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Cabinet refers FDI issue to GoM
Ambala-Chandigarh highway widening to start next year
Govt to divest 15 pc stake in Shipping Corp
GAIL signs pact with Tata Power
Poddar Group to invest in hospitality sector
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M&M floats joint venture with US co
Chairman of US company International Truck and Engine Corporation Daniel Ustain (left) addresses a press conference as Vice-Chairman of Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd Anand Mahindra (R) looks on, after signing a joint venture agreement in Mumbai on Thursday.— AFP
Haryana woos industries
Saint-Gobain to buy BPB for $6.8 b
C&G to move jobs to India
Indian firms shine in Forbes list
Reuters to pump in $4 m in India
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Cabinet refers FDI issue to GoM
New Delhi, November 17 “The issue has been referred to the GoM, partly because many of the senior ministers were not present and partly because many of the proposals were not precisely formulated,” Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters after the CCEA meeting, presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The government also notified 20 per cent FDI in FM radio, weeks after inviting bids for the second phase of expansion. The proposals for liberalising the FDI norms in the three areas of airports, mining, and power trading would now be properly examined by the GoM, he said. He said the CCEA issue of cross holding of oil marketing companies has been deferred as the minister concerned (Mani Shankar Aiyar) was not present in the Cabinet. Officials said the proposal permits the boards of IOC, ONGC and GAIL to be authorised to sell their shares in consultation with the government. “This is important because we hope to export more garments and strengthen our base in the area of textile,” he said, adding this is also aimed at capitalising on removal of quantitative restrictions in the sector. Based on Parliamentary Standing Committee’s recommendations, the Cabinet approved the government move to bring in amendments in Parliament to three bill - Withdrawal of Chartered Accountants (Amendment) Bill, 2003 and introduction of Chartered Accountants (Amendment) Bill, 2005; Withdrawal of the Cost and Works Accountants (Amendment) Bill, 2003; and introduction of cost and Works Accountants (Amendment) Bill, 2005; and Withdrawal of the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2003 and introduction of Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2005. The CCEA gave its approval to foreclose the Jhanjra underground project, located in the North-Eastern side of Raniganj Coalfield, Burdwan, in West Bengal and approval for implementation of the project ‘Deepening of Channel at Paradip Port’ at an estimated cost of Rs 154.842 crore (as on June 2005).
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Ambala-Chandigarh highway widening to
New Delhi, November 17 No ‘differences’ with Left on FDI
Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, who spoke next, said 40 per cent of the fruits and vegetables produced in the country rot for want of processing and cold storage facilities. Since internal investment is not forthcoming in food processing, he said he was open to FDI. Denying any differences with the Left on FDI in retail, Mr Kamal Nath said the issue had now become “Big vs Small”. He said the big would not displace the small. What he meant was malls and shopping complexes would co-exist with small shops. Retail is growing furiously at 22-23 per cent annually. Claiming credit for the continuous surge in exports, procedural simplification, the passing of the patents legislation and the opening up of construction to 100 per cent FDI, the minister said new products were being added to the export basket and new markets tapped. He said India’s merchandise exports would touch 4,100 billion during 2005-06. Manufacturing, he noted, registered a 12 per cent growth during the first half of the current financial year. Assuring farmers’ protection at the WTO talks, he said Indian agriculture was structurally flawed. The country does not have a level-playing field in agriculture.
IIT-equivalent status
to NIFT
Textiles Minister Shankersinh Vaghela made two important announcements: one that the NIFT will be accorded status equivalent to the IITs and IIMs, and two, the Textile Committee cess will not be withdrawn. Admitting that India was not in a position to compete with China, the minister said the country was, however, better placed in value addition and managerial skills. Outdated machinery, lack of finance, costlier power and low-skilled manpower were hindering the growth of textiles, now viewed as a sunrise sector. Still the exports to the US and Europe were growing at 60 to 65 per cent annually. As Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar was out of station, Petroleum Secretary S.C. Tripathi addressed the Economic Editors Conference. He made an interesting disclosure: despite the hikes in the domestic oil prices, the government petroleum companies — IOC, HPC, BPC and IBP - suffered a loss of Rs 1,227.39 crore during April-June this year.
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Govt to divest 15 pc stake in Shipping Corp
New Delhi, November 17 The SCI presently has 80.12 per cent government equity and with this proposal materialising, the government equity will come down to around 65 per cent, he said. The proposal has been put forth before the disinvestment department, which would decide on the timing of the disinvestment, he said. Out of 15 per cent to be divested, 10 per cent would be offered to employees, while the remaining 90 per cent would be split in shares with Rs 5 each share, he said. When asked whether it was the Ministry’s own decision, Mr Baalu said the Disinvestment Department had sought the comments of the Shipping Ministry on the matter to which he has agreed to “diluting” of 15 per cent stake in the mini ratna. The Shipping Ministry’s nod was forwarded to the
Disinvestment Ministry a month ago and the latter’s response was awaited, he said.
— PTI
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GAIL signs pact with Tata Power
Jhajjar, November 17 The Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, was present on the occasion. The signatories on the agreement were Mr J. Wasan, General Manager of GAIL, Mr P.K. Kukre, Executive Director, Tata Power Company Limited and Mrs Jyoti Arora, Managing Director, HPGC. Tata Power is setting up the project and GAIL would provide gas to the plant. The project, which was earlier scheduled to be completed by 2009 had been advanced and would be commissioned within two years now, on the insistence of the Chief Minister, Mr Kukre said. Mr Hooda, while addressing the gathering, said the state government has decided to make the state self-reliant in power generation. The government has planned to set up power plants in Faridabad, Hisar, Yamunanagar, besides Jhajjar for enhancing power generation capacity by 4,000 MW within four years. He held that electricity was the most basic necessity these days and there would be no need for his government to purchase power from other states after commissioning these projects. The state was generating only 2,000 MW power at present, he added. The total cost in setting up 1,000 MW project in Khunghai is estimated at Rs 3,000 crore and about 168 acres land would be acquired for the purpose. He told that this project would generate 240 lakh units of electricity per day with the environment-friendly green fuel. The adequate power would attract industrialists and, in turn, would provide employment to the youths of the state. He maintained it would be a significant milestone in making Haryana self-reliant in power generation.
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Poddar Group to invest in hospitality sector
Ludhiana, November 17 Talking to The Tribune, Mr Akshay Poddar, one of the promoters of the Poddar Heritage Group, and Director of Pulse Foods India Private Limited, the greenfield hospitality initiative from the group, said the company would open 30 restaurants and also food carts across the country. "Each restaurant costs about Rs 1 crore and in the next three years an investment of at least Rs 20 to 25 crore is on the cards," he said. Mr Poddar said the company was also in the process of identifying opportunities for business in the UK and would enter international market next year. Aiming to adopt an innovative business strategy "that has not been so far followed by the Indian food industry", Mr Niraj Jain, CEO of Pulse India, said the new approach, wherein food business would be more organised, would help company carve a niche for itself even in the global markets. "We use food technology to ensure standardisation, hygiene and affordable food items. So far, it is migrants from Asia who have been setting up restaurants in other countries, whereas experience from countries like China show that the organised approach helps serve customers better," he explained. He said the company's restaurants would offer food in express service format, which means that food is served within 10 minutes of placing an order. The company, that would also start food carts at strategic locations to offer its products, would open a restaurant in Bangalore and two restaurants in Delhi this year. On the kind of cuisine that would be offered, Mr Jain said: "Be it any region in India or outside India, we would offer North Indian food only."
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M&M floats joint venture with US co
Mumbai, November 17 “The joint venture will help us strengthen competencies across the core areas of product development, engineering and manufacturing,” M&M Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Anand Mahindra told reporters here. Our relationship with ITEC would also support our aspirations to be a global player, he added. The joint venture, which has an initial investment of $80 million, would be called Mahindra International. Mr Mahindra would be the chairman for the new venture while Mr Arun Pande would be the MD. Navistar International (the parent company of ITEC), CEO Daniel Ustan said the company was looking to buy volumes of $100 million annually. “Our target is to source $100 million per annum. We will be sourcing $60 to 80 million in FY-07,” Mr Ustan said. The company would provide sourcing and engineering services to ITEC’s North American operations, besides using M&M’s existing distribution network in India. It has already commenced manufacturing light commercial vehicles under a contract manufacturing arrangement with M&M at the Zaheerabad plant.
M&M arm to buy
German unit soon
Mahindra Systems and Automotive Technologies (MSAT), the auto ancillary division of Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd today said it was looking to acquire a German foundry unit shortly. “The company is looking at acquiring a German foundry unit soon,” MSAT CEO Heman Luthra told reporters on the sidelines of a press meet. “It will be an all-cash deal. We have signed the term sheet, done the due diligence and going through the last processes,” he added. The company, which has a current turnover of $250 million, is also looking at other acquisitions, including an Indian one. “I will be very disappointed if we should not be able to do three acquisitions this fiscal,” Mr Luthra said. — PTI
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Haryana woos industries
New Delhi, November 17 Talking to mediapersons at the India International Trade Fair-2005, she said as many as 551 new industrial units had been set up and about 109 industrial entrepreneurs memoranda with an investment of Rs 907 crore, were filed by entrepreneurs for setting up big and medium industries in the state. Special Economic Zone had been set up at Garhi Hasaru in 3,000 acres of land in Gurgaon district. The HSIDC and HUDA were developing industrial estate and township for setting up of a petro-chemical hub at Panipat and Maruti Udyog was also putting up a unit in 600 acres of land in Manesar with an investment of Rs 1,233 crore. The government was also setting up a gem and jewellery park at Gurgaon with an investment of Rs 90 crore, she said. She said the efforts for constructing an international airport at Bahadurgarh were on and the state government had requested the Centre for a regional training centre for pilots in Haryana.
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Saint-Gobain to buy BPB for $6.8 b
Paris, November 17 Saint-Gobain increased its four-month-old offer to 775 pence per share from 720 pence initially, an increase of 7.64 per cent, valuing BPB at £3.894 billion or €5.8 billion. The price of shares in Saint-Gobain rose by 2.11 per cent to €46.99 in initial trading to show the biggest gain among leading stocks comprising the CAC 40 index. Saint-Gobain president Jean-Louis Beffa told AFP that he expected the takeover to be completed by December 2 at the latest and that the effect would be an increase in Saint-Gobain’s net profit of 13 per cent from 2006.
— AFP
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C&G to move jobs to India
London, November 17 The firm said it would close a mortgage and customer service centre in Warwick that employs 350 staff, a move which has been criticised by the Lloyds TSB Group Union. The jobs would be moved to Scunthorpe and Gloucester India, but the firm gave no breakdown of the figures.
— UNI
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Indian firms shine in Forbes list
New Delhi, November 17 The Asia-Pacific list, which values both growth and consistency in companies from countries like Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Korea and China, has selected 200 ‘Best Under a Billion’ companies from the region’s listed companies. “We required positive earnings growth during the past few years. And we asked for a pre-tax margin of at least 5 per cent in the latest fiscal year because tax laws can vary widely from country to country, making bottomline comparisons unfair,” Forbes said. Indian companies making it to the honour came from diversified industries like chemicals, forest products, food processing, drugs, oil refining and construction. Commenting on the robustness of the various companies on the list and their worth for shareholders, Forbes said, “Unlike their US counterparts on the Forbes 200 Best Small Companies list, which frequently do not pay dividends, nearly all of our best Asian companies offer payouts. The average yields: Asia-Pacific 2.5 per cent, US 1.1 per cent,” it said. The Indian companies making the cut are Asian Paints, Ballarpur Industries, Balrampur Chini Mills, Bharat Forge, Cipla, Dabur India, Essel Propack, GE Shipping, HDFC Bank, Hinduja TMT, IPCA Laboratories, Indian Hume Pipe, JB Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, Kesoram Industries, Nagarjuna Construction, Nicholas Piramal, Satyam Computer Services, Sun Pharma, Thermax and Zee Telefilms. — PTI
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Corporate News
Mumbai, November 17 An exclusive survey carried out by Reuters showed that as India’s markets become more sophisticated and international, spending on financial applications will increase by about 35 per cent annually over the next three years to around $266 million. Addressing a press conference here, Managing Director (South Asia) Venkat Ramani said Reuters had sponsored a survey of the financial market participants to prepare the outlook on Indian financial market and the growth areas Reuters could focus on. L&T in China
Larsen & Toubro (L&T), the Indian engineering and technology conglomerate, today launched its first manufacturing facility abroad here with an investment of $ 11 million to make high-end switchgear in the east Chinese city. L&T has established a wholly-owned foreign enterprise (WOFE), L&T (Wuxi) Electric Co., Ltd. (LTW), in the Wuxi new district, a national-level hi-tech industrial park in Jiangsu province to manufacture high-end air circuit breakers.
Oil discovery
Assam Company Limited (ACL), a leading tea company in Assam with stakes in oil sector, has discovered rich reserves of oil and gas in Assam in collaboration with Canoro Resources Ltd. It has successfully completed remedial operations and testing oil at Amguri well number six in Assam. Canoro Resources Limited is a Canadian company with the expertise in Oil & Gas business worldwide. A company press statement issued here today said on testing it has produced 175 bbls/d of 56 degree API oil and 17.5 lakh cubic feet per day associated gas, at a flowing tubing head pressure of 2,450 pounds per square inch. There is no water production from the testing performed at this well. — TNS, Agencies
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