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GAIL has second thoughts on Doraha plant
India may buy stake in Sibneft
Own an aircraft at fractional cost
AP aims at Rs 69,000-cr IT exports
SC breather to Tata Teleservices
Govt spanner in Swaraj Mazda’s expansion
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Banks expect rise in interest rates, Ficci survey
BSNL towers for J&K
UCO Bank in Malaysia
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GAIL has second thoughts on Doraha plant
New Delhi, October 3 “We are concerned over the state government’s decision to supply free power and will examine the economic viability of the project before making any commitment to invest in the power project at Doraha in Punjab,” said Mr Proshanto Banerjee, CMD, GAIL (India) Ltd, here today. Notably, GAIL and the state electricity board, PSEB, had even signed a heads of agreement (HoA) in May this year for the supply of about 4.5 mmscmd (million metric standard cubic meters per day) of natural gas for the proposed mega project, estimated to cost Rs 3,500 crore. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has been lobbying strongly with the Union Petroleum Ministry to attract investment by the public sector navratana gas major company, GAIL. Consequently, GAIL agreed to have 10 per cent equity stake in the purposed Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), along with the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), to set up gas-based power plant. The Punjab Chief Minister has also said that capacity of the project may be increased to 1,800 MW. In order to meet the demands of the proposed power plant in Doraha and other allied industrial, agricultural, transport and domestic sectors along the line, GAIL will be required to extend its Dadri-Panipat gas pipeline to Ludhiana, being taken up for implementation. Mr Banerjee said though the company was quite serious about the project, but after free power supply decision, it would have to review the impact of policy on the long-term viability of the project. In fact, at the recently held annual general meeting of the company, shareholders of GAIL had raised serious objections over the government’s instructions to the company to pay subsidy on kerosene and LPG to the oil market companies. Free power in the state, said GAIL officials, can mar the prospects of the mega power project, as financial institutions would not be reluctant to lend funds to the SPV considering the uncertainty of returns on capital. The company will not like to burn its fingers in such a project, they added. The company has recently acquired stakes in the Dabhol Power Project, besides a 12 per cent equity stake in Gujarat State Energy Generation Limited’s 156-MW power plant at Hazira. It registered Rs 1,954 crore net profit in 2004-05 as against Rs 1,869 crore the previous year. “We are waiting for the techno-economic feasibility report of the project. Since the project is presently in the conceptual state, so no commitment can be given about the investment at this stage,” he said. On rising LNG prices, Mr Banerjee said: “With the rising international crude oil prices, and limited alternatives, the consumers are ready to pay marginal hike in LNG and gas prices.” He said the company is also looking for investing $3 to 5 million to source LNG from the Australia by investing in exploration and production and LNG projects.
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India may buy stake in Sibneft
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia, October 3 Russia’s Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko said his government won’t block an acquisition by an Indian company of shares in Sibneft, Indian Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar told reporters in the Far East Russian city. India, Asia’s biggest oil consumer after China and Japan, expanding oil and gas investments worldwide as domestic production fails to keep pace with demand. Indian companies may seek to buy shares in Sibneft in the open market, he said. Details of Sibneft’s future share trading “will be announced in the very near future and then we can chance our hand,” Mr Aiyar said without elaborating. The two ministers met in Sakhalin while visiting the $12.8 billion Sakhalin-1 oil and natural gas project in which ONGC Videsh Ltd., a unit of Oil & Natural Gas Corp., has a 20 per cent stake. The partnership between ONGC Videsh and Russia’s state-owned Rosneft OAO in Sakhalin-1 may be extended to other projects in Sakhalin, Mr Aiyar said. There are also opportunities for Indian companies in eastern Siberia, in the Caspian and the Barents Sea, he said.
— Bloomberg
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Own an aircraft at fractional cost
Ludhiana, October 3 “The concept, introduced for the first time in India, has been popular in the West for over two decades now. Having a private jet will increase one’s productivity and enable one to work more in as little time as possible,” said Mr Manav Singh, Managing Director, Club One Air. The service facilitates a fractional owner to fly anytime within as well as outside the country as per his convenience. The company, which announced its launch in Delhi in August, has already enrolled eight industrial houses as its members. Mr Manav Singh said one was required to pay only a fraction of the total cost of an aircraft, apart from some monthly management and operational costs. “One can travel on his terms from the airport closest to one’s home or office to the airport closet to one’s destination,” he said. Prospective aircraft owners could acquire anything between one-fifth to one-sixteenth of an aircraft and the average share of an executive jet enabled one to 50 to 200 hours of flying time in a year depending on the aircraft one acquire. Once a fractional owner paid a deposit, he got the benefit of ownership for five years. The aircraft share holder would also have to share the monthly cost for maintenance of the aircraft besides paying the hourly cost of fuel as and when he flew. On an average, the initial cost of owning one sixteenth of the ownership share in a Rs 30 cr aircraft would be Rs 2 crore. Club One Air currently has three nine-seater business jets and plans to induct a fleet of twin engine helicopters as well.
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AP aims at Rs 69,000-cr IT exports
Hyderabad, October 3 “The state achieved exports of Rs 8,720 crore in 2004-05 with 64.5 per cent growth rate, compared to the national average growth of 35 per cent. The government aims to further consolidate this growth by providing investment-friendly climate for the ICT industry in the state,” K Ratna Prabha, Secretary, Information Technology and Communications Department, said. The growth of ICT industry has created a direct employment of about 1,25,000 to IT professionals. IT sector tops in the overall export from the state with 45 per cent of the share out of the total export of Rs 19, 552 crore. Andhra Pradesh ranks 4th in the national-level competitiveness, with 152 new software-exporting companies starting their operations in the state during 2004-05. In order to achieve the 2009 target, a total of 40 million sq ft of office built up space is required. Of this, at present 10 million sq ft exists and 6 million sq ft is in the pipeline. “Therefore, the additional requirement by 2009 would be 24 million sq ft, requiring a gross land of 1,500 acre. The government is developing software product-specific Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Popalguda and Shamshabad on the outskirts in an area of 1,400 acre in the first phase, while another 2,500 acre is being earmarked for software as well as hardware industry at Shamshabad in the second phase,” Mrs Prabha added. While Hyderabad is already home for global IT giants like Microsoft, Oracle, Dell, Computer Associates, GE Capital, HSBC, Nokia, Google, Deloitte, Vanenburg, Intergraph, Infosys, Wipro, ADP, Satyam, Accenture, many more such as Sanota, Intelli Asia, Celestica, Patni Computers, DQ Entertainment, Boston Consulting Group, Verizon, Qualcomm are waiting for allotment of lands, the ICT Secretary disclosed. With hardware being the priority, the state government will encourage private enterprises to set up semiconductor manufacturing and other related activities, including research and development, she added. Multiple Hardware Manufacturing Cluster Parks (HMCP) would be developed in the state for the development of hardware industry. Already a nano technology park is coming up near Hardware Park in Hyderabad, in an area of 50 acre with proposed investment of $1.6 billion and a production capacity of 30,000 wafers per month. A host of incentives, exemptions and facilities is being made available to the ICT industry which range from
liberalised labour laws, stamp duty reimbursements, concessional power tariffs
to cash subsidies for employment generation, the ICT Department Secretary said.
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SC breather to Tata Teleservices
New Delhi, October 3 A Bench comprising Mr Justice Arijit Pasayat and Mr Justice Arun Kumar, while issuing notice to BSNL, also directed the public sector company not to encash the bank gurantees of two Tata companies - Tata Tele Maharashtra and Tata Teleservice - executed in connection with their wireless -linked local (WLL) service. In its recent order the TDSAT had ruled that as Tata’s WLL was a fully mobile service, it had to pay the Access Deficit Charges (ADC). Following the TDSAT order, the Department of Telecom (DoT) had issued notice to Tata for payment of ADC, failing which its bank guarantee of Rs 10 crore, executed for each of its company, would be encashed and BSNL would be free to disconnect its inter-connectivity. Aggrieved by the order, Tata moved an appeal in the apex court, contending that WLL was not in technical terms a mobile service and, therefore, it need not to pay any ADC charges to BSNL. The court gave two weeks’ time to BSNL to submit its reply.
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Govt spanner in Swaraj Mazda’s expansion
Chandigarh, October 3 The Punjab Forest Department wants to enforce the Forest Conservation Act (FCA), 1980, and stall the expansion plans of Swaraj Mazda at Asron, Ropar. The company already has its production line in place and wants to expand when the Forest Department stalled the plan. Confusion prevails within the Forest Department over the issue for the past eight months. They have been unable to decide on what can be allowed and in what manner. The company is tired of explaining to the government that permission was granted in June 1980, months before the FCA came into being. This fact has been admitted by the department in their inter-departmental correspondence. The Range Forest Officer of Garhshankar has written to his bosses in Chandigarh saying the company has a permission of the Punjab Government to start a manufacturing unit, prior to the date when the FCA was enacted. According to him, no action can be taken if the government had granted permission before the Act came into being. Sources said no Act can apply with retrospective effect and this should have been clear from day one. Meanwhile, another officer of the Forest Department, in a letter to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, says the company has to pay Rs 3.68 crore for conversion of land use from forest to commercial and also for alternative plantation. The land measures about 37 hectares and is to be used for an expansion project to make buses and trucks, besides setting up of research and development facilities by the company. Japanese partners have reached the end of their patience and their Indian counterparts have conveyed it to the government, sources say. Senior officials say the case is “under process”.
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Banks expect rise in interest rates, Ficci survey
New Delhi, October 3 The Ficci survey on ‘’Status of Indian Banking Industry — Progress and Agenda Ahead’’ noted banks foresaw a further fall in their gross NPAs due to adoption of global best practices in credit risk management and expected over 25 per cent increase in their retail portfolios this year. The RBI, in its first quarterly review of the Monetary and Credit policy in June, left unchanged key parameters — bank rate (6 per cent), repo rate (5 per cent) and the cash reserve ratio (CRR) at 5 per cent. The findings are based on responses from over 50 public, private and foreign banks operating in the country. Sixty-four per cent of the respondents foresee a rise in the interest
rates. Out of these, 74 per cent expect the interest rates to increase by 0.5 per cent whereas the rest expect these to increase by 1 per cent. The survey reveals that the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act and increased provisioning of doubtful debts contributed the most in reducing the NPA levels. However, absence of the secondary market for the trading of security receipts issued by ARCs has been identified as one of the major problems by 91 per cent of the respondents. The increased interest rates are likely to have an adverse impact on the corporate sector lending to some extent, especially the AAA rated borrowers, as highlighted by 62 per cent of the respondent banks. About 90 per cent of the banks stressed upon having separate NPA norms for the farm and the small and medium enterprises (SME) sector due to the higher risk factor. The survey noted that the retail credit market was growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33 per cent and over 50 million Indians were now credit card holders.
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Maruti hikes prices, spares ‘Swift’
New Delhi, October 3 “The price hike is due to an increase in freight, which went up following the rise in oil prices. We have decided to pass on only a part of the impact and other input costs to the customer,” a company statement said here. It also said that another price revision might be undertaken by the end of the year. The ex-showroom price of Maruti 800 Standard would now be Rs 2,00,850, an 0.8 per cent hike against the earlier price of Rs 1,99,350. The Maruti 800 AC would cost Rs 2,23,754. The other hot cake from the Maruti stable, Alto Lx is now priced at Rs 2,79,408, a marginal hike of around Rs 1,500, while Alto Lxi would come for Rs 2,99,317. The company has increased the price of Wagon R by 0.7 per cent, translating to Rs 2,400. Wagon R Lx now has a price tag of Rs 3,39,582 while its Lxi variant would now cost Rs 3,66,892. Mid-sized Baleno Lxi is now priced at Rs 5,80,173, an increase of a meagre Rs 1,100. The prices of Zen Lx and Lxi now stand at Rs 3,44,796 and Rs 3,71,619 respectively. Meanwhile, Maruti today reported a 12.1 per cent rise in sales in September at 49,278 units against 43,949 units in the same month last year. The decline in the numbers of the ‘M800’ model, however, continued with sales dropping by 23.7 per cent to 7423 units from 9730 units in September, 2004. Domestic sales grew by a strong 15 per cent to 46,393 units in September from 40,322 units in the same month last year. Exports for Maruti in September were down by 20.5 per cent to 2,885 units from 3,627 units in the same month last year.
Honda Siel sales
Honda Siel Cars India Ltd has reported a 26 per cent rise in sales for the first half this fiscal to 22,265 units as compared to 17,629 units in April-September 2004-05. Sales of its flagship Honda City grew by 12 per cent to 3,349 units during September, 2005, compared to 2,976 units in September, 2004, the company said . In cumulative terms, 36,764 units of Honda City were sold in past 12 months, a 33 per cent rise as compared to 27,638 units during the corresponding 12 months of the previous year.
Skoda Auto sales rise
Czech automobile manufacturer Skoda Auto India said the company’s sales in September rose by 31 per cent over the same month last year. The company sold 909 units, including 15 SkodaSuperbs, last month compared to 693 logged in September last year.
GM India
General Motors India sold 23,542 cars between January and September to record over 27 per cent growth in YTD (year-to-date) sales with its multi-utility vehicle (MUV) Chevrolet Tavera proving a runaway winner with 21,960 cars sold
since its 2004 launch. In September along, it sold 3,220 cars as against 3,207 cars in the same month last year. Besides 1,600 Taveras, the September sales included 855 Optras and 762 Opel Corsas.
HMI growth
Hyundai Motors India (HMI) reported growth of 22.6 per cent in the domestic market in September over the same period in 2004, selling 14,391 vehicles during the month. HMI’s cumulative sales during the month were 23,768 units, growth of 18.6 per cent over the September, 2004, figures. Sales in the overseas market in September stood at 9,377 units, growth of 12.8 per cent over the previous year. Hyundai has sold a total of 1,90,401 vehicles in the first nine months of 2005, recording growth of 27.3 per cent over the January-September period in 2004.
— Agencies
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BSNL towers for J&K
Jammu, October 3 “To increase the capacity and also the coverage BSNL has installed 214 towers since April, 2005, and plans to install 188 more such towers which will enable mobile coverage in the remote areas,” a BSNL spokesman said today. He said the company had set a target of providing 3,50,000 mobile connections and 52,000 new telephone connections (landline and WLL) across the state.
— PTI
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UCO Bank in Malaysia
Kolkata, October 3 Inaugurating the new office, the bank’s first in South-East Asia, UCO Bank CMD V Sridar said the bank had a number of branches in various parts of Malaysia in the past, all of which were taken over after the country’s bank nationalisation in 1969 and merged with United Asian Bank Berhad.
— UNI
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