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Wednesday,
June 6, 2001, Chandigarh, India   |
Impact of WTO pact on SSI being ignored K. P.
Tiwari will be new VSNL ED Record
sugar output in Haryana Aussie
firm vies for Indo-Iran gas pipeline project |
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M&A
emerges as source of FDI Jacob
opens HSBC branch in city ICICI
Bank opens net banking kiosk CRS
trading in 44 scrips commended Punjab
Alkalies earns 5 cr profit |
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Tata
Elxsi net rises by 106.77 pc
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Impact of WTO pact on SSI being ignored Chandigarh, June 5 Apparently, no one in the city seems interested about the affect of the WTO pact on the SSI sector except for the Industries Department of the state government. There are nearly 80,000 SSI units operating in Haryana employing around four lakh workers. These industries were taking advantage of the protectionist regime, officials of the department said, adding that the implementation of the provisions pact could mean the end of the road for many of these units. Though the government has set up Small and Medium Enterprises Renewal Fund, Infrastructure Development Board, etc, to help the SSIs in their time of crisis, experts, which include officials, are openly sceptical about how well such measures can bolster the SSI sector against the onslaught of the cash-rich multinationals. Significantly, a note prepared by the Industry Department on the impact of WTO agreement on Haryana industry had made ominous predictions about the fate of SSI sector in the WTO era. The note warned that around 817 items reserved for the SSIs would now have to face competition from similar products being imported freely which would be produced by “large, world-scale manufacturers”. “ Even low-end products would face international competition from export-oriented developing countries which would have serious consequences for the small scale sector “ it was observed in the note. It stated that the some of the units which would be most affected were the manufacturers of electrical appliances, consumer goods, machine tools and scientific appliances. According to sources, an official agency recently gave an action plan to the state government on how to strengthen the SSI sector in view of the withdrawal of the protectionist regime. The agency reportedly pointed out that inadequacy of institutional finance had been rated as the foremost problem of small scale enterprises. The problem was related to both working capital funds and term loans. This was indicated by the fact that the ratio of commercial bank funds for working capital to output in the large and medium industries was about 20 per cent, while for the small scale sector it was about 7 per cent only. The action plan reportedly also pointed out the one-window approach for the SSIs under District Industry Centres (DICs) had ended in a fiasco. The DICs, which were supposed to coordinate various facilities (banking, raw material procurement, industrial space, power supply, etc) from different organisations for SSIs, had not been able to do so. “Therefore, there is an imperative need to strengthen the single window system to expedite various clearances/approvals” recommended the agency. The agency also observed that SSIs were restricted on account of lack of resources to avail information services. There were several institutions which provide information and consultancy services but they were largely fragmented and generally inaccessible to the small entrepreneurs. Consequently, the state government was asked to consolidate and pool information by a process of networking with agencies in India and abroad and make the information available for the SSI sector.
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K. P. Tiwari will be new VSNL ED
New Delhi, June 5 Mr Kumar’s term as Videsh Sanchar, Nigam Ltd’s (VSNL) chief of operations came to an end on June 3, 2001. Kumar had worked with VSNL for 22 years. The VSNL Chief ’s resignation followed close on the heels of the recent Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) report that there were financial irregularities in VSNL’s operations. Consequently, DoT chargesheeted Kumar on recommendations from the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). Media reports, meanwhile, pointed out that the Telecom Commission, including Chairman Shyamal Ghosh, did not want to relieve Kumar of his duties. With Kumar’s departure, VSNL now has three full-time directors on the board — S.K. Gupta, Chairman, Managing Director, Rajnish Gupta, Executive Director and S.P. Sinha, Executive Director, Finance. Rajnish Gupta has been transferred to Delhi from Calcutta. Hardev Singh, CGM, Operations, and Kumar’s second-in-command has been put in charge of development. It is understood that due to certain transactional irregularities found on the basis of the CAG office, Kumar was asked to resign. In fact, in a recent report published in one of the dailies CAG had pointed out several financial irregularities in the operations of VSNL over the last three years. As per the report, VSNL has a poor mechanism of revenue collection from inmarsat services, delayed payment of income tax that could have reduced the interest, paid excess duty for delayed shipment delivery for the gateways, and terminated the tie-up with Elnet resulting in non-collection of dues from the former. It is understood that due to transactional irregularities in signing certain contracts of VSNL, the Vigilance Commission has also sent a chargesheet to Kumar to investigate the matter.
UNI
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Record sugar output in Haryana
Chandigarh, June 5 The cooperative sugar mills in Haryana had crushed 342.66 lakh quintals of sugarcane during the recently-concluded crushing season, an official press release said. During the previous season, the 10 cooperative sugar mills had crushed 274.54 lakh quintals of sugarcane producing 24.70 lakh quintals of sugar. The cooperative sugar mills has so far paid over Rs 300 crore to cane growers of the state for the cane purchased from them, it said. Sources said if one considers the current levy sugar price of Rs 13.25 per kg, the subsidy works out to be around Rs 5 per kg. For a levy sugar quantity of 2.16 lakh tonnes, the subsidy would be around Rs 108 crore per month or over Rs 1000 crore annually. This would be too heavy a burden for the centre alone but market analysts point out that if it procures sugar from the market, it would do so at wholesale rates which were in the range of Rs 14-16 per kg. So the subsidy should not be more than Rs 65 crore per month, given the maximum of Rs 3 per kg difference between the open wholesale rates and the levy rate. It could be even lesser because the aggregate release quota of which levy has a share of 15 per cent varies from month to month. In addition, the sugar factories were exempted from their levy obligations in lieu of their exports of the corresponding quantities. Another option before the Centre was to bring up the levy rate of sugar marginally but it has to ensure the step was not self-defeating. However, they agree that fixing a ratio for division of subsidy between the centre and the states could become a bone of contention between them given the overall financial situation.
PTI
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Aussie firm vies for Indo-Iran gas pipeline project Sydney, June 5 The BHPP is eyeing the project as part of a consortium. The proposed pipeline is to pass through Pakistan and would link up with India's existing pipeline network. The BHPP is also planning to expand its involvement in a gas project in Pakistan's Sindh province. The planned expansion at Zamzama project by the BHPP, or ''Big Australian,'' as it is known, is being undertaken to meet the increasing demand for gas on the subcontinent. The BHPP had earlier commissioned the A$50 million Zamzama project in March. The Australian company is contracted to supply gas to Pakistan's state-owned pipeline operator Sui Southern Gas Company. At present, the flow of the gas is stated to be 60 million cubic feet per day, that can be expanded to produce 500 million cubic feet per day. The gas being produced by the Australian mining giant accounts for about 20 percent of the current supply of gas in Pakistan. The Zamzama gas field in Dadu district of Sindh holds more than 1.5 trillion cubic feet of gas, and BHPP is expected to have little problem in securing customers to increase the daily output as Pakistan is reeling under a severe gas shortage. The deficit in daily supply is stated to be about three billion cubic feet per day. The BHPP is already working to increase gas production in order to bring down Pakistan's over-dependence on oil-powered plants. "Pakistan needs gas urgently -- our job is to help discover and develop it as quickly as possible," a BHPP official said. "Work is already in progress to increase this to 100 million cubic feet a day in the coming weeks. We are also holding discussions about long-term commercial arrangements and are looking forward to closing these negotiations as soon as possible," BHPP business development manager Mike Weill said in a statement. The BHPP managers are looking at the Zamzama gas field with more interest as part of their "gas commercialisation strategy" as they plan to increase the company's presence on the subcontinent. Besides the Zamzama gas field exploration with the BHPP, Pakistan is also busy trying finding ways to carry refined oil from Karachi to the north of the country. A proposed pipeline would now carry the oil from the Pakistan Oil Refinery at Port Qasim to Mahmood Kot in district Muzaffargarh, covering 817 km. The pipeline is being constructed by China and is likely to ease dependence on the inefficient road transportation mode.
IANS
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M&A emerges as
source of FDI New Delhi, June 5 A study conducted by Assocham reveals that the banking financial sector, advertising and travel services attracting most of the investment through this route. In 1999-2000, the total number of M&A deals around 750, which is over 150 per cent higher than the total number of estimated deals in the previous year 290. What is noteworthy is the rise in the number of approvals in each month of the year (average around 64), as compared to the months in the previous year (average number 24). The Assocham analysis shows that along with the rise in the number, the amounts involved in M&A deals has been on the rise. In 1999-2000, M&As were worth Rs 36,963 crore, an increase of 130 per cent over the previous year at Rs 16,070 crore. There were 193 mergers in 1999-2000, which is 141 per cent higher than the number of mergers in 1998-99. Mergers account for around one-fourth of total M&A deals in India. This implies that takeovers or acquisitions are the dominant feature of M&A activity in India, similar to the trend in most of the developed countries. Alongside, there was also an increase in the number of open offers, albeit at a lower pace. The number of open offers rose by 27.5 per cent to 88 in 1999-2000 from 69 in 1998-99. However, the amount involved in the open offers rose by around 44 per cent during the above period. In 1998-99, the number of open offers were mostly in industries like software, cement, chemical industries and pharmaceuticals. |
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Jacob opens HSBC branch in
city Chandigarh, June 5 The 28th HSBC branch in Sector 9 offers personal banking products, including car loans, home loans, loans against shares, personal loans, depository services and a 24-hour ATM facility. Announcing this at a press conference, Mr Zarir J Cama, HSBC’s Chief Executive Officer in India, said: “Chandigarh’s profile fits in the bank’s wealth management strategy. Its citizens expect world class banking and financial products and services”. HSBC has applied to the Reserve Bank of India for a licence to open a branch in Ludhiana. It will install ATMs in Panchkula and Mohali shortly. The bank has opened 110 ATMs in the country and the number will reach 200 ATMs by the year-end. Asked how HSBC would succeed in a city where Deutsche Bank, another foreign outfit, had to withdraw, Mr Cama said HSBC has invested Rs 200 crore on setting up its network in the country. With its 28 branches, the bank has a customer base of one million. “That’s not a bad record!” quipped the CEO. HSBC’s products and customer service will make the difference. It offers gold and silver international credit cards in Chandigarh. The banks also plans to offer insurance products in the near future, besides venturing into the mutual fund business, he added. HSBC will also target overseas Punjabis. “It takes 24 hours to transfer funds from Canada or England, where a large number of NRIs reside, to Punjab”, said Mr Rohit Joshi, Manager of the HSBC branch in Chandigarh. Before leaving, the Governor asked the HSBC CEO,” what are you offering to senior citizens? I am a senior citizen”. The bank has no special plan for this category, but the CEO said:”we will look into it”. The HSBC group, established in 1865 in Hong Kong, has over 1,70,000 staff members in 6,500 offices in 79 countries and assets worth more than US$674 billion. Its profits for this year is US $9.75 billion. Mr Richard Groves, Senior Manager, Northern India, was also present. |
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ICICI Bank opens net
banking kiosk Chandigarh, June 5 With the Internet banking facility, various normal banking transactions like balance enquiry, statement of account, transfer of funds, request for a cheque book, demand draft, stop payment of cheque, and payment of utility bills can be performed just by the click of mouse. The bank is also toying with the idea of using this kiosk for making available different forms of the Chandigarh Administration to the public. In the morning, General Jacob felicitated Mr Anand Kumar, Senior Vice-President & Regional Head ICICI Bank, for the bank’s contribution to Shramdan at the Sukhna Lake. The participants were given T-shirts and mementos. |
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CRS trading in 44 scrips
commended Ludhiana, June 5 According to Mr R.C. Singal, President, Ludhiana Stock Exchange, the peak trading in compulsory rolling settlement would pick up after July 2 when the badla trade would be banned. The following are the 44 scrips in which the CRS has been started — BFL Software Ltd, Citicorp Securities Ltd, Cybertech Systems and Software, Hitech Drilling Services i) Lupin Laboratories, Maars Software International, Morepan Lab Ltd, Sri Adhikari Brothers, Tata Infotech Ltd, Visual Soft (India) Ltd, Aftek Infosys, Archies Greetings , Ashok Leyland Finance, Birla Global, Blue Star, Chamber Fertilizers, Cheminor Drugs, Container Corporation, Electro Steel Castings, Essal Steel, Excel Industries, Federal Bank, GAIL, Global Trust Bank, Indo-Rama Synthetics Ltd., Indusind Bank, ITW Signode, Jindal Strips, KLG systels, Kotak Mohindera Finance, Morgan Stanley, Krishna Filaments, Marico Industries, Morarka Finance, MRPL, Navneet Publication, Orchid Chemicals, Penta Communications, Prism Cement, Sundaram Clayton, Torrent Pharma and Unichem Laboratories. According to Mr Singal, pay-in of securities under the rolling settlement would be done on T plus four (t+4) basis — T representing the trade day and T plus 4 implying pay -in on the fourth trading day. Pay-out of securities and funds under the rolling settlement would be done on T plus 6
basis, with T representing the trade day and T plus 6 implying pay-out on the sixth trading day. Gross exposure margin at the rate of 10 per cent on the net outstanding position upto Rs 40 lakh and at the rate of 15 per cent on above Rs 40 lakh at the end of the day in the form of cash/FDE. |
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Punjab Alkalies
earns 5 cr profit Chandigarh, June 5 The previous year’s results indicated the company had suffered a cash loss of Rs 15
crore. The net losses are also down from Rs 26 crore in the year 1999-2000 to about Rs 6 crore in the year 2000-2001. A company spokesman said here today that market sentiment for the industry continues to be firm. The company’s products like caustic soda and chlorine are giving good
realisations. The market of hydrochloric acid is soft but is expected to pick up. International prices of the company’s products continue to rule high. Anti-dumping duty on the imports of caustic soda as well as a fall of the rupee against dollar has given strength to the alkali industry. The company achieved a net profit of Rs 45 lakh (cash profit of Rs 140
lakh) in May, 2001, which is the highest in the last 48 months, with a record production of 6,947
tonnes. Financial restructuring done by the company has brought down the interest cost substantially. Measures taken by the company for cost reduction are showing good results. |
co
Tata Elxsi net rises by 106.77 pc Mumbai, June 5 The board has recommended 25 per cent dividend for 2000-01. Total income in the reporting year was higher at Rs 137.90 crore as against Rs 124.23 crore in 1999-2000, it said. For the fourth quarter ended March 2001, Tata Elxsi has reported an increase in net profit at Rs 5.61 crore (Rs 5.16 crore) while the total income stood at Rs 41.15 crore (Rs 41.24 crore), the notice said.
Russel Credit Russel Credit, an ITC subsidiary, bidding for control of tobacco major, VST Industries, today ruled out any further hike in its offer price and urged the VST shareholders to sell their shares after, “careful consideration”. Commenting on the steep hike offered by the Damani controlled Brighstar Investments in its offer price, a spokesman of the Russel Credit made it clear that there was now no possibility of the company hiking its offer from its already announced Rs 125 per share. “We are aware of the latest move by the Brightstar and we are
confident that VST shareholders will take appropriate decision in the matter after careful consideration of what is good for the company (VST)”, the spokesman said. Brightstar, an investment company of leading Mumbai broker Radhakishan Damani, had announced on Sunday that it was hiking its offer price to Rs 151 per share to counter the bid of Russel Credit.
Leela group The Leela group is investing more than Rs 350 crore for its two new seven star luxury hotels, that are coming up in Bangalore and Udaipur, a top official of the Hotel LeelaVenture Ltd, said today. Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Vivek Nair, said Rs 300 crore was being invested for its 254-room hotel here, which would be opened by August this year. “Leela Palace, Bangalore recreates the architectural style of Palaces of Mysore in an art-deco modern form”, Nair said.
Silverline Tech Silverline Technologies Ltd (SLT) has consolidated its Indian offshore development operations into three software centres in Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad as part of its global initiative to complete integration of US-based Seranova.
NIIT gets award The NIIT has been nominated for the “Best Training Company” award by Microsoft for the year 2001. This is the third successive year the NIIT has been acknowledged as Microsoft’s best training partner, an NIIT statement said today. The award was presented at a Microsoft partner summit in Bangalore last week.
PTI , TNS |
cr
Asia economies will emerge fitter Daewoo union opposes GM Beijing, USA to meet again Microsoft-AOL deal ‘crumbling’ Oil prices inch up |
bb
E-governance Zed Career Legacy Magic Lipton Taaza LG turnover MIT degree |
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