Need for single rate VAT regime: Sinha
NEW DELHI, July 26 — The Union Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, today called for working towards a single rate value added taxation regime so that a non-discriminatory, non-discretionary and transparent tax system is established in the country.


Sodhi moves court today for TRAI status
NEW DELHI, July 26 — The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India will file an appeal before the Delhi High Court tomorrow asking it to pronounce a judgement on the regulator’s role and jurisdiction under the TRAI Act.

Ready-to-eat chapatis
MUMBAI, July 26 — FMCG major Hindustan Lever Limited had drawn up plans to launch “ready to eat chapatis”.

Bajaj, LML sales fall in first quarter
NEW DELHI, July 26 — Despite signs of revival in the automobiles sector in April-June 1999-2000, two-wheeler majors Bajaj Auto and LML Limited failed to keep pace with the growing market while motorcycle majors like Escorts Yamaha and Hero Honda witnessed impressive growth trends.

Hind Lever net profit soars 24.6 per cent
Hindustan Lever Limited has registered a 24.6 per cent growth in the net profit during the first half of 1999 to touch Rs 439.62 crore as against Rs 353 crore a year ago.

PSEB relaxes penalties
LUDHIANA, July 26 — The PSEB has revised its policy of imposing heavy penalties for violation of peak load hour restrictions.

Ambani CEO No 1
NEW DELHI, July 26 — Hindustan Lever Ltd has been rated as the most admired company in the country, according to a survey.

Flexibonds issue of IDBI opens today
CHANDIGARH, July 26 — The seventh issue of the Flexibond series of IDBI opens for public subscription tomorrow.

Need for single rate VAT regime: Sinha
Tribune News Service and PTI

NEW DELHI, July 26 — The Union Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, today called for working towards a single rate value added taxation (VAT) regime so that a non-discriminatory, non-discretionary and transparent tax system is established in the country. Speaking at a workshop on VAT organised by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy here today, Mr Sinha urged all state governments to build a consensus towards single rate VAT regime.

The minister said in view of the negative mindset of taxpayer and the movement towards globalisation of the economy, single rate VAT regime is required to create a hassle free tax administration system and to ensure that Indian commodities do not suffer due to competition.

In addition, VAT is required to achieve a better tax-GDP ratio which in recent times has gone down from 11 per cent of GDP to around 9 per cent of GDP in case of Excise Tax.

He also said efforts should be made to study the impact of single rate VAT on the paper work involved in tax administration and the opportunity for contact between the taxpayer and the collectors. Mr Sinha said integration of the small-scale sector into a single rate VAT regime could be matter of concern.

Among others who participated in the meeting were Dr Raja Chellaiah, Dr Ashok Lahiri, officials of central and state governments and various experts in the field.

Sodhi moves court today for TRAI status
From T.V.Lakshminarayan
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, July 26 — The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will file an appeal before the Delhi High Court tomorrow asking it to pronounce a judgement on the regulator’s role and jurisdiction under the TRAI Act.

The TRAI Chairman, Mr Justice S.S.Sodhi, told The Tribune here today that the regulator will not be challenging the merit or demerit of the recent telecom bailout package announced by the Department of Telecommunication and its appeal will be confined to just getting a judgement on its role and jurisdiction.

He said the issue arose after the Government decided to allow Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd to operate cellular services. TRAI contested the decision saying the matter should be left to the regulator to decide. TRAI opined that the entry of a new entrant in the cellular services should be decided by the regulator.

Some private cellular operators also contested the Government’s decision and moved the court to get a decision on the TRAI’s role and jurisdiction.

A single judge Bench of the High Court ruled that the TRAI had no role in settling disputes between the licensor and the licensee and the Government was not bound by the TRAI ruling. A subsequent appeal was filed before the court for a review of the judgement by a larger Bench and the matter is at present before a two-judge Bench.

The court has been hearing the matter for the last two years and at a time when it appeared that the day of judgement was nearing the Government had thrown a spanner by making it mandatory for private operators to withdraw their cases before moving over to the revenue sharing arrangement.

However, the latest package announced by the Government asking private cellular and basic telecom operators to shift to a revenue sharing arrangement from the existing licence fee regime by July 29, two days before the new arrangement comes into force on August 1, has a clause that binds the operators to withdraw all pending cases in the court and TRAI before moving to the new arrangement.

The withdrawal of the cases by the private operators will mean a vacation of the stay on the earlier order and TRAI will be relegated to a mere tariff fixing organisation.

The TRAI now plans to appeal before the court to transpose it as an appellant in place of the private operators and pronounce a judgement on the role and jurisdiction of the regulator under the TRAI Act. A transparent interpretation of the TRAI Act was necessary in the future as it would form the basis for the functioning of the regulator.

Justice Sodhi clarified that the TRAI was not taking any sides —either with the operators or with the Government — and its concern was confined to getting a judgement on its role and jurisdiction under the TRAI Act.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Legislators of India today urged the President, Mr K.R.Narayanan, to refer the new telecom package to the Chief Justice for clarifying the propriety of the shift of the telecom policy by the “caretaker” Government. Secretary General of the federation and senior Congress leader Vishwa Bandhu Gupta claimed that the new arrangement will result in a revenue loss of Rs 1443.58 crore to the exchequer.

Mr Gupta requested the President to keep the implementation of the Cabinet decision on the telecom package in abeyance, pending judicial clarification.

Ready-to-eat chapatis

MUMBAI, July 26 (PTI) — FMCG major Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) had drawn up plans to launch “ready to eat chapatis”

HLL Chairman K.B Dadiseth told reporters here today that a pilot plant for the purpose had been set up in the metropolis. “I have already tasted the chapatis make at the pilot plant”, Mr Dadiseth said.

HLL’s popular foods business comprising Kissan Annapurna wheat flour and iodised salt grew by over 80 per cent in the first half of 1999 as against that last year. Having launched Extra Fibre Atta, Poori Atta, Rava, Crystal Salt and a low unit price pack of iodised salt, the focus of the business, Mr Dadiseth said, is to develop superior products relevant for the Indian market based on research and development capabilities.

Bajaj, LML sales fall in first quarter

NEW DELHI, July 26 (PTI) — Despite signs of revival in the automobiles sector in April-June 1999-2000, two-wheeler majors Bajaj Auto and LML Limited failed to keep pace with the growing market while motorcycle majors like Escorts Yamaha and Hero Honda witnessed impressive growth trends.

Segments such as two-wheelers, three-wheelers and commercial vehicles registered a positive growth in the first quarter of the current fiscal, indicating a reversal of the negative growth trends prevailing in the automobiles sector in the past several quarters.

According to data compiled by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), two-wheelers segment grew by 7 per cent, three-wheelers by 1.4 per cent and commercial vehicles by 24 per cent during April-June of the current fiscal against same period last fiscal.

The Siam has, however, not provided data for passenger cars and utility vehicle segments for the quarter due to the unavailability of information as some players, including the market leader Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) and Premier Auto have not provided their sales figures to the society.

Sales of Bajaj scooters declined by 20 per cent to 130,32 units in the first quarter of 1999-2000 against 163,119 units sold in the corresponding period in the previous fiscal.

LML Limited and Maharashtra Scooters Limited also witnessed a negative growth of 14 per cent and 20 per cent during the review period as their scooter sales declined to 74124 units and 38,176 units, respectively as compared to 86,584 and 47,581 units sold in the same period a year ago.

Though the two-wheelers segment grew by 7 per cent during the quarter, growth in the motorcycles segment was 29 per cent followed by 3 per cent sales growth registered by the moped segment.

Escorts Yamaha’s motorcycle sales were up by 61 per cent to 79,898 units during the period from 35,812 in April-June 1998-99 mainly due to a 163 per cent sales growth in June.

Hero Honda and TVS Suzuki also posted positive growth of 42 per cent and 33 per cent, respectively during the first quarter of 1999-2000.

Despite an 11 per cent drop in sales witnessed by the scooter segment, sales of TVS Suzuki jumped sharply by 48 per cent to 28,829 units in April-June of the current fiscal against 19,456 vehicles sold in the same period last year.

Kinetic Motor Company Limited was also a gainer as its scooter sales zoomed up by 52 per cent to 23,936 units as compared to 15,700 units sold in the first quarter of the last fiscal.

Sales of commercial vehicles went up by 24 per cent to 31,834 units in the first quarter of 1999-2000 against 25,618 units sold in the same period last year.

Hind Lever net profit soars 24.6 per cent

Hindustan Lever Limited has registered a 24.6 per cent growth in the net profit during the first half of 1999 to touch Rs 439.62 crore as against Rs 353 crore a year ago.

Its net profit during the second quarter ended June 30, 1999 stood at Rs 226.79 crore, up 24.9 per cent over the corresponding period previous year. The HLL Board today announced a 120 per cent interim dividend for the year.

The record date for the interim dividend has been fixed for September 16, 1999.

ABB has recorded a 69.69 per cent drop in to net profit during the first half of the 1999 to touch Rs 4.57 crore as against Rs 15.08 crore last year. Net sales was Rs 382.39 crore as against Rs 382.79 crore a year ago. Other income was also lower at Rs 4.91 crore from Rs 9.15 crore last year.

BASF India Ltd has posted a 4.40 per cent rise in the net profit for the first quarter ended June, 1999, at Rs 4.03 crore on the net sales of Rs 87.91 crore, a growth of 8.42 per cent over that of the previous year.

Interest outgo has come down to Rs 3.81 crore from Rs 4.55 crore during the same quarter last year, while depreciation went up marginally to Rs 5.38 crore from Rs 5.22 crore.

Bharat Forge Ltd has posted a 123 per cent jump in net profit for the first quarter ended June 1999 at Rs 16.07 crore on net sales of Rs 139.78 crore, a growth of 26 per cent over the same quarter last year.

UB Engineering Ltd, has reported a 12.74 per cent increase in its net profit in the first quarter of the current fiscal, going up to Rs 1.74 crore as against Rs 1.55 crore in the corresponding period of last year.

Uniflex Cables Ltd has posted a 114 per cent jump in the net profit at Rs 1.18 crore backed by net sales of Rs 30.27 crore, a growth of 24 per cent over the same period last year.

National Aluminium Company Ltd (NALCO) announced a 23.45 per cent increase in the net profits in the first quarter of the current fiscal to Rs 73.71 crore compared to Rs 59.71 crore in the same period last year. The company recorded a 52.03 per cent jump in the sales turnover to Rs 427.86 crore from Rs 281.44 crore in the previous year.

Indo Gulf Corporation Ltd has reported a 14.69 per cent rise in the net profit at Rs 40.76 crore for the quarter ended June 1999 on net sales of Rs 465.13 crore, registering a growth of 56 per cent over that of the same period last year. IGCL’s fertiliser division achieved a turnover of Rs 164.84 crore (Rs 150.12 crore during the same period last year), while the copper division contributed Rs 300.50 crore (Rs 147.97 crore) to the total turnover.

Crisil has downgraded Jindal Iron and Steel Company’s (JISCO) bond programmes of Rs 450 crore and Rs 10 crore from “BBB” to speculative grade “BB” indicating inadequate safety. The revision in rating was on account of continued high levels of support to Jindal Vijaynagar Steel Ltd (whose credit quality has deteriorated) and delays in expected equity divestment in JVSL.

Mahindra and Mahindra has recorded a 46.3 per cent surge in the net profit during the first quarter of the 1999-2000 financial year to touch Rs 51.26 crore as against Rs 35.02 crore a year earlier. Sales during the period stood at Rs 1,059.37 crore, up 88 per cent from Rs 939.60 crore.

PSEB relaxes penalties
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, July 26 — The PSEB has revised its policy of imposing heavy penalties for violation of peak load hour restrictions.

The penalty rate used to be multiples of the first violation for all subsequent violations. Even a minor violation used to add up to huge sums, according to Mr P.D. Sharma, President of the Apex Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Under the new policy a violation of peak load hour restrictions would attract a penalty of Rs 50 per KW with no multiplying effect. Violation for half an hour at the beginning or at the end of the peak load hour would attract 50 per cent penalty.

Ambani CEO No 1

NEW DELHI, July 26 (PTI) — Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) has been rated as the most admired company in the country, according to a survey.

Reliance Industries Ltd, Chairman Dhirubhai Ambani has taken the slot as the most admired Chief Executive Officer (CEO) while the Tata group has emerged as the most respected business house, a survey by Taylor Nelson Sofres-Mode (TNS-Mode) said here today.

While RIL has been rated as the second best admired corporation and respected business house in the country. Tata group Chairman Ratan Tata was rated second in the category of the most admired CEOs, an RIL statement quoting the survey said.

The results of an exclusive opinion poll for magazine Business Barons are being presented by Hindalco of the Aditya Birla group and will appear in the forthcoming third anniversary issue of the magazine.

The super 11’s list of most-admired CEOs also includes Narayan Murthy of Infosys, Anil Ambani and Mukesh Ambani of RIL and Rahul Bajaj of Bajaj Autos.

Flexibonds issue of IDBI opens today
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 26 — The seventh issue of the Flexibond series of IDBI opens for public subscription tomorrow.

Addressing a Press conference here today, Mr A.K. Doda, Chief General Manager in charge of the bank’s operations in Northern Zone, said the four types of bonds are designed to meet the needs of different investors.

Regular Return Bond will yield a steady and consistent flow of income.

Growing Interest Bond is for investors according top priority to liquidity. An investor has the option of encashment after one year.

Deep Discount Bond is designed for long-term investment.

An initial investment of Rs 5,000 in this bond grows to Rs 9,000 in five years and Rs 29,500 after 15 years. Retirement Bond is designed for those retiring in the next few years.

By selecting a suitable wait period the investors of these bonds can postpone their interest income as part of their tax planning.

The annual yield on all the bonds is about 12.5 per cent. As regards the safety of investment, like all other investment schemes of IDBI, this issue too has been considered the safest and accorded ‘AAA’ rating by CRISIL and CARE.

The minimum investment in all the bonds is Rs 10,000, except in Retirement Bond where it is Rs 20,000 and (monthly option) where it is Rs 30,000. Aiming to raise Rs 750 crore, the issue closes for subscription on August 19.

Forex
US $ Rs 43.27/28
Stg £ Rs 68.68/70
Euro Rs 46.21/24
Jap yen (100) Rs 37.35/37

HMT Ltd
CHANDIGARH, July 26 (TNS) — The Motion Control group of Siemens AG has formed a technical collaboration for computer numerical controls (CNC) package with HMT Ltd. Siemens will provide HMT with training and technological know-how required for manufacturing of CNCs. HMT will offer a complete CNC package consisting of systems and drives.

Trufit-G
NEW DELHI, July 26 (TNS) — The renowned Ayurvedic house Aroherbs has launched Trufit-G in capsule form which relieves stress arising out of rigours of daily routine and increasing pollution. Aroherbs has commenced production of these energetic capsules which is an entirely Ayurvedic preparation free from any side effect.