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Tatas set to sign JLR deal
Hyundai, Caparo to make buses in India
Sensex gains as mid-caps crash
Indo-China FTA
Blackberry Service
India to have 2nd largest wireless network by April: TRAI
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‘IT exports set to cross $40 billion’
BSNL to strengthen network in HP
Re stronger by 16 paise
India Inc hails 6th pay panel report
Jairam on African safari for diamonds
Nicholas Piramal goes rural
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London, March 24 The long-awaited memorandum of understanding follows union agreement on three key issues and comes after Tata raised a $3 bn-loan from Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase to finance the purchase. "We have been told that the MoU will be signed on Wednesday," Andrew Dodgson of the influential workers' union Unite, which represents Ford workers, told IANS. According to Dodgson, Tata has agreed to retain the manufacturing base of the two marques in Britain and source the supply of engines and transmission from Britain. On its part Ford, the American carmaker which owns the iconic British brands, has agreed to plug a "substantial" deficit in the workers' pension fund. "They have either put some money in or plan to do it," Dodgson said. Tata, whose offer is said to be in the region of $2 billion, has assured Ford that it has no plans to 'Indianise' Jaguar and Land Rover. Group chairman Ratan Tata said recently the practice of moulding an acquired company to look and function more like its new parent is a "more Anglo-Saxon" phenomenon, with "an expectation that if you're acquired, you will look like the owner". He seems to have soothed the nerves of British workers, with Dodgson saying, "We're quite happy with what we have. After all kinds of rumours about job losses, the story is that that's not going to happen." Scotching rumours of outsourcing, Tata is said to have assured Unite that it will keep all three of Jaguar and Land Rover's British plants at Solihull and Castle Bromwich in the Midlands and Halewood on Merseyside. While Unite represents some 12,000 Ford workers, Dodgson said the total number of jobs at stake could be anywhere between 35,000 and 40,000 when ancillaries are taken into account. Ford acquired Jaguar for $2.5 bilion in 1989 and Land Rover for $2.75 billion in 2000 but put them on the market last year after posting losses of $12.6 billion in 2006 — the heaviest in its 103-year history.— IANS
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Hyundai, Caparo to make buses in India
Seoul, March 24 India's commercial vehicle market stood at 290,000 units last year, including 5,000 premium buses. Hyundai, which said in February it was talking to Indian firms for a possible venture for commercial vehicles, expected the market for ''luxury'' buses, to be mainly used for tourism, to reach 10,000 units in 2010. Under the agreement, Hyundai will provide parts and production technology for Aero buses while Caparo India will manufacture and sell the vehicles, Hyundai said in a
statement. Caparo India will build a plant in the southern Indian city
Chennai, near Hyundai's second plant in the country, to start production in early
2009. — Reuters |
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Sensex gains as mid-caps crash
Mumbai, March 24 In the broader markets, the Nifty closed at 4,609 levels gaining 36 points or 0.8 per cent at close. Among the major gainers today were scrips in the IT and banking counters while scrips in the metal and realty sectors took a beating. Analysts said FIIs who have been selling for the past several sessions have begun to buy, albeit in small quantities, thereby indicating that the markets are poised for an upmove. Among the biggest gainer today was HDFC, which closed 7.7 per cent higher at Rs 2,384. Wipro, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Hindustan Unilver also closed in the green. In the Nifty, HCL Technologies, Dr Reddys Lab, Nalco and Idea Cellular were the gainers while Cairn India, SAIL, Unitech and Tata Steel were the major losers. Of the sectoral indices, the BSE metal index was the biggest loser shedding 5.3 per cent or 711 points. Gujarat NRE Coke, Maharashtra Seamless, Hindalco and Jindal Saw were the major losers in this pack. Other big losers included the BSE Midcap Index which fell 2.7 per cent at 5,805.53.
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Indo-China FTA
New Delhi, March 24 In a study on ‘India’s FTA and the Indian industry’, Assocham said the government should not rush into an FTA but instead sign a preferential trade agreement (PTA) initially and reduce tariffs in a phased manner. Suggesting that the government undertake a comprehensive consultation process with Indian industry, the chamber has prescribed a minimum period of five years before the two countries finalise the FTA, thereby helping the domestic industry protect its business interests. "India’s tariff structures are much higher as compared to China and the FTA can flood India with China’s products. The ultimate goal should be an FTA with free flow of products and capital but in view of comparative disadvantage of India’s manufacturing sector, a much lower tariff structure in China and its higher degree of openness, India-China trade cooperation should start with a PTA with reduced tariff in a phased manner," Assocham president Venugopal Dhoot said. He said the tariff regime in India is as high as 12.5 per cent compared to that of China, which is less than 6 per cent. "FTA between India and China might affect economic efficiency of these countries as they would exclude and discriminate other countries," he claimed. "Any reduction in China’s tariff will not increase India’s imports to China in a significant way," he added. He said the Indian exporters couldn’t expect significant market benefits after negotiating a FTA whereas Chinese exporters can expect good gain from their exports. Total trade between India and China was $18 billion in 2005, Assocham said, adding that India’s trade deficit with China has grown to $1,424.04 million in 2004-05. — PTI
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Blackberry Service
New Delhi, March 24 The directive has been issued to the respective service providers to work out with officials of Blackberry licensor Research in Motion (RIM) of Canada to provide full-proof security system in the country, senior officials in DoT said. If the services were stopped, over four lakh users of Blackberry would not be able to use this premium service which enables users to access e-mail in the form of SMS. The DoT Secretary had recently said that the government was keen to resolve the matter at the earliest. When contacted RIM, licensor of Blackberry services, spokesperson told PTI that RIM operates in more than 130 countries around the world and respects the regulatory requirements of governments. RIM does not comment on confidential regulatory matters or speculation on such matters in any given country. Telecom minister A Raja had also said that security of nation was of paramount concern and this would not be sacrificed at any cost. C-DoT, a technical wing of DoT, has the monitoring capabilities provided the licensor puts the server in India enabling interception of contents of e-mails, if required, on the Blackberry handsets. — PTI
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India to have 2nd largest wireless network
New Delhi, March 24 "India's wireless subscriber base during the first half of April 2008, will surpass that of the US and will become the second wireless network in the world," TRAI said in a statement. Moreover, the total subscriber base, including wireless and wire-line would also cross 300 million mark in April, it added. Currently, China is the world's largest wireless network and is adding around 6-7 million subscribers every month. According to CTIA, a US-based wireless operators association, the current subscriber base of America is 256 million. The US is adding about 2-3 million subscribers in a month where as India's monthly wireless subscriber addition is highest in the range of 8-9 million a month, TRAI said. Releasing the monthly telecom subscriber base figures, TRAI said during February, about 8.49 million telephone connections have been added as compared to 8.74 million in January. The total number of telephone connections reaches 290.11 million at the end of February, as compared to 281.62 million in January. The overall teledensity is 25.31 per cent at the end of February, against 24.63 per cent in January.
— PTI |
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‘IT exports set to cross $40 billion’
Hyderabad, March 24 The IT exports are expected to touch $40 billion in the current financial year, compared to $31.9 billion last year, registering a growth of 28 per cent, union IT secretary Jainder Singh said here. He was speaking at the Hyderabad IT Summit 2008 on the theme “Empowering IT with world class infrastructure.” The current trends indicated that the Indian IT industry would achieve a broad-based growth across the sectors, including software, hardware and business process outsourcing (BPO), Singh said. Endowed with a vast pool of talented manpower, India should now move up the value chain by concentrating on knowledge process outsourcing , the official said. The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), in association with the Hyderabad-based Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), started the Mentor Training Programme to improve the skills and employability of over 4 lakh students passing out of engineering colleges for immediate absorption by the industry. The central government was according top priority for creating world-class infrastructure conducive for IT industry growth in tier-II and III cities as metropolitan cities were already overloaded, he said. By extending their activities to smaller cities, the IT companies could bring down the cost of their operations and be more competitive, he added. Referring to Andhra Pradesh, which has emerged as a favoured destination for IT companies, he said as many as 42 IT special economic zones were being set up in the state, the highest in the country.
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BSNL to strengthen network in HP
Shimla, March 24 This was stated by union minister of state for communication and information technology Shakeel Ahmed after a meeting with senior officers to review the working of Himachal telecom circle here today. He said the nigam already had over 10 lakh connections, including about 5.4 lakh mobile phones in the state. It also proposed to set up 550 base transmitting stations to improve wireless connectivity and a lawful interception server at Sundernagar. Besides, 3-G services would be introduced in 15 towns of the state, including all the district headquarters, by installing five BSC’s at Shimla, Solan, Sundernagar, Hamirpur and Dharamsala. Optical fibre cable would be laid over 800 km to improve connectivity and 400 more stations would be covered by broadband services. The target was to add new 30,000 broadband connections. The department also plans to open offices at Paploh, Phatikar, Kand, Kas and Raipur. Wireless in local loop (WLL) capacity would be enhanced by 90,000 and the target was to release 50,000 new WLL connections. At present, the state has 5.40 lakh mobile connections, 4.14 lakh landline phones, 80,444 WLL connections and 9,700 broadband connections. There were 1,056 telephone exchanges in the district and all tehsil headquarters except Dodra Kawar had been covered by mobile services and efforts were on to provide mobile connectivity to the villages having a population of mores than 1,000.
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Reliance to restrict fuel supply at its outlets
Chandigarh, March 24 The huge price differential between the fuel sold through their outlets and fuel sold at the outlets of other public sector oil companies has led to this decision by the petroleum behemoth. Field officers of the company have reportedly started approaching the Reliance petrol pump dealers to tell them that the supply of fuel will be stopped from April 1. The dealers have been told that they would be paid a compensation of Rs 1.10 lakh per month, till the time the supply is not restored. Baba Sikka, a Reliance dealer in Tarn Taran, Punjab, informed TNS that though they had not received any verbal communication, field officers of the company had already informed them that supply would be temporarily closed with effect from April 1. He said there were 78 petrol pumps in Punjab alone and a majority of them had earlier closed down their operations on account of poor sales. When contacted, Manu Kapoor, head, corporate communications, RIL, declined to make any comment on the development. A senior company official, while confirming that the fuel supply would be restricted, said they had been demanding a level-playing field with the other PSU oil companies. “As Reliance dealers began losing business and closed their outlets, the company devised a compensation package wherein all these dealers are being given a return on investment of Rs 1.10 lakh per month for pumps with two dispensers. For others that are functional, other than Rs 1.10 lakh, a fixed monthly expense was also being given,” he added. While the price differential for petrol is Rs 12.24 per litre in Punjab, diesel sold through Reliance outlets is costly by Rs 4.82 per litre than sold by other oil companies like IndianOil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum. Reliance Industries had been claiming that there was minimal difference in their fuel prices when compared to the premium fuels of other oil companies. However, Reliance petrol and diesel is still about Rs 10 per litre and Rs 4 per litre more expensive than the premium fuel of other companies. It may be noted that Reliance Industries had forayed into retail of petroleum products in 2005-06. The company had been granted market rights for operating 5,849 retail outlets across the country. As of now, there are 1,428 fuel retail outlets of the company across the country. Because of the price differential, the company’s market share had been dwindling over the past two years. An industry source informed TNS that Reliance Industries has a 3 per cent market share in petrol and 2.5 per cent market share in diesel. In Punjab alone, the company’s market share in petrol has declined from 3 per cent in 2005-06 to 1.5 per cent now, while the diesel market share has gone down from 6 per cent to less than 1 per cent during the same period.
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Re stronger by 16 paise
Mumbai, March 24 Forex dealers said expectations of capital inflows aided the rupee sentiments. In active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the Indian unit opened higher at 40.37/38 per dollar from the last weekend's close of 40.43/44. Dealers said the local currency opened stronger taking cues from positive Asian indices. There were some dollar buying by importers at the current level but it failed the dampen the rupee sentiments, they added.
— PTI |
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India Inc hails 6th pay panel report
New Delhi, March 24 Industry body Ficci said the pay hike would not add to inflationary conditions and revenue deficit due to buoyant revenue collections. "The revenue collections and the overall economy is growing. If these trends are kept intact, then this additional expenditure should not be too much of a problem," Ficci secretary general Amit Mitra said. Echoing similar sentiments, Assocham said increase in salaries would not fuel inflation and increase revenue deficit as the country is witnessing increased direct and indirect tax collections as a result of higher tax compliance. "The government is going to witness substantial hike in its revenue collections, benefits of which ought to be given to its employees and there should be no grudge against such pay commissions recommendations," Assocham president Venugopal Dhoot said. Assocham said the move would make the central government employees more accountable, productive and responsive as the exchequer would shed Rs 12,561 crore in 2008-09 itself on account of higher package. Also, Ficci said the hike would reduce the problem of governance and attract talented personnel, besides making the employees more responsible. The Sixth Pay Commission submitted its report to finance minister P Chidambaram recommending implementation of the revised pay from January 1, 2006, which would impose an arrear payout burden of Rs 18,060 crore on the government.
— PTI |
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Jairam on African safari for diamonds
New Delhi, March 24 After successful conclusion of India-Africa summit and in the run-up to the first-ever India-Africa conclave here next month, the minister is leading a high-powered delegation to Namibia and Angola. It includes senior representatives of the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council. Ramesh’s Africa tour materialises in the wake of reports that diamond-producing African nations want to move up the value chain and are seeking India’s support. India, too, wants to source rough diamonds directly from the producing countries, eliminating middlemen, to cut costs. The minister said in future India would find it difficult to source rough diamonds unless it demonstrates to African nations that it would collaborate actively in helping them move up the value-chain and assist in value-addition in these producing countries itself. India has imported rough diamonds worth around $10 billion in 2007-08 and exports are estimated at about $14 billion. India is the world’s largest importer of roughs and also the largest exporter of cut and polished diamonds commanding over 90 per cent share of international market. — UNI
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Nicholas Piramal goes rural
Mumbai, March 24 “About seven lakh villages in India don’t have doctors.
The public health system is broken in rural areas," Nicholas Piramal director Swati A Piramal said on launching of the pilot project. This is the maiden entry of Nicholas Piramal into rural areas. So far, its products are present till tier III cities.
— PTI
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Fiat investment plans PNB to raise Rs 500 cr LIC ups stake in RCom Welspun-Gujarat bags order Henderson Equity plans Gold falls to Rs 11,910 Aokang Group in India |
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