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FM proposes 20% GST on goods
Wynn Telecom to set up mobile handset unit in HP
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Parkway shareholders favour Khazanah’s bid
Reckitt to buy SSL Intl for £2.5 bn
Toyota rolls out diesel variant of Altis
India keen to buy BP’s assets in Vietnam: Deora
BP sells assets worth $7 bn
Apple’s Q3 profit soars 78 pc
Middlemen offer low price to rose oil producer
EIL public offer to hit market on July 27
Pension scheme for poor soon, says PFRDA
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FM proposes 20% GST on goods
New Delhi, July 21
Mukherjee proposed these rates to the state finance ministers at a meeting here today to evolve consensus over GST that is planned to be implemented from April 1, next year. All central and state taxes like excise, VAT and service tax will be rolled into GST, once the new regime comes into effect. The revenue from GST will be shared equally between the Centre and states, implying that out of 20 per cent tax proposed for goods, 10 per cent each would go to the Centre and the state concerned. Similarly, in case of services, the revenues would be equally shared between the Centre and the state. Besides the maximum rate of 20 per cent, Mukherjee has also proposed a lower rate of 12 per cent for essential items. This, too, will be shared euqally between the Centre and states at 6 per cent each. While elaborating on the dual rate structure for goods, Mukherjee said, "The peak effective rate will be about 15 per cent which will be quite acceptable to the trade and industry." The 15 per cent could be the effective average rate as a result of the dual rates for goods. The minister assured the states that the Centre would "step up the amount of compensation recommended by 13th Finance Commission should the need arise, based on a mutually agreed formula." The Commission, which advises on revenue sharing between the Centre and states, had asked the union government to set aside Rs 50,000 crore to compensate states for the possible revenue loss incurred on account of implementation of GST. "GST, a landmark reform of indirect taxes, is well within our reach. It is now for us to convert it into reality," Mukherjee stated. Mukherjee said the Centre has decided to review the existing exemptions from Central excise duty so that the list of goods exempt from CGST (central GST) is aligned to the SGST (state GST) list, and the 99 items currently exempt from VAT are taken off both the components of GST. Elaborating on the GST proposal, he said the effort should be to make the transition to GST "smooth and painless" and thus proposed to adopt a single rate structure with unification of the rate for goods and services in a phased manner over three years. On the issue of central sales tax (CST) compensation, which has caused much anguish among states, he said that the Centre has decided to "fully compensate" the states for their revenue losses on account of CST reduction during 2009-10. — PTI
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Wynn Telecom to set up mobile handset unit in HP
Chandigarh, July 21 Talking to mediapersons here today, Arvind Vohra, managing director, Wynn Telecom Ltd., the mobile phone division of SAR Group, said the manufacturing unit would come up at Gagret (Baddi) in Himachal Pradesh. "The unit is expected to be operational by the end of next year, and will have a production capacity of one million handsets a month," he said. Vohra said this year, the company would be spending Rs 100 crore on product development and distribution, branding and marketing. “The remaining Rs 130 crore would be spent for the same purpose in 2011,” he said. SAR Group is anticipating that its mobile handset business would have 25 per cent share in the group’s total turnover, which is expected to reach Rs 2,430 crore by the end of 2010-11 as against Rs 935 crore in the last fiscal. The company, which started its operations in May this year, also plans to launch new touch-screen and slim handsets by August this year. "Our USP will be the low price point. All seven models launched by the company are priced between Rs 1,400 and Rs 4,200. A major portion of the mobile market in India is dominated by handsets priced between Rs 1,500 and Rs 5,000, and dual SIM mobiles are leading the growth,” he said.
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Parkway shareholders favour Khazanah’s bid
Singapore, July 21 In a notice to the Singapore Stock Exchange, Integrated Healthcare Holdings Ltd (IHHL) said its partial offer received 604,926,786 valid votes, representing 70 per cent of eligible shareholders. However, only 5 per cent of the shareholders have tendered their acceptances so far. IHHL, which is an arm of Malaysia's sovereign fund Khazanah, launched a $835 million partial offer for 51.5 per cent Parkway stake at SGD 3.78 per share. India's Fortis had launched a $2.3 billion counter offer at Singapore dollars 3.8 per share to fully acquire Parkway. "As on July 20, IHHL has received an aggregate of 604,926,786 valid votes from offer shareholders on the partial offer," the notice said. The shares amount to 70 per cent of the total number of shares which are eligible to vote on the partial offer, the notice added. "In addition, 15,661,986 shares have been tendered as acceptances, representing approximately 5 per cent of the 313,000,000 offer shares," it added. Commenting on the development, IHHL Director Quek Pei Lynn said: "We are very pleased that the majority of Parkway shareholders who have voted to date have chosen to approve our Partial Offer." The success of IHHL's partial offer will, however, be subject to its approval by shareholders representing more than 50 per cent of the votes received, not considering its own vote; and also on valid acceptances for no less than 313,000,000 shares. The partial offer is to close on July 26 or such later date(s) as may be announced from time to time by or on behalf of the offeror, the notice said. On the other hand Fortis' open offer is scheduled to close on August 12. Currently, Fortis owns 25.37 per cent of Parkway, while IHHL has 23.32 per cent stake. — PTI
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Reckitt to buy SSL Intl for £2.5 bn
London, July 21 The deal would boost Reckitt's presence in the health and personal care sector. Both the companies have reached an agreement for the proposed deal, Reckitt Benckiser said in a statement today. Reckitt and SSL have good presence in India. Reckitt Benckiser's well known brands are Dettol and Veet, among others. Under the terms of the offer, SSL shareholders would get 1,163 pence in cash per share as well as a dividend of 8 pence per piece for the year ended March 31, 2010. "The offer price plus the SSL dividend values SSL's fully diluted share capital at around £2,540 million,” said the statement. The offer would be made by Reckitt Benckiser's wholly-owned British subsidiary Reckitt Benckiser Plc. Reckitt Benckiser chief executive Bart Becht said the deal would unite two new brands to its portfolio - Durex, leading condom brand and Scholl, well known brand in the footcare category. "The acquisition will increase our health & personal care net revenue by over 36 per cent to approximately £2.8 billion, one-third of the group's total net revenue," Becht noted.
— PTI |
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Toyota rolls out diesel variant of Altis
New Delhi, July 21 The company, which is present in India through a joint venture with the Kirloskar Group and is looking to tap small car segment in the country with the launch of its small car Etios. It will offer the new car with a 1.4 litre six-speed manual transmission engine. "As part of our long-term commitment to bring the best of Toyota technology to India, we are very proud to introduce the Corolla Altis diesel. I am happy to say that it will have the best fuel efficiency in its segment," Toyota Kirloskar Motor Managing Director Hiroshi Nakagawa told reporters here. The company claims that the new Corolla Altis will give a mileage of 21.43 km per litre as far ARAI (Automotive Research Association of India) conditions. Company officials said Etios would be brought in next year and they expect it would capture the sales in India. They feel that more than half of its overall sales in India during the next year would come from the new model. "Next year, the total sales of the company will be 1,50,000 units, out of which we expect the Etios to be around 67,000 units," Toyota Kirloskar Motor deputy managing director (marketing) Sandeep Singh said.
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India keen to buy BP’s assets in Vietnam: Deora
Hanoi (Vietnam), July 21 Oil Minister Murli Deora flew into the Vietnamese Capital this morning with heads of bluechip Indian oil firms to lay a claim with Hanoi on BP's stake in two offshore gas fields, a pipeline and power project - together referred as Nam Con Son, Vietnam's largest gas project. "This is a great opportunity for us. The gas fields were originally allocated to us but due to foreign exchange crisis of 1990s, we had to farm-out (give away) some stake to BP. We will like to get back that stake," Deora said ahead of his meetings with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Government-run PetroVietnam. BP is considering selling fields in Colombia, Venezuela and Vietnam in order to meet the $20 billion clean-up bill of the worst US spill. It had in June announced a $10 billion asset sale programme to pay the costs of compensating victims of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill caused by the blowout of the Macondo well in April. China's CNOOC and Sinopec, as well as Thailand's PTTEP may also be interested in BP's stake in the Vietnam project. OVL, the overseas arm of ONGC, already has 45 per cent stake in the offshore gas fields where BP has 35 per cent and the balance is with PetroVietnam. A 370-km pipeline ships the gas produced from the fields to onshore power plants. BP has 32.33 per cent stake in the $565 million pipeline where its other partners are ConocoPhillips (16.7 per cent) and Petrovietnam (51 per cent). — PTI
BP sells assets worth $7 bn
London: The embattled British energy giant BP will raise $7 billion from selling its assets in three countries, including the US, to primarily fund the rising expenses related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, which is entering the fourth month. The British energy giant would be offloading upstream assets in the US, Canada, and Egypt to oil and gas exploration company Apache Corporation of the US. These deals are worth $7 billion, BP said. |
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Apple’s Q3 profit soars 78 pc
New York, July 21 In the year-ago period, the company had a net income of $1.82 billion, Apple said. The company's net sales rose by 61 per cent from the year-ago period to $15.7 billion for the third quarter ended June 26, 2010. "It was a phenomenal quarter that exceeded our expectations all around, including the most successful product launch in Apple's history with iPhone 4," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs. During the quarter, Apple sold 8.4 million iPhones. In addition, the company sold 3.47 million Macs, a 33 per cent increase over the year-ago quarter.
— PTI |
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Middlemen offer low price to rose oil producer
Kalalwala (Talwandi Sabo), July 21 Singh said he has undertaken many trips to Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh, the country’s perfume capital, in a bid to sell his produce but was not getting the expected price as middlemen and exporters were not offering him the price that was prevalent in the market. He has produced about 4 kg of rose oil from his organic farm during the past two years through steam distillation and is holding the stock for want of remunerative price. Rose oil fetches a very high price in the international market because of its medicinal properties and it occupies the foremost place in the perfume industry. About 30 roses are required to produce a single drop of rose oil as a result of which its price is very high. Steam distilled rose oil is particularly used for skin care and pharmaceuticals. Singh says he started rose cultivation in 2002 for producing rose oil that initially fetched him around Rs 2.90 lakh per kg. However, this time the middlemen of Kannauj were offering him only Rs 2.50 lakh per kg.
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EIL public offer to hit market on July 27
Mumbai: Engineers India Ltd on Wednesday said its Rs 1,000 crore follow-on public offer will open on July 27. The public offer of 3.36 crore equity shares of Rs 5 each will open on July 27 and closes on July 29 for qualified institutional buyers and on July 30 for the rest (retail and HNIs), the company said. — PTI Airtel pre-paid offer
Chandigarh: Bharti Airtel has announced that its pre-paid mobile customers in Punjab and Haryana would be able to make local Airtel-to-Airtel calls at just 10 paise per minute. The customers in Haryana would also be able to make STD and local calls to other phones at 1p per second.— TNS |
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Pension scheme for poor soon, says PFRDA
New Delhi, July 21 "We are launching the NPS Light. It is a low-cost structure meant for addressing the pension needs for the economically deprived sections of the society. We have kept the minimum contribution at Rs 1,000 annually," Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) chief Yogesh Agarwal said today. — PTI |
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Corporate Results
New Delhi, July 21 Kotak Mahindra Bank
Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank today reported a 27 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 328 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2010. Total income of the the lender, however, dipped to Rs 2,326.51 crore for the June quarter, from Rs 2,338.19 crore in the corresponding period a year ago. REC's profit Rs 587 cr
State-run Rural Electrification Corporation today posted a net profit of Rs 587.36 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2010. Total income of the company rose to Rs 1,899.59 crore from the Rs 1,460.87 crore in the same period last fiscal. TVS net up over two-fold
Chennai-based TVS Motor Company today reported an over two-fold jump in net profit at Rs 40.38 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2010, and announced to issue bonus shares to its shareholders. The total income during the first quarter increased by 40.89 per cent to Rs 1,392.96 crore from Rs 988.70 crore. "The board has recommended the issue of bonus equity shares to the shareholders in the ratio of 1:1 by capitalising equivalent amount standing to the credit of the general reserves of the company for approval of the shareholders though postal ballot," the statement said. Besides, the board also declared a second interim dividend of Re 0.50, which is 50 per cent per share, for 2009-10. JK Paper net up 44 pc
JK Paper has reported 44.39 a per cent jump in net profit for the quarter ended June 30 to Rs 29.11 on robust performances by all segments and better sales realisation after hiking product prices. The total income of the paper manufacturer during the first quarter increased by 11.65 per cent to Rs 291.18 crore from Rs 260.80 crore in the year-ago period. NIIT Technologies
Global software services firm NIIT Technologies has said its quarterly net profit more than doubled in the quarter ending June 30. NIIT’s net profit rose to Rs 40.8 crore from Rs 17.6 crore. The company’s revenues rose 34 per cent to Rs 291 crore. —
PTI/TNS |
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To launch small car Etios next year
