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Oil cos for Rs 3.25 hike in petrol, Rs
Oil surges to $ 66
Enfield unveils 2 variants
CEOs rate South better for business
Govt not to cut customs duty on cars,
India’s revised offer on services to WTO
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No proposal to restrict foreign banks' profit repatriation: FM
Santro gets dearer
India faces shortage of IT experts
Punjab waives interest on loans to industrialists
Punjab farmers to produce UB malt barley
World’s longest saree produced in TN
Faridabad to have industrial township
Debt burden growth moderate, says PC
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Oil cos for Rs 3.25 hike in petrol, Rs 4 in diesel
New Delhi, August 12 The ministry has urged the Cabinet to increase domestic fuel prices keeping in view the unprecedented surge in global prices and argued that all state-run oil marketing companies, including Indian Oil Corporation, BPCL, HPCL and IBP will turn sick if prices were not raised. Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar is also holding talks with the Left parties on the issue, which have so far opposed the move to increase petrol and diesel prices. They have called upon the government to cut excise and import duty to compensate the oil companies instead of burdening the public. According to the ministry's estimates, IOC's subsidiary IBP will be the first to turn financially sick by as early as next month as losses arising from freeze on fuel prices will erode its net worth. Bharat Petroleum Corporation will turn sick in just over a year from now and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation will take just 20 months to be referred to the Board of Industrial and Financial Restructuring, Petroleum Secretary S.C. Tripathi had written to the Cabinet Secretary B.K. Chaturvedi earlier this week. IOC, the country's biggest oil company, will turn sick in 35 months from now if petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene prices are not changed in line with the spurt in global oil prices. According to Tripathi's letter, IOC, which reported its first-ever net loss of Rs 54.2 crore in April-June quarter, suffered an estimated loss (including depreciation) of Rs 744 crore in July alone. BPCL netted a loss of Rs 400 crore over Rs 431.3 crore loss in first quarter, while HPCL saw Rs 475 crore loss in July on top of Rs 507.89 crore net loss of April-June quarter.
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Oil surges to $ 66
London, August 12 Earlier the International Atomic Energy Agency said non-OPEC output was falling short of expectations, compounding supply concerns. US light sweet crude was up by $ 1 at $ 65.90 at 9.10 pm. (IST after) hitting a record-high of $ 66 London Brent was up $ 1.55 at $ 65.54 after touching $ 65.66 yesterday.
— Reuters
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Enfield unveils 2 variants
New Delhi, August 12 At present the Chennai facility had a capacity of 3,000 units a month. “We have a target to increase the capacity to 50,000 per year,” Mr Lal said on the sidelines of the launch of two new Royal Enfield variants as part of the company’s 50-year celebrations. On the exports front, Mr Lal said the company was looking towards Pakistan and other SAARC countries as potential export markets.
Kinetic launch
AHMEDABAD: Kinetic Company, the Pune-based manufacturer of two-wheelers, on Friday launched a gearless scooterette ‘Kine’ here, priced at Rs 26,650. Launching the new model, Kinetic Joint Managing Director Sulajja Motwani said “the small Kinetic is well-priced compared to other gearless scooters and gives high mileage of 55-60 kmpl.”
— UNI
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CEOs rate South better for business
New Delhi, August 12 As many as 50 per cent of the CEOs felt that the political and bureaucratic system in the entire southern peninsular India, barring Kerala, is much more responsive to the needs and requirements of modern businesses and, therefore, assumes potential for exploration of larger business opportunities. “This phenomenon, however, is not available in the rest of the country”, survey said. All the CEOs were of the unanimous opinion that the southern states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra and Karnataka are acquiring potential to become preferred destinations for future business investments because of host of reasons which include good opportunity cost, conducive environment for conducting business as this part provide for perfect law and order situation and also offer a competitive labour force for modern businesses”, said ASSOCHAM President Mahendra K. Sanghi releasing the survey. As many as 40 per cent of the CEOs, however, felt that Kerala , richly endowed with natural resources and scenic beauty, could have become an abode for health tourism and even rubber and tea plantation but continuous lock-outs on account of labour unrest have often marred its economic potential. As many as 45 per cent of the CEOs, however, said the only hitch that presently was seen in this part which could always be improved and it was the infrastructure and state levies which needed a rationalisation in most of the southern states. In fact, 70 per cent of the CEOs expressed the opinion that if the southern part took bolder political decisions for privatisation and corporatisation of government -owned civic amenities facilities, including water supply, distribution and generation of electricity, incentives for the private sector’s involvement in building infrastructure, this part would beat the rest of India hollow in terms of cornering business opportunities. The survey said that 45 per cent expressed views saying that despite the fact that the northern part was filled with ample business opportunities, its political and bureaucratic set- up was too cumbersome to be cajoled. The political system allowed the business opportunities to be slipped off its hands in most northern regions which included states like Bihar, UP, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and even Delhi.
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Govt not to cut customs duty on cars, two-wheelers
New Delhi, August 12 “The government is not considering any cut in customs duty on cars and two-wheelers at present,” Mr Palanimanickam said in a written reply. Banking-outsourcing: In reply to another question, Mr Palanimanicakam said the RBI proposed to issue guidelines on outsourcing of financial services, taking into account the guiding principles of the Joint Forum of Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. New pension scheme: The minister said the state governments of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Uttar Pradesh and Assam had notified defined contributions pension schemes.
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India’s revised offer on services to WTO
New Delhi, August 12 This has offered commitments in a number of new sectors/sub sectors in mode 3, including architectural, integrated engineering and urban planning and landscape services; veterinary services; parts of distribution services; (excluding retail trade); additional sub sectors in construction and related engineering services and in tourism services; parts of educational services; life insurance services; services auxiliary to insurance; asset management services; part of recreational cultural and sporting services and part of air transport services. New commitments have also been offered in cross-border supply in other business services; professional services; research and development services; rental and leasing services; and real estate services, an official statement said. At the same time, improvements have been made in the existing mode 3 commitments by enhancing the foreign equity limit in engineering services; computer and related services (commitments have been proposed at the two digit level); research and development services; basic telecommunications; value-added telecommunications; construction and related engineering services etc. In banking services, wholly-owned subsidiaries have been allowed as a legal entity while in the case of non-banking financial activities, the foreign equity limits have been enhanced in the case of factoring, venture capital and financial leasing, the statement said. India had already made a substantial mode 4 offer in its initial offer by including all categories of natural persons that it has been presenting multilaterally like contractual service suppliers and independent professionals.
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No proposal to restrict foreign banks' profit repatriation: FM
New Delhi, August 12 As many as 30 foreign banks operating in India, repatriated to their respective head offices abroad an amount of Rs 390.37 crore, earned as a cummulative profit in 2002-03. This figure rose to Rs 901.61 crore in 2003-04. But their combined profit came down to Rs 297.47 crore last year (2004-05). The Finance Minister informed the Lok Sabha that Section
11(2)(b)(ii) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, itself provides that foreign banks have to keep 20 per cent of their net profit for the year in respect of all business transacted through their branches with the RBI either in cash or in the form of unencumbered approved securities or partly in cash and partly in the form of securities.
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Santro gets dearer
New Delhi, August 12 The price increase will come into effect on August 16, Hyundai said. Since the launch of Santro Xing in May, 2003, this is the third price increase, including the hike necessitated by the implementation of Euro III norms in February. The Santro variants, which will be affected by the price increase, are the Euro III Santro XK, XL and XG. The price of Santro XK has been hiked by Rs 6,000 to Rs 332,999, of Santro XL by Rs 10,000 to Rs 355,999 while Santro XG is costlier by Rs 11,000, with a price of Rs 378,999 (all ex-showroom Delhi).
— UNI
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India faces shortage of IT experts
Kolkata, August 12 Expressing serious concern that the outcome of this event might even lead to sudden halt of the phenomenal growth of the industry, Nasscom president Kiran Karnik said here today it was a matter of great regret that though thousands of IT students graduated in the country every year, only 8 to 9 per cent of them could be termed as experts. The situation further compounded as very few of them opted for the teaching profession, he said. As a result, India, considered to be the largest storehouse of good quality IT professionals in the world, could soon lose its reputation as well business to main competitors like China and some European countries, Mr Karnik observed.
— UNI
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Punjab waives interest on loans to industrialists
Chandigarh, August 12 The loans were sanctioned under the "Seed Margin Money Scheme" and the Integrated Rural Development Programme to small- scale industrial units. A spokesperson of the government said tonight that a notice would be published in the newspapers asking the industrialists to deposit the entire balance of principal amount of loan in one instalment within three months from the date of publication of notice. Those who have already deposited the entire principal amount of the loan or who deposit the same in future will gain and their cases would be closed. In a separate development, the Council of Ministers also gave its nod to consider approving the signing of memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Punjab Government and EMAAR MGF Land Private Limited for setting up integrated township projects, real estate development and infrastructure projects, including roads and mass rapid transportation systems at different locations in the state. The company has been allowed to invest Rs 4,000 crore by the Government of India.
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Punjab farmers to produce UB malt barley
Bangalore, August 12 UB Group CEO Kalyan Ganguly said the release of the malting barley to Punjab farmers had been made possible following research conducted by the UB group in association with Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. Mr Ganguly said UB had been in research activities for the development of malting barley varieties in India which presently were of feed type. For the past three
years, UB was working on different malting barley varieties of 2Row and 6Row in association with PAU. He said VJM 201 was a medium -tall, mid-maturing lodging resistant variety. It had uniform bold plump grains
and, as per PAU, was far better in malting quality. The state government started releasing VJM 201 to farmers this week.
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World’s longest saree produced in TN
Chennai, August 12 The saree measuring 1,276 feet (370 metres) and weighing 40 kg has been produced by the Tirunelveli-based “Pothys”. It eclipses the earlier record of 702 feet (234 m) set by another well-known textiles dealer RMKV Silks last year. A notable feature of the saree is that it has paintings depicting the Indian history from Mohanjadaro-Harappa to the country’s Independence. It’s intricately woven original gold zari and depicts famous monuments of the country, including the Parliament House, Taj Mahal, big temple of Thanjavur and Amritsar’s Golden Temple. Displaying the saree, Pothys, MD S. Ramesh said here today that the Guinness, in a communication dated July 12, had “accepted the record as an official Guiness World Record”. He said 10 weavers and as many painters took nearly four months to produce the saree. However, the entire process culminating in the longest saree took nearly an year. The cost of the saree was to the tune of Rs 22 lakh and it has a total of 141 oil paintings, 12 monuments in the “pallu”, he said.
— PTI
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Faridabad to have industrial township
New Delhi, August 12 Besides, he also announced bringing Metro to the industrial town and four-laning of the Gurgaon-Faridabad road as part of a plan to improve the infrastructure in the state. Mr Hooda was speaking at a function organised by the Faridabad Industries Association here. He invited private players to set up special economic zone in the state, assuring them of all government help in the task. He said a feasibility study for bringing Metro rail to Faridabad has been assigned to the RITES and further action in this regard will be taken after getting its report. The Chief Minister invited the mother units, which had left Gurgaon because of poor infrastructure, to come back, promising them all facilities. — UNI
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Debt burden growth moderate, says PC
New Delhi, August 12 The growth in debt burden is moderate at 64.11 per cent of the GDP during 2005-06 as compared to last year’s percentage of 63.74. Of the total debt burden of Rs 22,31,886 crore during (2005-06), Rs 14,06,525 crore is the internal liability. Last year’s total liabilities were Rs 19,81,514 crore with internal debt component of Rs 12,70,272 crore. However, total liabilities slightly came down to 62.92 per cent as compared to the country’s GDP in 2003-04. “The government has been following a comprehensive strategy to moderate growth in debt burden through a policy of fiscal rectitude, recourse to sources of lower cost borrowings and debt restructuring measures to reduce the carrying cost of outstanding debt”, the Minister said in a written reply.
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To invest Rs 25 cr, eyes Pak for export
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