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Saturday,
January 11, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Infosys
net surges 24.40 pc We’ll
build oil reserves: Vajpayee
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NRIs to
prefer India over China
Industrial
growth up 3.7 pc Maruti
scales up its pre-owned car business
Haryana
exports clock 25 pc growth
Reliance
rejects GAIL offer
GRAPHIC: Foreign direct investment in India
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Infosys net surges 24.40 pc
Bangalore, January 10 The company reported a profit of Rs 256. 31 crore for the third quarter of the current fiscal as against Rs 205.04 crore achieved during the corresponding period last year. The company reported an income of Rs 958.64 crore for the period, achieving a 45.07 per cent growth over an income of Rs 560.30 crore earned during the third quarter of 2001-02. In his initial remark, Infosys Chief Executive Officer and President Nandan Nilekani said Infosys continued to enjoy the confidence of large merque clients, “Global corporations are seeking robust, financially strong, world class partners such as Infosys to outsource their IT requirements,” he added. Company Chief Operating Officer S. Gopalakrishnan said Infosys had been able to demonstrate the scalability of its operations by adding 948 net employees without compromising on operational excellence. The net addition included 272 lateral hires.
Revenue to rise
The company was looking ahead to earn a revenue between Rs 975 crore and Rs 989 crore during the last quarter of this fiscal with the year expected to close with a total revenue between Rs 3,578 crore and Rs 3,592 crore. During the quarter the company added 23 new clients during the third quarter, including Bristol-Myers Squibb, AT and T Wireless, TTP Com and Compass Bank. Software revenue in US dollar terms grow by 0.6 per cent for the quarter as compared to the quarter ended September 30, 2002. Revenue growth comprised a volume growth of 10.5 per cent and a price decline of 0.9 per cent as compared to the quarter ended September 30. Mr Basab Pradhan, Head, Worldwide Sales and Senior Vice President said there was an increased interest in offshore outsourcing. Account additions for the quarter had been satisfactory and the company had managed a higher share of clients wallet. Progen Limited, the company’s BPO arm, had added a client during the quarter and generated a revenue of Rs.8.21 crore. The net addition to employees in progen during the quarter was 139, taking the employee strength to 426 as on December 31, 2002. Infosys opened a representative office in Beijing as part of its strategy to scout for business in China.
UNI
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We’ll build oil reserves: Vajpayee New Delhi, January 10 “Oil security has come to occupy a key position in the present policy matrix of our government. We are examining the feasibility of establishing strategic storage of crude oil and petroleum products in our country to create a buffer for meeting unforeseen disturbances and strengthening India’s oil security,” Mr Vajpayee said at the 5th International Petroleum Conference, Petrotech 2003. “Crude oil prices may shoot up if tensions in West Asia rise, leading to a prolonged shortage of supplies in the world market. This may affect our national economy,” Mr Vajpayee said and added that recent development have already affected oil markets and sent prices upwards. “We have also embarked upon a detailed study to identify ways to minimise supply risk from external sources,” the Prime Minister said. The newly appointed president of the OPEC Abdulla Bin Hammed Al Attiyah on Thursday indicated that the international crude oil prices could fall after the crucial Vienna meet on Sunday by $ 4 per barrel, which is hovering around $ 31. The OPEC is planning to call for production increase to meet the shortfall in the global oil market, following the general strike in Venezuela and fears of US-led war on Iraq. The meet would also consider India’s request for concessional pricing of crude oil for developing countries. But without substantial domestic production, Mr Vajpayee said, the nation would be subject to volatility in crude oil supplies and prices. Oil security would be difficult to achieve. “We are aware of the need to find viable strategies to explore, produce and refine more from our own hydrocarbon resources,” he said. For efficient exploration, development, production, refining of hydrocarbon resources and marketing of products, India has opened up the sector for private and foreign investment. “We have encouraged both domestic and international enterprises to supplement the efforts of our national oil companies. This is indeed one of the big successes of India’s economic reforms,” the Prime Minister said. The India Hydrocarbon Vision 2025 document lays down the framework for addressing issues such as energy security, use of alternative fuels and inter-changeability of technology to ensure that the mix of energy sources used in the economy is optimal and sustainable. It will also ensure that adequate quantities of economically- priced clean fuels are made available to Indian consumers, Mr Vajpayee said. India, as one of the five largest economies of the world which would witness considerable rise in per capita energy consumption, particularly with 8 per cent GDP growth envisaged in the coming years, Mr Vajpayee said. Earlier, Mr Vajpayee gave the Lifetime achievement awards for contribution to the petroleum sector to late Dhirubhai
Ambani, Padmashree AB Dasgupta and Padmshree NB Prasad. The Lifetime achievement award for contribution to the downstream sector was given to Reliance Industries founder Late Dhirubhai
Ambani. The award was received by Reliance Group president V
Balasubramaniam. The Lifetime achievement award for upstream sector has been conferred on former ONGC chairman N B Prasad. The Lifetime achievement award for Geological Science has been given to A B
Dasgupata. Mr Dasgupta was the first Indian managing director of Oil India Ltd and was also Part-time Member of ONGC. The Awards carry a sum of Rs two lakh, a shawl and a citation. This is the first time that three awards were given at the
Petrotech.
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NRIs to prefer India over China New Delhi, January 10 The general feeling prevailing among the NRIs from across 61 countries attending the first Pravasi Bhartiya Divas here is that it is lengthy and complicated procedures which act as a major deterrent to investment in India. Mr Ratanjit S Sondhe, Chairman and CEO , Poly Carb, USA, whose company recently set up a manufacturing plant in China is now keen on investing in India. “China is an attractive investment destination and I have already invested in China. But now I would like to invest in India. India is my motherland. I would much rather invest in democratic India than the Communist China”, he told The Tribune today. Mr Sondhe, however, emphasised that India needs to offer better facilities to the NRIs. Citing red tapism , corruption and slow adoption of reforms, he believes that the Indian economy has not opened up in the ‘real’ sense. At the same time, he is not disappointed. “A step has already been taken in the right direction and if there are continuous efforts, we can outdo any economy”. The Sardar from Ohio feels that any comparison between India and China is not fair because of entirely different political set ups in the two countries. “China cannot offer what India can”, he said. Tokyo based Mr Sherjung Bahadur Singh Sandhar, who has a chain of restaurants in Japan thinks that India is fast emerging as an attractive investment destination. “With attractive investment opportunities and the government , at the Pravasi Bharati Divas, showing an encouraging attitude, I am really keen on investing in India”, he said, adding, “India is on the top of priority list in this regard”. The initiatives being taken to attract NRI investment will go a long way, feels Mr Sandhar. Though currently, the contribution of non resident Chinese towards Chinese Foreign Direct Investment (non resident Chinese contribute to more than 70 per cent of Chinese FDI) is much higher compared to the contribution of NRIs to FDI in India, such efforts would certainly bear positive results, he thinks. A broad policy framework and country- specific plans for a mutually beneficial
relationship with the PIOs and NRIs is what the Indian government should do instead of merely reviewing the laws and rules applicable to them, says Germany based Mr Barjinder Sodhi, Vice-President, Orien Infotech. “Improvement in disseminaiton of information regarding government’s requirements for NRIs and PIOs and a clear-cut policy towards return of stranded and destitute NRIs and improvement of infrastructure are a must”, he said. |
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Industrial growth up 3.7 pc
New Delhi, January 10 Industrial growth rose by 1.3 per cent during the month from 2.4 per cent last year, while cumulative growth during April-November also improved from 2.5 per cent last year to touch 5.3 per cent during the current fiscal. Overall industrial growth was boosted by a phenomenal performance of the capital goods sector which grew 9.6 per cent during November compared to 1.9 per cent in 2001, according to quick estimates of Index of Industrial Production released by the Government today. The manufacturing sector, accounting for more than three-fourth of the weightage in the Index of Industrial Production
(IIP), registered a growth of 3.8 per cent in November, 2002 as against 2.3 per cent in the corresponding month last year. Mining sector, however, registered a lower growth in November at 2.9 per cent as compared to 3.7 per cent in the corresponding period last year even though the cummulative growth during April-November was higher at 5.7 per cent against 0.7 per cent in 2001.
PTI |
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Maruti scales up its pre-owned car business New Delhi, January 10 All existing Maruti customers will now have the option of
exchanging their existing cars with new Maruti cars at True Value
outlets, irrespective of the age of their vehicle. Besides, Maruti True
Value, which so far sold only cars that were upto four years old and had
covered 60,000 kilometres, will now sell cars that are upto seven years
old and have covered upto 1 lakh kilometres, company sources
said. Company officials said that the move will have a major impact on
the markets for new as well as pre owned cars. "It will widen the
choice for existing Maruti customers and is inviting them to go in for
upgrading their vehicle" an official said. It will also ensure
that Maruti True Value, which had a long wait list of customers, to
satisfy the demand much quicker. At the same time, customers who could
not afford four-year old cars, would now have the option of moving to
four wheels as their availability spread is enhanced to include cars
upto seven years old. The company has decided that pre owned cars upto
five years old that have covered 60,000 kilometres will get a one year
warranty. Those that are upto 5 years old and have covered 70,000 km
will be entitled to a six month warranty. Maruti True Value has 16
exclusive outlets across 13 cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Faridabad, Gurgaon,
Nagpur, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Coimbatore,
Chandigarh and Lucknow. As part of the expansion strategy, the company
has also decided to cover more than 20 cities by March 31, 2003. The
ramp up in the pre owned car business has come 15 months after it was
launched in Bangalore and Delhi. It has since been taken to other cities
in a phased manner.
MD plea for exemption
rejected Mumbai: A Magistrate has rejected an exemption plea
of Managing Director of Maruti Udyog Jagdish Khattar in a case of
alleged cheating filed by a Pune-based lawyer for selling a car with
defective engine. Judicial Magistrate First Class in Pune S.C. Khalipe
rejected the exemption plea of the accused yesterday on the ground that
bailable warrant had already been issued against him and hence it was
necessary for him to appear before the court. PTI |
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Haryana exports clock 25 pc growth Chandigarh, January 10 According to information available from the Department of Industries, the exports in software, handloom and agro-products along with the auto-parts sector have shown a substantial growth over the previous years. The state had exported goods worth Rs 8,000 crore in 2001-02 as compared to Rs 7,050 crore exports during 2000-01. The exports in the software sector alone are likely to cross Rs 4,000 crore this year against Rs 3,200 crore during the previous financial year. Senior officials of the department disclosed that Om Parkash Chautala has succeeded in attracting MNCs and large domestic companies to invest in the state. |
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