B U S I N E S S

PM asks rich nations to resist protectionism
Toronto, June 28
Making it clear that each country needed to devise its own strategy to weather the deepest global financial crisis in decades, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday asked rich nations to resist protectionism.

No plan to buy stake in Loop Telecom: MTN
New Delhi, June 28
In the era of merger and acquisitions in the telecom sector in the country, where shakeups can be expected, speculation is also rife about the buyouts. As India is emerging as the fastest-growing telecom market in the world, there are opportunities for the global telecom players to gain a foothold in the country.

Punjab industry seeks release of VAT refunds
Chandigarh, June 28
Industry in Punjab has accused the State Excise and Taxation Department of withholding tax refunds worth Rs 300 crore, belonging to several Ludhiana-based light engineering goods manufacturers.

Ulip lock-in period raised to 5 yrs
New Delhi, June 28
After winning the turf war with the markets regulator Sebi over control over Ulips, the insurance watchdog Irda today tightened the norms for these schemes by raising the lock-in period and raising the insurance cover on them.

Easy Bill to accept LIC payments
Gurgaon, June 28
Easy Bill, a service provider in the bill payment and ticketing sector, yesterday announced its tie-up with the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) for providing LIC customers an easy premium-paying facility.

A Pakistani carpenter works in his workshop in Rawalpindi on Monday. Pakistan's GDP has grown 4.1 per cent in the current financial year to June 30, up from 1.2 per cent over the same period last year. The growth came despite difficult two years in which the country was battered by the global recession and an upsurge in extremist violence. — AFP

Tata Motors to raise Rs 4,700 cr
New Delhi, June 28
Tata Motors today said it plans to raise about Rs 4,700 crore through the issue of securities in domestic and international markets to fund the company's expansion programmes and reduce debt.

RIL strikes oil in Cambay basin
Mumbai, June 28
Reliance Industries today announced that it has discovered more oil in the Cambay basin block in Gujarat. The company said that it was the seventh oil discovery in the area which was awarded to it under NELP-V.

PM asks rich nations to resist protectionism

Toronto, June 28
Making it clear that each country needed to devise its own strategy to weather the deepest global financial crisis in decades, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday asked rich nations to resist protectionism.

Stating that India was better placed in handling the situation with an average growth of 7 per cent in the past two fiscals, the Prime Minister said emerging economies must also rely less on exports and push domestic demand.

As the leaders of the group of 20 advanced and emerging economies listened in attention, the Oxford-educated economist-Prime Minister said India on its part will go for medium-term fiscal consolidation and halve its fiscal deficit by 2013-14.

"Contractionary policies if followed by many industrialised countries simultaneously could provoke a double-dip recession," the Prime Minister warned at the opening plenary at the downtown Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

"We have much greater risk of deflation than inflation. We must, therefore, give primacy to recovery, while also taking steps to deal with sovereign debt," he said.

The business district of this Canadian entertainment and commercial capital was virtually taken over by the police, which also arrested over 400 protesters amid violence and rioting in some areas.

Some local residents also criticised Canada's Stephen Harper government for spending some $1 billion in hosting the G 8 and G 20 summits.

Manmohan Singh said he understood that fiscal consolidation obviously needed high priority in those advanced nations that were experiencing exceptional fiscal stress and in those where sovereign debt was shaky.

"But other advanced countries should opt for a much more calibrated exit from the stimulus. We should adopt a carefully differentiated approach, reflecting the circumstances of individual countries," the Prime Minister added.

Speaking about developing countries, the Prime Minister said the need was to increase investment demand by focusing on infrastructure that can sustain growth in the short term by offsetting the contraction on account of lower exports.

"But growth in developing countries would be greatly helped if threats of new protectionist measures in industrialised countries are firmly resisted and existing barriers to trade, especially those affecting developing countries, are reduced."

In this context, he said it was imperative to conclude the Doha Development Round of the World Trade Organisaion (WTO).

The G20 was formed in the late 1990s after the East Asian fiscal crisis as a forum for finance ministers and central bank governors to discuss the global financial system. Comprising 19 countries and the EU, it assumed a summit level in November 2008.

Besides India, its member countries are the US, Canada, Russia, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea and Turkey. — IANS

No plan to buy stake in Loop Telecom: MTN
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 28
In the era of merger and acquisitions in the telecom sector in the country, where shakeups can be expected, speculation is also rife about the buyouts. As India is emerging as the fastest-growing telecom market in the world, there are opportunities for the global telecom players to gain a foothold in the country.

This, especially, with a large number of startup companies looking to sell their stake to attract foreign equity.

The latest to face the buyout speculation has been South African telecom giant MTN, which was once in talks with the country’s two largest telecom players, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications (RCom) for a merger.

As reports came in that after failing to gain a foothold in India through mergers, MTN was looking to buy a stake in startup company Loop Telecom, the South African global telecom player has gone out to deny any such move.

MTN, which has been looking to strengthen its presence across the world after failed talks with Airtel and RCom, said in Johannesburg that it was not in talks to buy stake in Loop Telecom.

A newspaper report had said that MTN has been holding talks through merchant bankers and that Loop Telecom might be willing to sell up to 45 per cent stake.

Loop Telecom has mobile telephony licences in 21 circles and has been looking for a strategic investor for some time now.

Loop, in which the Ruias of Essar Group have a less than 10 per cent holding, had also held talks with billionaire serial investor C Sivasankaran. The non-resident Indian investor had in the 1990s sold his Sterling Cellular to the Ruias, marking the group’s entry into telecom.

Loop began scouting for a partner after it was reportedly cleared by the DoT earlier this month from charges of violating cross-holding restrictions.

Punjab industry seeks release of VAT refunds
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 28
Industry in Punjab has accused the State Excise and Taxation Department of withholding tax refunds worth Rs 300 crore, belonging to several Ludhiana-based light engineering goods manufacturers.

In a statement issued by Avtar Singh, general secretary, Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings, he said, "The Excise and Taxation Department has held up VAT refunds amounting to Rs 300 crore of a large number of bicycle parts manufacturers, bicycle makers and light engineering goods manufacturers, even though they have not violated any provisions of VAT laws”.

Seeking the intervention of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, the industry has said that he should direct the department to issue VAT refunds at the earliest.

However, senior officials at the Excise and Taxation Department denied that it had withheld any VAT refunds. The department also rejected the industry's allegation that it had made a list of industrialists, against whom investigations would be conducted.

It is pertinent to mention that last year, the Punjab Excise and Taxation Department had detected a major scam, in which it was found that various Ludhiana, Khanna and Mandi Gobindgarh-based traders were involved in evading VAT amounting to Rs 100 crore through the issuance of bogus bills worth Rs 2,000 crore.

Ulip lock-in period raised to 5 yrs

New Delhi, June 28
After winning the turf war with the markets regulator Sebi over control over Ulips, the insurance watchdog Irda today tightened the norms for these schemes by raising the lock-in period and raising the insurance cover on them.

The lock-in period for all unit-linked products (Ulips) has been increased from three years to five years, including the top-up premiums, thereby making them long-term financial instruments which basically provide risk protection, Irda said in the guidance note, released today.

The step has made Ulips a long-term investment vehicle and will insurers increased time horizon for the investment, industry players said.

Besides insurance cover on such products, the premium has also gone up to 10 times of the first-year premium compared to existing five times.

The fight between Sebi and Irda was basically on the issue whether Ulips are investment product or insurance schemes. Ulips are those insurance products the value of which are linked to market price of the stocks in which a part of those money is invested.

Irda today tried to increase the insurance aspects of Ulips. As was expected commission and expenses have been reduced by evenly distributing it through out the lock-in period.

“Charges on Ulips are mandated to be evenly distributed during the lock-in period to ensure that high front-ending of expenses is eliminated,” Irda said, adding all limited premium Ulips, other than single premium products, shall have premium paying term of at least five years.

The regulator said insurers would provide a mortality cover or a health cover to all Ulips, other than pension and annuity products, thereby increasing the risk cover component on them.

All Ulip pension or annuity products will offer a minimum guaranteed return of 4.5 per cent per annum or as specified by the Irda from time to time.

All insurers are directed to conform to these features so that they can introduce products with due approval from Irda. From September 1, 2010, all Ulips shall conform to this circular, the regulator said. — PTI

Easy Bill to accept LIC payments
Tribune News Service

Gurgaon, June 28
Easy Bill, a service provider in the bill payment and ticketing sector, yesterday announced its tie-up with the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) for providing LIC customers an easy premium-paying facility.

Easy Bill will accept all premium payments, whether in time or late. This service is available at all Easy Bill outlets throughout the country.

Speaking on the occasion, Rahul Munjal, MD and CEO, Easy Bill, said: “It is a great honour for us to be associated with the LIC of India. With this association, we look forward to extending our reach and making our customers’ life easier through our need-based services.” Easy Bill, a Hero group company, offers a wide range of services in paying bills such as electricity, mobile, telephone, general insurance and credit cards etc, all under one roof.

The company, which is operational in nearly 50 cities, has now launched its Instant brand. Under Instant, Easy Bill provides a bouquet of services, apart from bill payments, such as air, train and bus ticketing, besides pre-paid mobile recharge, among others.

Tata Motors to raise Rs 4,700 cr

New Delhi, June 28
Tata Motors today said it plans to raise about Rs 4,700 crore through the issue of securities in domestic and international markets to fund the company's expansion programmes and reduce debt.

At a meeting held today, the company's board decided to seek shareholders' approval to raise the funds, as well as to increase its borrowing limit to Rs 30,000 crore from Rs 20,000 crore.

"The board, inter alia, decided to seek shareholders' approval through a postal ballot for raising funds equivalent to about Rs 4,700 crore," Tata Motors said in a statement.

The auto manufacturer will raise the amount through the issue of ordinary shares, convertible bonds, debentures, warrants or other equity-linked instruments in the "domestic and/or international" markets in one or more tranches, it added.

"The above fund-raising proposals will be for meeting the company's growth plans, as well as for reducing the debt on its balance sheet," the statement added.

The company, however, did not mention any time frame to raise the funds, saying, "The timing and structure of the issues will be decided depending upon market conditions post shareholders' and other approvals." — PTI

RIL strikes oil in Cambay basin
Tribune News Service

Mumbai, June 28
Reliance Industries today announced that it has discovered more oil in the Cambay basin block in Gujarat. The company said that it was the seventh oil discovery in the area which was awarded to it under NELP-V.

The current flow has been estimated at 410 barrels of oil per day (bopd) at the Cambay basin block in Gujarat. "The discovery is significant, as this is expected to open more oil pool areas leading to better hydrocarbon potential within the block," RIL said.

This discovery, named ‘Dhirubhai-50’, has been notified to the Government of India and to the Director-General, Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, the statement said. The potential commercial interest of the discovery is being ascertained through more data gathering and analysis, RIL added.