SPECIAL COVERAGE
CHANDIGARH

LUDHIANA

DELHI


THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE
TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
B U S I N E S S

OilMin seeks bonds worth Rs 20,871 cr
New Delhi, December 7
The Petroleum Ministry has sought oil bonds worth Rs 20,871 crore for state-run fuel retailers to make up for the losses incurred on selling domestic LPG and kerosene below cost during the first three quarters of this fiscal.

Private firms await nod to enter N-power
Chandigarh, December 7
Private players are waiting for the clearance from the government to run nuclear power generation plants in the country, says Navraj Singh, vice-president, business development of JSW Energy, revealing his company’s immense interest in any such project.

Dubai market plunges 6 pc
Dubai, December 7
The stock markets were in the negative terrain across the United Arab Emirates today led by the Dubai bourse which plunged six per cent, as investors awaited details about the extent of the Dubai World burden. Led by real estate developer Emaar, which crashed about 10 per cent, the Dubai market fell nearly six per cent.

UB Group, Heineken join hands
New Delhi, December 7
Vijay Mallya-led United Breweries today scored a tactical victory over Heineken, with the Dutch beer major saying that it would acquire the contentious Asia Pacific Breweries (India) and merge it with the Indian giant.

Sibal’s request for early retirement rejected
New Delhi, December 7
State-run Oil India Ltd (OIL) has rejected the resignation offered by VK Sibal after he was reverted to the company following denial of extension as oil regulator amid reports of alleged favours to corporate houses.

No profit earned from carbon credits: ArcelorMittal
London, December 7
ArcelorMittal today said it has not made any money from its excess carbon credits, bulk of which was purchased during the global economic crisis. "ArcelorMittal has unexpectedly large excess of credits, a number of which it purchased, due to the unprecedented economic crisis which has seen steel demand plunge by 50 per cent.


People walk past Christmas decorations in a bubble at a shopping plaza in Beijing as a new high-rise building nears completion (background)
People walk past Christmas decorations in a bubble at a shopping plaza in Beijing as a new high-rise building nears completion (background) on Monday. China said it would continue with a moderately loose monetary policy for 2010 while also pushing on with efforts to boost economic growth, state press reported. — AFP


EARLIER STORIES



Union Bank plans major expansion
MV NairChandigarh, December 7
The Union Bank of India is planning a major expansion overseas as well as in the domestic market. Talking to TNS here today, MV Nair, chairman of the bank, said they were planning to open three new rep offices at London, Johannesburg and Toronto, besides opening a branch at Belgium. “Although we have the requisite permission from Reserve Bank of India, we are awaiting nod from the local regulators in these countries. We are hopeful of opening the branches by year 2010,” he said.

MV Nair

Govt earns Rs 8,307 cr revenue from telcos
New Delhi, December 7
The government has earned a staggering Rs 8,307.85 crore from telecom operators providing mobile phone services by way of licence fees in 2008-09.

 





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OilMin seeks bonds worth Rs 20,871 cr

New Delhi, December 7
The Petroleum Ministry has sought oil bonds worth Rs 20,871 crore for state-run fuel retailers to make up for the losses incurred on selling domestic LPG and kerosene below cost during the first three quarters of this fiscal.

Three fuel retailers Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) lost about Rs 26,618 crore in revenues on selling petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene below cost during the first half of the current fiscal, a ministry official said.

Of this, Rs 20,000 crore is revenue lost on LPG and kerosene, the remaining was on account of petrol and diesel.

"We have sought Rs 20,000 crore of oil bonds to cover for under-recoveries on LPG and kerosene in the first three quarters," Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas additional secretary S Sundareshan said.

While the government had committed to meeting the revenue loss arising from its dictate of not increasing prices for domestic LPG and kerosene in step with the cost, non-issuance of oil bonds till now has led HPCL and BPCL report net losses in the July-September quarter.

"We are confident of getting the oil bonds (this time)," he said, adding Finance Ministry may seek approval for the oil bonds in the supplementary demands for grants to be presented to Parliament during the current session.

HPCL reported a net loss of Rs 136.68 crore in the second quarter, while BPCL posted a net loss of Rs 158.77 crore. IOC was slightly better off, registering a net profit of Rs 284.36 crore.

"We have made our demand to the Finance Ministry and it is now for them to get the approval from Parliament," he said.

The government had earlier this year decided to make good all of the revenue loss on sale of domestic LPG and kerosene through issue of oil bonds, while the same on petrol and diesel would be mostly met by upstream firms like OIL and ONGC.

The three firms currently lose Rs 3.68 a litre on petrol, Rs 2.90 per litre on diesel, Rs 18.13 a litre on kerosene and Rs 250.67 per domestic LPG cylinder as the government has not allowed them to revise retail prices in line with costs.

For the full fiscal, the three firms will close with a total revenue loss of Rs 45,820 crore.— PTI

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Private firms await nod to enter N-power
Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 7
Private players are waiting for the clearance from the government to run nuclear power generation plants in the country, says Navraj Singh, vice-president, business development of JSW Energy, revealing his company’s immense interest in any such project.

Since JSW Energy has in-house expertise in hydel and thermal power generation in the country, it will be ready to get into nuclear power generation after the government opens the field to private players.

Accompanied by Manoj Kumar Mohta, associate vice-president, Finance, Navraj Singh, said his company was aware of the government’s growing concern over carbon emissions and heat level of the thermal plants because of the mounting worldwide pressure.

“In all our new power projects, we are going for the super-critical technology that reduces coal consumption by 10 per cent. By 2012, it will be mandatory for all new thermal power plants to go for indigenous super critical technology. In continuation of government policies, we have already entered into collaboration with Toshiba for manufacturing boilers and turbines in India. Work on our plant near Chennai has already started,” he said.

“From our present capacity of 935 MW, we will be producing 11,000 MW by the end of 2015,” claims Manoj Kumar Mohta. “Our new plants include a 240 MW hydel unit in Kuthail in Himachal Pradesh which will be ready for commissioning by end of 2014 or early 2015. Under the agreement with the HP government, JSW Energy would give for first 12 years 12 per cent of total power generated at the project. It would go to 18 per cent for the next 18 years and, thereafter, the share of free power to the state would go up to 40 per cent.

“We did bid in Punjab for the Rajpura thermal plant,” he disclosed.

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Dubai market plunges 6 pc

Dubai, December 7
The stock markets were in the negative terrain across the United Arab Emirates today led by the Dubai bourse which plunged six per cent, as investors awaited details about the extent of the Dubai World burden.

Led by real estate developer Emaar, which crashed about 10 per cent, the Dubai market fell nearly six per cent. The Emirate's benchmark DFM Index closed at 1,744.83 points.

The negative sentiment was visible on the Abu Dhabi and Kuwait stock exchanges too. While the General Index in Abu Dhabi fell 1.73 per cent to 2,626.95 points, Kuwait's Market Index declined almost one per cent to 6,678.90 points. However, the Qatar Exchange managed to gain over one per cent, with the country's benchmark index climbing 1.06 per cent to 7,132.26 points.

The crisis in the Gulf region unfolded after Dubai World, a conglomerate owned by the Dubai government, sought six months additional time to repay its debts worth $59 billion.— PTI

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UB Group, Heineken join hands

New Delhi, December 7
Vijay Mallya-led United Breweries today scored a tactical victory over Heineken, with the Dutch beer major saying that it would acquire the contentious Asia Pacific Breweries (India) and merge it with the Indian giant.

"We are delighted to announce the partnership with Heineken... based on the legal advices both sides... we will be making and marketing Heineken in India," UB Group chairman Vijay Mallya told reporters today.

He said it will be a win-win situation, as UB Group would have access to brand such as Heineken and Cannon while Heineken would make and sell UB's international brand Kingfisher in other countries.

Mallya said Heineken has also agreed to merge its operations in India with the company. As part of the new agreement, Heineken will acquire Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) India and its subsequent transaction intends to transfer this to UBL during 2010, Heineken chairman and CEO Jean-Francois van Boxmeer said.

Heineken, along with beer major Carlsberg, acquired UK-based Scottish & Newcastle (S&N), which had around a 37 per cent stake in UBL. As a fallout of which the stake in UBL was transferred to Hieneken. — PTI 

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Sibal’s request for early retirement rejected

New Delhi, December 7
State-run Oil India Ltd (OIL) has rejected the resignation offered by VK Sibal after he was reverted to the company following denial of extension as oil regulator amid reports of alleged favours to corporate houses.

Although he denied any wrongdoing, Sibal was forced to revert to Oil India on October 31 as Group General Manager, a rank which he held prior to becoming the Director- General of Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH). He had immediately applied for early retirement, sources said.

OIL rejected his application as vigilance probe against him was pending, sources said, adding that the company had even taken a legal opinion on the issue from Additional Solicitor-General who opined that any person against whom vigilance probe is pending cannot be relieved from service.

Pending consideration of his application, Sibal went on leave for three months but would now have to join back as his application for early retirement has been rejected.

Sibal, in all, had about 200 days of accumulated leave, of which he had availed for 90 days from November 1. He superannuates in January 2012 and technically speaking, he would have to join back OIL in a rank and pay much lower than what he had held in DGH, they said. — PTI

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No profit earned from carbon credits: ArcelorMittal

London, December 7
ArcelorMittal today said it has not made any money from its excess carbon credits, bulk of which was purchased during the global economic crisis.

"ArcelorMittal has unexpectedly large excess of credits, a number of which it purchased, due to the unprecedented economic crisis which has seen steel demand plunge by 50 per cent.

The company has not profited from the excess credits, which are needed for future production growth," it said.

The company's statement comes amid reports that the steel tycoon will get a £1 billion windfall from an European scheme to curb global warming, if it chooses to sell its excess carbon credits.

A recent report in The Sunday Times said ArcelorMittal will make the gain on "carbon credits" given to it under the European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

The scheme grants companies permits to emit CO2 up to a specified "cap". Beyond that they must buy extra permits. — PTI

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Union Bank plans major expansion
Ruchika M. Khanna
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 7
The Union Bank of India is planning a major expansion overseas as well as in the domestic market.

Talking to TNS here today, MV Nair, chairman of the bank, said they were planning to open three new rep offices at London, Johannesburg and Toronto, besides opening a branch at Belgium. “Although we have the requisite permission from Reserve Bank of India, we are awaiting nod from the local regulators in these countries. We are hopeful of opening the branches by year 2010,” he said.

Nair, who was here to inaugurate the bank’s branch in Sector 30, said the bank already has presence in Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, Shanghai, Beijing and Sydney. “These rep offices are giving us a good business. Our office in Abu Dhabi is already accounting for five per cent of the total remittances from West Asia. Even the Hong Kong office is doing well and we have set a target that it will yield us business worth $550 million (almost three per cent of the turnover) by 2010,” he said.

The bank is also planning a major expansion in the domestic market. “We are planning to open 250 new branches in the next 12 months. With a capital adequacy of 13.6 per cent, we would not require to raise any money for this expansion, although we are planning to raise Rs 500 million through the MTN route (mid-term notes) by February 2010,” said the chairman, adding that the total business of the bank now stood at Rs 2,44,000 crore.

He said though the bank had grown from strength to strength in the past two years, they were now planning to enter into the second phase of transformation with a focus on being customer-centric. “As part of this, we have hired an international HR consultant for augmenting skill levels of our staff. Besides, we are also focusing on upgradation of technology. In the past two years, we have already spent Rs 250 crore on technology upgradation and have set aside an annual budget of Rs 100 crore for the purpose,” he added.

Nair, who is also the chairman of the Indian Banks’ Association, said the association has now reached a compromise with various bank employees associations on the issue of wage revision and giving the second option of pension. “A core group has been formed, which is expected to work out the modalities for the implementation of the revised wage revision, in three months,” he said.

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Govt earns Rs 8,307 cr revenue from telcos
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 7
The government has earned a staggering Rs 8,307.85 crore from telecom operators providing mobile phone services by way of licence fees in 2008-09.

Parliament was informed today that during the first six months (up to the second quarter of the current fiscal) of 2009-10, the Department of Telecom (DoT) had already collected Rs 4,112.30 crore.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Telecom and IT Gurudas Kamat said Bharti Airtel had paid the maximum licence fee of Rs 2,246.27 crore for 2008-09.

Mobile operators pay 6-10 per cent of their respective adjusted gross revenue (AGR) to the government as licence fee depending on the circle in which they operate.

According to figures provided by the government, it had earned Rs 5,988.87 crore in 2006-07, while in 2007-08, it earned 7,289.76 crore.

India is among the fastest-growing telecom markets in the world, especially mobile services, with over 12 million users being added every month.

The government raised a demand of Rs 85.48 crore from various mobile players due to annual assessment of licences with a maximum of Rs 48.55 crore from Reliance Communications, the minister said.

He said there was no proposal to appoint an ombudsman for the telecom sector to settle grievances.

Kamat said the government had ordered special audit of some private telecom operators which include audit of revenue from bundled handset packages.

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BRIEFLY

Gold slides on weak global cues
New Delhi:
Gold prices fell for the third day in a row and lost Rs 30 to Rs 17,730 per 10 gram in the bullion market on Monday on sustained selling by stockists amid a weakening global trend. The other precious metal, silver, too dropped on poor offtake by industrial users and coin manufacturers. Trading sentiments remained bearish as gold dropped one per cent to $1,149.70 an ounce in London. — PTI

Tata group chairman Ratan Tata walks past "Swach" water filter at its launch in Mumbai
Tata group chairman Ratan Tata walks past "Swach" water filter at its launch in Mumbai on Monday. The filter will be available in two variants of Rs 749 and Rs 999. 
— AFP

Hero Electric plans
New Delhi:
Two-wheeler maker Hero Electric on Monday said it plans to assemble e-scooters in foreign markets in collaboration with local players and may enter into such agreements within the next one year. "We are looking at assembly units in overseas markets, mainly in Western Europe and North America, in collaboration with local manufacturers. We are positive of entering into some such agreement within next 12 months," Hero Electric managing director Naveen Munjal said. — PTI

GMR Infra to raise Rs 500 cr
Mumbai:
GMR Infrastructure on Monday said it was planning to raise up to Rs 500 crore through private placement of non-convertible debentures. GMR is developing, among others, the Delhi international airport and several road projects.— PTI

Vodafone tariff plan
Chandigarh:
Vodafone Essar has announced new tariff plans which offer substantial reduction in national roaming rates for its pre-paid customers. Customers can either opt for the ‘Travel Plan’ to enjoy a flat rate of 70 paise per minute for national roaming or the ‘Ticket Plan’ to enjoy flat national roaming rates of 1.5 paise per second. Pre-paid customers can purchase the Travel Plan at Rs 43 and Ticket Plan at Rs 42 from Vodafone retail outlets. — TNS

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