Friday, September 10, 1999
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B U S I N E S S | Friday, September 10, 1999 |
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12 Punjab sugar mills suffer
losses CHANDIGARH, Sept 9 — Indian sugar industry is in dire straits. One major reason is the import of cheap sugar from across the world including Pakistan. Between October last and July this year, the country has permitted import from 13 countries. Pakistan tops with 5.54 lakh tonnes and Brazil comes next with more than five lakh tonnes. The total import is 18.30 lakh tonnes. World production is slated around 133.3 millions tonnes. |
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 LONDON : French actress Sophie Marceau holds up the De Beers Millennium Star, a 203-carat diamond at De Beers London office on Wednesday. The diamond which originates from the Democratic Republic of Congo is the largest in the World and will be on show in London's Millennium Dome on January 1, 2000, along with 11 De Beers blue diamonds. — AP/PTI |
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Dabur to pay 50 per cent Markfed
arranges cash sale of DAP FIIA
meet to take up proposals for North Centurion
Bank issue opens on Sept 20 Two Kaithal men win Rs 1 cr
lottery prize
Pure Drinks MD held |
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12 Punjab sugar mills suffer
losses CHANDIGARH, Sept 9 — Indian sugar industry is in dire straits. One major reason is the import of cheap sugar from across the world including Pakistan. Between October last and July this year, the country has permitted import from 13 countries. Pakistan tops with 5.54 lakh tonnes and Brazil comes next with more than five lakh tonnes. The total import is 18.30 lakh tonnes. World production is slated around 133.3 millions tonnes. While total world production is a record and countries with surplus are eyeing those nations which can import, India too has a large carry over stock of 55 lakh tonnes. This year sugar production will touch 154 lakh tonnes. Annual sugar consumption is around 146 lakh tonnes. This year, therefore, if no imports are there, the country will end with carry over surplus of 65 lakh tonnes. Add to this some 20 lakh tonnes from the imported stock. This will naturally depress the local prices. There are other more serious reasons for the sickness of the industry, both in private and cooperative sectors. The local sugar factories have to provide levy at a cheaper rate. “While fixing the price of sugarcane, the industry has little say and no say when the Government fixes the levy quota or its price. We are left with just some free market sugar and fend for ourselves”, says Mr Shivajirao Patil, president of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories (NFCSF). Those importing sugar do not have to provide any levy to the Government and are not covered by restrictions since the sugar is imported under the open general licence (OGL). The NFCSF leaders who met recently at Kathmandu recounted their woeful tales. More than 1,400 cooperative sugar mills are sick. For example 12 out of 15 Punjab mills are losing heavily. These have accumulated losses totalling Rs 400 crore. Mr Patil said: “The sugar industry has become unviable because of high sugar production, low realisation, low import duty on sugar and no means of importing sugar.” All sugar factories are in liquidity crisis because of the high price paid for the purchase of sugarcane against the low price for sugar fixed by the Government. Mr M.S. Marathe from Maharashtra, who has been with the sugar industry for more than 31 years, was never so much frustrated as now. “Despite constant representations and follow-up, no timely decisions are taken. It is not known to the Government, what is the opening stock, what is the domestic production , imported quantity and domestic consumption of sugar?”, he said. Where was the need for import at all, he asked. The sugar year 1998-99 will soon be over but the Government has yet to announce the levy price. The excuse made by the Government for the delay is that realisation on molasses has to be adjusted in the levy price. But on the other hand the Government has increased the issue price of levy sugar distributed through the PDS for 1998-99, without giving the benefit to the sugar industry. The case of Punjab
before the Centre is that it is one of those industries
which have not been made open in spite of liberalised
economic policies of the Central and the State
Governments. This industry is highly controlled and its
performance to a great extent depends upon the policies
of the Central and State Governments. |
Dabur to pay 50 per cent Dabur India Limited has targeted to achieve a turnover in excess of Rs 1,000 crore by the turn of the century and hike it to Rs 2,000 crore by 2002-2003, company Chairman V.C. Burman said today. Addressing the annual general meeting of the company, Mr Burman said the Board of Directors of the company has recommended a 50 per cent dividend for the year, including the 20 per cent interim dividend announced earlier. Mr Burman said the company will perform better in the next millennium and build a strong organisation on the platform it has built in the last hundred years. Moser Baer India Ltd will issue preference shares upto Rs 7.50 crore to various financial institutions including the General Insurance Cooperation and New India Assurance Corporation. The decision to issue preference shares, redeemable at the end of three years from the date of allotment, to financial institutions was taken at the meeting of the Board of Directors last week. Gulf Oil India Ltd profit before tax (PBT) has increased by 188 per cent to Rs 72.19 lakh in the first quarter of the current fiscal compared to Rs 25.24 lakh in the corresponding period last year. The company has also achieved a 10 per cent growth in volumes during April-August, Gulf Oil Chairman K.N. Venkatasubramanian told shareholders at the company’s 18th annual general meeting today at Mumbai. He said consequent to the consolidation of the business in auto and industrial segments, the company is confident of substantial increase in profit and volumes for the current year. At the AGM, the shareholders also approved the payment of 40 per cent dividend for 1998-99. The company last year had paid 37 per cent dividend. In 1998-99, net profits
of Gulf Oil increased to Rs 11.56 crore from Rs 8.69
crore. — Agencies |
Tata Indica becomes Euro II
compliant NEW DELHI, Sept 9 — Telco today announced that Indica has achieved Euro II compliance, before the deadline set by the Supreme Court on April 1, 2000. Indica has received the certification for Euro II compliance from Europe based independent authorities —Motor Industries Association, the UK, Institution Nacional de Tecnica, Spain, Union Tecnique de 1’ Automobile et du Cyclette, France and TUV, Germany. The certification has been received for both diesel and petrol variants of Indica, under test conditions with fuel quality akin to that available in Delhi. PUNE (PTI): Telco has invested a whopping Rs 400 crore for technological upgradation of its environment standards, including Rs 115 crore on an advanced emission testing laboratory. “We have a highly focussed, proactive programme in place to ensure that all our vehicles are Euro-II compliant. To achieve this, we have invested Rs 400 crore so far,” Telco Executive Director V M Raval has told reporters. Telco has also invested
Rs 175 crore in a joint venture with global player in
diesel engine technology Cummins. |
Markfed arranges cash sale of
DAP CHANDIGARH, Sept 9 — To meet the demand of farmers, Markfed has decided to make DAP fertiliser available for cash at all Markfed branches and agro service centres for the coming rabi season. A bag of 50 kg DAP will cost Rs 410 against the maximum retail price of Rs 415. Announcing this here today, Mr Gurinderjit Singh Sandhu, Managing Director, Markfed, said that the entire quantity of DAP to be supplied to agriculture cooperative societies as well as the quantity required for cash sale had been arranged and would be available well before the rabi sowing season. Markfed has finalised the purchase of more than 1.25 lakh MTs DAP for cooperative societies and the additional quantity required for cash sale has also been arranged. Rakes of DAP have started reaching the destinations in the State. The State government has allotted 60 per cent of the agriculture cooperative societies to Markfed to meet their demand for DAP and the demand of the remaining societies will be met by other agencies. Mr Sandhu said that the
demand of cooperative societies would be fully met and
stocks would be supplied well in time. |
FIIA meet to take up
proposals for North NEW DELHI, Sept 9 — The newly constituted Foreign Investment Implementation Authority (FIIA) will hold region-wise meetings to sort out problems faced by foreign collaboration approval holders. The first meeting, scheduled for September 29, will consider the northern region comprising Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. The subsequent meetings on September 30, October 6 and October 7, will consider foreign investment proposals pertaining to western, southern and eastern regions respectively. The meetings will be held in New Delhi and the foreign collaboration approval holders have been requested to send their problems and suggestions to the Joint Secretary/ Director, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, New Delhi. The FIIA was set up in
August, 1999 to provide services to the foreign investors
by helping them obtain necessary approvals, sort out
operational problems and meet various government agencies
to find solutions to procedural problems. |
Centurion Bank issue opens on Sept
20 NEW DELHI, Sept 9 — Centurion Bank Limited ( CBL) is entering the market with initial public offer of 33,75,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash at par aggregating to Rs 33.75 crore. The issue is being offered for public subscription in compliance with the guidelines of the RBI for listing of the shares of the bank as well as for augmenting the capital base of the bank. The public issue, lead
managed by SBI Capital Markets Ltd and ICICI Securities
and Finance Company Limited, opens on September 20, 1999
and closes on September 29, 1999. The shares will be
listed on the stock exchanges of Mumbai, Mangalore and on
the National Stock Exchanges. |
Two Kaithal men win Rs 1 cr CHANDIGARH, Sept 9 — Yashpal and Surinder Kumar of Kaithal have jointly won the first prize of Rs 1 crore in Punjab State Lotteries Baisakhi-Budh Purnima Bumper, 1999. Mr Prabhjot Singh Mand, Director, Punjab State Lotteries, gave the prize money drafts at a function here yesterday. The Director also
released the tickets for Maa Lakshmi Divali Bumper-1999,
whose draw is to be held on the Devali day i.e. November
7. It carries a first prize of Rs 1 crore. |
Pure Drinks MD held NEW DELHI, Sept 9 (PTI) — The Managing Director of a soft drink manufacturing company was today arrested and remanded to 14 days’ judicial custody for allegedly evading deposit of sales tax worth over Rs 1.23 crore. The accused, Ajit Singh, MD of Pure Drinks Limited, was taken into custody following a complaint from the Sales Tax Department of the Delhi Government. In the complaint the
Sales Tax Department had alleged that the company had
collected Rs 1,23,80,293 from its customers as sales tax
between October 1, 1997 and November 11, 1998 but did not
deposit the amount to the Government treasury. |
Y2K: only a scare NEW DELHI, Sept 9 (UNI) — As expected, important sectors of the Indian economy, including the Railways, civil aviation and finance, went without any glitch on account of possible critical Y2K — September 9, 99 date computer bug. The RBI keeping a close watch on the banking sector, said no problems had come to its knowledge. All but two banks in the country have already achieved Y2K compliance. There was no disruption in flight schedules of major airlines. Director General of Civil Aviation H.S. Khola said, “all critical systems involving safety and navigation have already been made Y2K compliant”. The MSSR (radar system)
will be made Y2K compliant by September 30, Mr Khola told
UNI. |
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