 |
|
Entry fee for STD, ILD licences cut
RBI guidelines to boost export credit soon
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tata Steel, BlueScope form
Petronet to seek equity in Ratnagiri Gas
Satyam divests stake in Sify for $62.62 million
Media bigwigs to train future sting operators
Centre for large power projects
RBI for free-trade pact with Mekong nations
Festive season brings cheer to MNCs
Linux patent sharing firm formed
|
|
Entry fee for STD, ILD licences cut
New Delhi, November 10 The government also allowed broadband players to provide voice, video and data service through their networks, which would bring in new competition amongst players who have laid optic fibre networks across the country. The government today cut the licence fee for offering national and international long- distance services to a uniform Rs 2.5 crore from the existing Rs 100 crore and Rs 25 crore, respectively. The full Telecom Commission, which met here today, also drastically reduced revenue share to 6 per cent from the existing 15 per cent. “I expect call tariffs to drop by at least 9 per cent immediately. I am sure the players would pass on the benefits to consumers immediately,” Communications and IT Minister Dayanidhi Maran told reporters after the meeting. He said the government had decided that prior experience in telecom sector would not be a prerequisite for being granted telecom service licences. The new norms, excluding entry fee, would be applicable to all new as well as existing players like Bharti, Reliance Infocomm, BSNL and VSNL. The government decided to do away with the mandatory roll- out obligation for future NLD licences and existing licences with immediate effect. Currently, the NLD licences stipulate a mandatory provision of setting up of a point of presence in each long-distance charging area. Mr Maran said to promote competition and induction of new players, it had been decided to reduce the networth requirement and paid-up capital requirement of the applicant company to the level of Rs 2.5 crore. The present networth requirement for NLD licences is Rs 2, 500 crore and paid-up capital of Rs 250 crore. The minister said to facilitate promotion of BPO/KPO industry, it had been decided that NLD service provider could access the subscribers directly for provision of leased circuits/closed user groups i.e. they could provide last mile connectivity. He said as per the existing policy NLD service providers could not access the subscriber directly for provision of leased circuits/closed user groups. For ILD service, he said they would not have mandatory roll-out obligation except for having at least one switch in India. ILD service providers could access the subscriber directly only for provision of leased circuits/closed user groups. Signalling the opening up of Internet telephony,Mr Maran said, “it has now been decided that access service provider can provide Internet telephony, Internet services and Broadband services. If required, access service provider can use the network of NLD/ILD service licensee.” The ISP with Internet telephony (restricted) is to be charged a licence fee at 6 per cent of the revenue share. The access providers could provide broadband services, including triple play i.e. voice, video & data. The minister said the Government had decided to do away with IP II and IPVPN licences. Existing IP-II/ IP-VPN licensees would be allowed to migrate to NLD/ILD service licence. He said the provisional entry fee of IP-VPN on migration to NLD/ILD would be adjusted in entry fee and dues to the government by way of licence fee and spectrum charges / or refunded as per the TDSAT order.
|
|
RBI guidelines to boost export credit soon
New Delhi, November 10 Addressing an interactive session on export finance, organised by ASSOCHAM, Mr. Kumaran announced that the RBI was finalising these guidelines so that exporters had easy access to foreign currency loans. The RBI export finance division has already recommended the above measures to higher authorities of the RBI, who have favourably agreed with the recommendations. He said that the Export Finance Division of the RBI finalised its recommendations for easier credit availability and foreign currency loans to exporters following advice from the working group which was set up at the behest of the central bank to recommend measures for availability of easier credit to exporters. The working group had submitted its report to Export Finance Division a few weeks ago, said Mr. Kumaran. The RBI had disfavoured the idea of setting up of dollar windows as mooted by ASSOCHAM in all commercial banks because the RBI Act did not provide for setting up such windows. Mr Kumaran said the apex bank had no intention as of now to increase the ceiling of 12 per cent for export credit to exporters to 15 per cent.
|
|
Tata Steel, BlueScope form joint venture
New Delhi, November 10 The proposed joint venture agreement, which is to be signed on November 16 in Jamshedpur, also entails an investment of Rs 900 crore for construction of modern metallic coating and painting facility in the same town. Besides, the new venture would assume ownership and responsibility for the development of three roll-forming and PEB (pre-engineered buildings) manufacturing facilities of BlueScope Steel at Pune, Chennai and New Delhi. Moreover, the ownership will be extended to BlueScope’s Lysaght roll-formed businesses in Sri Lanka. The joint venture firm, to be headquartered at Pune, would provide PEB and other building solutions and broaden its business base across India and South Asia, Tata Steel said. “Tata Steel and BlueScope Steel share a similar approach to value creation in the steel business. Consumers would benefit from the range of solutions that will now be available to the building industry,” Tata Steel Managing Director B. Muthuraman said. The new facility at Jamshedpur would have an annual metallic coating capacity of 2.5 lakh tonnes and paint line capacity of 1.5 lakh tonnes, Tata Steel said in a press note. The investment for the new plant is consistent with the company’s strategy of growing its downstream value-added product business in Asia, it said. The new facility is expected to be made operational by mid-2008 and required government approvals and preliminary engineering would be completed by mid-2006, the domestic steel major said in a joint statement. — PTI
|
|
Petronet to seek equity in Ratnagiri Gas
New Delhi, November 10 Petronet is talking to RasGas of Qatar and Petronas of Malaysia for sourcing 1.2 to 1.5 million tonne of LNG annually to fire the 2,184 MW power plant, highly placed sources said. Qatar has offered to give six cargos of LNG in 2006, which would be used to begin electricity generation from the 744 MW Phase I of the plant. From 2007, Dabhol would need a firm contract of LNG supply, as its second phase of 1,444 MW would also come on stream. A meeting was held at the Cabinet Secretariat yesterday in the presence of NTPC, GAIL and major lenders to the Dabhol power project. The government, sources said, is keen to rope in Petronet LNG for completing the 85 per cent complete LNG regassification and storage facility at Dabhol in Maharashtra. Petronet, however, wants a contract with the Ratnagiri Gas and Power Limited specifying a fee that it would charge for the job. Petronet wants equity in the project in lieu of sourcing LNG for project promoters NTPC and GAIL and if that is not possible it would seek a fee for the job, the sources said. — PTI
|
|
Satyam divests stake in Sify for $62.62 million
Mumbai, November 10 The company has sold off its existing holding of 11,182,600 equity shares of Rs 10 each, represented by American Depository Shares (ADS), of Nasdaq-listed Sify to Infinity. The sale was concluded at a price of $5.60 per ADS. The sell-off is in line with its stated objective to emerge as a pure play IT services and solutions company. With the consummation of this transaction, Satyam has ceased to be a shareholder in Sify. “The move would enable Satyam to further focus on its core business and unlock value of its investment. Leveraging Satyam’s brand and committed support, Sify has emerged as a strong player in the data and network space in India,” Satyam Chairman B Ramalinga Raju said. — PTI
|
|
Media bigwigs to train future sting operators
Chandigarh, November 10 Pratyaksh is the only institute in the country that provides a formal three-month training in sting operations with the help of hidden cameras. “The students are being trained here to be specialists in the art of expose,” Mr Manoj Raghuvanshi, Director of the institute, announced. Besides this, Pratyaksh also provides a regular one-month course in television anchoring, news reading, radio jockeying and voicing and another month-long course in effective speaking for students, businessmen and professionals.
|
|
Centre for large power projects
Mumbai ,November 10 Mr Shahi, who was here to attend a power conference, has been quoted as saying that the government was keen on setting up mega power plants with capacities of 4,000 MW-5,000 MW, which could be expanded to 8,000 MW-10,000 MW. “We are working on four-five ultra mega power projects to be set up through competitive bidding,”Mr Shahi said.
|
|
RBI for free-trade pact with Mekong nations
New Delhi, November 10 Pointing to India’s abnormally low trade volumes with Mekong countries — China, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, RBI Deputy Governor Rakesh Mohan said there should be some dialogue for extending the free-trade agreement the country had with Thailand to the five other nations in the region. The countries in the Mekong region provide unexplored opportunities for Indian businessmen and entrepreneurs, he said speaking at the inaugural session of the Mekong Development Forum organised jointly by the CII and the ADB here today. The six countries participating in this one- day meeting are Cambodia, Lao PDR, China, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand. He said although the trade volume among the countries in the Mekong region was $200 billion, India’s share in this was only 1.3 per cent. Stressing the importance of connectivity in countries of the region, he said this could become a fertile ground for investment as teleconnectivity and better transportation could result directly in reduction of prices of farm products. He saw tremendous scope for Indian initiative in these countries mainly in the fields of transport, energy and tourism but also in fields like nutrition and healthcare and other vital sectors. Delivering the keynote address, Mr. Liqun Jin, Vice-President of the Asian Development Bank ,said “regional cooperation and economic integration are the keys to unlocking Asia’s tremendous potential for sustained economic growth and prosperity.” As compared to Europe, Latin America and North America, Asia was a relative newcomer to regional cooperation but in recent years a number of initiatives had been taken to enhance regional integration and cooperation in Asia.
|
|
Festive season brings cheer to MNCs
Chandigarh, November 10 According to estimates, most segments of the industry have achieved a growth of 30 to 40 per cent in the region during this period, with October driving the bulk of sales. The sales growth has been exceptional in this period for CTVs, DVD players and other consumer durables. Mr Ashish Sharma, Branch Head, Sony, said the company recorded 100 per cent growth in its sales this festive season over last year. Samsung recorded a phenomenal growth of more than 100 per cent in its flat CTV segment over last year. CTV sales would continue to grow further as the wedding season was approaching, said Mr Amit Mishra, Branch Manager, LG Electronics.
|
|
Linux patent sharing firm formed
San Francisco, November 10 The Open Invention Network (OIN), as the new firm unveiled on Thursday is known, could mark a breakthrough in resolving how to protect vendors and customers from patent royalty disputes resulting from freely shared Linux code. — Reuters
|
bb
Voltas shares Modi-Revlon pact Geospatial data Metro Group UBI gets Golden Peacock Award Spicejet launches services to J&K Fitch upgrades
CBOP's rating |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
