New Delhi, April 9
In a move that is bound to attract fiscal measures from the government, steel makers today raised prices of their products by imposing an average ‘raw material surcharge’ of Rs 5,000 per tonne.

“We have imposed a raw material surcharge of average Rs 5,000 per tonne on various products owing to steep increase in raw material prices and we will pass it on to customers," JSW Steel director (finance), Seshagiri Rao, said.

Similarly other leading utilities such as Ispat, Essar and Tata too have hiked prices of their produces by levying the raw material surcharge, an industry source said.

However, when contacted spokespersons of Essar and Ispat did not comment while Tata Steel spokesman was not available for comments. But state-run steel giant SAIL emphatically denied levying any surcharge. — PTI

Ludhiana, April 9
Removal of restrictions on wire rod export by China has brought a ray of hope in the ailing steel consuming industry here for steel prices to follow a downward trend. Engineering and other steel consuming units have been quite disappointed as large steel producers, despite a recent announcement to slash rates, effected the cut only for tor steel while other categories were left untouched

China's move to remove restrictions on export of wire rod has resulted in a decline in wire rod rates and industry expects the trend to percolate to other categories of steel as well. As large steel manufacturers refer to steel rates of China while making price-related decisions, industrialists feel that the recent decline in wire rod would create an impact on prices in India also.

A consignment of 2,000 tonnes was sent to Dubai for $900 against the previously traded price of $1,100 a few days ago. The 15 per cent reduction is significant and is viewed as a signal of a possible reduction by Indian manufacturers too.

In various categories of steel, wire rod is amongst the highest priced at Rs 52,000 per tonne and a downward trend in its prices would have a bearing on other prices also.

“We are expecting China to remove restrictions for other categories of steel also and if that happens, it would bring a major fall in rates. We are now pinning hopes on that this reduction would benefit Indian industry too,” S.C. Ralhan, regional chairman, Engineering Export Promotion Council, said.

Steel consuming units, that have recorded a major decline in production, are upset with large manufacturers for not effecting a cut.

“They announced that they would slash rates, but did not. Now, we are suffering as our buyers are unwilling to pay higher prices. Only yesterday, I got a communication in this regard from my buyers in Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Gujarat and they said we should slash rates in proportion to the announcement. Earlier, we were not getting orders due to high prices. Industry, particularly small and medium enterprises, have been rendered uncompetitive," said Varinder Kapoor of Malik Industries.

New Delhi, April 9
Anil Ambani Group firm Reliance Big Entertainment has acquired the digital images business of US-based DTS Inc in an all cash deal for $7.5 million (about Rs 30 crore).

The sale, which closed on April 4, marks DTS’ exit from the image enhancement and restoration services business, a DTS statement said.

The American firm’s business DTS Digital Images (DDI), also known as Lowry Digital Images, offers picture quality improvement services to movies, television and video content in Hollywood.

This is the first acquisition by Reliance Entertainment overseas in the digital services space, the ADA Group firm said in its statement.

DDI is a leading firm in the field of digital restoration and enhancement of moving pictures and uses proprietary tools and algorithms. It works with Walt Disney, Paramount Pictures, MGM and 20th Century Fox, among others.

Some of the its works include Casablanca, Singing in the Rain, Indiana Jones trilogy, Star Wars trilogy, James Bond films among others, the statement added.

Reliance Big, the flagship media and entertainment firm of Anil Ambani group, plans to have three main lines of business, Internet and new media, films and TV.

“We are delighted to have concluded a deal with a global industry leader in the media and entertainment space that will continue to build on the talent and technology of the digital images business and continue to serve our customers," DTS president and CEO Jon Kirchner was quoted in the statement.— PTI

New Delhi, April 9
Japanese digital imaging company Canon plans to expand its research and development (R&D) base in India to serve global market besides, targeting a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore by 2009 in the country.

Canon India, which has a software development centre in Noida, is now looking at taking bigger projects from its parent company and increasing headcount.

“We are in talks with Japan (head office) to expand our facility to utilise the resources and talent available here. Also, we will increase the spend on R&D activity in India,” Canon (India) president and CEO Kensaku Konishi said.

At present, the Noida centre develops software for the imaging products and provides BPO services to Canon Europe’s e-learning system. But the company has a bigger plan ahead.

“We are looking at developing hardware in India for our global demand, and also establishing technical support system for maintenance and upgrading of software, which currently can be done only through Internet in India,” he said without giving details about the investment planned.

Canon today unveiled a new range of latest technology digital cameras, DV camcorders, digital SLR and printers for the Indian market and is targeting a Rs 1,000-crore turnover in 2009.

“Last year Canon’s sales grew by 35 per cent with a turnover of Rs 510 crore. In 2008, the aim is to clock Rs 700-crore sales with 25 per cent market share and Rs 1,000-crore in 2009 with a 40 per cent growth rate,” Canon (India) senior vice-president Alok Bhardwaj said at the launch of the new products.

In order to drive growth, Canon would also focus on strengthening distribution and retail presence along with opening six brand showrooms during this year. — PTI

Ooty, April 9
With the Centre deciding to formally shut down Hindustan Photo Films (HPF), once a leading PSU, people in this sleepy hill station want the premises to be turned into an information technology (IT) hub.

Located on 300 acres in the Nilgiris, the PSU has assets worth Rs. 1,000 crore here with all the infrastructure like electricity, water supply, staff quarters, guest houses and clubs.

A leading NGO, Rural Development Organisation (RDO), has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to convert the HPF premises into a hi-tech park as ‘Nilgiris silicon valley’.

In a memorandum to the Prime Minister, RDO executive director N.K. Perumal pointed out that Wipro had already established its offices in Coimbatore and Infosys had sought land in the textile city. Others have applied but land is yet to be allotted to them.

He said if the HPF premises were converted into an IT park, it would boost the economy of the Nilgiris, which survives only on tourism and tea and coffee plantations.

He said: “The people of the Nilgiris are already suffering on account of crisis in the tea industry and now closure of HPF will lead to total doldrums.”

Perumal urged the Prime Minister to appoint a core committee to undertake a feasibility study for turning HPF into an IT hub as the location was ideal for foreign companies because of its cool climate, clean environment and cosmopolitan gentry.

HPF was the sole manufacturer of X-ray photo films under the popular brand name of Indu but despite strong governmental support, it could never take off because of poor management.

Perumal observed that many IT companies wanted to shift out of Bangalore and the skilled manpower complained of unending traffic snarls, power cuts, high rent, air and noise pollution, and expensive standard of living for the employees.

Over the last few years since the Tamil Nadu government had been offering sops to IT companies, Chennai, too, had witnessed an IT boom because of low operating costs and excellent infra structure leading to a boom in real estate prices with soaring rents.

Perumal said comparatively the standard of living here would be far less than the big cities and youth of the Nilgiris could serve the IT companies and indirect employment could be created.

The hill station enjoys an advantage for being close to the leading IT hubs of the country as it is about 250 km from Bangalore, 120 km from Mysore and 90 km from Coimbatore.

New Delhi, April 9
As India and the UK gear up to host major sporting events in the coming years, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of both countries are looking at tapping opportunities in infrastructure development.

The Commonwealth Games-2010 and Olympics-2012 to be held in Delhi and London respectively are being seen as major investment opportunities by the SMEs in both cities.

“At a time when both London and Delhi are gearing up to host the games, infrastructure development is an area that provides immense investment and business opportunities," secretary in the ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises Dinesh Rai said at a CII conference here today. He said Indian and British small firms are looking at collaborating in areas of planning, construction and management of sports complexes, stadia, hotels, roads and flyovers.

“The idea is to develop, transfer and exchange practices from the 2010 Games procurement policies and build capacity of London firms in submitting strong tenders and finding partners for bidding in London (Olympics) 2012,” Rai said.

Representatives of the London Development Agency are keen to cooperate with the National Small Industries Cooperation. — PTI

New Delhi, April 9
As the world’s largest economy tumbles into recession creating an uncertainty for India, trade to the US is likely to grow and in turn will not dampen India growth story.

The commerce ministry is of the opinion that considering the size of the US’s import markets, there is an immense scope for expanding India’s export base. Contrary to the slowdown in the US leading to a fall in exports, India is aiming to raise the market share from 1 per cent to 2 per cent in the US in the next three years as a medium-term strategy.

Economists say growth of the US demand for Indian goods will also be determined by the next US President. In addition to this, outsourcing and technology imports will continue to add to the India-US story. Despite recession, there is a demand for H1B visas by the US technology companies in this year. It means that there is an accelerated demand for manpower and in turn software products in the US.

The US being our largest trading partner accounts for nearly 15 per cent of India’s exports and nearly 7 per cent of the country’s imports. Though there has been an appreciation of the rupee leading to a deceleration in the pace of exports, the commerce ministry is optimistic that given the size of the US’s import market, there is an immense scope for expanding India's export base.

An analysis of exports in 2006-07 shows that the export growth was driven by technology intensive engineering products whereas traditional exports share in total trade declined. What is really interesting to note is that trade for India is shifting gradually to capital goods, the production of which is growing at an accelerated pace from 14 per cent in 2004-05 to 21 per cent in 2007-08.

Economists see this as an emergence of a strong economy, which will help India become a key player in the international market at a time when the US and Europe are rapidly decelerating. India becomes a potential hub of technology and engineering that can be exported to other parts of the developing economies like Africa and Latin America. What is an area of concern is that India needs to use capital more efficiently in order to attain sustained growth rate of 9-10 per cent in the coming years.

Chandigarh, April 9
To tap high consumption of gold market in India, international trading major MMTC plans to set up gold refinery at Mewat in Haryana and jewellery special economic zone (SEZ) in another state.

The company, set up by the ministry of commerce in 1963, has been allotted 20 acres of land by the Haryana government for the proposed refinery at Rozkamewa in Mewat. The gold refinery would entail an investment of Rs 150 crore. The corporation has sought around 36 acres of land from the state government for the project.

“The upcoming KMP Express Highway has been the deciding factor for the selection of Mewat for the project,” MMTC chief general manager Asheesh Majumdar said when inquired about the selection of the district for the project.

“The project would take synergies from the KMP Highway that would be 4 km from the project site,” he said.

MMTC officials said the refinery project would be completed in 18 months after the clearances were received. The project had already received go ahead from Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and necessary clearance from Haryana Urban Development Authority was expected soon.

For the jewellery SEZ, mooted by the MMTC, three governments were already in contention. Even though Orissa, West Bengal and Karnataka had offered the land for the project, but it was West Bengal that scores over other two states due to availability of skilled labour and an international airport was likely to be finalised for the proposed SEZ, a company executive said.

MMTC that is planning foray into jewellery retail business has lately entered into joint venture with jewellery retail chain Geetanjli. Under the venture, 15 jewellery outlets with 1,000 square feet of retail space would be launched in tier I cities in the current fiscal. In the second phase, 36 outlets would be opened in tier II cities offering retail space of 600 square feet, whereas 26 outlets were planned for tier III cities.

New Delhi, April 9
International Finance Corporation (IFC) today said it would lend $450 million (Rs 1,800 crore) to Tata Power for setting up the 4,000 MW Ultra Mega Power Project at Mundra in Gujarat. IFC, which is a member of the World Bank Group, received the approval of its board to advance the amount for the $4.2 billion coal-fired power project that would supply electricity in five states of western and northern India.

In addition to supplying electricity to industrial and agricultural users, Tata’s Mundra project would serve 1.6 crore domestic consumers, said an IFC release.

The ultra mega power project, which Tata won through a competitive bidding process, will create 5,000 jobs during construction and 700 jobs once it becomes operational. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Ford roadside assistance
Chandigarh: Ford India has announced the launch of its new customer service initiative - 24-hour Ford Service Roadside Assistance (RSA) here. Under this system, all new Ford vehicles sold by authorised Ford dealers would be offered free roadside assistance for a period of two years from the date of sale of car, said Ford India, vice-president (marketing, sales and service), Scott McCormack. — TNS

Singhal is CII chief
Chandigarh: Salil Singhal, chairman of Secure Meters, Gurgaon, and Harpal Singh, non-executive chairman of Ranbaxy Laboratories, have been elected as chairman and deputy chairman, respectively, of CII, Northern Region. — TNS

Bank of Baroda in Bahrain
DUBAI: Bank of Baroda has opened a wholesale banking branch in Bahrain to meet the corporate requirements of Bahrain and the other neighbouring countries like Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. — UNI

Gold tumbles by Rs 200
NEW DELHI: Gold prices fell by Rs 200 to Rs 11,940 per 10 gram in the bullion market here on Wednesday on stockiest selling triggered by weak global cues. Standard gold and ornaments suffered heavy loss of Rs 200 each to Rs 11,940 and Rs 11,790 per 10 gram, respectively. — PTI