New Delhi, August 28
In an intense legal battle between Jet Airways and Air Sahara over their failed takeover deal, the former today won the first round with getting a favourable order from the Supreme Court for transfer of all cases pertaining to the contract to the Bombay High Court.

But there was not much for Jet Airways to cheer up as the apex court refused to lift the ban on withdrawal of the Rs 1,500 crore amount deposited in escrow account with the ICICI Bank as well as Rs 500 crore as guarantee money.

A Bench of Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Mr Justice C.K. Thakker said the restraint order passed by the Lucknow District Jude on June 20 against withdrawal of the money by Jet Airways from the ICICI Bank would continue.

The court further said the Bombay High Court would first hear arguments from the parties on the question whether it had jurisdiction to hearing the case. If it was found that it had “inherent jurisdiction” to hearing the matter, then only the transfer could be effected.

The court imposed such a condition after the argument of Sahara’s counsel Mukul Rohtagi that the original agreement between his client and Jet Air was signed in Lucknow. Therefore, only the Lucknow District Judge has the jurisdiction to decide the matter.

On the other hand, advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Jet, contended that all subsequent agreements signed between the parties had specific clauses for arbitration of the matter in Mumbai.

Rohtagi contended that the court had to take into account the original and main contract as where it was signed as the subsequent agreements were merely signed to “effectuate” it.

Taking into consideration the arguments forwarded from both sides, the apex court in its order said, “It is open for the petitioner parties to raise the issue of inherent jurisdiction before the Bombay High Court. In case the court finds that it has the jurisdiction, all pending cases initiated in Lucknow be taken up by it”.

While asking the parties to appear before the High Court on September 11, the Supreme Court directed the High Court to expedite the hearing taking into consideration the high financial stakes from both sides.

It also said all cases whether filed by Air Sahara or its seven shareholders in Lucknow should be heard by only one Bench of the High Court in consolidated manner.

The Lucknow District Judge was directed to send all documents pertaining to the four cases initiated before it to Bombay High Court after Jet Air’s counsel said his client was ready to bear the transportation cost.

New Delhi, August 28
The Seattle-based Boeing aircraft company has projected a need for 856 new commercial jets worth more than $72 billion spread over the next two decades.

This forecast is on account of a robust economic growth, an increasing demand for point-to-point domestic and international air travel and the growth of India-based cargo market.

Senior Vice-President (sales) for Boeing’s Commercial planes in South and South-East Asia Dinesh Keskar observed today “economic growth, liberalisation and airlines operational efficiencies are three fundamental drivers behind the increase in air travel in India”.

Of the total 856 aircraft required, nearly 676 planes will be in single aisle category like the B737-800 and the rest in twin-aisle regional jets or B747 and larger category.

Dr Keskar said India’s progression from a regulated to liberalised market had dramatically increased the competition among airlines and was forcing them to operate at much higher levels of efficiency to remain profitable.

Even as Spicejet has placed orders for five B737-900 (ERs) and five B737-800s, the country’s first international cargo airline will operate wide-body aircraft for which Flyington Freighters have placed orders for four B777s.

Meanwhile, Air Sahara has disclosed that it has placed its first direct order for purchasing 10 B777-800 worth more than $700 million. Company President Alok Kumar said deliveries would start in mid-2009 and the new planes would seat 162 to 189 passengers.

Asked about the financing plans for the new orders, Mr Sharma said, “There are enough options and instruments available for financing aircraft purchase...the US Exim Bank provides loans. There are other options also available”.

He said these 10 aircraft were meant for both domestic and international operations of Air Sahara, which is eyeing a 20 per cent market share in the next five years.

Air Sahara also received its 19th Boeing 737-400 today and would be getting the 20th next month.

Mr Sharma said the airline, which currently has a market share of about 8 per cent, planned to increase it to 12-13 per cent by December.

Mr Keskar said these aircraft could also be replaced at a later stage by 737-900 ERs (extended range).

In 2003, India had 121 aircraft and orders for two planes. This year, it has 224 aircraft with orders for 384 planes. However, low fares and high fuel prices will continue to put pressure on yields which needs to be arrested to avoid the whole industry from becoming sick.

Meanwhile, Jet Airways said today it had received the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) registration, a global benchmark for assessing the operational management and control systems of an airline.

New Delhi, August 28
Concerned over around 15 lakh duplicate PAN (permanent account numbers) cards across the country, the Finance Ministry has directed the IT Department to scrutinise all PANs and take steps to eliminate these by year-end.

People are using duplicate PAN to evade information about their investments, high-value transactions since it is mandatory to quote PAN while filing I-T returns.

“We are hopeful that all income tax officials across the country would be connected online by year-end. It will enable us to eliminate all duplicate cards by cross-checking the data on PAN cards on the computer network,” Mr A.K. Sinha, Commissioner, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), told The Tribune today.

According to one estimate, out of around four crore PAN cards issued in the country, about 15 lakh persons have taken duplicate PAN cards by providing wrong information about their home address or even by furnishing ‘different names in the column of father’s name’ to get two or three PAN cards.

PAN has to be quoted for sale and purchase of immovable property or automobiles and for making hotel/foreign travel payments of Rs 25,000 or more in cash. Quoting PAN is also mandatory for applying for landline and mobile telephone connections.

The IT Department has already issued show-cause notices to thousands of duplicate PAN card holders, asking them to surrender these or be ready for legal action under the Income Tax Act.

“Intentional possession of more than one PAN is an offence liable for penalty under the Income Tax Act, besides prosecution for intentionally furnishing incorrect particulars or false documents,” the department has warned.

Under the present system of scrutiny of IT returns, the department has no facility to cross-check the data on PAN cards issued in over 35 IT circles in the country. Once they are networked online IT officials would be able to cross-check whether an industrialist or businessman has quoted different PAN in different cities or evading investments in the returns.

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has asked the Board to prepare a roadmap to issue biometric PAN to IT assesses that would enable the government to provide a unique PAN to an individual by taking X-ray of his fingerprints.

Singapore, August 28
Steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal and cola queen Indra Nooyi might have made it to the top, but others like Murli Kewalram Chanrai, Mustaq Ahmad, Sudhir Gupta and Kartar Singh Thakral are also making waves on foreign shores.

The four Indian expats — almost unknown as compared to Mittals and Nooyis, have made it to Singapore's richie-rich club with their rags-to-riches stories recognised by the US magazine Forbes.

Chanrai, head of the $3 billion Kewalram Chanrai Group; Ahmad, owner of Mustafa Centre in Little India; Gupta, a tyre tycoon; and Thakral, who is into textiles and IT peripherals figure in the first-ever richest 40 list of the island nation compiled by Forbes in its Asia September edition.

Murli Kewalram Chanrai, aged 83 and the highest-ranked individual among the four, has been placed at seventh position with a net worth of $880 million (over Rs 4,000 crore). His Kewalram Chanrai Group is held privately by overseas Indian family trusts and is part of the 150-year-old Chanrai empire.

Next in line is Sudhir Gupta, aged 47, who has been ranked as Singapore's 13th richest person with a net worth of $320 million.

India-born Gupta, a Singapore citizen and a PhD in agricultural chemistry from Russia started with a tyre company in Moscow. After acquiring a Dutch company, he formed Amtel-Vredestein, a tyre company which was listed on London Stock Exchange last year.

Kartal Singh Thakral, ranked 25th with a net worth of $175 million, joined his family trading business in 1949. His empire spans across various businesses, including the Singapore-listed Thakral Corp, that distributes technology gears for products like iPods in China and India.

Mustaq Ahmad, who happens to be the last among the four at 27th position with a net worth of $165 million, is the owner of one of Singapore's famous landmarks, the Mustafa Centre. — PTI

Mumbai, August 28
The Maharashtra State Industrial Corporation will set up India’s first special economic zones (SEZs) in the power sector. The projects, which would be set up at Chandrapur and Raigad, will have an installed capacity of around 1,250 MW, catering mainly to industrial units, according to the sources in the state power department.

The two projects would be based on coal and would be complete in five years.

The state government also plans to rope in companies with captive coal mine licences to ensure uninterrupted supply of raw material for the projects.

According to officials, the MIDC has 1,40,000 acres to which another 50,000 acres of acquired land would be added for setting up various SEZs.

New Delhi, August 28
Ficci today proposed the setting up of a body for political risk cover of companies going for acquisitions by Indian companies abroad and formulation of country-specific and continent-specific strategies to further encourage acquisitions.

“Our President will write to the Prime Minister to consider the introduction of a body in the lines of OPIC (Overseas Private Investment Corporation) which exists in the US, to ensure political risk mitigation cover for companies opting for acquisitions in other countries,” Ficci Secretary-General Amit Mitra told reporters releasing a study on India Inc’s acquisitions abroad.

The letter would also include a suggestion for creation of a fund to facilitate acquisition of hi-tech firms abroad.

“Acquisitions abroad provide major backward linkages in terms of employment creation, technological flows, access to funds and GDP,” he said.

As many as 306 acquisitions took place during January, 2000, to July, 2006.

In 2005 alone there were 130 acquisitions abroad and 50 acquisitions during the first six months of this year, according to a FICCI study.

Of the 90 acquisitions in the IT sector 3i Infotech, Subex Systems, Teledata Informatics and Wipro accounted for 29 acquisitions. In the healthcare and pharma sector, of the total 62 acquisitions, 30 acquisitions were done by Ranbaxy, DRL, Nicholas Piramal, Sun Pharma and Glenmark Pharma.

Of the 27 acquisitions in the automotive sector, 17 were done by Bharat Forge, Amtek, M&M, Sundaram Fastners and Tata Motors.

The study pointed that just 15 companies accounted for 99 acquisitions of the total 306. Teledata Informatics topped the list with 11 acquisitions followed by Ranbaxy at 10 and the ONGC at nine during the review period of 2000-06.

The US continued to be the favourite destination for acquisition for Indian companies with 100 acquisitions. Next favourite destination is Europe with 82 acquisitions. The UK alone saw 40 acquisitions.

There were 11 acquisitions in Latin America, 20 in South-East Asia, 13 in Africa and two in West Asia. — PTI

Mumbai, August 28
The SBI today entered the venture capital (VC) business with the launch of a $100 million VC Fund in partnership with Japan’s Softbank Investment. The fund will target India’s rapidly growing knowledge industrial base with investments in the $5-10 million range over a holding period of three to five years.

The knowledge sectors being targeted include BPO, KPO, life-sciences, online businesses, technology-enabled design and manufacturing, as well as in emerging areas of nano-technology and environmental technology.

Softbank Investment currently manages 18 other venture funds across numerous sectors around the world, including a recent collaboration with Singapore’s Temasek Holdings focused on China. — PTI

New Delhi, August 28
Jammu and Kashmir Bank will increase foreign institutional investors (FIIs) holding in the bank to 40 per cent after it gets Reserve Bank approval in this regard.

“We have got the approval of the Board and shareholders for increasing FII holding to 40 per cent from 33 per cent,” Chairman Haseeb A. Drabu said.

He said the bank would approach the RBI to seek its approval.

The government of Jammu and Kashmir is the largest shareholder of the bank with about 53 per cent stake.

The bank, which has a captive market in the state and is the banker to the J&K Government, is very optimistic about business growth in the next few years.

“We expect our business to touch Rs 45,000 crore by March, 2007 from Rs 34,000 crore as on June, 2006,” Mr Drabu said

On the bank’s new logo, Mr Drabu said, “The change in our logo reflects the bank’s new business thinking and attitude. We are taking proactive steps in leveraging the recovery in our home market, as well as by identifying emerging niche opportunities in the national market, both of which can bring us higher returns”. — PTI