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Steel makers roll back price hike
Two industrial projects for Rohtak
Industry delegation meets Paswan
Infrastructure policy for airports soon: Patel
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Budget-2008
Centre to address problems of SMEs: Ashwani Kumar
Nasdaq’s ‘portal’ wooing India Inc
Bahrain strike called off, wages raised
Bharti’s retail plans within 2 months: Mittal
Now, Murdoch eyes Yahoo!
Shaw Valence picks 5.7 pc in Orient-Express
Tata, Boeing JV for defence products
Alto’s sale crosses 1-m mark
Genpact eyes acquisitions
Spectrum Row
Bhave to be SEBI chief
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Steel makers roll back price hike
New Delhi, February 14 Earlier this month, the manufacturers had raised the steel prices by Rs 1,500-2,500, which had attracted a lot of attention from consumers. Emerging from a meeting with the steel producers, Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan today said the industry has voluntarily agreed to roll back the increase in the prices of the commodity for the benefit of the common man. He said since TMT bars were an item of mass consumption, rolling back its price was considered to be necessary. Paswan pointed out that the price hike earlier this month, apart from hitting the common man due to its cascading effect on inflation, would also affect many downstream consumer industries such as small and medium manufacturers, and constructions sector. Steel Authority of India Ltd chairman Sushil Kumar Roongta said the steel producers were constraint to increase the prices due to a hike in input costs but have agreed to roll back the prices in the interest of common man. Jindal Steel and Power vice-chairman and MD Naveen Jindal said that the steel producers have voluntarily agreed to roll back prices to neutralise the impression that they were arbitrarily raising prices. Expressing concern on rising input cost, he pointed out that the railway freight has also shot up by 50 per cent to 90 per cent while the prices of coking coal and ferroy alloys have also increased considerably.
— PTI |
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Two industrial projects for Rohtak
Chandigarh, February 14 The two projects are to be developed at an estimated cost of Rs 200 crore. HSIIDC has already initiated the process of land acquisition for these projects and development work is likely to begin from next week. While the IMT at Rohtak will come up at an estimated area of 2870 acres, the new industrial estate at Kutana in Rohtak is coming up on 152 acres of area. As many as 269 industrial plots will be carved out in the industrial estate, which is being developed around the existing industrial area. These plots will be of different sizes, ranging from 312 sq metrEs to 4453 sq metres. The IMT will have 168 plots of different sizes, varying from 450 square metres to 130 acres. The only plot measuring 130 acres has already been allotted to Asian Paints. While the development work in industrial estate will be carried out at an estimated cost of Rs 30 crore, the estimated cost of providing all infrastructure works at IMT is Rs 170 crore. Rajiv Arora, managing director of HSIIDC, informed TNS that the while all basic infrastructure services in the industrial estate at Kutana would be provided by HSIDC, the development of IMT would be done on a turn-key basis. “We also propose to construct canal-based water works in order to ensure potable water supply to the entrepreneurs in IMT and in the industrial estate. Land will be acquired separately for setting up the water works. The bid documents inviting the offers for development of IMT will be floated shortly. The infrastructure development work will be complete in two years,” he said. |
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Industry delegation meets Paswan
New Delhi, February 14 “The steep hike registered in such prices has been to the tune of Rs 6000 per metric tonne within a period of one and a half year. We have to face competition from China in selling our finished products for exports as well as domestic market,” said a memorandum presented by the Chambers to the Union Steel Minister. Leading the delegation was Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, Ludhiana MP, along with Satish Kumar Dhanda, former chairman Engineering Export Promotion Council, S Inderjit Singh Pardhan, among others. |
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Infrastructure policy for airports soon: Patel
Hyderabad, February 14 With India's civil aviation sector registering highest growth in the world, a vast network of airports connecting smaller cities and towns would be put in place, he said. The minister was interacting with the media after the successful trial of commercial flights at the new international airport at Shamshabad, about 30 Km from the city, on Tuesday. “This airport marks a new era in aviation history as it is India’s first world-class airport,” Patel said after the flawless landing of two aircraft from Mumbai — a Kingfisher flight A320 and Boeing 747 of Jet Airways — on the 4,260 metre-long runway, the longest in South Asia. The minister said the new airport at Hyderabad, the first Greenfield airport to be developed in private sector, marked the beginning of development of several world-class airports in the country. “The development of airports in smaller cities and towns will promote regional airlines,” he said. An independent airport economic regulatory authority would be set up shortly to regulate collection of user fee at new airports. Terming successful trial of commercial flights as a “momentous occasion”, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy announced reduction of sales tax on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) from 33 per cent to 4 per cent to give a boost to aviation and tourism sectors in the state. The move would result in an annual loss of Rs 60 crore to the state exchequer. Billed as India's first airport that matches global standards, the Hyderabad airport will be formally inaugurated by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on March 14 while commercial operations will commence two days later. |
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Budget-2008
New Delhi, February 14 In a random survey conducted by Assocham on 300 CEOs, 85 per cent of them said there won’t be a significant tax cut as Finance Minister P Chidambaram would be looking at enhancing revenue collections for higher budgetary allocations to priority sectors like agriculture, education, health, defence and manufacturing. The common man might be a gainer of Chidambaram’s budget proposals but certainly not India Inc. as the government would like to maintain growth inertia to honour its commitments for better infrastructure, improved agricultural conditions as also hike subsidies for sectors such as food, fertiliser and petroleum by nearly 10 per cent, said 255 CEOs. Releasing the findings, Assocham president Venugopal N. Dhoot said that over 90 per cent of the CEOs from all segments of Indian Inc., however, felt that the FM would like to effect a conscious balancing act in his Budget proposals to appease Indian Industry as they hoped, “that there shall not be any additional cess in the budget of 2008-09. As many as 270 CEOs held this view and said they did not anticipate considerable fall in customs tariffs as the government would prefer to defer some of its statutory obligations towards WTO in a bid to spur up revenues collections. Majority of CEOs, numbering about 260, held that personal income tax ceiling would be raised by nearly Rs 30,000 but those whose annual salary package exceeds Rs 5 lakh, there won’t be any relief in the income tax slabs as these would be continued to be taxed under the existing income tax slabs, said Dhoot. However, 15 per cent of CEOs maintained that the FM would not like to ignore the demand of Indian Inc. for reduced taxation structure and therefore there would be some legitimate cuts in the duty structure in budget 2008 - 09. However, majority of CEOs have outright rejected this view and even felt that they do not expect even a slight reduction on excise front. |
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Centre to address problems of SMEs: Ashwani Kumar
New Delhi, February 14 Kumar said small and medium industry in Punjab accounts for more jobs than the national average and steps had been taken to address their problems. He said that the UPA had taken several decisions to boost progress in Punjab. He said the proposal to start a new day train from Delhi to Pathankot via Batala and Gurdaspur was in final stages and an announcement could be made soon. Kumar said the Centre had given a package of Rs 80 crore for reviving industry in Batala under the industrial upgradation scheme. He said dedicated freight corridor on eastern route would be extended till Ludhiana and measures had been taken to open road freight trade across the Wagah border. Several institutes of excellence had been sanctioned for Mohali. He said there was a proposal to set up food/fruit processing zone with a Central government outlay of Rs 50 crores in Punjab. A manufacturing investment region may also be set up after the concept was finalised. Kumar has written to Finance Minister P Chaidambaram about the hardships that small and medium industries were facing on account lowering of import duties and hardening of rupee and interest rates. In his letter, he sought a package for small and medium industries and said the negative impact on industrial production, exports and above all on employment in the blue collar segment needs to be arrested. Kumar said the UPA government was keen to strengthen physical and social infrastructure in Punjab. Answering queries about the demand of Punjab for an industrial package similar to the neighbouring states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, he said the government recognised the need for a level-playing field for all states. He hoped that after 2009 there would be a level-playing field for all states except Jammu and Kashmir and the North East. |
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Nasdaq’s ‘portal’ wooing India Inc
Mumbai, February 14 While all three routes have fundamental difference of structure, they all offer faster fund raising with lesser regulatory hurdles. Further, all three are betting big on Asian companies, especially India, where the demand for funds is huge. Nasdaq Portal Market facilitates trading in those securities that are not registered with the US market regulator, Securities Exchange Commission, and are referred to as 144A securities. The 144A securities can be sold only to qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) and trading too takes place only among QIBs. As many as 70 India companies have raised funds on the Portal Market with 25 of them, including Reliance, DLF, Axis Bank, Idea Cellular Suzlon Energy, raising about 8.3 billion dollars in 2007. Reliance Industries and DLF both raised over 2 billion on the market. “Instead of the usual 24 weeks taken to raise money through the IPO route, Portal Market needs only 10 weeks for listing as no SEC approval is required,” Nasdaq senior vice-president Jeffrey H. Singer, who in here to attend the Nasscom India Leadership Forum 2008, has said.
— PTI |
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Bahrain strike called off, wages raised Dubai, February 14 The announcement was made by the country's labour minister Majeed Al Alawi in Manama this afternoon, ending six days of stand-off between the management and the striking workers, Indian Ambassador to Bahrain Balakrishna Shetty told PTI. Under the terms of the deal, the workers will get a monthly salary hike of Bahraini Dinar (BD) 15 and their wages during the period of strike will not be deducted. The workers were getting BD57 at present. Earlier today, nearly 1,000 employees went to work, but the rest did not, sources said, adding when the first lot returned from work, there was some tension in the labour camp which was resolved with intervention of Indian Embassy officials. The workers went on strike on Saturday at Durrat Al Bahrain residential development and resort project. The workers are employed by contracting firm GP Zachariades. The management of GP Zachariades yesterday said the striking workers will have to resume duty, otherwise they will not be interested in talking to them. The workers were demanding a minimum monthly salary of BD100 (Rs 10,481), saying they currently receive just BD57 a month. They had also planned to march around 30 km from their accommodation to the labour ministry on Sunday, but were locked inside the labour camp. — PTI
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Bharti’s retail plans within 2 months: Mittal
Barcelona, February 14 "You can hear from us on the final concrete plans before April-end," Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Mittal told PTI on the sidelines of 'GSM World Congress' here. Asked when and where, the first store of Bharti Retail would be opened, he declined a specific answer but said: "It will be in North India." Mittal denied that there was any delay in rolling out plans of Bharti Retail saying: "This takes time." The announcement of the final plans is also expected to end speculation over branding of the front-end store of Bharti Retail on whether it would carry the name of Wal-Mart. Complimenting rival Vodafone for its rapid ascent to the number two slot among Indian mobile operators, market leader Bharti Airtel today said it would, however, pretty much stay there. "I will say that (Vodafone CEO) Arun Sarin has already won his quarter-final and semi-final matches, as Vodafone has emerged as the number two cellular operator in India. But his final match is with us and I am sure to win that," Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal said at the GSM Mobile Congress here. Bharti Airtel is India's number one GSM cellular player with a subscriber base of over 60 million, followed by Vodafone with 41.14 million mobile users as on January
31. — PTI |
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Now, Murdoch eyes Yahoo!
London, February 14 The two sides are also in discussions about merging Yahoo with News Corporation’s other online properties. Under the deal being proposed, News Corporation would get a stake of more than 20 per cent in Yahoo. News Corporation and an unnamed private equity firm would also inject cash into the deal. The two companies have been in talks several times over the past 18 months, and should the combination work, it would help Yahoo fend off Microsoft’s unsolicited takeover bid for over $ 44.6 billion. Softbank
unlikely to derail bid
TOKYO: Japanese Internet firm Softbank Corp, under pressure from both sides in Microsoft Corp’s bid for Yahoo Inc, may hold out for more leverage but is unlikely to derail the bid. Softbank, which has capital ties with both bidder Microsoft and target Yahoo, theoretically could block a transfer of shares in Yahoo Inc’s Asian earnings driver Yahoo Japan Corp, owned 41 per cent by Softbank and 33 per cent by Yahoo Inc. Yahoo! India sacks 45
BANGALORE: Yahoo! India, the Indian subsidiary of the global search engine and news portal Yahoo! Inc., has sacked 45 employees across various levels for their poor performance. A company’s spokesperson, however, declined to comment on the development. Ever since Microsoft offered to buy out Yahoo!, its Indian subsidiary has been slow in hiring freshers. Instead, the company has begun to relocate staff in Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad.
— Agencies |
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Shaw Valence picks 5.7 pc in Orient-Express
New York, February 14 Activist hedge fund DE Shaw Valence, which has garnered a 5.7 per cent stake in Orient-Express, also warned that it reserved its rights as shareholder to take appropriate actions if the firm did not address certain issues, including a lack of clarity on voting rights that might be hindering interested parties from making merger or acquisition offers. DE Shaw Valence has accumulated the stake through various transactions over the past few weeks for about $135 million, which followed a public spat between Orient-Express and Tata group’s Indian Hotels late last year triggered by a business combination proposal made by the latter. In reply to Tata group’s proposal, OEH CEO Paul White had said that an alliance with a predominantly domestic Indian brand would erode the premium brand value of Orient-Express. This was followed by Indian Hotels vice-chairman R K Krishna Kumar seeking a public apology for using “libellous” remarks, while rebuffing the alliance proposal. DE Shaw said in a filing here that it would review its investment from time to time, after which it may purchase or sell shares or even engage in “a transaction with the purpose or effect of changing or influencing the control” of the company.
— PTI |
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Tata, Boeing JV for defence products
New Delhi, February 14 Tata Industries Limited and Boeing Company have agreed on a plan to form a joint-venture company that will initially include more than $ 500 million of defence-related aerospace component work in India for export to Boeing and its international customers, the two companies said in a joint statement. “This joint venture between Tata and Boeing is an important part of our strategy to build capabilities in defence and aerospace,” Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata said. Under the agreement, the proposed JV will be established by June 2008, and shortly thereafter begin work on building Boeing aerospace components, it added. “It represents another step in our commitment to India, in order to bring real and lasting value to India’s aerospace industry,” CEO of Boeing Integrated Defence Systems Jim Albaugh said.
— PTI |
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Alto’s sale crosses 1-m mark Gurgaon, February 14 A company spokesman said Alto was the third car, after Maruti 800 and Omni, to cross 1-million mark. He said the 1-millionth Alto Lxi was rolled off the production line late last evening at the company's Gurgaon plant. He said Alto has many records to its credit. It is the first car brand to sell over 2 lakh units in the domestic market in a single financial year (in 2006-07). It has recorded its highest ever-monthly sales of 22,784 units in November 2007. This is the highest ever-domestic sale achieved by any car in India in a month.
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Genpact eyes acquisitions
Mumbai, February 14 "Though there is nothing in the near term, we are actively looking at acquisitions...it will be in the larger ticket size, the kind of companies with revenues of $150-200 million," Genpact president and CEO Pramod Bhasin told reporters on the sidelines of the Nasscom Leadership Forum 2008 here. The companies will be in the areas of human resource, financial services, banking or captive BPOs, he said. The companies being evaluated are located in India, the US and Europe, Bhasin said.
— PTI |
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Spectrum Row
New Delhi, February 14 The Delhi High is also hearing these issues on a writ petition filed by GSM lobby COAI challenging the Department of Telecom (DoT) policy over allocation of additional spectrum and use of dual technology. “For final hearing on it, I would like to wait for the order of the High Court,” said TDSAT chiarman Justice Arun Kumar directing to adjourn the case. TDSAT chairman also noted that on the direction of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, National Security Adviser M K Narayanan is going to hold a meeting between the operators and DoT. Meanwhile, a single member bench of the Delhi High Court today adjourned the case to February 20. The court is hearing the issues since January 21.
— PTI |
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Bhave to be SEBI chief
New Delhi, February 14 Bhave, who had earlier served both in the finance ministry as well as SEBI, is expected to take charge after Damodaran’s term ends on February 17, sources said. There was, however, no official confirmation on the appointment that is believed to have been decided last night after finance ministry reportedly took up the issue with the Prime Minister's Office. A notification on the appointment of the new SEBI chairman is expected to be announced shortly.
— PTI |
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