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Allahabad Bank cuts lending, borrowing rates
Consumers pay more taxes on oil than
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Re-manufactured Goods
500 TCS staff ‘resign’ after appraisal
Maruti not to join race for low-cost car
Top 500 firms log Rs 19,000 b in FY07
MRTPC suspects cartelisation by low-cost fliers; orders inquiry
PNB in pact with ICRA, Fitch Ratings
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Allahabad Bank cuts lending, borrowing rates
New Delhi, February 5 The lending rates on retail credit have been slashed by as much as 50 basis points (bps) to 100 bps for housing loans, lending for consumer durables, car loans and education loans. Interest rates on deposits have been reduced by 25 basis points in all time buckets having a tenure of two years and above up to ten years. However, for deposits of shorter tenure interest rates have been increased. For instance, for deposits ranging between 61 days to 180 days, the interest rates have been revised upwards by 75 to 100 bps to make these buckets more attractive. The bank informed the BSE that the change in interest rates has been necessitated by reduction in the cost of incremental funds, falling yield in G-Secs and overall market scenario. In the housing loan segment, the interest rates have been reduced by 50 to 75 bps across the board in all tenure buckets. Similarly, interest rates on car loans and consumer durables loan has been cut by 100 bps straightway in all categories. Education Loan too has been made softer with a cut in the Interest rates by 25 to 100 bps. The reduction is applicable for new loans in both the categories, namely floating and fixed rates. HDFC took the lead in reducing its interest rates by 25 bps. Global interest rates, especially in the United States have move Southwards. This has put pressure on Indian Banks to reduce the cost of borrowing. But a key factor which is coming in the way is the inflation rate, which continues to hover at around four per cent with an upward bias. Canara Bank cuts home loan rates
Canara Bank has reduced the rate of interest on existing as well as new housing loans by 25 basis points with effect from February 7. The slash in rate of interest is irrespective of loan amount and for all tenors up to 25 years, a Canara bank press release said here today. All borrowers who have opted for home loan under the floating rate will get the benefit of interest reduction. The revised rates for loans up to Rs 20 lakh will be 10 per cent for five year tenor, 10.25 per cent for 10 year tenor and 10.50 per cent for tenor above 10 to 25 years and for loans above Rs 20 lakh, it is 10.25 per cent, 10.50 per cent and 10.75 per cent respectively, it said. The processing charges on home loans has also been reduced by 50 per cent upto March 3, 2008. ICICI assessing possibility of cut
ICICI Bank today kept its cards close to the chest on the possibility of an interest rate cut, saying it was still assessing the demand-supply position for credit. “Let’s wait see what happens. This is the last quarter of the year where rates normally tend to increase. It would be unwise to say how rates will move in the next six weeks. We have also to see the demand-supply gap,” Chief Executive Officer K V Kamath told reporters here. Asked about the slow-down in the bank’s credit offtake during the fiscal, Kamath said, “There was a slow-down in segments like automobile. There was an impact in the mortgage business also, due to high cost of property prices,” Kamath said. ICICI Bank had to cancel its plans to divest stake in a separate holding company that was to be created for its insurance and mutual funds business as the Reserve Bank did not give its approval for the same. Kamath said the bank will wait for the central bank’s view on the issue before taking any decision on the matter. The lender has plans to transfer its equity holding in its arms-ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, ICICI Lombard General Insurance, ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company and ICICI Prudential Trust. With a view to unlock the value of its subsidiaries, the bank had recently announced its plans to list its subsidiaries, starting with ICICI Securities, within a period of six months.
— PTI |
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Consumers pay more taxes on oil than its cost
New Delhi, February 5 The government and the domestic oil marketing companies are not ready to forgo the revenues at a time when the international oil price are ruling high and instead want to pass the burden on to the consumers, say economists. According to the calculations by the Oil Ministry, the selling price of petrol in Delhi is only Rs 19.79 per litre. Add to this the following list of Central taxes - customs duty Rs 1.81 per litre, excise duty Rs 14.66 per litre and sales tax Rs 7.26 per litre. Thus total taxes on petrol are Rs 23.73, making the selling price of petrol Rs 43.52 per litre. In the case of diesel the selling price in Delhi is Rs 20.43 per litre, add to this the central taxes like customs duty, which is Rs 1.97 per litre, excise duty Rs 4.69 per litre, sales tax by states is Rs 3.39 per litre, thus the total tax component is Rs 10.05 per litre in diesel making the selling price of diesel in Delhi Rs 30.48 per litre. When the government talks about revising the petrol and diesel prices it actually wants to garner more revenue for itself, which will be 55 per cent of whatever the price it increases. So if the government increases the price of petrol by Rs 2 per litre, the consumer will actually pay Rs 1.1 per litre in the form of taxes and Re 0.9 per litre will go to the oil marketing companies. Similarly for diesel when the price is increased by Re 1 per litre, the consumer will pay the government Re 0.33 as taxes and Re 0.67 per litre will go the oil companies. While there is concern over the international price hike, why is the government, which claims that it is concerned about the common man, is not ready to forgo its own revenue, question economists. Nowhere is the government talking of forgoing its own revenue by re-looking at the hefty excise duty or customs duty that it earns. The government has not reviewed the taxation structure, which has been padded up with taxes, because petrol and diesel is its main source of revenue. The contribution from oil products was nearly Rs 93,802 crore to the Central exchequer, while it was Rs 59,656 crore to the state exchequer. Thus at a time when the Finance Minister actually gloats about tax buoyancy and handsome tax collection the consumers have paid about Rs 1,53,458 crore (both central and state tax collection in 2006-07) for using petrol, diesel and other oil products. |
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Tulip to focus on rural network
Chandigarh, February 5 Lt Col (retd) H.S. Bedi, MD and promoter of the company, said with data connectivity emerging as an important vehicle for growth, the company was now looking at deploying connectivity networks in rural areas. “We are rolling out the biggest rural network in the world. Since it is virtually impossible to provide seamless connectivity on copper throughout the country, we have pioneered our project on the principle of wireless connectivity, and at a reasonable cost,” he said. Bedi was in town for the inauguration of the state area wide network (SWAN) service in Haryana. The service has been enabled by Tulip IT Services and provides an integrated backbone for common citizen-centric and business-centric services. “We are also rolling out SWAN in West Bengal and Assam and are also pitching for the one lakh citizen service centers that are being set up across the country under the e-governance project,” he said. He also stated that the idea of rolling out their own network in villages was based on the premise that a number of companies were now trying to reach out to the 70 per cent of the population residing in villages. “Many finance companies and banks are setting up offices in rural areas for financial inclusion of ruralites, and retail chains are also being set up in villages. We are aiming to be their technical partners and are setting up network in AP, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and later this will be done in six lakh villages across the country,” he added. He also informed that they had now started designing and manufacturing their own radios (WiFi and Wimax), which had helped them bring down costs in network connectivity. He added that after setting up world class data centers at Delhi and Mumbai, the service provider proposes to set up three similar centers at Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore by March 2009. |
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Re-manufactured Goods
New Delhi, February 5 The issue of liberalising trade in re-manufactured goods under market access for non-agricultural products has come to the fore following the circulation of a US paper to the negotiating group on market access. Rahul Khullar, additional secretary in the ministry of commerce & industry and India’s chief negotiator at the WTO, told industry representatives that while the issue of safety, dumping and unfair price competition were matters of concern in liberalising trade in re-manufactured goods, industry would have to ask itself whether India, which does not have big brands as yet, would have an interest in exports of such goods. The developed countries, he pointed out, have big brands and they would be only too keen to have market access in large consuming countries like India for selling re-manufactured goods that are as good as new at half the cost. Industry representatives from sectors such as automotive components, automobiles, computer hardware, electronics, engineering, apparels, tyres, earthmoving equipment and others presented their perceptions on the subject. A majority of them said that the distinction between re-manufactured goods and brand new goods was hazy; there was need to be vigilant against dumping of foreign re-manufactured goods; and emphasised the need to clarify the definition of recycling and remanufacture. Amarendra Khatua, joint secretary, ministry of commerce & industry, said there was a need to look at re-manufacturing as a holistic and futuristic concept, address the definitional aspect and examine India’s potential in the area before the country’s position can be concretised for negotiations. |
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Talent Shortage
New Delhi, February 5 The company, which used to operate an R&D centre in Bangalore, was looking for engineers specialising in embedded software and was also finding it difficult to synergise operations with its head office in New Delhi, Bose (India) general manager Ratish Pandey said here. He stated that the Bangalore centre started with five engineers, who were later relocated to the US due to shutdown of R&D operations in India. The company is still aggressive on its India strategy and continues to outsource IT services to the country. It today unveiled two models of its lifestyle home theatre systems V20 and V30 in the country priced at Rs 1,29,263 and Rs 1,91,138 respectively.
— PTI |
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500 TCS staff ‘resign’ after appraisal
New Delhi, February 5 “Employees with experience of two years and above across the company who were unable to meet the performance requirements of our company are asked to look for other jobs commensurate with their abilities,” TCS spokesperson Pradipta Bagchi said. However, he asserted that no employee has been sacked or fired. As a policy the only time when TCS dismisses people is for disciplinary reasons, he added. “This is not an exceptional thing, it happens every year and its part of our annual performance exercise. In TCS, everyone has to go through an appraisal cycle where they are rated between 1-5 depending on their performance. If in one appraisal cycle anyone is rated below 2, we put them on PIP (performance improvement plan). “Under this they are given extra training. Even after this if their rating is below 2, then they are asked to look for other jobs,” Bagchi said. Even last year, nearly 500 employees had to leave the company on performance ground. Incidentally, TCS also plans a 1.5 per cent cut in variable salaries of its employees in the fourth quarter, as it fell short of certain financial targets.
— PTI |
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Maruti not to join race for low-cost car
New Delhi, February 5 “While Maruti Suzuki commends these various initiatives (plans to develop and offer low-cost cars by various manufacturers), the company has no plans whatsoever of developing or offering a car in the segment below the Maruti 800,” the company said in a statement debunking reports that it was ready with a smaller car. Reports in the media had said that Maruti, along with its Japanese parent Suzuki, was developing a small car priced at Rs 1.5 lakh to compete with the Tata Nano. Maruti sells its flagship Maruti 800 model in a range of Rs 1.98 lakh to Rs 2.19 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). Maruti said it was the first to roll-out a people’s car in India in the form of Maruti 800 nearly 24 years ago and since then, aspirations of the consumers have “significantly” gone up. “Car customers now settle for nothing less than contemporary styling, international quality and latest features that enhance their safety and convenience, while expecting performance and fuel efficiency,” the statement said. It said entry-level car customers want more from their cars in terms of features, performance, safety and versatility. The company would continue to launch its world-class products like Swift, SX4 and Grand Vitara to ensure that Indian customers get international quality and style.
— PTI |
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Top 500 firms log Rs 19,000 b in FY07
New Delhi, February 5 As many as four state-run oil firms have emerged among the top five companies in the country in terms of total income for fiscal 2007. Reliance Industries is the sole representative of the private sector among first five. The aggregate total income of the Top 500 companies has grown 28.4 per cent to Rs 19,335 billion in FY07 as compared to the previous fiscal, a report by leading global business information provider Dun & Bradstreet said. State-run Indian Oil Corporation is at the top with a total income of Rs 21,63,97.85 crore, which grew 22.5 per cent followed by Reliance Industries with Rs 1,12,171 crore in fiscal 2006-07. The other state-run firms in the top five include - Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation reporting Rs 98,293.4 crore, Rs 89,725.7 crore and Rs 60,870.61 crore total incomes respectively in the last fiscal. Besides, public sector companies rule the roost in terms of market capitalisation with 54 of them featuring in the top 500 list, commanding a higher share of 25.2 per cent in the combined market cap of the Top 500 companies. Interestingly, mid-cap companies dominate the list with a share of 46.8 per cent or 234 firms. However, large cap firms account for 87 per cent of the aggregate market cap, the D&B report
added. — PTI |
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MRTPC suspects cartelisation by low-cost fliers; orders inquiry
New Delhi, February 5 Taking a suo motu action, the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) has directed its investigative arm DGIR to probe the role of carriers along with their umbrella organisation, Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), in fixing the fares. Last month, after a meeting with its member airlines, FIA decided to fix Rs 500 as the minimum airfare to improve their bottomline. The commission is suspecting that by using the FIA platform, the carriers have eliminated fair competition in the sector and deprived travellers from low-cost promotional fares. According to the commission, it appears to be restrictive trade practices and goes against the interest of consumers, MRTPC sources said. The commission directed the Director General of Investigation and Registration (DGIR) to submit a preliminary investigation report within 90 days. It is of the view that after that price arrangement, fares offered by no-frill airlines such as Deccan, Spicejet, Go Air and Indigo have
vanished. — PTI |
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PNB in pact with ICRA, Fitch Ratings
New Delhi, February 5 The two agencies would carry out the ratings under the standardised approach of its ‘line of credit’ rating service, which would enable the bank to assign new risk weights applicable to its borrowers under basel-II. The risk weights would be linked to the various rating categories and would be as per RBI’s basel- II guidelines. Existing and potential borrowers of Punjab National Bank are being offered special concessional rates for obtaining Fitch and ICRA ratings, a statement said here today. Punjab National Bank has a network of 4,230 branches, 349 extension counters and 1,325 ATMs across India with a total business of Rs 2,54,156 crore as on December 31, 2007 a year-on-year growth of 16.6 per cent. The bank maintains a diversified credit portfolio providing credit to all major sectors. The bank reported a profit after tax of Rs 1,505.01 crore for nine months ended December 31, 2007, registered a year-on-year growth of 15.6 per cent. The total deposits figure at end of December 2007 was Rs 1,52,622 crore registered a growth of 17.2 per cent on year-on-year basis. |
Tata Sky MRF unit SKS Microfinances Ericsson pact MRPL tie-up Canara Bank GAIL plans |
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