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Sunday,
October 20, 2002, Chandigarh, India
  
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Disinvestment programme has come to a halt: Shourie
Hero Honda net jumps 57 pc
Power tariff hike shocks steel units
Air-India, IA to
rationalise flights |
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Eviction order
Q: We are engaged in the business of manufacture and sale of readymade garments being a dealer registered under the Haryana General Sales Tax Act, 1973 and the Central Sales tax Act, 1956.
In the wonderland of investment
BBC Heart Care to treat Army men Toyota
rolls out Camry
13 firms among top 200: Forbes In graphic: Rupee watch
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Disinvestment programme has come to a
New Delhi, October 19 “Nothing can be
done at all if at every step objections are raised and motives
questioned... As far as I am concerned, there are no targets and
nothing can be met if things continue this way,” Mr Shourie told
reporters here when asked about the controversies over the sale of
PSUs, including BPCL, HPCL and Nalco. Asked whether the whole disinvestment process had resulted in political mudslinging, he agreed, saying that at every step of disinvestment, parties were raising issues for political mileage. “Around
one-and-a-half months of the three-month review period sought for the
strategic sale in oil majors BPCL and HPCL have passed. “However,
no one has come forward with any suggestions or queries to my ministry
on the issue and all I can say is that the issue is in the hands of
the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister,” he said. He said if the disinvestment of Nalco, which is till now making profits, was delayed further, it would go the way of the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL). “SAIL,
which was making huge profits at one time, had to be bailed out by a
Rs 10,000 crore grant by the Central Government so that it doesn’t
go into the red,” he pointed out. Speaking on the opposition to privatisation in Nalco, he said if the process were delayed further, it would be not good for the company as for well as the entire disinvestment process. Orissa
Chief Minister Navin Patnaik had yesterday apprised Minister of State
in the Prime Minister’s Office Vijay Goel about the latest
developments on the controversial issue of disinvestment of Nalco. Commenting
on the meeting, he said Mr Patnaik had been briefed of the government’s
stand on the issue. “We should not forget that the disinvestment
programme is a test for the government as well as for the country to
stand up to its policies and announcements.
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Hero Honda net jumps 57 pc
Chandigarh, October 19 The company’s profit after tax (PAT) for the period soared to Rs 279 crore, a growth of 57 per cent over Rs 177.15 crore in the corresponding period last year. The profit before tax has also gone up from Rs 273.44 crore to Rs 428.48 crore, registering an impressive increase of 57 per cent. The company total turnover for the period also grew to Rs 2548.56 crore, a growth of 27 per cent over Rs 2010.46 crore in the corresponding period last year. The company’s recorded a sale of 8,29,292 motor cycle units during the six month period, registering a splendid jump of 30.22 per cent as compared with sales volume during the first half of FY 2001-2002. Finolex Ind
Finolex Industries Ltd has reported a net profit of Rs 14 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2002. The total income in the second quarter of the current fiscal was Rs 173.25 crore.
Unichem Lab
Unichem Laboratories Ltd has reported a 5.79 per cent drop in net profit at Rs 9.27 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2002, compared to Rs 9.84 crore in same period of previous fiscal. The sales/income from operations was higher in the period under review at Rs 91.89 crore as against Rs 82.82 crore in Q2 of last year.
TNS, agencies |
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Power tariff hike shocks steel units Chandigarh,October19 A
recent study on the “Competitiveness of the Automotive Components
and the Special & Alloy Steel Industry in Punjab” commissioned
by the CII has forecast a bleak future for the industry, blaming to an
increase in input costs. Ironically, the study was released by Capt
Amarinder Singh on the same day power tariff was hiked. The Mandi Gobindgarh Re-rollers Association had lamented that the state government had increased the power tariff to Rs 2.9 per unit in case of the small
units, Rs 3.29 per unit for the medium scale units and Rs 3.42 for the large scale units. But the small units, which are facing difficult times, will not be able to absorb the increase in cost. It has urged the government to review its decision. Interestingly,
most of the industrialists are tightlipped over the issue in view of
the fact that the CII had already given its consent to the revised
tariff plan. While defending their stand, Mr S.P. Oswal, Chairman,
Punjab State Committee, the CII said: ‘‘The Regulatory Commission
has made a beginning by imposing a tariff on the agricultural sector,
and we expect in its next order to be implemented by April, 2003, the
tariff for the industry will come down.’’ |
Air-India, IA to rationalise flights Two
national carriers, Air India and Indian Airlines, have more
competition between themselves than from foreign carriers operating
through India. Their internal competition has not only reduced their
profitability but has often provided better playing field to foreign
players. Aware of this development, which has been getting intensified instead of reducing, the Civil Aviation Ministry has been contemplating to rationalise operations preventing them from flying to the same destination. If this is achieved, the over-head expenses of both airlines will be considerably reduced. The analysts feel that it will not be an easy task for the ministry to achieve because, for several years, two national carriers have been operating as rivals to each other instead of being supplementary to each other. The competition between them has become intense more because of politicians and bureaucrats than because of any other in-built reasons. In the new aviation policy, which is expected to be finalised shortly, there is a proposal to let private domestic carriers operate on international sectors. This will indeed widen the field, but two national carriers may be left high and dry by private operators, who have far greater refreshing ideas than national airlines. In the domestic far war, Indian Airlines has been facing stiff competition by two private operators, who have better schemes than IA. According to proposed policy, the international routes will first be offered to AI and IA. If national airlines are unable to meet the requirement, the routes would be offered to private operators. The
Minister for Civil Aviation Shahnawaz Hussain seems to be unclear on
the vital subject pertaining to disinvestment. He now says that he is
in favour of disinvestment and he will have a word with the
disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie. “I am not against disinvestment”,
said the Civil Aviation Minister on the occasion of the inauguration
of the Maharaja Lounge at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA). The new lounge is spacious. It will among other facilities, have a massage parlour, handled by Ayurveda experts. The facility has not been likened by some regular fliers. Come peak season from December to March, the government will allow foreign carriers to increase their flights so that quantum of off-loading of passengers is reduced. This concession will be extended to only those airlines which have bilateral arrangement with India. Will Air India benefit by this arrangement? It is doubtful but British Airways and Virgin Atlantic may be gainers.
Pawan Hans Pawan Hans has had many hiccups but the helicopter giant has now stabilised. It has gone global and it will operate flights on international routes. Shortly, there will be helicopter maintenance service. The company has many other schemes to uplift its image worldwide. Pawan Hans, like Airports Authority of India (AAI), has been a profit-making unit. In operation for more than 15 years, it has been effectively serving petroleum sector. |
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by Praful R. Desai Eviction order Q: Can the order of eviction against the tenant be sustained because on the death of the original tenant he was not residing with him but had shifted to another place though he may be an heir to the tenant? Ans: This point was decided by the Allahabad HC in the case of Smt Suloch Rani Jain v VIIIth Add. Dist. Judge (2002 (L) RCJ 185). The
HC on going through S.3 (a) of the UP Rent Act, observed that a bare
perusal of this provision would show that the word ‘tenant’ in
relation to a residential building means a person by whom its rent is
payable and on the tenant’s death, such only of his heirs who normally
resided with him in the building at the time of his death. In the case of Surendra Kumar v XI ADJ, Kanpur Nagar (1981ARC 186) it was held that after the death of original tenant, only such heirs of the deceased tenant who normally resided with the tenant in the tenanted building at the time of his death are entitled to succeed. Heirs
casually or temporarily coming to stay with the tenant are not legal
heirs within the meaning of S.3 (a) of the Act. It was further held in
the aforesaid decision that in cases of residential building, the heirs
who were residing separately with the deceased-tenant in another
district for any reason will not be covered by the definition of ‘tenant’
under S.3 (a) (1) of the Act. Since in the present case the findings of fact recorded by the Court below are to the effect that the tenant Sri P.L. Jain had shifted to Faridabad and had ceased to occupy the tenanted accommodation much before his death and that it had not been established that the petitioners who claimed substitution in place of deceased tenant were residing with him in the accommodation in question at the time of his death, the Court below has taken a correct view that they were not entitled to succeed as legal heirs of deceased-tenant as per the definition given in S.3(a) of the Act. The HC thus found no merit in this writ petition. Further the HC declined to interfere as the petitioners have not approached the HC with clean hands. On one hand they are claiming themselves to be tenant in the tenanted accommodation after the death of deceased-tenant but at the same time they have not paid even a single paise towards rent to the landlord. They cannot be allowed to blow hot and cold together. For these reasons, the HC dismissed the writ petition.
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by A.K. Sachdeva Q: We are engaged in the business of manufacture and sale of readymade garments being a dealer registered under the Haryana General Sales Tax Act, 1973 and the Central Sales tax Act, 1956. We carry finished goods sometimes to the places situated outside the State and sell them out on finding the customers. The goods remaining unsold are brought back to our place of business and entries to this effect are made in the books of account regularly maintained by us. We issue bill of sale to the customers on the spot as and when a deal is struck with them outside the State. We realise 10 per cent Central Sales Tax if a buyer happens to be an unregistered dealer while 4 per cent Central Sales Tax is charged subject to form ‘C’ in case a buyer holds registration certificate under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. Now we are given to understand that these kinds of transactions do not attract sales tax under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. Kindly clarify through your column “Sales Tax Issues”. Ans: Section 3 of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 defines when a sale of goods can be said to take place in the course of inter-State trade or commerce. It lays down if a sale or purchase occasions the movement of goods from one State to another or that when a sale or a purchase is effected by way of transfer of documents of title to the goods during their movement from one State to another, the transaction so taking place will constitute an inter-State sale attracting tax liability in terms of sub-section (1) of section 6 of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. Tax liability, in other words, under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 arises only when a sale in the course of inter-State trade or commerce takes place. However, the transaction involving movement of goods from one State to another independent of the contract of sale does not amount to an inter-State sale within the meaning of section 3 of the Act ibid. Such kinds of transactions do come within the purview of section 4 that carries definition of “sale outside the State” and no tax becomes leviable on the transactions coming within this category. The fact that the goods are first carried to a place situated the State without reference to any order from any customer implies that the sale that eventually takes place does not come within the parameters of section 3 of the Central Sales tax, 1956. The tax, therefore, deposited on the transactions erroneously presuming them to be inter-State sales is liable to be refunded under the law. However, the tax so realised will have to be refunded to the parties from whom it came to be collected. The proper course is to make an application to the assessing authority explaining away the true nature of the transactions and requesting for refund on the ground that the sales so made constituted “sales outside the State” on which no tax really became payable under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. Q: We are given to understand that all kinds of declaration forms such ST-14 and ST-15 stand abolished by the state government and that it is now not mandatory for the registered dealers effecting sales on account of goods suffering tax at first stage and supplies to registered dealers without payment of tax to furnish any statutory form. Kindly advise in this context. — P.K. Arora, Panchkula Ans: The State Government vide notification No. G.S.R.21/H.A. 20/73/S.64/2000 dated April 20, 2000 dispensed with the mandatory requirement of furnishing statutory forms such as ST-14 and ST-15 and thereafter it became optional to the assessees claiming statutory deductions from the gross turnover without submitting in support of the returns the declaration forms.
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In the wonderland of investment Q: I am a retired senior citizen. I do not have any income, except some bank interest, much less than Rs. 50,000 per year. My children support me. I do not file income tax returns. I
have a balance in my NSS account of Rs. 1,30,000 in the post office. I
had kept this for my daughter’s marriage. Now I am in need of money
and want to encash the same. Suppose if I submit Form No. 15-I and I
prove that I am a retired senior citizen, am I liable for TDS? If so,
how can I avoid it? —Anil Noronha, A: I suppose you are talking of NSS87 (and not NSS92). You can withdraw without suffering TDS if the amounts withdrawn from NSS along with dividends on shares, including dividend on preference shares do not exceed Rs. 50,000. In that case you may submit form 15-I and claim exemption from TDS. If you wish to withdraw the full amount you will be subject to TDS since the amount of withdrawal is over Rs. 50,000, the threshold for Income-tax. You cannot submit form 15-I since your income from specified source (NSS) is over Rs. 50,000. Sorry, in spite of being senior citizen and in spite of the tax liability being nil, you will have to suffer TDS and claim whatever refund that will be due by filing tax returns. Q:
I have purchased a residential flat in January, 2001 taking a Home
Loan from ICICI Home Finance. Presently I’m enjoying tax benefit u/s
88 and u/s 24 for the principal and interest component respectively.
Now I’m planning to buy another flat. For this purpose, if I pre-pay
the outstanding amount of previous loan and avail a fresh loan for the
new flat, can I enjoy the tax benefits for my new loan? In other word, is home loan tax benefit allowed for any number of loans in lifetime (of course only one at a time) or it is restricted for only one property in lifetime? —
Nilay Kumar Hazra, A: The second flat will be let out or treated as deemed let out flat and the entire interest payable without any ceiling will be deductible against the income from it. Even if you do not let it out the annual value of the flat will be treated as your income for purposes of income-tax. You will be allowed to claim rebate u/s 88 subject to the ceiling of Rs. 20,000 within the overall limit of Rs. 70,000. If the house is sold before 5 years from the end of the FY in which its possession was taken, aggregate rebate claimed shall be added to the tax liability on normal income of the assessee for the year during which the house is sold. Fortunately, the same tenet is not applicable to the deduction of interest. There is no need to prepay the first loan to avail of the benefit from the loan for the second flat. However, the housing Finance interest rates have come down substantially in recent times. If you find that it is quite beneficial to borrow funds for the express purpose of repaying the old loan, go ahead. This raises another question. Suppose, the 1st loan is taken before 1.4.99 and the 2nd after that date. Does the ceiling on interest deduction rise from Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 1,50,000? It is my considered opinion that the 2nd loan maintains the continuity and does not change the colour and character of the 1st loan. Therefore, the deduction stays put at Rs. 30,000. This is my personal opinion. However, I am given to understand that many of the housing finance companies push their products claiming that the 2nd loan gives the borrower the right to claim higher deductions. Yes, this is indeed very confusing. At the time of amending the Act, it is the primary duty of the authors to ensure that there is consistency of conception within different sections. It is evident that this aspect is handled casually, resulting in the Act becoming complex and complicated. Complications in legislation result in easily avoidable large-scale litigations and rampant corruption. The author may be contacted at anshanbhag@yahoo.com
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BBC Heart Care to treat Army men Jalandhar, October 19 The hospital already enjoyed the recognition by the Director General, the Central Government, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and various other government and semi-government organisations. Addressing a press conference here yesterday, Dr C.S. Pruthi said the hospital was earlier recognised for the treatment of retired defence personnel but the recognition for the treatment of serving defence personnel would enable the hospital authorities to contribute towards Army officers and jawans, and their families.
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Toyota rolls
out Camry
Bangalore, October 19 Bangalore-based Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd (TKML) said it was planning to sell 1,000 units of Camry in the first year by the completely built unit (CBU) route. “With
Camry, the company wants to build a strong brand image for Toyota,”
TKML Managing Director Sachio Yamazaki told reporters here. TKML
reiterated today that its plans to manufacture passenger car “Corolla”,
Toyata’s top-selling car in Japan for over three decades now, in the
first quarter of the next year here was on track. Unlike Camry, the
company wanted to sell Corolla in large numbers in India, Yamazaki
indicated. Camry has two variants, the difference being only in
seating packaging, TKML’s General Manager (Marketing) Sandeep Singh
said. V1 is priced at Rs 17.95 lakh (ex-showroom Bangalore) and V3 Rs
18.45 lakh. PTI
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13 firms among top 200: Forbes
New Delhi, October 19 The
Indian companies that are listed in the magazine list are Asian
Paints, Britannia Industries, Dr Reddy’s Labs, HDFC Bank, ICICI
Bank, Indo Gulf, Infosys Technologies, Mastek, Polaris Software, Rolta
India, Satyam Computers, Visualsoft and Zee Telefilms.
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Beltek TV Murasoli Maran Entry tax flayed Faber SpA Birla Sun Life
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