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Steel industry has a long way to go: PM
Chile moots FTA, India apprehensive
Ranbaxy inks ‘strategic alliance’ with Orchid Chemicals
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N-E exporters demand special incentives
Canadian PM for stronger trade ties
IPI Pipeline
Pre-merger approval must for telcos: DoT
TRAI move to boost mobile telephony in rural India
Prachanda pitches for ‘capitalist’ economy
Futures market not responsible for inflation, says Montek
Inquiries on to check
cartelisation: FM
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Steel industry has a long way to go: PM
Bokaro, April 22 "Steel industry has made progress, but it has to make further progress to fulfil the country's demand," Singh said while laying the foundation stone for modernisation and expansion of the Bokaro Steel Plant here. He said although the Indian steel industry was decades old, it was still emerging and there was lot of scope for modernisation of the industry. The Prime Minister, however, did not talk about rising prices of steel. Earlier in the day, finance minister P Chidambaram had charged the industry with 'cartel-like' behaviour in Parliament. Turning to Jharkhand's progress, Singh said an amount of Rs 40,240 crore had been allotted for the state during the 11th Five-Year Plan. This amount is three times more than the allocation in the previous Plan. Singh announced that a new central university and an IIM would be set up in Jharkhand. The Prime Minister said the Centre was assisting Jharkhand for setting up a 4,000-MW ultra mega project at Tilaiya and another 1,000 MW thermal power plant in the state. Singh said more than 13 coal blocks had been allotted to Jharkhand State Electricity Board and Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corporation. He said that Rs 1,500 crore had also been sanctioned for rural electrification in 22 districts of the state. Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who was also present on the occasion, said the Indian steel industry was growing at the rate of 10 per cent while the consumption growth was 13 per cent. This called for raising of production for which Steel Authority of India (SAIL) would invest Rs 54,000 crore across all steel plants in the country to raise the total capacity. He said SAIL's capacity would be ramped up to 26 million tonne by 2010 from the present level of 14 million tonne. Stating that IISCO Steel Plant has already merged with SAIL, He also announced setting up of a 12 million tonne greenfield steel plant in Jharkhand, but asked Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda to take a faster decision for resolving the Chiria mines issue.
— PTI |
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Chile moots FTA, India apprehensive
Santiago, April 22 "Chile can be a platform for India in Latin America as we have all necessary required infrastructure — roads, ports, buildings, telecommunication — for operating business into the entire Latin America," Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said after hosting a ceremonial welcome to President Pratibha Patil at the imposing La Moneda palace. The Chilean President also favoured going a step ahead of the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) and engage in a Free Trade Agreement with India as she favoured diversification of bilateral trade and investment basket to give a greater fillip to the trade between the two countries. But Indian officials felt that the existing trade pact (PTA) was working well and could be taken forward. "It (FTA) is one of the several options we have. We have the PTA working wonderfully and we will have to take it forward... it could be an extension of the existing PTA," Nalin Surie, secretary (West) in the ministry of external affairs told reporters. Under PTA, India gives tariff preferences on nearly 200 Chilean items, while Chile has cut duties on nearly 300 Indian items. In a step to facilitate bilateral trade, Chile has liberalised its visa regime under which the businessmen from India could be granted a multiple entry visa for six months. Setting aside the earlier trend of insisting on an invitation from Chile, the government has asked to issue visas to all those businessmen who wanted to enter into trade with Chile. The two countries also inked four agreements on air services, memorandums of understanding on Antarctic cooperation, sports cooperation and science and technology.
— PTI |
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Ranbaxy inks ‘strategic alliance’ with Orchid Chemicals
New Delhi, April 22 Admitting for the first time that Solrex, which bought just short of 15 per cent equity in the Chennai- headquartered company, was its wholly owned subsidiary, Ranbaxy CEO Malvinder Mohan Singh said: "We have signed the alliance." He, however, parried queries about the hostile takeover bid by Solrex, saying they were only announcing a strategic alliance and that Ranbaxy did not believe in such acquisitions. Orchid promoter K Raghvendra Rao had taken a firm stand against Solrex's gradual acquisition of equity in his company early this month and vowed to fight any hostile takeover battle by Ranbaxy promoted company. He said Ranbaxy now holds 14.7 per cent stake in Orchid through Solrex. Meanwhile, the company today announced a net profit of Rs 153 crore for the its first quarter ended March 31, 2008, a 7.21 per cent growth over the corresponding period a year ago. The sales of the company rose to Rs 1,623.1 crore for the quarter, from Rs 1,564.4 crore in the year-ago period. Biocon profit up
Biocon has registered a net profit of Rs 225 crore for April 2007-March 2008, up by 13 per cent compared to April 2006 to March 2007. The board has recommended dividend of 60 per cent (Rs 3 per share), a special dividend of 40 per cent (Rs 2 per share) pursuant to the divestment of the enzyme business. It also recommended a 1:1 bonus share issue, Biocon CMD, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, told reporters today. The biotech major has decided to split up its cardio-diabetes group by launching a stand alone cardiology division and would complete the deal by the end of the month to acquire 70 per cent stake in German pharmaceutical company AxiCorp for a consideration of euro 30 million. Ultratech Cement
Ultratech Cement has announced net profit of Rs 282.88 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, a 22.17 per cent increase over the corresponding period a year ago. The company had reported a stand-alone net profit of Rs 231.54 crore in the fourth quarter last fiscal, Ultratech Cement said. Escorts net up
Escorts Limited has announced net profit of Rs 9.68 crore for the second quarter ended March 31, 2008, a 44.26 per cent increase over the corresponding period last year. The company had registered a net profit of Rs 6.71 crore in the second quarter in the last financial year, the company said. Jubilant Organosys
Jubilant Organosys Ltd has said its net profit stood at Rs 41.1 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2008. The revenues of the company have increased 48.7 per cent to Rs 689 crore over Q4 FY2007. The international revenue was also higher by 107.4 per cent at Rs 442.9 crore for Q4FY08. GVK Power & Infra
GVK Power & Infrastructure Ltd has said its net profit has jumped 511 per cent to Rs 90.85 crore for the year ended March 31, 2008, compared to Rs 14.85 crore last fiscal. Its total income has increased 173 per cent to Rs 117.32 for the year ended March 31, 2008, from Rs 42.92 crore in the last financial year. — Agencies |
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N-E exporters demand special incentives
Guwahati, April 22 During the meeting, jointly organised by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations and Federation of Industries and Commerce North Eastern Region (FINER), the exporters submitted that lack of proper infrastructure facilities like sufficient number of inland container depots (ICDs), transport bottleneck and red tape had been a bane for exporters from the region and sought a special package under the current foreign trade policy (FTP). The trade bodies specifically demanded inclusion of tea produced in the North-East under the Vishes Krishi and Gram Udyog Yojana (VKGUY) and the FTP in view of coffee being included under the same scheme. Making a presentation, vice-chairman of the FINER Sudip Dey said it was surprising that coffee was included under the VKGUY leaving out tea while both are plantation crops. The DGFT was urged to take initiative for setting up of more ICDs in the region that is located far away from the nearest seaport at Kolkata. The only ICD located at Amingaon in Guwahati is about 1,100 kilometers away from Kolkata port. The traders further rued complex bureaucratic procedures and mechanisms that had been major hurdle for exporters from the region and demanded that every state government of the region must appoint a senior bureaucrat to deal exclusively with foreign trade. Gujral said the task force on foreign trade formed by the commerce ministry would have proper representatives from the NE states so that problems faced by the region in respect of foreign trade would get noticed and
resolved. |
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Time ripe for long-term investors: Expert
Chandigarh, April 22 Talking to The Tribune here today, J. Venkatesan, vice-president (equity), Sundaram BNP Paribas, said the financial services sector has been giving a good performance. However, the credit- GDP ratio is still 50 per cent as against 300 per cent globally. “In India, only 50 per cent of the adult individuals are financially included, while only 14 per cent have availed credit. The per capita deposits in the country are just $426 and per capita loan is $72, which is much below the deposits and loans in the developed countries,” he said, adding that this has created an atmosphere for more investment in the financial services sector. “The farm loan waiver and forex derivative losses have caused a huge price and valuation distortions in banking stocks. This has ensured that now is the right time for long-term investors to enter the banking space,” he said, adding that these factors would ensure that they can mop up over Rs 1,000 crore from their recently launched new fund offer (NFO) the financial services opportunity fund. He said with youth of the country driving the growth in the mutual funds, more and more NFOs are aimed at this new category of investors. “It is estimated that 70 per cent of those who invest in mutual funds are less than 35 years of age, while 50 per cent of the investors are less than 25 years of age. Other than this, majority of the nine million demat account holders are below 35 years of age. Seeing the wide interest of youth in mutual funds, Sundaram BNP Paribas, has come up with these two new thematic funds - financial services opportunity fund and the entertainment opportunity fund. The entertainment opportunity fund will be launched on April 24,” he added. |
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Canadian PM for stronger trade ties
New Delhi, April 22 Speaking at the
inaugural gala dinner of the Canada-India Foundation last weekend, Harper announced
that his government is going to open two trade offices in Hyderabad and
Kolkata. To further enhance trade and investment ties, the Canadian government is going to post additional commissioners at the established offices in Mumbai and Delhi, a press release of the Canadian High Commission said here. “These new trade offices will expand Canada’s reach in India beyond our traditional focus on North. India’s boom is not just happening in the northern region, and Canada needs to be where all the action is,”
Harper said. Harper said the government has tabled amendments to the Immigration and Refugees Protection Act, which is aimed at reducing the application backlog and shortening waiting time for newcomers. If passed, the reforms will dramatically reduce Canada’s immigration backlog and provide the skilled workers needed to prevent critical labour force shortage,
Harper said. |
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IPI Pipeline
New Delhi, April 22 The talks assume significance as it comes ahead of the visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad in the subcontinent. One of the agenda of the talks that the Iranian head will have is the IPI pipeline, say the oil ministry officials. India is caught in a peculiar situation as there are enough diplomatic issues that need to be sorted out before taking a decision. The $7.4 billion-pipeline has been stuck because India favors diplomatic engagement with Iran, while the US prefers an approach of isolating the Islamic republic in response to its nuclear ambitions. India’s security advisor M.K Narayanan contends that India, as home to the world’s second largest Shia Muslim population, should view its relationship with Iran as a domestic issue as much as it is a foreign policy matter. For India, a lot is at stake. It needs the gas, however, there is a lot of pressure from the US not to go ahead with the talks. To add to this situation is the latest threat from gas guzzling dragon China, which is making efforts to join the pipeline instead of India. India is not too keen on joining the pipeline and that is why the oil minister cancelled his trip to Pakistan in February. It is only after China started showing interest that India is restarting talks, the officials added. The situation is puzzling for the India because companies bidding for oil and gas have faced stiff competition from Chinese oil companies in acquiring oil blocks in Africa and Latin America. Pakistan President Parvez Musharraf had, during a visit to China, pointed out that he had already proposed a corridor linking China and Pakistan through rail, road, and fibre optics. Islamabad is seeking $0.493 per mBtu as transit fee while New Delhi has offered $0.15 per mBtu for providing security and right of way to the pipeline. |
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Pre-merger approval must for telcos: DoT
New Delhi, April 22 The Department of Telecom (DoT) also said no operator would be allowed to transfer fresh spectrum or radio frequency allocated to it for three years from the date of issue. Announcing the revised norms for intra-circle merger, the DoT said: "Any permission for merger shall be accorded only after completion of three years from the effective date of the licenses." The earlier norms were issued in February 2004. This lock-in will effectively seal the chances of new and small operators merging with big players in a circle immediately and most importantly the transfer of spectrum. COAI director-general T V Ramachandran told PTI: "I do not see any major aspect in the guidelines that would facilitate consolidation in the sector." The guidelines said: "Prior approval of the Department of Telecommunications shall be necessary for merger of the licence." Earlier companies before merger would have to intimate DoT and wait for the approval after undergoing merger. For regulating acquisitions of equity stake of one access services licensee in the enterprise of another access services licensee in the same licence area, present guidelines on 'Substantial Equity' (10 per cent equity or more) shall continue. TRAI had proposed it to be raised to 20 per cent. "The revised guidelines, it is hoped, will increase competition within the service area and will lead to better utilisation of services," said DoT.
— PTI |
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TRAI move to boost mobile telephony in rural India
New Delhi, April 22 Private operators, who already own more than 75 per cent of the rural consumers, leaving the state-owned BSNL behind, would be passing on the benefits of the access charging to the consumers from May 1. This would lead to a discount of around Rs 125 to all new mobile subscribers in the rural areas. TRAI had done away with the access charges on the condition that mobile companies should pass on the benefit to subscribers. It had said that mobile companies should come out with a scheme for rural subscribers as the subsidy burden on the operators had been removed. Reports suggested that initially 50 million new rural subscribers were expected to get benefit from the discounted rates. As a result with effect from May 1, the mobile service providers would give each new rural subscriber an upfront discount of Rs 50 on the tariff package and further an amount of Rs 75 would be passed on as free talk-time in two or three instalments spread over six to nine months. The scheme is expected to result in a net outgo of around Rs 625 crore for the entire industry while it had gained almost Rs 700 crore from the decision of the regulator. Incidentally, according to figures compiled by TRAI, nearly 21 per cent of the mobile users now reside in the villages of India. As of September 2007, out of the 209 million mobile users in the entire country, 43 million were in rural areas. The government has also set a target of 500 million telephone users by 2010, of which about 200 million is expected to come from the rural areas. |
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Prachanda pitches for ‘capitalist’ economy
New Delhi, April 22 While Prachanda is prepared to accept capitalist economy in his country, he and his colleagues are determined to see the exit of King Gyanendra either willingly or by force. The Maoist leader himself made it clear at a recent gathering of the business and industrial community that his party wanted a “capitalist” economy and also foreign investment. Prachanda sought to allay the fears of business community saying that his government was not going to nationalise their businesses. On the issue of King Gyanendra, the Maoists have taken a twin-pronged approach. While Prachanda has adopted a persuasive approach to get the King step down voluntarily, other leaders like Ram Bahadur Thapa alias Badal, stated, “If he (King) does not do so, the government will treat him just like any common criminal and use the army or other force to oust him from there”. |
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Futures market not responsible for inflation, says Montek
New Delhi, April 22 "Prices rise or do not rise is not at all connected with whether there is a futures market or not," deputy chairman of the Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia told reporters here on the sidelines of a seminar. He said the Abhijit Sen panel, studying the whole issue, has pointed out that in certain commodities the prices grow despite a ban on their futures because there was a global surge in their rates. Ahluwalia also said there was a rise in prices of some commodities where there was no ban on their futures trading. Responding to a query on extending the ban to other commodities in futures trading, he said: "We should not ban it. It will be a serious mistake." He, however, suggested that the regulatory framework governing the futures market be
strengthened. — PTI |
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Inquiries on
to check cartelisation: FM New Delhi, April 22 The finance minister while speaking in the Rajya Sabha said: “We are looking at legal and administrative provisions that are available to the government.” He also stated that the states have to take action under the Essential Services Maintenance Act. He added that cement manufacturers and steel producers are behaving like a cartel. Containment of inflation remains high on the agenda of the government, he informed. “As and when necessary, more fiscal measures will be taken. We have taken a set of fiscal measures and some more measures are being contemplated,” he said. The Reserve Bank of India had last week hiked the cash reserve ratio. Its monetary policy review is due on April 29 and the government will wait and see the steps taken by the RBI, Chidambaram said. The minister, however, stressed that there were no quick-fix solutions to tackling inflation. It will take some time for fiscal and monetary measures to take effect.
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Oil above $118 Reliance Retail JV 13 FDI proposals cleared RAK Airways’ India services Textile exports target Investment in Lodha Group HSIIDC meet Jet flight to Muscat
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