 |
|
Retail investors to get shares at Rs 460.75 New Delhi, March 1 The government today announced a price of Rs 485 per share for public offer of its residual equity in the CMC and offered a discount to retail investors who would be allotted shares at Rs 460.75 per share. Govt urged to
check sponge iron prices Punjab-based steel and pig iron industry today welcomed the steps taken by the government to check the rising steel prices saying this would increase the supply of steel in the domestic market. New Delhi, March 1 Lupin Ltd said today it has entered into an agreement with Baxter Healthcare Corporation, a US-based medical products company, for exclusively distributing the company’s generic version of Ceftriaxone Sterile Vials for injection in the US. No review of
inflation target, says Jaswant Lahore-Amritsar
chamber formed The President of the Lahore Chamber, Mian Anjum Nisar, announced a joint platform with Amritsar business associations to work for the promotion of business among the two closest cities across the border. Mr Nisar said at a large gathering of Industrialists that chamber in Lahore would offer all facilities.
Eco-friendly Holi
colours developed The Textile and Apparel Designing Department of College of Home Science, Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University, Palampur, has successfully extracted eco-friendly colours for Holi out of the extracts of leaves and roots.
HSBC Holdings Plc said it plans to move 6,000 jobs to support centres in India, China and Malaysia by the end of 2004. Group Chairman of HSBC, Sir John Bond, announces the bank's annual results in London, on Monday. HSBC announced on Monday a jump in 2003 pre-tax profit to 6.86 billion pounds ($12.81 billion) which represents a 33% rise in annual profit at the banking giant. — Reuters photo |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Modern markets to
be set up in HP Himachal Pradesh Marketing Board Chairman Satya Prakash Thakur said middlemen and other agencies got about 70 per cent of the value and farmer, who worked hard to produce and bring it to the market, earned only 30 per cent of the value.
Cut in DEPB
rates affects exports The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has called upon the Centre to withdraw its decision to reduce the Duty Entitlement Passbook Benefit (DEPB) rates by 33 per cent announced in the interim Budget. It has claimed that the decision to reduce the DEPB rates and appreciation of rupee by about 10 per cent against dollar have affected the growth of exports in India.
Maruti, Hero
Honda, Bajaj sales jump Maruti Udyog today reported a massive 61.8 per cent sales growth in February, 2004, due to surging demand for compact cars.
|
|
Government fixes CMC price at Rs 485
New Delhi, March 1 With the completion of disinvestment process in the CMC, the government would add Rs 190 crore to its kitty, an official statement said, adding that the issue was oversubscribed by 11.3 times. The government had last week completed the process of sale of its residual equity in IPCL through a public offering and with the successful CMC float, it has now mopped up Rs 1,390 crore from both the floats. The government received the bids for 44.9 million shares against 3.98 million shares on the block. As much as 50 per cent of the shares would be allocated to retail and non-institutional investors, with the balance going to Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs), and the process of actual allotment to investors starts from today. Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie and Secretary Dhirendra Singh could not be contacted for comments. The CMC offer, where the government had fixed a floor price of Rs 475 per share had closed on February 28 amid a tremendous response that resulted in an oversubscription of 11.3 times. HSBC securities and Capital Markets and Enam Financial Consultants were appointed the book running lead managers for the CMC issue, which was conducted through the book building route. Earlier in November 2001, Tata Group had acquired 51 per cent stake in the company along with management control, for Rs 151 crore at Rs 197 per share. However, a subsequent open offer attracted a lukewarm response. Besides the CMC and IPCL, the government would also offload its residual equity in the IBP through a public issue of 5.7 million shares. It would also offload, through public offerings, 10 per cent stake each in Gail and ONGC, and divest about 20 per cent stake in state-owned Dredging Corporation of India Ltd (DCIL). The Gail public issue opened on February 27 and is slated to close on March 5, while the ONGC public offer is scheduled to open on March 5. With the six public offerings, the government is likely to
surpass its revised disinvestment target of Rs 14,500 crore set for the
current financial year. — PTI |
|
Govt urged to check sponge iron prices
New Delhi, March 1 The Apex Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Punjab, said the
Centre must also take such steps in the case of sponge iron as its
prices have gone up to Rs 14,000 a tonne from Rs 7,000 per tonne in just
two years. This has happened despite the fact when there was no
corresponding increase in the prices of inputs, it said in a statement.
“It is very unfortunate to note that sponge iron manufacturers are
also alleged to be resorting to evasion of central excise. The billing
of sponge iron is allegedly being done at 50 or 60 per cent of the sale
value,” it said. The chamber also pointed out that steel producers
should be directed to increase the production of long products by up to
70 per cent while limiting the flat products’ production to 30 per
cent. It asked the Centre to investigate into sponge iron
manufacturers’ modus operandi to ensure reasonable prices of crucial
input for the small scale industries. The abnormal rise in prices was
also due to some hoarding somewhere, the chamber said, adding that the
existing laws should be invoked to take care of this aspect as well.
— PTI
|
|
Lupin, US firm tie up New Delhi, March 1 Lupin intends to launch the product in the US after the product
patent expiry in July 2005, the Mumbai-based pharma company said, adding
that the alliance provides Lupin access to the US Ceftriaxone vial
market as well as the potential for other delivery systems. Earlier
this fiscal year, Lupin received the US Food and Drug Administration
(USFDA) approval for the company’s Abbreviated New Drug Application
(ANDA) for Ceftriaxone Vials for injection 250 mg, 500 mg, 1g and 2g,
the generic equivalent of Rocephin marketed by Roche. The market size
of Rocephin in the United States is $ 700 million. Lupin is the first
and only company with an ANDA approval from the USFDA for Ceftriaxone.
— UNI |
|
No review of inflation target, says Jaswant
Bangalore, March 1 ‘’We continue to stand by that rate
projected by both the Reserve Bank of India and the Ministry of
Finance,’’ he told newspersons on the sidelines of ‘’India on the Move’’
— a function organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party here. He ruled out
any review on the sale of government stake in the public undertakings
and said that the initial public offerings of PSUs were a great success.
He denied there was any change in the fiscal estimates. Asked whether
the move to cut excise duty on steel and release of more sugar into the
system amounted to check inflation rate, he replied in the negative.
Steps had been necessitated with steel versus sick industry up till
about eight months ago. Several measures were taken to revive the steel
sector as India could not be on the move without a dynamic and
growth-oriented steel industry, he felt. When asked whether the Centre
would prematurely clear some government loans, he declined to comment
stating that the model code of conduct was in force in view of the
election schedule announced by the Election Commission yesterday. He
asserted that 8 per cent gross domestic product (GDP) would be sustained
during the next fiscal. He denied a suggestion that the 8.9 per cent GDP
in third quarter was fuelled by bounty of monsoon and said the growth
was a reality and the break up of growth clearly demonstrated that all
components of all sectors of economy contributed. He dismissed the
opposition parties charge that the economy was benefitting only the
rich, saying “India cannot be divisible.’’ — UNI |
|
Lahore-Amritsar chamber formed Amritsar, March 1 He said Saarc nations, particularly India and Pakistan,
must form strong economic union on the pattern of Europe and South Asian
countries, as these groups had become economic powers. Mr Nisar said the
business among the Saarc nations was around barely 4.5 per cent, which
was a dismal record in comparison to the EU and Asean that conducted
business to the tune of 65 per cent to 70 per cent among their member
countries. — OC |
|
|
Eco-friendly Holi colours developed Dharamsala,
March 1 The attempt has been made under
the All-India Coordinated Research Project. Dr Asha Bansal, scientist
and Head of Department of Textiles and Apparel Designing of the college
is the principal investigator. Dr Bansal said women of Padhiarkhar
village, about 8 km from the university, has been encouraged to adopt
the technology for making eco-friendly colours. |
|
HSBC to move 6,000 jobs to India, China Hong Kong, March 1 At the end of 2003, the
lender employed 8,000 persons at such centres. Chief Executive Officer
Stephen Green said he expects the process to “continue”, at a press
conference in Hong Kong. HSBC, which said today that its 2003 profit
rose 41 per cent to $ 8.77 billion bouyed by its purchase of Household
International Inc. last year, and other financial institutions are
moving jobs to Asia, where labour is cheaper, to save on costs. Last
year, the UK lender said it plans to cut 4,000 jobs in the UK and move
the positions to Asia. It opened its first processing center in
Guangzhou, China, in 1996 and started moving back-office employees to
India in 2000. — Bloomberg |
|
Modern markets to be set up in HP Dharamsala, March 1 Mr Thakur, who participated in Bhumi Poojan of Rs 1.5 crore
sub-market yard at Palampur, said unless the situation was improved, the
farmer would not be able to reap the full benefits of his crop. He said
the HP Marketing Board had now launched a programme to ensure that the
farmers, flower growers and horticulturists in the state were trained
and equipped to enjoy the fruits of their labour. The board had started
setting up modern markets where the farmers would be provided with the
facilities for sale of their produce and also imparted training so that
they could adopt modern techniques. He said facilities for buying and
selling, setting up of ropeways to ensure speedy transport of produce
from distant areas and providing refrigerated vans for transportation of
perishable commodities were some of the steps being taken to help the
farmers of Himachal Pradesh. Experts from the Mahrashtra State
Agriculture Marketing Board had been asked to help the Dhalli market at
Shimla. Giving details of the Rs 1 .5 crore sub-market yard at Palampur
whose Bhumi Poojan was done by Revenue Minister B.B.L. Butail yesterday,
Mr Thakur said in Phase I, the area would be developed and 15 shops,
auction platform, parking and other facilities would be provided at a
cost of Rs 88 lakh.
|
|
Exports clock 12.83 pc growth New Delhi, March 1 Exports during April to January, 2003-04, were valued at $
47,502.50 million which is 12.83 per cent higher than the level of $
42,100.55 million during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal
year. Exports during January, 2004, were valued at $ 5117.86 million
which is 8.74 per cent higher than the level of $ 4,706.69 million
during January, 2003. Official figures released disclosed that India’s
imports during April to January, 2003-04, were valued at $ 61,933.02
million representing an increase of 24.70 per cent over the level of
imports valued at $ 49,667.14 million during the same period last
year. Oil imports during April to January, 2003-04, were valued at $
16,643.08 million which is 15.91 per cent higher than oil imports valued
at $ 14,358.62 million in the corresponding period last year. Non-oil
imports during April to January, 2003-04, was estimated at $ 45,289.94
million which is 28.27 per cent higher than the level of such imports
valued at $ 35,308.52 million in April-January, 2002-03. Imports during
January, 2004, were valued at $ 6,579.72 million representing an
increase of 18.11 per cent over the level of imports valued at $
5,570.97 million in January, 2003. The trade deficit for April-January,
2003-04, was estimated at $ 14,430.52 million which is higher than the
deficit at $ 7,566.59 million during the same period in the last fiscal
year. |
|
Cut in DEPB rates affects exports New Delhi, March 1 Mr M Rafeeque Ahmed, President, FIEO, claimed that
though the exporters had booked export orders with long-term commitments
but by cutting down the DEPB rates by 33 per cent from February 9, 2004,
the government had hit hard the earnings of the exporters. The DEPB
entitles the exporters to claim refund of different taxes paid on raw
material to produce export items from the government. He said, “the
exporters, who have committed shipments up to March 31, 2004, will not
be able to pass on the increased costs to their customers. The
government should postpone the implementation of its decision till
April-end.” The federation claimed that though exporters were making
efforts to maintain the growth rate in exports, but the government was
not providing adequate support. “The government has not even
implemented simple measures like availability of dollar denominated
credit to exporters. The Gold Card scheme announced in the Exim Policy
on January 28, 2004, has remained on paper,” lamented Mr Ahmed.
|
bb
BoB cuts rates for farmers,
SSI PNB, SBI awarded
Power
Trading Industrial policy LIC agent
Ariel price cut
Ind-Swift
Lab
Loan to PWD
staff Markets closed |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | National Capital | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Videos
Exports continued its
double-digit march growing by 12.83 per cent during the April-January
period this fiscal year as compared to the same period last
year.