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Banks go slow in loans to small-time realtors
Inflation slips to 12.4 pc
3G spectrum to be auctioned by Oct: Raja
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GM to invest $200 m in M’rashtra
Vijender is ‘Youth Icon’ for Bajaj Allianz
Olympic medal winner Vijender Kumar (right) poses with Akshay Mehrotra, head, marketing, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, in New Delhi on Thursday. Tribune photo: Manas Ranjan Bhui
Maya in Forbes power women list
Zenith unveils cheapest laptop
Chief managing director of Zenith Computers, Raj Saraf (L) along with chairman of Microsoft India Ravi Venkatesan at the launch of ‘EcoStyle’ laptop in New Delhi on Thursday. Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal
RBI to phase out old notes
V-Guard to expand in North
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Banks go slow in loans to small-time realtors
Chandigarh, August 28 Leading banks like SBI and PNB, besides the Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) say that they are avoiding advancing loans to the small-time realtors. These banks have now created a centralised loan- processing facility, which processes loans after a thorough scrutinisation. HDFC says that they advance loans only to the big real estate companies, while SBI and PNB claim that they have stringent procedures for recognising realtors who can be advanced loans. “The Reserve Bank of India stipulates that loan has to be advanced to a realtor only if he has himself invested 50 per cent of the project cost. Most of the realtors cannot fulfil this condition, and we avoid advancing them loans,” says a senior official in SBI. Sources in the banking industry say that there is a definite slump in the real estate sector. The frequent hike in the interest rates on home loans has led to a rise in the NPA levels. Though no specific figures have been worked out as yet, bankers say that from being negligible two years ago, the NPA levels are seeing a steady rise. Interestingly, the NPA level in the loans to those buying commercial properties is much high than amongst the home loanees. “Many malls are coming up in the region and most people after having sold out the shops have gone slow on construction. Those who have bought these shops have taken bank loans and are now finding it difficult to repay the loan, especially as the project developers are delaying the project,” said an official in PNB. The RBI guidelines regarding accounts being declared as NPAs if the principal has not been paid within a two-year period, even if the interest is in service, too, has added to the growing list of NPAs. “The real estate was at its peak in 2005, and bankers wanted to add to their home loan portfolio and thus advanced loans to the builders. Now that these builders have failed to complete their projects, these banks’ account books are showing huge NPAs,” says a senior officer in HDFC. Banks are now advancing loans in OCRE (hotels, IT parks and office complexes) and ICRE (hospitals and educational institutes) as the returns are assured. “Once the project is completed and gets commissioned, it starts generating revenue and chances of these accounts going into NPA are negligible,” says an official in SBI. Concluded |
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Inflation slips to 12.4 pc
New Delhi, August 28 Decline in prices was seen in some food articles like vegetables, wheat, maize, potatoes, and meat. However, cereals, pulses, edible oils, sugar and other products continued to be expensive. Naphtha, furnace oil and light diesel oil witnessed a decline in prices, resulting in less expense for truck and lorry operators. In a report released by economic analysis provider Moodys, the recent decline in global oil prices will not lower India's rate of inflation, which will remain stubbornly strong in the coming days despite monetary tightening by the central bank. “The inflation pressure will remain in the economy because the subsidised fuel prices by the government are still well below international market levels. The rise in global commodity and food prices is still a major driver of inflation in India. The retreat of oil will only help ease the pressure on the government to further raise domestic energy prices.” The report states that battle against inflation will come at the expense of economic growth, which looks set to decelerate in the second half of 2008 amid cooling domestic demand and persistent external weakness. If growth fails to meet the projection of the RBI, policymakers will be less likely to further tighten monetary policy despite high inflation. After raising reserve requirements twice and increasing interest rates three times to a multi-year high, the central bank should be now taking a wait-and-see stance, because it takes months for monetary policy changes to affect the economy, the report states. Regarding the weakness of Indian rupee, which has depreciated about 10 per cent against the US dollar in recent months, the economist predicts that the Indian currency will hover around 43 per US dollar for the rest of this quarter and recover to around 42.50 later this year. |
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3G spectrum to be auctioned by Oct: Raja
New Delhi, August 28 Telecom minister A Raja today said the auction process for 3G spectrum would be completed by October. He asked the operators, who would be successful in the bidding process, to roll out the high-end services this year itself. Incidentally, state-run BSNL is also looking at the year-end launch and has asked its officials around the country to be ready for it. In another major related development, as per the recommendations of the telecom regulator TRAI, the minister said the spectrum for CDMA operators for 3G services would now be auctioned like the way it is being done for GSM operators. The Telecom Commission modified its policy on allocation of spectrum for third generation (3G) mobile communications using the CDMA technology platform and has decided to auction 3G radio frequencies for CDMA players in the 800 MHz band. This would deny Reliance Communications (RCom) automatic entry into CDMA 3G on the strength of its subscriber base, as envisaged in the policy earlier. The government, in its 3G policy announced earlier this month, had decided to allot 3G spectrum in the 800 MHz to the CDMA player with the highest subscriber base, without taking resort to auction as mandated for GSM players. This gave RCom, which has the largest subscriber base in all circles, except Delhi and Maharashtra, the right of first refusal (RoFR) for offering 3G services in the 800 MHz band. This band is the most efficient and cost-effective frequency for CDMA players to offer high-end services. However, now other CDMA players such as Tata Teleservices, Shyam, BSNL and MTNL as well as new players who want to enter India on the CDMA platform would stand a chance to get radio frequencies in the coveted 800 MHz band. The DoT was forced to review the 3G policy after TRAI pointed out that the government’s decision to allot 3G spectrum to CDMA players without an auction was against the principles of equality. Incidentally, experts point out that rolling out the 3G services would be a tough call for foreign telecom firms as the investment would not make economic sense for them. The new players would have to invest upwards of Rs 17,000 crore to support a small customer base of 50 lakh. They pointed out that any global telecom player with experience in 3G services, if gets the 2.1 GHz spectrum through the auction, would first have to acquire a mandatory universal access service licence (UASL). A pan-India UASL costs Rs 1,651 crore. According to industry estimates, the bid for the spectrum would be around Rs 7,500-8,000 crore. Therefore, these players would have to pay around Rs 9,651 crore for licence and spectrum alone. A minimum subscriber base of 50 lakh would be required for an operator to reach the break-even point. To create the base, the operator would have to put up a network line capacity of 1 crore, which would cost around Rs 7,500 crore, with around Rs 3,500 crore going towards equipment costs and the balance towards transmission and infrastructure cost. This means, around Rs 17,151 crore investment would go in setting up a network, which the experts said would not be a feasible option.
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GM to invest $200 m in M’rashtra
Mumbai, August 28 This investment is in addition to $300 million the company has already invested for making cars in Talegaon, Maharashtra. "We cannot remain a global industry leader without a strong presence in the high-growth market of India," General Motors India president and managing director Karl Slym told reporters here after signing the agreement for the powertrain facility with the Maharashtra Government. "This will enable us to capture more opportunities in one of the fastest-growing vehicle markets in the world," he said. The company is working on a small car, which it plans to launch in 2009. "We will be launching a small car in India next year," Slym said. "Our engineers are working on it in our Bangalore centre. The small car will be for the global market," he said. GM's small car would not compete with Tata's Nano, he said. The company has a production facility in Halol, Gujarat. The Halol facility can make up to 85,000 cars per annum where the company has invested Rs 1,400 crore. — PTI |
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Vijender is ‘Youth Icon’ for Bajaj Allianz
New Delhi, August 28 The star status for the Bhiwani boxer, however, would not take him away from his roots. He is the new fascination of Indian media but says that the hype around him will never change him. "I am still the same person what I was before winning the Olympic bronze. I will not allow myself to be affected by all the hype around me. My feet are on the ground," said Vijender. The 22-year-old said boxing would always remain his top priority because that is what has given him all the name and fame. "I can never allow my boxing to suffer because of endorsements and other things. These things are happening because I have been able to make a mark in my sport. Boxing is my identity and I will continue to grow as a boxer. Everything that comes with boxing is secondary to me," he said. He hoped that the sport would be taken up in a big way by youngsters after the performance of Indian boxers at Olympics. Vijender said he would like to take up endorsing products that cater to the youth. |
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Maya in Forbes power women list
New York, August 28 While Gandhi, also chairperson of the country's ruling UPA alliance, has slipped from her previous year's sixth rank to 21st this year, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has made her debut at 59th. The list also includes Indra Nooyi, the Indian-origin chief of global soft drink major PepsiCo, at third position, up from fifth last year, and Indian biotechnology firm Biocon's chief Kiran Mazumdar Shaw at 99th. The list has been topped by German chancellor Angela Merkel. On Gandhi, the magazine said the Italian-born leader of India's most powerful political party has by now assumed the role of elder stateswoman. "Although she remains firmly at the head of the country's ruling party, a rising star, known by the single name Mayawati, is challenging Gandhi's position as the country's most powerful woman." Mayawati-led BSP recently withdrew its outside support to Gandhi-led ruling combine in the country. The magazine said that Mayawati has aligned herself with the nationalist Hindu BJP party and joined its members in vociferously opposing Gandhi's party's historic agreement with the US on nuclear cooperation. The magazine described Mayawati as the one "in the running to be prime minister, from her perch as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state." "In 1995, at 39, she was the youngest politician elected to the post and was also the first Dalit... to head a state government," it said. The report further said that Mayawati commands a large following and goes simply by her first name. "In 2007, she shrewdly built an alliance with Brahmins, and the Bahujan Samaj Party, which she heads, has started to increase its national presence. Some say she could trail-blaze again as India's first Dalit prime minister." — PTI |
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Zenith unveils cheapest laptop
New Delhi, August 28 The company also launched a desktop PC which will be available at a highly competitive market price of Rs 11,999.
Launched under the brand name ‘EcoStyle’, the laptop will be priced at Rs 14,999 and will be Windows OS-enabled. It will be available across India in time for the festive season. Zenith’s chain of 800 authorised dealers and 350 exclusive showrooms will stock these computers. The announcement, made by Raj Saraf, CMD, Zenith Computers, and Ravi Venkatesan, chairman, Microsoft India, is an effort by the companies to further their initiatives in the affordable computing space. The EcoStyle laptop is Net-enabled, and comes preloaded with the Microsoft productivity suite: an Operating System (Windows XP Home Edition), Microsoft Works (includes Word Processor, spreadsheets and PPT viewer), and Microsoft Windows Live Suite (includes email client, messenger and family safety from Windows Live OneCare). The EcoStyle PC will give the customer an option of choosing Windows Vista Starter or Microsoft Windows XP Home. The portability of the PC makes it convenient for professionals to carry it whenever they need to - it weighs just 2.2 kg.
The desktop will also come preloaded with the Microsoft productivity suite. In addition to the portability and the relevant content, both the computers have an added advantage of reduced power consumption due to a smaller screen size. Reflecting on Zenith’s legacy of innovation, Raj Saraf said, “This initiative is a part of our continuous effort to foster advanced and hassle free computing experience. The initial Rs 10,000 PC was launched with much fanfare, however it failed to perform. With the EcoStyle PC, Zenith is bringing a true low-cost PC which underlines performance and affordability for the
consumers.” |
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RBI to phase out old notes
Mumbai, August 28 The decision followed a big rise in forged currency notes coming into circulation, shockingly within the banking
system itself. As per the orders issued by RBI, banks would be required to withhold the old currency notes from circulation. The new currency notes have stronger anti-forgery features, including a visible safety band in flourescent ink, intaglio printing and obverse images. So far forgers haven't been able to replicate these features, say bank officials. The RBI is also looking at various other features, including currency notes made of plastic and fabric-like material apart from notes with transparent windows issued in different countries. |
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V-Guard to expand in North
Chandigarh, August 28 Though V-Guard started out as a stabiliser manufacturer and still gets 30 per cent of its revenue from stabiliser sales, they are now looking at a major expansion in its cable sales. Talking to The Tribune here yesterday, Mithun Chittilappilly, executive director of the company, said the Kashipur facility (for building cables) will be operational by the end of this year. “We have set up the facility at a cost of Rs 24 crore. This will have a total capacity to manufacture 200,000 coils per month. When this starts production to its optimum capacity, we are hoping to clog Rs 180-crore turnover from this facility,” he said. The company’s facility at Kala Amb is being set up with an investment of Rs 8 crore. “This unit is being established for pilot production of water heaters. We will create the technology for water heaters in this facility and from here we will transfer it to our vendors across the country,” said Chittilappilly. He said they were also planning to expand the group’s cable facility in Coimbatore at a cost of Rs 22 crore. “As of now, the capacity of our cable plant at Coimbatore is 100,000 coils per month. We are now going to start production of aluminum (power and control cables) and will be producing 3,000 tonnes of aluminum per year,” he added. The executive director also said the company was looking at expanding their product portfolio and was developing technique for signwave invertors and fans. |
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New Delhi, August 28
New Delhi, August 28
