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THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
B U S I N E S S

Divestment in 60 PSUs on cards
New Delhi, January 18
The government today said 60 state-owned companies are likely to hit the capital market in the next couple of years, with steel giant SAIL and coal major CIL coming out with IPOs in the next fiscal itself.

BSNL IPO likely in next fiscal
New Delhi, January 18
As the largest public sector telecom operator BSNL struggles to hold on to its position in the Indian market in the lack of support for its expansion, government officials are hopeful that its IPO could happen in the next fiscal, which may spur its growth.

Corporate rivals against Dadri project, ADAG tells SC
New Delhi, January 18
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) today alleged in the Supreme Court that their corporate rivals were behind the petitions filed by farmers against the land acquisition for the company’s proposed 8,000 MW Dadri power project in Uttar Pradesh.

TRAI told to fix DTH tariff by June 30
New Delhi, January 18
The Supreme Court today extended the deadline by one month for Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to fix the tariff for direct-to-home (DTH) platform by June 30.

Nabard offers Rs 57,522-cr credit to Punjab
Chandigarh, January 18
Having reaped a bounty, in spite of drought-like situation last year, and showing a good credit culture, has helped Punjab get high credit from Nabard for priority sector lending. The credit offered by the bank to Punjab is up by over 19 per cent for the next fiscal.



EARLIER STORIES



AI told to disclose perks of top brass
New Delhi, January 18
The Central Information Commission today directed the state-owned Air India to make public the details of all perks and privileges enjoyed by their top brass.

Ansal to set up industrial park at Ludhiana
New Delhi, January 18
Realty major Ansal API today said it will invest around Rs 300 crore in setting up an industrial park at Ludhiana.

BPO franchise business on the rise
New Delhi, January 18
First it was the BPO business. Now, it is the turn of the BPO franchise business to thrive in the country with more and more opportunities available.

Moser Baer launches content-loaded micro SD cards
New Delhi, January 18
The global technology company, Moser Baer, has launched content-loaded micro SD cards for use in mobile devices.

IDBI Bank eyes Federal Bank
Mumbai, January 18
State-owned IDBI Bank is believed to have zeroed in on Kerala-based private sector lender Federal Bank for acquisition.

 

 





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Divestment in 60 PSUs on cards

New Delhi, January 18
The government today said 60 state-owned companies are likely to hit the capital market in the next couple of years, with steel giant SAIL and coal major CIL coming out with IPOs in the next fiscal itself.

“The 60-odd companies we are tracking now and we hope a majority of these will come into our action plan for disinvestment over the next few years,” Disinvestment Secretary Sunil Mitra told private TV channel CNBC-TV18 in an interview.

On Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) he said: “...FPO (follow-on public offer) will happen next year... they need to mobilise money. Their expansion programme is on hold from the past year and they want to go forward with it”. In addition to the CIL, he said, the telecom giant Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) could also come out with its maiden public issue in the next fiscal.

The government would come out with a detailed action plan for offloading its stake in PSUs by March, he said, adding the strategy would be to ensure maximum returns for the government and bigger retail participation.

In the current fiscal, the government will offload equity of five major public sector undertakings -- NTPC, Rural Electrification Corporation, Engineers India Limited, NMDC and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited, he said.

Even as four of the five disinvestments planned in the current fiscal are FPOs, Mitra said the government’s priority remains listing-led disinvestment.

On whether the government would prefer FPOs of blue-chip state-run companies over IPOs, he said: “It’s not our intention to look for the low hanging fruits only”.

“We would attach due credence and priority to the objective of this exercise, which is to unlock greater shareholder value and, therefore, get more and more IPOs out,” Mitra said.

However, he added, “Only how this sequencing will happen is something that will play out over the next couple of months and we should be far more definitive about this around March”.

The government plans to divest stakes in NTPC, REC, NMDC and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam by March end, which will together fetch around Rs 30,000 crore to the exchequer.

The Cabinet had earlier asked all listed profitable CPSUs to have public holding of at least 10 per cent in them. It had also asked profitable unlisted PSUs to hit the capital market. This makes around 60 PSUs eligible for disinvestment.

The listed CPSUs which are making profits and have public holding of under 10 per cent include trading firm MMTC, mining major NMDC, Neyveli Lignite Corporation, Engineers India, State Trading Corporation, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers, National Fertilisers and Andrew Yule. — PTI

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BSNL IPO likely in next fiscal
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 18
As the largest public sector telecom operator BSNL struggles to hold on to its position in the Indian market in the lack of support for its expansion, government officials are hopeful that its IPO could happen in the next fiscal, which may spur its growth.

The reaction from the government came as it emerged that BSNL has been facing poor financial performance and disinvestment in the telecom PSU through an initial public offer (IPO) may prove to be a boon for it even though the PSUs strong unions are opposing the same.

Disinvestment Secretary Sunil Mitra has said, “I hope BSNL IPO happens in the coming year. I can't say exactly when, but I certainly hope that it does happen because BSNL does need to open up to public ownership primarily with a view to strengthen its own management and its accountability".

The PSU has been negotiating with the trade unions, which have been opposing any disinvestment as they feel that it would serve no interest of people.

The government had earlier proposed to divest 10 per cent stake in the telecom PSU and the same was felt at a recent review meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

However, a BSNL official pointed out that the financial health of the PSU was bad only because of red tapism in the government which had restricted the growth of the telecom operator in comparison to private sector operators. 

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Corporate rivals against Dadri project, ADAG tells SC

New Delhi, January 18
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) today alleged in the Supreme Court that their corporate rivals were behind the petitions filed by farmers against the land acquisition for the company’s proposed 8,000 MW Dadri power project in Uttar Pradesh.

"The petitions were motivated. This was a case of corporate rivalry. The rivalry is seen in the gas dispute here (before the apex court)," senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Anil Ambani-led Reliance Power Ltd (RPL), said before a Bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan.

RPL's submission came during the hearing of its petition challenging the decision of the Allahabad High Court quashing Uttar Pradesh Government's notification to acquire land for the project.

The Bench, also comprising Justices RV Raveendran and Deepak Verma, posted the matter for hearing on January 29 after advocate ML Sharma, appearing for some farmers, said a caveat has already been filed in the matter and no order should be passed without hearing the opposite side.

"We are also not planning for any stay now," the Bench said while accepting the plea of the farmers that they should be given opportunity to be heard.

Rohatgi said he has no objection and accepted the suggestion that a copy of RPL's petition be given to the farmers who have filed the caveat.

However, he alleged that at the behest of ADAG's corporate rivals, petitions were filed in the High Court by the farmers against the allocation of land for the project for which the gas was to be supplied from the KG Basin and the apex court recently saw between Ambani brothers on it.

RPL assailed the High Court decision saying that it was entertained four years after the allocation of land was made and in many cases farmers have already withdrawn the compensation amount.

Rohatgi said around 5,827 farmers had consented for the acquisition of their land by the Uttar Pradesh Government and under such circumstances "how can High Court pass such an order".

"Once you have given consent you are stopped from filing objections for land acquisition," he said adding that out of over 5,000 persons only 432 farmers filed the petition in the High Court so the benefit of the High Court order will go to them only.

The high court had said that the state government had side-stepped a provision inviting objections from land owners while coming out with the notification for using emergency powers to acquire land for the company. — PTI

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TRAI told to fix DTH tariff by June 30

New Delhi, January 18
The Supreme Court today extended the deadline by one month for Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to fix the tariff for direct-to-home (DTH) platform by June 30.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan asked TRAI to complete the process after it was told that due to involvement of a large number of stakeholders in the matter the process was taking a long time.

Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for TRAI, submitted that the work was in progress to sort out the issue and the regulatory body was in consultation with the interested parties.

However, some of the broadcasters submitted that there was a deliberate delay in the matter.

TRAI has sought extention of time to complete the exercise in a proper manner by following a transparent and participatory consultation process involving all stakeholders in both non-CAS cable distribution sector and DTH platform.

TRAI had filed an application seeking permission to complete the tariff regulation exercise in DTH services, alongside the finalisation of eventual tariff dispensation for the non-CAS cable sector.

Earlier TRAI was asked to submit its report to the apex court by December 31, 2009, as far as tariff fixation for non-CAS cable distribution is concerned.

TRAI said tariff regulation of DTH service was closely interlinked with that of cable TV services and the DTH tariff fixation issue required to be considered in the light of the analysis of the entire distribution market, including the cable services. — PTI

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Nabard offers Rs 57,522-cr credit to Punjab
Ruchika M. Khanna
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 18
Having reaped a bounty, in spite of drought-like situation last year, and showing a good credit culture, has helped Punjab get high credit from Nabard for priority sector lending. The credit offered by the bank to Punjab is up by over 19 per cent for the next fiscal.

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has suggested a credit flow of Rs 57,522 crore for the coming fiscal, which is second only to that of Andhra Pradesh. Though initially a credit flow of Rs 55,522 crore was suggested by Nabard, the bank later raised the amount by another Rs 2,000 crore on request by the Punjab government.

Agreeing that Punjab has been a major term loan user, UC Sarangi, chairman, Nabard, said the agriculture and allied sector term loan would be Rs 5,704 crore, up from Rs 5,000 crore during 2009-10. “Given the fertility of the land and asset position of farmers, the fact that Punjab farmers’ need for short-term (seasonal agricultural operations) would be very high is vindicated with crop loan sharing a whopping 54 per cent (at Rs 29,717 crore) of the total credit,” he said.

During the state credit seminar for Punjab, it was revealed that under term loan for agriculture and allied activities, major support is envisaged for dairy development (Rs 1,078 crore), for farm mechanization (Rs 1162 crore), for irrigation sector (Rs 273 crore), for poultry (Rs 186 crore) and for land development (Rs 507 crore).

Speaking on the occasion, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who was the chief guest on the occasion, said since Punjab contributes 65 per cent of grains in the common pool, it was only fair that it got a sizeable credit from Nabard. “Rural development and economic improvement of farmers have to go along side. The minimum support price of crops announced by the Centre is unrenumerative in the wake of rising input costs and over-mechanization of farming operations. Thus, we request Nabard to step in and encourage cooperative use of machinery and open skill centres in villages to train youth for self employment,” he said.

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AI told to disclose perks of top brass

New Delhi, January 18
The Central Information Commission today directed the state-owned Air India to make public the details of all perks and privileges enjoyed by their top brass.

Information Commissioner Sushma Singh told the officials of National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL), company formed after the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines, to give the details of "pay, perks and privileges" enjoyed by its chairman, managing director and functional directors to RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal.

In a reply to his RTI application, NACIL's general manager, finance, who should be in the thick of company's financial matters, had said the information about pay and perks of the company's top bosses is not with him.

The Commission also asked the air carrier to transfer the application to Civil Aviation Ministry so that similar details about the minister could be furnished and provided to Agrawal.

The activist had sought the details of pay, perks, privileges and facilities enjoyed by top bosses of Air India, Indian Airlines and Civil Aviation Minister.

"We tried our best to obtain the information sought by you but not received the same," NACIL had said in its reply.

As per the RTI Act, information sought cannot be denied unless it comes under exemption clauses listed in the Act. The information cannot be refused without giving any reasons justifying the denial. — PTI

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Ansal to set up industrial park at Ludhiana

New Delhi, January 18
Realty major Ansal API today said it will invest around Rs 300 crore in setting up an industrial park at Ludhiana.

The park to be set up on 45 acres of land is expected to be operational by early 2012.

"We have already acquired the land and the project will take off soon. The initial investment of around Rs 300 crore will be entirely funded from internal accruals," Ansal API's chief operating officer Deepak Sachdeva told PTI here.

The park, Hampton Court Business Park, will only house eco-friendly industrial units from a range of sectors like IT, apparel, sports goods, auto, cycle and electrical goods.

"There is a huge unmet need among city's new generation entrepreneurs to upgrade their manufacturing facilities to a sophisticated, international business environment. The aim of launching the project is to cater to their need," he said.

Ludhiana is a hub for textiles, hosiery, hand tools, cycles, sewing machines and auto parts.

Ansal API would develop the entire infrastructure and provide common services in the complex, while individual units would be left with the choice of acquiring plots of different sizes to put up their respective units.

"However, there will be certain specifications as per the master plan and individual units will have to follow that," he said. Located in the vicinity of Ludhiana railway station, the business park would be Wi-Fi enabled and have integrated facilities for management system, loading and unloading among others.

Following the global economic recession, the real estate sector plunged into a deep crisis resulting into virtually non-announcement of any kind of project. Things, however, started looking up by the third quarter of 2009.

For Ansal API, the proposed park will be the first launch of a commercial project since early 2008 when the Delhi-based firm had announced the launch of an industrial park in Gurgaon. — PTI 

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BPO franchise business on the rise
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 18
First it was the BPO business. Now, it is the turn of the BPO franchise business to thrive in the country with more and more opportunities available.

Industry experts point out that the BPO franchise model has served well globally to expand and profit, by industries such as retail, training and many more.

While India had led the BPO race globally, an Indian company, Aryans, has taken it to the next level where small and medium entrepreneurs would be able to enter the BPO business and spur the growth.

Aryans already has two successfully running franchisees. The pilot has shown very encouraging results with each franchisee running approximately 18 seats having billed up to $1,50,000.

Moreover, since the model looks at setting up franchisees across smaller towns, it gives out an opportunity to small town graduates to earn a BPO salary of Rs 6,000 without leaving the luxury of their own hometown.

According to Deepak Wadhwan, senior adviser, Risk Advisory Services, KPMG, “This opportunity is the first-ever effort of its kind and most definitely gives Aryans the first-mover advantage. The scope for quick ramp up is great, given that the back-end required for it is ready through the best-in-class infrastructure provided by Reliance and Avis e Solutions”.

He cautioned that the franchisees would need adequate training to keep up the quality.

Ajay Sharma, vice-president, National Institute of Smart Governance, said he was concerned about its ability to keep the uniformity of service delivery on one end and employee satisfaction across various franchisees at the other.

However, he added that he was convinced of its low costs and high scalability as well as the exclusivity that Aryans and Reliance have on this business.

Rakesh Chharia, president, ISPAI, said for the past three years he had been toying with the idea of franchisees and advocating it to the industry. The idea as a model will itself ensure of its success to the extent of its costs, resource sharing and standardisation across service delivery teams.

“What the country and industry needs at this point is to scale up and deliver much more. The next step is to cut costs by having home-agents. This would not only relax costs of office, infra but also save the country on environmental pollution, diesel costs, traffic jams and employee salary costs,” Chharia added.

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Moser Baer launches content-loaded micro SD cards
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 18
The global technology company, Moser Baer, has launched content-loaded micro SD cards for use in mobile devices.

The cards come pre-loaded with films and music and offer anytime, anywhere entertainment to customers. The entertainment arm of Moser Baer owns more than 10,000 Indian films, providing an extensive library for deployment of the pre-loaded content.

The content-loaded micro SD cards are attractively priced and available at all leading retail outlets on pan-India basis.

Commenting on the launch, Vijay Malhi, senior vice-president, Moser Baer India, said: “We have already launched several value-added products and the content-loaded cards for mobile devices add a new dimension to our growing product portfolio. High quality film and music experience is what consumers desire and the content-loaded micro SD cards provide that environment. These pre-loaded cards give convenient access to audio-visual content irrespective of time or location and without having to wait for downloading.”

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IDBI Bank eyes Federal Bank

Mumbai, January 18
State-owned IDBI Bank is believed to have zeroed in on Kerala-based private sector lender Federal Bank for acquisition.

IDBI Bank has also completed due diligence, an exercise undertaken by the acquirer to assess the value of the entity before purchasing it, a source close to the development said.

When contacted, Federal Bank managing director & CEO M Venugopal declined to comment on the matter. It would enable IDBI to consolidate its position among state-run banks by strengthening key segments such as branch network,human resources besides augmenting its deposit-base. — PTI 

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BRIEFLY

GAIL Q3 net jumps over three-fold
New Delhi
: State-run gas utility Gail (India) on Monday said its net profit jumped over three-fold to Rs 860 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2009, over the same period last year. Turnover rose to Rs 6,187 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, against Rs 5,812 crore in the same period previous fiscal, Gail (India) Ltd said. — PTI
A model presents a creation from Gucci Fall/Winter 2010/11 men collection during the Milan Fashion Week on Monday
A model presents a creation from Gucci Fall/Winter 2010/11 men collection during the Milan Fashion Week on Monday. — Reuters

JP Associates net dips 39 pc
New Delhi
: Engineering and construction company JP Associates on Monday said its net profit declined by 38.90 per cent to Rs 103.02 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2009. Total income of the firm rose to Rs 2,963.83 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, against Rs 1,416.82 crore in the same period during the previous fiscal, JP Associates said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. — PTI

Sterlite to raise Rs 1,500 cr
Mumbai
: Sterlite Technologies on Monday said its net profit jumped over three-fold to Rs 73.72 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2009, over the same period last year. Net sales rose to Rs 867.27 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, against Rs 641.99 crore in the same period last year, Sterlite Technologies said. The board of the company has also approved to raise Rs 1,500 crore through various sources from domestic and international markets. — PTI

Ritu Wears to invest Rs 230 cr
New Delhi
: Delhi-based lifestyle fashion brand Ritu Wears on Monday said it would invest around Rs 230 crore over the next four years as part of its plan to expand pan-India by opening 33 large format stores across the country. The company also said it was going aggressive with home category portfolio, and will focus more on the toys and books segment in its outlets. — PTI

Nucleus Software net dips
New Delhi
: IT firm Nucleus Software Exports on Monday said its net profit dipped by 12.8 per cent to Rs 9.20 crore in the third quarter ended December 31, due to lack of large deals coming its way. The consolidated revenue for the quarter is at Rs 68.47 crore, down by 18 per cent, in comparison to Rs 84.24 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. — PTI

FCS Software Solutions
Mumbai
: IT firm FCS Software Solutions on Monday said its board has approved issue of bonus shares in the ratio of one stock for every one share held by shareholders. The board approved "the issue of bonus shares in the ratio of one new fully paid share for every one existing equity share held by shareholders," FCS Software said in a filing to the BSE. — PTI

Oil tumbles in Asian trade
Singapore
: Oil fell in Asian trade on Monday as economic concerns continued to weigh on investor sentiment, analysts said. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for February delivery fell 70 cents to $77.30 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for February delivery was down 71 cents to $76.40. — AFP

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