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Saturday,
May 17, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Investment in Asia pegged at $ 68b
Cut subsidies to raise investment: RBI
441 Indian firms invest in UK
Overseas PSU banks branches’ profits fall
Food safety: Aseptic technology shows
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Panchayat cancels Pepsi plant’s licence
i-flex net up 48 pc
‘Armaan’ trailer on Reliance mobiles
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Investment in Asia pegged at $ 68b
New York, May 16 Releasing the forecasts yesterday, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) noted that investors demand for emerging market bonds had strengthened as evidenced by the sharp narrowing of spreads, but it cautioned that significant uncertainties remain. The forecast is based on study of the emerging markets worldwide including Asia, Africa, West Asia, Europe and Latin America. Included in the Asian regions are India, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines. The IIF’S Chief Economist and First Deputy Managing Director Yusuke Horiguchi said the forecasts suggested that Asia would account for nearly one-half of total net private capital flows to the emerging markets this year at about $ 68 billion which was slightly above the last year’s level. Overall Asia’s net capital inflows, which showed particular resilience to market volatility last year, were likely to be more restrained than previously anticipated due to the emergence of SARS, he added. The IIF projected the emerging market real GDP growing by about 4 per cent this year, after 3.5 per cent in 2002. The Asia-Pacific growth was set to moderate to around 5.4 per cent from 6.4 per cent, and a slight decline to 3.7 per cent from 4 per cent was seen for the emerging Europe. The IIF estimated that Africa-West Asia was set to grow at 3.5 per cent, about the same pace as in 2002, while Latin American real GDP would grow by 1.5 per cent after contracting 1 per cent last year. IIF Vice-Chairman William R Rhodes said the global economy continued to face a broad array of difficulties, but a short duration of the Iraq war and the subsequent sharp oil price decline had improved the prospects for growth in the US in the second half of the year.
PTI
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Cut subsidies to raise investment: RBI
Kolkata, May 16 The subsidies offered on power and railways, meant to help the underprivileged was hardly reaching them as almost 40 per cent of such people neither had a power connection nor travelled by rail, Mohan told the members of the Indian Chamber of Commerce here. He said 90 per cent of water in urban areas were being used by people who could afford it, and therefore there was no justification in continuing with subsidising it. “Because of huge revenue expenditure, government and government utilities are unable to spend on infrastructure and as such growth prospect is getting hampered,” Mohan said. The deputy governor also said the country needed to focus on four to five issues, including rationalisation of user charges (in railways, power, water), focus on public sector management, instilling excellence and commercialisation of management, to become competitive and maintain steady growth in GDP. “Tax to GDP ratio also needed to be increased as it was found that in the past ten years, despite a 65 per cent jump in income level, compliance of tax has not increased accordingly,” Mohan said. PTI
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441 Indian firms invest in UK
New Delhi, May 16 A survey conducted recently by Invest·UK, the British Government’s inward investment agency, showed that 338 Indian companies in Britain were in the information and communications technologies sector. Announcing the results of the survey here on Friday, Britain’s acting High Commissioner to India Mark Runacres said: “These new figures provide yet more evidence of Indian industry’s confidence in Britain. The 441 Indian companies have chosen Britain because they find it a comfortable and profitable place to work. The list of 441 Indian firms now operating in Britain — though dominated by IT giants like Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Technologies and Wipro — also included firms from other sectors, including Bharat Forge, Thermax, Tata Tetley, Mastek and Bank of India. The Invest·UK survey also showed that, in keeping with global trends, several Indian firms from the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors were now showing an increased interest in investing in Britain. India is fast emerging as an important source of investments in Britain. In terms of projects, India is Asia’s second biggest investor in Britain. About 40 per cent of Indian overseas investment flows into Europe, compared to 20 per cent to the US Of the total Indian investment flow into Europe, over 60 per cent is concentrated in Britain.
IANS
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Overseas PSU banks branches’ profits fall
New Delhi, May 16 The decline is most pronounced in the case of State Bank of India, Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank and Syndicate Bank. These facts have been brought out by the Standing Committee on Finance on the basis of balance sheets of these banks for the year 2001-02. Expressing concern at this erosison of profitability, the Standing Committee has recommended closure of some overseas branches of PSU banks. The RBI conducts regular
portfolio inspections, including the assets and liabilities of overseas branches of overseas Indian Banks, in addition to the examination of reports of the local regulators in host countries. The Committee found that United States authorities had imposed Civil Monetary Penalty of $ 7.5 million on account of certain deficiencies in the systems and procedures and tools for monitoring mechanism and ‘Know Your Customer and Enhanced Due Diligence’ procedures, especially in the areas of remittances, fund transfer and inter-office accounts. It, therefore, recommended that RBI should ensure strict compliance with the rules and regulations of the host countries where the overseas branches operate. They were of the view that had this been done earlier, the penalty, imposed on SBI of the order of $ 7.5 million could have been averted. In its 39th report submitted recently to the Lok Sabha, the Committee noticed doubtful validity of three branches of three different banks. These are Bank of India (East Ham, London), Bank of Baroda (Vacoas, Mauritius) and Indian Overseas Bank (FCBU, Colombo). In this regard the Committee opined that such branches should be given a specific time period for improving
profitability. In case of further erosion of profitability continuing even after the end of such period, the RBI should initiate steps to close them without any delay.
UNI
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Food safety: Aseptic technology shows the way Baramati (Pune), May 16 According to Mr Surendran Menon, Coordinator, the Aseptic Food Processing and Packaging Industry Association of India, critical foods like milk and juices as well as edible oil are processed and packaged by them in such a way that their nutritional value is not lost despite a longer shelf life, and, more important, without the use of any preservatives. With the help of the Aseptic technology, Dynamix Dairies, one of the best state-of-art plants in the country, located at Baramati near Pune in Maharashtra, treats the food products in four stages — processing, storage, transfer and package. The Aseptic process places less heat stress on foods and beverages than traditional canning processes. Products can retain more nutrients as well as natural taste, colour and texture. According to Mr S. Biswas, Head, UHT Production, Dynamix Diaries, the contents are packaged in a tightly sealed carton that locks out light and air and provides shelf stability. Combining the best attributes of paper, plastic and aluminium, the multi-layer Aseptic package provides a high level of protection while being lightweight and efficient. He says, Dynamix Dairies, set up in 1995, processes one million litres of cow milk every day. Dr J.S. Pai, Professor and Head, Food and Fermentation Technology Division, Institute of Chemical Technology, University of Mumbai, says that UHT (ultra high temperature) processes eliminate completely all the disease-causing micro-organisms in a few seconds. Though the product so treated will remain intact (without spoilage) for a long time at room temperature, it must be packed after processing without allowing microbes from the environment to get into the product. Over the years, the Aseptic technology has gained acceptance in the market through UHT milk, flavoured milk, fruit milk, fruit drinks, fruit nectar paste, purees, cooking creams and ice tea. Additionally, Aseptic packages are among the most environmentally-friendly packages in the market today — energy efficient, recyclable and an example of minimal packaging. The Aseptic packaging material is manufactured by Tetra Pack. The packages are made of six layers — alternate four layers of polyethylene, one layer of paper and another layer of aluminium. Products in Tetra Pak packages offer a shelf life of four months to diary products like UHT milk and flavoured milk and up to six months to juices and beverages without the need for refrigeration. (The writer’s visit was sponsored by Aseptic Food Processing and Packaging Industry Association of India.)
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Panchayat cancels Pepsi plant’s licence
Palakkad, May 16 The CPI-M controlled Pudussery village panchayat on Thursday cancelled the licence issued to Pepsico India Holdings Pvt Limited’s bottling plant at Kanjikode in the district. When contacted, CPI-M district secretary, Unni, said the Panchayat’s decision also formed part of CPI-M’s policy of boycotting the products of the multinational corporations in the wake of the US-led war on Iraq. The company authorities, while refuting the charge of depletion of ground water, said it was yet to receive the official communication from the panchayat. PTI
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Deputy
Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani receives the first cargo of
crude from Sudan at Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL)
refinery. 
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