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Interest rates to remain high: SBI
Pratip Chaudhuri , SBI Chairman
Onion prices drop after export ban, but farmers hit streets
Exports rise 44% at $24 billion in Aug
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KG-D6 costs were not overstated, says RIL
Carl-Peter Forster
Maharashtra sugar mills boycott ethanol tenders of PSU oil firms
Cotton exports to remain unrestricted
AI may review orders for Boeing planes
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Interest rates to remain high: SBI
Chandigarh, September 9 “Interest rates are likely to remain high because inflation is high ... till such time, inflation is high, Reserve Bank finds it difficult to lower the interest,” SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri said. Describing pre-payment penalty as an anti-customer step, the SBI Chairman said that the bank had already waived such penalty on floating loans two months back. The Bank plans to add over 800 branches within the country. It will also open a foreign subsidiary in Australia, besides a new branch in Doha. “We have a network of over 12,000 branches, and we are looking at adding over 800 new branches. We will be adding 60 new branches in the Chandigarh circle,” he added. He added the Bank was also looking to increase the number of circles, from the present 14 to 17. “Banks should be doing well because the country is growing at 8 per cent. We think our deposits and loan growth should grow by 20 per cent in this fiscal,” he said. "We are coming out with a product for car loan in which EMI will be Rs 1,700 per lakh. If someone taken a loan of Rs 3 lakh then he will pay close to Rs 5,000 as instalment," he said, adding, "interest will also be calculated on daily balance." Asked about its Rs 20,000 crore right issue to fund its expansion plans, Chaudhuri said, "it is very much there and it should happen next month or so." This will allow the bank to raise capital from the market and fund its expansion plans. On the merger of SBI with associate banks, Chaudhary said that the Bank was likely to go in for the merger of two Banks, including State Bank of Patiala, by next year. "Each merger requires a lot of cash flow, and we will be able to go ahead with the mergers only next year,” he said. — With Agency Inputs
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Onion prices drop after export ban, but farmers hit streets
New Delhi, September 9 Wholesale rates of onion dropped to Rs 8-13 per kg in Azadpur market (Asia's biggest wholesale fruits & vegetables market) today against Rs 8-17 per kg The fall in the wholesale prices is expected to have a reflection on the retail markets from tomorrow. Onion is selling at Rs 25 a kg in retail in Delhi and NCR now. Yesterday, the government had decided to put a ban on onion exports to control retail prices of the bulb and the notification to this effect has been issued today. But, the farmers in the major producing regions of Maharashtra and Karnataka have launched an agitation against the ban, saying it is hitting hard on their livelihood. In Nashik (Maharashtra) farmers today boycotted onion auctions at various Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMC) protesting against ban on bulb's export. Farmers boycotted onion auctions at Lasalgaon, Pimpalgaon, Manmad, Kalwan and other APMCs and urged the Centre to lift the ban with immediate effect contending that they will face huge losses otherwise, APMC sources said. APMC sources at Lasalgaon told PTI that no trading was possible since morning. — PTI
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Exports rise 44% at $24 billion in Aug
New Delhi, September 9 Imports too grew by a faster pace of 41.8 per cent at $38.4 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $14.1 billion in August. Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar said merchandise shipments in August looked quite good, compared to the same month in 2010-11. However, he said the right approach would be to compare the August performance with that of July when exports had registered a steep increase of 82 per cent. Khullar said sequentially, shipments were down 17 per cent in August when compared to July. This situation was worrisome and the government should formulate a stimulus package well in time to counter any adverse impact, he added. During April-August 2011-12, exports have put up a robust annualised growth of 54.2 per cent at $134.5 billion.— PTI
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KG-D6 costs were not overstated, says RIL
Mumbai, September 9 The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has criticised Reliance and the government over development of KG D6 basin and called for revamping profit sharing arrangements from oil and gas blocks. The offshore KG basin was expected to contribute up to one-quarter the gas supply for India, but lower-than-expected output has left the energy-hungry nation more dependent on expensive, imported LNG to fuel power and fertiliser plants. Consulting firm Ernst & Young found no evidence suggesting KG D6 costs were overstated in purchases from third parties or from related parties, Reliance said, a day after the auditor submitted the report to parliament. “The KG D6 project faced considerable physical and execution environment challenges as well as difficulties faced in the E&P capital projects market,” it said, citing findings of IPA Inc, an independent project evaluation consultant. — Reuters
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Mumbai, September 9 Tata, India’s leading maker of trucks and buses and owner of the luxury Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) brands, said Forster resigned due to “unavoidable personal circumstances,” but will remain a non-executive member of the Tata Motors board. Forster’s exit comes as the venerable Tata group continues to search for a successor to Ratan Tata, who is set to a retire soon as chairman of the sprawling conglomerate, whose holdings range from salt and steel to software. That search is taking longer than planned. "I don't think Tata Motors is as one-man a company as Apple is, but given the fact that he was an industry veteran and had made some positive changes at JLR it is negative for the company," said Mads Kaiser, a Silkeborg, Denmark-based portfolio manager at JI India Equity Fund, which owns Tata Motors shares. Forster succeeded in turning around JLR, with the luxury unit contributing nearly 80 per cent of the company's profit in 2010-11. However, sales of the Nano, launched to much fanfare in March 2009 as the world's cheapest car, have been disappointing. Meanwhile, car sales in India fell 10 per cent in August, only the second monthly fall in nearly three years, dented by increasing interest rates, higher fuel prices and rising costs. Demand for cars in the world’s second-fastest growing auto market after China is expected to grow just 10-12 per cent this fiscal year, down from an earlier forecast of 16-18 per cent and compared with a 30 per cent jump in 2010-11. "This is a bad development. When the overall market condition is so difficult, a change in leadership could have been avoided," said Vineet Hetamasaria, a sector analyst with brokerage PINC Research. Last month, Tata Motors posted flat profit in its fiscal first quarter, lagging estimates as higher costs squeezed margins, and said rising interest rates in Asia's third-largest economy were a matter of concern. Forster joined Tata in February 2010 after heading General Motors in Europe.— Reuters
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Maharashtra sugar mills boycott ethanol tenders of PSU oil firms
Mumbai, September 9 Following a decision taken last month, Maharashtra’s sugar co-operatives decided not to put in bids for supplying ethanol to public sector oil companies. Oil companies have so far managed to procure less than 70 per cent of the 1 billion litre of ethanol required for the blending programme, sources said. “Only sugar mills from UP, and Gujarat have put in bids. Sugar mills in Maharashtra are waiting for higher prices,” says a senior official at the Maharashtra Federation of Sugar Co-operatives. Backed by Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, senior leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress Party are demanding that public sector oil companies pay Rs 35 per litre of ethanol sourced from sugar co-operatives. Last year, the oil companies hiked prices to Rs 27 per litre after sugar co-operatives undertook a similar boycott. Subsequently, the sugar co-operatives went on to extract transportation charges to deliver the ethanol to the collection points set up by the oil companies. Senior NCP leader and president, National Ethanol Manufacturer's Association, Vijaysinh Mohite Patil told reporters recently that the sugar co-operatives would divert ethanol to other industries like alcohol manufacturers, if the price was not raised to Rs 35 per litre. However, a section of the sugar co-operatives in the state want ethanol prices to be linked to petrol so that they do not have to negotiate for periodic increases in prices from the oil companies. Banding together under the banner of the Deccan Sugar Technologists Association (DSTA), office-bearers of the co-operatives recently demanded linking ethanol prices with that of petrol. “Whenever petrol prices are increased there should be a corresponding increase in ethanol prices,” Maharashtra’s minister for co-operation Harshvardhan Patil said at a function organized by the body recently.
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Cotton exports to remain unrestricted
New Delhi, September 9 “Yes, it will be under Open General Licence (OGL) for the next cotton season,” Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar told reporters here. The cotton season runs from October to September. The issue is believed to have been reviewed by senior ministers-finance, commerce and agriculture in the last two days. Against the estimated domestic consumption of 26.4 million bales, the production is pegged at 35.5 million bales next season, against 32.5 million bales in the current season, leaving room for exports, according to the Cotton Advisory Board (CAB). Exports were put on the restricted route early in the current season. An initial ceiling of 5.5 million bales was enhanced by one million bales later. The export curbs were imposed after the domestic textiles industry, hit by high commodity prices, had exerted pressure on the government to step in. However, the move had come in for a criticism from the Agriculture Ministry as also several chief ministers,including Narendra Modi from Gujarat. Finally, the government removed the export restrictions last month and put cotton on the OGL. — PTI
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AI may review orders for Boeing planes
New Delhi, September 9 “So far, only 20 of 50 wide-bodied aircraft have been delivered to Air India. The issue of remaining 30 wide-body aircraft for acquisition will be assessed in light of current financial situation of the company,” an official said. The ailing airline does not have the money to pay and "we cannot go begging all the time. It is difficult", the official, who did not wish to be identified, said. There were 27 Boeing 787 aircraft to be delivered but it has been delayed by three years. So, the government has not confirmed (the orders) as of now, officials said. The statement came in the backdrop of the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, which castigated the government for placing big aircraft orders, the merger of the two state-owned airlines and on other issues. Air India had ordered acquisition of 111 aircraft, of which 27 were Boeing 787s wide-bodied aircraft. The American aircraft manufacturer was supposed to have delivered the 787s by 2008, but delays caused by several factors including a strike by Boeing workers, the first of these planes are likely to be inducted by year-end. In March, Air India had accumulated a debt of Rs 42,570 crore.— PTI
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RCom’s triple download plan for 3G Volatility hits sales of Tanishq New channel from Sahara Network
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largest lender,
has said that lending rates would continue to be high in the wake of spiraling inflation.
“Interest rates are likely to remain high because inflation is high ... till such time, inflation is high, Reserve Bank finds it difficult to lower the interest,” SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri said.
Diesel version of Etios and Etios Liva launched