Mumbai, April 18
The spat between the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and Subroto Roy’s Sahara Group has reached the Supreme Court for a second time. The market regulator has filed a caveat before the apex court against any ex parte order. SEBI officials confirmed today that the caveat was filed over the weekend so that any petition filed by the Lucknow-based group was not decided without consulting the regulator.

Two entities of the Sahara Group - Sahara India Real Estate Corporation and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation - are under SEBI’s scrutiny for raising funds from the public by the issue of optionally fully convertible debentures. On Friday, Sahara announced that it had moved the SC against an order issued by the Allahabad High Court.

The quasi-banking group insists that it is not accepting any fixed deposits from the public.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court had allowed SEBI to scrutinise documents pertaining to the deposit mobilisation schemes of Sahara Group companies. Sahara had earlier submitted before the Allahabad court that it had 6.6 million investors who had subscribed to debentures issued by the body. However it could not provided the addresses of all of them, Sahara said.

“We have given them more than 90 per cent of the information,” Sahara said. Last year, SEBI had barred Sahara India Real Estate Corporation and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation, their promoters and directors from raising money from the public.

However, the two entities moved the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court which stayed the SEBI’s order. The order was vacated by the court earlier this month due to which Sahara moved the apex court.

New Delhi, April 17
The Finance Ministry has introduced simpler income tax return forms ‘Sahaj’ and ‘Sugam’ aimed at reducing compliance burden on salaried persons and small businessmen.

“Sahaj and Sugam are major steps towards simplification of income tax return filing,” CBDT Chairman Sudhir Chandra told reporters here.

He also said efforts were being made to facilitate electronic filing through the Sahaj and the Sugam forms.

Chandra added the government would also notify a provision in early June exempting people of salary income of up to Rs 5 lakh from filing returns.

He, however said such salaried people (up to Rs 5 lakh) will have to file return if they seek refund.

The new return forms are in line with the government's effort to make filing of returns simpler and user friendly.

While Sahaj is for salaried people, Sugam return form is applicable for small businessmen and professionals covered under presumptive taxation.

Under India’s presumptive taxation, person carrying on business will not be required to get his accounts audited if the annual total sales, turnover or gross receipts is less than Rs 60 lakh.

The limit was increased by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in 2010-11 budget from Rs 40 lakh.

The presumptive tax limit in case of professionals was increased to Rs 15 lakh from Rs 10 lakh. Chandra also said senior citizens (60 years and above) filing returns for incomes from pension, dividend, interest incomes and property will not be subjected to scrutiny.

“Such cases (of senior citizens) will not be picked up for scrutiny and the Government will trust senior citizens,” he said. The government has reduced the age for senior citizen category for I-T tax from 65 years to 60 years. — PTI

New Delhi, April 18
Hospitality chain Leela Group Chairman C P Krishnan Nair, who is set to retire from active management this June, today said he will consider partnering Mukesh Ambani if there are hostile takeover threats from rival ITC.

“If at all, there is a threat from ITC, Mukesh is available...If at any point of time I want (a partner), Mukesh will be my ideal partner,"”Nair said.

He was responding to a query if the Leela Group was uncomfortable with ITC gradually increasing stake in his firm.

ITC has been slowly increasing its stake in Hotel Leelaventure Ltd. As of the quarter ended December 2010, ITC and its investment arm Russell Credit Ltd together hold 11.7 per cent stake in the company.

Nair said that while the Leela Group did not expect ITC to make any attempt for a hostile bid, "you never know in the corporate relationships".

In such a scenario, friends will come to help, he said, highlighting the personal relationship that the promoter Nair family has with senior Ambani.

Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries had last year picked up 14.80 per cent stake in EIH Ltd that runs the Oberoi and Trident brands of hotels and resorts.

On his succession plans, Nair said: "My son Vivek will take over as the Chairman and I will become the Chairman Emeritus. The younger son Dinesh will be the Managing Director. This will be put up for shareholders' approval at the Annual General Meeting of the company to be held in June," he said. — PTI

Mumbai, April 18
Private sector lender HDFC Bank today reported 33.2 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 1,114.70 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2011, driven by increase in loans. Total income rose 24 per cent to Rs 6,724.3 crore in the January-March quarter of 2010-11 from Rs 5,003.8 crore in the year-ago period, it said in a filing to the BSE.

Net interest income (interest earned less interest expended) during the quarter was Rs 2,839.5 crore as against Rs 2,351.4 crore in the same period a year ago.

This was driven by loan growth of 27.1 per cent and a core net interest margin (NIM) for the quarter of 4.2 per cent, the bank said.

The Board of HDFC Bank has proposed a dividend of 165 per cent or Rs 16.50 per share for the year-ended March 31, 2011.

The Board has also recommended share split in the ratio of 1:5. The Board has approved sub-division of one equity share of face value Rs 10 into five shares of Rs 2 each and consequential alteration in the authorised share capital.

For the financial year 2010-11, the bank posted a net profit of Rs 3,926.30 crore, representing an increase of 33.10 per cent from Rs 2,948.6 crore in the previous year.

Recording a growth of 27.1 per cent total gross advances were at Rs 1,59,983 crore while total deposits grew by 24.1 per cent to Rs 2,08,586 crore. — PTI

Mumbai, April 18
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) today allowed the Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd to buy-back 3.45 crore shares or 14.17 per cent equity from the market at an estimated cost of Rs 270 crore.

This will be the second time the Deccan Chronicle would come out with an offer to buy-back its shares, following which the equity of the promoters in the company could go up to 73.83 per cent from 63.37 per cent currently.

The regulator, while exempting Deccan Chronicle from making the mandatory public announcement under the Takeover Code before coming out with the buy-back offer, has, however, asked the company "not of seek any further exemption pursuant to any further buy-back". The company had come out with the first buy-back offer in August 2009 when it bought back 4.84 per cent of the total share capital.

Deccan Chronicle had earlier in January 2011 obtained the approval of shareholders to purchase equity of Rs 2 each at a price not exceeding Rs 189 per share for an aggregate amount of up to Rs 270 crore. In case of 100 per cent response to the buy-back offer, the equity of promoter group will go up to 73.83 per cent in the company from 63.37 per cent

Referring to the general issue of companies buying back their own shares, Sebi order said, "repeated buy-back offers by a company is not something that Sebi, as a regulator, would like to encourage, given the fact that it would be misused by entities to consolidate their holding at the expense of the company." — PTI

Amsterdam, April 18
Philips is hiving off its once leading television business, the first step by new chief executive Frans van Houten to boost flagging profit at Europe's biggest consumer electronics maker.

Philips is moving its loss-making TV business to a 30/70 joint venture with Hong-Kong based monitor maker TPV and has the option to sell out. The Dutch group has struggled to compete with lower-cost Asian rivals Samsung and LG Electronics.

Van Houten, a restructuring expert who took over as CEO this month, said on Monday he is assessing the profitability of Philips' 400 or so business areas and "taking the blanket off" its laggards, a hint that further divestments could be on the cards.

Philips is the world's biggest lighting maker and a top three hospital equipment maker.

"We are not yet firing on all cylinders...There's much unlocked potential in Philips," Van Houten told Reuters Insider. Philips' shares opened lower on the news, but then recovered to trade up 0.9 percent at 0929 GMT in a weaker market.

TPV's shares were halted at the request of the company earlier on Monday.

Philips did not give a value for the deal, saying it would receive a deferred payment from TVP. All 3,600 employees at the TV business will transfer to the Hong Kong company.

TPV, which controls about 33 percent of the global computer monitor market, posted a near 20 percent rise in 2010 profit.

"It's a major positive," ING analyst Sjoerd Ummels, said of the deal, adding "It's clear (Van Houten) will address laggard businesses." These could include the audiovisual and multimedia business, which Philips said would be merged into its lifestyle entertainment unit in Hong Kong.

Van Houten said that two units acquired under his predecessor — home healthcare firm Respironics and lighting fixtures group Genlyte — are not yet showing cost synergies. — Reuters

Chandigarh, April 18
The Haryana government has decided to set up a ‘Foreign Investment and Non-Resident Indian Cell’ to attract foreign investment in the state and redress problems faced by NRI of Haryana domicile.

A spokesman of Industries and Commerce Department said that Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) had been designated as the nodal agency for investment-related matters, the Home Department would act as the nodal agency for redressing grievances relating to property, marital disputes, law and order and other related social issues.

The Cell would also create its web portal ‘Connect Haryana Forum’ to act as the single point contact for NRIs and PIOs and also for building up the necessary database, said the spokesman. The HSIIDC would undertake all necessary actions for development and update of the website and the Home Department would nominate a single point of contact to whom all relevant correspondence or grievances received in the cell, in electronic or paper form, would be forwarded and monitored alongwith a 'status tracking facility' to the person making such correspondence.