The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Fortis buys Wockhardt hospitals for Rs 909 cr Tribune News Service & PTI Mumbai, August 24 Fortis Healthcare Ltd today said in a communique to the exchanges that it would be buying 10 hospitals from the troubled Wockhardt Hospitals Ltd for Rs 909 crore. The hospitals located in Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore have a capacity of 1,902 beds. The Delhi-based Fortis does not have a presence in these markets. The company will deploy Rs 350 crore from a forthcoming rights issue and mobilise debt to fund the acquisition. The Khorakiwalas, promoters of Wockhardt, will use the proceeds to reduce their debt. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of this year, Fortis said. With the acquisition, Fortis will have a capacity of 5,180 beds. Fortis already operates 28 hospitals across the country and had bought Escorts in 2005 for over Rs 585 crore. "The coming together of three brands, Fortis, Escorts and now Wockhardt, will provide the needed impetus of taking healthcare delivery in our country to the next level," Fortis Healthcare managing director Shivinder Mohan Singh said. Under the deal, Fortis will take over eight operating hospitals and two that are under construction from Wockhardt, adding 1,902 beds to the company's hospital capacity. The 10 hospitals are spread across three metros, two in Mumbai, five in Bangalore and three in Kolkata. The acquisition will enhance Fortis' footprint in Southern, Western and Eastern India, the statement said. Religare Capital Markets Ltd has been the advisor to Fortis Healthcare in this deal. "This landmark deal is an important milestone in the history of Indian healthcare as it brings together two leading brands to create a national healthcare delivery network," said Fortis Group chairman and Religare Enterprises’ Malvinder Mohan Singh.
	ADAG ad campaign malicious: RIL New Delhi, August 24 Reliance Industries today hit back at the Anil Ambani group for unleashing a "malicious, mischievous, baseless and ill-informed" propaganda against its gas field costs and said the campaign by people with little experience of large projects should be nipped in the bud. RIL said capital expenditure for KG-D6 fields increased from $2.47 billion in 2003 to $8.83 billion due to a 2.5 times increase in reserves, trebling of production facilities, doubling of peak production, hike in number of wells, field life and inflation in equipment and services industry. RIL president and CEO (petroleum) PMS Prasad on August 20 wrote to Oil Secretary RS Pandey, saying "certain parties are bent upon holding the country's price and national interest hostage to their own narrow commercial interests and are stopping at nothing to destroy the reputation of the country." "It is necessary to nip these malafide endeavours in the bud for the sake of the energy security of the country," wrote Prasad and was a day later appointed to the board of RIL. Without naming ADAG, he said the "unprovoked and unjustified attack on the credibility of the project" was being carried out by "vested interests having little understanding of any mega project execution, leave alone complex deepwater projects." Comparing with similar deepwater projects by world's top energy majors, Prasad said KG-D6's finding and development cost of less than $5 per barrel of oil equivalent was among the lowest in the world. "Despite the increase in costs, Goldman Sachs' study of the major E&P projects across the world verifies that the finding and development costs of about $5 per barrel of oil equivalent are amongst the lowest in the world," Prasad said. "We deeply resent all attempts being made to belittle the achievements of scores of dedicated professionals and regulators who by their tireless efforts have made this stupendous achievement possible in such a short time," he wrote. "It saddens us that self seeking vested interests on maligning this project are also casting aspersions on one of the worlds most transparent and fair policy regimes, which has been recognised as such, all over the world." — PTI
	Plan panel meet on Sept 1 New Delhi, August 24 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called the first meeting of the newly constituted Planning Commission on September 1 to discuss the state of economy and review implementation of the integrated energy policy. The full Commission meeting will be attended by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and other Cabinet ministers, besides Plan panel Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and other regular members. "We will be covering two issues. One is overview of the present state of economy, preliminary assessment... second is briefing the minister members on the status of action on the integrated energy policy," Ahluwalia told reporters. Many Cabinet Ministers, who are not ex-officio members of the Commission, are also expected to attend the meeting as special invitees, sources in the Commission said. — PTI
	Krishna for early conclusion of WTO talks New Delhi, August 24 Ahead of the WTO meeting convened here with an aim to ending deadlock over global trade talks, India today said its early successful conclusion was essential to restore the confidence in the global economy and markets in view of the financial crisis. "I would like to stress that timely and successful conclusion of the Doha Round (of WTO talks) on the basis of its development mandate is even more important today particularly in the backdrop of the global economic and financial crisis to restore confidence in the global economy and markets," External Affairs Minister SM Krishna said. "The timely conclusion of the talks is important also to guard against emerging protectionist tendencies and to protect the livelihoods of the poor and marginalised, particularly in our rural sectors", he said while inaugurating the two-day conclave of Indian envoys here. The Doha Round of talks, launched in 2001, has missed several deadlines mainly because of strong divergent positions of India and the US over agriculture subsidy, protection to farmers and nascent industries in developing countries. India has spearheaded different groupings like G20, G-33 and NAMA (Non-Agriculture Market Access)-11 of developing countries. With an aim to end the deadlock, a mini-ministerial meeting has been convened here on September 3-4 in which trade ministers from over 75 countries will participate. — PTI
	Exporters to pay tax on DEPB profits only Varinder Singh Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 24 More than 10,000 exporters of Punjab have heaved a sigh of relief as their three-year-old struggle against the income tax imposition on the total sale proceeds of the Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) has yielded positive outcome with the special bench of the Mumbai-based Income Tax Appellate Tribunal clarifying finally that they need to pay tax only on the DEPB profits and not on the total sale value of the DEPB. Exporters having less than Rs 10 crore annual turnover were contesting amendments made by then Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in 2005, to Section 80 HHC and Section 28 of the Income Tax Act 1961, with an effect that the exporters were made liable to pay tax retrospectively from April 1, 1992, and that too on the total sale value of the DEPB. Punjab exporters, led by prominent Chartered Accountant and Director of State Bank of Patiala Ashwani Gupta, had challenged the amendment drawing the attention of the bench towards its effect over small exporters. Tax liability on exporters from small towns like Jalandhar and Ludhiana was said to be higher than their total capital, Gupta argued.
	Cairn’s output to boost Rajasthan’s economy Perneet Singh Tribune News Service Jaipur, August 24 With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh all set to inaugurate oil production at Cairn India’s Barmer oilfields on August 29, the economy of western Rajasthan is ready to witness a boom. Cairn India, part of British oil explorer Cairn Energy, has already reached pricing agreements with principal buyers Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL). ONGC would also invest $730 million in the field development plan of the oilfields discovered by Cairn India. Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, during the recently concluded Parliament session, said the ONGC board had approved its share of 30 per cent for an estimated $2.431 billion “revised field development cost” proposed by Cairn India for its oilfields located in Mangala (Barmer). While ONGC’s investment would expedite the work on oil extraction, it would also open up employment venues in western Rajasthan. The state, too, would benefit from the royalty revenue. As per an estimate, over 10,000 employees are required for building the Mangala processing terminal and laying the Barmer-Salaya (Gujarat) pipeline. Deora said the oilfields would produce 2.6 million tonne of oil in 2009-10, and 6.8 million tonne in 2010-11, while it is expected to touch a peak output of 8.9 million tonne in 2011-12. The state government is also pushing for a refinery in Rajasthan to process the crude extracted even as the construction work on pipeline to Gujarat is under full swing. The oil production activity in the state will save around $6.8 billion foreign exchange per annum that is around 7 per cent of the total oil import bill of the country. The Barmer oilfield has a total production capacity of 2,05,000 barrel crude oil per day. Cairn has already drilled 28 wells on the Mangala oilfield of which 16 are ready for production. Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will accompany the PM during the inauguration ceremony.
	JCT to launch menswear in Oct Ruchika M. Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, August 24 Textile major JCT Ltd. will now be entering the retail sector with the launch of its ready-to-wear line for men in October. The company plans to open 100 exclusive outlets, based on franchisee model, across north India and eyes a turnover of Rs 100 crore within the next three years from now. The company is also looking at expanding its nylon filament plant in Hoshiarpur by increasing its capacity by almost 30 per cent. Talking to the TNS here today, Rajmohan Singh, JCT Director (Operations), said since it was a vertically integrated textile company, venturing into branded ready-made garments business through retailing was a natural progression for the company. “We already have a strong brand equity, which will help us in our retail venture. Though the first store will be opened as a company-owned store in Phagwara, our retailing business will be based on a franchisee model,” he said. The company is already manufacturing 3 million metres of cotton and polycot each month. “We have now set up a garmenting unit in our facility at Phagwara, which has a capacity to make 30,000 garments a month. We will be outsourcing the knits, though the woven garments will be manufactured by us,” he said. The company director said though the company proposed to open 100 outlets across all Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns in north India in the next three years, six on these stores would be opened by December this year. “The menswear brand will be called “Tyrock” and will offer casual, semi formal and sportswear range. The USP of our products will be that they would be of the same quality as other western wear brands, but at a considerable low cost,” he said. JCT Limited, a Thapar group company, is expecting to reach total sale of Rs 1,000 crore in 2012 against a turnover of Rs 600 crore achieved in 2008-09. Rajmohan Singh said all this expansion was being done through internal accruals and the company eyed a year-on-year growth of 10 per cent.