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Aiyar to discuss oil PSUs loss in Cabinet
India, Korea trade partnership pact soon
SEBI moots gold exchange fund
Volkswagen project for AP, says envoy
Independent panel may probe ONGC fire
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Pak wants Indian sugar
NTPC to sign natural gas
Two-wheelers drive up the sales graph
Corporate News
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Aiyar to discuss oil PSUs loss in Cabinet
New Delhi, August 1 Talking to reporters today, he said: “The question of pricing is a politico-economic question that involves the whole of the Cabinet.” Meanwhile, Petroleum Ministry has given its consent to IOC, ONGC and GAIL (India) Ltd to offload their cross-holdings in each other in a phased manner over the next one year. Mr Aiyar today met the officials of IOC, ONGC and GAIL in this regard. After the meeting, a senior official in the ministry said: “The ministry has given its nod to the companies for offloading stake in each other and the proposal may now go to the Cabinet for approval.” However, the modus operandi of the offloading will have to be decided by the companies, he said adding that only ONGC was in a position to buyback IOC share in the company. The IOC is seeking to offload its stake in the market, and GAIL is quite indifferent on the issue, he added. Significantly, in 1998, the previous NDA government had raised around Rs 4,000 crore by allowing the IOC, ONGC and GAIL by purchasing part of the government’s holding in these companies. The value of these shares has now reached around Rs 22,000 crore. According to the Petroleum Ministry, the IOC that is keen to offload its stake in the ONGC to finance its expansion plans, has a 9.61 per cent stake in ONGC, while the latter has 9.11 per cent share in IOC. IOC’s share in ONGC represents 137.06 million shares worth Rs 13,000 crore Further, ONGC and IOC own 4.83 per cent each in GAIL. GAIL, in turn, owns a 2.4 per cent stake in ONGC. Official sources said, proposal would go to the Cabinet for its approval despite it not being a policy matter as the companies had bought stake in each other on the Cabinet’s direction.
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India, Korea trade partnership pact soon
New Delhi, August 1 Addressing a meeting organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Mr Moon said that he was hopeful that the two countries will reach an agreement “which delves much deeper than a simple Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and one that goes beyond ordinary regional economic integration”. “One of the most effective ways to augment the cast potential that exists between the two countries from their complementary trade and industrial structures is to speed up efforts to establish institutional framework such as relevant laws, systems and consultations between the two governments”, he said. He advised Indian business to look at Korea as a base for venturing into the North-East Asian market in the same manner as Korean companies consider India to be central in their entry into the South Asian region. Agreeing to seriously consider the issuance of visa-on-arrival at Korean destinations for visiting Indian businessman, he said that Korea-India relations went beyond trade and investment ties. Both governments were strongly emphasising political and strategic relations with the objective of reinforcing the foreign policy and security dialogue, cooperation in defence and for engaging in more frequent consultations on regional and global issues, he said. India woos Korea for oil sector
India today invited South Korean oil companies to invest in the country’s hydrocarbon sector especially in the export oriented refinery sector besides jointly exploring opportunities in other countries as well. “We have invited them to invest in India both in upstream and refining and especially in export-oriented refining.. I have suggested that working together in India is perhaps the best way of establishing those contacts that will enable us to work together in third countries”, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar told newspersons after over an hour meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon here. “I have also brought to his notice that India is a growing market for energy. Hitherto Korean oil and gas companies have a presence here as vendors and service providers whereas we really need them in the sector as investors and getting those investments into the country is going to be a major thrust area,” he said. He said Korea had made investments and entered into contracts with companies that have resources located much closer to India than they are to Korea.
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New Delhi, August 1 An internal committee headed by SEBI member Madhukar is giving final touches to the guidelines that would enable an investor to convert gold ornaments into tradeable mutual fund units and get a return on it. “We will come out with the guidelines on Gold ETF shortly,” a senior SEBI official told PTI confirming the move. Some of the mutual funds like UTI AMC are waiting for the SEBI regulations to launch the Gold ETF. UTI AMC is ready with the basic structure of the scheme but is unable to launch it till SEBI spells out the norms. The move assumes significance as it would allow an individual to get a capital appreciation from his or her gold assets even if the prices of gold falls over a period of time. GETF units, which can also be bought by pledging gold ornaments or paying cash, will give an opportunity to the common man to convert his units into gold as and when he or she desires. Mutual funds have to tie up with banks who could act as a “custodian” for exchanging the gold ornaments into units of Gold ETF. The custodian bank will have to carry out valuation of ornaments and provide GETF units for equivalent amount. Although the minimum investment for a GETF unit is yet to be ascertained, UTI AMC sources said it could be Rs 10 per unit as it is the case for any other mutual fund scheme. However, an investor who pledges gold ornaments to buy GETF units cannot get back the original ornaments. Instead, they would be offered gold bars or biscuits of equivalent value by the custodian bank. In his budget, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram proposed the concept of Gold ETF, which would change the role of gold from being a mere asset to a highly liquid and tradeable commodity. It will also boost the Rs 1,30,000 crore mutual fund industry, which relies mostly on bonds and equities as their investment avenues. SEBI, in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, is slated to come out with a guideline on GETF with gold as an underlying asset. — PTI
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Volkswagen project for AP, says envoy
Hyderabad, August 1 Volkswagen’s new representative for India Frank Elbe said today the automaker was keen to enter Indian market, notwithstanding the allegations of corruption that dogged the project in Andhra Pradesh. “My visit here is meant to confirm our sincere intentions and strong interest to enter Indian market. The project is temporarily put on hold because of the unfortunate activities involving Dr Schuster,” he said. The new adviser of the company met the Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, Industries Minister J Geetha Reddy and senior officials at secretariat here to discuss the fallout of the Schuster affair. It may be recalled that the earlier India representative Dr Helmuth Schuster floated a front company called Vashista Wahan and duped the AP Government to the tune of 2 million euros for the proposed joint venture company. Volkswagen AG has since communicated to the state government that the company would make good the loss suffered by the state due to the dubious activities of Dr Schuster. Volkswagen has decided to assume responsibility for the damage caused by Schuster’s illegal activities, Mr Elbe said at the joint press conference with Mr Reddy. He disclosed that the company had invited a team of Andhra Pradesh government officials to come to Wolfsberg, Volkswagen headquarters to discuss the project.
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Independent panel may probe ONGC fire
New Delhi, August 1 Talking to reporters here today, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said: “The ministry is considering to set up an independent committee to look into the tragic fire in Bombay High oilfields though ONGC has already instituted a three-member inquiry committee headed former ONGC CMD S.K. Manglik.” The issue of independent probe is also likely to be taken up for discussion in the meeting of Energy Coordination Committee called by Prime Minister on August 6. The industry experts said the departmental probe headed by former ONGC chief would not satisfy the stakeholders and the public since there is a need to look into the functioning of the organisation during his period.
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Pak wants Indian sugar
Karachi, August 1 Pakistan's attempts to check sugar prices that reached a four-year high in February have been thwarted by low rainfall, which is set to trim its crop by at least a fifth. Imports from other countries haven't been enough to make up the shortfall. ''We have decided to allow sugar imports from India, and a formal announcement in this regard is expected soon,'' a senior government official said. The decision was due to be approved on Tuesday at a meeting of Pakistan's Economic Co-ordination Committee, another official said, and the ban would probably be lifted immediately.
— Reuters
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NTPC to sign natural gas pact with RIL
Kolkata, August 1 "We will sign the gas supply contract with Reliance in August," NTPC Chairman and Managing Director C P Jain said during his recent visit to the city. He added that there were no major issues before them. When asked whether there would be any 'penalty' clause incorporated in the proposed contract for failing to meet the terms and conditions of gas supply, Jain said, "yes, there will be penalty clauses similar to other such contracts." There had been reports that RIL would only be able to commence supply of gas to NTPC before March 2008 against previous year 2006-07. Reacting to this, Jain said, "the orignal date for starting the gas supply was from 2008 so there is no such issue of delay." RIL was likely to take-up its shareholders approval for the gas supply contract with NTPC at their AGM to be held on August 3. Unconfirmed reports suggested that the delay in signing the contract was also due to the feud between the Ambani brothers which has now been settled amicably. Reliance had won a contract for supply of natural gas to NTPC for their two Gujarat-based power plants in Kawas and Jhanor Ghandar of 1300 MW each. NTPC was likely to sign a 17-year natural gas supply contract valued at $ 2.90 per million British Thermal Units from Reliance. — PTI
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Two-wheelers drive up the sales graph
New Delhi, August 1 Sales in the domestic market for the country’s biggest bike maker were up 61.6 per cent to 2,23,150 units from 1,38,038 units in July ‘04. Exports, on the other hand, were up 35.2 per cent to 6,900 units (5,103). The company’s sales in the first four months of the fiscal (April-July ’05) grew 12 per cent to 9,17,617 units (8,14,777). This included 8,81,176 units sold in the domestic market at a growth of 10.4 per cent. Bajaj Auto plan
Bajaj Auto, the country’s second- largest bike maker, today reported an 11.5 per cent rise in motor cycle sales in July at 1,15,216 units against 1,03,260 units in the same month last year. The company said total two-wheeler sales, including scooters, stood at 1,26,821 units in the month, up 5.6 per cent from 1,20,092 units in July ‘04. The company sold a total of 22,585 units of three-wheelers in the month at a growth of 4.3 per cent. Saying that it will launch a new bike model in January next year, the company said it was expanding motor cycle production to 2,00,000 units monthly from October this year. Overall sales for Bajaj Auto in July ‘05, including two- and three-wheelers, stood at 1,49,406 units against 1,41,743 units in the same month last year. Exports, who form a part of these figures, were, however, down 3.8 per cent to 14,698 units (15,279). “Heavy rains in Maharashtra took their toll on export dispatches…leading to a drop in volumes which are expected to recoup in August,” the company said.
TVS sales up
TVS Motor Co today said its two-wheeler sales in July increased by one per cent to 101,359 units from 100,224 units in the corresponding period last year. Motor cycle sales increased by 0.5 per cent to 53,215 units from 52,958 units a year ago, the company said. Sales of scooterettes increased by around 8 pc to 24,244 units from 22,501 units a year earlier.
— Agencies
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Corporate News
Wuxi, China, August 1 L&T will establish a wholly-owned foreign enterprise (WOFE) in the Wuxi New District, a national level hi-tech industrial park, in Jiangsu province to manufacture high-end Air Circuit Breakers. L&T signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Wuxi New District for the establishment of the greenfield manufacturing project. “To be built on a 30,000 square meter plot, the factory with state-of-the-art facilities for manufacture and testing of low voltage switchgear. Wipro Infotech eyes
Sri Lanka, Bangladesh
Wipro Infotech, the IT arm of New York Stock Exchange-listed Wipro Ltd, is planning to expand into Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to tap the growing telecom and banking market by leveraging on its expertise in system integration and IT managed services. “We have already started (in the direction of expanding into these two countries). We have identified segments that we want to get into,” Wipro Infotech Vice-President (Strategic Sales) Viswanathan K S said here.
Canadian firm McCain to enter Gujarat
McCain Foods India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canadian food major McCain Foods, will set up a Rs 70 crore potato processing plant in the Mehsana district of Gujarat. The plant would have an annual 30,000 tonne processing capacity and is scheduled to start production in second half of 2006. “This factory is designed to expand as we build our business and grow the marketplace for frozen potato products,” said Dale F. Morrison, President and CEO of McCain Foods. McCain Foods is world’s largest producer of French fries and potato specialties with sales over $ 6 billion.
— PTI
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Fiscal deficit Maruti sales up Cancellation fee Low-cost PC SAIL cuts prices Yes Bank profit Milkfed bags order from Army Bio-diesel trial by Merc makers Plea against new power tariff |
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