Haryana dairy coop federation earns profit

CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — For the first time in its 28-year history the Haryana Dairy Development Cooperative Federation has earned a profit of Rs 128.94 lakh during 1997-98. The federation had recorded a loss of Rs 181.25 lakh last year.

MTNL, VSNL launch India direct service
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Aug 5 — The Department of Telecommuni-cations, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) and Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) today jointly announced the introduction of their India direct service to assist Indians travelling abroad to make calls to India.

To use the service, a person in a foreign country has to call a unique number and is connected automatically to an MTNL operator in Mumbai.

The MTNL operator will then pass the call onto the desired number in India after having checked that the called party is ready to bear the charges.

The called party has to pay depending on the duration of the call at operator assisted international outgoing rates.

The minimum charge is Rs 3 a minute plus a call surcharge of one minute irrespective of whether the call is three minutes or less.

The Acting Chairman and Managing Director of VSNL said that the service will be particularly helpful to Indian overseas students.

Haryana dairy coop federation earns profit
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — For the first time in its 28-year history the Haryana Dairy Development Cooperative Federation has earned a profit of Rs 128.94 lakh during 1997-98.

The federation had recorded a loss of Rs 181.25 lakh last year, Haryana Cooperation Minister Nardir Singh said here today. The accumulated losses of the federation and the milk unions under it totalled about Rs 19 crore.

The federation’s sales turnover rose to 152.30 crore from Rs 112.50 crore in the previous year. It produced 720.64 lakh litres of milk during 1997-98 compared to 492.40 lakh litres procured during the previous year.

The federation supplies about two lakh litres of milk daily to the Delhi Milk Scheme and Mother Dairy. Federation Managing Director R.P. Chander said that per capita consumption of milk in the state was 500 gm per day as against 600 gm in Punjab and 214 gm at the national level.

The federation has launched a dairy project to benefit 10,000 women. It would also launch high energy cattle feed later this month..

Rs 300 cr investment plan by J&K Govt

MUMBAI, Aug 5 (UNI) —The Jammu and Kashmir Government has outlined an investment policy worth Rs 300 crore laying thrust on food processing, agro-based industries, hotel, textiles and infrastructure.

Mr Mohammed Shafi Pandit, state’s Additional Chief Secretary, Industries and Commerce Department, while addressing a meeting “New investment opportunities in Jammu and Kashmir and emerging new thrusts”, here yesterday, Mr Pandit said his government has accepted five proposals from Maharashtra mainly in the food processing sector. Giving details of Kashmir’s investment plans, Mr Pandit said the state had received proposals for investment in the hotel industry worth Rs 35 crore and the project is in the process of being materialised in record time.

He also informed that the state government has tied up with a foreign collaborator in apple processing based on German technology in which apple pomace is re-cycled as fuel to be used generation of energy.

He also informed that the government has given a go-ahead to two industrial growth centres at Samba and Lasipora, two export promotion parks, a food based industry park, and a software technology park, power, telecommunication and social infrastructure will get priority, he added.

Hegde begins meeting CEOs to boost exports

NEW DELHI, Aug 5 (PTI) — Commerce Minister Ramakrishna Hegde today initiated interactions with top corporates, as part of the government’s efforts to give an impetus to exports and achieve the export growth target of 20 per cent for 1998-99.

“We want the top corporates to increase exports. There will not be any revision on the export target”, Hegde said after a meeting with a delegation of Larsen and Toubro (L&T) here.

L&T CEO and Managing Director S.D. Kulkarni, whose company is involved in the export of capital goods and project exports, outlined the need to solve the financial problems confronting the company.

“We have to find a way to overcome problems relating to financing from Exim Bank and guarantees from the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC)”, he said.

The deemed exports benefit extended to us at present is inadequate, Kulkarni said and demanded treatment of deemed exports on a par with physical exports as “foreign exchange saved is foreign exchange earned”.

Besides L&T, Reliance, the Thapar group and the Tatas, the Commerce Minister will hold discussions with the Birla group comprising 77 group companies, the Bajaj group, the Singhanias, RPG enterprises, the TVS Iyengar group and Mahindra and Mahindra.

Hegde will also meet chief executives of the Modi , Chidambaram and Shriram groups, Essar, Mafatlal, Escorts, the Bangur group, Kirloskar, the Jindal group, UB group and Wadia group in the coming weeks.

No funds for sick PSUs

NEW DELHI, Aug 5 (PTI) — Minister of State for Industry Sukhbir Singh Badal has mooted “pooling in” of disinvestment proceeds from public sector undertakings (PSUs) for revival and restructuring of state-owned enterprises.

“The previous government had earmarked 10 per cent of PSU sale proceeds for rehabilitation and restructuring PSUs.

That is not sufficient and the entire proceeds should be used for the purpose,” Badal told PTI in an interview.

Badal said the ministry did not have funds for bailing out sick PSUs and cited the example of its inability to inject funds in (HMT) despite having a restructuring programme in place.

He said disinvestment proceeds should not be part of budgetary revenues.

The apex PSU body, the Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (Scope) had suggested the formation of a development fund to revive sick units with Scope Chairman Uddesh Kohli suggesting that disinvestment proceeds should form the core of such a fund.

On its part the government has earmarked Rs 1,400 crore for sick PSUs towards payments of salaries and other working capital requirement during 1998-99.

Asked about the issues raised by the Disinvestment Commission over its role and functioning, Badal said the Industry Ministry would discuss the “overall matters” regarding disinvestment as soon as the current session of Parliament gets over.

“All matters of disinvestment will be taken up for consideration, including the setting up of the implementation mechanism for the whole process,” Badal said.

No politics in power tariff: Rao

NEW DELHI, Aug 5 (PTI) — Chairman of the newly constituted Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) S.L. Rao today said that the commission would keep “political considerations” out of power tariff.

“We are not a political agency, we are an independent authority and power tariff will be determined by commercial and technical factors while keeping the consumer interests in mind,” Rao, who took the oath of Chairman on Monday, told PTI in an interview.

He, however, termed state power utilities, particularly the state electricity boards (SEBs) as the biggest malady afflicting the power sector and said “the public sector, which has been a dominant element in the power sector is on a negative cash flow, thus making fresh investments difficult.”

Asked about the competitive populism of states in giving free or subsidised powers, which is believed to be main cause for dismal financial health of SEBs, Rao said, “this is a state subject and State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) would have to look into it.”

“CERC’s main job is to look into tariff structure of central PSUs and inter-state power utilities and it will be handled in the most transparent manner,” he said.

The other members of the commission, which is now on the look out for an office, are expected to take oath on Friday, he said.

Mr Rao declined to get into specific issues on the power sector saying that the commission was yet to meet and it would be at least a few weeks before this independent power regulator was in a position to firm up its opinions.

However, he said that the CERC Act, passed by Parliament, had given it the specific tasks of setting the power tariff and licensing of transmission projects in the private sector in the wake of passage of a Bill to enable private participation in this area.

Mr Rao ruled out possibility of any conflict with either the government or the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) while exercising CERC’s statutory powers.

The Power Ministry had handed over its responsibility to an independent authority and “I see no conflict between the CERC and the government,” he said.

Mr Rao said the public sector undertakings were working well and their performance could improve if the health of the state electricity boards was also improved.

New fertiliser policy soon

NEW DELHI, Aug 5 (PTI) — The government will come out with a new fertiliser policy soon and a final round of consultations for this has been completed, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers Surjit Singh Barnala has said.

The concerns of the industry and its views will be taken into consideration while formulating the new policy, Barnala told chief executives of fertiliser companies at a meeting here yesterday.

The meeting was called to discuss the Hanumantha Rao committee report on fertiliser pricing, official sources said.

The heads of fertiliser units reiterated their stand that the committee report should not be implemented in its present form and major modifications were needed.

The industry has opposed the general pricing formula recommended by the Hanumantha Rao committee report on the grounds that producing units using different feedstock and producing several products from different places cannot be generalised.

Market welcomes export package

MUMBAI, Aug 5 (PTI) — Equities recovered initial losses and some key scrips posted handsome gains lifting the sensex by 14 points on Dalal Street due to late buying by operators coupled with good buys by foreign funds and domestic institutions.

The market started off on a weak footing with the BSE sensitive index dipping to the intra-low of 3062.05 during the opening session due to weak overseas markets, particularly Dow Jones, Nikkei and Hongkong.

Prices of several leading scrips, however, recouped its losses and even scored impressive gains at the close as bears covered their short sale positions along with fresh purchases by foreign institutional institutions (FIIs) in Cadbury, Britania, Nestle, Reckitt & Colman and Dr Reddy’s Lab.

Financial institutions also bought shares of Telco, State Bank, Tisco, Reliance Ind, Cochin Refineries, MTNL, Tata Hydro, and L&T.

As a result, the sensex closed at 3133.42 as against yesterday’s close of 3119.54, netting a modest rise of 13.88 points. The BSE-100 index too improved by 7.67 points to 1386.72 from previous close of 1379.05.

Marketmen attributed the fresh purchases by FIIs to Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee’s reported hints that India could sign the “CTBT”.

Operators also welcomed government’s announcement of a package of measures to boost exports including 2 per cent reduction in interest rate on pre-and-post shipment credits, extension of tax holiday from 5 to 10 years for export-oriented and export-processing zone units.

Reflecting the late rally, Telco, Industrial Oxygen, Ashok Leyland, Raymond and BPL Ltd hit the upper circuit breaker after exhausting 8 per cent daily margin.

The BSE-200 and the Dollex were quoted moderately up at 319.23 and 125.14 compared with yesterday’s close of 317.26 and 124.14 respectively.

Total volume of business remained low at Rs 771.20 crore with ITC registering the highest turnover of Rs 201.34 crore followed by Satyam computer (Rs 100.16 crore), SBI-New (Rs 48.84 crore), Zee Telefilms (Rs 45.54 crore) and Pentafour Software (Rs 37.32 crore).

ITC firmed up by 8 to 610. Satyam Computer looked up by 2.25 to 487, SBI-New by 1.80 to 205.80, Pentafour Software by 3 to 588, Telco by 10.50 to 142 and Tisco by 4.75 to 103.50.

LIC launches fund

MUMBAI, Aug 5 (PTI) — LIC Mutual Fund has launched another five-year close-ended fund with a lock-in period of one year and an assured income of 12.5 per cent per annum or 13.25 per cent cumulative payable yearly.

While income is assured for all five years returns would be specified one year at a time, thus allowing for rates to move with the market, R.G. Sharma, Chief Executive, has said.

Announcing this at a conference of LIC Executive has said LIC Chairman, G. Krishnamurthy said Rs 10 crore had already been collected under this scheme and the internal target was set at around Rs 150 crore.

Hindalco net rises by Rs 3.5 cr
MUMBAI, Aug 5 (PTI) — Hindalco’s net profit in the first quarter of the current financial year ended June 30,1998 rose by around Rs 3.5 crore to Rs 12.50 crore as against Rs 9.04 crore during the corresponding period last year. The aluminium giant showed a net sales of Rs 41.78 crore during the fiscal as against Rs 30.20 crore during the same period in 1997. The gross profit stood higher at Rs 19.13 crore as against Rs 12.64 crore and the provision for taxation was at Rs 3.70 crore from Rs 1.78 crore. The company produced 57,897 metric tonnes of metals in the first quarter of 1998 compared to 45,759 metric tonnes during the previous year.

L&T sales up 16 pc
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — The performance of Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) during the quarter ended June 30, 1998 is satisfactory. The sale and services for the quarter at Rs 1470 crore show an increase of 16 per cent over the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Profit before depreciation, interest and taxation (PBDIT) is higher at Rs 181 crore as against Rs 166 crore for the first quarter of the previous year. The company has a higher incidence of interest and depreciation as compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year, because of the commissioning of new cement plants. Consequently, the profit before tax at Rs 80 crore and profit after tax at Rs 72 crore are lower than that of the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Notices on JVG functioning

PATNA Aug 5 (PTI) — The Patna High Court has issued notices to the Centre, the RBI and the CBI, besides the JVG group of companies on a public interest litigation seeking probe into the alleged defrauding of public money by different financing companies of the group. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice B.M. Lal and Justice S.K. Sinha yesterday issued the notices while hearing the petition for “an appropriate inquiry” into the alleged defrauding worth several crores of rupees filed by Vice-President of Buxar Rotary Club Rajshree Rai. The Bench also issued notices to Chairman of the company K. Sharma, asking him to explain his position.

HSBC to advise Reliance

NEW DELHI, Aug 5 (PTI) — HSBC Capital Markets will take up project financing exercises for some leading Indian corporates as well as multinationals under which it would advice them on areas like financial viability and funding. HSBC Capital Markets Chief Shaun Browne told PTI that the bank had received a mandate from six corporates, including Reliance, SAIL, Spic, Ispat and British Gas. HSBC had already started working on the six projects though its advisory role was yet to start. “All the projects have yet to reach financial closure and it is only after this that our job assumes importance,” he said. The projects are: Reliance power at Patalganga, SAIL’s Bhilai power plant, British Gas’s LNG project, the fertiliser project at Dubai of Spic, Ispat’s Bhadravati power plant in Maharashtra and a container port terminal.

‘Go slow’ at Bata factory

CALCUTTA, Aug 5 (PTI) — The four-day old “go slow” agitation resorted to by Bata employees to press for their demands relating to wage agreements has affected the functioning of the company’s despatch department, Bata Vice-President M.J.Z. Mowla said here today. The employees, under the banner of Bata Mazdoor Union, had intensified the agitation after the recent Batanagar incident when Managing Director of the company was physically assaulted by some union members. Mr Mowla maintained that if the agitation continued for long, then distribution and clearance operations of the factory would be seriously affected, disrupting the supplies of footwear in the market.

Sudarshan Chem to pay 30 pc
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — The sales of Sudarshan Chemical Industries Ltd, Pune for the year ended March 31, 1998 have increased by 9 per cent sales and other income for the year stood at Rs 240.06 crore as against Rs 210.74 crore of last year. Net profit before tax amounted to Rs 9.49 crore as against Rs 7.18 crore of last year. Profit after tax is 6.24 crore as against Rs 4.78 crore of last year, showing growth of 31 per cent. The board of directors have recommended dividend of 30 per cent on the share capital of Rs 6.92 crore.

LIC Housing
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — The LIC Housing Finance Ltd, organised a seminar for the agents of Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali to apprise them of various schemes for which loans can be provided to individuals. Mr R.C. Aggarwal Sr. Div. Manager, LIC of India, inaugurated the seminar. Ms Manjeet Kaur Sawhney, Area Manager, LICHFL, explained that LIC Housing Finance was advancing loans for construction and purchase, renovation and extension of houses.

Spice Telecom
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — Spice Telecom has improved coverage in the walled city area of Amritsar, especially in the southern side, which comprises major markets like Majith Mandi, Shastri Market and Gurubazar. Spice Telecom recently commissioned a base transreceiver site in Gurubazaar near the Golden Temple, facilitating the improved coverage.

EPF rates up
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — The Regional Provident Fund Commissioner has increased the rate of administrative charges (Account No. II) from 0.65% to 1.10% and inspection charges from 0.09% to 0.18% of total wages of the EPF members from August, 1998. All the employers covered under the Employees Provident Fund and the Misc. Provisions Act, 1952 are required to deposit administrative and inspection charges at revised rates on the salary from the month of August.

IPSA
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — At the recent AGM of the Indian Paging Services Association (IPSA), the following office-bearers were elected: Mr Yogendra Kr Modi — president; Mr G. Hariharan — vice-president-cum-treasurer; and Brig Shamsher Singh, (Punwire Mobile Communications Ltd.) — vice-president.

Melting furnace

NEW DELHI, Aug 5 (PTI) — Yellowing of marbles in Taj Mahal may stop soon and the closure of 200-odd foundaries near it may be prevented, thanks to an eco-friendly melting furnace developed for the polluting commercial foundaries in Agra.

Gold moves up

NEW DELHI, Aug 5 (PTI) — In restricted activities, gold prices moved up on the bullion market today on fresh local buying enthused by higher global advices and closed higher. The quotations: Silver .999 (ready) 8100, delivery 8210, coins buyer 10,400 and seller 10,600. Standard gold 4270, ornaments 4120 and sovereign 3475.

Crisil

MUMBAI, Aug 5 (PTI) — The fixed deposit programme of Ecoplast Ltd has been downgraded from FA-to FB by the Crisil. The revision in rating factors in the heightened business risk of the company owing to significantly lower offtakes from key customers, Crisil stated in a report.

Commodities
From Our Correspondent

CHANDIGARH: Wheat 580 to 582, dara 585 to 587, superior 595 to 600, maize 450 to 475, surajmukhi 1250 to 1350, sarson 1700 to 1750, taramira 1250 to 1300, ricebasmati 2500 to 5000, parmal 850 to 1150, sella 850 to 1100, maida (per bag 90 kgs) 685 to 690, suji 700 to 710, atta 650 to 700, urd (per quintal) 1600 to 1800, urd dal 1600 to 1850, moong 2300 to 2650 moong dal 2400 to 2700, moong dhuli 2650 to 2900, masoor 1900 to 2300, dal masoor 1900 to 2350 kabli channa 2200 to 2900 kala channa 1400 to 1750, dal channa 1450 to 1700, malka masoor 2300 2800, arhar 2800 to 3400, rajmash chitra 2800 to 3500. Sugar: M-grade 1525 to 1545, S-grade 1510 to 1525.