New Delhi, July 27
Asserting that it was not moving out of Manesar, despite the order of paying a heavy compensation to farmers, country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) today said it would start selling light commercial vehicles (LCVs) in the next two years.

Suzuki Motor Corp’s (SMC) Indian arm’s chairman RC Bhargava said the company will launch a diesel version of Suzuki ‘Carry’ LCV in India. The SMC Board has given a go-ahead for the manufacture and sale of ‘Carry’ and it would hit the Indian roads over the next two years.

Besides launching ‘Carry’, the company is developing another brand new LCV (code named Y9T), which would compete head-on with the Tata Ace.

Company officials said ‘Carry’ was initially brought in the Indian market along with the initial Maruti 800 model in 1983, but seeing the lack of response, the idea to launch an LCV was shelved. While the Maruti 800 model had received over 1,20,000 bookings in 1983, ‘Carry’ did not get even 2,000 bookings which made the manufacturing unviable.

Sources said the new ‘Carry’ would probably be a one tonne carrier with all modern features and would be the first offering from the country’s largest passenger car maker in the commercial vehicles segment, competing with the likes of Tatas and Mahindra and Mahindra.

It will develop a new version of Suzuki's LCV Carry, which will be powered by a diesel and compressed natural gas (CNG) engine option. Engineers from both MSIL and SMC would be working together on the new model for the Indian roads.

Bhargava said the company was entering the commercial vehicles segment due to ‘promising outlook’ and demand from both the domestic and export market. The company would be looking to export the LCV to some of the Asian and African countries. The company could achieve ‘substantial volumes’ in sales, Bhargava said.

‘Carry’ is a highly successful commercial vehicle for SMC and it has a strong base in Japan and other Asian countries after having been launched initially in 1961 and then being refurbished over the years.

Meanwhile, Bhargava re-asserted that MSIL would not shut down its manufacturing plant in Manesar (Gurgaon), despite the company facing the prospect of paying additional compensation worth around Rs 800 crore for the 600 acres (approx) of land where the plant sits.

Last month, the Supreme Court had asked the Punjab and Haryana High Court to recalculate the compensation to be paid to the landowners whose land was acquired in 1994 by the HSIDC.

To a specific question, Bhargava said, “How many times should I say that we are not quitting Manesar…the same question had come up even last year,” after the violence at the company’s most modern plant.

Maruti currently churns out 5 lakh cars annually from the Manesar set-up, which is set to rise to 7.5 lakh. The company's third manufacturing line at Manesar plant, with a capacity to roll out 2.5 lakh vehicles, will be ready by September this year.

New Delhi, July 27
A Delhi court today issued fresh summons to Reliance ADA Group chairman Anil Ambani and his wife Tina Ambani to appear as prosecution witnesses before it next month in the 2G spectrum allocation case.

While Anil has been summoned on August 22, Tina has been asked to appear before the court on August 23.

According to court sources, special CBI judge OP Saini has taken on record the list of witnesses to be called for recording of evidence submitted by the agency and issued fresh summons to them.

Besides Anil and Tina Ambani, the CBI has given the names of Reliance Energy Ltd officials Anita Gokhale and Kamalkant Gupta, CFSL experts Deepak R Handa and Vijay Verma and also a metropolitan magistrate.

The court had on July 19 allowed CBI's plea to make Anil and Tina Ambani prosecution witness in the case as their testimonies may throw light on alleged investment of over Rs 990 crore by his group companies in Swan Telecom, facing trial in the case along with its promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka.

It had said CBI's plea to summon Ambani, his wife and 11 others as prosecution witnesses was essential for arriving at a just decision in the case.

The court issued the fresh summons to the couple after Ambani, who was scheduled to depose before it on July 26, had sought exemption from personal appearance on the ground that he has "pre-scheduled" business engagements. — PTI

New Delhi, July 27
Under pressure from the Coal Ministry, country’s largest coal producer Coal India Ltd (CIL) has finally signed fuel supply pacts (FSAs) with NTPC’s 16 power plants and joint ventures as part of the 82 FSAs it had inked till Thursday.

"CIL has signed 82 FSAs of 34,793 MW capacities. These include 11 FSAs with NTPC and 5 FSAs with its joint ventures. Besides this, FSAs in 6 cases of 4,480 MW capacity with NTPC and 5 cases of joint ventures of NTPC are under process of signing," an official statement said.

“Eleven more FSAs are ready to be signed shortly with NTPC or its JVs, while another 23 FSAs with state and private sector entities are in the pipeline. These FSAs were part of the 131 FSAs for a capacity of 60,678 MW which CIL was directed to sign in February, 2012. This will substantially increase the power generation during the current and subsequent years,” the statement said.

The move comes after the Coal Ministry had directed the public sector coal producer to sign the FSAs with the power generation companies, including NTPC, before finalising power purchase agreements with them. The instructions had been issued in April last. NTPC chief Arup Roy Choudhury said it had agreed on almost all terms of the FSA and was ready to sign the agreements provided CIL promised to give a minimum calorific value coal.

New Delhi, July 27
Corporation Bank on Saturday reported a 2 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 377.9 crore for the first quarter ended June, 2013. The total income of the bank rose to Rs 4,852.6 crore in the April-June quarter from Rs 3,978.2 crore in the same period of last year.

As of June 30, 2013, the bank's gross NPAs rose to 2.37 per cent of gross advances as against 1.71 per cent in the same quarter of the previous fiscal. — PTI

Q: My husband had opened an HUF account but he died without ever using it. We have a daughter and a son (both major). I want to close this account but the bank quotes various obstacles - one today, another tomorrow. The latest is that my son must open a new HUF account and only then the old account will be closed. There is less than Rs 20,000 in that HUF account. Please guide.

— Sam Ahuja

A: You have perhaps not understood the bank correctly. An HUF never comes to an end. Your husband was the Karta of the HUF and after his demise, your son becomes the Karta. Therefore, the name of the Karta has got to be replaced in the records of the bank.

Once this formality is completed, he can withdraw all amount to the credit of the account, leaving the minimum balance required as per the bank Rules. Yes, the HUF account can also be closed after dissolving the HUF. This is a clumsy process and would require some assistance from a consultant.

We would like you to continue the account because it would become a tax-saving avenue for your family, once your son begins earning. Your husband was wise in opening this account.

Q: I have sold a plot of land inherited by me from my father. He had purchased it in 1983. I have myself owned this plot now for 15 years. Is there any exemption for such money received? Or is it treated as a long-term capital gain?

— Jagdeep

A: It will be treated as long-term capital gains. The cost of acquisition will be the cost paid by your father. However, indexation will be taken from the date you started owning the plot. Tax on these gains can be saved by investing the capital gains in bonds u/s 54EC or by investing the net sale proceeds in another house property.