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| Sunday, December 3, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Budget to target 8 pc growth: PM Consumption
of milk down, of cheese
up Punjab to have three food parks No going back on UP
power reforms: CM |
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Registration must
for dairy plants Foreign firms eye the market Insurance
customer to be king Seven days
banking by SBI
Australian brothel to seek
listing on stock exchange Seshan looking for IT investment Punjabi held for son’s abduction
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Budget to target 8 pc growth: PM NEW DELHI, Dec 2 — The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, today said the next Budget would be growth oriented, aimed at achieving the targetted 8 per cent growth. Addressing the third meeting of the PM’s Council on Trade and Industry, including heads of business chambers, Mr Vajpayee said the Budget would be definitely a forward looking one and go beyond the mere arithmetic of numbers to deal with issues and policies which can put the country on a high growth path. The soft reform options are now over and further measures would entail difficult decisions both by Central and State Governments. Elaborating on the negative trends in the industry, the Prime Minister said the issue of industrial revival was of critical importance to the Government and asked trade and industry to come forward with suggestions. Briefing newspersons about the outcome of the meeting, Secretary to the Prime Minister, Mr N.K.Singh said another subject on which Mr Vajpayee talked was the impact of the total withdrawal of quantitative restrictions on Indian industry and agriculture. He vowed to strengthen anti-dumping measures in the coming months to deal with the impact of lifting QRs. He however, asked the business community to be ready to face competition. An over-protectionist approach would only foster inefficiency and lead to stagnation, he added. He strongly favoured formulation of a strategy and design to enable the Indian industry to face the inevitable challenge of competition. Mr Singh said there was unanimity that macro fundamentals of the economy were strong. The recent initiatives, particularly to step up investments in roads, removal of bottlenecks in the power and telecom sectors, and some investment decisions which were in the offing would ensure a six per cent growth this year and put the country on a higher growth trajectory of eight per cent. Industry members told the Prime Minister that they were facing the problem of counterfeiting of products which was apparently going on in a major way. Mr G.P.Goenka of the FICCI said the Prime Minister and others agreed that the implementation of the policies need to be looked into in the light of the problem. The President of the CII, Mr Arun Bharat Ram, said the business chambers suggested that 50 per cent of the $ 5.5 billion collected through the State Bank of India’s Millennium Deposit scheme should be invested in the road sector. World Bank and other institutional loans should be used for rural roads. The Prime Minister wanted the council to come forward with measures which would impart necessary momentum at this
juncture.
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Consumption
of milk down, of cheese
up CHANDIGARH, Dec 2 — Milk quality, low efficiency, weak health of milch cattle, corruption in milk cooperatives and business, and very low percentage of processing of raw material milk are the problems bedeviling the dairy industry in Punjab. These issues were a subject of main discussion at the second International Conference on Emerging Trends in the dairy industry underway at the local headquarter of the CII. Raising these issues various speakers said that there was not enough cooling of milk so far and there was also very low level of hygiene at the farm level. There was also no adequate payment for hygiene. Only 10 per cent of raw material milk was processed in “western style” processing plants in the country. Talking about the low efficiency they said there was no planned culling because of the holy status of cows and there was also limited production of fodder. There was low yield of milk accompanied by low quality concentrates and long dry period in case of milch cattle. No record of yielding was kept. There was also a weak health control of animals . Mr D. Tikku, MD, National Dairy Development Board, said that in the next five years, world milk production was expected to rise by about one per cent annually, reaching 615 million tonnes in 2005. While relative share of developed countries would decline and of the developing countries was expected to go up to 40 per cent. Interestingly, he said that consumption of milk and milk products in developed countries had come to close a saturation point. In fact, the consumption of liquid milk was on decline and consolidated products like cheese had increased. He said that India had a bovine population of 307 million — 215 million cattle and 92 million buffalo. One hundred million milch cows and buffaloes were owned by approximately 80 million farmers living in more than 5 lakh villages. The percentage of “desi” cow had declined from 69 to 45 per cent while the population of cross bred cows had gone up to 43 per cent from 35 per cent in the past three decades in India. Lactation yield had also increased from 575 to 875 kg in the case of cows and from 800 to 1200 kg in case of buffaloes. The annual per capita access to milk had also increased from 38 to 77 kilogram. Mr Tikku said that dairy in India had a broader social and economic dimensions. For this reason, India had not pursued a high input and high output model. Dairying in India involved tens of millions of small farmers, each with one or two animals. For many of them milk sales were an important source of income. Revealing statistics in this connection, Mr Tikku said that 75 per cent of India owe only 30 per cent of farm land but they own almost 60 per cent of female bovines. About 40 per cent of milk was retained in the rural areas for family consumption. He said that in 1997-98 milk products accounted for 63 per cent of live stock sector output, an estimated Rs 70,000 crore, more than 16 per cent of our total agricultural output. For improving the quality of milch cattle, 70 semen stations capable of supplying 40 million doses through a network of about 60,000 centres. He said hot warm climate, irregular power and water supply, inadequate road network and lack of villages hygiene, inadequate road network and lack of village hygiene posed challenges to the quality of the milk. Drought in various parts of the country was also posing problem to dairy sector. Among others who spoke at the conference were Mr Krishan Goyal, Mr Philippe Jachnik, Mr J.N.L.Srivastava, Mr B.P.Acharya, Dr R.S.Gill, Dr Suresh Gulati, Mr Amrik Singh, Mr Hemant Ogale, Mr Tarlok Singh Riar and Mr Anthony G. Long.
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Punjab to have three food parks CHANDIGARH:
Mr Parkash Singh Badal made an important announcement on Saturday: The Punjab Agro Industries Corporation will set up three food parks in the state at a cost of Rs 60 crore. Also, the corporation proposes to set up four food and vegetables processing projects at a cost of Rs 40 crore which will process 40,000 tonnes of vegetables and fruits, Mr Badal said after a round of the Agro Tech fair. A step towards cyber agriculture One stall that particularly attracted the attention of Mr Badal belonged to a company offering IT-enabled services about agriculture. Delhi-based M.L. Infomap may have a small presence at the fair but it is one of the very few offering agriculture-related information — what grows where and how much, where it rains and when, everything about the climate, temperature, types of soils, land use, fertiliser use and livestock in the country. The company has more American than Indian clients which its Manager Atul Kapoor, attributes to the low level of awareness here. Set up in 1994, M.L. Infomap provides a digital map of India. How to keep kinnows fresh A Mumbai-based company, Stayfresh, has put on display its post-harvest kinnow handling system in collaboration with the Punjab Agri Exports Corporation. Kinnows tend to lose their moisture very fast, which makes them look stale. Here is a machine that treats kinnows’ skin with chlorine, foam washes and brushes them, applies wax imported from Italy and dries them. Kinnows are then separated quality-wise, graded and packed in corrugated cartons for various markets within and outside the country. A kinnow thus handled can stay fresh for seven days and for 60-65 days in a cold store. Mr Pardeep Sharma, Senior Manager of the Punjab Agri Export Corporation, says that the handling cost comes to 75 paise a kg. The corporation has installed the machinery at three places in Punjab’s kinnow-growing areas — one at Badal (you guessed it, the CM’s village), another at Balluana near Abohar and the third in Hoshiarpur district. Two more are being put up — one near Fazilka and the other in Hoshiarpur district. Punjab growers export their kinnows to countries like Singapore, Mauritius and Sri Lanka. Within the country they sell their produce in cities at least 500 km from Punjab, skipping the Delhi market to avoid a glut and price crash. Most growers do it individually. If they join hands and form associations or societies, they can get grants and easy loans from both the state and central governments, says Pardeep Sharma. That’s a big “If”. Silkworm rearing — any takers? Another stall that pulled visitors, particularly children, was of UP’s Sericulture Development Department. Children loved to see silkworms feeding on mulberry leaves. First a mulberry garden is set up to produce leaves which are fed to silkworms. After 25 to 30 days the worm makes cocoon which is converted into silk yarn through the reeling process. This cottage industry is popular in the Varanasi and Mubarakpur areas of UP. It is claimed that silkworm rearing on one acre can yield a net profit of Rs 21,500 in six to eight months. The UP government has set up a silk development board that keeps shifting from place to place after every three years. Three years ago it was at Panchkula, then it moved to Kangra and will now shift to Palampur. Sujanpur in Gurdaspur district also has a silk board. The cheese, if you please Mr Bernard De Gaubournet De Montferrand, Ambassador of France to India, visiting the Agro Tech fair, said: Can one imagine, France is home to over 400 varieties of cheese alone! “If one were going to a desert, what food would he take with him”? Six out of 10 persons in France would reply: “Cheese”. Two-thirds of the French population eat cheese everyday and mind you, it is highly unlikely that they would be bored with it. France produces, unbelievably, over 400 different types of cheese. |
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No going back on UP
power reforms: CM Chandigarh, Dec 2 — The Uttar Pradesh Government will invite tenders from private parties sometime in January for the privatisation of the electricity distribution network in the state. This was stated today by the Chief Minister of UP, Mr Rajnath Singh, while addressing press reporters at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) office here. Mr Rajnath Singh said that the UP State Electricity Board (UPSEB) had been already trifurcated into three different corporations for transmission, generation and distribution of power. At present distribution units were being set up in the state and by January these would be ready for hand-over to private operators. There was no going back on the reforms in power sector initiated with loans from the World Bank (WB). The Chief Minister, who was here to take part in Agro-Tech 2000, the Agro Technology Business fair organised by the CII, said that various initiatives were being taken in UP for developing infrastructure and creating an industry-friendly climate in the state. He said that the relative index of infrastructure development of UP was 104 against the corresponding national average of 100, and added that if infrastructure was found wanting in any area steps would be taken immediately to create the infrastructure. Listing steps taken by his government for improving the lot of farmers, the Chief Minister said that 1400 purchase centres for paddy procurement had been set up in the state and as a result of this the farmers of UP were being given the minimum support price of paddy for the first time in history. “Setting up of the purchase centres had also prevented the private traders from buying paddy by giving less than the MSP”, he said. The press conference was preceded by a discussion on Agri-Business in UP, where the Chief Minister said that UP was going through a silent revolution as far as infrastructural development was concerned. Telecommunication services were growing in the state at seven per cent per annum against national average of four per cent, he said. The Chief Minister added that UP had been categorised as among the top seven Indian states on the basis of infrastructure facility. Mr S S Dhindsa, Union Minister for Fertiliser and Chemicals, also took part in the discussion. |
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Registration must
for dairy plants new delhi,
Dec 2 (PTI) — The government today promulgated the Milk and Milk Product Order, 1992, making it mandatory for all dairy plants handling more than 10,000 litre of milk per day or more than 500 mt of milk solids per annum to obtain registration from designated registering authorities. The registration number thus obtained has to be prominently displayed on the poly packs/containers, an official statement said here. Some dairy plants was depicting the words “Ministry of Agriculture” and “Government of India” in a misleading manner so as to give an impression that the product belongs to the government. To avoid such misleading acts on the part of certain recalcitrant dairy plant owners, the Ministry of Agriculture has issued guidelines by which use of the words like a “Government of India” and “Ministry of Agriculture” and “Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying” have been prohibited. Now, the dairy plant owners registered under the order will have to display the registration number prominently in the manner prescribed in the guidelines. They will also display on the pack/container the name of milk and milk product with its composition/ content, complete address of the place where it has been manufactured/packed, names and registration numbers both of manufacturer and the organisation marketing the product. Any violation of the guidelines may lead to cancellation of the registration granted by the competent authority. |
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Foreign firms eye the market CHANDIGARH, Dec 2 — An encouragingly high participation of foreign firms is a striking feature at Agro Tech. Interestingly most of the 20-odd foreign firms are participating in the fair for the first time and are hunting for distributors in India which they rate as a fairly potential market. The highest participation comes from France which has put up six counters, each displaying a fresh set of agricultural technology. The focus of the display, as gathered from face-to-face talk with company representatives, is to target the Indian agri-market. Mr Dominique Leduc, Asia Sales Manager for Laboratories Sogewal, explained that their company was floating a whole new range of disinfectant. “We have a huge market in Punjab and Haryana. This time we have introduced newer concepts in the field of disinfectant at competitive prices. The response is tremendous.” Adding that India was a lucrative ground for their products, Mr Pascal Le Duot, export manager for France Hybrids, said, “We deal in animal indexation and selection, along with calculation of genetic parameters.” The company is looking for an enhanced market in India, although the supply is already being made. The most frequented stall was that of Bonilait Proteines, a French company represented by Joe Agnatois. It deals in milk replacers for cubs, pigs as also for the humans. Talking about the products, Mr B.P. Sikder, India distributor, said that a farmer saves Rs 9 per litre if he uses milk replacers to feed cubs. The company is targeting pig farms in the North-East, apart from supplying skimmed milk replacers to Smithkline Beecham and Cadbury’s. Recently they have also supplied milk replacers to the Haryana government to the extent of about 30,000 tonnes. Otech and Lima, also French companies, were displaying their range of irrigation machines and meat separators. Said their representative Pierr Michel, “We are getting a number of enquiries from Punjab and Haryana farmers who want an improved irrigation technology.” Italian company DANA, which deals in offway driving machines, is already catering to major tractor manufacturers like Ford New Holland, Eicher and Escorts. They have introduced the four-wheel drive model for tractors at the cost of about Rs 60,000 for the companies,” said Mr Haimo Niedermayr, Business Sales Manager for the company, “The new drive model gives more power to the engine and enhances its efficiency,” he added. Stella Roagna of Graziano, an Italian firm, was quite appreciative of the response. “This time we have an improved gear box for tractors which will increase engine life. There are many enquiries for our design support system to change constant mesh to synchronous mesh.” Australian company RAB is targeting customers for animal genetic product range. Explained representative Mr Richard Slaney, “Punjab and Haryana farmers are quite curious for our frozen semen. We have earlier supplied bulls in Karnataka and frozen seamen in West Bengal. Now we are targeting Punjab.” At the Russian counter, people enquired for two instruments — one measuring fat density (for 900 $) and another measuring fat density, proteins and solid fat (for 1200 $). Said company chief Vladimir, “We yet don’t have a sales policy for India but we are looking for one and we are explained sure to manage one here.” South Korean weighing firm CAS Corporation representative Arun Das, said, “We have a whole range of weighing instruments both for industrial and personal use. “ |
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Insurance
customer to be king CHANDIGARH, Dec 2 — A sense of deja vu prevails among neo entrants to the newly opened up insurance sector who have planned to start their operations with the grandiose slogan of "Customer is the king". Whether the customer will really be the king in the new milieu of private insurers entering the insurance sector yet remains a moot point though the private insurance companies which are about to take the plunge swear that they will turn the sector into a vehicle of investment opportunities for the customer. Some of the 20 private operators, including a few MNCs, who have evinced interest to start their operations were here today to discuss their strategies to tap the vast domestic insurance market . As a claim, insurance will be sold as a "commodity" by these insurers . The new private insurers are largely confident to make up deep inroads into the untapped sector with special emphasis on the rural sector where insurance penetration is abysmally low. Where will it lead the LIC and GIC, the sole insurers in the market so far? "There is no threat to the already existing operators. It is the new operators who will have to prove their mettle", said Mr. N Rangachary, Chairman, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, while talking to The Tribune. It is a charge into a customer-driven scenario in the insurance sector but IRDA is cautious. As Mr. H O Sonig, one of the members of IRDA, says "Every company swears in the name of the customer . But how the private insurer comes to the expectations of the customer yet remains to be seen". Mr. Rangachary, however, agrees that the private insurance companies will make the sector attractive by presenting attractive investment opportunities . Earlier the insurance companies were required to invest 70 per cent of the funds in the government securities , but now with the reduction of this limit to 50 percent, they can invest into more profitable ventures and a higher rate of return can be expected by the customer ", he said . Mr. Kevin Wright , EVP , Sales and Distribution , ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company , who is one of the new entrants, opines that convergence of banking and insurance will help the companies to reach more people. "Banking insurance will help the customer to get the financial services under one roof. Moreover, if these companies reach the customer through the bank, they would also get the benefit of the credibility which the bank enjoys and every customer who has an account with the bank will be the potential customer for insurance company", he said. Ms Branda Fontana of Canada Life Ardee Insurance Company, who have been working on their project for the past four years, says: There is tremendous potential in the Indian market which is yet untapped". Regarding the rural areas she said the company will find out more distributors to reach people. Meanwhile the 2nd International Insurance Expo 2000 which was organised by the UGCE Insurance Institute for Education and Training emphasised the focus of the new entrants in the insurance sector on more distribution channels and better management of insurance companies by use of information systems and market research .
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Seven days
banking by SBI CHANDIGARH, Dec 2 — The State Bank of India, starts seven days banking for the residents of Chandigarh. This is being introduced in bank’s Sector 30 branch from December 10. The branch shall now remain open on Sundays also from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mr K.K. Mehra, DGM, zonal office (Punjab) Chandigarh informed that the bank is also working to reduce the non-performing assets of the bank and as per RBI guidelines, the bank’s defaulting borrowers now have the opportunity to clear their dues under the one time settlement scheme. |
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Australian brothel to seek
listing on stock exchange SYDNEY: It’s flesh trade 21st century style. The Daily Planet, Melbourne’s biggest brothel, is planning a listing on the national stock exchange. Very soon Australians will be able to pick up Daily Mail stock, along with the information technology and FMCG shares that rule their present portfolio. The brothel will use the market listing to raise funds to expand into the commercial real estate business and provide amorous escorts to its vast clientele, the Melbourne Age reported. Daily Planet aims to mop up between Australian $ 10 to 20 million at bourses by its listing and hopes that its small shareholders would include employees, mainly around 100 sex workers, on the Planet rolls. The company does not see any opposition to its plans, maybe because prostitution is legal in Australia. “I can’t see why the government would oppose this. It’s a good business, which is looking to diversify its investor base, which is healthy,” Daily Planet manager Pat Lowry told the Melbourne Age. — IANS Seshan looking for IT investment CHICAGO: Guess who’s the latest to arrive in the USA as a convert to information technology (IT)? It’s none other than former Chief Election Commissioner T.N. Seshan who is seeking investment for an IT park in a southern Indian city. In the USA, Seshan is busy pegging his Kanchipuram IT park in Tamil Nadu. “We have come to the USA to sell the idea of the park. This is a good opportunity for NRIs,” Seshan said at the Kellog Business School, adding that the response has been “extremely positive.” Kanchipuram, called the golden city of temples, is famous for its religious haunts and silk saris. But the ancient city now wants a fresh identity as India’s next IT centre with a spanking new technology park called Kanchipragnya. — IANS Punjabi held for son’s abduction MALIBU (California): A Punjabi woman is being held on a $ 5 million bail for her alleged involvement in a scheme to have her five-year-old son kidnapped in order to get ransom from her husband. Jasvinder Kaur (41) has denied involvement in the August 8 abduction of her son Parmvir but the police said she was hand in glove with the men who took her son. “We suspect that she came up with the idea for this,” it said. “She needed some money to pay off a debt in India — we think it was about $ 100,000.” One of the three defendants in the case had implicated Kaur as the one who devised the plan. Investigators also monitored conversations she had with one of the suspects. “She made arrangements for one of them, Balwinder Singh, to get away after the crime,” the police said. It doesn’t appear that her husband, Teja Singh, was involved in the incident. There is also another element that could be linked to Parmvir’s abduction — an $ 8 million insurance settlement that the couple received in 1991. Parmvir was abducted by two masked men who entered the family’s home and tied up Jasvinder Kaur and her other three children. Teja Singh was not at home when the men broke into the home.
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IANS |
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