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ONGC mulls JV with
Russian firms
India, Norway ink pact to boost trade
Left asks PM to reduce petrol, diesel prices
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PM against trade restrictions in Montreal Protocol
Indian looking for 70-seater planes
Nod to UWB-IDBI merger
Salim Group to set up $1-2 m fish farm
Nokia wins Vodafone order
Shimla bank to act against Directors
Corporate Results
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ONGC mulls JV with
Russian firms
New Delhi, November 2 "We have proposed a joint venture with either Rosneft or Gazprom or both for exploration and production of oil and gas," said Mr R.S. Butola, Managing Director of ONGC's overseas arm, ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL). Russia's Rosneft and CNPC of China had recently entered into a pact. While the Rosneft-CNPC venture was primarily focused on exploring for oil in Siberia, ONGC has proposed to hunt for oil in all of Russia and even third countries. "The exploration venture we have proposed is intended to eventually become a production company that would market its own hydrocarbons in future," Mr Butola said. Like the OAO Rosneft-China National Petroleum Corp venture, the Russian company would hold 51 per cent stake in the proposed venture while ONGC would have the remaining 49 per cent. Separately, OVL has proposed to team-up with Rosneft to bid for the giant Sakhalin-III project in far east Russia, he said. Mr Butola said OVL was eyeing oil fields in East Siberia, which was estimated to hold some 20 billion barrels of reserves. It was also looking at participating in Russian continental shelf that might contain oil and gas in 4 million sq km of its total area of 6.5 million sq km. Also on its radar are the giant gas field Shtokman and Prirazlomneye oilfield, which holds recoverable oil reserves of more than 83 million tonnes. Other areas of interest for OVL include exploration blocs in Timan-Pechora area and Sakhalin-3 and 6 projects. Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora had said OVL would make large investments in exploration and production (E and P) projects in Russia. After meeting Mr Victor Khristenko, Minister for Industry and Energy of the Russian Federation at Moscow last week, Mr Deora took up the issue of increased cooperation between Indian oil companies and their Russian counterparts. The matter of obtaining participating interest in upstream projects of Russia came up during the discussion. He reiterated the resolve of OVL to make large investments in the E&P projects likely to come up in Sakhalin region. The minister extended an invitation to his counterpart to join in the function to be held in the first week of December at Mangalore to receive the first cargo of OVL's share of crude production from the Sakhalin-I Project. The minister also spoke of the interest of IndianOil Corporation (IOC) to partner Russian companies in downstream projects in Russia and India. Mr Victor Khristenko was appreciative of the involvement of OVL in Russia and assured the minister of a favorable consideration of the Indian interest.
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Norway Co offers OVL stake in Angolan block Norway's Norsk Hydro has offered OVL a stake in an Angolan exploration block and an oil field in Iran, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dinsha Patel said today. "Norsk Hydro has agreed for participation of OVL in the Angolan block number 34 in which it has 50 per cent participation interest," he said at the conclusion of two-day meeting of Indo-Norway joint working group on hydrocarbon. In the onshore Aranan field of Iran, Norsk Hydro has offered OVL a part of its 50 per cent stake, he said, adding that OVL has offered Norsk Hydro participation in two deep-water exploratory blocks in Cuba. The PSU major has sought Norwegian company's assistance in developing ONGC's field in Krishna Godavari basin. — PTI
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India, Norway ink pact to boost trade
New Delhi, November 2 Meanwhile, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr Kamal Nath, invited Norway companies to invest in the special economic zones (SEZs). The MoU was signed here during talks between Indian industry leaders and a 120-member Norwegian delegation, which is on a week-long visit to India to identify potential areas for investment across all sectors. “India and Norway can join hands in various projects across all sectors. Partnership between both the countries can be successful if we put in genuine efforts,” Commerce and Industry minister Kamal Nath told the delegation. "India and Norway should seriously consider forming trade ties, especially in hydrocarbon exploration," he added. The minister said, "As India grows competitive, we must seek a multilateral trading system for the benefit of both countries." The MoU was signed by Mr Jayant Bhuyan, Deputy Director- General, CII, and Mr Carl Otto Lovenskiold, President, Federation of Norwegian Commercial and Service Enterprises (HSH). Noting that Norway has transformed itself into a knowledge society, Mr Kamal Nath said, “We recognise the core competence of Norwegian companies in high-tech areas such as deep off-shore, specialised ship-building, fish-farming, hydropower, geo-physical studies and some niche sectors of IT and BT.” Referring to the two-way trade between India and Norway, the minister observed that it had so far been very insignificant with bilateral trade going up from a meagre $102 million in 2001 to only $419 million in 2005. Both countries also discussed public and private sector investment in India's healthcare services industry.
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Left asks PM to reduce petrol, diesel prices
New Delhi, November 2 CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked for a review following a fall in the international crude prices. ''..I hope you will take necessary steps to reduce the price of diesel and petrol to the pre-June, 2006, level,'' Mr Karat said in the letter copies of which were given to the media today. The government had increased the price of petrol by Rs 4 and that of diesel by Rs 2 in June but effected a one-rupee cut in the petrol price after protests. He also welcomed a move by the Petroleum Ministry to seek reduction of excise duty by one rupee on petrol and diesel for rationalisation of the tax structure of petroleum products. The Left parties and their trade union affiliates had organised countrywide protests following the increase in fuel prices last June. Bar on Chinese Cos questioned
Meanwhile, the party has questioned the Manmohan Singh Government’s decision to debar Chinese FDI investments in India, charging that it “smacks more of a paranoia.” Strong and critical remarks by CPM politbureau member and Rajya Sabha MP Sitaram Yechury, who was recently in Beijing, came in the wake of scrapping of the joint venture bid floated by BSNL, which was won by the Chinese telecom enterprise ZTE. The government had earlier stalled the construction of a deep-sea port of the Kerala coast to a consortium of Chinese companies. “Security sensitive areas and sectors must be carefully scrutinised for the entry of FDI. However, omnibus banning of countries smacks more of a paranoia than concern for security interests,” he said. The CPM leader said the UPA Government’s decision would not send a positive signal to Beijing as Chinese President Hu Jintao is expected in New Delhi within a month. He wrote in an editorial in People’s Democracy that the government’s declared policy of attracting FDI in today’s globalised world would lose credibility if it is perceived as a country that does not provide a level-playing field. |
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PM against trade restrictions in Montreal Protocol
New Delhi, November 2 "We need to be more creative and less adversial in our appraoch to compliance," Dr Manmohan Singh said while addressing a high-level segment of the five-day 18th meeting of parties to Montreal Protocol in the Capital, being attended by delegates from 189 countries across the world. The Prime Minister said India was against the use of restrictions on countries to ensure compliance with the Montreal Protocol on ODSs. Provision in the Protocol that enable use of trade restrictions was a source of concern, he said, adding "Let us not seek trade advantages through the instrument of environmental treaties ... while fulfilment of commitments in multilateral environmental agreements by all parties should be ensured, the use of trade restrictions was not advisable". He also expressed dissatisfaction over the extend of technology transfer to phase out ODSs from developing countries around the world. The Montreal Protocol is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out a number of substances responsible for the depletion of ozone. India prepared a programme for the phase-out of ODSs and has taken a series of fiscal and regulatory measures. The Prime Minister told the world delegates that India had fulfilled, without exception, all its obligations under the Protocol and under other international treaties within the timetable laid down. But while it has successfully phased out ozone-depleting Chloroflurocarbons (CFCs) from air-conditioners, refrigerators and hairsprays, the most difficult task has been to phase out CFC-containing metered dose inhalers (MDIs), used by asthma and bronchitis patients.
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Indian looking for 70-seater planes
Bangalore, November 2 Indian, which had already ordered for 43 A 320s, the first of which had already been delivered, would soon be taking on lease five A 320s for its own operations and six regional jets for its subsidiary, Alliance Air, to step up capacity and connectivity, Indian Chairman and Managing Director Vishwapati Trivedi said while launching Indian service to Male from Bangalore today. The Board had already given its permission and Indian would look for regional jets offered by various aircraft makers, including Bombardier of Canada and Embraer of Brazil. Already a few private airliners in India were using regional jets. A decision would be taken in about a fortnight, he added. He said depending upon availability Indian was also planning to take on lease six to 12 ATRs for shorter hauls within the country during the next six to eight months. He said two wide-body A 330s were also being leased with delivery expected in mid-2007. — UNI
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Spice to boost reach in Punjab, Karnataka
Chandigarh, November 2 This was revealed by the CEO, Spice Telecom, Mr Prakash Nanani, here today. "We have 1.6 million subscribers in Punjab and 6.50 lakh in Karnataka. Post the joint venture with Telecom Malaysia, we have decided to expand our infrastructure, and provide the best possible service to our customers. We have tied up with companies like Tower Vision, Aster and Cuipo to add new sites across the two circles," he said. Mr Nanani, who was here to launch a unique call block service, said their focus areas of expansion would be both rural and urban. Mr Man Mohan Nandwani, Regional COO, Spice Telecom, said sharing of sites with other telecom operators was the next big thing in the telecom sector, especially to cut costs in an era where the companies were reducing tariffs. Talking about the mobile phone manufacturing unit to come up at Baddi, the CEO said so far they were manufacturing accessories like batteries and chargers. "As of now, about 50,000 units of mobile phones are manufactured by a vendor for Spice each month. We are waiting for the minimum threshold level of sales to increase before we launch the manufacture on our own," he added.
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New Delhi, November 2 The amalgamation scheme, cleared by the RBI last month, was approved by the Cabinet, Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters here. The private sector bank, established in 1939, was put under moratorium on September 2 following erosion of its net worth. Financial position of UWB had deteriorated during 2004-05 and 2005-06 with net losses of Rs 98.64 crore and Rs 106.48 crore, respectively, leading to a negative net worth. As the RBI had come to the conclusion that it would not be possible for the the bank to meet deposit liabilities, the amalgamation was considered to be in the interest of depositors of UWB and for retaining the trust of the public in the banking sector, an official note said. — PTI
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Salim Group to set up $1-2 m fish farm
Kolkata, November 2 "The proposed farm would come up on 10,000 hectares and employ about 30,000 persons," he said after a meeting with Beni Santoso, the Chief Executive of Salim Group. The Salim Group was very keen to set up the project and "we will shortly identify the land preferably at Amta or Uluberia in Howrah district," he said. Asked whether land acquisition for the project would pose any problem, he said there would be no problem as fisheries was a part of agriculture and the Fisheries Department would acquire 10,000 hectares. Another meeting would be held with the Salim Group in the next 8 to 10 days to finalise other details of the project, he said. — PTI
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Helsinki, November 2 Telecom equipment vendors are battling fiercely for such orders as managing networks on behalf of operators is a fast-growing segment in an industry where new network construction is slowing. As part of the agreement, Vodafone Australia will transfer related employees and contractors into the services business unit of Nokia Networks. Nokia said it has close to 60 managed services contracts globally. — Reuters
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Shimla bank to act against Directors
Shimla, November 2 Mr Laxmikant Sharma, Administrator of the bank, said they had taken all measures in accordance with the norms set by the RBI to safeguard the interest of the depositors and made a provision of Rs 1.56 crore against the non-performing assets (NPA) and unsecured loans. However, it had decided to act against the former Directors who sanctioned loans without adequate collateral securities. Notices were being issued to them for getting the unsecured loans, failing which their assets would be attached. He said in the past two years, Rs 1.67 crore had been recovered, bringing down the NPAs from 10.63 per cent to 3.63 per cent as a result of the which the RBI had upgraded its from a "B" to "A" category bank. The bank had earned a net profit of Rs 10 lakh last year even after making provision against unsecured loans. |
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HFCL profit up 75 per cent
New Delhi, November 2 The company's sales turnover rose by 21.63 per cent (Y0Y).For the telecom equipment industry (in which the company operates), the second half of the financial year typically accounts for 70 per cent of the annual business. There was an order book of over Rs 620 crore. International Tractor
Sonalika Group International Tractor Limited has a turnaround in its net profit at Rs 57.89 crore for the quarter ended
September as against Rs 44.78 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Company Chairman L.D.Mittal said the company had posted a total profit of Rs 110.94 crore during 2005-2006 which was Rs 23.03 crore more than that last year The earning per share increased to Rs 100 up to
September in comparison to Rs 81 in the same quarter last year, Mr Mittal added. IndusInd Bank
IndusInd Bank Ltd has posted a net profit of Rs 17.18 crore for the quarter ended September 30 as compared to Rs 31.49 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2005, a decline of 45.44 per cent. The bank said its total income had increased from Rs 352.03 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2005, to Rs 429.01 crore for the quarter ended September 30. Meanwhile, the bank said it had received fresh authorisation from the RBI for opening 10 more branches and 100 new off-site ATMs. As of date, the bank has a network of 147 branches and 84 offsite ATMs spread over 118 geographical locations in 24 states and Union Territories. Central Bank H1 net up
Central Bank of India has said it was awaiting regulatory approvals for its initial public offering (IPO) for which it has already made applications to both Centre and the RBI. "Certain laws have to be amended for the (IPO) purpose and we can go ahead only after that," Bank's Chairperson and Managing Director H A Daruwalla said while announcing the H1 FY 07 results here. The public sector bank has fared well in the first six months of FY07 with its total business clocking a 23.85 per cent growth at Rs 1,19,466 crore on a YoY basis while net profit vaulted 99.07 per cent to Rs 215 crore as against Rs 108 crore in the corresponding period of last fiscal. Total deposits grew 16.38 per cent to Rs 76,221 crore while gross advances expanded 39.65 per cent to Rs 43,245 crore in the same period. Britannia net dips
Britannia Industries Ltd has reported 51.59 per cent decline in net profit for the quarter ended September 30 at Rs 21.2 crore compared to Rs 43.8 crore in the corresponding quarter previous fiscal. Net sales of the company for the quarter increased by 24 per cent at Rs 550 crore, the company said.— TNS, Agencies |
RCom gets nod from Board Y.C.Deveshwar Land for HPCL |
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