Turnover tax may not be viable in Punjab
PUNJAB’S sales tax policy is undergoing frequent changes. New avenues of tax collection are being tried by emulating other States. It is a fatal mistake to compare two States in different parts.

India gets on threshold of privatisation
CHANDIGARH, Aug 22 — Fast changes in political regimes at the centre have led to multiplicity of reforms. The casualty is the perspective, says a paper on “Public enterprise reforms in India” presented by Prof B.S. Ghuman of Panjab University at the annual conference of the International Association of Schools and Institutes of administration held in the U.K. from July 19 to 22.

IDBI to look into Mideast accounts
NEW DELHI, Aug 22 — The BIFR has asked IDBI to investigate the allegations that Mideast India Ltd has manipulated accounts for getting itself declared a sick company.

Bharti Telecom forms new company
NEW DELHI, Aug 22 — As part of a major restructuring exercise, Bharti Telecom has hived off its factories manufacturing telephone handsets and other items into a new company called Bharti Teletech.

Permanent jobs getting scarce
NEW DELHI, Aug 22 — With profit the buzzword in the liberalisation era many a worker has found his job on the line as contract labour is creating a market squeeze.

IOC bids for 25 pc stake in IPCL
NEW DELHI, Aug 22 — Indian Oil Corporation has offered to pick up 25 per cent stake in Indian Petrochemical Corporation Ltd for becoming a strategic partner in the company expected to be privatised by December.

Escorts stops producing mopeds
NEW DELHI, Aug 22 — Escorts Yamaha Motor Ltd has downed shutters of its moped manufacturing facility and shelved its two existing brands due to lack of adequate demand and decided to concentrate fully on its motor cycle production.

Crompton to sell Skycell stake
NEW DELHI, Aug 22 — Cromption Greaves today said it would sell its 40 per cent stake in the Chennai Skycell cellular project for over Rs 200 crore and the deal is likely to be finalised by next month.

• Inflation rises to 1.70 pc
• SBI gesture

UTI to float open-ended mutual fund
From Gaurav Choudhury
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, August 22 — The UTI is floating an open-ended mutual fund fully dedicated for investing in State and Central Government securities and offering zero credit risk.

The fund, called the UTI G-Sec Fund, comes after the Ministry of Finance notification on March 31, 1999, allowing investment of provident and superannuation funds in mutual funds which dedicated for investment in the Government securities.

The initial offer for the fund will be, open from August 23 to September 4, 1999, and an amount of Rs 1 crore is targeted under the scheme during the initial offer period.

Bonds, debentures as well as money market instruments issued by corporate entities run the risk of downgrading by the rating agencies and even default as the worst case.

The securities issued by the Central and State Governments have lesser to zero probability of such risk as payment of interest and principal amount has a sovereign status implying no default.

The Executive Director of the UTI, Mr Brij Gopal Daga told The Tribune that the fund covers the entire gamut of investors including non-government provident funds, superannuation funds and gratuity funds, pension funds, charitable trusts and societies, banks, financial institutions and individuals.

Many institutions like provident funds, trusts and societies are either required compulsorily to invest a part of their funds in the Government securities or generally prefer safety and liquidity over returns. These institutions may come across problems in acquiring the Government securities as the minimum deal size in the gilt segment is generally Rs 5 crore.

Mr Daga said open-ended gilt funds are more professionally managed and such funds which are net asset value (NAV) driven on a daily basis can be used for investing provident funds effectively.

“Gilt funds are expected to earn higher returns by undertaking active trading in the Government securities as against the passive buy and hold methods which give returns equal to the coupon of the Government security. Hence investing in the Government securities through a dedicated G-Sec fund is a better option”, he said.

The objective of the scheme is to generate risk-free return in the form of income or capital appreciation through investments in the Central and State Government securities of varying maturities and call money, treasury bills and repos.

As far as tax benefits are concerned, currently, under Section 10(33) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, income distributed under the scheme is completely tax-free for all categories of investors. Income distribution, however, will be subject to an income distribution tax of 10 per cent.

The Budget, 1999, had also announced tax incentives for the investors and fully exempted from income tax on all income from UTI and other mutual funds recieved in the hands of the investors.

The Government securities market is such that a large percentage of the total traded volumes on a particular day might be concentrated in a few securities. Consequently, funds could incur a significant “impact cost” while transacting large volumes in particular security.

Mr Daga said being a scheme dedicated exclusively to investments in the Government securities, the UTI may apply to the RBI for availing of liquidity support up to 20 per cent of the outstanding value of the schemes investments.

EC targets State plans to slap barriers

NEW DELHI, Aug 22 (PTI) — Continuing with its attempts to pose new non-tariff trade barriers for India, the European Commission (EC) has now targeted industrial promotion schemes launched by States for anti-subsidy and anti-dumping duties.

The EC has zeroed in on these State industrial promotion schemes in its recent anti-dumping probe on polyethylene terepthalate (PET) films imports while imposing provisional countervailing (anti-subsidy) duty on these Indian PET films.

The commission has ruled that sales and trade tax incentive schemes and refund of octroi and power duty in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh amount to subsidy.

While imposing definitive countervailing duty on import of stainless steel wires (SSW), the EC has said five Indian export promotion programmes amount to subsidy as the Government was foregoing import duties through these schemes.

These schemes are the passbook scheme (PBS) (now discontinued), duty entitlement passbook (DEPB) scheme, export promotion capital goods (EPCG) scheme and income tax scheme.

Already, the EC has termed such export promotion schemes as subsidy and imposed anti-subsidy duty on a number of items, including pharmaceutical drugs and steel rods.

The EC slapped countervailing duties ranging from 12.6 per cent to 37.2 per cent on PET film imports on August 18 while imposing duties ranging between 18.4 per cent and 48.4 per cent in case of SSW from August 20.

Coming down on sales and trade tax incentive schemes on Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, the EC said subsidies doled out under these schemes for units in disadvantaged areas on these States were countervailable.

The Indian Government had supplied incomplete information and statistics were not provided to establish criteria for these programmes, it said.

Six of the companies which exported PET films and functioned in areas where the schemes were in operation obtained subsidies between 0.15 per cent and 5.47 per cent.

On the electricity duty exemption prevalent in Maharashtra and Gujarat, the EC said even in this India had given incomplete information and its investigations had revealed that two companies had benefited from this.

Referring to the octroi refund and special capital incentive schemes of Maharashtra, it again charged the government with providing inadequate information and said one company each had gained from these refunds.

In view of these measures, Indian imports into the European Union (EU) had increased from 6,534 tonnes in 1995 to 17,011 in 1997 and 20,250 tonnes in 1998, the period of dumping investigation.

During this period, Indian exporters prices had declined from European Common Unit 3,219 per tonne to 2,425 in 1996, 1,865 in 1997 and 1,674 in 1998 — a total decrease of 48 per cent.

Turnover tax may not be viable in Punjab
By P.D. Sharma

PUNJAB’S sales tax policy is undergoing frequent changes. New avenues of tax collection are being tried by emulating other States. It is a fatal mistake to compare two States in different parts. Every State has its peculiarities and the taxation robe should be tailored accordingly.

In the last Budget Punjab tried to introduce entry tax. For obvious reasons it had to be withdrawn in the face of stiff opposition. It introduced sales tax at the first stage on certain items, including auto parts. Again it faced resistance and was withdrawn.

Now it is trying to introduce the concept of turnover tax. Those in favour of the turnover tax are in fact doing a great harm to the commercial sector and their voice cannot be taken as a representative one. This is a highly volatile issue and it should be put to wide open debate.

Some States have tried this tax. In Karnataka it is 2 per cent of the annual turnover exceeding Rs 10 crore. In Tamil Nadu the rate varies depending on the annual turnover — the maximum rate being 3 per cent respect of value exceeding Rs 300 crore. no such tax is leviable up to the turnover of Rs 25 crore. In Kerala the-tax is negligible at 1 per cent. West bengal and Gujarat, which were earlier collecting this tax, have abolished it.

Some State Governments have specifically legislated that turnover tax cannot be passed on to consumers through a corresponding increase in the selling price. This is specific in the case of fertilisers. The Supreme Court has ruled that State Governments are well within their rights to levy turnover tax but they need to do some serious thinking from an overall macro perspective and withdraw the tax voluntarily.

In Punjab this concept is not at viable. Take the case of steel. It is available direct from main producers outside the State. So if such steel is purchased directly by the user it will be without turnover tax. On the other hand, steel purchased by local manufacturers attracts heavy but varying turnover tax. If steel is made from scrap alone it will have turnover tax at 7 to 5 stages thus aggregating to 4 to 5 per cent. If it is manufactured through spong iron route this rate would be less by 1 per cent. So some users will be buying steel costlier by 5 per cent than others. This must be the case with several other industries.

Manufacturers sell goods either directly or through traders. So depending on the stages involved the selling price will vary. In-put costs to the industry will also vary from one unit to the other. SSI units in particular and small traders in general would be wiped out. Cash-rich units can purchase goods from outside Punjab directly while others have to get through the chain of wholesalers and retailers.

So if the Government has any serious thinking on the subject, it should start an open debate. Turnover tax is not at all a viable taxation proposal.

On the 1st stage sales tax it may be of some advantage to the government to note that the rate of evasion has increased many-folds and it will be known only later that this tax is not conducive to revenue boosting.

SBI gesture
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Aug 22 — The SBI’s Shaheed Bhagat Singh road branch here celebrated its silver jubilee yesterday in a unique way.

The staff members pooled in contributions and purchased clothes, towels, soaps and other necessities for the mentally retarded and orphans of Mother Teresa School here.

The staff led by Branch Manager S.K. Kapoor, spent the morning by playing and chatting with the children.

India gets on threshold of privatisation
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 22 — Fast changes in political regimes at the centre have led to multiplicity of reforms. The casualty is the perspective, says a paper on “Public enterprise reforms in India” presented by Prof B.S. Ghuman of Panjab University at the annual conference of the International Association of Schools and Institutes of administration held in the U.K. from July 19 to 22.

The eight-year period of the reforms has been divided into three phases in the paper. The first phase covers the period from July 1991 to May 1996 when the Congress ruled the Limited success in disinvestment was achieved during this phase.

The goverment failed to tap the full potential of disinvestment due to lack of strategy, absence on systematic efforts to restructure and prepare undertakings for disinvestment; a highly secretive process and lack of objectivity in the methods of valuation of shares. And the absence of institutional arrangements to oversee the disinvestment process resulted in distress sales of public enterprise shares and unrealisation of proceeds.

During the second phase (June 1996 to March 1998) where the United Front led a coalition at the Centre certain PSUs or “Navratnas” got operational autonomy significantly, this phase saw the setting up of the Disinvestment Commission. Unfortunately most of the recommendations of the commission remained either unattended to or were opposed. The administrative ministries, employees and interest groups were the major stumbling blocks . In the beginning of 1998, the powers of the commission were trimmed drastically and its status was reduced an advisory body.

The third phase, (April 1998 to the present) when the BJP ruled at the centre, witnessed policy decisions about privatisation of select undertakings, buyback and cross holding of shares, downsizing and professionalisation of the boards.

The Finance Minister has in the recent Budget specifically mentioned to privatise non-strategic public enterprises. The cabinet Committee on disinvestment has announced privatisation of the India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC).

The Finance Secretary has mooted the idea of privatisation through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) some what patterned on the Malaysian model. The Disinvestment Commission has proposed a national shareholding trust for privatisation. Though no tangible achievement has been experienced on privatisation, the BJP government has taken the public enterprise reforms to the threshold of privatisation.

IDBI to look into Mideast accounts

NEW DELHI, Aug 22 (PTI) — The BIFR has asked IDBI to investigate the allegations that Mideast India Ltd (MIL) has manipulated accounts for getting itself declared a sick company.

Hearing on the MIL application, the BIFR noted that creditors have approached the board alleging manipulation by the company to avoid repayment of dues.

The BIFR, withholding its verdict as declaring the company sick, asked IDBI to enquire whether the provisions made in the company’s balance sheet were in line with the accounting standards.

Financial Institutions (FIs) and banks including IFCI, IIBI and Syndicate Bank had alleged that the company had made excessive provisions to show its networth negative and be declared a sick company.

IDBI has been asked to look into the balance sheet of the company with special reference to investments, loans and advances to sister/group companies for which it can appoint a reputed firm of chartered accountants as special investigative auditors.

FIs alleged that MIL’s networth of Rs 272 crore up to December, 1998, was wiped out by losses amounting to Rs 258 crore, besides other provisions, which were unjustifiable.

In addition to that, the management of MIL had declared Rs 47.5 crore of loans, to sister/associate companies, as doubtful to jack up the losses, they alleged.

Bharti Telecom forms new company

NEW DELHI, Aug 22 (UNI) — As part of a major restructuring exercise, Bharti Telecom has hived off its factories manufacturing telephone handsets and other items into a new company called Bharti Teletech.

At the same time, Bharti Telecom is holding talks for mergers and acquisitions in mobile telephony business. Also, it is finalising plans to expand basic telecom services in Punjab, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh when the next round of bidding takes place later this year.

“Bharti Telecom will now become a holding company of Bharti Enterprises for all service ventures, contributing to about 90 per cent of its business by next year”, said Chairman and group Managing Director Sunil Bharti Mittal.

Bharti Telecom is 51 per cent owned by Bharti Enterprises, the apex holding company of the Bharti group. The remaining 49 per cent is held by Bharti Global, a Britain-registered subsidiary of the group.

Bharti Cellular: A Delhi consumer court has heavily penalised Bharti Cellular Ltd for disconnecting a subscriber’s telephone in spite of payment of bill.

The Delhi Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-II has directed Bharti Cellular to pay a compensation of Rs 20,000 to the subscriber for mental sufferings undergone due to the disconnection and also pay Rs 3,000 as litigation cost to the subscriber.

The court asked the company to pay within 30 days of passing of the order, failing which it would pay an interest of 18 per cent.

Inflation rises to 1.70 pc

NEW DELHI, Aug 22 (PTI) — Increased prices of food articles and vegetables pushed inflation to 1.70 per cent for the week ended August 7 within two weeks of the price indicator touching a two-decade low at 1.19 per cent.

The inflation rate, based on wholesale price index (WPI) and calculated on a point-to-point basis, had risen to 1.62 per cent last week.

The lower rate of inflation witnessed during the current year is mainly due to the comparison with a higher base last year when prices of food articles, especially vegetables had shown a record surge.

The annual rate of inflation was higher at 8.07 per cent during the corresponding period last year due to skyrocketting of food prices on account of lower agricultural production.

Permanent jobs getting scarce

NEW DELHI, Aug 22 (PTI) — With profit the buzzword in the liberalisation era many a worker has found his job on the line as contract labour is creating a market squeeze.

Having little control over the costs of other inputs, many companies have chosen job cuts as a way of reducing costs while others have offered their workers wage cuts as the price of keeping their jobs.

During 1991-96, while India received $ 4.47 billion of foreign direct investment, estimated employment in the public and private sector rose by just 12.08 lakh.

Permanent jobs are becoming scarce as companies cut jobs and wages and depend more and more on contract labour to stay competitive, says Prof C.S. Venkata Ratnam of the International Management Institute.

While employment in the organised sector grew at an average rate of 1.62 per cent during 1978-91, it slowed down to 0.92 per cent during 1993-96, according to Labour Ministry data.

“The Rs 45,000 crore Gujarat has received has created just 50,000 permanent jobs, while in Tamil Nadu, Rs 22,000 crore of investment has resulted in only 11,000 permanent jobs”, says Kumaraswamy, working President of the All-India Council for Central Trade Unions.

And unions are no longer finding it viable to confront employers on such issues as they realise that industrial disturbance can drive a company out of business very soon in a competitive market.

The trend of job cuts has seen companies improve productivity through reduction in workforce by as much as 90 per cent.

“In several green field sites, as compared to their old manufacturing sites, firms employ half the workforce, achieve double the output and pay 60 to 80 per cent wages”, says Prof Ratnam.

While a few public sector companies have signed collective agreements for a 20 per cent job cut over five years, private sector companies have implemented “compulsory” voluntary retirement schemes.

Moreover, in the organised sector, if there were 20 contract workers for 80 permanent employees earlier, the ratio is being reversed now. Contract workers do more work than the permanent employees while getting as little as 1/10th their wages.

The situation is such that for every worker getting minimum wages there are 10 willing to work for half the minimum wage.

This, says Kumaraswamy, is pulling down the wages of the permanent employees who have to compete with contract labour.

IOC bids for 25 pc stake in IPCL

NEW DELHI, Aug 22 (PTI) — Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has offered to pick up 25 per cent stake in Indian Petrochemical Corporation Ltd (IPCL) for becoming a strategic partner in the company expected to be privatised by December.

“We have written to the Petroleum Ministry seeking their approval to bid for IPCL in which the Disinvestment Commission had recommended 25 per cent divestment,” IOC CMD M.A. Pathan told PTI.

IPCL CMD K.G. Ramanathan had earlier said that 25 per cent of the Government equity would be sold to a strategic buyer by December-end which would bring down the Government holding to 35 per cent.

The IOC has issued a letter of interest to IPCL for the Government’s equity which will also entail transfer of managerial control.

Asked whether the IOC will go alone to bid for IPCL, he said, “We are awaiting the Government response and a decision to bid alone or with a partner will be worked out later.”

Escorts stops producing mopeds

NEW DELHI, Aug 22 (PTI) — Escorts Yamaha Motor Ltd has downed shutters of its moped manufacturing facility and shelved its two existing brands due to lack of adequate demand and decided to concentrate fully on its motor cycle production.

The company was producing two moped models and marketing them with brand names “Toro Jazz” and “Toro Rosa”. The company decided recently to discontinue the production as earning was low from moped business, company sources said.

Against a 5 per cent growth recorded by the moped segment in 1998-99, sales of mopeds declined by 17.7 per cent. Its marketshare also declined from 1.9 per cent in 1997-98 to 1.5 per cent in 1998-99.

The company has, however, made arrangements to supply spare parts and providing service to its customers for the next seven years, sources said.

Crompton to sell Skycell stake

NEW DELHI, Aug 22 (PTI) — Cromption Greaves today said it would sell its 40 per cent stake in the Chennai Skycell cellular project for over Rs 200 crore and the deal is likely to be finalised by next month.

The company has asked the investment banker ABN-Amro to finalise the deal by September after getting bids from the interested parties, K K Nohria, Chairman and Managing Director of Crompton Greaves told PTI.

by Ashok Kumar
Punjab Tractors’ prospects bright

Q: Please comment on the future prospects of Punjab Tractors?

— Kailash Malhotra, Shimla

Ans: Punjab Tractors Ltd (PTL) is a leading player in the tractor industry. With “Swaraj” tractors as its main product line, the company enjoys a 15 per cent share of the market. Besides agricultural tractors, the company’s product line also includes Combine Harvestors and Folk-Lifts. Since, there are smaller land holdings in India, the potential for combined harvestors remains limited. On the financial front the company’s performance has been satisfactory. Punjab Tractors has undertaken an expansion programme to enhance its installed capacity from its hitherto capacity of 36,000 tractors per annum. Despite the slowdown in the tractor industry, the demand for the company’s Swaraj Tractors has stayed well ahead of production. Overall thus, the company’s prospects seem encouraging.

Q: What are the future prospects of SKF Bearings?

— Ashok Mehra, Bathinda

Ans: A 51 per cent subsidiary of Aktiebolaget SKF, Sweden, SKF Bearings is a market leader in the bearings industry. The company manufactures ball and roller bearings which find application in the automobile and electrical segments. It enjoys a market share of around 32 per cent. A major part of the production of SKF Bearings is accounted for by the original equipment manufactures. The company caters to companies like Maruti Udyog, and the financial performance of the company has been satisfactory. The company has its manufacturing units located at Pune and Bangalore, and it is expected to export mainly to countries like the USA, France, Italy some other South East Asian countries.

Q: Please enlighten us on the future prospects of MRF?

— Mandira Kaul, Ludhiana

Ans: A leading company in the tyre industry, MRF Ltd boasts of an enviable track record. The company has continued in the same vein of late and has been posting excellent results, notwithstanding the winds of recession blowing across the economy. The performance of the company has been commendable in the light of the fact that the user industry is facing a slowdown. The company has benefited from better productivity, operational efficiency, etc. The company caters to a host of impressive clients. It has signed to be the sole dealer of auto giants like General Motors, Fiat Uno, Ford, etc. The company is also renowned for its exports which has also been witnessing positive growth. The company has recently entered the radial tyre segment and has net with positive response. The performance of the company could further improve with the revival of the auto industry. Thus, MRF Ltd can be expected to retain its position in this segment.

Q: Please mention the future prospects of Alpic Finance?

— Gagan Mishra, Jalandhar

Ans: Alpic Finance is mainly engaged in the business of leasing, hire purchasing, bill discounting, equipment leasing, merchant banking, forex and money market operations as well as other financial services. AFL has launched its international services division to offer consultancy services to corporate clients. The company has undertaken a joint venture between Alpic Everest Finance Company and Rashtriya Baniya Bank in Nepal. It has also proposed floating a joint venture financial services company with Bank of Bahrain & Kuwait. Alpic, which has more than 90 branch offices throughout the country, is the only company in India to offer a financial product exclusively for the medical profession. Yet, it too, like its contemporaries in the financial services segment has borne the brunt of the recessionary phase although the fact remains that whenever this segment revives, Alpic Finance will re-emerge as a frontrunner.

Q: What are the medium to long term prospects of Hotel Leela Venture?

— Shivangi Kothari, Kurukshetra

Ans: Hotel Leela Venture (HLV) too like other hotel majors has witnessed a decline in occupancy at its Mumbai hotel. This decline can partially be attributed to the company’s policy of reducing its dependence on the crew segments in favour of the corporate segment. This conscious shift has improved the average room rate and resultantly, the company’s operating margins. HLV’s 260 room deluxe hotel (cost Rs 240 crore) in Bangalore is expected to become operational by mid-1999. The Rs 235 crore hotel in Mumbai will have 310 rooms and is being built adjacent to the existing ‘The Leela’. The company is in the process of setting up a 350 room five-star deluxe hotel in New Delhi through its subsidiary, Leela Hotels. The company ran into problems following the CBI raids for its alleged irregularities in acquiring land from AAI for its hotel project near Sahar airport.Yet overall, its prospects appear to be quite satisfactory.

by K.R. Wadhwaney
MiG aircraft dent IAF image

THE entire family of MiGs has become obsolete. The engineering unit of the Air Force does undertake repairs of several MiG aircraft from time to time. Even with meticulous maintenance undertaken at several bases the MiG family continues to cause problems to experienced pilots because of their age.

The quantum of accidents has increased manifold in the Air Force for the last decade or about not because of “human fallibility” but because of unexpected snags in MiG engines. The engineers have failed to rectify the deficiencies because major parts of these engines need total replacements. Sadly, these parts are not readily available. Similar parts of different “mode and make” age fitted but they are not as good as original parts.

Regardless of the utility of MiG, the Air Force authorities may have to take realistic view whether these aircraft are worthy enough to use under existing circumstances.

The authorities should take stock of the situation dispassionately. Apart from the loss of young pilots, what causes immense worry is the Air Force’s image that suffers a setback. The pilots, according to aviation experts, are second to none in the world. This is the reason that measures should be taken so that the image does not suffer.

Umbrella widened: The fare war is going on with all its fury. This may be advantageous to passengers who are paying less on many routes and getting benefits. The passengers are indeed happy but airlines are “crying quietly”. They shed their tears in solitude. Anil Baijal (Indian Airlines). Naresh Goel (Jet Airways) and S. Ray (Sahara) are fully aware where the shoes pinch.

What is the remedy under the present circumstances? They should sit across the table and reach a solution. Otherwise, it will be a death-knell trap for the two private operators whose bosses are aware of their past.

DCM Fin

I invested Rs 6000 with DCM Financial Services Limited 75, Amrit Nagar NDSE-I, New Delhi in June 1997 for one year under fixed deposit scheme. I was to get the amount back with the interest in June 1998. Although required formalities were completed in June 1998 but I am yet to get the amount.

S.C Taneja
Rohtak

20th Century Fin

I deposited Rs 15000 with 20th Century Finance Corporation vide FDR No. MC 71101798 which was due for maturity on May, 2, 1999. I sent the FDR duly discharged to the Chandigarh office of the company on 24.4.99. So far the company has not made the payment to me.

Ranjana Walia
Jalandhar

Hoffland Fin

I deposited Rs 25000 each vide Hoffland Finance Ltd Receipt No 33300, 34001 both dated 22.9.97 and 2210 dated 16.6.97 and was issued post dated cheques as periodic interest and maturity payments. From the months of October 97 itself, the company started defaulting in the payment. The local office SCO 193-94 kept assuring payment. Now nothing is heard abovot the company.

Surjit Kaur
Mohali

Reliance Ind

I am holder of Reliance Industries shares with Folio No 057156643. I was to receive bonus shares in 1997. Despite many reminders I have not received the shares.

R.K Gupta
Phagwara