Japan's electronics giant Sony unveils new digital audio player "Walkman NW-706F" and speakers equipped with a 4GB flash memory to store various formated digital music contents such as ATRAC, MP3, WMA, AAC and PCM noise- cancelling headphone, which reduces ambient noise by 75 per cent, in Tokyo on Thursday. Sony will put it on the market on October 21 with an estimated price of 29,000 yen ($250). — AFP

IFC to invest $500 million in India
New Delhi, October 12
International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector lending arm of the World Bank, today announced that it was ready to invest up to $500 million in India as against $400 million last year, especially in the banking, infrastructure, manufacturing and social sector.

BG to invest $30 m in India
New Delhi, October 12
British Gas (BG) plans to invest $ 30 million in setting up city gas networks in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, a top company official said today.

OSRAM to invest Rs 100 cr in Haryana
Chandigarh, October 12
OSRAM will invest Rs 100 crore in Haryana for expanding its manufacturing unit. This was revealed by the Executive Vice-President of OSRAM, Dr Kurt Gerl, when he called on the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, in Berlin today, according to an official spokesman.

Corporate Results
Mastek Q1 net up 42 per cent
Mumbai, October 12
IT major Mastek Ltd has posted a 42.15 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 17.94 crore for the quarter ended September 30 from Rs 12.62 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

New Delhi, October 12
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora has said the government will soon constitute the Petroleum Regulatory Board, for which Parliament has already passed a law.

“The ministry has already constituted a search committee headed by a Member (Energy) Planning Commission for selecting the chairperson and other members of the proposed Regulatory Board. The Regulatory would be soon in place, “ Mr Deora informed the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his ministry last evening.

Notably, the government had enacted Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act, 2006 in April. The board is proposed to regulate downstream petroleum sector activities including processing, storage, refining, transportation, distribution and marketing of petroleum products and natural gas.

This is with the objective of protecting the interest of consumers and entities engaged in specified activities. The board would ensure uninterrupted and adequate supply of these products in all parts of the country and to promote competitive markets.

In a presentation, the members of the committee were informed that the targets and strategy for 11th Plan relating to oil and gas sector were being finalised.

The ministry has proposed to target an increase of 26 per cent in domestic production of crude oil to 211.64 million tonnes over the 10th Plan achievements, which is likely to be 167.74 million metric tonnes (MMT).

Similarly, the production of natural gas is projected to increase by 41 per cent in 11th Plan period to 224.56 billion cubic meters (BCM) over 10th Plan estimated production of 158.79 BCM, said Mr Deora.

He said the first Coal Bed Methane (CBM) gas production is slated to begin in 2007-08, the first year of 11th Plan making India one of the very few countries to successfully produce gas from this alternative source of hydrocarbon. During the 11th Plan period CBM production is projected at 3.78 BCM. The country is likely to witness gas production from another alternative source namely Underground Coal Specification (UCS) towards the end of 11th Plan.

This would be more than double of 10th Plan period production of 22.24 MMTOE (16.83 MMT of crude oil and 5.41 BCM of gas).

The Petroleum Ministry has also proposed to bring 65 per cent of India’s sedimentary basins under exploration by the end of 11th Plan.

Responding to the members, the minister directed the senior officials of the Ministry and the Oil Marketing Companies to effectively monitor the supply of LPG so that there are no shortages especially during the coming festival season.

Meanwhile, the government will issue the first tranche of oil bonds worth Rs 14,150 crore to oil PSUs within a week to compensate them for losses due to selling petroleum products below production cost, according to a PTI report.

“The bonds will be issue within a week,” a Finance Ministry official said.

The official, however, said that the bonds would not carry Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) status.

No SLR status means that the banks will not have to mandatory subscribe to these bonds. Banks have to maintain 25 per cent of their savings and fixed deposits in government securities, gold and cash, technically called SLR.

Petroleum Minster Murli Deora has said that the fall in international oil prices had reduced the losses of oil companies on the sale of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene, but the decline had still not rendered the sale of fuel profitable.

Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC) has successfully liquidated Rs 985 crore worth of oil bonds maturing in 2015 in the secondary market trade today through the book-building route.

The issue size was Rs 250 crore with a green shoe option and generated a very good response, stated a company statement.

During the current fiscal, Indian Oil has liquidated oil bonds worth Rs 5000 crore of various maturities in the secondary market sale including the current sale.

It may be recalled that the Government of India had issued oil bonds worth Rs. 6,571 crore to Indian Oil in March 2006 in lieu of the under-recoveries suffered on the sale of LPG for domestic use and Kerosene for public distribution system.

With the liquidation of these bonds, Indian Oil has successfully disposed of the entire quantum of oil bonds, except oil bonds of about Rs. 1,500 crore that are pledged with the Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL) for raising short-term funds.

In addition, bonds worth Rs. 2,321 crore received by Indian Oil in September 2005 against settlement of pool dues are also pledged with CCIL.

Mumbai, October 12
Corporate behemoth Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) today toppled state-run energy giant ONGC as the country's most-valued company, but in turn lost its place as the most influential stock on the key market index, Sensex, to IT major Infosys Technologies.

RIL's share price jumped 2.7 per cent today taking the company's market capitalisation to about Rs 1.63 lakh crore, ahead of long-time leader ONGC’s market value of Rs 1.61 lakh crore.

However, Infosys toppled RIL as the most influential stock in Sensex that comprises 30 of India's biggest bluechip companies by gaining the highest weightage of 10.91 per cent, which gives it the biggest say in the movement of the most keenly followed market index.

In contrast, RIL's weightage has dropped to 10.85 per cent on the Sensex, making it the second most-weighted stock on the Sensex as against its earlier leading position.

Earlier yesterday, Infosys had replaced state-run power major NTPC as the country's third largest corporate entity in terms of market-cap after Reliance Industries and ONGC.

Infosys today maintained its position as the third most-valued company with a market cap of Rs 1.12 lakh crore.

NTPC stood at the fourth position with a market cap of Rs 1.07 lakh crore after a modest gain of 0.4 per cent in its share price, followed closely by TCS at fifth position with a market cap of about Rs 1.06 lakh crore.

The market observers said RIL could witness continued uptrend in its share price in the coming days on expectations of a robust second-quarter performance. The company is scheduled to announce its July-September quarter results next week on October 19.— PTI

Helsinki, October 12
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today declared that India was on way to achieving a record 8.5 per cent growth in GDP during the current year, given a stable macro-economic situation, and asked European firms to participate actively in the “infrastructure boom” in his country.

“I am enthused by our industrial production registering a 10-year high of 12.4 per cent in July 2006, compared to July of the previous year,” Dr Singh said, addressing the closing session of the India-EU Business Summit. Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, in his capacity as the Chairman of the European Union (EU), was also present.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the present level of bilateral engagement between India and the EU, he asked the European industry leaders to “show the spirit of adventure and enterprise of your forefathers and set out to explore the opportunities in India once again.”

Dr Singh said the process of growth under way in India was now much more sustainable than ever before.

However, he said the government was fully aware that to sustain the growth momentum, India needed to do much more in the field of infrastructure and improve its all-round availability and quality. “We have evolved several models for greater association of private developers and investors in building highways, ports, telecommunications and various sources of energy. Many established India and foreign companies find these to be potentially profitable avenues. I invite European firms to participate actively in the infrastructure boom in India,” he added.

He said India had tried to address several of the concerns raised by the European businesses.

The government had tried to improve physical infrastructure. It had allowed 51 per cent foreign equity in single brand retail outlets. Several foreign chains had availed of this opportunity and others were seriously exploring this avenue to enter the rapidly growing Indian retail market. The wholesale trading and franchisee routes were already available to foreign investors.

The Prime Minister said India continued to work towards smoothening procedures and reducing paper work involved in starting a business in the country.

The EU, he said, remained by far India’s largest trading and investment partner. The EU’s engagement could only increase its importance for India. There was an increasing Indian presence in European business and such a development would further strengthen the relationship between India and the EU.

He said India was engaged with the EU to evolve further formal mechanisms to promote trade and investments between the two sides. The recently received recommendations of the High-Level Trade Group would form the basis of a future agreement on economic cooperation.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath today assured the investor community of Finland of full support in creating infrastructure opportunities and invited them to set up more industries in India. — UNI

New Delhi, October 12
Punjab National Bank today said it had no plans to further hike its interest rate and prime lending rate (PLR) in the coming months.

"We have enough cushion and are not considering a further hike in the interest and PLR rates. In fact, we have brought down the consumer and housing interest rates by 25 basis points for the coming festival season,'' PNB CMD S.C. Gupta told reporters after inaugurating the bank's eighth large corporate branch (LCB) here today.

The bank had revised its PLR in May and then in August. PNB, which reported a net profit of Rs 368 crore in the first quarter, is expecting an improvement in the second quarter results, which it will announce on October 30.

"Q2 will be much better than the last quarter as there is no depreciation, and the interest rates have softened, unlike the first quarter. We are expecting a treasury gain in this quarter, with just a little write-back," the CMD added.

The bank's credit growth for the period March-September stood at Rs 8,000 crore, and it is expecting to grow at a rate of 20 per cent, both in depositories and advances. Its year-on-year growth up to September has been 28 per cent.

Mumbai, October 12
Overseas fund house Barclays Capital has acquired about 3.8 per cent stake in the domestic infrastructure financing major IDFC Ltd for about Rs 306 crore through open market transactions.

Barclays Capital Mauritius Ltd yesterday acquired over 4.25 crore shares of Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) Ltd in two separate bulk deals.

According to data available with the stock exchanges, Barclays purchased 2.11 crore shares in a bulk deal at the BSE at a price of Rs 71.94 per share, while it bought another 2.15 crore shares at a price of Rs 71.98 per share in a bulk deal at the NSE.

HSBC Global Investments Funds, which held over 2.61 crore shares amounting to a 2.33 per cent stake in IDFC at the end of June quarter, sold 1.69 crore shares at a price of Rs 72 per share, taking the total deal value to about Rs 121 crore.

The SBI sold another 2.05 crore shares at a price of Rs 72 per share, with a total deal value of Rs 148 crore in another bulk deal at the NSE.— PTI

New Delhi, October 12
The government has announced to impose anti-dumping duty on import of cross-ply truck and bus tyres and tubes from China and Thailand, according to a notification issued by the Ministry of Finance.

"It implies that import duty on cross-ply truck and bus tyres and tubes would be evaluated on a reference price of $99.10 for tyres of 20" rim diameter, however, tyres coming under 16" rim diameter shall be out of the ambit of anti-dumping duty," said Mr S.P. Singh, Convenor, All-India Tyre Dealers' Association, while urging the government to review its decision.

Now, 36.5 per cent multiple import duties are levied on tyres and tubes. He said the direct impact of government move of putting up interim anti-duty shall make tyre import from China costlier by Rs 800-Rs1,000 per pair of truck and bus tyre and tube. Now, a pair of imported truck/bus tyre shall be available at a price around Rs 17,000 as against earlier price of Rs 16,000 per pair.

The ministry has taken this step, he said, on the basis of preliminary findings submitted on by the Directorate-General of Anti-dumping and Allied Duties.

The domestic tyre majors — Apollo Tyres and Ceat Limited — had filed a complaint before the Anti-dumping Authority, Ministry of Commerce, and the designated authority instituted investigation on the allegations of domestic tyre manufacturers of dumping being caused by the import of tyres from China and Thailand. 

Mumbai, October 12
IT major Mastek Ltd has posted a 42.15 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 17.94 crore for the quarter ended September 30 from Rs 12.62 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.