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Transfer of Air Sahara assets to Jet okayed
Ranbaxy does hat-trick in Europe, buys Ethimed
Mittal buys 8 pc stake in IndiaBulls Credit
Indian economy set to grow at 8 pc: UN
PNB, ICICI hike interest on foreign currency deposits
Myanmar nod to GAIL stake in A-3 block
MCX, Malaysian Derivatives to work together
Silver, gold prices zoom
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Doha Bank keen on India
CORPORATE NEWS
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Transfer of Air Sahara assets to Jet okayed
New Delhi, March 30 The Aircraft Acquisition Committee, including offices of the Civil Aviation Ministry, the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation and the Airports Authority of India, has cleared the transfer of properties, including issues relating to parking bays and slots, reports here suggested. However, these rights cannot be further transferred or leased to a third party, sources said. According to reports, the committee has finalised the guidelines for the merger and
acquisitions. The guidelines would be sent to the Civil Aviation Ministry very soon for its approval. Sources said the new guidelines “will be out next week” after Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel gives his nod. These guidelines would also enable the proposed merger of national carriers Air-India and
Indian. Such a merger would enable the national carriers not only face domestic competition from the Jet-Sahara deal, but also on the international front, especially from large airlines like Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Malaysian Airlines and Emirates.
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Ranbaxy does hat-trick in Europe, buys Ethimed
New Delhi, March 30 “Ethimed offers Ranbaxy a ready and robust distribution network to exploit new product opportunities in the future. It also provides the company, a strong base from where we can manage and expand our operations in the Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) countries. We see this acquisition as strategic to our business in Europe,” Ranbaxy President Europe, CIS, Africa and Latin America Peter Burema said. Ranbaxy said the acquisition of Ethimed would give it 20 registered products apart from providing strategic market access and distribution network for Benelux countries. The Belgium market is largely a branded, high-priced market with increasing generic penetration. The acquisition positions Ranbaxy favourably to capture a significant portion of this expanding market, the company said. It is the intention of Ranbaxy to manage operations in the Benelux territories out of Ethimed in Belgium, it added. Belgium is the seventh largest pharmaceutical market in Europe and the Netherlands is the sixth largest market with a combined market size, including Luxembourg, of $7.6 billion.
— PTI
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Mittal buys 8 pc stake in IndiaBulls Credit
New Delhi, March 30 Mittal-promoted LNM India Internet Ventures Ltd will acquire an 8.2 per cent stake in Indiabulls Credit Services Ltd, a majority-owned subsidiary of Indiabulls Financial Services Ltd, for about Rs 90 crore. LNM-IIVL will pay about Rs 62 per share for investing Rs 45 crore in Indiabulls Financial as well as making a secondary purchase of shares for an equal amount. The investment values ICSL at about Rs 1,100 crore, IFSL said in a release. Indiabulls Credit Services Ltd will issue 72.10 lakh shares to LNM-IIVL for about Rs 45 crore. LNM-IIVL will hold a total of 1.44 crore shares in Indiabulls Credit Services Ltd. After the new investments, the shareholding of IFSL in Indiabulls Credit will decrease from 55.3 per cent to 53 per cent due to the issuance of new shares. Indiabulls Credit will have an enhanced equity capital base of about Rs 460 crore with the new investment, it
said. — PTI
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Indian economy set to grow at 8 pc: UN
New Delhi, March 30 The high growth rate would be supported by expansion of the agricultural sector by 2.5 to 3 per cent, 8 per cent growth in industry and 8.5 per cent in services, said the report, adding India’s inflation rate was likely to remain at about 4 per cent in this period due to the government’s commitment to reform, including strict fiscal prudence. Industrial and services sectors were expected to sustain the growth momentum, helped by cyclical factors, rising rural incomes and increased public spending on physical and social infrastructure. But it said that high global oil prices were exerting more inflationary pressure and eroding the country’s balance of payments. “If oil prices rise further by $10 a barrel, GDP growth of a developing country such as India can drop by 0.5 per cent, inflation can rise up to 1 per cent and current account deficit can widen up to 0.3 per cent of GDP,” the report added. Oil prices held above $66 today after a steeper-than-expected fall in gasoline stocks in the United States ahead of peak summer demand. Prices have stayed above $60 for more than a month on worries that geopolitical risks in oil exporters such as Nigeria, Iran and Iraq would keep supplies tight.
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PNB, ICICI hike interest on foreign currency deposits
New Delhi, March 30 Interest rate on US dollar has been hiked to 5.15 per cent (from 4.9) for one o two years and to 5.13 per cent (4.88) for two to three years, PNB said in a press note. The rate of interest is hiked to 5.11 per cent for three to four years, four to five years and five years only US dollar deposits. Interest rate was raised for pound deposits to 4.67 per cent for one to two years, to 4.71 per cent for two to three years, to 4.73 per cent for three to four years and to 4.72 per cent for four to five years. The rate of interest on five-year pound deposits is set at 4.7 per cent. Private sector banking major ICICI Bank has also increased its interest rates on FCNR deposits with effect from yesterday. Interest rates on FCNR (foreign currency non-resident) deposits for all currencies except the Japanese yen and tenures have been increased by 25 basis points, stated a press note issued here today. With this increase, the current interest rate for one-year FCNR deposits denominated in US dollars stands at 5.15 per cent per annum. For a maturity period of 12 months and above but less than 24 months, the rate for dollar-denominated deposits has been increased to 5.15 from 4.90 per cent while for 24 months and above but less than 36 months, it has been increased to 5.13 per cent from 4.88 per cent. For dollar-denominated deposits with a tenure of 36 months and above but less than 48 months, for those of 48 months and above but less than 60 months and for a 60-month tenure, the rate has been increased to 5.11 per cent from 4.86 per cent. In the case of British pound-denominated deposits, the rate has been increased to 4.67 per cent from the earlier 4.42 per cent in case of deposits with a maturity period of 12 months and above but less than 24 months. — PTI, UNI
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Myanmar nod to GAIL stake in A-3 block
New Delhi, March 30 After reservations expressed by the Bangladesh Government, GAIL has commissioned a detailed feasibility study for an on-land gas pipeline route via North-East India and this study report will be available by April-end. It is expected to be presented to the Myanmar Government in May, said a senior official of the company. The A-3 block, measuring 6,780 sq. km., is situated adjacent to the A-1 block, where commercial gas discoveries have already been made. GAIL is a consortium partner in the A-1 block and is the preferred buyer for the gas produced from this block. GAIL has been considered as the preferred buyer to buy Daewoo’s share of natural gas from the A-3 block as well. The A-3 block was awarded to the Daewoo International Corporation of Korea in 2004. Thereafter, GAIL (India) Limited signed an assignment agreement in October, 2005, in Seoul for equity participation in the A-3 block.
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MCX, Malaysian Derivatives to work together
Mumbai, March 30 MCX is a leading commodity exchange in India at Mumbai and BMD is the world’s premier exchange for crude palm oil. According to the terms of the memorandum of understanding (MoU), both have now decided to work closely for developing and expanding their market. They will together develop areas of assisting and benefiting the underlying producers, end-users and investors of these products and to also ensure the application of international best practices for price risk management and exchange operations. Bursa Head (Global markets) Raghbir Singh Bhart said: “’We are pleased to work with MCX, one of the globally oriented exchanges in India, focusing on large globally referenced commodities in agriculture, energy and metals sector. This memorandum of understanding will allow both exchanges to further explore opportunities and develop new and promising ventures together. MCX Managing Director and CEO Jignesh Shah said: “We are happy to partner with the BMD...we look forward to working with BMD to help the Indian edible oil industry to hedge their price risk more efficiently.” — UNI
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Silver, gold prices zoom
Chennai, March 30 Standard gold opened at Rs 110 higher at Rs 8,330 per 10 grams in early trading today in comparison to yesterday’s Rs 8,220 and ended the at Rs 8,380, registering a rise of Rs 160. Similarly ornament gold (22 carat) also rallied by Rs 10 per gram to open at Rs 771 and went up to finish the day at Rs 776 over yesterday’s close of Rs 761, netting a rise of Rs 15 per gram. Bar silver started the day Rs 525 higher per kilo to open at Rs 16,925, firmed up further to settle the day at Rs 17,200 from yesterday’s close of Rs 16,400, gaining Rs 800. — PTI
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Cisco focus on Tier II cities
Chandigarh, March 30 Talking to TNS here recently, Mr Jagdish Mahapatra, Regional Manager, Sales, said that the company has successfully captured the IT and BPO sector in Delhi-Gurgaon belt and established Cisco Systems as the networking market leader in core technologies like routing and switching. He said that Cisco Systems was now investing in SMBs and mid-sized business to bring down the message that network is strategic to future growth of these companies. “We are now looking at business vistas in Chandigarh and Mohali, which are emerging as the next big IT destination. Our customers include big business houses like Infosys, Dr Reddys, Ford India and Tisco. In Chandigarh region, we see a 30 to 40 per cent growth in business here,” he added. Mr Mahapatra also informed that Cisco Systems has launched its Cisco Network Academy Programme in seven engineering institutes of Punjab, where they were training students in networking solutions.
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Doha Bank keen on India
Dubai, March 30 The Chairman of the bank’s Board, Sheikh Fahad bin Mohammed bin Jabor Al Thani, told the shareholders that it is also expanding its scope of business to cover Islamic banking and bond issuance. — UNI
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Corporate News
New Delhi, March 30 “This will involve a 35- km optical fibre link between Jogbank in Bihar and Kathmandu in Nepal. For Reliance Infocomm, it will mean extending its domestic long-distance OFC network. On Nepal’s part, Nepal Telecom has also obtained the government’s permission,” informed sources said. The MoU between the two would enable the creation of high- capacity international bandwidth to meet future demand of voice, data and video traffic, particularly in the Himalayan Kingdom, they said. According to the sources, about a 10 km area would be on the Indian side between Jogbani and Kathmandu, while nearly 25 km would lie on the other side. M&M plant at Nasik
Mahindra & Mahindra said today it would set up a Blanking Line plant in Nasik using German technology to produce steel coils and sheets for its automotive and components divisions. Mahindra Intertrade (MIL), part of Mahindra Group’s Trade and Financial Services sector, is setting up the facility and the project is in line with the company’s global expansion plans as well as to service its expanding automotive production volumes.
Raymond’s Vapi unit
Raymond will become the world’s largest integrated player of worsted suiting fabric, following the inauguration of its latest worsted suiting facility at Vapi in Gujarat. The plant, located over 112 acres, possesses a manufacturing capacity of three million metres per annum and will enhance Raymond Ltd’s total output to 28 million metres per annum. The company’s Chairman and Managing Director Gautam Hari Singhania said: ‘’The additional investment in our Vapi plant will enhance our worsted suiting capacity, thus giving impetus to the company’s buoyant textile business.’’ With a capacity of 28 million meters of wool and wool-blended fabrics, Raymond has over a 60 per cent market share in worsted suitings in India. The Raymond group, with a turnover of Rs 2,000 crore, has business interests in fabrics, readymade garments, designer wear, denim, cosmetics and toiletries, engineering files and tools, prophylactics and air charter operations.
Dabur to expand
Dabur India has announced to explore global low-cost sourcing options from China to achieve competitive efficiencies. Dabur, which has set up its plant in tax-free zone of Himachal Pradesh, today unveiled its Vision 2010 claiming that it expected sales and profits to double by the end of fiscal 2009-10 through expansion, acquisition and innovation. Talking to reporters, Dabur India Ltd’s Chief Executive Officer Sunil Duggal said, “We expect to double our sales and profits by the end of fiscal 2009-10 through expansion, acquisition and innovation.” “To achieve operational efficiencies, Dabur would explore global low-cost sourcing options from countries like China,” he said.
Fidelity launch
Fidelity Fund Management Ltd, which manages Rs 3,500 crore assets in India, has launched its open-ended equity fund, Special Situations Fund, ending on April 26, Fidelity Fund Manager Rajesh Singh said here today. Companies could be in special situations because of their recovery potential or their potential was not recognised by the market or because of their restructuring exercise or they were potential candidates for mergers and acquisition-related activities. The company was also working on a fixed income fund, which could be a bond fund, and the product was likely to be launched during 2006-07. —
Agencies, TNS
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