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Saturday,
October 26, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Wind
up PFC, PAIC, PRTC: report Himachal
collects Rs 317 cr as excise Punjab
Govt signs MoU with Quark ICICI Bank
to mop up 5,000 cr through bonds |
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Manmohan
for review of fiscal policies Syndicate
Bank net rises Exports
to Hungary remain modest Macau
targets Indian tourists
Hind
Lever net up 3.5 pc Ashok Leyland GlaxoSmithKline India Nippon
Elec MTNL German
Remedies ABB Grasim
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Wind up PFC, PAIC, PRTC: report
Chandigarh, October 25 The commission has also recommended winding up of the Punjab Financial Corporation and restructuring the PSEB by downsizing to the extent of 33 per cent, exploring possibilities of privatisation of distribution in small blocks and revision of tariffs over 5 years to recover costs from all consumers and studying non-conventional energy projects. It has also recommended restructuring of PSIEC and cut its staff to 500, privatization of emporia and adopting public-private system of collaboration for the development of infrastructure till the PSIIDC is set up. Taking a hint from the past, the commission has recommended separation of public sector undertakings to be closed/disinvested from the administrative departments concerned and has also proposed setting up of a Punjab State Asset Management Authority. On co-operative institutions, the commission has recommended merge r of state co-operative bank, co-operative agricultural development bank and Housefed. Similarly, it has also recommended the merger of the Punjab Scheduled Castes Financial Corporation and Backfinco. The Punjab Police Housing Corporation needs rightsizing. On Markfed, the commission has again talked of restructuring through rightsizing and to play a role in diversification, agri-processing, developing cold-chains besides providing infrastructure in mandis, reducing handling cost in food grains through bulk handling etc. At the same time, the commission has favoured winding up of the PAIC and also Punjab Agro-Export Corporation. The commission has recommended restructuring of Milkfed, the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation, Punseed and “closure” of Sugarfed. It has recommended that four sugar mills should be liquidated, other nine be sold off and one at Nawanshehar retained. Closure of Spinfed has also been recommended along with Weavco and Punsup. The commission has recommended the winding up of the Punjab State Tubewell Corporation in a phased manner and also the Punjab Land Development and Reclamation Corporation, the Forest Corporation, the PRTC, Punbus. Similarly, winding up of the Punjab Health System Corporation and PTDC has been suggested once their funds are utilized. In respect of all recommendations on wind up, the commission has suggested adequate compensation to staff. The commission has recommended disinvestment in Puncom which will automatically apply to its subsidiary and has also recommended winding up of five subsidiaries of the Punjab State Electronic Development and Production Corporation. The Commission Chairman, Mr P H Vaishnav, presented the report to the Chief Secretary, Mr Y S Ratra, today. It will go to the newly set up Department of Disinvestment and processed to be placed before the Council of Ministers. The commission studied 49 PSUs. Their profile shows accumulative losses of Rs 1,445 crore, net worth Rs 3,510 crore, share capital, Rs 3,588 crore, total debt, Rs 25,403 crore and manpower, 118,624.
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Himachal collects Rs 317 cr as excise Chandigarh, October 25 Talking to the TNS over phone from Shimla today, he said, ‘‘The sales tax and excise duty on liquor have registered a significant increase over the past year. The state has collected Rs 129 crore excise duty by September 30 this year as compared to Rs 112 crore during the corresponding period last year. Similarly, the sales tax collections have increased to Rs 188 crore from Rs 176 crore during the same period.’’ The state had collected Rs 229 crore as excise duty and Rs 355 crore as sales tax during 2000-01, which were expected to increase to Rs 290 crore and Rs 387 crore, respectively, this year, he added. Mr Chauhan disclosed that the state was preparing itself for the implementation of VAT, likely to be implemented from April 1, 2003. The state was in constant touch with the Central government to work out the required compensation package to set off the fall in tax collections. He said as the revenue neutral rate (RNR), the state would have to impose VAT at the rate of 15.5 to 16 per cent, as compared to 11 to 12.5 per cent worked out by Haryana and Punjab. Another spokesperson of the state government added that the department had launched the programme of computerisation of the department in collaboration with National Information Centre (NIC), New Delhi, that would help the department to check the pilferage of tax collections. At present the department was dealing with about 23,000 dealers in the state, he said.
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Punjab Govt signs MoU with Quark Chandigarh, October 25 According to a government official, the Quark would invest the money to develop the IT park in two phases. Under the first phase, the company would develop 50 acres area, and in the next phase, about 1,500 acres additional would be covered under the project. According to information available, the Quark would develop the same project, that had been earlier given to the Mahindra & Mahindra, which backed out after the signing of the MOU after about three years. Other companies would also be granted space to set up their units in the park. Mr
N. S. Kalsi, Director-cum-Secretary of the IT Department, Punjab, after signing the agreement, hoped that the state would usher in a new era after the signing of the MOU.
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ICICI Bank to mop up 5,000 cr through bonds New Delhi, October 25 “We have applied to SEBI for the proposed bonds issue totalling Rs 5,000 crore,” official sources told PTI from Mumbai. Subject to the approval, the newly formed ‘universal bank’ intends to tap the market in the coming months. The bond issue of ICICI Bank will be close on heels of IDBI, which also plan to raise Rs 5,000 crore through a combination of Flexi bonds for retail investors and Omni bonds to be placed privately with banks and FIs this fiscal. ICICI Bank sources said the credit rating agency ICRA has assigned highest safety “LAAA” rating to the proposed bonds and the bank was awaiting regulatory nod. ICRA had earlier reaffirmed Rs 350 crore sub-ordinated debt for shoring up Tier-II capital, of which ICICI Bank had mopped up Rs 228.5 crore last fiscal and the remaining Rs 120 crore could be raised in near future as and when need be, the officials said. ICRA sources said the rating agency has assigned highest safety rating “LAAA” to the Rs 5,000 crore bonds issue taking into consideration the reverse merger of ICICI with ICICI Bank to create a Rs 1,04,110 crore financial power house. The merger was effective from March 30, 2002, with a share swap ratio of 2:1 (one share of ICICI with two shares of ICICI Bank).
PTI
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Manmohan for review of fiscal policies New Delhi, October 25 Speaking at a seminar on “The Indian Economy: A stocktaking” organised by Assocham, Dr Manmohan Singh said public policies had failed to create a conducive environment for private enterprises and, therefore, the government should take a fresh look at the policies pertaining to exchange rate, tax, imports and exports and tariff as these policies had tremendous role in the growth of the economy. All growth parameters since 1996-97 had been
deteriorating. Private investment had gone down, public investment had been considerably reduced and therefore, the sustainability of the services sector had been threatened. Dr Manmohan Singh said though the government has targeted a GDP growth rate of eight per cent during the tenth Five Year Plan, various agencies forecasting the projections were doubting a growth of even five per cent in the very first year of the Plan.
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Syndicate Bank net rises Bangalore The net profit would have been much higher but for the increase in tax provision from Rs 12 crore to Rs 50 crore during September 2001-September 2002, a bank statement said. Owned funds rose by 14.36 per cent from Rs 1,346 crore to Rs 1,539 crore and the capital adequacy ratio moved up from 12.28 per cent to 12.71 per cent, it said.
PTI |
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Exports
to Hungary remain modest New Delhi, October 25 Hungary, pointed out Mr Singh, will join the European Union in 2004 and suggested that in view of this development, Indian exporters should focus on increasing their exports, building up a brand image of their products and services in Hungary. He said that Hungary’s high level technological development and its long standing warm and close relationship with India should help in the effort to increase India’s exports and investments in that country.
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Macau targets Indian tourists New Delhi, October 25 As a start Macau has opened a tourist office here and is trying hard to sell the various events which take place there through-out the year. A favourite tourist haunt for the Europeans, Macau sees Indians as potential visitors to the area for it offers a similar
atmosphere as available here in Goa. Joao Manuel Costa Antunes, the Director of the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) feels that the Indian market is one of the fastest emerging outbound markets in the world and needs to be exploited accordingly.
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UCO Bank profit zooms Chandigarh |
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Morepen Lab
New Delhi, October 25 |
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Cathay Pacific best New Delhi, October 25 |
Hind Lever net up 3.5 pc
Mumbai, October 25 The net sales in the period under review decreased to Rs 2,367.46 crore as against Rs 2,551.40 crore in Q3 last year, HLL said in a release here today. HLL chairman M.S. Banga said: “Our home and personal care power brands have grown by 6.8 per cent despite a declining market. Lifebuoy, Lux, Wheel, Fair & Lovely, Ponds, Pears and Lakme, all have recorded the double digit growth. We achieved this through innovation and activation programme backed by a 24 per cent increase in the brand support, especially media. Gross margins had moved up by 3.5 per cent in beverages, 3.3 per cent in foods and 16 per cent in ice-cream”, he added. HLL said the markets for many of the key categories continued to decline in value during Q3. Sales in the beverage business were under pressure due to low commodity process and intense competition from the local players. For the nine months ended September, the net profit rose to Rs 1,289.17 crore (Rs 1,204.93 crore in the same period, 2001) and the net sales stood at Rs 7,320.35 crore (Rs 7,970.88 crore). Ashok Leyland
Ashok Leyland’s sales turnover during the second quarter ended on September 30 grew by 12.7 per cent to touch Rs 718.20 crore from Rs 637.43 crore in the same period last fiscal. GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare has posted a lower net profit at Rs 24.03 crore for the third quarter ended September 30, 2002, compared to Rs 27.4 crore in same period of previous fiscal. The total income (net of excise) in the period under review has increased to Rs 235.4 crore as against Rs 232.92 crore in Q3 of the last year, the company said. India Nippon Elec
The Board of India Nippon Electricals will consider issue of bonus shares at the October 28 meeting. The Board will also consider the unaudited financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2002, the company said today. MTNL
MTNL’s net profit has declined by 35.41 per cent to Rs 246.94 crore for the second quarter ended September 30 as compared to Rs 382.34 crore in the same period last year. German Remedies
German Remedies net profit has declined by 8.25 per cent to Rs 6.11 crore for the second quarter ended September 30 as compared to Rs 6.66 crore in the same period previous year. ABB
Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) has posted a 15 per cent increase in the net profit at Rs 17.33 crore for the third quarter ended September 30 as compared to Rs 14.99 crore in the same period previous. Grasim
Grasim has reported a 55 per cent increase in the net profit but before exceptional items at Rs 130.3 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2002 as compared to Rs 84 crore in the same quarter of 2000-01.
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Corpn best bank Le Meridien |
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