RIL to acquire stake in REL
Mumbai, August 5
Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries Limited has proposed to acquire 37.95 per cent stake in Reliance Energy Ltd from Reliance Power Ventures Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RIL.

• RIL offers discount

• Demerger decision

Coop sugar mills take government head-on
Chandigarh, August 5
Taking an unprecedented and bold decision, the management of the Batala cooperative sugar mill has returned the Punjab Government’s share capital of Rs 84 lakh to counter the government’s move to sell the cooperative sugar mills.

A model displays a diamond-encrusted design during a media preview in Hong Kong on Friday. The design by top Hong Kong designer Bonita Cheung entitled Le Papillion (the butterfly) features over 2,000 round diamonds with a combined total of over 300 carats and a weight of 1.5 kg valued at over HK $ 7.8 million ($ 1 million). — AFP

Honda may foray into aircraft business
Tokyo, August 5
Honda Motor Co., which is developing an engine for small planes with General Electric, said it might start selling its small jet plane in three years time, marking its first foray into the aircraft business.

Kamal Nath not for FBT
Chennai, August 5
Union Commerce and Industries Minister M. Kamal Nath does not agree with his Cabinet colleague Mr. P. Chidambaram on the controversial fringe benefit tax (FBT) introduced by the latter during the last budget and felt it was affecting industry.

Combined fiscal deficit down to 7.9 per cent
New Delhi, August 5
The combined fiscal deficit of the Centre and states has been estimated at 7.9 per cent of GDP in 2004-05 — down from 9.4 per cent of GDP in the previous fiscal year.

Exit policy for weak coop
banks on anvil
Hyderabad, August 5
The Reserve Bank of India is chalking out a
''non-disruptive exit policy'' for weak urban cooperative banks in the country, RBI Governor Venugopal Reddy said today.

Austrian firm acquires ECAD Technologies
Bangalore, August 5
Austria-based manufacturer of branded circuit boards, Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik AG has acquired ECAD Technologies, a Bangalore-based IT company, for a total consideration of Rs 7.5 crore, it was announced today.

• Graphic: India's trade with Pakistan

Rs 700 cr revival package for HMT on cards
MoU with Mitsubishi to make multi-utility vehicles at Pinjore likely
Manoj Kumar
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 5
Amid controversy of disinvestment of government’s stake in the state-owned navratna BHEL, Ministry of Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises has proposed a financial package of around Rs 700 crore to revive the HMT Ltd and some of its subsidiaries.

“We are working on a financial package to revive the HMT Ltd and some of its subsidiaries since it has already come out of red. The financial package will include waiver of earlier loans and new loans for expansion and upgradation purposes besides funds for infusion of additional equity,” said Mr Santosh Mohan Dev, while speaking on the sidelines of a conference on “Corporate Governance” organised by Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE) here today.

He claimed that the ministry was studying the feasibility of reviving some of those sick companies, which have potential to survive and grow by infusion of fresh funds and through financial restructuring.

Mr Priyardarshi Thakur, Secretary, Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises disclosed that Ministry’s proposal of Rs 735 crore financial package is likely to be cleared by the Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises in the next two months. After that package would be submitted to the Cabinet for final clearance.

He said the government is quite serious in reviving the manufacturing plants of the HMT Ltd in Pinjore and Chennai since the company has already gone through financial restructuring and brought down the employees’ strength.

Significantly, the previous BJP led NDA government had proposed to disinvest its stake in the company. But the UPA government has decided to revive those sick units, which have the potential.

Mr Thakur disclosed that HMT Ltd. is also likely to sign an MoU with the Japanese giant, Mitsubishi to manufacture multi-utility vehicles (MUVs) for the rural areas. A company delegation from Japan is coming this month to finalise the deal, he said.

As part of the revival package, he said, the company is already selling its surplus land in Chennai, besides offering VRS to the surplus staff to bring down administrative costs. It has also introduced new models and brought down the cost of production.

Incidentally, HMT has reported a net profit of Rs 5.98 crore during 2004-05 as against as compared to a net loss of Rs 7.97 crore for the year ended March 31, 2004.

After the good monsoon and substantial increase in agriculture credit, the company is looking forward for a good financial year. As part of its strategy to increase its market share, the company has launched HMT Yuva-a 25 hp tractor at a price of Rs 1.85 lakh.

HMT has a capacity to produce 20,000 tractors ranging from 25 HP to 75 HP. The company is also focussing heavily on research and development.

Mr Thakur added that after studying the economic factors, both the companies might decide to manufacture MUVs at Pinjore unit. Earlier, the minister informed that disinvestment of BHEL has been put on hold while a decision to sell stake in Tide Water Oil will depend on the recommendations of the Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises.

“We are a transparent government. We will look at all objections to sale of government shares in BHEL. We do not want to steamroll our way. Till the consultations are over we would not go ahead with the sale of BHEL shares,” the minister said.

On the sale of remaining stake in Maruti, Dev said “it is not in my pocket”.

Petition challenges sops to pharma units in HP

Ahmedabad, August 5
A Division Bench of Gujarat High Court has admitted a writ petition challenging total exemption from excise duty granted to pharmaceutical units located in Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal.

In response to the petition filed by the Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association-Gujarat State Board (IDMA-GSB), the Bench comprising Justice G.S. Sanghvi and Justice Anant Dave has directed the Union Finance Ministry, Central Excise Board and the Gujarat Government to respond within a month.

Mr Devan Parikh, appearing on behalf of IDMA-GSB, contended that the said notification, imposing Maximum Retail Price (MRP) base value on pharmaceutical products is violative of Article 14 on the grounds that it discriminates against the pharma units situated in other states.

He also contended that the notification is violative of fundamental rights under Article 19 (1)(G), which guarantees freedom of business, trade and profession in any part of the country. — UNI

Ranbaxy plans plant at Lalru
Poonam Batth
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 5
Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd will be injecting a sum of Rs 365 crore for upgrading its existing bulk drug manufacturing plants in Mohali and Toansa, besides setting up a new one at Lalru. Following the Punjab Government’s nod under the mega projects scheme, the company has chalked out major expansion plans over the next five years.

The company is targetting significant business in proprietary products by 2012 with a strong presence in the developed export markets. For achieving this, the existing manufacturing facilities, both dosage and active pharmaceutical ingredients ( API), at the existing three sites in the state would be upgraded. The company, which already has the requisite permissions and licence, had sought exemptions under the mega project scheme from the state government.

Sources in the Industries Department disclosed that Rs 104 cr would be spent on setting up the new formulation plant in Phase VIII -A, Mohali, to cater to the growing demand of the export markets.

At Toansa in Nawanshahr district, the company plans to provide additional infrastructure and replace old products with the new ones by investing another Rs 107 crore. It already has a plant of active pharmaceutical ingredients here.

A new plant manufacturing active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) is being set up at Lalru in Patiala district at a cost of Rs 152 crore to meet the captive requirements of the export market. It will go on stream by 2007 and would focus on exports.

Sources in Ranbaxy pointed out that the company has 80 acres of land available at Mohali, another 40 acres at Lalru while additional infrastructure required at Toansa would be provided for at the existing site by the year-end.

The expansion of these manufacturing facilities would provide employment to another 1,000 people. As of now, 1,500 people are directly employed while 4,00 others are employed indirectly. 

Birlas consolidate Pilani holding

Kolkata, August 5
Patriarch of the Birla family Basanta Kumar Birla today said that he was not worried about the 25 per cent stake held by Rajendra Lodha-controlled M.P. Birla group in Pilani Investments as he and his grandson Kumarmangalam Birla had now consolidated their position in the family holding company.

“It (Lodha’s stake in Pilani) does not worry me at all because we now have more than 50 per cent stake in Pilani, but I am sure we are going to fight him out in court,” B K Birla told PTI here today.

Birla’s comments came a day after he and Kumarmangalam signed an agreement to buy out the combined 27 per cent stake of G P Birla-C K Birla and S K Birla groups.

B K Birla said the total cost of the buy out was around Rs 300 crore at Rs 1,500 per share of Pilani and it was entirely funded by Kumarmangalam, who headed the Aditya Birla group, the largest Birla empire.

He also said that he had received a definite commitment from his elder brother K.K. Birla for selling his little above 7 pc stake to him at a later date. — PTI

Education cess makes govt richer by 5,010 cr
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 5
The government has collected an estimated Rs 5,010 crore under education cess in 2004-05, the Lok Sabha was informed today.

In a written reply, Minister of State for Finance S.S. Palanimanickam said the receipts from the cess are to be utilised exclusively for elementary education, including Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and mid-day meal scheme.

Allocations to the states are not being made separately against the cess but released under the individual schemes related to elementary education in accordance with the guidelines of such schemes. Budget Estimates of 2005-06 assumes Rs. 6975 crore as receipts from education cess.

In reply to a separate question, the minister said that for the period 2004-05, the tax/GDP ratio for direct taxes provisionally works out to 4.24 per cent whereas in case of indirect taxes, it is 5.51 per cent.

“The consistent increase in direct tax/indirect tax collections is a combined result of various economic factors as well as legislative and administrative measures taken by the Government including widening of tax-base and rationalization of tax rates. However, it is not feasible to ascertain in revenue collection attributes to individual factors,” he said.

The minister also informed the Lok Sabha that as per the extant policy, corporates registered under the Companies Act, 1956, (except financial intermediaries such as banks, financial institutions (FIs), are eligible borrowers to raise ECB. 

Centre plans $ 3-4 bn investment in
semiconductor units

Kolkata, August 5
The Centre has planned to set up five semiconductor fabrication units through collaboration with a US firm and state governments to boost the IT and communication network in the country, Communications and IT Minister Dayanidhi Maran said today.

"We have many applications of semiconductor fabrication (in IT and communication sectors), but there is no fabrication plant so far. The government wants to set up four-five such units through a joint venture with Indian Equipment Manufacturing Company (IEMC)," he said after inaugurating Xenitis Infotech's hardware component unit at Chinsurah near here.

He said the Centre would join hands with US-based IEMC for the venture, which would require an investment of $ 3 to 4 billion.

Stating that IEMC had collaboration with IBM, the technology solution provider, for 16-40 micron semiconductor fabrication, he said the Centre had held talks with the company and started the process of setting up such units here in the last week.

Besides semiconductor units, the Centre has also planned to launch a Rs 2,500-crore e-governance scheme through setting up of 'common service centres' in villages, where the rural populace can avail all relevant public records and documents.

The Minister said the project would be ready by October and would cover 1 lakh villages out of the total 6 lakh villages in the country in the next three years. — PTI

RIL to acquire stake in REL

Mumbai, August 5
Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries Limited has proposed to acquire 37.95 per cent stake in Reliance Energy Ltd from Reliance Power Ventures Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RIL.

The date of the proposed acquisition of 7.57 crore shares is on or after August 12, 2005 and the mode of proposed acquisition is inter-se transfer amongst promoters under regulation 3(1)(e) of SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 1997, REL informed the National Stock Exchange (NSE) here.

The acquisition price per share is Rs 351.69 and the shareholding of Reliance Industries Limited after the proposed acquisition will be 9.09 crore shares aggregating 45.55 per cent of the paid-up share capital of Reliance Energy Limited, it said.

RIL offers discount

Reliance Industries has offered discounts worth Rs 1,500 crore to the companies which buy products from it for retail sale.

"Reliance has offered discounts up to Rs 1,500 crore to all marketing companies which buys products from it," IndianOil Corporation Chairman Sarthak Behuria said on the sidelines of a Directors' Certification Programme on corporate governance organised by Standing Conference on Public Enterprises.

Of the total Rs 1,500 crore discount that the Reliance will offer, IOC will get Rs 800 crore, he said.

Demerger decision

Amid a surge in share prices of companies held by Ambani brothers on the reports of demerger of some businesses in Reliance Industries, the flagship company headed by Mukesh today said no final decision had been taken so far on the issue.

In the communication to the BSE, RIL said "in respect of the media reports about the demerger of power business, financial services business and telecommunication services businesses from the company, the Board of Directors of the company would consider the scheme relating to the proposed demerger at a meeting proposed to be held on August 5. — PTI

Coop sugar mills take government head-on
Sarbjit Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 5
Taking an unprecedented and bold decision, the management of the Batala cooperative sugar mill has returned the Punjab Government’s share capital of Rs 84 lakh to counter the government’s move to sell the cooperative sugar mills. And the management of the Gurdaspur cooperative sugar mill has passed a resolution authorising its top brass to return the government share capital of Rs 1.23 crore at an appropriate time. Further, there are managements of certain other cooperative sugar mills, which are contemplating similar action.

This is the first time in the state that the sugar mills have taken such bold decisions to break free from the tight bureaucratic and official control over the cooperative institutions. These cooperative institutions do not have the freedom even to take minor decisions at their own level. The officers of the Cooperation Department are so powerful that they can demolish any elected cooperative body by wielding the stick of cooperative rules.

The state government had been exploiting these cooperative sugar mills for the past several years by making them sell the molasses at a controlled low rate to distilleries to manufacture liquor thus causing loss worth several crores of rupees every season.

The government earns about Rs 1,400 crore every year from the sale of alcohol. However, this year, the government has allowed them to sell 2 lakh quintals of molasses in the open market, perhaps, because of the declining demand for molasses from distilleries, which has started using various grains to manufacture alcohol.

Asked regarding the return of share capital, the authorities concerned in Sugarfed, a state Government organisation, confirmed that the Batala sugar mill had returned the money. However, what action is to be taken in this connection is yet to be decided by the government, it is learnt.

The Batala sugar mill, which recorded a best sugar recovery of 10.68 per cent, had recorded a net profit 4.33 crore during the last cane-crushing season that ended in March this year. With the return of the government’s capital, the mill has become the first “fully peoples’ cooperative institution” having no government share. 

Honda may foray into aircraft business

Tokyo, August 5
Honda Motor Co., which is developing an engine for small planes with General Electric, said it might start selling its small jet plane in three years time, marking its first foray into the aircraft business.

The sale of the plane ``will be in at least two to three years,'' company president Takeo Fukui said. “It usually takes at least three years to get an approval for an aircraft for sale from the US aviation bureau,” he said.

Honda on July 28 conducted the first public test flight of its experimental small jet plane at a Wisconsin air show.

Meanwhile, despite the unrest at a Honda factory near Delhi, the chief of Honda Motor says India carries fewer risks than China due to its relative political transparency and lack of anti-Japanese sentiment.

Mr Takeo Fukui in an interview with Japanese media also said China, for all of its economic growth, was just beginning to come of age as a hub to produce cars for export. — Agencies

Kamal Nath not for FBT
Tribune News Service

Combined fiscal deficit down to 7.9 per cent
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 5
The combined fiscal deficit of the Centre and states has been estimated at 7.9 per cent of GDP in 2004-05 — down from 9.4 per cent of GDP in the previous fiscal year.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that as per the provisional Union Government Accounts for 2004-05, fiscal deficit of the Centre stood at Rs 1,27,975 crore which is equivalent to 4.1 per cent of the GDP.

The Finance Minister said in his reply that the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBMA), 2003, mandates the Central Government to eliminate the revenue deficit and reduce the fiscal deficit to not more than three per cent of GDP by end-March 2009.

Exit policy for weak coop banks on anvil

Hyderabad, August 5
The Reserve Bank of India is chalking out a ''non-disruptive exit policy'' for weak urban cooperative banks in the country, RBI Governor Venugopal Reddy said today.

''The non-disruptive exit policy will enable the account holders to get back their money when a weak urban cooperative bank closes down'', he told a press conference here.

Appreciating Andhra Pradesh for becoming the first state in the country to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the RBI, Mr Reddy, who was here to inaugurate the meeting of six-member Task Force for Cooperative Urban Banks (Tafcub) constituted to strengthen the cooperative urban banks, said a majority of urban cooperative banks were healthy.

Gujarat was the second state to enter into MoU with the RBI, he said and added it was looking at four or five southern and western states, which accounted for 70 per cent of urban cooperative banks in the country.

It was developing a vision document for streamlining the functioning of these banks, he said adding that already a draft document had been put on the website.

''I will not brand any bank as hopeless before the TAFCUB makes a study'', he said.

The Tafcub would study the unique circumstances of each bank and suggest mergers or acquisitions wherever necessary. — UNI

Corporate news
Austrian firm acquires ECAD Technologies

Bangalore, August 5
Austria-based manufacturer of branded circuit boards, Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik AG (AT&S) has acquired ECAD Technologies, a Bangalore-based IT company, for a total consideration of Rs 7.5 crore, it was announced today. SIDBI Venture Capital Ltd (SVCL) and Karnataka IT Venture Capital Fund (Kitven) had invested Rs two crore and Rs 1 crore, respectively, in ECAD over a period from 2001 and “now they have exited”, officials told a news conference here.

Escorts reports loss

Escorts Ltd today reported loss after tax of Rs 57.38 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2005, as compared to a loss after tax of Rs 46.70 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Total income has decreased to Rs 248.81 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2005 from Rs 257.14 crore in the year-ago period, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Tata AIG Life

Tata AIG Life Insurance Company Ltd has infused Rs 60 crore to its share capital taking it to Rs 381 crore. This additional capital would further strengthen the company’s solvency requirements and ensure that it would meet the capital adequacy norms required for growth plans, Tata AIG said in a press note here today.

Tata AIG Chairman Farrokh Kavarana said the company has struck a balance between capital utilisation and growth in the interest of stakeholders and customers.

Simplex offloads stake

Simplex Concrete Piles Ltd is to make a preferential allotment of 12.85 lakh shares aggregating Rs 93.32 crore to Mauritius-based Beethoven Ltd, amounting to about 14.99 per cent stake in the infrastructure company.

In a meeting today, the board approved proposal to issue 12,85,000 shares of face value of Rs 10 at a price of Rs 726.30 per share to Beethoven Ltd on a preferential basis, the company said in a statement here today. — Agencies

BRIEFLY

Inflation falls
New Delhi, August 5
Reversing its upward trend, inflation fell to a two-year low of 4.07 per cent in the week ended July 23 due to cheaper food products even as prices shot up for minerals, including iron ore. The point-to-point Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation fell by 0.11 per cent to 4.07 per cent from the previous week’s level of 4.18 per cent with vegetables and fruits becoming cheaper. — PTI

Visit to China
New Delhi, August 5
After facing stiff pressure from the US in the hydrocarbon sector, India and China seem to have decided to get closer to each other to explore jointly the vast potential in energy sector, including bidding for exploration in Central Asia and Western Africa together. A delegation of task force of Petroleum Ministry led by Additional Secretary (International Operations) Talmiz Ahmed and representatives of oil companies including IndianOil Corporation (IOC), ONGC, GAIL, Petroleum University, Dehradun, will leave for a five-day visit to China on August 7. — TNS

News Corp
New York, August 5
News Corp’s newly-formed Fox Interactive Media purchased privately owned online sports company Scout Media Inc., the company said on Thursday. The purchase is part of an Internet acquisitions binge that has seen it recently spend $580 million to buy social networking company Intermix Media Inc. Financial terms were not disclosed. Scout’s network of sports Websites consists of 200 local, team-focused sites and 47 publications that cover professional, college and high school team sports. — Reuters

Interim dividend
New Delhi, August 5
Colgate Palmolive (India) Ltd today declared an interim dividend of 27.5 per cent for the financial year 2005-06. The board of directors declared 27.5 per cent interim dividend per equity share of Rs 10, payable on August 26, 2005, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange. The dividend would be paid on the paid-up equity share capital of Rs 135.99 crore involving a total pay-out of Rs 43 crore, it said. — PTI

Gems for Dubai
Mumbai, August 5
India’s high-end diamond brands, Nakshatra and Asmi, are all set to be launched in the Middle-East by D’damas, the largest jewellery retailer in the Middle East, in association with the city-based Gitanjali Group. Under the retail tie-up, Dubai-based D’damas would launch Nakshatra and Asmi in Dubai making them the first Indian jewellery brands to go global. — UNI

ICI to bag HLL stake 
Kolkata, August 5 
ICI India Limited, a diversified company in the paints and chemicals business, would buy out Hindustan Lever Limited's (HLL) stake in Quest India International Ltd, a joint venture between the two companies. ICI India chief financial officer M R Rajaram said HLL's 49 per cent stake in the JV would be bought out by March next. ICI India holds 51 per cent in Quest India. — PTI

Microsoft COO
Seattle, August 5
Microsoft Corp. appointed Kevin Turner, a top executive at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., as its new Chief Operating Officer, the world’s largest software maker said on Thursday. The appointment of Turner, 40, who will be in charge of Microsoft’s global sales, marketing and service operations, is part of a wider reorganisation of executive positions. — Reuters