New Delhi, July 13
The Department of Telecom (DoT) has rejected any suggestion to put 74 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) under the automatic route, saying it is not feasible on account of national interest.

As per the existing FDI policy, FDI up to 49 per cent will continue to be on automatic route. The FIPB approval shall be required for FDI in the licencee company, Indian promoters, investment companies, including their holding firms, if it has a bearing on the overall ceiling of 74 per cent.

"Under the present conditions, 74 per cent FDI under automatic route is not feasible in the larger interest of national security", the DoT said in a note to the Department of Economic Affairs as part of its inputs to the Investment Commission.

The Commission headed by Mr Ratan Tata had said in its report, "Investment strategy for India", the impediments — FDI regulation and other conditionalities seen to be detrimental to increased investment, lack of regulator independence leading to perceived absence of a level-playing field and lack of a sustainable and equitable policy environment.

On the issue of aligning levies and fees on telecom with international benchmarks, especially in the Asian region, the DoT said, the matter would be taken into account appropriately.

The DoT has responded to the suggestion of the Commission for allowing new services like Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) saying suitable amendment in licensing condition to permit resale of services and permit MVNOs will be considered appropriately by the DoT. — PTI 

Bangalore, July 13
Criticising the UPA Government for putting on hold all disinvestment decisions and proposals, Infosys chief N.R. Narayana Murthy said the move would hurt the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country.

“I think it (putting on hold disinvestment process) is not a good signal because, as you know, Ratan Tata and the Investment Commission team have said we need large investments in the country and that a part of it certainly will have to come from outside,” Murthy told PTI in an interview.

“If that has to come from outside, we have to send signals that will not slow down that investment,” said Mr Murthy, who is retiring from Infosys, the company he founded and nurtured for 25 years, on August 20 when he turns 60.

“But actions like saying that we will stop disinvestment etc...they are bound to create confusion in the marketplace,” the software icon said.

“So, I hope our political leaders understand this and ensure that they do not decelerate the investment.”

The Manmohan Singh Government earlier this month decided to keep all disinvestment decisions and proposals on hold, pending further review, following representations from some of the constituents and allies of the UPA about the process of disinvestment in some public sector undertakings and taking into account their concerns.

At the end of the day, all parties (constituents and allies) must realise that the only way to solve the problem of poverty in India was by creating jobs. — PTI

New Delhi, July 13
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today approved two projects of the Power Grid Corporation — Rs 557.24 crore transmission system associated with Parbati-III hydroelectric project and Rs 5,221.23 crore Western Regional System Strenghtening Scheme-I.

"The transmission project would facilitate evacuation of power from Parbati-III project and further dispersal to various beneficiaries of Northern region," Minister for Information and Broadcasting Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi told newspersons here.

The transmission system associated with Parbati-III project is to be completed within 42 months from the date of investment approval matching with the commissioning of generation project.

The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) is setting up 520 MW hydroelectric power generation project at Parbati-III in Kulu district of Himachal Pradesh. The project is scheduled for commissioning in November, 2010.

He said with a view to optimise investments, the elements of composite transmission system have been segregated in such a manner that transmission systems associated with Parbati-III, Parbati-II and Koldam projects are developed matching with the phased development of different generation projects.

The total cost of the project can be broken into — Rs 3,581.40 crore, including interest during construction (IDC) of Rs 250.62 crore to be implemented through the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) and Rs 1,639.83 crore, including IDC of Rs 129.80 crore, to be implemented through 100 per cent private participation by an independent private transmission company (IPTC).

He said all constituents of western region are beneficiaries of the western region system scheme. This transmission project would facilitiate drawl and dispersal of power, imported from other regions to various load centres of western region and would also improve the reliability of western region grid. In addition, these links would also strengthen the capacity of the proposed national grid.

New Delhi, July 13
Battling with a severe shortage of gas supply in the international market, the government is likely to sign a deal with Australia in September to import 2.5 million tonnes of LNG, said Petroleum Secretary M.S. Srinivasan here today.

“We have finalised the import of 2.5 million tonnes per annum of LNG from Australia’s Gorgon project and expect to ink the final documents in mid-September,” he said at a roadshow organised by Australia to promote its latest offering of 36 oil and gas areas for bidding.

Though Mr Srinivasan said the Australian LNG was expected at Petronet LNG’s Kochi terminal under construction in Kerala in the second half of 2009, supplies from Gorgon project, jointly promoted by Chevron, Exxon-Mobil and Shell, could be delayed due to some issues on environmental clearance.

Mumbai, July 13
Vijay Mallya-controlled Mcdowell & Company Ltd has acquired Bouvet Ladubay SAS, the wine subsidiary of French champagne major Taittinger, for over Rs 86 crore (14.75 million euros).

The acquisition was made by the company’s Mauritius-based wholly owned subsidiary, Asian Opportunities and Investments Ltd, and was funded from proceeds of the GDR issue and through internal accruals. Necessary agreements had been signed earlier for the conclusion of the transaction.

Following this buyout, Bouvet Ladubay and its wholly owned subsidiary, Chapin Landais, have become wholly owned subsidiaries of Asian Opportunities and that of the company, Mcdowell & Company said today.

Earlier, the UB Group had shelved plans to buy French champagne house Taittinger for Rs 3,000 crore after US private equity firm Starwood Capital, which bought the champagne major last year from its French promoters, sold it to Credit Agricole backed by the Taittinger family.

However, it decided to sell the wine subsidiary separately.

Mcdowell said this buyout would facilitate it to introduce high- quality wines to the emerging wine connoisseur in India and enable it to take advantage of established distribution in Europe and the USA to push other products from its portfolio in the western markets.

Last year, UB Group had acquired Shaw Wallace for about Rs 1,631 crore ($354 million), which made the Indian liquor major the world’s second-largest spirits group. — PTI

Chandigarh, July 13
Rhino, the first indigenously manufactured multi-utility vehicle (MUV) by a regional company, International Cars and Motors Ltd. (ICML), will now be sold in Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, South Africa, Congo and Algeria.

The first assembly line unit for the MUV will be set up in Indonesia, and the company will also come up with a mid-segment car in 2008.

This was disclosed by the Managing Director of ICML, Mr Deepak Mittal, here today, who was in the city to inaugurate its dealership. He said in the first year of its operations, ICML was aiming at a turnover of Rs 250 crore.

"The assembly line unit will be set up in collaboration with our Indonesian partner, at their premises. The talks for the same are in final stages and all components will be exported from there. We are also looking at some African countries for exporting Rhino. By the end of this year, we will be exporting 2,000 Rhinos," he said.

Though the Rhino production started only three months ago, ICML is presently manufacturing 500 units in a month against the plant capacity of 2,000 units a month. "Within next three years, we will be able to manufacture to the full plant capacity, and will be exporting 24,000 units a year," said Mr Mittal.

He said that the company was awaiting Euro III certification for its diesel engine, following which the MUV will be sold in Delhi. "By December this year, we will have a pan India presence with 40 dealers. Two new variants of Rhino will be launched next year," he added.

“We are now looking at the overseas market for Sonalika tractors, as domestic sales have reached a plateau. We have tied up with Renault in France for selling tractors in Europe and with Yenmar of Japan for entering the US market,” said Mr Mittal.

New York, July 13
The India story has just got stronger on the global arena with the country expanding its presence on the elite list of Fortune Global 500 companies, as the PSU banking major State Bank of India has become the sixth domestic firm to feature in the league.

Besides SBI's grand entry to the list, all five current incumbents — Reliance Industries, Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd and ONGC — have scaled up the ranking on the list of world's biggest 500 companies.

The US-based energy giant ExxonMobil tops the list of Fortune Global 500 companies, which would be published in the August issue of the CNN-Time Warner group magazine that hits the news stands on July 24.

Among the six Indian companies on the list, IOC holds the top rank at 153rd position, followed by RIL at 342th rank, BPCL at 368, HPCL at 378th, ONGC at 402nd and the new entry SBI has been placed at 498th rank.

RIL has scaled up 75 ranks on the list from the previous year, while IOC has gained 17 positions, BPCL has jumped 61 ranks, HPCL has moved up 58 positions and ONGC has scaled up 52 positions. RIL figures among the top 25 climbers on the list.

The US leads the pack in terms of home to global giants with 170 global 500 companies headquartered there. However, India and China are gaining ground, the magazine said.— PTI

New Delhi, July 13
IndiGo, promoted by InterGlobe Enterprises, today opened for sale its non-stop daily service between Delhi and Guwahati with a same-aircraft continuation to Imphal from August 4. Non-stop daily service between Delhi and Pune with a same-aircraft continuation to Bangalore will start on August 10.

IndiGo will add one new Airbus A320 aircraft each month for the remainder of 2006. It will initially offer non-stop daily service between Delhi and Kolkata with a same-aircraft continuation to Guwahati from August 20.

Flights between Delhi and Bangalore will commence on August 20.

From September 20, IndiGo will add non-stop daily service between Delhi and Hyderabad with a same-aircraft continuation to Chennai.

To facilitate speedy booking and the ready availability of tickets, IndiGo is providing its customers the choice to book tickets through multiple options. Customers can check schedules and fares and book flights by visiting the company’s websites. 
— UNI

Chandigarh, July 13
Punjab Alkalies and Chemicals Limited (PACL) has registered a net profit of Rs 17.89 crore during the financial year ending March 31, 2006. The turnover of the company during this period was Rs 245.86 crore as compared to Rs 207.13 crore during the previous fiscal, registering a growth of 19 per cent.

The above results were placed before the Board of Directors of the company at its meeting held recently. 

Aspen (Colorado), July 13
The vacation getaway of Saudi Arabia’s Prince Bandar is up for sale for an asking price of $135 million, which could set a US sales record, according to published reports.

Bandar’s 15- bedroom, 16 bathroom 5,040-square-metre mansion, complete with a racquetball court, indoor pool, and outdoor water features, is up for sale because the prince is too busy to enjoy his mountain palace, real estate agent Joshua Saslove said in a statement, according to The Aspen Times and the Aspen Daily News.

The offering includes several small homes on the property.

Mr Saslove said Prince Bandar was busy chairing his country’s Security Council and spending a lot of time in Washington.

Prince Bandar served as the Saudi Ambassador to the USA from 1983 to 2005. He bought the property above Aspen in 1989 and built the main residence in 1991.

Pitkin County Assessor’s Office valued the main residence at $ 55.95 million, an estimate deputy assessor Larry Fite said was conservative.

Donald Trump’s mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, up for sale for $125 million, was expected to set the record, according to Forbes’ Most Expensive Homes, 2006.

Trump’s refurbished Maison de L’Amitie includes a ballroom, 30-metre-long swimming pool and 140 metres of oceanfront. — AP