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Thursday,
August 7, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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IOC
unlikely to bid for share in Reliance pipeline Dalima
biscuit factory back in operation PNB to
return 132 cr equity to govt SBI,
M&M tie-up for credit to farmers to buy tractors
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Telecom
revolution: 1.5m PCOs fear closure
Leyland
to launch 23 models
Strike
ends as union, Hyundai reach pact
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IOC unlikely to bid for share in Reliance pipeline
New Delhi, August 6 But, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) is keen on taking a quarter of the capacity in either of the two pipelines linking RIL’s Jamnagar refinery in Gujarat to north. “IOC has adequate pipeline infrastructure throughout the country. All refineries are well connected to fuel consumption centres and as such we do not require a share in any other pipeline,” senior company officials said. “We had a deficit in south and to meet that we are building a pipeline from Chennai to Madurai. Elsewhere, IOC needed a pipeline to central India but since the expansion of our Koyali Refinery was not happening, it too is not a pressing requirement,” they said. Senior BPCL officials said the company was exploring whether to take a share in RIL’s proposed 2,540-km pipeline to Kanpur and 1,580-km pipeline to Patiala. It is also looking for participating in a pipeline feeding products into Vidharba region of Maharashtra and southern Madhya Pradesh, officials said. Reliance plans to spend over Rs 4500 crore on a 5,895-km network of six pipelines being built under the “common carrier principle” under which a quarter of the capacity is offered to other companies. Besides the pipeline to Patiala and Kanpur, shorter ones are proposed to be built to take products to interior areas from the port towns of Goa, Chennai and Kakinada in the south and Haldia port in the east. BPCL officials said the company needed pipelines to move petroleum products to the north and central India. “RIL’s Jamnagar-Patiala and Jamnagar-Kanpur pipelines look attractive and we will explore if we can get a share,” they said. For central India, BPCL had teamed up with IOC, RIL and Essar Oil for the Central India Pipeline Project that stretched from Gujarat to Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh and Nagpur in Maharashtra. “But since their are issues in implementation of the project, BPCL is extending the Mumbai-Manmad pipeline up to Indore,” they said adding the company still needed a vehicle for tapping Vidharba region of Maharashtra. Gas Transportation and Infrastructure Co Ltd, a wholly- owned subsidiary of RIL, has proposed to build the Rs 1,640 crore Jamnagar-Patiala pipeline, Rs 1,780 crore Jamnagar- Kanpur pipeline, Rs 460 crore Goa-Hyderabad pipeline, Rs 325 crore Chennai-Bangalore pipeline, Rs 110 crore Kakinada- Vijayawada pipeline and Rs 260 crore Haldia-Ranchi pipeline in 36 months time.
— PTI
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Dalima biscuit factory back in operation Rajpura, August 6 According to official records, Mr R.K. Dalmia had set up this industrial unit before Partition after Maharaja of Patiala Yadawinder Singh offered him land measuring over 140 acres at a nominal price. It was the first unit of the Patiala estate that catered to the needs of Indian Army engaged in Second World War. The whole plant machinery was imported from England and used gas from coal to bake biscuits. It was one of the major units of the Dalmia group which produced biscuits, candies and bread for the all India market. “I have seen a time when the distributors from all over the country had to wait for days together to get their supplies. The company had even constructed a guest house for them,” says Dr N. Dey, former Technical Director of the company who has now taken up the challenge to revive the company. Mr T.L. Arora of Haryana Sheet Glass Ltd, which has a turnover of over Rs 100 crore has now taken over the unit. Says Mr Arora, “We are determined to revive the company as the Dalima brand has good reputation especially in the north market. Further, the market for biscuits is growing at a fast pace. A large number of wholesalers have shown keen interest in the samples. Once the production picks up, we would modernise the plant and set up another unit somewhere else.’’ He said the group has made an investment of over Rs 2 crore, and all the pending dues have been cleared. About 70 employees have been employed. Dr Dey claims that market for biscuits is growing an annual rate of 30 per cent. Despite stiff competition from Britannia and Parley, he says, the company is hopeful to capture its place in the market. Mr Kaka Singh, a worker at the factory in his late forties says, “I have worked here for years. I had been out of job for years together. Now the present management has invited us to make efforts to revive the unit. We have assured that we would work for nominal wages till the unit comes in full operations.”
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PNB to return 132 cr equity to govt
New Delhi, August 6 “We will return Rs 132 crore worth of equity to government. The government holding in the bank will come down to 60 per cent,” PNB Chairman S.S. Kohli told reporters here. He said the government’s capital in the bank would come down to Rs 82 crore after the return of equity while the remaining Rs 53 crore is with the public. Elaborating on its future strategies, the PNB Chief said the bank has targeted 13-14 per cent jump in its business to over Rs 1,30,000 crore in this fiscal from Rs 1,16,041 crore in the last fiscal. Kohli stressed on reduction in transaction costs to improve profits of the bank, which was at Rs 842.20 crore last fiscal. PNB is offering the internet banking services in 42 major cities through 208 branches that has been networked under its centralised banking solution. The bank plans to introduce electronic bill payment and SMS alert facilities. Mr Kohli said the bank plans to start a IT institute in Lucknow for imparting training to its staff and officials of other banks.
— PTI
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SBI, M&M tie-up for credit to farmers to buy tractors
Mumbai, August 6 The “SBI-M&M Tractor Plus Scheme” envisages financial solutions for farmers desirous of buying M&M tractors and other farm implements, SBI said in a release here today after inking the memorandum with M&M. The country’s largest commercial bank has designed the scheme keeping in mind Finance Minister Jaswant Singh’s recent announcement on affordable and special farm loans. As per the MoU, SBI would now become the preferred financier for M&M tractors in Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Orissa, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Bihar, Jharkhand and north eastern states. SBI has reduced the margin requirements from 15-20 per cent to 10 per cent and offered a concessional interest rate of 11 per cent. The tenure of the loan would be of 7-9 years with one year’s gestation period, subject to the bank’s credit norms, the release added. SBI’s Deputy Managing Director C. Bhattacharya said the tie up was aimed at boosting economic activity in rural areas by creating demand through cheaper credit for the farmer. This collaboration with M&M would be expanded to include other rural financial products, one of them especially targeting ex-servicemen, he added. M&M enjoys a 27 per cent market share for tractors in the country.
— PTI
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Telecom revolution: 1.5m PCOs fear closure
Chennai, August 6 It has been two years that major policy changes in the telecom sector began pushing PCO booths slowly out of business. And the process seems to have reached its peak now. Better affordability of mobile phones, coupled with their low long-distance tariffs, has made a dent into the revenues of PCO owners. The entry of private players in landline service has forced the PCO owners to install costly equipment to facilitate separate billing for different kind of calls. “The increasing numbers of mobile phones has brought the worst,” says P. Thiagarajan, a PCO owner who got a connection in 1992. A sharp fall in his business in the last two years has now peaked today at 70 per cent decline in revenue. “Being physically handicapped, I am at crossroads. I do not know what to do,” he shrugs. Once a luxury, cellphones have become too common now with massive rate cuts by competing players making them affordable. It is reported that the average revenue per line for PCOs has fallen by around 50 per cent compared to three years ago. World over, pricing trends have been that calls made from landlines are the cheapest, followed by WLL (wireless in local loop) and mobile calls. But the case is different with India, where making a long-distance call from landline still remains costly. “A unique sense of economics prevails here,” notes R Natesan, an STD booth owner, who also smarts under a plummeting business. STD calls in the country have become the cheapest through mobile phones, with calls within 500-km radius being made for as little as Rs 2.40 per minute. The falling STD and ISD rates have already had an adverse impact on the revenues of PCOs since long-distance traffic volumes have not picked up substantially vis-a-vis the rate-cuts, even as their commission rates continue to remain the same. Managing Director of Puma Telecom, Mr J. Purender notes: “If the prices go down further, it would be a total disaster for the STD booth owners who are obliged to pay a minimum commission to BSNL irrespective of the volume of calls.” On the BSNL’s side, there has been a steep fall in the number growth of fixed lines with the advent of mobile phones. A depressing economic condition on its part has also contributed to the loss in lines, notes BSNL General Manager (Operations, Tamil Nadu Circle) R Ramesh. The IUC regime mandates an IUC charge of 25 paise per minute. Whenever a call from BSNL line falls on Bharti’s number, the former pays 25 paise per minute to the latter as user charges. Currently, with the pulse rate being reduced to two minutes, BSNL pays Bharti 50 paise from the 80 paise collected from the PCO operator. “It makes less sense to encourage PCO calls when BSNL’s cut is just 30 paise,” Mr Ramesh notes.
— UNI
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Leyland to launch 23 models New Delhi, August 6 Unveiling its new marketing strategy here today, Ashok Leyland Managing Director R. Seshasayee said the northern region, which accounted for 25 per cent of the company’s sales volume last fiscal at 8,000 units, will be a major area of interest and the company will further diversify its product range to meet the demand of the people in this region. Not only is the company looking at increasing its dealer network but also its service centres to improve the after sales service of its vehicles. The dealer network in the North will be increased from 32 to over 40 in this fiscal while a 50 per cent increase is planned in authorised service centres are now 42, he said. The company plans to have a service point every 100 km of the region in two years. Apart from the launch of many products covering the entire tonnage spectrum, most of them powered by the H series engine, Mr Seshasayee identified the induction of the J series engine in certain high-tonnage vehicle models as a significant product-upgradation in the offing. “With the 260 HP J engine, we will be able to offer nearly 50 per cent more power in our vehicles, enhancing our ability to meet the emerging market requirement for higher capacity, high-productivity articulated vehicles,” he said. The company, which sold 36,444 units in 2002-03 fiscal at a growth of 22 per cent, said it expected a double digit growth this fiscal too. “We expect a 15 per cent growth this fiscal in the segment we operate in as well as for our company,” Mr Seshasayee said.
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