New Delhi, June 27
Expressing keenness on partnering with India for setting up smart cities, Networking solutions giant, Cisco today said consistent tax policies and market access will enable growth of the manufacturing sector in the country.

Cisco chairman and CEO John Chambers today met the Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Amitabh Kant, and discussed various issues such as hurdles that the company is facing in India and their experience in developing smart cities.

During the meeting, Cisco said "they are very bullish about India's growth" and are willing to redouble their efforts to increase their presence in the country, according to a source.

Chambers is believed to have told the secretary that "market access and a consistent tax policy" are required to set up manufacturing base.

Cisco indicated that the company also wants to partner India in setting up of smart cities. Speaking at a CII event later, Chambers said Cisco looks forward to playing an active role in enabling digitisation of Indian economy and developing India as a strategic business hub.

Observing that the fine line between IT and business is blurring and these are now being seen as one, John Chambers said: "The more IT and business strategies are aligned, the better an organisation will perform compared to its competitors".

In its election manifesto, BJP talked about developing 100 smart cities.

The company is already engaged in information and communications technology related matters for smart cities proposed under the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project.

India has proposed smart cities with modern infrastructure under the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project. These cities would have self-sustainable habitats with minimal pollution levels, maximum recycling, optimised energy supplies and efficient public transportation.

After the meeting, Chambers said the company appreciates the way the new government is moving, mainly in areas such as digitisation, bringing benefits of internet to all citizens, healthcare, education and job creation.

"India has a bright and prosperous future. We are open to the key goals of the government. Electronic manufacturing is something we could take a hard look at. We laid electronic manufacturing in China 15 years ago and brought the concept of electronic manufacturing and outsourcing in China," he said.

Meanwhile, addressing the conference, CII president Ajay Shriram said: "Digital inclusion can help small and medium enterprises become more competitive, give a fillip to key sectors such as agriculture, infrastructure, education and healthcare and help in job creation for the youth". 

New Delhi, June 27
ONGC today said it will invest over Rs 5,700 crore in redevelopment of its giant Mumbai High (North) oil and gas field off the west coast.

The project will yield an incremental 6.997 million tonnes of crude oil and 5.253 billion cubic metres of gas by 2030, the company said.

"The board of ONGC approved the proposal for redevelopment of its giant offshore field - Mumbai High (North) involving a capital investment of Rs 5,706.47 crore, including foreign exchange component of Rs 4,421.76 crore," it said.

The project is designed to carry forward the success of the previous two editions of redevelopment projects of the fields that were discovered four decades ago. This will give a new lease of life to the giant field.

The project cost includes Rs 2,586.42 crore in creation of surface facilities, Rs 1,992.11 crore in new oil and gas wells and Rs 1,127.94 crore in sidetracking of existing wells.

"The facilities envisaged under the project are installation of five well platforms, one clamp-on facility for wells at an existing platform, associated pipelines and modifications at 13 platforms, drilling of 52 new wells and 24 sidetrack wells," it said. — PTI

New Delhi, June 27
Representatives of United Forum of Bank Unions today met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and sought his intervention for early settlement of wage revision.

"We submitted our representation to the Finance Minister and apprised him of developments with regard to wage negotiations with the Indian Banks' Association (IBA)," UFBU convener MV Murali said.

He said the Finance Minister assured the delegation that the Financial Services Secretary would look into the matter and the settlement process would be expedited.

The delegation informed that more than 10 rounds of discussions have taken place so far on the issue but IBA is delaying the settlement.

"Despite a lapse of 20 months since the start of negotiations, no significant improvement has been made towards expeditious conclusion of settlement. Moreover, the IBA is offering the least increase quoting non-affordability of banks in paying higher wages partly because of increase in NPAs," Murali said. — PTI

Mumbai, June 27
India's largest software services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is working on projects of e-governance, which can help in checking corruption, chairman Cyrus Mistry said today.

Mistry, who is also chairman of the over $100-billion Tata Group, told shareholders at the 19th Annual General Meeting of TCS here that the company is looking into the appointment of a woman director on its Board.

"TCS is involved in a number of e-governance projects in India and abroad. They can help curb corruption," he said. He said the company will take up the issue of setting up new R&D centres when the business requirement happens.

On appointment of a woman director, he said: "The nomination committee is looking into the appointment of a woman director."

Mistry told the shareholders: "We have developed a safety app for ensuring safety of our women employees." TCS's CSR expenditure has gone up to Rs 93 crore, he said. "We've to do a lot more in that area (CSR)," he added.

The company added a net 9,751 employees in the fourth quarter and a net 24,268 employees during FY 14. — PTI 

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