B U S I N E S S

Govt to lease out 4 airports soon
To acquire six 50-seater aircraft for Indian Airlines
New Delhi, May 6
In a move to professionalise the aviation sector, the Centre is soon going to acquire six 50 seater ATR-320 aircraft for Indian Airlines for flying in the North-East and other hilly areas besides leasing out four international airports to private companies for upkeeping better standards.

Punjab to focus on industry’s revival
Chandigarh, May 6
The maiden Budget of the newly formed Punjab Government will focus on revival of the industry and restoration of fiscal stability. This was stated by Punjab Finance Minister Lal Singh while addressing a pre-Budget meeting organised by the PHDCCI here today.

Indian Rayon net falls 36 pc
Kolkata, May 6
Indian Rayon and Industries has registered a 36.57 per cent decline in its net profit for the financial year ended March 31, 2002, to Rs 43.46 crore as compared to Rs 68.52 crore in the last year. The total income also declined to Rs 1,417.69 crore as against Rs 1429.14 crore in the same period last year.

ANALYST’S DIARY
Elder Pharma a dark horse
LAST week, I had signed off promising some more dope on two companies, one proposing to make an IPO, and another an already listed one. The meeting with Deepak Ghaisas the CEO of I-Flex was an interesting one where he communicated his company’s business model, which he believes is its USP.

LETTERS

Don’t evade tax, save it
“THE aim of the imposing tax by the government upon us to collect the funds for the purpose of providing the basic facilities such as water, electricity and providing security of life, etc. The most of people think that the tax is the burden from which we will have to evade. But it is not so.

• Privatise power

• Jagatjit Ind pollutes water
  

ROUND-UP

Oil price falls 2 pc as Iraq lifts ban
Singapore, May 6
Oil prices dropped 2 per cent on Monday after Iraq announced it would resume crude exports from May 8, ending a month-long ban on sales to protest Israeli incursions into the Palestinian territory.

• IFC to invest $ 2 m in Webdunia

• Educomp ties up with US firm

• Vajpayee goes comic

• 'Spider-Man' sets box office record

Govt to lease out 4 airports soon
To acquire six 50-seater aircraft for Indian Airlines
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 6
In a move to professionalise the aviation sector, the Centre is soon going to acquire six 50 seater ATR-320 aircraft for Indian Airlines for flying in the North-East and other hilly areas besides leasing out four international airports to private companies for upkeeping better standards.

Informing the Lok Sabha today, Civil Aviation Minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain said acquisition of the small aircraft from a leasing company has been almost finalised. These small aircraft are of advanced technologies and could be operated in the hilly areas where the airstrips are short.

Replying to MPs querries during the Question Hour, the Minister said four of these acquired aircraft would be allotted to the North-Eastern region.

Mr Hussain said the proposal for the acquisition of 43 aircraft at a net cost of Rs 10,086 crore has already been approved by the Board of Directors of Indian Airlines. The project report submitted by Indian Airlines is under consideration of the government.

The minister said the government wanted to keep the acquisition of aircraft as transparent as possible as the case of purchase of Airbus 320 by the Rajiv Gandhi Government was still under investigation of the CBI.

Four international Airports — Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai — will be leased out to private operators. Two “road-shows” have already been held in Delhi and London recently, Mr Hussain said, adding that the government had received good response from the interested companies. However, the management, security and expansion would continue to lie with Airport Authority of India (AAI).

Opposition members, earlier, pointed out that the IGIA, Delhi, looked like a railway station presenting a bad image of the country to visitors from abroad.

The Minister also informed the House that the Kelkar Committee has already approved the expansion of Indian Airlines and its financial reconstruction thereof.

For this purpose, the Committee recommended financial support of Rs 475 crore by the government, in the form of subordinated loan of Rs 150 crore, equity infusion to the extent of Rs 125 crore and payment of Rs 200 crore as compensation for decisions taken by the government that affected the financial performance of the Indian Airlines.

The Minister said the government could not infuse the promised Rs 325 crore in the airline as margin money for the acquisition of new aircraft because of the ongoing process of disinvestment of the company.

He, however, informed the House that he had met Yashwant Sinha recently who had given the green signal for the purchase of new aircraft.

Punjab to focus on industry’s revival
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 6
The maiden Budget of the newly formed Punjab Government will focus on revival of the industry and restoration of fiscal stability. This was stated by Punjab Finance Minister Lal Singh while addressing a pre-Budget meeting organised by the PHDCCI here today.

According to the minister, a two- pronged strategy to raise additional income and reduce expenditure will be followed, a press note issued by the chamber said.

The state government is actively considering measures relating to loss-making public sector undertakings, plugging loopholes in collection of sales tax and other taxes. The minister categorically mentioned that the government is committed to abolish octroi and is considering alternate financing mechanism of municipalities.

Presenting the pre-budget memorandum in which the industry representatives gave their suggestions for improvement of financial condition of the state, Mr Amarjit Goyal, Chairman, Punjab Committee, PHDCCI, said to restructure public finances, the quantum of debt on Punjab has to be brought down to a level that would help reduce interest payment to a reasonable level in proportion to revenue receipts.

The chamber suggested that the state can also impose reasonable user charges on various services in the Budget , since it is not possible and desirable to raise tax revenue which is already on the higher side.

“As a policy, at least 50 per cent of the cost of operation and maintenance of urban services like water supply, sanitation, solid waste management should be recovered from users”, said Mr Goyal.

Indian Rayon net falls 36 pc

Kolkata, May 6
Indian Rayon and Industries has registered a 36.57 per cent decline in its net profit for the financial year ended March 31, 2002, to Rs 43.46 crore as compared to Rs 68.52 crore in the last year. The total income also declined to Rs 1,417.69 crore as against Rs 1429.14 crore in the same period last year.

The company’s Board had decided to exit the Sea Water Magnesia business in the accounting year 1999-2000 and accordingly the unsold assets as on March 31, 2000, were brought down to their realisable value, company sources said.

IndusInd Bank

IndusInd Bank recorded a net profit of Rs 10.2 crore during the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2002, as compared to a net loss of Rs 21.9 crore in the corresponding period last year.

The operating profit rose by 46.2 per cent to Rs 252.5 crore as against Rs 172.7 crore in the same period last year. During the fourth quarter, provisioning and contingencies rose to Rs 127.10 crore as against Rs 77.3 crore in the same period last year. UNI

ANALYST’S DIARY
Elder Pharma a dark horse
Ashok Kumar

LAST week, I had signed off promising some more dope on two companies, one proposing to make an IPO, and another an already listed one. The meeting with Deepak Ghaisas the CEO of I-Flex was an interesting one where he communicated his company’s business model, which he believes is its USP. Well, the company, its promoter and its business model passed the litmus test but what about its pricing?

I think that is what my better-half might have hinted about as I told you last week. Hopefully, this company’s book-runners will do better than those of Bharti Tele whose IPO was very obviously overpriced. Of course, time will tell.

As for the meeting with Mr Jagdish Saxena, the CMD of Elder Pharma (EPL) it has always been a pleasure for me to meet this entrepreneur. His vast experience and marketing genius is well respected even by his contemporaries in the industry and every meeting with him enhances my perspective of the Indian pharma sector scenario.

We came away from this meeting confirming our earlier hunch that this company has immense potential.

Among the key pluses that Avinash had marked for this company were a strong management team, with a wealth of experience and excellent credentials. Then, EPL is continuously striving to provide quality products for its customers through in-house research & development along with strategic joint ventures and collaborations.

Looking at their high quality standards and ethical business practices, a number of reputed international companies have entered into joint venture agreements with the company and they have been successfully promoting their products in the domestic market. EPL has entered into a large number of associations with foreign companies for the manufacture and sale of their molecules in India under licence from them. In this way, EPL has stayed away from any patent infringement, which is now bound to yield good rewards.

The market is expected to be more conducive for generics after the year 2005 in the post patent era and hence the strategic objective of Elder Pharma is to take proactive steps for developing a solid, competitive base in Generics in the post GATT era.

On the flip side, EPL too like its contemporaries in the segment has been bogged down by thinning margins. The negative impact of the same has been offset by an aggressive marketing thrust that is aimed at driving volume growth. Another potential source of worry is that of the strategic partners choosing to enter the Indian market themselves, thus emerging as competitors. But, given the ground realities, that seems unlikely, at least as of now.

What interested me the most in this report was the concluding line. It read thus — Then, as the theory goes, one should purchase a share which is priced at around than one-third its book value because the gap is enormous and the difference would be backed by tangible assets. For FY01, EPL’s book value stood at Rs 82.50, and we estimate it would close in on the Rs 100 mark for FY02 while its price hovers around the Rs 35 plus mark at the moment.

Little wonder then that my team has categorised this company a ‘‘dark horse’’.

LETTERS

Don’t evade tax, save it

“THE aim of the imposing tax by the government upon us to collect the funds for the purpose of providing the basic facilities such as water, electricity and providing security of life, etc. The most of people think that the tax is the burden from which we will have to evade. But it is not so. As the Act says “Tax Evasion is illegal but Tax avoidance is in no way a crime” it means that tax evasion is illegal but tax avoidance is in no way a crime. Infrastructural bonds issued by ICICI, Nabard, etc. are such type of investments in which the government gives extra rebate from the tax liability. By making the investments in such types of bonds the government will become able to provide the infrastructural facilities to the common man. As you know after the abolition of the octroi, the only source of income in the hands of the government is tax. So by the evasion of the tax we are making the roots of our nation hollow.

If we want that our country would compete with the developed nations such as the USA, the UK etc, each of us has to contribute for this competition. So not to evade the tax by using unfair means it will give trouble not to you only but also the huge financial loss of the nation.”

Sumeet Sood

Birdevinder Singh Sarao, Toronto, Canada

Jagatjit Ind pollutes water

For years together, I have been agitating against air pollution in Kapurthala and also water pollution in area around Hamira, but to no effect. Politicians, public servants and even journalists are intoxicated by obnoxious smell from distillery of Jagatjit Industries Ltd at Hamira in District Kapurthala. They manufacture liquor and used to manufacture energy giving Maltova, ghee and other products also.

The underground water within a radius of 5 km has changed colour and has become unfit for consumption even by the animals. The obnoxious smell from the distillery is polluting the air within a radius of about 10 km as the crow flies. Vested interests are giving full protection to the distillery and the Punjab Pollution Control Board with headquarters at Patiala dare not touch this giant. Rather they will prefer to serve under the patronage of Jagatjit Industries Ltd.

TEJ BAHADUR PURI, Kapurthala

ROUND-UP

Oil price falls 2 pc as Iraq lifts ban

Singapore, May 6
Oil prices dropped 2 per cent on Monday after Iraq announced it would resume crude exports from May 8, ending a month-long ban on sales to protest Israeli incursions into the Palestinian territory.

Baghdad’s decision, reversing its self-imposed embargo on April 8, will add some 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude to the world market of about 76 million bpd.

US light crude fell briefly below $26 a barrel for the first time in almost two weeks, but quickly regained some losses to $ 26.10, 52 cents down from Friday’s settlement in New York. Reuters

IFC to invest $ 2 m in Webdunia

New Delhi
The World Bank’s private sector lending arm, the International Finance Corporation, will invest $ 2 million in media content provider Webdunia India. Of the $ 3 million capital requirement, 4 1million will be brought in by Walden International and Times Internet, a unit of Bennet Coleman Company, an IFC release said here today. PTI

Educomp ties up with US firm

New Delhi
Educomp, said today it has tied up with US-based company, Blackboard Inc, and that it is targeting 25 per cent share of India’s e-learning market over the next three years.

“LearningMate, a division of the Rs 18-crore Educomp Datamatics, has forged this tieup under which it will also get to distribute Blackboard’s e-learning solutions in India,” a company release said here today. PTI

Vajpayee goes comic

Mumbai
After his role as politician and poet, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will now appear in a new “avataar” — that of a “comic book hero fighting intruders from across the border.”

A book titled “Operation Vijay”, first of its kind on the Kargil war, will feature the Prime Minister, the then Air Chief Marshal A.Y. Tipnis and Army Chief V.P. Malik fighting former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and General Pervez Musharraf’s conspiracy against India.

The soon to be released comic book, being written by Bhopal-based cartoonist Madhav Joshi will also feature Mr Vajpayee’s Lahore bus journey prior to the war, the cartoonist, who was here recently, said. UNI

'Spider-Man' sets box office record

Los Angeles
"Spider-Man," a highly anticipated comic-book hero saga, kicked off the lucrative summer movie season in North America with a record three-day gross of $114 million, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.

The film, released by Columbia Pictures, smashed the old three-day record of $90.3 million, set last November by "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." The "Spider-Man" gross of $43.7 million on Saturday broke the "Harry Potter" single day record of $33.5 million, and the new film reached $100 million in three days, while "Harry Potter" took five days. Reuters

BIZ BRIEFS

Nabard scheme
Jalandhar, May 6
A capital investment subsidy scheme for the construction of godowns in the rural areas under “Gramin Bhandaran Yojna” has been launched by the Ministry of Agriculture with a view to strengthening farmer’s holding capacity and augmentation of scientific storage capacity with allied facilities. NABARD Assistant Manager Rajiv Mahajan said the subsidy and refinance under this scheme would be released by the NABARD authorities. OC

Indo-UK session
Chandigarh, May 6
CII is organising a session on Indo-British Partnership with a special focus on promotion of joint ventures and technology transfer between the two countries on May 8 at the CII headquarters here Chandigarh. The session will be addressed by Mr John Dennis, Director, Trade and Industry, British High Commission, and Mr Alistair Eden, Third Secretary Commercial, said a release from CII. TNS

Best unit
Chandigarh, May 6
Karnataka Antibiotics & Pharmaceuticals Ltd has been ranked by the Department of Public Enterprises, the Government of India, among top 10 best performance public sector enterprises (PSEs) among 232 PSEs for excellence in performance for 2000-2001. Mr M.V. Pathak, MD, received the award from Vice-President Krishan Kant in New Delhi. TNS

Syndicate Bank
Chandigarh, May 6
Syndicate Bank has recorded its highest-ever net profit of Rs 250.55 crore for the year ending March 31, 2002, against Rs 234.94 crore last year. The operating profit rose from Rs 297.80 crore to Rs 355.24 crore during the same period. The net profit and operating profit for the year grew by 6.62 per cent and 19.29 per cent, respectively. TNS

Foundation day
Sailbraha (Bathinda), May 6
The local branch of Punjab National Bank held a customer relation programme on its foundation day yesterday. During the function senior officials of the bank interacted with the customers and listened to their grievances. OC

Bank services
Jalandhar, May 6
Two days after MiG 21 crash on the building of Bank of Rajasthan, the bank today started its normal operation from the new premises in the same area. All records and other relevant documents, cash security papers lockers were intact and ready for use, Executive Director Vinod Juneja said here adding that there is no concern for any customer as they can operate their accounts and lockers from today itself. PTI

AirTel to go global
Chandigarh, May 6
Airtel will shortly launch “Airtel Global Voice Messaging Service” for its customers in Punjab. Using this service, the customers will be able to send voice messages to any phone — cellular as well as fixed line in India and abroad, stated a company release. TNS

BHEL bags project
New Delhi, May 6
BHEL has bagged a Rs 267-crore order for setting up a 140-MW gas turbine power plant in Oman. Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) accorded the project to BHEL with completion scheduled for June, 2004, a BHEL release said. PTI

SBI gold scheme
Chandigarh, May 6
The SBI has mobilised 30 kg of gold in its Gold Deposit Scheme, deposited by the Jwalamukhi Temple Trust and the Mata Brajeshwari Temple Trust, Kangra. TNS