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PM confident of 7 per cent growth rate
FinMin wants GSM, CDMA operators’
Exports up by 28 pc in Oct
Rs 10,000-cr plan to upgrade refineries
Foreign companies approach BHEL for nuclear projects
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Tata Motors rolls out 300 hp Novus tipper
TCS, SBI form joint venture with Rs 40 crore capital
Motorola ties up with Bharti Teletech
Festival season cheers auto market
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PM confident of 7 per cent growth rate
New Delhi, November 14 “The trend of globalisation is an irreversible one. We cannot and we should not shy away from it. We must prepare ourselves for greater integration with the evolving world economy”, said Dr Manmohan Singh while inaugurating the silver jubilee edition of the India International Trade
Fair (IITF) here. He said: “India has to be, once again, a major trading nation. For that we need a competitive economy that works on the frontiers of scientific, technological and managerial knowledge.” In order to become part of the emerging globalised world, the Prime Minister said the government was committed to bringing our tariffs down to the ASEAN levels. “We are also working actively to bring the economies of South and South-East Asia closer. We are on the threshold of unveiling an India-ASEAN FTA and SAFTA will come into effect from the coming New Year,” he said. The Prime Minister said “our efforts to create an Asian Economic Community and to also become members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, keeping in mind the requirements of domestic employment and enterprise, will bring us closer to the major economies of the world.” Urging the firms to become competitive
globally, Dr Manmohan Singh underlined the need for investment in research and development, managerial skills and global economies of scale. The Prime Minister emphasised the need for addressing major policy and implementation issues in the power and coal sectors. He stressed the need for improving the financial condition of power distribution companies. Expressing confidence that the economy would continue to achieve the growth of 7 per cent or more , the Prime Minister said India must once again become a major trading nation for which all domestic constraints like poor infrastructure and inadequate investment in people would be removed. “We recognise that our infrastructure must be world-class for us to compete with the world. There has been inadequate attention paid to the development of basic infrastructure of modern industrial development. This we are committed to reversing,” the Prime Minister said. About 7500 companies from India and abroad are participating in the fair. Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had to walk a tight rope to woo foreign investors on the one hand, while ensuring that he did not rub his Marxists friends and trade union colleagues the wrong way. “We are trying to prove that we are investment-friendly and that we are trying to develop the economy. The state is an ideal investment destination for both domestic and foreign
players,” Mr Bhattacharjee said while pitching for greater investments in the state at the Trade Fair here. While pitching for foreign investments in sectors like infrastructure, steel and chemicals, he said FDI in retail could wait for some time. West Bengal is the focus state for the IITF this year while Uttaranchal is the partner. Taking the party line in opposing FDI in the retail sector, he said it would displace a large number of people from existing jobs and the government would have to move cautiously on the matter. On opening up the retail to FDI, Union Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said the Centre was trying to find out a model that was incremental in nature and did not displace existing jobs. UNI adds: Two mega-sized Special Economic Zones (SEZs) will come up at Kulpi and Haldia in West Bengal with British firm P&O promoting along side a river port in the private sector, Chief Minister
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said today. “We already have two SEZs for gems and jewellery and the IT. Besides, two big-sized multi-product SEZs would come up at Kulpi and Haldia. The British firm P&O will develop the Kulpi SEZ along with a river port,” Mr
Bhattacharjee told reporters at the India International Trade Fair (IITF), which opened here. In his speech, Mr Bhattacharjee said the West Bengal economy has been growing at the rate of 7 per cent for the last few years. Asking the industry to invest heavily in the state, he said West Bengal is a gateway not only to the domestic markets of the NE states, but also Nepal, South Asia, and South-East Asia. The state has emerged as the biggest FDI destination for the Japanese investors, he said. While the state is self-sufficient in power, additional investments would be pumped in power capacity and road network.
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FinMin wants GSM, CDMA operators’ spat resolved
New Delhi, November 14 “The GSM versus CDMA controversy needs to be resolved urgently. While technology neutral judicious allocation of spectrum to all service providers in a non-discriminatory manner is needed, spectrum allocation policy should also be based on the greater benefit for the country and optimal use of available resources,” the ministry said in a paper. The ministry, however, has proposed to come heavily on inefficient usage of spectrum suggesting that the wireless planning wing of the Department of Telecom
(DoT) and other appropriate agencies should carry out an annual review of spectrum utilisation by all players. The two lobbies — GSM players like Bharti, Hutch and Idea and CDMA players like Reliance and Tatas — have been fighting over the quantum and methods for allocation of spectrum to respective players and have been demanding technology neutral approach for the purpose. “Inefficiencies should be identified and communicated to the players. The reviewing body should have the authority to withdraw parts of the spectrum allocated to the players in case of wasteful or non-utilisation of the spectrum,” the Finance Ministry said in a strategy paper. According to the ministry, the National Frequency Allocation Plan should be reviewed at frequent intervals, but no later than every two years to incorporate latest developments in the areas of radio/wireless technologies. “The sooner this controversy is resolved, the better it is for Indian telecom industry, where the cake is big enough for all players,” the Finance Ministry said.
— PTI
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Exports up by 28 pc in Oct
New Delhi, November 14 Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said he was encouraging exporters to take India’s merchandise exports to $100 billion during the current financial year, even though the target set for the year was $93 billion. The total exports during April-October,2005-06, amounted to near $51 billion representing a cumulative growth rate of over 22 per cent in seven months over exports during April-October,2004-05. The non-oil imports during the same period (April-October,2005-06) amounted to $50 billion. Oil imports during this period are valued at almost $25 billion. Thus, the overall trade balance is surplus for India, excluding oil
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Rs 10,000-cr plan to upgrade refineries
Hyderabad, November 14 Inaugurating the 13th Refinery Technology Meet jointly organised by the Centre for High Technology and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) here today, he said the major challenge for the refineries was to integrate the entire hydrocarbon value chain with cost-effective methods. India ranked sixth in terms of world energy demand, but the per capita energy consumption was much lower compared to the developing countries and even far below the world average, he noted. Mr Tripathi regretted that though the country was self-sufficient in refining and surplus in most of the petroleum products, there was a huge shortage of indigenous crude. He said the government was committed to accelerating the growth of this sector to meet growing aspirations and had taken several initiatives for sustainable development of the hydrocarbon sector. He disclosed that the government had sanctioned Rs 8 crore for the upgradation of Vizag Oil refinery. Mr. Ashok Sinha, Chairman and Managing Director of (BPCL), said that in the international market the refining capacity currently stood at about 82 million barrels per day. Currently the demand was increasing at a rate of 1.75 per cent while the refining capacity was increasing at 0.7 per cent, he said. Moreover there was a considerable geographical mismatch between the demand and supply centres, and these factors had resulted in an unprecedented rise in the refinery
margins, he reminded. He said the domestic refining capacity stood
at 127 metric million tonnes (MMT), an increase from 0.3 MMT in 1954. Recently most of the refineries have also adopted the world renowned International Safety Rating System (ISRS) for managing safety at refineries, he added.
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Foreign companies approach BHEL for nuclear projects
New Delhi, November 14 “Some American, Russian and French companies have approached us. We are talking to them... We may tie up with some foreign companies to enhance our capabilities,” BHEL Chairman and Managing Director A.K. Puri said. Gung-ho about the prospects of nuclear power generation over the next two-three years, Mr Puri said that by next year BHEL would clinch a technical
tie-up with one of the companies from the developed world. Asked about the names of the companies that have evinced interest in the Indian power sector, he said: “We are talking to four companies,” but did not elaborate.
— PTI
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Tata Motors rolls out 300 hp Novus tipper
Jamshedpur, November 14 Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda flagged off the first vehicle. “Introduced by the Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Co. in Korea in 2004, the year Tata Motors acquired Daewoo Commercial Vehicles, the Tata Novus range of vehicles is a resounding success in Korea, South Africa and West Asia. Now it will be available in the Indian market with necessary modifications, aimed at the exponentially growing construction and goods’ transport sector, said Mr Ravi Kant, Managing Director. While the Tata Novus tipper will cater to the mining and construction sector, the company will launch dumpers and tractor- trailors within a year, he said. Mr Kant said Tata Novus would be shortly launched across the country and offer “international quality at the Indian prices,” while declining to disclose the market price. The company has set up a production capacity of manufacturing 6,000 vehicles annually that would be doubled later. Tata Motors is India’s largest automobile company, which achieved an annual turnover of Rs 20,483 crore in 2004-05. It has over 70 per cent share in the medium and commercial vehicles. It recently acquired a 21 per cent stake in Hispano Carrocera, a leading bus manufacturer in
Spain." In the first phase, the company will assemble the kits imported from its plant in Korea. We have plans to increase the local content in the production from the present level of 25 per cent to 75 per cent within one year,” said Mr Atam P. Arya, President, Heavy and Medium Commercial Vehicles, Tata Motors. Mr P.G. Shankar, Head—International Business, Commercial Vehicles, said that encouraged by the market response to Tata Ace— a light commercial vehicle—Tata Motors was aiming at spreading its net in the South- East Asia and the SAARC region. The company is already the market leader in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
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TCS, SBI form joint venture with Rs 40 crore capital
Mumbai, November 14 The joint venture, to be known as C-Edge Technologies Limited, would entail an equity participation of 51 per cent from TCS and 49 per cent from SBI with equal participation on the Board of Directors, TCS informed the exchanges. Having an authorised capital of Rs 40 crore, the venture will develop high-value niche assets and solutions by leveraging domain and technology capabilities of the two parent companies. These new assets will complement and leverage the joint venture’s comprehensive suite of banking assets, it said. It would also offer transformational capabilities to bank and financial institutions in India and other markets enabling them to use technology as a competitive tool in the market place using bureau services and service platforms, it added. “This is the first major collaboration between two world- class banking and technology behemoths and will reinforce TCS’ articulated strategy of becoming a full services player and growing our dominant position in the global BFS domain,” TCS CEO and Managing Director S. Ramadorai, stated. “SBI and TCS have a long tradition of working well together and this relationship will now on focus on developing cutting edge financial technologies,” he added. — PTI
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Motorola ties up with Bharti Teletech
New Delhi, November 14 Bharti Teletech’s access to the rural market is a perfect match for Motorola to provide handsets like ‘C113a’ for mass market users and its broad distribution to the urban cities allows to reach the growing population of professionals and market the latest high-end handsets including RAZR V3, Bharti Teletech Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Rakesh Bharti Mittal said. — PTI
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Festival season cheers auto market
New Delhi, November 14 According to figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), market leaders Maruti Udyog and Hyundai fuelled the demand, with six of the 11 car makers registering sales growth. Car sales in the seven months of this fiscal have grown a modest 6.3 per cent to 4,88,973 units against 4,59,649 units in the same period last fiscal. In the two-wheeler segment, motor cycle sales continued their strong run, going up by 28.8 per cent in October at 6,23,434 units against 4,84,008 units in the same month last fiscal. This growth was led by record sales of segment leaders Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto, with both witnessing a peak in demand due to the festive season. While Hero Honda sold 2,95,654 units at a growth of 23 per cent, for Bajaj it was a blazing 40 per cent growth as it sold 1,89,169 units (1,34,673). As much as seven of the nine-odd bike makers saw numbers going up in the month, and these included TVS Motors, Yamaha India, LML Ltd. Scooter sales, however, were down by 4.2 per cent in the seven months of this fiscal at 5,33,961 units against 5,57,535 units in April-October ‘04. October, however, saw numbers rise by a healthy 13.1 per cent at 93,830 units against 82,918 units. Overall, the two-wheeler sales in October grew by 25.9 per cent to 7,47,555 units against 5,93,499 units in the same month last year. The numbers here have grown 16 per cent to 40,50,229 units so far this fiscal. — PTI
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New Delhi, November 14
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