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Oil prices ease for now, future
Inflation falls to 7.38 pc
With $ 20 b in pocket, US firms scout India
AT&T stake in Idea may go to STT, Telekom
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Govt for private participation in roads
Demand for security systems up
Govt to invest in auto industry
Banks to operate seniors’ plan
Let banks do commodity trading: Assocham
Punjab’s first ATM mobile van rolls off
Gail opposes Aiyar’s decision
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Oil prices ease for now, future worries analysts
London, October 8 The price of reference light sweet crude for November delivery slipped 33 cents to $ 52.34 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. US crude oil futures spiked to $ 53 a barrel yesterday for the first time in the contract’s 21-year history, showing a gain of about six per cent over the week and almost 60 per cent since the start of the year. In London Brent North Sea crude oil for delivery in November dipped five cents to $ 48.85 a barrel in early deals. “I just think we’re seeing a little bit of profit-taking, a small retracement,” said Lee Elliot, a trader with GNI-Man Financial. “We could have a big sell-off at some stage but it’s not looking likely at the moment,” he added. Traders said a strike threat in Nigeria was the latest in a long list of supply worries, with ongoing disruption to supplies from the Gulf of Mexico also a major cause for concern. “The way things are at the moment it’s conceivable that if the strike in Nigeria goes ahead you could see $ 60 a barrel,” said Simon Wardell, senior energy analyst at the World Markets Research Centre. Investec Securities analyst Bruce Evers was even more bullish. “US oil prices will most likely be in the $ 60-70 dollar band next month,” he said. Analysts said supply worries were having a magnified impact on prices because of the concerns about unbridled consumption in the United States and Asia as well as the low level of commercial oil inventories. “We kind of lose sight of the fact that this is a demand-led price run,” said Wardell. “We do have these supply worries—we’ve had them all year—but in terms of the amount of oil lost from the market because of them, it’s very, very low. The underlying reason for all this is the increased demand this year.” Although prices are at record highs, adjusted for inflation they remain far below the levels reached in the wake of the 1979 Iranian revolution when prices surged to upwards of $ 80 a barrel in today’s money.
— AFP
Opec not to raise output
Bali: The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) has no plan to raise output despite record oil prices, the group's president said today. "We have no plan to raise production further because the current rise in oil prices is due to non-fundamental factors," Opec President Purnomo Yusgiantoro told reporters on the sidelines of an oil industry conference in Bali. Mr Purnomo, who is also Indonesia's energy minister, predicted oil prices would fall below $50 a barrel early next year, saying that elections in Iraq planned for January are expected to be smooth. Demand is also expected to ease in the Western Hemisphere during spring, he added.
— AP
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Inflation falls to 7.38 pc
New Delhi, October 8 With commodity prices, particularly of vegetables and other essential items falling, the point-to-point Wholesale Price Index
(WPI) inflation rate dropped from the previous week’s level of 7.80 per cent even as manufactured items and fuel prices stood firm. The inflation rate in the year-ago period was 5.39 per cent.
— PTI
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With $ 20 b in pocket, US firms scout India
New Delhi, October 8 Representatives from the VC firms, including Bessemer Venture Partners, Vesbridge Partners, Atlas Ventures, T D Capital and Beacon Technology Ventures, are discussing investment scenarios, capital markets and entrepreneurial opportunities with Indian companies, The indus Entreprenuers (TiE) Association President Delhi Saurabh Srivastava told UNI here. The Boston Chapter of non-profit TiE has brought the VCs to India. “This is the third visit of VCs to India. Among them, we are looking at around $ 50 billion funds for India. They are interested and are getting educated,” Mr Srivastava, who is also the Chairman of Indian Venture Capital Association, said. The VCs will put in money in start-ups as well as operational companies. “They will invest in small and medium-sized firms, but I doubt that they will put in money in very early stage companies,” he added.
— UNI
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AT&T stake in Idea may go to STT, Telekom
Singapore, October 8 Telekom-STT combine will acquire one-third stake in the company, which is the fifth-largest mobile operator in India. “We hope to conclude (the deal) as soon as possible,” the Kuala Lumpur-based New Strait Times quoted Telekom CEO Abdul Wahid Omar as saying. There were some issues to iron out, but “we are quite close to it,” he said. Industry sources said due diligence by STT-Telekom Malaysia combine was almost complete. Telekom and the STT have agreed to buy AT&T Wireless Services’ stake in Idea Cellular, for more than $ 200 million, according to industry estimates. — UNI
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Pitroda tells Montek to spread e-governance
New Delhi, October 8 Pitroda met Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia here today and said that for the e-governance initiative to be successful and acceptable to people it has to be user friendly. Pitroda met Ahluwalia primarily with regard to the mid-term appraisal of the Tenth Five Year Plan. He said adequate thrust should be given to promote information technology and science and technology. Pitroda, who is the CEO of WorldTel Corporation, is the second person to be consulted by the Planning Commission with respect to the mid-term appraisal of the Plan. Eminent economist Dr Ajit Singh was the first expert to be consulted by the commission in this regard.
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Govt for private participation in roads
New Delhi, October 8 “The government is considering the private sector participation, on a BOT (Build, Operate and Transfer) basis, for the improvement of 10,000 km of national highways,” said Union Road Transport and Highways Minister T. R. Balu today. He was speaking at a seminar on “Design, Construction and Maintenance of Cement Concrete Roads,” organised by the Indian Roads Congress
(IRC) here. He said the government was committed to an all-round development of the road network so that fruits of growth reached all sections of society, besides enhancing economic growth, poverty alleviation and employment generation. To realise these objectives, he said, the Central Government was providing funds for the improvement of national highways, state highways, major district roads and district roads from the accruals of the Central Road Fund created from the levy of cess on petrol and diesel. “Under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
(PMGSY), another 400,000 km of village roads would be constructed in the next four or five years,” he said adding that cement concrete pavements were being constructed on about 1600 km of the Golden
Quadilateral, connecting the four metros of Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai and involving a length of 5,841 km. On the 7,300-km-long North-South and East-West Corridors, the cement concrete pavements on a sizeable length would be provided depending upon the techno-economic feasibility, he said. He disclosed that the government has also decided to rechristen the previous BJP government’s Pradhan Mantri Bharat Jodo Pariyojana
(PMBJP) as “ Phase III of the National Highways Development Project (NHDP)” and formulate a special package for the development of surface transport in the North-East region. He hoped that the Cabinet would soon give approval to the ministry’s proposal to the construction and
four-laning of 10,000 km of roads in the North-East region on a BOT basis. The cost of the project is pegged at Rs 7600 crore, he added.
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Demand for security systems up
New Delhi, October 8 Experts say that an industry that was till now dominated by the unorganised security services is now fast becoming more organised in nature. As per the industry estimates, the domestic security market has already crossed the Rs 1,500-crore mark, and is growing at over 30 per cent annually. Says Mr G.B. Singh, President, Asian Protection Security Association (APSA), “the Indian unorganised security services market has come of age and the industry is witnessing a steady transition The Indian market has a vast potential for security services and systems and we view it as a strategically important market in the Asia Pacific region.” He claims that the European and US companies, which have opened outfits in India, are used to an environment of automated security systems unlike the manpower intensive security arrangements that are prevalent in India. So, they prefer using automated systems to personnel security guards. All foreign companies that have set up their manufacturing plants in Noida, Gurgaon, Ludhiana and other towns in the region are using sophisticated security equipment to detect theft. In fact, India is being seen as an emerging market for security services and products. Even though India has a significantly low share in the global $ 121-billion security market, players within the industry are quite optimistic about the potential of India. Experts claim that besides electronic security products and services, such as alarm equipment and monitoring, the security instruments include contraband detection and surveillance equipment and personal safety products. It includes safes,
vaults, locks, close circuit cameras and fire suppression equipment. In addition, the industry is providing personnel security services, such as armoured transport, guard and risk mitigation services. Commenting on the potential of the Indian market, Mr Rajesh Srivastava, MD, Meinhardt India, says, “The phenomenal growth of the real estate business in metro and non-metro cities has given a spurt to the security industry in India. In fact, many of the high-class residential townships that have been built in and around Delhi consider fool-proof security as one of their main USPs while selling their properties.”
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Govt to invest in auto industry
Mumbai, October 8 “We had floated tenders for setting up a car automotive testing facility for the auto industry and have received presentations from the foreign companies,” he said at CII manufacturing summit here. Under the Planning Commission-approved project, the facilities would be set up by the Automotive Research Association of India and come up in three places. These facilities would be owned by the government but built with foreign collaboration. The government has decided to offer 150 per cent deduction of expenditure incurred by the several key industries, including auto industry on inhouse R&D for income tax purposes, Dev said. The government is focussing on easing of all constraints hindering the investment to ensure that the manufacturing sector is able to compete globally, he said.
— PTI
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Banks to operate seniors’ plan
Mumbai, October 8 In a directive to the top officials of state-owned banks, the RBI asked these banks to start operating the SCS scheme with effect from November 11, 2004. The scheme will be available at all branches of the public sector banks and the SBI, which are operating the PPF scheme, 1968. The government had introduced the
SCSS, with effect from August 2, 2004, through post offices. The involvement of the agency banks in operation of the scheme would be on the lines of PPF scheme, 1968, it added. Small savings agents working under the standardised agency system, are eligible to mobilise deposits under the scheme and commission at half a per cent of the deposit shall be payable to such agents. These agents were mobilising deposits under the erstwhile deposit schemes for retired employees.
— UNI
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Let banks do commodity trading: Assocham
New Delhi, October 8 In a memorandum submitted to the RBI Governor, Assocham president Mahendra K. Sanghi said the demand to allow banks to trade in commodities had been pending with the government for a long time. He said the banks should be permitted to hedge the commodity risks through agency arrangement to share the risks of hedging. They should also be permitted to act as market makers for the interest rate futures as at present only primary dealers were permitted to act as market makers.
— UNI
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Punjab’s first ATM mobile van rolls off
Ludhiana, October 8 The ATM mobile van was inaugurated by Income Tax Chief Commissioner Sudha Sharma. While an overwhelming response was received on the first day of the launch itself, the bank plans to exhaustively advertise to make its customers aware of this facility, said Mr Noorpuri. The bank, he said, had invested over Rs 30 lakh on the van.
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Gail opposes Aiyar’s decision
New Delhi, October 8 Mr Aiyar had on Wednesday said he was against Gail monopoly over the proposed 8000-km National Gas Grid that would connect gas sources to consumption points. Gail chief Proshanto Banerjee has shot off a letter to Petroleum Secretary S.C. Tripathi saying the revised draft on the National Gas Pipeline Policy that allows producers and importers of natural gas to lay pipelines to consumers, “might lead to skewed development of gas market in the country.” Currently, all gas pipelines in India are owned by Gail. “Keeping in view the similarities between the gas and power sectors it is a well defined regulation rather than promotion of competition that has been found to be effective in protecting the interest of consumers,” Mr Banerjee wrote. The Gail chairman claimed “a study conducted by Gail on the evolution of integrated gas grid in 38 countries accounting for two-thirds of the global gas consumption also overwhelmingly supports the single agency model (for laying gas pipelines).”
— PTI
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