The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	NSEL wants action against defaulters Forms settlement panel; payment plan by Aug 14 Mumbai, August 5 Staring at a payment default, the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) today said it has formed an independent panel to advise and monitor the process for settling Rs 5,600 crore dues and wanted strict action against brokers not cooperating with the payment plan. Meanwhile, the government said that Forward Markets Commission, which regulates commodity trading, would be empowered to oversee the NSEL settlement. NSEL promoter Financial Technologies' CMD Jignesh Shah said, "We have constituted an independent committee of eminent persons for advising and monitoring the five-month payout process in an orderly manner and we will take strict action against members not cooperating with the settlement plan." "All members, for example plant-owners, who will not cooperate in payout process...we have to report to FMC and strict action should be taken so that investors get money." On payment schedule, he said the plan should come by August 14. "The calendar for payout will be declared." Shah was interacting with the media in a hurriedly called press meet, but he dodged most of the questions saying National Spot Exchange (NSEL) CEO will answer them. NSEL chief executive Anjani Sinha, who was supposed to address the media jointly with Shah, could not make it as he was reportedly meeting with the FMC brass. Members of the independent panel include former Company Law Board chairman Sharad Upasani, former Bombay High Court judge RJ Kochar, former SEBI and LIC chief GN Bajpai, and D Sivanandan, former DGP of Maharashtra. A major crisis erupted at NSEL after it suspended most trades on its platform on July 31, raising concerns of payment default. Shah said under the proposed payment schedule, members will repay the dues in phases over the next five months, with delayed payments attracting a 16 per cent interest. The settlement will be fully in cash, and none of the physical stocks will be handed over to investors to whom money is due. NSEL said the exchange will collate the payment plan from buyers and finalise pay-in and pay-out in consultation with the FMC and then announce it to the market. Yesterday, the exchange said eight entities were willing to pay about Rs 2,181 crore as per the scheduled due date or earlier. Another 13 entities have offered to pay about Rs 3,107 crore in weekly instalments, while negotiations are on with three others for payment of Rs 311 crore. — PTI Financial Tech shares rebound 31% Shares of Financial Technologies India, the promoter of NSEL, bounced back on Monday by nearly 31 per cent on heavy buying after investors judged the massive 72 per cent plunge in the previous two sessions as excessive. FTIL's scrip surged 30.88 per cent to settle at Rs 197.95 on BSE. The stock had slumped 72 per cent over the past two days amid problems at NSEL.
	SC dismisses PIL against Coal India stake sale Legal Correspondent New Delhi, August 5 The Supreme Court today dismissed a PIL against 10 per cent stake sale in Coal India Ltd (CIL) in 2010, observing that the government had followed all procedures relating to disinvestment. A Bench comprising Justices RM Lodha and MB Lokur noted that the government had offered the shares in the “best price band” of Rs 226-245 which had been arrived at on the basis of enterprises value, earnings per share and the book price. The Supreme Court rejected the contention of the PIL petitioner that the government had incurred a loss of Rs 1.7 lakh crore due to a flawed asset valuation. The government had not taken into account the actual coal reserves which had been revised to 124 billion tonnes, up from 64 billion tonnes, the petitioner contended. The Bench pointed out that the government had subjected the stake sale to proper tendering, valuation, red-herring prospectus and wide publicity to generate competition. All this was regulated by SEBI and the Finance Ministry, it noted further. Additional Solicitor-General Sidharth Luthra also contended that every thing related to the disinvestment had been kept in the public domain and as such the process was transparent and fair. The SC also did not agree with the petitioner that CIL was deliberately under-performing to enable under-valuation of the shares. The Bench said the need for disinvestment had arisen because of the under-performance. Further, no body had raised any objection during or after the disinvestment and the petition had approached the SC after a lapse of three years, it pointed out.
	BHEL divestment plan shelved on valuation concerns New Delhi, August 5 The disinvestment department has shelved plans to sell a stake in power equipment maker BHEL, citing valuation concerns and a depleting order book. Sources said the department has withdrawn the 5 per cent disinvestment proposal in view of BHEL's low share price, decreased capital expenditure and less demand for power-sector equipment. The BHEL share hit a one-year low on the BSE today, declining 19.64 per cent to Rs 120.05, after the company's June quarter net profit almost halved to Rs 465.43 crore on account of lower sales. The scrip has lost over 60 per cent since 2011, when the stake sale was approved. "The power sector itself is not doing well, which has depleted BHEL's order book. The share price has also been taking a beating and so the DoD decided to withdraw the disinvestment proposal," an official said. The Heavy Industries Ministry, the administrative ministry of the company, has for long opposed the proposed disinvestment in state-run BHEL, citing unfavourable market conditions. It wanted the issue not to look like a ‘distress sale’ but rather one that would reap ‘good value.’ The plan to offload the government's 5 per cent stake in BHEL through a follow-on public offer was approved by the Cabinet in August 2011. The government holds a 67.72 per cent stake in the Navratna company. However, market conditions led to a delay in the issue and the company in April 2012 withdrew the draft prospectus filed with market regulator SEBI. In the first quarter of the current fiscal, BHEL's net sales declined 23.7 per cent to Rs 6,352.55 crore from Rs 8,326.24 crore a year earlier, according to a company filing to the BSE on Friday. Sluggish prospects in the domestic power sector as well as cheap overseas imports of power equipment have adversely affected BHEL's business. — PTI Scrip plunges nearly 20% Mumbai: Extending early losses, shares of BHEL nosedived on Monday nearly 20 per cent, wiping out Rs 6,976 crore from its market value, after the state-run firm's first quarter net profit nearly halved. The company's scrip tanked 19.08 per cent to close the day at Rs 120.90 on BSE. Intra-day, the stock plummeted 19.64 per cent to Rs 120.05 - its 52-week low. On NSE, the scrip tumbled 19.65 per cent to settle at Rs 120.20. The stock was the worst performer among the blue-chip firms on both the key indices - Sensex and Nifty. Following the decline in the stock, the company's market value was eroded by Rs 6,976 crore to Rs 29,591 crore. — PTI
	India has trade deficit with 80 nations: Anand Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 5 India had trade deficit with as many as 80 countries, including China, Australia and Iraq, in 2012-13. "India has a trade deficit with 80 countries in 2012-13. Top 10 countries are China, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Venezuela, Nigeria, Australia, and Indonesia," Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. He said the contribution of trade deficit of these 10 countries to the trade deficit is 76.5 per cent. India's exports during 2012-13 stood at $300.3 billion, while imports aggregated at $491.9 billion. Trade deficit stood at $191.6 billion. He said the global economic crisis, the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and the slowdown in developed economies have adversely impacted demand for India's exports. "The international prices of petroleum, fertilisers, gold, edible oil have increased. Their demand has also increased. These lead to a higher value of imports. As a result, the trade deficit has increased," he added. Sharma said the government has received various representations from trade bodies to give impetus to exports. "Several steps have been taken to reduce trade deficit by imposing restrictions on import of gold," he added. The government has recently announced to enhance rate of interest subsidy to 3% from 2%.
	Will shift output from Pune if strike continues, Bajaj Auto warns workers Pune, August 5 Bajaj Auto chief Rajiv Bajaj today gave a week's ultimatum to the top management and the union to resolve the 42-day-old strike at the Chakan plant, failing which he warned that the company will be forced to move the board to shift production to other plants. Giving an ultimatum to workers to end the strike, the Bajaj Auto managing director and chief executive told reporters here that "unless the issue is resolved within a week, we will be forced to move at least 50 per cent of production and production capacity to the Aurangabad and Pant Nagar plants. "I will be moving the board to seek their permission to move production out of Chakan if the strike is not resolved within a week." However, he ruled out the complete shuttering of the Chakan facility saying the main R&D facility was based in the city. Against the backdrop of the company having been pushed to the third slot in the July sales sweepstake by the new-comer Honda Motorcycles, Bajaj said: "I cannot stake my sales in the second half too. So the company will be seeking board permission to move production capacity to our other plants." Since June 25, Chakan plant workers are on strike demanding a steep wage hike or 500 shares each to employees through an ESOP, besides unconditionally taking back of the sacked workers. "We have been patient all these while. But now we are ready to take a tough call, and we will take that next week," Bajaj said. On taking back the sacked workers, Bajaj said the management is ready to take back seven of the 22 suspended workers against whom there are only the minor charges without an enquiry. For the remaining 15 others, he said the company has proposed to set up an independent committee to probe the charges against them. — PTI
	No plan to surrender Bengal land: Infosys Kolkata, August 5 IT major Infosys today said it would not give up the 50-acre land it had been allotted for its maiden campus in West Bengal, even as the project is to take off due to deadlock over the issue of SEZ status for over 2 years. The company is open to considering an alternative model with SEZ-like benefits for its Rajarhat campus in the eastern fringes of Kolkata, but said it was up to the state government to come up with a substitute to attract investments. Replying to a specific query, Infosys executive vice-chairman S (Kris) Gopalakrishnan said the company would not give up the land provided to it by the state. The state had earlier allotted 50 acres of land to the company for Rs 75 crore. On the alternative model for the project, he said: "It is not necessary that the SEZ tag is important for us. We are ready to accept any other alternative avenue of the associated SEZ benefits are given." In a SEZ (Special Economic Zone), tax credits are given to units which was 100 per cent for the first five years, 50 per cent for the next five years and 50 per cent for the remaining period, he told reporters. Meanwhile, the West Bengal Industry Minister, Partha Chatterjee, today said he would talk to Gopalakrishnan about the company's proposed Kolkata project. — PTI
	Re bounces back; closes 22 paise up at 60.88/$ Mumbai, August 5 The rupee today recovered from all-time closing low to end 22 paise higher at 60.88 against the dollar amid fresh selling of the US currency by banks and exporters and inflows of foreign capital into stocks. The rupee resumed higher at 61 per dollar from Friday's close of 61.10 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market and moved up to 60.72. However, the early gains were trimmed and the rupee ended at 60.88 per dollar, a gain of 22 paise, or 0.36 per cent, on some demand from banks and importers as the US currency strengthened overseas. The rupee had lost 70 paise, or 1.16 per cent, in the previous two sessions. Today's gain was the most since July 24, when the local currency added 63 paise to close at 59.13. — PTI
	New bank licences to take some more time: RBI Mumbai, August 5 Ruling out relaxation in norms for grant of new bank licences, the RBI today said though it has started the scrutiny of applications, the exercise will take some time. "We have started the scrutiny of applications. It is quite an extensive work because now we are looking at corporate groups. The workload is quite heavy in that sense," Deputy Governor Anand Sinha, in-charge of banking supervision, told reporters here on the sidelines of a Ficci event. Sinha also said the RBI would set up an external scrutiny panel after the internal scrutiny was over. — PTI