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MNCs on FinMin radar
Boeing to invest $118 m for MRO in Maharashtra
TRAI empowers consumers against telecom woes
Montek wants more funds for 11th Plan
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CBM evaluation unbiased: DGH
P&G to set up plant at Baddi
BHEL to invest Rs 1,600 cr on modernisation
Karnataka clears 4 SEZs of Tata Group
Metro AG to pump in 300 m euros in India
Lankan firm to manage hotels in India
Mallya eyes New Zealand liquor co
France’s Capgemini scouting for $500m buyout
BoA private equity arm exits India
Ispat Inds to set up iron ore pellet plant at Vizag
Steel Strips bags Rs 40-cr order
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MNCs on FinMin radar
New Delhi, August 29 “The joint audit would also be effected by the Central Government in collaboration with states wherever MNCs are simultaneously operational within the periphery of Centre and those of states to ensure that their balance sheet and annual statements do not come out with conflicting figures, said Dr Parthasarathi Shome, Adviser to Finance Minister, while speaking at Assocham here today. Only last week, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had admitted in the Lok Sabha that evasion of direct tax had been detected in 411 MNCs out of 1,915 such companies assessed during financial year 2005-06. In fact, the total arrear demand in respect of the companies under the jurisdiction of the Directorate of Income Tax (International Taxation) was Rs 6,385.09 crore as on April 1, 2006. Dr Shome added the joint audit would come handy to monitor India’s cross-border transactions and also facilitate their smooth functioning for tax administration. He, however, categorically made it clear that India would not make its cross-border tax administration policy for MNCs so stringent as is in vogue in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, rather its taxation policy would be based on Singapore model which was simplified and easier for tax administration. Dr Shome also announced that the Finance Ministry had completed the ground work for the new IT Act and the draft report would be shortly submitted to the Finance Minister. Dr Shome ruled out any incentives for export of capital from domestic industry to their overseas destinations, saying that it made no sense for the Indian government to extend such incentives.
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Boeing to invest $118 m for MRO in Maharashtra
Mumbai, August 29 The venture, to be set up near Nagpur, will serve as an MRO facility to the Boeing family of airplanes for the entire South-East Asia. “The MRO will be set up in 25-50 acres of land belonging to the Airports Authority of India...AAI will transfer the land to the Maharashtra Airport Development Authority, which is developing an international cargo hub in Nagpur,” a top government official said. Boeing had received proposals from six states, including West Bengal and Karnataka, for the facility. “Boeing requested their centre should be near the air-strip in Nagpur. The MRO facility has been finalised by the Industrial Department of the state government during Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh’s visit to the Boeing headquarters in Chicago,” the official said. While announcing its largest-ever deal for purchase of 68 aircraft with Air-India, Boeing said it would set up the MRO facility in the country. The Maharashtra Government has already cleared the international passenger and cargo hub project. The Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation will hold a 51 per cent stake in the venture while the rest will be owned by the Airport Authority of India. — PTI
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TRAI empowers consumers against telecom woes
New Delhi, August 29 Announcing a set of direction to be implemented within three months, the regulator asked the companies to assign a unique docket number for all service request calls made to the customer care helpline numbers and also special numbers for registering complaints and convey the same to the customer at the time of such call. It said the companies should acknowledge through SMS followed by entry in the next bill the requests made through telephone call, fax, SMS, e-mail for value- added services, the charges for which are of a recurring nature; raise the bill only after adjustment of security deposit in the event of a request for termination of service received from a customer. The TRAI said the telecom companies should terminate the service within 24 hours of receipt of a request for termination of service made in writing; within three working days of the receipt of a request for termination of service made through fax or through e-mail ID registered with the service provider; and within seven working days of the receipt of a request for termination of service made through telephone call, SMS and any other e-mail ID which is not registered with the service provider. The termination of service shall be subject to the return or recovery of the customer premises equipment, wherever applicable. It said the companies should stop charging the customer fixed monthly charges like rental beyond the above prescribed period of termination of service or from the date of last usage, whichever is later. The authority said it had noticed that the service providers did not give any docket/identification number for the calls made to their customer care helpline and in many cases they even do not keep a record of such interaction and action agreed in their customer relationship management system. TRAI had also received a number of representations from consumers regarding bills being raised by the service providers even after a request has been made for termination of service.
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Montek wants more funds for 11th Plan
New Delhi, August 29 "We really do not care for FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act) targets so long as we get the money (for the planned programmes)," Dr Ahluwalia said responding to a letter from Finance Minister P Chidambaram who was not in favour of shifting goalposts of the FRBM to provide more resources for the 11th Plan as suggested by the Commission. Under the FRBM Act, the government has reduced fiscal deficit by 0.3 per cent and revenue by 0.5 per cent of GDP annually in a bid to wipe out revenue deficit and bring down fiscal deficit to 3 per cent of GDP by 2009. "We are just bothered about the resources for the 11th Plan," Dr Ahluwalia said. On the other contentious issue of Current Account Deficit (CAD), he said, "we are recalibrating the entire thing. It (CAD) depends on the impact of oil prices and domestic investment. The Commission is of the view that the burgeoning CAD will hinder economic growth. The CAD as a percentage of GDP is likely to grow from 2 per cent to 2.8 per cent as the GDP itself grows 9 per cent from 7 per cent over the five-year period. The RBI, too, has opposed the Commission's view to dilute restrictions imposed by the FRBM, 2004, on government spending and fiscal profligacy. — PTI
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India mulls trade pact with EU
New Delhi, August 29 "We are looking at a trade pact with EU. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will discuss the issue during the India-EU summit in October," Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said after a meeting with a German delegation led by Germany's Economics and Technology Minister Michael Glos here. India and EU had last year set up a high-level trade group to examine the possibilities of a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), which would include trade in goods, services as well as investment. The group would submit its report in Helsinki, Finland, during the summit. Mr Nath said India was committed to strengthening the multilateral trading system and would work with the EU to find a convergence in WTO talks.
— PTI
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New Delhi, August 29 The Director-General of Hydrocarbon, Mr V.K. Sibal, who is fully backed by the Petroleum Ministry on the issue, told reporters that the DGH recommended award of 10 CBM blocks strictly in line with the criteria laid down in the notice inviting offers. "If certain bid evaluation criteria were unclear, why did they (Anil Ambani Group) not ask for clarification. While most of the bidders sought clarification, they never asked a single question in the four-month period between February (when the bid offer was made) and June 30 when the bids closed," he said. It was only on July 28 after evaluation was completed that the consortium of Reliance Natural Resources Ltd-Reliance Energy Ltd-GeoPetrol, which was a clear winner in four out of the 10 CBM blocks, raised doubts on 3-marks for technical capability in two more blocks. Pooh-poohing the claims of consortium that it was kept in the dark about the evaluation parameters till the submission of the bids, the Petroleum Ministry had earlier said there was no discrimination and that it was ready for any scrutiny, including in the court of law. Mr Sibal said there was resistance about the technical and fiscal package offered by ADAG as some felt it was impractical to implement the aggressive bid. "(But) I put my foot down and told my officers that we want to encourage new entrants." — PTI
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New Delhi, August 29 The company also declared that it had posted an increase of 21.4 per cent in net profit at Rs 46.56 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2006, as compared to Rs 38.36 crore for the same quarter last year. However, P&G’s total income declined by 24.16 per cent at Rs 155.87 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2006, whereas it was at Rs 205.53 crore in the same period last year. In addition, the Board of Directors declared a final dividend of Rs 25 per equity share for the year ended June 30, 2006, the company said. Besides, the company posted an annual net profit of Rs 139.51 crore for the year ended June 30, 2006, against Rs 124.61 crore a year ago. The total income of the company for the year ended June 30, 2006, also witnessed a fall of 13 per cent at Rs 631.01 crore as against Rs 731.54 crore in the same period last year. — UNI
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BHEL to invest Rs 1,600 cr on modernisation
New Delhi, August 29 In the Tenth five-year plan period (2002-2007) nearly 34,000 MW of fresh generating capacity is expected to be added in the country of which BHEL’s contribution would be about 19,500 MW. In line with the expected growth in demand, enhancement of generation capacity is on course from 6,000 MW per annum at present to 10,000 MW per annum, which will be available in 2007. In addition to the ongoing programme, based on the national plan for capacity addition in the 11th Plan period and beyond, including nuclear power stations, BHEL would be more than willing to further enhance its capacity even beyond 10,000 MW to the levels required by the country’s power sector.
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Karnataka clears 4 SEZs of Tata Group
Bangalore, August 29 In all 40 projects were cleared by the state-Level clearance committee at a meeting presided over by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy last evening. TCS proposes to establish SEZs at Bangalore close to the international airport at a cost of Rs 500 crore over 100 acres, at Mysore at a cost of Rs 410 crore over 100 acres and at Hubli - Dharwad and Mangalore over an area of 50 acres each at a cost of Rs 120 crore each. The committee also cleared the proposal of Shapoorji Pallonji & Co to build a hardware park at Devanahalli on 1,450 acres at an investment of Rs5,779 crore. An application to set up a SEZ for electronics hardware and software by Ittina Properties Ltd at Hoskote on the outskirts of Bangalore at an investment of Rs 534 crore has also been approved. Another SEZ proposed by Suzlon Infrastructure Limited for a high tech engineering industry at Udupi at a cost of Rs 246 crore has also been approved. As many as 18 projects were approved in the IT and IT Enabled Services segment with an employment potential of 5.75 lakh persons. In all, about 40 projects, involving an estimated investment of Rs 62,846 crore have been cleared by the committee. In the non-IT sector, Jaykaycem has been allowed to set up a cement plant at Mudhol in Bagalokot district at Rs.7 50 crore. JCO Gas Pipe has been given permission to build a submerged arc welding pipes plant at Narasapura in Kolar district at a cost of Rs 55 crore and an additional cement plant by ACC at Wadi in Gulbarga district at cost of Rs 650 crore. Amongst the biggest investments is a refinery expansion plant which will be built by MRPL at Surathkal and Katipalla in Mangalore at a cost of Rs 10,943 crore.
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Metro AG to pump in 300 m euros in India
New Delhi, August 29 “We will be opening stores in Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai, apart from Hyderabad, and will be making an investment of 300 million euros for this,” Metro Group Asia Pacific President Henry O. E. Birr said here. He said the company had plans to spread to 33 Indian cities as it moved further toward expansion in the country. “We will be spreading to cities, which have a population of over one million,” Mr Birr, who is a member of the Executive Board of Directors (Metro Cash and Carry International), said. He said the company invested around 50 million euros per store in India, going by which the total proposed investments could go up to 1.6 billion euros in the coming time.
— PTI |
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Lankan firm to manage hotels in India
Colombo August 29 The bluechip conglomerate said it was taking the management route to enter India, settling for a percentage of sales and operating profits. Family owned real estate firm Anant Raj has teamed up with Aitken Spence to manage a new 5-star mid-sized hotel in New Delhi, Aitken Spence Managing Director Rajan Britto said here. Currently under construction, the hotel is due to open in December and will have banquet and meeting facilities catering to over 1,500 guests. A second similar hotel will open next October and managed by the Aitken Spence Hotel Management. In Kerala, Aitken Spence has a joint venture with Floatels India Ltd to build a luxury resort with floating villas and a spa. Sprawled over 15 acres, Aitken Spence hopes to have the resort ready for occupation by 2008. In Madurai, Aitken Spence is firming up plans to manage an 80 luxury- room garden resort. Besides these projects, two other projects in India are under negotiation, Mr Britto
said. — PTI |
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Mallya eyes New Zealand liquor co
Mumbai, August 29 The UB Group is evaluating a possible takeover bid for Independent Liquor Limited, a leading alcoholic beverage maker in the Australia-New Zealand region and estimated to be valued between $650-725 million. Independent Liquor has appointed investment banking firm UBS New Zealand Limited to evaluate the company and potential bids for it. The process is expected to take up to four months. Independent Liquor’s brands include Woodstock, Vodka Cruiser, Cody’s, KGB and Pulse. It also distributes a range of premium beer brands across Australia and New Zealand including Carlsberg, Tuborg and
Grolsch. — PTI |
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France’s Capgemini scouting for $500m buyout
New Delhi, August 29 However, Mr Schnieder refused to divulge any time-frame by which the company would
finalise a company for acquisition. The $9-billion Capgemini also has operations in India and employs around 5,000-6,000 persons in offices in Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata. Mr Schnieder said the company had concerns regarding the delisting of the acquired company if it was a listed
one. — PTI |
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BoA private equity arm exits India
Mumbai, August 29 In a surprising development, the global major has shut down its Bank of America Equity Partners (BAEP) unit, which was set up as part of the company’s expansion plans in this region in 1997. A company spokesperson said: “BAEP is a very small operation and was not strategic to our goals in that area of the private equity business.” The Indian subsidiary was established with an aim of providing development capital to companies in various high-growth industries such as technology.
— PTI |
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Ispat Inds to set up iron ore pellet plant at Vizag
Kolkata, August 29 "We have planned an iron ore pellet plant at Vizag with a capacity of 2-3 million tonnes. We are negotiating for foreign technology. The technology partner will be shortly finalised," Ispat Chairman P K Mittal told reporters today after the 21st AGM. Mr Mittal said the company was evaluating the cost required for setting up the plant and the details were yet to be finalised. A company official said the 3 million iron ore pellet capacity plant would cost around Rs 800 crore. The project would be promoted through an SPV. Ispat might also enter a mining venture with the initial target of captive consumption. "We have formally submitted for iron ore mines with a few state governments, but I cannot reveal names," Mr Mittal said.
— UNI |
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Steel Strips bags Rs 40-cr order
Mumbai, August 29 |
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Ceat plans
New Delhi, August 29 |
Silver crashes by Rs 200 NLD licence |
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