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 Aiyar to meet PM next week; Gail monopoly may endNew Delhi, October 6 The government is likely to bring legislation in the Parliament in the winter session to set up a regulator in the petroleum sector to regulate and fix prices of different oil products, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said here today. Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Panchayati Raj Mani Shankar Aiyar at the first international conference on renewable energy in New Delhi on Wednesday. — PTI
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PM to launch AIR’s DTH
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India, UK to work jointly on environment projects
Infinite software for textile sector
Maruti MD in Japan
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Regulator for petroleum sector likely
New Delhi, October 6 “If the legislation is cleared in the winter session, the regulator will start functioning by next spring session,” said Mr Aiyar. He was talking to reporters, after participating in the round table on “Regulation, Restructuring and Cohesion in Hydrocarbon Sector,” organised by the CII. Referring to a sharp increase in the international crude oil prices, that has now touched all time high $ 51 per barrel, Mr Aiyar said, the government would continue to protect the interests of the consumers. He attributed the rise in crude prices to the speculations about the disruption of supply, though supply was much higher than the demand. He said he will meet the Prime Minister next week to discuss the oil price issue, while adding he hoped that oil companies would not increase the oil prices on the next scheduled revision on October 15. Mr Aiyar indicated that the government would allow the participation of private sector companies in the construction of national gas grid. The decision would end the monopoly of the Gail India in the distribution of gas. “We have a situation where private companies are allowed to produce gas and also to market it. Now not to allow them to transport the gas to consumers will be unjust,” he said. Till now Gail has been the only company that has the authority to lay pipelines for transporting natural gas. But with companies like Reliance Industries finding huge reserves, the demand for opening up the sector arose. “I will see Gail as a dominant player in natural gas transportation, but also competing with private gas producers,” he added. Mr Aiyar said the government was also engaged in discussion with fertiliser and other companies for a review of the natural gas prices.
Natural gas price
The Petroleum Ministry is reported to be reviving an earlier proposal for a hike in the price of natural gas supplied by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). If implemented, power sector consumers, who account for 42 per cent of the natural gas consumption, will be burdened with an additional bill of Rs 550 crore. The fertiliser consumers, who account for 34 per cent of natural gas consumption, will also bear the brunt. Currently, ONGC realises Rs 2,850 per thousand cubic metres for its natural gas, while Gail nets Rs 1,160 per thousand cubic metres per day. For the power consumer, the additional bill of around Rs 550 crore would be mainly borne by the northern states, where around 4500 MWs of gas-based power generation capacity operates. The Petroleum Minister said the Government would also strengthen the Director General, Hydrocarbon, presently lying defunct, to effectively implement the “production sharing contracts among oil companies.” “ A high-level Ministerial Committee has been set up to suggest the restructuring of the public sector oil companies to strengthen their core competitiveness. The committee is likely to submit its report in the next two months,” he added.
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Oil peaks at $ 51.48
London: Oil prices extended record-setting highs above $ 51 for US crude on Wednesday, led by worries over the impact of Hurricane Ivan on the US winter fuel stocks.
US light crude added 39 cents to $ 51.48 a barrel and London Brent, the benchmark for European imports, gained 47 cents to $ 47.60 a barrel. “Momentum can’t be denied in this market and so we find ourselves now ... atop $ 50 perhaps headed for $ 60 absent some unforeseen catalyst for a wave of speculative selling,” said Marshall Steeve of brokers
Refco. — Reuters
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Soaring oil prices temporary, says PM
Mumbai, October 6 Attributing rising prices to a “fear of poor crop, delayed monsoon and steep rise in oil prices,” Dr Manmohan Singh said: “It is a temporary setback.” Addressing a press conference here, the Prime Minister said he was not an astrologer as to which way the oil prices would move but assured that a “credible mechanism was in place to moderate the pace of inflation.” To a query on the interest rates, the Prime Minister said his comment, especially in the country’s financial capital, will have repercussions on the stock market and it was best to leave the matter to the Reserve Bank of India.
More FDI needed
He also emphasised the need to create a ‘congenial atmosphere’ for greater inflow of foreign funds into the development of the nation’s economy. Dr Manmohan Singh said Mumbai needs to be developed as a pioneering city, like Shangai in China, in the Western region for attracting FDI for the development of infrastructure projects in the city. In spite of its problems of high indebtness, he said Maharashtra continued to be the number one state in the whole nation in terms of industrialisation and growth as the state’s contribution is over 25 per cent in the overall national industrial production.
Tax structure
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today assured the industry captains that his government would rationalise tax structure to reward enterprise and investment. Addressing a galaxy of industrialists, NGOs and capital market functionaries, Dr Manmohan, on his maiden visit to the city after becoming the Prime Minister, said there was a need to rationalise tax structure as the system was riddled with uncertainities, which unnecessarily gave rise to interpretations. He assured the gathering that the UPA government had a number of proposals to introduce in the next budget that would not only reward enterprise and investment but also make the tax system equitable. The Prime Minister said bureaucratic hurdles and corruption were holding the country’s economic growth and “we have to take corrective measures to go forward.”
— PTI, UNI
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PM to launch AIR’s DTH
New Delhi, October 6 The inauguration of AIR’s free-to-air DTH service will coincide with that of Doordarshan’s DTH operation, which plans to beam programmes through 30 channels. AIR’s Delhi Station Director L K Chopra told mediapersons here today that round-the-clock DTH service would be available through satellite to those owning a TV set. “With the introduction of this service, any person can tune in to a channel of his choice on his TV set directly with the help of a KU band dish antenna. A small satellite dish antenna and a set top box will be required to get the service,” he said. The consumer does not need cable connection for availing the service. Though the set top box is currently priced at about Rs 4000, the price is likely to come down once demand picks up, Mr Chopra said. He said the trial run of DTH service of Doordarshan and AIR was being carried out. There was no activation fee or recurring charges to receive the service. Mr Chopra said the main thrust of the programming would be on information and entertainment. In addition to national news bulletins, there would be regional news from the state capitals, regional music, including folk music and other entertainment programmes. The service will be provided through the DTH platform of Prasar Bharti with uplinking facilities at Todarpur in the capital. Mr Chopra said the service would be available in all parts of the country besides SAARC nations.
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India, UK to work jointly on environment projects
New Delhi, October 6 Addressing the UK-India Climate Change Business Seminar, organised by the UK’s Climate Change Projects Office
(CCPO) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Union Environment and Forest Minister A. Raja said the government was very supportive of the Clean Development Mechanism
(CDM) process. “The government is taking several measures to improve the energy efficiency in industry and supporting the CDM project development,” he said. The National Designated Authority, he added, had already endorsed more than 30 CDM projects, which were the highest in the world. He said issues related to climate change were important and climate change and broader issue of sustainable energy security were high on the international agenda. He said many more CDM projects, including biomass-based cogeneration, industrial processes and energy efficiency, renewable and management of municipal solid waste, were at different stages of the CDM process. Lately, there has also been considerable awareness regarding the CDM in the corporate sector. Almost 200 countries, which signed the Kyoto Protocol, have agreed upon several targets, the most important being quantitative targets for greenhouse gas emissions in developed countries.
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Germany willing to eliminate agri subsidies
New Delhi, October 6 “As a first step, we have to focus on the elimination of subsidies on agriculture. Germany is ready to do that,” Chancellor of Germany Gerhard Shroeder told captains of the Indian industry at a meeting organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) here. “India is very important as its voice is heard and responded to in developing countries. You have played a constructive role”, he said. The German Chancellor exuded confidence about the doubling of trade between India and Germany but said the efficiency of the Indian bureaucracy will have to improve if this objective was to be achieved. “Not enough efficient bureaucracy has led to delays,” he said. He said that “multi-lateral trading system is better and fairer than any other trading system.” Mr Schroeder said the German business community has by and large concentrated on only two large markets in Asia - China and Japan. He said that there was big potential for cooperation between the two countries in the areas of railways, airports and ports. “We have done tremendous things in infrastructure. We can cooperate in other important areas of financial and insurance services,” he said. The German Chancellor said there was also scope for cooperation between the two countries in the development of small and medium enterprises. In this regard, it is crucial, how quick decisions are taken. It is important that a small and medium enterprise (SME) does not need legal counselling, he said. Stating that India was one of the most important markets of the world, Chancellor Schroeder said “an export-dependent economy like Germany needed to be present in India”.
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Infinite software for textile sector
Ludhiana, October 6 The company, along with its Swiss- Italian partner Datatex, today launched Total Integrated Manufacturing (Tim), software to meet the needs of textile units. Mr Rodrigues says the Indian textile industry is all set to grow to $ 85 billion by 2010 from its current level of $ 36 billion. While the industry has a competitive edge on account of abundant supply of good quality raw material and low-cost skilled labour, lower productivity, SSI-oriented approach and limited investment on Information Technology are the weaknesses that could hinder its growth. “The post-quota regime presents tremendous opportunity for this industry. Modernisation and adoption of IT will play a key role in attaining its growth,” he said. “Realising this, the ministry of textiles, government of India, has constituted an IT task force to recommend appropriate measures for the induction of IT in textile sector. Disbursal of soft loans by the government to partially fund technology demonstration projects is among the key recommendations,” he states. Infinite and Datatex have planned educational sessions targeting textile manufacturers. The first phase includes Ludhiana, Coimbatore and Mumbai. “These sessions would help manufactures understand how IT can be used to gain competitive advantage,” he adds.
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Maruti MD in Japan
New Delhi, October 6 Currently at Hamamtsu, the Suzuki Headquarters, the MUL team is expected to discuss the nitty-gritty of the upcoming projects at Manesar in Haryana with the top management of SMC, official sources said today. Maruti has said it would pump in Rs 6,000 crore with its parent SMC in four or five years for the new car plant, diesel facility and Research and Development. A new joint venture — Suzuki Maruti India — will be floated for the second car plant, where 70 per cent equity will be owned by Maruti and the rest with Suzuki. Besides, the new diesel engine manufacturing plant will be set up by Suzuki Metal India, a 49:51 joint venture of Suzuki and
Maruti. — UNI
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video: Union Finance Minister seeks cushion for oil-price shocks.
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The end of quantitative restrictions, post January 2005, would witness a major increase in the IT expenditure by the Indian textile industry. Textile units, on an average, are currently spending around 0.1 per cent of their budget on IT, which is far lower by international standards, says Mr Rohan Rodrigues, vice-president, business development, Infinite Computer Solutions, a US $ 71 million IT services and solutions providing company operating in over 20 locations in the USA, Singapore and India.
