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Suzuki-Maruti plans 2 new units in Haryana
Service tax hike to raise inflation, make commodities dear
Tender floated for import of raw sugar
CRR hike to check inflation, says Montek
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Bharti sets export target of 5 m phones
Oil premium issue on Aiyar’s Opec meeting agenda
Airtel’s HP rates slashed
RCIL mops up Rs 200-cr loan
Tata launches turbo LCV
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Suzuki-Maruti plans 2 new units in Haryana
New Delhi, September 13 The joint venture — Suzuki Maruti India — is being formed for the new car plant while another company, Suzuki Engineering India, would construct the diesel engine plant and Suzuki Motorcycle India would start producing motor cycles by the end of 2005, a Suzuki statement made available to PTI said. A ‘Project Team’ is going to execute comprehensive preparatory work related to these three new ventures. India’s biggest carmaker Maruti Udyog, which is 54.2 per cent owned by Suzuki Motor Corp., manufactures 10 models at its existing plant in Gurgaon (Haryana) with a manufacturing capacity of 5 lakh units. Both car plant and diesel manufacturing units would come up in Haryana. The upcoming car unit would have a production capacity of 2.5 lakh units while the diesel engine plant would produce 1 lakh engines per year, Suzuki Director (Overseas Automobile Planning Division) Kazumi Matsunaga said. The car assembly unit is scheduled to begin operation by early 2007 and the diesel plant by the end of 2006. Suzuki has entered into an agreement with Italy’s Fiat SpA and Adam Opel, a unit of General Motors for technology to produce diesel engines in India. Fiat and General Motors have their own subsidiaries in the country.
— PTI
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Service tax hike to raise inflation, make commodities dear
New Delhi, September 13 Analysts say that it will not be surprising if the inflation touches the 10 per cent mark in the coming days. Oil companies are building pressure on the government to hike petrol and diesel prices after a rise in international crude oil prices. The middle class and industry have began feeling the heat of increasing prices, as banking services like pay orders, demand drafts, safe deposit lockers, safe vaults and insurance cover have become costlier following levy of increased service tax, from 8 per cent to 10 per cent, and 2 per cent education cess from September 10. After the rise in prices of vegetables and fruits, the people are also facing an increase in interest rates on housing loans and services like cable. The All-India Cable Operators Federation has also announced to raise monthly charges from this month after the imposition of increased service tax. The government notification issued on Friday has though so far exempted truck operators and goods booking agents from the service tax, but the sources say that after the Maharashtra elections, the government is considering to bring them into service tax net. At present, a committee is studying the issue of service tax. Experts in the oil industry have warned that with the rise in demand for oil products in the USA, India and China and threats to oil pipelines in Iraq, the crude oil prices can further jump. It will further lead to a rise in the cost of commodities in the domestic market. The RBI has admitted that despite an increase in the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by a half a percentage point to 5 per cent, will take out only Rs 8,000 crore from the banking system. It will still be left with more than enough cash in the market. Tour operators, other than those covered by a permit granted under the Motor Vehicles Act, are also liable to pay service tax. Some other services, like intellectual property right, ERP software systems, vocational and recreational training institutes, pandal and shamiana contractors, caterers in trains, academic and medical establishments. The industrial chambers like Ficci and CII have also expressed concern over the rising inflationary trend as it will influence the banking interest rate. They have lamented that business auxiliary services like procurement of goods and services that are inputs for the clients, would also attract service tax.
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Tender floated for import of raw sugar
New Delhi, September 13 “We have floated the tender for the first cargo of raw sugar inviting quotations from sellers abroad. Let us see the response when the market opens in the West later in the day,” said ISEC Member-Secretary Vinay Kumar here today. He said the actual quantity imported through the tender will depend on the port of delivery. If it is Mumbai, the purchase will be of 25,000 tonnes. Already, eight lakh tonnes of raw sugar has been imported and another two lakh tonnes will be purchased by November-end, he added. “We are keen to purchase through ISEC due to our past association with the company and will work out the details accordingly,” Dhampur Sugar Mills Vice-Chairman Ashok Kumar Goel added. He said the 50,000 tonnes imported in two consignments earlier this year will be processed by October and the factory will go ahead with further imports. The government has allowed raw sugar imports for domestic consumption with obligation for exports deferred up to 24 months. He said the 50,000 tonnes imported in two consignments earlier this year will be processed by October.
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CRR hike to check inflation, says Montek
New Delhi, September 13 “Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has already clarified that inflation is an issue that government is always concerned. The hike in CRR is a right step. I am glad the step was taken and I think it will help”, Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia told newspersons here on the sidelines of the conference on telecom equipment manufacturers. Mr Ahluwalia also indicated that the 8 per cent rate of growth as projected in the Tenth Five Year Plan might be revised downwards. “We have not come to any conclusion on ruling out an 8 per cent growth during the Plan, but are looking at what are the prospects now. In the last two years, we have not had more than 6 per cent growth and it is difficult to reach an average of 8 per cent, only two years are left”, he said. On the inflation rate, he said, “Inflation is an issue and the government is always concerned about it.” He hoped that the disagreement on the FDI in telecom and insurance would be sorted out. “The Common Minimum Programme (CMP) says we need FDI. I hope any disagreement on the modalities over FDI hike in any sector can be overcome,” Mr Ahluwalia said.
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Bharti sets export target of 5 m phones
New Delhi, September 13 “We are bidding for state operators across the globe to achieve this ambitious target”, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Teletech Rakesh Bharti Mittal told The Tribune. Mr Mittal said the company has set a target of increasing its sales from five million phones (under the Beetel brand name) at present to 10 million phones by 2008 -- half of which will be exported. The company is exporting to 30 countries. For 2004-05, the company has set a target of an export figure of one million phones — a 100 per cent increase from the previous year. In the domestic market, Mr Mittal said the company is awaiting the notification on the availability of 2.4 GHz spectrum — the international standard for cordless phones. “This would market the beginning of digital technology for Indian consumers and provide them with better clarity and much bigger range”, he said. In the year ending March 2004, the company sold over 3.8 million units, of which nearly two million were sold in the retail market, about half-a-million phones exported, over 600,000 units were sold to state-run fixed line operators BSNL/MTNL another 5,42,000 units were sold to private service providers. Mr Mittal said the next big push in the fixed line telephony will come from increased broadband penetration and Beetel is “constantly innovating” to reposition the brand. “We want to carry the message that a telephone is not only a gizmo to talk, but can offer a host of value-added services, including, SMS, downloading of ringtones and other such features,” he said. “The trend for fixed line telephones is beginning to develop a skew towards value added services and in the near future fixed line telephone customers would be able to avail of value-added features like ring back tones and would be able to download
ringtones.” Mr Mittal said that there were also “huge opportunities” in the DSL segment for broadband connectivity. Presently, Bharti Teletech is selling about 10,000 ADSL modems a month to various institutional and individual customers.
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Oil premium issue on Aiyar’s Opec meeting agenda
New Delhi, September 13 Talking to reporters, he said: “I will be speaking on ‘Petroleum and Sustainable Development’ on September 17 and will argue why Asian premium is not justified for goals of sustainable development.” Opec charges $ 0.6 to 1.2 a barrel premium on supplies it makes to India when compared to the price at which it sells to the US and Europe. India pays the extra money on about 40 to 45 per cent of imports. India spent $ 18.36 billion in 2003-04 on buying 90.83 million tonnes of crude in 2003-04. During the first quarter of 2004-05, crude import bill jumped 51 per cent to Rs 29,551 crore due to surge in international crude oil prices. Mr Aiyar said he did not expect a decision on the issue as Opec has stated that importers have to bilaterally negotiate with suppliers on the price. “What I intend to do is take up the issue and follow it up in a conference of four big importers — India, China, Japan and South Korea — and six West Asian supplier countries being hosted in New Delhi sometime in December or January,” he said.
Dividends paid
Mr M.B. Lal, CMD of HPCL handed over a divided cheque of Rs 276.92 crore, representing 160 per cent final dividend for 2003-04. The dividend payout for the HPCL for the previous year including dividend tax is Rs 842 crore representing 220 per cent total dividend, highest among oil marketing companies. State owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), also paid a final dividend of Rs 228.39 crore to the Government of India for 2003-04. The cheque for the final dividend was handed over to Mr Aiyar here by Mr Sarthak Behuria, Chairman and Managing Director, BPCL.
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Airtel’s HP rates slashed
Shimla, September 13 Calls to any Airtel number within the state will now cost Re 1 per minute, while calls to an Airtel number anywhere else in India will be charged at Rs 2 per minute. For post-paid customers, the new tariff for calls to other numbers in the state will cost Rs 2 per minute and the rate for calls to anywhere else in India will be Rs 3 per minute. In case of pre-paid customers, the rates for calls to other numbers in the state will be Rs 2.25 per minute and to anywhere else Rs 3.25 per minute. Post-paid subscribers will be charged a one-time migration fee of Rs 200 and pre-paid customers will be charged a one-time nominal plan enrolment fee.
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RCIL mops up Rs 200-cr loan
New Delhi, September 13 A press note issued by the Railway Ministry here today said the Railways had contributed Rs 15 crore as seed capital. Apart from this, Rs 250 crore will be added as equity in the form of assets transferred by the Railways. Of this, assets valued at Rs 219.40 crore have been transferred to RCIL. The RCIL was formed in September 2000 to build optic fibre cable-based national telecom and multi-media network.
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BoR banks on Dream Girl
Mumbai, September 13 Stating that Hema Malini would be brand ambassador of the bank, Mr P.K. Tayal, chairman of BoR told reporters here today that Ms Malini’s support would provide further impetus to the bank’s endeavour to emerge as a one-stop financial shop. Mr Tayal said the bank would spend Rs 3-crore in making film advertisements with Ms Malini as a brand ambassador of the bank. He said Ms Malini is going to the USA on tour with a 30-member cultural troupe.
— UNI
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Tata launches turbo LCV
New Delhi, September 13 The Euro II-compliant vehicle comes with enhanced fuel efficiency and low maintenance cost, Tata Motors claimed. Available in high deck body, half load body and cab chassis versions, the SFC Tata 407EX Turbo BS II sports three colours— Irish Cream, Turquoise Green and Aztec Blue.
— UNI
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