Wednesday, September 15, 1999
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B U S I N E S S | Wednesday, September 15, 1999 |
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Banks
foil Punjab move to divert loan |
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AI to float family plan Insurance & legal cover for
doctors ‘Give autonomy to power
regulators’ BSE specified list drops 26 scrips More scrips to trade on NSE |
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Banks
foil Punjab move to divert loan CHANDIGARH, Sept 14 — The consortium of banks here has foiled the Punjab Government's bid to divert the loan advanced by the consortium for raising and improving the infrastructure for other purposes. According to information available here at official level, the consortium comprising Oriential Bank of Commerce (lead bank), Vijaya Bank, The Bank of Rajasthan, Bank of India, Bank of Punjab, Corporation Bank and Indian Overseas Bank had advanced a first instalment of Rs 70 crore to the PWD (Bridges and Roads) of the Punjab Government. The consortium had agreed a few months ago to advance Rs 360 crore as loan to the state government on the condition that it should set up some autonomous board or corporation for utilising the loan for some productive purpose. As per the RBI's instructions, banks could not extend loan directly to any state government and help it in any manner to bail out from financial crisis. Sources said the loan was agreed to be given to Punjab Mandi Board and PWD through the Rural Development Board for building new roads and improving the existing ones. A few days ago the consortium advanced the first instalment of Rs 70 crore through Oriental Bank of Commerce, lead bank in this case. The drafts were issued in the names of executive engineers of the PWD against the specific road projects the estimates of which were submitted to the lead bank. However, the drafts which were issued to the PWD were supposed to be deposited in branches of the lead bank as it was part of the agreement. The lead bank had laid the condition that for proper monitoring of the loan utilisation it was mandatory to deposit the loan money in its branches so the payment could be released from branches against the works executed by the executive engineers in their areas of jurisdiction. After issuing the drafts to the PWD, the authorities concerned alerted the branch managers in the countryside to keep watch and contact the executive engineers concern to deposit the drafts in their respective branches. However, according to lead bank sources, the XENs were asked by top departmental authorities to collect the drafts and deposit the same in government treasuries. Informed sources said the the XENs were called here last Friday for collecting drafts from them. When the lead bank authorities came to know that drafts were being deposited in government treasuries and the loan amount was expected to be used to bail out the state government from financial crisis and not for the specific purpose for which it was advanced, they alerted immediately all members of the consortium and take up the matter with the Punjab Finance department. The Lead bank authorities also stopped payment against the drafts. Official sources told TNS that at a meeting with the finance department authorities, the consortium members made it clear to all concerned that they would only release payment only against drafts worth Rs 70 crore when the Punjab Government would give an undertaking that this amount would be utilised for the purpose for which it was advanced. Sources said the government after meeting the bank officials concerned in the past three days, today gave in writing that the amount would be used for the agreed purpose. The bank officials concerned said they would monitor the utilisation of the loan and also inspect the works executed with the loan amount. They said they were answerable to their authorities, including the RBI, about the utilisation of the loan. The officials also said the state government or its executing bodies were also supposed to contribute their share of about Rs 200 crore, thus raising the total amount to Rs 567 crore for infrastructure development. Meanwhile, under the chairmanship of the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, a prolonged meeting was held here today to deal with the financial crisis in the state. The main thrust at the meeting was to mobilise more resources to mop up revenue for the state exechequer. Informed sources said it
was a preliminary meeting in which various options for
raising the funds for state treasury were discussed.
However, a final decision would be taken only after
another meeting. |
Maruti Udyog hikes Zen, M-800 prices NEW DELHI, Sept 14 (PTI) — In a surprise move, Maruti Udyog has increased prices ranging from Rs 4,000 to Rs 10,000 for five variants of its popular Maruti-800 and Zen car models. The price hike comes barely eight months after the market leader had announced a hefty price cut to take on competition, particularly from Tata Indica. The highest price hike of Rs 10,000 was in the case of Maruti Udyog’s entry level model M-800 standard. The car will now cost Rs 1,91,584 (ex-showroom, Delhi) against Rs 1,81,584 earlier, company sources said. Zen LX will cost Rs 8,000 more now at Rs 2,97,575 as compared to Rs 2,89,575, company sources said. On the other hand, the price of Zen VX has increased by Rs 4,000 to Rs 3,43,800. When contacted, a Maruti spokesman confirmed that the price hike had already been effected but did not give reasons for the sudden move. Interestingly, the company has hiked prices ahead of making its vehicles Euro-II compliant to keep down pollution as per the order of the Supreme Court, which said that all cars should meet the stringent norms before April 1, 2000. This is likely to entail an additional expenditure of around Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 on each car as they have to be fitted with a crucial part called multi-point-fuel-injection system. The deluxe version of 800 cc model with AC, will cost Rs 7,062 more than the previous price of Rs 2,30,720. Another variant of M-800 series, EX, will fetch a price of Rs 2,12,290 as compared to Rs 2,05,759, i.e., Rs 6,531 higher than the earlier price. However, the company has lowered the price of its Zen diesel model by Rs 3,920 to Rs 4,14,265 from Rs 4,18,185. The prices of other Maruti models remained unchanged at their previous levels. Maruti did not touch the pricing structure of its cheapest car “Omni”, priced below M-800 standards model. The company had announced a major price cut ranging between Rs 7,000 and Rs 36,000 on December 30, 1998, on six car models, a day ahead of Telco’s Indica launch. Maruti created a record by selling 35,907 passenger cars in August, the highest ever sales registered by the company since its inception 15 years ago. The previous best was recorded in July when MUL sold 35,407 cars. The company’s sales also zoomed up by 20 per cent to 1,57,419 units in the first five months of the current fiscal against 1,32,046 units sold in April-August of 1998-99. An all-time high monthly
sales were posted by the Maruti-800, Zen and Omni models
during the review month. |
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NEW DELHI, Sept 14 (UNI) — In an effort to win back clientele from the Government sector, Air India is launching a family travel scheme tomorrow under which officials travelling abroad can take along one member of the family by paying just the surcharge for them. Air India Commercial Director Shanu Mukherjee told newspersons here today that the scheme to last till November 30 was intended to fetch additional revenue of Rs 20 crore to Rs 30 crore. Air India Regional Director for North India V.K. Verma said the Government share in the Air India traffic was 40-45 per cent and this was expected to go up to 80 per cent. Under the scheme, one member of the immediate family will be allowed to accompany the official (above the rank of Under Secretary) to Paris, Osaka or Tokyo by paying Rs 5,000 surcharge for an economy ticket and Rs 10,000 for first class or executive class, Rs 8,000 and Rs 12,000 to London and Rs 12,000 and Rs 15,000 to New York or Chicago. The scheme is valid only
for round trips and full fare tickets. The prorate outgo
for interline travel of the family member, if any, will
be collected from the official while issuing the ticket.
Upgrade or layover benefits will not be given if such a
family ticket is availed of. |
Insurance
& legal cover for doctors NEW DELHI, Sept 14 — New India Assurance and a private company today joined hands to provide insurance and legal protection to doctors. Medical Practitioners Protection India Limited (MPPIL) with a team of doctors and lawyers would lead a new direction to health-care and insurance industry, company officials said. “If an aggrieved or dissatisfied patient and/or his near and dear ones thrust a legal battle on the concerned doctor, then MPPIL will help the doctor defend himself or facilitate an out-of-the-court settlement,” Dr K.C. Misra, a member in the Board of Directors in the company and a leading plastic surgeon, in Canada, said. The assistant general
manager of New India Assurance Company, Mr K.B. Singh,
said the tie-up would benefit both the doctors and the
patients. “The insurance cover would help the
doctors to attend the patients with tension free mind and
the patients would also be assured of compensation from a
reputed firm.” |
‘Give autonomy to power regulators’ NEW DELHI, Sept 14 (PTI) — Electricity regulatory commissions should be allowed to function independently without any Government interference to allow proper fixation of tariffs and address consumer concerns. The guidelines provide that the Government can issue any directive to the regulatory commission. This affects the independent functioning of the State and central electricity regulatory commissions,” Mr R.V. Shahi, Chairman and Managing Director of BSES, said here today. There is an urgent need to amend this clause in the Electricity Regulatory Commission Act or the Government should issue any such directive only after a great deal of discussion so as to avoid any political interference in the functioning of these independent bodies. Shahi said at a conference on state electricity board (SEB) reforms organised by the Independent Power Producers Association of India (IPPAI), that the Government should immediately bring about efficiency linked return on investments in generation, transmission and distribution companies. Restructuring of the
SEBs should not be perceived as an exercise of only
raising tariffs, but making these boards commercially
viable and competitive. |
Odour-free shirts to office-goers’ rescue NEW DELHI, Sept 14 (UNI) — Odour-free shirts that kill odour-causing bacteria and infectious germs within minutes, thus saving office-goers from the constant embarrassment of driving away colleagues on working up a sweat, could soon be a reality. Chemists in the USA have developed a technique which could enable manufacturers of cotton textiles to graft to their fabrics chlorine-containing compounds called N-Halamines which lead to the death of a wide range of odour-causing bacteria, virus, yeast and fungi. The new fabrics could be used for the manufacture of a wide range of clothing, including sportswear, nurses uniform, hospital and hotel bedding, handkerchiefs, dishcloths and household sponges, says a report published in The Guardian, London. According to Dr Jeffry
Williams of the Seattle firm which commissioned this
research, carried out at the University of California,
the grafting of the N-Halamines to the cotton fabric
required a process very similar to the one already being
used to give the fabric a “permanent press,”
which meant that the technique would be very easy to
adapt. |
BSE specified list drops 26 scrips MUMBAI, Sept 14 (PTI) — The new specified list that had been revamped to exclude existing 26 scrips replaced by 17 new ones making the revised “A” group of 140 securities, came into effect on the Bombay Stock Exchange from today. The revised list of “A” group represents 62 per cent of the total market capitalisation as against 55.23 per cent prior to the reshuffle, which was necessitated to reflect the current market environment and to impart the facility of “carry forward” to more liquid scrips, according to BSE sources. The new scrips included in the “A” group are Amar Raja Batteries, Aptech Ltd, Bata India, Bausch & Lomb, Cipla Ltd, Global Telesystems, HCL Infosystem, Himachal Futuristic, Hoechst Marrion, India Cements, Indian Oil Company, McDowell & Co, Reliance Petroleum, Silverline Ind, Software Solutions, Tata Elexsi and Wipro. The 26 scrips that have
been dropped are Andhra Valley, Asian Hotels, Balrampur
Chini, Ceat Ltd, CESC Ltd, Essar Steel, Excel Industries,
Garware Poly, Garware Wall, Global Trust Bank, Godrej
Soaps, Gujarat Alkalies, Hindustan Motors, Hotel Leela,
IFCI Ltd, Industrial Oxygen, ITC Hotels Ltd, Nagarjuna
Fert, SKF Bearings, SPIC, Swaraj Engines, TPL, Tata
Hydro, UTI Mastergain, UTI Masterplus and Zuari
Industries. |
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MUMBAI, Sept 14 (PTI) — More securities will be available for trading on the capital market segment of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) tomorrow. The additional securities are the equity shares of IL & FS Venture Corp Ltd in the physical segment, equity shares of Bharat Forge, JK Corp, Motherson Sumi System, Neuland Laboratories, JK Inds, CESC and Moser-Baer in the depository segment. The name of Roofit Inds
Ltd will be changed from “Ratnabldg” to
“Roofit Ind”. All securities of the company
will be traded under the new name from tomorrow. |
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| Bullion Gold Std Rs 4055 Gold 22-Ct Rs 3905 Silver Ready Rs 7875 Silver delivery Rs 7840 Forex Kothari Pioneer McDowell Hind Motors |
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