Wednesday, October 13, 1999
spotlighttoday's calendar
|
B U S I N E S S | Wednesday, October 13, 1999 |
| weatherspotlight today's calendar |
|
|
Badal meets economists
today High court stays TRAI’s
notice ‘Merge or scrap eight
Ministries’ |
 |
Top brass, if willing, can end
corruption |
|
Industrial growth spurts
to 6 per cent Sony bullish on North’s
market
|
|||||
 |
||||||
Badal
meets economists today CHANDIGARH, Oct 12 — People in Punjab must be ready to face some hard measures proposed by the government to tide over the financial crisis bedevilling the state. The Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, left today for Delhi to have a final round of discussion with the celebrated economist, Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and half a dozen other reputed economists with regard to proposed measures. They will meet tomorrow. Informed sources said for seeking the expert advice of Dr Ahluwalia and others, the state government authorities had handed over to them a resume of the proposed measures and the exercise carried out by various departments in this connection in the past two weeks under Mr Badal's command. Already sales tax on diesel have been doubled and it was also increased on pulses and biscuits, there will be an upward revision in transport related taxes such as road taxes on mini buses, taxes and duties on goods carriage, tourist buses, personal vehicles, entry fee on vehicles entering the state load with various goods. There will also be rationalisation on various benefits extended certain sections of society like free rides on state-owned Punjab and Pepsu Roadways buses. Now, Mr Badal is keen to plug loopholes in tax collection which have been the real bane, leading to the financial crisis. It is a fact that the collection of ST etc, is the lowest in the Punjab as compared to other states. For instance, the ST revenue is a 8.62 per cent of the State Domestic Product in Kerala and 6.13 per cent in Gujarat and 4.86 per cent in Haryana while in Punjab it is only a 2.91 per cent. On the issue of collection of ST in Punjab, the officers concerned of the Excise and Taxation department are pressing for a "free hand" and total non-interference of political bosses. Already a discussion has been held on this issue in detail in Cabinet meetings chaired by Mr Badal. Officers say the Punjab Government finances had been depleted substantially on account of increased salaries, pension and other retiral benefits. The salary liability had gone by 59 per cent and retiral benefits liability had risen by 244.35 per cent. However, employees' unions say Haryana and Himachal Pradesh also followed the same pay pattern and also gave retiral benefits but these states were not facing any financial crisis. Employees and pensioners say that the Punjab Government has made them whipping boys while the fault lies elsewhere. Mr Badal has given a clear directive that either loss making public sector undertakings like Spinfed, Sugarfed, the Punjab Seed Corporation, the Punjab Land Development and Reclamation Corporation, the Punjab State Tubewell Corporation and the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board should survive on their own or wind up to avoid the bleeding of the state exchequer. Besides this, the Chief Minister is in the process of giving a final shape to the rationalisation of nominal mutation fee, court fee, registration fee and copying fee now charged. The upward increase in such fees is on the cards. A reduction in the implicit subsidies in certain areas by increasing user charges such as in the case of higher technical, professional education or secondary and tertiary health care are also under consideration. There was a feeling in
the government that only through an assured earnings the
government could run efficiently its social welfare
schemes like pensions, 'Shagun' scheme and grants for
houses, etc. |
Action
plan to boost self-employment schemes CHANDIGARH, Oct 12 — Deeply concerned with the problem of growing unemployment among rural youth, the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, has approved an ambitious compact action plan to give boost to the self-employment schemes by creating more opportunities in industry and service and business establishments in the state. He has directed the Industries department to implement the components under this plan with a firm commitment and sincerity to make it truly relevant to the youth. An official spokesman said the plan formulated and finalised with the personal interest of the Chief Minister, aimed to ensuring a safe and prosperous future for the youth and to usher in rural socio-economic revolution. The plan envisages that all corporations of the state government would earmark at least 25 per cent of the allocations out of the beneficiary-oriented schemes for the industry, service and business components. The Punjab Financial Corporation will set apart 25 per cent of its yearly budget, specifically for the composite loan scheme under which loans of up to Rs 2 lakh would be sanctioned and disbursed at a concessional rate of interest being 2 per cent under normal scheme. The proposal for granting loan between Rs 2 lakh to 5 lakh at concessional rate of interest, i.e. 1 per cent less than the normal rate of interest for rural areas has been approved. Various semi-government undertakings engaged in promotion of the industry activity in the state, like the PSIDC, the Punjab Agro Industries Corporation and Markfed, will motivate the entrepreneurs for setting up of large and medium scale units with ancillary potential and job generation scope comparatively in rural backward areas of the state. The Punjab State Industrial and Export Corporation has been asked to undertake responsibility of ensuring supply of adequate raw materials through its depot to the small and tiny industry in the rural area. The spokesman disclosed
that the Punjab Government had already set up 600 rural
focal points under which 'A' category incentives
interalia, other concessions and reliefs were being
given, a special package for agro industry had also been
notified. Nearly 5,500 youth had already been identified
for setting up their units in the rural focal points and
more than 1,000 units had already been set up in and
around rural focal points.
|
Industrial growth spurts to 6 per cent NEW DELHI, Oct 12 (PTI) — Powered by a buoyant manufacturing sector, industrial growth spurted to 6 per cent in April-August 1999-2000 compared to 4.2 per cent in the same period last year. In August this year, industry recorded a 6.3 per cent growth against 4.4 per cent growth posted in the same period last year, according to the quick estimates of the index of industrial production released by the Central Statistical Organisation. Industrial production during July recorded a growth of 5.4 per cent as against 3.4 per cent a year ago. The manufacturing sector, which accounts for about four-fifth of the total weight of IIP, grew by 6.7 per cent in the first five months of this fiscal against 4.2 per cent in 1998-99. In August, the sector grew by 6.1 per cent as compared to 4.5 per cent last year. However, the mining sector continued to show a negative growth of 0.3 per cent in April-August though the sector grew by 1.9 per cent in August. Electricity sector recorded a 10.9 per cent growth in August as compared to 6.8 per cent in the same period in 1998. But the cumulative growth for the first five months was lower at 6.1 per cent against 8.7 per cent in 1998-99. The capital goods sector recorded a growth of 10.4 per cent in April-August this year as compared to 9.8 per cent posted in the same period last year. However, the growth in August fell to 9.0 per cent against 12.5 per cent in 1998. The consumer durable sector showed impressive performance in August growing at a rate of 12.3 per cent against 1.2 per cent last year. In April-August, the sector recorded a 13.7 per cent growth against one per cent in the same period in 1998-99. However, the cumulative growth in the first five months in the consumer non-durable sector declined to 0.9 per cent as compared with 2.5 per cent last year. The basic goods sector grew at a rate of 4.2 per cent in April-August against 3.4 per cent in 1998-99. In August, the sector grew at a faster pace of 6.7 per cent against 3.8 per cent last year. Intermediate goods showed a 9.1 per cent growth against 5.6 per cent in April-August 1998-99. But the growth rate slipped to 6 per cent in August as compared to 6.5 per cent in 1998-99. On the other hand, growth in the consumer goods sector went up by 4.9 per cent against 0.5 per cent in August last year. In the first five months, the sector recorded a 3.6 per cent growth against 2.2 per cent in 1998-99. Leather and fur products, paper and paper products, printing, publishing and allied industries, machinery and equipment and non-metallic mineral products recorded a double digit growth. Transport equipment and parts recorded a negative growth of 16.4 per cent. Beverages, tobacco and related products recorded a growth rate of 9.9 per cent while cotton textiles posted a 3.5 per cent growth. Wool, silk and manmade fibre textiles also recorded a 9.9 per cent growth. Rubber, plastic,
petroleum and coal products recorded a 5.6 per cent
growth, food products (-3.4 per cent), basic metal and
alloy industries 0.9 per cent and textile products 0.2
per cent. |
Sony
bullish on North’s market CHANDIGARH, Oct 12 — “North India offers huge potential for growing sectors like the consumer electronics business,” observed Mr Hiromi Matsumoto, Sony India Managing Director, at a function here today. After opening a branch office of Sony India in the Industrial Area here, Mr Matsumoto said “With well-defined lifestyles, Chandigarh is fast growing to be a nerve centre for business activities.” The consumer electronics industry, defying expectations of the depressed market, showed a growth of around 50 per cent. “This gives us a reason to be bullish and optimistic.” India on the whole has continued to grow in the face of economic turmoil in the South East Asian economics. The Sony headquarters in Tokyo has identified the importance of this market and accordingly set a target of Rs 650 crore for this fiscal year. India is one of the strategic areas on Sony Corporation’s agenda. Having achieved a turnover of Rs 500 crore in the last financial year, Sony India is hopeful of meeting the targets for this year as well, he added. Mr Prem Kumar Nair, Deputy Director, Sales, said that “Chandigarh as a sales region grows at an amazing rate of 50 per cent every year and contributes 29 per cent to the total turnover of the North. This was one region where a brand like Sony enjoyed a good acceptance which was reflected in the sales.” The branch office in Chandigarh , headed by Assistant Manager Vijay Singh Jaswal, will facilitate in the improvement of logistics and information flow along with the Delhi head office. The regions to benefit from this will be Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. This will help Sony India to consolidate its position in the traditionally strong segment of the North. Currently, Sony India
has eight branch offices, 1,400 dealers, seven
company-owned service centres, 76 authorised service
centres and 21 warehouses spread across the country. |
‘Merge
or scrap eight Ministries’ NEW DELHI, Oct 12 — Assocham has suggested the abolition of eight central Ministries — Civil Aviation, Coal, Steel and Mines, Ocean Development, Non-conventional Energy, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Planning and Programme Implementation and Rural Development. Speaking to reporters here today, Assocham President K.P. Singh said that although the functions of these Ministries are important, isolated handling of these functions has led to delays in decision-making. “For instance, the Ministry of Coal could become a part of a larger Ministry of Energy. The Ministry of Civil Aviation could be a part of the Ministry of Transport covering civil aviation, surface transport and the Railways”. Assocham has recommended a reorganised Ministry of Industry to devote attention specifically to areas concerning the Government in relation to public sector enterprises. A separate department within the Industry Ministry could be created to deal exclusively with those public sector enterprises where the Government has taken a decision to disinvest. “The department could also act as a policy formulator and facilitator in the process of industrialisation”, Mr Singh said, adding that the Government could redeploy personnel of redundant departments in areas where new work was emerging. Regarding the Union Finance Ministry, Mr Singh said that all areas of the financial sector could be under one division of the Department of Economic Affairs. The Finance Ministry
could be divided into two broad sections — the
Department of Revenue and Expenditure and the Department
of Economic Affairs (DEA) with one wing of DEA dealing
with economic policy and the other dealing with banking,
insurance and capital markets. |
Top brass, if willing, can end corruption NEW DELHI, Oct 12 (UNI) — The International Federation of Accountants today expressed the hope that India will play its rightful role in the association’s broad-based anti-corruption global drive, which takes the assistance of various other professions. Mr Frank Harding, President of the Federation, told newspersons here that even though India has a long way to go, it has taken some significant steps. Corruption has a detrimental effect on a country’s economic growth, capital market, culture and society. Moreover, corruption at the local level impacts on a wider, global scene. Mr Harding said the ultimate responsibility for discouraging and preventing corruption, whether within the business world or in the public sector, rests with the management. By introducing proper systems of corporate governance and “setting the tone at the top”, the management can significantly reduce opportunities for malpractice. Mr Harding said national and international standards of practice already alert accountants to the possibility of fraud or other irregularities and require them to report any such findings to the internal management. But a crucial question arises for the accountant if the management fails to take appropriate action to remedy the situation. In theory, the accountant could take matters further by reporting the misdeeds to external authorities. However, it may not be fair to expect the accountant to expose himself to the potential repercussions of such action, including job insecurity or loss, professional victimisation, personal danger, threats to family, etc. Until such time as
appropriate legal infrastructure is put in place to
protect the whistle blowers and to raise expectations of
responsible action by other professions or sectors of
society, it is not realistic to place this burden on
members the accountancy profession, Mr Harding said. |
‘Pass
corrupt servants Act’ NEW DELHI, Oct 12 — Chief Vigilance Commissioner N.Vittal has called for bringing in the Freedom of Information Act at the earliest to bring accountability in the government. Addressing a panel discussion on “Towards good governance : need for reforms” organised by the PHDCCI here yesterday, he said the Government should also pass the Corrupt Public Servants Act so that the CVC could have the power to confiscate property acquired through corrupt practices. Citing reasons for corruption, he said scarcity of goods and services, red-tapism, lack of transparency, legal safety of cushions created and tribalism of corruption were responsible. Mr Vittal stressed that the business community should collectively convene an anti-bribery convention as the first step to route out corruption from within the business community. Mr Ashok Khanna,
President, PHDCCI, Justice AM Ahmedi, Mr PK Kaul, Mr
Binay Kumar and Mr Krishan Khanna also spoke. |
High court
stays TRAI’s notice NEW DELHI, Oct 12 — The Delhi High Court today stayed the operation of the show-cause notice issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to MTNL for launching its limited mobility telecom service from October 2. The court ruled that TRAI did not have powers to give directions to the Government on issuing licences to basic telecom service providers, even as the regulatory body said that MTNL’s reported tariff package for cellular mobile services was inconsistent with the Government’s directive. The ruling was given by a Division Bench, which upheld an earlier judgement of the court on the same lines and dismissed a bunch of appeals filed by private telecom operators against the court’s earlier ruling. In a consultation paper on MTNL’s tariff proposal released by TRAI today it was observed that if inter-connection revenue shares are not charged separately and are to be paid out of the per unit charge of Rs 1.40 itself, MTNL’s tariff will not cover costs. The revenue is
calculated for the calling party pays (CPP) regime, which
will be applicable from November 1,1999. In the CPP
regime, the service provider gets a mobile termination
charge (MTC) for incoming calls.TRAI has specified an MTC
of Rs 1.60 for the first minute and Rs 0.80 per 60 second
pulse thereafter. In addition to this, revenue is earned
from rental and outgoing call charge.
|
|
Satyam Computer Services on Tuesday reported a 66 per cent hike in its net profits to touch Rs 30.7 crore for the second quarter ending September 30, 1999 against Rs 18.4 crore during the same period last year. During the second quarter, Satyam registered an income of Rs 157 crore as against Rs 91.8 crore, an increase of over 71 per cent. The company also announced an interim dividend of 15 per cent on a Rs 10 per share. Income from software exports shot up to Rs 154 crore compared to Rs 91 crore for the period under review. The total expenditure rose to Rs 95.9 crore compared to Rs 56 crore during the same time. Hero Honda: Hero Honda has posted a sharp 43.8 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 42.9 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal by selling 33 per cent more motorcycles compared to sales in same period last year. The company also recorded a 42.3 per cent growth in its turnover. It increased to Rs 550 crore during July-September 1999-2000 from Rs 386 crore in the comparable period last year, Hero Honda Chairman and Managing Director Brij Mohan Lall Munjal said here today. The motorcycle sale of the company increased to 176,860 units during the reference period from 132,968 units in July-September 1998-99. The net profit of the company during the first half of the current fiscal, however, increased by 54 per cent to Rs 81.3 crore from Rs 52.7 crore in the same period last year. Nagarjuna Fert: Nagarjuna Fertilisers and Chemicals has achieved 30 per cent increase in turnover and 29 per cent increase in production for the quarter ended September 30 this year over the corresponding period in 1998-99. HCL Technologies: HCL Technologies, part of the Rs 3,300 crore HCL group, will offer 8.4 per cent more equity to its employees, taking their total stake in the company to 20 per cent, a top company official said. Reliance: Reflecting the strong upward movement in Asian petrochemical prices, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) further hiked the prices of its petrochemical products by 3 to 6 per cent today. According to RIL
sources, prices of polypropylene have been increased by 6
per cent to Rs 49.2 per kg, polyethylene by 4 per cent to
Rs 50.6 per kg, partially oriented yarn (POY) by 3 per
cent to Rs 63 per kg. — Agencies |
| H |
|
||
| Bullion Gold Std Rs 4825 Gold 22-Ct Rs 4675 Silver Ready Rs 8310 Silver delivery Rs 8290 Forex Shaw Wallace Cyber laws Aptech |
 |
 |
| Nation
| Punjab | Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu & Kashmir | | Chandigarh | Editorial | Sport | | Mailbag | Spotlight | World | 50 years of Independence | Weather | | Search | Subscribe | Archive | Suggestion | Home | E-mail | |
