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Jindal Steel to invest
$2.3 billion in Bolivia
MEL, BRL merge with SAIL
Punj Lloyd buys 88 pc in Singapore construction co
Joint production by Nissan, Suzuki soon
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Banks register growth in SSI advances
Draft policy soon for semiconductor units
EU to give conditional nod to Mittal bid
GSK to offer $15 b for Pfizer unit
Breather to Hero Honda in duty-evasion case
Yellow metal loses more
OPEC keeps oil taps gushing, for now
UP to shut 3,616 units
MRPL profit down at Rs 371 cr
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Jindal Steel to invest
$2.3 billion in Bolivia
New Delhi, June 2 "We have been awarded the rights for the El Mutun iron ore mine... We would invest $1.5 billion in the next five years and $2.3 billion in the next 10 years," JSPL Executive Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Naveen Jindal told reporters from London. Mr Jindal, who would be going to Bolivia shortly, said the company has been given rights to develop half of the El Mutun mine or 20 billion tonnes of iron ore out of the total 40 billion tonnes of potential reserves. Located near the Brazilian border, the El Mutun mine is said to be the world's single largest iron ore mine. In fact, the iron ore reserves in the mine is more than double the iron ore reserves of entire India. Moreover, the reserves are of high-grade ore with iron content of more than 64 per cent. JSPL CEO Vikrant Gujral and Director (Finance) Sushil Maroo said from Bolivian capital La Paz that the mine contains 12 per cent of world's total iron ore reserves and the company would be the largest overseas investor in that country. The company won the mining rights after the Bolivian government disqualified Netherlands-based world's largest steel maker Mittal Steel Co, which is incidentally headed by another Indian Lakshmi Niwas Mittal. Mr Jindal said out of the total investment of $2.3 billion, about 20 per cent would be pumped in mining and the balance 80 per cent in setting up the integrated steel plant. The project would be set up in a debt-equity ratio of 60:40, Mr Jindal said, adding resources would not be a problem. The company may raise borrowings from the international markets if the need arises, he said. While an agreement has already been signed in La Paz, a detailed contract is expected to be signed in July this year. Giving details of the project, Mr Jindal said the integrated steel plant would produce 1.7 million tonnes of long products of steel, six million tonnes per year of direct reduced iron (DRI) and a pellet plant of 10 million tonnes capacity. The company would also set supporting infrastructure, including a 400 MW power plant. The Bolivian government has assured all support and supply of natural gas for the project, which is likely to be implemented through a subsidiary. The project would employ 2,000 persons directly and another 10,000 indirectly, Mr Jindal said. He said the company would have to give 8-9 per cent to the Bolivian government as royalty on iron ore and concentrates and 10 per cent on pellets. There were no restrictions on exports of iron ore or steel, but the company would have to give 5 per cent royalty on steel exports and 7 per cent on DRI exports, he said.
— PTI |
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Patna, June 2 Mr. Paswan said here that Nilanchal Ispat Nigam Limited (NINL) would be merged with SAIL at a later stage. He said another steel company Indian Iron and Steel Company (IISCO) had since become a member of SAIL since February this year. An expert group headed by former Steel Secretary B.L. Das was formed to study the viability of such merger proposals and the merger process was initiated on the basis of the group. TheUnion Steel Ministry would transform SAIL and the Mineral and Metal Trading Corporation (MMTC) into mega companies, the minister said. He said the public sector steel factories had earned a profit of Rs 10,000 crore and SAIL`s profits went up to nearly Rs 6,000 crore during the past financial year. — UNI
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Punj Lloyd buys 88 pc in Singapore construction co
New Delhi, June 2 Punj Lloyd acquired an 88 per cent stake in the Singapore-based construction company through its wholly owned subsidiary in the country, Punj Lloyd Pvt Ltd, a company statement said. The company planned to acquire the remaining 12 per cent stake by December 2007, it said. SembCorp was initially a wholly owned subsidiary of SembCorp Industries (SCI). The acquisition is in line with the company’s plan to register its presence globally, Punj Lloyd said. With the current acquisition, the company’s operations would expand to Europe, China, besides Iran and other South- East Asian markets, the statement said. SembCorp Engineers & Constructors (SembE&C) is a design-and-build engineering and construction service provider with core capabilities encompassing process and plant engineering, heavy civil engineering and building. It reported revenues of over Rs 2,933 crore for the year ended December, 2005. “The new entity will provide our group access to new geographies and enhance our competitive positioning in existing markets and substantially enhance our group’s capabilities to tap complementary growth sectors like infrastructure and petrochemicals,” Punj Lloyd Managing Director Atul Punj said. — PTI
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Joint production by Nissan, Suzuki soon
New Delhi, June 2 "Nissan and Suzuki will start manufacturing collaboration in new emerging markets by sharing their respective manufacturing facilities. This activity will start at Suzuki's plant in India," a statement by the companies said On the back of the announcement, Maruti Udyog's share prices shot up around 14 per cent at the BSE and were trading at Rs 776.30 in late afternoon. Nissan and Suzuki announced they have agreed to expand the scope of their business collaboration in various markets. Further, Nissan will supply a compact pick-up truck to Suzuki from 2008 on an OEM basis for sale mainly in North America while Suzuki would provide a new A-segment vehicle for Nissan on an OEM basis for sale mainly in Europe. Suzuki President and Chief Operating Officer Hiroshi Tsuda said the expansion of business collaboration with Nissan would strengthen Suzuki's global competitiveness through pursuit of economies of scale in production volume by additional OEM business opportunities. Maruti Udyog Managing Director Jagdish Khattar said the business collaboration between Suzuki and Nissan was a positive implication for the company as well as its stake holders. Asked whether the development would also mean further expansion by Maruti Udyog, he said, "Expansion will have to take place." However, he refused to divulge further details, saying that the details were being worked out. — PTI
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Banks register growth in SSI advances
Chandigarh, June 2 The aggregate deposits of banks increased by 8.6 per cent, i.e. from Rs 67,279 crore to Rs 73,083 crore from April 1, 2005, to March 31, 2006. In absolute terms, credit increased by 23. 5 per cent (from Rs 36,695 crore to Rs 45,308 crore) during the period. This was revealed during the 96th meeting of state-level bankers’ committee (Punjab), held here today. While reviewing the performance of banks in the state, Mr K. Raghuraman, Executive Director, PNB, said 15 new branches of commercial banks were opened in the state during the review period, thus raising the network to 2,755 as on March 2006. He said the priority sector advances increased from Rs 20,694 crore to Rs 24,566 crore, showing a growth of 18.7 per cent as compared to last year. Agriculture advances increased from Rs 9,143 crore to Rs 11,594 crore, showing a growth of 26.8 per cent. SSI advances increased from Rs 5,148 crore to Rs 5,947 crore, showing a growth of 15.5 per cent, while weaker section advances increased from Rs 3,610 crore to Rs 4,728 crore, showing a growth of 30.9 percent. The banks have surpassed the targets under the Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Yojana for the year 2005-06 in terms of sanctioning of cases. As against annual target of 9,200 cases, banks in the state have sanctioned loans to 9,916 beneficiaries.
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Draft policy soon for semiconductor units
Bangalore, June 2 Talking to newsmen after inaugurating the Orchid Incubation Centre constructed by the Software Technologies Parks of India (STPI) here, Mr Maran said the STPI was currently generating surplus funds and the body could finance this scheme. He also disclosed that the draft policy on provision of incentives and special packages to the semiconductor industry for the construction of fabrication units for the manufacture of micro chips, solar cells, flat panels and storing devices, besides assembly and testing units, would be released soon. He said the draft policy was currently with the Finance ministry. He said fonts in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi had already been released and that software tools and fonts in Punjabi and Urdu were ready and would be released soon. Software tools and fonts for all the remaining Indian languages would be released by 2007. Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said Karnataka was the first state to provide a venture capital fund for the IT industry. He said in another initiative the government had decided to extend this fund to the biotechnology sector also. |
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EU to give conditional nod to Mittal bid
Brussels, June 2 Arcelor is seeking to fend off Mittal and announced last week plans to buy Russian steelmaker Severstal in a 13 billion-euro ($16.6 billion) deal giving Severstal’s majority owner Alexei Mordashov 32.2 per cent of the combined company. Arcelor has said it will go ahead with the controversial Russian deal as soon as it had received anti-trust clearance which it expected by mid-July. LUXEMBOURG: Mittal Steel, the world’s largest steelmaker, said it had given its business plan to rival Arcelor which has previously said it would not negotiate a takeover by its unwanted suitor without the document. “They have now the business plan at their disposal,” Mittal Steel Chief Executive for Europe Roeland Baan said on Friday.
— Reuters |
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GSK to offer $15 b for Pfizer unit
London, June 2 The Financial Times, citing people close to the negotiations, said GSK had decided to move ahead with a bid that would turn it into the world’s biggest producer of non-prescription drugs and into the second-largest prescription drugs supplier. Bids close on Tuesday for Pfizer’s healthcare or “over-the-counter” business. Britain’s leading financial news daily said GSK would probably face competition from six firms, including Colgate-Palmolive, Reckitt Benckiser, Johnson And Johnson, Wyeth and, possibly, Bayer. GSK is targeting the Pfizer unit to bolster its negotiating position with governments and retailers by offering a wide range of medicines as well as boosting its sales in the USA, the newspaper said. — AFP
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Breather to Hero Honda in duty-evasion case
New Delhi, June 2 The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal
(CESTAT) rejected the contention of the Excise Department, which alleged the company of evading duty by not declaring 'true and correct' value of the motor cycles and also of charging Rs 500 as the booking price not included in its declared price. Criticising the Excise Department for harassing the auto manufacturer by undue tax demands, the CESTAT said, "This brings out how revenue's case can be based on a mere presumption." In July 1991 the excise authorities issued notices to the HHML and alleged that it had not declared the 'true and correct' value of the motor cycles and has evaded the duty for the period of 1985 to 1991. The authorities alleged that HHML was charging Rs 500 as the booking price for its motor cycle, which was not included in its declared
price. — PTI |
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Yellow metal loses more
New Delhi, June 2 Standard gold and ornaments lost another Rs 100 each at Rs 9,500 and Rs 9,350 per 10 gm, respectively, on a reduced off-take. Sovereign followed suit and dropped by Rs 200 at Rs 7,850 per piece of 8 gm. Silver ready was also under pressure and lost further Rs 200 at Rs 18,500 per kilo. Silver coins also plummeted by Rs 500 at Rs 22,000 for buying and Rs 22,100 for selling of 100
pieces. — PTI |
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OPEC keeps oil taps gushing, for now
Caracas, June 2 At their latest talks here, ministers of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries decided to maintain the group’s total official production cap at 28 million barrels a day.They also informally discussed expanding OPEC to take in Angola, Sudan and possibly Ecuador. Analysts say the group risks losing its grip on world oil supplies unless it finds fresh sources of production, to counterbalance the rising output of non-OPEC nations such as Russia, Norway, Canada and Mexico. In a statement yesterday, OPEC ministers said they “decided to retain the status quo”, leaving their output at the highest level in a quarter century.
— AFP |
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UP to shut 3,616 units
Lucknow, June 2 State Small Industry Minister Jagdish Singh Rana said around 3,616 units, which turned out to be sick in the year 2005-06, have been given time till June for revival. Meanwhile, encouraged by the demand of Lucknow chikan, Banarasi saree and carpet of Bhadohi in the world market, it has been decided to open a showroom at the International Trade Zone in Paris to sell these
products. — UNI |
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Corporate News
New Delhi, June 2 The reduction in net profit is mainly due to discounts on petrol, diesel, kerosene and LPG under government instructions, and fall in refinery margins in line with global trend and decline in product offtake by the domestic oil marketing companies. The Board has decided to recommend a dividend of 7 per cent as against 10 per cent last year, on the equity shares. The Board also approved the refinery upgradation project, which will enhance refining capacity to 15 MMTPA (presently the rated capacity is 9.69 MMTPA). It is also expected to improve the refining margins with improved distillate yield, new value added products in lieu of low value black oil pool. UTI Bank dividend
UTI Bank has approved payment of dividend at 35 per cent, equivalent to Rs 3.50 per equity share of Rs 10 each. Announcing this to the BSE, the bank said dividend warrants have been dated and will be payable from tomorrow. Further, the company would allot and offer additional equity stock options convertible into equity shares of the aggregate nominal face value not exceeding Rs 4,80,00,000, to the present and future employees and Directors of the bank, under an employee stock option plan. — TNS, UNI |
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