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Govt panel discusses Sensex slump
TRAI sets up panel on cable TV
India putting checks on Pak imports |
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Banks asked to loan farmers at below 9 pc
Power reforms encourage firms to raise funds
Punjab Apparel Park at Ludhiana
PRTC to induct 100 buses to fleet
Pfizer net down 72 pc
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Govt panel discusses Sensex slump Mumbai, February 26 The meeting comes a day after Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie accused stock market players and an unnamed corporate house of rigging prices of PSUs whose shares were to be sold by the government in order to obtain these cheap. However, top Finance Ministry officials sought to downplay the fall in
Sensex and said it was a natural correction. “The drop in the stock market in recent days is a natural correction. We are not concerned about it,” D.C. Gupta, Finance Secretary, told reporters before today’s meeting. Yesterday, Shourie said a conspiracy had been hatched to pull down stock prices of companies scheduled to be disinvested by the government. “We have identified the people behind it. Some people worked in anticipation that the government will give a 5-10 per cent discount from the last closing price when it announces the floor price,” Shourie told reporters in New Delhi. “I have informed the financial advisors for the six issues for sale of government equity about these persons,” he added without divulging the identity of persons. Shourie, however, insisted that the sale of residual equity in IPCL, CMC and IBP and partial disinvestment in DCI, ONGC and GAIL were on track. “The final offer price of the shares in these companies will not be based on the previous closing price of the scrip and will be determined on the strength of the company and expert advice. The prices will be fixed on a realistic basis. The Government will not go in for distress sale of shares in any of the companies,” Shourie had said. Despite Shourie’s tough talk, the
Sensex continued its downward spiral today. The Sensex closed at 5,573.22 down 44.93 points or 0.80 per cent from yesterday’s close of 5,618.15. The
Sensex had earlier crossed the 6,000 mark twice before in recent times before falling sharply.
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TRAI sets up panel on cable TV
New Delhi, February 26 The committee, comprising representatives from Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), would go into all issues relating to cable television, TRAI said. The committee comes in the wake of a meeting TRAI held with these state governments yesterday to discuss the problems faced by them in the implementation of CAS in their metros — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata — where CAS has been made mandatory for taking pay channels. The meeting also discussed the extent of acceptance of CAS by subscribers, the competition in cable TV services in the four metros, issues relating to prices of pay channels vis-a-vis bouquet of channels and promotion of competition through introduction of direct-to-home (DTH) and broadband services.
The Delhi High Court today issued notices to the Centre, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and Star India Ptv Ltd on a petition challenging the January 9 government notification bringing broadcast and cable services under the jurisdiction of TRAI. Issuing notices on the petition by Saisagar Cable Network, Manmad, Maharashtra, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul asked the respondents to file their replies by March 3, the next date of hearing.
— UNI, PTI
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India putting checks on Pak imports New Delhi, February 26 Heading a 60-member delegation of businessmen from Pakistan, Mr Siraj is on a five day visit to India to promote business ties and to explore joint ventures with the domestic industry. Talking to The Tribune, on the sidelines of a meeting with Indian
businessmen, organised by the Assocham here, he said that the business delegates from Pakistan were facing visa problems and other restrictions in India. For instance, he said,” Despite repeated attempts, the members of Pakistan delegation have not been allowed to visit other industrial towns except Delhi and Mumbai.” A number of delegates expressed desire to visit industrial centres like Ludhiana, Kanpur, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Bangalore etc to explore business opportunities in the field of textile, food processing, leather, engineering, IT and medical fields. Mr Siraj lamented that Customs officials in India were creating hurdles in the import of Pakistani goods to India. He said, “ We agree that Pakistan Government has not so far granted MFN status to India, but it can be announced anytime. The Indian Government can also create an environment for better business ties by allowing liberal imports from Pakistan.” Mr Siraj (51), whose family had migrated from Gujarat to Karachi during the Partition, has business interest in beverage, spinning cotton, soft drink bottling and power sectors. He said he was visiting India for the first time, and was highly impressed by the country’s achievements in the field of infrastructure, engineering, petrochemical and medical facilities. He said that the Karachi chamber had a membership of over 13,000 industrialists and represented diversified fields. The KCCI had also signed an MoU with Assocham, he said, to promote development of trade, investment and economic relations between both the countries. He lamented that though Pakistan offered best opportunities for investment, but the foreign print media was creating a ‘wrong’ impression about the country. He observed that there was a tremendous scope for trade between India and Pakistan in the field of automobiles, engineering, plastic goods and textile.
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Petro products demand up 5 pc New Delhi, February 26 Petroleum Ministry figures showed that petroleum products sale by public sector units at 8.03 million tonnes was 4.2 per cent higher than 7.7 million tonnes sold in January 2003 while private sector sold 1.35 million tonnes, 9.6 per cent more than 1.23 million tonnes in previous year, according to the latest data from Ministry of Petroleum. Diesel demand increased by 3.6 per cent to 3.09 million tonnes in January from 2.99 million tonnes a year ago. Diesel had been in the negative territory for most of 2003-04 and had come in the black since November. Naphtha sales were up 8.7 per cent to 1.16 million tonnes and fuel oil 10.3 per cent to 1.15 million tonnes. However, demand for light diesel oil, came down 19 per cent to 150,600 tonnes in January. During the first 10 months of 2003-04 fiscal, India’s petro demand
grew 1.7 per cent to 88.56 million tonnes as opposed to 87.11 million tonnes of the same period last year. PSU sales were up 0.7 per cent to 75.81 million tonnes while private sector sales increased 7.8 per cent to 12.74 million tonnes.
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Banks asked to loan farmers at below 9 pc Chandigarh, February 26 To boost lending activities in the farm sector, government-owned banks have been asked to lend money below 9 per cent to farmers, all eligible farmers have been assured Kisan Credit cards by March 2004, and existing cards would be modified on individual request for use on ATM machines. The loan limit of Laghu Udhyamai Credit Card Scheme has been raised from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. The Northern Zone General Manager of PNB , Mr Harwant Singh, called upon the bankers to meet the target of issuing 20,250 credit cards under the newly launched Swarojgar Credit Card Scheme. Ms Umesh Nanda, Commissioner and Secretary, Institutional Finance and Credit Control said that CD Ratio had risen upto 49 per cent. She criticised the functioning of the private sector banks.
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Power reforms encourage firms to raise funds New Delhi, February 26 The company has plans to raise about Rs 90 crore from the market to expand its business activities. Mr Gajendra Haldia, one of the authors of power reforms in the country, claimed that with the implementation of the New
Act, the power generation companies would find it easy to recover money from state utilities and power pilferage would be checked to a great extent. The Act has a provision for bulk users to access power from any source of power at a competitive price with the consent of state electricity regulatory commissions. For trading of power, the companies will not have to take permission from the respective state governments. At present, claimed Mr Tantra Narayan Thakur, Chairman and Managing Director, Power Trading Corporation (PTC).” Total inter-regional exchange of power in India is about 2.5 per cent of total power generation in the country as against 15-20 per cent in other countries.” Further, in the next few years, the government was planning to double the grid capacity from 1,10,000 MW to around 2 lakh MW, consequently there would be more opportunities for trading of power. Leading power majors such as National Hydroelectric Power
Corporation Ltd., National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd, Power Finance Corporation, the Tata Powers and the Powergrid Corporation of India have also plans to raise funds from the market. Mr Rajiv Bhardwaj, executive vice -president, PTC, claimed that turnover of the company had increased from Rs 354 crore in 2001-02 to Rs 900 crore for 2002-03. In the current financial year till September 30, the company had recorded revenue of Rs 998 crore. The profit before tax had grown from Rs 7.66 crore in 2001-02 to Rs 19.55 crore for 2002-03. The energy experts felt that since it would be major public issue from an energy trading company, other players were watching it with interest. The PTC was offering 5.8 crore equity shares of Rs 10 each at a price band of Rs 14-16. The issue would close on March 8.
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Punjab Apparel Park at Ludhiana Ludhiana, February 26 Disclosing this Mr Sanjiv Gupta, President, Apparel Exporters Association Ludhiana (Appeal), said that the apparel park would be a well planned industrial estate equipped with world class facilities. The park would be an integrated industrial zone comprising common facilities. It is also supposed to build a common captive power plant for the occupants of the part to ensure uninterrupted supply of power and transmission. It is expected that the per unit cost would be lower compared to the current rates offered by the state electricity board. Mr Gupta maintains that the park will be a ‘single stop’ package for international buyers, offering modern recreational facilities of international standards. This is expected to change the perspective of buyers and buying agencies towards Ludhiana knitwear industry. The Punjab Apparel Park will be a joint venture of the Punjab State Small Industries and Export Corporation and the Apparel Exporters Association, Ludhiana with the cooperation of the Federation of Knitwear, Textile and Allied Industries Associations and the Ministry of Textile, Government of India. Mr Sandeep Batta Manager (Projects) said that 50 acres of land has already been acquired and another 50 acres is being further acquired for the park. There will be nearly 60 knitwear units with 200 ancillary units in this park which would feed to the domestic as well as export markets. Ludhiana export knitwear garments worth about Rs 800 crore at present and with the establishment of the apparel park, the quality of the goods would improve and export would also pickup. The ancillary units would work as subcontractors. The Textile Ministry is making a contribution of Rs 17 crore in the development of this park under the apparel park scheme. Besides, supplying garments to leading national brands like Wills Lifestyle,
Raymond's, MTV, Colorplus Pantaloon, Ludhiana is also known for its own brands like Monte Carlo, Duke, Octave, Blue Mont and Neva.
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PRTC to induct 100 buses to fleet Chandigarh, February 26 Talking about the functioning of the corporation, Mr Kaurian said the corporation was heading towards profit wiping out its loss of several crores. He said several steps had been taken by the management of the corporation to usher it in profit. He said that the advance booking, that was given on contract to private persons on commission, had shown astonishing results. Earlier the money collected through advance booking in a month used to be a few lakhs but in Patiala bus stand it touched a figure of Rs 45 lakh last month.
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Pfizer net down 72 pc
New Delhi, February 26 Total income declined 26 per cent to Rs 143.75 crore in the Q4 FY03 from Rs 190.99 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago, it added. Pfizer has reported a 64 per cent dip in net profit at Rs 27.51 crore for the year ended November 30, 2003, as compared to Rs 75.94 crore in FY02 while it total income decreased 14 per cent to Rs 515.16 crore in FY03. The board of the company recommended a dividend of Rs 7.50 per equity share.
Gillette India Gillette India today announced a landmark increase of 594 per cent in net profits in FY 2003, the highest ever growth in Gillette India’s 20-year history. The company recorded a profit before tax of Rs 74.70 crore, a 328 per cent growth over the figure of Rs 17.45 crore in the previous year. The company announced a regular dividend of 35 per cent and a one-time special dividend of 50 per cent, in total amounting to 85 per cent dividend (Rs 8.50 per share).
— Agencies
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The Indian Government was still creating non-trade barriers to discourage imports from Pakistan. Though the government had granted most favoured nation’s (MFN) status to its neighbour, yet it was not ready to provide a level-playing field to the Pakistani traders and industrialists, said Mr Siraj Kassam Teli, president, Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry here yesterday.
