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Thursday,
August 28, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Govt mulls
over interest rate cut for SSI sector J & K
scheme to boost apple export Oracle to
up India headcount to 6,000 IOB public
issue opens on Sept 5 HDFC
Life records 260 pc growth PSB net
profit at Rs 10.34 crore Air-India,
Lufthansa form alliance |
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Freebies
to woo car buyers StanChart
to raise mortgage rates
Essel Propack
opens plant in Danville
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Govt mulls over interest rate cut for SSI sector New Delhi, August 27 This would be in line with the Finance Minister’s budget announcements where he acknowledged that the full benefits of the declining rates of interest have not percolated to the agriculture or the small scale industry (SSI). A proposal for bringing down the rate of interest for the SSI sector has already been forwarded by the Ministry of SSI. The details of the new interest rate structure are expected to be trashed during a meeting between Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and Minister of SSI C P Thakur. “SSIs were borrowing at an extremely high rate of 18 per cent and in some cases pertaining to microcredit it was as high as 22 per cent”, Dr Thakur told The Tribune. “Lack of easy availability of credit is the biggest problem inflicting the small scale sector in India”, he added. It was only this year that the Indian Banks Association, the umbrella organisation of the scheduled commercial banks, had fixed an interest rate band of 2 per cent above and below the prime lending rates (PLR) of interest. In addition, the government will introduce during the winter session of Parliament a Small Enterprises Development Bill, 2003 aimed at reducing the structural bottlenecks and facilitate faster growth of the small scale industry. Dr Thakur said that the objective was to create a benign domestic policy environment as also bring down the rates of interest for the SSI sector on par with the new agricultural lending rates which is presently 9 per cent for loans not exceeding Rs 50,000. The rate of borrowing for the SSI sector has, however, come down quite significantly from 17.3 per cent in 1999 to 11.1 per cent 2003, he said. As of March 2003 total bank credit from public sector banks stood at Rs 52,988 crore. However, the share of SSI in the net bank credit has declined from 17.5 per cent in 1998 to 14.2 per cent in March 2001 to 11 per cent in March 2003. The problems pertaining to credit, particularly the declining share in total net bank advances has already been discussed by the RBI’s Standing Committee Meeting in January this year and subsequently in the review meeting in June 2003. Commercial banks have been given the flexibility of fixing sub-PLR rates. The biggest beneficiary of this has been the housing sector where banks have been quick enough to offer single digit interest rates to customers. Dr Thakur said that in the US and Europe, the SSI gets access to institutional funds at very low rates of four to 5 per cent.
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J & K scheme to boost apple export
Srinagar, August 27 Involving an initial outlay of Rs 9 crore, the scheme will help the fruit processing industry by improving grading and packaging for exports. It was cleared at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed here yesterday. Jammu and Kashmir produces about 9.50 lakh MT of apple of which 30 per cent is of C-grade, which has to be segregated from exportable A and B grade apple to withstand market competition. Under the scheme, about 30,000 MT of C-grade apple would be procured in the first instance at the rate of Rs 3 per kg. Compact areas in major fruit producing pockets of the valley would be identified for procurement where quality control measures would be strictly enforced by the field agencies. Calling for quality control to ensure export of only high-grade fruit from the state, the Chief Minister stressed upon introducing modern techniques in packaging and pre and post-harvest management practices to increase the shelf life of fruits. Minister for Finance and Law Muzaffar Hussain Baig, Housing and Tourism Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir and Agriculture Minister Abdul Aziz Zargar were also present at the meeting. He also called for diversification of agriculture to promote floriculture and herbal and medicinal plants which had a tremendous potential in the global market. Mr Sayeed said the Rs 100-crore Horticulture Technology Mission assured by the Centre for the development of fruit industry in the state would enable the creation of the infrastructure for improving quality and quantity of fruits. The much-needed compressed atmosphere stores
(CAS) technology, cold chain refrigeration vans, warehousing facilities and modern plant nurseries would be developed under the mission.
— UNI
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Oracle to up India headcount to 6,000
New Delhi, August 27 “Currently India is Oracle’s fifth-largest market in the region after Japan, Korea, China and Australia in terms of revenues, up from 10th position two years ago. We expect India to catch up and surpass Australia in the next couple of years,” Derek Williams, Executive Vice-President of Oracle Corporation (Asia Pacific division), told reporters here. Williams said his vision was that “China will be the largest market in Asia Pacific, and India will be number two surpassing Japan...But I can’t say how much time it will take.” On his plans for expansion in India, Williams said Oracle would increase its manpower in both Bangalore and Hyderabad. “In Hyderabad, we have acquired the land and construction will start soon,” he said. In India, the growth would take place in areas such as e-governance, telecom, manufacturing and financial services, Williams added. Asia Pacific and Japan contributed 14 per cent to Oracle’s worldwide revenues in the last financial year. On whether the company planned to increase the outsourcing of application development from India, Williams said, “We are interested in what the outsourcing market offers around the world and we are exploring ways to grow our business in that sector. It is one opportunity.” He said Oracle would also look at what India offered in this respect. Williams said Oracle’s development programme in India was continuing. “India is going to be a strong market opportunity for us and our partners,” he said. The Bangalore centre focuses on Oracle’s core application development tools, server and platform technologies and Hyderabad centre is dedicated to e-business applications.
— PTI
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IOB public issue opens on Sept 5 Chandigarh, August 27 Gupta said that the proceeds of the equity will be utilised to augment the capital base of the bank to help fund future business growth. He said the NPAs of the bank had come down to 5.23 per cent of its net advances as on March 2003 from 7.01 per cent last year. The bank is planning to concentrate on retail banking, recovering NPAs, selling insurance products and foreign exchange business to boost its income and profit. “This public offering will increase bank’s equity capital to Rs 544.8 crore from Rs 444.8 crore as on March 31, 2003. After this issue, the holding of Government of India will come down to 61.23 per cent from 75 per cent,” Gupta said. Gupta said the bank’s business increased by 15.64 per cent to Rs 55,129.86 crore in last financial year from Rs 41,223.49 crore in financial year 2001. The total deposits of the bank grew by 15.70 per cent to Rs 36,698.59 crore as on March 31 this year from Rs 27,414.16 crore as on March 31, 2001. The net profit increased from Rs 416.10 crore in 2002-03 from Rs 230.21 crore in year 2001-02.” He said that all the bank’s 1427 branches were fully computerised. “We plan to add 100 ATMs during the current financial year,” he added.
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HDFC Life records 260 pc growth Chandigarh, August 27 Addressing a press conference, he disclosed that the company had registered a growth of over 260 per cent in its business volume during 2002-03 against the previous year. The company has declared, he said, its third successive bonus for policy holders — 3.75 per cent to regular income policy holders and 7 per cent on single premium policies. He claimed that cumulative insurance coverage for the policyholders had crossed Rs 5,800 crore mark till June 30, 2003. Mr Gazarao said that the company's endowment and money back polices had been very successful in the northern region against single premium products in other parts of the country. The company was targeting working people in the age group of 25-40 years to sell its pension fund polices. Referring to the high lapse ratio of 6 per cent for new policy holders as against 7-8 per cent in the industry, he said, the financial consultants were asked to approach only genuine buyers, and not on others just to meet their targets. He said the HDFC had also entered into agreement with banks like the Union Bank, HDFC Bank, Indian Bank to sell its products. Talking about the growth in market, Mr Gazarao said, the life insurance premium as a percentage of gross domestic product was expected to increase from 6 per cent to 18 per cent over a 10-year period. The life insurance premium was expected to grow by about 18-20 per cent every year with pension premium income growing by 20-30 per cent. With these projections, he said, the number of policies in force will increase from about 10 crore to about 18 crore by 2010.
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PSB net profit at Rs 10.34 crore Chandigarh, August 27 This was despite the fact that the bank had made higher provisions towards terminal benefits for employees at Rs 16.39 crore during that period as against Rs 5.27 crore kept during the corresponding period last year, said Mr N.S. Gujral, Chief Managing Director of the bank, today. In a press statement, he said the bank had clocked an increase of 45.41 per cent in profit from treasury operations from Rs 11.76 crore during the first quarter in 2002-03 to Rs 17.10 crore during the quarter ended on June 30,2003. He said the bank would hit the market with an initial public offer of Rs 100 crore at an appropriate time during the year to strengthen its capital base. He said the export credit of the bank stood at Rs 628.16 crore as on March 31, 2003. The total priority sector advances were more than 48 per cent of its total advances as against the national target of 40 per cent.
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Air-India, Lufthansa form alliance New Delhi, August 27 Dedicated working groups have been set up to work out the details of intended cooperation. “Both the companies see significant business opportunities to and from India, acknowledging the fact that a close cooperation and partnership is the best way to participate in this development,” a statement issued by Air-India said. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed here last evening by Lufthansa’s member of executive board S. Lauer and senior Vice-President K.U. Garnadt, and Air-India’s Managing Director Sunil Arora and Commercial Director V K Verma. The apex cooperation agreement will pave way for a new alliance which could in turn make way for Air-India to make its biggest ever entry into Europe and the United States over the next two years. There is a strong possibility of a new code sharing bilateral agreement from December 1 that will see at least 21 weekly flights spread across the southern gateways of Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kochi into Frankfurt. It could then be used as a springboard to reach out to all key destinations in Europe and the United States. Apart from expanding Lufthansa’s footprint in India, the alliance will take the total number of its weekly flights to a whopping 30, making it the biggest western carrier from the country.
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Freebies to woo car buyers Chandigarh, August 27 Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) is offering free insurance, extended warranty, free accessories and gold coins on the purchase of its Zen, WagonR and Alto models. It is also offering “loyalty bonus” of Rs 20,000 on the purchase of Maruti Esteem model and Rs 25,000 on Baleno models to the owners of any Maruti model. The Hyundai is also offering free insurance on its Accent models. The dealers are offering additional discount and free accessories to attract new customers. In collaboration with the SBI, Maruti is offering easy finance at as low as 10.5 per cent rate of interest. According to Mr Hardeep Singh Brar, Regional Manager, MUL, “Traditionally, sales dip between July and September and pick up during the festival season. This year, the extended inauspicious period as per the Hindu calendar has further affected the sales. But by offering attractive schemes and freebies, we are trying to keep the difference between the average sale in other months and this period to the minimum level.” He disclosed that as against the sale of 4,000 Maruti cars in an average month in the Chandigarh region, the sales had come down to 3,500 in July. However, through attractive schemes and marketing, the company had strengthened its market share from 65 per cent during last year to 67 per cent this year in the region, comprising Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir and parts of Haryana. At the national level, Maruti’s share has increased from 54.5 per cent to 56 per cent in the industry. Telco and Hyundai are struggling with each other for second and third position with about 12 per cent share each. Brig R.K. Sehgal (retd), Chief Executive Officer, Ultimate Automobiles Ltd, said Hyundai was offering free insurance on its Accent models only. At present, the company was selling its Accent GBS model for Rs 5.65 lakh and Accent Diesel CRDI model for Rs 6.90 lakh ex-showroom price in Chandigarh. Mr Arun Malhotra, General Manager (Marketing Strategy and Development), MUL, said: “Our sales have also been affected due to supply constraints on the front of Zen diesel model. The company is producing about 500 Zen diesel models per month as against the demand of about 1,500 cars mainly in Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.”
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StanChart to raise mortgage rates
Singapore, August 27 Standard Chartered, one of six overseas lenders awarded expanded banking licenses in the city-state of four million people, won’t lose market share as a result, Wilson Chia, head of consumer banking in Singapore said. “We’re confident that refinancing of home loans isn’t driven by rates but by the need to manage wealth,” Chia said. Standard Chartered has a 13 per cent share of the 50 billion Singapore dollar home loan market in Singapore, he said. The bank have been wooing customers to take on their mortgages because of the lack of growth in other loans.
— Bloomberg
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AirTel
raises free talk time Chandigarh, August 27 |
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Clarification The article “Apple unveils fastest computer” appearing on August 21, 2003 wrongly attributed a quote to Steve Jobs, CEO Apple Computers. The quote is actually attributable to Mr Richard Ng, Product Marketing Manager, Apple Computers. The error is regretted.
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Pentamedia BoB chief Punj Lloyd |
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