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Industrial growth up 6.5 pc in
September GRAPHIC: India's
Industrial growth
Retail industry to grow at 35
pc |
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Oil firms open to quota for ex-servicemen: Gen
Budhwar Reliance pays Rs 1542 cr to DoT Cabinet to discuss proposal of private flights to Lanka India to be a global player, says industry Govt may sell IOC, ONGC shares
Lupin seeks nod to hike FII
limit
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Industrial growth up 6.5 pc in September New Delhi, November 12 During September, indices for industrial production in almost all sectors showed growth, singalling an upturn in the economy. Thus, mining, manufacturing and electricity sectors grew 4.4 per cent, 6.8 and 5 per cent, respectively, in September this year over the same month last year. Cumulative growths during the April-September period this year over 2002 in these sectors were recorded at 4.2 per cent, 6.3 and 2.9 per cent, respectively. Again, in the two-digit industry groups, 11 of the 17 such groups showed growth during September this year over the same month in 2002 with jute and other vegetable fibre textiles (except cotton) showing negative growth of 10.7 per cent during the period under review. Also, cotton textiles and other manufacturing industries posted negative growth of 7.8 per cent and 2.1 per cent, respectively. During September, all-round growth was registered with mining, manufacturing and electricity sectors posting IIPs of 136.5, 191 and 167.4 respectively. These sectors thus grew by 4.4, 6.8 and five per cent respectively during September this year over the same month in 2002. Cumulative growths during April-September 2003 over the same period last year in these three sectors were pegged at 4.2 per cent, 6.3 per cent and 2.9 per cent respectively. The overall growth index during this period was pegged at 5.8 per cent. —
PTI |
Retail industry to grow at 35
pc New Delhi, November 12 “The retail industry has shown a remarkable progress and is moving on a growth trajectory. But what is needed is the organisation of the fragmented sector vertical growth”, RPG Enterprises Vice-Chairman Sanjiv Goenka said, while speaking at Retail India 2003— a two-day exposition cum conference organised by the CII here. Mr Goenka said consolidation in the retail sector could see the emergence of business worth Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000 crore in the next few years. He said location, merchandise, pricing, target audience, and scale were one of the major challenges characterising the retail sector in India. Cautioning potential investors in the retail sector that that sector was not for making a quick buck but requires perseverance, vision and a long-term commitment, including deep pockets, Mr Goenka said, adding that the market for retailing in the top 15 cities was over Rs 100,000 crore and growing. CEO of McDonalds (North India) Mr Vikram Bakshi said about 25 million square feet of retail space is being added across the conutry and the retail sector could grow at over the projected 35 per cent. In fact, if India were to reach the aspirational GDP growth rate of 8 to 10 per cent, the retail sector would have been a key element. A key aspect to drive this growth would be modernisation of the retail sector. At present, only 2 to 4 per cent of the sector was truly modern, Mr Bakshi said. |
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Oil firms open to quota for ex-servicemen: Gen
Budhwar New Delhi, November 12 The directorate which looks after the resettlement and re-employment of almost 60,000 armed forces personnel who retire every year, spends almost Rs 14 crore every year in various schemes and training centres it runs for the ex-servicemen to ensure their resettlement and re-employment. The Director-General of Resettlement, Maj Gen V.S. Budhwar, while talking to reporters here ahead of the Armed Forces Flag Day, which falls on December 7 and acts as a major fund raiser for the agency, said most of the private sector oil companies were in fact favourably inclined towards extending the 8 per cent reservation for the ex-servicemen. Already Reliance Industries, which is setting up oil outlets around the country has expressed its willingness to resettle ex-servicemen in big way. He said as part of the resettlement and re-employment schemes for the ex-servicemen, the directorate was also sponsoring a number of people who were ready to invest in the coal transport sector. Besides the Mother Diary and Safal outlets around the country were being allotted only to the ex-servicemen, in which the priority was being given to those who were physically challenged. Pointing to the heavy toll inflicted during the counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist operations, Maj Gen Budhwar said there were special schemes being run for the physically challenged. The directorate has a corpus of almost Rs 100 crore from which loans are disbursed to the ex-servicemen for various projects undertaken by them. However, to avail the benefits from the directorate, ex-servicemen must get themselves registered with either the (district) or the (state) sainik boards. General Budhwar, while requesting people to participate generously during the Armed Forces Flag Day celebrations by giving donations and buying the armed forces flags said last year the directorate was able to get as many as 12,000 ex-servicemen re-employed in various public sector units. Besides, it trained 12,000 more in vocational sector. He said the annual budget of the directorate was decided on the basis of the funds which are collected on the flag day. The directorate, which comes directly under the Ministry of Defence, spends on resettlement of the ex-servicemen through not only running educational courses but also through investing in health care, disability sector, sainik rest houses and in miscellaneous other activities. |
| Reliance pays Rs 1542 cr to DoT New Delhi, November 12 According to sources in the Department of Telecom (DoT), Reliance has made an application to move to Unified Access Services Licence and made an upfront payment of Rs 1542.5 crore, of which Rs 1042 crore is towards entry fee and the balance towards penalty imposed on them for offering full mobility on their WLL phones. When contacted Vinod Vaish, Telecom Commission Chairman confirmed the receipt of a letter from Reliance Infocomm but refused to give details. According to sources, Reliance Infocomm has opted out to stay out of unification in West Bengal circle (which includes Kolkata also) and thus paid about Rs 79.51 crore less. With this, Reliance will be able to offer fully mobile services on its WLL phones. Till now Reliance was offering services like call forwarding and multiple registration for which the company was asked to pay penalty of Rs 526 crore as roaming-like services were construed to be against the spirit of the licence norms. —
PTI |
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Cabinet to discuss proposal of private flights to Lanka New Delhi, November 12 He said the rights of Air-India and Indian Airlines will be protected and the benefits reaped, he said, adding that if changes were required to between the existing bilateral arrangements between the two countries, it would be carried out. On the much-awaited Civil Aviation Policy, Mr Rudy said the a blueprint has already been prepared by the Naresh Chandra Committee and will be placed in Parliament for ratification. Speaking at the conference, the minister said it is important to increase the seat occupancy rate in the country to at least 65 per cent, which is at present hovering around 55 per cent. To achieve that, it would entail several policy initiatives, including reduction of taxes and ground handling costs from 30 per cent to 10 per cent. Director-General of
the Airport Council International Robert J Aaronson said the EU-US negotiations on an open aviation area could mean the beginning of the end for bilateral air services agreements. |
India to be a global player, says industry Jaipur, November 12 “Brand India” will succeed because “India’s time is round the corner” and “we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity before us”, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani told Ad Asia 2003 congress here. Concurring with Ambani, Chairman-cum-MD of Aditya Birla group Kumar Mangalam Birla, said “Indian mind today is the greatest recognised asset of the country and Indian intellectual capital is a great platform to start the process of building “brand India”. Pointing out that there was “an irrepressible ambition” among Indians for global recognition, Ambani said the ambition was within their grasp because young India was on the move. —
PTI |
Govt
may sell IOC, ONGC shares New Delhi,
November 12 Both Secretaries are meeting as a follow up of the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment’s decision to sort out the issues relating to divesting the government’s holding in petroleum sector. The two secretaries will consider the proposal to sell 20 per cent equity of IOC and 5 per cent equity of ONGC. The proposal to sell 20 per cent equity of IOC was mooted by the country’s biggest refinery itself as the Government holding in this company even after sell-off will be much higher than 51 per cent. —
UNI |
Lupin seeks nod to hike FII limit New Delhi, November 12 The firm said an extra-ordinary general meeting will be held on December 5 to consider the matter. The shareholders will also consider the introduction of an employee stock option plan not exceeding 1 per cent of the paid-up capital of the company, amounting to 4,01,411 equity shares of the face value of Rs 10 and delisting the equity shares from stock exchanges at Ahmedabad, Delhi, Jaipur and Kolkata. Last week, the promoters of Lupin, Mr Desh Bandhu Gupta and associates, sold around 4 per cent of company’s equity to the FIIs for a consideration of about Rs 90 crore. The move, according to the company, was a part of the ongoing restructuring exercise of the promoter’s holding in the pharmaceutical company. —UNI
Tisco to invest Rs 1,500 cr NEW DELHI: Tata Iron and Steel, is scouting for a partner to share Rs 1,500 crore investment on environmental management system upgradation to reduce the level of carbon di-oxide generated while manufacturing steel at its plant in Jamshedpur, R.P. Sharma, Environment Management Head at Tata Steel (TISCO) told PTI. Sharma said the investments have been pegged at between Rs 1000 and 1,500 crore. The project aims at reducing the coke usage for producing steel and one of the way is to convert coal-based boilers to gas-based. —
PTI
Sony to sell lightest laptop The Vaio Note 505 Extreme comes in two versions, one in a nickel-reinforced carbon composite shell and the other in a lighter, stronger carbon fibre casing. It is less than one centimetre (0.4 inch) thick and weighs 785 to 825 grams (1.73-1.82 lbs), depending on the model. Both versions have a 10.4-inch liquid crystal display screen and will go for sale in Japan on December 6. Sony has not decided when it will sell the product overseas. The nickel-reinforced model will sell for around 300,000 yen ($2,760), while the carbon fibre one will be priced at roughly 350,000 yen. Sony aims to restore its position in the domestic PC market after its share, according to data from MultiMedia, dropped to 9.9 per cent in the three months to September 30 from 11.9 per cent a year earlier. —
Reuters
Connect extends ISD tariffs cut CHANDIGARH: Connect today announced that the reduction in tariffs for ISD calls to UK, USA and Canada will be extended till January 15, 2004. It was further announced that ISD call tariffs for South East Asian countries will also be reduced. “The international call rates for countries like Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand have been slashed to Rs 12 a minute from the existing Rs 21 will effect from November 14 and be valid till January 15, 2004,” said Mr Jayant Keswani, General Manager, Connect. Last month, Connect had reduced the tariffs for UK to Rs 7.20 per minute from Rs 24 and Rs 9.60 to US, Canada and all European countries. —
TNS
Satyam plans expansion in China Shanghai: After establishing a state-of-the-art software development centre here in the booming east Chinese metropolis, one of India’s top information technology giants, Satyam Computer Services Ltd plans to expand its operations into smaller Chinese cities to meet the growing outsourcing requirements. “We are now seriously considering further expanding our China operations by opening software development centres in smaller Chinese cities to cater to the company’s outsourcing business,” Regional Manager of Satyam Computer Services (Shanghai) Co, Ltd, Raghvendra Tripathi said. Tripathi said Satyam, a pioneer in offshore software development concept, is looking at smaller Chinese cities like Dalian in the northeast and Chengdu in southwest to conduct its outsourcing businesses. —
PTI
Microsoft unveils Office Project 2003 NEW DELHI: Microsoft Corporation India today announced the availability of Microsoft Office Project 2003 in India. It is the latest release of Microsoft’s project management offering and together with Microsoft Office systems it will provide a rich solution for effective enterprise project management, a company release said here. The solution comprises Project Professional, Project Web Access and Project Server. Microsoft will be working with the Project Management Institute of India to popularise the solutions. —
PTI |
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TOKYO: Sony Corp said on Wednesday it plans to start selling the world’s thinnest and lightest notebook computer, in an effort to boost sagging demand for its Vaio PCs.