The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	SEBI now holding individuals accountable for irregularities Jaipur, January 6 To bring greater accountability in stock market, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is now holding individuals also accountable along with their companies for any misdeeds, chairman UK Sinha said today. “We will be presenting guidelines for better corporate governance in listed companies in coming days,” Sinha said, addressing a conference here on ‘New Initiatives - Investor Protection and Investor Education.’ He said improvement, in terms of rules, would also be made in the system of companies merger and acquisition. Saying that one mistake can push market 10 years back, Sinha stressed that the system has to be made accountable, hence SEBI is now making individuals accountable, along with companies, for any misdeed and penalises them. He said there was a need for a well-managed market and proper regularisation for attracting more investment. The conference was organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce to create awareness among investors and educate them in perspective to the current investment trends. Earlier in the day, SEBI opened its office premises here that will facilitate issues related to investor protection and education in the region. “Grievance redressal, investors' training and regularisation of brokers will our key focus areas here. To protect investors’ interests is our top priorities and we will train them in programmes here,” he said. “The jurisdiction of the local office at Jaipur whose premises was inaugurated today extends to the state of Rajasthan,” SEBI said in a release today. “The local office of Jaipur is under the administrative control and jurisdiction of SEBI’s Regional Office at Ahmedabad,” it added. — PTI
	RBI may hold rates on Jan 28 policy review New Delhi, January 6 The Reserve Bank of India is likely to hold rates in its next policy meet on January 28, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a report today. According to the global brokerage, the July tightening measures have pushed recovery beyond June 2014 and the falling vegetable prices are likely to pull down December CPI inflation to 9.4 per cent. “We continue to expect RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan to hold rates on January 28,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA-ML) said in a note. In the mid-quarter review of monetary policy on December 18, the RBI left key policy rates unchanged but said it will hike interest rates if inflation does not subside in line with the expected declining trend. The RBI had kept short-term lending rate unchanged at 7.75%, while the cash reserve ratio (CRR) remained at 4 per cent. Since taking over as the RBI chief in September, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan had increased the key rate by 0.5 per cent in two installments. “The weak industrial growth (0.6 per cent November) should support our view that July tightening measures have pushed recovery beyond June," the BofA ML research report said adding that the FY14 growth is likely to clock an anaemic 4.7 per cent (and FY15 5.4 per cent). The falling vegetable prices should pull down December CPI inflation to 9.4 per cent (from 11.2 per cent in November) and December WPI inflation to 6.5% (from 7.5 per cent in November). The December CPI inflation data will be released on January 13 and December WPI inflation on January 14. — PTI ‘Firms may issue debt to NRIs as bonus’ The RBI on Monday allowed Indian companies to issue non-convertible or redeemable preference shares or debentures to non-resident shareholders from their reserves as bonus. “On a review and with a view to rationalising and simplifying the procedures, it has been decided that an Indian company may issue non-convertible/redeemable preference shares or debentures to non-resident shareholders...by way of distribution as bonus from its general reserves,” the RBI said.
	Ficci unveils economic agenda for sustained growth Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 6 The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) has underlined the need to strengthen key enablers for growth of enterprises and job creation through a multi-pronged economic agenda for the return of the economy to a sustained high growth path. The agenda was released at the maiden press conference of Sidharth Birla, president, Ficci. “We wish to see India get back to a high growth track. Healthy economic growth on a sustained basis is imperative for job creation and the long term well-being of the nation. Adding a needed 10-12 million jobs annually requires growth of the order of 8-9% over a long period,” Birla said. He said accelerating investments in the industrial sector is central. “There is a need to nurture and maintain a positive state of mind amongst existing and potential entrepreneurs. A healthy macro-environment is a precondition for higher investments," he added. On the issue of investments, Birla said clarity in the policy formulation is essential. "We must be seen as a nation inviting capital. Clarity in the policy formulation, greater certainty in legislative interpretation besides time-bound, transparent implementation of policies with minimal discretion is what business relentlessly seeks.” Citing that investment is an act of faith, Birla said, “Mutual trust between industry, society and government is central to investments. Both perception and real gaps created need to be addressed through executive action.”
	IT spending may touch $3.8 trillion this year: Gartner New Delhi, January 6 Global IT spending is projected to total $3.8 trillion in 2014 as against $3.7 trillion in the last year. In 2013, the market experienced flat growth, growing at 0.4% on a year-on-year basis. According to the latest forecast by Gartner, a research firm, the spending on devices (including PCs, ultramobiles, mobile phones and tablets) contracted 1.2% in 2013, but it will grow 4.3% in 2014. The enterprise software spending growth continues to be the strongest throughout the forecast period. The 2014 annual growth rate is expected to be 6.8%. “Investment is coming from exploiting analytics to make B2C processes more efficient. It will be aligned to B2B analytics where the annual spending is expected to grow at 10.6% in 2014,” said Richard Gordon, managing vice-president, Gartner. — TNS
	BIZ TALK Jakson Power Solutions eyes 10% overall revenue growth Sameer Gupta managing director, Jakson Power Solutions talks to Sanjeev Sharma Jakson Power Solutions, one of the leading turnkey power solution companies known for gensets, is venturing into renewable energy projects. The 65-year-old company is financially conservative and has been growing through internal resources without having got listed. In an interview, Sameer Gupta talks about the flat year for diesel gensets and foray into the solar power sector which will boost revenue going ahead. Q: How have the sales of diesel gensets been this year? A: The sales have been rather flat in the current financial year as there was better power supply in the country and that has resulted in some erosion of demand from both industrial and infrastructure segments. While it will be early to arrive at any firm estimate, we may see a small de-growth in the current year. Q: What is the co-relation between power availability and the sales of diesel gensets? A: Better power availability impacts residential segment’s demand as alternatives for short-term power outages like inverters offer an improved cost-benefit analysis. However, the demand for gensets from segments like industry, infrastructure or services would not get adversely impacted even with improved grid supply. Theoretically, the usage of gensets should come down with improved power availability which would impact after-sales revenue but as per our experience, improved grid supply results in higher demand of backup gensets for emergency power. In this era of IT, we are so much dependent on power today, that even with improved grid supply, customers would need to install gensets since they will be left without backup power in case of power failures which will impact all critical applications. Q: Recently, you launched solar-powered gensets in the Indian market. What was the response to it? A: The concept of solar-powered gensets is revolutionary since we have abundant sunshine in the country. We have already secured decent orders from both private and government customers post launch. At present this is a niche market. In coming times, these gensets would in demand particularly in distributed power and rural electrification applications. There is a lot of merit in going for solar-powered gensets because they are cost effective and environment friendly. Q: What is the rationale for venturing into solar plants and what are your plans? A: Power is our core business and by venturing into solar plants we are able to offer power solutions from diesel to renewable, including turnkey electrical contracts and EPC solutions as single-window services to our customers. We have invested in 20 MW IPP and yet another company owned 10 MW IPP is under implementation. We intend to own 100 MW solar plants over the period of time. We have already executed EPC of 40 MW and another 20 MW is under execution which includes NTPC. We are positioned to be an EPC player for land-based power plants and roof top solutions. We are expecting big growth for the company by venturing into this field. Q: What is your revenue and profit target for this year? How much do you see these rising in the next FY? A: For the ongoing financial year, our overall revenue would be more or less flat. This year, we are expected to lose on revenue from the genset business but we would be gain significantly from electrical contracting, EPC and solar business. We should be close to Rs 1,450 crore in overall revenue while there would be a hit on the bottomline. For the next year, we are targeting 10% growth on our overall revenue. Q: What are your plans for diversification into hotels? A: We have forayed into the hospitality sector. To begin with, we will shortly have three operational properties, each of about 75 rooms in upcoming industrial belts. This is a unique business model which will offer value with best quality to customers at affordable price. We would like to explore expanding our hospitality business after setting up the three proposed properties in which we would be investing around Rs 150 crore.