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Policy on 3G spectrum in three months
RBI for review of transaction costs on NRI remittances
FieldFresh Foods to promote horticulture
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Pak allows import of more Indian goods
ONGC inks pact to develop marginal fields
IOC sells bonds of Rs 1,459 cr
Arcelor-Mittal announces new dividend policy
Mittal asked to pay $3.3 b more for Arcelor
Sonata to bag 50 pc in German firm
Small car: Tatas set deadline for land acquisition
MRTPC notice to Hyundai
Jet plans major global expansion
NFL dividend
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Policy on 3G spectrum in three months
New Delhi, September 27 "Base price for the acquisition of spectrum for 3G services has been recommended at Rs 80 crore for category 'A' circles (Delhi and Mumbai), Rs 40 crore for category 'B' circles and for metros Chennai and Kolkata, and Rs 15 crore for category 'C' circles," TRAI Chairman Nripendra Misra told reporters. Given the base price, he estimated that the government would earn a minimum revenue of Rs 1,500 crore from each operator aspiring to start country-wide 3G services. The revenue could go up depending upon the bidding amount. "We are looking into the details of TRAI's recommendations and will come out with a formalised report in three months to enable faster rollout of 3G services in the country," Minister for Communications and IT Dayanidhi Maran said. He said TRAI was maintaining technology neutrality in the field and "since both GSM and CDMA technologies co-exist in India, we will also look into that." "The process for 3G services has already been initiated in India and it is expected that we should be able to launch 3G services by the later half of 2007," he said. The minister said the spectrum for 3G services needed to be priced rightly keeping in mind the scarcity of spectrum and fiscal deficit of the country. TRAI said the recommendations were now with the Telecom Ministry, which would decide the timing of the auction. In each circle, operators will bid for one of five blocks of 2x5 MHz each in the 2.1 GHz band, TRAI said. The highest successful bidder will get to choose the frequency block with the least interference and the widest reach. All other successful bidders will have to pay a price at least 75 percent of that of the highest successful bidder. Other blocks will be available in the 450 and 800 MHz bands. The regulator has also suggested stiff penalty for hoarding and non-compliance of rollout obligations. TRAI has also said that 3G services would be considered on a stand-alone basis and would not be taken as an extension of earlier spectrum allocation for 2G (existing mobile services). The Chairman of Bharti Airtel Ltd., Mr Sunil Mittal, welcomed the recommendations. "It seems to be a good healthy middle ground — it's a holistic policy," he told reporters. "The regulator has not hit us with a very high charge. It has been judicious." He said Bharti would be ready to start 3G operations within six months of licence being granted and expected that network expansion in the rural areas would be done through 3G. Mr Mishra said to ensure availability of additional spectrum, its efficient utilisation, planning and effective monitoring of a National Frequency Management Board (NFMB) should be constituted. He said considering the growth and development of wireless technologies and services, a long-term view on overall spectrum management policy, including the organisational structure for spectrum management was necessary. A specialised division to study spectrum-related issues considering future developments of wireless technology and applications will be located in TRAI and assist NFMB.
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RBI for review of transaction costs on NRI remittances
New Delhi, September 27 The banking charges for remittances presently varies from $ 15 to $ 50 per average transaction costing between 1 to 6 per cent of the total amount in comparison to mere 0.4 per cent in the neighbouring Pakistan. The bank concerned with the high bank charges on the remittances from the non-resident Indians to their families, estimated to cross $ 23 billion annually, is preparing a roadmap to bring down the charges. The RBI had set up a committee with representatives from Bank of Baroda, Citibank N. A., The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd., ICICI Bank Limited and State Bank of India to look into the components that go into pricing of remittances into India. The RBI is expected to take a final decision in this regard shortly after consulting with the industry representatives. Official sources said the Finance Ministry was also concerned that high transaction costs were encouraging a large number of NRI, especially from Punjab, and Kerala to send money through hawala channel. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has repeatedly noted that role of NRIs remittances was critical considering FDI has not even touched $ 10 billion annually. The RBI group noted that banks should improve their infrastructure by extending the scope of existing electronic transfer facilities like the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) or setting up Centralised Remittance Receiving Centres and widening the scope of Exchange Houses. Asking NRIs to route their remittances through a branch of an Indian bank or a foreign bank having a branch in India, it pointed that they should be advised to convert foreign currencies into Indian rupees at the Indian end to get the benefit of a better exchange rate. The RBI is likely to take view on the committee’s suggestion that like in Philippines, the migrants should be made aware about the process of sending remittances. At present, the migrants sending remittances are concentrated in the US ( 20 lakh), UK ( 12 lakh), Saudi Arabia ( 15 lakh) sending bulk of their savings back home. They should also adopt latest technology for handling large volume of NRI remittance transactions. It advised NRIs to route their remittances through a branch of an Indian bank or a foreign bank having a branch in India. They should convert foreign currencies into Indian Rupees at the Indian end to get a better exchange rate. Indian banks should explore tie-ups with more correspondent banks, which would bring down the cost for the NRIs at the foreign centres. The existing cap on number of branches of Indian banks having withdrawal arrangements with Exchange Houses should be reviewed, RBI group said.
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FieldFresh Foods to promote horticulture
Ludhiana, September 27 "The employment generation will be almost 16 times in comparison to the number of people employed in case of wheat-paddy. Of this, more than 70 per cent will be women," said Mr Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Director, FieldFresh Foods Pvt Limited, at Laddowal, near here today. Mr Mittal revealed that the project, which has an initial investment outlay of $50 million in its first phase of operation, aims to increase the land under cultivation from the present 4,000 acres to 20,000 acres in near future. "While the growing facilities will be supported by modern pack houses and cold storages, thus creating the backbone of the produce supply chain, we will also impart training to the farmers in best practices. This centre will act as a platform to introduce them to horticulture," he said. Talking about shipping the produce, he said the temporary facility to handle 80 tonnes at Amritsar airport would give a boost to the project. The company has already exported okra and green chillies to the UK, baby corn and bitter gourd to West Asia. "We have also tied up with an Australian carrot grower for the latest technology." Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, FieldFresh Foods and Group Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises, said the company was in talks for a tie-up with various players for retail, but a final decision was yet to be taken.
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Pak allows import of more Indian goods
Islamabad, September 27 While India granted a most-favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan, Pakistan has yet to reciprocate and instead regulates trade through a list of items deemed tradeable with India. The Economic Coordination Committee, Pakistan's top decision-making body on economic issues, today allowed import of more than 302 "tariff lines" from India. Pakistan, earlier, had put 1,527 tariff lines on the list, covering a total of just under 800 products. "The decision will allow import of different items of machinery, surgical items and chemicals from India," Mr Ashfaque Hasan Khan, an adviser to the Pakistan Prime Minister, told reporters after the meeting. The new additions to the list of permissible items will also include raw materials and metals, diesel locomotives, and textile machinery. Trade between the two neighbours has grown since they launched a peace process, but remains well below $1 billion a year, and under $2 billion, including a black market trade mostly routed through Dubai. — Reuters
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ONGC inks pact to develop marginal fields
New Delhi, September 27 ONGC has identified 153 marginal fields out of which 38 fields have been monetised and 94 fields are under monetisation. The contract was signed by Mr R. S. Sharma, C&MD, ONGC and Mr M. B. Lal, C&MD, HPCL, (on behalf of the consortium). The consortium of Prize Petroleum, HPCL, and M3Energy (Trenergy) Bhd, a Malaysian FPSO operator, has been awarded this service contract under an international competitive bid by ONGC for development of three offshore marginal fields under cluster-7 (B-192, B-45 and WO-24) in southwest of Mumbai high field of ONGC. A capital investment of about $166 million and operational expenditure of $ 313 million have been planned by the consortium, for the development of all fields in the cluster. The envisaged peak oil production is 18865 bopd and gas 0.887 MMm3/day with cumulative oil production of 46.42 MMbbl and gas production of 2.7 BCM. The participating interest of the consortium partners will be 70 per cent and 30 per cent for HPCL-Prize and M3Energy, respectively. The project will be completed in two phases - an initial development phase of three years and final development phase till end of field’s economic life.
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IOC sells bonds of Rs 1,459 cr
New Delhi, September 27 “IOC has successfully liquidated Rs 1,450 crore worth of oil bonds of six years’ and nine years’ maturity in the secondary market trade,” a company press release said here. The liquidation of these bonds was concluded yesterday through the book-building route. The issue size was Rs 250 crore with a green-shoe option and generated a very good response. The government had in March this year issued the bonds to the IOC to cover for the under-realisation on sale of domestic LPG and kerosene. Earlier this month, the company liquidated Rs 1,225 crore worth of bonds of various maturities. |
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Arcelor-Mittal announces new dividend policy
London, September 27 The new policy provided a mechanism which would allow Arcelor-Mittal to honour its commitment of returning 30 per cent of net income to shareholders every year through an annual base dividend, supplemented by additional share buy-backs. The Board of Directors proposed an annual base dividend of 1.30 US dollar per share. This base dividend has been designed to guarantee a minimum payout per year and would rise in order to reflect the underlying growth of the company. Payment of this dividend would be on a quarterly basis, an Arcelor-Mittal release said. In addition to this dividend, the Board of Directors of the company is proposing a share buy-back programme, tailored to match the 30 per cent distribution payout commitment of the group. As a consequence, the sum of the annual base dividend and the share buy-back programme would each year represent 30 per cent of the annual net income. The proposed size of the share buy-back would be announced at the time of the annual results. Arcelor Mittal reaffirmed its value plan on a combined basis, resulting in a targeted EBITDA for the combined company of $ 20 billion (US) in 2008. The company also reaffirmed its pro-forma EBITDA guidance of $ 15 to 15.6 billion for 2006. Aditya Mittal, Chief Financial Officer of Arcelor-Mittal said: “The commitment we have made to pay a base dividend of 1.30 dollar per share is a reflection of the economic strength of Arcelor-Mittal”. — PTI
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Mittal asked to pay $3.3 b more for Arcelor
London, September 27 The regulator, CVM, has upheld an earlier ruling requiring Mittal Steel to buy out minority shareholders on terms equal or close to those paid to stockholders of the Luxembourg-based mother company, The Daily Telegraph reported today. The price, to be set by an outside arbitrator, could reflect the 82 per cent premium ultimately paid by Mittal Steel after its long battle for control of Arcelor. — PTI
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Sonata to bag 50 pc in German firm
Bangalore, September 27 Sonata has signed an agreement with TUI AG, Europe’s leading tourism and shipping group, for acquiring majority stake in its 100 per cent subsidiary, TUI InfoTec, with revenues of 130 million Euros and 432 employees, top executives of the two companies told a news conference here. TUI AG would continue to hold the balance 49.9 per cent stake in TUI InfoTec, which is the IT service provider for TUI AG and its subsidiaries in Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, Spain and other parts of Europe, they said. The deal is subject to clearance from the German “Anti-trust” authorities, expected to happen in three or four weeks, Sonata Software President and Managing Director B Ramaswamy said. Post-deal, TUI InfoTec would remain preferred supplier to the TUI Group, which has revenues of around 20 billion Euros (about Rs 120,000 crore), he added. The deal includes TUI InfoTech’s subsidiaries, Travel BA.sys and ACCON RVS, which provide a technology platform and back-office services for travel agencies, respectively.
— PTI |
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Small car: Tatas set deadline for land acquisition
Kolkata, September 27 "Ideally, we would have liked possession of the land by now. However, the company is hopeful of getting hold of the 1,000 acres of land by the end of the year," company Managing Director Ravi Kant told reporters here from Pune. In his first interaction with the media since protests broke out against the project in the state, he said prototypes of the Rs 1 lakh people's car was running in the company's Pune plant and vendors were being finalised and dies ordered. "It is a good-looking car with four doors," Mr Kant said, adding that the rollout was expected in the middle of
2008. — PTI |
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MRTPC notice to Hyundai
New Delhi, September 27 MRTPC Chairman Justice O P Dwivedi directed HMIL to file the rejoinder on reply filed by Maruti and directed to list the matter for a hearing in October. The two firms have been locked in a legal battle after Hyundai challenged the sales pitch of Maruti in an advertisement campaign, saying it was “misleading and disparaging”.
— PTI |
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Jet plans major global expansion
New Delhi, September 27 "We have already applied to the government for permission to fly to these new destinations. As the new aircraft we have ordered start joining our fleet, we will start these operations", Jet Airways chief Naresh Goyal said. Asked by when new international destinations would start being added to Jet's global route network, he said: "It depends on when we start inducting the new aircraft, may be by the middle of next year". The aircraft deliveries from the US major Boeing would start in 2007 and end by 2009. Jet would acquire 30 narrow and wide-bodied aircraft during this period, for which it has decided to raise $800 million through equity shares, foreign currency convertibility bonds and other instruments. Jet Airways has worked out major expansion plans to connect key destinations across the world, including the US, Canada, UK, China, South Africa, Kenya, Mauritius, China and Southeast Asia. In Europe, it plans to launch services to cities like Rome, Zurich, Munich and Frankfurt.
— PTI |
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NFL dividend
Bathinda, September 27 Mr G.S.Mangat, Chairman and Managing Director, NFL, said the company recorded a profit before tax of Rs 37.48 crore in the first quarter of current fiscal. On the future plans, he said the company was planning to revamp its three fuel oil-based plants at Panipat, Bathinda and Nangal by changing their feedstock from fuel oil to natural gas/liquefied natural gas within a period of three years.
— TNS |
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