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FM urged to remove investment barriers
PSIEC to develop industrial parks
Rs 400-cr software park for Patiala
A-I to take Jet Airways aircraft on wet lease
Air Deccan Re 1 tickets
Need for relook at PSU pay structure
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India to sign tripartite pact
NTPC to operate Dabhol project
Foodgrains output not to meet target
FDI in 2004-05 touches $ 5.5 b
Stick to refund norms: TRAI
RIL AGM on Aug 3
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FM urged to remove investment barriers
New Delhi, July 8 In a meeting with Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Chief Financial Officers of leading business houses also pitched for a better Intellectual Property Right regime to lure more foreign investments into the country. Mr Chidambaram assured the CFOs that the government would carry out procedural improvements and remove the bottlenecks coming in the way of investment and growth. Briefing newsmen after the meeting, Chief Economic Adviser Ashok Lahiri said: “Investment will go up in three to five years. Productivity of Indian industry has improved. But leveraging productivity for further growth is limited. So investment is needed for fresh capacity.” He listed a host of sectors like auto, auto components, agro-based industries, pharma, tourism and hotels as poised to witness major investments in the years to come. These sectors have the potential of creating large employment as well, he added. “The perception about India has improved and the country is being regarded as an investment destination,” he said, referring to high-end and engineering sectors. Lahiri admitted that there were several impediments coming in the way of investments and said the country needed to speed up infrastructure development, especially in power and roads sectors. Moreover, Indian industry also needed easy access to fuels like coal, lignite and iron ore. The CFOs suggested further liberalisation of rules for this purpose. Lahiri also highlighted the need to step up rural credit as a pre-requisite to foster industrial growth. “The Finance Minister has said that rural credit was one of his priority areas. Industry will grow better if rural credit increases.” Lahiri also said there was a need to look into the regulatory architecture and the Finance Minister has promised to look into it. “The focus was on investment, globalisation and exchange rate,” he said, summing up the views of Finance Minister and the CFOs. Tata Steel vice president (finance) Koushik Chatterjee said infrastructure climate must improve for large capital expenditure to take off the ground. “We are now facing a fuel famine. We must ensure better fuel supply,” D D Rathi, CFO of AV Birla group’s flagship company Grasim, said. Mahindra and Mahindra executive director (finance and corporate affairs) Bharat Doshi emphasised on rural credit and proposed changes in RBI norms to allow non-banking finance companies to give loans to rural sector. Chidambaram promised to take up the matter with
the RBI. — PTI
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PSIEC to develop industrial parks
Mohali, July 8 The PSIEC would now develop industrial areas for industrial, residential and commercial purposes in the ratio of 60:30:10. Industrial zones, residential plots and commercial complexes including shopping malls, multiplexes, would be part of these industrial parks. The first such integrated industrial park would be established in 850 acres in Sectors 82 and 83 in Mohali. Proposals were also under consideration for development of such industrial parks at Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Phagwara. “The Industrial Policy 2003 (Clause No. 10) had laid down that industrial parks would be developed either through the private sector or as joint ventures between private and public sector undertakings. Agencies of state government like the PSIEC were to only act as infrastructure coordinators,” said Mr Sanjay Kumar, Director Industries and Commerce, Punjab adding that he had conveyed the concurrence of the Punjab Government in this regard to the PSIEC. Having received the approval, PSIEC has now set about developing the park in Mohali. A time schedule of one year has been fixed for the purpose and land acquisition process in sectors 82 and 83 is now underway.
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Rs 400-cr software park for Patiala
Chandigarh, July 8 The Government of India had already cleared the proposal to set up a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for Mohali and also for Amritsar. Punjab Infotech had been made a nodal agency for information technology and electronic industry for fast-track clearance of all mega projects and provide escort service to all important projects. A high-powered delegation, led by the Chief Minister, is on a visit to “IT cities” in South India to meet top executives of leading IT companies. The delegation also visited the Computer Associates (CA) where its executives made a presentation to the Chief Minister emphasising the importance of quality manpower and infrastructure as their basic requirements to move into any region. The company, CA, is one of the top most four software companies in the world along with Microsoft, IBM and Oracle. A team of CA would come to Mohali to explore the possibility of setting up a software development centre at Mohali. In Chennai the Punjab delegation has held meetings Alcatel, Hexaware, N-louge, Midas Communication, Allsec Technologies, Tele Data Information. Mr N.S Kalsi, Secretary IT, made a presentation to these companies on policies, infrastructure available, presence of leading IT companies and opportunities for investments in Punjab.
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A-I to take Jet Airways aircraft on wet lease
Mumbai, July 8 Air-India proposes to use the wet-leased aircraft till July 27, for operating seven flights a week between Mumbai and London — five non-stop flights and two flights via Ahmedabad. The new A340-300E aircraft will be used by Jet Airways for the wet-lease operations. The flights will operate in two class configurations of 38 business class and 231 economy-class seating, according to an AI press note issued here today. Under this agreement, Jet Airways will provide the aircraft, the cockpit and cabin crew and will be responsible for the total maintenance of the aircraft. Air-India will, however, provide the inflight catering on these aircraft and operate them as Air-India
flights. — UNI
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Air Deccan Re 1 tickets
Low-cost carrier Air Deccan on Friday commenced the release of over 3300 tickets at Rupee one (plus taxes) and over 6500 tickets at Rs 500 (plus taxes for the months of September and October.
The bookings on the internet opened in the morning, the carrier said in a press note in Bangalore. The sectors for which reservations were open were Delhi-Bangalore-Delhi, Delhi-Mumbai-Delhi, Delhi-Guwahati-Delhi, Delhi-Chennai-Delhi, Delhi-Hyderabad-Delhi, Chennai-Kolkata-Chennai, Mumbai-Chennai-Mumbai, Mumbai-Coimbatore-Mumbai, Delhi-Baghdogra-Delhi, Delhi-Kolkata-Delhi, Chennai-Hyderabad-Chennai and Chennai-Kolkata-Chennai.
— UNI
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Need for relook at PSU pay structure
New Delhi, July 8 The pay structures in some private companies had risen so high that these created vulgar disparity between workers and managerial personnel. In contrast, the disparity had been shrinking in the public sector. Both trends were moving in opposite directions and there was need for convergence, Mr Behuria said at a workshop. National Textiles Corporation Chairman Ramachandran Pillai said the Chairmen and CEOs of public sector undertakings figured among the lowest paid in the industry in which they operated. The PSUs should rework their compensation strategy by having fixed and variable components, which would be linked to individual performance as also to the company’s profitability, he suggested.
— PTI
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India to sign tripartite pact
New Delhi, July 8 The government is expecting major progress on the project in the next meeting of India-Pakistan Joint Working Group on IPI, scheduled to held next week, when Pakistani delegation arrives at New Delhi on July 11, said official sources. The delegation will have detailed discussions with Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar next day. The Joint Working Group will also have discussions on the techno-economic feasibility options of the project. The sources pointed that the first tripartite meeting among Iran, Pakistan and India to discuss the gas pipeline was likely to take place in New Delhi in August. After this meeting, the three oil ministers are expected to meet in Teheran by November- end to finalise the deal on the pipeline. Though Pakistan and India have been discussing the pipeline issue with Iran, the meeting in New Delhi would be the first ever where all three countries would discuss the issue together. India’s oil needs are expected to reach nearly 3.5 million barrels a day (mbd) by 2010 from the present 1.9 mbd. Meanwhile, India has shown keen interest in energy -surplus Kazakhstan, where ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL)is reopening its regional office and will try for an exploration
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NTPC to operate Dabhol project
New Delhi, July 8 The Registrar of Companies (ROC) has
allotted a new name Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private Limited (RGPPL) to the special purpose vehicle (SPV) set up by GAIL and NTPC for the revival of the project, a press note issued by GAIL said here yesterday. It stated that NTPC would
negotiate the power purchase agreement with the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB). GAIL has already stepped up efforts to source the required LNG from countries like Qatar, Iran, Oman, Abu Dhabi, Malaysia,
Indonesia, Australia, Brunei, Egypt and Algeria. GAIL will also complete the remaining erection works of the LNG terminal.
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Foodgrains output not to meet target
New Delhi, July 8 The fourth advance estimates of the Agriculture Ministry apprehend that the country will lag in meeting the target by 20.49 million tonnes. A senior Agriculture Ministry official said the farm output had fallen because of poor rain in the crucial sowing month of July last year but delayed rain gave ample soil moisture to produce a better oilseed crop in the summer
season. The ministry said wheat output was estimated at 72 million tonnes, almost the same level of 72.11 million tonnes achieved during 2003-04. Kharif rice production during 2004-05 is estimated to take a beating at 85.31 million tonnes, a good three million tonnes lower than the level of 88.28 mt registered during the 2003-04 financial year. The estimates also compare unfavourably with the target of 93.5 million tonnes for rice and 79.5 million tonnes set for wheat in the last fiscal. A surge in oilseeds production during the rabi season is estimated to bridge the massive shortfall in the kharif
crops. While the rabi production of nine oilseeds is estimated at an impressive 111.66 lakh tonnes during 2004-05 as against 85.17 lakh tonnes during the previous fiscal, the kharif output is estimated at 149.37 lakh tonnes as against 167.73 lakh tonnes during 2003-04. The sugarcane output during the year is expected to fall to 232.3 million tonnes, sharply lower than 237.3 million tonnes a year ago. India, the world’s third largest cotton producer, is likely to have a record production of 17 million bales of 170 kg each, up from 13.87 million bales a year ago.
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FDI in 2004-05 touches $ 5.5 b
New Delhi, July 8 However, the FDI flow into India during the last fiscal was still below $ 6.1 billion received in 2001-02, the FICCI study revealed. FDI, which declined from $ 6.1 billion in 2001-02 to $ 5 billion in 2002-03 and further to $ 4.7 billion in 2003-04, went up by 18.2 per cent to $ 5.5 billion during 2004-05, the study on Fundamental Shift in External Sector Growth said. Total FDI made by Indian companies went up from $ 1.3 billion in 2003-04 to $ 2.5 billion in 2004-05, the study said. This is the highest recorded increase in Indian investments abroad in a single year.
— PTI
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Stick to refund norms: TRAI
New Delhi, July 8 The guidelines mandate telecom operators to refund the deposit within two months. Stating that it had come to its notice that the guidelines were not being adhered to, TRAI directed all access providers to “strictly” follow the norms as contained in its letter dated September 1, 2003. TRAI had issued general guidelines to all access providers in September, 2003, under which the security deposit after adjustment of dues, if any, is required to be refunded to subscribers within 60 days. In the event of any delay in refunding the amount, the service provider also has to pay the
subscribers an interest of 10 per cent per annum, it said in the direction.
— PTI
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RIL AGM on Aug 3
New Delhi, July 8 The company’s 31st AGM will be held on August 3 and RIL may declare a dividend for the shareholders, the company said.
— PTI
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In video: Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh says work on India
gas pipeline may commence in 2006.
