The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Maruti rolls out luxury sedan at Rs 16.5 lakh Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 2 Country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) today entered luxury sedan segment with the launch of Kizashi at an introductory price of up to Rs 17.5 lakh. Looking to garner some share of the just 2.8 per cent of the super luxury sedan segment, Kizashi would compete with Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and cars from the stable to the two German brands, VolksWagen and Skoda. The car, powered by a 2.4-litre petrol engine, will be fully imported from parent Suzuki's Japan facility. With the strong brand value and an excellent dealer network to back up, MSIL is looking to make a place for itself in the luxury segment with Kizashi, which it is calling a sports luxury sedan. "The Kizashi is a major step forward for Maruti Suzuki. With the launch of this luxurious sporty sedan, the company is able to offer an international car to top-end customers in India ," Maruti Suzuki India Managing Director and CEO Shinzo Nakanishi said after the launch. Mayank Pareek , managing executive officer-marketing, Maruti Suzuki, says, "This is our latest offering in the upper segment. This is a A4 segment car with A5 features. There are features which are not even there in A5 cars. We are positioning it as a sports luxury car. It has got best in class engine, highest power. It has got features like cruise control, electronic stability programme, ABS, EBD and 10-way seat adjustment." The company has already started bookings for the car, deliveries for which will begin in March. Egypt crisis to hit exports New Delhi, February 2 Maruti Suzuki India today said its exports to Egypt, which accounts for 3 per cent of its overseas sales, will be impacted due to the political unrest. “Egypt accounts for 3 per cent of our global exports and definitely the unrest there will have an impact,” Maruti Suzuki India Managing Executive Officer (Marketing & Sales), Mayank Pareek said. The company sells mostly Alto in Egypt.
	Pre-Budget Exercise Budget could permit new private banks RBI close to finalising norms New Delhi, February 2 India is considering allowing new private sector banks, including those run by industrial houses. A roadmap for the move could be announced in the annual Union Budget later this month. While the formal and final guidelines would be announced by RBI on who should be allowed to set up new banks and what should be the terms and conditions for them, a roadmap on the subject could be announced in the Budget speech on February 28 by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, sources added. In his Budget speech last year, Mukherjee had said that there was a need to extend geographic coverage of banks and improve access to banking services. The RBI is close to finalising the guidelines for entry of new banks in the private sector, based on its consultations with the government and various stakeholders, as also the feedback to its August 2010 discussion paper on the issue, sources added. The RBI is considering grant of licence for small banks for initial few years, which could be upgraded to full-fledged banking licences after the central bank is satisfied with their performance and on satisfaction of certain criteria, sources said. The guidelines would dwell upon issues like minimum capital for new banks and promoters contribution, minimum and maximum caps on on holding of promoters and others, foreign shareholding, business model for the new banks and whether industrial houses, NBFC (non-banking financial companies) could be allowed to run banks. Anil Ambani-led Reliance group, the Aditya Birla group and the Religare group, have expressed interest in obtaining banking licences. A number of NBFCs and micro-finance institutions are also said to be interested in the banking business. Mukherjee had said in his Budget speech in February 2010 that RBI was considering giving some additional banking licences to private sector players and NBFCs could also be considered.— PTI
	India, Norway sign revised treaty to check tax evasion New Delhi, February 2 India and Norway today signed a revised tax treaty for exchange of information between the two countries to prevent flows of black money and check tax evasion. "This (the agreement) will replace the existing convention signed between the two countries on the same subject on December 31, 1986," an official statement said. The revised Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) was signed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Tora Aasland, the Minister of Research and Higher Education of Norway, to avoid double taxation and prevent fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and capital, the statement added. The new DTAA provides for exchange of information, especially the sharing of banking data, between the two countries. A DTAA is essentially a bilateral agreement between the two countries to avoid the taxation of income earned in one country by both of them. The new agreement will provide for a lower rate of taxation of dividend and interest in the source country. It provides for 10 per cent rate, as against 15 per cent or 25 per cent in the existing Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC), among other things. Mukherjee hoped the new pact would bring out more transparency and openness in taxation and fiscal matters. — PTI
	Muthoot arm plans to double gold, silver coin sales Ruchika M Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, February 2 Muthoot Precious Metals Corporation, part of The Muthoot Group, plans to double gold and silver sales in 2011-12. Besides retail sales of gold and silver coins, the company will also start online sales of its coins from March. The company plans to import 2,500 kg of gold and 1,000 kg of silver, in the form of coins. P E Mathai, CEO, Muthoot Precious Metals Corporation, said that they were in the process of inking a deal with an e-commerce site, which would allow them to sell their gold and silver coins directly to the customer. “We are stepping up efforts to sell more coins through Muthoot Group branches. We have started a scheme to sell gold coins in installments. This will help us get a sizeable portion of rural consumers,” he said. The company forayed into the sale of silver coins only recently. “The price of silver has gone up by 100 per cent in the past two years. We are trying to promote silver as an investment option, besides telling people to go in for silver coins as corporate gifts,” he said. Mathaai added the number of people buying gold as a hedge against inflation was rising. “Though gold prices have witnessed some correction now, it is a temporary phase and prices are expected to go up ,” he added.
	Airtel net declines 41 pc Tribune News Service & PTI New Delhi, February 2 Country’s largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel today posted a bigger-than-expected 41.01 per cent decline in its net income for the quarter ended December 2010 at Rs 1,303.3 crore owing to weaker margins from its African operations, currency fluctuations, spectrum charges and brand relaunch costs. During the same period in 2009, the income stood at Rs 2,209 crore. "Adverse currency movements in Africa and India resulted in exchange fluctuations-related losses of Rs 151 crore in the third quarter," the company said. The average revenue per user (ARPU) of the operator stood at Rs 198 in the quarter under review, as against Rs 202 during the previous quarter. The total income increased to Rs 15,781.8 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2010, up 52.87 per cent from Rs 10,323.5 crore for the third quarter in the previous year. The profits weighed heavily by the interest costs that stood at Rs 747 crore and the re-branding cost for the new logo and tune cost the company Rs 340 crore. The company also repaid over $400 million of their net debt taken for the rollout of third-generation mobile services in the third quarter and the restatement losses were posted at Rs 400 crore. The company saw a 20 per cent decline in its standalone net profit at Rs 1,848 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2010, as compared to Rs 2,312 crore in corresponding quarter of previous fiscal. Net sales grew nine per cent to Rs 9,564 crore from Rs 8,756 crore, year-on-year. Hero Honda net down 20 pc Two-wheeler maker Hero Honda today posted a 19.9 per cent decline in its net profit to Rs 429 crore in the third quarter ended December 31, 2010 over the same period last fiscal. During the quarter under review, the company's net sales stood at Rs 5,118.19 crore, a 34.1 per cent increase from Rs 3,814.4 crore posted in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. Jet Airways Jet Airways today posted a net profit of Rs 118.23 crore in the third quarter of the current fiscal, as compared to Rs 105.80 crore in the Q3 FY10. Company's total income increased to Rs 3,515.17 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2010 from Rs 2,936.42 crore in the third quarter of the previous fiscal, Jet Airways said. Wockhardt posts profit Drug firm Wockhardt Ltd today posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 141.67 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2010. The company had a net loss of Rs 181.23 crore in the same period previous fiscal, Wockhardt Limited said in a filing to the BSE. Net sales of the company stood at Rs 950.80 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2010, while the same was Rs 889.33 crore in the same period last fiscal. Voltas net down 10 pc Tata group firm Voltas today registered a 9.9 per cent decline in its net profit at Rs 68.83 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2010 over the same period last fiscal. During the quarter under review, the company's net sales increased by 5.2 per cent to Rs 1,039.28 crore from Rs 987.46 crore in the year-ago period. — PTI

BRIEFLY

ICICI Bank, Indian Army in pact
New Delhi: ICICI Bank has entered into an agreement with the Indian Army for extending modern banking products like deposits and mutual fund to the personnel in uniform. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the two sides here on Wednesday, ICICI Bank said. — PTI

LIC’s new plans
Mumbai: LIC of India on Wednesday said it has launched two new non-linked plans - Bima Account I and Bima Account II. These are the first Variable Insurance Plans under the new IRDA regime, LIC said in a statement here. The entry age for the Bima Account I is from 11 years to 50 years while it is 8 years to 60 years for Bima Account II. — PTI

Currency pre-paid card
Mumbai: Private sector lender Axis Bank on Wednesday launched the country's first currency pre-paid card for such travellers. The 'India Travel Card' can be funded with any major international currency and after conversion, will allow customers to use the deposited amount in Indian currency to either shop or withdraw at ATMs, the bank said. — PTI

IIFCL tax-free bonds
Mumbai: India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL), a wholly owned government company, plans to raise up to Rs 1,200 crore through public issue of tax-free bonds for funding infrastructure projects. The issue opens on February 4 and closes on March 4. — PTI

Allahabad Bank
Chandigarh: Allahabad Bank has increased its base rate by 50 basis points from 9 per cent to 9.5 per cent, Benchmark Prime Lending Rate by 25 basis points from 13.25 per cent to 13.50 per cent and interest rate on domestic term deposits for fixed 400 days from 8 per cent to 8.5 per cent. — TNS

Business meeting
Gurgaon: The NCR Chamber of Commerce and Industry held an interactive business meeting with a high-level delegation from Ras Al Khaimah Government, UAE, regarding investment opportunities for Indian businessmen in Raz Al Khaimah Free Trade Zone (UAE) here on Tuesday. The meeting was largely attended by the CEOs, directors and managing directors of various industries and business houses spread across the NCR. — TNS

C&M hatchery at Kurali
Chandigarh: C&M Farming on Wednesday announced the launch of their new hatchery at Kurali in Ropar district, which would introduce high quality breeding stock in North India. Announcing this, C& M founder Elias D Souza said the company would establish a unit of its subsidiary - Marshall Breeders at Kurali. — TNS

Punjab Khadi Board website
Chandigarh: Local Bodies minister Manoranjan Kalia launched the website of Punjab Khadi and Village Industries Board on Wednesday. The website provides contact information for filing applications under the Right to Information Act, 2005 and has a rich photo gallery. — TNS