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Govt to offload 8 pc equity in Maruti
CBI recovers Rs 5 cr of Volkswagen
scam money
ONGC strikes gas in Bay of Bengal
Crude prices may touch $ 90: Assocham
Cabinet okays C-DoT,
Alcatel wireless centre |
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Strike at Boeing to hit
production
Bharti to expand with Rs 1,500 cr investment
Rajasthan to come out with new tourism policy
Microsoft arm ties up with Hero Group co
Reliance Cap picks up stake in garment firm
TVS Motors unveils 2 bike variants, scooty
DoT order to TRAI
NTPC name change
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Govt to offload 8 pc equity in Maruti
New Delhi, September 2 The decision is being seen as a signal of the UPA Government’s intention to go ahead with divestment of government equity in companies that are not of strategic interest. The sale of 8 per cent equity in MUL would leave the government with a 10.28 per cent stake in the company. This 8 per cent equity would be offloaded to public sector financial institutions (including public sector banks) through competitive bidding, with the market price as the benchmark, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherkee said after the Cabinet meeting. “The unlocking of amount from non-strategic investment would thus mobilise resources to be utilised by the government in sectors that require attention on priority”, an official statement said. Initial estimates suggest that the government may get about Rs 1,000 crore through the sale of 8 per cent equity in the company. In May, 2003, the government held 13.23 crore shares of Rs.5 each (constituting 45.8 per cent of the MUL equity). In June, 2003, the government sold 7.94 crore shares (constituting 27.5 per cent of equity shares of MUL) in the domestic market through an initial public offering (IPO) at a price of Rs.125 per share. The government now holds residual shares of 18.28 per cent of the total MUL equity comprising 5,28,24,020 shares of Rs 5 each. Reuters adds: Mr Mukherjee said the government expected to raise Rs 9 billion to 10 billion ($ 205-228 million) from the sale. The money will enable the Congress-led coalition to help fund schemes for the poor at a time when it is facing stiff opposition from its communist allies to outright sales of stakes in state-held firms. The Indian government has said it expects a strain on its finances in the coming months due to challenges in finding resources to fund food-for-work and job guarantee plans. India has set a fiscal deficit target of 4.3 per cent of gross domestic product in the year to March 2006. But analysts say it will be an uphill task to stick to the target. Mr Mukherjee indicated the sum raised would not be used to bridge the federal fiscal deficit. Analysts said it was a desperate move by the government to raise funds. “It is an ingenious way to raise resources. They are hoping the communists will not create obstacles,” Mr Arun Kejriwal, chief of investment advisory KRIS, said. “This is not disinvestment in the strictest term of the word and it makes no difference to the markets as it does not create a floating pool of the stock immediately as the financial institutions are long-term investors.” The government said in early August it was abandoning plans to sell strategic, meaning controlling, stakes in 13 firms and it was also putting on hold sales of minority stakes in engineering firm Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. and Maruti. Maruti is a joint venture between Suzuki and the Indian government. It became a Suzuki subsidiary in May 2002 after the Indian government gave up its rights to a share issue as part of a privatisation plan.
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CBI recovers Rs 5 cr of Volkswagen
scam money
New Delhi, September 2 According to CBI spokesperson, the money was seized from George V. Joseph, who had borrowed it on interest from Jagdish Alagar Raja, a director of the Vasistha Wahan Company. During the probe, it was found that the money was lent by Raja to Joseph. When the CBI contacted Joseph, he handed over a draft of Rs 5 crore to the agency. This is part of Rs 11.7 crore which the Andhra Pradesh Government had given to the accused. During the investigation, it was revealed that Rs 3.6 crore had been transferred to an account of a firm in Germany. Dr Helmut Shuster, the India representative of the Germany car major Volkswagen, is suspected to be the beneficiary. Accused Raja and Shuster were hiding in British Virgin Islands and Germany, respectively. The AP Government had requested the CBI to register the case early last month. — UNI |
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ONGC strikes gas in Bay of Bengal
New Delhi, September 2 ONGC struck gas in the Krishna-Godavari Basin block KG-DWN-98/2, which lies adjacent to Reliance Industries’ D6 block, where 11.9 trillion cubic feet of certified in place gas reserves have been struck till date. Officials said the gas find could be at least half the size of Reliance discovery. “Its a good find. We have struck 60 meters thick gas pay zone (reserve strip) in one well.” Talking to reporters from Oslo, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, confirmed the gas find. However, ONGC officials said “lot of formalities have to be completed for an announcement about the potential reserves can be made.” “We are governed by the SEBI rules and reserves have to be first tested and then verified by Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (India’s upstream regulator) before they can be quantified and announcements made,” he said. ONGC had acquired 90 per cent stake in the Block KG-DWN-98/2 from Cairn Energy of UK for $ 135 million in 2004. Cairn Energy, which still holds 10 per cent stake, had in 2001 made oil and gas finds at four wells in the block. As per a PTI report, ONGC has tied up with Norway’s Norsk Hydro for bidding for oil properties in Gulf and Cuba. ONGC Videsh Ltd, the international arm of ONGC, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Norsk Hydro in Norway yesterday, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said from Oslo. Also on radar of OVL-Norsk Hydro is exploration acreage in Iran. “We have tied-up for E&P opportunities in third-world countries,” ONGC Director (offshore) N.K. Mitra said. Equity details of the joint venture have not been worked out, he said, but indicated that OVL would have 51 per cent and 49 per cent would be with the Norwegian firm. Mr Aiyar said the consortium of Indian Oil Corp and Oil India Ltd would also sign a similar pact with Statoil of Norway for bidding for oil properties in Africa and Russia. “A Statoil team is visiting India shortly to conclude the MoU with OIL-IOC combine,” he said.
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Crude prices may touch $ 90: Assocham
New Delhi, September 2 The paper `What’s Next for Big Oil Companies’ says that mounting pressure will keep coming on supplies of crude oil as a result of increasingly shrinking crude production the world over which will stagnate at 2 million barrels per day from 3 million barrels a day now in the near future. The rising pressure due to the decline of crude production per day and its increasing global demand, which will grow by 6 per cent per annum in the next one year, gives enough indications that the crude prices will stay at $ 90 a barrel, said ASSOCHAM President Mahendra K. Sanghi while releasing the paper here. |
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Cabinet okays C-DoT,
Alcatel wireless centre
New Delhi, September 2 Alcatel will hold 51 per cent equity ( Rs 106 crore) in the centre while the balance 49 per cent will be held by C-DoT, a leading telecom R&D institution of the government. This centre will work on broadband wireless solutions initially on WiMAX technology suitable for rural areas which will help in faster implementation of e-governance, e-education, e-health, e-agriculture and telemedicine initiatives in the rural sector. The centre would be set up within three months and an appropriate budget provision will be made for providing funds to C-DOT from 2005-06 to 2009-2010. In the current year, Rs.13 crore would be provided for the purpose. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the financial sanction of Rs.235 crore (at April ,2005, price level) for en-masse coolant channel replacement of the Narora Atomic Power Station - 1&2 involving an estimated completion cost ,including escalation etc., of Rs.247 crore. The Cabinet also approved the setting up of a wholly owned corporation (tentatively named as the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India) under the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance. The corporation would take over the assets, liabilities, functions and employees of all nine units as on September 30, 2005, or any other date fixed by the government. It would come into force with effect from October 1, 2005, or any other date decided by the government. The Cabinet also gave its approval for taking the existing employees of these units initially on a deputation basis in the new corporation for two years within which they will exercise their option for absorption in the corporation. The Cabinet also approved an interest- free loan in the form of working capital of Rs. 700 crore at the initial stage.
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Strike at Boeing to hit
production
Seattle, September 2 The strike affects about 18,400 machinists in the Seattle area, Wichita, Kansas, and Gresham, Oregon. In Wichita, 20-year Boeing employee Sandi Wiley said she wasn’t walking the picket line for herself but for her 8-year-old daughter, Leslie. “You do it for the next generation,” Wiley said. “I am worried she will have a worse standard of living than I have.” The machinists, who assemble Boeing’s commercial airplanes and some key components, voted overwhelmingly yesterday to strike, rejecting a three-year contract proposal their leaders called “insulting”. Boeing spokesman Charles Bickers said the strike meant the company would immediately stop assembling commercial airplanes, dealing a blow to the jet maker just as business at its commercial airplanes division appeared to be picking up. “If the company wants to talk, they can call me,” Mark Blondin, president of Seattle-based Machinists District Lodge 751, said after announcing 86 per cent approval for the strike authorisation. Under union rules, the contract would have been automatically ratified — and workers would have stayed on the job — unless two-thirds of the union members voted to strike. — AP |
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Bharti to expand with Rs 1,500 cr investment
New Delhi, September 2 The cities where Bharti is expanding services are Chandigarh, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Pune, Agra, Meerut, Ludhiana, Jaipur and Jalandhar. Speaking to newspersons here, Joint Managing Director of Bharti Tele-Ventures Rajan Bharti Mittal said the company’s cumulative investment on broadband and telephone services would amount to Rs 3,500 crore. The company, which presently has more than one million customers in the fixed line category, has set a target of achieving a subscriber base of 2.5 millions by March 2007. Nod awaited
Bharti is awaiting nod from the government to connect Pakistan on its fibre network, a move that will free the neighbouring country from depending on a single cable for its bandwidth requirements. “We have fibre almost close to the border...there is only 35-40 km left, where we have to put fibre, then India will be connected to
Pakistan. We are waiting for the government approval which is doing the security clearance. If this comes through, Pakistan can get bandwidth as much it wants from India as well,” Mr Badri Agarwal, President, Infotel business, Bharti Televentures, said today. |
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Rajasthan to come out with new tourism policy
Jaipur, September 2 This was announced today by the Rajasthan Chief Minister, Ms Vasundhara Raje, at the two-day national conference on Rajasthan tourism, which began here today. The conference is being organised by the Rajasthan Government in association with the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Ficci). The policy package, which is being given final touches, seeks to address the loss of share of Rajasthan in the country’s tourism pie and restore its primacy as a top tourism state. Ms Raje stated that the contours of the new policy includes ways to increase the number of hotel rooms through the setting up of land banks, declassification of land for hotels from the commercial to industrial category, creation of a district-wise inventory of tourism circuits and special desert tourism projects. She emphasised the need to improve international air connectivity with Rajasthan and said it was imperative for the Centre to announce Jaipur as an international airport. She also announced that 25 smaller airports in the state would be upgraded by expanding the airstrips to 6,000 feet to allow bigger aircraft to land. The state government, she said, was working on array of projects, which would support the main tourism infrastructure such as development of a sports city, heritage properties, and conversion and maintenance of state rest houses and forest rest houses for adding to the availability of rooms. The CM also released a study titled, “New Opportunities for Investments in Tourism Infrastructure & Marketing in Rajasthan,” made by Ficci. Mr M. F. Moloi, South African High Commissioner to India, who was also present on the occasion, spoke of the South African initiatives in developing tourism and opined that India was not marketing itself aggressively overseas. Mr Onkar S. Kanwar, President, Ficci, underlined the need to aggressively market Rajasthan as a tourist hub.
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Microsoft arm ties up with Hero Group co
Ludhiana, September 2 Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS), a part of Microsoft India, announced its entry into the state by establishing a tie-up with the Hero Group’s company, Munjal e-systems. The company has launched Microsoft Business Solution-Navison 4.0, a business solution that targets manufacturing industry including auto ancillary units, apparel and textile industry here. “Munjal e-systems has a strong presence here, which would help us reach out to these target groups. Through the tie up we would be able to provide specialised services to local manufacturers,” said Mr Sushant Dwivedi, Business Group Head, Microsoft Business Solutions, while talking to The Tribune here today. Mr Dwivedi was in the city to attend an industry seminar. Explaining about the product, he said Navison was ideal for companies looking for a solution they could implement, customise and maintain with a minimal disruption to their business. “It would help them improve business efficiency, streamline business processes and emerge effective amid competition.” The product targets mid-market companies, for which MBS has identified pockets in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra. He said Microsoft would also focus on marketing of its business solutions in the coming days.
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Reliance Cap picks up stake in garment firm
Mumbai, September 2 “Reliance Capital has picked up a 13.2 per cent equity stake in Celebrity Fashions Ltd, for a total value of Rs 15.48 crore,” Chairman and Managing Director of Celebrity V. Rajagopal said in a statement
here. The Rs 140-crore Celebrity Fashions Group consists of two divisions, Indian Terrain-catering to the domestic market under the brand ‘Indian Terrian’ and Celebrity Fashions Ltd.
RIL to appeal
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) will shortly file an appeal against the whopping Rs 10,500 crore demand notice issued by the Central excise for alleged evasion of duties from RIL’s Jamnagar refinery. According to sources, it could be filed in a couple of days.
— Agencies
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TVS Motors unveils 2 bike variants, scooty
Mumbai, September 2 The Victor EDGE is a new variant of TVS Victor 125cc motor cycle priced at Rs 40,900 and Star City mobike with an 100cc engine sports a price tag of Rs 33,000 and Scooty Pep+, targeted at young girls, with a 90cc engine has been priced at Rs 34,000. TVS Motors’ Vice-President — (Marketing) Prasad Narasimhan said the company expected to achieve a growth in sales between 25-30 per cent egged by the launch of these new products. The company was poised to sell about 30,000 to 32,000 Victor variant bikes this fiscal as against 20,000 last year.
— UNI
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DoT order to TRAI
New Delhi, September 2 In a letter to TRAI Chairman Pradip
Baijal, the Department of Telecom Secretary, Mr J.S. Sarma, said TRAI should give its views on the issue within a week detailing various aspects of the ADC. Earlier, the DoT was contemplating issuing a directive to TRAI under Section 25 of the TRAI Act. |
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NTPC name change
New Delhi, September 2
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Inflation at 3.08 pc Pantaloon’s pact Phoenix bonus ‘Healthy oil’ launched LIC gives loan to HP power board |
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