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| Thursday, October 5, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Reduce fiscal deficit to 3 pc: Assocham Wise Agro Park woos entrepreneurs Santro outsells Zen Public issues
record five-fold rise Punjab needs export processing zones |
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Siemens bags 17.5 cr order PAIC to get 5.99 cr PSB liberalises educational loans 
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Reduce fiscal deficit to 3 pc: Assocham NEW DELHI, Oct 4 (PTI) — The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) today asked the Centre to bring down the fiscal deficit to 3 per cent in 3-4 years time, reduce subsidies and downsize government in a time-bound manner to flag-off the second generation reforms. In its report ‘Strategising Second Generation Fiscal Reforms’, the chamber said fiscal deficit should be kept within 3 per cent of GDP for the Centre and 2 per cent for states to bring the fiscal house in order and finally move towards a policy of “balanced budget” from the present “zero-based budgeting”. The proposed Fiscal Responsibility Act, Assocham said “must specify a time frame for reduction of fiscal and revenue deficits over 3-4 years.” The target should be to attain fiscal surplus, reduce risks inherent in assets and non-debt liabilities while imparting transparency in the budget-making exercise, it said. Suggesting that deficit should be attained through revenue surplus and not through selling off government assets, Assocham said “the Act should include provisions to penalise populist and profligate tendency among states and centre.” Assocham also called for zero revenue deficit within the next four years. In order to bridge the gap between a revenue expenditure of 26.5 per cent of GDP as against 21 per cent in receipts, the chamber said one of the measures to reduce this is by “right-sizing the government and improving productivity of administration.” Attributing the increasing deficit to rising expenditure, Assocham said the administrative machinery has grown from 18 department, eight secretaries and 14.4 lakh workers to 79 department, 92 secretaries and over 41 lakh employees. Speaking in same tune of Fifth Pay Commission, Assocham said several ministries should be merged, the existing vacant posts should be abolished, manpower should be reduced by 3 per cent each year and a scheme of compulsory and voluntary retirement schemes should be introduced. While the layers of administration should be brought down from 9 to 6, some of the departments should be privatised and services out-sourced. Despite a reduction of tax rates from the levels of 1992, the Tax-GDP ratio has not increased, the report observed and said “the tax reforms of the 1990s were largely revenue neutral for the government”. Assocham suggested that the direct taxes should be extended to agricultural income and services sector, rationalise tax rebates and exemption, harmonise tax rates across the states and introduce value-added tax. Tax on mergers and acquisitions should also be eliminated or brought down to the minimum possible level, it said. |
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Wise Agro Park woos entrepreneurs NEW
DELHI, Oct 4 — One of the first industrial estates exclusively devoted to the food processing industry in India is wooing first-generation entrepreneurs and multinationals as it races to get all common support structures up and running by the month-end. Wise Industrial Park Ltd. (WIPL), which has promoted the 112-acre “food park” in Ghaziabad, an industrial town bordering Delhi, is also setting up a marketing network within the country in phases to facilitate the launch of new agro products by fledgling enterprises. With an investment of Rs. 50 million and spread out on 12 acres, the common facilities include a 4,000-tonne capacity cold storage and a 6,000 square feet grading and packaging unit, WIPL Managing Director P.C. Rao told IANS. WIPL is a joint venture company formed by Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC) and Wise Infrastructure Ltd. (WIL), a private enterprise with focus on infrastructure development. Wise has similar joint venture projects in the states of Kerala and Orissa. “Inspired by the Israeli Moshav System, the thrust of these projects is to promote agro industries through creation of a common infrastructure facility,” Rao said. “In doing so the individual units would not be required to set up facilities which they do not use on a continuous basis or for which they do not have economies of scale. The state enterprises contribute their equity through land acquired by the government and the Wise bringing in the required funds for development,” said Rao. In this project, UPSIDC has an 11 per cent stake. The government of Uttar Pradesh has transferred 800 acres to UPSIDC through a conveyance deed with the provision that 400 acres of this be developed in a joint venture with a private company. “Out of the 400 acres Agro Industrial Park being developed by us on Masuri Gulawati Road, in Ghaziabad district, 112 acres is earmarked for a Food Park. The estimated cost of setting up the food park is Rs. 177.5 million, with Rs. 72 million in the form of equity, Rs 70 million raised through bank loans and the balance through accruals with the support of the government. The project promoters are planning road shows in France later this month, to be followed up in the U.S. next year to attract multinationals and non-resident Indian to invest in a sector which enjoys several facilities including government subsidy, automatic route clearance and full repatriation of foreign direct investment. The Indian food processing industry currently contributes just two per cent of the global trade. “We are in the process of finalising around five new projects for frozen and tinned foods and one mineral water plant. Retiring defence personnel is another segment we are hoping to attract for setting up ventures and have held presentations for them,” said Rao. Advised by a panel of food consultant, the company is also undertaking feasibility studies for young entrepreneurs and for sanction of submitted projects. It has also tied up with Rabo Bank of the Netherlands and Small Industries Development Bank of India for financing of projects over Rs. 10 million as part of its one-window clearance facility for investors. Coca Cola India Private Ltd is the first multinational to have set up a base in Wise Park in 1998 with an investment of $30 million. It has already commenced its bottling operation from a custom-built plant said Arun Anand, managing director of WIL. Under a new subsidiary company, Masuri Agro Services Ltd., Wise has recently started a marketing operation based on the Nine to Nine stores in the U.S. “We are planning to have around 100 franchise outlets of our Seven to Eleven stores within Delhi over the next two years. Later we plan to have similar stores in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore to market the products of the various units in the park and also fresh vegetables and fruits from the farms adjoining our land on the banks of Ganges canal,” said Rao. — IANS
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Santro outsells Zen NEW DELHI, Oct 4 (UNI) —Hyundai Motor India Santro dethroned Zen to become the single largest selling car in the premium small car segment in September 2000, while Ford India’s Josh machine Ikon zipped past Hyundai Accent to become the mid-sized segment leader for the month. Hyundai sold 6,502 units of Santro in September, outselling Zen by 747 units. Maruti managed to sell 5,755 units of Zen in the month to take the second slot. Daewoo Motor India emerged third selling 4,720 units of its small car Matiz, followed by Telco Indica at 3,577 units. Maruti sprung up a surprise with its latest offering Alto. The company sold 2,953 units of the car in three days flat. The company’s other premium small car Wagon-R sold 2,508 units and Uno finished last in the segment with sales of 601 units. In the a-segment, Maruti sold 16,223 units of Maruti 800 and 5,908 units of Omni. In the mid-sized category, Ford India emerged the segment leader having sold 1,817 units of ikon. Hyundai came a close second recording sales of 1,740 units of Accent in the month. Maruti’s entry-level mid-sizer Esteem accounted for 1,462 units while the Honda Siel cars, driving on the growing demand for the recently-launched City V-Tec, sold 1,101 units. General Motors India sold 748 units of its latest offering Opel Corsa and 415 units of Opel Astra, while Maruti managed to sell 398 units of its premium mid-sizer car Baleno. Fiat India’s latest introduction Siena weekend, helped the company sell 300 units of its mid-sized offering, while Daewoo Motor sold 181 units of Cielo and Nexia. |
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Public issues record five-fold rise NEW DELHI, Oct 4 (UNI) — Eightyfour companies tapped the capital market in the first six months of this fiscal to raise Rs 1,812 crore, marking an almost five fold increase over the corresponding period last year. In the April-September period of 1999, 17 companies had mopped up Rs 902 crore, says Prime Database. On the debt front, however, there was a major fall. The current half witnessed a mobilisation of only Rs 339 crore compared to Rs 2526 crore in the preceding year. While 74 per cent of the total amount had been mobilised through debt in the previous year, this fell to only 16 per cent in the current year. According to Prime, at a combined level (debt and equity), the current half witnessed 86 public issues compared to only 21 in the previous year. Despite this, the amount raised was lower at Rs 2150 crore compared to Rs 3428 crore in the previous year. The fall in the amount was on account of financial institutions not raising debt at the same level as they did last year. In the current half, only ICICI entered the market raising a meagre Rs 339 crore. In the preceding year, the total debt raising was Rs 2526 crore contributed by IDBI (Rs 1500 crore) and ICICI (Rs 1026 crore). Like the previous year, the equity offerings in the current year, according to Prime, were mainly from the ICE sector, 77 out of the total 84 issues. By amount too, of Rs 1812 crore, ICE sector dominated with Rs 1572 crore or 87 per cent of the total. While the I.T. Sector raised Rs 5 crore through 66 issues, the media sector collected Rs 282 crore through nine offerings and the telecom sector Rs 785 croe through two issues. What is, however, disturbing was the flooding of the market by small issues, as many as 54 of the 77 ICE issues were of less than Rs 5 crore, with 43 of them being less than even Rs 3 crore each. Outside ICE, the institutional/banking sector mobilised Rs 216 crore through 2 equity issues while 2 NBFCs raised Rs 5 crore. The mobilisation by the manufacturing sector was only Rs 19 crore through three issues. In a significant reversal, while institutions/ banks through debt and equity had accounted for a high 84 per cent of the total mobilisation in the previous year’s first half, their share fell to a low 26 per cent in the current year.
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Punjab needs export processing zones CHANDIGARH: Export processing zones (EPZ) in several developing countries serve as a magnate to attract foreign investment, accelerate transfer of technology and promote trade. It is time the states also paid attention to this concept. While Punjab is navigating with the industry on setting up special economic zone (SEZ), it will be worth to take a hard critical look at “The Performance of India’s Export Zones — A Comparison with the Chinese Approach”. This critical analysis encompassing policy implications has been done by a Punjab cadre IAS officer, Dr Ashok Kundra, who is at present Principal Adviser to the Planning Commission. Punjab Industries Secretary Ramesh Inder Singh says the state is keen to step up exports, both of industrial goods and agricultural produce. For that apart from the usual administrative and technical backup, requisite infrastructural support is also needed. Given the expertise of Mr Kundra, the state can well make use of his services to promote economic activity and exports. China was the first to set up SEZs. India followed by making improvised and improved administrative, legal and constitutional changes. But due to the prevailing system and lack of political commitment the EPZ and Export Oriented Units (EOU) have not performed the way these should have. What has affected the functioning of EPZ and EOUs between 1980 and 1997are constraints associated with infrastructural, operational and procedural systems. There is lack of clear objectivity as well as lack of political commitment and administrative support. Therefore, Punjab will have to do its home-work well to compete in the world market. Punjab is keen to attract foreign investment but it seems to lack promotional thrust. Mind-set and lack of experience come in the way. Prof Mohanbir Singh Sawhney says, there has to be complete “system change” to achieve what is required rather than blindly follow what Bangalore and Hyderabad do. Punjab has to realise its own potential and take up new challenges. For this it has to create institutions to train required manpower, which will mean coordinated effort. There is, admits Mr R.I. Singh, a positive co-relation between policy and performance. That is exactly what he and his colleagues are working out on. There has to a paradigm shift in thinking, planning and implementation to help the core sectors of economy, industry as well as agriculture. Punjab has mapped out its exports. It has district-wise data and can tap the resources to encourage exporting units. The potential that exists in the state is in tune with the national scene. Mr Kundra says, “while, EOUs have a relatively broad-based and diversified product range but textiles, yarn, agro-based and mineral-ore units account for over 70 per cent of EOU exports. Growth of agri-EOUs is also on the upswing. Their number has gone up from eight in 1987-88 to 238 in 1997-98 and their share in EOU exports has increased from 5 to 15.25 per cent during this period”. This is an encouraging sign for Punjab which must take advantage of the existing EOUs’ performance and draw up fresh plans in its scheme of policy initiative for export-oriented economic development. Here what Dr Sawhney said hold good. Punjab has to improvise its plans and policy initiatives and incentives depending upon availability of skills and raw material. Equally important is to ensure quality consciousness and improvements in management styles through exposure to external influences. Technology transfer and emphasis on research and development in small and medium units is imperative. With the fast-changing world economic and commerce scene and increasing role of IT industry in every sphere, liberal policies will enable entrepreneurs go a long way to take advantage of individual state’s incentives. All said and done, the EOUs are poised to play a leading role in promoting exports, says Mr Kundra. These will continue to attract foreign investment, technology transfer for up gradation of small and medium industry and generating employment These EOUs have already wrested 8.08 per cent share in the country’s exports for 1997-98. Therefore, Mr R.I. Singh says; Punjab will not lag behind in taking any initiative which provides the state a lead over other states in this highly competitive world, in-built system constraints notwithstanding. The same will be eased and eliminated. Concluded |
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Siemens bags 17.5 cr order MUMBAI, Oct 4 (PTI) —The industrial projects division of Siemens has bagged a Rs 17.5 crore order from the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) for installing a traffic management system on the Kotputli-Amer section of the national highway in Rajasthan. This new venture was a pilot project on the 83 km stretch on the Delhi-Jaipur highway number eight in North India, Siemens said in a release here today. The project, scheduled for completion by March 2001, would be implemented as a joint project of Siemens Ltd (India), Siemens Public Communication Network Ltd, Siemens
ATD-SV, Munich, and Siemens Traffic Control Ltd, UK, it said.
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PAIC to get 5.99 cr CHANDIGARH, Oct 4 (PTI) —Punjab Finance Minister Capt Kanwaljit Singh today said Rs 5.99 crore had been provided in the annual plan 2000-2001 to enable the Punjab Agro Industries Corporation Ltd (PAIC) to set up a network of agriculture, horticulture and dairy or poultry processing units. An amount of Rs 55 lakh had been provided for the paic in the annual plan to set up 500 beekeeping units through a tie-up which the Dabur India Limited, a statement quoting the minister said here. This scheme had been appraised and approved by Khadi village and Industries Commission and Nabard, he said. |
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PSB liberalises educational loans New Delhi, Oct 4 — The Punjab and Sind Bank has modified its educational loans granted to students and made it more liberal to meet the requirements of the RBI guidelines. The loan amount, maximum of Rs 10 lakhs, are granted to students pursuing higher education or professional course in India and abroad. The bank grants loans to students on a personal guarantee of parents or guardians. The loans, which attract an interest of 12 to 13.75 per cent, are repayable in installments within 72 months after the completion of the course, a release said. “The educational loan policy of the bank aims to bring under its fold the students who are seeking/have got admission in any reputed college/university in India as well as abroad but are finding it difficult to finance their career plans,” said Mr M S Kapur, Executive Director of the bank. |
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Software exports to
France may rise PARIS, Oct 4 — Indian software exports to France are on track to grow by nearly 100 per cent this year, twice as fast as the growth rates of overall software exports from India. Mr Dewang Mehta, President of NASSCOM has said the total Indian software exports to France in the current year could exceed $50 million, up from the $28 million that was recorded in 1999. “We expect the same blistering pace of growth to continue in the case of France for 2001 when we expect the total exports to exceed $100 million,” an enthusiastic Mehta told IANS in Paris. The first steps towards reaching this seemingly ambitious target were taken at one-on-one business meetings organised by Nasscom during Information Technology Minister Pramod Mahajan’s visit to Paris last week. Mr Mehta said the meetings alone could lead to business of over $15 million for Indian companies. France now accounts for less than 0.75 per cent of total Indian software exports, which stood at more than $4 billion in 1999. At the end of this year, the French share of the exports is expected to rise, but only marginally, to 0.76 per cent. This places France behind Germany, Britain, Belgium and Switzerland as major importers of Indian software. In 2001, the French share of total exports is expected to rise to 1 per cent, accounting for $100 million of the $10 billion target set for that year by Indian software firms. But Mr Mehta now hopes to change all that. Last week’s meeting was the second such contact between the IT industries of the two countries in more than two years. In October, 1998, Nasscom had brought a similar delegation to France. Despite a successful visit, not much business followed. This time around, Mr Mehta said the situation was entirely different. “The French industry has realised that they are getting left behind in Europe as well. And they know we are able to help them, so we see a brisk pace from here on,” he said. The French are eager to do business in three main areas of the IT sector — e-commerce, micro-electronics software and IT-enabled services like call centers and back office operations. These are the traditional areas of strength for Indian companies. — IANS India and Russia identify IT areas NEW DELHI, Oct 4 (PTI) —India and Russia today identified software, communication, network technologies including Internet, high performance computing systems and applications as key areas for bilateral co-operation in the Infotech sector. The two countries are also actively considering setting up of a nodal group in the respective countries to facilitate the linkages between important business groups and corporates, an official release said here. The proposed plan of action which was agreed upon during a meeting between it Minister Pramod Mahajan and Russian Minister for Communication and Informatisation L.Reyman also identified certification of electronics and it products as another area for bilateral co-operation, it said. During the discussions, which touched upon various initiatives by the two governments for promoting IT in their respective countries, Russia also proposed to purchase computers from India for its schools, it said adding that the two countries also agreed to share models and experiences between the official departments on e-goverance. Mahajan, on his part, discussed the need to promote exchange programme between teachers, students and professionals associated with it, between the two countries. Russia and India would now identify the relevant institutions to promote the exchange programme in due course, it added. Discussions also focussed on promoting business-to-business linkages between the entrepreneurs of both the countries. Automotive portal launched CHENNAI, Oct 4 (PTI) — Satyam Infoway Ltd, today announced the launch of its portal “autowebex.Com” meant for the automotive industry. According to a company release, the objective of the portal was to serve as a business efficiency enabler providing global reach for the industry. Automotive companies would mainly benefit from the increased speed of doing business, cost reduction, global reach and industry information by using the new portal, it was claimed.
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E-mail sans plugins HYDERABAD: A software firm here has claimed to have produced a compact and portable electronic product that can send and receive e-mails sans any plugins. It might sound incredible, but this is exactly what a group of budding software professionals who formed the coporate entity Netindia Pvt Ltd hardly a year ago perfected. It is capable of sending e-mail and voice mail without a personal computer or Internet account, from anywhere in India to any part of the world and vice-versa, NetIndia Managing Director and the brain behind the innovative invention Hari Krishan Prasad told PTI here. Designed and produced indigenously, the wonder gadget would be sold at Rs 1500, he said. “The commercial production would commence after the launch by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu here on October 7,” said Prasad after a demonstration of the product. The cyber savvy Chief Minister was also extremely impressed with the functioning of the gadget when a demonstration was done before him, 32-year-old Prasad said. The battery-operated gadget, called “pianomail”, bears a striking resemblance to a toy piano with a small key board and other sleek features. It is user-friendly both in software and in its product design and functional and meets the environmental regulations, he added. — PTI Computer games grip UK LONDON:
Indian software experts are coming in increasing numbers to the UK to help the British develop and play computer games, according to a report by UK’s Screen Digest. Computer games have gripped the British more than their other European counterparts, according to the report. The preference in the UK is now for computer games rather than watching either films or videos. The buzzword in the UK now is to get interactive rather than sit and watch what other people have done. New immigration rules that permit easier access to the UK for Indian software experts are expected to bring a new kind of Indian expertise into developing computer games in the UK. The British plan to build themselves up as a primary centre for developing computer games. The UK has the third largest market in computer games after the U.S. and Japan, with a much smaller population than those two. The computer games market doubled in 1999 from 1996, with about 36 million games sold. The computer games market has topped a billion pounds and, at the current pace, is growing at about 20 per cent a year. But the UK does not have expertise to develop new games and that is where Indian software specialists are coming in. “Whether it comes to animation or to computer games, we have many more people from India now getting into the scene here. This is no more about Indian wizards working on complex backend solutions,” an Indian official told IANS. The big players in the business are Sony, Sega, Microsoft and Nintendo. Indians are joining these firms in the UK and also other smaller firms that hope to develop their own games. Many British companies are spending millions on developing computer games, with some of them spending more on this than the budget of a major film. The business is taking encouragement from the findings in the report that people do not grow out of computer games. More people in the age group of 25 to 34 play computer games in the UK than people in the age group of 15 to 24.
— IANS Pak bans onion import ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has banned the import of onion from India to safeguard the interest of its local growers, a newspaper reporte today. The decision has been taken in the light of the expected surplus onion crop from Baluchistan and Sindh, which has started reaching market, the ‘News’ quoting an official, reported. During the current month, 130,000 tonnes of onions are expected to reach the local market of which 120,000 tonnes will come from Baluchistan and 10,000 from Sindh. In November the same quantity of onion is expected to reach the local market from Baluchistan and Sindh while 240,000 tonnes of onion will reach market in December from Sindh, which will further reduce its prices.
— PTI |
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