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Wednesday,
August 27, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Excise
Dept fails to check service tax evasion Chamber
for NCR development authority Interest
rates poised to touch new lows Himachal
plans apple cartons from China |
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India diverts palm oil cargoes to Pak Kuala Lumpur, August 26 Some Indian importers have diverted palm oil cargoes to neighbouring Pakistan to avoid confusion triggered by New Delhi’s new rules on imports, industry sources said on today.
BPCL
bids for Tata Petrodyne Escotel
ties up with Yahoo India PSB
plans IPO of Rs 100 crore Singapore
to hold InfoComm Asia
FIEO
welcomes repo rate cut
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Excise Dept fails to check service tax evasion Chandigarh, August 26 The Central Government is concentrating on expanding the tax base and not on its collections. Mr S.K. Misra, member, Anti-Smuggling and Service Tax, CBEC, admits that net service tax collections have increased by about 10 times from Rs 400 crore in 1994-95 to Rs 4,125 crore by 2002-03, but the telecom and insurance sector continues to be a major contributor to the service tax. Mr Misra said to encourage potential service tax assesses, the department had launched a mass awareness campaign. However, due to lack of limited punitive measures, the department was not in a position to take stringent action against the tax evaders. Mr Misra said the department had fixed a target of collecting Rs 10,000 crore under the service tax this year. However, he said, if all eligible tax payers paid tax honestly the actual collections could surpass the target. He said the Centre was also planning to introduce a separate legislation on service tax which would take care of the limitations of the present system. He said the share of the services sector in the total GDP of the country was around 52 per cent whereas in advanced and developed countries, the share was as high as 71 per cent in the USA, 60 per cent in Japan and 67 per cent in the UK. However, the share of service tax in total indirect taxes, amounting to Rs 1,20,000 crore, was negligible. He said during the first four months this year, the total service tax collections in the country had crossed Rs 1,800 crore. Out of 35 zones, service tax collections from Chandigarh, comprising Chandigarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, the collections had gone up from Rs 125 crore in 2001-02 to Rs 200 crore in 2002-03. Mr Misra said the government would soon come out with a provision to integrate tax on services and goods. This will enable the Indian industry to be more competitive as they will be able to take credit for service tax against duty levied on goods.
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Chamber for NCR development authority Chandigarh, August 26 Talking to mediapersons, he said the new autonomous body should be given powers on the pattern of the Noida Development Authority that had played a crucial role in attracting investors by developing the required infrastructure. The setting up of the new authority would also facilitate new units to avoid making rounds of different departments to get sanctions. The state should develop special economic zones for agricultural products with private investors to tap the vast potential of surplus agricultural produce in the state. For this, he said, clusters of food and agri-processing, textile and garment units could be developed in the state. He said after the announcement of incentives and tax holiday by the Centre for new investors in Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Jammu and Kashmir, a number of industrialists in the state were contemplating to migrate to these states. The state should take corrective steps to check the flight of capital and woo new investors into the state, he said. Mr Jain said in a meeting with the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, recently the chamber had suggested that the state government should bring down stamp duty on the registration of property from 15.5 per cent to 7 per cent, apart from offering freight subsidy to exporters on the pattern of the Punjab Government. He said, “Despite improvement in power situation and road infrastructure in the state, industrialists are forced to pay higher tariff for power to the tune of Rs 4.25 per unit, since distribution companies have failed to cut down line losses which are as high as 40 per cent.” The state should also involve private sector in road development on build-operate-transfer basis, he said.
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Interest rates poised to touch new lows
New Delhi, August 26 The primary dealer, in its latest review, also said the government’s net borrowings stood at Rs 61,314 crore till August 22, completing over 57 per cent of the budgeted figure for the whole year. “With good monsoons, the GDP growth is likely to be much higher than the expected one, while inflation will continue to remain benign. With comfortable liquidity, stable rupee, strong forex reserves coupled with the policy stance of RBI, interest rates are poised to touch new lows,” PNB Gilts said. The net borrowings of the government till August 22 was about 2 per cent higher than the Rs 60,123 crore in the corresponding period in 2002-03. Centre has estimated a net borrowing of Rs 1,07,194 crore for this fiscal. Redemptions witnessed 15 per cent jump to Rs 23,716 crore till third week of August this year as compared to Rs 20,655 crore in the same period in the previous year. The government’s gross borrowings — net borrowings plus redemptions — stood at Rs 85,030 crore till August 22, which was 51.6 per cent of the budgeted Rs 1,66,230 crore for this financial year. On the repo rate cut, PNB Gilts said the markets had been expecting it since June and the RBI’s decision was desirable in view of “significant” flattening of the yield curve with spread between short-term and long-term declining to around 1 per cent.
— PTI
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Himachal plans apple cartons from China
Shimla, August 26 Assuring the regular supply of cartons and trays to the traders at a review meeting here yesterday, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, however, added that there was a sufficient stock of cartons and apple trays to meet the immediate demand. He said about 1.5 crore cartons and 7.5 crore apple trays were made available to the fruit growers so far and more material were being procured, keeping in view of the demand of the growers. About 61 lakh apple boxes had arrived in the market and thousands of more were being transported daily out of the state, while over 46 lakh cartons were provided by HPMC and HIMFED and over 70 lakh more were marketed by private entrepreneurs, the Chief Minister informed in the review meeting. Mr Singh said although there was no shortage of cartons in the state, keeping in view the good crop and demand for more packing material, the state government was seriously considering importing such material from China through appropriate mode so that the growers get adequate packing material. He said the Himachal Agro Packaging Corporation was also manufacturing cartons to supplement the demand with 16 centres having adequate stock of the subsidised packing material. He directed senior officers of the state government to acquire more trucks from neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana truck unions to supplement the transportation of apple produce to the market. As many as 200 additional trucks had already been pressed into service with immediate
effect. — UNI
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India diverts palm oil cargoes to Pak
Kuala Lumpur, August 26 India, the world’s largest edible oil consumer, said this month imports of crude palm oil and crude olein must now have an acid value of 2 per cent and a carotenoid value of 500 to 2,500 milligrams per kg. Carotenoids are pigments found in plants. “Shipment bookings for Pakistan look good. I don’t see much demand for India because importers are not happy with the new regulations,” said one regional freight broker. Freight brokers said Pakistan, which is also a main edible oil consumer, had so far booked 142,000 tonnes of palm oil from main producers Malaysia and Indonesia for August shipment. Pakistan, which normally imports between 80,000 and 110,000 tonnes of palm oil each month, is also expected to buy 150,000 tonnes of soyoil in August. Traders said palm oil cargoes were being held up at Indian ports because customs officials would have to make thorough checks to ensure importers comply with the new rules. The slow process had frustrated some importers, who decided to divert their cargoes to Pakistan, which is stocking up ahead of the Ramadan fasting month starting late October, they said. Traders also said carotenoid content in Malaysian/Indonesian crude palm oil and crude olein was mostly below 500 mg per kg, forcing importers to switch to refined products such as RBD palm olein, divert cargoes or stop buying oils. India imposed the new rules because some importers had falsely labelled refined oil as crude to escape higher duties. “We don’t know how much oil has been diverted to Pakistan but it seems some Indian importers are already dumping their
CPO,” said another freight broker. “Pakistan has booked 85,000 tonnes of palm oil for September, and I am sure the amount will easily reach 140,000 to 150,000 tonnes for the whole of next month,” he added.
— Reuters
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BPCL bids for Tata Petrodyne
New Delhi, August 26 BPCL Chairman and Managing Director S Behuria said earlier that his company would make an entry into the exploration and production business with a plan to invest around Rs 15 billion in the next five years. The BPCL Chief said that the entry into the upstream business has become necessary for BPCL to explore other avenues for securing crude by entering the upstream sector in order to have reasonable supply security, hedging of price risks and benefits of an integrated supply chain in the volatile oil market.
— UNI
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Escotel ties up with Yahoo India
New Delhi, August 26 Swaroop said the mobile card would be launched initially in Kerala, and later be extended to other Escotel circles like UP (West) and Haryana. The Youth card is for an amount of Rs 250, and the pulse rate is 30 seconds. The daytime outgoing tariff is Rs 1.80 per 30 seconds, while the night-time rates are Rs 0.60 per 30 seconds. STD calls to all phones (mobile/WLL/landline) will be charged at Rs 1.80 while the ISD call rates are at Rs 9. SMS charges stands at 50 paise per message.
— PTI
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PSB plans IPO of Rs 100 crore
New Delhi, August 26 “The bank plans to hit the market with an IPO of Rs 100 crore at an appropriate time during the year,” PSB Chairman N.S. Gujral said in a statement here today. The IPO would enhance its capital base and help in funding the future business requirements. However, the bank did not specify the details as to what extent the Government equity could come down and would there be any premium on it. This move comes close on the heels of Uco Bank coming up with an IPO, Indian Overseas Bank going for second public offer and Indian Bank planning to do so somewhere next fiscal, even as United Bank of India is keeping options open.
— PTI
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Singapore to hold InfoComm Asia New Delhi, August 26 InfoComm Asia is the premier AV communications show in the region. It has been a major launch pad for leading industry players to introduce their latest technologies and products to Asia and the Oceania since 1995. Organised by InfoComm Asia Pte Ltd (IAPL) and sponsored by the International Communications Industries Association, Inc. (ICIA), the 2003 exhibition will be the fifth in the series. Managing
Director of the Infocomm Asia Dr Nat Wong while addressing newsmen here said that the exhibition would be of great interest to Indian entrepreneurs in view of strong demand from across all sectors, ranging from business, government, education, exhibitions and conventions to entertainment.
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India plans to promote
cruise holidays New Delhi, August 26 “We are targeting not just foreign tourists but also a large number of domestic tourists who annually spend millions of dollars on cruises,” Shipping Secretary D.T. Joseph told IANS. “We feel domestic cruises can actually do better than the foreign ones now on offer as there is big demand for destinations like the Andaman and Lakshadweep islands,” said Joseph. A growing number of Indians are opting for cruise holidays. In 2001, around 22,000 Indians spent an estimated Rs1.1 billion on just Star Cruises holidays to South-East Asian destinations. “The development of special cruise terminals will enable us to offer better facilities for international liners that skip India in the absence of such facilities,” said Joseph. India presently receives just about a dozen cruise liners annually. Once a leading maritime nation, India’s position has dipped over the years as neighbouring countries have surged ahead with proper facilities to handle large ships. Now under a mega seaport chain project christened “Sagar Mala”, India hopes to invest an estimated Rs 1 trillion to improve existing ports and create new modern ports. The cruise terminals project is one component of this project. Of the five ports selected for setting up cruise terminals, Kochi, Mumbai and Goa have already called for expressions of interest (EOI) from potential investors and project developers. Mangalore and Tuticorin are the two other ports where cruise terminals are planned in what could be a public-private partnership. All five ports selected have had historical links with European traders of yore. “The plan is to attract top-class cruise ships to visit Indian ports and create facilities to encourage their passengers to spend more time and money in India. For this, we are approaching state tourism directors and the tourism ministry to chalk out how the cruise terminals could be used as a base to offer tourists a complete cultural experience and visit popular destinations like Taj Mahal, Ajanta and Ellora Caves and other such places,” said Joseph. A study has revealed that tourists often use ships or cruise terminals as a base to visit places beyond the port of call. Even as plans to set up cruise terminals gather momentum, private individuals on the east coast are mooting the charter or purchase of cruise ships. A cruise liner costs on an average $300 million to $500 million. In India, the tax structure that levies a 36 per cent burden on ship owners is a big hindrance, said Shipping Ministry officials. To get this tax structure replaced with the globally-accepted norm of tonnage tax of 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent, the Shipping Ministry has set up a special committee and approached the finance ministry for a review. Once a favourable tax structure is in place, the shipping industry is hopeful of being able to attract more investment and infrastructure to sail out with better ships for both tourism and trade.
— IANS
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