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RBI leaves bank rate, repo rate unchanged
No going back on gas pipeline, says Aiyar
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Punjab second among PF defaulters
Bank Account
Corporate Results
Corporate aircraft gets wi-fi enabled
Progeon to set up centres overseas
Ashok Leyland mulls 20 new models this year
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RBI leaves bank rate, repo rate unchanged
Mumbai/New Delhi, July 26 The apex bank has also maintained the status quo on the cash reserve ratio (CRR) as well. The RBI said its current assessment of macro economic outlook and overall stance remained broadly unchanged from the annual policy statement made in April 2005. It is apparent that there are several global uncertainties but there are domestic factors, which indicate a confidently growing economy in a stable environment, the RBI said. The apex bank noted that the current level of inflation remained moderate both at the wholesale and retail level. The inflationary outcome turned out consistent with the anticipation at the beginning of the year and underlying inflation remained contained. However it admitted that rising oil prices globally was a cause for concern. The overall industrial growth has maintained a healthy uptrend, though delayed monsoon has imparted some uncertainties to the likely level of agricultural production. The non-food credit growth has been significantly buoyant and is getting broad-based. However, the upswing continued to be driven by housing and real estate and hence greater need to ensure credit quality, the RBI added. The apex bank noted that the supply constraints could emanate from inadequate infrastructure, especially in power and ports, to support higher levels of domestic and export demand. “On balance, though uncertainties remain, the domestic growth impulses appear to have been reinforced in the first quarter,” said the bank.
FM rules out sharp adjustment
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said today that there was no need for a sharp adjustment in interest rates given the country’s current economic situation. The RBI, in its quarterly policy review, which was unveiled today, left a key short-term interest rate steady at 5 per cent. “The RBI policy statement is in line with what the government thinks. At the moment, I do not think there is a case for any sharp adjustments in interest rates”, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said here. In its quarterly review, the RBI has not announced any changes in the bank rate. The reverse repo rate (the rate at which banks receive from the RBI for overnight borrowing) was also kept at 5 per cent. The RBI also did not change the inflation projections for this year and pegged it at 5 to 5.5 per cent. The Finance Minister said inflation control continued to be the topmost priority of the government. “It (price stability) is always on the radar screen. Price stability is always the priority of the government”, he said.
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India rebuts Japanese envoy on Honda plant stir
New Delhi, July 26 Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a
conference, Mr Enoki said the Gurgaon agitation was “a disadvantage” for India’s image as an FDI destination and also a negative image on the Japanese management. He categorically stated that the Japanese Government would not intervene in the matter as it was for the management of Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India Ltd to resolve the issue. He also termed it as an “independent” incident which should not be generalised too much. The MEA quickly joined issue on this observation, saying that it was only an “isolated incident” which should not become a benchmark for judging investment climate in the country and that legal interest of foreign investors would be fully
safeguarded. The MEA spokesman said: “An isolated incident involving a labour dispute should not become a benchmark for judging investment climate in India.”
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Troubled automaker Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) today suspended production at its plant at Manesar as clashes between police and its protesting workers continued for the second day today.
The company, which is in the grip of a major controversy after scores of its striking employees were injured after engaging in fisticuffs with the Haryana Police yesterday, held a high-level meeting today to take stock of the situation. The company, which had a peak production of 2,000 scooters per day, has seen the numbers dwindling over the last one month due to labour unrest. After a complete halt late last month, the numbers had picked up gradually, though remaining far below the peak levels. About 1,700 of the total 1,800 ‘Line Associates’ of HMSI have joined ranks with the strikers and the company is making up for lost labour by taking help from vendors and involving contractual labour, apprentice and trainees in the process.
— PTI
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No going back on gas pipeline, says Aiyar
New Delhi, July 26 “I am exactly at the same wave length as the Prime Minister. The decision of going ahead with the pipeline is in accordance with his direction,” Mr Aiyar said here. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s comments in Washington last week that the project was fraught with risks and it would be difficult to get an international consortium of bankers to underwrite the project, were seen as contradicting Aiyar’s optimism and had led to speculations that New Delhi was wary of going ahead with the project. “I met the Prime Minister on Sunday and again on Monday. The message I got was absolutely clear, there is no going back. A schedule has been laid out and we are going by it,” Mr Aiyar said. There are apprehensions that any pipeline passing through Pakistan runs the risk of being sabotaged and the project itself might be held hostage for political gains.
— PTI
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Punjab second among PF defaulters
New Delhi, July 26 The defaulters include 16,364 industrial establishments in Punjab, 979 establishments in Haryana and 3,434 industrial units in national capital Delhi, which have still to deposit Rs 57.90 crore, Rs 61.76 crore and Rs 65.58 crore, respectively. In a written reply, Minister of Labour and Employment K. Chadrasekhar Rao today informed the Lok Sabha, “number of defaulting establishments was 96,978 involving a sum of Rs 2,115 crore as default towards provident fund.” The minister said in accordance with the provisions of the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, the government was taking action against the companies for the recovery of outstanding provident fund dues. “It includes attachment and sale of properties, arrest and detention of defaulters, appointment of receiver to manage the defaulters’ properties,” he added. According to information available, Punjab is the second state with large number of defaulting companies, 16,364, marginally lower than a much larger state like Andhra Pradesh with 16,507 defaulting companies. Among the major defaulters with over one crore dues in the state include closed-down state unit Punwire in Mohali ( Rs 4.14 crore), and FCI, FSD, Rajpura in Patiala district (Rs 1.10 crore). Officials in the Ministry of Small Scale Industry admitted that in Punjab, a large number of defaulting companies were from industrial towns like Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar. Significantly, according to government estimates only two per cent of the total labour force is in the organised sector, which has access to this social security net scheme. Referring to action taken against the defaulters, the minister said over the past three years, the government has attached the bank accounts of 2,430 industrial units besides attaching the property of 23 companies and taking legal action against others. In Haryana, the major defaulters include HUDA, Panchkula (Rs 25.30 crore), HMT Ltd (Rs 4.89 crore), Haryana Sheet Glass (Rs 1.98 crore) and Rollatainers Ltd. (Rs 1.46 crore). In Himachal Pradesh, among 70 defaulters, Sidhartha Super Spg Mills Ltd of Solan had to deposit about Rs 1 crore, the Minister informed the Lok Sabha. From Delhi, over 3,000 defaulting firms have still to deposit about Rs 65.58 crore as their mandatory contribution for the fund, which includes provident fun, pension and penal damages. The major defaulters include state transport Delhi Transport ( Rs 18.21 crore), Public sector gas major GAIL ( Rs 15.82 crore), Food Corporation of India ( Rs 2.60 crore), SEWA International ( Rs 2.51 crore), Pure Drinks ( New Delhi) Ltd., ( Rs 2.39 crore), Elbee Services P. Ltd., ( Rs 1.20 crore), Stylish Fabricators ( Rs 1.24 crore), DSS Mobile Commission Ltd., ( Rs 1.01 crore) and Altos India Ltd., ( Rs 1.77 crore). Significantly, public sector oil major ONGC Ltd, which has shown over Rs 12,000 crore as net profit last fiscal, has failed to deposit over Rs 21.66 crore as its contribution to the fund in Uttaranchal. HMT Watch, another PSU in the state, has to deposit Rs 5.83 crore as its contribution in the fund.
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PNB housing arm to focus on micro-financing
Ludhiana, July 26 He said interest rates follow international trends, going by which these would only go northward. PNB Housing Finance also raised interest rates on home loans by 15 basis points this month. “We had to readjust and the current rates we are offering are competitive.” Keeping the trend in view, the company has also come out with a ‘Three-year fixed interest rate scheme’, under which if a borrower wants to change from fixed to floating rate after three years, the company would not charge any conversion rate. Upbeat on market prospects, Mr Sathyasingan said the company’s focus would be micro financing . “Our focus would be micro financing and not macro financing,”
he said. With Securitisation Act having come into place, the market would benefit further. “Though the problem of NPAs in housing finance is not so grave, it has reduced further after this Act has come into place. In fact, we do not have to take possession in all cases. In most cases, people approach us for settlement.” Mr Sathyasingan said the company was planning to open five more offices this year.
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Kotak Mahindra Bank net up
Mumbai, July 26 The total income during the reporting quarter increased by 62 per cent to Rs 455.50 crore as compared to Rs 280.90 crore in June 2004, the bank said in Mumbai. During the quarter, the consolidated fee income, including life insurance premium, increased by 101 per cent to Rs 196.70 crore from Rs 97.90 crore in Q1 of FY-05, it said. On a standalone basis, the bank posted a lower net profit at Rs 19.67 crore for the reporting quarter as compared to Rs 22.06 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal, while the total income during the quarter declined to Rs 114.42 crore (Rs 176.73 crore in April-June, 2004). UBI net up by 14 pc: Union Bank of India has reported a 14.25 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs 240.39 crore for the quarter ended June 30, as compared to Rs 210.40 crore for the corresponding quarter in the previous year.The total Income has increased by 6.48 per cent to Rs 1491.45 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, from Rs 1400.65 crore in the year-ago period, the bank said. Vijaya Bank net dips: Vijaya Bank today reported a 71.74 per cent dip in its net profit at Rs 27.56 crore for the quarter ended June 30 compared to Rs 97.55 crore for the corresponding quarter in the previous year.The total income, however, increased by 7.74 per cent to Rs 657.78 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2005 from Rs 610.50 crore in the year-ago period, the bank said. Bank of Rajasthan: Bank of Rajasthan (BoR) has posted a sharp drop in its first quarter net profit at Rs 5.21 crore as against Rs 20.15 crore in the Q1 of 2004-05 due to provision for depreciation for securities and wage revision.The total income for the reporting quarter remained almost flat at Rs 155.08 crore as against Rs 155.43 crore in April-June, 2004, the private sector bank said in Mumbai. The net profits were down due to provision for depreciation of about Rs 12 crore made for movement of securities from available for sale category (AFS) to held to maturity (HTM) and Rs 4.5 crore for wage revision, bank Chairman P.K. Tayal said. The bank had moved securities worth Rs 350 crore from AFS to HTM in the current quarter, he added. Exim Bank invests: In line with its policy to make direct equity investment in export-based small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) has invested Rs 5 crore in garment and fashion fabric manufacturing company Bombay Rayon Fashions Ltd (BRFL).“Exim Bank has picked up 10 lakh equity shares of Rs 10 each at premium of Rs 40 per share of the BRFL and has sanctioned Rs 40 crore term loan to the company for setting up an integrated apparel park in Bangalore,” Exim Bank Executive Director S. Sridhar told reporters here today. — Agencies
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Bharti Q1 net profit exceeds Rs 500 cr
New Delhi, July 26 The company’s consolidated revenue for the quarter was up by 48 per cent year-on-year to Rs 2,517 crore over the same period a year ago in the world’s fastest growing wireless market, the company announced today. The company’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) fell marginally to 37.4 per cent from 37.6 per cent in the last quarter of the previous fiscal. EBITDA is a measure of cash profitability. The company had an EBITDA of Rs 941 crore in Q1. The cash profit from operations for the quarter was Rs 926 crore. Bharti, with a market cap of about Rs 50,000 crore, has approximately 1.32 crore subscribers. MRPL net up: Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) has posted a 92.84 per cent jump in its net profit at Rs 215.75 crore for the quarter ended June 30, as compared to Rs 111.88 crore for the corresponding quarter in the previous year.The total income has increased by 32.14 per cent to Rs 5,613.87 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, up from Rs 4,248.94 crore in the year-ago period, MRPL said. Cipla gains Rs 111 cr: Cipla Ltd has posted 40.55 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs 111.40 crore for the quarter ended June 30, as compared to Rs 79.26 crore for the corresponding quarter in 2004-05.The total Income has increased by 23.07 per cent to Rs 671.17 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, from Rs 545.35 crore in the year-ago period, Cipla said. The Board of Directors has recommended a dividend of Rs 3.50 per equity share for the financial year 2004-2005, amounting to Rs 104.95 crore. The company also posted a net profit of Rs 409.61 crore for the year ended March 31, as compared to Rs 316.33 crore in the previous year. Siemens earns profit: Siemens Ltd has reported a 11.14 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs 39.54 crore for the quarter ended June 30, up from Rs 35.58 crore in the year-ago period.The total income has increased by 34.13 per cent to Rs 615.83 crore for the third quarter ended June 30, from Rs 459.11 crore in the year-ago period, Siemens said. IPCL profit jumps: Mukesh Ambani-controlled Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd (IPCL) has posted a 82.92 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs 225 crore for the quarter ended June 30 as compared to Rs 123 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.The total income has increased by 10.36 per cent to Rs 2,023 crore for the quarter ended June 30 from Rs 1,833 crore in the year-ago period, IPCL said. MTNL net down: MTNL has reported a 26 per cent decline in its net profit to Rs 172.48 crore during the quarter ended June 30, compared to Rs 233.9 crore in the year-ago period.The public sector telecom firm’s income from services also fell by 9.2 per cent to Rs 1,264.1 crore during the reporting quarter, MTNL said in a statement. Against other income of Rs 70.88 crore during the first quarter of 2004-05, MTNL earned Rs 139.474 crore during the reporting quarter, registering 96.77 per cent growth. NIIT Tech Q1 net up: NIIT Technologies has reported a 6 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs 14 crore during the quarter ended June 30, compared to Rs 13.20 crore in the year-ago period. Revenues grew by 7 per cent to Rs 136.5 crore during the reporting quarter as against Rs 127.57 crore in the corresponding period last year. The operating profit during the quarter was Rs 25.7 crore, registering 13 per cent growth over the first quarter of 2004-05. — Agencies
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Corporate aircraft gets wi-fi enabled
Chennai, July 26 D-Link equipment with USB interface has been installed in the aircraft and executives carrying their wi-fi enabled laptops could stay connected when they are on flight. The internet connectivity was provided through satellite connection service, an official press note here today said. The wi-fi installation enables any laptop on board to access the internet at best speeds currently available — 4 gigabytes per second and share a printer which has also been installed. Mr P. Vyas, Director, Sales & Marketing, D-Link (India) said: “This wi-fi installation is the first of its kind in country. Such an installation would be normal in an office but doing it on an aircraft made it a difficult challenge for our engineers.” In-flight connectivity may turn out to be the most important productivity tool for business travellers. It was expected that by the end of 2006, over 150 aircraft would be wi-fi enabled.
— UNI
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Progeon to set up centres overseas
New Delhi, July 26
We would also set up a centre in China to service global orders,” Progeon managing director and CEO Akshaya Bhargava said on the sidelines of a Nasscom seminar on Knowledge Process Outsourcing. “Our clients in US and Europe want us to have near shore centres so that they can outsource the whole processes rather than offshore a part of them,” he said. Mr Bhargava said the demand for the delivery centres close to the customer location was coming from clients themselves and the company was in discussions with them. The company already has a delivery centre in Czech Republic with 100 people, who service clients in 11 languages.
— PTI
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Ashok Leyland mulls 20 new models this year
Chennai, July 26 “The company has also completed its capacity expansion to 77,000 vehicles early this month from the earlier 55,000 vehicles per annum,” Ashok Leyland Managing Director R.Seshasayee told reporters after the company’s annual general meeting here. The company also announced the setting up of a new design centre near Chennai by January, 2006. Mr Seshasayee said Ashok Leyland had already acquired 72 acres for the proposed auto design centre, which would employ about 400 engineers initially. The number would be scaled up to 800 engineers within 12-18 months. Meanwhile, Ashok Leyland which sold 3 per cent stake in IndusInd Bank last year, would sell another 3 per cent stake in the secondary market before October, 2005, to comply with the RBI guidelines.
— PTI
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