The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	NTPC-RIL Row Bankers seek clarification from RIL New Delhi, October 16 State power utility NTPC has not been able to secure bank guarantees for sourcing natural gas from Reliance Industries, as bankers have asked for certain clarifications from the supplier on drafting of the letter of credit. NTPC, which was allocated 2.67 million standard cubic meters per day of gas by the government from RIL's eastern offshore KG-D6 fields, had on September 23 signed Gas Sales and Purchase Agreements (GSPA) for less than one-fourth of the earmarked volumes. Accordingly, NTPC was to open letter of credit (LC) in favour of RIL for an amount equivalent to a month's supplies, a source in know of the development said. However, "NTPC maintains that its banker has objected to a particular formulation in the LC and asked RIL to provide instances of public sector firms agreeing to the same." PSU gas utility GAIL and Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) have provided LCs that include the said formulation as had been suggested by RIL, the source said. MSEB is a partner of NTPC in Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt Ltd, the firm that operates the Dabhol power plant, which is drawing 4.5 mmscmd of gas from KG-D6 fields. To guard against payment defaults, gas suppliers worldover ask customers to give bank guarantee for a particular number of billing cycles. In case of KG-D6, LCs have to be provided for two billing cycles - RIL raises bills every fortnight. RIL had signed GSPAs for supplying 0.61 mmscmd of gas to the state-run firm's Anta, Dadri and Faridabad power plants. Anta power plant in Rajasthan signed up for 0.03 mmscmd while the remaining 0.58 mmscmd was split between Dadri plant in Uttar Pradesh and Faridabad unit in Haryana. However, due to constraints in state-run gas utility GAIL India Ltd's pipeline to transport KG-D6 gas, all of the 0.61 mmscmd would be consumed at Anta plant, the source said. The supplies would have commenced within a week but for the failure on NTPC's part to open LCs, he said. The remaining 2.06 mmscmd of gas was allocated by the government to NTPC's Kawas and Gandhar power plants in Gujarat but the state-run firm is unwilling to use KG-D6 gas at those plants as it is seeking fuel for expansion projects at those sites from the Mukesh Ambani firm at USD 2.34 per mmBtu rates committed in the 2004 tender. — PTI
	No move to hike fuel prices: Deora New Delhi, October 16 The government is not considering revising petrol and diesel prices despite a sharp rise in oil rates in international markets, as the devaluation of dollar against rupee has helped neutralise the global impact. "The situation is not worrisome now," Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said when asked to comment on the crude oil prices jumping to $78 per barrel. "There is no distress situation as the strengthening of the rupee against the dollar has helped us... the dollar has devalued (against the rupee) by about 10 per cent," he said. The dollar devaluation has seen revenue loss incurred by state-run oil firms on fuel sales trimming to about Rs 96 crore per day from Rs 124 crore a day in the first half of October. Indian Oil Corp (IOC) chairman Sarthak Behuria said the oil companies were "comfortable" at the current level of oil prices and rupee-dollar rate. "We can sustain these rates," he said. IOC has seen its projected losses on fuel sales this fiscal coming down to Rs 19,790 crore from Rs 21,825 crore estimated earlier. The company and its sister PSUs, HPCL and BPCL, which have been barred by the government from revising fuel prices to keep inflation under check, have almost broken even on diesel, on which they incur loss of Rs 0.07 per litre. They lose Rs 0.83 a litre on petrol. On domestic LPG, these companies lose Rs 204.51 per 14.2-kg cylinder and Rs 16.14 on every litre of kerosene. "We were till last month losing about Rs 52 crore per day on selling petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene," Behuria said. At current prices, the three state-run fuel retailers will lose Rs 34,820 crore in revenues on fuel sales. Petroleum Secretary RS Pandey, last month, stated that the government will compensate under-recovery or revenue loss on sale of domestic LPG and kerosene through issue of oil bonds. At current prices, the revenue losses on kerosene and LPG are estimated to be at Rs 17,000 crore and Rs 12,000 crore, respectively in the current fiscal. These will be met through issue of bonds. — PTI
	Era of free inter-bank ATM usage over Tribune News Service Chandigarh, October 16 The short-lived era of free ATM usage came to an end yesterday. Every transaction carried out on another bank’s ATM will now cost an account holder as much as Rs 20 and withdrawals will face a limit of Rs 10,000. In its fresh guidelines, the Indian Bank’s Association has said that banks can offer savings account holders five free third-party withdrawals every month. They can be charged from the sixth transaction onwards. However, the current account holders can be charged the fees from the very first transaction, varying from Rs 18 to Rs 20. Sources in the banking sector say that charging current account and no-frills account customers is a good idea as the usage of ATMs by current account holders is price-insensitive. For others, banks have decided to frame their charges depending on the profile of the customer. HDFC Bank is allowing its salary account and premium customers an unlimited number of free third-party ATM withdrawals, while restricting savings account holders to five free withdrawals. HSBC is also waiving ATM charges for its high-end customers. It may be noted that RBI had allowed customers the free usage of inter-bank ATMs for cash transactions from April 1 this year. However, most banks found this economically unviable. Banks complained that the number of transactions had increased dramatically since then, while the ticket size of each withdrawal had reduced, resulting in increased interchange expenses for banks.
	New IIP series soon New Delhi, October 16 In order to give an accurate picture of industrial production in the country, the government will soon come out with a new series of data on factory output that will do away with obsolete items and add those products which have entered the markets in recent years. The new series of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) will also have a recent base of 2004-05 for calculating factory production that will reflect industrial scenario better than base of 1993-94 used currently. The factory output at present comprises of 543 items. With the revision of the base the items for the calculation of IIP would increase. "We have not yet frozen the items to be included in the revised IIP but data collection work has been more or less finalised," a DIPP official said, adding that the exercise is likely to be completed soon. Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy (DIPP) and the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) are working towards moving the base year for IIP to 2004-05 from the present 1993-94. Citing reasons for revision in the base year, the official said it is being done because there is a change in the production in the past one decade.— PTI
	Satyam allowed to finalise accounts for 2008-09 New Delhi, October 16 The Company Law Board today allowed Satyam Computer (now Mahindra Satyam) to finalise accounts for 2008-2009 and also adjust past irregularities. The CLB chairman S Balasubramanian has permitted Satyam Computer's request to allow it to adjust "errors, omissions, misstatement and other irregularities" prior to 2008-2009 as "prior period adjustment". Earlier in January this year, Satyam founder B Ramalinga Raju had confessed to cooking company's account books for several years leading to an accounting scam of multi-crore rupees. The CLB also allowed Satyam Computer to present the combined annual account for 2008-09 and 2009-2010 in an Annual General Meeting of its shareholders. At the same time, the CLB directed Satyam Computer to convene its AGM within three months of finalisation of its accounts. "AGM for 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 are permitted to be held within three months of finalisation of the accounts for those years together,"said CLB chairman in its order. However, the CLB declined to grant further immunity to the Satyam CEO and CFO from any civil and criminal punitive action for any matter related to period prior to January 2009. The CLB chairman said that it would be dealt later. Satyam Computer had filed an application seeking relief on presenting restated accounts from the CLB.— PTI
	TCS net up 29 pc Mumbai, October 16 The country's largest software exporter, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), today said its consolidated profit rose by 29.20 per cent to Rs 1,642.21 crore for the second quarter this fiscal. Total income moved up to Rs 7,426.6 crore during the period under review from Rs 6,784.4 crore in the same period previous fiscal, TCS said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The total income rose to Rs 5,719 crore for the quarter ended September 30, against Rs 5,520.7 crore in the same quarter corresponding fiscal. The board has proposed an interim dividend of Rs 2 per share to the shareholders of the company, the filing added. — PTI
	Spectrum Auction TRAI seeks industry’s views New Delhi, October 16 Telecom regulator TRAI today issued a consultation paper on spectrum management and review of licence terms and conditions. The paper seeks industry views on crucial issues such as auction of 2G radio waves and cap on the number of players in one circle. The Department of Telecom DoT had sought TRAI recommendations on an internal panel report on "Allocation of Access (GSM/CDMA) spectrum and pricing" of May 2009. In addition, DoT had also asked the authority to give its proposals on the terms and conditions of existing telecom licences with respect to their duration, which is 20 years at present. The department had further sought the regulator's clarification on auctioning of all spectrum other than 800, 900 and 1,800 MHz bands and also on the issue of capping on the number of licences in each service area. TRAI has already said it would submit the recommendations on these host of issues by November 30 and had asked the DoT to keep in abeyance any issuance of new licenses. With rapid growth of wireless services, the demand for spectrum has tremendously increased. Consequently, spectrum management for its optimal utilisation assumes great significance and has become a critical issue in deciding the future of telecommunication in the country, TRAI today said. The issues for deliberation are spectrum, licensing, spectrum assignment and pricing. The spectrum related issues include identification of spectrum bands for commercial usage, assessment of demand for spectrum and its availability, ensuring efficient utilisation of available spectrum and policy for reforming of spectrum. — PTI
	Khurshid praises Mukesh for taking salary cut New Delhi, October 16 The government today lauded RIL chief Mukesh Ambani's decision to take a pay cut and said the industrialist has shown a "remarkable sensibility" towards the prevailing scenario with this voluntary step. "What Mukesh Ambani has done is laudable...it's a good decision," said Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, who recently sparked a debate on executive compensation by advising the industry to shun vulgar CEO salaries. Yesterday, the country's top corporate house Reliance Industries announced that its CMD Mukesh Ambani would take a pay cut and it was capping its top compensation of its top executives. "This is part of a larger debate among corporates themselves and the government would be happy to engage in the debate," Khurshid told reporters here. "It is about corporate governance, which is not about remuneration alone. It's about internal auditors, about shareholders, about disclosures and accountability. "But taking a cut in remuneration is the most visible issue as far as the public is concerned. Whatever voluntarily a person like Mukesh Ambani has done shows remarkable sensibility to the prevailing thought process in the entire country," the minister said. — PTI
	Google Q3 net jumps 27 pc New York, October 16 Internet search engine giant Google has reported a 27 per cent growth in net income at $1.64 billion for the third quarter on the back of higher advertising revenues. The company had a net income of $1.29 billion in July-September last year, Google said in a statement. Google registered revenues of $5.94 billion for the quarter under review, an increase of 7 per cent over that in the third quarter of 2008. "Google had a strong quarter — we saw seven per cent year-over-year revenue growth despite the tough economic conditions. While there is a lot of uncertainty about the pace of economic recovery, we believe the worst of the recession is behind us and now feel confident about investing heavily in our future," Google CEO Eric Schmidt said. — PTI
	China’s ZTE Corp to supply equipment to Unitech Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 16 Telecom operator Unitech Wireless has awarded a contract to Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corporation for supplying GSM network to it. Unitech, which has a joint venture with Norway’s Telenor, signed the agreement with ZTE under which the Chinese company will provide GSM systems and core network equipment for five years across the circles of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, and Haryana. On Monday, Unitech had signed a similar agreement with telecom equipment vendor Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN). NSN would be responsible for operation and maintenance of Unitech Wireless' network in six telecom circles, including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, it had said. Unitech, which recently raised Rs 5,000 crore as loan from SBI to finance the rollout of its network, will be launching mobile services in next three months under the brand name Uninor. Unitech has received licences to provide mobile phone services across all 22 telecom circles in the country.
	Andrew Yule exits Phoenix Yule New Delhi, October 16 The government yesterday approved selling of the entire 26 per cent stake held by state-owned engineering firm Andrew Yule & Co in Phoenix Yule Ltd for Rs 62.82 crore to Continental ContiTech. Phoenix Yule Ltd is a joint venture between Andrew Yule & Co Ltd (AYCL) and Germany's Phoenix Aktiengesellschaft and is one of the largest manufacturers of conveyor belts in India. While AYCL held 26 per cent stake in the JV, the rest is owned by the German partner. The valuation of shares have been approved at a rate of Rs 49.50 per share for over 1.19 crore shares, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters here after the Cabinet meeting. "Funds raised by way of disinvestment of AYCL shares in PYL will go towards repayment of a part of interest-free government of India loan of Rs 87.06 crore," Soni said.— PTI