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Deora seeks raise in fuel subsidy
Employers’ compliance with EPF Act being examined
India supports trade compensation fund
More freedom for banks from April 1
GAIL to get Panna gas for $4.75 per unit
Oman assures India LNG supplies
Rs 6,100-crore revival package for 13 PSUs
China approves Nanjing purchase of |
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ITC raises cigarette prices
Amartex to diversify
Alpha Drug to merge into Punjab Chem
Corporate
News
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Deora seeks raise in fuel subsidy
New Delhi, March 13 Mr Deora told Dr Manmohan Singh, who had called him along with Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Mr C. Rangarajan, Chairman of PM’s Economic Advisory Council, to discuss implementation of the Rangarajan Committee report on fuel pricing, that the networth of oil retailers - IBP, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum - would become zero in two months, two years and three years, respectively. He sought a transparent mechanism, like the food and fertiliser subsidies, for disbursing subsidies on LPG and kerosene to bridge the difference between the cost and selling price of fuel. While the subsidy from the Budget has remained static at Rs 2,900 crore, the government had to resort to issue of oil bonds, like the Rs 11,500 crore bonds proposed in the current fiscal, to cover the losses on the two cooking fuels. The subsidy of Rs 22.5 per cylinder on LPG covered only one-tenth of the differential between the retail selling price and the cost of production. Similarly, Rs 0.82 per litre on kerosene was only a fraction of the Rs 13 per litre difference between cost and sale price. The Rangarajan Committee on fuel pricing has suggested a steep rise of Rs 75 in the price of cylinder used in domestic cooking gas (LPG) and a moderate Rs 1.21 per litre increase in petrol and Rs 1.96 per litre hike in diesel prices while asking for a customs duty cut on auto fuel.
— PTI
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Employers’ compliance with EPF Act being examined
New Delhi, March 13 Under the programme, at least 1 per cent of the establishments in each regional office or sub-regional office is to be inspected on a random basis to find out whether they are adhering to Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provision Act, 1952, Minister of State for Labour Chandra Sekhar Sahu told the house in a written reply. The Compliance Validation and Analysis Programme, 2006, is expected to provide information on non-reporting, under- reporting or evasion, he said. All eligible employees of a covered establishment are entitled to benefits offered by the schemes framed under the Act, Mr Sahu said. As anD when any information in respect of non-enrolment of member or non-extension of benefits is received, appropriate action, as provided under the Act, is taken. Investment options of the EPF are being studied by M/s Mercer Human Resource Consulting, the Lok Sabha was informed today. The Central Board of Trustees had approved the appointment of consultant for one-time study of the investment options for the Fund, Mr Sahu said, in a written answer. He said trade unions had raised certain objections in this regard which included alleged involvement in providing inaccurate information to New York Stock Exchange in the matter of compensation package to its Chairman and allegation of wrong doing against its sister concern, March Inc. He said the matter was referred to the consultant for their comments and it was clarified by them that their role was restricted to advice on actuarial and pension related matters and did not involve providing of advice or services concerning the Compensation Committee’s annual decisions regarding compensation of NYSE employees, including the Chairman. In regard to the second allegation, it was clarified by the same consultant that it was an independent company, run entirely by its own management and responsible to its own Board of Directors.
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India supports trade compensation fund
New Delhi, March 13 “ Each country needs to be sensitive to the concerns and possible adverse effect on agriculture, small and medium enterprises due to the implementation of the free trade agreement, “ said Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh while speaking at the conference “SAFTA: Opportunities & Challenges” organised by FICCI. He assured India’s commitment to SAFTA and said the country’s role would be ‘cohesive, contributive and supportive’ to the objectives of the regional agreement. World Bank Country Director Michael F. Carter said regional integration was important for growth and poverty reduction in South Asia. However, the region still remained one of the least integrated regions in the world. Intra-regional trade as percentage of the GDP was low in South Asia at less than 2 per cent, compared to more than 20 per cent for East Asia. Supporting the demand of small countries under the South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA)
Agreement, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan to set up a trade compensation fund, he said small countries were likely to suffer initially aloss of revenue and ,therefore, they needed to be compensated by setting up a trade compensation fund to smoothen the implementation of the pact.
India-ASEAN negotiations
Speaking at the ‘India-ASEAN FTA Negotiations: Wrapup Meeting’, Commerce Secretary S.N. Menon said negotiations for the India-ASEAN Free Trade agreement would be completed by June and the much-awaited FTA would be operationalised from January 1, 2007. The Commerce Secretary said along with the FTA in goods, talks would soon begin for a similar arrangement in services, an area of offensive interest to India. While the deadline for the FTA in goods is the beginning of 2007, the agreement in services would be operational from January, 2008.
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More freedom for banks from April 1
Chandigarh, March 13 Instructions to this effect have been received by various banks here. These will be enforced from April 1.Banks will not now be required to approach the regional offices of the RBI for licences to start new branches. The RBI will issue a consolidated letter of authorisation to each bank on an annual basis, containing the names of centres and locations where branches, offices, credit card centres and ATMs can be opened. A bank would be required to submit the details of branches opened, closed or shifted to the RBI on a quarterly basis. Further, the RBI has allowed banks to shift branches to any location within an area without seeking its approval. The bank will just inform the RBI about the change and the expected date of functioning from the new address. Also, the banks will now be free to convert a specialised branch into another category of specialised branch or a general banking branch. The categories of specialised branches are – SSI, agriculture, export, commercial and personal banking. Also, the RBI has allowed banks to rely on new means of verifying the credentials of a new customer. The banks can also rely on certificates issued by the Block Development Officer, heads of panchayats, Postmasters or any other public functionary known to the bank.
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GAIL to get Panna gas for $4.75 per unit
New Delhi, March 13 This was agreed at a meeting of the consortium of Oil and Natural Gas Corp, BG Group of the UK and Reliance Industries and gas offtaker GAIL (India) Ltd, called by Petroleum Secretary M.S. Srinivasan today. “The consortium will continue selling 5.4 mmscmd of gas from the fields to GAIL for two more years beyond the expiry of current contract on March 31, 2006,” a source said. GAIL, which currently pays $3.86 per mBtu to ONGC-BG-RIL, would have paid $5.73 per mBtu for the PMT gas if the formula prescribed in the field contract was implemented. However, Mr Srinivasan urged the consortium to sell the gas at the maximum price it was getting from selling the remaining 4.8 mmscmd of PMT gas. Last week, ONGC had struck a deal with Torrent Power of Gujarat for sale of 1.5 mmscmd of PMT gas at $4.75 per mBtu and this was set as the benchmark price, sources said.
— PTI
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Oman assures India LNG supplies
Thamrait Air Base (Oman), March 13 Visiting Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who held a meeting lasting over an hour with Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said near this air base yesterday, said Oman had expressed willingness to provide LNG and also to enter into a long-term partnership with India, though its current gas supplies had already been tied up with some countries. “The Sultan informed me that the present supplies have already been committed to some countries. However, some new gas fields were soon expected to be operationalised. He said when that happens, there should be no problem with entering into a long-term relationship with India,” Mr Mukherjee said. Asked what kind of long-term relationship was Oman looking at in the field of oil and gas, Mr Mukherjee said it could include joint production and sharing of the produce or joint ventures which would benefit both countries. — PTI
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Rs 6,100-crore revival package for 13 PSUs
New Delhi, March 13 At present there are nine companies - IOC, ONGC, GAIL, BPCL, HPCL, BHEL, MTNL, NTPC and SAIL - in the list of navratna companies. Meanwhile, 13 sick public sector undertakings are being revived at a cost of Rs 6,100 crore. These 13 PSUs are among 28 units recommended for revival by the Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told the Rajya Sabha. The remaining units would be taken up for revival one by one, he said. The revival package included a cash component of Rs 1,675 crore and the remaining Rs 4,000-odd crore would be way of writing off of loans, the Finance Minister said. A large portion of the cash component would subsequently be returned by sale of assets and through internal generation. — PTI
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China approves Nanjing purchase of MG Rover
Beijing, March 13 Nanjing chairman Wang Haoliang was cited by Xinhua as saying the Chinese car maker planned to roll out its first locally made MG75 sedan in the first half of 2007 based on the acquired technology. Nanjing surprised the motoring world when the company paid £53 million ($91.3 million) to buy MG Rover out of bankruptcy in July, outbidding top Chinese carmaker Shanghai Automotive Corp (SAIC). The British carmaker collapsed under debts of £1.4 billion in April, leading to 5,000 job losses at its main plant. Last month, Nanjing took a 33-year lease on the former MG Rover plant at Longbridge in central England and reiterated it still hoped to revive production at the site.
— Reuters
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ITC raises cigarette prices
New Delhi, March 13 The price of Classic has been increased to Rs 70 from Rs 65 for a packet of 20 cigarettes, which means that each stick would now cost Rs 3.50 instead of Rs 3.25. Gold Flake Filter Kings will cost Rs 33 for a packet of 10, up from Rs 29.50. A 10s packet of Navy Cut will be dearer by Rs 2, with the new price being Rs 27. Finance Minister P Chidambaram had announced a 5 per cent duty hike for cigarettes in his Budget. The new prices will only be effective when the new stocks with the revised prices hit the market, the company said in a statement. The price of ITC’s Capstan Ft and Gold Flake Premium have not been changed.
— UNI
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Amartex to diversify
Panchkula, March 13 The Managing Director of Amartex Group, Mr Arun Grover, said the group proposed to establish 25 rural malls in nine districts of Punjab, which would give marketing support to the farmers. The plan had recently been approved by the Empowered Committee of the Punjab government. These malls will be set up in the districts of Patiala and Bathinda (four each), Kapurthala, Roopnagar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar (three each), Fatehgarh Sahib and Moga (one each). The proposed rural malls would not only deal with the agriculture products but also stock garments, fabric, home linen, shoes and other fast-moving consumer goods. Mr Grover said a fruit-processing unit would also be set up in the citrus-rich Abohar belt, as part of diversification plan.
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Alpha Drug to merge into Punjab Chem
Mumbai, March 13
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Hutch number of choice
Chandigarh, March 13
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Corporate News
Mumbai, March 13 The agreement entailed purchase of Sumitomo’s 100 per cent stake in Pacific Horizon, which currently holds 24.12 per cent of IndusInd Telecom Network Ltd (ITNL), a joint venture between Hindujas and Sumitomo, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange. ITNL currently held a 5.11 per cent stake in Hutch, which translates to Pacific Horizon holding an effective stake of 1.23 per cent in Hutch, it said. As per the terms of the agreement, the company would purchase 50 per cent stake in Pacific Horizon up front and the remaining 50 per cent at a later date. Goodlass Nerolac
Goodlass Nerolac Paints Ltd today declared an interim dividend of 85 per cent for the current fiscal. The Board of Directors has declared a special interim dividend of 85 per cent that is, Rs 8.50 per equity share of Rs 10 each, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange. Micro-ARAI pact
Micro Technologies India Ltd today said it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) for developing automotive electronic products. The MoU has been signed for product regulatory & performance requirements and design aspects of automotive products. ARAI will use the company’s expertise in product development and commercialisation using embedded technology, Micro Technologies informed the Bombay Stock Exchange. Sun-Tata deal
Sun Microsystems will provide the IT infrastructure solutions for the new direct-to-home (DTH) television service launched by the Tata Star joint venture, Tata Sky Limited. The DTH service was expected to go on air from the middle of this year. Tata Sky would be building a high quality digital infrastructure to offer a superior television viewing experience to Indian households. Kanbay in Ireland
Pune-based IT services firm Kanbay International today announced the opening of a new office in Dublin, Ireland. The new office will support sales and customer services throughout Ireland, with a special focus on expanding the capabilities of Kanbay’s global securities and investment practice. “We are seeing an increased demand from European institutions to use a global delivery platform for their IT service needs. By adding an office in Dublin to our existing presence in Europe, we can better access and service this market,” company’s Managing Director (India) Cyprian D’Souza said. Uttam Sugar Mills
Uttam Sugar Mills Ltd today announced it would be entering the capital market with 40 lakh equity shares of Rs 10 each through a 100 per cent book-building process, to part-finance its Rs 286 crore expansion plans. The price band has been fixed at Rs 290 to Rs 340 as a result of which the issue size is estimated at Rs 116-136 crore. The issue will remain open from March 16 to 21. Infotech agreement
Infotech Enterprises Ltd today said its UK-based subsidiary, Infotech Enterprises Europe Ltd has signed a multi-million euro agreement with GE Energy for providing geospatial data management services to Switzerland-based Swisscom Fixnet. Under this agreement, Infotech would create spatial database for GE to implement a network planning solution for the Swiss company, enabling the customer to optimise its project-planning processes.
— Agencies
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