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Jet-Sahara deal in jeopardy
MPs rue delay in firming up strategic oil storage
No plan to divest stake in BSNL, says DoT
Barriers affect bilateral trade, says Dhaka
Airtel plans Punjab-Delhi corridor
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HDFC to hike home loan rates
ONGC to renovate Assam facilities
Indian Hotels plans budget units
Rs 1,150-crore fund to revive industry
More funds for Bharat Nirman
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Jet-Sahara deal in jeopardy
Mumbai, March 21 “Wait till March 24. Then only we can give you some news,” Jet Executive Director Saroj Datta said from Mumbai while exuding confidence that officials of the two airline will “find a solution” before the expiry of the escrow account (opened by Jet) on March 24. Sources in the know of the deal said that the execution of the deal had been stalled for want of the clearance of Air Sahara’s application for share-purchase agreement signed by the two sides and the change of the management. Jet has already got the requisite clearance from the Ministry of Company Affairs for buying out the other airline. When contacted, Air Sahara President Rono Dutta, who is heading the integration team, declined to comment whether Jet had sought extension of transaction time beyond March 24 and if he was confident about the execution of the deal. The sources said the issue of extension of the last date for escrow account would be considered on March 24 as there could be some other issues relating to infrastructure. Those involved in the integration process said that as such Jet has prepared a list of engineers, pilots and over 500 cabin crew members of Air Sahara team for absorption in the new integrated entity. Many of the transfer orders have already been prepared by Jet Airways but have not been delivered for want of total clarity, they said, indicating that as many as 1,800 Sahara officials and staff have already been identified for absorption by Jet. Carrying forward its probe into the Rs 2,300 crore buyout of Air Sahara by Jet Airways, the Director General (Investigations and Registrations) has issued notices to both air carriers seeking details of the proposed acquisition. The DGIR, the investigating arm of Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC), is looking into the mega deal to check whether it has resulted in creating a monopoly in the Indian aviation sector. “Notices have been issued to both air carriers and they have been given a week’s time to file their reply,” ministry sources said. The probe by MRTPC runs parallel to the efforts by Jet to get a final nod from the government on the buyout. Faced with a March 24 deadline for finalising the deal, there are apprehensions that the carrier may have to seek an extension in the deadline or else the deal could come a cropper. Asked whether the DGIR could also approach the Registrar of Companies (RoC) to seek details of the Board meetings regarding the sale and purchase process, the sources said it could be a possibility.
— PTI GoAir to add 20 planes
Chennai: Budget carrier GoAir today said it has placed orders for purchase of 20 Airbus A320 aircraft to add to its current fleet of five. Eight of these aircraft are expected to join by December 2006 and the remaining by 2008, GoAir Managing Director Jeh Wadia told reporters here. Asked about the funding for the purchase of aircraft, he said it would be from equity, but refused to disclose investments made by the Wadia Group in the airline venture. Wadia said the airline was proposing to float separate companies in the near future for training engineers and pilots.
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MPs rue delay in firming up strategic oil storage
New Delhi, March 21 The committee in its report presented to the Lok Sabha today expressed dissatisfaction over the progress made on the project for setting up strategic storage for crude and petroleum products. “The government is still in the process of initiating action to finalise the mode of financing even after more than one-and-a-half years of formation of a special purpose vehicle. With this sort of progress, the committee seriously doubts whether the project would be completed within the stipulated time,” it noted. In view of the volatility of international crude market, the international geopolitical concerns and the possibilities of natural calamites, the committee urged the government to set up this emergency support mechanism with a sense of urgency for meeting short-term supply disruptions. About the subsidy on domestic LPG and PDS kerosene, the committee recommended its continuation beyond the stipulated deadline of March 31, 2007, as the oil sector was contributing substantially to the government coffers in the form of excise and customs
duty. The total subsidy of Rs 6292.44 crore given by the government during 2003-04 on petroleum products formed only a meagre 12.4 per cent share of total tax collections. The committee also urged the government to develop a national gas grid on the lines of the Power Grid, under government control, to ensure regional balance keeping in view the uneven availability of gas in various regions of the
country. It also sought the revival of an anti-adulteration cell with adequate statutary authority.
Parliament okays Regulatory Bill
Meanwhile, Parliament today okayed the setting up of a petroleum and natural gas regulatory board with the passage of the relevant Bill, regulating refining and other processes in the sector. The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha by voice vote.The Rajya Sabha had passed the legislation
earlier. Winding up the discussion on the Bill, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said the board would essentially perform three functions — protect the interests of consumers, boost investment and create competitive markets. Responding to members’ concerns about the adulteration of petroleum products, the minister said the board had provisions to tackle the problem.
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No plan to divest stake in BSNL, says DoT
New Delhi, March 21 “There is no plan to disinvest in BSNL,” Telecom Secretary J.S. Sarma told reporters almost at the same time when BSNL Chairman and Managing Director A.K. Sinha said the corporation had submitted its views on disinvestment through an IPO or otherwise. “Three months back, the government had written to us whether there is any IPO to be thought about BSNL. How do we prepare it, how do we go about it and whether in our view it is the right time and it is in our interest. We have responded,”Mr Sinha said on the sidelines of ‘Convergence India’ exhibition. Unaware of what Mr Sinha had said, Mr Sarma told reporters at the same function: “There is no decision to disinvest in BSNL partially or otherwise. There appears to be some files relating to the views expressed by BSNL. I am looking into that file, but I am categorically saying that there is no plan to disinvest in BSNL.” In a follow- up to the BSNL response to the government seeking its views on disinvestment along with an IPO, the Centre had asked for some additional inputs from the
company. — PTI
Mishra is Trai chief Former Department of Telecom Secretary Nirpendra Mishra has been appointed Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) with effect from tomorrow. Mr Mishra will succeed Mr Pradip Baijal, who completed his three- year tenure today.
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Barriers affect bilateral trade, says Dhaka
New Delhi, March 21 Addressing an interactive session organised by FICCI, Bangladesh Finance Minister M. Saifur Rahman said: “We are quite open to enhancing bilateral trade between the two countries and facilitating Indian industry to invest in Bangladesh, but we are sorry to say that from the Indian side we face a lot of problems resulting in lower exports from Bangladesh to India.” Favouring a free trade agreement between the two countries, he urged the Indian Government to create an enabling environment to correct the trade deficit between the two countries. India’s exports to Bangladesh reached $2007 million in 2005 as against $144.2 million of imports, leading to a trade deficit. Referring to the 11-point agenda presented by FICCI to double bilateral trade between the two countries by 2010, he said: “I can take a decision within 24 hours, but the bureaucracy will not allow the Indian Government to take that decision within the next six months.” Assuring his commitment to boost trade between the two countries, he urged the Indian Government to “provide a transit route of only 17 km for trade among the small landlocked economies of Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, besides resolving water disputes.” About the Tatas’ proposal to invest $2.5 billion in Bangladesh, he said: “ It is a complicated proposal that would require agreements in 23 areas; we are very seriously studying the proposal and a decision would be soon taken as the Tata group revises its proposal.” The Tata group has proposed to set up a 1000 MW coal-based power plant, a steel plant and a fertiliser unit.
Escorts tractors plans joint venture
Talking on the sidelines of the meeting, Mr Abdul Matlub Ahmad, Chairman, Nitol-Niloy Group, Bangladesh, disclosed that a joint venture with the Escorts group was being entered into under which a tractor manufacturing plant would be set up at Kishoregonj, near Dhaka, at an estimated investment of $ 10 million, with an annual capacity to manufacture 4,000 tractors The company hopes to export 3000 tractors annually to Myanmar and some states in North- Eastern Indian states, he said, within one year. The company was also collaborating with Birla Cement and Blowplast, he said.
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Airtel plans Punjab-Delhi corridor
Chandigarh, March 21 This was announced by the Chairman and Group Managing Director of Bharti Enterprises, Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal, after the formal launch of high-end broadband for Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Jalandhar, and fixed line services for Punjab by making the inaugural call. He also said that the broadband services would be launched in Amritsar soon. Mr Mittal said after Airtel has successfully covered almost all places in Punjab, the Punjab model of increasing teledensity would be replicated in other states like Haryana, parts of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Asked about the need for technological upgradation to keep up with the high customer growth, Mr Mittal admitted that the congestion of network in calls made from Airtel numbers to BSNL was due to overloading of the Points of Interconnect and less spectrum available. “Once the spectrum increases, the congestion and call dropping would end. There has been an exponential growth in telecom sector and less spectrum is leading to choking of lines and other problems,” he added. Answering queries about the telemarketing and other forms of spam on the Airtel network, Bharti Chairman said he had written to the Ministry of Telecommunication to formulate legislation and laws to control this theft of data by these marketing teams.
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HDFC to hike home loan rates
New Delhi, March 21 “Due to the liquidity crisis, we will hike (rates) by 0.5 per cent by April 1,” bank Chairman Deepak Parekh said on the sidelines of the launch of India Infrastructure Initiative. Noting that a 0.50 or 1 per cent hike in interest rates was not going to make much of a difference, he said the bank might reverse it when the liquidity crisis gets over. “It would be a problem only when the interest rates go over 14-15 per cent. A 0.50 to 1 per cent increase does not make much difference,” he said. The Reserve Bank of India has already taken some measures to handle liquidity crunch and it is likely to improve by April, he said. “Liquidity crisis is more or less a regular phenomenon that occurs at year-end (financial)” but this time the crisis had got a little out of hand, he said. Already, the country’s largest lenders State Bank of India and ICICI Bank have increased their home loan lending rates by 50 to 75 basis points and 50-basis points, respectively.
— PTI
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ONGC to renovate Assam facilities
New Delhi, March 21 This investment was a part of a mega-revival package for this North-eastern state — being termed Assam renewal project — involving a total outlay of around Rs 4,000 crore, said a company statement issued here today. The prime objective of this project was to reverse the trend of declining production from the matured oilfields of this North-eastern state, where ONGC began its search for oil way back in 1957. Many of the surface facilities in the oilfields of Assam are more than 20 years old. Considering the future production profile of these fields, these surface facilities need major upgradation and expansion for sustained and trouble-free operations in the coming years. The renewal package, envisaged by ONGC, involved a comprehensive replacement, revamping and expansion of equipment and infrastructure in Assam. The aged facilities will give way to state-of-the-art advanced systems, improving the efficiencies of the Oil and Gas facilities, installation of Advanced process Control (APC) and Communications systems, introduction of latest health, safety and environment (HSE) systems, all feature prominently in the renewal package. The ONGC also opened a new liaison office in Guwahati today.
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Indian Hotels plans budget units
New Delhi, March 21 “We will open one new hotel in every six weeks in the next one year, “ Indian Hotels Company Ltd Managing Director and CEO Raymond Bickson said here. The project for the smart basic hotels, known till now as `indiOne’, had also been renamed as `Ginger’, Mr Bickson said. The investment for a 100-room hotel, excluding the land cost, would be around Rs 10 crore, he said. By the end of 2006, Ginger hotels would be opened in Bhubaneswar, Pune, Mysore, Thiruvananthapuram, Durgapur and Goa.
— PTI
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Rs 1,150-crore fund to revive industry
New Delhi, March 21 “We have sought Rs 1,150 crore under the IIUS and Rs 650 crore has already been sanctioned,” Mr Kumar told reporters after holding a meeting with 80 representatives from the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) from Punjab, particularly from the border districts of Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Ferozepore. Under the scheme, the industry clusters can come together with proposals to set up common water treatment plants or other technological upgradation plans which would be financed to the extent of 70 per cent by the Centre. The minister said the industry, particularly in the SME sector, was crying for help and he would have a series of consultations with the industry associations throughout the country.
— UNI
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More funds for Bharat Nirman
Karnal, March 21 This was stated by Union Minister of State for Planning M.V. Rajasekharan while inaugurating a national- level seminar on “Rural Development- Retrospect and Prospects at the Haryana Institute of Rural Development at Nilokheri, near here, today. He said the six components of the Bharat Nirman programme included rural connectivity, rural housing, rural electrification, irrigation, drinking water and rural telephony. The rejuvenation of rural areas and eradication of poverty were closely linked to availability of rural infrastructure. An analysis of incidence of poverty and availability of infrastructure showed that incidence of poverty was highly co-related to absence of rural infrastructure, he said, adding that the Bharat Nirman programme had been taken up to correct this
imbalance. — PTI
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