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Friday,
May 23, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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HPCL selloff on the back burner
SEBI approves Maruti IPO
CBSE results on Spice, AirTel
Milkfed MD indicted
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Industrialists to get bonds by June
Oracle to set up
e-governance
centre
No increase in NRI deposits: RBI
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HPCL selloff on the back burner
New Delhi, May 22 On the day industrial workers and employees of banks and insurance sector observed a nationwide bandh against the ongoing privatisation policy of the government, some of the officials associated with the disinvestment process felt the whole programme had gone into “coma”. “The shop is virtually closed and there may not be any major privatisation during the next year or so till the next General Elections,” they said. The last big ticket disinvestment undertaken by the government was in June last year when it privatised IPCL where Reliance bought government’s stake, along with management control. The sources, however, clarified that though there was no visible opposition from higher ups, the initiative had fizzled out somehow or the other. They added that no meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment, Core Group of Secretaries on Disinvestment or interministerial group on either of the oil PSUs HPCL and BPCL had been held during this month. Sources said the global adviser for BPCL was yet to be finalised even though bids for the same closed more than six and seven weeks ago. However, they admitted that the proposed public offer in Maruti Udyog (MUL) could buoy sentiments in the government and pump life into the disinvestment process. Regarding major hurdles in the privatisation of HPCL, sources said in case unions did not allow bidders to inspect properties, the process could be hampered. Sources said while hurdles were being apprehended in case of HPCL disinvestment, where the government decided to go for a strategic sale, in the best case scenario BPCL disinvestment might be completed without a hitch as 35.2 per cent stake was to be offloaded through a public offering in domestic and international markets. The virtual halt in the disinvestment process, barring cases like MUL, came at a time when the government had set a disinvestment target of Rs 13,200 crore for 2003-04. Besides HPCL, BPCL and MUL, other major corporations on the disinvestment block included EIL, SCI, and Nalco.
PTI
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SEBI approves Maruti IPO
New Delhi, May 22 “We have cleared the Maruti IPO for the domestic market,’’ SEBI Chairman G.N. Bajpai told newspersons after inaugurating a seminar on securities laws and capital market here today. The IPO market for the first time will see a market leader in cars offering shares to the public. After the IPO, the government’s stake in MUL will fall to 20.8 per cent, putting Suzuki firmly in the driver’s seat. The government currently holds around 45 per cent stake in the company, while Suzuki Motor Corporation holds around 55 per cent. The issue, to be managed through the book-building route, has been underwritten by Suzuki Motor at a price of Rs 115 a share on a face value of Rs 5. The draft prospectus, filed by MUL in April, says 7.22 crore shares of Rs 5 each will be offered in the domestic market through the book-building route. As per SEBI norms, a maximum of 60 per cent of the offer will be reserved for institutions such as FIIs, mutual funds and banks while 25 per cent will be reserved for retail bidders. Kotak Mahindra is the lead manager of the offer, while ICICI Securities acts as the joint lead manager. The issue will be followed by another tranche of public offering facilitating the exit of the government from the company. Maruti payout at 30 pc
Maurti Udyog today announced a 30 per cent dividend for 2002-03 within a day of declaring a hefty 40 per cent growth in the net profit. The total outgo of Rs 42.7 crore will be on account dividend of Rs 1.50 per equity share of Rs 5 each, a company statement said here.
UNI, PTI
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CBSE results on Spice, AirTel Chandigarh, May 22 Mr Vinod Sawhny, Chief Executive Officer, Bharti Mobile, Northern Region, said AirTel subscriber could avail themselves of this service by sending message ‘‘CBSE’’ to the No. 5556. He would get a message asking his/her roll number and would be able to know the marks. Similarly Spice subscribers would have to send an SMS by typing their roll numbers prefixed by R10 to 1012 to know the results of class 10th exams and for class 12th they would have to send their roll numbers prefixed by R12 to 1012, said Mr Swaran Bajaj, General Manager, Marketing, Spice Telecom. He said the subscribers could also send an SMS to 2424 by prefixing "CBSE 10" to the roll numbers for class 10th and "CBSE12" to the roll numbers for class 12th.
AirTel Bazar launched
Airtel also announced to launch a personalised, voice-based service— AirTel Bazar that will facilitate customers to buy and sell new as well as second-hand goods. Mr Sawhny said to avail this service the customer would have to register themselves by calling at 600 and give details of the products and his profile.
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Milkfed MD indicted Chandigarh, May 22 Punjab Cooperation Minister Lal Singh today confirmed that Managing Director of Milkfed B.B. Mahajan had been indicted by the Enquiry Officer and the report had been sent to the Department of Dairy Development. Mr Lal Singh said no decision about appointing an officer had been taken so far. The enquiry against Mr B.B. Mahajan was ordered by the state government after the Bharati Kisan Union submitted a memorandum against him accusing him of various irregularities, including favouritism in appointment of distributors for Milkfed products. Though Mr Lal Singh did not specify the contents of the report, he said the Enquiry Officer had held him guilty on more than one accounts . "Since the charges are serious, we have forwarded the report to the state government." Sources in the Cooperatives said the report submitted by the Additional Registrar was also being examined by a senior official of the Cooperatives as it pertained to "irregularities committed during his services with Milkfed". "We will be able to comment only after we have examined the report in detail," remarked a senior official maintaining that final action had to be taken by the Dairy Development. Sources in the Department of Dairy Development denied any move to give extension to Mr B.B. Mahajan.
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Re adds to woes of IT firms
New Delhi, May 22 Analysts say the unabated rise in the value of the rupee against the dollar will badly pinch the earnings of the export-oriented Indian software makers in the current fiscal year. The rupee opened stronger at 46.81/83 levels against the dollar on Thursday after ending at a two-year high of 46.90/91 in the previous session. "Earnings of top software companies will definitely be pressured by the rupee's strength in the current fiscal year," said Neeraj Deewan, a senior analyst with Quantum Securities. "Most of the top Indian software makers on an average earn 70 percent of their annual revenues from the US. So, the sharp rise in the value of rupee will badly hit their export earnings," Deewan told IANS. "Since the rise in rupee comes close on the heels of a spate of full-year earning results that indicated the end of a decade of heady growth, it is definitely going to further dampen the investor faith in tech stocks." Nasscom admitted that the rising value of the rupee would have an impact on growth of the Indian IT industry this year. "In 2002, the Indian IT industry grew by 28 per cent. This year, due to a rising rupee and other factors, the growth of the industry will be impacted slightly," said Kiran Karnik of Nasscom. India's IT exports are estimated to have grown nearly 26 per cent in the year ended Mach 31, 2003, down from a projected 30 per cent growth due to the rupee appreciation. After logging a year-on-year growth of over 50 per cent on an average in the five years up to March 31, 2001, Indian software and services exports have slowed down significantly in the recent years. According to analysts, the rupee is still undervalued despite a sharp 4 per cent appreciation in the rupee from the end of May, 2002.
IANS
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Industrialists to get bonds by June
Bathinda, May 22 The PSIDC, which has been made nodal agency for issuing the tradable bonds to the industrialists by April, 2003, applied to the RBI for taking permission for the bonds. The RBI after studying the entire case sent it back to the PSIDC and asked it to take the permission from the Finance Ministry. Mr S.K. Sandhu, Director, Department of Industries, Punjab, said a case had been prepared to be sent to the ministry through the state Finance Department for taking necessary permission for issuing the bonds. The department had sent it to the ministry and it was hoped that the PSIDC would get permission within 10 days. “By the first week of June, the PSIDC will be able to issue bonds,” he said.
TNS
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Oracle to set up
e-governance
centre Chandigarh, May 22 The model centre, which will use Linux as operating system platform, will showcase e-governance applications for various states and will be located at Oracle’s office at Gurgaon, said Mr Depankar Sanyal, Director, Public Services, Oracle India. Addressing a press conference, he said the centre would support e-governance initiatives taken by the Centre, state and local government bodies in India. He admitted that despite national consensus to promote e-governance in the country, the state governments had not given due attention.
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Re adds to woes of IT firms
India
and Bangladesh agree to establish new rail links.
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