New Delhi, September 1
Emboldened by the government’s decision to return Sterlite’s Rs 1098- crore cheque, the Left parties today asked the government roll back the Balco disinvestment process and institute a thorough inquiry into similar deals finalised during the NDA regime.

While refraining from the disinvestment spree, the government should order a thorough inquiry into the other disinvestment deals, including Modern Foods, Centaur Hotels, HPCL and VSNL, leaders of the CPM, CPI and Forward Bloc said.

‘’During NDA’s six-year rule, the assets of PSUs were handed over to private parties at throw-away prices, causing a huge loss to the national exchequer... it has happened in the case of Centaur Hotel and even IPCL was similarly sold at a low price,’’ CPI General Secretary A.B. Bardhan said, adding that the very concept that national assets could be sold for meeting the Budget deficit was ‘’pernicious and against the country’s interest.’’’ Noting that Balco was a ‘’huge’’ company, with assets of Rs 5000 crore and a Rs 150 crore power house, among others, CPI Polit Bureau member and CITU chief M.K. Pandhe called on the government to cancel the rest 51 per cent holding Sterlite possessed in Balco. Citing the CAG report, he said it had criticised the previous NDA Government for ‘’undervaluation’’ of a number of PSUs, including Balco and VSNL.”

CPI national Secretary Shamim Faizi said the CAG report on disinvestment of PSUs under the NDA regime had ‘’thoroughly exposed the intentions of the then rulers.’’ Noting that at the time of the Balco disinvestment, the then Finance Ministry had ‘’doled out the theory that resource mobilisation was going on,’’ he suggested that the Manmohan Singh Government should draw ‘’proper lessons and desist from disinvesting profit-making PSUs.’’ The government should not put the remaining 49 per cent shares under the hammer until proper measures to realise the real worth of Balco are completed,’’ the CPI leader, said.

Terming it a “step in the right direction,’’ senior CPM leader and former Rajya Sabha member Nilotpal Basu said the government must go ahead and institute a proper investigation into the circumstances on the basis of which a majority shares of Balco were transferred to Sterlite and fix accountability “where it is due.’’ Forward Bloc National Secretary G. Devrajan said an inquiry was needed to establish how the huge amount was ‘’siphoned off’’ during the NDA regime. — UNI

New Delhi, September 1
The Commerce Ministry said today that the RBI, in its annual report, has lauded the Special Economic Zone scheme rather than expressing concerns over the SEZs.

It said the RBI had praised the SEZ Scheme. ‘’ The simplification of procedures and tax breaks as envisaged by the (SEZ) Act (2005) are expected to attract investments of about Rs 1,00,000 crore and help create 5,00,000 jobs’’, the ministry quoted the RBI as having said.

The central bank had said that in order to instil confidence in investors and signal the government’s commitment to a stable SEZ policy regime, a comprehensive Special Economic Zones Act, 2005, had been enacted. The SEZ Act, 2005, which came into force on February 10, 2006, is expected to facilitate large flow of foreign and domestic investment to the SEZs.

It said SEZs were envisaged to act as catalysts for growth. The simplification of the procedures for development, operation and maintenance of the SEZs and the fiscal incentives are expected to spur investment and promote industrial activity, the RBI was quoted.

The Commerce Ministry’s assessment also indicates that SEZs are likely to create large scale direct and indirect employment. The total employment that would be created by December 2007 is 5,00,000.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of the order of Rs 25,000 crore ($5-6 billion) is also expected by December, 2007, in infrastructure development of the SEZs and in setting up of the units in the zones.

Commerce Ministry officials said 94 SEZs would become operational in the next 18 months. At present, 150 SEZs have got approval while applications for 225 were pending before the Board of Approval. These proposals are likely to be taken up at the next meeting. According to the officials, the country needs up to 300 SEZs.

The officials also contested the argument that the SEZs would lead to a tax loss of Rs 70,000 crore in direct taxes and said the government , in fact, would gain Rs 45,000 crore annually from them. — Agencies

Mumbai, September 1
L&T has bagged a Rs 1,150-crore turn-key contract from Indian Oil for setting up a 227-MW captive cogeneration power plant at Panipat in Haryana.

The contract, to be commissioned within 32 months, involves project management, engineering, procurement and construction of the power plant for Indian Oil’s naphtha cracker project at its petrochemical complex in Panipat, L&T said.

The power plant comprises five gas turbines, five heat recovery steam generators, three steam turbines, two utility boilers and sophisticated control systems to ensure uninterrupted supply of power and steam to the naphtha cracker complex.

The plant would also generate over 800 tonnes per hour of process steam.

Meanwhile, Punj Lloyd Ltd has also secured a contract for Indian Oil’s naphtha cracker project at Panipat (Haryana).

The company said the contract had come through Indian Oil Tanking Ltd, where the company is the nominated sub-contractor. The order is valued at Rs 349.73 crore on EPC (execution, procurement and construction) basis and is the company’s largest project for its tankage & terminal business.

The contract is for the offsite and storage facilities of its naphtha cracker project and the scope of work includes EPC of storage facilities, including double walled cryogenic storage tanks, storage spheres, mounded bullets, atmospheric tanks, vaporizers, heaters, compressors, pumps and civil work including tank foundations. This is the first contract for the company for mounded bullets and Horton spheres. The project is scheduled to be completed in 24 months with additional two months for commissioning.

Chandigarh, September 1
The rural areas in Punjab is drawing up the growth charts of the Life Insurance Corporation of India. The corporation is earning an astounding 85 per cent of its premium from the rural areas of the state.

Of the Rs 410 crore first premium income (FPI) earned by the Chandigarh Division of the LIC up to August 15 during this fiscal, almost Rs 350 crore has been received from the policy holders in the rural areas and the urban sector has contributed only Rs 60 crore as premium, said Mr Mahendra Kumar, Senior Divisional Manager, LIC, Chandigarh Division during the golden jubilee celebrations of the corporation here today.

Official sources informed TNS that Punjab was not only the highest growing market, but the maximum penetration in rural sector was also recorded from the state. As compared to a national penetration of 27 per cent in the rural sector, the rural penetration in Punjab was 32 per cent. Other than the LIC policy, Unit Linked Investment Plan (ULIP) is getting a good response in Punjab. "Most of the ruralites are buying ULIPs, which contributed up to 29 per cent of the total revenue as premium in the first quarter of the fiscal. We are expecting the share of ULIPs to go up to 60 per cent in this fiscal," said a top official.

Kolkata, September 1
After Dunlop India and Falcon Tyres, Pawan Kumar Ruia has scooped up Monotona Tyres Ltd.

Thane-based Monotona, owned by Dipak Poddar and associates, is a supplier of two-wheeler tyres to Bajaj Auto, Kinetic Engineering and LML with a capacity of 3.5 lakh units a month.

Bajaj Auto, its key customer, owns 10.2 lakh shares in the company.

Ruia acquired the complete shareholding of the Poddars in Monotona for an undisclosed sum in Mumbai on Thursday, company officials said.

Monotona reported a net profit of over Rs 5 crore on a turnover of Rs 150 crore during the last fiscal. Since 1997, Monotona Tyres has been supplying tyres and tubes to Bajaj Auto under the brand name RACER. —UNI

Kolkata, September 1
Union Communication Minister Shakeel Ahmed said today MTNL-BSNL merger was facing some roadblocks and a definite timeframe has not been decided.

Speaking on the sidelines of a programme where BSNL and DVC signed a MoU, the minister said there were a number of issues that needed to be sorted out. However, he refused to say what those were.

He said the merger would happen but 'when and how' are to be worked out.

''There are certain suggestions like floating a separate company after the merger, selling 5 per cent share of BSNL and delisting MTNL. But we are yet to decide which option we will choose,'' he explained. — UNI

New Delhi, September 1
GoAir will link Delhi with Goa, Bangalore and Pune. The airline already connects the national Capital with daily flights to Mumbai and Chennai. The airline operates four aircraft servicing 13 cities. “We’ll add another three aircraft to our fleet by the end of November,” said GoAir’s Managing Director Jeh Wadia. The fleet would go up to 18 by December next year and to 33 a year later, he said.

The Wadia group and SIA Engineering Company Limited have signed a term sheet to form a joint venture to offer maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services in India. The JV would initially offer line maintenance services at eight major airports, said Mr Wadia.

He said: GoAir was the first airline to offer 10,000 free tickets and provide home delivery of tickets. It gives 10 per cent discount to armed forces personnel, government employees, students and senior citizens,” Mr Wadia said. GoAir had tied up with the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation as a preferred airline.

Patiala, September 1
The State Bank of Patiala (SBoP) has increased its domestic rates of interests from September 1.

The interest rates for a period of 15 to 45 days have been fixed at 4.75 per cent, from 46 to 179 days at 5.50 per cent, from 180 days to less than 1 year at 6.50 per cent, 1 to 3 years at 6.75 per cent and from 3 to 5 years at 7 per cent.

The interest rates for 5 years and above have been revised to 7.25 per cent.

Single deposits of Rs 15 lakh and above for a period of 1 year will get an additional 0.25 per cent interest. The senior citizens will get an additional 0.50 per cent interest.

Bangalore, September 1
After selling shares worth about Rs 1.74 crore in violation of insider trading norms, an Executive Director of IT major Infosys Technologies has got away with a paltry fine of Rs 5 lakh — less than 3 per cent of the full bounty made from the sale.

Srinath Batni, an Executive Director and a key member of Infosys' top management team, has been asked to pay a penalty of Rs 5 lakh for a "technical violation of the insider trading rules," the Nasdaq-listed domestic IT giant said in a regulatory filing in the US.

Insider trading is related to the profits made through stock transactions based on that confidential information which is not known to common investors. This generally involves company Directors, government officials, lawyers, accountants and other persons with access to confidential information and who are privy to corporate plans even before they are made public.

Batni had sold 10,000 shares of Infosys on August 14 for an estimated amount of about Rs 1.74 crore, based on the company's share price of Rs 1,755.40 that day, but failed to notify the company about the sale in a timely manner. — PTI