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Government cancels SEZs of Hindalco, Essar, Adani
Biz talk
Pareek appointed Tata Motors’ president
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Rupee plummets to 7-month low ‘Economic conditions favour rate
cut’
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Government cancels SEZs of Hindalco, Essar, Adani
New Delhi, September 29 The decision was taken in the meeting of the Board of Approval (BoA) headed by Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher on September 18. “The Board noted that the progress made by the following developers/co-developers is not satisfactory. The Board, after deliberations, decided to cancel the formal approval/notification/co- developer status, as the case may be, in 9 cases,” the Commerce Ministry said. It said the developers have to refund the duty benefits availed by them. “The approval is subject to the Development Commissioner furnishing a certificate... that the developer has not availed any tax/duty benefits under SEZ Act/Rules or has refunded any such benefits availed by it and subject to the state government furnishing it’s no objection certificate to the proposal,” it added. Hindalco Industries had proposed to set up an aluminium product SEZ in Orissa. The formal approval to the developer was granted in July 2007. The developer was granted extension from time to time and the last extension granted expired on December 31, 2013. Essar Jamnagar SEZ Ltd, which had proposed to set up a multi-product zone in Gujarat, got formal approval in August 2006. It was expired in August 2009. The developer did not make any request for further extension of approval. Similarly, Adani Townships & Real Estate Company Ltd had proposed an IT/ITeS zone in Gujarat. The BoA granted formal approval in June 2007, which expired in June 2010. The developer had reported that they could not proceed with the SEZ project due to adverse demand scenario from IT sector and accordingly they are not interested in perusing the project. The other developers whose SEZs were cancelled include Chennai Business Park, Integrated Warehousing Kandla Project Development and Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation. As per SEZ rules, formal approval is valid for a period of three years, by which time at least one unit has to commence production and the zone becomes operational from the date of commencement of such production. Provision to this rule provides for extension of this formal approval by BoA, for which the developer will submit his application to the concerned DC, who shall, within 15 days, forward it to the Board with his recommendations.
— PTI Unsatisfactory progress to blame
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Biz talk With the new government focusing on financial inclusion, ATM penetration is likely to increase. Jaivinder Gill, regional vice-president, India and South-East Asia for financial business, NCR Corporation, talks about financial inclusion, ATM innovations and the market trends. Q: What are the trends in the Indian ATM market? A: Today’s customers want to interact with banks effortlessly across all channels regardless of transaction type as they are digitally savvy and time compressed. Hence, several banks are adopting strategies to leverage this set of people. You can see banks coming up with innovative solutions like Touch Point kiosks, Branch on Wheels, etc. However, rural areas still remain devoid of ATMs. With an objective to give this a boost, RBI introduced white label ATMs in the country. Although these ATMs are not breaking even, the scenario looks hopeful with Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana which will issue debit cards to customers in the rural areas and lead to more ATMs in the hinterland. There are several other factors that hinder the growth of ATMs like poor infrastructure development, low-internet penetration and lack of power supply. Q: How are ATMs and their penetration enhancing financial inclusion? A: To achieve financial inclusion, it is essential to map the entire country into zones that are not being adequately serviced by the banking industry. ATMs play a pivotal role in helping the country achieve this as the brick and mortar model of branches is not financially viable in sparsely populated rural areas. Recently, micro ATMs were also introduced in several parts of the country to facilitate financial inclusion. These ATMs are taken to the doorstep of people in remote areas by banking correspondents and enables four Aadhaar-enabled basic types of banking transactions. Q: What is the number of ATMs and their penetration? A: India currently has around 1,80,000 ATMs which is anticipated to reach a mark of 4,00,000 by 2017 as per the Retail Banking Report. Q: What are NCR’s plans for manufacturing in India? A: NCR is committed to making strategic investments in the country. NCR has recently announced the shift of its manufacturing business to a newer, bigger and better facility in Chengalpet, Chennai which will be functional soon. This new plant, in addition to manufacturing financial solutions, is geared up to develop solutions to cater to the retail and hospitality industries as well. The Asian market is growing by leaps and bounds and India forms a fundamental part of it. Keeping in mind the youth population which is among the fastest in Asia today to embrace digital technology, NCR’s new facility will be able to customise next-generation consumer transaction technologies to meet the demands of tech-savvy consumers, not only in India but globally too. Q: What kind of new solutions is NCR planning for the Indian market? A: NCR has an array of solutions manufactured and developed in order to provide secure, seamless and faster transactions. The most recent being India’s first Interactive Teller. This solution will allow convenient and quick transaction to customers by way of video conferencing with a live teller who sits at the remote branch. NCR’s SelfServ ATMs are also India’s first ‘No Envelope’ Multi-Function Intelligent Deposit ATM and ‘Talking ATMs’ are for the visually impaired and differently abled individuals. It has customised solutions like solar-powered machines that run on batteries charged by solar panel, NCR Smart Connections — a GSM-based wireless solution, multi-lingual ATMs to counter diversity in languages, micro-deposit ATMs which have a biometric reader and accepts cash deposits in various denominations.
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Pareek appointed Tata Motors’ president
New Delhi, September 29 Pareek will join the company on October 1 and will take over from Ranjit Yadav, who will now head International Business for Passenger and Commercial vehicles, Tata Motors said. He will also be a member of the corporate steering committee, it added. “His extensive experience in the passenger car market will play a significant role in harnessing Tata Motors’ growth potential to help position the company as one of the leading passenger car manufacturers in India,” the company said. Pareek comes with over two decades of experience with Maruti Suzuki India where he was heading the marketing and sales vertical. He was responsible for domestic marketing and sales, dealer development, product development, used car business, outbound logistics, spare parts and accessories, after-market services and international marketing and sales. — PTI
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Jan Dhan accounts cross
5-crore mark SBoP opens 1,268th branch
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With the new government focusing on financial inclusion, ATM penetration is likely to increase. Jaivinder Gill, regional vice-president, India and South-East Asia for financial business, NCR Corporation, talks about financial inclusion, ATM innovations and the market trends.
