The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Indian refiners delay shutdowns Japan crisis pumps diesel prices; Assembly elections to add to demand New Delhi, March 21 Indian state refiners have dropped shutdown plans for April in a sign of the widening impact of Japan's crisis on global oil markets, and calls for Reliance to be allowed to sell domestically from its export-focused plant revive. BPCL Chairman RK Singh said his firm has decided to defer a planned April shutdown of units at its plants, while Hindustan Petroleum is also considering delaying maintenance from April. The country's diesel demand, which peaks in the summer, is expected to be even higher this year as five key states hold elections from April and the fuel will be used extensively in transport on top of power generation. "Current diesel demand growth is around 10 per cent and it will rise further in next two months mainly due to higher demand from agriculture and for transportation due to elections," said GC Daga, head of marketing at Indian Oil Corp. India's domestic diesel sales, which make up over a third of refined products consumption, rose an annual 6.3 per cent in January. Refiners who had scheduled maintenance for April had been looking for at least 400,000 tonnes of imports in the month - sharply up from about 110,000 tonnes bought in January. Last week, IOC could not get price offers for a diesel tender and had to abandon it while Bharat Petroleum had to pay a hefty premium for importing just one of the four cargoes it had sought. Gasoil prices internationally are likely to stay firm, underpinned by Japan's need for diesel imports as it gets reconstruction underway after a massive earthquake and tsunami. Asian gas oil swaps hit a 2-1/2 year peak over $24 a barrel last week although they have since weakened slighty, with cracks below $23 a barrel now as some Japan refineries restarted and run rates increased. "I am a state-run firm, I have to run for the country," said BN Bankapur, head of refineries at IOC, adding if required his firm would defer shutdown plans. "It makes sense for state refiners to defer their shutdown plans as the monsoon arrives in Kerala in the first week of June and reaches Mumbai in the the latter part of the month, reducing demand for transportation fuel," said an industry expert. Private refiners Essar Oil and Reliance Industries, which prefer to sell diesel to state-run firms than make direct sales as they don't get federal compensation for sale of fuel at government-capped prices, plan to go ahead with scheduled shutdowns. An Essar Oil spokesman said as of now there was no change in plans to shut completely the Vadinar refinery in western Gujarat state in May-June for 35 days for maintenance and expanding capacity to 360,000 barrels per day (bpd). — Reuters
	Tier-II, Tier-III towns drive print media growth Rising literacy and low penetration led to 10% growth in 2010, says FICCI-KPMG report Sanjeev Sharma/TNS New Delhi, March 21 Contrary to many advanced countries where the print media is facing erosion, in India, the sector grew 10 per cent in 2010. The sector is expected to continue to grow at a similar pace over the next five years as well. Rising literacy and low print media penetration offer significant headroom for growth, according to a FICCI-KPMG report on the media and entertainment industry. The report says there is a trend towards regionalisation in print media. Backed by increasing purchasing power across Tier-II and Tier-III cities, regional media consumption is expected to continue to rise. The report says realising the power of regional media, national and foreign players have ventured into regional markets and several others are likely to follow suit. Meanwhile, regional players have achieved scale and are now looking to go national and build a pan-India presence. Geographical expansion by existing players in television, print and radio is expected to intensify competition and lead to interesting times for these industries. The media and entertainment industry will also see consolidation, says the report. Mature players are increasingly looking to build scale across the media value chain and explore cross-media synergies. Existing foreign players are looking to expand their Indian portfolio and several other are expected to make an entry into India. Inorganic growth is likely to be a preferred route for many of these players. In 2010, the Indian media & entertainment (M&E) industry registered a growth of 11 per cent over 2009 and touched Rs 65200 crore, says the FICCI-KPMG report. The industry is estimated to grow 13 per cent in 2011. The report will be formally released at the inaugural session of FICCI FRAMES 2011 on March 23. Amit Mitra, secretary general, FICCI, said: “Key industry highlights are the growing potential of the regional markets, increasing media penetration and per capita consumption and increasing importance of new media driven by changing media consumption patterns”. Overall for the M&E industry, 2010 was a year of great dynamism with growth across all sectors other than film. The report highlights a strong recovery in advertising spends as a key driver for growth. Advertising spends grew by 17 per cent to Rs 26,600 crore and accounted for 41 per cent of the industry size. Backed by growth in advertising and subscription revenues, the television industry grew 15.5 per cent in 2010 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16 per cent to touch Rs 63,000 crore by 2015.
	Punjab Excise VAT collection to touch Rs 11,000 crore Manav Mander/TNS Ludhiana, March 21 Punjab Excise and Taxation department expects to collect Rs 11,000 crore from the Value Added Tax (VAT) collection this year. Excise and Taxation Commissioner A Venu Parshad said Rs 10,000 crore has already been collected from VAT returns and the target of Rs 11,000 crore for this financial year will be achieved. To keep bogus billing in check, items like rice husk and branhas been exempt from tax. “ A new amendment has been introduced last week, according to which a trader has to mention the name of commodity in the return form.We are hopeful that bogus billing will be checked after this amendment,” he added. To curb liquor smuggling, the department will put a hologram on every bottle from April 1. “Every bottle will contain a security label which will help in checking the smuggling. In addition to this three year imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine will be imposed on anybody found smuggling liquor bottles.” VAT refunds worth 206 crore are pending with the department. "The process of issuing VAT refunds is in process and will be issued soon. In addition to this new software is being developed and the problem faced by traders during the e-filling of the returns will be solved by the year end," he said.
	Message ‘Unhappy’ to solve complaints with SBI Mumbai, March 21 Not satisfied with the services you get from the nation's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) and want to get back to the bank on the same? Forget the pen and paper to write it down or even email the same; just message ‘Unhappy’ and your issue will be resolved within 48 hours. After seeing the huge response for the scheme, which has been on pilot test since October last year at select centres, State Bank of India chairman Om Prakash Bhatt today launched the initiative in Bhopal. The nationwide customer service initiative called 'SMS Unhappy', which will serve the bank’s 130-million strong customers, does away with the previous mode of registering their complaints in writing. With this initiative, anyone can file their complaints by sending an SMS, starting from "Unhappy", to 8008202020, which would reach the bank's "Happy Room" at the circle headquarters. From here, a bank executive would call the customer back on his mobile phone, understand the nature of the problem and then take up with his branch, Bhatt said. Once the issue has been resolved, the customer will again be contacted by his branch. Under the scheme, he said, most of the complaints will be resolved within 48 hours. “Feedback received from the pilot-run has been very encouraging and already complaints are on a decreasing trend,” Bhatt added. — PTI
	AT&T to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion New York/Frankfurt, March 21 AT&T Inc plans to pay $39 billion for Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA to create a new US mobile market leader, but the pricey purchase is likely to attract intense antitrust scrutiny over potentially higher customer bills. The deal gives AT&T, the No.2 US mobile service often criticised for its poor network performance, additional capacity to expand and meet ever-increasing demands for videos and data from devices such as Apple Inc's iPhone. For Deutsche Telekom, the deal offloads an asset that was declining in profitability and provides it with funds to pay down debt and buy back shares. The German telecom operator also gets an 8 per cent stake in AT&T as part of the deal, becoming its largest shareholder and retaining some exposure to the US market. The deal leaves smaller rivals like Sprint Nextel scrambling to figure out their next step. Sprint also held talks to merge with T-Mobile, the No. 4 US mobile service. Sprint complained that the deal would dramatically alter the wireless industry, which it said would be "dominated overwhelmingly" by two companies that have almost 80 per cent of US wireless contract customers. But the world's largest M&A deal so far this year could run into trouble with US antitrust officials who fear that fewer wireless players could drive up prices for consumers. T-Mobile USA now offers some of the lowest wireless services rates. The deal will add 34 million customers to AT&T's current 96 million, giving it a combined market share of an estimated 43 per cent from 32 per cent, putting it well ahead of Verizon Wireless' 34.5 per cent share. "It's just nuts," said David Balto, an antitrust attorney and a former policy director at the Federal Trade Commission. "When you look at healthy and unhealthy markets, this is at the top of the list of unhealthy markets." AT&T, however, is betting big that the deal will be approved. — Reuters
	Honda to hire 1,500 for second plant Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 21 Honda Motor Corporation’s fully-owned subsidiary Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) expects to sell 2.1 million vehicles next fiscal. The company will spend Rs 2,000 crore to boost production and expand capacity. About 1,500 people will be hired for its second plant at Tapukara in Rajasthan, which will commence operations later this year. Shinji Aoyama, the outgoing president and CEO of the Indian subsidiary, said here today, that the company expected to grow 30 per cent and sell 1.65 million units this fiscal. “We have not entered the mass market in India because of the existence of Hero Honda. From now on, we can enter the segment,” Aoyama said. HMSI will invest Rs 600 crore in the first phase of its second plant. “To minimize the gap with not only Hero Honda, but Bajaj too, we will have to expand capacity,” Aoyama said. To expand capacity, HMSI will hire about 1,500 people for the second plant. “We will start production at Tapukara from July-August, with an initial capacity of 6 lakh units annually. We plan to hire 1,500 people, including permanent and contract workers,” said Aoyama. The capacity of the facility is expandable up to 12 lakh units annually and HMSI will have a total workforce of 3,000 people at Tapukara then, he said. The company has so far cumulatively put in about Rs 1,300 crore in India, he added. The company appointed Keita Muramatsu as new chief executive effective April 1.
	Rajat Gupta resigns as ISB chairman Hyderabad, March 21 Rajat Gupta, the former McKinsey & Co chief accused of insider trading in the US, has resigned from chairmanship of Indian School of Business, a Hyderabad-based B-School, today. Putting an end to the speculation that loomed large over the issue of his resignation, the ISB confirmed his resignation and is on the lookout for a new chairman for the executive committee of the board. "Rajat Gupta has requested the ISB executive board to relieve him of his board responsibilities till his pending matter with the US SEC is resolved. "This, and the appointment of the new chairman, will be tabled at the upcoming board meeting on April 2, 2011," an ISB spokesperson said. Gupta, who is the co-founder of ISB, may not attend the upcoming board meeting scheduled for April 2, sources said. A McKinsey veteran, Gupta has decided to take "leave of absence" from management of $1.4-billion PE fund New Silk Route, which he co-founded five years ago. — PTI
	Indian IT firms recall staff from Bahrain New Delhi, March 21 Indian IT giants like TCS, Infosys and Wipro have decided to call back their employees from Bahrain, following the political unrest in the country. "The developments in Bahrain are unfortunate and we are closely monitoring the situation there. We have around 40 employees based out of Bahrain (60 expatriates including dependants)... Around 17 expatriate employees (36 people including dependants) have already returned to India," Wipro Senior Vice President and Business Head (India, Middle East and Africa) Anand Sankaran told PTI. A spokesperson of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's largest software services provider, today said the company has recalled 20 people. — PTI