The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Weak show by core sector Growth dips to 4.5 pc in Feb against 9.4 pc in Jan New Delhi, March 26 Growth of the six key infrastructure sectors slowed to 4.5 per cent in February, against a robust 9.4 per cent in January, forcing economists to doubt the near-term sustainability of higher growth. On a year-on-year basis, however, these six core industries -- crude, petroleum refinery products, coal, electricity, finished steel and cement --showed considerable growth in the month under review compared to a meagre 1.9 per cent last February. After a consistent good showing for the past three months with a 6 per cent growth in November, 6.4 in December and 9.4 per cent in January, growth in the core sectors moderated in February. For the year-to-month period, these industries together clocked a growth of 5.3 per cent against 2.9 per cent in the previous fiscal, according to the official data released today. Finished steel showed the worst performance, barely managing an expansion of 0.9 per cent against 2.4 per cent last February. Petroleum refining was also a laggard with a poor 0.8 per cent growth, a shade above the year-ago figure and cement faring 0.9 per cent against 2.4 per cent last February. Electricity and crude oil were the top performers growing by 7.3 per cent and 4 per cent against 0.6 per cent and negative 6.2 per cent, respectively. Coal too logged 6.8 per cent growth, against 6 per cent last February. As these sectors have a considerable weight of 26.7 per cent on the index of industrial production (IIP), economists feel the February factory output may not maintain the momentum of December and January of over 16 per cent growth. "Given these numbers, I think the IIP figures will come down and will be in the range of 10-11 per cent in the coming months" Crisil principal economist DK Joshi said. HDFC Bank economist Jyotinder Kaur said, "We may see some kind of moderation in industrial growth...will finish the fiscal by 10 per cent growth in IIP." During the April-January period, electricity generation, cement output and steel production grew by 6.4 per cent, 10.6 per cent and 4.5 per cent against 2.4 per cent, 6.9 per cent and 1.9 per cent, respectively in the year-ago period. Coal production slowed down to 8 per cent during the period compared to 8.2 per cent growth last year, while crude oil production grew by 0.3 per cent in the first 11 months, against a 1.7 per cent contraction in the corresponding period. Petroleum refinery products output, however, contracted by 0.4 per cent against a growth of 3 per cent in the April-February period. — PTI
	Sony back with a bang Unveils five new models costing between Rs 15,000 and Rs 35,000 Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 26 The pace of growth of the telecom market has forced global mobile handset makers to return to the country, this time with greater determination to win back the market place they have lost. While reports say that Motorola, once the market leader, is getting ready to return to India with a splash, another one-time big player Sony Ericsson today launched a new crop of phones in India after seven months of silence. This launch was important for the company, which has seen its market share collapse to 3-4 per cent after being number two once. Company officials said they had been hit by the global recession but were now ready for a comeback. "We have been hit, both in India and abroad, by the global downturn, but we are now looking forward," said Hirokazu Ishizuka, vice-president and head of Asia Pacific, which now looked after the India operations also. The company, which is said to be holding on to its sixth place after an onslaught from Indian and Korean brands, unveiled five new models, including one of the few phones with a built-in high-definition video recorder. The new models include both Android and Symbian phones. The company will focus on the consumer segment instead of enterprise and this was also reflected in the new launch. In line with its global strategy, it will more or less ignore the segment of phones costing Rs 3,000 or less. The five new models are expected to be priced between Rs 15,000 and Rs 35,000, and the company is also likely to introduce another three models, this time in the medium range. Both Sony Ericsson and Motorola were caught up in the economic downturn as the former derived a large part of its business from Europe and the latter from the US. With the economies coming back on the growth path, both are again beginning to get aggressive in their plans.
	Netherlands business desk in UT soon Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 26 The Netherlands, one of the most developed economies in the world which is commonly known as the “Gateway to Europe”, will launch its Chandigarh desk on March 30 to facilitate deeper cooperation with Punjab and Haryana. Through its outreach programmes and activities, “The Netherlands Desk” in Chandigarh will focus on exploring economic and commercial opportunities in the region such as exports and imports, Dutch investments in India as well as Indian investments in The Netherlands and science and technology cooperation at both the corporate and university levels. Commenting on the launch, Dutch Ambassador to India Bob Hiensch said, “The Netherlands Embassy is pleased to be expanding its support and reach through establishing a local presence in promising Indian cities like Chandigarh.” The embassy’s economic cluster comprising the economic section, the science and technology section, the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA) and the agricultural section plan to conduct bi-monthly visits to Chandigarh to interface with the local business community in mutually beneficial sectors like agriculture, lifesciences, pharmaceuticals, ICT and alternate energy. The Netherlands’ trade network currently comprises the embassy in New Delhi, the consulate in Mumbai and business support offices in Ahmedabad and Chennai. The Chandigarh desk is the second business promotion desk after Pune. In addition, two new business support offices are planned for Kolkata and Hyderabad.
	Zain deal hopefully in 10 days: Rajan Helsinki, March 26 Bharti today said it hoped to sign the $10.7-billion deal to acquire the African assets of Kuwait's telecom firm Zain in the next 10 days. "Hopefully," said Bharti Enterprises vice-chairman and managing director Rajan Bharti Mittal when asked whether the agreement with Zain would be inked in next 8-10 days. "The Zain board has accepted our offer. Our board has approved it. The exclusivity ended and now we have a few days to complete the exercise. Definitive agreements have to be signed," he said. March 25 was the deadline set for exclusivity. He said the due-diligence was almost in the last stage to acquire the African assets of Kuwait-based Zain Telecom and thereafter the process had to follow. Yesterday, Airtel had said, "Bharti is now working with Zain towards finalising the definitive agreements which would address all key terms and findings arising out of the due diligence." Bharti Enterprises is the holding company of Bharti Airtel. The deal, once happens, will pave the way for one of the largest telecom cross-border deals and will give Bharti access to 15 African countries at one go. The two businesses combine will have more than 165 million subscribers with total revenue of $13 billion. Bharti has been keen on entering the African market. In the past two years, it has twice attempted a merger with South Africa-based MTN.— PTI Bharti share dips Mumbai: Shares of Bharti Airtel today declined over 1 per cent, a day after it said it is going to formalise its $10.7-billion takeover of the African assets of Zain Telecom. In a firm broader market, the scrip settled the day at Rs 310.15, down by 1.15 per cent over its previous close on the BSE. In a volatile trade, the stock moved between a high of Rs 316.10 and a low of Rs 305.40. On the NSE its shares dropped even more by 1.34 per cent at Rs 310.20. — PTI
	Corporate Brief Polaris acquires IndigoTX Chennai, March 26 Polaris Software Lab today said it had acquired IndigoTX, a company that provides enterprise brokerage solution for the securities market on a pay- per-use model Go TX. The GO TX brokerage platform was a cutting edge technology. A GO TX brokerage customer paid the company on a pay-per-use model, a company release said. Under this model, the company provides trading in multiple instruments each such as equities, derivatives, mutual funds, commodities and currencies, providing access to multiple markets besides integrating the front, middle and back-office functions. The Go TX also allowed it to integrate Internet access, desktops and other user access devices into a single platform, the release added. Suzlon project for Poland Suzlon Energy today said its subsidiary, REpower Systems, had entered into a contract with a Germany-based company WSB Group to deliver 15 wind turbines in Poland. REpower Systems, in which Suzlon holds 90.71 per cent stake, has secured the project to supply turbines for a wind farm which will generate 30.75 MW of power, wind turbine maker said. The turbines are to be constructed and commissioned at the Lipniki wind farm near Opole in south-east Poland by later part of this year. Patel Engg bags Mauritius project Patel Engineering today said its subsidiary had bagged a township development project in Mauritius through which the company expected to earn a revenue of over Rs 4,500 crore. The project envisaged development of an integrated township within the capital city of Port Louis, Patel Engineering said. The contract, largest waterfront development project in Mauritius, involves construction of tourist heritage centre, apartment complex, office building and shopping malls, spanning a built up area of over 10 million sq ft, it said. — PTI
	CISF cover for Infosys Mysore Shubhadeep Choudhury/TNS Bangalore, March 26 In a clear signal demonstrating the priority given by the Centre to the IT sector in security-related matters, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) was today deployed on the Mysore campus of Infosys Technologies. Infosys campus in Bangalore was the first private sector industry in the country to get the security cover of the CISF. This took place in July last year after the terror strike in Mumbai threw the private industry in a panic. Subsequently, the Electronic City area of Bangalore was brought under the CISF security cover. The Central Act instituting the CISF was amended to pave the way for deployment of the paramilitary force for the private sector industry. While requests for deployment of the CISF in their installations are pouring in from various private sector industries, till date only the IT industry has been able to obtain the cover. Wipro has also sought the CISF for its campus in the Sarjapur area of the city and is expected to get the cover in the next couple of months. The Central Government, according to a top CISF official, is according top priority to providing security to the IT industry in view of intelligence inputs regarding terrorist groups’ design on the IT sector. The global nature of operations of the IT sector industries makes these a high-value target for militants. CISF personnel deployed for the protection of the IT sector carry AK-47 rifles and have been specifically assigned to combat armed attack by terrorists. The official said private sector power industry could be the next (after IT) to get CISF cover. Karnataka Home Minister V.S. Acharya was the chief guest at the function held to mark the commencement of the CISF deployment on the Infosys Mysore campus. R.K. Mishra, IG, CISF, and N.R. Narayana Murthy, chief mentor and chairman of the board, Infosys Technologies, were also present in the function. Narayana Murthy said, “We are grateful to the Union Ministry of Home and the cooperation of the Government of Karnataka in ensuring the extension of the CISF security cover to the Infosys Mysore campus. Infosys is committed to protecting its employees, premises and honouring client commitments. We are pleased to welcome this elite security force to the Infosys Mysore Campus, and are confident that the protection offered by the CISF will enhance security on this campus.”
	Bhushan Power & Steel to set up plant Mumbai, March 26 Bhushan Power and Steel (BPSL) today said it would set up a cold rolling mill complex with a capacity of three lakh tonnes in the western region of the country at an initial investment of Rs 800-1,000 crore. “We will be setting up a cold rolling mill complex that will have a production capacity of three lakh tonnes per annum of hot roll coils, either in Gujarat or Maharashtra. We are in talks with both state governments for acquiring land. As soon as we get the land, we will start construction. The initial investment will be around Rs 800-1,000 crore," BPSL chairman and managing director Sanjay Singhal told PTI here. The plant would be commissioned by 2012, he said, adding that the final product (hot roll coils) from the plant would be supplied to automotive and construction industries. The complex, to be set up over 100 acres, would house a cold rolling mill, a pickling line, a galvanising line and other equipment, Singhal said. The steel major had signed an MoU with Belgium-based engineering group CMI FPE for design and supply. CMI FPE had also designed BPSL's cold rolling mill unit in Orissa's Jharsuguda district, which had a capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per annum. Singhal said the company would be expanding the capacity of the Orissa plant to 2.5 million tonnes by March next at a further investment of Rs 3,000 crore. BPSL was also mulling an IPO next year, Singhal said. — PTI
	Hike in spectrum charges stayed Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 26 There was relief today for both GSM and CDMA mobile operators with the Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) staying the hike in spectrum charges for both. In an interim order that will hit the government's revenues, the TDSAT stayed the implementation of the hike in spectrum charges with effect from April over petitions filed by Bharti, Vodafone and Idea. The stay came from the TDSAT Bench comprising chairman Justice S B Sinha and member (Technical) G D Geha, but said it would be subject to the outcome of petitions. The Department of Telecommunications had proposed a hike in spectrum charges for mobile operators. Telecom service providers have to pay a percentage of their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) to the government as spectrum usage charge. This charge depends on the quantity of spectrum allotted. The new charges were to vary between 3-8 per cent depending upon the quantum of airwaves held by the respective operators. The telecom operators in their petitions had said the hike was "arbitrary and discriminatory". The increase in spectrum charges would put pressure on the profits of the telecom operators, which were already facing stiff competition in the market with the arrival of newer players. As per the new charge, an operator holding spectrum up to 4.4 Mhz will be paying 3 per cent of the AGR compared to 2 per cent now. Most of the incumbent players other than those who got licences in January, 2008, are having more that 4.4 MHz of spectrum.