after the merger of two small banks — Giro Bank and Commerce Bank — is one of the leading banks in Kenya. It is a closely held entity with promoters of Indian origin and the bank has six branches located in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu. The decision to take over Giro Commercial Bank comes six months after its first overseas acquisition of Indian Ocean International Bank of Mauritius for $10
million. The acquisitions are part of SBI’s broad plan to acquire at least four banks abroad each with assets of $50-200 million.
— PTI
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RBI to penalise Mumbai coop bank directors
Mumbai, October 7 The RBI officials said each of its directors would be fined Rs 50,000 each after an investigation by the apex bank indicated a large-scale misappropriation of funds. After media reports of an RBI audit uncovering the going-ons thousands of depositors flocked to the bank earlier this week causing a run on the bank. The RBI had in its report for 2004, put the bank’s non-performing assets (NPA) at 24 per cent, as opposed to the recommended rate of 8 per cent. The bank’s chairman R P Mishra, however, told reporters today that the NPAs of the bank was 16 per cent and the rest of their dues could be recovered from small borrowers.
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Cement firms may jack up prices
New Delhi, October 7 On year-on-year basis, cement prices have already increased by 3 per cent during quarter ending in September. “After increase in diesel prices, the cement industry is feeling a pressure on its margins. Consequently, the prices can be increased any time by Rs 5 to 10 per 50 kg bag, especially in the North Indian market. In comparison to the Eastern and Western markets, the average price in the North, say in Delhi, is around Rs 155 per bag, lower than Kolkata by about Rs 10 per bag,” said Mr Sahilendra Chouksey, Director, JK Laxmi Cement. Industry watchers said with the continuing buoyancy in the construction sector, and 8 per cent growth in GDP in the first quarter, the industry is likely to achieve a growth rate of 8 per cent this year over the previous year. But with 90 per cent of capacity utilisation in 130 MT capacity in the industry, the supply is unlikely to go up in the near future. With Grasim acquiring the cement business of Larsen and Toubro, and Holcim’s strategic tie-up with GACL, the two groups effectively control 46 per cent of the market share, leading to allegations of sellers’ cartel. Brushing aside the allegation, Mr Kamlesh Gagrani, CFO, JK Corp said: “If there had been cartel, one would not have found wide variations in cement prices across the country.” The entry of MNCs like Lafarge, Holcim and Italcementi is further likely to discipline the domestic players. Incidentally, the cement industry grew by 8.5 per cent in last fiscal, while the economy grew by only 7 per cent. According to Merrill Lynch, cement demand in the country in FY06 will outpace the long-term estimated CAGR of 8 per cent. Due to monsoons and the transporters’ strike during the latter half of the last quarter, the dispatches of cement companies grew by a mere 2.96 per cent to 128.72 lakh tonne last quarter compared with an almost 10 per cent y-o-y growth in the June quarter. Encouraged by the rise in demand and firming up prices, the company is adding 3 lakh tonne capacity, said Mr Chauksey, to its three tonne plant in Rajasthan. Notably, due to rising freight charges, the cement players are concentrating on regional markets leading to price differences.
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ONGC gets PM’s support on Mangalore project
New Delhi, October 7 Mr Aiyar has been continuously opposing the ONGC CMD Subir Raha's plans to diversify in the non-exploration sector, saying that the public sector corporation should confine itself to the exploration and production activity. Accepting the demand of the Congress government in Karnataka, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has already given a go-ahead to the ONGC to pursue the project under the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals, an ONGC subsidiary. Petroleum Ministry had raised certain objections to the project, though it was approved by the PMO in July this year. It plans to set up a Rs 5,000-crore LNG terminal of 10 million tonnes capacity, a Rs 1,100-crore C2-C3 recovery plant, Rs 9,000-crore petrochemical complex, a Rs 4,624- crore 1,445 MW power plant and Rs 2,000-crore pipelines for transporting gas.
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HC restrains DDA in Escorts Hospital case
New Delhi, October 7 The order was passed by Justice Anil Kumar on a petition under the Arbitration Act filed by Escorts Hospital. The court issued notice to the DDA asking it to file reply to the Escorts petition within two weeks and posted the matter for further hearing on November 21. The interim order will remain in operation till the next date of hearing. When asked if the company had moved the court against the cancellation of lease agreement, Mr Harpal Singh, Chairman, Fortis Healthcare, said: “Yes, we have moved the court.” Escorts Chairman Rajan Nanda, however, said: “We have nothing to do with it. It is for Fortis to take action whatever necessary,” he said.
— PTI
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Gazprom signs MoU with Pak
Islamabad, October 7 The agreement signed by Pakistan's Secretary Petroleum Ahmad Waqar and Chairman of Gazprom Alexei B Miller also deals with privatisation of oil and gas companies in Pakistan, development and operation of underground gas storage systems besides provision of training facilities for Pakistani experts in oil and gas sectors, an official release here said. — PTI
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GSM cellphones record high growth
New Delhi, October 7 The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents interests of GSM players, said today that its subscriber addition grew by 4.01 per cent to reach 50 million by the end of September. Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd, the largest private GSM player, added 0.654 million mobile users during the month, taking its total wireless user base to 14.067 million with a market share of 27.65 per cent. BSNL roped in 0.49 million users, taking the total base to 11.90 million and a market share of 23.39 per cent. Hutch saw addition of 0.414 million users, taking the market share to 19.08 per cent with the total subscriber base standing at 9.29 million. Other GSM firms are Idea Cellular, BPL, Aircel, Spice, Reliance Telecom and MTNL. Among circles, Category C continued to witness the highest rate of growth at 8.1 per cent, much higher as compared to metros and A and B circles.
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GM keen on mini-car
New Delhi, October 7 “We are still committed to bringing a mini car in India and we would do it as soon as possible,” GMI Vice-President Corporate Affairs P Balendran said. Confirming that the company had dropped its bid to acquire Daewoo’s plant in Surarjpur (UP), after being the sole bidder for well over two years, he said, “We are no longer interested in pursuing the acquisition of Daewoo’s passenger car plant.” He said the company would now explore other options for its mini car project.
— PTI
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Air Deccan to get aircraft on lease from GECAS
Bangalore, October 7 The aircraft are scheduled for delivery to Air Deccan in January 2006, a joint statement by the two companies said. “We continue to redeploy aircraft with low-cost carriers in India and other regions, where the demand for narrow body aircraft remains strong,” Mr Tejpreet S Chopra, Vice-President, Marketing, GECAS, said in a statement. “Including Air Deccan, we lease aircraft to 27 different low-cost carriers around the world, making it one of the fastest growing segments of our business,” he said. Capt. G R Gopinath, Managing Director, Air Deccan, said the two Airbus A-320s will take the airline’s fleet size up to 22. “Procurement of these two aircraft will enable us to fast-forward our expansion plans with increased penetration in the domestic Metro network,” he said. Air Deccan also plans to procure 60 new aircraft to widen its fleet over the next five years as part of its plan to connect new destinations. “On an average we will add one aircraft every month over a period of next 60 months. This will increase the strength of our fleet to about 90. In a month or two we will have 15 new aircraft,” Air Deccan Chief Revenue Officer John Kuruvilla said today.
— Agencies
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BIS conducts raids in region
Chandigarh, October 7 Manufacturers were found using the ISI mark on their products without a valid license from BIS During the raid, M/s Vaneet Metal Works, Jalandhar, was found manufacturing copper alloy gate valve under the brand names, Vaneet and Mahavir. Five bags of gate valves of different sizes were seized. M/s Samrat Cables, Ambala Cantt, were found manufacturing PVC cables with the BIS monogram under the brand names, Orient and Samrat. Labels of ISI specifications and 35 bundles of cable were seized. M/s R K Feed Industries, Abohar, were found manufacturing compounded cattle feed under the brand names, Marshall, Dairy, Fresh and Dairy Special. M/s S.K. Industries, Salempur village, Ludhiana, was found engaging in illegal manufacturing of rubberised coir mattresses under the brand names, Blue Star and Freedom.
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US envoy’s statement draws flak
New Delhi, October 7 “The US Ambassador’s David Mulford’s statement that investors would consider the government policy of not hiking FDI cap in insurance and retail trade as a “breach of faith” is a grave impropriety,” CPM Politburo said in a statement.
— TNS
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