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| Thursday, July 27, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Plan panel predicts 3 pc farm growth Punjab sets up sell-off panel GM interested in picking up Maruti stake Pakistan fails to qualify for ADB loan Fiat Siena launch by year-end 216 projects run behind schedule |
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Power sector deficit touches Rs 37,000 crore PSL to offer dot com domain registration
Syndicate Bank net rises Paper industry reels under high costs PNB net up 15.9 pc PNB, HSBC tie up for global card SBI honours Kargil staff
Plan panel predicts 3 pc farm growth NEW DELHI, July 26 (PTI) — Planning Commission has predicted agricultural growth of 2.6 to 3 per cent in the current financial year, an improvement over the 1.3 per cent achieved last year. “There will be an improvement, but the fact remains that Indian agriculture has a potential to grow at more than 4 per cent annually. The new agricultural policy has emphasised on improvement of productivity and the development of rainfed areas and this may improve the performance of this sector,” Som Pal, Member, Planning Commission, told PTI. Som Pal said that lack of capital was one of the major constraints in the agricultural sector. Rate of Capital Formation (ROCF) had declined to 9.2 per cent now compared to 21 per cent in the seventies and eighties. Surprisingly, major part of the fall in ROCF is in the public sector investment which came down to 4.5 per cent from 18 per cent, he said. “Government made a provision of more than Rs 19,000 crore for the communication sector, while the irrigation sector was allotted only Rs 452 crore in the last budget,” Som Pal added. The performance of agricultural sector has not been very steady in the last decade despite favourable monsoons, he said adding that the sector was completely bypassed in the liberalisation process. Som Pal also said that all types of restrictions in the sector should be done away with for nurturing the potential. Most of the states favoured restrictions, officially or unofficially, including on movement of inter-state agricultural produce, he said. In view of India having achieved self-sufficiency in agriculture, the new agricultural policy has rightly shifted emphasis from production to productivity, Som Pal said adding that there was need to focus on the rainfed areas. There were huge differences in the productivity of irrigated and rainfed areas. Average productivity in the green revolution belt was more than 3.5 tonnes per hectare as against about one tonne a hectare in the rainfed regions. The government is likely to launch a huge programme of minor irrigation development mainly for the rainfed areas. “If properly implemented, this scheme alone will be able to give us 30 to 40 million tonnes of extra agricultural produce within next three to five years,” Som Pal said. In the low rain areas, arid and semi-arid, emphasis has to be on water and soil conservation and heavy crops which can survive with small doses of irrigation, Som Pal said adding that in view of this the crop pattern would also undergo a change. He also talked about the development of necessary infrastructure including road connectivity and storage facilities, absence of which was causing huge losses as 30 to 40 per cent of fruits and vegetables were getting destroyed. |
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Punjab sets up sell-off panel CHANDIGARH, July 26 — The Punjab Cabinet today constituted public sector Disinvestment Commission for the state. Earlier, the Cabinet had set up a core group under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary, Mr R.S. Mann, that would now act as a nodal
coordinating agency for the proposed commission. The recommendations of the commission will be placed before the Cabinet. In yet another decision the Cabinet decided to appoint the former Chief Secretary, Mr T.K.A. Nair, as part-time Chairman of the commission with Mr S.S. Kohli, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Punjab National Bank, Mr Chander Mohan, former Chairman and Managing Director of Punjab Tractors, Mr R.M. Malla, General Manager, IDBI, Mr Pradeep Singh, Regional Manager, I.L. and F.S. and Mr P.S. Rekhi, Professor of Economics, Punjab School of Economics as its part-time members. The Punjab Cabinet also set up a Public Expenditure Reforms Commission for improving the quality of public expenditure and delivery of services to the public in an efficient and economical measure under the chairmanship of Dr Ashok Lahiri, Director of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy of the Centre. The Cabinet also decided to have one time-settlement in the process of liquidation of cooperative spinning mills in Mansa, Malout and Kotkapura as also Cooperative Sugar Mill at Budhlada. The Cabinet also advanced the cut-off date about pay revision of employees of the Punjab State Planning Board and Statistical Organisation to January 1, 1986 instead of January 1, 1994.
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GM interested in picking up Maruti stake NEW DELHI, July 26 (UNI) — General Motor Corporation (GMC) of the United States today evinced interest in picking up stake in India’s largest car maker Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) ‘‘if approached by the Indian Government’’. ‘‘If we are approached and offered (stake in Maruti), we are very interested in taking it,’’ Mr Richard C. Swando, President and Managing Director of General Motors India Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of GMC, told newspersons here today. However, he stated that the world’s largest car maker is not making any pro-active efforts towards the same. ‘‘We are closely watching India’s disinvestment process...we are not trying to approach the government but will be keen on picking up the stake if we are offered it by the government,’’ Mr Swando added. GMC eyed Maruti as a perfect fit into its portfolio and expected the alliance to help it grow in India. ‘‘Global consolidation and global alliance is the order of the day and we feel the best way to grow is through alliances.’’ MUL was incorporated in February 1981 as a Government of India (GOI) owned company, and had entered into a license and joint venture agreement (JVA) with Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) of Japan in October 1982 to manufacture fuel efficient cars at low cost. Following the JVA, SMC increased its stake in stages to 50 per cent by 1992. MUL’s equity capital of Rs 132.29 crore and its shareholding has remained unchanged since then with SMC holding 50 per cent, GOI 49.74 per cent and MUL employees mutual benefit fund 0.26 per cent. Though disinvestment of government stake in Maruti has been in discussion for some time, the Indian Government had recently stated that it may have to keep a stakeholding presence in the car maker for some time as a ‘‘countervailing force’’ in the market. Meanwhile, regarding the recent tie-up between GMC and Fiat SPA of Italy, Mr Swando said, both the firms are currently examining the opportunities that arise in India. ‘‘We are looking at similar opportunities with the joint steering committee.’’ General Motors and Fiat had finalised a global alliance on Monday that calls for equity swaps between the two auto groups and formation of 50-50 powertrain and purchasing joint ventures. GMC took a 20 per cent stake in Fiat Auto Holdings, B.V., a new holding company that controls Fiat group’s auto and light-commercial vehicle operations, except for Ferrari and Maserati. Fiat received 32 million shares of GM’s common stock, equal to about 5.6 per cent. Opel Astra: The company has also decided to go slow on introduction of a diesel heart on its latest offering ‘Opel Corsa’, Swando added. ‘‘We have been watching the demand pattern for both automatic transmission and diesel cars. The automatic transmission variant accounted for merely 5-6 per cent of our total Astra sales and this was very low to make it feasible for us to produce an additional variant. So we have dropped the model out of production. |
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Pakistan fails to qualify for ADB loan ISLAMABAD, July 26 (ANI) — Pakistan has not yet qualified for a $ 250 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for
restructuring its energy sector, according to documentary evidence in possession of “The News”. The ADB’s energy sector mission is arriving here today to review the sale of two power utilities’ Finance Ministry sources confirmed. The sources said the policy decisions were in the pipeline and the ADB understood their nature, scope and difficulties very well. The loan is mainly meant for restructuring and privatisation of two power utilities. Led by Sadiq Zaidi, the five-member mission will review latest status of the power sector restructuring and hold negotiations with the government on the 250 million loan. The $ 125 million each for Wapda and KESC can go up to $ 400 million to support the government in converting a large chunk of the independent power producers (IPPs) from furnace oil to natural gas production. The investigation reveals that the KESC has provided a “roadmap” to the ADB for the improvement of operational performance as agreed to. However, despite the expiry of the May 31 deadline, the government has not framed and provided to the ADB the new labour laws to take care of the KESC work force. The government had also not been able to meet the June 1 deadline to provide monthly status of receivables from the private sector though it was ontime in providing quarterly improvement in transmission and distribution losses. The government has also failed to take a decision by June 30 about the ADB’s proposed five per cent equity stake in the privatised KESC. The government has also not decided whether any such equity stake by the ADB will be taken out from the share presently identified for sale to a strategic investor or from the balance of government’s direct or indirect share holding of about 40 per cent. Pakistan could not submit to the ADB by June 30 the actual current theft and transmission and distribution losses with reasonable accuracy in theft and loss that are to be achieved by KESC for the same period up to December 31, 2002. The government also could not meet the June 30 deadline to recover Rs 1.75 billion representing only 20 per cent of the adjusted private sector receivables. The government has failed to announce by June 30 the proposed privatisation law which could lead to the sale of the KESC while local consultants have yet to start their work in the KESC. The ADB released second tranche of $ 250 million capital market development programme loan (CMDPL) to Pakistan early this month after over a year of break. During its two-week stay, the mission will hold talks to review the government’s performance towards the restructuring of Wapda and KESC and their proposed sale, the sources said. The ADB had also asked for bridging the financial gap of the two utilities and the performance has not been so encouraging, sources in the power ministry said. |
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Fiat Siena launch by year-end NEW DELHI, July 26 — Buoyed by the booming automobile market in India, the Fiat is planning to launch its sleak and elegant mid-size segment car, Fiat Siena, in the last quarter of this year. “We will launch two models of Fiat Siena later this year, most probably in the last quarter” Director, Sales and Marketing Enrico Ferrero told TNS. Disclosing the price strategy of the company, he said the car would be competitively positioned in the mid-size segment. “It will be in the range of Rs 7 to 8 lakh.” Expressing confidence at the booming automobile market in the country, he said, “we are optimistic that the Indian consumers will be happy to pay the price for the comfort of Fiat Siena.” “Our target is to sell 2500 cars in this fiscal and are quite hopeful that the number will increase considerably in the next fiscal,” he said. The customers will have the benefit of buying Siena with petrol or diesel option, Ferrero said adding both the versions having five-speed transmissions, though they feature different gearing so as to match torque delivery. In the diesel version, the turbo is well matched to the gearing, negating the need to bang on the throttle to increase power. |
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216 projects run behind schedule NEW DELHI, July 26 (PTI) — The government will face Rs 44,604.5 crore cost overrun in the 473 central projects, of which over 45 per cent or 216 projects are running behind their approved original schedules, the Lok Sabha was informed in a written reply today. A significant 35.6 per cent cost overrun has been anticipated in these 473 central projects, where the revised estimates peg the anticipated cost to be Rs 170,063.8 crore, as per the data made available. The dubious distinction of having both the largest number of projects with cost as well as time overrun lay with the Railways, with 125 and 63 projects, respectively. While the 125 projects with cost overrun under the Railways are expected to increase their cost base by a massive 62.5 per cent, the 63 delayed projects will take anywhere between two and 132 months more to complete than their original schedule. As per the available data, a single financial project is expected to cost almost double of its original cost estimates at Rs 348.8 crore, while 26 atomic energy projects are expected to together show a cost overrun of almost one-and a-half times. Among the most delayed projects will be 26 falling under the coal sector, where the time overrun is expected to be anywhere between two and 189 months (over 15 years).
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Power sector deficit touches Rs 37,000 crore NEW DELHI, July 26 (PTI) — The government today sought cooperation of states in recovering power dues of Rs 37,000 crore in the country to tide over the financial problems of state electricity boards. “There is no upfront transparency in subsidy in the power sector and the deficit in the sector has gone up to Rs 37,000 crore”, Power Minister R. Kumaramangalam told the Rajya Sabha. Replying to supplementaries during the question hour, he said large consumers owed huge amount of dues and if this could be realised with the assistance of state governments, the financial position in the power sector could be vastly improved. Replying to the main question on the success of the “Kutir Jyoti” programme under which one light connection is provided in rural homes, Kumaramangalam said the state electricity boards were reluctant to avail the grant of over Rs 214 crore as many houses were installing more than one electricity point in violation of the programme. |
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PSL to offer dot com domain registration NEW DELHI, July 26 — Polar Software Limited (PSL) the IT wing of Polar Group of companies, has qualified for accreditation to be a registrar for .com, .net and .org domain name registration. According to a press release, PSL is the first company in the organised sector in India to take
initiative in the core of Internet area by providing registration in various languages and country-specific domain name in future. Reservation services shall be provided through its site www.signdomains.com and through various strategic offices supported by a number of sellers and a customer service team. Signdomains.com is prepared to launch worldwide domain name registration services which also offer a chance to win prizes.
Syndicate Bank net rises
BANGALORE, July 26 (PTI) — Syndicate Bank has registered a healthy growth of 38.23 per cent in its net profit during the first quarter ended June 2000 compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. The net profit rose to Rs 71.27 crore during the first quarter from the previous year’s Rs 51.56 crore. The income earned by the bank in the corresponding period increased by 17.54 per cent to reach Rs 760.29 crore after making provisions of NPAs and for investments, it was stated.
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Paper industry reels under high costs NEW DELHI, July 26 — The paper industry reeling under heavy input costs has urged the government to save the industry from closure. “The paper industry in the country is reeling under the heavy impact of increasing costs. Many units have closed and most of them could not service their debts or meet the statutory payment obligations,” the President of Indian Agro and Recycle Paper Mills Association, Mr Pramod Jain said here today. He said the prices of raw materials like agro residues and waste paper have gone up by 50 per cent and power cost by 25 per cent in the last one year. The excise duty hike by 8 per cent and the uniform sales tax of 8 per cent has also contributed to the increase in the production cost. PNB net up 15.9 pc CHANDIGARH, July 26 —Punjab National Bank has achieved a net profit of Rs 140.46 crore at the end of June as compared to Rs 121.14 crore in the corresponding period last year, recording a year-on-year growth of 15.9 per cent. This was disclosed by Mr S.S. Kohli, Chairman and Managing Director of the Punjab National Bank. The gross profit during the first quarter ended June 2000 was Rs 331.39 crore compared to Rs 221.14 crore registering a growth of 49.9 per cent. Mr Kohli added that the total income increased from Rs 1304.96 crore in the three months ended June 1999 to Rs 1604.25 crore in the three months registering a growth of 22.9 per cent. Interest income amounted to Rs 1373.07 crore for the first quarter, registering a growth of 16.1 per cent over the corresponding period last year. The aggregate deposits of the bank amounted to Rs 47,688 crore, showing an increase of Rs 7061 crore or 17.4 per cent over the corresponding period last year. Mr Kohli mentioned that the priority sector credit at Rs 9,990 crore at the end of June 2000 was 44.5 per cent of net credit much above the national goal of 40 per cent and the bank has made of a provision of Rs 190.93 crore towards non-performing assets. (NPAs)
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PNB, HSBC tie up for global card NEW DELHI, July 26 — Punjab National Bank and Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited today signed an agreement for issuance of global credit card under the Visa and MasterCard franchise to PNB customers. The card, likely to be launched by mid-October this year will help the bank to offer a comprehensive product to the retail customers, bank Chairman and Managing Director, S.S. Kohli said in a statement here. HSBC will manage the card programme and provide card issuance, credit and collections support.
SBI honours Kargil staff CHANDIGARH, July 26 — Mr Prabhakar Sharma, Chief General Manager, SBI, Chandigarh circle, yesterday felicitated the staff members of the bank’s Kargil and Drass branches for the valuable services rendered by them during the ‘Operation Vijay’. The bank presented them with citation and cash rewards which were given by the Chief Guest, Lt-Gen Arjun Ray. Mr Sharma also presented a cheque for Rs 13.70 lakh collected by the supervising staff of the Chandigarh circle, to Lt-Gen Ray for the welfare of the jawans. Lt-Gen Ray lauded the role of the bank’s staff for their dedication and courage exhibited by them for providing banking services during the operation. Mr D L Manwani, General Manager, ( Dev & Per Banking) , Mr S M Kapoor, General Manager, (J&K Module) and Mr Amar Pal, General Secretary, SBI Officers Association, were present on the occasion. |
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Aptech to raise $ 86.25 m Marico to pay 40 pc Zydus Cadila net jumps 102 pc ONGC posts 55 pc growth in net EIH net declines 24 pc VSP production up 10 pc Wockhardt plans listing in USA Leyland Fin net jumps to 20.26 crore Chambal Fert profit falls |
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