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7 to 8 pc growth
rate possible, says Pant President to
inaugurate IITF ’03 Tea is not
foodstuff, says SC
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HPCL for Rs 1300
cr Mundra-Delhi pipeline China poses
challenge to India in textile sector SBI plans to set
up IT company Birlas increase
stake in Chambal Fertilisers
SBI cuts rates for
SSI, farm
loans
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7 to 8 pc growth rate possible, says Pant
New Delhi, November 11 ‘’When the Plan suggested 8 per cent growth for the 10th Plan period (2002-07), there was a lot of skepticism about the possibility of achieving such a high growth. But now 7 to 8 per cent growth has been proved to be within the realm of possibility. There is no reason why such a high growth cannot be sustained in the next Plan’’, Mr Pant said while inaugurating the National Conference on global challenges in project design and construction management. He said the country needed to stretch its resources and work towards accelerated growth to meet social requirements. The country is in a state of transition and must work collectively to meet the expectations of the people, he added. Mr Pant said the construction industry formed the basis of economic growth and in the era of globalisation, it should work towards better cooperation for promotion of the industry not only in the SAARC region but also explore opportunities available in East Asian and South-East Asian countries. The industry should take advantage of the opportunities by identifying mutually beneficial areas of economic activities and translating them into operational type, he stated. He said Iraq and Afghanistan offered ample scope for the construction industry in the SAARC region to go beyond its geographical boundaries and join hands in providing quality construction at competitive costs. Mr Pant said the construction industry needed to modernise itself to enhance productivity and improve efficiency. The pace of mechanisation, particularly in the case of large products, needed to be stepped up to provide critical infrastructure in time. Citing the example of the national highway development project, he said the progress of the mega project had enthused the people as well as entrepreneurs. It is bound to have a multiplier effect on the growth of the economy, he said. The introduction of mechanisation will lead to improvement in the quality of construction and help in reducing cost and time overruns, Mr Pant said. He said the construction sector had registered highest growth rate in the job creation for the past two decades and was one of the largest employer in the country. It has to maintain a growth rate, which can at least neutralise the impact of modernisation on job creation. To ensure satisfactory growth rate in the sector, skill development has to be an ongoing process and the public and the private sectors need to pool their resources in reaching this objective, he added.
— UNI
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President to inaugurate IITF ’03 New Delhi, November 11 The IITF 2003, being organised by the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), has a marked focus on its themes, “Tourism and Promoting Exports of Small and Medium Enterprises” with special significance to the exporting community. Over 7,000 exhibitors will be showcasing their products at the 14-day-long mega event, said Mr Ashok Jha, Chairman, ITPO, while briefing mediapersons here today. Leading companies from Bhutan, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Ethiopia, Germany, Hong Kong, Iran, Kenya, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Russia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, UAE and Uganda will represent the international sector at the fair. |
Tea is not foodstuff, says SC New Delhi, November 11 A Bench comprising Justice R.C. Lahoti and Justice Ashok Bhan said that as the Central Government in 1972 had delegated power to the State Government to issue orders under the Essential Commodities Act, 1952, tea could not be included as the delegation was for the specific purpose of foodstuffs. The Bench set aside a Madras High Court order which had held that tea could be included under foodstuff as “many a poor man who live under the poverty line take a cup of tea more as a food as it keeps them active for some time and enabled them to work”. Disagreeing with the view expressed by the High Court, the apex Court said “it is a wrong assumption to say that many a poor man in the country take a cup of tea more as a food. The High Court has confused a mere stimulant with an article of food or food stuff”. Referring to the Tamil Nadu Government Order, the Bench said in the 1972 Central Government notification delegation of power was confined to foodstuffs alone. Justice Lahoti said that by a notification dated February 1978, the Central Government has declared the commodity ‘tea’ to be en essential commodity.
— PTI |
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HPCL for Rs 1300 cr
Mundra-Delhi pipeline
New Delhi, November 11 The company is planning the 1176-km pipeline, which will have a capacity of transporting 5.3 million tonnes of products a year, as an alternative to IOC’s Kandla-Bathinda pipeline that is being converted into a crude oil pipeline. The Kandla-Bathinda line currently transports products to HPCL’s petrol stations in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh. HPCL Chairman and Managing Director M.B. Lal yesterday made a high-pitch presentation to the Petroleum Ministry for being allowed to lay the pipeline, which the firm feels is absolute necessary for selling fuel in north India after IOC’s pipeline becomes redundant for product transportation, official sources said. The company feels it badly needs a dedicated supply line of its own to bring products from its Mumbai refinery. HPCL plans to either ship the products from Mumbai refinery to Mundra port and then pump it in the proposed pipeline or buy products from Reliance Industries’ Jamnagar refinery in Gujarat and transport them up north. Alternatively, it plans to import fuel at Mundra. HPCL, which has over 4800 petrol pumps all over the country, owns 5.5 million tonnes Mumbai refinery and 7.5 million tonnes Vizag refinery. HPCL sells 3.6 million tonnes of products every year in north India and it believes that owning a pipeline made economic sense when alternatives include transporting products through rail, road or through Reliance’s proposed Rs 1,640 crore Jamnagar-Patiala pipeline and Rs 1,780 crore Jamnagar-Kanpur pipeline, sources said. “HPCL felt there was an absolute necessity of owning a pipeline rather than being dependant on others for transporting products to a crucial market. Moreover, no one knows when the Reliance pipelines are going to come up.” HPCL plans to invest over Rs 2,787 crore in raising its Mumbai and Vizag refinery capacity through de-bottlenecking and process upgradation for higher volumes and better fuel quality. De-bottlenecking of the primary and secondary processing units would result in HPCL’s Mumbai refinery capacity going up to 7.9 million tonnes from 5.5 million tonnes while Vizag capacity would go up to 8.3 million tonnes from 7.5 million tonnes. “Increased output from Mumbai refinery will find its way to north,” they added.
— PTI |
| China poses challenge to India in textile sector Ludhiana, November 11 Mr S.P. Oswal, Chairman, National Textile Committee of the CII, told this reporter in an exclusive interview here that a textile summit was held in Delhi on November 3 and 4 in which some foreign delegates also participated. It emerged from the deliberations that China had grown much stronger in the textile industry both in terms of exports and domestic consumption. China has created world-class enterprises which are equipped with the most modern technology and the scale of operations is highly economical and efficient in terms of cost and productivity. China consumes 25 per cent of all varieties of fabrics in the world while India consumes only 8 per cent. China has 16 per cent share of world textile trade whereas India has only 8 per cent share. China has ultra-modern methods of garment-making which have led to the growth of the industry. China has increased its exports to the USA by 145 per cent while India has hardly made any impact in this direction. China has improved the yield of cotton per hectare during the past 10 years. During 2002, its yield was 1100 kg per hectare whereas the average yield of cotton in India was only 300 kg per hectare. Mr Oswal points out that India faces a tough task and there are a number of obstacles emanating from the government policy which need to be tackled. Besides, the industry has to perform and make profit in order to invest. As per CMIE (Centre for Monitoring India’s Economy) data, 600 textile mills in 2002 suffered a net loss of Rs 4000 crore. On the other hand, the entire textile industry of China made net profit of $ 3.6 billion in 2002. He said there were more than 400 textile mills which were sick and closed. According to the N.K. Singh Committee report, a sum of Rs 90,000 crore is required for the next seven years for the revival of the textile industry in India. It will be an uphill task to invest $ 3 billion every year. The Union Government has come out with a package of financial restructuring of textile units which are sick and facing hardships because of the high rate of interest. Mr Oswal said the CII had moved a proposal to the government that it must do something for well-managed units which are making profit and have the possibility of investing surpluses. The surpluses of such units get used in the repayment of loans. The CII has recommended that the repayment period be extended from 10 years to 15 years. This will provide some relief to the industry for three to five years, which are very critical for the industry. |
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SBI plans to set up IT company
New Delhi, November 11 “The joint venture is under discussion,” Purwar told PTI but declined to give names of the joint venture partner shortlisted. SBI had started a technology upgradation drive from 2001 and earmarked Rs 500 crore investment in this area. In view of its nationwide operations, the bank decided to have a dedicated IT company, which would develop cutting edge technology for it and its seven associates. SBI sources said the bank is integrating treasury operations and technology platform for its ATM and branch inter-connectivity of the parent bank with its associates. Although merger of SBI and the associates is ruled out in the near future, the SBI group intends to synergise its operations and swap branches to reduce costs and be competitive. The thrust on technology also comes in the light of introduction of Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) in January 2004.
— PTI |
Birlas increase stake in Chambal Fertilisers Kolkata, November 11 A company official said the combined shareholding of K.K. Birla, Manorama Devi Birla, K.K. Birla (HUF) and Yashovardhan Investment and Trading Company Limited in the company had now increased to 4.23 per cent from 4.15 per cent earlier as the four entities together acquired four lakh shares through open-market operation between November 3 and 4 last. The official, however, clarified that none of the above individually held more than 5 per cent, but their holding, along with the persons acting in concert, was more than 5 per cent of the total equity capital of the company. As per the data available, K.K. Birla as an individual had acquired 50,000 shares from various stock exchanges on November 4 that increased his holding in the company from 1.42 per cent (5762100 equity shares) to 1.43 per cent (5812190 equity shares) Manorama Devi Birla, who held 0.75 per cent (3029910 equity shares), had acquired 150,000 (0.03 per cent) shares between November 3 and 4 her stake in the
company increased to 0.78 per cent. The stake of K K Birla (HUF) had increased by 0.01 per cent to 1.01 per cent after the acquisition of 50,000 shares from the open market on November 4.
— PTI |
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