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RIL likely to tie up with Chevron
Mixed reaction to credit policy
Interest rate ceiling on NRE deposits,
Reddy sure of curbing inflation
Boeing to cut 900 US jobs |
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Jet plans to buy 30 aircraft
Cabinet nod to Indo-US aviation pact
PM woos industry
ITC to foray into dhoop segment
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RIL likely to tie up with Chevron
New Delhi, April 18 “Chevron is keen to expand its presence in India. It has already agreed to spend $300 million to buy a 5 per cent stake in a refinery being built by Reliance. The company is now interested in exploration and production opportunities,” a source familiar with the development said. In the previous NELP rounds, Reliance had partnered Niko Resources of Canada and Hardy Oil of the UK. Niko had a 10 per cent stake in blocks Reliance won in NELP-I while Hardy also took minority interest in the blocks Reliance won in subsequent four rounds. Reliance was the operator in all five rounds. The California-based Chevron, which did not take part in the previous five rounds of NELP, had expressed keeness to participate in the latest tender at the roadshows held in Houston last month to promote NELP-VI, the source said, adding that a partnership may result only after the firms are able to decide as to who would be the operator of the blocks. Reliance officials were not available for comments. Chevron, which currently has a lubricant blending and marketing operation in India, was also looking at partnering Reliance for marketing natural gas produced from the Indian firm’s D-6 field in Krishna Godavari basin off the Andhra coast, sources said. Sources said Reliance-Chevron may bid together for deep sea blocks on offer in NELP-VI. Off the 55 blocks on offer in NELP-VI, 24 are in deep sea. — PTI
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Oil trades above $71 a barrel globally
Singapore, April 18 US May crude futures rose 32 cents to $70.72 a barrel by 0734 GMT after hitting a high of $70.78, extending Monday’s rally to stand at the highest since Hurricane Katrina battered the US Gulf Coast in late August last year, sending prices to a $70.85 record-peak. Futures for delivery in June, which will become the front-month on Friday, are already trading at $72.32 a barrel. London’s Brent crude surged to another all-time high for the sixth consecutive day at $71.93 a barrel, before easing to $71.83, up 37 cents. Oil prices have soared more than $10, or 16 per cent, over the past four weeks, buoyed by a fresh infusion of fund investment amid mounting concern over Iran’s stand-off with the West and the possibility of the US military action. “The reality is that if there was any attack on Iran, there would certainly be a major disruption to supplies,” said Gerard Burg, an economist at the National Australia Bank (NAB). The United States will meet with world powers on Tuesday to consider targeted sanctions against Iran and has said it wants the UN Security Council to be ready to take strong diplomatic action, including measures such as a freeze on assets and visa curbs. The Security Council has told Iran to halt all sensitive atomic activities and on March 29 asked its nuclear watchdog, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to report on Iranian compliance in 30 days. Worries over the prolonged shut-in of more than 5 lakh barrels per day (bpd) in OPEC-producer Nigeria because of militant action have also supported oil prices. Ministers from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), who will gather informally this weekend during an International Energy Forum meeting in Doha, have said there is nothing more the group can do to bring down prices.
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Mixed reaction to credit policy
New Delhi, April 18 Welcoming the continuation of the bank rate and reverse repo rate, Mr Bibek Debroy, Secretary-General, PHDCCI, said taking into consideration the liquidity crunch, inflation rate under check and projected deposits to grow by Rs 3,30,000 crore, the RBI should have reduced the CRR by 0.50 basis points to improve the liquidity in the system. Mr Debroy said the RBI had announced an overcautious policy and erred towards controlling inflation. A more realistic, aggressive policy would have given the desired push to the economic growth to achieve the targeted GDP of 7.5 - 8.0 per cent during 2006-07. “Increase in the ceiling on interest rate on credit in foreign currency by 25 basis points was uncalled for. This will further increase the cost of funds for the export sector and impact ,competitiveness,” Mr. Debroy said, adding that the increase in the ceiling on interest rate on non-resident (external) rupee deposits by 25 basis points would improve the flow of deposits into the country from overseas. President of the CII said that the growth momentum of the economy had only been given a boost by the policy. The CII observed that not changing the repo and the reverse repo rate would keep the liquidity situation in the market conducive for the growth of the industry. However, the RBI could have considered a reduction in the cash reserve ratio in keeping with the stated objective of the RBI to gradually bring it down to 3 per cent over a period of time. Mr O.P. Garg, President, FIEO, lamented that the raising of the ceiling on the interest rate on export credit in foreign currency by 25 basis points would increase the cost of credit to the export sector. Mr B. Prabhakar , President, Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC), said that given the fact that the oil prices were rising again, the RBI should monitor regularly the macro economic variables to ward off any distortion in the economy.
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Interest rate ceiling on NRE deposits, export credit hiked
Mumbai, April 18 Retaining the current interest rate on savings deposits, the central bank, however, favoured deregulation of these rates in the long run for product innovation and price discovery. Currently, the interest rate on savings is 3.5 per cent per annum. In the Annual Policy Statement for 2006-07, the RBI increased the interest rate ceiling on non-resident (external) (NRE) deposits in rupee for one to three years maturity by 0.25 per cent to 1 per cent above LIBOR/ SWAP rates for the US dollar of corresponding maturity with immediate effect. After the recent increase in the foreign currency non- resident deposit interest ceiling by 0.25 per cent, the hike in the interest rate ceiling of NRE deposits appears to be aimed at ensuring adequate liquidity in the system by attracting more NRI deposits. Also, the interest rate on export credit in foreign currency, currently within the ceiling of LIBOR plus 0.75 per cent, has been increased by 0.25 per cent to be LIBOR plus 1 per cent with immediate effect. Further, the apex bank has asked the Indian Banks’ Association to undertake a comprehensive review of interest rate on savings bank deposits and lending rates on small loans up to Rs 2 lakh. — PTI
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Reddy sure of curbing inflation
Mumbai, April 18 “We are confident about containing inflation... We are worried about the global oil prices...RBI will manage risks as they evolve,” he told reporters after announcing the bank’s annual credit policy for 2006-07. The RBI has forecast inflation to be in the range of 5-5.5 per cent this fiscal, the same as last year. Explaining the reasons behind the policy’s move to keep key interest rates unchanged, he said the measure was aimed at bringing credit growth to a more sustainable level. “This is a pre-emptive action. The interest rate structure will be assessed at the time of quarterly credit review in July,” he said. The RBI assured appropriate liquidity for legitimate credit requirements, consistent with price and financial stability. Asked about raising provisioning for standard advances for home loans beyond Rs 20 lakh to 1 per cent, Mr Reddy said it was in line with the Narasimhan Committee recommendations. “We don’t have experience about this. We will see the impact of this hike,” he said. He said the central bank’s policy was aimed at improving credit quality, besides leading to a quantum jump in financial services penetration. — PTI
Boeing to cut 900 US jobs
Wichita (USA), April 18 The Chicago-based company said its Wichita defence plant would focus on military 747 and wide-body aircraft modifications and upgrades. It also planned to continue its engineering centre, focusing its engineering work here on the B-52 Stratofortress and other defence and civil aviation- related businesses. Boeing said it would issue 60-day layoff notices to 360 workers today.
—AP
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Jet plans to buy 30 aircraft
New Delhi, April 18 The company, which is currently in the process of finalising its $500 million acquisition of Air Sahara, informed the BSE that it has concluded sale and lease back transaction for five aircraft in 2005-06. It said it had planned the “purchase of 30 aircraft over the next few years.” Jet Airways also informed BSE that it had appointed well-known Bollywood Producer and Director Yash Chopra as an Additional Director on its Board.
— PTI
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Cabinet nod to Indo-US aviation pact
New Delhi, April 18 The agreement provides for assistance by the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) in developing and modernising civil aviation infrastructure in managerial, operational and technical areas. Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said after the Cabinet meeting that similar agreements had been signed by the USA with more than 100 countries. He said the agreement, which would create enabling provisions for seeking specific assistance from the FAA, was an essential requirement also for receiving assistance from the US agency. The Cabinet also approved the writing off of the accumulated losses totalling Rs 278.44 crore of the United Bank of India (UBI) and return of equity share capital of around Rs 700 crore by the bank to the government. The losses against the capital of Rs 1810.87 crore would be written off with effect from March 31, 2006, Mr Sibal said. The Cabinet had also given its approval for converting a portion of the remaining equity share capital of around Rs 832.43 crore of the bank into preference share capital.
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PM woos industry
New Delhi, April 18 “I urge you to give more attention to questions of social and economic discrimination and deprivation to the educational and health status of our people, to employment generation, to social security and to the employment of women and minorities,” Dr Manmohan Singh told the captains of industry at the CII’s annual conference. Dr Manmohan Singh also urged the Indian industry to think big about rural development and agrarian change.
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ITC to foray into dhoop segment
Chandigarh, April 18 Mr V.M. Rajasekharan, CEO, Agarbatti business of ITC Limited, informed TNS that two of the eight vendors who are sourcing the incense sticks to ITC, have now been asked to manufacture dhoop. Like agarbatti, the Rs 150-crore dhoop market, too, is largely unorganised. “We have chosen a Dera Bassi vendor and a unit in Delhi for making dhoop. Since the consumption of dhoop is primarily in the North, we have asked the two vendors to start manufacturing dhoop,” he said. ITC Limited had started its agarbatti division only in September 2004. Through its brand, Mangaldeep, the company is now recognised as one of the main national players in the market. The eight vendors of the company – three in Bangalaore and one each in Pondicherry (Sri Aurobindo Ashram), Coimbatore, Dera Bassi, Delhi and Tripura — have the capacity to manufacture 150 million sticks per month. This agarbatti division had a 100 per cent growth in the just concluded fiscal, with a turnover of Rs 30 crore. The CEO said that they were also eyeing the Rs 300 crore overseas agarbatti market. “We had started with the exports to West Asia, Malaysia, Singapore, Nepal and the US in last financial year. This year, we will also be exporting incense sticks to the UK, and propose to introduce new fragrances for the European market,” he said.
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