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Deb rejects Aiyar’s proposal
Mega projects: HP to set up jv with ILFS
TRAI disallows tariff plans with misleading titles
DLF to develop SEZ at Amritsar
Pak no to Indian imports
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Nobel winner asks India to tax farm income
ONGC gets Rs 761.6 cr BHN insurance claim
Managing Director and CEO New Holland Tractors India Mario Gasparri poses with newly unveiled tractor in New Delhi on Friday. — Tribune photo
Rural traders’ training centre for Mohali
National Steel to raise Rs 411.6 cr
European stocks on 40-month high
Corporatisation of LSE approved
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Deb rejects Aiyar’s proposal
New Delhi, September 16 The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) under the Ministry of Heavy Industries headed by Mr Santosh Mohan Deb, has shot down the proposal of Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar for appointing his nominees, mostly Congress politicians, on the Boards of 12 oil PSU under the administrative control of his ministry. Mr Aiyar, who has often criticised the CMDs of the ONGC and the IOC for their “ lack of vision and unsatisfactory performance at his press briefings, had recommended the appointment of former Indian Youth Congress President Manish Tiwari, Indian National Trade Union Congress Vice-President Paban Singh Ghatowar, Gujarat Congress leader Naresh Rawal on the ONGC Board as independent Directors. Sidelining the DPE’s panel of eminent professionals and technocrats, the Petroleum Ministry had on August 30 submitted a panel of 35 candidates, mostly Congress politicians, for consideration of the DPE’s Search Committee for appointment as independent Directors on 12 entities under it. These include GAIL (India ) Ltd, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum, HPCL and Oil India. Official sources said the DPE has rejected Petroleum Ministry’s nominees for appointment as independent Directors on the Boards of public sector oil firms, saying that the candidates did not fulfil the eligibility criteria. A senior official said: “ the file of the Petroleum Ministry has been sent back.” The Left Parties and industry chambers have also criticised the move of the Petroleum Minister to appoint political persons as independent Directors on the PSU boards. “The politicians have already destroyed the cooperatives in the state. Does the Petroleum Minister want to destroy the public sector navratnas, facing losses due to his defective policies in the oil sector?” said an office- bearer of an industry chamber. As per the present guidelines ,only senior bureaucrats - having served not less than 10 years as a Joint Secretary - or university professors, technocrats, institute heads and corporate leaders, could be appointed as independent Directors on the PSU Boards. The Oil Ministry restricted professionals to barely one for each PSU and has suggested filling the remaining seats with politicians, the sources said. As per Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement, which mandates that independent Directors should comprise at least 50 per cent of the Board of a company, the government has to appoint independent Directors before December 31. Interestingly, the ministry’s panel, which included ex-MPs and MLAs, Congress party spokesperson and leaders of the youth and women wings of the party, was rejected at the initial screening by the DPE. Madhya Pradesh Mahila Congress President Shobha Oza, All- India Mahila Congress Secretary Indu Singh Pawar and party spokesperson Wasim Ahmed were nominated for Indian Oil Corp (IOC). Ex-MP Vishu Prasad and former Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Mahendra Boddh were nominated for Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd. Former Mumbai mayor Nirmla Sawant Prabghawalkar and party office-bearers Virendra Nath Singh and Mritunjay Naik were named for Hindustan Petroelum Corp Ltd.
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2 politicians suggested for BHEL
Even before the propose appointment of politicians as independent Directors on the Boards of cash rich oil PSUs, the government sent the names of two politicians, including a former MP, for placing them on the BHEL Board which was in news for the controversial disinvestment proposal.
Against the three vacancies for independent directors on the BHEL Board the administrative ministry had recommended three names, which included two politicians. “One person nominated for the post of independent Director is a special invitee to the All-India Congress Committee and the other is a former MP, informed sources said. The third person nominated for the post was a qualified chartered accountant. At present, BHEL has only one independent Director, four functional Directors and two government Directors.
— PTI
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Mega projects: HP to set up jv with ILFS
Shimla, September 16 The agreement for the proposed tieup with the ILFS was likely be signed next month. The new joint venture company will be started with an equity of Rs 10 crore with both partners contributing Rs 5 crore each. The company will be headed by the Chief Secretary. The State Infrastructure Development Board will participate in the joint venture. The new company will carry out all spadework for about 12 mega projects like the Shimla-Parwanoo and Dharamsala-Una express highways. After which global tenders will floated to award the projects on a build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis. The company will also work out ways and means to ensure the economic feasibility of projects. The cost of a project is recovered by imposing a reasonable toll. However, if it is not enough to recover the investment made, the government will provide the necessary funds to bridge the viability gap. Besides the Shimla-Kalka and Una-Dharamsala express highways, the Kiratpur-Manali and Rohru- Solan highways are also proposed to be constructed. The Shimla-Parwanoo highway for which the Union Ministry of Surface Transport has already prepared a Rs 867-crore four-laning project will be taken up first. The emphasis will be on reducing the travel time. The four-laning involves boring of 11 tunnels between Maliana (Shimla) and Kothi to reduce the distance by 19 km.
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TRAI disallows tariff plans with misleading titles
New Delhi, September 16 “The direction comes in the context of the fact that tariff plans with misleading titles like ‘zero rental’ have mushroomed in the market,” the regulator said in a statement. “The authority is of the view that such tariff plans, which are of misleading nature or having the potential to mislead the subscribers, will be considered as lacking in transparency and the service providers should be prohibited from offering such plans,” it said. The regulator said it intends to put an end to the practice of operators splitting the monthly fixed charges. “When all fixed charges are clubbed under one head, it would be easy for the subscriber to make a choice from among all tariff plans available in the market,” the statement said. TRAI has observed that the tariff plans offered in the market today have monthly fixed charges levied under different sub-heads. Thus, a particular tariff plan, in addition to monthly rental may have plan fee, club membership fee or a fixed charge for compulsory value added services.
— PTI
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DLF to develop SEZ at Amritsar
Chandigarh, September 16 The Punjab Government had initially selected four major companies out of which only DLF submitted its final proposal to the government at the end of the deadline yesterday evening. The company will develop the SEZ using its own money but the Punjab Government shall extend cooperation in case some emergent land acquisition was required. The other three companies initially selected along with DLF, backed out and withdrew their proposals. The PMO has been informed about it while the government wanted to show some result before the assembly session on October 5. The Punjab Government will waive off various taxes and also the stamp duty, an indirect benefit to the DLF. The state will not acquire land and the DLF will buy its own land from farmers. However, in case, an emergent situation arises the state shall enforce the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, to take over land from farmers. The area of the SEZ will be between 500 acres and 1,000 acres. This will depend on the availability of land and also buying capacity of the DLF. SEZ status allows several waivers and also taxation benefits from the Central Government. The Amritsar SEZ will be for three products — light engineering, textiles and food processing, the last one being vital for Punjab. The SEZ -based units can also process fruit, said an official. Textiles is another segment Punjab was keen on developing. The Dalmia group has shown interest on setting up a textile unit.
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Pak no to Indian imports
Islamabad, September 16 A number of Pakistan importers said their inability to get the goods at rates cheaper than India and several other factors have discouraged them and they are not opening up fresh Letters of Credit (LoC) at present. Importers of sugar from India are also not in a mood to place further orders to Indian traders after import of 1,900 metric tonnes two weeks earlier, a media report said. Importers of Indian goats have stopped further import after noting that each goat from India cost them around Rs 250 per kg compared to the local availability of meat at Rs 220 at the maximum. The impact of import from India, besides other channels, was that the prices haven’t increased further and they are stabilised at a certain level, though still not within the buying capacity of middle class, importers told the ‘Daily Times’. They said the prices might jump further with the excessive demand during Ramadan. Pakistan has permitted duty free import of garlic, onions, potatoes, meat, tomatoes and sugar in order to bring down the prices at home.
Says no to Indian know-how
Apparently unhappy over its steel industrialists placing huge import orders for iron ore machinery, Pakistan has restrained local steel industry from acquiring technology from India and instead directed them to explore possibilities of getting the required technique from China. At a meeting with local steel industrialists in Karachi, top officials of the ministry of industry and production appeared dissatisfied with the increasing cooperation between Indian and Pakistani industrialists, a report in ‘Daily Times’ said today. “The ministry has suggested to us to explore Chinese steel industry to acquire technology. The ministry did not deny us NOC (no-objection certificate) to sign business deals with the Indian industry but it is not preferring to have Indian technology,” an industrialist said.
— PTI
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Nobel winner asks India to tax farm income
New Delhi, September 16 Mr Mirrlees, who received the coveted Noble Prize for his work on “Economics of Uncertainty” in 1996, said that India’s fiscal deficit stood at nearly 5 per cent of the GDP in comparision to China’s 2.5 per cent (FY 2003). “India needs to widen its tax base as its tax rate per national income lags behind that of its neighbour. China has managed to raise its tax rate per national income to 12.9 per cent as against India’s 7.8 per cent,” he said, addressing an international tax conference here organised by FICCI. From 1998 to 2003, the tax revenue grew by 12.6 per cent in India while it was 17.3 per cent in China, he said.
— PTI
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ONGC gets Rs 761.6 cr BHN insurance claim
New Delhi, September 16 The company said the United India Insurance Company has settled the full demand of the ONGC quickly. The insurance claim corresponding to its off-shore vessel, Samudra Suraksha, was expected soon.
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Auto Scene
New Delhi, September 16 Priced between Rs 3.5 lakh and Rs 7.5 lakh, the new range includes the 3130-39 HP, 3600-47 HP, 5500-55 HP, 5500-55 HP 4 WD, 7500-75 HP and 7500-75 HP 4 WD tractors. Out of the six new models, two mark New Holland’s entry into so far unprecedented segments, thereby enhancing the company’s market presence. New Holland Tractors (India), part of CNH Global NV, has its manufacturing facility in the country at Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The company is utilising its India operations to export to countries in South East Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, and South America.
M&M confirms Romanian bid
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) today confirmed its bid to acquire the Romanian government’s stake in a tractor company, SC Tractorul UTB SA, Brasov. The company is negotiating with AVAS, the privatisation authority of the Government of Romania, for acquiring the government equity in the tractor company, M&M informed the BSE today.
TVS two-wheeler variants
TVS Motor Company today announced the launch of three new variants of its two-wheelers and said it was confident of registering a growth rate of 25 per cent during the current fiscal in the economy and executive segments. “We are growing at 21 per cent and with the launch of the three new generation two-wheelers, the growth rate is expected to reach 25 per cent by the end of this year,” Mr R Dilip, Vice President, Sales told a press conference here. In the last five months alone, the growth rate was 20 per cent more than last year, he said, unveiling the new offerings — Victor Edge, StaR city and Scooty Pep Plus here.
Nissan comes out with X-Trail edition
Nissan Motor India today announced the launch of a special edition X-Trail Celebration, after the X-Trail, the flagship brand had sold 200 units in its first year of introduction. The special edition, priced at Rs 24,95,044 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) has been launched to commemorate the completion of X-Trails’ one year of operations in India. The limited edition of X-Trail Celebration would be available in two colours—black and silver, and is fitted with front and rear cover, side protector and embellishments like side sill protector, exhaust finisher and a rear spoiler to enhance the sporty styling image of the SUV.
— Agencies
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Rural traders’ training centre for Mohali
Kapurthala, September 16 Mr Walia, who is on a tour of all districts to intensify the recovery of loans provided by the board through different banks to entrepreneurs, said entrepreneurs from eight states consisting of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh, could get the training at the complex. “Four acres of land has been transferred by the state government and an amount of Rs 3.5 crore sanctioned by the Centre and Khadi Commission of India,” he said. Though work at the site would start on October 2, chairpersons of khadi boards of all eight states would meet in Shimla on October 6 to discuss the modalities,” he said.
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National Steel to raise Rs 411.6 cr
Mumbai, September 16 The shareholders, in the AGM, have authorised the board to mortgage and create charge in the favour of SBI, Indore, and other consortium bankers of their enhanced working capital facilities aggregating to Rs 386.6 crore, the steel company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange. Besides this, the company will raise Rs 15 crore through a rupee loan from United Bank of India and Rs 10 crore from HDFC Ltd, it said. The consortium bankers include—State Bank of
India, State Bank of Saurashtra, State Bank of Travancore, Bank of Maharashtra, United Bank of India, Andhra Bank, Societe Generale and Oriental Bank of Commerce.
— PTI
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European stocks on 40-month high
London, September 16 Frankfurt outperformed with the German DAX index gaining 1.4 per cent, having lagged for most of the week on fears that an inconclusive general election result on Sunday could slow reforms in Germany. By 1120 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European shares was up 0.61 per cent at 1,213.9 points, having peaked at 1,215.62 — its highest intra-day level since May 2002. — Reuters
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Corporatisation of LSE approved
Mumbai, September 15 PICTCL to divest stake in Puncom
Mumbai, September 16
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Auto Scene
