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Sahara, LG booked for tax evasion
Sonia speaks up for the poor
Package for Punjab SMEs soon
Canada asks India to remove trade curbs
Indo-US CEOs Forum agrees to launch $5-billion fund
Boston’s TA Associates picks up Idea stake
Wipro Infotech buys 3D Networks
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Maruti makes Swift at Manesar
BSNL launches location-based services
Bharti Q2 net surges 79 pc
Corporate
Results
BEML profit
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Sahara, LG booked for tax evasion
New Delhi, October 27 By September-end, the Directorate-General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI) has registered 442 cases against companies involving tax evasion of Rs 1042.07 crore during the current fiscal. The companies have so far voluntarily deposited Rs 210.57 crore. “ As per the preliminary investigations against the Sahara Group, the DGCEI has detected a major case of service tax evasion by M/s Sahara India Finance Corporation and Sahara India, the group companies. The initial duty evasion has been found worth Rs 37 crore involving financial transactions of around Rs 400 crore over the past one and a half years, and the amount of evasion may go up after further investigations,” spokesperson of Central Board of Excise and Customs Hemambika R.Priya said here today. Referring to the modus operandi, she said “M/s Sahara India collected deposits from the public on behalf of M/S Sahara Financial Corporation Ltd, another group company. Though it was supposed to pay 12.5 per cent service tax worth Rs 37 crore, on incentives received worth Rs 400 crore under business auxiliary services, it was never paid.” A case has been registered asking the company to pay the duty otherwise it would be soon served a show-cause demand notice, thus initiating legal proceedings against the company as per the Law. The Sahara Group, which enjoys close proximity with Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, has been under the scanner of the Finance Ministry for indulging in tax evasion. Earlier, the RBI had also put restrictions on the company’s para-banking operations. The CBEC spokesperson said LG Electronics India was also found diverting duty-free imports to the market while availing duty credit from the government. A team of officials recently visited the company’s factory in Greater Noida and found duty evasion of Rs 5.32 crore between March, 2005, and September, 2006. The company had accepted the liability and paid the amount, she said, adding that further investigations were in progress. The DGCEI had also detected a case of customs duty evasion through undervaluation by M/s Skoda Auto India, Aurangabad, which did not include “technology transfer agreement charges” in the assessable value of imported goods. Preliminary investigations had revealed duty evasion of Rs 25 crore of which the company had paid Rs 8 crore voluntarily.
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Sonia speaks up for the poor
New Delhi, October 27 “Sonia Gandhiji has clearly said that the prices of poor man’s fuel should in no case go up... she is right in not burdening the poor man with an increase and we are complying with her instructions,” he said here. Mr Deora said despite a projected Rs 73,500 crore under-recovery on the sale of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene, the government in June decided to pass on only a marginal increase in petrol and diesel while kerosene and LPG consumers were spared. “If the government can give subsidy on food and fertilisers why not on fuel,” he said, adding that the UPA Government was committed to protecting the common man’s interest at all cost. The under-realisation on fuel sales has partly been borne by the government by way of issuing bonds to oil companies and partly by public sector oil companies. “Nowhere in the world is kerosene sold at Rs 9 per litre, the fact that we are selling kerosene at the cheapest price in the world shows our resolve of protecting the poor man”, he said. The ruling UPA coalition had in June raised the petrol price by Rs 4 a litre and diesel by Rs 2 per litre in line with a spike in international oil prices. Global prices had since eased but had not fallen to the level that warranted a cut in the domestic retail prices, Mr Deora added. — PTI
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Package for Punjab SMEs soon
New Delhi, October 27 “The direct flights from the Pathankot civil airport will commence on November 15,” Minister of State for Industry Ashwani Kumar told The Tribune today. Mr Kumar has received a letter from Civil Aviation Secretary Ajay Prasad about the decision. “The ministry has given clearance to Air Deccan to start direct daily air flights from November 15. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to make a formal announcement in this regard during his visit to the state on November 14,” he said. Welcoming the direct flights from Pathankot the minister said the government has recently cleared a cargo terminal for Amritsar with an investment of Rs 25 crore to boost the export of perishable fruits and vegetables. The direct flights from the region, he said, would strengthen the state’s demand for setting up a food and fruit-processing zone in this region and he was pursuing the case with the Planning Commission. An announcement might be made by the Centre in this connection shortly. Since J&K and Himachal are just an hour’s drive from Pathankot, the direct flights are expected to give a boost to domestic and international tourists to these states as well, besides facilitating the visits of businessmen in the region. Referring to the demands of farmers in the border areas of Punjab, Mr Ashwani Kumar said “we have also urged the Prime Minister to approve the refencing of borders in such a manner that thousands of acres of agricultural land of farmers, which has been left on the other side is included in the Indian side.” During the period of terrorism, the government had approved the fencing of the border by electric wires in a straight line to complete the process at the earliest thus leaving thousands of acres of agricultural land on the other side. Regarding the demands of the industrial sector, Mr Kumar disclosed that the high-powered sub-committee of the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) constituted by the Prime Minister of which he was a member, would soon make specific recommendations to develop clusters of food processing, leather, textile and garments as well as light engineering products, including machine tools, hand tools and auto-parts in Punjab.
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Canada asks India to remove trade curbs
Toronto, October 27 “Basically there is a wall that is stopping top Canadian banks that are ready to invest in India from penetrating the Indian financial sector, and these issues must be resolved at the highest level,” Foreign Minister Peter G Mackay said. Similarly, there were impediments in mining, environmental protection technology, science and technology, and the insurance sector preventing foreign direct investment, the minister said. “We are hoping that some of these restrictions may be relaxed after mutual discussions,” he said addressing a meeting organised by the Canada-India Business Council (C-IBC) yesterday. Over 200 top executives of Canadian companies attended the meeting. Canada was ready to engage with India as it could be its “ideal partner” for business, trade and investment as both countries were democracies, members of the Commonwealth and had similar history and culture, he said. Referring to foreign investment promotion and protection agreement between the two countries, Mr Mackay said “There is way to go. But once these impediments are relaxed it could foster closer economic ties between the two countries.” — PTI
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Indo-US CEOs Forum agrees to launch $5-billion fund
New York, October 27 "The government is expected to receive the proposal for structure of the fund in the next few weeks," the minister said adding he expects "little government participation in the neighbourhood of 10 per cent." The agreement to devise a mechanism to set up the fund was discussed at a closed-door meeting of the Forum held here yesterday. On the retail market in agriculture, Mr Nath said though the field was not yet open to foreign companies, they could invest in cold storage and logistics. Several American companies, including Walmart, have shown interest, he said, adding some major announcements could be made within the next few weeks. — PTI
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Boston’s TA Associates picks up Idea stake
New Delhi, October 27 Idea is among the top five cellular service providers in India by revenue, and among the top three within its current markets, providing service to 58 per cent of India’s total telephony market. “This is TA’s first foray into Asia and we are very pleased to bring our communications experience to bear in this market. We also look forward to working with the Aditya Birla Group, one of India’s most prestigious multinational corporations, and our co-investors, Providence Equity Partners and ChrysCapital,’’ said TA Associates Chief Executive Officer C. Kevin Landry. — UNI
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Wipro Infotech buys 3D Networks
Bangalore, October 27 The consideration included an upfront cash payment of approximately $ 23 million on closure of the transaction and additional performance linked payments based on achieving agreed financial targets over a two-year period. 3D Networks, a platinum partner of Nortel Networks, provides business communication solutions that include consulting, voice, data and converged solutions, and managed services. In India, 3D Networks had a dominant presence in providing business communication solutions to ITES/IT segments and has approximately 270 employees.
— UNI |
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Maruti makes Swift at Manesar
New Delhi, October 27 The company, which began production at Manesar last month, has shifted the production of its popular premium hatchback 'Swift' to the new plant, company Managing Director Jagdish Khattar said.
— PTI |
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BSNL launches location-based services
New Delhi, October 27 The new service enables the subscriber to track buddies, locate resources on map, make new friends through location-based chatting service. “The long-awaited location-based services are now available for all mobile subscribers free up to December 31,” a BSNL release said. |
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New Delhi, October 27 The company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 934 crore for the second quarter during 2006-07 as compared to Rs 521 crore for the corresponding quarter last fiscal. The company has added 41.1 lakh customers in the second quarter this year, the highest ever, and reported a growth of 90 per cent year-on-year in customer additions. The company said its total subscriber base was 2.86 crore and it had a 21.4 per cent share of the mobile market. The consolidated total revenue rose to Rs 4357 crore during the second quarter in 2006-07, registering a growth of 61 per cent as compared to Rs 2709 crore for the same quarter last year. For the half year ended September 30 the company reported a consolidated total revenue of Rs 8214 crore, up 57 per cent from Rs 5226 crore for the same period last year. The consolidated net profit for the half year grew 64 per cent to Rs 1689 crore as compared to Rs 1031 crore during the year-ago period. UB Group net soars
India’s largest distiller UB Group today reported a 225 per cent increase in quarterly profits at Rs 13.20 crore fuelled by strong sales volume and phenomenal growth in the ‘strong beer’ market. Total revenues of the company stood at Rs 224.75 crore, up by 103.28 per cent as against Rs 110.56 crore posted a year ago. “Kingfisher could register a phenomenal growth in strong beer...its volume growth is about 48 per cent. We lead the industry with both the top selling mild and strong beer brands,” group chairman Vijay Mallya said here. UB, Mr Mallya said, would invest about Rs 400 crore in capacity expansion. Suzlon Energy
Leading wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy Ltd today reported a net profit of Rs 253.49 crore for the quarter ended September 30 whereas the same was at Rs 238.95 crore for the corresponding quarter last year. The total income was Rs 1298.15 crore for the second quarter during 2006-07 while it stood at Rs 1099.28 crore in the same quarter last year. The group posted a consolidated net profit after minority interest of Rs 235.37 crore for the second quarter this fiscal whereas the same was Rs 207.68 crore in the year-ago period. The consolidated total income of the group was Rs 2095.63 crore during Q2 2006-07 while for the same quarter in 2005-06 it stood at Rs 112.98 crore, the company said.
— Agencies |
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Corporate Results
New Delhi, October 27 The company’s net revenue in the quarter under review grew by 64 per cent at Rs 203.1 crore as against Rs 124.1 crore in the year ago quarter. Century Textiles
B.K. Birla Group company Century Textiles & Industries Ltd has reported a 10-fold jump in net profit at Rs 74.79 crore for the quarter ended September 30 as compared to Rs 7.41 crore for the corresponding quarter last year. Total income (net of excise) rose to Rs 760.05 crore for the second quarter in 2006-07, up 28 per cent from Rs 595.08 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Patni Computers net up
Patni Computer Systems Ltd has reported a 37 per cent increase in quarterly profits at Rs 102.4 crore. Total revenues of the company stood at Rs 697.1 crore, up by 28 per cent as against Rs 519.7 crore posted an year ago. “A strong increase in revenue and net income in the quarter under review is a result of new client acquisitions and efficient management of our cost structure,” said Patni Chairman and CEO Narendra K Patni. GE Shipping
Mumbai-based Great Eastern Shipping Company Ltd has reported a net profit of Rs 235.48 crore for the quarter ended September 30 as against Rs 156.07 crore for the same quarter last year. Total income stood at Rs 593.20 crore for the second quarter in the current fiscal while during the same quarter last fiscal it was Rs 471.14 crore, The company’s Board declared an interim dividend of Rs 4 per equity share, which would be paid to the eligible shareholders on or after November 22. LIC Housing
LIC Housing Finance Ltd has posted a 30.10 per cent increase in profit after tax at Rs 75.93 crore for the quarter ended September 30 as compared to Rs 58.36 crore for the same quarter last year. The total income increased by 23.88 per cent to Rs 384.31 crore for the quarter ended September 30 from Rs 310.22 crore for the corresponding quarter last year. MTNL profit dips
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) has reported a 25.5 dip in its net profit at Rs 121.02 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2006, as compared to Rs 162.53 crore for the corresponding period last year. The company's total income also decreased by 4.65 per cent to Rs 1,376.76 crore for the quarter from Rs 1,444.05 crore for the same quarter previous year. Sun TV Q2 net up
Sun TV Ltd has posted a 42.69 per cent increase in profit after tax at Rs 47.96 crore for the quarter ended September 30 as compared to Rs 33.61 crore for the same quarter last year. The total income grew by 27.26 per cent to Rs 105.90 crore for the quarter ended September 30 from Rs 83.21 crore a year ago.
— Agencies |
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BEML profit
Bangalore, October 27 The company said its turnover and PAT figures for the same period last year were Rs 786.39 crore and Rs 41.49 crore, respectively. For the second quarter of the current fiscal, BEML recorded sales turnover of Rs 643.97 crore compared to Rs 383.20 crore the previous year and net profit of Rs 36.57 crore as against Rs 29.08 crore.
— UNI |
Inflation up at 5.26 per cent Arcelor Mittal |
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