The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	RIL inks Rs 12,000-cr tower sharing pact with RCom Tribune News Service New Delhi, June 7 A day after announcing major plans for its 4G platform rollout later this year or early next year, Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries’ subsidiary Reliance Jio Infocomm today signed a Rs 12,000-crore tower sharing deal with Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Communications (RCom). Having already announced plans to provide voice over IP (VOIP), RIL’s sister concern Reliance Jio Infocomm would be using RCom’s towers to provide services to its subscribers. This agreement follows the Rs 1,200-crore inter-city optic-fiber sharing agreement signed by the two companies in April. The agreement provides for joint working arrangements to configure the scope of additional towers to be built at new locations to ensure deep penetration and seamless delivery of next generation services. A statement issued by RIL said, “Under the terms of the agreement, Reliance Jio Infocomm will utilise up to 45,000 ground and rooftop-based towers across RCom’s nationwide network for accelerated rollout of its state-of-the-art 4G services”. Reliance Jio Infocomm is the only company which had in 2010 won a pan-India spectrum for 4G services but is yet to start commercial services and has already laid out optic fibre network throughout the country. Yesterday, at the shareholders’ meeting in Mumbai, RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani had clearly laid out the roadmap for Reliance Jio Infocomm, which now seems to be his pet project. The project is more close to Mukesh Ambani as it was he who had initially started Reliance Communications but had to part with during his split with brother Anil Ambani. During the shareholders meet, Mukesh Ambani said the 4G venture of RIL would have a 10,000-member team next year from the current 3,000. “From less than 700 professionals a year ago, most of them based in our Navi Mumbai campus, the Reliance Jio team has grown rapidly to a national footprint of over 3,000 professionals today,” he told the shareholders while adding, “And we estimate that over the next year we will grow the team further to a national strength of nearly 10,000 professionals”. According to analysts, Reliance Jio is set to intensify competition in the low-margin telecom space with a bouquet of services under the 4G platform at drastically lower prices. With the government set to bring in the unified licence regime, Reliance Jio with its all-India optic fiber network would be in a position to provide its subscribers with services at much lower costs than the other telecom operators. “Our services will not be confined to only data and voice but there will be a bouquet of services catering to everyone’s need ranging from telephony to social media,” Mukesh Ambani said after the meeting. Reports say Reliance Jio will offer ultra-futuristic 4G services at “one-hundredth of current cost.” This would mean that if a 3G video call currently costs Rs 6 per minute, RIL can offer it at 6 paise per minute. At present, Bharti Airtel offers 4G services in Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chandigarh and Pune. It charges Rs 950 per month for downloading 6 GB of data. Its data card (4G LTE USB modem) is priced at Rs 5,000. Apart from 4G handsets, SIM cards, chipsets and dongles, Reliance Jio also plans to launch a 4G Wi-Fi card, which would be of the size of a visiting card and becomes a personal wi-fi hotspot. (These would create hotspots to connect various devices on high-speed data.) Subscribers would not need a 3G or 4G-enabled handset to access internet, nor switch the operator to avail of RIL’s 4G services. Deal Dynamics Reliance Jio Infocomm will use RCom’s towers to provide services to its subscribers The company will offer a bouquet of services under 4G platform at drastically lower prices Apart from 4G handsets, SIM cards, chipsets and dongles, Reliance Jio also plans to launch a 4G Wi-Fi card Subscribers will not need a 3G or 4G-enabled handset to access internet, nor switch the operator to avail of RIL’s 4G services
	Show-cause notices to 11 cos for not developing coal mines Tribune News Service New Delhi, June 7 Acting on the recommendations of the Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG), which went into the progress of development of coal mines allocated to various firms, the Coal Ministry has issued notices to 11 coal firms seeking an explanation for not developing the blocks and why the same should not be de-allocated. The show-cause notices issued yesterday has been sent to both the private and public sector companies, including Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, Monnet Ispat, NTPC, Rathi Udyog Ltd, Birla Corporation Ltd, Jaiprakash Associates and GVK Power. The move follows the meeting of the IMG on May 1 last in which it had recommended to the Coal Ministry for de-allocating the coal blocks allocated to these firms as there had not been any development of these mines. The notices were issued for 10 coal blocks that include Utkal-B1, Pakri Barwadih, Urtan North and Mandla North coal block. Official at the Coal Ministry said show-cause notices would be issued in regard to a total of 30 coal blocks on which the IMG took the decision in its meeting last month. Issuing of the show-cause notices to these 11 firms are part of the decision. The notices are being issued as part of the government’s crackdown on these companies for not developing the mines. Last year, in a similar exercise, the government had issued show-cause notices to 58 coal block allottees and de-allocated blocks of some developers besides deducting their bank guarantees.
	CCEA meet on coal pricing put off Tribune News Service New Delhi, June 7 The meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on the contentious issue of coal price pooling scheduled for today was postponed. No fresh date for the meeting has been fixed as of now, an official said. The Coal Ministry said a revised note had been submitted by the ministry for the consideration of the CCEA. While having given an in-principle clearance for allowing the coal price pooling in February, the CCEA in its meeting under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan had rejected the proposed mechanism in April. While no formal reason was given for burying the proposal, but sources said the CCEA decided to bring in different mechanisms to procure imported coal for different kind of power projects. Price pooling is the mechanism of averaging the price of imported and indigenous coal. Differences between the coal and power ministry on how the impact of higher imported coal prices will be shared between Coal India (CIL) and power companies, has been a stumbling block for the final call.
	RBI restricts loans against gold by co-op banks Tribune News Service Mumbai, June 7 The RBI has extended the restrictions on loans against gold coins to co-operative banks as well. In a notification issued here, the central bank said central and state co-operative banks which issue such loans “should ensure that the weight of the coin(s) does not exceed 50 gm per customer”. Earlier, RBI had issued such restrictions to banks which were not in the co-operative sector. According to RBI officials, customers of banks who purchase gold coins from these institutions often apply for loans against them. The RBI also added that loans issued to customers against gold ornaments, gold jewellery and gold coins (weighing up to 50 gm) should be within the board approved limit. Both the Finance Ministry and the central bank are concerned about the country's gold imports which are worsening the current account deficit. On Thursday, the Central Government increased the import duty on gold to 8 per cent from 6 per cent.
	Jet Airways’ CEO quits Mumbai, June 7 Jet Airways chief executive Nikos Kardassis has resigned after a five-year stint with the company, and chief operating officer Capt Hameed Ali is the interim chief executive, the airline said today. The airline said Kardassis resigned with effect from June 5, but it did not give any reason. This was his second innings with Jet. Ever since the airline clinched a stake sale deal with the Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways in the last week of April, whereby it agreed to sell 24 per cent stake for Rs 2,042 crore, the industry was abuzz with speculation that Kardassis was on his way out. — PTI
	Sensex closes at 6-week low Mumbai, June 7 In a volatile session, the BSE Sensex today failed to build on early gains and closed 90 points down at six-week low as rate-sensitive sectors like auto and banks saw selling pressure ahead of RBI policy review, amid sustained weakness in rupee that tumbled below 57-mark. Taking a U-turn in second half after gaining 192 points, the Sensex saw profit-booking as global investors also adopted a cautious stance ahead of US jobs data, said traders. Sensex ended at at nearly six-week low of 19,429.23, a fall of 90.26 points or 0.46 per cent. It was second day of losses after the index declined by 48.73 points yesterday. Ahead of its mid-quarter policy on June 17, RBI today said its monetary actions in the coming months will be determined by the "monsoon outlook" and ensuing impact on inflation. This triggered selling by investors, who were betting on a rate cut by RBI this month, said experts. The broader NSE 50-issue CNX Nifty dropped by 40.40 points, or 0.68 per cent, to end below 5,900-mark at 5,881.00 - a level not seen since April 26, 2013. — PTI
	Rupee loses 22 paise, ends below 57-mark/$ Mumbai, June 7 The rupee today closed below the key 57-mark against US dollar for the first time in a year sliding by 22 paise to 57.06. At the Forex market, it resumed higher at 56.70 on initial rise in local stocks. It, however, later turned negative on heavy dollar demand from importers, mainly oil refiners, to touch a low of 57.12. Rupee finally ended at 57.06, a fall of 22 paise or 0.39 per cent. — PTI