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Apex court bails out telecom companies
Birla arm to collaborate for auto ancillary in Haryana
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India’s energy needs to remain oil-centric
HTIL recasts India joint venture cos
Indo-US nuclear deal hailed
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IOC parts with GAIL stake for
NTPC, Tatas, Reliance vie for mega power projects
Reliance cuts polymer product prices
OBC to open offices in Malaysia, Dubai
‘Hum Tum’ couple to endorse Chevrolet Aveo
Amtek Auto to take full stake in Amtek Siccardi
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Apex court bails out telecom companies
New Delhi, March 2 Deciding petitions of various telecom operators both in the public and private sector, including BSNL, challenging the imposition of sales tax on cellular service by some states, a Bench of Ms Justice Ruma Pal, Mr Justice A.R. Lakshmanan and Mr Justice Dalveer Bhandari held that the transfer of electromagnetic waves and the radio frequency was not transfer of goods to be covered under the Sales Tax Act. The court clarified that the handsets used by the subscribers would be covered under the Sales Tax Act and, therefore, would be liable to be taxed. Otherwise, sales tax on any form of telecom service was “untenable as it does not involve any transfer of goods,” the Bench ruled. On the issue of “sim cards” used in mobile phones, the court, however, left it to the authorities concerned to decide whether it was covered under the Sales Tax Act. Various state governments had imposed sales tax on cellular companies on the transfer of signals from one service provider to another in the inter-connectivity by them by terming it as a sale. The service providers had challenged it in different High Courts on the ground that it was only a transfer of service, not goods,and ,therefore, could not be brought under the ambit of the Sales Tax Act. While the Allahabad High Court had upheld the Uttar Pradesh Sales Tax Department action charging sales tax on transfer of signals, various other High Courts had passed conflicting order on the issue. Taking this into consideration, the apex court had transferred all cases of the service providers to itself after BSNL ,with the largest network in the states, had filed a petition before it on the issue in 2003. BSNL had contended that it was the most affected service provider due to the imposition of sales tax by the states.
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Birla arm to collaborate for auto ancillary in Haryana
Chandigarh, March 2 The project would be set up at Bawal in Rewari district of Haryana at an estimated investment of Rs 84.83 crore, a Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC) spokesman said here today. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda would lay the foundation stone of the project by the NTN Manufacturing (India) Private Limited on March 6. The spokesman said the project was expected to manufacture 6.40 lakh units per annum with a sales turnover of Rs 84.22 crore. He said the HSIDC had already allotted 21 acres of land to the company at Bawal for the implementation of this project, which might be completed by March 2007. Giving details about the company, he said that the group had expanded its operations with manufacturing plants in Japan, North America, Europe, Australia, Asia and Oceania and sales operations in 17 countries at 75 locations. He said the NTN group had its research and development facilities in Japan, the USA and Europe with an employees’ strength of over 12,700 and a turnover of $3.9 billion. The HSIDC, he said, had allotted 25 industrial plots of various sizes for large-scale industrial projects with a capital investment of about Rs 1,135 crore at Bawal Growth Centre during the past one year. He said that the growth centre Bawal had now emerged as a preferred destination for the domestic and multinational companies. — UNI
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India’s energy needs to remain oil-centric
New Delhi, March 2 Expressing doubts over the impact on nuclear deal in the international oil prices in near future, a senior official in the Petroleum Ministry said: “Since India’s demand for energy is growing at a fast pace, and it is unlikely that nuclear power can have even 6 to 7 per cent share in our energy requirements over the next decade. So, despite rise in international crude oil prices, we will have to import crude oil to sustain the economic growth.” Despite the US opposition to the Iran gas pipeline, he said: “We will have to work on the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, besides other regional pipelines from Myanmar and Turkmenistan to meet our requirements.” “Between now and 2030, if we want our economy to grow 8 to 10 per cent a year, our dependence on fossil fuels will only increase,” he said. “I do not think if there can be any alternative to the conventional energy whether oil, gas or coal-based power plants. With increasing purchasing power, people would not hesitate to buy fuel at any cost, observed another energy expert.” In his post-Budget press conference, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has also said: “It will be pleasant surprise if we can have 10 per cent share of nuclear power in our energy supply over the years.” According to hydrocarbon vision, India’s dependence on oil import is likely to rise to 85 per cent over the next 20 years as rapid economic expansion boosts energy demand as against 70 per cent at present. Officials in the oil companies expressed doubts over the US President George W. Bush, claim that nuclear deal will help the American citizens to access oil at cheaper price.
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Ratan Tata meets Punjab CM on car unit today
Chandigarh, March 2 The Tatas plan to set up a car manufacturing unit in the state. Official sources said a vacant 300-acre seed farm in Ropar district was being offered to the company for the purpose off. Officials of the company have made several visits to the sites offered in Nabha, Kapurthala and Ropar. Ropar has finally been shortlisted due to its locational advantage. The meeting between Mr Tata and the Chief Minister will be hold at the Taj hotel here. Senior functionaries of the Industries department and ministers are also expected to be present. Mr Tata is expected to reveal the size of the project, employment opportunities and the time the company is expected is take in setting up the unit.
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HTIL recasts India joint venture cos
New Delhi, March 2 HTIL would also own a part of stake in joint venture companies, which hold 19.5 per cent interest in Hutch-Essar, HTIL statement said, adding that Mr Asim Ghosh, Managing Director of Hutch-Essar, has become an indirect shareholder through an investment in one of the jv companies. HTIL has effected reorganisation with a view to complying with the guidelines on FDI in telecom announced last year for which the last date is March 3. Mr Ghosh would own24 per cent in the jv company. The reorganisation has not led to change in the management structure of HTIL.
— PTI
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Indo-US nuclear deal hailed
New Delhi, March 2 Ficci President Saroj Kumar Poddar said the deal would significantly increase the contribution of nuclear power in fuelling India’s growth and reduce our dependence on fossil fuel and thereby lower the oil import bill. The energy-starved industry will get a booster as a consequence of the India-US nuclear deal thus reducing the country’s dependence on fossil fuels and lowering the mounting oil import bill. Describing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Mr Bush as statesmen and leaders of vision and foresight, Mr Poddar said the agreement reflects the transformation and upgradation of the Indo-US business relation, the process of which started with the visit of the Indian Prime Minister to Washington in July 2005. The Ficci chief appreciated the US President’s resolve to open US market for India’s exports and hoped that India-US trade would double to reach the targeted $40 billion in three years. Assocham President Anil K. Aggarwal reiterated similar sentiments, but said that all precautions should be observed by India to safeguard its nuclear interest. Mr Aggarwal said India was in dire need of nuclear energy and the understanding between India and US for civil nuclear cooperation would pave the way for meeting India’s nuclear requirement so that nuclear energy significantly contributes to the growth of the country’s power sector.
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IOC parts with GAIL stake for Rs 561.54 cr
New Delhi, March 2 The sale has been done as part of a strategy to retire its Rs 18,960- crore market borrowings and raise money for expansion plans. The IOC also planned to sell one-fifth of its stock holdings in the ONGC before March 31 as part of this strategy. Prior to the sale of the GAIL stock, the IOC owned 9.61 per cent or 13.7 crore equity shares in the ONGC and 4.83 per cent or 4.08 crore shares in GAIL, which are currently valued at over Rs 1,700 crore. —PTI
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NTPC, Tatas, Reliance vie for mega power projects
New Delhi, March 2 The Power Finance Corporation, which is the nodal agency for these projects, has received 33 expression of interest (EoIs) for the Sasan power project in Madhya Pradesh and 34 EoIs for the Mundra project in Gujarat, sources said, adding that many companies had bid for both projects. Tata Power, Reliance Energy, NTPC, Adani Exports, Aditya Birla group, Essar Power, GMR Energy, Sterlite group, Torrent Group, CESC Ltd of the R.P. Goenka group, Hindujas-owned Ashok Leyland, Lanco Kondapali and Ispat Industries are among those who have submitted EoIs for the Mundra coastal project. The US-based AES Corp’s local arm AES India, China Light and Power, UK-based Duncan Macheil Group, Korea Electric Power, Japan’s Sumitomo and Malaysia’s Tronoh Alco are also in the fray for the Mundra project. Apart from these companies, state-run Neyveli Lignite Corp, engineering giant Larsen & Toubro, Jindal Steel, Jaiprakash Associates, GVK group and Japanese conglomerate Mitsui have submitted EoIs for the Sasan pithead project. The last date for submitting EoIs for these two plants was February 28. The government plans to set up five such projects for which the PFC has set up five shell companies to arrange the necessary clearances. All projects are to be transferred to developers by the end of 2006. —PTI
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Reliance cuts polymer product prices
Mumbai, March 2 The price of POY is raised by Rs 0.96 per kg from Rs 66.54 a month ago to Rs 67.50 per kg, industry sources informed here. Prices of Polyster Stable Fibre has been reduced by Rs 30 per kg from Rs 66.30 to Rs 66 per kg. Price of fibre intermediate Purified Terephthalic acid and Mono Ethylene Glycol have been cut by Re 1 each to Rs 44.10 and Rs 44.90, respectively. Prices of polymers have been reduced with price of Polyethylene (PE) being brought down by Rs.48 to Rs 58.10 per kg. The new price of Polypropylene (PP) is Rs 57.50 per kg, which has been brought down by Rs 1.50 from price of Rs 59 per kg. Price of Polyvinyl Chloride has been reduced by Rs 50 per kg to Rs 39.50 per kg. However, the price of chemical Linear Alkyl Benzene has been kept unchanged at two-month-old price of Rs 69.30 per kg, sources said.
— PTI
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OBC to open offices in Malaysia, Dubai
Ludhiana, March 2 “For opening a branch in Malaysia, we have tied up with the Bank of Baroda. And in Dubai, we will be opening a representative office on our own. The bank expects to cash in on the business potential in these countries in view of a large presence of NRIs,” Executive Director M.D. Mallya said here today. The bank does not have any presence abroad at present For increasing its presence in the country, the bank plans to open 65 branches in the coming fiscal, including nine in Punjab, Mr Mallya said He said the bank did not have any plan to raise interest rates despite the fact that the liquidity position in the market was under
stress. The bank had already launched CBS in 750 of its 1143 branches covering 80 per cent of the total business of the bank.
— PTI
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‘Hum Tum’ couple to endorse Chevrolet Aveo
New-Delhi, March 2 “The Chevrolet Aveo is a new generation car with class leading performance, amazing looks and style and great mileage. Hence, we were looking at ambassadors who not only connect emotionally with the audience today but also embody the two dimensions of performance and aesthetics, substance and style plus class and exuberance,” General Motors India President and Managing Director Rajeev Chaba said.— PTI
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Amtek Auto to take full stake in Amtek Siccardi
Mumbai, March 2 Further, the Board has also decided to acquire 100 per cent equity stake in Amtek Siccardi (India). Amtek Siccardi India Ltd, has a technical collaboration with Ateliers de Siccardi of France. The Board will acquire 89.41 per cent equity stake in Benda Amtek, a Japanese joint venture, as a result of which the company will hold 96.63 per cent share.
— UNI
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Hyundai cuts car prices RBI authorisation Jenson & Nicholson FII limit in ACC Bajaj Allianz RCoVL profit Training in Pak Hutch STD Idea Cellular
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